Polaris Skies

Chapter 30

Dallas went on forever. The suburbs started almost at the edge of the state line and made for a never nearing horizon.

The group stayed to the highways and underpasses, persistently pressing south. Downtown was crowded with massive sweeping skyscrapers and squished together blocks of apartments and townhouses. For the most part, it was abandoned as the few people who had survived the drought and the war left in droves to find land they could plant on. The pack avoided those that foraged scrap and kept a wary eye on the sky as a large bird seemed to flick in and out of the city edge.

Days had dragged on as the snows of winter faded behind them, and the sun hung in the sky longer and longer by the time they entered the city. Eventually, the women called a stop to the day. They had made a respectable distance, but as the weeks passed since crossing the mountains, they could no longer deny their unique predicament. Every day that passed was more difficult than the last to keep food down, keep the energy to continue walking, tolerate the smells of rotting cities, and be comfortable in their shifting.

"Let's call it, guys. We're in an abandoned neighbourhood as it is. We'll use one of these and get some good sleep tonight." Dietrich stalled the group in front of a gated townhouse community. They utilised a drainage culvert in the back of the property to squeeze themselves into the compound. The low stagnant pool was overgrown with a deep blue-green alga. Leaf litter mounded against corners. Tires had begun to rot off of rusting cars.

Nat had woken some time that morning. He had watched the buildings pass by quietly. Sven kept to himself, aware of the ticking gears in his head as Nat continued to think. He trotted into one of the townhouses with the rest of the group, anticipating his host finally communicating with them.

It was almost five weeks from the last conversation he had with the man. Nat had slept in the darkness, curled up with Tereza as his mind slowly shut down. It had provided Sven with plenty of time to enjoy Sylvi's company, but he knew something was immeasurably wrong.

Sven? Can I ask you something? Nat drove himself from his isolation. Tereza rubbed up against him. A shaft of pain twisted in Sven's heart. He stilled at the question.

Cashia glanced at the white wolf, curious as to what had caught the second in command's attention. He watched the wolf pace back to a room that Hana had claimed and nudged the door shut. Cashia shrugged and shook himself. He laid down in the living room, his muzzle on his paws, and regarded the flickering candles on the counter with dull interest.

His eyes were almost closed when Sven re-emerged from Hana's room and passed him. He had Sylvi's pack on his back. "Cashia, mind putting some pants on?" Sven motioned him to the door.

Cashia raised an eyebrow, pulled himself off the floor and shifted. He grabbed his clothing out of the pack and got dressed quietly. "Everything all right with Sylvi?" he asked, a touch worried with all the females expecting. They eased out the door, Cashia closing it behind them quietly.

"She's fine, a bit tired. She's determined to get some uninterrupted sleep; if that's possible at this point. Would you join me for a while? I left instructions with her to seek out Dietrich and Heinrich in case we took a bit of time coming back," alluded Sven as he made his way back to the culvert.

"What are we doing?" Cashia followed the second-in-command out.

"Going to pick up a few things if we can find them," Sven dodged the question with a half-answer. He was not looking forward to this. His host was about to do something so incredibly stupid he could not even fathom. However, it was the first honest conversation he had with Nat in a month. He had listened silently as Nat unravelled inside of himself and spoke of every terror and fear wrapped around him, holding him down. If the man had sat in his mind for a month to come up with this conclusion, he must be serious about it.