Lina snorted. Michael just glared at the drifter.
Diggs exhaled a long breath and nodded. “I understand why you’re angry, but let me explain.” Scratching his whiskers, he sighed. “I was sick for a long time. Cancer. I was on my last legs when VEN offered me a cure. A reprieve from death, they said, in exchange for my talents in microbiology. I didn’t believe them at first. But when they told me about the earthbone, showed me samples…it was like a gift from the heavens.”
“The Fallen’s gifts are lies,” Jericho muttered.
Michael’s scowl softened. “They used earthbone to cure your cancer?”
“They combined my diseased cells with those of a healthy snow leopard, eradicating the cancer. The earthbone cured me, all right, at the cost of my humanity.”
“How can that be?” Michael asked. “Your eyes are normal. You can’t be one of them.”
“I can’t explain that,” Diggs admitted. “Maybe it had something to the severity of my cancer, but my eyes didn’t change color like the others.” He smiled wanly. “I was the first—almost an accident. The process is far more refined now.”
“Better to die.” Lina ran her fingers down her silvery hair. “Better to die than become a monster.”
“Don’t say that, Lina,” Michael said. “If the earthbone can cure cancer, maybe the stuff isn’t all bad. Tell her, Diggs.”
“God forgive me, I agree with Melina,” said Diggs. “You can’t know what this is like, to live like this, to be something not…human. The earthbone is constantly trying to equalize my DNA with the leopard’s. My medication keeps the process in check, but the pills are almost gone. Soon, I will become as you saw me, forever a monster.”
“When we get to the dollmen city,” said Lina, “they can help you, right? They can take the earthbone out of you like they will for me?”
“That won’t work,” Diggs said. “If the elders reverse what’s been done to my physiology, my cancer will only resurface. With or without the earthbone, I’m doomed.”
“You’re a scientist,” said Mike. “Why aren’t you working on making more meds or something? You said you could probably slow down Lina’s and my mutations. Why aren’t you doing the same for yourself?”
Diggs looked away and didn’t answer.
“Because of us,” Lina said suddenly. “You’re trying to save us even though you’re still mutating.”
Michael edged away from Lina, taking his customary place in the center of the seat. “I’m sorry, Diggs. I didn’t realize.”
Diggs shrugged, and a sad smile appeared on his lips. “Me too, Mike. Me too.”
A sudden thought occurred to Michael. “VEN make those pills you take, right? Maybe after we reach the dollmen city, we can get you more. You know, like trade some earthbone for a refill or something like that.”
Jericho growled. “Beware, Awoken. The VEN’s gifts are lies.”
“I didn’t say anything about gifts,” Michael said. “I said trade, and if I can help Diggs, I can live with giving up a little earthbone. Heck, there’s a bunch in Lina’s hand that she doesn’t want anyway.”
Jericho bared his teeth. “The Betrayer is not to be trusted, Awoken.”
“Forget all that for now.” Diggs checked his rearview mirror. “We’ve got problems. Take a look behind us.”
Michael turned in his seat. On the highway behind them, three SUVs ignited their headlights in unison.
Jericho hissed, shielded his eyes, and dove down behind the seat.
Lina gripped her headrest so tightly the vinyl creaked. “Who are they?”
The SUVs drew closer; the stonesong gave a jerking twitch.
Michael turned to Lina. “It’s VEN. They’ve found us.”
29
Hang On
The SUVs accelerated. Two of them pulled alongside the pickup while the last began to pass it.
“They’re gonna box us in,” Michael said.
“Not yet, they’re not,” replied Diggs. “Buckle up.”
Facing forward again, Michael and Lina fastened their seatbelts. Diggs hit the gas, and the pickup shot ahead of the SUVs.
Jericho’s head popped up from behind the seat. “The Fallen come. We must flee.”
Michael craned his neck to look back at the dollman. “What do you think we’re doing? Just stay down, Jericho. You’ll be safer on the floor than up on the headrest.”
“As the Awoken commands.” The dollman disappeared again behind the seat.
Lina watched the SUVs through the mirror on the passenger door. “They’re gaining on us.”
Diggs swerved, cutting off one of the SUVs coming up on their right. “What’s back there isn’t our only problem. Look ahead.”
Michael’s breath caught in his throat.
A hundred yards in front of them, two SUVs were pulled up nose to nose, their heavy frames all but blocking the highway. The road was too wide for the SUVs to block it entirely, but in what was perhaps a six-foot opening between the vehicles’ bumpers, a dozen men in combat fatigues aimed their harpoon-like shock rifles at the approaching pickup.
“We’re trapped,” Lina cried.
A silver streak ricocheted from the hood in a cascade of sparks. Diggs cursed and Lina and Michael ducked down as more of the crackling harpoons clanged against the truck, leaving charred dents in the green metal. A harpoon struck the windshield, cracking the glass before careening away into the night.
Diggs’s whiskered jaw tightened. “We’ll just see about that.” Aiming for the narrow gap between the noses of the SUVs, he locked his hands to the wheel and shouted, “Hang on!”
The men shooting at them dove for cover as the pickup tore through the opening between the SUVs with a deafening shriek. Had the gap been a few inches smaller, they never would have made it, but the old truck somehow squeezed through in a shower of ripped metal and shattered glass. Michael shot forward, and his seatbelt jerked tight, whiplashing him back into his seat as the battered pickup cleared the blockade. Once through, the truck fishtailed wildly and slid toward a ditch.
Diggs cursed as he fought the wheel.
The tires hit gravel, and the rear of the truck dipped into the ditch. Michael held his breath. Abruptly, the pickup ceased its slide, and he exhaled loudly as they squealed back up onto the road.
The crash of a collision came from behind them.
Michael checked Lina’s mirror. One of the SUVs had tried to follow them through the roadblock, but their aim hadn’t been as good as Diggs’s. Instead of following the pickup through the gap, they’d struck one of the parked vehicles, spinning it in a half-circle and crumpling their own front grill in the process. As Michael watched, a second SUV attempted to pass through the shattered roadblock. It was nearly through the wreckage when a chuck of jagged metal tore open one of the front tires. Sparks flew as the rim banged down on the pavement, and the SUV came to a skidding stop. The driver of the last SUV was more cautious, bringing his vehicle to a screeching halt just short of the failed roadblock.
Michael tapped Diggs’s arm and pointed to the mirror. “There’s only one left. But he stopped. I think we’re good.”
“Don’t bet on it, Mike,” Diggs said. “They’ll clear the road and be on us again before you know it. Lina, check on Jericho.”
Lina rapped her knuckles on her headrest. “You okay back there, Shorty?”
Jericho popped up behind her. “This one is well, thief.”
Diggs nodded. “Everyone’s still breathing, then. Good. Jericho, you should get back down. Lina, keep an eye on that SUV. Let me know when they’re getting close.”
“Got it.” Lina turned around in her seat.
“Help me find an exit, Mike,” Diggs continued. Perhaps a half-dozen of the harpoons had struck hard enough into the grill and hood, and they stuck out like grey porcupine quills amid the oily smoke bleeding from the engine. “Don’t bother checking the map. At this point, any exit will do. We’re too exposed out here.” Michael searched the roadsid
e for exit markers. The smoke was bad enough, but they’d lost one of the headlights in the collision. It was so difficult to see, he nearly missed the yellow sign with the snaking black symbol. “Turns ahead,” he announced.
Diggs grimaced. “Maybe the turns will slow them down. Just keep looking for an exit.”
Before long, a metal safety railing appeared alongside them, and the road began to curve sharply to the left. They were in the high country now, skimming the sides of steep forested slopes and rocky outcrops, with trees on one side and a dizzying drop on the other. Every turn they made, the hilly terrain hid them from their pursuers for a few moments before the SUV came back into view.
Diggs whipped into the first turn without slowing. “Listen, Mike,” he said. “No matter what happens, you have to get to the dollmen city. Jericho will lead you to the entrance.”
A tingle of foreboding touched Michael. “What are you talking about? We’re all going together.”
Diggs skidded around another turn, hugging the railing. “That’s the plan, Mike, but plans change. I need to know you’ll finish this, even if we’re separated, even if you’re the only one left. It’s too important.”
“Why?”
The pickup shuddered like an angry mustang. Diggs swore and worked the clutch. The shaking eased, but didn’t stop. “The earthbone, Mike,” he said. “No matter what happens to us, we have to convince the dollmen to close the tunnel to the surface. If the saturation levels continue to rise, rampant mutation will begin across the country and, eventually, the entire world. We have to stop it before that can happen.”
Michael was suddenly very aware of the earthbone’s hum emanating from Lina, so close, so very tempting. The stonesong drew its power from earthbone, and it was getting stronger. At this rate, he wasn’t sure how much longer he’d be able to control it. “If we seal the tunnel, will it shut down the stonesong? Will I be normal again?”
The pickup’s wheels spat gravel as they swung into the next turn.
“I’m not sure,” Diggs admitted. “It’s possible, I suppose. There’s only one way to find out for certain.” He blew out his long mustache. “If not for Lina, I’d say use the stonesong to collapse the tunnel and be done with it. Even if it doesn’t cure you, the absence of earthbone in the air would make the stonesong far less dangerous.”
“Um, guys?” Lina interrupted, her voice strained. “Not to butt in, but you might want to grab hold of something.”
The SUV’s headlights filled the cab a moment before it plowed into them, pushing them into the railing. Sparks shot out from the pickup’s fender, and Diggs quickly swerved back onto the road. But the SUV hit them again, forcing them back into the railing.
“We gotta get loose, Diggs,” Michael shouted, pointing to a sharp turn in the road ahead. “He’s gonna drive us right off the road!”
Diggs jerked hard on the wheel, ramming into the side of the SUV. But the SUV was the heavier vehicle, and it shoved them back against the railing. “He’s got us pinned.”
Lina grabbed Michael’s arm. “Use the stonesong.”
“No. You’re too close.”
“So is VEN, you idiot. Use it or we’re dead!”
The pickup’s fender peeled away with a dreadful screech, tearing off the passenger side mirror before breaking away completely.
Michael ground his teeth. They weren’t going to make it. “Okay,” he said at last. “Just don’t touch me. I’ll try my best to keep the stonesong off you.”
“Just get that jerk away from us.” Lina scooted as far from him as the cramped cab would allow.
“I’ll do my best.” Closing his eyes, Michael released a whisper of the stonesong. Immediately, he felt the earthbone in Lina drawing on him, a ravenous black hole sucking at the stonesong. Tightening his focus, he moved away from her and down, pushing toward the road under the pickup. But when he got there… “Something is wrong. I can’t reach the rock.”
“What do mean?” Lina said. “The road’s right under us.”
“It’s all mixed up. The music keeps changing.” He strained harder toward the shifting hums—granite, concrete, sandstone, limestone, mica, granite again. The jarring melodies made his head hurt and changed so quickly he couldn’t latch on to any one of them. “We’re moving too fast.”
“Well, I’m not about to slow down,” Diggs shouted over the sound of grinding metal. “We can’t fight them and win. Our only chance is to pick up enough speed to outrun them.”
The SUV banged off them again, and the pickup skidded against the rail for half a moment before Diggs could pull it clear.
Outrun them.
Michael sat up straight in his seat. “Hit the brakes.”
“Are you cra—” Suddenly, Diggs’s whiskered face split with a wide grin. “You’re a genius, Mike. Hold tight.”
The SUV swerved toward them again, and Diggs stamped down hard on the brake. The pickup screeched to a stop.
Slow to react, the SUV overshot their front end and crashed halfway through the railing. Its white reverse lights came on almost immediately, but its rear tires spun ineffectually in the loose gravel.
Shifting gears, Diggs swung around the snared vehicle. “That won’t hold them long. As my daddy used to say, let’s git while the gittin’s good.”
Even as the pickup reached the next turn in the road, the SUV broke clear of the barrier and backed up onto the road. Diggs’s pickup rounded the turn, and the SUV was temporarily lost from view.
“They’re back,” Lina said.
Diggs looked at the mirror, then down at the red engine light blinking on the console. “Fine. We’ll do it the hard way.” He pried open a small panel below the steering wheel, revealing a colored assortment of fuses and wires.
“What are you doing?” Michael asked.
“Ah, here we go.” Diggs pulled two thin fuses clear of the panel, and the pickup’s taillights went dead. Then, he killed the headlights, downshifted, and slowed the truck to a stop.
“Why are we stopping?” Lina asked.
Diggs patted the dash affectionately. “We can’t outrun them, Melina. She’s game, but this old bucket of bolts just ain’t up to it.”
Michael sighed as the confusing melodies beneath him subsided to a singular hum. “Do you want me to use the stonesong? I can do it now.”
Diggs shook his head. “No. You were right earlier. We can’t risk it with Lina so close. Besides, I have another idea.”
“Shut off the lights and hope they miss us in the dark?” Michael leaned forward in his seat. They’d stopped directly over the center line. “Don’t you think we should park closer to the railing?”
“Yeah,” Lina agreed. “If we stay here, they’ll run us right over.”
Shifting into reverse, Diggs winked at her. “Not if we run them over first,” he said. “I know I keep saying this, but…hang on!”
The SUV roared around the corner behind them, and Diggs hit the gas.
Lina screamed and Michael braced for impact. Then the world exploded, and everything went dark.
30
One More Day
Something tugged on Michael’s shirt.
“You must awake, Awoken,” a distant voice said.
He groaned, but didn’t open his eyes. A hammer was beating a painful rhythm against the inside of his skull. “Hang on, Jericho. I’m up. Just give me a minute, okay?”
“No minutes, Awoken. The Fallen come. The People must flee.”
The Fallen?
His eyes snapped open. “Where…?” He blinked. “Jericho, why are you standing on the ceiling?”
Jericho glanced down at his feet. One of them was covering the pickup’s cracked dome light. “Because the ceiling is the ground now, Awoken.”
Michael frowned, confused, but then noticed the scattered fast food wrappers lying on the ceiling. Either gravity had reversed or the pickup was on its roof. “What happened, Jericho? Why are we upside down?”
“We fell far, Awoken. And
you have slept too long. The People must flee.”
Michael lifted his head. The inside of the pickup was a crumpled wreck of broken plastic, dark mud, twisted metal, and glass. Lina was hanging in her seatbelt next to him. A shaft of wan daylight bled into the pickup from a jagged hole in the floor, painting her silvery hair with a pale luminescence. Her eyes were closed and there was a nasty swelling on her left cheek.
“Lina, wake up. Lina!”
She grimaced. “Not so loud. Sheesh.” Opening her eyes, she squinted against the light. “Well, that was fun. Can I get off the ride now?”
“Me first. Anything broken?”
She touched her swollen cheek. “Just a little banged up, I think. What happened?”
“Jericho says we fell. I think we got pushed off the highway when we hit the SUV. We must have gotten knocked out for a couple hours. It’s morning already.” He turned in his seat. “Diggs, are you…?” His heart dropped into his stomach. “Oh no.”
The driver’s side of the pickup had gotten the worst of the fall. The roof was touching the steering wheel and the door and hinges were just jagged ends of torn metal stained with a brownish-red substance that could only be blood. There was no sign of Diggs.
Lina tried to look around him, but her seatbelt held her in place. “What’s wrong? Is Diggs hurt?”
“I don’t know,” he replied thickly. “His door is gone. He could have gotten thrown out during the crash.”
“Do you think so?”
Swallowing back tears, he shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Diggs had warned him this might happen, had made him promise to find the dollmen and then convince them to close the tunnel. But could they really make it without Diggs? Jericho knew the way to the city, but the VEN was on their trail. And now they had to travel on foot.
He felt lost, too numb to think.
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