Made to Endure

Chapter 05: Shelter

Eddie hadn't complained once, despite the brisk pace she'd set for their journey, but his ability to keep up had been diminishing for some time, and when Melanie heard him stumble on the rough terrain for the third time in the last hour, she began looking for a suitable campsite for the night. Since they were between cities, the only available cover was to be found in the natural world. Melanie found a crevice between two large rocks, sheltered by an overhanging protrusion of stone.

"Here," she announced, leading the way to the crevice.

Once they were both inside the natural hollow, she went about making it more secure. Melanie took the canister device from her shoulder strap and set it down beside him. Turning to leave, she spoke to him over her shoulder.

"Tamper with that, and I will kill you," Melanie promised.

"I wasn't even thinking about it," Eddie assured her, scooting a few inches away from the canister.

Melanie searched for a few branches of an appropriate size, breaking them off the tree by hand with loud cracks of splintering wood. Taking the material back to the campsite, she dropped the branches to the ground and picked up the cylinder. She stood facing him, with the device between them so he couldn't see what she was doing, and began adjusting dials and switches for the complex locking system. A series of clicking noises sounded as the locks disengaged.

Placing the device down near the front of the crevice where the stone opened out into the world, Melanie twisted the handle and caused the outer shell to open. Concealed hinges allowed the exterior surface to unfold, swinging out into a segmented, flat panel. A central spire ran upward through the cylinder to the handle, and shelves, filled with items, were connected to it, flat ribs of metal on an iron spine. From the top shelf, Melanie removed a collection of slender tubes secured together at one end in a fan shape; she attached the fan of tubes to the handle with a specially designed clip so the fan was positioned outside the copper panel of the cylinder's casing, tubes facing up and out like the rays of a rising metal sun. Each of the tubes was manually extended until it touched some portion of the overhanging rock formation, creating the spokes of a copper spider web.

Eddie watched in silence. Melanie could tell he wanted to ask questions, even without looking in his direction, and she found herself grudgingly admiring the man for allowing her to work in peace rather than distract her with countless inquiries.

A folded sheet was taken from the second shelf and draped from the spokes. The material had the metallic luster of polished steel, but it was as flexible as cloth. When Melanie had completed positioning the material, the entire entry into the crevice had been covered

"Even in the dark, that's shiny enough to be noticed," Eddie observed. "The undead might ignore it, but if there are any people around, they're going to see it and know it isn't natural."

"Will they?" Melanie questioned without looking at him. She opened a side panel on the copper cylinder supporting the obscuring wall and began breaking off pieces of tree branches to shove inside. The flicker of flames rippled across the stone walls. The light and the crackle of burning wood vanished when she closed the door. The top of the central spire served as a smokestack for the miniature steam engine inside the device, and Melanie knew the thin ribbon of black being emitted above the upper edge of the hanging material would be invisible once the sun set, even with the light of the moons.

When enough time had been given for the engine to power the internal generator, Melanie checked a few silver trimmed gauges to be certain and turned a dial to maximum before flipping the switch beside it. Energy coursed through the hanging sheet, changing the material's color and texture to resemble the rock around it.

Eddie's eyes went wide. "Adaptive camouflage," he breathed. "I'd heard it was being developed prior to the zombies showing up, but I didn't know anyone had actually succeeded in making it. Incredible."

"Another gift from those who made me what I am," Melanie offered, sitting back against the smooth stone of the crevice wall. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Eddie staring at the other shelves of the canister and each of the items stored there. "You needn't concern yourself about the other items."

"Huh?" Eddie said, abruptly changing the direction of his gaze as if he hadn't been looking.

"Those items are for me," Melanie informed him, her eyes hidden behind the black lenses of her goggles. "You do not need to concern yourself with them."

Eddie shrugged unconvincingly as if he were unconcerned by either the items or her dismissal of his interest. He shifted his position, trying to get comfortable, but Melanie caught his eyes drifting back to the items shelved in the cylinder several times in fleeting glances.

"Didn't mean any harm," he muttered mostly to himself. "Just curious."

"Working technology is rare to find in the broke remnants of the world," she told him. "The more advanced it is, the rarer and more valuable it becomes. Even the most 'civilized' locations have been known to pillage travelers if a sufficiently advanced piece of tech was thought capable of being used to aid the larger whole. 'A necessary sacrifice' they would call it. Pleasant words to conceal theft. If you were to mention this tech to anyone, they might decide to come for me."

"If you save my life by getting me to Geargarde," Eddie promised. "My silence would be a small price to pay in gratitude."

Melanie nodded, turning away to stare at the wall.

"Anyone ever come after you before?" Eddie asked softly.

"Twice," she confirmed.  "But it was a different group the second time.  The first learned their lesson."

"What happened?" Eddie prompted.

"I killed them and placed their heads on spikes near their encampment, so anyone thinking about threatening me again would know the consequences of such an attempt," Melanie explained. Her voice was calm and even as if explaining the color of metal on her gun's housing. Her gaze turned toward the man once more, and again she considered why she was keeping him alive.