“That’s not what happened,” I say. Now I’m starting to feel panicked.
“It doesn’t matter,” he says. “That’s the story.”
“No one will believe you. We have no reason to do such a thing. We’re here to protect people.”
“Which is exactly what you want people to think,” he says. “That is why you brought in the greyskins. You wanted to show the people that you are protecting them, even though it will cost lives. You brought this colony death so you could rise as the new protectors. In turn, you destroyed lives. Now you are all wanted criminals. There will be a huge price on your head. Jeremiah will have you one way or another.”
So this is it. It’s a set up. I look down at Rob on the floor and back to Krindle, wondering how they could be so callous as to murder their own guards. They were the ones who brought the greyskins here. This is Jeremiah’s Code Red. He’s making us reveal ourselves.
“This is my fault,” I whisper to myself. I now see that I should have gone along with Jeremiah, even if it didn’t feel right. Because I denied him on the stage, because I lied and said that I had no special abilities, because I turned my back on him, he sent in the greyskins.
He’s going to destroy us.
I leap for Krindle and our bodies crash into each other. We both slam into the floor and his gun and detonator fly to the ground. I raise my knife to stab it into his throat, knowing that if I kill him, the greyskins will remain outside the colony.
He reaches up and grabs my wrist.
“Where’s your power, Starborn?” he says to me, but I ignore him. I’m trying to use all the strength within me to kill him, but his arms are too strong for me.
He throws me off of him to his left, and he begins his scramble to the detonator.
“No!” On my hands and knees, I raise my knife up and stab it deep into his calf and through his shin.
Krindle screams out in horror at the blade protruding through the front of his leg. Blood spills all over the floor as he reaches for the painful wound.
I stand from my position on the floor and make my way to the detonator. I’m reaching down for the small-buttoned device when I’m blindsided by some kind of crazed lunatic, screaming words I can’t make out. When I’m able to open my eyes, Rob is sitting on top of me, his knees on either side of my ribs, holding my arms to the floor.
“Why don’t you throw me off you?” he taunts. Blood runs down the side of his head from my earlier attack.
I would give anything to have my ability back because out of the corner of my eye, I see Krindle crawling to the detonator until he reaches it.
The last thing I see before the deafening explosion is Krindle’s stupid smile as he pushes the button.
Suddenly there is no one on top of me. I can see and hear nothing, but I feel exposed to the elements. I feel an intense heat all around me along with the strongest windstorm I’ve ever experienced.
I don’t know why I can’t see. I’m trying to open my eyes, and that’s when I realize that I must have been blown unconscious.
My head rests against the cold, dirty floor and my eyes finally open. I still can’t hear a thing, not even a ringing. From my position on the floor I can see that the explosion has torn through the outer wall of Krindle’s office, something he probably hadn’t expected to happen.
I’m able to lift my head. I see Krindle on the floor. He’s breathing but his eyes are closed. Behind me, Rob lies on the floor, not breathing. A pool of blood rests next to his head and I know that it has nothing to do with what I did to him. A closer look reveals a sharp piece of wood protruding from his skull.
Somehow I find the strength to crawl to the edge of the room where I can see the commotion below me. My ears are beginning to ring now. This is a good sign.
As I pull myself closer to the edge, what I see makes me want to vomit. Thousands of greyskins pile into the colony through the newly destroyed barricade that had momentarily protected the people of Salem. Now we have no chance.
Their voices begin to reach my ears. I’m able to hear the grunts of the greyskins, the firing of weapons, the screams of victims. But there is only one sound that makes me freeze in place.
Krindle pulls back on the hammer of his shotgun behind me, more than likely taking aim at my head.
He speaks to me through labored breaths.
“What happened to your powers, Starborn? Why can’t you destroy me? I thought you were all-powerful.”
I slowly bring myself to my feet, still staring at the countless greyskins piling in on top of each other below my feet. If the floor were to crumble underneath me, I would be devoured in seconds.
When I turn, I see Krindle pointing the gun directly at my face as predicted. My knife is still deep into his leg, and I can tell that he’s doing everything he can to maintain composure.
“My powers have left me,” I say. “You’ve won.” The words fall off my lips in an airy whisper. This isn’t how all of this was supposed to happen. There was never supposed to be bloodshed. All I ever wanted was to protect my village. My family.
He smiles despite his pain.
Not wanting his grin of victory to be the last thing I see before I die, I close my eyes to shield myself from it. And that’s when I feel it. The invisible strength running through me again. This time it feels just like when I had been cornered on the roof by the greyskins and all I had were some useless cranes to provide me a bridge. Somehow my body knows that I need the strength of the Starborn, no matter how thoroughly I’ve drained myself.
One last bit of strength is all I need.
I open my eyes and instantly Krindle’s gun flies from his hands and to the floor, but my strength doesn’t stop there. Somehow I find it within me to lift the helpless man into the air.
Terror replaces his look of dominance as he realizes that we have changed positions in the flicker of a moment.
I swing my arms just like I would toss a lifeless body if I were physically holding it, and Krindle falls over the side, screaming the entire way down. When he lands, thirty or more greyskins converge on his body, chomping at his flesh. There will be nothing left of him in the next few minutes.
My body falls to the floor and I know that I absolutely cannot use any more of my power. I am completely spent. I don’t know where the extra strength came from, but I know that I’m at least safe from Rob and Krindle.
With no power left in me, I have to try and help the people fight off the largest horde of greyskins I’ve ever seen.
Chapter Nineteen
Fumbling down the stairs of the tower, I feel like I’m already one of the greyskins. I’m not sure how long it takes me to make it down the four flights of stairs, but I’m sure that by the time I make it, most of the people in Salem will be dead and eaten.
I would have carried Krindle’s gun with me, but I just couldn’t bring myself to lift it. Before today, I never knew that the use of my abilities would affect me physically like it has. I hope I can recover. But then, why would I hope that? I’m about to die anyway. We all are.
When I reach the bottom step, I fall to the ground at the doorway. No greyskin has noticed me yet, but I can see dozens of them. Somehow I’m able to pull myself up in the entranceway and watch as the people of Salem fight. Guns are fired by men and women hunkered behind shacks and vehicles. Bodies are scattered in every direction. Some of them are colonists, others are greyskins. Most of the bodies on the ground are those dead or injured as a result of Krindle’s detonation.
I make my legs carry me to an empty vehicle on my left. In the distance, Aaron is using every bit of his electric abilities to burn up the mindless attackers. I spot Danny, and Heather too.
I don’t see Connor.
Fear grabs hold of my chest as I realize for the first time that I’m probably going to lose Connor. I don’t know why it’s him that makes me feel this way. I don’t know why I feel such sadness at the thought of losing the one that I’ve had a falling out with. The one that didn’t
want to be a part of this fight in the first place. All he wanted was to live the life he had come to accept.
I have ruined everything.
The fighting continues for what feels like hours, though I’m sure only minutes have passed. Some strength comes back to my legs and I’m able to walk forward, though I’m not sure what I’ll do if a greyskin comes after me. I’m weaponless and I’m drained. I suppose if it comes to it, I can try to use my powers, pass out, and hopefully feel nothing as the monsters sink their teeth into my skin.
I’m walking without purpose. I want to see Connor. I want to feel Aaron. I want to embrace them both separately and tell them I love them and that I will always be there for them. I know it can never work that way. But these are my last moments. I can think whatever I want to. Whatever I dream is just that: a dream.
My knees start to shake violently and I fall to the ground. My long hair is falling all around my face, the ends brushing against the dry dirt.
Right now, all I want is the strength to move, but I’ve lost even that. This is it. The grunts of the greyskins become louder as they approach me. I now know that my parents have died in vain. They had tried to protect me from this exact death, but my actions in life have brought me to this inevitable end.
Looking up, I see at least ten greyskins trudging toward me. This time I can’t run. This time it’s over.
It only takes a brief moment for me to come to terms with the death I’m about to experience. Right now I don’t even wish that I had a gun to fight with. All I want is a gun with a single bullet. One that won’t miss my brain before the greyskins overwhelm me.
But I don’t need a gun.
Heads split in front of me and greyskin blood splatters into the air. The sound of heavy gunfire sounds all around me as vehicles rush past, slamming into the greyskins that had once set their sights on me. There are many guns going off around me, but there is one in particular that leads the way in my protection.
Connor.
He doesn’t stop firing until the gun is empty. There are two greyskins left. He pulls out a handgun and shoots them both in the head.
I can’t believe he came for me. I can’t believe that he just saved my life again. Every time I’m helpless and feeling like I’m at the end of myself, Connor is there to save me. I want to thank him. I want to embrace him. I want to kiss him. But my body won’t move and I slip out of consciousness.
I don’t witness the rest of the fight. When I wake, I’m far from where I had passed out. Far from where Connor had saved my life. Instead, I’m lying next to a group of other injured people. Some of them are unconscious, others are wailing out in pain. A closer look tells me that these are people who were injured in the explosion. These aren’t greyskin victims. Greyskin victims would be taken elsewhere. Like my parents, they would be given a few moments, and then killed.
I sit up and instantly feel a hand touch my shoulder. It’s a man I’ve never seen before.
“Is there anything I can help you with?” he asks me. “Are you injured?”
“I don’t think so,” I say. “What’s going on? Where are the greyskins?”
“The fight is over,” he says. “We’re tending to the injured and the bodies now. If it hadn’t been for Connor leading the vehicle charge like he did, I’m not sure we would have made it.”
He reaches down to the man next to me whose arm and legs are cut deeply. Slowly, the cuts begin to disappear.
I can’t help but look at the man in wonder. A healer?
The healer grabs his arm and winces as though he had just taken on the man’s pain for himself. After a few moments, he turns back to me and grabs my arm.
“You’ve got a little cut on your eyebrow,” he says.
It’s as though I can feel any discomfort leave my body and flow straight into him. He winces again as he accepts my pain as his. After another moment he opens his eyes and smiles at me.
“Don’t tell anybody,” he says.
“What’s your name?” I ask.
He smiles again. “You can call me Christopher.”
“Christopher, you’ve got to join with the rest of us. There are more of us. We’ve got to stop Jeremiah. We could use a person like you.”
His smile fades to a look of worry. He stands suddenly and begins to walk away. “I’ve got to go.”
“Christopher, wait.”
“Please don’t tell anyone you saw me.”
I watch after him until he is out of sight. I can’t believe that there could be people like him potentially walking around me at any given moment. How many of them are there around here anyway? But something is different about Christopher. He probably knows who I am. I’m not so sure it was an accident that he let me in on his little secret of being a Starborn healer.
He said the fight was over. He said that it was because of Connor that any of us are still alive. I shake my head at the thought. The person who wanted nothing to do with this war is the hero who saved us all.
I stand, suddenly feeling the strength come back to my body. It’s as if when Christopher touched me, his power took my pain and replaced it with his own strength.
I begin to walk down the path, unable to block out the images of death all around me.
Several colonists are handing out cylinders to people throughout the colony.
“Check yourself,” they yell out to everyone. “Make sure you aren’t bitten. Green you’re clean. Red you’re dead!”
One of the colonists hands me a cylinder in passing, though I know I’ve got no bites. I had been placed in the section for injuries that occurred during the blast. I know I didn’t physically encounter a greyskin up close.
It’s hard for me to watch a man sitting on the ground. He’s got scratch marks on his face and arms. I know the feeling in his chest right now, though his fear must be on a much higher level than what I had. When the doctors had checked me, I knew that I hadn’t been bitten or scratched. This man knows that he has been, but must hold out hope that no virus has reached his bloodstream.
He pulls out the needle and injects it into his arm to draw blood. He then injects the blood into the cylinder through the soft top.
He waits for the light at the top to shine. I find myself praying with him that it will be green.
The light shines. Red.
The man throws the cylinder to the ground and begins to wail out, knowing now that this is his last day on Earth. Tears come to my eyes as I witness the sorrow before me. Others come to his side and silently let him know of what is to come next. It is the same fate that should have been mine, but instead took my parents.
I have to turn away from the man, unable to bear the images of his sorrow. But when I turn, it’s just more of the same story all over. There are many red-lighted cylinders. Some are green, but they are few at this moment.
I place the cylinder in my pocket with zero intentions of using it on myself.
I have no idea who is alive or dead. Connor may not have made it. Aaron may not have made it. All of the Starborns could be dead right now for all I know. I’ve got to figure out where everyone is. I keep walking until I reach the entrance of the colony where the explosion took place.
I turn my head in every direction until I finally see Evelyn. Next to her are Heather, Danny, and Heinrich. I rush over to them and when they see me, the looks of surprise on their faces tell me that they hadn’t expected me to show up at all.
“What are you doing, dear?” Evelyn asks me. “You should be resting!”
“I’m feeling much better now,” I say. “Where’s Connor and Aaron?”
Evelyn is about to answer when a loud whistle screams through the air. The familiar tone is that of the loudspeaker, only this time it isn’t Heinrich’s voice. It’s a familiar voice that sends chills down my spine and makes me want to crawl into a dark hole for the next twenty years.
Jeremiah.
“People of the Salem Colony. This is your leader, your protector, your friend. I am Jeremiah.�
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Everyone stops to listen to his voice over the loudspeaker.
“It has come to my attention that your colony has fallen under an attack that my guards of Screven have been unable to prevent. For that, you have my sincerest apologies. This would never have happened, however, without sabotage from one from among you. This was a planned attack upon you by the Starborns. Specifically, the Starborn named Mora.”
Eyes from the entire colony fall on me. What am I to do? If they believe what he says, they’re going to want my head. They’ll execute me.
“She and her band of Starborn friends came in the middle of the night, killed the guards while you slept, and led the greyskin herd to you. All so they could prove that they were capable of protecting you. They did this to place themselves above the guards of Screven. But all they have done is hurt you. Look around you. How many are dead and writhing? How many of you have been bitten by a greyskin and now face death in the next couple of hours? Mora and her Starborns are dangerous. They have made enemies of us. Do not let them take advantage of you. The person or persons to bring the Starborns to me will no longer have to pay dues to Screven. You will be allowed to grow whatever you want and do with it as you wish.”
The colonists begin murmuring amongst themselves. All of them seem unsure of what they are hearing. Either that or they are talking to each other about the best way to come at us without getting themselves killed. To my left I see someone running toward us. Relief floods my veins when I see that it’s Aaron.
I move forward and we instantly embrace each other.
“I thought you might have died,” he said. “I was so worried.”
“Bring the Starborns to me, and you will truly be free. But more importantly, you will be protected.”
“The snake does nothing but speak lies,” Evelyn snaps.
Everyone in the colony is looking at us, though none of them make a move. The only sound is a vehicle coming in from the south of the colony. The same vehicle that Connor had been in when he had saved me.
Out Of Darkness (The Starborn Saga) Page 22
