Reconciled in the End

Chapter 29: That's that...

Thomas frowned as he woke for the day. Not liking a parting even for a second, he glumly pouted in their room. Siren chuckled at his childlike folly. She loved this adorable side he only ever displayed in front of her. 

“I just don’t like it,” he complained.

She shook her head as she consoled, “It’s only for a few hours. You and Peter need to fix the lift here to reach the higher pallets, then you’ll meet us at the tower. It won’t take long at all. I’m curious what is going on in the outside news.”

Thomas crossed his arms in playful exasperation, “I still want to go with you.”

She kissed his forehead as they ate breakfast and parted ways with a gentle waved. It was a simple moment, nothing notable, as he groaned out an unhappy response about it. He then turned to find Peter and finish the lousy task. The sooner completed, the sooner he, too, could head for the tower to join her.

Thomas soon got ahold of the wire causing the mischief with the lift, and he connected it with a greasy face. He haphazardly placed his fingers near a joint to brace himself in a difficult position, then itched the hair off his face. Siren was sure to tease him later about his dirty face, which he rather relished contently. Her attention was always so pleasing, whether good or bad. 

“Thomas!” a yelled came from Yuri. He sounded worried, and it alarmed Thomas enough to bang his head.

Thomas swiftly snapped out to study the thudding feet coming toward him. Yuri caught his stare as he impatiently warned, “The tower, it’s on fire! Soldiers' trucks came out and grabbed them! They grabbed everyone from the tower, and I don’t know where they went!”

Thomas felt his heart hit the floor. Where was his wife?! He had to get to her! He ran outside of the building to the sight of smoke in the distance. He was horrified! Grabbing Peter’s old tank, he started it impatiently to the still fresh trail of other vehicles. Peter and Yuri somehow were with him, however he hadn’t an idea how that came about. He supposed he really wasn’t in the greatest frame of mind for the moment.

He drove with swift, reckless abandoned down the wrecked roads. Led to an intersection, he knew not which turn they had gone. The dimness of daytime filled his soul with horror. Where were they? Which route could he take to get to her?!

Spending the whole day and night trailing the beaten roads, no answer came into sight. The old lunker eventually ran out of energy. They had no way to go forward, no supplies to even contemplating it even if they wanted to. Thomas finally grit his teeth in bitter silence and defeat.

His comrades beside him understood his desperation and remained politely quiet. In a sense, they truly knew deep down the futility in finding their dear friends. They just had to give Thomas every chance he could muster in an attempt. He needed closure in knowing he had done all he feasibly could to reach what he lost, most likely in this life.

“We’ll have to walk back,” Peter gently nudged Thomas. Once all motion left the vehicle, Thomas only stared ahead in a blank shock, as if he too, didn’t know how to go on.

“We need to get supplies if we were to make another recovery attempt,” Peter reasoned a bit more firmly as he popped out to abandon their transportation.

They had at least two days of walking to do without food, doubling back on their trail to scan any possible route. At least their position wasn’t that far from home in the end. They would be tired and hungry, but at least make it safe.

Looking at the city in the distance, fires and lights filled the sky. Peter figured that travel to there would be several days. The grim thought of losing his fingers to a few evil men made him shuddered what the evil citizens would do to the victims of the tower. Thomas in a dead sprint was going to be days late for even a fleeting chance rescue. To tell his best friend such a thing seemed too cruel however. Peter just couldn’t do it.