10.2
What Blake led them to was another ridge, this one much lower than the last.
He climbed to its summit with a smile, and he looked down proudly into the crater's depth.
The depression in the earth descended several dozen feet downwards before bottoming out, just above the water table. Its surface of rocks and dirt was covered in a layer of rubble, ranging from massive pieces of bent metal to piles of shattered glass and wood.
And on that twisted pile of steel, two feet were firmly planted.
A man stood there, tall, muscular, and proud in his posture.
His button-up maroon chambray shirt was tucked into his blue jeans, which were secured around his hips by a thick, brown leather belt.
His long hair was a bright blond, and it was tied back in a bun with a few strands hanging loose on either side. His beard was a matching color, and it was cut with sharp edges, giving him the appearance of a professional woodsman.
In his left hand, he held a chain, and on his outer left arm, he wore a collection of tattoos depicting the bones beneath his skin.
He shifted his weight and turned around, directing his piercing, blue eyes up at the travelers standing above him.
Blake raised a hand in greeting, and he called down to the man.
"Owen! I'm glad to see you doing so well!"
"Come down, Blake!" Owen responded in a deep roar of a voice. "I can't hear you from so far away!"
Blake turned his head to the side and, as he'd expected, he found Nikki's hazel brown eyes staring bullet holes through his own.
"He's a friend of mine," he explained. "I arranged to meet him here."
"And why didn't you tell us?"
Nikki's voice wasn't angry, nor was there any accusatory edge. Instead, it was the voice of one who had lost all hope and was fully prepared to hear the most devastating answer imaginable.
"I thought you might not want to come," he replied honestly. "But once you meet him, you'll realize that you have no reason to be afraid."
Nikki staggered backwards.
She grabbed Eve by the shoulder.
"Eve. We need to get out."
Either her whispers didn't reach Eve's ears, or the girl simply rejected them as she stepped up to the top of the ridge.
She looked down at the intimidating figure below, and she didn't even try to understand how he got there.
Eve had given up.
She was ready to die, so how could she be afraid of anyone?
Without hesitation, she stepped down and began descending the crater's steep wall.
"Nikki," Blake said. "If Owen had bad intentions, you would be able to sense them, wouldn't you? Why are you so afraid?"
"I've been feeling danger from everywhere ever since we came here," she mumbled weakly. "How could I tell if it's coming from him, or from the rogues?"
"The difference should be obvious," Blake replied objectively. "You know that, so why don't we follow Eve down? If Owen is as violent as you seem to think he is, Eve could be in serious danger."
A shaking exhale escaped Nikki's lips, almost like a little sob, but she held herself together and turned around. She took a confident step towards Corvus's slouched figure, grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him with her, over the ridge and down the wall.
The wind whipped inside the crater, blowing Blake's hair across his face as he stepped slowly down. Something caught his eye as he navigated around a chunk of concrete.
To his right, there was an explosion of color on the ragged slope.
He felt himself drawn in its direction, and upon reaching it, he found big cans of paint, littered from the top of the crater to the bottom, as if spread by a landslide.
On the pieces of broken plastic and metal, some of the paints' colors still remained, and he observed the faded reds with interest, an idea formulating in his mind.
Miraculously, his eyes found a can that was unpunctured, and he wrapped his fingers around the handle with a smile.
Eve reached the man at the bottom, and she looked up into his face with a strange curiosity.
He was only a few inches shorter than Corvus, and his broad shoulders radiated a confident capability.
With a wide, white smile, he offered his hand to her.
She shook it without thinking, and found her entire hand enveloped inside of his firm yet gentle grip. His fingers were incredibly tough and calloused, and she eyed the defined muscles and thick veins in his forearm as he released her.
"I'm Owen," he greeted.
She forgot any need to reply, and only continued her scrutiny of him, now moving to his bright blue eyes and sharp golden beard.
He laughed a deep, resonant chuckle.
"I don't mind a wary girl. Mine's the same."
Even blinked at him, unable to understand what he had said.
She felt Nikki's hand on her shoulder.
"You're Owen, right?" the woman practically spat at him.
He hadn't done anything wrong, but she looked at him as if he had.
"Oho. I am, but are you going to tell me your name?"
"Nikki" she hissed through gritted teeth. "What are you doing here?"
Owen raised his eyebrows and made an expression that meant he didn't fully understand her.
"Blake asked me to help him get in."
Nikki's tense face was wiped clean.
Her eyes went blank, and her jaw dropped open in shock
Or rather, in sudden realization.
Not every mystery was solved, but part of the truth was finally exposed.
Her eyes dropped to the chain in his hand and followed it, link by link, to its resting place on the ground.
There, at the end of its coils, sat a spiked, metal ball.
It was big–larger than the size of someone's head–and although it was resting in the shade of the rubble, Nikki could clearly see the blood that stained its shining surface.
In the midst of her wide-eyed trance, Nikki's ears caught the sound of a sloshing liquid being dumped out onto the ground.
Blake was behind Owen, walking backwards as he emptied the contents of a can of red paint onto a ground of pure metal, one that the color wouldn't easily wash away from.
He poured the paint in a slow, steady stream, and when he finished his first long stroke, he repositioned himself and started another.
Nikki watched him draw three straight lines, each one some forty feet long.
When she walked past Owen's figure and peered down at Blake's work, she was able to make out two distinct symbols: first an "X," then an "I."
XI
In the background, she heard another "I'm Owen," presumably as he introduced himself to Corvus, but her surroundings were muffled, and she could see nothing apart from Blake and the red symbol he'd drawn.
why'd he draw that…
why the hell did he draw that?
Nikki placed a shaking hand over her mouth, as if that shape on the ground was an exhibit of hideous torture.
Why aren't rogues here?
Why are we here?
Who is Owen?
Who is Blake?
The can clattered against metal as Blake tossed it aside, satisfied with his work. He turned and faced Nikki, matching her shock with an expression that was no more than casual.
"Nikki and Corvus," he declared, as if announcing their names as the winners of a raffle. "The main reason I had for coming here was to offer the two of you an opportunity to collaborate with us. By us, I mean Owen, myself, and a few others who are all interested in changing this world for the better."
"I've already mentioned this dream to both of you, but now, it's a tangible goal, and I am setting out to achieve it in an organized fashion. My plans require us to reenter society, which will, of course, entail some risks, but nothing more than we've already faced. I'd appreciate your help, so will you continue working with me?"
Nikki considered what he'd said, but she didn't even think to ask about how much power he had, how he planned on gaining any influence, or exactly what would be asked of her.
His plan was full of holes, but one swallowed up all the rest.
"What about Eve?"
Betrayal twisted her insides like the jaws of a crocodile, and she looked at Blake with eyes that couldn't believe what she knew she was about to hear.
"She doesn't fit the requirements." Blake looked at Eve and apologized, "Sorry, Eve, you'll have to work alone from now on."
"No."
Nikki shook her head back and forth.
Blake's eyes met hers and she gasped.
"no no no no no no no no no."
She sank to her knees and wrapped her hands over her ears.
Her crazed rejections became inaudible, disappearing into a strong gust of wind.
"I figured you'd be against it, at least to begin with, Nikki," Blake lamented. "What about you, Corvus? Will you follow me into society and take action for a better future?"
Knowing that the man wouldn't raise his voice, Blake walked past Nikki and past Owen before stopping beneath Corvus's downturned head and looking up into those dark, hollow eyes.
"What if I say 'no'?" Corvus rasped.
"If you choose to part with me," Blake replied, "we'll go our separate ways, starting now. But that would benefit no–"
"You'll leave us," Corvus interrupted.
"Leave us to die."
Blake stared at Corvus, eyebrows half-raised and eyes half-laughing.
He snorted.
"So you haven't entirely lost your mind? But that only makes this easier, because you wouldn't choose to die."
Beneath the shadow of his long black hair, Corvus's irises grew even darker.
"Leave me."
"Nikki!" Blake called over his shoulder. "Now that you've heard Corvus's take, have you changed your mind? Would you take life over death?"
Nikki had found her feet, and she'd found something else too.
Not showing an ounce of fear, she approached Blake with a strength in her stride.
She raised a hand, which no longer shook in the slightest, and slapped him across the face.
"You're a twisted bastard, and I'd rather die than help you."
Above his cheek, which was burning a bright red, his eyelids grew heavier, and his gaze seemed to narrow. Any amusement that had been contained within his irises turned into a raw sneer.
"Come on, guys!" Nikki yelled to Eve and Corvus. "Let's get out of here!"
They were in agreement, and all three of them turned to make their exit and a bid at surviving Portland alone.
But Blake raised both hands above his head and clapped.
The sound rang out clearly through the entire crater, and even a little over its edge.
Nikki froze, and then she fell.
Her knees collapsed into a pile of glass.
She couldn't breathe.
Like a fish in the open air, her mouth gulped frantically, but her lungs were airtight, and her hands could do no more than claw at the skin covering her ribcage.
"E-eeve" she wheezed, finally managing to squeeze out a spurt of air.
Eve watched Nikki's sweating face in horror, unable to break her eyes from Nikki's desperate gaze.
"U-up there."
Eve turned in a flash, pulling her gun out of its sling and aiming for the crater's rim. Corvus did the same, but when a row of targets appeared on the crest of the slope, neither of them thought to pull the trigger.
Over the course of a second, the crater's entire perimeter had been populated by deer.
Headless deer.
They were lined shoulder to shoulder, and out of the hundreds that stood there, completely motionless, every single one had the exact same size and stature.
The circle they'd formed was hauntingly perfect, not marred by a single error.
Except for one.
Into the single, tiny space in the ring, a human figure emerged.
The body appeared to belong to a woman, and it was clad in a heavy golden cape.
But her face was concealed beneath a black ski mask, which had a shiny golden graduation cap sewed on top.