I curse under my breath. “Yeah.”
“But I thought they weren’t doing that anymore.”
“They changed their mind.” I squeeze Shechara’s arm. “You’ll need to lead me. I can’t see a thing.” Shechara draws me close. “Let’s find Samson.”
We forge through the blinding dust storm, backtracking until we reach the large cyborg standing at the rear of the pack.
“Daiyna—that you?” Samson booms, shielding his goggles with a metal hand.
“Where’s Bishop?”
He shakes his head. “You’re not going to believe this, but…he kind of flew off, Wizard of Oz style.”
The reference is lost on me.
“The spirits took him?” Shechara sounds awestruck.
“We need to get these people out of here,” I say. “They’re sitting ducks for any daemon that breaks through Cain’s line of warriors.”
“Where do you suggest we take ‘em?” Samson rumbles.
“North.” I nod quickly, strategizing. “As far north as we can go before the United World troops arrive. Otherwise, we’ll be sandwiched between Willard’s daemons and the UW.”
“Alright,” Samson says. “You leading the retreat, or shall I?”
“I’m going for Luther.” I turn to Shechara. “Point me in the right direction, then I want you to help Samson get everyone out of here. Take any weapons you find.”
“Daiyna—” she objects.
“Samson won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Damn straight,” he says.
“But what about you?” Shechara’s voice strains with concern.
“I have the spirits on my side, don’t I?” The sarcastic edge to my voice is sharp.
I squeeze Shechara once more, then take off running in the direction she pointed. Leaping over every obstacle in my way, thanks to my superhuman agility, I head straight for where the armored vehicle should be. As I cross paths with our disoriented people in the murk, I shout for them to regroup at the rear with Samson. He’ll lead them to safety. Nodding quickly, they move to obey.
Charging through the fray, I reach the Hummer, parked a few meters behind the front line where many of Cain’s warriors battle hand-to-hand against the daemons. Others kneel, rifles at the ready as they return fire. The daemons in their jeeps circle haphazardly, firing volley after volley. I can’t see them, but I hear the engines and the shots exploding at close range. Cain’s ranks have suffered only a handful of deaths so far. They lie strewn in the dust, bleeding out.
Stray rounds ping and thud against the armored vehicle. I crouch behind it, sliding up to the rear door where I saw Luther climb in earlier. I rap twice on the window.
“Luther!”
No response. I pound my fist against the glass.
The door drifts open only a meter and halts. Inside, Cain and Luther stare back at me—along with someone else I never thought I’d see again.
Mother Lairen.
“Daiyna.” Luther reaches for me, and I grip his forearm, launching myself inside. The door drops shut behind me. “Are you all right?”
“Fine.” I frown at Mother Lairen—or the spirit manifesting itself as her. The malevolent variety that wants nothing more than to see the remnant of humankind destroy itself. “What’s she doing here?”
Garbed in a flowing white gown, Mother Lairen glares at me with a contempt somehow entangled with grace. “We meet again, my child.”
Cain looks thunderstruck. “You worship Gaia as well?”
Luther’s hand remains on my arm. “What do you see?”
I glance from Cain to Luther. “We have to get out of here.”
Cain laughs out loud. Then he grimaces, pressing a fist against his side. “We have the situation well in hand, woman. My warriors hunt the goblyns for sport. This is just a routine exercise for them. Soon we will be on our way.”
Mother Lairen smirks. Luther squeezes my arm gently, watching me stare at what is, to him, the empty seat across from me.
“Daiyna, what is it?”
I lower my voice. “The spirits are here.”
“I will not allow such blasphemy in Gaia’s presence!” Cain bellows, louder than the weapons fire outside. “There are no spirits, just as there is no creator! There is only Gaia, our mother.”
“Gaia—she’s here?” Luther looks around the vehicle’s interior.
“She appears to me as the leader from my bunker. If Milton were here, I’m sure he would see the man who forced him to kill everyone in his bunker. That’s what the evil spirits do: appear as people from our past that we’d rather never see again.”
Mother Lairen smiles coldly.
Why don’t the spirits appear to Cain as someone from his past? Is his mind so warped that they can take the form of anyone they choose? Maybe he has a history of worshipping goddesses, the psycho.
Cain scowls. “Get out.” His hand goes for the door release.
“Why aren’t you fighting alongside your warriors, Cain?” I lean toward him. Mother Lairen chuckles quietly, covering her mouth. “You’d rather they die for you?”
“Get the hell out!” he roars. The door swings open, and wind gusts in bearing dust and ash.
“He is my chosen one, child. I could not possibly allow him to suffer harm,” Mother Lairen says. Then she turns to Cain. “Shut the door, my son. I would hate for a goblyn’s stray bullet to find you.”
He obeys without a word.
“What is the spirit saying now?” Luther asks me.
Mother Lairen clucks her tongue. “Left out in the cold, is he? Poor little man.”
Cain grins at that, casting a sidelong look of disdain in Luther’s direction.
“She’s leading you to your deaths,” I tell him flatly. “Willard’s expecting us, and the UW troops are closing in behind. We’ll be caught in between and wiped out.”
Cain shakes his head, as if I don’t know what I’m talking about. “Gaia knows all things. She is leading us to certain victory!”
“My friend—” Luther turns to face the much larger man. “We have dealt with these spirits before. You must believe me when I say…there are certain forces at work in this world that do not want humankind to survive. They blame us for what we did to the planet, for destroying all they knew, all that they were.”
“What gibberish is this?” Cain scoffs. “I have no desire to hear about your religious beliefs, Luther. I know the truth, and it has set me free from fear. You’re welcome to place your trust in whatever god you choose, but I follow the one I can see. The one who speaks to me, the one who has blessed my people with superhuman gifts and protected us from danger. Not that archaic creator you and your people trust in.” He looks straight at me. “All but one of them, it would appear.”
“You just don’t get it.” I point at Mother Lairen. “She’s no god. She’s just a manifestation. The spirits that generate her want to see you kill your own people!”
Cain clenches his jaw. “How dare you speak such blasphemy in her presence?”
“Allow her to speak for herself,” Luther says, though he can neither see nor hear the spirit. “Tell us, Mother Lairen—or Gaia: What is our purpose in going to Eden?”
“Gaia does not speak to infidels!” Cain’s face flushes with rage.
“Apparently she does,” I counter.
He glares at me. “I don’t know why she speaks to you.”
Mother Lairen holds up an ivory hand. “I would have assumed your purpose is obvious. To take back what is rightfully yours, and to safeguard the lives of your two peoples against men such as this Arthur Willard, and his cohorts in the United World. They brought this fight on themselves by encroaching upon your lands without permission.”
She gestures for me to relay the message to Luther, while Cain merely nods with a fiery glint in his eyes. Is there something else he isn’t sharing, a secret between himself and the evil spirit?
“Why do you insist on using that word, my child?” Mother Lairen stare
s straight at me.
“What?”
“Evil. I can see it in your mind, whenever you look at me. Why must such a dichotomy exist? Good and evil. So very primitive.” She laughs. “Simply because I do not believe you will ever achieve greatness through peace, you refer to me as evil?”
Instead of replying, I echo her words for Luther’s benefit.
“In our dealings with you before,” he says, “it became clear that you did not wish for us to succeed at anything. You wanted us to die out as a species. To paraphrase what you told Milton, The time of humankind is past.”
Cain’s brow furrows. He glances silently from Luther to Mother Lairen.
“Ah yes,” she continues, “but you are not technically human anymore, are you?” She smiles with a warmth that threatens to overcome us all. “The United World in their self-sustaining domes across the waters are the last of their kind on this planet, as are the men hiding down in Eden. They have not been blessed with abilities that make them more than human. They are a subspecies. They are weak. And because of that, they must be exterminated.”
I relay her proclamation to Luther, who doesn’t appear convinced.
Mother Lairen shakes her head with what appears to be both patience and pity. “When I asked Milton to destroy the reactor in Eden, would that explosion have harmed your people?”
“Eventually,” I reply. “The fallout would have been catastrophic. None of the bunkers are functional anymore. There would have been no safe place for us.”
“Daiyna, I would have kept the damage contained, deep within Eden. I would not have allowed it to surface. So you see, I’ve never wanted to destroy your people—only the ones who have wished you harm!”
Cain nods vigorously. He likes what he’s hearing.
Outside, the weapons fire has ceased, and the dust begins to clear. Two warriors approach the Hummer as one shouts, “Lord Cain!”
He lowers the tinted window at his side. “Report.”
“The goblyns are vanquished. We have taken their weapons and vehicles.”
“Very good. We will proceed eastward and catch up with Markus and Vincent.” He moves to raise the window.
“One more thing, m’lord.” The warrior clears his throat. “The others, the…infidels—”
“What is it?” Cain demands.
“They’re…gone. They took most of the weapons we confiscated from them.”
With an explosive curse, Cain throws open the door manually and surveys the scene. Luther and I climb out behind him. I give Mother Lairen a direct look. The spirit’s face appears slightly perturbed by the turn of events.
“Where? They could not have gone far!” Cain bellows. His warrior points northwest where a wall of swirling dust covers our people’s retreat.
“Do we go after them?” the warrior asks. “We have enough vehicles now to round them up.”
Cain turns his gaze westward. He has to be thinking of the UW’s advance. “There is no time. We will leave them to their fate.” He locks eyes with Luther. “Will you join them?”
“Do I have a choice?” Luther says.
I place a hand on his arm. “We should be with our people.”
“I will not forsake our children.”
“We won’t.” I bow my head close to his. “But this is suicide, Luther. The spirits warned me not to go to Eden. Not now.”
“Go.” Cain curses, turning his back on us. “We will do your fighting for you.” Shouting orders to his warriors, he climbs back into the Hummer.
“So the spirits spoke to you again?” Luther faces me. “The benevolent ones?”
I nod, watching Cain’s people move out, kicking up dust in their wake. The warriors on foot hasten to keep up with the seven vehicles, leaving behind half a dozen of their fallen comrades. And all twenty-four of the daemon carcasses.
“Is your desire for revenge—?”
“As strong as ever.” I glance at him. “But other things are more important now.”
He nods slowly. “The children.”
My eyes sting. “Our children, Luther.” I kick at a rock. “How can we rescue them?”
He points at the cloud of dust swirling around our people in the distance, hiding them from view. “We’ll have their help, Daiyna.”
“Do you believe any of what she said—Cain’s god? That the evil spirits want only to destroy the natural humans…not the ones like us?”
“Not a word of it. The spirits who have come to our aid—they’ve told both you and Milton what the evil spirits want more than anything: the end of humankind. Gifted or natural-born, we are all human. And while the evil spirits have sworn never to act against us directly, they obviously have persuaded Cain to act for them. To wield their sword.”
He gestures for me to join him as he breaks into a jog toward the retreating dust storm. I keep pace with him.
“Sergeant Bishop was taken up in a whirlwind, Samson said. But where to, I have no idea.”
“The spirits move in mysterious ways.” Luther sounds like he might actually be smiling.
When we reach the wall of rushing dust and plunge through without incident, we find Samson leading our fellow survivors northward with no destination in sight. But the air is clear on this side, and the people are sheltered from the sun’s harsh rays by the sand wall following us on our journey.
Rehana reappears as Luther sprints ahead to join Samson at the front.
“To answer your question,” she says, “the United World sergeant is in Eden. So is Milton. Together, they will protect your offspring from harm.”
“What about Cain’s people?” Why do I care what happens to them? Do I want them to die? “Will they be slaughtered?”
“You will see for yourself.” Rehana points as Luther, Samson, and Shechara approach, along with two dozen others. The rest of the troop continues to trudge northwest.
“They’re looping back around to the Homeplace.” Samson catches his breath. “If they’re lucky, they’ll miss the UW onslaught entirely.”
“They will,” Luther says without any doubt. “With the Creator’s blessing.”
I frown at the eager, well-armed group around me. “What’s all this?”
“We’re following Cain’s war party.” Luther rests a double-barreled shotgun against his shoulder.
“No chance we’re leaving those babies in his hands,” Samson adds.
“But the spirits said not to march—” I begin.
“We’ll let Cain do the marching,” Samson says. “He’s going at them head-on, and he’s going to meet the heaviest resistance. He’s got more men—”
“And women,” Shechara says, checking the clip in her semiautomatic.
“—and a lot of them are the Milton variety. Extremely fast. They’ll cut a swath through Willard’s daemons, but then they’ll be surrounded and have to fight their way outward. What we’ll do is drive in from the flank, pushing the freaks into Cain’s onslaught as we head for that parking structure we all remember so well.”
His plan is far too simplistic. “You don’t think Willard will have the whole place rigged with explosives?”
Samson shrugs his massive shoulders. “Another option? We hang back, let Cain’s warriors go in first and set off any booby traps. Then we follow.”
Rehana tugs at my sleeve. It never ceases to amaze me how the spirits can interact with us. “Cain must not reach your young ones first. He will destroy them.”
“What?” I face her.
“Daiyna?” Luther says.
Rehana continues, “Milton and Bishop are there to protect your offspring. When you arrive at Eden’s door, your friends will usher you inside.”
“How do you know they’re in control of the situation?”
Rehana almost smiles. “There is a reason we selected those two men. Nothing will stand in their way. Trust me.”
I frown at her. “So now you want us to go to Eden.”
“Samson’s right.” She winks. “Cain will do the marching.
You’ll sneak in sideways.”
Luther clears his throat. “Will the spirits be joining us?”
Rehana nods. “Tell him we will. And we’ll protect the others on their way back to your Homeplace.”
“You can do that—be in more than one place at a time?” I sound like a child, full of curiosity.
Rehana grins, looking more like herself than ever.
Luther strides ahead, breaking into a jog again, and the others follow.
“Guess I’ll bring up the rear,” Samson rumbles, struggling to keep up due to his mechanical legs. “Again.”
We follow Cain’s progress at a distance, keeping to the northwestern flank half a kilometer behind and growing, as Cain’s warriors cut the distance in their vehicles. Luther refuses to let Samson lag too far behind. Rehana keeps stride with me, explaining the evil spirits’ desire to see the unborn children in Eden destroyed. Without them, the United World has no future; they will cease to exist after their youngest generation expires, leaving the gifted to inherit the earth. But of course the UW would retaliate in a major way after such a heinous act, ensuring the destruction of humankind as a whole.
“What do they have against us?” I ask.
“The other spirits? They want revenge,” Rehana replies.
That’s something I can understand. Arthur Willard and Perch deserve slow, agonizing deaths, but right now the only urgency I feel is to save the babies in those incubation chambers. There will be time for vengeance later.
I look at the group around me, recognizing most of them. They’re my like-minded friends who want nothing more than to see Eden obliterated. But I hope they’ll see value in rescuing the children first.
Shechara leads the way, her cybernetic eyes able to see farther than anyone else’s. Already she has spotted the city ruins, along with a massive number of daemons assembled to meet Cain’s advance. She sees the frontrunners of Cain’s ranks, the warriors gifted as Milton is with the ability to move faster than sound. They have already met the daemons with blades flashing, cutting a wide path through the middle of the horde. Just as Samson predicted.
“So many…” Shechara murmurs as she runs alongside Luther and me. “These daemons are stronger than any we’ve met before. Cain’s warriors are already overwhelmed.”
Spirits of the Earth: The Complete Series: (A Post-Apocalyptic Series Box Set: Books 1-3) Page 77