Ray caught a whiff of acrid smoke. They had to get out of here before they were all burned alive.
“Put the gun down,” Lily said. “Or in she goes.”
“You failed,” Ray said. He knew it was true. The crazed buzzing in his head had stopped. “You didn’t open that thing. You lost.”
Lily’s lips curled into a sneer. “Oh, it’s going to open—I turned the key just about all the way. It’s only a matter of time now.” She pulled harder on Ellen’s hair. “So I win no matter what. Now put the gun down or in she goes. I’m going to count to three. One.”
Ray swallowed.
Lily’s smile widened. “Two.”
“Okay,” Mantu said.
Ray turned and stared.
“You win. Here,” Mantu said, lowering his eyes. He squatted and laid the gun on the cave floor.
Lily laughed. “You fool,” she said. She lifted her foot to kick Ellen to her death.
Ellen snapped her head forward, then backward. Her head cracked hard into Lily’s face. Blood burst from Lily’s nose, and when Ellen threw herself forward, Lily was left holding a clump of her hair.
Ray rose to his feet and launched himself at Lily.
Ellen swung around and elbowed her with all her strength, but Lily caught her by her scrubs. Her eyes lit up as she stared into Ellen’s. “Come with me!” She threw herself backward, pulling Ellen with her.
Ellen struggled, her feet scrabbling on the wet floor. Ray was barreling toward them but he wasn’t going to make it. Time seemed to slow until it was frozen.
Ellen lifted her foot and shoved hard against Lily’s stomach.
Lily’s foot slipped in her own blood. She tightened her grip on Ellen’s scrubs, but her slick fingers lost their hold.
Ellen fell, and as she did Lily grabbed her leg.
Lily plunged into the silver liquid, but she held tight to Ellen’s leg as the roiling mercury rose to her breasts. She pulled, and Ellen slid to the edge of the pool, crying out.
The sphere swelled, like a bubble ready to burst. The things inside were pushing through, stretching it to the breaking point.
Ray fell on top of Ellen. Lily yanked again, but his weight held her on the edge. Ray lifted his head and looked into Lily’s eyes. Her face was splattered red and silver, and the blood running down her arm swirled wildly in the quicksilver.
“Come with us,” she said. Her eyes enlarged until there was nothing else but the black circles of her pupils, pulling him in, promising him everything, but mostly an end to all of this suffering and horror.
Your world is ending, she said.
And then, as sharp as shards of glass:
Come with me, Ray Simon. The universe awaits.
Ray spit in her face. “Never, you fucking bitch. It’s your turn to die.”
She stared, shocked, almost amused. Their brief moment of private communion broke and she loosened her grip on Ellen’s leg. She sank and disappeared completely under the surface. Not a trace of her left, as if she had never been there. For a moment, Ray thought that was the end.
But then she rose, glistening silver, only the whites of her eyes and her teeth exposed. And she smiled at him. That hideous, mocking, merciless smile. “You will die at my hands,” she whispered.
He stared, unable to speak.
“Bye for now,” she said. And then she leaned back into the sphere and vanished.
Ray stared open-mouthed. She was there and then she was gone, like a jump cut in a movie. But he didn’t have time to wonder. Ellen was hyperventilating beneath him. He pressed his face against hers and whispered, “It’s okay. You’re going to be okay.” He wanted to squeeze her but the plastic cuffs prevented it. “William!” he shouted.
William ran over to him, sobbing. “Mom, Mom, are you okay?” He stared at her bloody scalp.
“I’m okay,” Ellen said, blinking blood out of her eyes as she shimmied away from the edge of the pool. “It’s just hair.”
Ray sat up on his knees. “Go through that dead guard’s pockets and see if you can find a knife or something,” Ray said.
Mantu knelt next to Claire. “You okay?” he asked.
Claire coughed. “I think so.”
Victoria cradled her head. “What happened?”
“We did it,” Mantu said. “Thanks to you.”
“I found a knife,” William said. He rushed back to Ray.
Ray extended his hands against the rock. “Be really careful and cut through this plastic.”
William’s face whitened. “Your finger.”
“Yeah, I know. Don’t look at it. Hurry. Cut the plastic.”
A few seconds later his hands were free. They ached as the blood rushed back into them, and the pain from his broken finger nearly made him faint. He called to Mantu, gritting his teeth. “Let me cut off those cuffs.”
In one slice Mantu’s hands were free. He took the knife and cut Ellen loose, then Claire. “Smoke’s really pouring in here,” he said as he helped Claire to her feet. “We gotta get the fuck out now.”
“Look—they’re waking up,” Victoria said. The other children were already sitting up, staring in confusion as if they’d just awoken from a bad dream.
“We’ll carry them if we have to,” Mantu said. “Come on.” He picked up both pistols and stuck one in his waistband.
The lights went out for several seconds then came back on. A soft yellow glow came down from the ladder and the surface.
“Now, everybody!” Mantu shouted. “Me first, then Ray, then the kids, then you two. Up the ladder and then we all go together. This ain’t over yet.”
Ray took one last look at the artifact, which seemed to have gone completely inert. “What happened to her?” he asked, suddenly afraid Lily might emerge.
“No fucking clue,” Mantu said, pulling his arm. “Let’s get out of here.”
Ray followed. Victoria had rounded up the other four children—two boys and two girls—and was shoving them forward behind him. William held tight to his mother and Claire staggered in the rear, holding her chest. The tunnel was dark but there was light coming from the hole to the surface. Firelight.
“Shit’s on fire up there!” Mantu shouted. He held one of the pistols in his hand as he climbed the ladder. When he reached the top he stopped. “Goddamn. Goddamn.”
“What is it?” Ray shouted.
Mantu hurried and climbed out. “Here. You’ll see. Give me your hand.”
Ray extended his maimed left hand and Mantu pulled with all his strength. When Ray emerged, he stood in shock while Mantu helped the others out one by one. Glass cracked under his feet and the biting cold wind whistled around the inside of the dome. Snow swirled against his face.
Their truck—the one that they’d driven into the compound—was sitting in front of him. It had crashed through the dome’s metal beams and glass panes and crushed one of the generators, which was sparking and flaming and filling the air with black smoke. The legs of a dead guard stuck out from behind the front wheels, while the other lay unconscious and bleeding a few feet away. Ray yanked open the truck’s door.
“Vinod!” he shouted.
The old man was sitting in the driver’s seat. His chin and shirt were covered in blood and his eyes were glazed and yellow. He lifted his shaking hand and gave a thumbs-up. Bubbles of blood rose from his lips but he forced himself to smile.
“What happened to Matt?”
“Gone,” Vinod mouthed.
“Vinod, you amazing son of a bitch.” He climbed into the truck. “Let’s get you out of there.” He grasped Vinod from behind and pulled him carefully from the cab. The old man was clutching a cloth bag in one of his hands. Mantu laid him against the enormous truck tire.
“You’re gonna be okay, brother,” Mantu said.
Vinod shook his head and licked his bloody lips. His voice was paper-thin. “No.”
Ray waved to William. “You and Victoria get the rest of the kids and climb through the cab into the back of the
truck. Then hunker down low. You got me?”
William nodded. “Come on,” he said to the other kids.
Ray turned back to Mantu. “Do you think this thing will drive?”
“I sure as fuck hope so,” Mantu said.
Ray looked out through the shattered glass panes and twisted metal. The blowing snow made visibility minimal but he thought he saw several figures in the distance.
“Our guns!” Claire shouted. Their weapons had been piled haphazardly with their coats against the wall of the dome. Claire grabbed one of the rifles and knelt down behind a broken beam.
Ray squeezed Ellen and kissed her cheek. “I think they’re coming. Can you shoot?”
She wiped blood from her eyes. “Hell yes.” She kissed him back and joined Claire.
Gunfire erupted and Ray heard bullets ringing off the back of the truck. Claire and Ellen fired back. The recoil knocked Ellen onto her back. “Shit!” she cried.
Ray helped the final kid into the truck. More gunshots from outside and one of the glass panes blew into pieces.
“Hang with Vinod,” Mantu said. “You’re not gonna be much of a shot with both of your hands out of commission. Let’s see if we can hold them off for a bit and then try to get that truck moving.” He crouched and went to join Claire and Ellen.
“Ray.” Vinod’s voice gurgled.
“Yeah, brother. I’m here.”
The older man fumbled with the sack in his lap. When he opened it Ray saw a half dozen grenades.
“We’ll get you out of here. Come on. Hang in there.”
“Please,” Vinod said. “Let me.” He pulled the bag to his chest.
“They’re coming!” Mantu shouted. He ducked as more bullets shattered the glass near his head. “About ten or so. We gotta get out of here.”
Ray dug into the bag and went over to Mantu. “Here,” he said.
Mantu took the grenade and smiled grimly.
Ray heard voices approaching. He ducked down low next to Vinod. “You saved us, brother,” he whispered in the old man’s ear.
“Everybody down!” Mantu shouted. He swung his arm and fell atop Ellen and Claire.
Ray felt the explosion and saw a bright flash. Then he heard men screaming and cursing.
“Another!” Mantu shouted.
Ray dug in the bag and handed Mantu another. Mantu pulled off the safety clip, yanked out the ring, waited, then lobbed it into the darkness.
After the explosion Mantu jumped up and grabbed his rifle. He stood and sprayed fire in a wide arc. “Get in the truck. Everybody.”
Ray helped Ellen and Claire in through the passenger door. Mantu unloaded more gunfire and crouched beside him. “Let’s get Vinod in.”
“No,” Ray said.
“Go,” Vinod said weakly. He could barely raise his head.
Mantu clasped Vinod’s hand. “I love you, brother. You did good.”
The old man’s lips moved but no sound came out.
“Help me move him,” Ray said. He and Mantu dragged Vinod and leaned him against the ladder.
“You did it, brother,” Ray said.
Vinod didn’t answer. He reached into the bag, his arms shaking, and pulled out a grenade. He held it against his chest.
“Hey!” A voice from out in the blackness. “It’s me. Don’t shoot!”
“Burnham!” Mantu shouted.
Ray waved. “In here, man. Hurry!”
Burnham stumbled through the smashed opening. Ray and Mantu caught him. Ray squeezed his friend, who was covered with thick flakes of snow. “You son of a bitch!”
Burnham winced. “I’m shot,” he said. He pulled his hood from his face. “I knocked out the power, though. And took a few of the guards down.” His breathing was labored. Ray felt hot wetness on his hand, then noticed how much blood had soaked through Burnham’s coat.
“Let’s get you in the truck.”
Burnham shook his head. “I don’t think so,” he said.
“Come on,” Ray said.
Burnham’s face was a ghastly shade of white. “It’s okay,” he said. “Hey, Vinod.”
The old man’s eyes fluttered.
More of the glass exploded. And the smoke was thickening.
“Get him in the truck,” Ray said.
Burnham turned his head and vomited blood all over Ray’s leg. He coughed and spat, his face twisting in pain. “Leave me with him.”
Bullets plinked against the truck.
“No,” Ray said. “Come on, Mantu. Help me get him in the truck.”
But Mantu didn’t move. He put his hand in Burnham’s thick hair and held his head against his chest. He whispered something and then lowered him next to Vinod.
“I’ll stay with you, pal,” Burnham said to Vinod. The Indian man didn’t respond. His mouth hung open and his eyes were empty. Burnham turned to Mantu and Ray and pulled open his coat. Ray froze. Wires ran across a vest into rectangular pockets of explosives. “Now get the heck out of here. Let me finish this.”
Ray couldn’t speak. He just stared.
“You drive,” Mantu said. He pushed Ray into the truck
—
Ray shouted as the engine turned over.
Mantu had the window down and his rifle pointing out the window. “Back it up carefully.”
Ray put the clutch in reverse, feeling woozy as he glimpsed his twisted finger. He pressed on the gas and the truck began to roll backward. He heard glass crunching and then felt a slight bump as the tire rolled over the dead guard.
“A little to the right,” Mantu said. He wiped snow off the side mirror. “More gas, Ray.”
Ray gave the truck more gas but it wasn’t moving.
“Floor the motherfucker,” Mantu shouted.
Ray pushed the pedal to the floor and the truck rolled over something large. For a moment it felt like they were stuck. But then the tires spun, the truck lifted, and they were rolling.
The side mirror exploded and Mantu covered his face. “Go, man, go!” He held the rifle out the window and started firing.
Ray kept the pedal to the floor. The vehicle slid in the slick snow. Mantu fired more shots. “Now turn this bitch around,” Mantu said. Snow blew into the cab and momentarily blinded him.
Even with the wipers and lights on the blowing snow made it nearly impossible to see. Ray prayed he didn’t get them stuck as he twisted the wheel and then shifted into drive. Bullets punched into the side of the cab. He slammed the gas pedal as hard as he could and heard screams as someone was crushed under the wheels.
“You got it, Ray, you got it, brother!”
Ray saw outlines of buildings ahead and the glow of the greenhouse. If he could get around there, he could find the road.
Behind them came a loud explosion. Then another, then a series of booms. When he looked in his side mirror he saw the outline of the broken dome, lit from within by bright orange flames, as it collapsed.
“He did it. Burnham did it,” Mantu said.
Ray felt a sudden wave of grief. Both of them were gone.
Mantu looked at Ray quietly, then turned away.
“Wait,” Ray said. “Look at the sky.”
Mantu leaned his head out the window. “What the holy hell?”
Lights were streaking through the night sky—bright white and yellow and orange and red orbs—and settling at the smoking wreckage of the dome. As they came to rest, they transformed into bright, glowing figures. Some had heads of animals and wings, and one—Ray had to blink to make sure he wasn’t imagining it—had an enormous set of horns. The lights were coming from everywhere, like stars falling out of the sky. And when they landed and became beings they walked, one by one, into the burning debris of the dome and disappeared into the flames.
“Watch where you’re going,” Mantu said, forcing Ray to look back toward the approaching road. “Come on. Don’t slow down now.”
They left Lily’s compound behind.
Chapter 16
They drove for hours, Mantu
switching with Ray when he began to falter. Ray joined Ellen in the back while Claire rode shotgun. Ray and Ellen held each other quietly. There was too much to say, they both knew, and the long explanations and telling of stories would have to wait. So they huddled with William, wrapped in one another’s arms under a thick blanket, while Victoria lay against them in a sleeping bag. The other children soon joined them. Ray looked around at the pile of little humans and felt tears running down his face. Whenever he would catch one of them looking at him he would smile as if to say, It’s okay, it’s all over now. He was still afraid that Lily’s soldiers would come after them, but as the hours rolled on, he began to think that—just maybe—they had really gotten away.
When they came to a stop the sun was coming up and the snow had ended. Ray stepped out to help Mantu refuel with the remaining cans of diesel and the sky was as blue and clear as any he’d ever seen.
“This is it for the fuel. We can make it to where we ditched the snowmobiles but not much farther than that. But then we’re still a long way from the nearest town. Which isn’t much of a town, I don’t think. More like a place where hunters hang out.”
Ray sighed. “We made it this far. We have to figure something out.”
Mantu finished off the can of diesel. “Start figuring.”
“I’ll ride shotgun for a while. Let’s put our heads together.”
—
By the time they reached the snowmobiles they were almost on empty. Mantu had turned off the heat in the truck to save fuel and everyone was miserable, so they built a small fire while Ray and Mantu uncovered the snowmobiles and rolled them back to the truck. While the children warmed themselves by the fire, Ray gathered the adults out of their hearing range and explained their situation. Mantu made a suggestion but Ellen shook her head.
“No. I’m not staying here.” She turned to Ray. “Unless you stay with me and William.”
“Ellen, listen. Mantu can’t go alone.”
“No. I won’t let you.”
Ray couldn’t argue. And he didn’t want to leave them.
“I’ll go with you, Mantu,” Claire said. “It makes the most sense.”
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