Sky of Dust: The Last Weapon (21 page)

The teriyaki chicken booth had no customers, but I was a little hungry
,
so I decided to grab a few. The man who served me had bandages over his face, I
assumed
from the falling glass.

I paid the man and took the small bag full of chicken on a stick. I began to eat as I walked. It was hard to believe
,
in a few more days
,
I would be leaving this place on what seem
ed
like a suicide mission. I shook my head. I couldn’t think like that.

I reached the apartment and opened the door. I finally had my chip reprogrammed
,
so I did not have to wait for D
ad all the time. I tossed the remaining chicken in the refrigerator for later and walked to my room
.

I was about to sit on my bed when I noticed a large black bag with a large watch sitting on top of it.

I picked up the watch and began to examine it. I flipped it over and popped off the back, revealing two capsules, a little bigger than the ones in our watches now. I snapped the cover back on and examined the face
of the watch. It had extra buttons that I
didn’t
dare touch.

I set the watch down and unzipped the plastic bag, revealing a gray military type uniform. It was surprisingly lightweight
and had places for guns and knives. I guess this was what we would be wearing to the Renatus HQ.

I picked up the watch and the uniform and placed them on my chair. I would ask dad about it in the morning.

I climbed into bed
and shut my eyes, trying to think of a happy memory to put me to sleep. I tried to replay the image of Abigail in her dress
,
but it was coming in blurry, and the effectiveness was already wearing out.

My
mind
wandered to the girl I had met under the tree, Annie. She had good humor despite her condition. She seemed happy. I slipped off to sleep
with the sound of her laughing in my head.

I
woke up around nine in the morning, which felt great. It
had
been weeks since I was able to sleep for that long without waking from nightmares.

I pulled on a T-shirt and some shorts and walked out into the living area. Dad’s door was opened
,
but he was not inside. He must have left early today. I guess I
would
have to ask him later about the watch and uniform on my bed.

I opened the refrigerator to grab my teriyaki chicken
,
but they were gone.

“
Damnit
,
”
I cursed under my breath. The food was technically his since I was using his money, but it was the point.

I shut the refrigerator door when I heard the doorbell ring.

Who would be ringing our doorbell
?
I
t’s
not like we had a lot of friends.

I open the door just enough to peak out.

“
Boo!
”
Mary shoved her face in the crack. I admit
,
I was a bit jumpy
,
but I played it off.

“
What are you doing here?
”
I asked.

“
I came to drop this off before you left.
”
Mary slid the brown bag down her arm and handed it to me.
“
I am going to go get fitted for a uniform.
”

“
Oh, yeah
.
I had one lying on my bed last night
with a new watch
,
”
I replied.
“
Any idea what
they’re
for?
”

Mary shook her head.

“
Nope. I will let you know if I find something out
,
”
Mary assured me. Her expression changed
,
and she narrowed her eyes at me.
“
Are you sure you want to tell Annie?
”

I reached in the front pocket of the bag and pulled out a small picture.

The image was a bit worn, but it was clearly the Annie I knew. She was about four or five in the picture. Her hair was pulled back in two pony tails, her light brown skin reflecting the sunlight. She was happy. She stood between Paul and Linda, who both looked just as happy.

“
Yeah
,
”
I replied.
“
Don’t worry.
”

I placed the picture back in the bag and stepped out into the hall.

Mary and I said our goodbyes
,
and we headed off in different directions.

The wilderness training area was fairly empty. A few people were out jogging and sparring. I scanned the open field for any signs of Annie
,
but there was no sign
of
her. I decided to check near the tree
where
we had first met.

As I got closer
,
it was evident she was not there, so I decided to have a seat and wait for a while. I sat back against the tree and started to listen to the birds sing.

I had almost dozed off when I heard someone clearing their throat. I opened my eyes and looked up.

Annie was looking at me with her arms crossed
,
with
an annoyed look on her face.
She was wearing a yellow sundress and yellow flip flops. Her mouth
then slipped into a smile
,
and she flopped down next to me.

Annie
took out her notepad and began to scribble.

“
Why are you hear?
”
s
he wrote.

I took the pad from her and scratched out her
“
hear
”
and replaced it with
“
here.
”
Once I was done
,
I showed her
,
and she smiled like she had accomplished something.

I then wrote,
“
I need to tell you something about your family.
”

I handed
Annie
the pad
,
and her smile faded. She stuffed the pad into her bag and tried to stand up.

“
Please.
”
I tried to get her to look at me.

She shrugged off my hand and began to stand up.

I reached into the bag and took out the picture
, placing
it in her hand.

She turned away and looked at the picture
,
and she froze. She let her bag fall slowly into the grass.

She turned, with tears in her eyes.

“
How?
”
Annie cried, waving the picture.

“
Please sit
,
”
I mouthed as I patted the ground.

Annie reluctantly sat down a little farther away from me.

I motioned for the pad and the pen
,
and she reached
into
her bag to retrieve them.

I grasped the pen,
wondering
where to start; I could not tell her that her dad had tried to turn us in. It would hurt her more. I began to write, making sure I was making it
was
easy to understand.

“
Annie, I met your father, Paul. He helped me and my friends escape from the
E
ast. We were attacked
,
and your dad stayed behind to protect us. Before we left
,
he asked us to find you and give you this bag. I do not know what happened to him after we left. I am sorry.
”

I handed her the notebook and watched as her eyes began to dart back and forth across the page. She must
have
read
it
three or four times before she looked up.

I handed her the bag and began to stand up. I figured she would want to be alone when she opened it.

She reached forward and grabbed my arm.

“
Please
,
”
Annie mouthed
,
her eyes full of tears.

I sat back down as she started to unzip the bag.

The first thing she pulled out was an old doll that wore a yellow dress. Annie smiled as a few tears slid down her face. She looked at me and pointed to at the dolls dress and then to hers.

“
Your favorite color is yellow?
”
I mouthed.

She nodded and placed the doll on her chest as she began to pull out the next item from the bag.

She pulled out a long silver necklace with a small sun charm.

She smiled at me then pointed to herself then
clutched
the necklace
and pulled it to her chest and mouthed
“
mom.
”

“
You always took it from your mom?
”
I mouthed.

Annie nodded and began to work at the clasps, but her fingers were shaking
too
hard.

I reached
over
,
took the necklace from her
,
and unfasten
ed
it. I hel
d the necklace
up for her to take
,
but instead she smiled and lifted her hair
, turning for me to put
it on her
.

My hands started to shake. I was not expecting this.

I reached around slowly and fastened the necklace. She turned towards me and put her hands up as if saying,
“
What do you think?
”

The truth was, she looked beautiful
. I
had been so worried about telling her about her dad and communicating with her that I never really noticed. The necklace sparkled and really stood out against her skin.

I gave her
a
thumbs up
,
and she put her hands over her face and tilted her
head
as to say she was embarrassed.

She reached in the bag and took out a
smaller bag
that contained two small balls and a bunch of little metal objects.

She got really excited and started making a whole lot of motions. She finally picked up that I did not comprehend
,
so she took out her pad and wrote,
“
It is a game my dad and I used to play. You bounce the ball and try to pick up as many as you can. I always beat him.
”

I smiled and held my hand out for the pad
, then
wrote,
“
I think I may be able to beat you at that.
”

She read what I wrote
,
crossed her arms
,
and shook her head.

We both laughed, but she stopped when she pulled out the last item in the bag, a letter.

She carefully opened it and began to read.

After about a few minutes
,
she folded the letter and hugged her legs. Tears began to spill from her eyes
,
and she made a gurgling sound
,
and then
began to sob uncontrollably.

I did not know what to do. I wanted to
comfort
her
,
but I did not think it was my place. I had just met her and brought her bad news.

I reached in my bag and grabbed a few clean napkins left over from lunch and placed them in her hand.

She fell back into me and buried
her face into my chest. I wrapped my arms around her. She was shaking
,
and I could feel my shirt
begin to saturate with tears, b
ut she deserved to do whatever comforted her.

After what seemed like an hour, she finally calmed down and sat up. She dried her face with the napkins that were now tiny balls in her hand.

“
I’m sorry
,
”
I told her when she looked at me.

She smiled and mouthed,
“
Thank you.
”

She placed the doll,
the
bag with the balls, and the letter back into the bag and looked down at the necklace and touched it.

She took a deep breath
before taking
out her pad and
writing
,
“
So Dalyn, what do you want to do today?
”

I was a bit shocked. She had just found out about her family
,
and now she want
ed
to do something? I had no other real plans
,
and
,
to be honest
,
I found her intriguing.

I took the pad and wrote,
“
I have only been HERE for about two weeks. You decide.
”

She read it and started to look in the air
,
then smiled as if she had an idea. She stuffed the pad under her arm and flung her bags over her shoulder. As she stood up
,
she grabbed my hand and pulled me up.

She motioned with her hands to follow
,
and we headed towards a gated area in the corner of the complex. It took about fifteen minutes to get there
,
and
,
when we did, I was disappointed to see that the door to the other side was closed and locked.

Annie pointed at the ladder on the other side of th
e chain door that
led
straight to the ceiling several hundred feet up.

I was
now
kind of relieved the door was locked because I
probably
could
not have made it a few feet
up
without passing out.

I motioned towards the door and shrugged.

Annie gave me a mischievous smile and rubbed her hands together. She walked over to the door knob
,
and I heard a buzz and a pop
,
then the door unlocked.