Mausoleum by James Lovett

Author:James Lovett [Lovett, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-09T00:00:00+00:00

Committal

They searched for hours. The blood trail died quickly, but its direction unmistakably headed the way of The Procession. Atop the stair leading back to the tombs, fractured bone and obsidian dust mingled on the final step. Then trailed nothing but a path of nails, etched and chipped in the stone back to the tomb Lance had broken twelve hours ago. Only it wasn’t broken. Its head had been mended, with no sign of the initial break. It stared towards their camp, leering down at Sauer’s panic.

Through a breaking dam of tears and sweat, she wrestled away Lance’s rifle and climbed her way back to the head. The blood in her arms tingled with pain as she rammed the gun like a hammer into the head of the alien stone. On the fourth strike, with not a blemish on the rock, the sound of the rifle echoed through the air, and the head of the tombs turned to face her. Sauer was thrown, saved only by the cushion of Lance’s body. She pushed on him with her wounded hand as she wobbled and started to lurch back towards the climb, but Lance grabbed her by the shoulders and wrestled her still.

“Sauer. Sauer! Erika!” He shouted, shaking her, trying to snap her out of her tearful frenzy. But she persisted. She jerked away her arms and squirmed with her legs screaming.

“He’s in there! He’s in there...! Josif!”

Lance snatched the rifle from her and released the safety. He fired a burst into the statue’s skull. But the stone did not relent. It hardly chipped, and Lance mouthed astonished curses as the tombs all turned to face the shockwave of the gun’s barrel. Sauer’s jaw unclenched. She scrambled, now shaking tepidly compared to the tirade she had wrought but moments ago. With numb hands, she climbed. Crawled to the tomb’s base to stare the wretched rock in the eyes. And she wept. She cried his name softly, knowing deep inside she couldn’t do this without him. Knowing even if she could, the ship would be empty without him. Knowing but rejecting. Knowing but refusing.

“He could still be around,” Michelle said. “There might be another trail, something we missed. If we backtrack-”

“No.” Sauer sniffed and wiped away at her eyes in futility as she stood. “No, we have to continue. We have to get to the forest. We’re not gonna last much longer if we don’t. We probably won’t either way, but Josif would want us to get to safety. He’d want you two to get to safety. And he’d want me to get you there.”

“But Erika-”

“We’re going.” Sauer didn’t look the others in the eyes as she walked past them. “Come on, Samuel’s waiting. Best get back before he’s gone too.”

***

In the passing hours, darkness wisped, and light flickered as the stunned crew trod in traumatic silence. The crunch of boots filled the void. The skid of tired legs as they stumbled and stretched. The water in Sauer’s eyes trickled as she walked, and the crimson wastes before her flooded her sight.

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