Read Reddened Wasteland Online
Authors: Kyle Perkins
“Back
up slowly…” the male voice said as he put his arm around Alerik’s neck and
pointed his gun at Lucius.
“So,
we’re not even going to talk about this?” Alerik asked sarcastically as he
slammed his foot down on top of the guard’s foot.
The
man let out a loud yelp of pain, far too loud than was warranted by something
as small as getting your foot stomped on. That was when Alerik turned around
and saw the guard had a gleaming sword stuck through his midsection. As the
guard slunk down off of the sword, Alerik saw Velar standing there with tears
running down her face.
He felt like he had just been punched in the stomach.
He almost couldn’t breathe. He dropped his pickaxe and ran over to her as fast
as humanly possible. Velar was frozen solid, unable to move. Once he reached
her, he pushed the guard out of the way and grabbed her face, kissing her over
and over.
Velar
was stunned for a second, standing in disbelief. He was kissing her, but she
was too numb to feel it. She dropped her sword and just pulled her head back
for a moment to double check that it was really him. Once it was confirmed, she
began kissing him back, even harder.
“I
can’t believe it’s really you…” he whispered, staring into her eyes.
“I
can’t believe it’s really you…” she said, staring back with her hands around
his waist.
“I
hate to interrupt a reunion, but Alerik, the mission at hand?” Lucius said,
pointing to the tower.
“Right,”
Alerik said as he pulled the device from Velar’s backpack and began walking
towards the radio tower.
Velar
smiled when she saw that he had kept her backpack, even through all that.
“What
is that device?” Velar asked, suddenly remembering her own mission. Had Thorin
sent him, too? She was so confused.
“It’s
a device to divert control of the radio tower to me, and allow me to
concentrate its signal to broadcast anywhere,” he said, smiling as he placed
the device on the tower.
“Wait,
that will make the control room useless!” she screamed.
“Yeah
Velar, that’s the point. We didn’t know if Aldain would be in there, still
attempting to broadcast. We needed insurance,” he said as he watched Lucius
fiddle with it.
“No,
if you take the power from the control room, Thorin and Liberty’s Hammer will
not be able to get reinforcements from the settlement,” Velar tried to explain.
“You’re
saying this as if it is a problem,” he looked at he with a puzzled expression.
“Alerik,
we have a bit of a problem, the signal is encrypted and password protected. I
can’t take over as user until it’s fixed,” Lucius said.
“Okay,
well can’t you do it?” Alerik asked.
“Yes,
but it will take more time than we have,” Lucius said.
“Fuck!”
Alerik yelled.
“Look,
Thorin gave me a device to bypass the password, but it was so that they could
send out a signal to the entire settlement. Without the settlement’s help,
Thorin and Liberty’s Hammer will be killed!” Velar yelled. Why wasn’t he
listening to her? What was more important than the people of the settlement?
“Velar,
we need that signal, there are bigger things at play than you could possibly
imagine. You have to give me that device,” Alerik said, his tone condescending.
“Then
what happens to Liberty’s Hammer? They got me here Alerik, they watched over me
and I can’t turn my back on them,” she pleaded.
“Listen,
if I don’t get that signal out, we all die, not just Liberty’s Hammer. I don’t
have time to explain! Velar, you have to trust me, like you always have!” he
responded.
Velar
looked into his eyes and could see the panic and knew he was telling the truth.
Her body just wouldn’t allow her to hand it over. She knew it would mean a
death sentence for Thorin. If what Alerik said was true, however, they would
all die. But how, she didn’t know.
Impulsively,
she shot her hand out with the device clutched tightly and handed it to Alerik.
She felt like throwing up and her heart was broken. How could she? All those
people…
Alerik
smiled, “You did the right thing, Velar.”
“Then
why doesn’t it feel like it…” she mumbled to herself, swallowing back the lump
in her throat.
Alerik
handed the device to Lucius, then turned back to Velar, “You don’t know how
happy I am to see you. I thought they had killed you. Everything is going to be
okay now,” he said, pulling her in closely.
Velar
felt at home in his arms, and a rush of familiar feelings came flooding back.
It was almost enough to make her forget the horrible thing she had just done.
Almost.
“Alerik,
what you just made me do, I can never forgive myself for,” she said soberly.
“It’s
okay. I can forgive you, and I’m sure your friends can too. They were after
freedom, right? This is the only true way to it. Just taking down The Union is
too short-sighted. There are some things you don’t know…” he said.
“Yeah
Alerik, speaking of not being able to forgive myself, there are some things
that I need to tell you, actually,” she said, staring down at the ground.
“Velar,
trust me, there is nothing you could tell me that could be bad enough to ruin
this moment,” he said back, petting down her hair with his hand like he always
used to do.
“I
hope so…” her voice cracked.
“It’s
all ready. Just speak into the microphone clearly,” Lucius said.
Alerik
smiled at Velar before walking over to the tower and sitting next to the
device.
“People
of Earth, my name is Alerik Jacobs. I am attempting to communicate with you
from a large radio tower on your neighboring planet. Years ago, many colonists
traveled to Mars to find a new viable home outside of our own due to an
impending apocalypse. We are just now understanding that the story we have been
told may be a complete fabrication, and you were probably in the dark until
now, as well. We have been serving under tyranny since our arrival and through
intense planning and incredible luck, we have been given this brief window in
time to attempt communication with you. We are requesting aid from the good
people of Earth, and hope that in our dire time of need, any of you that are
still out there answer our call. You are our last hope, and if no help arrives,
I’m afraid our time will come to an end here. If you are out there, I implore
you to please respond.”
Once
the message was sent, Alerik stood up from his spot and moved back towards
Velar.
“Did
I just hear you right? Did you seriously just attempt to contact a dead planet
instead of getting reinforcements for Liberty’s Hammer?” Velar said with
disbelief carved across her face. He’d gone crazy. How many times did those
Union lackey hit him in the head?
“That’s
the thing, Velar. We have been lied to, and I believe the planet is not dead,”
He replied.
“So
we went with a maybe instead of guaranteed help… I think I’m going to be sick,”
she bolted to the side of the building and threw up over the ledge.
Alerik
walked over and helped hold her hair.,“You just have to have faith.” He said as
if it would give her any comfort.
“Faith?
What in the fuck are you talking about, Alerik? The only thing I have faith in
at this point is that we are now fucked, for no good reason!” she said,
angrily.
Alerik
shook his head. “Lucius, what’s taking so long for the response?”
“I
am not programmed with any data to help me understand how long this might take.
Plus, there is no evidence supporting this idea that people are on Earth,”
Lucius said in a matter of fact manner.
“Thanks,
Lucius,” Alerik said as Velar threw up again.
“Listen,
the day couldn’t get any worse and we are about to die. I need to get something
off of my chest,” Velar said as she watched Alerik’s face start to fade into
worry. She knew it wasn’t about what she was about to say, but because no one
had responded. He seemed delusional and out of it, and may have cost thousands
of lives. She pitied him, but she was also so angry at him. She hated that it
made what she was about to say that much easier.
“Okay,
Velar, I guess we have a little time until they respond,” he said as he started
playing with his fingers nervously.
“Fuck,
I don’t know how to say this, so I’ll just say it,” she said pausing to grab
his hands, “The guy that took me into Liberty’s Hammer… We thought you were
with The Union… like
really
with them, and that you had moved on and you
were involved with your partner… and well, he was confronting me and helping me
through that time,” she said nervously.
“Yeah,
go on…” he pulled his hands away.
“We
kissed. I’m so sorry, Alerik. We heard the announcement about your execution,
that you weren’t with The Union, and I was a mess. It stopped instantly, it
went no further. I thought you were going to die, and it fucking killed me. I
am so very sorry,” she said, a steady stream of tears flowing down her face.
“I
feel like
I’m
going to throw up now,” he said, hanging his head over the
side and staring down at the ground. “Was that all that happened?”
“Yes,
Alerik, and I never would have done anything like that, except I thought you
had moved on, and I thought that The Union got to you and changed you into this
unrecognizable person. I am so sorry. I should have known better. You have to
believe me. It was just a stupid mistake,” she said, now sobbing.
“Velar,
this hurts. Obviously, worse than any punch to the face I’ve ever had… but I
understand.”
“Wait,
you do?” she cried.
“From
the outside, of course you thought I had been turned by The Union. The entire
settlement thought it. Hell, even The Union thought it… so much so, that at one
point, I was invited into their inner circle. And I didn’t exactly broadcast my
plans or motivations. You hear of me out and about with my partner –who I never
was involved with, by the way— and of course you make an assumption that many
have made. Meanwhile, another guy was there and taking care of you, keeping you
safe, and basically doing my job for me. I don’t like it, but there’s not much
we can do about it now,” he sighed, gripping the ledge for support.
“I
can’t believe you are taking this so well,” Velar stared at him in disbelief,
waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“Velar,
to be honest, I hated Liberty’s Hammer. I thought they had kidnapped and killed
you. To know that they actually kept you safe while I was in particularly
dangerous situations… I have to be thankful,” he said, “I’m just so happy that
you are alive.”
Velar
didn’t know how to process what she was feeling. She never saw it going this
way, “Alerik… I don’t know what to say…” she stumbled out a few words.
“Just
say this was a one-time thing and it won’t happen when I leave the house to get
food, and we’ll be okay,” he chuckled, trying to make her smile.
“You
are amazing. I can’t believe you’d forgive me for this. Not so quickly, at
least. I was dreading telling you so much. It’s been eating me up inside,” she
wrapped her arms around him and squeezed as hard as she could, “I love you so
much,” she said into his chest.
“Then
it sounds like you’ve punished yourself enough already. I’m not going to add to
that,” he smiled, “And, I love you, too, Velar.”
She
wiped her eyes dry and pulled Alerik in for what would likely be their last
kiss, since The Union soldier would be arriving soon.
They
stopped and turned their heads when the radio began to crackle.