Ghosts of Koa, The First Book of Ezekiel (19 page)

When Zeika finally crashed through her front door, there was a tight crowd of bodies in her family's hut, trying to calm Mama down. Her parents had heard about the bombing; in fact the whole lot had heard, and many were still standing vigil by her family's side when Zeika finally made it back.

The sight of her stumbling into the doorway tattered and bruised must have knocked out the last of Mama's reserves because she immediately swooped down onto her, poring over her wounds and asking her frantic questions amidst the smothering of hugs and kisses. Baba and Manja joined, not nearly as frantically, but no less relieved.

"Demesne Seven has been breached," Zeika gasped out when she could finally get a breath. She slumped against Mama's shoulder, breathing hard. Every breath stung.

The crowd didn't seem to need any more information than that. People quickly dispersed, some of them going off to phone relatives and friends, others strapping up to go find their families or children who had crossed over into the Seventh for work, and a few others going for their gardens to start moving out their things.

Baba didn't say much, except that they should go to the Guild of Almaut to get Zeika patched up.

"I'm fine, Baba," she groaned, sitting up. "It's just a couple of bruises. I'll walk it off."

"Yeah, okay. You're getting checked out, and I'm not arguing with you about it. Besides, I've been meaning to move some of our stuff from the garden safe to the Guild anyway."

"Okay, just pass me a list. I'll go."

"Me too," Manja piped up, throwing on her yellow dinosaur and grabbing her flashlight.

Baba took a minute to scribble out the things he needed before Zeika took the list and limped out the door, Manja in tow.

The garden plots were practically empty by the time she and Manja reached them. Zeika herself was almost done getting everything that Baba wanted from the safe: a couple of pounds of beans to be dried, five onions, three bulbs of garlic, and some old clothes.
 

Where is it?

Zeika winced as she reached down and rummaged through the safe. Manja was going to be five in a few weeks, and in order for her to keep getting services from the Guild of Almaut, they needed to officially register her. But to do that, they needed her birth certificate.

"Here." She handed Manja the two of the three most important things. "Zip it up tight."

After Manja put her medicine and their can of savings in her dino bag, she shined the flashlight in the hole, lighting it up as Zeika tossed the contents of the entire hovel. She unearthed blankets, old clothes and socks, dried herbs, beans, flour, and finally, she found the old briefcase. In it were the deeds to their hut and the garden plot, along with their prior registrations to the Guild. But for the life of her, she couldn't find either of their birth certificates anywhere... where
were
they?

"Zeeky!" Manja cried out, the light suddenly going wild.

Zeika jerked her head out of the hole, coming nose to muzzle with a gun. She froze, as much in shock as from awe of the towering, ghostly man standing over her. He was dressed like she was, robes and hood all, except with military attire, and the face beneath his hood was covered at its bottom half in shining porcelain molded to his features. She didn't have to guess who he was and what he represented: she already knew.

Koa.

"Is this your kid?" He demanded by way of introduction. He pointed at Manja with what Zeika recognized as an AR-15 automatic rifle. She slowly straightened up, taking care to position herself between the gun and Manja.

"Yeah. She's
my
kid," she said carefully. "What's it to you?"

"We tourists love looking at the local wildlife. We find it quite beautiful," said another from behind her. She could hear a soft metal
chick
as the other Koan handled his gun, most likely aiming at her back. "Hands up," he commanded. "You too, kid."

"Zeeky...?" Manja's voice was shaking, scared. Tears had already begun to well in her eyes.

"Do as he says, honey, okay?" Zeika tried to smile as she raised her hands slowly, lifting them until both palms were up, fingers spread. "Just look at me, only at me. Copy what I'm doing."

"Kay..." she stammered, copying her. Her flashlight hit the ground.

Movement at the edges of Zeika's vision. In the slinking shadows, she could see the outlines of hooded bodies moving fast and low, heading towards the dimly-lit huts.
 

"You're hitting our lot..." she whispered, stunned.
 

Another soldier, male, came up to the gunman at her front. Her eyes widened. The newcomer had to be sixteen,
seventeen
years old, max. Three more teenaged Koans, one of them a girl, came up next to him. All of them were young enough to be considered ghosts of war. But these... these were ghosts of Koa.

"Captain?" The first ghost asked.

"Tell the F-cells to round up the g.ow.s in the lot, and keep them subdued. Starting with these two. If they or anyone else moves, kill them."

"Yes sir," and he took up the gunman's post at Zeika's face. She watched the gunman nod to his partner behind her, and without a word, they walked around her, heading for the huts.
 

The girl ghost lifted a radio to her ceramic lips and spoke silently into it. "Round up the specters. Draft time."

"Roger that," a voice responded through the radio.

Zeika tensed. There was an opening between the three of them. She and Manja could run for it. They might be able to make it off the Lot... sound an alarm...

The metal peephole of the ghost's gun sliced that thought off at the knees. He seemed to sense what she was thinking, and he was aiming, right in between her eyes.

"If you even breathe wrong, you're dead."

Keep them talking, stall, sing, dance, whatever you have to do...

"You shoot me, and the whole lot will hear it. Then we'll see who's pushing up daisies at the end of the night. We're not rookies like Lot 12."

"We?" The teen soldier looked down at Manja who was clutching her dinosaur bag to her chest. He raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "What are you going to do, kid, snuggle me to death with Barney?"

"Leave her alone!" Zeika snarled. "The bin is open. Just take what you want, and leave!"

"But my interest is right here. Strapping young women like yourself might do well in the right circles."

"We're not interested in being recruited to Koa, so don't ask."

The other male ghost circled to the side of her. "Why should we recruit you--" he said, his mask smiling as he did. "--when we can just take you?"

Zeika looked at their home, a little over 200 feet away, at the Koan soldiers who were crawling slowly toward it, and at Manja, who was shaking. Her fingers put a tighter clutch on her dino bag.

"What's this?" One of the ghosts stepped up to Manja and snatched bag out her arms.

"NO!" Manja cried out as he opened it, spilling its guts onto the ground.

Her stuff clattered out, along with the medicine and the can of money that spilled open, shedding dollars over the dirt.

"Jackpot," one of the girl ghosts snickered. "Looks like someone's been hoarding. Good for me. I need more nail polish." She picked up the dollars and shoved them into her pocket. Zeika began to shake with anger.

"Score." Another male ghost bent down and picked up the box of medicine. "Clotting factor 8," he read. Then he looked up to his mates, his eyes wide with interest. "Hemostatic medicine."

"How much is it worth?"

"Boatloads." He pocketed the medicine and dino bag and began to walk towards the lots.

"Wait! Please!" Zeika stuttered. "We need that. Take the money, but we need the medicine."

"Shut up, civvie," the gunman on her muttered.

"Please! It's the only dose of medicine she has! I just lost my job and won't be able to buy her another one! She needs it! She needs it, or she'll die!" She rose to her feet.

Bam!
Zeika's lip split open beneath the butt of his rifle, and she fell to her hands and knees in the dirt.
 

Manja screamed, grabbing the arm of Zeika's robes and pulling. Sobbing.

Zeika's vision swarmed, sending bile from stomach to throat, and she could feel a painful swell rising at her chin. The impact clouded her sight, but all she could think about was the one who had Manja's medicine. Those boots were getting farther and farther away with each second she cowered in the dirt. She gritted her teeth, forcing herself to a stand once more.

"Give it back..." she snarled, watching the ghost walk into the distance. Manja's dinosaur bag swung in his grasp.

"Stay down."

She kept rising, blood streaming down her chin.

"Stay down, I said!" The ghost roared, jamming the muzzle into the side of her head.
 

Zeika grabbed the barrel of the rifle, even as he pulled the trigger--

Click.

The gun still-birthed in the night air, and Zeika slammed her heel into his gut, parting the rifle from his grip, sending him flying back and skidding through the mud.

The staccato of dry clicks and jamming chambers echoed across the remaining three, and stunned, they all exchanged confused looks as their guns yielded nothing but noise and air. Zeika still held the ghost's rifle, and she tossed it onto the ground in front of her and tightened her fists. She could hear Manja's whimpers, feel her trembling even as she put a hand on her head and pushed the girl behind her, shielding her--

The ghosts came at her all at once, and Zeika lashed out, disarming each of them before hitting one in the throat, another with a back fist, grabbing the last by her lapels and hurling her into the mud.

"RUN, Manja!" She shouted, and Manja obeyed, ducking and beelining for the house, screaming Mama and Baba's names.

"You little bitch!"

Two ghosts closed in on Zeika, again, one of them grabbing her hood. She threw an elbow back, smashing one in the face, and clotheslining the other with a spinning roundhouse. A fist slammed across her face, pushing black into her line of sight, but as she fell into the mud, one pulsing thought brought her consciousness back--

MANJA.

Almost on command, her vision cleared, just in time to see two rebels sprinting, bearing down on Manja from behind. She felt a ghost jump on her, and snarling, Zeika reached over her shoulder and threw him, slamming his body to the ground. She scrambled to her feet and plowed towards the other ghosts in front of her. Just as one of them reached to grab Manja's hair, Zeika left the ground, planted both feet into his back, and
pushed
, hurling his body face first into the ground. He tumbled, and his mouth and nose splashed crimson across the grass and gravel. Manja was still running and crying out, Zeika could hear her-- and the army of footfalls as Koa ran out from the shadows.

The noise caused doors to open. Lights spilled into the lot and people poked their heads out of their houses.
 

"RAID!" Zeika screamed as a ghost tackled her to the ground, pinning her with his weight.

Civilians rushed out of their homes, but they stopped in a messy wave as Koan soldiers darted from the shadows from all sides, aiming their guns.

"Hands in the air, now!" One of the soldiers shouted.
 

Zeika wriggled under the weight of the ghost on her back, but she could still see into the lot. The group of Koans wasn't that big, fifteen at most. If they didn't have guns, they could take them.

"Round 'em up," the leader commanded. Then he turned to Zeika, searing her with an angry gaze. "And bring that little whistle blower to me. She needs to be taught some manners."

His soldiers dispersed, and with a few warning shots, they dragged most of the remaining lot out of their homes. As the older soldiers rounded Civilians up at the lot's edge, Zeika was hoisted to her feet by the two ghosts. She shot a long angry look at each Koan soldier and the weapon in his hand as she was shoved forward. They dragged her in front of the cowering crowd and then threw her down in front of the leader.
 

"EZEKIEL!" Mama's voice rang out, and there was a bustle in the crowd as she tried to barge through. A nearby soldier grabbed her and threw her to the ground, aiming his rifle at her. She scrambled to her knees.

"Please, don't hurt her!"
 

Zeika felt her mouth curl downwards as she watched her mother grab the hem of the Koan's robes. It wasn't how she imagined it, her mother down on her knees before specters that weren't even supposed to exist.

"How dare you buck your recruits on our lot!" Zeika snarled at the Koan leader.
 

"Shut up, Ezekiel!" Mama screamed. "Just shut up for once!"

"No, she's right!" One of the Civilians stepped forward. "The Knights of Almaut are supposed to stand
for
the people, not against them! Who the hell do you sons of bitches think you are?! Why are you in the Protecteds?!"

The man let out a muffled "
ugh!
" and fell to his knees as a Koan slammed the butt of his rifle into his stomach.

"Line them up," the leader said. "Show them what happens when dogs bite their master's hand."

The crowd protested as Zeika, Mama, and the Civilian were all dragged forward. The bodies of the angry crowd teemed against an invisible line, a dead zone marked by the floating muzzles of the Koan firing squad... half of which turned towards the three of them.

Zeika was thrown down onto her knees in front of the executioners, next to Mama and the other Civilian. The roar of protests and screams swelled against her ears.

"Ready!" Their leader barked.
 
"Aim!"

Zeika raised her eyes, seeing the leader's lips scream "fire", watching the executioners squeeze the triggers-- and watching as
the guns clicked. Dead. Empty.
 

Civilians roared and flung themselves at the small militia, grabbing their guns, and burying knuckles and knees into Koan flesh. Others ran to the nearest hut, even if it wasn't theirs, to get pots, pans, anything that could be used as a weapon.