Epilogue

Epilogue 1.01

     The first thing I notice is the heat.

     But my hands haven't even begun to thaw when a glowdark lunges at me. I dive to the left and hear my shoulder crack as I slam into something hard. A cloud of dust and sand forms around me, choking me. I scramble to my feet and start running before the glowdark has another go at me.

     Darting through the ruined desert village, I glance around for any sign of the others. I dive for cover into one of the dilapidated mudbrick houses, out of the sweltering heat. I catch my breath in the shade beneath the half caved-in roof. Something stirs in the shadows by the pantry. Another glowdark. I guess the manmade structures rule that Comma mentioned doesn't apply if there's a gaping hole in the ceiling.

     I climb onto the window sill and roll out onto ground; the glowdark zooms past me. Swallowing another mouthful of sand, I make a dash for the next mudbrick house, but that one's been reduced to a pile of rubble. Another glowdark shoots up from the debris. Perfect.

     "This way!" Gail waves at me from a couple houses over.

     I leap over a waist-high mudbrick wall and hurry over to her, the glowdarks hot in pursuit. I trip and try to grab onto something for balance, but I end up peeling away the air in front of me. A hole back into the nothing. I roll out of the way as a third glowdark erupts from the hole.

     "Careful—this world's already been through The End, so try not to peel through!" Gail shouts at me. "Least not 'till we find a rip that actually leads somewhere!" I get back up and keep running. Gail meets me halfway. We round the corner and sprint down another block. Wherever we go, the glowdarks have already razed the houses to the ground.

     "Have you seen the others?" I ask, struggling to keep up with her.

     "Nuh-uh. But I can feel them out if you can buy me some time."

     "Feel them out? How's that again?" To be fair, that transmitting stuff I did back in the last world ought to dispel whatever doubts I have about the existence of psychic phenomena. Makes more sense than glowing shadows and invisible beasts, anyway. "I've got an idea."

     I skid to a halt and spin around. Gail's eyes widen. The glowdarks torpedo towards me. I wait until the very last second... and then peel away the space directly in front of me. The glowdarks spill through the rip and back into the nothing.

     "Well?" I glance back over my shoulder.

     Gail presses the tips of her fingers to her temples.

     "Hurry!" Peering through into the nothing, I watch the glowdarks reorient themselves and come barrelling back in my direction. They flicker in and out of focus. I begin to back away, clamping my jaw shut instinctively.

     "Got it! Follow me." Gail takes off in the opposite direction of the vermillion-coloured sun, which has begun to sink beneath the sand dunes off in the horizon. I chase after her, throwing a glance back over my shoulder just in time to see the glowdarks emerge from the rip. They don't remain disoriented for long; within seconds, they've caught up with us.

     We veer off down an alleyway, hoping to shake them loose, but that only buys us another ten seconds or so. Another turn and we hit a dead end. The glowdarks have us cornered now.

     "Told ya I wasn't ready," Gail mutters, her forehead glistening with sweat.

     "Where are the others?" I can hardly breathe in this heat.

     "Up here." Comma smirks at us from the rooftops.

     "Where'd you get the bandolier?" Gail asks, noticing the belt of grenades Comma wears like a sash.