by Smith, T. L.
“Yeah, I get the migration and urgency, but…” Casey still looked unsure and didn’t back down. “I still don’t get the repopulation thing. Why are there only this handful of zombie-host men?”
My mother winced at the term and I regretted sharing that reference with Casey. She answered for me. “It takes over a hundred years for a single larvae to mature and humans haven’t proven to be prime vessels. Out of a hundred people, only one or two might accept the larvae. Then it has to actually survive to maturity.”
I looked around the edges of the room to the mortals. “You humans have done a good job at rejecting the larvae, keeping reproduction levels down.” They didn’t fully appreciate the compliment.
Mom took over again. “Once the larvae are introduced, they produce the hormones and cells needed to keep the body regenerating so they can live to maturity. Unfortunately the human brain is destroyed, creating what Casey calls zombies. These creatures aren’t good at maintaining control, so they rely on the telekinetic-type energy of the host.”
“Basically, they’re rather stupid. Hence zombies.” My mother didn’t look at me, knowing the reference came from her, not Casey.
“Yeah, so if you run into a zombie, zombie-kill it. Cut out the heart, blast out the guts, blow off the head, whatever is so catastrophic the larva can’t regenerate the body. You will be giving the host their final mercy.”
CHAPTER
29
With Casey’s questions answered, we went back to plotting our way into the mountains. Our Cocopah hunter marked out the old paths. We had to hit the enemy from different sides, drawing out the Zombie soldiers, but also making sure none of them could make a run for it.
A nudge at my arm warned me before Lutz whispered in my ear. “I can go to the Zombie camp, but not inside. With me there as a lookout, I can report if they start coming your way too soon.” I gave him points for not materializing in a room where half of us were in touch enough with Spirits to see him.
“We need to narrow down the approach. Both times we set off some type of tripwire.” I drew lines through the hologram of our routes in, then out, speaking to Lutz, but having everyone’s attention. “Probably the same technology that lets them know when a group of illegals are close enough to grab.”
“Border Patrol uses infrared and motion monitors along the border.” The head of the Cocopah Reservation Police looked to Casey.
“We do, but not everywhere. The Tinajas area hasn’t had the influx to justify the expenditure.” Casey raised a hand to stop any comments before they started. “I know. Just because the government approves the aid stations doesn’t mean they’ll give me funds to improve our monitoring systems.”
“That’s true. Our funding comes from the UN under humanitarian aid, not law enforcement or immigration. We don’t get any funds for monitoring. But apparently they have the funds. Question is where…”
The old hunter pointed at the hologram just as I lifted my hand. “Here and here.” He touched on two mountain tops. “They are the only points from where they could see you coming into their area, but not the ascent to the ridge. If you had stayed on the same path…” He didn’t need to finish that sentence. Lutz gave my shoulder a comforting stroke.
“Makes sense. Using those points, give me routes in. Give me an exact location of their monitors. We need to disable them to make our way in.”
I quietly let the old man and the computer tech launch into a virtual search for the locations of the presumed sensor arrays. They kept moving their ‘all-seeing eyes’ up and down the sides of the two mountain until they found the area where the one path was fully obscured. They overlapped the new map with the old hunter’s paths.
Joey stepped up to the new display. “That’s our ways in. Not pretty.”
Having my attention, I came around to the perspective Joey had. “And that’s if these are the only two arrays.”
“Oh, no doubt there’s more.” He pointed around the table. “These are primarily for hunting prey, not self-defense. Other sites will be covering the rest of the mountain range.”
Daniel joined us too. “We need to get their escape route covered, so we need to come in from this angle.” He pointed to the plateau and the only way off it. “One team has to get here. Another needs to come in from the top. We need to take these arrays out to get in there.”
“No we don’t.” Joey ran his finger along an old trail that ran nearly parallel the natural wash, but hidden from the array. However, it had most of the wash covered. “This is the one that got you going in the first time. You can get this far without being detected if you follow this trail. It’ll get you close to the base of the plateau. By then we’ll have started the first offensive.”
Daniel shook his head. “Too much rough ground to cover in the interim. And there’s the matter of us getting our warriors into their positions.”
“Not if we take out this array.” Joey pointed to one of the targets. “Shut this down, please.”
The tech complied and the gap between the trail and the bottom of the plateau opened up. So did a few others higher up the mountain.
“There’s no doubt they’ll have something to cover the way you went in, recognizing it as a gap in the array overlaps, but taking this array out will get the ground team to their assault point, and the upper assault team to their rappelling points.” Joey grinned. “And it’s the easiest to reach. I can get up there and shut it down.”
“Shutting it down might alert them.”
Joey gave Daniel an annoyed frown. “This is my specialty. I can make it look like a glitch, delayed feed, cutting out sections where our teams have to cross through.”
“And I can help with that.” Our tech expert put himself on Joey’s team.
“Sounds good. Work it out.”
I expected an argument from Daniel, then remembered I now outranked him. “Daniel, with this information, you and Frankie finalize your assault plans. Chucky, you get to head up my team, ground level assault. Mom, Dad, we’ll need support teams, logistics, medical triage… you know the routine and who needs to run the details.”
I wasn’t picking family out of preference, but out of experience. This was our region. “You have an hour before we present.” I joined Chucky as he gathered our team. I didn’t ask about his selection. Years of hunting with my brothers taught me a lot. It was one of the few times I didn’t argue with them.
I didn’t need to argue with anyone on this mission. I was cargo, a weapon they had to get to the front line. So I listened as he laid out everyone’s duties.
At the end of the hour the teams all reported their individual plans. As the details turned to support efforts, I felt sluggish. Maybe I should have eaten more. I needed energy, and soon. The effects of Rising were always this way, physically draining and a bit confusing as mortal and immortal minds coalesced.
My mother’s voice snapped me back. “… for today. Group leaders can finish this. Submit your supply requests and we’ll have everything ready by dinner.” She shifted my direction. “The Ci’in needs to complete her recover and prepare, in order to be ready for this assault.”
“We need to prepare also.” Her eyes moved around the room, looking at every face there. “If this truly is the last Maxa’xak, our time here is over. Those Unbound will depart. If that is not their wish, they must be Bound tonight.” She touched my father’s arm. “It has been ten thousand years. Everyone should be prepared. Make sure all our People understand.”
No one protested, getting up and silently leaving, except my family. My mother looked at my father and his hand covered hers in a touch I didn’t see very often. A silent message none of us could hear. I caught Daniel watching too, with an expression of sadness, before he dropped his eyes. He wrapped an arm over Joey’s shoulders.
My heart pounded with a sudden fear. My Ci’in confirmed the growing thought in my head. My parents were both Ci’inkwia, so there was no ceremony to Bound them together. And Joey was unmarried, witho
ut children. I wanted to jump to my feet, but my legs felt weak, as if all the blood drained out of my body.
“You’re leaving me!”
My mother tore her eyes away from my father’s. “If this is the end, we’ll be free.” She still held his hand. “In the mere blink of an eye, you and your brothers will join us.”
My Spirit knew this, but my heart didn’t care. Casey’s hands gripped my shoulders. I didn’t get emotional often, but he always seemed to know when I was on the edge. She noticed, smiling at him. “You won’t be alone and your children will never carry this burden.”
Children? I’d never even thought of that. “But you won’t be here to help me raise them.” I couldn’t stop the tears from welling up on my bottom lids.
My brothers weren’t doing much better, fighting their own emotions. Joey kept running his hand over his chest, as if something inside was already splintering apart. He looked at me with such sadness. “Joey…”
Father stood up. He was normally such a quiet man, but when he spoke, you listened. “Bound or Unbound, no mourning. We are not dying, only transcending this world for our true existence. You will one day join us.”
My mother pushed her chair out and my father helped her stand. She came around the table. I stood up, but she reached for Casey. He stepped forward, accepting her embrace. She took his hand and folded it into mine. “You won’t be alone.”
“No, she won’t.” He looked past my mother to the rest of my family. “I can’t say I fully understand this, but I’ll do my best to make the transition easier.”
Mom focused on me again. “This is only tragic to your mortal self. You need time to finish remembering your full Spirit, maybe meditation. There is a place by the river.” She glanced to the windows. “Take the rest of the evening and let us worry about what tomorrow brings.”
“Mediation’s not going to help. Besides, I don’t know how to meditate the way you do.” Her meditation went so deep that we joked the house could burn down around her, but if we did anything wrong, she knew.
She gave me her ‘I know better’ smile and stroked my cheek. “Now that you have Risen, it will come to you, Din’ah. Let go of your defenses and you’ll remember.”
“I’ll try.” I resisted reaching out to hold onto her as my father came and pulled her away from me, leading her out of the conference room. My brothers followed them out, circled around Joey.
I leaned into Casey. His arm tightened around me as I pressed my face to his chest. “I know what they say is true, but I can’t help feeling like I’m leading them to their deaths. I’ve done this a thousand times. It shouldn’t hurt like this.”
“Then let’s go do what your mother says. Center yourself.” With a nudge he started me out of the room. At the elevator we waited just a moment before it returned. Casey called Cherise, telling her where we wanted to go.
She met us as the doors opened on the ground floor, holding a blanket folded over her arm, looking completely calm as if we hadn’t called her only seconds before. “I’ll take you down to the riverside. We have a private beach for our penthouse guests.”
“Thank you.” Casey wrapped his arm around me. “Is it possible to bring us some food and drink?”
“I have already ordered a basket to be brought to the beach. If you’ll follow me.”
She led us out the private rear entrance, across the circular drive and into a desert garden with Spanish pavers creating paths that split off into different directions. She took us to the right, towards a tall, ornate, wrought iron fence.
A noise behind us drew my attention. Two large security guards. I hadn’t seen them join us, which probably proved they were good.
Cherise stopped at the fence, using a card key on a gate key pad. “You will have total privacy here.” In a few steps one guard reached for the gate, holding it open for us while the other guard covered our backs. We left the garden and moved into a grove of trees.
I could hear the river, even smell it. We didn’t have far to go before we stepped into an area filled with white sand, leading to a small cove. Turning back towards the hotel, it was almost invisible through the trees. “This is nice. Quiet.”
Cerise gestured to the gazebo under the trees. “You should find everything you need there. Anything else is but a call away.” She bowed and left us.
Casey went to the gazebo, the back wall enclosed with stocked cabinets and a beverage cooler. He removed beach blankets and a couple beers. “Let’s just relax. If you feel like doing meditation, it’ll come to you.”
“I think I want a swim first.” I took a blanket and headed towards the water. Modesty made me give a good look around before I stripped down to my underwear. “A swim and some sun, then maybe…”
As wound up as I felt, I doubted I’d ever achieve the right calm, so I needed to use whatever I could to relax and not thing about how tomorrow would bring battle, and blood, and heartache. I ran into the water, plunging in, hoping the shock of cold water would distract me.
I took my time rising back to the surface. Gasping for air when I did. The cold water helped rinse away the gloomy mindset. Casey peeling off his clothes helped too. I liked the sunlight on his new tattoo. “Hurry up. Husband.”
He grinned as he stomped through the sand and into the river. Thoughts of battle did not last long.
CHAPTER
30
I stared out the truck window as we headed down the range road. Casey drove. He knew the route as well as I did. It was still dark, but we had to be in place by daybreak, when we would attack the Maxa’xak lair and kill it. Kill all those it had implanted with larvae, and hopefully rescue the captive illegals before they became hosts.
I wished there wasn’t anyone needing rescue. The fewer witnesses the better.
“You alright?” Casey reached across the console to take my hand.
“Yeah.” I gave his hand a squeeze back. “Just getting my head into the game. Kind of strange how different a hundred years or so can make it, but it still be the same. We both have better weapons, but it all evens out.”
“Wouldn’t call it even. Not if he’s the last one.”
“I mean the universe. I can feel the universe on the edge of balance. It’s the first time in eons. We’re almost done.” I turned back to the dark desert. One more night had completed the merge between us. My senses were prickly sharp. My emotions were stable and memories flowed at my bidding, not hitting me like bricks.
Glancing over my shoulder I could see my father also watched our lights cast shadows over the desert. My mother was no longer able to fight, but he was still robust for his mortal self. He’d do triage on the plateau, she’d be liaison for the after-effects.
There would be wounded, as well as deaths. She and other older Ci’in would be Spirit Vessels, holding the Spirits of our fallen until they could be released. What happened after that depended on whether we won or lost.
Fingers closed tighter around my hand and Casey gave me a slight nod. I must have been broadcasting my worried vibe. He knew me so well, even though I was now such a different person.
Or was I? Right now I was ten thousand years old and feeling my age, praying this would be over. The other part of me wasn’t even thirty yet, and wanted desperately to stay here forever, with Casey.
“The site’s straight ahead.” Casey slowed as I pointed ahead at the mobile shelter stuck up under a row of mesquites. “We’ll off-load the bikes here and go in. The path will be narrow and dangerous.”
Chucky threw me an eye roll. “Been doing this as long as you have, Sis.”
“Yeah, but the last time was on horseback.” It sounded weird saying that out loud.
“Here we are.” Casey said it a bit louder than necessary, interrupting what was about to turn into a sibling spat. Our fifth passenger let out a single huff of laughter. Casey circled the truck and pulled to a stop.
We piled out, Casey jumping into the back of the truck and unfastening the straps holding the dirt bik
es in place. Chucky and the other Kwia did the offloading. I studied the trailhead the old hunter had sent us to. Entry was almost a mile from the military route we used to check the aid stations, but ran almost parallel.
Parallel until the washes merged. This path transected the smaller tributary just north of where Lutz and I had been stopped. I checked my watch. We could get part of the way to our target using the blind spots the mountains created. By the time we were out of cover, Joey and his team would have the sensor array disabled.
Another Ci’in and three more Kwia from the other truck joined us, mounting up and putting on their helmets. We tested the lights attached above our visors, LEDs flashed at each tap. I ran my hands over my vest, then my weapons, for the fifth time, then started up my bike.
With night-vision, Casey and I led the way up the mountain trail. It was rough going in the dark, but we finally reached the transection point. We’d wait here until we knew it was safe to go on. I gave critters and snakes a warning before we collapsed under a rock outcropping.
Casey waited until I was settled in. Two Kwia stood guard above us. I was the first to unfasten my bullet-proof vest, rubbing at my ribs and taking a refreshing drink. The other Ci’in did the same, dabbing her neck with water. It might still be a cool desert night, but under the gear we were sweating.
Chucky joined us. “Let’s take another look at the plan.”
With a grunt, Casey smoothed out the sand in front of us. I drew the wash from memory, leading up to the base of the plateau. Topography had shown us where the water cut down into the rocks, the current foliage and outcroppings would keep us from being sighted visually. Our Kwia would run an advance team. I’d bring up the rear.
We weren’t too far from our target, and right now the other teams were settling into their attack positions, but we had to wait for Joey’s signal. We’d selected three points of attack.
