Chapter 312 — The Parents and the Journey
The road has no name.
Adrian knows this because there is no one left to give it one.
He walks with Brook against his chest, one arm beneath the infant and the other wrapped around the blanket to keep the cold from finding him. Elena walks beside him, carrying the small bag they managed to take when they left.
Neither of them speaks.
There is nothing left behind them worth returning for.
The world ahead is worse.
That is why they keep moving.
The road cuts through a landscape that looks as though something enormous once passed through it and never bothered to look back. Trees stand stripped of leaves, their branches reaching into a sky the color of old metal. Houses appear every few miles, but most are empty. Some have collapsed completely. Others still have doors hanging from broken hinges, as if their owners left in the middle of ordinary life and simply never came home.
Adrian watches the horizon.
Elena watches Brook.
The baby sleeps.
For now.
"He's warm," Elena says.
Adrian looks down.
"He should be."
"I mean his forehead."
Adrian touches the baby's head with two fingers.
"He's fine."
"You said that yesterday."
"He was fine yesterday."
"You also said that the day before."
Adrian gives her a tired look.
Elena almost smiles.
Almost.
"He's still warm."
"I know."
They continue walking.
Their shoes are ruined.
Adrian's left boot has split near the heel, and every few steps wet earth finds its way inside. Elena's coat is torn beneath the arm. There is dried blood on the sleeve that belongs to neither of them.
They have been walking for days.
They do not know exactly how many.
The world has made time difficult to measure.
The sun rises.
The sun falls.
They sleep when they can.
They eat when they find something.
They move whenever the roads become too quiet.
Adrian has learned that silence is worse than noise.
Noise means there is something alive.
Silence means there might be something waiting.
Brook stirs.
Both parents stop.
The infant makes a small sound.
Elena immediately reaches for him.
"Give him to me."
Adrian hands him over.
Elena settles Brook against her chest, tucking the blanket beneath his chin.
The baby opens his eyes.
For a few seconds, he looks around.
Elena bends her head.
"Hello."
Brook's eyes remain open.
"You're awake."
His tiny hand moves against her coat.
Adrian watches.
"He recognizes your voice."
"He better."
Adrian's mouth lifts slightly.
"You're threatening a baby."
"I am his mother."
"That doesn't answer the accusation."
"It answers everything."
Adrian laughs once.
It is quiet.
Small.
But real.
Brook's eyes close again.
Elena looks at Adrian.
"There."
"What?"
"You laughed."
"I do that."
"Not much anymore."
Adrian looks toward the road.
"No."
Elena walks beside him.
For a while, neither speaks.
Then she says, "New York."
Adrian looks at her.
"That is still what they're calling it?"
"That's what the map says."
"The map is twenty years old."
"Then it might be wrong."
"Probably."
She looks at him.
"You don't sound hopeful."
"I've never been good at hope."
"You were good at lying."
"I was good at making you think I was good at lying."
Elena gives him a look.
"You were terrible."
"I got you to marry me."
"That was charity."
Adrian smiles.
Brook makes another tiny noise.
Both of them look down.
The smile leaves Adrian's face.
Elena's does too.
The road continues.
They walk.
The first settlement they reach has no people.
Adrian notices the doors first.
Every door is open.
Not broken.
Open.
The houses are intact enough to suggest that people lived there recently.
There are dishes on tables.
Clothes hanging from lines.
A child's wooden toy lies in the mud beside one porch.
Elena stops.
"Adrian."
"I see it."
"Do we go in?"
"No."
"We need food."
"No."
She looks at him.
"We haven't eaten since yesterday."
"I know."
Brook begins to fuss.
Elena adjusts him.
"Then what?"
Adrian looks down the empty street.
"Something made everyone leave."
"Could have been a raid."
"No bodies."
"Disease."
"No smell."
"Then what?"
Adrian doesn't answer.
A curtain moves in one of the houses.
Both of them see it.
Elena's hand closes around the small knife hidden beneath her coat.
Adrian shifts Brook higher against his chest.
They wait.
Nothing happens.
The curtain stops moving.
Adrian takes one step backward.
"Keep walking."
Elena doesn't argue.
They leave the settlement behind.
They find food three miles later.
A dead animal lies beside a stream.
Adrian examines it.
"Too old."
Elena looks at the water.
"Can we drink?"
He crouches.
The stream is clear.
That means nothing anymore.
He dips his fingers into it.
Waits.
Nothing happens.
He fills a small container.
They boil it later.
For now, they keep moving.
By sunset, Brook is crying.
Not softly this time.
Loudly.
His tiny face has gone red.
Elena holds him against her shoulder and walks.
"I know."
Brook cries harder.
"I know."
Adrian looks at him.
"He's hungry."
"I know."
"We should stop."
"We can't."
Elena turns on him.
"He's a baby."
"I know."
"Then stop saying you know and do something."
Adrian stops.
He looks at her.
She looks back.
Neither speaks.
Then Adrian notices the remains of an old building ahead.
A small structure.
Half collapsed.
But the roof is mostly intact.
"Five minutes."
Elena walks toward it.
They enter.
The room smells like damp wood.
There is no furniture except a broken chair and an old table.
Adrian checks the corners.
Nothing.
Elena sits against the wall.
Brook continues crying.
Adrian kneels.
"We need milk."
Elena looks down.
"I know."
"We don't have any."
"I know."
Adrian opens the bag.
There are three pieces of dried meat, half a loaf of bread, two bottles of water, a small medical kit, and a blanket.
Nothing for a child.
Elena's face tightens.
Adrian notices.
"We'll find some."
"When?"
"Tomorrow."
"He needs it now."
Adrian says nothing.
Elena looks toward the doorway.
"We should have taken more."
"We took what we could."
"We should have taken everything."
"We were being followed."
"We don't know that."
"I know."
She looks at him.
"You keep saying that."
"Because I do."
Brook cries.
Elena closes her eyes.
Then she begins humming.
The tune is quiet.
Old.
Adrian recognizes it.
"You haven't sung that in years."
"I haven't had a reason."
She looks down at Brook.
"I have one now."
The crying slowly fades.
Brook's hand closes around the fabric of her coat.
Elena kisses his forehead.
Adrian watches them.
For a moment, the broken room feels almost like a home.
Then something moves outside.
Adrian's hand goes to the knife.
Elena stops humming.
The three of them listen.
Footsteps.
One.
Then another.
Adrian stands.
He gestures for Elena to stay back.
The footsteps stop outside the building.
Nothing.
Adrian waits.
A shadow passes across the doorway.
Then another.
He looks at Elena.
She has already moved Brook behind the broken table.
Adrian steps toward the entrance.
A man appears.
Older.
Thin.
Holding a rusted rifle.
He looks at Adrian.
Then Elena.
Then the baby.
"Please."
Adrian doesn't lower his knife.
The man raises one hand.
"I don't want trouble."
"Then keep walking."
The man looks exhausted.
"I'm looking for my daughter."
Adrian says nothing.
"She was taken three nights ago."
"By who?"
The man's mouth trembles.
"I don't know."
Elena watches him.
"Taken where?"
He looks toward the road.
"North."
Adrian's expression changes.
"Who took her?"
The man shakes his head.
"I didn't see."
"You heard something."
"I heard voices."
"What did they say?"
The man looks at Brook.
"They asked for a child."
Adrian's knife rises.
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"Who?"
"I told you."
"You heard voices."
"Yes."
"Men?"
"I think."
"Soldiers?"
"I don't know."
"Angels?"
The man stares at him.
Adrian realizes the question was too specific.
The man's face changes.
"You know about them."
Adrian doesn't answer.
The man backs away.
"I don't want trouble."
"You came looking for it."
"No."
He turns.
Adrian catches his shoulder.
The man flinches.
"Wait."
The man looks at him.
Adrian lowers his voice.
"Did they say anything else?"
The man's eyes move toward Brook.
"They said the child wasn't ready."
Adrian's blood goes cold.
"What child?"
The man doesn't answer.
Adrian tightens his grip.
"What child?"
The man pulls free.
"Yours."
He runs.
Adrian doesn't follow.
Elena is already standing.
Her face is pale.
"Adrian."
"I know."
"Again."
He looks at her.
"You know."
"No."
She looks toward the road.
"I know what he means."
Adrian walks back to Brook.
He lifts him.
The baby is sleeping.
Adrian holds him tighter.
"We leave now."
Elena nods.
They leave the building.
They don't look back.
The next day, they find a town that has not been abandoned.
That makes it worse.
People watch them from windows.
Some disappear when Adrian looks toward them.
Others stay.
A woman stands outside a shop.
She is holding a basket of vegetables.
Her eyes immediately go to Brook.
Then to Adrian.
"You need supplies."
Adrian stops.
"Yes."
The woman looks at Elena.
"You have money?"
Elena shakes her head.
The woman looks at the baby again.
"What happened?"
Adrian says, "Nothing."
The woman frowns.
"Babies don't travel alone."
"He isn't alone."
"You know what I mean."
Elena steps closer.
"We can work."
The woman studies them.
"There's no work."
"Food?"
"I can trade."
Elena looks at the basket.
"What do you need?"
The woman considers.
"Bandages."
Elena opens the medical kit.
They have six.
She gives the woman four.
The woman looks at them.
"That's too much."
"Take them."
The woman hesitates.
Then she gives Elena a small container.
Milk.
Elena's face changes.
"Thank you."
The woman looks at Brook.
"What is his name?"
Adrian answers.
"Brook."
The woman repeats it.
"Brook."
She smiles faintly.
"That's a good name."
Adrian doesn't smile.
The woman notices.
"You should leave before dark."
"Why?"
She looks around.
"People have been asking questions."
"About us?"
"About children."
Adrian's hand tightens around Brook.
"How many?"
"Too many."
"Who?"
She shakes her head.
"Don't ask."
"I need to know."
"You need to survive."
Adrian looks toward the street.
At the far end, two men are standing.
They aren't looking at him.
They are looking at Brook.
Adrian turns back.
"Thank you."
He takes Elena's arm.
"We're leaving."
They walk.
The woman calls after them.
"North road."
Adrian turns.
She points toward a smaller road behind the town.
"Don't use the main road."
"Why?"
"Because they use it too."
Adrian nods.
They disappear down the side road.
The milk keeps Brook quiet for several hours.
It is the best day they have had since leaving.
That night, Adrian doesn't sleep.
He sits beside the door of the abandoned barn where they have stopped.
Elena is asleep against a wall.
Brook sleeps against her chest.
Adrian watches the darkness outside.
He has a knife in his hand.
He hears nothing.
That worries him.
Then he hears footsteps.
He stands.
A figure appears at the edge of the field.
Adrian raises the knife.
The figure stops.
"I'm not here for the child."
Adrian recognizes the voice.
The man from the road.
The father.
Adrian steps outside.
"Where's your daughter?"
The man looks at him.
"Dead."
Adrian says nothing.
"They brought her back."
"Who?"
The man laughs once.
It isn't amusement.
"Does it matter?"
Adrian walks closer.
"What did they do?"
"They asked her questions."
"What questions?"
"About the baby."
Adrian's blood turns cold.
"She didn't know anything."
"They killed her anyway."
Adrian's hand tightens around the knife.
"Who?"
The man looks toward the barn.
"You need to keep moving."
"We are."
"No."
He shakes his head.
"You're not moving fast enough."
Adrian studies him.
"Why are you helping me?"
The man looks exhausted.
"Because nobody helped me."
He turns away.
"Go."
Adrian watches him disappear into the dark.
When he returns inside, Elena is awake.
"You heard?"
"Yes."
"What did he say?"
Adrian sits beside her.
He doesn't answer.
She already understands.
Her eyes move to Brook.
"He knows."
"Yes."
"He knows they're looking for him."
"Yes."
Elena looks at Adrian.
"Then we don't stop."
"No."
"We don't sleep."
"We have to."
"We can't."
Adrian looks at Brook.
"We can."
She shakes her head.
"No."
He reaches for her hand.
"We have to."
She looks at him.
"Then you sleep."
"What?"
"You sleep."
"I'll watch."
"You're already shaking."
Adrian looks at his hand.
She is right.
He puts the knife down.
Elena shifts against the wall.
"Two hours."
"Three."
"Two."
"Fine."
Adrian lies down.
Elena stays awake.
Brook sleeps between them.
Outside, something moves through the trees.
Elena sees it.
She doesn't wake Adrian.
She reaches for the knife.
The shadow stops.
Then leaves.
She waits.
Only when the sound is gone does she breathe.
She looks down at Brook.
"You're going to make us old."
Adrian, half asleep, murmurs.
"We already are."
Elena smiles.
Then she cries quietly.
She does not know whether Adrian sees.
She doesn't ask.
Three days later, they find Crowley.
He is sitting beside a dead road marker.
He is wearing a dark coat.
The coat is too large for him.
It has the faded insignia of a Watchman.
Adrian sees the coat first.
Then the man.
Crowley looks up as they approach.
He doesn't stand.
He watches Adrian.
Then Elena.
Then the child.
His eyes stop on Brook.
For several seconds, he says nothing.
Adrian stops.
Elena moves closer to him.
Crowley finally speaks.
"You took the northern road."
Adrian's hand goes toward his knife.
"Yes."
"You were followed."
Adrian stiffens.
"How long?"
Crowley looks past them.
"Since the town."
Elena's face changes.
"How many?"
"Three."
"Where?"
"Behind you."
Adrian turns.
Crowley says, "Don't."
Adrian looks back.
Crowley hasn't moved.
"They want you to run."
Adrian studies him.
"Who are you?"
"Crowley."
"That's all?"
"For now."
Adrian doesn't trust him.
He shouldn't.
Crowley looks at the baby.
"What's his name?"
Adrian hesitates.
"Brook."
Crowley repeats it quietly.
"Brook."
Something changes in his face.
Recognition.
Not of the child.
Of the name.
Elena notices.
"You know him."
Crowley looks at her.
"No."
"Then why did you react?"
Crowley stands.
The road marker beside him is broken in half.
He looks at the horizon.
"They're close."
Adrian steps between Crowley and his family.
"What do you want?"
Crowley looks at him.
"Nothing."
"Everyone wants something."
"Not from you."
"Then why are you here?"
Crowley looks toward Brook again.
"Because I know what happens if they find him."
Adrian's voice becomes hard.
"What happens?"
Crowley doesn't answer.
He walks toward them.
Adrian raises his knife.
Crowley stops.
"You're going to have to trust me."
"No."
"Fair."
Crowley looks at Elena.
Then back at Adrian.
"I won't ask twice."
"Then don't."
Crowley nods.
"Good."
He turns toward the road.
"Follow me."
Adrian doesn't move.
Crowley looks over his shoulder.
"You can stay here."
Adrian watches him.
"And?"
"You die."
Elena steps closer.
"Where are you taking us?"
"Somewhere they can't reach."
Adrian says, "There is nowhere like that."
Crowley looks at him.
"There is."
"How do you know?"
"Because I've been looking."
Adrian studies him.
"You know what's coming."
"Yes."
"Who?"
Crowley looks at Brook.
"Something that should never have found you."
Adrian grips the knife.
"Name it."
Crowley's expression hardens.
"The Maker."
The word seems to drain the warmth from the road.
Elena pulls Brook closer.
Adrian doesn't move.
Crowley looks at them.
"You have to leave now."
"Why?"
"Because he knows."
Adrian's voice drops.
"How?"
Crowley looks at the child.
"I don't know."
It is the first answer that sounds completely honest.
Adrian looks at Elena.
She nods.
They follow Crowley.
They travel together for six days.
Crowley does not ask many questions.
He doesn't need to.
He knows which roads are safe.
He knows which towns are empty.
He knows which rivers can be crossed.
He knows when to leave before anyone arrives.
The first night, Adrian asks where Crowley learned to move like that.
Crowley says, "Experience."
The second night, Elena asks how many people are following them.
Crowley says, "Enough."
The third night, Adrian asks who the Maker is.
Crowley says, "Not here."
Adrian gets angry.
Crowley doesn't care.
The fourth night, Brook develops a fever.
They stop.
Crowley finds water.
Elena holds the baby.
Adrian walks in circles.
"It's too high."
Crowley says nothing.
"Why isn't it going down?"
"He's exhausted."
"He's a baby."
"I know."
Adrian turns on him.
"Then help."
Crowley kneels.
He places two fingers against Brook's forehead.
The fever begins to fall.
Adrian stares.
"What did you do?"
"Nothing."
"That wasn't nothing."
Crowley looks at Brook.
"He's strong."
Elena looks at him.
"He shouldn't have to be."
Crowley doesn't answer.
The fever breaks before dawn.
Brook sleeps.
Adrian sits beside him.
Crowley sits across the fire.
Elena sleeps with one hand resting on Brook's blanket.
Adrian watches Crowley.
"You knew my name."
Crowley looks up.
"Yes."
"How?"
Crowley says nothing.
"You knew about him."
"Yes."
"You knew about the Maker."
"Yes."
"You knew we'd be followed."
"Yes."
Adrian's voice becomes colder.
"Then tell me what you know."
Crowley looks at him.
"I know enough to understand that you're running out of road."
Adrian's eyes narrow.
"What does that mean?"
"It means he will find you."
"And then?"
Crowley looks at Brook.
"Then I'll make sure he doesn't get him."
Adrian studies him.
"You can't promise that."
Crowley looks back.
"Yes."
The answer is absolute.
Adrian doesn't speak.
Crowley does not elaborate.
He doesn't say how.
He doesn't say why.
He doesn't tell them what he intends to do.
He simply sits beside the fire.
Watching the road.
The Maker finds them on the ninth day.
Crowley knows before anyone else.
He is walking ahead when he stops.
Adrian nearly walks into him.
"What?"
Crowley raises one hand.
Everyone stops.
Elena pulls Brook closer.
The forest is silent.
Crowley looks upward.
Nothing.
Then he looks toward the trees.
"Run."
Adrian's face changes.
"What?"
"Now."
They run.
Adrian carries Brook.
Elena follows.
Crowley stays behind.
Adrian turns.
"Crowley!"
"Keep going."
Something moves between the trees.
Crowley draws his weapon.
The sound is enough.
Adrian runs faster.
Elena is beside him.
"What is happening?"
"He found us."
"How?"
"I don't know."
Behind them, metal strikes stone.
Then another sound.
Something heavier.
Adrian looks back.
Crowley is fighting someone.
He cannot see the opponent clearly.
Only flashes.
A dark shape.
Crowley's weapon.
Trees breaking.
Elena grabs Adrian's arm.
"Don't stop."
He keeps running.
They reach the edge of the forest.
A wide field opens ahead.
Beyond it stands an abandoned settlement.
Adrian slows.
"Where?"
Crowley appears behind them.
Blood runs down one side of his face.
Elena looks at him.
"Are you hurt?"
"Not badly."
Adrian stares.
"Who was that?"
Crowley looks toward the forest.
"He wasn't the Maker."
Adrian's face falls.
"Then who?"
"Something looking for him."
Crowley wipes blood from his mouth.
"We keep moving."
They do.
That night, Crowley makes them sleep beneath the remains of an old stone bridge.
He doesn't sleep.
Adrian notices.
"You should."
Crowley looks toward him.
"I don't need much."
"Everyone needs sleep."
"Not everyone."
Adrian almost laughs.
"You're strange."
Crowley looks at him.
"So I've been told."
Adrian sits beside him.
For several minutes, they watch the darkness.
Then Adrian says, "If you know what's coming, why are you helping us?"
Crowley doesn't answer immediately.
He looks toward Elena.
She is asleep with Brook against her chest.
Then he looks at Adrian.
"Because someone has to."
"That isn't enough."
"It is for me."
Adrian studies him.
"Why him?"
Crowley's eyes settle on Brook.
"Because I gave my word."
"To who?"
Crowley doesn't answer.
Adrian waits.
Crowley finally says, "His parents."
Adrian's face changes.
"You knew us?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"Before tonight."
"Before tonight?"
Crowley nods.
"You've been watching us?"
"No."
"Then how?"
"I knew about the child."
Adrian's voice becomes quiet.
"What did they tell you?"
Crowley looks toward Brook.
"That if the world came for him, I was to stand in its way."
Adrian's throat tightens.
"Who told you?"
Crowley looks at him.
"You did."
Adrian stares.
"I've never met you."
"Not yet."
Adrian doesn't understand.
Crowley stands.
He adjusts the Watchman coat around his shoulders.
"Get some sleep."
Adrian watches him walk away.
They reach the outskirts of what will one day become New York.
There is no city yet.
Only broken towers in the distance and the skeletons of old buildings buried beneath vines and earth.
The road ends near a ruined wall.
Elena looks ahead.
"This is it?"
Crowley nods.
"For now."
Adrian looks at Brook.
The baby is awake.
His eyes are open.
He stares at the sky.
Adrian follows his gaze.
Clouds are moving unnaturally fast.
Crowley sees them too.
He stops.
"Not here."
Adrian looks at him.
"What?"
Crowley steps closer.
"We need to keep going."
"Where?"
"Anywhere but here."
Elena's voice is tired.
"We've been walking for weeks."
"I know."
"We can't keep doing this."
Crowley looks at Brook.
"No."
He looks toward the sky.
"But we have to."
A sound comes from far away.
Not thunder.
Something deeper.
The ground trembles.
Brook begins to cry.
Elena immediately holds him tighter.
Adrian draws his knife.
Crowley watches the horizon.
A shape appears in the distance.
Not a person.
Not clearly.
Just a figure standing where the road disappears.
Too far away to see its face.
Yet Crowley knows.
His expression changes.
"The Maker."
Adrian steps forward.
Crowley stops him.
"No."
Adrian looks at him.
"What do we do?"
Crowley removes the Watchman coat.
He folds it once.
Then places it around Adrian's shoulders.
Adrian stares at him.
"What are you doing?"
Crowley looks at Brook.
Then Elena.
Then Adrian.
His voice is quiet.
"I am making a promise."
Adrian's eyes narrow.
"What promise?"
Crowley looks toward the distant figure.
"I will protect your son."
The wind rises.
The figure in the distance remains still.
Crowley continues.
"Not until this road ends."
He looks at Adrian.
"Not until the danger passes."
His eyes move to Elena.
"Not until he is safe."
Then back to Brook.
"As long as I am alive."
Adrian stares at him.
Crowley doesn't blink.
"I will stand between him and anything that comes for him."
Elena's eyes fill.
Adrian looks toward the distant figure.
Then back to Crowley.
"You don't know what you're promising."
Crowley looks toward the horizon.
"I know."
The figure moves.
One step.
The ground trembles.
Crowley draws his weapon.
"Run."
Adrian pulls Elena close.
They move.
Brook cries.
Elena holds him.
Adrian keeps the Watchman coat around his shoulders.
Crowley stays behind them.
The last thing Adrian sees before turning away is Crowley standing alone on the ruined road, facing the thing coming toward them.
The man wearing the Watchman coat does not move.
The Maker is already hunting.
And Crowley has already chosen a side.
End of Chapter 312