What was this?
People gathered their children in their arms, speaking hurriedly. Others pointed to the mouth of the cave, where half the people in the Right Cave had already woken and gathered.
What was happening?
It felt as if the entire cave had gone mad. Maybe the entire planet. Neena raced through the cave, bumping into people who fought to get around her, finally reaching the entrance.
A cluster of her people stood at the cave’s mouth, blocking her view and her path.
“Excuse me!” she yelled, working her way through them.
With effort, she made it to the edge of the growing crowd. All around her, people occupied the space closest to the rock wall, keeping away from the drop-off, while pointing and staring. She found a spot on the crowded ledge, her eyes flying to the source of their attention.
Far down the ledge, past the mouth of the Center and Left Caves, a massive line of people marched two by two from the wide precipice at the end of the cliffs. Farther down the cliff, she caught sight of other marchers, appearing and disappearing between pieces of jutting rock, assumedly heading to Red Rock. The line must contain two hundred people.
The people in the Left and Center Caves! she guessed.
Catching the attention of a skinny, dirty woman next to her, Neena asked, “What’s happening?”
The woman turned toward her, wild-eyed. “I’m not sure, but my husband thinks they’re going to fight the monster!”
Neena’s eyes shot back to the precipice. She couldn’t see every detail from a distance, but she saw enough. She recognized the posture of some of the men at the tail of the line. Watchers. Long spears bobbed at their sides; bags jostled on their backs. They marched with a rigidity she’d only seen at the most important processions. She looked for Bryan, but couldn’t find him. Perhaps he was at the head of the line.
Two at a time, The Watchers in the line’s rear paired off and joined the others, lessening the number of people on the precipice. Her eyes riveted on two people leaving the rest of the crowd, taking their turn, merging into formation.
Neena jumped.
Fear thrust like a javelin through her stomach.
It couldn’t be.
Starting on his march, holding a spear and what looked like a horn, was a small, unmistakable figure. Raj. Raj held his head high, his curly hair blowing behind him, joining another man and leaving the cliffs.
Confusion mixed with her alarm. How could he be there, when he was inside, asleep? The world felt like a spiraling hole in the desert, churning deeper.
“Raj!” she screamed, to no effect.
Of course, he couldn’t hear her.
Her heart felt as if it might explode with panic.
This couldn’t be happening. She must’ve awoken to some new nightmare. Her only thought was to prove it wrong.
In a panicked spin, Neena pushed her way through the crowd, racing back into the cave. She blinked as her eyes adjusted from the morning light back to darkness. Stumbling past some others who ran in the opposite direction, pushing past a few more, she finally made it back to where Amos stood by their bedrolls. A panicked expression lit his face, as he pointed to the ground.
Neena’s heart dropped as she saw Raj’s empty bedroll, filled with rocks.
Tears spilled down Samel’s face as he stood next to it, saying, “Raj is missing, Neena! He snuck out!”
No. This couldn’t be happening.
“I’m sorry, Neena!” Amos cried. “I tried looking for him! He must’ve snuck away!”
Neena spun again, looking back toward the entrance. For some strange, inexplicable reason, Raj was really outside. He was leaving with The Watchers and the others.
This wasn’t a nightmare—it was an awful reality.
She had to get to him. She had to bring him back. Somehow, she had to stop Raj and—
“Neena!”
She spun, barely maintaining her balance as someone crashed into her.
Kai!
“Kai!” she shouted, clutching him back. “Where were you?”
“In Darius’s cove!”
Emotion bubbled in Neena’s throat. She opened her mouth to explain what was happening—to tell Kai everything—but he cut her off.
“I don’t know how to say this, Neena,” Kai said, horror on his face. “But Darius is dead! Someone killed him!”
CONCLUDED IN “WAR TORN” BOOK FOUR
WAR TORN
A Dystopian Sci-Fi Story
Book 4 of the Sandstorm Series
Preface
Thanks for sticking it through to the end!
WAR TORN is not only the last book in the SANDSTORM series, but also the culmination of several years of writing.
From a tiny idea I had while driving up the mountain road leading to my house in the Northeast, to a four-book series, SANDSTORM has consumed a large chunk of my life (in a good way), and I hope it has occupied some of yours, too.
While I sit at my “writing place” at the kitchen table, I often envision Neena, Kai, Raj, and Samel in the chairs around me, divvying up their Green Crops and sharing their dried rat. I will certainly miss them (or those that survive!)
But for now…the end!
Darius is dead, Raj is heading down to Red Rock, and somewhere, the monster awaits its next meal.
Are the rest of the Red Rock survivors doomed to die? Keep reading to find out!
Enjoy WAR TORN!
Tyler Piperbrook
January 2020
Chapter 1: Neena
“Darius is dead?”
Repeating the words stabbed Neena like a thousand, tiny knives. She looked around the empty, middle part of the cave, standing alongside Kai, Amos, and Samel. In the short time they’d spoken, nearly all of the hundred Right Cavers had abandoned their sleeping places and gathered at the cave’s entrance. The pungent odor of sweat and fear hung in the air, emanating from their scattered bedrolls, blankets, and bags. Only a few, terrified mothers remained nearby, clutching their children and alternating their gaze between Neena and the commotion outside.
Neena hardly saw them, or heard the noise.
Her attention stayed on Kai.
“What do you mean, he’s dead?” she repeated.
“I found him in the chamber where he was working. Someone slit his throat,” Kai said, eyes wide. “He was on the floor, near where he was fixing the weapon. His tools were sticking out of him. Blood was everywhere.” Kai looked around, as if an attacker might be waiting in the shadows to kill them next.
“By the heavens,” Amos whispered, wrapping a protective arm around Samel.
“Whoever did it impaled his belly and his legs with his chisels and knives,” Kai added, gripping his spear. “I’ve never seen something so gruesome, or so malicious. But that wasn’t all. They stole the weapon.”
“They stole the weapon?”
“It’s gone,” Kai said. “Someone must’ve taken it. I assume it was whomever killed him.”
“Why were you there?” Neena asked, confused.
Kai blew a frantic breath. “I woke up and found his empty bedroll. Normally, he’s back by daybreak, so I went to check on him. When I arrived, I found him dead, and raced back here.”
Once again, Neena felt as if she lived a nightmare. She looked from Kai to Amos, processing too many horrific truths.
Nothing made sense.
And yet it did.
Bryan’s violent threats, Sherry’s sneering face, and Ed’s smile flashed before her. Maybe this was the end result of her choices.
The end result of everything.
She took a step, ready to run down the tunnel to Darius, even though it was too late to help him. Kai stopped her.
“Darius is dead,” he said, grabbing her arm. “There’s nothing we can do for him. But I heard you saying something about Raj. What’s going on?”
Her earlier panic returned.
Raj.
“Raj is marching off with The Watchers,” she s
aid frantically. “He’s headed down to Red Rock.”
“What? Why?” Kai looked over to find Amos pointing at Raj’s bedroll, where a pile of rocks lay.
“I’m not sure why, but he snuck out with the Left and Center Cavers, who are headed down the trail. We need to get him back!”
Neena stepped toward the cave entrance, ready to scream warnings—ready to get the attention of everyone—until Samel crashed into her.
“Neena!” Samel called, spilling frightened tears. “Don’t leave!”
She met his eyes.
“I don’t want you to go,” Samel said, wrapping his arms tightly around her.
Neena swallowed. Her brother’s presence reminded her that he was safe, but Raj was not. “It’s going to be okay, Samel. Stay with Amos and don’t move until I come back!”
And then she was off with Kai.
Neena’s spear shook in her grasp. Her heart pounded. She couldn’t stop thinking of Darius, lying on the sandy, rock floor, covered in blood.
Impaled with his own tools.
That fear reinforced another.
What if Raj was next?
Together, she and Kai raced to the edge of the crowd, scanning the shadows. Reaching the back of the crowd, Neena grabbed peoples’ shoulders, spinning them around and working her way through them.
“They killed Darius! They have Raj!”
Loud, frightened chatter drowned out her warnings. Those who heard her looked at her as if she were mad. Others scanned behind her, uncertain where the threat was coming from. They were never going to rally in time. She had to do something.
Breaking through the crowd, she and Kai found an open place on the ledge, scanning the cliffs. Far below, about halfway down, a head of curly hair bobbed out of view.
Raj!
He’d just disappeared behind a high wall of rocks bordering the trail.
They had to get to him.
“Come on, Kai!”
Neena and Kai raced along the ledge, heading away from the crowd and toward the precipice that lay beyond the other entrances of the caves. Her brother was more than three hundred feet below—even farther, by way of the ledge.
“Raj!” She cupped her hand over her mouth, screaming.
Her heart thudded wildly.
Too many things were starting to become clear.
She knew Raj had been going through things. But she had no idea of the extent. If not for the pile of rocks he’d left in his bedroll, she might’ve believed someone had snatched him. But he had clearly left on his own. Whatever the reason, Neena had to stop him.
She and Kai ran along the ledge, contending with loose rocks and sand, sticking close to the cliff wall. A few dozen women and children stood among the craggy rocks at the Center Cave, trading their attention between the marchers and Neena and Kai. Neena looked at them as they ran by. On more than a few faces, she saw sneers.
Did they know what was happening?
She didn’t stop to ask.
They continued past, focused on the distant Left Cave a hundred feet away.
A few shadowed women and children poked their heads out, but most stayed inside. Neena kept her spear ready. Down the cliffs, Raj was still out of sight. The high wall of rock had engulfed him and the others. She didn’t know what she’d do when she reached the marching line, but she had to do something.
Neena increased her speed, shouting for her brother.
She stumbled as something hard struck her in the temple.
Pain stopped her.
Stars blurred her vision.
Too late, Neena turned toward the entrance of the Left Cave, where a shadowy figure stepped from the darkness, moving fast and throwing another rock. More pain struck her cheek. She held up her hands and her spear, too late to ward off an unexpected barrage of stones, which pummeled her stomach and her legs.
“Don’t let them reach our men!” Sherry snarled from the entrance, her voice loud and unmistakable. “Get them!”
Through the pain, Neena saw more women step out around Sherry.
Sherry’s vicious screaming incited another attack.
Neena held up her hands and her spear, trying to block her face, but she couldn’t avoid the deluge of projectiles. She cried out as a few well-placed stones caught her in the stomach, and her head. Beside her, Kai suffered a similar onslaught.
“Neena!” he screamed, ineffectively blocking his body, trying to turn and retreat.
She tried to do the same, but a well-aimed stone struck her in the ankle, pitching her off balance. And then Neena was on her stomach, fighting for wind.
Angry women ran toward her, screaming and shouting.
Neena groped frantically for her lost spear, but the women stomped her hands into the dirt, whisking away her weapon. Pain seared her fingers.
“Get off me!” she yelled, through a mouthful of blood.
She managed to roll onto her side, catching a glimpse of Kai falling over, surrounded by a flurry of women.
And then she was surrounded, too.
The world became a mob of vicious, uncaring faces, spitting, screaming, and kicking. Sherry’s voice was the loudest.
“This is for Gary!” she yelled, through gritted teeth, raising a boot over her head and stomping.
Neena’s chin hit the ground; she bit her gums. Blood spurted inside her mouth.
It felt as if she was in a dark tunnel, shielded from the light.
She fought to rise, but failed.
She had only a moment to wonder whether Kai was dead, and then the black took over.
Chapter 2: Bryan
Commotion drew the attention of the marching line.
Bryan glanced over his shoulder, joining the staring eyes of two hundred men and women, all of whom looked up the windy trail, trying to see past the craggy, bordering rock walls. He shifted from side to side, but he couldn’t see beyond the obstruction of jagged stone. He and his important men strode quickly down the trail, looking for a better view.
“Over there!” Louie called, motioning toward a gap a little further down, where the rock had crumbled away.
Bryan and the others jogged toward the break in the wall, taking turns looking upward. A few hundred feet above them, near the mouth of the Left Cave, a few dozen women surrounded someone. Shouts and screams drifted down from where they gathered. It appeared the women on the ledge were attacking someone, but it was hard to tell exactly what was happening, from here.
Panic rippled through the marchers. A few of them stepped to the side of the trail, looking back up it, but their views were blocked.
“Hold your positions!” Bryan shouted, keeping his people in place.
Rodney, Isaiah, Clark, Nicholas, and Boyle watched him.
“We expected this might happen,” Bryan told them quietly, “but I was hoping we’d have more time.”
“Do you think someone found Darius?” Louie asked.
“Either that, or they found Raj gone,” Bryan determined. “In any case, we instructed our women what to do. They are following their part of the plan.”
Bryan looked farther up the stretching line. The people craned their necks, murmuring.
“The good news is that no one else is joining the scuffle,” Louie said, peering up at the cliffs. “The Right Cavers are afraid.”
“The commotion is contained,” Bryan agreed.
Bryan recalled his conversation with Sherry, whom he’d left in charge. At all costs, he’d told her, the line must march unimpeded.
At the same time, he’d told her to keep the baby safe.
Still, he worried.
He’d seen the spark in her eyes. It was the same spark he’d noticed when she returned from the spring. He looked for her amidst the skirmish, but he couldn’t pick her out. Still, he was almost positive she was there, fighting for him alongside the other women.
Bryan looked back at the long line of people he’d recruited. Fear knitted their brows. They shifted, clearly losing some of the courage they’
d gained on the way down. They were justifiably anxious, but if they turned back now, they’d never find their courage again.
He glanced down at the weapon in his hand, which he’d taken from Darius.
The monster was close.
He knew it, by his men’s reports.
The last words he’d spoken with Gideon came back to him.
“No matter how difficult things become, you must account for those who do not have your faith. You must march them forward, and not let them stop, until they succeed.”
The Right Cavers posed no threat.
The time to fight the beast was now.
“Listen, people!” Bryan shouted, drawing the attention of everyone within earshot. The closest men and women swiveled to face him. “Our women are heading off those who might interfere with us, just like they promised! Let us show them that their efforts are worthwhile! Let us slay the monster, and reclaim our colony!”
Slowly, people regained their courage, passing the word to others.
Raising his voice to inspire, he yelled, “Let us show them we are worth fighting for!”
The same brave fire he’d possessed in the cave chamber coursed through him. People arched their backs and lifted their chins. His important men shored up next to him. Those who’d broken from their lines returned to their two-by-two formations, clutching their spears or horns.
“Now is the time of our victory!” Bryan shouted, gaining volume. “Let us make our ancestors proud! Let us make our women proud!”
A cheer spread out through the line, as people heeded his words, thrusting their spears in the air.
Together, they marched.
Chapter 3: Raj
Worry plagued Raj’s heart. He struggled to see over the rock wall, but try as he might, he couldn’t get a clear view of the cliffs. He wished he were a giant, like the stories in which he believed when he was younger. But those were just stories, and he was a man now: a big, strong man, marching with a fearless army.
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