Station, стр. 32
Hadder shuffled forward, grief no longer enough todrive him. His brain sizzled as circuitry shorted, and synapsesrefused to fire. Hadder fell to his knees and began to crawl acrossthe strip of concrete. In the dark recesses of his mind, Hadderrecalled conversations with Miles and Jonny, something about adivision of Station. Unable to switch gears; however, he continuedto crawl, eventually reaching the other side of the divide, feelingan end to the cold asphalt and discovering the soft grass thatdwelled just beyond.
A muddled idea coalesced within Hadder, telling himthat he had reached some invisible goal. That was all themotivation he needed as he fell onto his back, staring up at theIdol Moon stuck between phases. Hadder's eyes grew heavy asexhaustion finally won the war over drugs and heartache. Closingthem, his other senses immediately elevated. He smelled the burntfruit smell of pollen on air currents and the musk of fertile soilthat fed countless plant varietals. He heard the buzzing of glowinginsects as they passed above on their way to pre-Solay trysts withopen flowers. He listened to the gentle breeze that shuffled thegrass beneath his head and footsteps in the distance growingcloser.
Hadder's eyes rocketed open. Why did he hearfootsteps growing closer? Unable to move anything below the neck,Hadder turned his head to the right and squinted. In the distance,a shadowed figure made its way towards Hadder at a fast walk thattransitioned into a deliberate jog. As it drew closer, the shadowsfell back to reveal the being that was now racing towards Hadder.While human, it was a twisted thing that seemed to have as much incommon with a chimpanzee, elongated arms on a muscled framesupported by sturdy bowed legs. Its skin had a grayish hue, and itwore another's human face over its own, secured to its bald, deeplyscarred head by black leather. As it ran, it held its long rightarm out, and Hadder blinked as the brightening Idol Moon's rayscaught the metal blade running the length of the creature'sforearm, springing directly from the fiend's flesh.
Everything moved in slow motion as Hadder, unable tomove, took in every detail of the terrifying but fascinating warpedhuman that was closing the distance. Under the mask of flesh,Hadder could see a malicious grin punctuated by sharpened teeth,all the proof he needed that these were the last moments of hislife. Tired, detached, and immobilized, Hadder looked away from theracing murderer to stare again at the Idol Moon, one last pictureof beauty before the end. He closed his eyes once more, hearing thefootsteps draw closer until they were upon him. Hadder could sensethe weaponized arm pull back for a killing stroke. He welcomedit.
At what should have been the moment of impact,Hadder was yanked back by something with enormous strength. A wetslapping sound echoed off the concrete, followed by a weak screamand a scramble. "Get back, Riser! This one's not for you!" Thevoice was that of an elemental straight from the pit of an activevolcano. The twisted man screamed something in return, an awfulhigh-pitched thing, but Hadder was sinking deeper intounconsciousness and unable to understand his words.
The last thing Hadder remembered was being heftedinto the air, thrown over a giant shoulder that felt like askin-wrapped mountain. His savior's booming words chased after himas he dove headlong into oblivion. "Message from Mister AlbanyRott. You're not to die. Not yet, anyway."
CHAPTER 10
Hadder opened his eyes slowly, fearing that he ranfrom one nightmare only to plunge into another. Hidden lights dimlylit the room in which he resided, typical Station living quarters,comfortable but sparsely furnished. Someone had removed andlaundered Hadder's clothes, which were folded nicely on a chair bythe front door. Looking at the Moon Clock, Hadder saw that it wasalready deep into Haela; he had slept away the Solay.
Although he was safe, an ember of anxiety continuedto burn in the pit of Hadder's stomach like the morning of dreadfollowing a blackout. Whether it was the remnants of the damageinflicted by Jackie Crone's betrayal, residual effects of the darkdrugs he had consumed, or knowledge of the knife-armed subhumanthat shared Station with him, Hadder was unsure. Most likely, itwas the rank combination of all three that had him on the rightside of hysteria.
After a long, dangerously hot shower where he triedto wash off both dirt and the memory of Jackie Crone's body atophis, Hadder dressed hesitantly. Although his clothes had beenthoroughly cleaned, his mind superimposed Jackie's thick juicesonto his pants and underwear, making him wince. He quickly removedthem.
Next to the front door, Hadder found the servicebutton and pressed it. Less than a minute later, Hadder answered apolite knock at the door completely nude and ushered the glumemanikin inside. Holding up his old clothes for the manikin to take,Hadder requested the same material and cut, but he wanted all blackeverything, including the jacket, thinking it best that his clothesmatched his mood. Before he left, Hadder also asked that food bebrought to the room, anything would do. The manikin, docile asalways, simply nodded almost imperceptibly, turned, and left.
Hadder collapsed back on the bed, trying tounderstand this new life and what he wanted from it. TheInferno experience was forcing him to reevaluate everything.His time in the Celebration Cluster was eye-opening and exciting,no doubt, but it was growing more evident by the day that it wasn'tenough. He enjoyed his time with Jonny VV, and Reena Song was theclosest he'd come to meeting an actual angel, but they and everyoneelse in the Celebration scene was caught in a loop, an endless gifof clothes, drugs, and sex. Despite the time he had spent withJonny and Reena, heady with narcotics or, in Reena's case, layingtogether deep into Solays, he knew very little about his closefriends. Any conversations that began to tilt into the Before wereredirected or outright ignored. Everyone in the Celebration Clusterseemed to suffer from this same malady, an inability to talk abouttheir past. Initially, Hadder