Hope's Ruin

23 | Silver Hollow

Governor Sawyer joined them on the approach road, her dreadlocks caked in dust and sand. Standing at the head of the column, she trained her eyes on the cave entrance. Pepper wondered what was going through the woman's mind in the wake of all that had transpired. She hoped Levi would be kind and inclusive if they came across any reanimates, but Pepper knew it would take a miracle for a mind like the Governor's to change. But out here, in this backwards, topsy-turvy world, perhaps miracles were on the cards.

Three shadows whipped across the sand.

Pepper and Erin turned their eyes to the skies.

Raven, Winter, and Una circled the survivors, skimmed the sand, and landed on a pile of rock and tangled tech.

"You are yet to succumb to the embrace of death," Raven announced. "Impressive."

Erin rolled her eyes.

"Yes," Pepper said proudly. "And we made it to Silver Hollow."

"But you appear to have lost more than a hundred of your number," the blackbird said. "Who takes responsibility for that?"

"Most of them left," Erin told him. "They chose to leave."

Raven clicked his beak. "The greater your numbers, the greater your chances."

"What's got into you?" Erin snapped. "Pepper led us to safety. And where have you been?"

Raven adjusted his wings. "Scouring the land," he said. "Existence is more bleak and fragile than any of us could have imagined. News of Dark Twelve's rise has spread fast."

"I hate that name," Erin snorted, almost to herself.

"How?" Pepper asked.

"Whispers on the wind," Raven replied.

"That's not a thing."

"And you know all things, I presume?"

"Enough of this," Marshall said, stepping in. "Silver Hollow is close. Let us debate the state of all existence once we are safely inside."

Everyone agreed.

The caravan formed up behind them.

Gasps of relief swirled through the dust.

Pepper hiked towards the cave entrance and shouldered The Governor aside. "This was my home," she told her, tapping skull staff against the woman's chest. "I'll do the talking."

Governor Sawyer raised a hand to make a point—probably something to do with age and experience, she imagined—but Erin and Marshall crowded her out, following Pepper into the shadows.

The cave only lasted twenty or so feet before the cool shadows revealed an enormous rust-red barricade blocking the way. Built from scrap metal, doors and panelling, pipes and bars and girders, the door was latched together with bolts and rope and tar and quick-dried solder. Pepper ran her hands over the strange door. It felt solid, secure. Built with love for what was within, not fear of the outside.

"What do you think?" she whispered over her shoulder to Flake 99. "Speak Friend and enter?"

She wondered, if the robot could answer, if he would get the reference.

"So?" Erin said, arriving beside her. "Is there a buzzer? Or a password?"

"An entrance panel somewhere?" Marshall added.

"Yes," the Governor pressed, sounding restless. "You said you lived here. You must know the way inside."

"This is new," Pepper said. "This wall, this door, this...blockade."