Looking out among them, Bryan said, “Thank you for coming.”
Dozens of heads nodded, or waited. Most of the women and children had already heard the news. Others awaited confirmation.
“As some of the brave men and women in this chamber have told you, the time to fight has arrived.” Bryan steeled his expression. “The Abomination is here.”
He let the words ring out across the audience, ensuring that everyone felt the impact.
Looking around at all the dirty, watching faces, murmuring their approval, he pulled his strength. Too many days of hunger and fatigue had taught his people a lesson that words never could. They were tired and they were scared, but days of practice had made his fighters restless. They were ready to act and take back their colony. Next to him, Sherry lifted her chin, projecting equal confidence. He wished that she could join him in the battle, but of course, she’d wait here.
His Watchers shifted into a row, holding their spears in formation.
“Louie and my other Watchers have already updated those of you who are coming with us. Each of you is to play the role you are assigned. Those that stay behind will protect our children, and ensure they are taken care of.” He paused. “Those coming with us will fight as heroes, alongside me and my men.”
Confidence swept through the room.
“I have faith in each of you fighters,” Bryan continued, projecting his voice louder. “I know that you will give your best effort to rid Red Rock of this menace. Today we live in dark, dirty caves, as refugees, but tomorrow night, we will sleep in our old hovels as heroes.”
A ripple of excitement rose. Men and women clamped onto their neighbors’ shoulders, displaying their camaraderie.
Louie stepped forward, projecting his courage onto the crowd. “Tonight, you should get as much rest as you can.” He looked around at everyone, pausing before he made his pronouncement. “Tomorrow morning, we will march.”
People hugged their relatives and children as their first strands of hope in a long time solidified.
“Our lives, to protect Red Rock!” Bryan called out.
“Survival at all costs!” came the response.
The words inspired louder murmurs of approval. Faces of fear became hopeful smiles.
Gideon was right.
A new era was here.
Chapter 60: Darius
When darkness had completely fallen, Darius returned to his cove. Sweat poured down his face. His fingers ached. Still, he didn’t stop working. He felt as if he was at the precipice of something great.
With long, practiced strokes, he shaved down the edges of the broken spear, leaving skinny, wooden remnants behind. At certain intervals, he turned it, slimming down the sides to match evenly. A few cracks marred the spear’s surface—mostly toward the back, near the handle. But it was salvageable, for what he needed.
Taking it was a prescient choice.
Four other partially broken spears sat alongside the jutting rock, ready to be carved, if the first test proved effective.
Soon his dedication would pay off.
He hoped.
Finishing with the spear he was modifying, he set it down and observed his handiwork. The new weapon was about the size of an arm, but half as thick—a miniature spear. On each end were pieces of metal; on one side, the normal spear tip; on the other, a new piece of metal he’d attached, after hammering it into a crisscross pattern. It had taken a bit of work to fashion, but not too long, thankfully.
Holding the spear carefully, Darius picked up the device, so that the tube was pointed diagonally over his shoulder. With gingerly movements, he finagled the small, carved spear into the object’s tube and pushed it until he felt a familiar click.
He’d done it!
He’d matched the pattern!
Darius paused, breathing heavily.
Reaching over to his rock, he found the tool he’d shaped to go over the piece of metal on the object’s side, which he’d already tried, ensuring that it’d fit over the metal and make it turn.
The time for preparation was over.
The time for testing was here.
Holding the object at a distance, he looked around his makeshift workshop. The cove was too small for what he intended.
He needed a larger space.
Grabbing a torch, he made his way into the larger tunnel. Darius looked left and right. It was too late for anyone to be wandering around the tunnels. Just in case, he headed in the opposite direction of where the Right Cavers slept. A surge of youthful wonder passed through Darius as he adjusted the bag on his back, and the object in his hand. He felt like he was taking his first trips into the caves, exploring the tunnels with wide, wondrous eyes.
Or the way he’d felt, showing Akron around for the first time.
A sentimental pit took root in Darius’s stomach.
Akron might be dead, but his spirit was alive.
If not for Akron, Darius might not have discovered the carcass of the old beast, approached Neena, or helped her. He might not have led the survivors to the caves. Instead, they might’ve died on that day of the monster’s attack.
Instead, they were here, and Darius was testing a weapon that might change everything.
He reached up, smearing a tear from his weathered cheek.
Perhaps Akron’s death hadn’t been meaningless.
Maybe Akron could see him, wherever he was.
After heading down the tunnel a way, Darius stopped at a protruding section of rock on the wall, lit a second torch, and stuck it in a crevice. Then he returned in the direction from which he’d come.
Fifty feet away, he stopped and studied the wavering flame of his target, and the rocks behind it. Darius couldn’t tell if he was on the verge of a stupendous success or a monumental failure. But he was about to find out.
Sweat moistened his hands.
His heart pounded.
Slowly, he used his fashioned tool to turn the small piece of metal on the side of the object. A long, continuous winding sound echoed off the cave. The noise stopped. Something inside seemed to have locked into place. He set down the tool, held the strange object, and aimed at the flame jutting from the distant rock.
Holding it carefully, he took a breath, before depressing the small, metal piece on the handle.
A nearly deafening crack echoed off the cave walls.
The ensuing recoil nearly knocked him off balance.
Darius grabbed the air, barely saving himself from a fall. He fumbled the object in his hands. Far in the distance, another crack echoed down both ends of the tunnel.
The distant torch flickered and went out, pitching the opposite end of the cave into darkness.
Silence reigned.
Darius found his breath. He looked down at his body, as if he might have sustained some awful injury, but he was intact.
He looked at the object in his hand.
The miniature spear was missing.
Grabbing his cane, Darius thrust it in front of him and rushed down the tunnel with his torch. His body coursed with nerves and excitement. His hands trembled. Still, he gripped the object as if it might fall from his hands, or someone might snatch it. Closing the gap to the spot where he’d aimed, Darius shined his own light around, studying the rock wall. All he saw was jagged rock, in an array of sizes and patterns.
And then he saw it.
Just past the extinguished torch, the missing spear sat embedded in the wall, its carved end jutting out. Somehow, it had penetrated the rock. Miraculous!
But that wasn’t it.
Darius looked down.
Sitting on the cave floor was a pile of newly broken rocks.
He looked back and forth, as if someone might be tricking him. But no one was here, except for him and the object.
Darius looked at the object for a long moment, questioning what he knew was real.
Never in his life had he seen something move so fast, or so true.
Never had he seen a spear fly wit
hout human effort, and damage stone.
Incredible!
The object was extraordinary.
Reaching down, he tugged the wooden end of the spear until it came out. The spear tip was blunted, chipped.
A strange power filled Darius, as he held up the broken spear and examined it, before looking down at the pile of debris.
His mind returned to Akron. If only the young boy were here again, to witness this discovery.
Darius smiled.
“Unbelievable,” he whispered.
He’d head back to his cove, shave down the rest of the spears, and do a few more tests.
In the morning, he’d tell the others.
Chapter 61: Raj
Raj peered out from the shadows where he hid. His heart thudded with excitement. His eyes roamed from the object in Darius’s hands, to the miniature spear he’d retrieved. He knew he wasn’t supposed to be here, but he couldn’t miss Darius’s test.
Raj almost couldn’t believe what he’d witnessed.
The object was even more incredible than Darius had said!
It had pierced stone!
Cloaked in a dark corner of the cave, Raj watched Darius place the carved spear in his bag and head back into his cove. For a moment, nostalgia hit Raj, as he recalled walking next to Darius during those first days in the caves, listening to his incredible stories.
Then he thought of Neena’s protective words, and the way Darius and Kai had shunned him. Not one had listened to him when he’d first tried mentioning the object. Not one of them had treated him like more than a child.
Raj had seen enough.
It was time to report to Bryan.
Chapter 62: Bryan
Bryan’s boots echoed off the walls of the healer’s cove. Gideon looked up, appraising him.
“The time is here,” Bryan said. “We are ready to march and defeat the monster.”
Gideon’s pride was written on his face.
“But there is something else you need to know.” Bryan paused. “A development that might solidify our victory.”
This time, Gideon was surprised.
“I just learned something else of great importance,” Bryan told him.
With a confident tilt of his chin, Bryan relayed the details of his conversation with Raj. Gideon listened with renewed wonder. When Bryan finished telling his story, Gideon leaned back in his bed, appraising him. He lifted a weak hand, scratching his face. If Bryan didn’t know better, he might’ve swore he had a tear in his eye.
“Unbelievable,” Gideon whispered. “You will collect the weapon before you go?”
“Yes. I will test it beforehand, so I can be assured it works as Raj says,” Bryan said.
“You know where it is?”
“Yes, Raj has instructed me where Darius has hidden it.”
Gideon shook his head in disbelief. “It is almost as if our ancestors have guided us.”
“I think they must have,” Bryan said.
Gideon shook his head, reflecting for a moment. “Too much horror has befallen our people. Too much death has scarred Red Rock. But now it seems the heavens have blessed us. Between our peoples’ determination, and this weapon, we will win.”
“The next time we speak, we will be in the Comm Building, just like we promised,” Bryan swore.
Bryan stood tall. He felt as if his body and mind worked in tandem, as if the heavens had created him for this purpose.
He’d never forget the crowd of his people, hanging on his every word, or their grunts and cries, as they threw their spears.
The colonists had experienced too much tragedy.
But soon, they’d make memories of triumph.
He was the new Thorne—the bringer of freedom, who would lead them to the monster’s defeat and return them to their homes. Looking around the cove, he felt as if his ancestors were here with him, empowering him to a victory.
“I suppose this will be the last time I see you, until the deed is done,” Gideon said.
“Yes,” Bryan said. “We will leave at first light.”
“May the oaths of our forefathers guide you,” Gideon said.
“Their hearts make us strong,” Bryan answered reflexively.
A lump filled Bryan’s throat. All at once, he felt as he had in that first meeting with Gideon, swearing his oaths alongside his brothers. That memory reinforced his determination.
“No matter how difficult things become, you must account for those who do not have your faith,” Gideon said. “You must march them forward, and not let them stop, until they succeed.”
Bryan nodded. He knew.
“I will do my best to lead them,” he promised.
“Are you the only one of your men awake?” Gideon asked.
“Most of my men are getting a last night’s rest,” Bryan answered. “Those few who are up are watching from the cliffs, preparing last provisions, or verifying our spears are ready. All except for one.”
A noise drew Gideon’s attention to the cove entrance, where a familiar person stepped out from the shadows. Raj waved nervously, revealing the horn in his hand.
“Raj has expressed his desire to help us, so we are taking him with us.” Bryan smiled.
“Bryan has given me a part in the march. He said I’ll help lure the monster, so we can kill it.” Raj smiled innocently.
Satisfaction took root in Bryan’s stomach as he saw the gleam in Gideon’s eye.
“Good luck to you both.” A smile stretched Gideon’s scarred face. “I know you will not fail.”
Chapter 63: Bryan
Shadows enveloped Bryan as he paced the dark tunnel, running checklists. He thought of his men, making their preparations, under his direction to Louie. He thought of the supplies they’d packed. More importantly, he thought of the end result of their plan, when they’d liberate themselves from lives of darkness and misery.
Things would be better soon.
He was surprised, but probably shouldn’t have been, to find Sherry approaching him, finding him in one of the secluded areas of the cave, where they held their trysts.
“Bryan!” she exclaimed, making her way over and wrapping her arms around his neck. Her lips were warm and soft against his, as she pushed him into the shadows. “I wish you weren’t leaving.”
“I’ll be back soon,” Bryan reassured her. “And then everything will be different. Once we kill the monster, things will take a different turn for our people. You’ll see.”
Impatience flickered in Sherry’s eyes. Tracing circles around her stomach, she said, “I wish we’d already defeated the monster, so we could discuss other things.”
Bryan didn’t need for her to spell out what she meant. She wanted vengeance.
“I’ll make sure Gary’s death was not in vain. You will have your revenge. Don’t worry.”
“When?” Sherry’s face was filled with doubt.
“Soon,” Bryan promised. His assurances felt inadequate. Or maybe it was the look in her eyes, which made him feel like less of a man. “I promise.”
Sherry broke his gaze. “It just feels like they’ve gotten away with what they did to Gary. What they did to all those people in Red Rock.”
Anger swelled in Bryan’s stomach. “They will not get away with it forever,” he swore. “Once we have our victory, we’ll return to find justice for our fallen brothers and sisters. For Gary.”
Sherry backed away slowly.
Before she could get farther, he reached out and took her hands, pulling her back toward him. “They will get what they deserve.”
“They’d better,” she whispered.
Without another word, Sherry pressed her lips against his. Her warm mouth reminded him of the victory he would taste when this was over, and the promises they’d whispered in the dark. They kissed for several moments, holding one another, before falling back into the shadows.
Chapter 64: Neena
Bones.
Teeth.
Blood.
Neena
rolled underneath her blanket, protecting her face from a faceless monster that threatened to chew her flesh, spill her blood, and spit out her bones. The creature hovered over her—not a living thing, but a carcass—a skeletal creature with no eyes, yellowed bones, and hundreds of sharp, spear-like objects sticking from the inside of its hollow body.
Almost everyone she knew had perished.
And she was next.
Uncovering her face, she reared back her spear and aimed at the nightmarish beast. Its massive body blocked out most of the sun. Before she could release her weapon, something struck her.
Neena screamed as gray, sticky bile rained over her. She held up her hands, but the thick substance was inescapable, seeping inside her orifices, suffocating her. She cleared enough of the thick goop away to see the creature again.
It rose from shadow, opened its enormous mouth, and exposed its teeth. Inside its blood-drenched maw, a slew of familiar people screamed.
Samara. Roberto. Salvador. Raj.
“No!” she shouted.
More bile washed over her, finding its way down her throat, choking her. Before she drowned, she let out a gurgling scream, so long and so loud that it robbed her of breath.
Neena opened her eyes to find Amos standing over her worriedly. “Neena, wake up! Something’s happening!”
She sat up and looked around, shaking off her nightmare. All around her, people fled their bedrolls and ran toward the cave entrance. Others sat up, grabbed their children, or woke their relatives. She looked quickly to her right, locating her brothers’ sleeping forms under their bedrolls.
“What’s going on?” she asked Amos.
“I don’t know!” he answered. “Whatever it is, it’s happening outside!”
To her left, two other bedrolls sat empty.
“Where are Kai and Darius?” she asked frantically.
“I don’t know that, either. I’m sorry.” Amos looked as fearful as she felt. “I’ve been trying to wake you for a while.”
“Stay here with my brothers!” she cried.
Amos hastily agreed.
Still groggy, Neena grabbed her spear and ran toward the mouth of the cave, heart hammering. Several panicked people knocked into her, flowing in the same direction. She readied her spear, certain that they were under attack, but she saw no one fighting.
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