by James Garvey
"What about nauron food?"
"What is a nauron?"
"The slimy critter here in the corner. Here, let me send you the molecular composition of his food."
Sam's silent for a while. "Yes, I have the capacity to make this material."
Gorian claps. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's get our Iggy back."
Within a day, we're unsure how we lived without Sam. He's so different than Troll - he only does what we tell him to do and is quite limited. However, he's improved our options and most importantly, revived Iggy. The he-she nauron consumes gallons of green slime, his strength intensifying with every slurp. Gorian, with Sam's help, manages to get warm water running through the pipes. I soak in a bath for an hour, my feet turning to dried grapes.
Bets seems relaxed if not happier. She's working closely with Gorian and Iggy to set the charges throughout the perimeter. To our joy, Sam's surveillance system functions, with the exception of the south section of the property. Theo's agreed to take the first watch there. Hopefully, we'll be able to repair that section and avoid having to crouch in the cold during all hours.
Two months pass without a sign of the dead soldiers that Thresh promised us. Gorian's expanded, her small frame horribly unbalanced. With coaching from Iggy, Theo's repaired the damaged security perimeter. Sam tells us when the smallest mouse breaches any part of the grounds. With each day, we're more optimistic that Etch, Grey, and the others will appear in the sky and sweep us away. Hope's a powerful but often misleading concoction, so we're resolved to keep our guard.
The nights are hard for me. I simply don't want to sleep and face Thresh again. I doubt that Etch would try to contact me again, although I know that my companions desperately want news of the sunken Fuerst. I want to see Fromer the most. His insight into our plight would be most welcome and I'd like to know whether Wenn and father are still well. Strangely, my thoughts of Wenn are fading, although I think about Eliza constantly. I see father most clearly as the young man who used to carry me on his shoulders. The old man who disappeared that awful night is a ghost to me.
One evening, I'm wandering the empty, dimly lit corridors of the lodge feeling quite lonely. I've explored every dusty and cobwebbed room of the building and have found no place that gives me solace. I hear someone behind me and swing around.
"Hi Sprouter."
"Theo, it's been a while since you've snuck up on me. It seems like years since we had a normal life in the village."
"Amy, I have a confession. I've been having the worst feelings lately - like we're not gonna make it."
"What?" I'm genuinely surprised. "This is my bright, optimistic Theo talking here. Why are you so worried?"
"Bad dreams and feeling, wrong. Mind you, we're ready for those bastards. But it's like that Thresh woman and her horror show has gotten to me, you know?" He puts his hands on my shoulders. They're too warm and my heart's pounding. His eyes are so sad. Before I know it, I'm kissing him hard. He grabs my hair and pushes me back against the wall. I want this with all my being but I know it's wrong. If only I could banish Wenn from my mind. I push away.
"No, Theo, we can't."
His face is flushed and hair tangled. "But-"
"Wenn's your brother - closer than blood. If he's alive, neither of us will be able to forgive ourselves."
Theo touches my cheek and sulks down the corridor.
When I return to the main room, the fire's blazing and everyone is bundled up in their bed rolls, including Theo.
I don't sleep the entire night. Eventually, my companions rise, settling into their routines. Theo awakes cheerful, whistling as he goes outside to gather snow for tea. There's no sign of the troubled boy I saw last night. He glances at me and smiles. "Hi Sprouter." I'm puzzled and slightly annoyed.
Bets returns mid morning with a turkey, a rare find. We're delighted about augmenting Sam's menu. The food he produces from our waste, tree limbs, and sawdust is edible and nutritious, but not particularly palatable. The food synthesizer lost something while sleeping for centuries. I'm plucking the bird when Sam announces that two rabbits are at the perimeter. "Thanks Sam, no need to tell us anymore."
"Amy, it is best that I keep watch. Three more rabbits and a fox have arrived. They are as cold as the snow, emitting no body heat."
"Sam, now you've got my attention."
I call the others and we peer out the window. There are twenty small animals on the north woodline of the lodge. They're acting like the bear, gimping through the deep snow and leaving trails of brown tracks behind them.
"Holy shit." Gorian grabs her tablet.
"You're not planning to set the charges are you?" Bets places her hand over Gorian's screen.
"Nope. But I'm preparing. If their friends arrive, we need to be ready."
More animals have gathered, including raccoons, squirrels, and a few wild dogs. The dogs bother me. My gut squirms at the thought of my mauled mother. The dead creatures mill haphazardly about, surrounding the lodge. I swallow hard. "They're scouting out the location. Thresh is on her way."
I concentrate, searching for my faithful caribou or other woodland creatures willing to take me in. My mind's blank, except at its periphery, where I feel Thresh's familiar, frenetic vibe. If I can sense her, she’s close and may be able to reciprocate. While we watch the animals pace back and forth, I wonder why Thresh can't possess me the way I can occupy her. Perhaps she can and hasn't discovered that talent yet. Gods help us if she does.
Late afternoon arrives and the shadows grow. The animals are obscured by the dark trees. Gorian tells Sam to hit the lights, and the exterior of the lodge shines, bright as day. The animals are visible once again, seeming unconcerned by the brilliant light. The snow's muddied by their slime.
Sam declares, "I've detected three human figures with no apparent body heat at the east perimeter." We cringe. Theo and Bets run to the east window and crack it open, rifles extended. Three shots crackle through the air. Sam confirms. "The figures are motionless and have been eliminated."
"Thanks Sam," Theo says. “I’m headed to the roof to get a full view of the grounds. Those were definitely not live people. You should have seen ‘em when they were hit. They shattered into chunks.”
“I’ll relieve you in an hour,” Bets says, checking the charge strength of her rifle.
We spread out, covering the windows at each corner of the building, weapons ready. Hours pass with no sign of more shuffling, frozen people. The warmth of the lodge and the hum of the air through the vents make me groggy. Theo appears from his post. “We should start taking breaks, so we all get some rest. Amy, you’re first to hit the sack.”
I protest, but not too convincingly. My lack of sleep from the previous night has taken its toll. I crawl into my sack and drift off. I awake in an encampment in the snow. I’m back in Thresh and staring at a group of grubs. Strangely, their legs aren’t sunken in the drifts. Rather, the beasts lumber weightlessly above the white crust. Even in the cold, the smell of decay’s overwhelming. In the distance, beyond the firelight, I hear the murmur of dead voices. I cannot begin to count the number of mouths making those unearthly sounds.
Thresh is very happy. She’s singing some sort of lullaby about fairies in the woods. Spread before her on a large table is an odd map with curving lines on it. A spot on the map’s circled with ink. I’m assuming that it marks our location. From her elation, I infer the camp’s not far away from the lodge.
“Come over here.” Thresh motions to a pale, muscular man in an enormous fur coat. He saunters over. She smiles and purrs, “We’re very close darling. Three of my friends told me that they’re holed up in an old dwelling about a day’s journey from here. It’s a shame that those awful people had to kill them.”
He kneads her shoulders, which feels really good. “Thresh, my sweet, I love you. But do you have to refer to those dead things as if they’re alive?”
“I’m sorry, Jonah. It’s hard for me to explain. But they really do feel
like my children. I can see through their eyes and almost imagine their pain. I’ve always wanted a family. Next to you –“
“I’m so sorry to upset you. I understand how lonely you were. But you have me now. And Eliza. We won’t leave you.”
Thresh turns and kisses him. “I’m so lucky to have found you in that town. We really have become a family.”
He laughs. “Those villagers were so gullible, weren’t they? They thought you were going to save them from the beasts. Instead, you showed them the truth of the dark. If it weren’t for you, I’d have rotted in their prison. And for what? All I tried to do was to preach to them – show them the truth.”
She hugs him tightly.
He whispers. “You are the chosen one.”
I desperately want to gain control over Thresh again and kill her and this awful man Jonah before I lose my grip. However, an invisible boundary leaves me a helpless spectator.
She rises and heads for the same tent she used when I was her captive. Magarat stands at the opening in the same blue dress. "Ma'm, she's sleeping soundly."
Thresh coos. "How long?"
"It was about an hour or so."
"Oh, I so wanted to tuck her in. We'll be leaving in the morning. You keep her here safe at camp. We'll be gone for about two days and then we can travel to our permanent home in the mountains by the blessed waters. We’ll find such joy there."
Curiosity flashes across Magarat's face. But she clearly knows not to ask questions. Thresh sets down her scabbard and sword on the table and shuffles quietly to Eliza's cot. My baby's curled up with a blanket clutched in her hands by her face. Her chest slowly rises and falls as she sleeps soundly. My heart strains to control Thresh, force her out into the bonfire in the center of camp. Instead, I feel the soft threads of my daughter's hair through Thresh's fingers. I yearn to gaze at Eliza longer, but Thresh rises and leaves without taking notice of Magarat.
Thresh walks to another tent. A small oil lamp flickers inside. The sweetly sick smell of decomposition's overwhelming. A blowfly passes Thresh's face, which she brushes away. I wonder how a fly can live this time of year and then I see a rotting, matted hulk on the floor. Thresh raises her left hand and the body struggles to rise. It was a woman, perhaps in her late twenties. Thresh grins. "Hello sister." The body writhes as if in pain. "Didn't think that your little sister would find you? Well here I am. You left me to those people. Now I'm going to keep you as my pet. You can watch as I consume everything."
To my horror, the corpse whispers hoarsely, "No."
Thresh seems to have harnessed a way to not only animate the body of her victims but their minds as well. She continues. “Step daddy did things to me. You let him. You liked him, didn’t you? You could’ve taken me with you but you were selfish. You bitch.”
The corpse sister’s hands reach for her bloated face and begin scratching.
“That’s right sweetheart, give yourself a good grooming.”
The poor dead woman emits something that sounds like a heartfelt sob.
My fear and anger build and I feel the same way I did when I created the flash that pushed Thresh away. I leave Thresh and enter something very strange. The world seems incredibly large and chaotic. My vision's sharp but impossible to comprehend, the space around me divided into tiny slivers of vivid, colorful light. I realize that I've entered the damned fly. I dart around the room intoxicated by the ripe smell of Thresh's sister. I want to revel in it.
My time in the fly's mercifully short as I'm tugged back to the lodge. Bets is shaking me awake. My shift's begun. “Amy, you look like shit. I take it you’ve been traveling again?”
I grab her wrist with my sweat-slicked hand. "Bets, we have about a day and then hell will be unleashed on us."
CHAPTER 14- REBIRTH
Thresh will be here soon and we're all exhausted and tense. We've taken to practicing our aim on the circus of dead animals circling the lodge. Gorian seems to enjoy the game the most, with a fondness for exploding raccoons. Theo aims for the possum’s tails. Like the human corpses, most of the animals are nearly frozen and rip apart easily. None of us talk about it, but the thought of the grub's immunity to our weapons fire makes us wonder whether we're wasting our time. Gorian assures us that the modern weapons at our disposal are far more lethal than the antiques we lifted from Troll. I wonder then, why our companions at the Fuerst had to flee Thresh so quickly and end up submerged in the brine.
Sam announces that a large number of cold, human-shaped targets are approaching the east side of the building. I peer out the window at the bodies. Most are naked but in remarkably good condition. We fire rapidly, covering the snow in a thick brown mist of body parts and inanimate fog. The bodies keep coming like a stream of ants. As the day wears on, the corpses begin spreading out, as if they are testing our defenses for weaknesses. At dusk in the lodge’s artificial light, the onslaught ends.
We stand in our windows waiting for the inevitable. A human shape appears beyond the lodge lights. Bets takes aim. Theo says, "No, wait."
To my dismay and disgust, I recognize the figure as Thresh's half-dead sister as it ambles toward the front stoop of the lodge. It croaks, "Amy Marksman."
Looks of concern and confusion focus on me. I even sense it on the alien Iggy's face. "She's a messenger," I say quietly.
I crack open the door and peek out. "What are your terms?"
"Join us."
"What happens to my companions?"
"They live."
"What guarantees do I have?"
"My sister does not lie."
That’s not much of a guarantee coming from a living corpse. I look at the grey, shriveled creature before me with scratches torn across its face, searching for any sign of life in its eyes. The orbs stare through me, white marbles with no depth. I raise my rifle and finally send the poor thing to its grave. I yell back into the lodge, "I guess we're fighting."
The grubs appear almost instantly in the tree line. Gorian mutters, "Here we go." She pushes a button and a blinding pink light flashes, billowing smoke next to a group of them. When the grey haze clears, we see that they're gone. Theo whoops. Bets is less optimistic. "Theo, we only have a limited number of those. After one more charge, that part of the perimeter will be open. We need to concentrate our fire there."
As she expected, the grubs begin to move toward the apparent gap. Gorian fires the second charge, immolating them. Bets commands, "Now that's open space for them to advance. Keep shooting there. Hopefully, these things will look for another gap and we can blow some more charges."
We use our rifles at the highest settings. The grubs seem to be irritated by the shots and don't advance. A few look for other passageways through our perimeter. Additional charges explode as Gorian maintains our defense. To our dismay, Thresh's live soldiers appear at the periphery. There are about a hundred souls and they look terrified. A pink charge ignites near them and about half are incinerated. The survivors run back into the forest.
“Regroup and advance,” a voice I recognize as Jonah’s bellows. Thresh and Jonah appear on horseback. More soldiers advance on the line. Thresh sends the grubs back toward the opening in our perimeter. They resist our fire and begin to spread out inside of the lodge grounds.
“Oh shit,” Gorian exclaims. “This is a circus.” She begins igniting a series of secondary mines, which the grubs ignore. We fire the few rockets we have at the creatures with no apparent effect. The living soldiers file in behind them, occasionally shooting flaming arrows at the lodge, with no effect. More mines ignite, blowing bits and pieces of Thresh’s human army across the bloody snow. The screams of the injured are appalling.
We pick off the live soldiers the best we can but they’re advancing quickly. The grubs head for the doors and windows. A pod of corpses overwhelm our fire and scratch at the outside walls. Theo exclaims, “There’re too damn many of them. What should we do?”
Gorian curses and says, “Sam, shutter us in.”
The do
ors and windows transform to metal with a satisfying thud, reverberating through the building. “How long do you think they’ll hold?” Bets asks.
Gorian shrugs. “The building’s built like a bunker with those stone and concrete walls. There’s a reason it’s lasted over a thousand years. Without explosives, they’ll have trouble getting to us. It all depends on how strong the grubs are.”
The sound of the siege outside is muffled. Sam streams images of the attackers on Gorian’s tablet computer. Thresh and Jonah tower over the soldiers on their horses. They’re clearly frustrated, shouting orders. The grubs have surrounded the lodge and scratch at the sealed openings, with no success. A few of the live soldiers climb onto the roof, discovering the surface is solid metal. They stuff a couple of corpses into the chimney, thinking that they might smoke us out. They don’t realize that we have an alternative heat and cooking source thanks to Sam. We close the flue to stop the stench from wafting inside.
Iggy sprays himself from a bottle. “We seemed to have bought ourselves some time.”
“But for how long?” Bets takes a long draught of water. “They’ll eventually figure out a way to get in here.”
I gaze at Thresh and her lover on Gorian’s screen. The horses that she and Jonah are using are Phineus and Silius. What else will this woman take from me?
After a few hours, Thresh and most of her troops recede into the forest. A few grubs and soldiers remain. The injured have long frozen to death, their bodies awaiting Thresh to revive them. The animated dead animals and humans wander aimlessly, to the disgust of their living companions.
“Where’d they all go I wonder?” Theo asks.
I pause for a moment. I can feel Thresh nearby. “They’re not far away. I gather they’re regrouping, looking for ways to break into the building.”
We hear a large tree crashing in the forest. Iggy nods. “There’s your answer. They are going to use a tree as a battering ram. An ancient, yet effective technique.”
Gorian perks up. “Sam, given the thickness of the security shutters, how will the entrance stand up to a two ton tree?”
