by Jaspre Bark
"You are a wise woman Onatah," said Hiamovi. "And you know how to plead a cause. I am glad we are friends, from now on, please call me Hiamovi and not Great Chief." Off in the distance, for the first time in what felt like an age, Hiamovi heard Coyote howl.
"And she was raised in a Christian community," said the Prophet. "That's what she told you?"
"Enough with the questions," said Colt. "I've been through this with you already."
"But don't you see what this means? The prophecy, the one I've been preaching for months. The one I told you would come to pass. It has. You saw it. Didn't I tell you it was going to happen?"
"I didn't see nothing. 'Cept a wasted opportunity."
"Oh no Samuel. You don't get away that easily. Didn't I tell you an angel who had once been a woman would appear in the sky above the two armies and turn herself into a bright and shining star."
"What?" said Colt in disbelief. "That squaw who just fouled up months of planning? She ain't no angel. She's just some medical freak show is all. 'Sides, I didn't see her turn into no star."
"She said three hours didn't she?" said the Prophet. "It's dusk already. In another hour it's going to be night and that's when she detonates. Lighting up the sky like a star."
"Now you're just straining to fit the facts to your story."
"No I'm not. Didn't I also tell you she would deliver us from the hands of our enemies without a single drop of blood being spilled? Look what's happening now Samuel. We're walking side by side with our enemy off the battlefield without a single casualty. This is a genuine miracle we're witnessing here. And you know what that means. You know why God sent you that vision of our Lord Jesus Christ?"
"No Robert. But I don't think anything's going to stop you from telling me."
"Why you're the new Moses I saw. Come to deliver his people unto a new kingdom, just like the Israelites. This was your testing ground Samuel. God sent you here to cleanse you, to make you a better ruler. This was your time in the wilderness, and you've come through. What's more you've got a genuine miracle, as witnessed by thousands of the faithful to legitimise your rule. There aren't many rulers who can say that."
"You're a wily old buzzard aren't you Robert. I should always keep a close eye on you."
"Why Samuel, coming from you, I'd swear that's a compliment."
As the sky darkened Cortez stood at the mouth of the pass and watched the explosion. He did this in honour of his friend and her great bravery.
Once over the bridge, the two armies had parted and gone their separate ways without incident. Perhaps this was because the area was about to become contaminated or because they had nothing left to fight over. Maybe it was simply the will of Allah.
Hiamovi had offered Cortez a place in the UTN before he left. Cortez had neither accepted nor declined. He wasn't certain what his options were just yet. Hiamovi had understood and had given Cortez a location where he could meet up with the UTN later if he chose.
He thought it a little ironic that Anna had indeed become a saviour, of a kind, to these two causes. Not at all the sort of saviour that Greaves had foreseen.
Greaves had refused to leave the plateau when the others did. Cortez had tried at first to persuade him to come with them, then he had simply attempted to drag him away. But Greaves fought too hard and, in the end, Cortez had honoured his wishes and left him there. He was no longer in Greaves' employ and the two no longer had any obligation to each other.
As the explosion faded from the night sky, Cortez said a prayer to Allah for the safe conduct of Anna's soul. He also asked for guidance on what he should do next and where he should go.
A verse from the Qu'ran came into his mind, as if from nowhere.
'Allah guides whom He wills to His light... Allah is knower of all things.'
Cortez smiled to himself. "Well that," he said aloud to the empty landscape around him, "is as good an answer as I'm likely to get."
CHAPTER THIRTY
Greaves cackled with delight as he found another tiny fragment of Anna's flesh. This one contained a trace of cartilage. He carried it over to the container that he'd found inside the complex and added it to the small pile of fragments he'd already collected. He brushed a tiny bit of grit off it before he dropped it in.
Then he washed his hands in the plastic tub of water he'd also brought from the complex. He had to keep himself clean. He didn't want to contaminate the samples.
Greaves knew that if he collected every single scrap of her body into one place, the Doomsday Virus would reassemble it and bring her back to life. He just had to find every tiny piece of her. Her near immortality would do the rest. She would be resurrected and they could start again.
It wasn't going to be an easy task. She had rained down in tiny blood red fragments across the whole plateau. He only had a short space of time before the extreme heat dried the pieces rendering them useless.
Finding her in the first place hadn't been an easy task. And he'd managed that. He'd proven how brilliant he was. He hadn't wasted all his early potential. He hadn't. He would redeem himself yet. All he needed was a little faith in himself. Isn't that what Anna herself had said? Faith would redeem them all.
Greaves had pleaded with Anna not to do it. When all the others had run in fear of their lives, he alone had stayed with her to the end. She had stopped answering him in the last hour. She had just prayed quietly to herself.
Greaves had seen the fear of death on her face. She was so young. She had so much life ahead of her. The virus was also working away inside her. Trying to change her mind. Desperate to live.
Anna had shown incredible determination in defying it. If only she could have used that determination properly. But there was time for that yet. He would bring her back. He would convince her of her destiny. He wouldn't fail this time.
Greaves saw something else at his feet. Was that a piece of her? He touched it to his tongue. It tasted raw. Only then did he realise his mistake. He could have contaminated it.
"It's alright," he told himself. "Calm down, just add it to the pile. The virus will sort out everything else" He coughed and more blood came. He was dying and he knew it. The only reason the Doomsday Virus hadn't taken him yet was because it had been told to spare him in the complex.
It didn't matter though. It simply gave him a deadline. He could still find every piece of her in time. He could. He wouldn't lose her again.
He had lost so much, first his mother and then his mind. Then he had lost his bright future and later any hope of regaining it. Then he had lost nine tenths of the world. So many people taken from him. And finally he had lost Anna.
There was still time though. There was still a chance. He could bring her back to life. He really could. Then he wouldn't have to face up to all the loss. Wouldn't even have to admit to it. He wouldn't.
He would redeem himself. He really would.
If only he could find all the pieces...
THE END
Jaspre Bark is a novelist, children's author and comics writer. He has written two previous novels A Fistful of Strontium and Sniper Elite: Spear of Destiny (also for Abaddon). His children's books have been translated into five different languages and are used in schools throughout the UK to improve literacy. Jaspre has written comics for just about everyone in the British comics industry, from The Beano to 2000 AD, and an increasing number of American and international publishers. Prior to this he worked as a film journalist and cable TV presenter by day and a stand-up poet and playwright by night. In 1999 he was awarded a Fringe First at the Edinburgh International Festival.
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