The Stones of Angkor (Purge of Babylon, Book 3)

by Sam Sisavath

“Neither have I.”

  “By the way, you know anything about all the shooting in the woods? You guys having trouble or something? There are plenty of boys here who wouldn’t mind lending a hand if you need it.”

  Will shook his head. “We’re fine.”

  “What was all that shooting about?”

  “Don’t worry about it. We’ve dealt with it.”

  Jenkins was about to ask something else—the man had a thousand questions, apparently—when he stopped and stared over Will’s shoulder instead. He followed the older man’s gaze and saw a group of six hazmat suits moving through the camp. They had two figures between them, leaning against each other.

  Will casually walked away from Jenkins and out of the open, slipping behind one of the tents. Not that anyone noticed, including Jenkins. Every set of eyes in the immediate area was too busy watching the new arrivals, which included a tall blonde girl covered in blood.

  Aw, shit.

  Will watched Gaby shouldering Nate, who was moving with some difficulty alongside her. Nate looked shot—at least twice—with almost one entire shoulder swaddled in bloodied gauze. And although she was covered in almost as much blood as Nate, Gaby didn’t actually look wounded; she seemed to be more tired than anything.

  Nate’s blood.

  As Gaby and Nate were led past the tent he was standing behind, Will pulled off the gas mask and tried to catch Gaby’s eye. She was looking around her, taking in the camp with an expression he imagined he must have had himself when he first saw the place up close.

  Just as the group was about to pass him completely, Gaby glanced over and they locked eyes for a brief second. Her eyes widened just a bit, but then she quickly looked away, though he thought he saw a ghost of a smile cross her lips.

  That’s my girl.

  CHAPTER 25

  GABY

  Josh was alive!

  She didn’t know how that was possible. It shouldn’t be. But Josh was here, walking in front of her. He wasn’t just one of these people, he was leading them.

  Her mind spun, trying to process the information. At first she thought she was still lightheaded from watching Nate get shot and then trying to keep him from bleeding to death, but she realized now that it was more than that.

  Josh was alive!

  “Josh,” she said, trying to get his attention.

  She struggled to hold on to Nate as they were led through the woods. Gaby spent almost as much time swatting branches out of her face as she did trying to keep Nate upright. Somehow, though, he was keeping up with her. She couldn’t fathom how he was doing it. She held on to Nate with both arms, his feet moving alongside her, his eyes were closed as if he were asleep.

  “Josh,” she said again, louder this time.

  He finally looked back at her, his hair long and shaggy. She remembered all the times she had cut his and Matt’s hair while they were hiding together for eight months after the world ended. But the brown eyes that looked back at her now were different. The same, but not quite. He wasn’t as skinny anymore, and even the gun belt around his waist seemed to fit better.

  He didn’t say anything, and instead waited (forced) her to continue.

  “Why aren’t you dead?” she asked. “Will told me you died. You fell into the lake and you drowned.”

  “Will was wrong,” he said. It was his first words to her after they had left the parking lot.

  She waited for him to continue, but he didn’t.

  “So you didn’t die that day?” she said.

  “Gaby, I’m here, walking in front of you, aren’t I? How could I do that if I died that day?” He chuckled, and for a brief moment, she saw the old Josh again.

  Gaby looked around at the men walking with them. They didn’t seem to be paying attention. Or care.

  She repositioned Nate’s body against hers with some effort. Nate groaned, but his eyes remained closed. He was painfully pale and sweat dripped from his face. She still couldn’t understand how his legs were moving.

  “Josh, please slow down.”

  Josh did slow down, and as he did, the others followed suit without a word.

  Josh looked back at her again, and his eyes drifted to Nate. “Who is he, Gaby?”

  “I told you, he’s a friend. His name’s Nate.”

  “Just a friend?”

  “Yes. Just a friend. We only met this morning.”

  That seemed to satisfy him, and his eyes softened a bit. “Do you want some help? He looks heavy.”

  “No, I’m fine.” That wasn’t true, but she didn’t want him to know that. Didn’t want them to know that. “Josh, how are you still alive?”

  “I fell in the water, but someone fished me out.” He grinned. “Literally. They used this big fishing hook thing.” He mimed it for her. “I guess I just wasn’t ready to die yet.”

  “Just like that?”

  “You think it should be more dramatic?”

  “I guess.”

  “It wasn’t.” Then he frowned at her. “You guys killed some of my people, Gaby.”

  “I didn’t know they were your people,” she said, doing her best not to say the word “people” in a way that might be interpreted as anything other than a simple statement of fact. Even though the idea of Josh being one of these people sent a chill up her spine, to hear him actually call them his people was somehow a thousand times worse.

  “Who was out there with you and…what’s his name again?” Josh asked.

  “Nate.”

  “Who was out there with you and Nate? They said there was a third guy.”

  “Henry,” Gaby said without hesitation.

  “Do I know him?”

  “No. He came to the island after…you left.”

  He was reading her face carefully, trying to catch her in a lie. She looked back at him, doing her best to sell the untruth.

  Apparently satisfied, Josh said, “What were you guys doing out there?”

  “Some col—” She stopped herself, and said instead, “—of your guys raided a hospital in Lafayette. They took some kids, and we were trying to get them back.”

  “Are you talking about Mercy Hospital?”

  “Yes.”

  He shook his head. “I didn’t have anything to do with that. I’m only responsible for the camps and the towns. But I heard about it.” He looked a bit sad—or was that just an act? “You were there?”

  “We were trading with them.”

  “Just you and this Henry guy?”

  “There were a few others, but they died at the hospital during the attack.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry about that.”

  You’re sorry about that?

  Instead of allowing her emotions to explode on him, she forced them down and concentrated on keeping her lies straight. Josh had always been a smart kid, and it wouldn’t have taken much to slip up. He was probably keeping track of everything she had already told him so far.

  Or maybe she was reading too much into it. Maybe, under that new, harder exterior, it was still just Josh, the boy who doted on her, who shook and shuddered and whispered “Thank you” when she finally made love to him that first night on the island.

  “What about Will and Danny?” Josh asked. “They didn’t come with you?”

  “No. Just us.”

  “That’s kind of dangerous, isn’t it?”

  “We had a helicopter,” she said, thinking that he probably knew about that part.

  “A helicopter,” he said, almost wistfully. “I haven’t seen one of those in a while.”

  “Neither had we. It belonged to the people at the hospital. They picked us up, brought us over. That’s why Will and Danny didn’t feel the need to come along. There was me and Henry and two other guys. We thought we were just coming to trade, but then your guys attacked.”

  “Not my guys, Gaby,” he said, sounding almost annoyed at the accusation.

  “One of these guys, then.”

  He sighed, but let it go. “So, this Henry guy. He’
s the one going around killing my people?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe. We got split up.”

  “I have an MIA. His name’s Givens. You know anything about him?”

  “No.”

  “Maybe this Henry took him.”

  “Maybe. I don’t know. I told you, we got split up. I don’t know what Henry’s up to. He’s smart, so he probably took off. That’s what Nate and I were trying to do when you ambushed us in the parking lot.”

  He gave her that annoyed look again. “Like I said, I’m sorry about what happened at the hospital, but I had nothing to do with it. And as for your friend Nate, well, my guys were just shooting back. You attacked us first.”

  “My guys.”

  “Us.”

  Who are you, Josh?

  “What is this place, Josh?” she asked instead. “What’s this camp?”

  “It’s just temporary. From here, we take people to their final relocation spot. It’s nice, Gaby.” He beamed like a proud father. “It’s a real town, and they’re free to come and go, but most of them stay for obvious reasons.”

  “You have a fence.”

  “The gates aren’t locked. They can leave any time, but they don’t. Some do, but most don’t. They know what’s out there. It’s safer in here. It’s even safer in the towns.”

  “What are these towns?”

  “We’ve taken over some of the smaller cities, resettling people in them.”

  “Resettling?”

  He grinned at her, and the brash Josh, the one who always knew he was smarter than most of the kids around him, shone through again. “I’m at the ground floor on this, Gaby. She came up with the idea, but I’m the one making it happen. She’s good at this, selling dreams to people. They call this Phase Three. We’re almost at the end.”

  “We.” He said “we” instead of “them.”

  “You’re with them now,” she said.

  He started to answer, but stopped and seemed to consider his response more thoroughly before finally saying, “It’s complicated.”

  “How complicated is it, Josh?”

  “More complicated than you think, Gaby.”

  They finally stepped out of the woods and back onto a muddy dirt road. She saw a gate in front of them. It was wide open, inviting. He was right. The fences and the gates were just for show. They weren’t going to keep anyone in who didn’t want to stay.

  And beyond the fencing was the camp.

  Here we go…

  *

  Will!

  She saw him out of the corner of her eye, wearing a hazmat suit and watching them from behind one of the many tents sprouting up from the ground around her. Her eyes met his, just long enough to let him know she had seen him, before she quickly looked away.

  Josh was moving slower in front of her as they serpentined their way through the camp. He had moved farther ahead of the group, apparently not interested in engaging in small talk with her anymore.

  People stared as they passed. Not that Gaby blamed them. She was very aware of the scabbing gash in her forehead, along with the scratches and bruises that still adorned her face and neck from the helicopter crash. Her hair was a mess, and she hadn’t showered since leaving Song Island two days ago. Her clothes—cargo pants and a long-sleeve button shirt—were covered in Nate’s blood and dirt and God knew how many layers of sweat.

  She discovered that she didn’t care about the curious stares. She had nothing to be ashamed of. Certainly not to these people, who had given up everything to come here, to be a part of this. Whatever the hell this was.

  The sight of pregnant women made her look twice, though. By the time she saw the second, third, and tenth one, she stopped doing a double take.

  She remembered what Will had said back on Sandwhite Point: “I think we’re looking at the next phase of whatever final solution the ghouls are moving toward. This…is something new. Something we haven’t seen before. And it’s big, so it has to be a pretty significant part of their plan.”

  Nate was groaning against her, and he was moving much slower than before, his feet dragging against the ground noticeably now.

  “Josh,” she said.

  He didn’t hear her, and kept walking.

  “Josh,” she said louder.

  He glanced back. “Hmm?”

  “Do you have a doctor? I don’t think Nate’s going to make it.”

  He stopped, and everyone stopped with him. “You, you, and you,” he said, pointing at, from what she could tell, three random men, “take him to see a doctor. I want two people with him at all times.”

  The men grabbed Nate and pulled him roughly from her. Nate groaned as he was yanked away, and she helplessly watched them move toward the blue tent that rose from the campgrounds like some kind of plastic castle.

  “You’re not going to hurt him?” she asked Josh.

  “He’ll be fine,” Josh said. “What happens after that is up to him.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “We’ll talk about it.” He looked at the others. “You can go, I got her.”

  The others faded away, but Wilson hesitated. “Are you sure?”

  “She’s unarmed. I got it.”

  Wilson shrugged and wandered off after the others.

  Josh took her gently by the arm and led her through the camp again, but it wasn’t in the direction of the big blue tent. Gaby let him lead her, mulling over her options.

  They were limited. The fact that she was unarmed was a problem. They had taken her rifle, her Glock, and her knife. They had even taken her pack. The only thing she had left was an empty gun belt and pouches, which felt so light without her sidearm and spare magazines that she almost forgot she was still wearing them.

  “It’s okay, Gaby,” Josh said.

  “Is it, Josh?”

  “Yes. I’m here. I’ll make sure you’re safe.” He smiled at her. “That’s why I did all of this, you know. It’s for you, Gaby. This is all for you.”

  *

  Josh’s tent had a grass floor like all the others, with a small cot in one corner. The only other furniture was a fold-out table with a portable LED lamp and laptop on top.

  “Laptop?” she said. Somehow the fact that Josh had a working laptop at the end of the world didn’t surprise her at all.

  He grinned. “I know, right? So cliché.”

  “How do you power it?”

  “Rechargeable batteries. I got the idea from Will. You know those Army Rangers, always prepared. I’m trying to get everyone here into more of a battalion mentality. You should see the people running the other states, Gaby. They have no clue what they’re doing. Compared to them, we’re on the cutting edge.”

  He’s so proud of it.

  Josh must have seen the dubious look on her face, because he walked over and put his hands on her shoulders and squeezed. The Josh she remembered, who smiled a lot and always wanted to please her, seemed to return again in that instant.

  “Gaby, I did all of this for you,” he said, the earnestness in his voice almost cracking, as if he was willing her to understand.

  “How is all of this for me, Josh?”

  “They gave me a choice…”

  “Who?”

  “The blue-eyed ghoul. She said her name was Kate.”

  Kate? Will’s Kate?

  “They have names?” she said instead.

  “The blue-eyed ones do.”

  “How many of them are there?”

  “I’ve met ten so far, but there are more, spread out. Most of them are assigned to specific states, but there are a few that float around, doing what needs to be done. You have no idea how organized they are, Gaby. You would think with so many of them—billions—that they couldn’t possibly be organized, but you’d be wrong. They have some kind of mental link, this hive mind, that lets them communicate. It’s remarkable. I’ve learned so much in just three months. Imagine what I could learn in three years.”

  She tried to smile, but she knew it came out
wrong even before she saw him frown back at her in response.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “What’s wrong?” My God, Josh, how could you even ask me that? Everything is wrong.

  “You’re working for them,” was all she could manage. “You’re one of them now. A collaborator.”

  “No, no, no.” He walked away for a moment, before looking back at her with renewed focus. “You don’t understand, Gaby.”

  “Then make me understand.”

  “I did all of this for you.”

  “You keep saying that.”

  “Because it’s true.”

  “How is it true?”

  “We can’t fight them, Gaby. There are too many of them. Even if Will and Danny found a thousand more just like them—a million more—it still wouldn’t matter. There are just too many of them. We can’t win this war.” He paused, seemed to gather his thoughts. “They gave me the opportunity to save you. To save everyone. Why did you think they left the island alone all these months? She could have kept throwing people at it if she wanted to, but she didn’t.”

  “Because of you?”

  “Yes, Gaby. Because of me. See, it was always my intention to come back to you. That’s what all this is about, that’s why I’m doing this. Everyone here will be taken to a town and allowed to live out the rest of their lives. They’ll grow old, have children, and die of natural causes. Don’t you want that?”

  She didn’t know how to answer. She had so many questions, but many of them, she knew, would sound like accusations if she voiced them.

  Don’t antagonize him, but find out what you can. That’s what Will would do.

  “Why are there so many pregnant women here?” she asked. “I haven’t seen a pregnancy since all of this began.”

  “It’s part of the deal.”

  “What deal?”

  He walked over to a cooler and opened it, took out a can of Coke. “Want one?”

  She shook her head. “What kind of deal did those women make, Josh?”

  He took his time. Walked back to her, cracked open the can, and took a sip of warm soda. Then, wiping at his lips with the back of his hand, he shrugged. “The ghouls need live bodies. They need a continuous supply of blood. Human beings, in other words.”