“Yes. Mortality is one hundred percent. It’s only a matter of time. Everyone affected is dead within hours, not days.”
He squinted and drew his comm from his pocket. Typing a message, he looked up at me occasionally.
When the ping of a returned message sounded, his eyes widened. “She’s ill.”
“Queen Lillith is responsible. She wants to rule only the Lessers. She thinks that the Greaters have too much power.”
The lie slipped easily from my tongue.
Within seconds, the man had told every guard around us to check for illness in their families. Within a few more minutes, all had confirmed their loved ones had fallen ill. Though we marched, shards of hope could be seen in the eyes of the Lessers around me. It was the first time I’d ever seen that.
Our existence had been comfortably controlled. It was neither good nor bad. The water we were in had been lukewarm for so long—until then, when Lillith added fuel to the fire, and it began to boil and bubble.
Word spread like wildfire to the guards escorting us. When we came upon the Lowers waiting at The Cliff, it spread to those guarding them as well.
A sharp blow to my back. “You’re sure? We only have hours?”
I winced. “I’m positive.”
“How do you know all of this?” He demanded.
“It was part of my job, to track the victims and make sure everyone had contracted the disease.”
Realization glazed over his face. I’d been working at The Center for Technology and Defense. It was very believable.
He sized me up. “I’m going to check on them.”
He turned and began retracing his steps back toward the city.
“Hey, where are you going, Murphy?”
“The Uppers say that Queen Lillith has released a virus. It’s specific to Greaters and will kill anyone who contracts it within hours. My wife is ill. I’m going home. If I only have hours with her, I refuse to waste another second on this.” He motioned to all of us in the crowd.
Murmurs spread through the guard, and slowly, others followed him out of the quarry.
After half an hour, only a handful of guards remained, consisting of those who either had no family to check on or who were too afraid to defy a direct order.
An older man to my right nudged me. His face was smeared with soot, and his overall wardrobe was about to fall apart at the seams.
“We can take them. A few will die, but we can overpower them now. We have strength in numbers. You sure about the virus?”
“Yes. If we wait it out, perhaps we’ll be freed anyway, and no lives will be lost.”
He shook his head. “No. They didn’t bring us out here for nothing. These are slaughter-grounds.”
“What do you mean?”
He pointed to the earth beneath our feet. I hadn’t noticed it before, but there were circular cakes of deep red earth.
“Blood.”
I swallowed.
“They take people out here to get rid of them. Been waiting my turn, but I kept my head down and my chimney sweep up. You don’t produce; you die. You’re worthless to them.”
There were a lot of dried bloody circles and splatters on the parched earth.
“We can take them. But I can’t do it alone.”
I nodded. It was worth it. I looked around at the women and children and then back to him. Shoving my hand forward, I told him my name, “Adam Kelley.”
“Bruce Davis.”
I took a deep breath. “Do we have a plan?”
Bruce smiled, revealing gray teeth and gums. “Yeah. We give them hell.”
I smiled, too. He motioned to the left, and I motioned right. There were only six or seven guards left. Our movement caught the eyes of a few other men and women. The guards were huddled together, discussing how their brethren left them to keep watch over the filth.
By the time one saw us coming, it was too late. Bruce and I weren’t the only ones who rushed the small circle of armed men. Several others joined us, robust men and fed-up women. With only a few bullets shed, the guards were disarmed and restrained.
A loud roar of triumph rose into the air.
Unfortunately, one of those bullets tore through my side. It was like fire, like a red-hot poker had been shoved into me.
Bruce was by my side in no time. “We need a healer!”
The healers were all at the med facility. And none of them were going to come help me. I chuckled at the absurdity.
“Shh. Easy, Adam Kelley. It might not be a Greater healer who keeps you alive, but there are a few Lessers skilled in the art of medicine.
A kind-faced young woman, with wild, light brown, curly hair piled atop her head, knelt beside me. “I can help you.”
She pulled a small canteen from a pack on her side and began throwing herbs and all sorts of things into the water.
With her hand, she lifted my head and held the container to my mouth. I drank. And then everything became very soft before it disappeared.
“HOW MUCH LONGER?” I ASKED, panting like some sort of animal.
Kaia patted my hand. “There’s no way to know. These things have a timetable all to themselves.”
“No.” I growled. “How much longer to Diamond?”
She pulled her comm out and checked the time. “It shouldn’t be much longer, perhaps ten or fifteen minutes.”
Boots on the ladder outside the car meant one thing, and that one thing dropped into the tin box gracefully. “You okay?” he asked, rushing to my side.
“Yeah.”
“Is the pain worse? Are you having problems?”
“Not worse, just more pressure, I think.”
“We should be there soon.”
It hit me. “Phoenix is driving this thing. Does he know how to get there, where to stop? Does he know how to stop? Please tell me he knows how to stop.”
Gray’s brows rose. “I’m sure he knows how, Abby. Guy’s a genius or something. He’s got this. You focus on—” he swirled his finger in a circle over my belly “—all this, and let Phoenix worry about driving and steering and stopping.”
I started giggling.
Kaia stood up to stretch, walking across the car and back and forth.
“What’s so funny?” Gray asked, tilting his head to the side.
“You. Your parents named you Gray, but the only thing I see is how beautiful you are—inside and out.”
“And that’s funny?”
I couldn’t stop laughing. “Yeah. Gray... Well, gray is an ugly, gloomy color.”
He huffed.
“Maybe you do reflect your name, grumpy!” The laughter burst out of me again.
“Then there are your eyes.”
“My eyes?” he deadpanned.
“Yeah. They’re orange, sort of; anyway, they’re the exact opposite of the color gray. They’re vibrant and colorful, like a sunset.”
“Maybe they should’ve named me Sunshine?”
That made it so much worse, picturing his masculine self as “Sunshine Wilken.”
The pain flared, reminding me it hadn’t gone anywhere, despite my uncontrollable giggle fit.
Screeching of metal on metal. Phoenix had hit the brakes. We must’ve been coming up on Diamond.
“I hate it for him.”
Gray’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“Ky. Is it as bad as I think? Is he doing what I think he is?”
Nodding thoughtfully, Gray bent down and placed a kiss on my cheek, whispering in my ear, “He’s setting us all free, Abs.”
Tears filled my eyes. “I know. I just wish it was me and not him.”
I could feel the scruff of his cheek against mine when he smiled. “You’re a little busy at the moment.”
Laughing once, I sniffed. “Yeah.”
Gray sobered, placing his hand on my bump. “I’m sorry they did this, but I’m glad for her, and for you.”
“I don’t know if I can be a good mom, Gray. I had Lulu, and she was
the best, but I don’t remember my own mother.” I looked at Kaia who was watching her comm for some reason.
“You’ll be fine. She’ll be fine. I don’t know how to be a daddy, either, but I’m gonna learn. The three of us will learn together. Okay?”
He kissed my cheek again, and I clung to his forearms. The train slowed, the cargo shifting forward.
Kaia stumbled but righted herself before the car slowed to a stop.
Gray smiled. “Let’s get you to the healer.”
I’d planned to walk, but he was having none of that. He helped me to the door, slid it open with a scraping screech, and then jumped down. I eased to a sitting position and threw my legs over the edge of the car. Gray lifted me down, and when he saw I was okay, scooped me back up, and took off toward the tiny shack the train had overshot by a few hundred feet. A woman close to my own age was waiting.
“You the healer?” Gray yelled.
“Yes. I got your message. My home is this way,” she said, motioning for us to follow her around the back of the depot.
Diamond was much like our village, except their homes were made of stone at the base and wood planks on top. They were much closer together, a bundle of houses in a small area, where ours were more spread out. The healer, whose hair was black as night, was a tall girl—taller than Julia or Gray—and wore tan pants tucked into knee-high brown boots and a long-sleeved button-up shirt.
Julia and Phoenix were staying with the train.
Kaia was rushing behind us to catch up. The land was different there. It wasn’t dry like Vesuvian earth, but it wasn’t lush and rich like Orchard’s. It was situated somewhere in between.
The ground was mostly flat, with small rolling hills, but nothing like the ones back home. There was no tall hay to let your palms graze across. But there were trees and naturally colored things, and it felt much more like home than Vesuvius ever did.
Being carried was uncomfortable.
“Put me down, Gray.”
“We’re close, right?” he bellowed up to the healer.
“Yes. But if the woman wants to walk, let her.”
I liked that girl.
Reluctantly, he eased my legs down and steadied me. “I’m not a newborn deer or something. I’ve been walking for almost eighteen years now.” I teased.
“You haven’t had a baby ready to slide out before, though.” Touché, Mr. Wilken.
“Whatever.” Walking felt good. It felt good to stretch, but the minute I did, the back pain returned with a fierce vengeance.
I rubbed my lower back.
The healer glanced at us quickly, but then stopped. “Your back hurts?”
“Yeah.”
She strode quickly toward me and positioned Gray in front of me. “Brace her.”
The healer put the heel of her palms on either side of my spine and pushed down and outward. It hurt like nothing I’d ever felt.
“Might be muscular, but it could be the baby’s position. If it’s breech, we’ll have to turn her by hand.”
That made me sick. Like, vomit on the ground sick. “What do you mean turn her by hand?”
“Hurry up. I need to examine you.”
Gray helped me waddle ahead. I could hear the bones of my pelvis pop every few steps. And that was making me sick, too. Everything about childbirth was just disgusting.
She led us down a row of houses and then to an intersecting row. There weren’t many people around.
Gray must’ve read my mind because he asked, “Where is everyone?”
The healer paused. “In the mines or in the fields. Diamonds here are in the dirt and underground in a few seams.”
Of course, diamonds. Lillith enjoyed extravagance and luxury. No doubt she worked the Lessers hard in Diamond.
“My house is just ahead. The last on the left.” She motioned toward a stone and wooden house that looked almost identical to the others, with the exception of the gardens around the front and sides. Herbs. Just like Evelyn.
I wished I’d been able to make it home. Having Evelyn by my side during the whole ordeal would’ve been so much more comforting.
“What’s your name?” the healer asked. “The comm just said that a healer was requested for a Lesser childbirth.”
“Abby.”
“Abby?” She squinted.
“Abby Kelley.”
The healer gasped. “Not the Abby Kelley?”
“Um...”
Gray nodded. “The one and only.”
“Wow. Oh, wow. It’s... I’m honored to help you, Abby.”
Kaia finally caught up to us in front of the porch.
“I’m her mother, Kaia Kelley, and this is Gray Wilken.”
I smiled. “I didn’t know you knew his last name.”
She stiffened. “Well, a mother does her homework when her daughter is interested in a young man romantically.”
If it hadn’t been so sweet, I might’ve groaned.
The healer interrupted our moment. “I’m healer Ebony Daniels. My mother named me after seeing the color of my hair.”
She smiled, opening the door and holding it. “Please, come inside. There’s a bed in the back. Make yourself comfortable with pillows. I’ve been getting things ready, but need a few more items. I’ll be right back.”
“Thank you, Ebony.”
“It’s truly my pleasure.” She pointed toward the back of the house.
I eased inside, looking at all the books, parchment, and ink scattered about, the potted plants, and candles burning. The sun had just set, and it was starting to get dark. Ebony had been getting things ready, and I hoped she knew what she was doing. She was so young.
Kaia found the bedroom before Gray and I made it past the front room. “Abby, there are plenty of pillows. Let me help you.” She smiled and reached for my hand. I placed mine in hers.
They matched.
My skin was tanner than hers, especially since the winter had come and gone, but our palms were the same size. She helped ease me onto the bed and let me lay on my side. That’s where I got the most relief.
“Gray Wilken!” Echoed through the house.
He rolled his eyes. “Women.”
I could hear the healer ask him to draw more water. She explained a pot was boiling then but more would be needed. The clattering of buckets, or some sort of containers, could be heard before she described where he’d find a well.
A moment later, Ebony came into the room. “Good. You’re comfortable?”
Kaia spoke. “You’re very young. How did you come to be a healer?”
Words from my mouth, mother, words from my mouth.
Ebony smiled. “My mother was our healer. I grew up watching her. Before she passed away, she taught me everything she could, and left me her journals and notes about injuries and illnesses and their treatments. I’ve been the healer for over a year on my own.”
“How did she die?” Kaia asked softly.
“Cancer. It’s an ancient disease, but hers wasn’t the first case I’d seen. Mama said sometimes it killed silently, and you didn’t even know it was there. Other times, like hers, it showed itself. She got big bumps everywhere under her skin. It ate her up. She said it was slow, but between the time the first bumps showed up and the time we buried her, it was only six weeks. I’d call that pretty fast.” Ebony cleared her throat.
“I’m sorry for your loss.” Kaia offered.
“Thanks. It wasn’t easy. But I promise I’ve delivered a few babies since then on my own. One of them was breech.”
I interrupted. Second time she’d used that word, and I still didn’t understand. “What’s breech? What does that mean?”
Ebony sighed and tore strips of fabric from a white sheet. “It’s when the baby turns around and its head is facing yours. It’s best if the baby is head down when it’s ready to enter the world.”
“I saw a scan while I was in the city. She was head down then.”
“That can change. Sometimes they flip. I’m not saying
she has, we need to check. That’s all.” She ripped the final strip of cloth. “What city?”
“Pardon?”
“What city were you in?”
“Vesuvius. It’s the only city left—for now.”
She narrowed her eyes. “What—”
A cry. From me. Oh, God. I hurt. I hurt so badly.
Ebony rushed to my side, brushing Kaia out of the way. She kneaded my stomach, feeling here and there.
“She isn’t breech. At least, it doesn’t feel like it. She might just be pushing on your back somehow. It’s called back labor. It’s common, but painful. I can mix something to ease it up a bit.”
“Please.” I panted.
“Give me one minute.”
She rushed out the door, and Kaia found her place again, wrapping my hand up in hers, brushing the hair off my sweaty forehead.
“It hurts.”
“Shh, baby girl. I know it does.”
“How did you do this?”
She laughed sadly, a tear leaking out of her eye. “I was a Greater. I had no pain during childbirth. They had methods to take it all away.”
“I hope she can help.”
Kaia squeezed my hand. “She will. She’ll help you.”
We could hear Ebony shuffling around in the next room, and soon she entered the bedroom carrying a mug of steaming liquid. It was yellowish, but clear, with little leaves of some sort floating around in a whirlpool in the center where she’d stirred it.
“This will help,” she said confidently. I hoped it did what she thought it would.
“Thanks.” I sat up and gulped it down, a rivulet dropping off my chin to soak my dress.
Ebony laughed. “I should have known you’d been to Vesuvius.”
I looked down.
“They always want the diamonds, you know. I’ve seen some of their shipments. A lot of it’s red. Red fabric, red fruit, red everything. It’s weird. And, look at how they dressed you.”
“It’s anything but glamorous there.”
“I bet.” She agreed. “But what you did... Taking over the cameras? We all saw it. That took guts.”
“And stupidity.” I offered with a pained smile. There was pressure building—one so intense, I wanted to scoot myself up against the headboard and scream.
“No. Being brave is never stupid. It’s the smartest thing any of us can ever do. You’re what every parent hopes their child will become, Abby. Don’t forget that.”
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