End of the Line

by N. D. Roberts

  “Hungry, mostly,” one of the women replied.

  “That goes without saying, Fabrice,” Olaf chipped in cheerfully as he turned on the oven in the kitchen at the far end of the room. He unwrapped a crock and put it in the oven to heat the contents. “Irina sends her regards.”

  “Smells like she sent her goulash, as well,” Marlon enthused.

  Olaf laughed. “Dinner will be ready in an hour, which gives us time to see to your wounds.”

  “Let me help,” Sarah Jennifer offered. She followed Olaf’s finger to a woman whose arms and chest were covered in bandages, then grabbed a tray with medical supplies, walked over, and asked the woman’s name.

  “I’m Gretel.” Her voice was croaky. “Thank you for saving us.”

  Sarah Jennifer smiled. “The world is going to thank you. You’re the first people we’ve been able to reverse the Madness in. Matriarch knows we’ve been working long enough to make it happen. You’re miracles, all of you. Let me see those wounds, please.”

  Gretel bore the pain of her bandages being removed with only a wince. The skin beneath was a mess of scabs, surrounded by scarring in the shape of bite marks. “Lilith says we have tiny machines in our blood that will heal this mess.”

  Sarah Jennifer nodded as she unwound the bandage on Gretel’s right arm. “That’s right. Everyone on Earth has them. Have you felt anything else…” She wasn’t sure how to explain. “Like a buildup of energy?”

  Gretel shook her head. “No. Nothing yet. The bear-man says we’ll get some warning before we set anything on fire.”

  Sarah Jennifer glanced at Olaf. “You explained they could start manifesting magical abilities?”

  Olaf pointed at the ceiling. “Lilith did.”

  Lilith’s voice came from the speaker overhead. “I am monitoring the Etheric energy level in the room. If anyone begins to manifest magic, shielding will activate around their bed while we wait to see what ability emerges.”

  Sarah Jennifer glanced up and saw the shield emitters in the ceiling. “Good enough.” She finished dressing Gretel’s healing wounds and moved on to the next patient, a man attached to an IV who introduced himself as Pietro.

  “What can I do for you, Pietro?” Sarah Jennifer asked, unable to see a visible wound.

  The man lowered his sheets, exposing his bandaged torso. “It’s itchy as hell.”

  “Growing a new kidney will do that for you,” Olaf quipped from the next bed. “We’re lucky to still have you with us.”

  “The luck’s all mine,” Pietro responded. He peered thoughtfully at Sarah Jennifer. “Olaf and Lilith say you’re going to save everyone from the Madness. Too late for our kin, but not too late for humanity.”

  He had an ancient look in his eyes despite his relatively youthful appearance.

  Sarah Jennifer felt drawn to him. “You’re the Were.”

  Pietro nodded. “Once upon a time. No magic for me. I just want my wolf back, as impossible as that is.”

  Sarah Jennifer smiled. “Now that I can do. How did you get infected?”

  Pietro colored red. “I failed, that’s how. I was employed as a guard for a caravan of human traders going east from Petersburg when the Mad attacked. None of us made it.”

  Sarah Jennifer eyed the extensive scarring over his body from dozens of bite marks as she ripped a strip from her roll of medical tape. “You were one Were. You didn’t fail.” She held the tape between her teeth as she grabbed a fresh pad.

  “My conscience says different,” Pietro countered. “The people I was sworn to protect were torn to pieces.”

  Sarah Jennifer put the pad over the site of the wound on his stomach. “The Madness has taken my pack over thirty years to contain, and we are almost a hundred thousand strong at this point.”

  Pietro’s eyes widened. “A hundred thousand Wechselbalg? How? We lost the ability to shift…well, decades ago.”

  Sarah Jennifer shook her head. “I have the Queen’s assistance in reversing the Affliction. I accept every Were who is loyal to Bethany Anne into my pack and repair their ability to shift. They have the choice between military service or becoming part of the civilian community.”

  “Where do I sign up?” Pietro asked, sitting up. He groaned as the movement sent a bolt of pain through his body.

  Sarah Jennifer laughed and gently pushed him back onto his pillows. “You get better first. Then we’ll see about getting you enlisted.”

  Enora checked in shortly after all the conscious patients were settled with bowls of goulash and hunks of rustic bread. Sarah Jennifer answered the comm. “How’s it looking out there?”

  “Not good,” Enora replied, concern tingeing her voice. “There are approximately twenty thousand Mad traveling up the banks of the estuaries south of here. They’re split between a number of groups at the moment, but they’re heading this way.”

  Sarah Jennifer put down her bowl. The estuaries were fed by the lake a few kilometers from the mountain. “How long until they converge?”

  “I did what I could to create physical boundaries to slow them down. Maybe a couple of weeks?”

  “Okay. We have time to get some extra defenses in place.” Sarah Jennifer relayed the information to Olaf in a low voice so as not to alarm the patients.

  The werebear stopped eating. “We have time to prepare. I will go to town and ask Irina to come up here and look after the people in my absence. There are many warriors in Arkhangelsk who will fight to defend the Oracle.”

  “I’m not convinced it will be enough,” Sarah Jennifer told him. “I’m calling in reinforcements.”

  As Olaf set out into the snow, Sarah Jennifer settled into the comfy chair in the comm room and got to work contacting her allies, starting with Reika.

  The Thane of Agatha’s Mountain got straight to the point. “What do you need?”

  Sarah Jennifer smiled. “Never one to beat around the bush, are you, old woman?”

  “Call me old again, and I’ll see how you like the flat of my blade on your ass the next time I see you,” Reika retorted without malice. “You’re twice the age of me and not a gray hair on your head. Now, I know you wouldn’t be calling if you weren’t in some need. The dew falls on both dirt and lily. How can I be of service?”

  “I need bodies.”

  “The live kind or the other?”

  Sarah Jennifer snorted. “Preferably living, if you don’t mind. We have a situation in Arkhangelsk—twenty thousand-plus Mad converging on New Romanov and the mountain.”

  Reika let out a low whistle. “Situation, you call it. I call it trouble. I can send my warriors. No problem. Well, one small problem. Transport.”

  “I have that covered,” Sarah Jennifer told her. “Amelie is next on my list. How many swords do you have?”

  “I can give you three thousand,” Reika told her. “I will send two-thirds of my warriors and hold back the rest to protect my mountain.”

  “Fair enough. You have my eternal gratitude, Reika.”

  “Knowing what eternity is for your kind, I expect that gratitude to be passed along to my daughter’s daughter’s daughters.”

  “And then some,” Sarah Jennifer vowed. “Thank you, Reika. I’ll make sure Amelie radios when she’s in range of Bråviken, and you will get first dibs on the next cocoa crop.”

  “Now you’re talking, my friend!” Reika exclaimed with a lusty laugh.

  Sarah Jennifer said goodbye and reached out to Amelie.

  The trade mistress was moved by the situation. “I have the main fleet headed for the Baltic Strait. We need to resupply at Upinniemi, and then we’ll set out for Arkhangelsk.”

  “Can you make a stop at Mount Bråviken?” Sarah Jennifer asked. “Reika has promised three thousand warriors, but they need transport.”

  “You don’t have any Pods?” Amelie’s reply was colored with surprise.

  “Not that I can spare,” Sarah Jennifer admitted. “Most are on Mars. The rest will be running Weres here from the Americas.”
<
br />   “The outbreak there is contained?”

  Sarah Jennifer wished it was. “I’m splitting my forces. We have some twenty-odd thousand Mad moving north. It looks like they’re being drawn here somehow. The mountain must be protected at all costs, or everything we’ve worked for will be for nothing.”

  “Consider it done,” Amelie assured her. “We’ll be there in a week, eight days at the most if Reika’s people aren’t ready when we arrive.”

  “They’ll be ready.”

  Amelie covered the mic with a hand while she shouted an instruction to her first mate. “I’ll have my people meet us with supplies, so we don’t need to go into the harbor. You know what it’s like when you’ve been away for a spell. The administrators seem to save the knottiest problems until I return, always.”

  Sarah Jennifer laughed. “I feel that, my friend. Smooth seas.”

  “And the same to you,” Amelie replied before signing off.

  Sarah Jennifer felt marginally better until she spoke to Izzy.

  The acting lieutenant gave her a grim recounting of the Defense Force’s efforts to quell the rise of Madness from Guatemala to Panama.

  “How many magic users do they have with them?” Sarah Jennifer asked. “More importantly, which magic users?”

  “David is down there, Paula Simmons, Harriet Grandin, Marc Karlov, Snorri Karlson, Nicky Jakes, and Farah Hadid.”

  Sarah Jennifer counted off the available magic power. “So, two rock mages, three physical magic users, two nature, and one water. Okay. Keep the magic users and a unit each to protect them down there. They’re going to have to seal off all the routes into North America. I need the ground troops here.”

  Izzy sucked in a breath. “Major, that’s a huge ask.”

  “I know, but it’s necessary.” Sarah Jennifer sighed. “The Mad are amassing, and we have to protect our base at New Romanov or lose our ability to reverse the Madness for everyone. Reika has given me three thousand swordsmen and women and Amelie has the warriors who travel with the trade fleet, and all of those could go Mad before the battle is done. I need Weres.”

  “Understood,” Izzy told her. “I’ll get to work on the reassignments and send you everyone I can. Can we get some Pods back from Mars? I have twenty.”

  Sarah Jennifer hesitated to remove resources from the colony. “No can do. If the habitat is compromised, every one of them will be needed there.”

  “Why are we always caught between a rock and a hard place?” Izzy complained.

  Sarah Jennifer let out a humorless laugh. “That’s easy. No military gets to operate in ideal circumstances. We’ll manage. We always do.”

  Potato Creek State Park, IN

  Ezekiel’s connection to Lilith was broken when a bunch of newly-turned Mad ran into the clearing where he and Caitlin were meditating.

  Baby Mad were nothing to sniff at. They were driven by the insatiable, instinctive desire to consume whatever flesh they could sink their nasty teeth into, and some still retained a warped version of the ability to think.

  Ezekiel’s preferred method of disposal was a tsunami of flames. However, before he had a chance to react, Caitlin had that damn sword of hers drawn and ran at them, blocking his line of fire.

  “Ezekiel, run!” she yelled through clenched teeth.

  Not a chance. He watched her go, admiring her form. This woman knew how to move, her sword an extension of her being.

  Ezekiel took cover, giving himself space to get his magic under control. The problem wasn’t a lack of ability. It was that he risked burning the forest to ashes if he didn’t regulate his emotions.

  The way Caitlin moved had him somewhat hot under the collar.

  He couldn’t take his eyes off her. He supposed it had something to do with her being the first attractive woman he’d encountered in a long time. However, she was not for him. He hadn’t been entirely honest with her, and his moral compass wasn’t set that way.

  Caitlin fended off a Mad who leapt at her from a tree, her blade flashing in the early morning sunlight as she carved a chunk from its shoulder.

  She pivoted to avoid a sloppy haymaker from the next to charge. Unfazed by the partial contact the huge sonofabitch made, she ducked and tossed the one who grabbed her from behind, spinning in the same movement to drive her blade into the Mad’s skull.

  Ezekiel heard her murmur, “One down,” and forced himself to concentrate.

  Instinct drove him to react when the rest moved in, overwhelming her with their numbers. The fire sprang to his hands unbidden as she went down, her sword knocked from her grip.

  He flung the fireball with accuracy, no longer caring if he eradicated the forest. Caitlin’s life was more precious than the trees.

  The Mad was thrown into a tree in flames. It screeched, dropping to the ground as the pain of being burned alive overtook the desire to feed.

  Caitlin gasped, her eyes flicking to Ezekiel as she reached for her sword.

  He ducked back behind the rock, clenching his hands into fists as the magic threatened to overwhelm him.

  The Mad on fire rolled around on the grass while the others got over their fear of the flames and closed on Caitlin again.

  She was ready. She ducked as she twisted her wrist to gut the Mad nearest her. She swore loudly as she realized that wasn’t enough to stop it and stepped back, withdrawing her blade, then swung for its throat.

  That Mad fell to the ground unmoving, opening a space for the big bastard who was still set on eating Caitlin for breakfast.

  Ezekiel sensed help was coming. Not a moment too soon.

  Caitlin was no match for the Mad’s strength and size, not that it stopped her. She lifted her sword, her eyes alight with anger.

  She growled low in her throat. “Can’t you learn to take a hint? When you get knocked on your ass, just stay down. It’ll be better that way.”

  Ezekiel let out a strangled laugh. The fire inside wanted to be let free. He worked to contain it as the Mad came at her again.

  Caitlin took a stand and prepared to eviscerate the Mad.

  A blur shot out of the trees and took the Mad out before Caitlin had a chance to swing her sword.

  Ezekiel didn’t recognize the vamp, but he didn’t smell like a Forsaken.

  The vampire pulled his dagger out of the Mad’s heart and flashed a devil-may-care grin. “Captain Royland, reporting for duty.”

  Caitlin looked relieved. “About time.”

  The other Were Ezekiel had sensed at the crash site bolted out of the same spot where Royland had emerged from the forest. Seeing the immediate danger was over, she bent, her hands on her knees as she drew heaving breaths.

  Ezekiel’s magic receded with the Mad all dead. He stood straight, his snark returning unbidden. “I thought Weres were supposed to be fit?”

  Royland snickered. “Sure, aggravate Cammie. I mean, you just escaped death…”

  Cammie shot daggers at Ezekiel. “You try keeping up with a vampire.” Her nose twitched, her enhanced sense of smell registering that he was no ordinary human. She turned her attention to Caitlin. “Who’s your friend?”

  Caitlin stared at Ezekiel, her clear gaze questioning.

  Ezekiel cut in before she had a chance to voice her thoughts. “You’re the same Royland and Cammie who live on Prince Edward Island? I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  Cammie dropped her hands to her hips. “Can’t say the same, sunshine. What the hell do you smell of?”

  “Magic,” Ezekiel answered simply, turning to tell Caitlin, “We need to get back to the house.”

  Caitlin looked down at her blood-spattered clothing. “I need to wash this shit off me. Let’s go.”

  Chapter Ten

  Inside the house, Helena and Mary-Anne were awake.

  Mary-Anne had made clear what she thought about being strapped to an identical bench to the older vampire’s. However, the concession had to be made. She was Mad or approaching Madness, and it wasn’t safe for her to be loose with Kain
asleep and Caitlin sneaking out to follow Ezekiel.

  Mary-Anne had eyed Helena skeptically the whole time they’d been talking. Helena became introspective for a long moment, her gaze drifting to the ceiling. Mary-Anne concealed her impatience for answers, waiting for the other vampire to gather her thoughts.

  Helena sighed, coming back to the conversation. “We were given a gift. Vampirism is the greatest thing I could ever have asked for. No matter what happens when the Madness finally claims me—and I feel that that time may be sooner than anyone realizes—I was given more time than any human to do my work and get us to where we are now. The culmination of all that’s yet to come.”

  Mary-Anne’s eyebrows drew together as her restraints chafed her body. “And what’s that?”

  Helena offered her a beatific smile. “A journey. A journey to parts of the world that no one outside the UnknownWorld has visited in a long time.”

  “How will we get there?” Mary-Anne asked.

  Helena laughed.

  Mary-Anne cursed herself. Of course. She already knew the answer. “The boy?”

  Helena flashed her fangs at Mary-Anne’s tone of disbelief. “Don’t underestimate him. There’s a lot more to him than meets the eye. He may be young, but he’s wise beyond his years. He’s been through a lot, and he’s more doggedly determined than anyone I have ever met.” She caught her anger before it spiraled into another episode. It wasn’t the younger vampire’s fault that she and Ezekiel hadn’t been forthcoming about his connection to the heart of the problem. “Even me.”

  “What is it?”

  Helena barely heard her. Her mind was slipping again… “Did you know that the Queen Bitch—or the Matriarch, as many call her—always had a team by her side? Dozens of humans, Weres, and vampires fighting to help keep justice in the world.”

  “Team Queen Bitch—TQB. Of course.” Mary-Anne was losing her patience despite her understanding of Helena’s fight to retain her mind while the Madness ate away at her. “What does that have to do with this?”