by Linda Jordan
“Conference room.”
“Be there in a few minutes.”
He headed for the Castle. He dreaded having this conversation. Again.
When he arrived, Morrigu sat in an overstuffed chair, eating raspberries from a bowl and licking her red-tinged fingers. She motioned for Damon to sit down.
He sat back into the cushioned chair. This room was small. Insulated so no one could listen in through the walls. It was where Morrigu went to talk about private deals. No windows just like most of the Castle, it was lit by table and floor lamps. The lightbulbs were made by a small company in eastern Oregon and flown in, like most all the luxuries Morrigu and Roosevelt had. Luxuries he’d grown accustomed to over the years.
Morrigu drank some water, cleared her throat and said, “I understand you’re not enthusiastic about this war.”
“I am not. I’ve given you several reasons.” He could feel her searching his mind and heart. Just as he would have when questioning a possible traitor, if he had the skill. There was no escaping her, she’d find out what she wanted, so he opened up. Knowing it could mean his death.
“But it’s more than those, isn’t it?”
“Yes. I’m tired. Humans don’t live as long as deities. And those of us without magic live smaller lives, but no less passionate. I’m aging. I’m tired of fighting and I can’t do it as well as I used to. I’ve been doing it my entire life. I just want to live. Simply and quietly.”
“And yet you’re good at fighting.”
“I’m not good at the kind of fighting this war would entail. I can’t fight against hundreds of people, hour after hour, hand to hand combat. And I don’t understand the battle strategies using bombs, aircraft guns and automatic weapons. I understand street fighting. This is an entirely different kind of war. I’m afraid I’ll botch things up.”
“Afraid? That’s a word I’ve never heard you use before.”
“Yes afraid. I’ve always known my limits. That’s why I’m so competent at so many things. And what you’re asking of me is way beyond my limitations. And since I’m aging, I’m not as flexible as I once was. None of that is helped by the fact that we don’t have enough arms or people to win this war.”
“We only need one good person, one assassin to kill Collins.”
“And then his son, or daughter, or brother or someone will take over and fly over here and obliterate us.”
“There is that,” said Morrigu, nodding her head in concession.
“I can’t see a way to win here.”
“So we should just keep on, life as usual. As if nothing had happened. As if they hadn’t killed Young Roosevelt and many of our people. And injured Roosevelt so badly that it’s possible he might never recover?”
“I don’t know. I don’t have answers, but I think we should explore other options. Not just leap towards revenge.”
“I will consider what you have said. You have been my advisor longer than any other human. You have always helped me immensely.”
“Thank you,” said Damon, standing, sensing a dismissal.
“If I decide to go to war, and if I find someone with a better grasp of the battle strategies which you lack, what would you do?”
“What do you mean, what would I do?”
“I obviously can’t keep you around here. You would have failed me. So what should I do with you?”
“Let me go.” He shrugged.
“Let you go do what?”
“Let me leave. A long time ago, before the world was destroyed, people retired. They left their jobs, their work, and went off to create an entirely different life.”
“Where would you go?”
“I don’t know. I think I’d go off and live by myself. Hunt and fish to eat. Just be.”
“You wouldn’t go to Collins?”
“Out of the frying pan and into the fire? Hell no. And even if I wanted to, he wouldn’t be stupid enough to take me. No, I’d choose a much different life than this. A peaceful one.”
“You’ve grown soft,” she said.
“Have I? Perhaps I have. I’ve enjoyed these years of peace between you and Roosevelt. Enjoyed learning about buying and selling jewelry and art. Enjoyed managing your empire and doing my part to keep you and everyone else safe.”
“And you’ve been very good at it. I will think on this. And if I find someone, or you find someone to replace you, I might just let you go. Your heart isn’t in a war, I can see that. Which compromises you. You know it and I know it. But, please tone it down during the meetings. It wouldn’t be good if everyone knew. And you will tell no one about this conversation.”
“I understand.”
“I’ve got some paintings and jewelry to sell today. No matter what happens, we need to buy more planes and weapons. Send for Xavier and continue what you were doing.”
Damon bowed and left the room. He called Xavier on his wristband and headed for the new arms warehouse.
Not really believing she’d let him go. Morrigu never let anyone go.
12
Evangeline
Evangeline walked through Morrigu’s Blue Warehouse, listening in on people’s thoughts. It was unpleasant. There was so much pain here. Hundreds of people had been badly burned. She didn’t sense a spy among any of them.
Beds had been brought in now, from the rooms where people lived. Crisp white linens on all of them. Medical people in white jackets walked at the foot of the beds, fixing this or talking to that patient. Not enough medical people in this sea of white.
The smell was horrible. Even with the air circulation system. It had been able to keep out the smoke on the day of the attack and the time following, but it could do nothing with the stench of burned, rotting flesh.
Every now and then one of the patients screamed. Whether in terror or pain, Evangeline couldn’t tell. One of the medical people would go and adjust the drip for their meds.
Roosevelt was sleeping, his head still bandaged along with the rest of his body. She couldn’t look at him. It hurt to see him lying there, in such pain, even with the drugs.
Collins’ spy might be dead. They might not have known the attack was coming. It would have been risky for Collins to tell them. The spy might have acted differently. Even left the Zoo and been caught. Or they might have told someone. If they were dead, then Evangeline would never find them.
Evangeline walked out the door, into clean, fresh salt air coming off Puget Sound. She stood and breathed until the stench was out of her lungs. Then walked out towards the runway, where people were chipping away at cracked asphalt in preparation to rebuilding the runway.
She’d thoroughly checked out all of Roosevelt’s household staff and bodyguards. None of them were Collins’ spy. She was fairly sure about Jack, Ethan and Avery, although if one of them was a spy, they were probably highly skilled at hiding it. She was still watching them. None of them had given anything away during the meeting that morning. She’d been searching their minds at the same time Morrigu was, so she patterned her search efforts after Morrigu, in order to disguise herself from them. No use the three of them knowing she had that skill.
Evangeline chatted with the people working on the runway and was sure of them by the time she left. Her head ached. She decided to go back to her room and lie in the darkness.
Her room was in Roosevelt’s living quarters, which was sadly empty. The bodyguards were either in the Blue Warehouse watching over Roosevelt and being unobtrusive, or taking turns salvaging things from the collapsed warehouse.
Roosevelt had made his living quarters modeled after a home. There was a living room, a kitchen to eat in, a formal dining room, bedrooms.
Evangeline had a bedroom two doors down from his. She unlocked and opened her door, walked in, switching overhead lights on, then closed it, locking it behind her. It was a square room, painted all blue, except for a golden circle on the ceiling, celebrating Lisa. There was a white moon in the tiles on the floor, in honor of Mawu, Lisa’s twin and lover. Roos
evelt had the room created for her. Evangeline had felt surprised, honored and embarrassed all at once.
This part of the world didn’t understand her beliefs, so she’d planned on being very closed about them. Being a sorceress was strange enough. Leave it to Roosevelt to squash that plan.
Evangeline poured water from a pitcher and drank. Clean fresh water. She sat on the large bed covered with the soft, blue bedspread, untied her black boots and slipped them off. Then the socks. Once barefoot, she got up and walked across the cool tiles, stretching her feet, her toes. She walked into the tiny bathroom, still such a luxury. After she removed her clothes, she showered quickly and toweled off. She rolled her head around in a circle, stretching her neck.
Then the building rocked. The lights went off. Evangeline heard a large, deafening boom. She scrambled for her weapons. Switched the light of her wristband on. Quickly dressed and pulled on a pair of boots. Then ran out of her room.
Near the main entrance, the domestics were crowded around.
“What happened?” she asked.
“We don’t know. We think it’s another bomb.”
Evangeline ran outside. Three planes circled. A pillar of smoke rose from the far end of the Zoo. One of the planes made another run at the buildings.
“Everybody out. Run for the trees!” Evangeline yelled.
She raced across the road to the fence and yanked open the spot that hadn’t been repaired. The domestics and a couple of guards followed. She held it open until everyone was through and then went through herself.
Everyone was talking as they clumped beneath the trees.
“Silence,” she whispered with a hiss.
She motioned to the guards to be looking out into the woods beyond. They were filled with bushes and brambles, but there was no guarantee Collins didn’t have men on the ground.
There was another loud explosion and more smoke. She could see the flames now. Two of Morrigu’s warehouses were gone. Evangeline wasn’t sure whether to hope the Blue warehouse was one or not. Would it be better if all those people, including Roosevelt, were put out of their pain or if they lived?
The third plane came through and dropped a bomb that leveled the warehouse Evangeline had just left. Destroying her room, all of Roosevelt’s precious collections and all the food for Roosevelt’s people.
Then the planes roared one after the other making a run above all the buildings and shooting guns. Killing anyone outside the warehouses. The planes rose and circled above the Zoo, before they flew upwards and off to the east. Out of sight.
Smoke filled the Zoo. There was no wind today. Evangeline tore the bottom off her shirt and tied it over her face, motioning for the others to do the same.
“Let’s go find the survivors,” said Evangeline.
As they walked through the Zoo, there were only two warehouses left standing. One held the arms rescued from the first attack. The other housed many of Morrigu’s people.
The Blue Warehouse was gone. Roosevelt was gone. All the medical people and supplies gone.
Everyone gathered in the arms warehouse, which was empty except for a small corner that contained crates of weapons and ammunition.
Evangeline tried to get a head count. Maybe a hundred people. Far too few for an army. Were there others outside? People who hadn’t come in? People who were helping the wounded?
Morrigu was there, Damon was too.
Damon quieted everyone and said, “We don’t know if they’ll be back. We have to assume they will. For some reason, they only bought three planes again this time. The bombs were larger though. We have no planes now. Which means we’re out of business. We can’t buy and sell jewelry, art, alcohol or gas and oil. We’ve got nothing except ourselves. We have to leave or we’ll lose that.”
Morrigu nodded, her rage apparent.
“We have nowhere to go,” said Damon.
Morrigu said, “We will go to the village. Where those people were from. They will take us in.”
Evangeline watched as Damon’s face flashed a look of shock, before he recovered and showed no emotion.
“I don’t know the way,” he said. “I was concentrating on dynamics inside the van, not on traveling.”
Eamon stepped forward and said, “I remember how to get there. I was driving. Although we’ll be walking. It will be a long walk. If we’ve got injured, then at least two long days. If we run into trouble, and some of those areas were dicey, it’ll take longer.”
“Do we have enough weapons to arm everyone?” asked Morrigu.
Damon looked around and said, “Enough to arm those who want to carry a weapon. Not everyone though.”
“Good. We will spend the rest of the afternoon salvaging and packing. Anything that can’t be carried will be left behind. We have few medical supplies. Anyone who’s badly injured, unable to walk unassisted, will be killed. All bodies will be put on the burning warehouses. They will be our funeral pyres,” said Morrigu.
“Our wristbands don’t work anymore, not since Roosevelt’s and Morrigu’s homes went down, taking all our tech with it. Anything electric or any tech will be destroyed. Make sure everyone brings nothing like that with us. We’ll collect your wristbands as you leave here.”
People looked shocked. Many of them had never been without a wristband, not since they were very young. Always in touch with the network. Able to talk to others from a distance.
Why were they collecting them though? And why all electrics? The villagers had electrics. To make everyone’s load lighter?
No, she decided. It was to make everyone oversee the others. To make sure if the spy was still alive and with them, that Collins couldn’t track them. That no spy had any means of communicating with him.
Evangeline sighed. She had nothing to pack. Everything that she wasn’t wearing had been destroyed. Thank goodness she’d gotten some clothes, boots and weapons. Too bad about all her other beautiful clothes.
What was she thinking? Hundreds of people were dead and she was mourning clothes. She shook her head, trying to regain focus.
Damon was going around putting people in charge of things. Finding food to pack. Finding other supplies.
“Those of you in Morrigu’s housing, your home is still standing. I’m afraid you’ll have to share with Roosevelt’s people who’ve lost everything except what they’re wearing. Our first priorities are: food, water, clothing, medical supplies and weapons. Survival items. Anything else must be left behind. Go gather up your things. Those of you with no things to collect, we will search for those items. Move over to the right side of the warehouse and I’ll organize you. We will have a small meal tonight once all the food is gathered and split up. Followed by a funeral service for our dead. Tonight is the last night any of us will be sleeping inside. Let’s get moving, there’s a lot to do. We leave as soon as it’s light tomorrow.”
Damon moved to the right side of the warehouse and waited for people to gather there. He assigned some of them to help gather food. Others to search for any medical supplies or weapons.
The rest, mostly Roosevelt’s guards and Evangeline, he said, “You’ll help me search for bodies and for people who are severely wounded. Those who are too injured to walk, we must kill quickly. Save your bullets, use knives. I’m sorry, but there’s no other way. Anyone unable to do that, collect bodies. We’ll be piling them on the burning Blue Warehouse. Team up and get moving.”
As they left the warehouse, two people stood on each side of the door, collecting wristbands. Evangeline tossed hers in the metal bin.
Damon went out last, tossing his in.
“Take these to Carlos. He’ll deactivate them.”
He made sure the two guards had put their wristbands in. The two men hauled off the metal bin.
Evangeline covered her face with the torn shirt mask again and set out with Kahlil. They found two people badly burned and each killed one. Then made trips to take the bodies to the fire.
She told herself it was a mercy killing. No
medical supplies or people to help them. Even though she was right, it didn’t make those deaths easier.
Mostly, they collected dead bodies and hauled them to the pyres. There were no tractors or functioning machinery anymore. They’d all been destroyed in the bombings. Everything had to be done with human muscles.
By the time they’d finished both she and Kahlil were covered with blood. They went towards Morrigu’s housing and Damon found them.
“We’ve got one generator running. Enough to pump some water. Get in there and get a shower before the gasoline runs out. Then line up and eat.”
Evangeline was not going to eat tonight. She’d smelled too much burned flesh to last a lifetime.
After the quick shower, Evangeline was given fresh clothes. She’d washed her bloody clothes in the shower, and wrung them out, carrying them with her. She cleaned her boots off as best she could. Some of those blood stains would never come out. But they were well made boots and it would probably be a long time before she was able to get better ones. Who knew what sort of wilderness they were heading out into?
She drank water while the others ate. The smell of food nauseated her. It was all she could do to keep down the water.
After dinner everyone moved off to what had been the Blue Warehouse. The place was still burning hot and smelled of smoke and roasting meat.
Morrigu stood in front of the burning pyre, wearing a black gown trimmed with red accents, her hair flowing loose and wild. She did indeed look like a goddess of war and death. Her voice deep and vibrant as if she was gaining power from the release of souls.
“Our brothers, sisters, daughters, sons and friends, we give up to the fire. May they find the peace they need. Their souls free now, to wander where they will. Their flesh and bones will return to the earth who gave them life. Their burdens gone. Let us remember their heroism and power and forget their weaknesses. We will take their memories and their history with us as we travel to a new home and they will live on. Some of their souls may choose to guard this place. To keep others away, serving as a warning. Give thanks for their lives and their presence in our lives.”
