Chapitre 27: The Ark (2)
Nikodem felt a little isolated and awkward, not knowing what to do. Old Mathilde grabbed his wrist.
"I'm taking you with me. You wouldn't want to miss the fun, would you?" She winked, it was quite an awful sight. However, her smile was warm and not as gross as he first thought.
"No! He's with me." Flora interrupted.
Flora stepped up her determined and aggressive demeanor. She was young but did not intend to let herself be pushed around in any way. Mona's gesture had taken her by surprise and she was no match for the leader. Mathilde, on the other hand, had not stopped provoking her so the younger woman couldn't help but react.
"No problem, Flora! I didn't want to steal your toy."
And Mathilde walked away with her hands up to show that they were empty. Her teasing air contradicted this admission of defeat and stirred Flora's blood. She ached to punch this irreverent hag.
"You respect nothing!" She said with contempt to Mathilde's back who chuckled all the more. She wished she could find a witty retort or simply hurl a few insults to silence the older woman. She really was too quiet, shy and polite for her own good, and she always felt Mathilde was bullying her.
Flora took hold of Nikodem's wrist and fastened a large bracelet. The inside was lined with a kind of plastic that securely trapped the forearm, compressing the muscle like a vise. It was impossible to move or remove the device without the key. She then buckled hers, and checked the straps and the chain which slid freely through several rings underneath the bracelet. The chain linking them now was very long, several meters at least, but both stood very close to each other. Flora did not look at him once, totally engrossed in her task, and yet Nikodem found the situation and this proximity somewhat embarrassing.
He cleared his throat and asked the first question that came to mind.
«Who is this Noah?»
Stunned, Flora stared at him in dismay. This was what he asked? People from outside were really hard to understand. No need to be stubborn, she could just humor him this once and he might be following the group willingly.
"Oh, we were talking about Mr N, a former leader. He got back into line when the temple came to power. He is the one who came out with the name of the city, so he is called Noah and this is his ark."
With a sweep of her arm, she encompassed the whole city. A gentle smile adorned her lips as if it had naturally come back to where it belonged. Despite having understood every word, Nikodem did not grasp the meaning of these sentences at all. Yet, he decided to remain silent. He didn't want to ruin this peaceful moment.
Meanwhile, everybody had left. The terrace was now deserted. Flora and her prisoner were yet again alone at the top of the "ark". They headed towards the edge of the roof, almost reluctantly. She fastened the ring-shaped end of the chain on a hook and briefly showed Nikodem how to glide along the zip wire. One last time she checked that the chain on the roof was securely fixed, and jumped off the building. Nikodem cried out, for a moment he felt that his heart had stopped beating. He leaned down and checked with apprehension and concern. Flora trotted along quietly on the roof of the nearby building, two or three meters below, to reach the next hook and fix the other end of the chain.
Nikodem stepped back. He had never suffered from vertigo, nevertheless, this was a very high place for him, it was quite hard to find the resolve to jump. He closed his eyes to concentrate and regain control. He breathed slowly and deeply for a short while. Finally, he took a big breath of air, opened his eyes and in turn jumped off the building.
His forearm with the device was following the chain and he was holding the bracelet firmly with his free hand, as Flora had taught him. He was driven downwards by his own weight on this zip line, however, the slant of the chain ensured a tolerable speed. The wind was blowing in his ears and his hair was whipping his face, blinding him sometimes. As soon as Nikodem arrived on the lower roof, he unconsciously sighed with relief while Flora jolted the chain that eventually came off the upper terrace.
The descents came one after the other, at an increasing pace and spanning over an increasing distance. Sometimes, they had to climb back up, running up stairs or ladders, scrambling up facades… Nikodem even started to enjoy this thrilling game very much. It was both exhilarating and addictive. Flora had to berate him several times when he could not hold back his whoops of excitement and his bursts of laughter. His previous sadness had vanished into thin air, drowned in an ocean of thrills, evaporated, gone with the wind and the drafts.
Once on the ground, they crept into narrow passageways and then went down into a maze of empty underground tunnels. Through open doors, Nikodem saw a tremendous variety of caged animals and plants in containers lit by lamps. He couldn't help but be in awe, he only knew of these species in old books, moreover, electricity was such a precious resource!
Outside, there were hardly any plants left except the Lichen and those robust enough to withstand drought. As for the animals, only those who were satisfied with Lichen had survived and they were seldom seen in the wild. Despite the difficult conditions, the sedentary villages persisted in cultivating the barren land and breeding some horses, goats, rabbits and sheep.
From room to room, Nikodem was spellbound by so much wealth. So then, the images in the books of Fergus' grandfather were not legends. All this dreamlike diversity of Nature was preserved, still alive, in this underground museum. Ark City, an ark with a well-deserved name even though the scourge they had to combat was a drought rather than the Flood.
Flora turned around, panicked. She was alone. The chain no longer connected her to the prisoner. The young woman could hear the distinctive sound of the links and the metallic ring scraping the floor at the other end of the chain. She hesitated. She was so close to the target destination. She could see the other Shadow Girls gathering silently near the doors of the Materna.
The man named Fergus was, most probably, already in the operating room of the sperm-factory for the ablation. One could not go to Penance, nor even enter the temple, with his impure organs. As for Chloé, Daphné's sister, the rescue group had to go and get her directly from the Penance halls in the temple. Every minute of delay could be disastrous.
Leaving the chain behind, Flora began to retrace her steps, running as fast as she could. She had to find her prisoner. She would not be able to bear the shame and the taunts, especially coming from Mathilde, if he managed to escape her.
Thus, she had been so relieved when she had found the young man standing in awe in front of the biggest aquarium! During her brief search, she had been very worried about him, knowing he was without protection, vulnerable, a lone and easy target for the Special Forces who could effortlessly capture him and put him through the same ordeal as Fergus.
She rushed to meet him and stopped just in time, narrowly avoiding throwing herself in his arms. She was gasping after her run, her small chest rose up with each breath but he only looked at her soft smile, or so he hoped. He thought she was very beautiful and attractive and these words were out of his mouth before he knew it.
He was usually so quiet and restrained, but he had unconsciously poured his heart out for an instant of absolute sincerity. It was so out of character. Terrified by this blunder, Nikodem felt cold sweat dripping down between his shoulder blades. Oh how he would have liked to take back his words, or better yet, to never have spoken them aloud!
Flora's cheeks went from a pretty pink to a bright red. Her heart was pounding. And yet, was it even possible to choose a worse time for a confession? A long and awkward silence followed. The only sound in the surroundings was the hum of the engines that kept the whole ecosystem alive. Nikodem had been awestruck when he had discovered these lost marvels a few moments earlier, but they were now almost forgotten.
They both pulled themselves together at the same time. After all, it was just a simple, clumsy compliment! Flora managed to stammer "We... should get going...for Fergus" and she left hastily, retrieving her chain a moment later. Nikodem followed close behind, repeating like a mantra "for Fergus, for Olek", desperately trying to clear his mind.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone