Barrenlands: An Odyssey (Old Work)

Chapter Nine.

1

"DRIFTER!"

The Engineer felt her body become rigid as she heard the yell of Little Girl echo through the outpost, her voice bouncing off the crumbling walls. From the corner of her eyes, the Engineer could see the shadows move and play havoc on her senses like monsters lurking in the depths of hell. But by the time she managed to turn around, the shadows had become still and lifeless, and there was no movement to be seen, and there was no Little Girl. Taking care not to step onto the hairy carcass of the dead creature behind her, the Engineer shuffled away from the body – away from the tempting well with its lavish water – and gazed around at her surroundings. The yell seemed to have come from around the back of the furthermost ruin; the side of the building that was exposed to the greater desert barrens. With the gun held now in both hands, the Engineer became soft in her knees and crept towards the structure, her feet placed lightly with each step to stop the crunching against small debris. Deep inside, she prayed to the fathers that not a living soul would notice her and turn.

"Drifter!"

Another yell reverbing across the landscape. The Engineer – now reaching the edges of the structure – pressed herself up against the cracking wall and took the tiniest step to inch herself to the corner. This was the metaphorical point of no return. Once she passed this point, she would become exposed and otherwise vulnerable to whatever lurked beyond – be it monster or man. And that was not the best nor the comfiest position to be in for they had the advantage right now; they could be expecting her to round into their sights at any given moment. Taking a deep breath and flicking the switch of the pulse gun, she waited for the all-too-familiar hum and blue glow before stepping out from her hiding place with her heart beating fast, her mind in overdrive, and her fate in the palms of her hands. It was her weapon; it was the only thing that protected her at the most intense of moments but it needn't do its job today. In front of her, Little Girl had sunk to her knees with her hands dirty and covered in sand. She didn't look hurt, and there were no starving creatures to be seen within seeing distance. But there – in front of her – was something else entirely.

Little Girl cast a quick look over at the Engineer, and then diverted her stare back at the contraption that lay before her. "It's another one," she whispered. Stepping closer, the Engineer dropped her knee to the floor and crouched down. The metal plate, the peeling paint, the rivets. It was exactly the same as the one that they had encountered days earlier atop the sandy dune. But this one didn't seem to be as deeply buried as the previous, and appeared to be long and rounder than the last. It was at least the size of the Engineer, if not bigger.

"It looks like a capsule, think ye?" asked the Engineer. She hadn't known whether she was asking herself for validation, or was waiting for the Little Girl to answer. Her line of thinking instantly turned to the white paint once more, reading off the letters and numbers that ran down the side. It was like some sort of recognition tag; a sequence number. "xSP-1531v1. That's one higher than the other."

The Engineer saw Little Girl's brows furrow, her face contorted in deep thought. Somewhere in her great mind, the cogs and sparks whirled into life, firing blanks and trying to draw the two linking parallels together. "You don't think it's a series, do you? That there are 1530 of these things, and possibly more?"

2

The Engineer continued to push-and-pull the pump, the handle somewhat rusted and hard to move. Despite the inhibited movement and the flakes of rust, the sweet sound of rushing water filled her ears as the containers became heavier and slushing with the fresh stuff. Reaching capacity to last her on her journeys, she returned back on her tracks and to Little Girl that had become infatuated with the foreign cylinder. Her small fingers danced along the metal surface, running over the rivets and the paint flaking at her touch. It was like watching a small child poke and play with unfamiliar insects. She was by far entranced - captivated even – and breaking the cycle would could prove to be a difficult process.

"Don't play with it too much, will y-"

The Engineer watched as Little Girl ran her fingers around the plate, her hand freezing mere seconds later. "I think this is a button of some sort."

Her tempter rising, the Engineer glared at Little Girl, her arms outstretched as if to indicate stop. "Don't pres-"

Too late. The Engineer stared on in horror as she pressed down on the hidden button, a bright red flashing beacon illuminating at the top of the object. As the sunlight continued to fade with darkness slowly consuming the land, the flashing red light became brighter and brighter – the only foreign source of light. The rest of the evening glow had come from the giant moon and millions of stars overhead.

"Stupid girl, ye," snarled the Engineer, taking steps away from them both. For the sake of her emotions and quite possibly her safety, she had to put distance between them. Little Girl was sitting so close to the object now that her face was illuminated a haunting red, the beacon distorting her face with shadows and creating a monster that didn't exist. "You don't know what it is."

With eyes full of venom and tongue made of fire, Little Girl was quick to respond, and not in the nicest of ways. Again, it was the rabid animal which possessed her body – or was it a demon? - that had reared its head, it's tongue clicking happily. "It didn't explode did it, Drifter? You're still alive, yes?"

3

The Engineer and Little Girl camped a way away from each other that night, the Engineer hidden in the shadows of the structure and the Little Girl with her back against the capsule. And it was safe to say, that they remained that way until dawn broke over the horizon the next morning.