Anywhere But Here (The Starborn Ascension)

by Morrow, Jason D.

“Waverly!” the voice is Ethan’s. He runs toward Scarecrow from the other side of the walkway and tackles him. He lifts a knife into the air and stabs Scarecrow through the neck and chest, over and over.

  And just as Ethan is about to pull her up, she feels something grab onto her ankle. She looks down and sees a greyskin pull on her and sink its teeth into her leg, ripping away muscle and flesh. She screams out in horror.

  I can’t become one of them.

  The light flashes and I feel too stunned to say anything as Scarecrow stares at me. I can’t help but feel for the chain around my neck. Am I really going to be so stupid? Am I going to let him affect me like that? I think back to the vision of Gilbert’s future and remember that I was in it. He talked to me. I was alive! Unless…unless the vision of Gilbert was to happen before what I just saw with Scarecrow. Or, perhaps in Gilbert’s vision, I’m dying and that’s why I’m standing so close to Ethan. He’s supporting me.

  Either way, I have so far been unable to change the future and that thought sobers me. Perhaps I am about to join with Lucas in the afterlife. If today is the end, then so be it. At least Scarecrow is going down with me.

  “What did you see?” he asks.

  “I can’t control what I see,” I say.

  “I don’t care. What did you see?”

  “I saw you as an old man,” I lie. “You were on your deathbed. People surrounded you.” I looked at the cigarette butt on the floor. “You were coughing. Wheezing. Cancer, I think.”

  “Heh,” Scarecrow seems amused by this. “Better cancer than one of those greyskins, I guess. How do I know you aren’t lying?”

  “You don’t.”

  He chews the inside of his lip as if he’s thinking about something. I can’t tell if he wants to try to kill me or keep me around, but a frantic knock at the door interrupts his thoughts.

  “Sir,” a man says, “we’ve got greyskins getting into the warehouse.”

  “Greyskins, how?”

  “We think it’s the others that got away,” he says. “They’re opening doors and making all kinds of noise to draw them in.”

  “Why didn’t you stop it?” Scarecrow says angrily.

  “There’s only a few of us, sir,” the man says. “But they’re coming in fast. We’ve got to get to higher ground.”

  Scarecrow lets out a curse and grabs my arm, dragging me to my feet. We run out of the room and into a narrow hallway. At the end of the hallway we go up a flight of metal stairs to a door. On the other side of the door I see a giant open room. I look at the metal walkways that spread out all over the room, wondering which one I will dangle from. As the greyskins crawl in like bugs, I wonder which one will sink its teeth into my leg, setting me up for an illness that will destroy me in the next twenty-four hours. I feel numb at the thought. In this world, there was always a possibility that my life would end like this. I just never wanted it to be this way.

  The sound of the undead grates on me like nails on a chalkboard. I wish there was enough firepower to just kill them all right now, but I know there isn’t. I wish I could just shove Scarecrow and all his men over the side to be eaten. His men spread out as Scarecrow shouts orders to kill any of my friends on sight. He pulls me by the wrist and leads me to a railing so he can watch his men. Shots fire with loud bangs as they try to set up barricades at the stairs, the greyskins crawling at them like mad dogs.

  I search the first floor, looking for any sign of Ethan, Gabe, or Gilbert, but I see none of them. Scarecrow shoves me against a wall and tells me to wait there.

  “Like that’ll happen,” I say.

  My snide talk earns me a slap across the face. “Brandon,” Scarecrow calls out.

  An ugly man with spiked hair comes out from the group of raiders forming the barricade. He’s holding a crowbar.

  “Watch her,” Scarecrow says. “I’m going over there to see if I can get a better look. If she moves, break her legs.”

  “Yes sir.”

  Scarecrow runs out onto the walkway, shooting greyskins on the first floor every couple of seconds while Brandon stands next to me. He stares at me for a long moment, his jaw muscles sliding back and forth. I can tell he’s nervous. But since I know I will soon have the crowbar in my hands anyway, I’m filled with confidence. He only looks away once, and when he does, my knuckles meet the side of his face. He falls to the floor hard and he struggles to get up, but I’ve already got the crowbar in my hands. Before he even gets a chance to realize what just happened, I slam the heavy bar into his face. The sound of cheekbones snapping makes my stomach feel queasy.

  I look up at Scarecrow who is none the wiser, and then I look back at the door we just came through. I could run. I could get out of this warehouse right now if I wanted to, but I feel like I have a destiny to end this. I grip the metal firmly and march forward.

  I stand on the walkway and I look through the holes in the metal to see the ravenous greyskins calling for me, begging to get a chunk of meat. I slowly start walking toward Scarecrow and he turns to see me.

  He smiles at me bitterly. He holds up his gun and points it at me. I have already watched him shoot at the greyskins. I already know that it’s going to be empty. He pulls the trigger and it clicks. He holds the gun in the air and shrugs. “I guess you have me cornered.”

  Even though I’m already expecting it, when he runs at me, I feel surprised. His shoulder rams into me and knocks the wind out of me as we tumble to the floor. The greyskins scream for our blood. I try to shove Scarecrow off with the crowbar but he hits me, grabs at me. I feel his hand around my neck. Perhaps he’s thinking about strangling me, but when his hands grasp my chain, he yanks it off and stands away from me, a look of triumph on his face.

  “Did your pitiful boyfriend give you this?” he shouts.

  I pull myself up to my feet, crowbar in hand. Anger fills me more than fear. I’m angry at the fact that someone as vile as Scarecrow would hold Hattie’s ring - the same ring that represents Lucas' undying love for me. “Give it back,” I say.

  He holds the chain over the side of the walkway, threatening to let the ring fall into the mass of greyskins. I stand for a moment, breathing heavily. Thoughts flow in and out of my mind uncontrollably. I’ve never felt more rage. I’ve never wanted to kill someone like this before, but more than wanting to kill him, I want to get the ring back. It means everything to me. Lucas means everything to me. I can feel my limbs begin to shake under the weight of my weapon.

  “Give me the crowbar,” he says.

  I’m about to drop it to the floor. I know he won’t drop the ring. If I just lunge for the chain, I’ll get it and Ethan will swoop in and kill Scarecrow. I feel the crowbar begin to slip from my fingers, but in the last moment, I grip it tightly again.

  No.

  Lucas was more than a ring to me. Though it symbolized the love we shared, he is gone and it’s time to let him go.

  I have seen the future, and I don’t like it.

  Change it.

  “Drop the ring for all I care,” I say. I can barely believe the words coming out of my mouth.

  Scarecrow lifts and eyebrow. “Have it your way.” His fingers release the chain and ring into the crowd of greyskins.

  My heart sinks as it falls into the swarm below, but I see that Scarecrow has turned his head to watch it fall. This is my chance. I charge forward, rearing back with the crowbar. Just before I hit him square in the chest, he turns to look at me and the shock on his face shows he isn’t ready. The next blow is to his jaw and it drops him to the floor. I hit him again and again, screaming out as each swing presses deeper into his flesh.

  “Waverly!” comes a voice from behind me. It’s Ethan. “Finish it!”

  Scarecrow looks up at me, teeth missing, an eye swollen shut. I hit him with the crowbar in the shoulder and he rolls flat on his belly. With a heave, I shove him over the side with my leg, into the crowd of famished greyskins below.

  My mind reels as I run with Ethan through the door and do
wn the stairs. I can hear the screams of the raiders behind us, the greyskins overwhelming them. I hear the greyskins all around. It’s awful.

  “What did you do?” I ask through labored breaths.

  “There was a herd,” Ethan said. “We just let them in. Come on, this way.” He leads me down hall after hall. By the time we reach the others, I’m out of breath. The thunder outside booms loudly with a flash of bright lightening. When I see Gabe and Gilbert waiting for us, I want to cry. This is the moment I have dreaded for days.

  “We might have messed ourselves up,” Gabe says as we approach.

  “Why?” Ethan demands.

  “There’s more than we thought,” Gabe says, gripping the strap to his rifle a bit tighter. “They are blocking every exit. We’re trapped in here.”

  Ethan swears.

  I feel a draft of wind blow around me and I start to shiver.

  “We might be able to get out,” Gabe says. “But…”

  “But what?” Ethan asks.

  There needs to be a distraction, I think to myself. A tear passes down my cheek. I know how to change this. Gilbert is willing to sacrifice himself for the rest of us; shouldn’t I feel the same way?

  “There needs to be a distraction,” Gabe continues, “or we’re all going to die.”

  There is a long pause. The rain and thunder is almost as loud as the greyskins that are pounding on the doors and walls, but not quite. The lightening flashes are almost constant.

  More tears streak down as I reach out and clutch Ethan’s shirt. I don’t know why, but it comforts me.

  “Are you okay?” he asks me.

  “I’m okay.”

  His hand reaches for mine and our fingers interlock. My heart jolts because I don’t expect the white light to flash in front of me again.

  I see Ethan walking through a street, holding a rifle in his hands. He is alone, possibly scouting the area ahead. He seems determined, walking with a purpose with the sun on his back. A loud boom echoes through the air and a bullet passes through his chest. A look of shock spreads across his face as he falls to his knees, blood drooling from his wound. There is no one around him when he falls onto his back and closes his eyes. I can't see the shooter. I don't recognize the area…

  When the flash of light brings me back to the present, I have a new future for my life. I look at Gilbert and I see him wipe a tear from his eye. I wish I could help him. I clutch Ethan tightly as my vision of Gilbert’s future comes true before my very eyes.

  I hate this feeling.

  “Give me the gun,” Ethan tells Gabe. “I’ll distract them. You all run.”

  Gabe hands him the rifle.

  “No,” I say.

  Gilbert steps forward and snatches the rifle from Ethan. “I can’t let you do that. Last time, I didn’t make this choice, now I have to. I’m already dead. That’s why I’m so cold and bitter.” A tear falls down his face. “I loved her so much. Now, I can be with her.”

  “Who?” Ethan asks.

  “No time,” Gilbert says. He pulls the cylinder from his pocket and tosses it to Ethan. “Use this to your advantage somehow.”

  I look away from Gilbert, unable to face the fact that he is going to die. But he knows. He knows what this moment is, and he knows that I have already seen it. He looks at me and lowers his head until I’m forced to meet his gaze.

  “This is what you saw, isn’t it? When you stopped the SUV?”

  I swallow hard and nod.

  “I don’t know if you can change what you see,” he says, “but I don’t want you to regardless.”

  I want to tell him that I can change it…but Ethan. I have to save Ethan now.

  “Sorry I’ve been such a jerk to you all,” Gilbert says. “It’s not who I really am.” He takes a deep breath. “This is who I really am.”

  He takes a step back and starts running toward the other side of the warehouse. His screams echo off the walls and the gun blasts are deafening. The groans of the greyskins sound like a thousand wolves growling and howling at the same time.

  Gabe runs to a nearby window and looks out. “Wait for them to clear at the south entrance.”

  I feel numb as Gilbert’s screams change from a simple distraction to cries of pain. Then…silence.

  Gabe leads us through the exit and toward the SUV. Some greyskins give chase, but they never make it to us before we tear out of the warehouse parking lot. As we ride down the road, we are silent. No doubt, Gabe and Ethan are thinking about Gilbert. Though I had seen it happen days ago, I would have never expected it of him.

  I don’t know where we’re going. I don’t know the plan ahead. I’m just glad that Scarecrow is gone. I feel for the chain and ring at my chest, and I quickly remember that it is gone forever.

  Just as well, I think, though I feel empty. It's like saying goodbye all over again. I will miss Lucas forever, but I cannot hold on to him. I lean my head against Ethan’s shoulder as we ride in the back of the SUV. Silent tears crawl down my cheek and neck. I have seen how Ethan is supposed to die, but now I know that I can change it. Yet it's a puzzle that will not be easily solved. I didn't see a shooter. I didn't even see where he was. But I will figure it out. I must figure it out.

  “Where are we going?” I ask Gabe.

  “I think we need to find the girl that was banished from Crestwood before you were,” he says. “This Shadowface person seems to be a bigger deal than I originally thought.”

  “What’s the girl’s name?” Ethan asks.

  “Remi,” Gabe says. He looks at me through the rearview mirror. “She’s from Oakridge like you.”

  I sit up straight as my heart pounds faster at the sound of her name.

  “What is it?” Ethan asks.

  I look at him with tears in my eyes, the feeling of happiness returning to my heart like an arrow.

  “Remi… She's my sister."

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Jason D. Morrow is the author of The Starborn Uprising series, The Starborn Ascension series, and The Marenon Chronicles. He enjoys playing guitar, making fun videos, and spending time with his lovely wife, Emily, and their dog, Winnie.

  Books by Jason D. Morrow

  The Starborn Ascension

  Anywhere But Here

  The Starborn Uprising

  Out Of Darkness

  If It Kills Me

  Even In Death

  The Marenon Chronicles

  The Deliverer

  The Gatekeeper

  The Reckoning

  Be sure to ‘Like’ Jason D. Morrow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/jasondmorrow

  Follow Jason on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jasondmorrow

  For more from Jason D. Morrow, and to sign up for his mailing list, visit www.jasondmorrow.com.