as he floated as if a cloud over a land turned gray and yet streaked with hot red and purple. Like pulsing veins that flowed from a giant beating heart.
And that heart was huge. He coasted over the rim of a giant raised crater and saw the bubbles rising and popping. A pulsating thing that filled him with a horror he didn’t understand.
Ding-a-ling-a-ding-a-ling.
The strident chime of bells woke him, and he sat straight up in his bed, a misnomer for the thin layer the blankets made on the floor.
The night remained quiet. Too quiet.
Had he truly heard the bells ring, or was that part of his dream?
Awake, he couldn’t just go back to sleep. He chose to peek out the window first. The starlight didn’t illuminate much, but he had a light. It took more cranking to power it enough for it to glow. It showed him nothing but white all over. Which was odd because in the daytime the ash appeared gray. Could it be the fabled frost he was seeing? He noted his breath huffed from his mouth in a cloud and the inside of the tank had chilled overnight.
But the cold wouldn’t have rung the bells. He kept cranking and looking for signs of the ash being disturbed. Saw nothing. The rear viewing port and side ones didn’t appear to have any steps in the dust outside. He thought about waiting for dawn to head outside, but honestly, the lack of raining ash made it easier to see. He suited up and headed out into the still landscape. His steps left distinctive tracks in the ash. The only tracks.
The line of bells remained circling the tank, the ash beyond it still lying in the valleys and swells where it drifted. Nothing disturbed the air, and yet he felt watched. He hefted the big gun he’d brought with him. Big enough to blow a hole he could shove his fist through. Useful when confronted with locked doors and big baddies.
He stayed out for a few minutes, pacing around the tank, seeing nothing. When he finally returned to the inside, he couldn’t sleep, so he started Burton’s engine. Cam drove the rest of that day, noticing when the road curved in order to divert around a mountain, which, according to his map, would soon turn into dozens of jutting hills and peaks with valleys in between. He wouldn’t be climbing any of those mountain tracks yet. He had a few more towns he wanted to look at.
But every village he found was the same. Abandoned. Empty of bodies or clues. A layer of dust and ash on everything.
The day proved to be a wash. When night hit, he was deep in another dead forest. He didn’t like all the trees so close to the tank. Hiding spots for predators. Yet he couldn’t find an open spot, and he knew it was past time he rested. A man couldn’t drive forever.
He tried to sleep. Unlike the previous night, it didn’t go well. He’d strung the bells again as best he could. However, the branches of the dead trees stretched over the warning line in several places, and there were too many to hack down, meaning something that could climb would be able to bypass his alert system. Assuming anything out here could climb. His caution seemed misplaced, given he’d yet to see a single living thing.
Didn’t see and yet would swear he wasn’t alone. He couldn’t shake the sense of being watched. It followed him even inside the tank and its secured walls. Lying down on the floor, wrapped in his blanket to combat the chill, he was all too aware of every single creak. He jumped up more than once to peer out a window, convinced he was about to be attacked.
He couldn’t help but remember the little boy who’d had to survive in the Wasteland, frightened by every noise, using that fear to fuel his bravery. Except back then he had a reason not to let cowardice win.
That reason was back in Eden, and as the night deepened, he and paranoia became close friends.
When dawn arrived, noticeable by the return of the ash and that dull haze, his eyes burned, gritty with fatigue. He put the truck into gear and followed the road, wondering how long it would take for his tracks in the dust to be erased by fresh ash and wind.
It occurred to him by the end of the third day of driving—and two more abandoned