King of Ends

by Sam Ryder

  “I gather that,” I said. “That seems to be the refrain from a lot of humans in the Rome area. What happened?”

  “Six years ago, my family and I lived in Rome,” she said. “We lived in peace, like most members of the Rising. My father ran a produce stand there. We kept a small patch of farmland and he worked hard to provide fruit for the market. We lived a pretty simple life, but it was stable, and stability was not something most people enjoyed in the Ends.”

  “You got that right,” I said. “So what changed?”

  She sighed. “One day, my father saw someone roaming around in his small garden.”

  I knew how this one ended. “A male Ender,” I said.

  “Exactly,” she continued. “He was stealing fruit. My father wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. Not in his work. Not in life. But he wasn’t a fighter. He was a farmer. A damn good farmer. He grabbed a rake because that was the only thing resembling a weapon he had.”

  “It didn’t work, did it?” I asked. “A rake would be no match for an Ender skull.”

  “No, it didn’t work,” she said. “The handle snapped into pieces upon contact.” She took another swig of burning liquid and stared at the glass in her hands. “I watched from the window. The Ender grabbed my father and twisted sharply, like he was made of nothing. My father’s body—” She choked on a sob, closing her eyes as she tried to compose herself.

  “I’m so sorry,” I said.

  She just shook her head, still fighting back tears.

  “Not all Enders are like that,” I said. “You wouldn’t judge the entire human race because of a serial killer, would you?”

  She looked me dead in the eye. “I’ve never met an honorable Ender. Never. They are impulsive, crazed killers.”

  Gehn stood up, almost upending her chair, which wobbled before settling back onto all fours. I stood up, too, blocking her view forward. Please, I mouthed. Try.

  Her eyes bore into me, and I could see the raging torrent of barely held back anger. As she always did, she was fighting it with everything that she had, trying not to become the monster the world believed her to be. She took a deep breath and then sat down.

  I turned back to Vega, looking past Simon, who’d remained silent thus far during the exchange. “Then why are you here?” I asked. “Why come along at all? If you’re already convinced, shouldn’t you just stay home?”

  “Simon is my best friend,” she said. “But his heart is too soft for this world sometimes. I’m here to protect him from himself.”

  Simon swished his drink around in his glass but didn’t contradict her words.

  “Fair enough,” I said. “New topic. Where did you gain your tech skills?”

  “MIT,” she said. “When there was an MIT. My father was so proud when I got in, even prouder when I graduated near the top of my class. Like I said, he was a simple man. When the world ended, I thought all my hopes and dreams were erased. I was determined to live the simple life with my father. When he…passed…I was alone, my mother having died when I was a young girl. Then I heard the Rising was seeking out well-educated engineers and that the pay was exceptional. So applied and got the job.”

  “You helped the trucks get up and running?”

  “Yeah,” she said nervously. “Sorry. I didn’t know what they would use them for. I was thinking they would strictly be for transportation. Given I was sabotaging the Grid, I needed to make something work to continue to prove my worth.”

  “But you have power access yourself,” I said. “We don’t need the Grid, do we?”

  “No, we don’t,” Vega said. “Every community could have their own source of power. The problem is, Atticus won’t stand for that. Just like the food, he wants to control everything. If he ever found out that somebody was generating electricity without his approval or permission, he would burn that community to the ground and stomp out anyone who would dared to go behind his back like that.”

  “How do you keep them from getting the Grid going?” I asked.

  “It’s actually pretty simple,” she said. “They trust me. I’m the leading tech adviser for the Rising at this point. Or at least I was—I think they might suspect my treason at this point. If I tell them we can or can’t do something, they believe me. Like I said, I’ve built up that trust by delivering some small technological advancements, like the trucks, on occasion. That way, I can keep telling them, ‘Oh, well, I got this panel to work but the connection between the panel and the battery isn’t working for some reason.’ Nobody knows what the hell I’m talking about, so it doesn’t matter. I buy a lot of time that way.”

  “So you’re handcuffing them from within,” I said.

  “Exactly,” she answered. “Trust is a hell of a thing. If you trust the wrong person, they can do all sorts of things to take advantage of you. They just throw you a bone every now and then to keep you hooked, and when the time is right for them, they take from you. Sometimes, like in my case, you don’t even realize it’s happening.” She looked around me at Gehn again, sending a clear message as to what she thought about whether I could trust the company I was in the habit of keeping.

  Gehn, to her credit, said nothing.

  “Listen, Vega, there’s something I need to say and I’m only going to say it once. From here on out, you’ll just have to make up your own mind. The Enders have violent tendencies, yes. The male who killed your father should be brought to justice and strung up like the murderer that he is. But he’s not a murderer because he’s an Ender. He’s a murderer because he’s evil. Just as Atticus is evil.”

  “Potatoes, potahtoes,” she said, refusing to meet my eyes.

  “Not to me,” I said. “I’ve been around the Enders for a while now. They are worthy of life, every bit as worthy as most humans. I have fought alongside them. They have hopes and fears and dreams, too. Yes, they’ve been transformed to look a little different. Yes, they can be scary if provoked. But so can man. That’s all I’m going to say. I ask that you open your mind a crack, that is all. Can you do that?”

  She finally met my eyes, her cerulean gaze crystal clear now, piercing. She really was beautiful, though the desire for vengeance that filled her was toxic. After a moment, she nodded. “I will try.”

  “Thank you,” I said. “That’s all I ask.”

  I looked to my left and stared out the dirty bar window. Paris loomed in the distance.

  Am I making a mistake by bringing the Insurgence to Paris? I wondered.

  If this alliance was going to work, I would have to be willing and able to step in between these guys and the Enders when conflict arose, which in inevitably would. And given the power and temper of the Ender males, I’d have to do it sooner rather than later, especially if Vega couldn’t control her mouth.

  We polished off our drinks, tipped the bartender a little extra, and headed back out the door. Paris was waiting for us.

  My mind raced. This was a major risk, but waking up in the morning and stepping out the door was a risk in the Ends. This alliance was a risk worth taking—I had to believe that.

  Chapter 28

  Attack

  The sun burned hot in the desert afternoon, baking the wasteland. The horizon rippled in the heat. Our water supply was running low, but we weren’t far from Paris now.

  Things went quiet again for a while, each of us lost in our own thoughts, until Simon asked me about the Ender Queen.

  “Her name’s Sienna,” I informed them. I told them all about my experience meeting her, the strange foot-bathing ritual.

  “It’s not natural,” Vega muttered, shaking her head.

  “I thought the same thing at the time,” I told her. “But does that mean it’s wrong?”

  She begrudgingly gave me that point. But before I could say another word, Gehn stopped suddenly, her eyes roving back and forth across the harsh terrain.

  “What is it?” I said, immediately on high alert. Gehn’s instincts were telling her something, and based on her expression, it wasn’t
good. She sniffed the air, the tip of her nose twitching.

  “What the fuck is she doing?” Vega said, sounding disgusted.

  “Back!” Gehn said, grabbing my arm and pulling me in reverse. I almost stumbled but managed to keep my balance.

  “Listen to her,” I said to Simon and Vega, but only Simon reacted, backtracking with us. Vega stood her ground.

  “You think I’m going to listen to the rantings of some End—” she started to say, but never got to finish the thought.

  Because the ground erupted around her feet, bursting upward and spraying crumbling dirt and sharp stones into the air. Vega was bucked off her feet, tumbling headlong in the opposite direction in which we were moving, landing awkwardly on her shoulder and crying out in pain.

  The creatures that emerged from their underground slumber were mutations. They were huge, as large as hippos but with well-muscled frames. Their dark yellow eyes glowed as they hunched over, snarling at us and licking their chops. Massive fangs poked out of their mouths, nearly reaching their snouts, which were boar-like. Dark brown skin covered their bodies, cooked to a leathery texture by the hot wasteland sun. They shook the dirt off themselves, their eyes taking in the situation, flicking from the three of us to Vega, who was on an island by herself. After a moment’s hesitation, they turned in her direction, prepared to pick off the straggler.

  She struggled to her feet, looking scared but ready to fight as she drew an odd-looking baton she wore strapped to her belt. It was about 10 inches long, silver, with a small white bulb on each end. “Close your eyes,” Simon warned, but I was too confused to react in time. One of the creatures threw itself at her and she swung the baton hard, connecting solidly with its snout. At the same moment, an utterly blinding flash of light—like a thousand flashbulbs going off in the dark—burst across my vision.

  I couldn’t see a damn thing, sunspots dancing across everything.

  “What the hell?” I asked.

  “One of Vega’s inventions,” Simon explained. “She calls it a flash stick. Works wonders against Borgas, especially because they travel in packs.”

  I’d never heard of Borgas before, but it wasn’t exactly the time for a lesson about the vicious creatures. My vision was beginning to clear, which meant the beasts’ vision would be returning soon too. Vega had bought us some time, but it was fast running out.

  I caught a glimpse of her running, favoring her left arm, which was dangling oddly from her shoulder. A dislocation, I thought. From the fall.

  One of the Borgas snarled, spotting her too. It charged to the side, cutting off her escape to us. Vega, despite the situation and the pain she must be in from her injury, looked badass, holding the flash stick out in front of herself menacingly. A second Borgas took up position beside the first. Then another. And another. No matter how badass she was, she was in trouble.

  I drew my weapons, prepared to defend this woman with my life, as I’d promised. But then Gehn was at my side, placing a hand on my chest, holding me back. “Gehn,” I started to say, about to reprimand her for continuing to hold a grudge because of the women’s ignorance.

  But she cut me off. “Let me,” she said, drawing her sword, and I could see the intention in her eyes. Her fangs emerged, sliding past her bottom lip.

  Simon gaped at her.

  She smiled at him and then turned away. The Borgas’ had fanned out, surrounding Vega, probably expecting an easy meal.

  Gehn attacked them from behind, launching herself with reckless abandon, landing atop one and slashing her sword viciously across its neck, severing its head from its body. She surfed it to the ground as it collapsed, dead in a pool of its own black blood.

  The rest of the pack went ballistic at that point, turning one hundred percent of their attention to Gehn, who dove to ground as one flew past, snarling and snapping. She sprang back to her feet and slashed at another, crippling its foreleg. The third one was quicker, however, grabbing her sword with its teeth, wrenching it back and forth like a dog on a bone, trying to rip it from her grasp. Its face was so close to hers, and Gehn reared back and then sank her fangs into its neck, causing its body to stiffen.

  The rest of the pack was close to the action, but not close enough to dissuade me from joining the battle. I trusted my abilities and could shoot an apple off Gehn’s head if need be. I pumped bullet after bullet in to the beasts, hitting one in the ear and another in the forehead. The beasts took the hits like heavyweight champs absorbing their opponent’s best knockout blow, like their skulls were made of bulletproof vests.

  Shit, these bastards are tough, I thought.

  I noticed Vega moving in from the side, holding her baton at the ready. This time I was prepared as she swung, jamming my eyes closed just as the baton made contact with the ribcage of one of the beasts. Even with my eyelids to protect my eyes, the flash was searingly bright and I slapped a hand across my face to further shield them. When I opened my eyes, however, I was able to blink away the spots much quicker than before. The Borgas had been less fortunate, and were blind once more, running into each other and clawing at anything that moved. Unfortunately, that included Gehn, who was still tearing into one of their throats. One of the others hammered into her side, knocking her free. She tumbled to the ground, rolling several times before coming to rest.

  I knew I needed to get closer, fire a point-blank shot into one of their weak spots—an eye or a mouth. I charged toward Gehn, who was about to get trampled by another rampaging Borgas. I reached her just in time, turned toward the beast that was bearing down on me, still half-blind…

  As it collided with me, I fired, jamming Alpha’s barrel into its eyes. Heat flooded up my arm as I stumbled back, tripping on Gehn. The beast stepped on her once and then flew past, but the damage was done. Gehn writhed, clutching her stomach.

  The fight wasn’t over yet.

  Three of the beasts were still on the move, getting their vision back, turning to select the easiest prey. Both members of the Insurgence were separated now, but the Borgas seemed to fear Vega and her flash stick and moved away from her in Simon’s direction.

  Simon calmly pulled something from his own ammo belt. Three silver disks, each one barely the size of a drink coaster. “Come on, you bastards,” he growled. The beasts snarled, prowling closer. When they were about ten feet away, he threw the disks one at a time like frisbees, in quick succession. All three missed, coming up short, landing on the ground under the bodies of the three beasts. That’s when I heard the beeping, slow at first but then speeding up. I knew that sound all too well from my time in the military.

  I dove atop Gehn, who was still in considerable pain, using my body as a shield for hers.

  The detonations were so close together they might as well have been a single explosion. I closed my eyes and held onto Gehn, who was breathing rapidly and groaning in pain. Shrapnel rained down on me, some sharp pieces, piercing my clothing, my skin. Other blunter pieces thudded against me—Borgas’ bones perhaps.

  Silence reigned once more. Pain wracked my body, but I didn’t care about any of that. I crawled off Gehn to kneel beside her. “Hey,” I said, using my fingers to slide a stray lock of dark hair away from her face, which was scrunched in pain. “Are you okay?”

  Her eyes flitted open and her teeth clenched together. Dark blood stained them as well as her lips. “A couple of broken ribs. Not sure if the hoof punctured anything important but it hurts like hell.”

  It could’ve been worse, but still… “We need to get you to Belenie.”

  I scooped my hands under her and picked her up, drawing another moan from her lips.

  Vega staggered over to me, cradling the arm attached to her dislocated shoulder. “Is she…okay?” Was that concern in her voice?

  “I’m not sure,” I said. “We need to get to Paris as fast as possible. They have a healer there. She can take care of it.”

  Simon was picking himself up off the ground, where he must’ve landed after the explosion. “What
were those?” I asked him.

  He patted his belt as he approached. “Disk bombs,” he replied. “They’re nothing fancy, but they get the job done. Small, versatile, and they pack a decent punch. Another Vega special.”

  Vega held up her baton. “I call this a Blinder,” she said. “In a twenty-foot radius, it can blind anybody or anything. The effects last about thirty seconds or so if you’re unfortunate enough to have your eyes open when it goes off.”

  I was impressed. These guys were full of surprises. “Thanks for the assist,” I said.

  “Right back at you,” Simon said. “We prefer to attack from a distance, but what you and Gehn did in close range was downright ballsy.” Vega, for once, seemed to agree with the compliment even though it involved an Ender.

  “Another day at the office,” I said. “Let’s go.” Gehn’s breathing had slowed and she seemed to have fallen asleep. I didn’t know if that was a good thing or not, but the only thing that mattered now was getting to Paris stat.

  Chapter 29

  Homecoming

  As we entered Paris, many Enders stepped through the doorways of their homes to watch us. It was the second time in a row I’d entered the city while being stared at, so it didn’t bother me that much. Plus, my focus was on getting Gehn the help she needed.

  The only problem: While my last entrance into the city was full of melancholy at the lost Enders we’d left behind, this time I felt a tension boiling beneath the surface. I had just walked three more humans into Paris.

  Vega, despite her injury, held her Blinder at the ready, almost daring one of them to attack us. Thankfully, no one did, content to offer dagger stares and stink eyes in our direction.

  “We need Belenie,” I called out. “Has anyone seen her? Gehn is injured.”

  There was a murmur in the growing crowd and then a voice said, “I’m here.” Belenie appeared in a gap that opened in the crowd, her lovely face a sight for sore eyes. “What happened?”