considered the can in her hand. “That said, don’t suppose we’re going to find a recycling center out here.” She tossed the can over the side of the craft.
“I hope you two can live with yourselves when that can murders some poor little mouse down there,” said Leech.
“I like it better when you’re drawing quie—” Lilly was stopped by a violent cough. It grew, sharpening, and after a minute she was doubled over. I put my hand on the middle of her back, felt her rib cage convulsing.
“Yikes,” said Leech.
Lilly’s coughs made the whole craft shake. She lost her breath, and they became these dry stuck sounds, like there was nowhere deeper to go. Her body kept hitching . . . finally a long, slow breath sucked in and fell out.
I rubbed her back slowly. She got more breaths in. I ran my hand up to her shoulders, but then I pulled away. Something felt wet by her neck. I found smears of blood on my palm. I pushed her hair aside. “Your gills,” I said quietly. The slits were swollen with blood.
She touched them, looked at her fingers, and nodded, but she didn’t say anything. She just leaned back on the pink pillow, curled up, and closed her eyes. I put the blanket over her.
We flew on. A few hours later, Leech tucked himself in the front of the craft and dozed off. The moon was high now, just past full, its light much brighter than the vortex.
I watched the stars, adjusted for the winds, and tried not to think about anything: the long nightmare day we’d had, Lilly’s condition, Project Elysium, what we might find tomorrow, or the fact that we were nearly out of water. It all felt like too much, and I had an urge to just stop, and yet there was no stopping. Our only answer was to keep moving.
Sometime later, we passed over a small city, a forest of silent towers of steel, brick, and glass; a grid of still streets; and miles of dusty suburbs, appendages connected by highway arteries. For a moment, I thought I saw a light down there and brought us up higher.
A couple hours after that, as I fought exhaustion and sleep phantoms, I started to see white shapes on the ground. They were large, oblong, like the bellies of huge creatures, lying at odd angles. Most were pointed at one end, flat at the back. . . .
Boats. A marina on what had probably once been a lake. Masts stuck up like the horns of the long dead narwhals. Masts might mean sails, and sails could be used to make a new thermal balloon. Judging by how dim the vortex was, we were going to need one, soon.
I brought us down near the docks, between two concrete buildings. As I placed the craft on the cracked pavement, Lilly and Leech both stirred but didn’t wake.
I wanted to search for a sail now, but I couldn’t fight the exhaustion. I curled up on the floor near Lilly, thought about getting under the blanket with her, of how she’d held me through the night when my gills were changing, but I didn’t feel quite sure. So I moved close but not touching, my head on the bench. I stared into the mellow blue swirl of the vortex and let it pull down my eyelids.
I dropped into dreamless sleep until near dawn, when my eyes fluttered open to bright sky. Lilly was still asleep beside me. Her face looked dangerously red, and there was a fine mist of sweat on her forehead.
I raised my head to see that Leech was gone, and the vortex was dark.
10
I TRIED TO STAND BUT FELL BACK UNDER A WAVE OF bright spots and pain. It took a minute to fade. Everything hurt. My head felt squeezed, like my brain had dried up and pulled away from the inside of my skull. My eyes were sticking at the seams, and blinking didn’t help. My mouth felt like dry cloth.
I managed to get up. I checked my shoulder. It was sore and stiff. A brownish stain had seeped through the bandage covering my grilling fork wound.
We were in a triangle of shade, but the sun was creeping down into this space between the two buildings. The air had that electric feel of buzzing
“I hope you two can live with yourselves when that can murders some poor little mouse down there,” said Leech.
“I like it better when you’re drawing quie—” Lilly was stopped by a violent cough. It grew, sharpening, and after a minute she was doubled over. I put my hand on the middle of her back, felt her rib cage convulsing.
“Yikes,” said Leech.
Lilly’s coughs made the whole craft shake. She lost her breath, and they became these dry stuck sounds, like there was nowhere deeper to go. Her body kept hitching . . . finally a long, slow breath sucked in and fell out.
I rubbed her back slowly. She got more breaths in. I ran my hand up to her shoulders, but then I pulled away. Something felt wet by her neck. I found smears of blood on my palm. I pushed her hair aside. “Your gills,” I said quietly. The slits were swollen with blood.
She touched them, looked at her fingers, and nodded, but she didn’t say anything. She just leaned back on the pink pillow, curled up, and closed her eyes. I put the blanket over her.
We flew on. A few hours later, Leech tucked himself in the front of the craft and dozed off. The moon was high now, just past full, its light much brighter than the vortex.
I watched the stars, adjusted for the winds, and tried not to think about anything: the long nightmare day we’d had, Lilly’s condition, Project Elysium, what we might find tomorrow, or the fact that we were nearly out of water. It all felt like too much, and I had an urge to just stop, and yet there was no stopping. Our only answer was to keep moving.
Sometime later, we passed over a small city, a forest of silent towers of steel, brick, and glass; a grid of still streets; and miles of dusty suburbs, appendages connected by highway arteries. For a moment, I thought I saw a light down there and brought us up higher.
A couple hours after that, as I fought exhaustion and sleep phantoms, I started to see white shapes on the ground. They were large, oblong, like the bellies of huge creatures, lying at odd angles. Most were pointed at one end, flat at the back. . . .
Boats. A marina on what had probably once been a lake. Masts stuck up like the horns of the long dead narwhals. Masts might mean sails, and sails could be used to make a new thermal balloon. Judging by how dim the vortex was, we were going to need one, soon.
I brought us down near the docks, between two concrete buildings. As I placed the craft on the cracked pavement, Lilly and Leech both stirred but didn’t wake.
I wanted to search for a sail now, but I couldn’t fight the exhaustion. I curled up on the floor near Lilly, thought about getting under the blanket with her, of how she’d held me through the night when my gills were changing, but I didn’t feel quite sure. So I moved close but not touching, my head on the bench. I stared into the mellow blue swirl of the vortex and let it pull down my eyelids.
I dropped into dreamless sleep until near dawn, when my eyes fluttered open to bright sky. Lilly was still asleep beside me. Her face looked dangerously red, and there was a fine mist of sweat on her forehead.
I raised my head to see that Leech was gone, and the vortex was dark.
10
I TRIED TO STAND BUT FELL BACK UNDER A WAVE OF bright spots and pain. It took a minute to fade. Everything hurt. My head felt squeezed, like my brain had dried up and pulled away from the inside of my skull. My eyes were sticking at the seams, and blinking didn’t help. My mouth felt like dry cloth.
I managed to get up. I checked my shoulder. It was sore and stiff. A brownish stain had seeped through the bandage covering my grilling fork wound.
We were in a triangle of shade, but the sun was creeping down into this space between the two buildings. The air had that electric feel of buzzing
Similar Books
