by Matt Ryan
“I’m sorry.” He didn’t have an exact reason for the apology and knew there wasn’t a person in the world to hear it, but he said it anyway. He had to hear it with his own ears, an apology for every stupid thing he’d done over the last few years. If he hadn’t gone to the forest that one day with Bull, if he hadn’t convinced his friends to join him. And then there was Samantha. If he hadn’t led her on, then cast her aside for Poly . . . if he hadn’t found those earrings . . . she might still be here with them. He sobbed into his knees and squeezed them tight against his chest.
He’d never felt so alone in his life. He was glad to have his friends and family so far away. This was his battle to face, his fight to the end. No matter what, he wasn’t going to allow Marcus to live another day. That was his mistake from day one, involving his friends. If he’d only taken Simon’s deal, or just given himself up, he could have eliminated his friends from the equation and Samantha would still be alive.
The rain mocked him and showered down with glee. He slapped his face, but it wasn’t good enough and he struck harder. He slapped again and again, until his vision blurred. He screamed out and got to his feet, or at least tried. His weary legs crashed from under him and he fell back to the muddy surface.
He tried again, barely succeeding in his second attempt. Stopping had been a mistake and his body felt stiff. It took great effort to take the first step. But once he did, he kept moving, nothing could stop him. How long had he traveled? He had to be getting close.
The left leg trailed behind as he tried to speed up to a light jog. Toes dragging through the mud, he couldn’t get it lifted to a full stride. After a few minutes, his body loosened and he felt his hip joints and thigh muscles working. He lifted his legs and ran. The rain cloud moved past him and the sun crested over the distant mountains.
He ran, knowing full well he couldn’t keep up the pace, but it didn’t matter. His heart got to its peak quickly and his breath came in rapid, shallow bursts. He pushed harder, sprinting and feeling the mud barely making contact with his bare feet. If he fell at this speed, he wouldn’t be getting back up.
The wind blew his face dry and he felt a bit of the heat radiating from the sun. The sky held a smattering of dark clouds, each one raining down a column of liquid. He screamed. He’d get there if it killed him.
Running up a small hill, he saw it—the bridge. Joey ran the rest of the way and fell down on his knees in front of the large timbers making up the bridge. The mud clung to his hands and knees in large clumps and he reached for the wood, feeling it with his filthy hands. He crawled a few more feet and welcomed the rough wood on his face. He slid up onto the edge of the bridge and lay there. His body beyond exhausted, he couldn’t believe he’d made it. The idea of death filled him and he closed his eyes, welcoming the blackness.
The sound of clanking wheels and chattering reigns woke him. The sun blared its power over him. He jolted upright and cursed he’d fallen asleep. A band of wagons approached and any plan of going unnoticed left long ago as an Arrack stared at him from a few feet away.
“Marundi,” it yelled out.
He’d made it this far, given everything that he had, and it was all for nothing. He would never be able to defend himself against the band of Arrack’s approaching his position. Laying back down and closing his eyes, he left it to the greater powers to decide his fate.
POLY FLUNG THE DOOR OPEN on the caravan to see Joey laid out on the bridge. His mud covered face contorted with pain. She hopped out of the vehicle and ran. What did he do to himself? She slid up to him and grasped the sides of his head. He opened his eyes, tears forming and falling as soon as he focused on her.
Pulling Joey’s sobbing face into her chest, Poly rocked him like a child, tears flowing freely down her cheeks and landing in his wet, muddy hair. Sharati said thirty miles he’d have to travel to get here. They thought it would be best to get to the bridge and then split, sending a party down river to meet up with him . . . but here he was, on the bridge, looking a wreck. Had he ran the whole way?
“Joey.”
“Why are you here?” he asked.
“We do this together.”
She felt his arms wrapping around her waist, pulling her tight. She stayed there, waiting for him to come to the realization he wasn’t alone, and nothing in all the worlds would ever make it so. They were all going to kill Marcus as one, as planned. Evelyn would be in their arms soon.
He released her and lifted his head to take her in, grinning when she smiled at him. The whole group had gathered behind her while she embraced Joey and the sight of them took her breath away.
Julie, Lucas, Hank, and Gladius stood closest, and behind them Harris, Jack, Sharati, Travis. To the right, Rick, Minter, Beth, Opal, Karen, Gretchen, and Trip. Even further back, she spotted the mutants, Kris, Maggie, and a few others.
The sight gave her chills and she glanced at Joey. His mouth hung open and she saw the same reaction from him, shock. They were all there. The fool of a man had thought he would face Marcus by himself, yet Marcus had hurt too many for one person to end his horrible life. Each face Poly gazed at had been destroyed by the man not thirty miles away.
“Can you walk?” Poly stared in horror at his purple feet. Where were his shoes?
“Yeah.” He pulled himself to his feet and took one step. Pain shot through his face and he crumpled to the ground.
She rushed to his side. “Stay down. What hurts?” She looked over his body, searching for injuries.
“My leg.” He pointed to his left leg.
She pulled off his pants and gasped at the hematoma sticking out of the side of his leg. “Julie,” Poly called. Julie and Lucas came running up. “He’s hurt.”
Julie pulled the bag from her shoulder and set it next to Joey.
Lucas leaned down. “You’re one crazy bastard, Joey Foust.”
Joey smiled and patted Lucas on the shoulder. “You did all this, didn’t you?”
Lucas nodded.
“You’re a great friend,” Joey said.
“You know I am. You think I’d let you take on the big baddie all by yourself?”
Julie rubbed the cream on his leg. He winced from her touch but quickly relaxed as the cream did its thing.
“Anything else hurting?” Julie asked.
Joey shook his head and sat up, but quickly laid back down, grasping around his whole body. Poly took the cream from Julie and began to rub him down. Lifting his shirt, she saw the bruised shoulder and started there. Soon, she’d rubbed the cream over his whole body, like a conscientious mother might for her child at the beach. It wouldn’t last forever but with each application, she watched the relief spread across his face.
“This guy,” Lucas told Poly, “tried to jump into the river over there in hopes of crossing it. If it wasn’t for Sharati, his bloated carcass would be floating out to who knows where.”
Poly glanced back at Sharati. Poly had stuck her in the chest with a knife once and hoped that was water under the bridge.
Joey got to his feet with the help of Lucas and he tested his leg with a smile.
“I got to get a picture of this.” Lucas held up his Panavice and snapped a picture of Joey, barefoot in his underwear, and covered in a mixture of mud and cream Poly had spread over him. Joey made it a point to get his clothes on directly after the picture.
Hank and Gladius then came over to greet Joey and his face filled with joy at their sight.
“Let’s get one big shot,” Julie said, rushing to the bridge to set her Pana on the railing. She waddled back and gathered everyone close in. Poly put her hand around the waist of Joey and smiled for the camera. Julie rushed back to the camera and showed the picture to the rest of them in a projected hologram.
Poly hadn’t seen such a display since the double wedding. After the picture, the parents gathered around Joey, his dad and mom greeting him with hugs and tears. Minter didn’t seem to want to let his boy go.
Poly relished in the sight. He
r mom walked over to her with a smile.
“Your dad would have been proud of you. He’d be amazed, actually. You have turned into the best daughter we could have ever asked for.”
Poly nodded and stared down south, somewhere out there her daughter was with Marcus. The urgency struck her. “We should get going,” she said, but the joyful conversations continued and everyone ignored her. “We need to go!” she screamed.
This silenced the crowd.
“Anubi, hardi,” Sharati said and twirled her hand in the air.
“Joey, come with me,” Poly said.
He said his goodbyes to his mom and dad and followed her to the wagon. She got in first and he brushed off her attempt to help him in. Lucas, Julie, and Hank piled into the wagon with them.
“Where’s Gladius?” Poly asked.
“She wanted to ride with Travis for a bit.”
Poly nodded and took a towel, doused it with water and leaned forward to wipe the mud from Joey’s face. He took it from her and wiped his own face down and then his hands and arms. The towel turned brown from the mud, but seeing his beautiful face again made her heart melt. She wished the rest of the Six would have given this cart to just her and Joey. She wanted him and took in a deep breath in an attempt to tame her desire.
“Sharati said there’s an abandoned city a few miles outside of Marcus’s fortress,” Julie reported. “We’re going to regroup there and formulate our plan.”
“Our final plan,” Hank said.
“Yes, this is it,” Poly added.
“You doing okay, Joey?” Julie asked.
“Yeah, that cream’s helping out a bunch.”
The cart lurched forward.
“I can’t tell you how good it feels to have you guys next to me,” Hank said.
“Aww, Hank’s getting all mushy,” Lucas said.
“I’m serious, being with Gladius has been amazing, but there is nothing like the five of us in the world. I love you guys.”
“Gladius has turned you into a big softie, hasn’t she?” Lucas asked.
“I think its sweet, Hank,” Julie said. “We all love you too.”
“So, you and Gladius doing it now?” Lucas asked Hank.
Going red in the face, he shoved Lucas. “Shut your pie hole, dude.”
“Okay, okay! Just answer me this . . . does she bring that doll, you know, into bed?”
Hank grabbed Lucas, shaking him against the wall.
“Help, Julie, an ape has escaped the zoo and is attacking me!”
They laughed and it felt so good to have the five of them in the same space. Poly got teary eyed and looked out the window as they passed over the bridge. She knew they were going to a place that could very well be the end of them all. Marcus might still think they were dead, but it wouldn’t take long for a man like him to figure out what was really going on.
Over the next hour, Hank did a lot of talking for once, telling them of his adventures with Gladius, romping across the cities of Vanar. Poly hugged Hank and thanked him for all they did for her daughter. She started to feel as if she’d asked too much of her friends.
The wagon stopped and an Arrack opened the door.
It felt good to get up and walk around, after spending hours in the wagon. She tried to help Joey down, but he again waved away her hand and jumped to the ground.
She turned to take in the small town consisting of just a few buildings arranged around a circular dirt road. The plaster on the building had cracked long ago and the holes for windows and doors were vacant.
Joey walked up and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her from behind. She touched his hand and looked back at him. His lips came close to her ear. “Do you know why we aren’t going right now to get Evelyn?”
“Sharati and the Arracks have an idea. We are going to assemble here and then form our attack.”
Joey sighed and squeezed her harder. “She is only a few minutes away . . .” He left the thought hanging, but she knew what he wanted. She wanted the same thing. The very idea of her being with Marcus was unbearable. Edith was the only thing keeping her from going insane.
“We’ll unload the carts and get the weapons set up,” Harris spoke up.
“Weapons?” Joey perked up at the information.
“You think I’d come to a fight with just my hands?” Harris laughed and walked away.
“We’re going to wait, Joey. Okay?” Poly asked.
“Yes.” His hand shook and he pulled it away from her.
They gathered in the large structure and stood on sandy floors. Harris and Sharati went into detail about each person’s role, making sure everyone knew what to do and when. Most of the plan predicated on Marcus acting in a predictable manner. Poly didn’t like much of it because it gave Marcus openings to escape, or chances to harm Evelyn. She gripped her knives and listened intently to the part involving her and her group. She nodded and took in the information.
“Where is the part where we kill him?” Joey asked.
Harris lowered his head. “This is a rescue mission first, destruction comes second. If we can, I will push with my group to kill Marcus.”
“We all need to push, rescuing her is futile if Marcus lives. He will find her again. We will always be on the run,” Poly said.
Harris rubbed his chin and glanced at Sharati. “We think we might have found a way for you to live away from Marcus. Sharati tells me her father found a human planet, much like your Earth. He kept it from Simon and MM after seeing what they did to Ryjack. She knows the code.”
Poly gawked at the idea. “You’re suggesting we should just flee? Hide somewhere, forever looking over our backs?”
“We have to prepare for a plan in case we don’t kill him.”
Poly shook her head as she thought it all over. The idea of going to another Earth was enticing. “We would all go?”
“Whoever wants to, but yes, I would say all of you.”
“And we leave our home planet to fall to his will?” Lucas said. “You know he’s implanted every person on our planet with a device we have no idea what it does?”
“I have control of Alice now,” Julie said. “He won’t be able to broadcast the signal anymore. We solved that.”
Joey held his fists at his sides and glared at the crowd. “Are none of you getting it? We rescue Evelyn and then we kill him. That is the end of the story, period. I don’t care about you guys destroying his toys, or data, or whatever else you want to destroy of his; we don’t leave until he is dead.”
Harris nodded. “We all hope it comes to that. We’ll use the cover of night to start. Are you ready, Sharati?”
“Yes,” she said.
Travis walked in the middle and took in the crowd around him. “We have a mission. Each one of us has our own reasons for being here, but I think we can all agree, we are here today for you five. You have come into our lives and left large footprints behind, and I mean that in the best possible way.” He looked at each of them in the eye. “Tonight, we will honor you and take everything back that Marcus has taken from us.”
“Hell yeah!” Lucas said.
“We should all get something to eat and take it easy for the next few hours while we set up the final part of the plan,” Harris said. “Let’s take this time to enjoy one another’s company, as some of us will not make it to morning.”
Poly didn’t like the notion of any of them dying. The idea of losing another friend couldn’t be rationalized. Sure, she would risk her life to save Evelyn, but she didn’t know if she wanted to risk the lives of everyone else.
She stared at the two red dots on the screen. They were apart now and seeing the distance between Evelyn and Edith sent her heart racing. What could they be doing to her baby girl?
JOEY LAY FLAT ON THE dirt bank, watching as Sharati led a large group of Arracks straight down the road toward Marcus’s compound. They approached slowly and by the time they reached the gates, darkness covered the desert.
“They’re there,” Ju
lie said and held her Panavice close to them so they could all watch the camera mounted to Sharati’s necklace.
The building Sharati faced was built into the side of a mountain and had a giant door. She stood a hundred feet back from the entrance. The door opened and a man walked out from the door with his hands held up and a smile on his face. Marcus Malliden.
“Take the shot,” Joey said even though Sharati couldn’t hear him.
“To what do I owe the pleasure of such an unannounced gathering at my front door?” Marcus asked.
“We know it was you who blew the poison over our lands.”
“If I remember right, Harris and his stooges delivered this poison to you, not me.”
“Kill him,” Joey urged to the screen. He could be there in minutes and kill Marcus himself.
“I’ve seen it on three planets now,” Sharati pushed on. “You nearly killed us all and then came in with the cure, playing the hero. You find it the easiest way to push us under your will.”
Marcus laughed. “And what if I did? What are you and your little gathering going to do? Insight a revolt?” He raised his hands up and looked around. “I am a god. You think the rest of the Arracks are going to go against their god? No, and I will give you this single chance to turn and leave here now.”
“We aren’t going anywhere.”
A light went out from a lantern the Arrack had been carrying, and Joey knew that signal set in motion his parents, floating down the river and soon, Harris’s weapons would ignite.
“Thidius!” Sharati cried out.
Gunfire sounded from the Arracks. The sight of it shocked Marcus. He stumbled back as bullets crashed into his shield.
“Where did you get guns? They are forbidden.” Marcus raised up two guns and fired into the Arracks. Sharati jumped to her right and ran in a sweeping circle.
The door opened again and out came a flood of Arracks. They ran past Marcus, wielding long knives. The gunfire crashed into many of the front liners, but they kept coming out, trying to protect their god. Marcus backed up, making his way to the door and behind the flow of Arracks.