After Dawn (Book 3 of the Into the Shadows Trilogy) (11 page)

Paivi nodded and jumped out of the hole. Xavier followed behind, but she didn't look back.

Peter caught her just as she approached the gate.

"We're ready." He waved to the line of semis. The freed EOS prisoners were loading them with any and all supplies they had found. Their voices bounced around her ears, full of fear, but also excitement.

They were finally leaving their prison.

Molly.
Paivi pushed the word into Peter's mind.

He let out a sigh and his face fell. He nodded and followed her through the wrecked gates. Xavier stayed with them and they crossed to the piles of debris to the front of the courtyard. Some of the prisoners had taken Molly's body and wrapped it in a sheet and laid it on a table. Paivi was glad it wasn't still a part of the debris. The sheet was wrapped around her like a sleeping bag. Her head and face were exposed, her short red hair shining in the last rays of the sun. Her expression was peaceful, her mouth relaxed into a smile. She could have been sleeping.

Paivi stopped at the table and the others followed behind her. She dropped to one knee and rested her forehead on it, her hand on the sheet that covered Molly's body. She couldn’t even muster a tear for Molly. The well had dried up, it seemed.

She rose to her feet and turned. Hundreds of EOS prisoners had followed them into the courtyard. They were also on one knee, their heads bowed.

Peter and Xavier, having noticed that Paivi was no longer kneeling, stood and came to stand next to her beside the table.

One by one, other freed EOS prisoners rose and joined them. They slid their arms under Molly's body, linking hands underneath. They cradled Molly between them. Paivi nodded her approval and turned to the gate, Peter and Xavier right behind. In a silent procession, they walked through the gate for the final time.

Paivi led them past the semis and vehicles to the hole she had dug with Xavier.

The group carrying Molly joined her and lowered Molly's body carefully. Xavier jumped in to help lay her gently at the bottom. Paivi stood above, observing as he pulled the sheet over Molly's face.

Peter reached down and hoisted Xavier from the hole. They stood silently next to Paivi.

A hand on her arm got her attention. Her mom.

"She would be grateful for this." Her mom's words were light on the breeze.

Paivi reached down and grabbed a handful of dirt. She held it over the grave and opened it, releasing it onto her friend.

Molly was free. In so many ways.

Paivi wondered if she would feel that free, even at her own death. Would the weight of the world finally be lifted? She doubted it was possible in this lifetime. Maybe if she could be like Master Song, be born again, she could have a chance to unload every ounce of pain and sorrow that clung to her soul like boulders.

Paivi put up a hand and flung her energy back over the fence. She needed one last thing to complete the burial.

A rough piece of wood, possibly part of the barrack walls, flew over the fence and implanted itself at the head of the grave.

Some of the others had picked up the shovels and made quick work of closing the grave.

Xavier walked to the head of the grave and knelt before the piece of wood.

"What was her name?" he asked, looking back at Paivi.

"Molly," Paivi whispered.

Xavier turned toward the wood. He blocked it with his body. Smoke rose above him. When he stood Paivi could finally see what he had done. He blew on his finger, which was still smoking.

He had burned words into the wood.

Molly

She died FREE.

"Thank you." It was all Paivi could manage.

The light was now gone. It had disappeared below the horizon and darkness settled into the desert around them.

The sun had set on a lot of things that day. The camp. Molly. Her dad.

But they weren't free from fear and death just yet.

Paivi didn't want to know what the dawn would bring.

Chapter 13

The long train of semis and vehicles rumbled slowly down US 95. Paivi sat in the cab of the first vehicle. Breathing was a chore. The air was thick with heat and dread. She needed to contact one of the guys, to let them know they were on their way. There was no telling how long they had before the government figured out just what was going on.

They also weren't very inconspicuous. Driving at a normal pace, they might have reached Mexicali in nine hours. But with a large number of their convoy walking on foot, it would take days to get there.

Lights glowed on the horizon far in the distance. Electric lights, definitely not the rays of the sun, though the sky was lightening to the east. It wouldn’t be long before the sun rose, exposing them for the world to see.

"What's that ahead?" Paivi asked Peter, who was immersed in a giant map.

"Not good. It's Las Vegas." Peter attempted to fold the map, but gave up in a huff and shoved it on the floor. "We need a plan. It'll be dawn by then. There is no way we'll pass through there like a bunch of tourists."

"I don't have a plan." Paivi was annoyed. If she could just concentrate, she could get them a message. "I'll figure it out when we get there. You've got all the people who can control their powers in the trucks and jeeps, right? We just have to work together to protect the group."

"Paivi, don't you understand that this is nearly an impossible task?" Peter said, his voice oozing doubt and fear.

"Don't you think I know that, Peter?" Paivi shouted. She rocked back and forth, her head in her hands. "Just trust me. I did it at the camp. I can do it again."

"But they're going to have weapons this time. Big guns, tanks, airplanes." He shook his head.

Paivi could tell his analytical mind must be running full speed, trying to determine if they had the power to make it through, to get to Mexicali. She didn't know how they were going to survive, but she knew they would. She had seen it long ago. The battle would happen.

She pushed it all out of her mind. The chatter between Peter and Dennis in the front seat, her mom's light snores next to her, the radio they were listening to in order to figure out if the ATC knew what happened, the rumble of the engine.

With a gasp, she found herself in the room in her mind, the in-between. She wasted no time crossing the room to the ornate door carved with Tibetan figures. She threw it open and pictured Sterling in her head.

Once she had longed for love and the arms of Jason, or the comforting presence of her brother. But no more. Love could do nothing for her now. Only power and energy could solve her problems. It was the only thing that could save them. And Sterling was her man of action. Feelings and emotions wouldn't get in the way.

She could see him. She now stood in the hotel room in Mexicali. He sat in front of her on the couch, shouting into a cell phone. Maps and papers were strewn across the coffee table.

The energy tingled under her skin and she pushed it out to every edge. Her body filled out and became visible.

Sterling gasped at the sight of her and dropped the phone.

"Paivi?" He jumped up from the couch. "You look like hell! What happened?"

"We're on our way, Sterling."

"What? What do you mean you're on your way?" he shouted. "You're supposed to wait for our signal."

"Too late." She shook her head. "We couldn't wait any longer. They were going to kill us. All of us. We'd have all been dead by the end of the week."

He gaped at her, his mouth hanging wide. "Those bastards. Where are you now?"

"In a convoy coming down US 95. We're closing in on Las Vegas."

They were both silent for a moment.

"Paivi, by the time you get there, they could be waiting for you. Is there a way around it?"

"Not from the looks of it." Paivi flashed a bitter smile. "I guess the world will find out what happened to the EOS prisoners now. They'll get to see us on parade."

"Be careful, Paivi." He crossed the room and grabbed her arm. She could barely feel it. "We'll need to start our battle today. It's the only way to distract them from your arrival in Las Vegas." He picked up the cell phone. "I'll call the general. You get back to your convoy and see if you can find a vision of Vegas. Figure out what you need to do."

"Got it." She nodded. "Goodbye, Sterling."

"It's not goodbye. I'll see you soon."

Paivi woke with a start.

Her mom shifted in the seat next to her. "Are you okay, Paivi?"

"Yes, Mom." Paivi leaned over the front seat. "They know now, Peter."

"Now what? Did you see what is going to happen? What do we need to do?" Peter turned in the front seat to face her.

"I could try to go back in to the in-between and see something." Paivi stared past Peter out the front window. "But I think it might be too late."

Peter swung around to the front of the truck.

"Whoa," Dennis murmured from beside him.

The sun was breaking over the horizon, bright strands of light spilling through the desert sky. The darkness disappeared and the desert was bathed in oranges and browns.

The city of Las Vegas stood just ahead. Lavish hotels scraped the sky, appearing out of the nothingness like a mirage. The lights turned off at once as the city greeted the dawn. Palm trees sprouted next to the highway, meant to welcome visitors to the oasis in the desert.

There was also something that most visitors might not see upon entering Sin City —something that was there to greet Paivi and her convoy.

A line of tanks blocked the road ahead of them. More tanks and military vehicles held the line behind them.

Military helicopters took to the air and hovered over the line of tanks.

Dennis slammed on the brakes and Paivi didn't need to turn around to know that the rest of the convoy had stopped.

Paivi flung open the door to the truck, jumped out onto the pavement, and rubbed her hands together.

This was it.

The battle was about to begin.

Chapter 14

"Exit the vehicles and lay down on the ground. You will not be harmed," a voice boomed through a megaphone from a contingent of ATC agents flanked by U.S. Army reserves. They peered from behind shields labeled with U.S Army symbols.

Paivi stood her ground. She eyed them carefully as they approached. In her mind she pictured some words and pushed them into the minds of everyone in the convoy.

Get out, but hold hands or touch the person next to you. We're going to stand our ground.

Paivi's mom and Peter moved to her sides, each putting a hand on her shoulder. She could see Xavier, Dennis, and Lola line up on Peter's side, and others she didn't know on her mom's side.

"This is the U.S. Army and the Anti-Terrorism Coalition. You are being ordered to lay down on the ground." The voice echoed around them. "This is your last warning to obey. If you do not, we have been ordered to shoot to kill. If you surrender, you will not be harmed."