The Offering

by E. R. Arroyo

  “Not sure of what?” She tucks her hands in her pockets, her face drawn with the genuine concern that I’m starting to love her for.

  “If we’re doing the right thing.”

  “Aha,” she says.

  “I mean, I know it’s the right thing, but not with small numbers. We could start this fight and lose it. There’s been so much death already.”

  “Mmm.” She doesn’t say more, though I kind of expected her to.

  “I just want it to be over.”

  “So do I, hun. So do I. And I think you’ll have plenty of troops. Don’t underestimate Max’s ability to charm men into battle. He has a noble way about him.” I stop walking to take in the view. Leaning against the stone fence, I gaze out into an open field that runs alongside a forest across the way. The tips of grass blow in the wind and it’s peaceful.

  “He loved my dad, didn’t he?”

  She puts an arm around my waist and I put mine around her narrow shoulders. “A lot of us did,” she says.

  “You could go with us,” I suggest. “You seemed dangerous enough to me when we first met. We could use all the help we can get.”

  She laughs. “Oh, I’m harmless.”

  I smile back. “I hate to ask you to put yourself in harm’s way but honestly, if you wanted to join us I’d be grateful and honored.”

  She taps the stone with her toe. “I’m pregnant, Corinne. I can’t fight with you.” Her hand drifts to her stomach, and I’m stunned that I’ve missed her growing belly. Subtle though it is, shouldn’t there have been signs that would tip me off? I haven’t been around enough pregnant women to know….

  “Oh,” I gape. “I’m sorry.” I shake my head, thinking that’s probably not what one should say to a pregnant woman. “I mean,” I attempt to backtrack. “I mean congratulations. I didn’t know… Who—I mean, that’s none of my business. I was just curious.” I put my hand on my forehead. Hard. “I’m rambling.”

  “It’s okay,” she assures me.

  “What’s it like?”

  “It’s scary,” she breathes, and I can tell she means it. Her expression darkens and her eyes become a little narrower. She tries to smile, but doesn’t quite. “I never thought I’d have a child of my own. Much as I love children it just … with the world we live in … never seemed right. I knew it would be hard, being responsible for someone’s life, a defenseless baby, a helpless child. But I certainly never imagined the terror of doing it by myself.”

  I try to think of a way to comfort her, but come up short. I squeeze her shoulder tighter and lay my head against hers.

  “I’ll be okay,” she says, straightening her posture like she’s trying to convince us both. “My colony will help me since the baby’s father isn’t around.”

  The burning question is, “Where is he?” I regret asking as soon as I’ve done it. It’s not my business.

  “He passed away recently.” She’s looking at me like the answer is obvious, but I’m not getting it. Dylan’s the bright one, not me. I couldn’t even tell she was pregnant.

  “I’m sorry to hear that.” And I am. But I’m done asking questions because her eyes are brimming with tears. I pull my arm away but grab her cold fingers and give them a squeeze.

  “I’m sorry too.” She wipes a tear from her cheek then grabs a necklace from under her shirt, taking a golden band and kissing it. She notices me staring at it, at the intricate design carved into the precious metal. “Your father gave this ring to me.” She clears her throat.

  My eyes dart up to meet hers.

  “There’s a church in Delilah with a real minister. We were married for three years before…”

  I stand up straighter, my mouth gaping. “What?”

  Her hand drifts again to her belly. “This is your father’s baby, sweetheart.”

  “He was married?” I ask, not sure I even believe her. They didn’t stay in the same room in Mercy.

  “Not many people knew. In the interest of politics, we kept it secret. But we were going to come out with it because of the baby. If one of us had to resign command, then I would have. I’ve grown weary of making decisions for other people’s wellbeing anyway.”

  Hand hovering over my mouth, I stare out into the woods again. “I’m sorry he’s gone, that he’s not here for you.”

  “I’m sorry he’s not here for us both.”

  I release her hand and lean forward on the fence again. “Yeah…” I’m not sure how I’m supposed to feel but sorry for myself certainly isn’t it.

  “I just thought you should know. But I’m with you in spirit. I want this to be over. Once and for all. But you be safe. And when it’s done, maybe you can finally settle that spirit of yours. This baby and I would love to be a part of your life. Dylan’s too.”

  Like family, I think. I try for a moment to picture it, Dylan and me, Karen and the baby, together after it’s over. After Antius is no longer a threat. Appealing as it is, it’s hard to fathom.

  “So I’m going to be a sister, eh?” I smile.

  “You’ll be a great one.”

  * * *

  When Karen leaves I’m sad to see her go, but glad that Boone is staying with us. A day later others from Mercy show up. I’m surprised to see Aaron among them. From our trip to The City all those weeks ago, I was certain he’d have nothing to do with this war or me ever again.

  He does make a point to avoid eye contact and I get the feeling that, like the trip to The City, he’s doing this for Max.

  I’m peering through the blinds as Boone welcomes the new soldiers in the front when a thud catches my attention. A moment later another one comes. I step into the hall and follow the dull sound. Movement in the courtyard catches my attention. Stepping toward the glass doors I see that some of the space has been cleared and a target set up, currently pierced by two knives.

  I step outside.

  “Hold it like this,” Tyce says, showing Phillip how to grip the handle on a knife. Then he pulls back and releases it. It slams into the target.

  Phillip jogs to retrieve the three knives then stands where Tyce had. He attempts to make the same throw. It comes up short, but he tries again, this time at least hitting the target. He’s a quick study.

  “Cori!” someone shouts. I rush to the front door. “Come look!”

  Stepping onto the concrete, I see a commotion in the distance. No less than fifteen vehicles advance toward us down the winding road, and one of them is large and yellow tinted with little black windows along the side.

  Max is among the men in the first vehicle to arrive. He hops out and he approaches me wearing a warm smile.

  “I thought you’d never show,” I say, leaning into his arm around my shoulder.

  “How’s the bomb coming?” he asks as he and I watch loads of men climb out of vans, trucks, cars and a bus.

  “Still in The City, haven’t heard. Are these the last of the troops?”

  “Almost,” Max says. “Smyrna will be here tonight. We’ll be ready as early as tomorrow morning.”

  As the last of the vehicles park and soldiers continue to pour out, a little more confidence washes over me. It’s hard not to let their arrival get my adrenaline pumping.

  “Did you get those City boys trained yet?” he pats my shoulder before releasing me.

  “They don’t need it. I promise.”

  He nods. “Well, I hope they can follow orders at least.”

  I shrug, not sure that’s a reasonable thing to hope for.

  * * *

  Tyce, Max, and I get back to The City in the late afternoon and find Dylan, Wayne, and Amy in a warehouse on Tenth.

  Dylan greets me with a hug and a kiss. Arm around my shoulder, he guides me to scraps spread across the floor. A larger cylindrical metal piece, bolts, nuts, wiring. It looks like a mess to me.

  “What is this?”

  “This … is the bomb,” he tells us.

  My mouth gapes. “What happened to it?”

  “We’ll reassemble i
t when we’re ready to use it. It’s easier to transport this way—and less dangerous.” Dylan points to a cylinder with concentric blue circles. “This is the power source. It’ll be the last piece to go in, and we’d like to keep it in a different vehicle. We can’t risk an accidental detonation.”

  We all stand around the neatly displayed parts as if we all know what he’s talking about, which clearly we don’t.

  Wayne takes over, kneeling beside the main unit. “It’s activated manually in two places. Here … and here.” He looks up at Max.

  “So two people have to do it?” Tyce asks.

  “Bingo,” Wayne responds. “And it’d be wise for a third person to have the detonator.”

  “How many men will it take to put it in place? Is it heavy?” Max kneels beside the pieces, taking a closer look.

  “Two or three,” Dylan says.

  “And how long does assembly take? We may not have much time once we arrive.” Max scratches his chin.

  Dylan and Wayne look at each other before Dylan answers. “About five minutes.”

  “Five minutes? That’s a lot of time on the battlefield. What if they spot us coming, or catch us while we’re setting it up?” I shift uncomfortably, crossing my arms over my chest.

  “Five minutes is a lot,” Max confirms.

  I catch Tyce in the corner of my eye, looking a lot like he’s biting his tongue, refraining from a sarcastic comment I’m sure. I can’t imagine why he would’ve suddenly developed a filter.

  Dylan wipes his sweaty brow with the back of his hand, peering at the strewn pieces. He kneels, pointing as he speaks. “Maybe we can connect these parts in advance. If we have, say, three guys who know exactly what to do we can pull it off quicker.”

  “Any volunteers?” Tyce quips.

  “Wayne and I would prefer we both be there. We need one more.” Dylan looks to each of us except Tyce.

  “I’ll do it,” Amy says.

  Max nods his approval.

  “All right,” Wayne says, throwing his arm around his daughter’s neck. “We’ll do a few test runs, get it all put together and see how the three of us manage assembling and carrying it.”

  Max pats Wayne and Dylan on the shoulder. “Good work, gentlemen. We need to pull in somebody to shadow you just in case one of you gets hurt, God forbid.”

  “Me,” Tyce says, stepping closer to the group.

  “Great,” Max beams.

  Dylan doesn’t look nearly as thrilled.

  “Our troops will be ready tomorrow,” Max announces.

  “We should move the women right away,” I say, mostly to Tyce.

  He nods. “Take it up with Flex.”

  “Got it,” I say, noting the snide nature of his remark.

  Max and I find Flex, and he’s surprisingly easy to convince. In just under two hours, we’ve gathered The City’s entire population. Even after living here for so long I’m surprised by how many of them there actually are. I’ve only ever seen them in small groups, divided up for safety.

  Young mothers hold hands with small children or have babies in slings across their chests or toddlers strapped to their backs.

  Another rare sight are the elders, muzzles and all, standing in a group to the side. And there are many more of them than I thought as well.

  Remarkably, no one seems scared. It’s possibly one of the things I love most about this place. Fearlessness.

  When it’s time to start walking, a few teenage boys take up the small children, heaving them up over their heads to sit on their shoulders, a cause for delight to the little boys and girls. As a unit we all move down the crumbling street, over the plank bridge that crosses the river and away from their home.

  “The City wasn’t always an island,” Max tells me quietly.

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah, it only had rivers on two sides. Bombs took out the land that connected it to the mainland. Water found its way into the crater making The City into a triangle-shaped island.”

  “I guess that explains why there aren’t any bridges there,” I joke.

  I find Gavin at the rear of the pack near the muzzled elders. He smiles. “Sister,” he greets me.

  “Where’s Eli? I haven’t seen him.”

  “He’s guardin’ the prisoner,” Gavin says.

  “I was hoping Eli would be going with the girls.”

  “Naw, he wants to fight,” Gavin says dismissively.

  “But he’s injured…”

  He shrugs. “You can talk to him. I dunno.”

  When we get back to The City, I will talk to him. He’s no good to us with a bum leg and having recently been stabbed. He’s more likely to get himself killed than do us any good.

  Our walk only takes about two hours, and we’re going through places I haven’t seen before. We stay on the road as much as possible, and anytime we’re forced onto dirt or grass, three guys do their best to cover our tracks.

  Flex out front, the group veers off the main road and into a small city, a city that has fared a lot better than the Pitt somehow. While everything is still a mucky shade of gray, the windows are mostly unbroken, none are blacked out. There are no signs of life at all. I wonder why there wouldn’t be animals here. But I realize there’s probably no water, whereas the Pitt has plenty.

  The streets are filled with automobiles of all types. Many still house their deceased owners. About a half mile down the stretch of road we came in on there’s a cluster of cars smashed into one another where two roads cross.

  Weaving in between vehicles and around heaps of bones, dirt, and rotted clothes, we all try our best to keep up with Flex until he finally halts in front of a particular building. I notice several girls shielding their kids’ eyes from the corpses.

  “We scavenged here before. Let’s walk through.” Flex points to myself, Gavin, and four others, and we follow him in through the unlocked front entrance while the others wait outside.

  We step into a lobby with red carpets. Scanning the room, I notice little sitting areas and fake plants. Flex walks along a countertop, looking behind it once he reaches the end.

  Moving on, we clear each of the three floors one by one, fanning out but remaining close enough to hear each other.

  “There aren’t any bodies,” I observe.

  “We cleared it a while back. Just’n case we needed a place to bring our family. Looks like it’ll finally get some use,” Flex tells me.

  “I’m glad there’s somewhere safe to bring them.”

  Flex nods at that before entering another room to scope it out.

  I’m relieved once we’ve finally cleared the entire building and we bring everybody inside. Flex instructs them to all set up on the second floor, to stay inside, and not go anywhere alone. As the girls and kids are settling in, he clears his throat for an announcement.

  Hands on his hips, he says, “Boys, we’re only taking half of you.”

  Protests arise from all around.

  “No, brother,” one says. “We’re fighting!”

  “Can’t sit out,” calls out another.

  Grumbles come from all over the foyer.

  “Pops, we’re taking you all,” he says, gesturing to the elders. “But should something not go our way, brothers, our families’ll be alone. We need ‘em safe and we need ‘em fed. So, half are staying.”

  After his explanation not nearly as many complain, though I can tell by the looks on their faces they aren’t thrilled. I have to admit, I’m just as uneasy as the rest of them. I thought we’d have all of them with us as we take on Antius again. We need numbers, but I can’t say I blame Flex’s logic. He has a mate and new baby to think about. Their future to protect. And with Tyce no longer interested in leading the responsibility rests on Flex’s shoulders.

  After a lot of bickering, about a fourth of the boys have volunteered to stay behind and Flex ends up having to choose about a half dozen more to stay.

  With minimal goodbyes we’re off, leaving more than half The City’s popul
ation holed up in hiding. If our mission fails, how will they ever know? If they never hear from us again, will they eventually understand what happened? Or will they come looking for us? I would hope not, lest they meet the same fate.

  I force myself not to dwell on that possibility. Because it is a possibility. I think Max would like an extra day with his troops to prepare a plan and institute a chain of command. He’s in charge of this militia but the City boys are unpredictable, and no one knows how well they’ll work together with their military-trained and battle-experienced counterparts.

  After our short trip back to the Pitt, the first thing I do is find Eli, fully intent on sending him on his way to the new hideout we just left.

  He’s not hard to find, in fact, because he meets us as soon as we cross the plank bridge. He’s frantic and rushing toward us, waving for our attention and hobbling with his still-hurt ankle. “He’s gone!” he shouts.

  “Who is?”

  “The spy!”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “He’s what?”

  “Gone! Dunno what happened. Woke with a knot on my head. I’m sorry!” Exhausted, he drops his head to his hands, falling to his knees in the street where we all stand stunned.

  Flex curses.

  “Did he know anything?” Max demands.

  “I dunno,” Eli pleads.

  “About the bomb? The attack? Anything!” Max raises his voice and Eli cowers, shaking his head in response.

  “I don’t know, sir,” he says, almost hysterical. I drop beside him and throw an arm over him protectively, looking up at Max, silently begging him to take it easy.

  “How long ago?” Flex crouches beside Eli trying to be gentler, but tension is practically radiating from his body.

  “I’m not sure. Last thing I remember was high noon.”

  “Hey!” another voice calls out from far off down the road. Glancing up, I spot Noah sprinting our way, panic stricken. He’s shouting something, but I can’t tell what. Gavin runs to meet him and they exchange quick words before Gavin takes off in the direction Noah had come from, but Noah doubles over catching his breath.

  At the same time Flex and I rush to Noah.

  “Dead. He’s dead, it’s my fault.”