Taylor kicked herself for not understanding their strategy from the beginning. The maniacs on the other side of the wall had a plan all along. They were sacrificing thousands of their own to build a ramp to the top of the wall. Maybe if the defenders had realized the scheme transpiring, they could have changed their tactics. Now, it was too late. With a few more feet of corpses piled on the already growing mountain, they would be able to jump up and reach the edge of the wall.
Everyone was caught in the same spell that rendered them useless as they grasped the master plan of their enemy. They watched through unbelieving eyes as those still moving below carried their dead brethren to the top of the ramp and threw them down to build their siege tower.
Taylor was the first to snap out of the trance. She looked directly at Wade, defeat already in his eyes.
“I’m going to help,” she said in a tone that didn’t leave room for argument. “If you want to shoot me, then shoot me.” Taylor turned on her heel and ran for the area of the wall that would be breached first, half expecting to hear gunshots meant for her trailing behind.
She shifted her thoughts away from being shot in the back to focus on her next plan of action. She arrived as the breach was completed. Those on the wall closest ran in terror as multiple infected launched themselves off the ramp of bodies and gripped the edge of the wall. It was beyond her to blame those that ran. Only a small portion of the defenders were trained soldiers. Most of them were technicians or aides who had been ordered to stand and fight.
Then they came. First only a few, then by the dozens. Clawing, yelling from long dried out throats, the infected breached the wall. This was it. Taylor did her best to slow her pulse and calm her breathing. Reaching deep down inside she searched for the power that made her different.
It didn’t take long for those consumed by the virus to notice her on the wall. A group of four sprinted at her with hungry eyes. Moments from impact Taylor found what she was looking for. Extending her right hand in a sweeping motion, those racing toward her with murderous eyes were blown backward as if a battering ram had made contact with their bodies. The force was so great that Taylor heard bones in their body snap under the pressure as they sailed over the wall.
Instinct won out and Taylor ran to the middle of the wall. Her training as a soldier and Cleaner repressed her fear and calmed her pulse. Sometimes using her arms, other times only thinking the commands, Taylor beat back the horde. Bodies littered the ground and flew through the air as she pushed them back.
When she could, she sent them airborne back into the Alaskan woods; when she couldn’t, she crushed them where they stood. The faces of the defenders were looking at her in amazed wonder. Then Captain Martin’s familiar roar could be heard getting them back into position.
Seconds, minutes, time passed with no meaning as Taylor fought the darkness. It was while Taylor lifted a particularly large infected with a chest wound showing the white bone of his sternum that her feet lifted from the ground.
The interesting thing was that she wasn’t afraid. She looked around as she continued to hover higher in the air but no one was around. After a second she realized that somehow she was doing it. She accepted the idea that she could lift herself like she had known it all along. Taylor used the same mental power as when she lifted items to lift her body above the throng of fighting below.
Although guns were being used, the intensity of the shooting had diminished. Ammunition was running low. Taylor knew that something drastic needed to be done. No matter how many infected she sent flying back or necks she snapped, there were always more. A never-ending supply of crazed humans bent on maiming and destruction.
She looked at the ramp of dead bodies being used by the infected as a springboard to the wall. The siege tower had grown in mass. It now reached the lip of the wall from the ground. Taylor’s stomach turned as she considered how many bodies it took to construct the sloping structure. From her perspective above the ramp, it looked like a tangled mass of arms and legs. Without certainty on the mechanics of her flight ability, Taylor remained just out of grasp from the dead below.
She moved to the ramp of bodies, taking inventory of the situation. Captain Martin had set up firing lines on either side of the section of the breached wall. Taylor was able to take out the majority of the attackers on her own, the rest that got past her were funneled to one of the two firing lines.
If ammunition wasn’t a factor or fatigue hadn’t started to set in, Taylor would not have moved toward such a drastic plan. However, ammunition was low and she didn’t know how much longer she could continue at her current pace. She found herself in unknown territory when it came to understanding her new limits. Already her skull beat with a dull ache. Her muscles felt as though she had been lifting in a gym for hours.
Taylor stopped herself above the edge of the wall where the ramp of dead rested against the Ark’s outer boundary. She dug deep within herself, concentrating on the mass of deceased piled on one another. Doubt that she could move such a large mass pushed against her mind. The ramp had to be a hundred yards long and as deep as the wall was tall.
Feelings of doom like a voice not her own crept into her mind. A foreboding feeling came with the sensation, abating any action. Taylor couldn’t tell whether it was her own self-doubt or some exterior alien force, but it spoke to her.
You cannot fight the rising tide of the deep. The darkness will consume the light. You may succeed today, but your struggle will prove ultimately futile.
Taylor fought the voice. The presence of trepidation felt so intense, she knew she did not have the ability to summon such a feeling on her own. An unknown force different than the many voices of the infected was speaking to her. The shadow threatening to consume humankind had not only a single distinct voice, it had also chosen to speak.
Taylor closed her eyes. I don’t know who or what you are, but you are wrong. The light has not forsaken us and I will see you destroyed.
She pressed her mind against the ramp of dead leading to the Ark walls. Anxiety of letting those in the Ark down prodded at her resolve. Taylor gritted her teeth, and with eyes shut she willed with all her strength to save those inside the compound. Nothing happened, no matter how intently she ordered the structure of bodies to move.
The moment she was about to give in to defeat, Taylor felt warmth. A tingling sensation spread from her feet up through her torso to her face. Heat gave her strength. Taylor built up the will inside for one last push.
With everything she was, with her new power to defend the light, every fiber in her body fought the darkness. With a scream that would have made the most feared warrior shudder, Taylor pushed against the morbid slope of departed souls.
She opened her eyes now to see if it had worked. The ramp below, the dead bodies littered around the wall, the infected crawling up toward the wall, were all blown backward into the forest. It was like an invisible tidal wave washing the wall dry. Something like a shockwave hit Taylor and pushed her back in the air accompanied by a noise that sounded like the strike of thunder.
With her eyes open, Taylor saw the cause of the warmth she felt. The sun was cresting the tree line, heralding a new day. In every direction, the bodies of the infected, those alive and dead, were blasted into the Alaskan wilderness.
A cheer rose from the defenders as with renewed strength they pushed back the last stragglers of the infected.
To say Taylor was tired would be an understatement. Fatigue desperately pulled at her muscles. Order was almost complete as she touched down on the wall. The last echoes of discharged weapons were sounding across the wall. Against all odds, the Ark was safe, and everyone knew to whom they owed their lives.
The fear that would naturally come from seeing Taylor’s powers was lost against the deep relief the defenders felt. Those not tending to the wounded came to her, shaking her hand and expressing their wonder and gratitude. Taylor smiled and accepted their cheers.
Captain Martin and Jason were am
ong the crowd.
“Apparently there’s a lot I missed,” Jason said between his cracked lips. “But whatever it is, I’m glad you did it. You saved all of us; maybe even humankind.”
Taylor smiled, too tired to reply. Her eyes searched the crowd for Wade. Although she half expected him to march up and demand her surrender, he was nowhere to be seen.
Captain Martin studied her gaze. “He won’t touch you now. You’re a hero. You have my support and the support of every single soul in this compound.”
Taylor nodded. She knew what the captain was saying was true. The coming days would be harsh. Not only would she have to watch her back from those who were frightened by their inability to define what she had become, but the darkness had a voice and it was still out there.
“You did it!”
The voice shook Taylor from her contemplations. Above the whoops and hollers from the soldiers around her, Cidney’s voice cut through the chaos. The little girl ran over the fallen bodies, ignoring the gore around her, and skidded to a halt beside Taylor.
Frank ran behind her, breathless. “I’m sorry. I tried to stop her.”
Taylor waved his apology aside and stooped to lift Cidney. Despite how tired she felt, lifting the girl seemed like the right thing.
“Look,” Cidney said with an outstretched finger. “The sun, it’s so pretty.”
Taylor directed her gaze to the rising ball of fire along with everyone else. “That’s like you, Taylor,” Cidney said. “That’s like you driving back the dark.”
Everyone within earshot paused to reflect on the young girl’s words. Taylor smiled at the parallel. Surrounded by friends and an inner peace she had never known growing inside, Taylor knew the human race still stood a chance.
END BOOK ONE
BEFORE YOU GO…
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AUTHOR’S NOTE
Taylor Hart will be back in the next installment of her series, All the Broken People, coming soon. Until then stay informed by following the link below!
To show my appreciation for you, the reader, you can join my Readers Group by visiting http://www.jonathan-yanez.com. The Readers Group will keep you updated on release dates for upcoming projects, give you access to exclusive excerpts, and provide you with free ebooks.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I guess I could just say the entire team at Limitless Publishing and I wouldn’t be lying but I feel like that would be taking the easy way out. So in no specific order:
Jennifer O’Neill who I look to more as a friend and mentor than anything else.
Jessica Gunhammer who has been on the ball making things happen since my first book was published.
Dixie Matthews who always has a word of encouragement. I look forward to her emails.
Lori Whitwam responds so fast to emails and is so on top of things I’m debating whether the woman is human or not. She seriously knows what she’s doing.
Felicia Sullivan who took my coal of a story and polished it until it shined like a diamond. I’m looking forward to working with her on many projects to come.
Lydia and Crystal from the marketing department who are so eager to help and easy to work worth it makes release days feel like a walk in the park.
Everyone else at Limitless Publishing who I don’t directly interact with but I know is tirelessly working to make my novels a success.
Also the team at Deranged Doctor Design for putting together the one of a kind book cover for All the Beautiful People.
And of course my wife, who supported me without blinking an eye when I told her I wanted to become a fulltime author. That was over four years ago now. Her encouragement has kept me going.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jonathan Yanez is also the author of The Elite Series, The Nephilim Chronicles, The DeCadia Code, Thrive, and Bad Land. His books have been optioned for film and are available in ebook, print, and audio book. He would love you to leave a review after you finish reading All the Beautiful People.
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http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6928878.Jonathan_Yanez
All The Beautiful People (A Dread Novel Book 1) Page 20
