I closed my eyes and tried to picture something other than a giant crater where Nacin had been. I tried to summon the feeling of the cool water of the oasis where I once swam. I relived the feeling of running through the cold snows of winter, ice forming on the shutters of my room. I had blown flakes off of my palm and made a wish that someday I’d heal my soul and I’d find someone to hold me and keep me warm. Someone whom I would trust enough to place my life in his hands.
I had found that someone and I knew it. It’s funny how I hadn't realized that fact until he hated me. Sometimes you never know what you have until it’s too late. It was probably for the best. If I had given in and reciprocated, he would now believe it was all a lie. It would have hurt him more. But as for me, it seared a slow, agonizing cigarette burn on my soul.
Tears started to fall from my eyes again and I cursed myself. Would it have been better to die not knowing what it felt like to be wanted? To not have had friends? If I had stayed a cold and aloof person, would I feel this miserable with the memories of what had been keeping me company? Or would that have left me with nothing but the cold, hard fear of what was to come?
Maybe the deliriousness was setting in. I could swear I could hear my name being called, someone actually frantic for me. I shook my head. Madness. But then it came again, echoing off the walls. It was coming closer. I swung my head toward the sound. It sounded almost like-
The door to the stairwell rocketed open and Michael stepped in, chest heaving from apparent exertion. I just stared. His eyes ran me over as he stood and then they fell on my wrists. He dashed over to me. I still stared. I didn't dare believe he was actually here.
“I’m going to get you out of here,” he was saying, fussing with the cuffs. With a curse he gave up for a moment, took his shirt off, and wound it around my hand. “When Cain came back to camp he tried to feed me some made-up story about your being a terrorist! The very idea! Are you listening to me? Can you hear me?!”
He waved his hand about in my face and still I did not move. But I spoke. “What are you doing here?”
“Getting you free!” he exclaimed like it was a no brainer. And it was, but still I was stunned. “We need to get you help for that hand. Who shot you?”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said, quickly snapping into action. “Look, you need to get to them. Emma Gene has the activation codes and the keys. Once she gets it into Nacin, they’re going to detonate it. You need to stop her.”
“We can stop her,” Michael said, patting my cheek. “Just let me get you free, okay?”
“No,” I croaked. “You need to go.”
“What’s the big idea? We’re a package deal here. One would think you had a death wish.”
He rambled on for another minute and I realized with sadness I would never get rid of him without revealing the truth. “You should go. There is nothing you can do for me.”
“There is everything I can do!” he insisted, finally twisting the cuff off. He rubbed my hand to get feeling into it. “Sorry, that probably doesn't feel good but your hand is really starting to look blue.”
I watched him with sad eyes. “I’m dying, Michael. Emma injected me with nuclear waste. Radiation poisoning is going to terminate me before long. Move on. You don’t need to see this.”
He paused mid-rub and stared at me, totally caught off guard. He didn't move for a full minute. I looked away, not wanting to see hurt on any more faces because of me. Then he spoke. “You… what? You’re dying?”
I nodded, feeling his hands as they shook over mine. “Please just go. Save the city for me-”
Before I could say one more word, he pulled me to my feet. I stumbled, unsteady on my legs, so he scooped me up in his arms and we were running. I wasn't sure how he was managing it; perhaps by sheer will power considering his scrawniness. He pushed the elevator button and looked down at me. “Hang in there, okay? My dad has a great doctor who is the best in the world. If anyone can save you, it’s him. We can stop that nasty bitch and keep on going to the gates of Nacin. You’ll be fixed up soon. Keep talking to me. That’ll help distract you.”
I wound up staring at him again, completely without a thought in my head. This was crazy. How had he gotten here anyway? I shook my head. “I’ll slow you down too much-”
“Not one word about me ditching you,” he said with a stern but determined glare. “We go together.”
“Let’s think a bit less about me and more about the eight million people who are about to be bombed.”
“Talk about something else,” he growled as the elevator dinged and we stepped onto it. He spoke to the automated operator. “Ground floor. Now, who shot you? and how was Cain convinced to let you go? He left with giddiness and came back with anger. That’s quite a switch.”
“He shot me,” I said sorrowfully. “They got to him first and convinced him I was lying. I overheard Emma Gene and tried to stop her. I was about to kill her when Cain came through the door and saw me. He did it to protect her.”
“So he left you. He seemed very shaken when I saw him, but I ran off before he could stop me. I’d love to know how they convinced him. How one goes from in love to in hate so fast, I’ll never get. I wouldn't have believed it. I didn't believe it!”
“How could he not?” I croaked. “These are his friends. I’m just an assassin. And with what I had said earlier, I was starting to sound like a liar. My encounter with Fennley-” I cut off, horrified by the idea of Michael getting near him. “Stay away from him. I tried to fight him, but it’s almost like he’s not human. Cain told me he’s a red-”
“Rooster,” he finished for me. “My father talks about them all the time. They were a part of Project Gallus. He makes them sound like gods. I don't know what the project entailed, but it sounds like some major tinkering with the human genome.”
I didn’t question it. We exited the elevator, then the building. Outside the speeder was waiting. He placed me on and swung my leg over the side. He got on behind as I slumped over the handlebars. I heard him gasp and then his fingers probed the back of my head. He made some declaration and kicked the engine off. Once the bike was reasonably in motion, he pulled me up into a sitting position against him. My head lolled against his shoulder. I could feel myself weakening more by the second and I slumped against him. He wrapped one arm around my chest.
“Don't worry; I got you,” he said in my ear. “You’re going to be okay.”
The question was whether he was trying to reassure me or himself.
* * *
I must have blacked out for a bit. Michael was shaking me and calling my name in a panicky voice. I opened my eyes and saw his face over mine. Blinking the sleep from my eyes, I felt way sicker than when I had last seen the world of the living. My stomach swirled unpleasantly. I was chilled with fever and my heart beat with an unsteady rhythm.
“Talk to me,” he demanded, cupping my cheeks. “Can you hear me?”
“I’m here,” I said faintly. I glanced around. We were on the main road to Nacin; almost there. “Why’d we stop?”
“Because you nearly fell off!” he exclaimed.
I shivered even though the night was still warm. “Let’s go. Sorry.”
He revved the engine and we started move. He gathered me up against him once again. “Don't be sorry. Just try and warn me if you start to go again. I don’t want you getting caught up under the wheels. That would be bad.”
“And all this isn’t?”
We flew over the dunes at a breakneck speed. In a few moments, I could see lights in the distance. The soldiers must have left the camp and were headed back to Nacin. Michael followed them since I had passed out. But now we were almost upon the convoy and I knew I was fading fast. My stomach was rolling and I was holding back a disgusting spew. The road was blurring in and out again. “We need to make a bang to make them stop and listen to us. Our guns won’t work so-”
“How ‘bout a flare gun? I can fire it at an angle, not hitting anyone of course, but
that should get their attention. And when you start talking, I’ll threaten to shoot someone with it. It won't kill them, but no one wants to be burned that badly.”
“I don't know if I’ll be up to talking,” I struggled to say. It was getting more and more difficult to speak.
“No one will listen to me! I’m worthless where they’re concerned!”
“You have to!” I wheezed. “I’ve been branded a liar! I’ll do my best to support you but you need to do the talking.”
He didn’t reply. I knew he didn’t believe he was capable, but he was our last shot. I reached my abnormally heavy-feeling hand up and patted his.
“Get it done and no one will be able to silence you anymore. This is your chance to be the hero, Michael,” I panted.
He said nothing. Maybe the idea was appealing to him; maybe it wasn't. I couldn't tell. The only reaction he had was to press the gas pedal down even further, his hands tightening on the handlebars.
We were coming up on them hot now. He turned off the road, obviously planning on going around them to come up in front to block their path. I pulled out the flare gun and handed it back to him. We were directly behind them. Since we were almost at the bubble now, most of them had gotten out to guard the nuke and were on foot. Some of them had to hear the bike coming. They were directly in front of the military entrance to the bubble and lights were starting to come on. I realized with horror that they were starting to open the gate. If they did that, the bomb would be ushered in past the protection of the force field and the city would have no chance of evading the blast.
“Michael, do it now!” I cried.
He fired, the bike flying off the last dune. The firework-like light illuminated the motley crowd in front of us. We landed on the dirt and he fishtailed the bike around to stand head on in front of the squadron. He pointed the gun directly into the crowd. “Stop right there!”
There was silence for about five seconds before there was a great deal of clicking. It was most of them cocking their guns. I sank down further on the handlebars, giving him a better view, but I could still see their very unamused faces. I pinpointed a few familiar ones. Ray and Rig were right there in the front. Where Cain, Argon, and Fennley were, I had no idea, but they had to be somewhere in the throng of soldiers.
But right near the front, I could see Emma Gene carrying a large duffle bag. She was here? She had to be suicidal to still be here, prepared to die to carry out her plan. She looked downright stunned to see us, but then she ducked back into the crowd, disappearing from view. I guessed that the bag was where the codes were hidden.
“Speak now. We only have one shot at this,” I whispered.
“The joke’s on you,” he yelled. “We all know those guns don’t work! You need to listen to me-”
“For Heaven’s sake, Michael. What the hell are you doing?!”
That was Cain. He and Argon had surfaced. They, too, were highly unamused. I wanted to shrink into the sand, never to be seen again when their eyes fell on me. Cain shook his head angrily and Argon scowled at me.
“I’m saving us all!” Michael said back. “You have traitors in your midst-”
“You fool!” Vinkent Xorratti’s voice bellowed out from somewhere in the back. He shoved a few people out of his way to come to the front. “You’re listening to the ramblings of a terrorist! Stand down!”
I was very proud of Michael as he pointed his aim directly at his father. I could feel his frame trembling behind me, but he still didn't back down.
“You have traitors in your midst,” he began again. “They led you to believe that you already had eliminated the real traitor. You didn’t. They have the keys. They have the activation codes! Stop ego blasting and check Emma Gene and her compadres out! If I’m wrong, then shoot me. But until I’m proven wrong, would it kill anybody to check?!”
“You moron,” Xorratti roared, turning purple. “How dare you point that gun at me!”
“Can we please get to the point, Dad-”
I lost track of the father-son argument as I slipped off the side of the bike and onto the ground. Unfortunately Michael saw and immediately started to react.
“No,” I croaked, pointing my shaking hand at the gun. “Keep it on him.”
“You would risk your life for that… creature?! Please tell me that this is not about a woman and especially not about that one!”
“You always did insist I needed to find something to fight for, Dad,” he retorted flippantly. “My country just so happens to coincide. Now, check Emma and this will all be over.”
“You are out of your-”
“Oh, for God’s sake!” Argon exclaimed, sounding bored. “Just check her already. We’re not in any hurry, now are we? Let’s get this show on the road. We can kick his ass when we’re done. Now Emma, empty your pack.”
All eyes turned on her. That is until I finally lost control of myself and vomited on the ground in front of me. I yakked up fairly quickly. I hadn’t eaten anything in hours. That left only one thing for stomach to expel: blood and what looked like a huge wad of bodily tissue. My throat burned from the effort of getting it out. I stared at it, transfixed by its grossness. I didn't want to know where it had come from. It looked like it had been vitally important.
“Rain?” Michael asked, voice wavering, still aiming the gun.
“Still here,” I choked.
I looked up and saw Cain staring at me across the empty space between us. I shook my head and deliberately eyed Emma. He looked over at her and then back at me. I nodded frantically. I couldn’t read his expression but it still wasn't encouraging.
“Open your bag,” Michael demanded firmly.
Emma stared around like someone might intervene on her behalf. No one did. “You’ve got to be kidding. We’re complying with their demands?”
“Emma,” Cain said in a low voice, turning from me. He glanced over at her suspiciously. “Do as they said.”
“It’s a trick!” she declared shrilly. “We shouldn’t-”
“Just do it, dammit!”
Everyone was turning toward her now. Guns that had previously been pointing at us were starting to turn on her. She still hadn’t moved and looked like she had no intention of complying. But she looked afraid, and very much so. The truth was starting to set in. No one seemed to notice as I started dry retching.
“Please don't tell me,” Fennley groaned from somewhere in the crowd. “Did you lie? I nearly killed Cain and Argon, and I told them to kill-” He looked down at me with alarm. “Oh, my God. Get her some help.”
Ray started to come toward me, but stopped as Michael trained the gun on her. “Sorry. Might be a trick.”
“This is insanity!” Emma shrieked. “They just want to take the warhead!”
“Where are they going to go? Do you really think they’ll be able to get through us? If we don't have the codes and keys, there’s nothing to fear,” Argon growled. “Unless of course they are here and you’ve been hiding them.”
“Fine,” she sneered, seeming to realize the jig was up. She threw her pack on the ground with a weirdly detached laugh that caused my skin to erupt into gooseflesh. Her eyes turned to pits of black coal brought on the worst kind of fear in me. “You want the keys and the codes? You can have them. Take them! But we’re close enough to the bubble generators that it doesn't matter. They will never withstand the force of the bomb! You’re all finished!”
Some unknown soldier knelt down and started rifling through her pack. He gasped and pulled out an ancient, battered, stainless steel box with the stamp of the former United States on it. Worst of all, when he lifted it out of the bag, it swung open. Inside were the keys, all in the locks. She had already entered the codes and started off the chain reaction. And I saw with a thrill of alarm that it only had three minutes to go.
The nuke was armed and counting down.
Chapter Twenty Five 00:00:02:59 to nuclear explosion
All was still for a split second before chaos erupted.
Emma Gene was handcuffed as everyone rushed at the box at once and started yelling various directions at each other.
Michael was the only one to remain cool and collected. He lowered the gun and squatted down next to me. He then saw for the first time the condition I was now in. He gasped and pulled the torn fabric off my leg. My skin looked like yellow parchment paper with purple and blue bruises splotched along its length. Sorrowful eyes met mine. “We need to get you inside.”
“No,” I said in a gravelly voice. “The gates need to stay down. Even if there’s a small chance that the bubble will hold, it needs to be taken-”
But I never got to finish. General Xorratti came running out of the crowd with a panicked screech. “Open the gates! Let me in! Let me in!”
“No!” I heard someone roar over the din. “We’ll never get it closed in time!”
But he kept screeching and, to my profound horror, the gates started to open. Everyone started running toward them, abandoning the harmless-looking, little box that was causing such trouble. Evidently the apocalyptic countdown couldn't be stopped.
Michael tried to haul me to my feet and nearly succeeded when he was grabbed from behind by his father. I fell to the ground like a rag doll and he was dragged from behind toward the gate. He may have been strong, but he couldn’t withstand the mammoth-like bulk of his father. Sheer weight won over strength. “Rain! No! Let go of me!”
He ignored his son’s frantic plea. “Come on, you! Leave her. We need to go!”
I watched as he was hauled away by the back of his shirt. He fought back valiantly but failed. His feet had no hold in the sand as he tried to dig them in. He tried to twist free of his father’s grip, but the general had the clear advantage. He screamed out in frustration as he disappeared in the crowd running full speed at the gate, trying to get inside the bubble before the explosion took place.
War Machine: Book One in the Destiny In the Shadows Series Page 32