Awakening - The Last Science #1

Chapter 28 - Ashes - V

  Rachel didn't know what she'd expected from her pronouncement, but the blank stares were certainly a little underwhelming. Even in her melancholic state, she still wanted a bit more of a reaction than that. Hadn't she given them what they wanted? It was a plan of some kind, even if it wasn't a very satisfying one.

  "What do you mean?" asked Preston.

  "They'll be coming for us. The livestream and the fire. I wouldn't be surprised if they're already on the way."

  "Who?" asked Hector.

  "The man," said Julian.

  "Huh?" asked Natalie.

  "An entire town vanishing off the map won't go unnoticed," Rachel continued. She slowly gained confidence in her words as she delved into one of the worst-case scenarios she'd prepped. Many of her nights in bed, listening to Will sleeping quietly next to her, were filled with disaster planning for every possible eventuality she could come up with. She hadn't ever quite considered this level of destruction, but she was starting to adapt to it. "This will escalate fast."

  "She's right," added Jackie. "It won't stay at state level either. No matter what happens, they'll definitely take it federal. And if they find out about magic..."

  "We're fucked," Josh finished. Jackie nodded.

  "We're back to this again?" Joe asked.

  "I was preparing for them to come and confront us here. If the town was still here, with everyone behind us and spreading out into the world, maybe we could have been large enough to stand on our own," said Rachel. "But only twenty two people? With the town burned to the ground and bodies everywhere? They'd disappear us."

  "Come on, they can't just vanish us," said Julian.

  "Yes, they can," said Yusuf.

  "This few people? Undoubtedly so," agreed Lily. "They operate on the world scale. We could try to make a bit of noise, but ultimately we'd be captured either way. Unless she stops them," she added, nodding at Beverly.

  Beverly shook her head. "I don't want to fight anyone."

  "Nor do I, dear, and I wouldn't presume to ask. Loathe as I am to abide by this proposal, I concur with Rachel," said Kendra. "We should hide."

  A minute of silence passed as they digested the words. With arguably the three most important people in the room in agreement, the rest of the group were slowly coming to terms with the future.

  "How?" asked Makoto, the first word he'd spoken since leaving Cinza's home in the woods.

  "You're not thinking we all pile into one of Kendra's little pockets, are you?" asked Julian uneasily. "Don' think I could sleep with those earthquakes every few minutes."

  "Can you keep an entire dimension stable on your own strength?" asked Lily sharply.

  Julian raised his hands in surrender. "Down, Xerox. I'm jus' tryin' to point out problems."

  "That doesn't sound sustainable," said Cinza. "As impressive as her creations might be, she needs to close them every day, and it's not as though we could survive inside them either. Even Aaron's discoveries aren't enough to grow food in a void."

  "So what, do we go live with you in the forest?" asked Josh.

  "No way. I'm not going out into the woods for the rest of my life," snapped Malcolm. His wife nodded emphatically in agreement.