Walking the Ruins

Smoke, and a message

Anna is right. The drone is heading in the direction of our camp.

We start running after it, dashing through the woods. 

Anna's breathing gets louder. I slow down. I don't want to leave her behind.

We continue at a brisk walk.

"Do you think Jan knows where the camp is?" she asks.

"I don't know," I reply, then I shrug. "I don't know how sensitive the drone's infrared sensors are."

"Infrared?" she asks.

"Inter-red," I say, not in the mood for a physics lesson.

I wonder if she has heard the irritation in my voice and work on formulating an apology when I hear the sound of an explosion in the distance.

My heart skips a beat.

"Shit!" I cry and start running again.

When I get the first glimpse of smoke rising between the trees, I stop, letting Anna catch up. Seconds later, she's beside me, breathing heavily.

Together we continue, and the industrial building where we set up camp the night before comes into view. A smoking crater gapes in the ground close beside it, the wall facing it blackened and cracked. An acrid smell hangs in the air.

The drone is still hovering above the site of the explosion.

I am tempted to make a dash for the building, frantic to see if Kevin and Rose are all right. With an effort, I hold myself back. Jan does not know how many we are, and he must not see us.

"Come," I say to Anna, leading her to the left, away from the drone.

Silently, we make a wide circle around the site. We finally approach the building from its backside. I find an empty window, and we enter.

"Kevin, Rose!" I shout.

The only reply is the faint whir of the drone from the other side.

We cross a dusty room to reach a corridor beyond. I turn right because that's where the drone's sound comes from.

"Hey! Kevin, Rose!" I yell again.

"Leona?" It's Kevin's subdued voice from somewhere ahead.

We make our way through the rubble and reach the front room where we have set up our stuff. Rose is lying on the floor, Kevin is crouched beside her. I see blood on her face. Lots of blood.

"What's happened?" I ask, kneeling down to have a look at Rose.

She reaches out for me, grabbing my hand. "Leona!"

"We were outside," Kevin says, "at the upper end of the building. Suddenly we heard the drone and it appeared over the treetops. I guess it detected the residual heat from our fire." He lays a trembling hand on Rose's womb. "You... you told us that it's armed with a bomb. So we ran inside, and it must have dropped it nearly at the same time. We barely escaped the explosion. Rose fell. I think she's hit her head."

I ignore his babble and examine Rose's injuries. A long gash at her hairline bleeds profusely, but it does not seem to be deep. "Any other injuries?" I ask her.

"No, I think that's all," she replies. "But it hurts."

"Let me check," Kevin says. He pushes me away and starts prodding Rose's belly for damage. "Does this hurt?"

She shakes her head.

From the windows to my left, I hear the noise of the drone getting louder.

I get up and look around. The crossbow is leaned against a wall. I grab it. My hands are shaking when I draw it. The wire cuts into my fingers, tearing skin, but I don't have time to get something to protect them. I manage to insert the wire into the notch, and then I load a bolt into the track. My hands are slippery with blood. Rose's or mine. Probably both.

I approach a window.

Slowly, like a predator descending on a prey it knows to be helpless, the drone loses height while describing its curious, searching circles. I rest the crossbow on the frame of the shattered window, taking aim.

I hold my breath and pull the trigger.

The butt of the weapon kicks my shoulder, and the bolt flies off with a whiz. It misses the drone by half a meter.

I draw the crossbow's wire once more, this time trying to protect my hurting fingers with my sleeve. As I finally manage to cock the thing, the wire breaks with a twanging noise.

I grit my teeth. "Where's the spare wire?" I hiss.

"Wait," replies Kevin and gets up. Rose is now perched against a wall, knees pulled against her, arms across her belly. Anna is holding her hand.

The noise from the window gets louder. Turning my head I see the drone hovering right outside, its one camera eye trained on me. I pick up a piece of rubble and throw it, but I miss. The machine retreats by a couple of meters—Jan seems to have noticed my efforts. Then it makes a weird motion, tilting to the left and to the right as if wiggling its missing wings. 

As if making fun of me.

Kevin is busy with the crossbow and the spare wire, but I don't care. All my attention, my anger, and my hate are focused on the humming machine outside. I walk to the door and leave the building. The drone is hovering about five meters away from me. A stone's throw, but my hands are empty. That's fine for me because I am not here to destroy the thing, not now. 

I'm here for the message.

Approaching the drone, I see my image reflected in its lens.

I raise a fist, knuckles facing the camera. 

Then I extend my middle finger.