by Amy Cross
My voice trails off, and suddenly I realize that I'm allowing myself to feel sentimental. I never intended to make my presence known in Steadfall again, and I certainly never intended to get involved in Nissa's life. For the past nine years, I've kept my distance and simply observed from afar, and I have to find a way to go back to that existence. I can't exactly fake my death again, however, so this time I'm going to have to simply walk away.
Suddenly hearing raised voices in the distance, I turn and look past the huts.
“What's going on?” I whisper, hurrying over toward the gate, where a crowd has gathered.
“You can't keep us here!” Carmichael shouts, and I see that he's already stepped out through the gate. “We came here to get away from you! You have no authority over us!”
“Get him back in here!” I hiss, struggling to force my way through the crowd.
Already, several soldiers have their guns aimed at him.
“This is our land!” Carmichael says firmly. “When we came to the island, we were promised that we'd never have to deal with the rest of the world again. I don't care what you're after, you can't keep us from getting to our food and water supplies!”
With that, he starts walking forward.
Before I can yell at him to come back, one of the soldiers opens fire, hitting Carmichael square in the chest with a blast of energy. Screams ring out all around, and I race out through the gate just as Carmichael's body slumps down against the mud.
“Wait!” I shout at the soldiers, as they aim their rifles at me.
I drop to my knees and check the side of Carmichael's neck for a pulse, but I can already see that it's too late. He's dead, and when I look over at the soldiers I see that they're watching my every move.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Iris
Twisting the handcuffs, I try to slide them off the side of the railing that runs up the crate. There's still a section that's getting in the way, but I feel certain that I can get us out of here if I just figure out the crate's weakest part.
Nearby, several soldiers are watching and laughing as I continue to work, and as Nissa continues to whimper next to me.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Asher
“They murdered him!” Ripley shouts, and a murmur of agreement immediately rises from the crowd. “He wasn't going to hurt anyone! He was just trying to fetch food and water!”
“He still shouldn't have tested them like that,” I point out, trying to maintain order. “He must have known what they'd do!”
“How many of them are out there?” Ripley asks, turning to me. “Thirty? Forty? And maybe the same again at the beach? There are two hundred of us, Asher. Maybe it's time for us to teach them a lesson.”
“We'd be slaughtered!” I reply, shocked that he'd suggest something so stupid.
“Maybe,” he continues, “but maybe not. We're not a bunch of untrained savages, Asher. Those asshole are taking advantage of us, and now they've started killing us. You keep saying we have to wait, but sooner or later they're going to run out of patience, and then what? Will they storm the town and start killing anyone who looks at them the wrong way?”
“We just need -”
“We don't have time!” he shouts angrily. “We should just throw that bitch out to them and make them realize we don't have some stupid code!”
“That's not going to work,” I tell him. “We need to be logical about this and -”
“Who the hell put you in charge again?”
Turning, I see that Margaret is standing nearby. I remember Margaret from ten years ago, and she was always one of the people who argued with my decisions. Clearly the intervening years haven't softened her resolve.
“No offense, Asher,” she continues, “but you abandoned us.”
“No,” I reply, “I -”
“Yes, you did!” she says firmly, and several people nod in agreement. “You left us and went off on your own, and that's fine, but you can't expect to just waltz back in here and pick up where you left off. In case you hadn't noticed, we've done alright while you were gone. In fact, some might even say that we'd been doing better without you. Last time you were here, the town was nearly destroyed. We have long memories, Asher. We remember what happened with Harold and Ben and Leanne.”
“None of that was my fault,” I point out. “I helped save Steadfall from them!”
“And then we had ten years of pretty good going,” she continues, “and then you came back, and look at us now. Under siege, and all because you refuse to hand over some dumb bitch who only showed up a couple of days ago. You've got to admit, Asher, trouble's never far behind you.”
“I'm trying to fix this,” I reply, but I can tell that several members of the crowd are on Margaret's side. “I'm trying to help.”
“You didn't help Carmichael much,” Margaret says. “Steadfall was better off without you. Just like that poor little girl was better off until you showed up.”
I open my mouth to argue with her, but suddenly I realize that she might have a point. When Harold showed up ten years ago, it was because of me. When Deckard died, it was because of me. And now Phillips is here, and soldiers have shown up, and I can't shake the feeling that this is also because of me. I want to just fade into the background, but I keep getting dragged out into the light, and Steadfall suffers each and every time.
“Maybe we should put it to a vote,” Margaret says after a moment. “Democracy in action. Everyone who thinks we should give that Phillips woman to the soldiers right now, raise your hands.”
Scores of people raise their hands, and I can immediately tell that I have no chance of winning this vote. Out of the people gathered here right now, I probably only have the support of a few dozen.
“I think we have a decision,” Margaret continues, before turning to Ripley. “I say we try one more time to beat the truth out of that bitch and find out about this code, and then we send her out there to the soldiers. Once they see that we're cooperating, they'll have to end the siege.”
Ripley glances at me, and I can see that he's conflicted. Finally, however, he turns and starts making his way toward the hut where we've been keeping Doctor Phillips.
“Wait!” I shout, hurrying after him. “We can't just -”
“You're not in charge!” Margaret says suddenly, stepping in my way and placing a hand against my chest. “Those days are over, Asher. We've made a democratic decision and you've got no right to intervene. We're handling things our own way now.”
Before I can reply, I hear a cry from one of the huts, and a moment later I watch as Ripley drags Doctor Phillips out. He shoves her down into the mud, and the baying crowd surrounds them both as he grabs her hair and pulls her back up.
“Where's the code?” he shouts.
“Just be patient!” she gasps. “I don't know whether I mentioned it before, but I'm a big fan of the lost art of shutting the hell up. You don't need to know anything, so -”
He punches her hard, sending her crashing back down against the mud. Grabbing the back of her collar, he hauls her up again, and I see blood running freely from her mouth. Her face – already sunburned after her long journey across the ocean – is starting to lose skin in places.
“I'll ask you again,” Ripley says as I struggle to reach them. “Where can we find this code?”
With blood running down her chin, Phillips stares up at him for a moment before allowing herself a faint smile.
“You'll have to wait,” she stammers finally. “It'll all -”
“Wrong answer!” he yells, shoving her back down and forcing her face into the mud. Pushing the back of her head, he holds her down, as if he's going to drown her.
“Stop!” I shout. “We need her alive!”
I try to force my way through the crowd, but several people are holding me back and I have to shove them aside. By the time I finally get to the front, I see that Ripley is still holding Phillips' head down, and now she's struggling desperately.
“She's no use to anybody dead!” I point out, hurrying over to them. “Ripley, stop!”
He pulls her up, but she's still struggling for breath and it takes a moment before she's able to spit mud from her mouth. There's blood all over her face now, and she's letting out a series of pained gasps.
“One more time,” Ripley says firmly. “Where -”
“Stop!” I yell, trying to push him away from her, only for several other men to grab me from behind and drag me away. “This isn't going to help us!”
“One more time,” Ripley says again, still holding Phillips by the scruff of her collar. “Where's this code and how do we give it to them?”
Her face still covered in blood and mud, Phillips looks up at him. For a moment, she seems poised to surrender, and then finally she opens her mouth.
“Go,” she says calmly, “to hell.”
Suddenly a rock hits the side of her head. She cries out and turns away, but another rock hits her shoulder and then several more slam against her back.
“Stop!” I shout, stumbling toward the idiots who are showering her with rocks. “What's wrong with you? You're going to kill her!”
Finally, not knowing what else to do, I throw myself at Phillips, landing on her and sending her crashing down into the mud. Several rocks hit my back, but I know I have to keep her alive. At least while she's alive, we have a chance of ending the siege without more bloodshed.
And then another rock slams into my shoulder, and I feel a cracking pain.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Iris
I can do this.
I just have to pull on this end of the railing a little more, and it'll come loose from the side of the crate.
I just have to focus.
Pulling as hard as I can manage, I feel the railing shift slightly. Not by much, but maybe enough to let me try something else.
Nearby, two soldiers are laughing as they watch my efforts.
They won't be laughing when I suddenly get free.
Still, as I twist the handcuffs a little, I find that I can't quite get the right angle. In fact, although the railing has come loose from the crate by a few millimeters, I'm starting to think that all I've managed is to loosen the sealant layer. Stopping for a moment, as the soldiers continue to laugh, I realize with a sense of growing dread that all my efforts have been in vain.
I'm going to have to come up with a new idea.
Asher would know what to do in this situation. Asher would have gotten free by now. Or, more likely, Asher wouldn't have been captured in the first place. After all, Asher's a hardened soldier, whether she likes it or not. Whereas I'm just a thief from a market town.
Pulling hard on the handcuffs for a moment, I listen to the sound of the soldiers laughing.
There has to be a way out of this.
“What the hell's that?” a voice asks suddenly, and I realize the laughter has stopped.
Turning, I see that the two soldiers have their backs to me now. They're looking out to sea, and several other soldiers are joining them.
“It's some kind of illusion, right?” one of the soldiers says, his voice filled with uncertainty. “Like, a mirage or something?”
Looking at the horizon, I realize that there's a dark smudge coming this way. After a couple of seconds, I realize the smudge is actually several distinct shapes. Even from this distance, I can tell that they seem to be carriers, but I don't understand why the soldiers are so surprised by their arrival. I can hear raised voices all around, and more soldiers are yelling at one another, and slowly I start to realize that nobody here seems to know what's happening.
“It's not them, is it?” a soldier stammers. “How did they find us?”
“Incoming!” someone else yells.
Suddenly something streaks toward the beach. I realize at the very last moment that it's a missile, and I don't even have time to turn and look at Nissa.
A massive explosion tears the carrier apart. The beach shudders beneath my feet, knocking me down, and I hear screams as a fireball rises high into the sky. A second later there's another rushing sound, followed by a second explosion further along the beach. This time the crate rattles, and I stay down for a moment as I hear panicking voices yelling at each other.
Turning to Nissa, I see the fear in her eyes.
“Incoming!” a voice shouts again, followed by a third explosion that seems much closer. The force is enough to buck the crate, and Nissa screams as several soldiers race past us.
A moment later, hearing a loud roaring sound, I look up just in time to see several large black heli-mag carriers come swooping over the beach.
“Get in position!” a soldier yells nearby. “We're under attack!”
One of the carriers races out to sea and then swoops around. As it comes back this way, the carrier's lasers open fire, blasting the beach with bursts of energy. I scramble across the sand, trying to see around the other side of the crate, but the handcuffs pull tight and hold me back.
“Iris!” Nissa screams. “What's happening?”
I turn back to her, but I immediately see several more carriers swooping low. A fraction of a second later they open fire, this time aiming at several containers just a few meters from us. I instinctively reach out to grab Nissa, but I can't quite reach her. Suddenly the containers explode, blasting metal and sand toward us. The crate buckles and turns, protecting us from the worst of the shrapnel, but I land hard on my right side and feel a sharp pain in my shoulder.
“Iris!” Nissa shouts, her voice echoing in my ringing ears. “Help!”
Turning, I see that the crate has been almost completely destroyed. The metal railing has come loose, so I slide the handcuffs free before hurrying over to Nissa. I struggle for a moment to free her from the railing, and then I pull her up.
Behind us there's the sound of laser fire, and I turn to see that the troops on the ground are finally starting to organize. They're returning fire, aiming at one of the carriers, but a moment later I feel the heat of nearby flames. Several containers are burning, and I quickly grab Nissa's hand before leading her across the beach. The sound of gunfire is deafening, and thick black smoke is making it impossible to see more than ten feet ahead, but I'm certain we're headed the right way. If we can just get off the beach, we'll be away from the worst of the action and then maybe I can find a way to get these handcuffs off our wrists.
“Help me!” a voice gasps suddenly.
Stopping, I see that there's an injured soldier on the ground just a few feet away. His face is badly burned, but a moment later I look down at his waist and see that his legs and half his pelvis have been blown clean away, leaving glistening bloodied meat with sections of broken bone poking out. Blood is soaking into the sand, but the soldier suddenly reaches toward me with a trembling hand.
“Help me!” he stammers, his voice filled with fear. “I can't feel my legs.”
Looking down at Nissa, I see that she's standing right next to me, staring at the horrific sight of the dying soldier.
“Please,” the man continues, “don't leave me...”
With my hands still cuffed behind my back, I have to turn carefully before I'm able to grab Nissa's similarly-bound wrists. I try pulling her away, but she's simply staring in horror at the soldier.
“Please!” he cries, as flames start rippling across the side of his uniform. “You can't leave me here! You can't -”
Suddenly the flames roar across his body. He screams, but he's still reaching toward us and I can't quite manage to pull Nissa away. The man's screams are still ringing out from the heart of the inferno, and he twitches for a moment before finally slumping down against the sand.
All around us, more gunfire fills the air, and I can hear the roar of engines in the sky.
Spotting a gun on the ground, I pick it up. I can't quite manage to aim it at the link between my cuffs, but I might have a chance later.
“Take up defensive positions at the far end!” a woman's voice yells
. “Hurry! There are more of them coming!”
I tug on Nissa's wrists again, but she seems frozen in place, still staring at the man's burning corpse. Realizing that I'm going to have to be a little more forceful, I take a stronger hold of her wrists and force her to come with me. She finally stumbles along, but a moment later we have to duck behind another burning crate as several laser blasts hit the ground just a few feet away.
“There are too many of them!” a voice screams nearby. “They've got us pinned down!”
Peering around the side of the crate, I see that several more carriers are already racing this way. If we make a run for the trees, we'll have to risk crossing open ground, where we'll be picked off easily enough. And if we stay here, sooner or later we're going to get caught up in another explosion.
Chapter Fifty
Asher
“What the hell is going on out there?” Ripley asks, as he and the rest of the crowd watch a fireball rising into the sky. “I think it's the beach!”
I'm still crouched over Doctor Phillips, trying to keep her safe in case anybody else decides to throw rocks. When I start to sit up, I feel sharp, tightening pains all over my back and shoulders, and I think some of the rocks might have fractured my ribs. I look down at Phillips and see that she's breathing – bloodied, but definitely still breathing – and then slowly, sorely I get to my feet.
At that moment, there's another loud explosion in the distance.
Another fireball rises into the air, and then suddenly two large black heli-mag carriers come racing straight across our position, quickly swooping around and heading back to the beach. I watch in horror as they open fire, blasting laser fire down at whoever they're attacking.
“Move!” a voice yells nearby. “We're under attack at the base camp!”
Turning, I see that the soldiers from the trees are starting to head away. They must have been called back to the beach, which at least means that the siege is over. A few seconds later, hearing a faint gasping sound, I turn and see that Doctor Phillips is sitting up.
