fic: boneyards, purpose

Just wanted to convey an idea. Chronogically, it takes place after Finding. 162 words.

Purpose

After the third time he caught Code trying to struggle out of the shelter, the man just threw up his hands and said, "Fine, I'll fucking carry you."

He had surprising stamina, and he didn't complain at all. Code mumbled an apology into the man's hair, which was as rough and coarse as the backlands surrounding them.

The man grunted. "Why are you out here, anyway? There's nothing here."

"I'm searching for the old cities," he said.

"Why? They were the first hit by the Darkening, weren't they? They're empty."

"Yes. But it's been twenty years. It should have lifted by now."

The man grunted interrogation.

"It's something my mother told me," Code said finally, and hated the doubt that seeped into his tone at the words. "The Darkening is a cycle, and it's mobile. It never stays in the same place for very long."

The man laughed, the sound touched by bitterness. "You talk like it's alive."

"It is," Code said, simply.

Labels: _fiction, c: code, c: liam, verse: boneyards