Emergence (Eden's Root Trilogy) (36 page)

BOOM!

He squeezed his eyes shut as the explosion
tore apart shadows at the north edge of the woods.
You have to move, Asher!
his mind screamed.
If you don’t get up now, you never will!

Shaking, he
forced himself upright and turned toward the armory. His strides grew longer as he got moving again and he raced up the path, hurdling boulders and dodging trees. When he came upon the armory, he was relieved to see the doors hanging wide open and several of his men in front, screaming their victory.

“Asher!”
His right-hand man, Santiago, raced to meet him. “We did it! We took the armory!”

Asher surveyed his
Dragons, beginning to feel centered again. His platoon needed him. He’d have to focus on that. That would get him through. “Great job, guys, but now we have to split up. I need five of you to grab as many weapons as you can hold and still defend yourselves. Four of you stay here and whatever you do, don’t let the Lobos retake the weapons.”

They loaded up on
guns, bats, knives, and ammo clips.

“What’s next, boss?” Santiago asked as they ran toward the concrete building that was
the next target.

“Free the rest of our fighters.”

“Did you hear those big explosions, eh? What was that?”

“
I don’t know Santiago, but it’s not good.” As he pushed forward, there was only one thought keeping him going.
Thank God Fi and Luke are safe.

--------------- Fi ----------------

Fi, Sara, and the colonists huddled in the small cove by the river and waited.
The plan was to get them across the river, but they needed a little more light because the route was treacherous. For now, they waited. It was agony. Fi jiggled her feet and twisted her hair. She bounced Luke and paced. She told herself over and over that it would be ok, but she couldn’t summon that feeling anymore. The feeling that her father was there, reassuring her.

Distant
shouts and gunfire rent the still night air and she froze. She closed her eyes and said a prayer. In her mind she willed the image: the Seals slipping over the cliff’s edge, taking out the unsuspecting watchers. She saw Gary and the security team leaping to life as they were set free. She imagined Asher slashing, his blade finding its mark.

BOOM!

Her eyes flew open.
What was that?
That didn’t sound like any gun she’d ever heard.

BOOM!

Shit!

BOOM!

Light flickered on the horizon.
It wavered and grew.
Fire!
Something was wrong.

“Fi.”
Sara’s voice was tight. “What do you think’s going on?”

“I
don’t know.” Fi fretted. She wished she could help, but it was just too dangerous with Luke in her care.

BOOM!

The blast reverberated, echoing across the expanse
. She bit at her nails, cold terror flooding her veins.
We missed something!
she thought.
We must have missed something!
She bounced in place, unable to stand still. She wanted to go, she had to help…

“Fi.”
Lucy joined her, staring at the horizon. “Give him to me. I can see it in your eyes. You girls have to go. We can’t afford to lose this fight.”

“But what about all of you?” Sara protested before Fi had a chance.
“You need to be guarded.”

John joined his wife.
“We have to stop hiding, girls. It’s time.”

“Thank freaking God,”
José yelled, stepping forward, a bundle of cords and branches in his hand. He turned to the huddled colonists. “Those people are up there risking their lives for all of us. And it’s time that we did the same. All of the vulnerable need to stay here, but the rest of you who want to fight, let’s fight!”

D
efiant cheers rose from the group.

“
It’s about time! Let’s go!”

“
Yeah!”

“I’m in!”

“Wait!” Fi said, as they ran ahead of her. The group stopped and Fi turned back to Lucy, who stood with an expectant expression, her arms open. A stab ripped through Fi’s heart.
She knew that Lucy would guard Luke with her life. And she knew that if something happened to her and Asher, Lucy would raise him as well. That knowledge did nothing to stop the bile from rising in her throat as she handed over her sleeping son. Fi kissed him on the head.
Papa
, she thought,
please watch over Luke and Kiara.

With a deep breath, she turned her focus to
her brand-new militia. “Before we leave the forest, try to find a weapon. I know there’s not much, but grab a rock, snap off a branch, anything that you can find that’s heavy or sharp, and bring it with you!”

“Way ahead of you, Fi,”
José said, indicating the cords in his hand. “I’ve got ten handmade slingshots for anyone who wants them. Good thing we had nothing but time on our hands in that camp.”

“
José,” Fi said, “remind me later to tell you how awesome you are.”

“You can count on it.”

If we live,
she thought, her heart leaping. The volunteers grabbed what was at hand and set out.

“God protect you!” Lucy’s blessing faded behind them as they rushed to the battle. Fi glanced over her shoulder and was shocked to see close to fifty colonists with them. They were thin and weak, but they clutched their makeshift weapons with determination. When they got close enough to see, Fi stopped, her fighters pulling up behind her.

Her eyes scanned but it was like the scene didn’t compute.
Just an hour ago this was a sleeping settlement. Now smoke filled the air and cabins were in flames. Shadowy fighters grunted and shouted amid an intermittent staccato of gunfire. The Army of Eden had formed the “Great Wall,” but was struggling to hold as terrified Truthers streamed toward the Dead Zone with their children.

“Stop them!” Fi commanded
the colonists. “Anyone without a weapon joins the Wall. Form a barrier around them. They have to stay for the confession.”

“But what if they fight us, Fi?” John asked, huffing.

“If they’re Truthers and they won’t be contained, then let them pass.”

“What if they’re ‘Angels?’
” Another man growled.

“Then all bets are off.”

The colonists roared.

----------- Asher ------------

It took the Dragons fifteen minutes of heavy fighting to reach the showers imprisoning the Eden colonists Asher knew and loved best, the Council and his Seekers. Fifteen minutes might not sound like much, but in hand-to-hand combat, it was as exhausting as a marathon. His limbs felt like jelly and his head was swimming, but when they broke the lock on the door and it swung open to reveal a shocked and stick-thin Gary, he felt a wave of relief.
They were alive.

“Get me light!”
Asher shouted.

A flashlight flicked on
behind him and Asher’s breath caught as it panned over his friends. Larry, Gary, Louis, Miles, and Georgina were all there, as were the Seekers. They were alive, but by a tenuous thread. Their eyes were sunken and their cheeks hollow. All had marks and scars on their hands and faces. It took everything in him not to race back out the door and go split Silas’ skull.

Gary approached, his matted beard and
dead eyes making the Green Beret nearly unrecognizable. Only the stubborn jut of his jaw remained. “Asher. What’s happening?”

“We’re getting you all out of here, Gary.
We’ve got a whole freaking Army here to get you out.”

The Seek
ers surrounded him, their murmurs of disbelief and relief twisting his heart. Still, this wasn’t the plan. They’d expected the Seekers to be able to fight and they didn’t look prepared to do much more than stumble into the night.

“Did you bring weapons for us, Asher?”

“Yeah, Gary. Of course.” His eyes flitted to his shocked platoon-mates. “But do you really think…”

“Then g
ive me a weapon,” Gary snarled, his face twisting.

“And me.”

“And me!”

“Me too, Asher.”

One by one, the Seekers stood and gathered themselves. Even the members of the Council seemed determined to join the fray.

“But Gary…I mean…are you…”
He couldn’t bring himself to say it. Without another word, he nodded and the platoon began handing over weapons. He removed the AK-47 he’d taken from Silas and handed it to Gary. “Here. Take the ammo too.” He started to remove the ammunition belt when Gary stopped him.

“Asher, you should keep this.
You don’t have a long-range weapon, and judging by what we can hear in here, you need one.”

Asher shook his head.
“Sorry, Gary. If I’d planned to be a gun guy, I would have started long ago. It’s better off in your hands.”

Gary
nodded and threw the ammo belt over his jutting shoulder. It seemed to make him stand a little straighter, renewing Asher’s confidence in his friend and boss. But when Georgina Ferrar stepped forward, her hand outstretched, Asher hesitated. “Georgina, we never expected you to fight. I can send you with troops to join the colonists. I’m sure that they can get you to safety.”

She
shook her head, her long, now brittle curls hanging in her eyes. “Give me a weapon, Asher.”

Still, he hesitated.
Sending Georgina into battle was ludicrous. She was an untrained fifty-year old woman who had clearly suffered far too much already. The marks on her neck…and hands…

She narrowed her eyes.
“I said, ‘Give. Me. A. Weapon.’”

Reluctantly, Asher stood aside as one of his troops handed her a semi-automatic pistol.
“Do you know how to use it, Georgina?”

“Yeah, Asher.
You point it at people and kill them. I get it.”

Asher started to say something
, but Gary waved him off. “Don’t worry. I’ll show her.” He nodded toward the open door, distant screams still drifting in the pre-dawn air. “Lead the way.”

Boom!

“Jesus!” Gary snarled. “What the hell is that?”

Ashe
r swallowed. “That, Gary, is the shit we didn’t plan for.”

------------ Sean ----------

Sean stared in horror at the battlefield. Growing flames lit the smoky air, jumping from treetop to treetop. Reds and ochres stained the darkness as figures wrestled and screamed…and fell.

H
e desperately wanted to help, but his “Great Wall” was barely holding it together against the herd of terrified Truthers. The bravest and strongest bore the SWAT shields, holding the most forceful back. Elsewhere, only the joined hands of the Army kept the Truthers in check. Occasional scuffles broke out at points, but so far, the line had held without bloodshed. It was a non-violence as fragile as a soap bubble. He prayed that it would hold.

“Let us go!”

“Please, don’t hurt us! We have children!”

The cries rose and fell.
Initially the Truthers’ pleas for mercy had nearly destroyed the entire plan as Army members had responded with rage. But Sean and Luc’s urging and constant reassurance had kept the Army under control.

“We only want you to listen!”
Luc ran along the edge of the circle, urging the Army members to repeat the mantra. “Tell them!” he cried. “We won’t hurt you. We only want you to listen!”

After an initial exodus of terrified Truthers, the remainder had settled into sobbing huddles.
With each explosion from the invisible but massive gun, the entire group would throw themselves to the ground, but so far the shells had fallen mostly to their north.

“Sean!”
Luc shouted, waving from twenty yards away. “Look!”

Sean turned where Luc was pointing
and saw several of the Seekers rushing onto the battlefield from the east.
Asher’s platoon must have succeeded!
Relief flooded him, followed swiftly by dismay when a skeletal Gary emerged and ran shakily into the fray with an AK-47 in his hands. He stopped to help a fallen Seeker to his feet and they disappeared into the trees.

Dammit,
Sean thought,
this wasn’t the plan
. They needed the Seekers to fight. His heart pounded as he wrestled with his desire to follow them onto the battlefield. He was needed!

“Sean.”
Luc was beside him, his voice low. From the look in his eyes Sean could tell that he’d seen the same thing. “Go. I’ve got the Army.”

“Are you sure, Luc?”

“Yes, I’ve got it.
Go, Sean!” Luc shouted, turning back and running to a section where new screams had arisen. “Hey! Hold the line! Hold the line there!”

There was no more choice.
Sean took a deep breath and raced into the clash, his staff ready. He got no farther than fifteen feet into the mass of seething combatants when he heard a rapid staccato of gunshots and hit the ground. A blood-covered Lobo stood laughing as he emptied his magazine into a retreating Seeker, who made it ten feet before falling.