The Forsaken

Mostly I just feel relief that David didn’t die in the fire.
    “A bunch of drones burst out of the trees. Too many for me to fight them, so I ran and hid in a spider hole. When I came back, David was gone and the other prisoners were dead or dying. David obviously fled with the drones who rescued him.”
    “Or else they kidnapped him,” I point out. “You don’t know that he went willingly.”
    “I bet David was a high-level drone, just like Veidman and Meira thought all along,” Gadya mutters.
    We look at each other, desolate in the smoky haze. I don’t believe her.
    “Listen, Veidman was already here, and he told me not to say anything,” Markus continues softly, “but there’s more.” He scans the ruined kennels. “Off the record, another one of the drones is still alive. Barely. He’s probably the only one who actually saw what happened. But he’s not talking.”
    “Where is he?” Gadya asks.
    Markus points at a pile of palm fronds on the ground near the edge of the clearing. “I dragged him over there. Put the palms on him to hide him, like Veidman told me to. He’s not gonna live much longer.”
    Markus is still talking, but I’m rushing in the direction of the palm leaves. As I grow closer, I see the shape of a body under them.
    “Don’t!” Markus hisses after me. “Veidman’ll be back any second! He went to get Meira. He doesn’t want anyone to know there’s a survivor. He wants to question him in secret.”
    I ignore Markus, crouching down and tearing the palm fronds off the drone’s body. I expose a charred arm. Then part of his chest. Finally, a face.
    Markus wasn’t lying. This drone is badly burned, his skin charred and swollen with blisters. His eyes are open, staring, and I realize his eyelids have been burned away. At first I think he’s dead for sure, but then his eyeballs swivel in my direction.
    “I’m dying,” he whispers. His voice has become a croaky old man’s rasp of pain.
    “You’re gonna be okay,” I lie. I’ve never counseled a dying person before. It’s hard to be close to this much agony. I can hear Gadya heading over to us. The last thing I want to do is interrogate this boy in his final moments, but I need answers, or my life and the lives of everyone else in the village might be in jeopardy too.
    “What happened to David Aberley?” I ask. “The boy in the isolation cell. Is he okay? Did he get taken? Or did he go with the drones willingly? Please. I’m begging you.”
    For a moment, I think the drone has passed away. But then I feel his broken breath on my cheek. “You’re Alenna Shawcross.”
    I recoil. “How do you know my name?”
    “I heard . . . David say it.” He coughs. I just stare at him. “There are messages for you . . . on the rocks beyond the barrier. . . . Messages from your parents.”
    Right then Gadya reaches me. “Don’t get too close to him!”
    I turn around. Markus is directly behind Gadya. And twenty feet behind him, I see Veidman and Meira moving up the trail.
    I turn back to the drone. He opens his blackened lips again like he’s going to speak. Instead of words, a choking gasp forces its way out. A death rattle.
    “No!” I cry. “Please!” I want to force the life back into him. But it’s too late. He’s gone.
    “Well, I guess that’s for the best,” Markus finally murmurs, looking down at the drone’s ruined body.
    “What did he say to you?” Gadya asks me, sounding suspicious. “I heard you asking him about David.”
    “He was just—” I find myself speechless, biting back tears. Am I crying for this anonymous drone? Or am I crying for myself? I don’t even know. I feel scared. Selfish. “He wasn’t making any sense,” I finally say. “Just nonsense stuff about the Monk.”
    I stand up, ignoring Gadya’s gaze.
    “Is that drone still alive?” Veidman calls out as he reaches us.
    Markus shakes his head.
    Veidman curses and shoots Markus a stern look. “I told you not to say anything. We’ll talk about this later.”
    Markus nods. We all stand around and look down at the body, still partially covered with palms. I don’t know why Veidman wanted to keep this drone’s survival a secret.
    “We should bury him,” I say at last.
    “No,” Meira replies quickly. “He’s not one of us. He’s an interloper. He can’t be buried in this sector.”
    “So you’re just going to leave him out here?” I ask.
    “I’ll start a fire,” Markus says tiredly. “Finish the