by Justin Sloan
It was tough flying the airship by herself and making her way north, but by midday she had located Meldal and touched down. She was met by Hans, who told her that nobody named Cammie had come through, but she had others waiting for her. As he led her to the city center, he glanced at the damaged airship she had arrived in.
“You might do better with a smaller ship, and we’re in need of a larger one,” Hans said. “Perhaps a trade is in order?”
“You have something smaller?”
He held up a hand, then simply beckoned her to follow him. When they turned the corner into a small grassy area next to a garden, she saw why he was smiling. It was a single-passenger airship, just big enough for her to fly and, he claimed, with controls easy enough not to confuse her.
“Thank you! This will be perfect.” She turned back to the city center. “Berg?”
He nodded. “I don’t’ know what you did to that man—to any of them, really—but they’ve changed.”
“After what I’ve been through?” She laughed. “I’d fucking hope so.”
“Maybe we can learn to live in peace after all,” he said. “Do what you must here, and I’ll ready the airship for your departure.”
He pointed her to where she would find many of the Weres who had fled, with Berg at their center. He had been telling them what was going to happen now, giving them orders, but he paused at the sight of Valerie.
All remaining Weres transformed and bent down, front legs out, and bowed their wolf heads.
This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened, she thought, remembering the Golden City Weres.
Many of those had turned out to be treacherous, she had learned when speaking with Sandra.
She wasn’t about to make that mistake again.
“Go home,” she said. “Never use your Were ability again, and especially not for wrongdoing, or I will come after you.” She walked over to the wolf she was sure was Berg, and gestured to him. “Berg will lead those of you who wish to accompany him back to Iceland, where you will start a new community. Those of you who stay here must watch yourselves. Keep your eye on every dark alley, and pray to some real god—not yourself—that I don’t have a reason to come back. Because if I do, there will be hell to pay.”
With that the rest of them broke, many sauntering off, confused that their reign of terror had finally come to an end.
Berg, however, didn’t seem to know what to think. He had transformed as she finished speaking and now stepped forward, arms out, to present her with the fur coat she had left at the military compound.
“Didn’t want you to get cold, so I went back for it.”
She smiled, shaking her head. “If you got blood on it, you’re finding me a replacement.” Putting it on, she turned for him to inspect it. As far as she could tell, there was no blood. Now, that was miraculous. Maybe there were gods around here after all.
“It’s perfect,” he admitted after watching her spin a couple times to confirm it. “I just can’t believe you pulled it off. I mean, you terrified me, but that man… The things he’s done. He has given me nightmares since I met him. Shit, I might actually sleep soundly for the first time in years, if I don’t dream of you now.”
“Now you’ll have nightmares of me?”
“I didn’t say…” He blushed. “Point is, wow. Just…wow.”
“You do right, got it?” She ignored his dreaming comment, glancing around to get her bearings. “You know I won’t hesitate to kick your butt, and one of my kicks will send you into the ocean.”
“I believe you.”
"Good." She considered him, then a thought hit her. "At the military compound, I saw riches. Treasure. I'd bet that could do a lot of good if distributed around to the various communities, maybe used in setting up trade with others around Europe, maybe New York."
"Thank you," he said. "You can count on me."
"I know I can, because if you mess it up, you know I'll be back with a vengeance."
He chuckled, then waved as she headed for the small airship and Hans.
She paused momentarily, hearing Berg giving orders to those who had decided to go with him, and smiled.
He might have been one of them, but in his heart, he wasn’t really. She saw that in his eyes, too, and if there was one thing she prided herself on, it was knowing whom to trust. Of course, the fact that she could almost read minds, in the form of sensing emotions, might have had something to do with it.
Now it was time to return to her friends and see if they had reunited the boy with his family. If that was done, she was looking forward to getting out of this place. It didn’t have Cammie, or Sandra, or the others. It didn’t have Robin…
Sunrise hit the surrounding hills, casting a pink hue over the land that made her pause in appreciation.
But as beautiful as it was, it simply wasn’t home—wherever the hell home was.
Hans was at the airship, and had her all ready to go. He offered supplies and payment, but she refused, except for a few of their Norwegian pastries—they just looked too damn good to pass up.
After a nod of appreciation, he stared at her, concern and awe showing in his expression. “You know where you’re going?”
“I suppose I’ll try Trondheim, see if my friends are there.”
“And if they aren’t?”
“I don’t even know where to start.”
“If it was me, and knowing you?” He laughed, holding his belly. “I’d believe you could handle yourself, and probably assume you would make it back to the American continent.”
“You think so?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know for certain, but I’ll tell you one thing. You sure as hell aren’t going to find your people by flying randomly around here. The skies are too vast. The ground, well, there’s just too much of it to cover and not miss each other.”
She nodded, hating that he was probably right. If he was, she figured it made sense to try for a bit, but then what? Head back immediately? No, she wasn’t quite ready for that.
The trip to Trondheim was painless, the journey in the small airship relaxing. It had been a long night and morning, and even with the extra energy Michael’s powers bestowed upon her, she still needed rest from time to time.
She had seen the city on the way over, and worked her way to the coast. She put the ship down on a hill nearby, and walked the rest of the way.
Soon she was passing through a residential neighborhood. Judging by the few islands out in the water and way the waves broke past them, this area too had experienced some flooding at some point in its relatively recent history. She spent the day exploring the town, keeping a lookout and staying to the shadows, but by the time evening approached she’d figured out that they weren’t here. Maybe they would be back, if they had already been through, or maybe they had been out looking for her and hadn’t arrived yet.
As much as she wanted to get on with this journey, she had to admit to herself that it could wait until morning. Her best bet was to find a rooftop, lean against a chimney, and get some shuteye, so that’s exactly what she did.
A dream came in the night, of her, before she had set off for America, back when she had to hide from the daylight to avoid dying. When the rays of light hit her in the morning, she woke with a start and drew back, almost believing the sun would burn her alive.
No such thing happened, to her relief, and then she remembered where she was. She picked herself up and began walking through the city again, unsure where to start. Some men and women sold grilled meat on sticks, others hats and different garments they had made, and she had to smile at the idea of this city thriving here despite what she had seen in the last two places she had visited.
It was even more amazing considering they didn’t know what had happened with the Weres yet. They didn’t know they were free, and yet they went about their lives as best they could.
She stopped to ask one old lady about an airship, but the woman stared at her, then shrugged and walk
ed away.
The next group did the same, but when she asked a lady about Kristof and showed her how tall he was by holding her hand at about the height of her ribs, the lady’s face lit up and she pointed.
“I show you,” the lady mumbled as she grabbed Valerie’s hand and pulled her along.
It was an odd feeling, being dragged through the streets by this very normal lady. Valerie liked it, thinking that it made her feel more human again. More like one of them.
“There,” the woman said, then pointed to the sky and said something in Norwegian.”
“Sorry, I…”
“Early,” the woman said, and pointed to the location of the sun, still close to the horizon.
Valerie nodded, getting it. She thanked the lady, then waited a bit, sitting on the steps opposite the house. When she saw movement in a window, she bolted up and knocked on the door.
A lady with curly blond hair opened the door and frowned.
“Kristof?” Valerie asked.
Again the lady frowned, but this time there was a shout from behind her in Norwegian and the boy appeared.
“Valerie,” he said, eyes wide in shock. “They… They’re gone.”
That hit her hard. She had very much expected to find them here. Without them she didn’t have a ship to get back in, though she could call Sandra with the comm device and probably find someone to come get her. And there was always the idea of swimming back across the ocean, but she doubted it was realistic.
“Do you know where they went?”
Kristof frowned, but nodded. “Sorry, but in all the confusion I didn’t hear where they would go first.”
“Thank you.” Valerie smiled, tamping down her frustration. She turned to go, then glanced back. “You know, I almost forgot to congratulate you. It must feel nice to be back with your family.”
He nodded as his mom appeared behind him and wrapped her arms around him.
“It does,” he replied, then waved goodbye as she left.
Family, she thought, wondering how that term applied to her now. She was on her own, and it was time to accept that. At least, until she returned to America.
CHAPTER TWENTY
New York
While the city went about its evening routine, Sandra prepared a tray of lemon tarts—something she had been wanting to try out for the café for a while now. But it really wasn’t about that, she had to admit to herself as she arranged them on the platter. It was about taking her mind off thoughts of Diego.
If he never came home, this baby would be born without a father. Her mind kept going to images of him getting shot out there, the Pod crashing and falling into some lake he couldn’t escape from, even crazy thoughts like alien ships appearing from the sky and taking him away for testing. She was being paranoid, and she knew if she told anyone, that would be exactly what they would say.
She focused on the lemon tarts instead. But who was she kidding? The thoughts kept coming, regardless.
She resolved to get out of there and go for a walk. Since she didn’t have anywhere she needed to be, she decided she would first head over to the wall and see how the rebuilding of the city’s defense system was going. It wasn’t perfect, but they wanted to be ready in case there was backlash. If any group didn’t like what they were up to or detected their actions toward disabling the indie network, there might be attacks on the city.
They couldn’t let that happen.
The sun had set and she wondered about the time difference where Valerie was, remembering how odd the timing had been on their flight from Europe the first time. She glanced at the comm device, which she always kept nearby now in case Valerie called. She wanted to call and ask her—or just hear her voice—but was sure that distracting her at the wrong moment would be disastrous. She would wait for Valerie to contact her instead.
Reaching the walls, she had to admire the work they had done. This was so much better than it had been when she had first arrived in this city. They had asked people to work after giving them first aid supplies, food, and more, and they were working hard for their city. They had been inspired to contribute.
If she could get this possible theater going, it might start to feel like a cohesive society. Dream big or go home, she told herself, examining the defenses again. The gates were reinforced steel, and the walls sported gun turrets and bore extra protective layers against attacks from both below and above. Above wouldn’t happen anytime soon, but it was better to be prepared in case there was an enemy out there who came with surprises.
As she stood on the wall, she turned, squinting, and felt a pinch on her lip as she bit it. Without realizing it, she had let the excitement get to her—but saw that it had been earned. The shape quickly approaching was definitely a Pod, and the only logical assumption she could make was that it was Diego and the others returning.
If he was hurt, she would find whoever had done it and kill them herself, she thought for the thousandth time since he had left.
“Sorry, I gotta get back to HQ,” she said with a nod to the guard.
She darted off, making her way back down the steps and starting to run toward the tall building with its blue stripe up the side. She had taken only a few steps when a pain hit her stomach, so she had to stop and sit down, holding her belly.
“Do you need help?”
She looked up to see Jackson standing there with a smile on his face and a smear of lipstick on his cheek.
“Just catching my breath,” she said, but couldn’t help laughing. “I take it you had a good time.” She touched her cheek, then pointed at his.
With a confused frown, he touched his cheek, then looked at the smear of lipstick on his fingers and joined her in laughter as he sat down at her side.
“I don’t kiss and tell, but you can figure it out, apparently.”
She looked at him, curious. “May I ask…do you ever miss Valerie?”
His brow furrowed, but then he smiled again. “Not as much as you do, I’ll bet. Do I think about her? Sure. She was powerful and different. With her, I was the one who needed looking after. Both sides of that coin have value.”
Sandra nodded, glancing up to see the Pod disappearing around the back of HQ.
“Diego?” Jackson asked.
She nodded.
“Ah, so this time you were the lonely one.” He stood and offered her a hand, and she took it. “I’ll help you get over there so you can get that lonely bug out of your system.”
As they started walking, she nodded, lost in thought.
“What is it?” he asked.
“What you said. She is powerful, yeah. Definitely different. Strong-willed and, I don’t know, as much as I loved you two being together because of the smile it brought to her face, I just never really felt it made sense for her to be with one person. It’s like, she’s bigger than relationships.”
“She still has womanly needs,” he argued with a chuckle.
“So she gets men to do her bidding and please her, or women.” A thought of her kiss with Valerie long ago brought up that thought, and though Valerie wouldn’t admit it, Sandra had always felt that the kiss had meant a great deal more to Valerie than she had let on.
“Our Val?” Jackson laughed. “Sure, maybe. You know, I studied old mythologies some, and there are quite a few of them where the gods were almost like you and me, just…more powerful. Back then, or in those made-up times, the gods didn’t differentiate love or lust with men or women so much. Same with certain ancient groups of warriors.”
“Well, count me out of all that.” Sandra shook her head, considering a life without Diego, even pausing for a moment to remember the last time they had been intimate. It sent a shiver up her spine.
“To each their own, I say.”
“I’d say cheers to that, if I could drink.” She put a hand on her protruding belly and smiled. “Maybe cheers to that in a few months.”
He shook his head. “Then you got breastfeeding, right?”
“Dammit, than
ks for reminding me. Do you think they had some alternative to that back in the old days? I mean, before the Collapse. I’m always so curious.”
“It’s possible. They certainly lived a life of luxury in many ways back then.”
She nodded, thinking back to the stories she had heard about the old days.
They had just reached HQ when Diego came running through the doors. He paused at the sight of her, and as he approached she saw that his face was riddled with guilt and worry.
“What trouble did you get us into this time?” she asked.
He shook his head, rubbed a hand through his hair, and shrugged. “We’re going to have a bit of a problem on our hands pretty soon.”
“Diego?” She took the last two steps and wrapped him in her arms, kissing him firmly. When she pulled back, she held his gaze. “Tell me what’s going on.”
He gave a big sigh and told her everything. All she could think was that it was about time to double-check their defenses, get the troops riled up, and probably use that comm device sooner rather than later. If they were going up against several communities, including possibly Weres and Forsaken, they could certainly use some help.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Old France
Valerie flew the one-man—or in this case, one-woman—airship in the general direction of where she guessed her old home had been. It took a while, and a few changes in direction, but before long she was sailing along in the early sunrise and spotted an unmistakable sight—the Eiffel Tower, still on its side, as she’d last seen it.
Somehow she had expected it to be fixed by now. Not that it had been that long, but a part of her, the part that had held out hope for humanity here, had expected them to finally get off their asses and rebuild the symbol of national pride.
Instead, it laid there limply, a river pouring past it and into the cracks of the broken ground nearby. The people of Old Paris had simply abandoned this part of town.
It was a stark reminder of why she had never felt she totally fit in here. Well, there was the whole vampire aspect of her life that separated her from the rest of humanity, of course, but there had been quite a few vampires in Old Paris in her day. She hadn’t fit in with non-modified humans, and she certainly hadn’t fit in with the vampires.
