Horde r-3

by Ann Aguirre

  For the sake of my men, I hid my despair over those deaths … and the increasing intelligence of our enemy. Because we were winning our fights, mostly, Company D’s spirits stayed fairly high as summer crept toward fall in a haze of multiple engagements. In the end, the scouts brought us dismal tidings as the days cooled again. The air was sweet with the scent of ripening apples; I had people in the trees, picking as many as they could carry. The last battle was two days behind us, and the men were ready to go again.

  Sands delivered the worrisome news. “There’s movement in Appleton at last. I think the horde’s decided to engage.”

  So while we fought like mad to hold our ground, they’d rested, fattened up, and tested our strength. Now they knew our strategies and were ready to crush us. And I was … out of ideas. I’d done everything I could think of to recruit enough men to face the monsters, and at the current count, we had slightly less than two hundred with recent losses. Even when Company D won, soldiers lost their lives.

  “Then we have to pick the battlefield,” I said.

  We set up camp by the river. We had come a fair ways west of Soldier’s Pond, and I checked the maps, locating landmarks we’d passed. Appleton lay to the southeast; if we marched toward the horde, there was forest we could use for cover, but it would be impossible to hide two hundred men as we’d done on a smaller scale. Therefore, that tactic wouldn’t work again. According to the routes, we were nearly to the Evergreen Isle. I tapped a finger against the paper, staring at it. There had to be a way to use the river against the horde.

  Fade sat down beside me, looking as tired as I felt. Despite better provisions and good boots, life in the field took its toll, even in fair weather. He had to be tired of the lack of privacy and poor sanitary facilities, though men had it easier in a number of regards. Tully, Tegan, and I had complained more than once about how much more work it was for us while the male soldiers could urinate against a tree—and often did.

  “Planning our next onslaught?” he asked with a half-smile.

  There had been so little time to be with him … and I missed it. I ached from top to toes to be a girl as I had been in Salvation, all softness and smiles. For the first time in my life, I imagined hanging up my daggers in a place like Rosemere. I’d never seen it, but the way Morrow described it made me long to experience that peace for myself.

  “I wish I could,” I said tiredly. I repeated what the scout had told me.

  Fade laced our fingers together, and I remembered when that gesture required a mental pause. “You’ve done so much with relatively little.”

  “It’s not enough. If we can’t break them, then it won’t matter what we’ve achieved.”

  “Call the rest of the officers. Let’s figure it out over dinner.”

  I bit back a sharp retort. There was no solution. The horde had too many for us to count, and even with our best fighters, they’d overwhelm us. I might be able to kill four or five, but the new men couldn’t. Once our boys started dying, others might break and run. So far, the battles had been against equal numbers, a tactic I suspected had been employed so the Freaks could inform their elders how we reacted. Or maybe their children. It made sense that young ones might be in power, devising strategies, while the elders served as grunts. If that was the case, then we could expect smarter countermoves in the future. This insight sank my spirits further.

  But I couldn’t just ponder our inevitable defeat, so I invited the others to join us. They brought their stew, thickened with powdered hardtack, and gave us inquiring looks. In a few words, I shared all the details of the latest report. Part of me hoped they were smarter than me—Tegan definitely was … and probably Morrow; they might offer immediate suggestions.

  Instead Morrow put down his plate and sighed. “Heroic stories aren’t supposed to end this way. The monsters never win.”

  “No ideas?” Fade asked.

  “I’ve been thinking about what you said.” I tilted my head at Morrow. “About how the Muties can’t swim. But I’m not sure how to use that.”

  “We can’t fight in the river,” Tully said. “The current would drag us down too and make it hard to maneuver.”

  “I wish there was a way to lure them into the water,” I muttered.

  Spence grinned. “That would be a fantastic trick. But I don’t know if the river is big enough to drown that many monsters.”

  “It would need to be the ocean,” Fade said.

  “Somehow I doubt you’ll get the Muties to go along,” Tegan said.

  Thornton had been quiet all this time. When he finally spoke, I hoped it meant he had something serious to contribute, as he wasn’t known for wasting words. “You might be onto something with that idea.”

  “Drowning them?” I asked, doubtful.

  “If we retreat to the big river to the west, we can fight with the water at our back. That means they can’t circle around behind us and if need be, we can swim for the island when they hit us in force.” He cut a look at Morrow, asking, “Would Rosemere welcome us? I know how your father feels about getting involved with outside affairs, but he’s never been known for turning away travelers.”

  “Two hundred men is more than a few visitors,” Morrow said quietly.

  “Your father runs Rosemere?” I asked.

  “He’s the governor,” the storyteller answered, looking uncomfortable.

  “Of the town?” Tegan looked fascinated.

  “The whole island, but Rosemere is the only settlement.”

  I pored over the map a second time, letting my dinner get cold and finally said, “I can’t find better terrain to face them. Water at our back is the best we can do.”

  Tegan nodded. “I’ll go ask the men if they know how to swim.”

  Tribulation

  The horde found us before we reached the river.

  Stalker’s scouts carried the warning that saved us. Though Company D was full of brave men and women, we couldn’t beat the enemy at ten to one odds. I called the retreat at the top of my lungs, Morrow echoed it on his pipes, then we ran for our lives. It wasn’t brave; it wasn’t glorious. But with two thousand monsters snarling, less than half a mile behind us, I did what was necessary to keep my soldiers alive.

  Last night, we’d considered a last stand here, but when I saw their sheer number sweeping down toward us, I made a snap decision. There would be no battle against terrible odds; I wouldn’t give my men’s lives away. When we faced the horde, it would be on my terms. Rosemere represented safety, and while the horde was here, stymied by the river, they wouldn’t be attacking any other settlements.

  “Move!” I shouted. “Gavin, leave the banner if you must. Just get across!”

  “I will not,” the boy called back.

  He was as stubborn as I had been, thinking that compromise was the same as losing. The Winterville brat waded into the water and hung on to the pole with one arm. Shaking my head, I watched him paddle. The current was swift, and I fought fear and despair that the water would drown half my forces. Still, they preferred that fate to being torn apart by monsters that intended to eat them, so Company D pushed on. My officers and I held the line on the shore, braced for the worst. I met Fade’s eyes and he smiled, like the memory of my face was all he needed to steel him for the long walk.

  Deliberately I crossed to him and whispered, “With my partner beside me, I fear nothing, not even death.”

  His answering look felt like a kiss. Behind us, men waded into the water, the monsters were nearly on us—and I felt the breeze from their snapping teeth and raking claws as I dove.

  I’d never learned to swim.

  Like the men struggling ahead of me, I preferred to choose my fate. I mimicked the motions of those who looked like they knew what they were doing, using my hands and feet to paddle, but the current sucked me under. The river hated me; it dashed me against the rocks and cast me back up again to torment me with a gasp of breath, only to pull me under again. My vision went dark, and I knew no more.
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  I didn’t expect to see the world again, but I was on the opposite shore when I awoke with Fade pounding on my chest. A gasp, a splutter, and I vomited up half the river in a retching gush, then I fell back onto the damp dirt, curling my fingers in it. I hadn’t expected to make it. Shakily, I pulled myself up and spotted Tegan circulating among the men. I couldn’t tell yet how many had made the swim, but it seemed like a fair number.

  Fade pulled me into his arms; he was sopping wet, shaking, but not with cold as the sun shone bright overhead. The island was close enough to the bank that I could see distant Freaks over his shoulder. They came a few steps into the water and then retreated with bared teeth. They wouldn’t survive the crossing. If only they were stupid enough to drown themselves chasing us, that would solve our problems without the need for more dying on our part. But the monsters had become a clever, inexorable enemy, and their destruction wouldn’t come so easily.

  “How many did we lose?” I gasped.

  “Twenty-two,” Tegan said gently.

  The officers arranged themselves around us, then Thornton said, “Some of them might wash up farther down.”

  I caught Morrow’s eye and he shook his head. He was an island native, and he knew the currents. If he believed it unlikely, then I had to be realistic and count the men lost. Breathing hurt, probably from all the water I swallowed, but also from getting my soldiers killed.

  “Find out their names,” I told the storyteller. “Write them down. I want to be able to tell their families where they fell.”

  He got out his journal, wrapped in a treated cloth, and it was mostly dry when he opened it. “I’ll get started right away.”

  “Before you go,” I added, “how far are we from Rosemere?”

  “It’s a few miles to the east, all forest. I’d keep to the shore. As long as we do, you can’t miss the village. It’s built for fishing and sailing. If you catch a boatman on a good day, he’ll carry you up the coast to settlements that aren’t even on your maps.”

  Tegan brightened, her eyes sharp with what I’d come to think of as her hungry-for-knowledge expression. “Would you take me, sometime?”

  “Someday,” he agreed, moving off to fulfill my request.

  I addressed Tully, Thornton, and Spence. “Tell the men to dry off and rest up. I want them all in solid shape before we look for the village.”

  “Understood.”

  Before moving off, Tully put her hand on my shoulder. “Glad we didn’t lose you.”

  Against my ear, Fade made a sound of inexpressible pain. “Me too. You should’ve told me you can’t swim!”

  “When would I have learned?” I asked quietly.

  He seemed to consider the question, sorting through what he knew of my past. Then he sighed and rubbed his cool cheek against mine. “I should’ve stayed close to you. When you went under, my life ended. I don’t think I breathed until you did.”

  “You can live without me,” I said.

  “I don’t want to.”

  I feared a love like this—that made us incomplete without each other. It was beautiful but treacherous, like snow that looked white and pure and lovely from the safety of your window, but when you stepped out to touch the softness, the cold first stole your breath, and then your will to move, until you could just lay down in it and let the numbness take you. Yet I didn’t want to be without him either, so I didn’t chide him for the statement. After all, I’d braved the horde to bring him back, even if Fade had believed he was broken beyond fixing.

  He kissed me then in front of everyone, and I didn’t mind at all. I lost myself in his arms and his lips, his heat and his presence. This man was everything I needed, my best and brightest dream. He tangled his hands in my hair, and I dug my fingers into his shoulders without thinking.

  “Sorry. I forgot—”

  Fade pressed two fingers to my mouth. “Stop. There is nothing I want more than your hands on me, anywhere you care to put them.”

  “Maybe you want to save that for later,” Spence observed.

  Heat suffused my cheeks, and I buried my face in Fade’s chest as the men laughed. In an hour or so, the soldiers recovered enough to move and Morrow completed his census. He took down all the names of the fallen and showed them to me. After the war ended, if I survived, I would take this paper to all the towns across the territories and inform their families myself. It was the least I could do.

  “Thank you,” I said to the storyteller. “Can you lead the way to Rosemere?”

  The storyteller nodded.

  “What will your father say when he sees you?” Tegan asked.

  “‘James, what have you done now?’”

  I smiled at Morrow’s answer.

  The trip took two hours, according to Fade’s watch, which had survived the river and was still keeping time. Morrow was right, I thought. It’s beautiful here. Of the Evergreen Isle, I could honestly say I had never seen a more tranquil place, though part of that came from knowing no Freak had ever set foot here. I wondered if all islands were the same, havens of safety that the monsters couldn’t reach. Pale, raucous birds dove after fish and insects along the rocky coast, which gave way to dense and mysterious forest farther inland. We came around a curve to find Rosemere perched like a perfect secret.

  The village stole my breath; my chest ached in a way that I experienced only when I looked at Fade. Just as Morrow had described, the place was pure beauty, neat cottages with flowers growing in boxes beneath the windows. The roofs were painted tiles in colorful contrast to the milky stone of the cottages. Though the buildings weren’t tall, they had a sweetness I couldn’t explain, as if they beckoned me to come explore the tidy cobbled streets and see the shops and markets. Everything the storyteller had said was true.

  In the streets, people greeted us with friendly smiles. Many of them had coppery skin, more like Tegan’s, though that could be a result of the sunshine. Their hair came in all shades from fair to dark, and the women favored head scarves and baggy trousers wrapped multiple times around their hips. Here, the men treated the women with respect, but I heard no deference on either side as they greeted one another. There were no fences or gates or bars; the river kept these people safe. At the far end of the village, I saw the dock Morrow had mentioned with boats tied and bobbing in the current. Farther on, there was a grist mill for turning grain into flour and a long rectangular shop that the storyteller had said was for building boats.

  “It’s incredible,” Tegan breathed.

  She spoke for all of us. The tired faces of the men around me reflected the same wonder. I had never seen a place before that was so bright and full of joy, so utterly without fear. In a small, scared corner of my mind, I wondered if we were all dead and in a better place, as Momma Oaks believed.

  “Head for the market,” Morrow said, pointing. “It’s straight down that way. I need to find my father and arrange accommodations. We have an inn for travelers, but it’s not big enough to house everyone.”

  “You heard the man.”

  I led the way and the villagers seemed interested to see so many armed soldiers marching through their square, but not alarmed by it, possibly because they recognized Morrow. If not, they were the last trusting souls left in the world, and I would die happily to protect them. Along the way, Company D took in the sights, and I felt overwhelmed. It was so hard to imagine that the end of everything was camped across the river.

  Down the street, the market was busy and colorful with stalls selling all manner of things. The vendors brightened when they spotted us; they’d be disappointed when they discovered we had no local currency. But we all enjoyed examining what they had to sell: grilled fish folded in flat bread, wood and bone carvings, hooks that I imagined were best used for fishing, bolts of fabric dyed in bold, bright patterns, ready-made clothes and shoes. The thing I noticed first—there were no weapons, just knives I guessed were used for eating.

  What’s it like to be born in a place where the people don’t need t
o be armed?

  I understood more about Morrow’s odd fighting style, why it seemed more ceremonial and graceful than the purposeful killing the rest of us had learned. He came from a village where they fought for sport and to show athletic prowess, not for their lives. It was a distinction I’d never conceived until this moment.

  “Have you ever seen anything like this?” Tully’s normally hard expression gave way to awe as she gazed around. I couldn’t ever remember seeing her without her lips pulled into a taut line, expecting the worst. But she was smiling now.

  “We could just stay,” Spence whispered.

  I wished the thought hadn’t occurred to me too. We could all be happy here, and the island was big enough that the village could expand. Trees could be felled to make room and Morrow had told me there was a quarry on the far end of the island where they dug their stones for the cottages. We could all plant gardens and fish in the river, learn to build boats and carve things out of wood and paint the clay tiles on our houses.

  But Tully was a stronger woman than I was. She shook her head. “I wouldn’t be able to enjoy it, knowing I let everyone else die. I’m in this fight to the end.”

  With those words, she sealed my fate. I turned to find Fade watching me. He read the renewed commitment in my eyes, and for a few seconds, sorrow darkened his. Sometimes I suspected he wished I would turn away, choose a different path, but like Tully, it would haunt me if I just gave up. Momma Oaks and Edmund were in Soldier’s Pond; they had given me a home in Salvation, and I wouldn’t rest until I could offer them the same.

  Aloud, Fade only said, “It’s beautiful here.”

  I nodded.

  And when Morrow returned with his father, a lean older man with gray-shot dark hair and silver temples, I said softly, “I will never understand why you left.”

  Reunion

  The logistics took several hours to sort out.

  First Morrow introduced us to his father, Geoffrey, the governor of the Evergreen Isle. Then there were a number of pertinent questions, like, “What the devil do you mean by arriving with a small army?”