Nite Fire: Exit Strategy by C. L. Schneider

Author:C. L. Schneider [Schneider, C. L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-04-14T16:00:00+00:00

Twenty-Two

I ignored Creed’s protests and walked him to his apartment. The streets were relatively empty. The blight was still avoidable, and we encountered no more overlaps or patrols on the way. Yet, despite the lack of danger, as the blocks went by, I was glad I listened to my gut. Creed appeared glad for the company. And I needed someone to talk to.

As we crossed street after street, I did my best to explain what I hadn’t on Drimera: my strange experience inside the exit. We debated the odds it was caused by an injury. I hit my head and hallucinated the entire thing. Or I visited a new plane of existence. A world between worlds, capable of sustaining life, and being invaded by the blight.

We discussed my frightening new take on the organism and tested it on a batch growing up through a vent in the sidewalk. I inched closer, both of us watching for a reaction. There was none. The result didn’t douse my speculation. Maybe I overreacted, and the blight didn’t have a grudge against me, but I still believed it could recognize a threat and adjust its growth accordingly. Since this was a new development, it was safe to assume: the more growth in an area, the stronger its perceptions. Possibly, it read spiked adrenaline levels, cortisol, or something else entirely tipped it off. Something it sensed on me after my fight with the monster in the pool hall, but not on our walk to Creed’s apartment.

It was all conjecture. I had no proof to support any of my theories, and we had no answers by the time we reached our destination. Still, saying it all out loud helped clear the clutter from my mind and ease my distress. Creed seemed better, too. His initial anxiety had morphed into resolve, sharpening his focus, and alleviating my concerns. Leaving him alone was still against my better judgement, but I sensed how badly the man needed me to trust him, to believe he could take care of himself.

Creed was trying to singlehandedly wipe away my deep-rooted lyrriken perception of humans. It was important to him: how I saw him. In his mind, our relationship counted on it.

I still made him promise three times to be careful.

Thankfully, his apartment building was intact. We said goodbye at the front door, and I headed to Nadine’s. The walk was unexpectedly tame. I caught the fleeting smell of nageun, spotted an ocacyl climbing a fire escape, and dodged two more squads of the Sentinel’s new law enforcement. My jaunt from Creed’s place only became eventful when I turned the corner to Nadine’s street and ran into a hurricane-level blast of hot wind. Pushed back by its might, and nearly knocked off my feet, I grabbed the building beside me for support. Grit rode the current, forcing me to cover my face and turn away. Wind, too fierce and tropical for winter on the East Coast, beat at my back and whipped my hair.

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