Dawn Is Coming

Chapter 20

Akira

Although Neorexa's defense system is inferior to ours by a mile, the ease with which we managed to hack the gate is concerning. Despite the confident facade she's putting up, Lyndin is gripping my hand like it's the only thing keeping her afloat. I myself am feeling jittery, but I've spent nearly every day in the past year on the battlefield, and the previous ten years were spent preparing for it. It's no wonder that Lyndin looks like she's about to bite her tongue off in fear.

"The weather's nice." She mumbles as we walk into a dark, narrow alley, her eyes trained ahead of her. I give her a strange look – it's the middle of the Green Season, so it's always cold and raining most of the time. "Nice" is a poor adjective for the weather in Green Season.

"What do you mean, it's nice?" I ask as I shrug off my jacket. To my surprise, there's no sudden drop in temperature.

There's no change at all.

My brows furrow as I look up, as if expecting answers to dangle right above my head. Neorexa has climate control?

Impossible.

Lyndin gives me a curious look as I wrap the sleeves of my jacket around my waist, adjusting the straps of my tank top.

"It feels like beginning of Red Season." She remarks, looking ahead once again as we make a turn right into another dark, sketchy alley. "Does time run differently here?"

"Impossible. If they had technology like that, we would've lost the war long, long ago." I say, shaking my head.

"But... but it's warm."

"Climate control," I mutter.

I see Lyndin's brows furrow in confusion as she unzips her leather jacket, her eyes widening a little when she notices that it's still warm without it.

"We don't have that." She protests, and I nod.

After another turn, we reach a large clearing... well, not exactly a clearing. It looks like something of a landfill, with black garbage bags scattered across the ground and pieces of metal junk cluttering the space like shiny, filthy stars in a filthy sky. I scan our surroundings, making sure that we're alone. Once assured, I take the first step past the buildings next to me, careful to avoid a massive chunk of metal. Lyndin comes in turn, following in my footsteps as my eyes examine the ground.

"What are you searching for?" Her question echoes loudly in the clearing, her words bouncing off the four walls enclosing the space.

Finally spotting the object of interest, I wrap my hand around the small handle of the lighter and hold it up for Lyndin to see. She cocks her head in question, her face morphing into an expression of horror when she sees me bringing it up to my neck. After having eyed the model and calculating the fire strength, I take a deep breath, cooling my mind and steeling my hands as my fingers press on the switch. The pain that comes next is unlike anything I've experienced before. My constrictions had felt like fire, but they can't even compare to real flames burning on the skin. The moment I feel the ID chain around my neck loosening, I release the switch on the tool. My eyes flutter open, squinting in pain at Lyndin's face staring at me with a slack jaw. The ecstasy of victory sends a tremor through my body as I hear the clatter of my chain against the chunk of metal beneath me, Lyndin's eyes following its descent.

"It - it doesn't hurt that bad." I choke out, holding out the lighter to her. She takes an apprehensive step back, her eyes darting between the lighter and the burn mark on my neck. I stretch my hand out further, urging Lyndin to accept. "We don't know what Neorexa is capable of. Our IDs could only get us in danger."

Lyndin reluctantly nods, and I bring the lighter to her neck, forcing my hands to be steady. I slap a hand over her mouth the moment I press the switch on the lighter, wincing at her muffled scream. Each second that the flame is directed at her neck is a burst of agony. I keep my eyes trained on the chain, forcing my gaze from wandering up to the pain in Lyndin's eyes. A breath of relief escapes my mouth the moment the metal weakens, and I drop the lighter. She glances down, tears already welling in her eyes.

"Is it off?" Lyndin whimpers. I give her a reassuring look as I grip the metal, pulling the weakened metal apart before letting it fall to the ground. The chime of metal sounds final – and as I stare at our IDs lying on the ground, I realize the significance of this moment.

We are the first known Thrifts to have taken off our ID chains by our own hands.

The metal is no different, but it stands out among all the other rubble, its gloom permeating the atmosphere. I pull Lyndin into a tight hug, rubbing her back comfortingly as she hesitantly wraps her arms around me. After a brief moment of warmth, I pull away, making sure her eyes are trained on mine.

"We're searching for the Infirmary." Her brows knit together at my statement, and I shake my head the moment she opens her mouth to ask the question I already know she's going to ask.

Why.

"We'll have to split up to cover more ground. After covering every territory that you feel comfortable in, meet me back here." As I speak, I take out a gun, a flashlight, and ammo, stuffing it into her hands and nodding at her pockets. "These are just backup."

Lyndin nods, but I can practically smell the fear wafting off of her. I let out a soft sigh and lean my forehead against hers, brushing a hand through her silver hair. I imprint the familiar floral smell of her shampoo, the soft texture of her skin and the thickness of her hair. My best friend – my ride or die.

"We'll make it out together – I'm sure of it."