Artifice - Man x Man - Book Six

Chapter 11

I scrub my feet on the dusty ground, taking stock of my surroundings as I listen to Artifice in my ear, reminding me of the temperature and the oxygen level. 

It never stopped surprising me when I stopped to think of reality, the planet is sick, very sick. 

Dust swirls around us and even though the mechanism on my face, I can smell the lack of life as I'm met with the stale scent of dry earth and vacant air. "We're going to fix this," Marcello reassures us. 

Even with his course nature, he is a rather positive force, where I would expect from in a more military-like hardness, he seems to have a good set of people skills. I find he is a good fit for our fragile-minded dead weight.

Tonya takes samples as I casually walk, trying to feel anything in the ground but I might as well be walking on cement for all that it does me. I feel naked, and exposed, there's nothing out here to protect myself with and I don't even have any weapons as I'm not necessarily apt to use a gun.

 It was all I could do to convince Marcello to even give me the smallest of knives. Tyler follows me like a shadow, walking alongside me as he examines my steps. His largeness does a good deal to block out the sun and I briefly appreciate the break from the heat. While I find him a far cry from what would have survived in my time, he does appear to be a good person. 

That has to count for something.

"Feel anything?" 

I can tell he's trying not to pry, he's a good student and he naturally assumes that if I had anything good to say, I'd say it.

"No. There's some muffled feeling coming from the direction of the dust storm but it feels like wind energy." I decided to explain to him what I was feeling for. "Nature can't be demanded to do anything. Once you know how to let it flow through you, it becomes much easier. " I drift towards the road and pause, feeling the rush in my palms. "Here."

Tonya hurries over, placing her device on the ground and smiling. "Yep! There's a pipe here."

"This water's flowing," I comment, frowning to her. Would flow indicate an exit? Wouldn't an exit indicate use?

She hedges and Marcello seems unconcerned, "It's probably exiting into a sewer. We are outside of town, there are no water sources out here save for that pond that's miles away. I don't see them using this pipe for anything. Besides, I want to see if you can do this. Unearthing pipes could be handy in the rebuild. Impress me, Nicolas."  

He raises his eyebrows at me as he rocks back on one hip to take me in and I try not to make a face as if I'm a servant here to entertain. I had been wrong in assuming my resume spoke for itself.

"Water is very strong, give it a path and it will follow." I think about holding it in my hands, feeling the resistance of the metal pipe. I jut my fist upwards and flinch at the hold the pipe has as if I've hit a wall. 

"Damn." I curse, chanting quietly as I repeat the motion. The ground trembles and we hear a low groan, I grit my teeth as I start to get irritated. I feel the flicker of red at the edges of my vision and take a deep breath, gripping hold and forcing my fist straight up. 

The pipe explodes out of the dry earth, spewing the murky water into the sky with immense force. I gag and sputter as my respirator fills with water and yank it off my face, much as my friends do the same. 

The earth is exposed, burst open to reveal a gaping hole that seems to lead to nothing but darkness as the immense pipe pours water down onto us in an overwhelming surge. Where I was expecting a spray, we got a flood. 

I snag Tyler protectively, running for safety as the ground starts to erode, pulling all around into the depths of the crater. Tonic grasps Tonya, Marcello leads them away from the collapsing earth but hesitates as the water threatens to take the car.