Cade’s men were trapped by their own barrier, unable to find the time to retreat behind it.
And as the ants began to mass in front of their faltering shield wall, his men could not turn around to leap over it. Only crouch beneath the flailing claws, living by the grace of their disintegrating shields. Quintus fell to one knee, a claw slipping through his defense, snipping a deep wound into his thigh.
Cade set his jaw and blinked sweat from his eyes. If he didn’t do something, they were all going to die. The men needed time.
“Come on!” he roared.
In one motion, he yanked Quintus back, straightening and stepping over him. He faced a wall of clicking and hissing ants. Cade lifted the gun in both hands, straining beneath the weight as the first of the ants lunged forward.
He rammed into his hip, depressing the trigger button. And the ant was blown away, spinning into oblivion.
It was like a holy wind had erupted in front of him, sweeping away insects in a hail of bullets. Limbs flew, and ichor spattered, tumbling their bodies back into the tunnel mouth. Cade swept the gun back and forth, his entire body juddering beneath the weight. He could not speak, only pour hellfire onto the creatures that wished his destruction.
Scores of ants were massed in the tunnel, slowed by the retreating testudo. At this close range, he could not miss.
And then, just like that, the gun fell silent again. His ammo was spent, and he could do no more. A hand pulled Cade back, tugging him toward the wall.
The gun fell from his nerveless fingers, and hands lifted him over the low barrier. In front of him, the pile of bodies twitched and quivered. And beyond that, the ants’ chatters echoed down the tunnel.
They were still coming.
CHAPTER
61
00:14:13
00:14:12
00:14:11
The ants did not come in a great wave, but trickled out in ones and twos, hurling themselves at the wall with suicidal abandon.
Many were missing limbs, or leaked ichor, as they limped and crawled over the dead. For every ant that reached the low wall, a higher magnitude of swords stabbed and slashed, overwhelming the hardy creatures by the fury of their onslaught alone.
Cade’s gun had done its task. Enough to give them a fighting chance.
He stood on a nearby stump, watching Marius bellow orders and spread the exhausted survivors among the new wall’s defenders. The barrier of river stones, hardly more than waist high in places, was held up by gravity alone.
Looking into the tunnels, Cade could see the human bodies mixed in among the ants. Few and far between, but at least ten, with more hidden by the darkness within. They had made the ants pay dearly … but they too had taken losses.
More ants came, their antennae twitching, seemingly dazed as they emerged into the light. And to Cade’s sudden relief, he noticed their condition. Hardly any of them were in one piece.
“We’re going to make it,” Cade whispered.
His contenders were alive. His friends were alive. Bloodied, terrified, but alive.
They stood, unyielding, at the very center of the wall, their long blades held high. He was proud at the sight of them. And ashamed.
Ashamed of the lies he had told them. Of the decisions he had made for them. The betrayal of their trust.
Now, he would ask much more of them. More than he had the right to. He would wait until the last vestiges of the ant army had emerged … and trigger the EMP.
He wished, more than anything, that he could ask them. Pose them some hypothetical. Ask if they would trade their lives for the pantheon’s. Live out their days in this place to ensure the safety of Earth.
Cade let his pack fall from his shoulder and reached deep within. He had wrapped Song’s toy in sackcloth, and it was some relief when he took it out and saw it was intact.
He had purposefully not looked at it to avoid suspicion—for it was only supposed to be a memento, some reminder of his battle against the Grays.
Now, he held it in his hand, looking at it as if it had some deeper meaning to him. He had to be ready.
“Congratulations, Cade,” a voice said.
Cade spun, startled.
The timer still hung in the air, but it showed an entirely different number than what he had expected to see.
00:00:00
00:00:00
00:00:00
“What’s going on?” Cade demanded.
Even as he spoke, he heard cheers from the Romans. He did not turn, instead staring at the Codex. Sure enough, the little girl appeared, replacing the timer.
“My opponent forfeited,” Abaddon said through his avatar. “That is, the pantheon member that leads the Formids, as I call them. He realized it was no use throwing his whole army away when you will all be returned to your planet once the battle is over regardless, and he will need them to defend now that he has lost his top place. In exchange for his forfeit, I have returned the remainder of his army, rather than let you fight it out. Don’t say I never do anything for you.”
Cade glanced back and saw it was true. There were no living ants. Indeed, even the bodies had been teleported away. Only the black ichor and churned ground were evidence they had ever been there at all.
He stared at Abaddon. It was over. And at the same time … it was just beginning.
“So we get to go home?” Cade asked.
His fingers were sweaty as he ran them over the toy’s eyes. Was it time? Every cowardly instinct told him to wait. Even as his heart told him that he had made his decision a long time ago. He was only delaying the inevitable.
Abaddon’s avatar smiled sweetly at him. “Well, yes. But first … I have another offer for you.”
Cade’s finger froze. Was it a trick?
Before he could decide, the other contenders arrived around him.
“Cade,” Grace snapped. “So nice of you to invite us to your little meeting.”
Cade knew their trust in him was the lowest it had ever been. If he pressed the button, would they believe him?
The little girl held up a finger.
“I have designated Cade as your leader. There is no invitation.”
Cade stepped down from the stump and went to stand with his friends. “This time, Abaddon, we all choose. I’ll decide once I hear what they’ve had to say.”
Abaddon clapped the little girl’s hands. “Oh, how exciting! This is going to be delicious. Decisions, decisions.”
“Spit it out, Abaddon,” Amber snapped.
The little girl rolled her wide eyes. “All good things come to those who wait, isn’t that what you humans say? But I suppose you have waited long enough. Here is your choice.”
The little girl paused for dramatic effect, then giggled at their stony faces. “Oh, all right, then. You can go home now. Every one of you. I’ll even leave you all at a place of your choosing, so long as nobody is there to see it. Say what you want to the world, if you can get them to believe you. That’s choice number one. A good one, I grant you.”
She held up two fingers. “But here’s what’s behind door number two. You stay. Fight on. Defend your place at the top of the leaderboard.”
The contenders stared at him, aghast.
“I know, I know,” Abaddon sighed. “You miss your families. But I have grown so fond of you. I don’t want to let you go. But I never lie, you know. Never.”
“There is no chance in hell that we’d stay,” Amber interrupted. “You’re insane if you think we’d do so voluntarily.”
Cade’s heart twisted at her words. Would he be forced to choose this for them?
“Ah ah,” the girl said, shaking her head dramatically. “But you haven’t heard what I offer in return.”
She gestured dramatically to her right, where the leaderboard materialized into thin air. Cade could not help but feel a little pride at seeing the human skull, now sitting at the top. Even if it was an achievement in as sick and twisted a game as this one.
Still, hi
s finger twitched over the button. But a small flicker of hope played in the back of his mind. That somehow, Abaddon would offer him an advantage. Or some way of getting his friends back home.
“See this red line?” Abaddon said, pointing the little girl’s finger at the line that bisected the leaderboard. “When you fall below it, your world ends. What if I told you that red line didn’t need to be there?”
The girl paused again and flashed them a bright smile.
“Keep talking,” Yoshi said.
The smile slowly turned into a grin. “I knew you’d be interested. So if you all stayed, Romans included of course, we could remove the red line for … oh, I don’t know. Ten thousand years?”
Silence.
By now, the Romans had gathered, standing some distance away. To them, the moderns were communing with the gods. Some had even knelt in awe. Marius, however, stood with his arms crossed, listening closely.
“So what do you say?” Abaddon said. “Shall I leave you to discuss it?”
The little girl didn’t wait for an answer. She disappeared, along with the leaderboard, leaving the Codex hanging in the air.
“Well … shit,” Scott said.
CHAPTER
62
“We have to do it, right?” Yoshi said.
They were in the courtyard, sitting around the campfire. Marius was there too, joining them as soon as Abaddon left. Nobody had asked him to leave.
“For the Earth’s guaranteed safety?” Amber said. “What are our lives, in the face of that? We might just live if we stayed here.”
“You can’t be serious,” Grace snapped. “You think we’d be dying in our sleep at a grand old age out here? We choose to stay, we’ll be killed. Violently. And soon.”
Amber kicked at the fire, then shrugged. “So be it,” she said.
“And how can we even trust Abaddon to keep his word?” Grace demanded.
“He’s never lied to us before,” Cade said quietly.
“Well, I’d do it,” Bea said. “I’d stay.”
Trix shook her head. “No, Bea. We’re going home.”
Grace threw up her arms. “After all this, we’re playing right into his hands!” she said. “Maybe he wouldn’t destroy Earth anyway! Maybe it’s just a lie to keep us fighting. Is he really willing to wipe us out and start all over again?”
“You think so?” Bea asked. “There’s a thought.”
Amber laughed bitterly. “Say you’re wrong,” she said. “Say he is willing to destroy Earth. What happens when we go back home? Can you live your life knowing that some other poor souls will be out here, fighting to keep above that red line? Who knows if we’d even live a full life before they fail and we disappear in a flash of white light?”
“And say we’re right?” Grace retorted. “We have to choose to believe one way or another. Can’t we choose to believe the one where we get to go home?”
“To what?” Amber asked. “If my parents are alive, they’ll be almost ninety years old. And can you imagine their reaction when their teenage daughter shows up? Would they even recognize me? People will think we’re insane.”
Grace stood and stalked off. “You’re idiots!” she called over her shoulder. “I vote home. That’s it. Make the right choice.”
“Grace!” Scott called.
He groaned and followed her. Trix waited a few seconds, then went too.
Amber sighed, then looked over to Cade. “You’re awfully quiet,” she said.
Cade stared at the Gray toy, holding it in his hands. “He’ll destroy Earth if he has to,” he said. “Don’t you remember what happened to the Grays? They’re not on the leaderboard anymore. They’re gone.”
His words were sobering.
“We’ll stay,” Marius said.
Cade looked up and caught the grim look upon the man’s face.
“Why?” Cade asked. “You’ve been here longer than almost anyone.”
The man shrugged, staring into the flames. “Go to a world full of your lot?” he asked, a half smile on his face. “No, thank you. I’m a relic. By rights, I should have died in Caledonia. So should all the men here. We’re living on borrowed time.”
He tutted. “I did wish I could have seen your world for a second though,” he said wistfully. “See what the world’s become. Knowing what we’re fighting for. But meeting you, that’s enough for me.”
Cade nodded respectfully. “You’re a good man, Marius,” he said. “I had my doubts, I confess. Just stay that way. Don’t lose your humanity in this place.”
“You speak like you’re not staying with him,” Amber said.
Cade shrugged. “Who knows how long I’ll live. Once the world’s safe … I won’t know what I’m fighting for. I’m tired, Amber. I hope Abaddon picks another favorite, because you’re right. I can’t make decisions for us anymore.”
He looked to the toy once more. Abaddon had made him a cruel offer. A way to live. Not to go home but … Earth would be safe. Who knew how long his planet would last, left in humanity’s own hands? Perhaps in ten thousand years, the place would be a nuclear wasteland anyway.
“Cade,” Amber said.
She stood and walked over to him, taking her place beside him on the log.
“We were angry at you before. But look at what you did. We’re all alive. And we’re either saving Earth or going home.”
She took his hand and lifted his chin with the other, meeting his gaze.
“Either way, we both have something to fight for.”
She kissed him then. Softly, gently, and it was over all too quickly. But it was enough to set Cade’s world on fire. And utterly break his heart.
Because now, Cade knew what he had to do.
“I have a solution,” Cade said. “We don’t all need to go.”
“What?” Amber asked.
“Why do you think Abaddon always talks to me?” Cade asked. “It’s because he likes me the most. God knows why, but he does. So I’ll stay. Marius stays. Everyone else goes home.”
“Just like that?” Yoshi asked. “You think he’ll just let that happen?”
Amber held up a hand. “Cade, I’m staying with you,” she said. “We’re both going or we’re both staying. That’s the deal.”
Cade smiled at her and squeezed her hand. “It’s me he wants,” he whispered. “Let me negotiate with him. Just us two. Trust me one last time.”
The others looked at him, and only now did Cade see the tears on their faces.
“I’ll stay too,” Quintus whispered.
Cade shook his head. “You go to my family for me, Quintus,” Cade said. “Tell them what happened to me. Tell them the stories I told you; they’ll believe you. You deserve to enjoy our world. You’ve earned it. You all have.”
Amber sobbed. “And you haven’t?”
Cade smiled and wiped a tear from her face. “I’ll be fine,” he said. “This is the way it has to be. Trust me. And I promise, whatever we agree … I’ll only do it once you’ve all heard what deal he offers. Okay?”
There was a chorus of agreement, though Amber and Quintus remained silent. Cade understood. He’d feel the same way in their position.
He stood and walked away.
“I know you’re listening, Abaddon,” Cade said. “Let’s make a deal.”
CHAPTER
63
Cade felt at peace as he and the little girl walked to the plane, some distance away from the fire, near the remains of the fallen wall.
It was strange to know exactly what he needed to do. That was an unfamiliar feeling in this world.
“Tell me something,” Cade said. “Why me? Of all the people in the world. Why?”
The little girl paused and took his hand, like a daughter reaching to her father for comfort.
“I watch your world, Cade. It’s an interesting place. With interesting people. But you … well … you were even more interesting. I could see in you the type of mind that was made to play my game the way I wanted it to be
played. An inquisitive, problem-solving, lateral-thinking mind, plus a thousand other personality traits that suited my purposes. One that knew history, and appreciated it. And so young too—I could wring many years of entertainment from you. That’s why, Cade. Of all the people in the world, you were the right age, with the right knowledge and just the right mindset and personality.”
Cade rubbed his eyes. He almost believed Abaddon. “So I was special, was I?”
“You were a good fit,” Abaddon said. “Don’t be getting delusions of grandeur now.”
Cade shook his head, ignoring the alien. Perhaps he did have some innate traits that made him play the game well. Or maybe he was just lucky.
But Abaddon was going to regret choosing him. Because perhaps it was for the same reasons Abaddon chose him that Cade had made the choice he had.
“So you heard my proposal,” Cade said. “What am I and the Romans worth to you?”
The girl skipped over to the plane and sat upon its wing, dangling her pudgy legs.
“A thousand years,” she said. “And another five hundred for each one of your friends who decides to stay too.”
Cade crossed his arms. “That’s not what’s on the table,” he said. “Just me and the Romans. Everyone else, including Quintus, goes home.”
“Didn’t you say earlier that you’d all choose? Can’t go back on your word now. Like I said, honesty is very important to me.”
“Five hundred years,” Cade said.
The girl looked up at him, startled.
“Do the deal right now. Everyone goes home. I stay with the Romans.”
The girl furrowed her brow. “Love does make humans do crazy things,” she said. “But I’m sorry, Cade. I’ve made up my mind.”
She dropped delicately off the plane, then paused and clicked her fingers.
A device appeared in her hand. It was a simple thing, a dial beneath a calculator-like screen, and a large button at the top.
“Tick up the dial. It goes up in five-minute intervals. When you want to set it, press the button,” Abaddon said. “Simple enough. I assume you might need it, since you’re going to be staying. Like I said. I always keep my promises.”
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