Under Shadow

Chapter 11

"Looks like as good a place as any," Najia said, her hands on her hips.

Shane shook his head. "No. We're not stopping. I'll drive."

Najia narrowed her eyes at him. "I disagree. We're stopping. It's late. I'm tired. You're tired."

"Stopping will only make us more vulnerable," Shane hissed. "We can take turns driving."

"I don't think so. I don't trust you that much to let you drive while I'm passed out."

"Then you're staying here alone and I'm taking the car."

"That wasn't in the agreement."

"There was no agreement."

Najia huffed, exasperated. Her voice softened. "We shouldn't split up. We can do more damage together. Alone, we're easier targets."

"Being alone means I don't have to pretend I care about anyone else's worthless life."

"You are a cruel, bitter man."

"I'm honest and realistic."

"You're a jerk."

"Big words from Miss Smarty-pants."

"Smart enough to know how to hot wire a car."

"I'm sorry. Not all of us lead some thug life before this."

"I'm not a thug," Najia hissed. "My father was a mechanic."

Shane rolled his eyes.

"Of all the damned people in the world," Najia muttered.

"Should have let me walk away, huh?"

Najia crossed her arms. Shane smiled, feeling as if he had won, and turned away from her.

"Keep the car," he said over his shoulder. "I don't need it."

Najia dropped her arms as she watched the only other possible survivor walk away from her.

"Please don't leave me alone out here," she said softly.

Shane hesitated. He turned around and met her fearful gaze.

"I'm not as tough as I pretend to me."

"Well, you're not a good pretender apparently."

"I want a chance," she said. "A chance to survive."

Shane narrowed his eyes at her. "I see what this is. You're pulling the damsel in distress card."

Najia smiled. "Is it working?"

Shane sighed. "Just a little bit. I really like the fact that you have a car, mostly."

Her smile widened. "Then it's settled. Build the damsel a fire."

"Are you insane? That will draw attention to us."

Najia rolled her eyes. "We have protection from these boulders. We're way out in the desert. The Shadow People won't dare to come out this far. And it's going to get cold."

Shane bit his lip, defeated. "Fine. But I'm not sleeping. Someone's gotta keep watch."

"Whatever, dude."

Shane helped Najia bring some wood from the trunk of the car. He admired her provisions. It was as if she prepared her whole life for the end of the world. She had packed food, flashlights, candles, matches, water, wood, and even kindling.

"Someone's prepared," he muttered.

Najia smiled as she stacked wood in her arms. "Isn't that the boy scout motto?"

"I wouldn't know."

"Clearly."

They stacked the wood carefully and before long, a fire was crackling in the night. The thick, dark, gray-purple haze continued to hide every bit of the sky. The sun could not cut through, and the stars did not guide their travels. The desert was eerily quiet. No crickets or critters scuttled over the dusty land. Najia wasn't sure what was worse; the darkness, or the silence. It felt suffocating.

But the fire was bright and warm. A reminder that they were survivors; they were life. They still had something, even if it was rather unpleasant company in each other. They had, by some sheer chance, found each other, and it was enough to give Najia hope.

She stared into the flickering flames as her mind wandered. It drifted to images of her grandfather, or what she remembered him to look like when she was a child. It had been years since she had seen him, but she could distinctly remember his voice when he called her just months ago, before the invasion.

"Come to the valley, my little Naj. When the darkness clouds the land, come to the valley. I will be waiting for you there."

Crazy, her father had said. The man was crazy, ever since her mother had died.

But it was all Najia had left. Hope that her grandfather was there, in the valley, waiting for her.

"There's this place where my grandfather lives," Najia started. "Stardew Valley. He lived there with this crazy conspiracy theorist. Some guy Linus. He would tell me all about it when he came to visit me as a kid. When the Shadow People started taking over, just before they came to the city, he contacted me. Told me to come to Stardew. Said it was safe there. The Shadow People couldn't take it over. He said there's still light. Darkness would never claim Stardew." She looked up, but Shane did not meet her gaze. He continued to stare into the fire. Najia continued. "That's where I'm headed. Just north up the coast."

"A place with light doesn't exist anymore," Shane said simply.

"Maybe there's some hope in Stardew."

Shane finally met her gaze. "I wouldn't get your hopes up. Your grandfather sounds crazy."

Najia pinched her lips together and turned back to the fire. Of all the survivors in the world, why did she have to be stuck with Negative Nancy?

"You're awfully pessimistic," she commented dryly.

"You're way too optimistic."

Najia sighed. "At least I have something left in my life. What do you have? Some half assed idea that your people are out there, somewhere? If you ask me, you have nothing left, so you're just wandering around until you die. Waiting to die."

Shane didn't answer. He crossed his arms.

"I'm sorry," Najia said softly. "That was douchey."

Shane shrugged. "Probably the most honest thing you've said since I met you. I prefer that over bubbly optimism."

Najia didn't bother to argue with him. It was clear that there was no getting through to Shane. She didn't care; she was still hopeful.