by David Meyer
There was another crunch. The blackness slipped forward again, erasing parts of both rooftops.
Kayden frowned. Truth be told, she hadn’t really expected Amethyst World to protect them. Already, her mind was on her laptop, on the best way to get it.
“You.”
The seething voice caused her toes to curl. Spinning around, she saw Tabitha, her former colleague on the Steering Committee.
“This is your fault,” Tabitha said as people gathered around her. “It’s all of your faults.”
“Yeah.” Danny, physics guru and member of the Steering Committee, gave them a dirty look. “They had the virus first. They must’ve spread it to the dome.”
“There’s no virus,” Jarven said, fighting to stay calm. “Or at least, there was no virus.”
“I made it up,” Virdo added. “I thought I was doing the right thing, but—”
“Shut up.” Pam, also from the Steering Committee, glared at him. “Just shut up.”
Kayden started to take a step backward. But when she realized that would take her closer to the dome, she halted in place.
“Do you really expect us to believe that?” Danny asked Virdo. “That you lied before, but you’re telling the truth now? Well, forget it.”
Tabitha, Danny, and Pam started forward. Kayden frowned, her gaze sweeping over them.
Danny and Pam were pure eggheads, not athletes. And Tabitha was so frail she looked like she’d break if you breathed on her. All in all, they didn’t exactly make for an imposing trio.
Unfortunately, they weren’t alone.
Two-dozen others hiked after them. Kayden took them in, seeing theologians, political scientists, statisticians, and more. Some were run-of-the-mill weaklings. But others, like the chemist Mike Corbin, possessed hard bodies and even harder eyes.
“You’re right, guys.” BeBo grinned. “Keep coming this way. And don’t worry. We promise not to infect you, too.”
The trio pulled up short. So did their followers. For a moment, they shared uncertain looks.
Another crunch, loud and powerful, sounded out. Cobblestones vibrated under Kayden’s feet. A powerful wind forced her to turn her head. Glancing backward, she watched another foot or two of Amethyst World vanish forever behind the dome.
“You might as well infect us,” Tabitha called out. “The dome’s going to get all of us anyway.”
“No, it won’t,” Valhalya said. “Because we’re going to stop it.”
Danny glared at her. “Yeah, right.”
“Listen to me,” Kayden said. “We just need to—”
“Don’t listen to her.” Tabitha glanced at her friends and supporters. “They’re trying to kill us.”
“I know,” Pam replied. “So, how do we stop them?”
“They spread the virus to the dome, right?” Danny said. “Well, what if the virus, in effect, deletes itself? It might cease to exist.”
Kayden frowned. She didn’t like where this was going. At all.
But before she could voice an objection, Pam pursed her lips. “Smart thinking, Danny.”
A mixture of fear and resolve contorted Tabitha’s face into something nasty. “Get them,” she ordered. “Feed them to the dome!”
Chapter 44
“Aw, hell.” BeBo balled up his fists as the small army of residents started forward. They gnashed their teeth as they walked, shouting curse words and threats. “I really don’t want to fight right now.”
Jarven gave the crowd the once-over. “Can’t say I blame you. Twenty-five to five aren’t great odds.”
“What if we targeted the ringleaders?” Virdo asked. “Danny, Pam, and Tabitha.”
“We’ll never get close to them,” Valhalya pointed out.
Indeed, the ringleaders hung back a bit, trailing the crowd at a distance. They had no problem telling others to fight. But clearly, they didn’t want to lead the charge.
“You’re right,” Virdo replied. “We’d better do it your way.”
“What exactly is my way?” Valhalya wondered, backing up a few steps.
“Running?” Jarven said, falling back. “Running’s good.”
BeBo made a face, but backpedaled as well. “I’m tired of running.”
Another crunch sent everyone into silence.
Kayden’s gaze shot to the dome. She estimated it had gobbled up about thirty feet of the two massive buildings thus far. Worse, it showed no signs of stopping, even as an army of peacekeepers assailed it at every turn.
She glanced ahead, past the oncoming crowd, all the way to the opposite side of the city. Except there was less to see now, thanks to the dome contracting on all sides.
She thought about her laptop. Along with her clothes, she’d left it on the rooftop of Jade River. That particular building, unfortunately, would be in the dome’s crosshairs soon. If she didn’t get there in time, she’d lose her best chance at stopping the dome. Plus, all of her research on the Broken would go down the drain. Research that couldn’t easily be duplicated.
“I need to get to my laptop,” she said.
“Right.” Jarven glanced over his shoulder. His gaze took in the distant Skyscraper, its spire overseeing the rapidly-shrinking city. “Here’s the plan. We split up. Go our own ways. BeBo, Val, Virdo, and I will draw away as many of those creeps as we can. Hopefully, that makes it easier for you, Kay.”
She nodded.
“We need a rendezvous point,” BeBo said.
“The Skyscraper,” Jarven decided.
“Why there?” Valhalya wanted to know.
“Because it’s the center of the city. Most likely, it’s the last place the dome will reach.”
“What if we get caught?” Virdo made a pensive face. “What if the dome gets us?”
“Then it’s been nice knowing you. Now, on my mark, run for it.” Jarven glanced at the crowd. “Go!”
Chapter 45
Kayden’s chest heaved as she sprinted down the long, lonely street. Her legs burned. Her breath came in short gasps. Meanwhile, glistening sweat rolled down her face and the back of her neck. Sliding down her sides, it collected in a slick pool of grossness at her waistline.
Ignoring it, she stuck to the shadows, trying to lose whoever might be chasing her. Meanwhile, she kept her gaze fixated on the next corner.
Seeing as how it was night time, the city’s gas lamps no longer blazed at full force. The reduced illumination, combined with the shrinking dome, cast Luminosity with a kind of endless, empty blackness.
It wrenched Kayden’s gut to see the city like this, to watch it fall before Cormella’s wrath. It shocked her to think that Luminosity had survived the end of the world, only to evaporate before a mere virus.
With an audible crunch, the dome lurched over still more territory. A breeze pressed into her, cooling her skin. Far ahead, she saw a vending machine disappear along with part of an ornate staircase. Meanwhile, people screamed as they raced down what remained of the steps. Others, still clad in their jammies, attempted to climb out of windows. Some of them fell, uttering terrified, pained cries as they hit the cobblestones. The dome crunched again, quickly silencing them all.
Reaching the corner, she took a left. Glancing back, she saw three people scrambling after her. Apparently, Jarven’s plans to draw away the bulk of the crowd had paid off.
Panic stabbed at her chest, hurting her almost as much as all of the running did. Her friends were doing everything in their power to help her out. But would she be able to repay the favor?
She wasn’t sure. After all, she’d never battled a virus before, let alone one that had taken centuries to create. Even if she did manage to defeat it, Luminosity would never be the same.
She reached the next intersection and hung another left. Then she ran forward, effectively retracing her steps on a parallel street.
One hundred feet ahead, Jarven streaked through the intersection. He cast her a quick glance and she was pretty sure he winked, too.
As he ran out
of sight, a crowd of people—eight or nine of them—rumbled into view. They shouted and yelled their way through the intersection before vanishing as well.
She continued to run. The dim lights offered plenty of dark shade and she stuck to it with a fervor. She entered the next intersection and glanced to her right. But Jarven and his pursuers were long gone.
As she crossed the street, she snuck a quick glimpse backward. A frown creased her lips.
Where’d they go? she wondered.
She ran another twenty feet, then took another look over her shoulder. Again, she didn’t see anyone.
Must’ve lost them, she concluded.
Her legs felt wobbly. Her chest ached and she found it difficult to breathe. Huffing and puffing, she looked ahead.
Two blocks away, she saw Jade River, backed by darkness. Made of brick and lacking embellishments, it wasn’t much to look at. Even so, it brought a smile to her face.
Her step slowed a bit. She started to relax.
Crunch.
Fierce vibrations ran through the cobblestones. Regaining her balance, she took another look at Jade River. The darkness had encroached upon the very edge of the building. It stayed there, still for the moment, taunting her.
Her legs screamed at her as she broke into a sprint. Her chest tightened, feeling like it could burst at any second.
Ignoring the discomfort, she ran toward the building’s front stairs. Just as she reached them, her energy started to sag. She tried to hustle up the steps, but found she could barely lift her feet. Scowling, she gripped the railing, held it tight. Focusing on her arms, she willed them to propel herself up the stairs.
At the top, she opened the door. Sliding through the opening, she made for the interior stairwell. By then, her legs felt a little better and she managed a relatively quick climb to the second-floor landing. Then she hiked to the third floor before pausing for a rest.
Crunch.
This time, she didn’t just hear the dome and feel its tremors. She also sensed it deep in her heart. She could almost feel Luminosity’s code give way, crumbling into nothingness. It iced her spine, providing her with a new sense of urgency.
She ran the rest of the way. At the top, she burst outside. A trench lay before her, winding a curving path across the roof. There were a few trees, too, along with blades of jade-green grass. An outdoor seating area lay to the side, along with a bunch of inflatable boats. Popular opinion held that the trench was actually an unfinished waterway, meant to be navigated with the boats.
She looked past the trench, all the way to the opposite end of the roof. Excitement shot through her as she caught sight of several bundles of clothing. Focusing on one in particular, she caught a tiny glimpse of her laptop nestled carefully in the cloth.
A terrible crunch rang out. The dome shot forward, three or four feet this time. It careened past the building’s corner, deleting some of the bricks, before coming to a rest just a few feet shy of her laptop.
No! she thought.
Finding new energy, she leapt over the first section of trench. Hitting the ground, she started to run alongside the edge.
“It wasn’t us. We didn’t do this.”
She tensed up, recognizing BeBo’s pained, faraway voice. Her speed slowed an iota. Veering to the edge of the roof, she peered down at the street below.
A mob of people hiked quickly across the cobblestones. A bloodied, beaten BeBo was hoisted high above their heads. He thrashed about, trying to escape.
His gaze fell upon Kayden. His eyes widened. He stopped flailing, stopped squirming.
No, you fool, she thought, reeling to a halt. Don’t stop now. You’ve got to fight.
But he remained still. The mob, deciding he’d given up, relaxed as well. They carried him a bit farther, then dumped him near the dome.
Tabitha pointed at Mike Corbin. Mike lashed out with a quick right, striking BeBo’s jaw.
BeBo went limp.
Kayden’s gaze went from him to her laptop and then back to him. The smart move was to retrieve her laptop, then make a run for it. If she was lucky, she’d get clear before the dome could delete her.
But what about BeBo? She couldn’t just let him die. What would life be without him? Without his smile, his face, his very presence?
She darted across the rooftop. Sorting through her clothes, she extracted the laptop. Swiftly, she stuffed the device down the back of her yoga pants.
Turning around, she saw the outdoor seating area. Racks of colorful boats, all fully-inflated, occupied a significant chunk of space. Seeing them like that, almost floating in mid-air, gave her an idea.
She raced to the nearest rack, helped herself to one of the boats. Rings were positioned around its edge. A sturdy rope was threaded between them.
She grabbed the ring at the bow. Folding the boat in the middle, she managed to grab the ring at the stern as well. Lifting the craft overhead, she sprinted across the rooftop.
Her heart palpitated faster and faster as she neared the edge. She had no idea if this would work or not, but that didn’t slow her down.
Here goes nothing, she told herself.
Legs churning, she leapt into the air. A stiff crosswind, a residual from all of the recent breezes, caught hold of the inflatable boat. The middle of the craft curved upward. With her clutching the ring on either end, it became an awkward, impromptu parachute.
She looked down. BeBo, groaning and shifting his legs a bit, lay next to the dome. The mob of people stood about forty feet away. Jaws agape, they watched her descend quickly to the ground.
Maybe a little too quickly. Shifting her gaze, she saw the cobblestones coming up fast. The fall wouldn’t kill her. But it might break her legs. How would she rescue BeBo with injured limbs? And even if she succeeded, how would they escape the waiting mob?
She gritted her teeth.
And braced herself for impact.
Chapter 46
A breeze crested against Titus’ face. He didn’t blink, didn’t budge. Instead, he stared hard at his brother. The man had killed their father. He’d killed many people. For that, he deserved to die.
And yet, Titus didn’t draw his sword. He didn’t order the gate thrown open. Instead, he just stood there.
“What’s wrong?” Dargon taunted. “Don’t tell me the great and mighty Titus is scared?”
Deep down, Titus realized he was scared. But not because of Dargon. Not even because of Cormella. No, what really scared him was that he might not get another crack at the man.
Sure, it was a trap. That much was obvious. The moment he threw open the gate, the Banished and Cormella would almost certainly rush it. But if he passed this opportunity up, he might never avenge his father’s death. Could he live with that?
He furrowed his brow. Yes, he wanted to fight. Yes, he wanted to kill his brother. At the same time, this was bigger than the two of them.
He glanced left, then right. His gaze took in the long lines of Naticans. He studied their faces, their body language. They were doing their best to put up a strong, united front. But beneath the surface, they were clearly divided. Divided and terrified. What did they need at that very moment? General Titus, consumed by hatred, waging a one-man war against his hated brother? Or King Titus, driven by compassion, doing whatever it took to heal their divisions and repel the enemy?
The choice was so stark, so obvious, it left him breathless. But that didn’t make it easy. He winced as something ripped deep inside of his soul.
The wind picked up. It pushed against his face and he felt his old self—General Titus—blow away. It felt weird and disconcerting. And yet, it also felt right. Like he could move on with his life. Like he was ready to evolve into something greater.
“Leave,” he said.
“You don’t—” Dargon started to reply.
“I said, ‘Leave.’”
The man fell silent. They stared at each other for a long time, both unblinking. At last, Dargon turned around. Stretching out his
arms, he fell to his knees. “This is about you and me,” he said, without turning around. “It’s always been that way. So, kill me. If you can.”
Titus sensed his people sneaking glimpses his way, curious to see what he’d do.
“That’s where you’re wrong. It’s not about you and me.” He swept his hands in either direction, encompassing his people. “It’s about us. Our right to exist.”
Wearily, Dargon rose to his feet. “Well, I tried.”
A golden figure walked into view. She came from the east, near the wall, just outside of eyesight.
Titus recoiled in surprise. It’s her, he realized. She was there the entire time.
A few cries rang out. The Naticans backpedaled from the gate.
Cormella looked exactly like he’d seen her in the hinterlands. Same fancy curls, same clothes, same bracelets and jewelry. Extending some six feet from head to foot, she stood there for a moment, her gold feet lightly touching the auburn ground.
Her eyes, deep-set and pulsing with sand, studied him from up close. “You must be Titus,” she purred. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
“And you must be Cormella.” He blinked a few times, mesmerized by the whirling grains that made up her face. “I’ll tell you the same thing I told my brother. Leave. Now. While you still can.”
“I’ll leave soon enough.” Her smile widened so he could see all of her sand teeth. “After you’re all dead.”
Chapter 47
Cormella reared back, gliding across ten feet of sand. Meanwhile, Dargon cleared out of her way. Retreating into the hinterlands, he joined up with the rest of the Banished.
She slammed to a halt. From farther back, her eyes looked almost moist, almost liquid.
Titus swallowed.
She took off like a shot.
He’d told himself to be ready for anything, but her sudden movement still caught him by surprise.
Running hard, she barreled forward at high speed. Her sandy form smashed into the gate …
… and completely disintegrated.
She shrieked, her voice sounding entirely inhuman. Gold particulate, spinning and vibrating, went everywhere, dispersing across the length of the gate. But not a bit of it got past the metal bars.
