Purge of Babylon (Book 5): The Ashes of Pompeii

by Sisavath, Sam

  “So where are they now?” he asked.

  “He doesn’t know.”

  Josh felt the familiar flurry of annoyance flaring up.

  Mason. Goddamn Mason. Simultaneously the most capable man under him, and the most aggravating.

  “What about Salvani?” he asked.

  “They haven’t seen them,” Sonia said.

  “So that means they left the interstate at Lake Dulcet.” He stopped and glanced north, where he imagined the casino town was in the distance. “They could be anywhere by now. Maybe even on their way down here this very moment. How long ago did Mason say he lost them?”

  “He couldn’t be sure. He guessed two, maybe three hours ago.”

  Goddammit, Mason.

  “What do you want me to tell him?” she asked.

  “Tell him—” He paused, then shook his head in frustration. “What about Will? Did he reacquire Will after the attack by the Dunbar people? Is he even still alive?”

  “He says he’s working on that.”

  “What does that mean?”

  She shrugged. “He didn’t elaborate.”

  Fuck, shit. Goddamn you, Mason!

  He could feel Travis watching him closely to his right and Sonia doing the same thing in front of him. A couple of the other soldiers loitering around were also eavesdropping. They were all waiting for him to blow up, to finally reveal the nineteen-year-old kid (because they all thought of him as a kid, despite everything he had done and all the power he wielded) instead of the commander of men he had become since he struck out on his own.

  But he was one of the chosen ones, and although Josh was flustered, pissed off, and angry, he reined it all in and tempered down his emotions and didn’t let any of them show.

  “Tell him to get his shit together, or he’ll be answering to me,” he said finally.

  “Okay,” Sonia said.

  Josh continued to the house and climbed up the outer stairs to the second floor with Sonia beside him. He was proud of himself. Despite how badly the day was going (Mason, you worthless piece of shit, you better get it together!), he had maintained his composure and was still on track to finish this whole messy affair with Song Island tonight. By morning, he could move on with the rest of his life with Gaby at his side.

  Christ, Sonia smelled good. It was just generic soap, but women always had a way of making the ordinary extraordinary. Then again, for all he knew, Sonia could have put something extra on just for him. He had seen the way she looked and acted around him. She gave out all the signs and was all but begging him to make a move.

  But he couldn’t. Not with Gaby out there. Not with Gaby waiting for him.

  I’m doing all of this for you, Gaby. I know you won’t understand. Not at first. But one day you’ll finally come around and then we’ll be together. You’ll see.

  “Josh,” Sonia was saying.

  He stopped on the second-floor patio. “Hmm?”

  “You’re gone again.” She frowned. “Gaby must really be something.”

  “She is,” he said. She’s the most beautiful girl in the world, he thought, but he didn’t say it out loud. He liked Sonia and didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so he asked instead, “Did you eat yet?”

  “Not yet.”

  “You should, if you’re going with us tonight.”

  “I was waiting for you to come back.”

  Gaby. There’s only Gaby.

  “I already ate,” he lied. “I need to get some sleep. Wake me up when Mason radios back with news.”

  “About Gaby, or just anything?” she asked.

  “Anything,” he said, and slipped into the house before she could keep the conversation going.

  *

  Around five-thirty, he got good news and bad news.

  “Sorry, didn’t know you were still napping,” Sonia said when she entered the bedroom after knocking once on the door.

  Fortunately he had lain down and gone to sleep in his clothes. The last thing he needed was to be caught in his underwear by Sonia. It was hard enough keeping his hormones in check around her when he was fully clothed.

  He sat up and swung his legs off the bed, then absently flicked at the hardened pieces of dirt his boots had left on the mattress. “It’s okay. What’s up?”

  “Mason finally radioed back.”

  “What took him so long?”

  “He didn’t say.”

  Mason. Christ.

  “What did he say?” he asked.

  “He caught that Will guy,” Sonia said. She had sat down on a chair at the foot of the bed. “It took him a while, and he says it was messy, but he got him again.”

  “And he’s still alive?”

  “Mostly.”

  “‘Mostly’?”

  “He said the guy was injured, but that he’s still breathing.”

  “I guess that’s all that matters.”

  “What’s so special about him, anyway?”

  Nothing, except she wants him, and what’s important to her is important to all of us, because she’s the only thing holding back the sea from drowning us all.

  “He’s just a guy,” Josh said, standing up and yawning. It was a good nap, and he was glad he had taken it. Tonight was going to take a lot out of him and the more energy he could save up for it, the better. “Anyway, Will’s not our problem now. The island’s the only thing we should be focusing on.”

  “Speaking of which, one of the guys watching the other side of the lake just intercepted a vehicle heading toward the bridge.”

  “Reinforcements?”

  “Looks like it.”

  He picked up a canteen from the windowsill and took a sip. “How many?”

  “He couldn’t tell for sure. Maybe half a dozen, though he says he thinks some of them were women and children.”

  “You said ‘he’?”

  “Yeah. Only one of the scouts came back alive. The rest are dead.”

  “How the hell did that happen?”

  “Apparently the newcomers had a really good shooter with them. He shot the driver of their vehicle from two football fields away, according to the survivor. That forced their vehicle into a ditch, and the crash killed the driver and another guy in the back.”

  “Aw, shit,” Josh said.

  “What?” Sonia said, eyeing him curiously. “Does that mean something to you?”

  “Danny. It has to be Danny.”

  “Who’s Danny?”

  “He’s an ex-Army Ranger. He’s by far the best shot on the island, and he’s one of the guys Mason was supposed to stop at Route 13.”

  “The one that escaped somewhere around Lake Dulcet?”

  “Yeah, I think so.”

  “So that means…”

  “Gaby,” Josh nodded. “She has to be with him, which means she’s already on the island right now.”

  No wonder he had felt differently when he woke up just a minute ago. He thought it was just the aftereffects of the nap, but there was a strangeness in the air.

  Because Gaby was nearby.

  He didn’t say that out loud to Sonia. Besides the fact that the other woman was probably a little jealous of Gaby, it might sound a little crazy to tell her that he could feel how the air changed when Gaby was around.

  But it wasn’t crazy. It was the truth.

  Sometimes Josh wondered if he had developed the same kind of connection to Gaby that Kate had with him, this thing that couldn’t be explained to people who hadn’t experienced it. Sonia wouldn’t understand, and neither would Travis, regardless of how hard he tried to break it down for them. It was like something out of a comic book; unreal, unless it was happening to you night after night.

  “So what does this mean?” Sonia asked. “Are we still attacking the island tonight? Even with Gaby there?”

  Josh didn’t answer right away. His mind was whirling, trying to process this new wrinkle in what had, up to this point, been smooth sailing.

  Danny was back, but not Will. That was the only brigh
t spot in all this mess. He didn’t like that Gaby had returned, though. It was going to make tonight more difficult. Goddammit, why couldn’t Mason have taken her on the interstate? Or back at Route 13? They had promised him.

  Mason, and Kate. They had promised him they would keep Gaby away from the island.

  “Josh?” Sonia was saying, trying to get his attention. “About tonight. Are we still going through with it?”

  He stood up and walked to the window and peered out at the darkening skies. It was almost time. He could feel it coming without having to look at his watch.

  Maybe he was seeing this all wrong. Maybe Gaby returning to Song Island, just as he was about to attack it, was a sign. Maybe it was always destiny that he would find her again at the same place where he had lost her, where everything had changed for both of them.

  This is fate. It has to be.

  “Tell the men to get ready,” he said. “We’re taking Song Island tonight.”

  CHAPTER 16

  LARA

  She was numb all over and had to summon every ounce of strength to push through it. The others were watching her. Keo beside her, Danny and Gaby in front of her, and the kids whose names she didn’t know, even though Gaby had just told her a few seconds ago.

  Will. You promised me. You goddamned promised me.

  “He’s still alive,” she finally said.

  “The last time I saw him,” Danny nodded.

  “What kind of shape was he in?”

  “I couldn’t tell you. He was in a car and so were we, and everyone was going fifty to sixty miles an hour. And, oh yeah, bad people were shooting at us, so that didn’t help.”

  “They wanted us alive,” Gaby said. “They were shooting at the tires.”

  “Which means he’s definitely still alive,” Lara said.

  “Yeah,” Gaby nodded.

  Lara could see it in the teenager’s eyes: Gaby was saying all the right things, but she didn’t fully believe in them.

  The girl had changed so much since the last time Lara saw her, and she wanted nothing more than to welcome her home like a big sister, but the pier suddenly felt too unbalanced and the air became suffocating, and she needed to leave.

  Now. Now.

  “Okay,” she said.

  “Okay?” Danny repeated.

  “Yeah. Okay.”

  “Lara…,” Gaby said.

  “We can catch up later, but right now you guys need to go get cleaned up and eat something. It’s going to be a long night.” She ignored their searching gazes and turned around and walked down the pier. “Keo…”

  Keo followed without a word.

  She could feel the others watching after her. Danny and Gaby, even Maddie and Roy, and the newcomers. The woman and the kids, and the young man who stood protectively next to Gaby. Maybe she should have spent a few more minutes talking to them, hugging and making useless welcome-back talk. But there was no time for that. The sun was setting and the hours were dwindling, and soon, very soon, they would have to get ready.

  There wasn’t enough time. There was never enough time.

  She kept walking and didn’t look back. She was afraid of what might happen if she stopped. She had never been particularly good at keeping her emotions in check, but Lara had discovered she was capable of a lot of things that would have been unfathomable a year ago. Maybe it was the constant life-and-death choices, or this label of leader everyone had given her the last few weeks, or maybe it was because she knew he was alive.

  Out there, alone, maybe even captured, but still alive.

  Will was the most capable man she had ever known in her life, and as long as he was breathing, he would find a way back to the island. Back to her.

  I’ll wait for you, Will. I’ll wait for you as long as I can.

  She snapped another look at the skies. It would be dark soon, except for the halo of lights emanating from the LED lamps around the island. Then it would be just them and the people coming to kill them, using the blanket of night as cover.

  “So your boyfriend’s not dead?” Keo said. His voice came out of nowhere, and for a moment she forgot he was keeping pace beside her.

  “No,” she said.

  “You sure about that?”

  “If you knew Will, you wouldn’t need to ask.”

  “So we’re going on faith, then?”

  “You honestly think your girlfriend actually made it to Santa Marie Island? That she’s wearing a bikini and waiting on the beach every morning, waiting for you to finally show up?”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, okay. Hit a guy while he’s down, why don’t you.” Then he shrugged. “One ex-Army Ranger ain’t bad, I guess. Even a gimpy one.”

  “We’ll be fine, as long as everyone follows the plan. Including you. Like it or not, you’re stuck here with us now, Keo.”

  “Lucky me.”

  Carly was running down the beach toward them and jumped onto the pier. Lara didn’t know she could even run that fast. She and Keo made room as Carly darted past them—she might not have even noticed they were there—and ran straight into Danny’s arms.

  Lara turned back around and quickened her pace down the beach.

  “How good is he?” Keo asked, still walking beside her.

  “Danny?”

  “Yeah.”

  “He’s good.”

  “And the girl?”

  “Danny and Will taught her themselves.”

  “That doesn’t answer my question, Lara.”

  “Will says she’s the best soldier on the island after him and Danny. He says she’s gotten better since she’s been out there.”

  “What is she, twenty-five?”

  “Nineteen.”

  “Damn,” Keo said. “I don’t know whether to be impressed or a little scared of you people.”

  *

  While Carly and Benny welcomed Danny and Gaby back in the dining room, Lara spent the rest of the remaining daylight making sure everyone knew where they were supposed to be. Blaine, Bonnie, and Gwen remained on the Trident to keep watch, while she sent Roy over with Gage. The captain figured out pretty quickly what she was planning and seemed to be moving fine on the leg brace Stan had made for him. The painkillers Zoe had given him probably helped, though the doctor assured her it wouldn’t be enough to dull his ability to pilot the boat.

  Lara was in the basement under the Tower, making final preparations. She could have given the job to anyone, but she needed the solitude only the room’s concrete walls, floor, and ceiling could provide. Ironic, since she always hated coming down here alone. Now, though, surrounded by the reminders of people who had come to Song Island seeking shelter only to find tragedy, she felt perfectly at home.

  Nothing lasts forever. So why did I think this island would?

  She remembered a conversation she’d had with Will not all that long ago.

  “The island is vital, Lara,” he had said to her.

  “It’s just an island,” she had responded.

  “But you’re on it. And Carly. And the kids…”

  The people. That was what mattered. The people on the island, not the island itself. There were other islands out there, like the Bengals, that Keo had shown her. Islands were just patches of dirt and could be replaced. But its people were another story.

  She wasn’t surprised to hear Danny climbing down the steps behind her. She knew he would seek her out sooner or later. Under the bright LED lights of the subterranean room, the scars along the bridge of his nose and face looked more pronounced, as if he had just stepped out of the boxing ring. He limped across the room, wearing another one of Stan’s custom-made leg braces.

  “How’s the leg?” she asked.

  “My dancing days are definitely over,” Danny said. “At least until the break heals.”

  He ran his palms along the leather padding held together by Velcro straps and rigid hinged steel bars. The elastic material went all the way over his knee and down the calf. From what she could tell, Stan had done a marv
elous job making it practical, and she made a mental note to ask him to make more, just in case.

  Danny was looking at the nearly empty weapons rack at the back of the room. “Been busy, huh? I guess it’s true what they say: Give a woman the key to your place, and before you know it, she’s reorganizing everything. Should I ask what you’ve been doing with all the stuff me and your boyfriend collected over the last few months?”

  “They’re around.”

  “Can you be more specific?”

  “Here, there, everywhere.”

  “Ah. All part of the plan?”

  “Yes.”

  “So, tell me about it. That is, if you have the time. I mean, if you don’t, maybe I can make an appointment or something. I can see you’re a very busy gal these days.”

  “I’m sorry about before. At the pier…”

  He waved a dismissive hand. “Water under the yacht. So tell me about this plan of yours that’s supposed to keep everyone alive.”

  She did.

  “Hunh,” he said when she was finished. “I guess it’s a good thing we stocked up on those cheap boats and emergency ladders.”

  “That’s Will, Danny. He’s always thinking ahead. That’s why he’s such a good leader and I’m…barely hanging on.”

  “You’re doing all right from what I can see.”

  “Barely.” Then, “So tell me. Am I going to get everyone killed?”

  He thought about it for a moment. “It’s risky,” he said finally.

  “It’s very risky. But I don’t see any other way. If we need to abandon the island, the Trident has to be ready. For that to happen, it can’t be involved until we need it.”

  “It’s a big boat.”

  “We’ll have the cover of darkness, and I’m hoping they won’t be able to adjust their assault plan on the fly. Or want to, given their overconfidence.”

  “So many maybes, Aunt Bee would be jealous.” He seemed to think about it some more before nodding. “What’s the worst that could happen? They try to board the big boat?”

  “Keo did.”

  “Yeah, but from what everyone’s told me, that guy is half-dolphin. Besides, I brought something that’ll discourage them if they do decide to go that path. Have you ever stared down the barrel of an M240? It’s guaranteed to make anyone cry for their momma.”