Chapter 280: Exit from Zenith
Dominic was carrying the weight of the loss of his children. Aliana had been beneath the frostbitten earth; her grave was already covered by heaps of snow. But he knew by heart where it was, and he could find it with his eyes closed.
For days, he and his wife had not been outside to see anyone. The residents had also not dared to bother them. The base was silent like the very grave in which Aliana laid. Like the mutated animals and watchers could tell what had happened, they were staying away as well.
But there was no peace in the silence for Dominic. His wife was like a doll, unresponsive when spoken to and useless in taking care of herself. She had survived death, but she seemed to have lost her soul. She had not cried or screamed since she woke up. For days, food had not crossed her lips.
Her hands were always holding one of Aliana’s toys or a picture of her.
It was different this morning, she had suddenly come to life but what she was doing was confusing. She was packing things into a bag, like she planned to leave.
"What is going on?" He grabbed her hand and stopped her.
"I am leaving." Leah answered.
Dominic was caught off guard. "Leaving, to where?"
"To find my children’s killer." She answered coldly. "She is Cassius Quinn’s widow. If she is on the run, she must be going to the Quinns. Before we came here, I received an invitation from the Quinn group to work for them. They are somewhere on Westbrook. I will go there and send that bitch to hell myself."
Dominic was familiar with his wife. He knew that her mind was made up. He also knew that she blamed him, even though she did not say it out loudly. But he blamed himself as well. If he had listened to her, the tragedy would not have happened.
He did not hesitate. He called three of his men and packed his bag. The purpose of the base had been to protect his family, without them there, it was an empty shell. Wherever his wife went, he would follow. Maybe somewhere...somehow along the way, she would forgive him.
Festus, Kassian and Ronda were the three that he called. All were superhuman and all worked for him, once upon a time. Just as he expected, they agreed to follow him without asking any questions. They were Aliana’s godparents, how could they not seek justice for her?
They also had no family on the base. Ronda was a widow, Kassian had never married, and Festus was divorced with no children. Where Dominic went, they were happy to follow.
Festus was the pyrokinetic of the group, Ronda seemed ordinary, but it was a lie. She held a pocket dimension where they stored supplies like food, medicine and weapons.
Kassian was a geokinetic and the quietest of the group. He only spoke when it was necessary and the rest of the time, he acted as if he was the only man on earth with no interest in others.
It took them three hours to put together what they needed. They stuffed some of their luggage in a car which Festus kept warm and then gathered the residents to share the news of their exit.
Dominic was direct, my wife and I will be leaving the base for an unknown time. Despite our departure, I hope that you will all work together to keep Camp Zenith alive. If we survive, maybe someday we will return and join you all."
Stunned silence filled the air. Fear gathered in the eyes of the residents. No questions were raised on why the decision had been made. Although he had not expanded on the reason, it was quite obvious why he and his wife were leaving.
For some, there was resentment that they did not dare to voice. It came from a dark place of fear and desire to survive. What were they supposed to do now? How were they supposed to survive without both Dominic and Leah’s guidance?
"Think this through." Someone said.
"You will be fine, Orion." Dominic said to one of the leaders of the base, the very man that was urging him to reconsider. "I must find Moon, that is the only way I will avenge my children. The only way I can get my wife to look at me like she used to. It is the only way Leah and I can survive...maybe. I don’t want to lose my wife; I have lost enough." He slung the small bag over his shoulder.
Orion patted his shoulder. "I completely understand, and I will try to hold the camp together until you get back." He paused as he followed Dominic around. "You are coming back, right? You said, maybe someday and to me, that sounds like whether you get your vengeance or not, you might not return to Zenith."
Silence was Dominic’s response, his gaze however had the look of uncertainty after all they were going into the wilderness, full of all kinds of creatures and disasters that could kill them within a blink of an eye.
Besides, Leah and Festus had dug up Aliana’s grave two hours ago and he and burned her body. The ashes were in an urn in Leah’s bag. To him, it was a sign that she planned never to return to Zenith. If she had such plans, she would not have disturbed their daughter’s grave.
Meanwhile, Leah was already in the car, hugging the bag with the urn. She did not turn her head even when Edith, Tabitha and Hazel tried to talk to her through the window. It was like she was blind to their flickering smiles and pitiful gazes. She seemed deaf to their sincere sorrows.
Dominic walked to the car slowly, surer than ever that his wife had no plans of returning to Camp Zenith, her life there was over and so was his.
*********
The air before dawn was biting cold yet dry enough to sting the throat. The giant iron gates of Fortress four stood partially open, the team comprising of fifty men and women shared light conversations as they equipped themselves with weapons.
"Ten people said they were not going, including Jon Kingsley." Dwayne reported to Hades.
Relief came to replace the frown that had been on Hades’ face. "It is good that moron is not going, I am almost certain that he would have given my wife a hard time."
Both men sighed, their breath rose in white plumes. Hades’s gaze shifted to the idled vehicles that were being inspected by Sunshine and other mechanics. After she declared them functional the drivers started the engines. Nobody wanted a repeat of what Jon’s car had encountered the day before. Sunshine even placed her head on the hoods and listened to the low rumbling.
When she was satisfied with the state of the vehicles, she moved towards the team. A comms officer approached before she could get to them, "Ma’am, we have confirmed that the creature is still in its position. We are also one hundred percent certain that it is not dead because it’s position changed during the night."
"Thank you...Trey." Sunshine read his name from the tag on his badge.
"Move, move, move." Carson slapped one of the cars and boots shuffled.
Morris who was the team leader of this mission, climbed atop one of the trucks and shouted through a megaphone, "I will say this one last time. No one does anything stupid out there. We move in, kill this this thing and move out. Clear?"
A low rumble of acknowledgement rolled through the ranks.