Edge of Time (19 page)

R
iley pulled off the highway and entered the city. It was late afternoon and the trip, which normally would take forty minutes, had stretched into hours. There had been several other checkpoints to pass through and several detours because of burned-out vehicles blocking the road. So far they hadn't found anything to eat: every fast food joint was either empty or destroyed. Alec was getting progressively grumpier with every minute and even Darius' stomach was growling. They ought to rest too, she decided, before engaging in any combat with Rhozan.

She steered the truck down the wide thoroughfare that changed from industrial to retail in a matter of a couple of blocks. She slowed as she spotted a possibility: a pizza joint on the other side of the street. A latticed metal blind still completely covered both the window and the door. Riley made a U-turn and pulled up onto the sidewalk, leaving minimal space between the side of the truck and the storefront. She cut the engine. Darius hopped out and jimmied the padlock open with a bit of wire.

Inside, the little take-out was in surprisingly good shape. The smell of yeast and pepperoni still clung to the air. Riley washed her hands and splashed water over her face at the kitchen sink. The humidity was stifling. Not wanting to overload any circuits, Riley turned on the ovens, left the air conditioning alone and forced herself to ignore the heat. She ordered Darius to take a seat in the front room and keep an eye out for trouble. She gave him a cold can of cola and a clean glass and gave a rueful shake of her head at his overly pleased expression.

She and Alec worked side-by-side, rolling out the dough that was in the freezer until it had thawed enough to form the correct shape. Alec had proven himself unacceptably dangerous with the vegetable peeler, so she gave him the bacon to fry.

She watched him out of the corner of her eye. The way his hair flopped over his forehead and he kept having to push it back with the back of his hand was kind of endearing. She watched him eyeing the telephone as he finished with the meat and sprinkled the last generous handful of cheese over what she had labelled “his pizza.”

“Thinking of calling your folks?”

Alec picked up his overloaded extra-extra large and slid it easily into the wide-mouthed oven. He closed the door and shrugged. “As soon as we find one that works.”

“Better ask Darius first. Just in case.”

“In case what? I doubt Rhozan's listening in.”

“You can't be sure. You don't know what Rhozan's capable of.”

“Do you?”

“Well no. I don't,” Riley conceded. Why did every conversation with this boy turn into an argument?

“Maybe you ought to phone your own parents. Won't they be worried about you?”

Riley turned away and grabbed at a cloth. She began wiping down the counter. “My dad'll be at the hospital. There're probably lots of injured people flooding the wards and every doctor and nurse will be on duty. He'll be too busy to worry about me.”

Alec stood in her way, blocking her from rinsing out the cloth under the faucet. “What about your mom?”

“Move, Alec.” Riley gave him a little shove. It was like shoving a mountain. She took a shocked step back as something fluttered inside her and slipped away.

“You do have a mom, don't you?” he pushed.

“Yes, I do. She just isn't around.”

“Where is she?”

“Africa,” Riley snapped. “Somewhere in Africa. Doing relief work. I don't know where, exactly. It's been at least five months since I've had a letter.”

“Whoa,” Alec breathed. “I'm sorry.”

Riley blinked back the tears that threatened. She wished she didn't always start to cry when she thought about her mom; it had been four years since she'd left. Surely it shouldn't still hurt so much?

She was about to turn away when Alec's arms encircled her and he pulled her into a warm and rather awkward hug. He rested his chin on the top of her head. For a long moment, Riley didn't pull away. It felt so comfortable, so comforting and so
right
.

Good grief, what on earth was she doing? He was just a
kid
.

Gathering all her resolve, she pushed her hands against his chest, shoving him away. “Get off me,” she snapped, her face flooding with a telltale burning.

“Jeez, no need to take a fit,” Alec snapped back, his own cheeks now on fire.

“If I wanted to be mauled by some kid, I'd ask for it.” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself. “Keep your damn hands off me from now on, you hear me? Stick to babies your own age.” She whirled around, catching a glimpse of his stricken face, and ran out of the room.

Alec didn't follow.

Darius was standing at the side of the window, staring out past the bulk of the truck to the road. “He's trying to be nice to you,” he said quietly. “Why do you insist on hurting him every time he does?”

Riley picked up a cloth and began furiously wiping the counter.

“I should make you walk back in there and apologize,” Darius began, holding up his hand at her sharp intake of breath to stall her reply. “But I won't. You'll decide how and when you'll tell him how you really feel. You're not a child any longer and neither is he. Work this out between you with the minimum of wounds, Riley. Life is fleeting and unpredictable. Don't waste time on pride.”

Tears spilled down her cheeks and she angrily wiped them away. Without a word, she dumped the cloth next to the cash register, yanked open the glass door of the drinks cooler and helped herself. The gas hissed as she popped the tab. She swallowed eagerly, the cold fizz soothing the burning in her throat but not easing the lump that had lodged there.

A
lec licked the last of the pizza sauce from his fingers and sighed with contentment. He couldn't remember ever eating a better meal. Riley might be unpredictable and beyond annoying, but he had to admit she could really cook.

He was trying very hard to ignore her, but it wasn't easy. Darius sat between them at the counter that faced the window and all three of them hardly spoke while they ate. Darius kept giving the two of them intent looks, and Alec had the feeling that he was trying to impart some telepathic message to him. Too bad he didn't have the skill to pick up on it.

Darius apparently had never eaten pizza before and had mooched pieces from both Riley's and his pie as “experiments in cultural appreciation.” It had been worth losing the food to see his expression as he bit into the overburdened crust with every single topping available in the store. He'd stifled a laugh as Darius picked off the remaining anchovies before finishing the slice.

Now, replete and bordering on uncomfortable, Alec wondered what they were going to do. Confronting Rhozan and closing the rips was not an option. He didn't know how to do it and would only get himself killed. Running was a far better option. Head over to his apartment, tell his folks the truth (Hi Mom, guess what I did?) and convince them to take off into the unknown with the three of them.

He remembered the dead phone in the back. “Darius–”

“No,” Darius cut him off. “No phone calls.”

“Why not?” Alec exploded. “One call. Just to check that they're okay. If they're not at home, I need to know it.”

“Alec, we're not going back to your apartment to pay a social call. We're going to close the rips and send Rhozan packing. It's not going to be pretty. You'd better hope your parents
aren't
at home. You don't want them in the way. I certainly don't.”

“Yeah, but …” Alec almost turned to Riley for support before he remembered that he was mad at her. “Darius,” he pleaded, trying as hard as he could to infuse the Tyon power into his voice, “my mom will be frantic. I've been missing for weeks. The city is under siege. I just want to tell her I'm all right.
Please
.”

Darius said nothing, but wiped both his hands on his napkin before standing up and embracing Alec in a tight hug. Alec was so shocked he didn't move. He didn't see Riley get up and head to the kitchen.

“Please, trust me. I have good reason for not permitting this contact now. I'm sorry.” He let Alec go and took a step back.

No one ever hugged him but his mom. Alec turned away. He was
not
going to blubber like a little kid.

A bright flash, somewhere in the distance, momentarily lit the room. Alec whirled around to see out the window. A moment later the entire room rumbled with thunder. The first raindrops hit the hood of the truck with sharp pings, then the deluge began.

Darius stood with his hands on his hips, staring out at the torrent. Alec stalked over to the counter and started rummaging, the need to be moving and doing something almost overwhelming. The till was empty, but the tip jar still held a few bills and coins. He'd automatically emptied it into his hand before he realized what he'd done. He hesitated for a moment before he dumped the money back.

Rain drummed on the roof, louder and louder as the heavens heaped their wrath upon the city. There were two more brilliant flashes of lightning and the echoing thunder, then, as quickly as it had started, the storm was over. It was only as the constant roar of the rain ceased that Alec heard the voices.

Darius was under the counter in a flash and into the kitchen before Alec could make a sound. Alec dashed through the swinging doors. He skidded to a halt, almost dizzy in his relief that she was okay. Riley had found and set up a small portable television on the counter, with its aerial pointing towards the high, narrow ventilation window. She was perched on the opposite counter, her back against the wall and her arms crossed.

The picture was grainy and the sound less than pristine, but it was the news and more than welcome. Alec moved forward until he stood next to Darius.

A pale and unshaven anchor sat in shirtsleeves at a desk covered with piles of paper.

“What channel is this?” Alec asked.

“CNN,” Riley replied in a small and trembling voice. “New York is in big trouble and several spots in California. It's spreading.”

“That's the usual course of things,” Darius sighed. “The more negative emotions, the stronger the Others get, and the more they can manipulate naturally occurring rips for their own use. It's a vicious spiral.”

The anchor pulled one sheet from the pile to his left. His voice was hoarse. “As of midnight tonight, this channel will cease broadcasting from our headquarters here in Atlanta. Evacuation of this city has begun and is expected to continue throughout the night. The president enacted martial law as of noon today in the list of states you see on the screen beside me.” A long list ran down the screen beside the anchor's ear. The screen was too fuzzy to read clearly, but the list was pretty long.

There was a sudden fizzing sound and the power went off. The little TV screen glowed eerily for a minute then faded. Darius hopped onto the counter and peered out the small window to the alleyway behind. “Alec, run to the front and see if there are any other lights on.”

“Sure.” Alec turned around in the darkness and felt his way along the counter to the doors. He pushed them open and walked into the front room. He stubbed his toe and banged his hip on the counter, making his way to the window, but it was a useless venture. The entire street was dark. He made his way back. “Nothing. The whole street is out.”

“Might be city-wide,” Darius mused. “We'll stay here tonight. It's too dangerous to try and drive anywhere in the dark. Don't open the fridge until morning. If we're lucky, the food will be fine.” He hopped down. “I'm going out to the truck to see if there's anything in the back we don't want stolen. Then we'll pull down the metal blind thing and lock ourselves in for the night.”

They made beds out of the jackets Darius found in a rucksack and lay in the middle of the restaurant floor, but Alec couldn't rest. The news had hit him harder than he expected. The world really was falling apart – it wasn't just his own country. No one, other than Darius, seemed to think they could stop it worsening. Tomorrow he was going to face the instigator of this whole mess and he didn't have a clue what he was going to do. Did Rhozan know how scared he was? Was the Other laughing his head off right now? Did Darius actually have a plan or was he just trying to keep their spirits up until it was too late?

For a long time there was only the sound of their breathing and the soft moaning of the wind through the lattice of the metal curtain. Alec was pretty sure that Darius and Riley were awake, too. How could anyone sleep knowing that tomorrow all of them might die?