TRAVELERS TRAVERSING THE PLANET

She woke to the sound of the truck’s canopy blowing in the wind.

The clattering vibrations and the noise of the engine reverberated under her cheek on the floor. She was wrapped up in a blanket in a corner of the truck bed; she didn’t remember going to sleep, but apparently she had been dozing. Above her head, the radio played staticky music at a low volume that melted into the truck’s reverberations.

She opened her eyes a little, confirmed that it was dark around her, and closed them again. She wanted to keep sleeping.

It was their second night driving across the South-hairo wilderness since she’d said good-bye to Buzz. They’d encountered another truck on the way, and its driver was kind enough to share some blankets, water, and food. He saw that at least one of them was covered in blood and dust, and even gave them some clothes to change into.

Just as she was about to fall into the depths of slumber once again, Kieli noticed muffled voices talking in the seats up front. They blended with the rattling of the truck and only reached her as whispers, but they were exchanging short, sharp words, as if they were arguing.

Finally, she heard words like “favor” and “owe,” and as the conversation cut off, the truck stopped for a moment. There was the sound of the passenger door opening and closing; then she sensed someone open the back cover a crack and climb into the truck’s bed. The sound coming from the radio suddenly disappeared. There were a few seconds of oddly pregnant silence, but then the truck started up again and the familiar staticky music began once more.

“…Harvey?”

“Sorry, did I wake you up?”

“No…”

She rubbed her eyes groggily and sat up. In the darkness, a tall shadow crawled up to her on one hand and sat by the wall. She thought she heard him search his pockets, and a flame sprang to life from his lighter. Harvey’s profile rose into view as he lit the cigarette in his mouth.

“…Can I sit by you?”

He didn’t answer, but the small light at the end of his cigarette nodded, so Kieli dragged the blanket with her and sat down next to Harvey.

“I just had an interesting dream.”

“Huh. What was it about?”

“I’m not telling. It was boring.”

“Make up your mind.”

After the brief exchange, the conversation immediately broke off.

It was a dream about a long time ago, when she was living with her grandmother in their apartment in Easterbury. In the middle of it, for some reason, her grandmother changed into her mother, and her mother saw Kieli off as she went to school. Becca sat next to her, and the Corporal was the history teacher, but he was still a radio, and he talked from on top of the teacher’s desk.

Even she thought it was a pretty wishful-thinking kind of dream. But she wished she could have seen a little more of it. After all, Harvey hadn’t shown up yet, and she wanted to see what role he would play.…

She fell into a doze as she thought about it, and her head plopped onto the shoulder next to her.

“Mm. Sorry…”

“It’s fine. Sleep. It won’t be morning for a while.”

He hugged her head lightly toward him and pressed her cheek to his shirt. She felt his fingers gently touch the adhesive bandage on her forehead. “Okay.…” His pleasant warmth and the scent of tobacco enveloped her, and her eyelids naturally grew heavy. She felt as though she could see more of that dream if she went to sleep now, and she accepted the invitation to give herself over to slumber.

“Good night,” his low voice whispered in her ear. As sleep pulled her consciousness further away, she wondered why the words sounded like a farewell.

“I think I’ll go to the capital. I want to see if Jude is alive or dead.”

“The capital’s risky. It would be like jumping into a nest of Undying hunters.”

“Oh, it’ll work out.”

“As usual, you haven’t thought this through, have you?”

“I have a favor to ask. I want you to look after Kieli for a while.”

“What?”

“I’m going alone. I can’t take Kieli with me. You take her.”

“You’ve got to be kidding. No. First of all, what are you going to tell her?”

“……”

“You can’t tell her, can you?”

“…Tell her I’m sorry.”

“She’ll cry, you know.”

“…Yeah.”

“…Now, look. If it’s enough to have you making that face, just take her with you.”

“You’re the one who told me to leave her with someone.…”

“I told you to leave her with someone, but I never once said that I would take her.”

“You’re the only one I can trust her with.”

“Don’t count on me only when it’s convenient for you.”

“Bea.”

“I don’t care.”

“Beatrix.”

“…Don’t call me that only when it’s convenient for you.”

“Please.”

“…This is a big favor.”

“I’ll owe you.”

A faint, sand-colored light shone through a break in the thick, blue-gray clouds filling the sky overhead.

He stopped and turned around, squinting into the brightening distance. He’d thought he might still be able to make out the shadow of the truck he had left a few moments ago, but as far as the eye could see, all that spread before him was the South-hairo wilderness, barren except for a few forlorn shrubs sprouting here and there. He couldn’t even find the faintest cloud of dust.

Harvey breathed a light sigh and dropped his eyes, then he suddenly remembered something and shifted his gaze to the dirt in front of his shoes.

His shoe took one firm step on the ground, and he wondered if he was standing on a path right now. It was possible that he had set foot on an absurdly wrong path. He didn’t have an ounce of confidence that what he had decided today was right.

“…Well, I guess it’ll work out.” Even so, if he kept walking, he would most likely get somewhere soon enough.

He wanted to try walking alone for a while. He hadn’t in a long time.

Still, “alone” before and “alone” now weren’t exactly the same.…

A small motor moaned somewhere near his right elbow, asserting itself.

“Oh, sorry. That’s right; you’re with me now.”

He looked down at the right hand he had shoved into his pocket and smiled wryly. The right arm was mostly connected now, but the nerves hadn’t fused together yet. Somehow, he had a hunch that they might never go back to complete synchronization like before—it wasn’t as if he had ever measured it, so this was based only on what he felt, but he thought the regeneration of his wounds was subtly slower now. Very rarely, when he had completely forgotten about it, a dull pain throbbed in the heart of his body.

…Well, it’ll probably work out, he decided. Although even Harvey got the feeling that when it came to himself, he was negligent, or maybe careless, or actually just not thinking at all.

“Guess I’ll get going,” he murmured, half to his partner and half to himself, then turned on his heels and started to walk again.

The sandy, dry wind blew past, ruffling his hair. He once again felt the wilderness air on his skin, so familiar to him that he was sick of it; and he walked alone as he had done alone for so long: not too fast, not too slow, but at his usual pace.

He noticed that his usual pace was a little slower than it had been before.

He stopped and turned around one last time, casting a glance far across the landscape, beyond the horizon hung with sand-colored gas, to where an old three-wheeled truck most likely rumbled along.

Alone before and alone now were a little different.

This time, he had a place to return home to.