Fic: As We Walk Through Ashes - Part 1
Harvey gently stroked 90s Kid’s sweat-dampened hair and tried to take what little comfort he could in the fact that it had been a while since the teen’s last coughing fit. Even though Linksano had managed to construct a type of makeshift air mask for everyone not long after they first began their journey, the pernicious haze that now hung in the atmosphere had already done its damage. None of them were unaffected. Breathing the air outside had done Harvey more harm than his many years of smoking had ever given him, and god only knew how Linksano wasn’t worse off than he was considering all the time he spent out in the fumes, scavenging the endless debris for anything useful. But 90s Kid took it the worst, far worse, whatever the reason. Perhaps because he was so much younger.
They had tried to keep going south, trying to get away from the falling temperature and threat of facing winter snow, clinging to the hope that they might find medicine somewhere, needing to keep moving in the constant search for food and supplies. And 90s Kid had put on a brave face for them, pushed onward without complaint, but the air was stagnant and heavy with smog, and Linksano’s improvised filter could only do so much. The teen eventually took a turn for the worse, and it didn’t take long for Linksano to grimly inform them that their only option was to bunker down and that trying to press on any further with 90s Kid in such a weak state would only result in...
Harvey pushed the thought away.
“Come on, junior,” he whispered. “You’re stronger than this. I know you are.”
They had ended up taking refuge in an abandoned van along an empty back road. They hurriedly climbed in, trying to do so as fast as possible to keep as much of the hazardous air out as they could, and then trying to shut the door with as little noise as possible. Noise was dangerous.
Once they all were in, Ninja-Style Dancer, who had been carrying 90s Kid, laid the feverish teen in the farthest backseat and watched over him first. Linksano took the front passenger seat, rummaging through the glove compartment and front floorboards and then moving on to yanking out the radio and fiddling with wires and circuits as time wore on. Linkara sat with Harvey in the middles seats, and it took considerable effort on Harvey’s part to convince their fatigued and troubled leader to rest. It didn’t help that 90s Kid was still coughing severely at that point and Linkara cringed at every ragged draw for air. But weariness took its toll before long and soon enough, Linkara’s eyes closed.
For three days they took rotated around the van, restlessly climbing over seats and each other in turns, taking shifts for sleeping and watching 90s Kid, carefully rationing what food they had. Amongst five people to try and keep hydrated, they didn’t have the water to spare for wetting rags. They could only wipe at 90s Kid’s forehead with a piece of a ripped shirt and speak soothing words the teen was beyond hearing.
His fever spiked on the second day and later broke sometime in the night of the third day to the relief of everyone. But even so, he was pallid and too weak to even sit up on his own. He still coughed and shivered despite their best efforts to keep him warm, and he stayed in a fitful sleep save for brief moments when they managed to rouse him for sips of water and tiny bites of food.
“Hey,” a voice said softly from behind Harvey.
Harvey turned around to face Linkara, who closed his eyes and took deep breath.
“We need to talk,” Linkara informed him. “We all need to talk.”
His eyes opened once more and he looked afraid even though his voice stayed even. “Harvey, I....” he trailed off, losing his resolve for whatever he had been about to proclaim, and instead he straightened up in his chair and angled himself to view the van’s other occupants.
“Everyone, emergency meeting. Now.” Linkara said firmly in a raised voice.
Ninja-Style Dancer immediately opened his eyes and straightened up from his leaned back position while Linksano set down a mess of wires he had been tinkering with and turned towards Linkara, all the while Harvey continued to feel a prickling, sick unease at the expression Linkara wore and the way the his entire body was tense.
“Linksano, how many people can you teleport?” Linkara asked.
“Kid, what are you-”
“Harvey, just....just wait. Please,” Linkara begged gently, his eyes pleading even more so than his voice. When he saw compliance in Harvey’s expression, Linkara fixated his gaze back on Linksano. “Your teleporter,” he said again. “The inter-dimensional one I know you still have in your pocket. Can it teleport more than just you?”
All eyes then fell on the scientist who shrank back a little, looking nervous.
“It can transport two,” he answered somewhat meekly. “As long as they’re standing within a close enough proximity, two people can teleport. It wasn’t designed for any more than that, I’m sorry to say.”
Linkara simply nodded his head. “Okay. I figured as much.” He took a quick breath and finally got to the point of the meeting. “I want you to take 90s Kid away from here,” he stated with rigid resolution.
“You....WHAT?!” Linksano exclaimed, recoiling even further back away.
Harvey felt his breathing stop short for a moment and even Ninja-Style Dancer’s eyes widened at that.
“I want you to take 90s Kid away from here,” Linkara repeated. “I want you to get him to an Earth that’s not in the midst of hell. Somewhere, anywhere, where he can get real help.”
Linksano continued gaping for a few moments.
“Do you have any idea what you’re asking?” he finally said disbelievingly. “Do you know what sort of variables you’re dealing with? Never mind for the moment that you want to entrust 90s Kid’s to me, there’s no guarantee dimension hopping will result in a universe that’s any safer. No guarantee even, of reaching on an alternate Earth. And even if you’re lucky to teleport to an alternate Earth, and I cannot stress the sheer ‘luck’ part of that enough, there’s no precise pinpoint to any location. Just being on a stable planet is about as specific as you can get. This isn’t something you can just plug specific coordinates into like your regular communicator. There’s no way to know exactly where you might end up.”
“90s Kid’s not going to make if he stays here,” Linkara stated, his voiced pained and straining. “I know this isn’t a great plan. It’s....it’s a desperate plan,” he admitted. “I know there’s no way to know what will happen. But I do know that if he stays here, he’s going to die.”
Tears formed then, welling up and spilling over and Linkara’s voice trembled as he said fiercely. “I won’t just let that happen.”
The sight of Linkara crying shook the rest of the team. Hearing that Linksano had still possessed his teleporter all along came as no real shock to anyone and in the face of the greater situation, no one dwelled on that aspect. There was no point in pondering how Linkara had come to find that out, if he had even known for certain or had merely presented a bluff that the scientist was too afraid to call, or what it meant that Linksano had not already used his device long ago. There were far much urgent things to think about than that.
They had all wanted to hope, they had needed to hope, but hearing Linkara outright state there was no hope, seeing him cry in the face of just how little hope they had, it made the terrifying reality blatant in a way they could not hide from.
It was only a matter of when.
A wave of nausea overtook Harvey, and he felt like ice was digging sharply into his chest as everything he hadn’t wanted to face hit him full force. He wanted to keep believing that 90s Kid had enough fight in him but even if the boy managed to pull through for the present, what about the next time? Because there would be a next time. And next time his fever might not break at all. Next time, his coughs might be colored with speckles of red. Next time, his ragged breathing might suddenly silence in the middle of the night.
Harvey squeezed his eyes shut, trying in vain to keep his mind from going somewhere very painful. When it had been so cold and snow piled everywhere and a small black cross stood out against all the white no no no no not like that no please god no please not like Charlie.
But of course it wouldn’t be like Charlie, precious Charlie, who was taken away so suddenly, pulling Harvey’s life right out from under him. No, this would be longer. Slower. Wouldn’t tear the rug from under him but rather bring him to his knees in tiny, agonizing increments....
“Harvey?”
Pulled out of his thoughts, he realized Linkara’s hand was on him and his wet eyes looked at him with worry.
Harvey didn’t try to speak, just grabbed Linkara’s hand back and squeezed it as he tried to ground himself back in the present, not the agonizing past or possible future.
While he struggled to collect himself, Ninja-style Dancer held up a card for the others to read, wearing a solemn expression as he did so.
*Though it’s tragic we face this path....I believe Linkara is correct in his decision.* He flipped his card over. *To let 90s Kid perish would be a sin, and there is little we can do for him.*
“Okay, okay. Look, I’m not trying to pick a fight,” Linksano said “but would everyone think about something else for a minute? We’re dealing with space and time here, and so far we’ve only covered the first half. You might....not ever see him again, given the possible time fluxes between dimensions. You do realize this, right?”
Linkara nodded, tears still trickling down his cheeks, but doing better at regaining control of his voice. It was obvious he had not reach his decision lightly and knew very well just what it meant.
“I understand that,” he answered.
“And knowing that, along with the fact that two can teleport, do you seriously think I should be the one doing this?” Linksano asked, glancing around at the others almost desperately.
Linkara watched Linksano with some hint of sympathy. He knew he was putting the scientist in an uncomfortable position. But his resolve remained.
“Linksano, I know this isn’t fair to do to you,” Linkara acknowledged, though faced with the threat of having to bury his youngest team member, he honestly didn’t care how unfair it was. “But like you said, there are a hundred things that could go wrong. How would any of us know what to do in a tight situation? I know you know how to do this. It is your device after all. The fact of the matter is, 90s Kid would be safest with you. I can’t....let myself put his life in any added danger just because you’re afraid of the responsibility.”
“Of course I’m afraid!” Linksano blurted out. “Surely it’s no secret that I’m the least qualified person here to look after another individual. This is only falling to me because I’ve gone out into the multiverse before, not because anyone here thinks I’m actually the best person to look after the boy, and I’m not.”
The scientist’s hands began to fidget with frantic nerves. “Believe me when I say I understand the situation quite clearly, Linkara. I realize you cannot afford to look any farther ahead than what it will take for 90s Kid to get proper medical attention. But you’re demanding something from me that goes far beyond the mere technical know-how of hypertime I possess and yes....it....scares me,” he said in a quiet voice.
If Linkara was going to make any attempt at reassurance, he never got the chance because the air suddenly became filled the sound of racking coughs.
The grip Harvey had on Linkara released immediately and he shifted to lift 90s Kid upright so the teen could breathe easier. He pushed past the disconcerting feeling of the smaller body trembling in his arms and gently rubbed the boy’s back until the heavy coughing subsided and the pale teen let out a few small whimpers and weak moans before resuming his rasp, but even, breathing. And for several long moments, that was the only sound to be heard.
For what was there to say after that?
The pause was eventually broken when Linksano let out a soft exhale.
“Give me his sunglasses,” he murmured.
“What?” Linkara questioned.
“His sunglasses,” Linksano repeated without raising his voice, his tone resigned. “He’ll need an anchor to this world.”
And just like that, their meeting was over. Linkara wordlessly reached over his seat and plucked the shades from the teen and passed them over.
“It’s not an easy thing to do,” Linksano said as he rotated the frames in his hands, eyeing them carefully. “It’ll take a while, hours at least. How long exactly depends on a few factors.” He grabbed his air mask that was resting on the dashboard. “I don’t suppose I need to tell you to…make the most of this time,” he said without looking at them.
“Where are you going? What do you have to do?” Linkara asked.
Linksano still did not look at him or anyone else, but the corners of his lips quirked up in a shallow smile. “Just some science,” he answered. He then reached over to the driver’s side and hit something which caused the hood of the van to pop open loudly, affixed his air mask in place, and hopped out of the vehicle without another word.
He practically welcomed the burning chemical-infused air. It seemed the far easier option to deal with. Taking a moment to reach onto his trench coat, Linksano pulled out a small tool kit with one hand and then with the other, lifted the hood of the vehicle up, blocking the from both directions.
It was as much privacy as he could give them.
He took a deep breath and put his mind to science, buried feelings he didn’t want to deal with and let the spirals of his goggles filter everything down in a way he could make sense of. He let himself detach from everything other than the task at hand, working with what materials he had to create a process he learned many years ago back in a different life.
Didn’t let himself think about how for once.....he hadn’t really wanted to flee.....
******
The following night, Harvey, Ninja-Style Dancer, and Linkara did not sleep in the van.