“Punish him!” a man with silver hair, wearing torn overalls and an iron chest plate screamed as he thrust his hand into the air.
Moses stepped next to Alistair and leaned into his ear. He made a fake coughing noise then began to whisper. “You did well,” he said casually, as if he was congratulating an employee. “These people will never doubt me again. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to hold up my end of the bargain. You see, in their eyes you’re all guilty. You all have to go. And I can’t very well let them go. What would the people think of me then? All your work would’ve been in vain.”
Alistair smiled. “I figured you’d do something like this.”
Moses shrugged then took a few steps backward. “The Vees it is,” he announced. “Barnaby, open the pit.”
To a chorus of cheers, Barnaby pulled the top away from the pit. He shivered as he looked down at the raging cannibals, making sure to keep far out of reach.
“Goodbye, young man,” Moses said as his guards advanced on Alistair.
He didn’t flinch, but as the guards grabbed his arms Alistair suddenly screamed and his body fell limp. He collapsed onto the platform and started to convulse. The guards shared puzzled guises then backed away. Unsure of what to do, they looked to Moses for direction. Before he could reply, Alistair shouted.
“He’s here!” he screamed suddenly in an uncharacteristically high-pitched voice. “He’s here now! He’s in me.”
The crowd froze. Moses dropped his jaw and glared at Alistair then turned back and tried to rally his followers. He let out a phony chuckle then pointed at Alistair like he was the court jester.
“This coward is a liar. The Earth God would never speak to such filth.”
Alistair twisted and shuffled to his feet. He leaned his head back and screamed then turned to the crowd. “He wants me to bring you to him, all of you. I will lead you to the Earth God.”
“Nonsense!” Moses said angrily. “Feed this liar to the Vees!”
Before the guards could grab him, Alistair rushed toward the crowd and dug his hand into the rags that hung from his body. “He presented me with this,” he said and lifted one of Moses’ daggers.
The crowd gasped. Moses’ hand shifted to his holster, where only one of his knives remained. The other, Alistair had stolen during their tussle in the cave.
Fuming, Moses clenched his jaw and looked around frantically. His lies had been turned back on him. God worked through those knives, God chose who was innocent and who was guilty through those knives. Touching them was forbidden and meant death to anyone but him. For now, Alistair had the advantage.
Moses lost the crowd, they were staring at Alistair in awe and he knew they believed every word he’d said. He couldn’t afford to have them turn on him, they’d be just as likely to throw him into the pit. His only choice was to go along with Alistair, at least for the time being.
With an expressionless face, Alistair lowered the knife to his side. “The Earth God will show me the way. I will lead you all to him, we will all meet the Earth God.”
“Yes! Lead us, lead us to our savior!” the crowd roared.
Moses nodded his head then forced a smile onto his face. He made his way to Alistair and opened his arms, hugging him like a distant friend.
“Well played,” he whispered into Alistair’s ear. “But when you don’t bring them their Earth God…they’re gonna eat you themselves.”
“Fuck you,” Alistair growled lowly.
Moses laughed then grabbed Alistair’s arm and raised it into the air. The crowd roared in applause then he grabbed his knife and pulled, but Alistair was reluctant to release it.
“You made your point,” Moses whispered. “Don’t push it or you’ll find just how fickle these maniacs really are.”
Begrudgingly, Alistair released the knife and Moses tucked it back into his holster. He pointed his hand toward Alistair like he’d just won a major battle, like he was the people’s new champion.
“We will meet the Earth God!” Moses boomed. “And this man will show us the way!”
CHAPTER 19
COUP D’ETAT
Alistair stepped around the corner with two guards at his side. He felt bold and powerful, like nothing could stop him. The cave that was once the place he thought he’d die was now just a hole in the rocks. Alistair smiled as he saw it, he was finally free.
“Alistair!” MJ gasped as he came into view and rushed toward the gate.
“Open it,” Alistair ordered.
The guards nodded and unlocked the bamboo cage. MJ and the others twisted their faces in confusion, but Alistair smiled and beckoned them forward.
“What—what is happening?” Daniel asked as he slowly inched toward the opening.
“I got us a better room,” Alistair replied.
“What did you do? What happened out there?” MJ whispered.
“Come on, follow me. I’ll tell you all about it once we get out of here.”
With hesitant looks, the others followed Alistair out of the cave and up the sloping ramp. The path twisted and turned as they rose higher and higher up the rocky structure. Alistair smiled, walking eagerly behind the men as Daniel and MJ hesitantly lulled behind him.
The path started to even out and Alistair paused and turned around. “Come on,” he called out. “Trust me.”
Up to the side there was a plateau with a rickety looking shack. The guards stopped at the edge and held their arms out.
“Here you go,” Barnaby oozed in a displeased voice. “Enjoy it while you can.”
“Sorry about the rock,” Alistair replied. “The Earth God needed his message heard.”
Barnaby sneered then turned around and walked away with the other guards. Alistair stared after him then shrugged and entered the debilitated structure. Daniel followed, leading Cindy along by the arm.
Inside, the lumpy floor was covered with splintered wood and mismatched furniture. A few wicker chairs and lounges were tucked along the wall and a pile of soiled blankets sat atop a table in the middle of the room.
“Okay,” MJ said impatiently. “Start talking.”
Alistair frowned. “It’s like Moses said, if you can’t beat them you join them.”
“And that means what?”
“Means I convinced them I was the chosen one, sent to take them to their Earth God.”
MJ sighed and shook her head from side to side. “Take them?”
“Yeah. Long story short, they think I’m some kind of prophet. I’m supposed to lead them all to the Earth God in a few days. Apparently, they’re all dying to meet him.” Alistair laughed. “They’re in for a surprise.”
“And where exactly do you plan to lead them to?”
“Who cares? We’re free, no one died. I’d consider that a win. I don’t care where they go, I know where we’re going.”
“Jesus, Alistair. What do you think they’re gonna do when they realize you’re lying? What do you think they’re gonna do if they make it back to the egg? We can’t defend ourselves against all of them.”
Alistair shrugged and threw his hands into the air. “Why can’t we? There’s plenty of us. Look, all I knew is we weren’t gonna lose anyone else. The rest, I’ll figure out, but I wasn’t gonna stand there and do nothing. We’re alive and we’re out of that fucking dungeon. I thought you’d be happy.”
Before MJ could reply, Alistair marched off and headed toward the back of the cabin. MJ turned to follow him, but Daniel grabbed her arm.
“I’ll talk to him. Maybe you can get Cindy back to reality?”
MJ stared at her. Cindy was seated on one of the chairs with a dingy blanket draped over her shoulders. She was twiddling her fingers at her side and staring blankly into nothing.
“She may be a lost cause, but I’ll try.”
Daniel smiled then followed Alistair toward the back of the room. He pulled one of the fragile chairs next to him and sat down.
“You did good, you know?” he said in a low voice. “It was a l
ose, lose situation any way you looked at it. At least now-- we have a few more days to figure something out. MJ, you know she’s used to always saving the day. It’s not in her to need help. But you saved us back there.”
Alistair smiled and nodded his head in agreement. “Thanks. But she’s right…All I’m gonna do is lead them right back to our home. I wasn’t thinking.”
“That’s just it, there’s no time to think anymore. We just react and you reacted and saved all of us. Now, we just have to do it again.”
Alistair looked up as another chair plopped down beside him and MJ took a seat.
“So, what’s your plan?” she asked with a slight grin.
Alistair frowned. “I can’t say I had one. I could use some help, though.”
They all laughed a bit. It was only now that after being through so much, they could be sitting in a shack surrounded by psychotic cannibals and find something amusing. Jacob was right about one thing, they were survivors.
Alistair grinned as he reflected on how much they had changed. He suspected MJ had always been a bad ass but staring danger in the face wasn’t commonplace for him. His story was different from the rest.
Daniel beat the odds after being stranded on an island with just kids. MJ had literally gone through hell to get to the egg. But Daniel had someone watching over him every step of the way. His dad had always been his protector but now he was the one doing the protecting.
“Cindy gonna make it?” Daniel asked after a brief pause.
“I don’t know what her problem is, but I’d guess it’s shock. Whatever she was running from back in the egg, wasn’t worth this.”
Alistair leaned forward and lowered his head into his hands. He closed his eyes and tried to think, but his mind was racing. Thoughts were flying by like a flock of seagulls, vanishing before he could focus on a single one.
“We’re smarter than them,” he grumbled.
“What?”
“They’re all just fucking crazy. We’re smarter than them, we’re smarter than that idiot Moses. If they’ll follow him, they have to follow us.”
“They did follow you, you just need somewhere to lead them.”
“No, I mean…we’ve gotta get rid of Moses. We do that, and we can just walk out of here. No questions asked.”
“You wanna overthrow a government?” Daniel laughed.
MJ stared at Alistair with a straight face then nodded. “That’s exactly what we should do. That’s the only way we get out of this and keep everyone safe. Moses has to go.”
CHAPTER 20
SEND THE CALVARY
Craig grimaced as he tied the final knot in his boot laces. With a deep breath, he straightened up then turned to leave the armory, but found Cynthia barring the door.
“You’re not doing this,” she said sternly.
“Look, I know you mean well but we don’t have a choice, I don’t have a choice.”
“You have a choice.”
“No, I don’t. What am I supposed to do, let them die?”
“We don’t even know if something’s wrong, Craig. And even if there is something wrong, what are you gonna do?”
Craig laughed and took a step toward the door, nearly collapsing as he shifted the weight from his injured leg. “I’m gonna bring them back here.”
“Who’s gonna bring you back? You can hardly walk. You can’t help anyone. There are other people here that can go looking for them.”
“Damn it, Cynthia! I’m not gonna sit behind and let more people die. I’m responsible for them, this is my job!”
Cynthia gave an exhausted sigh and shook her head. “I get it, Craig, but if you go out there now, in your condition, you’re not gonna bring yourself back.”
Before Craig could reply, she turned and left the room. Grumbling, he ran his fingers through his hair and took a deep breath.
“Damn it!” he said and banged his fist into the wall.
She didn’t get it, no one did. He should’ve been out there, it was his job to protect the group, his job alone. Now, he was hobbling around like a wounded duck and Cynthia was right, he couldn’t even help himself. That was the worst part.
“Hey!” Max called from the door. “We doing this or what?”
“Yeah, I just need to run by the infirmary. I need to get some meds and check on Trevor.”
“Okay. You talk to Thomas and the others?”
“Not yet. Come on.”
Craig walked into the hallway and headed for the infirmary. Max decided to follow him, eager to do anything that didn’t involve the command center. He’d sat in that room for days on end, worrying about Cindy and the others and now he finally was gonna do something about it.
Craig hobbled down the corridor, leaning into the wall and grimacing along the way. He was in no shape to even consider leaving the egg, but he knew that was exactly what he was going to do.
He pushed the double doors open and headed to Trevor’s room. He could hear the chirps and high-pitched squawks from down the hall. Cynthia demanded that he stay in the infirmary for the next week, even though Trevor claimed he was fine. Craig was more concerned with his mental health than physical. He’d seen what confinement did to people and even worse, what failed suicide attempts did.
“What are you doing here?” Cynthia asked as she dropped Trevor’s arm and looked up.
“I—I just came to see how he was doing.”
“He’s fine.”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Trevor echoed.
Cynthia gave him a warning stare then turned her anger back toward Craig. “Don’t you have somewhere to be, like out there trying to kill yourself?”
Max raised his eyebrows and slowly backed down the hall. “I’ll give you two a minute…take all the time you need.”
Craig frowned. “What do you want from me, Cynthia? It’s been a week and we haven’t heard a sound. They knew the timeline…they didn’t know it got updated. So, they’re either dead or something is stopping them from coming back.”
“Dead?” Trevor echoed in a deflated voice.
“I didn’t mean that,” Craig replied. “Cynthia, maybe we should have this conversation in the hallway.”
With an agitated face, she turned to Trevor. “I’ll be right back.”
She followed Craig into the hall and pulled the door closed. “What?” she asked.
“They need our help and even if they didn’t, who knows how much air we have left here. It’s all guessing games with Max.”
Biting her lip, Cynthia looked back toward Trevor’s room. She shook her hands and let out a deep breath. She didn’t like it but Craig was right, there was no one else. But that didn’t make any of it easier. With a pained face, she turned and headed down the hall.
“Where are you going?” Craig called out.
“You’re gonna need some help, if you plan on being a hero. Follow me.”
Cynthia headed into another room and started pulling bottles and small packs of supplies from the cabinets. She pointed at the medical table and nodded for Craig to take a seat. He paused then, with a pained face crawled onto the bed. Cynthia sighed then snapped her fingers.
“Those need to come off,” she said.
“What?”
“Your pants. I need to see the leg.”
“You taking my pants off is becoming a thing,” Craig laughed as he unbuckled his khakis.
Someone cleared their throat and Craig paused and looked toward the door. Max was standing at the entrance with a wide smile.
“That argument took a strange turn,” he laughed.
Craig grilled him and flicked his middle finger. Cynthia completely ignored his comment and waved her hand for him to come inside.
“Good, you can help,” she said.
“Help?”
“Yes, unroll those packs and take the gauze out.”
Max huffed his displeasure as he ripped open the medical kits. Cynthia examined the stitches in Craig’s leg and cleaned the area around them. She applied
more ointment then wrapped it with new bandages.
“Keep him from doing anything too stupid,” she looked at Max and directed. “If the stitches open, you’re gonna have to sew him back up. You remember everything I showed you?”
Max nodded.
“It’s healing nicely, but hiking around out there isn’t gonna end well.”
“How the hell am I supposed to stitch this thing if we’re wearing those damn bio suits?” Max suddenly asked.
“We’re not taking bio suits,” Craig explained. “What’s the point?”
“What the hell do you mean, what’s the point? The point is I want to live.”
“You said it yourself, they had twelve hours of air…at best. And we got those readings they sent before they went offline. It’s been a week. The air is obviously breathable.”
“Those were partial results. Do what you want, Craig, but I’m not going out there without a suit.”
“I wouldn’t advise you to, either,” Cynthia said. “Even if the air is breathable the mixture is likely very different than what we’re accustomed to. At least with the suit you can ease into it.”
“And if the stitches need to be fixed?”
“Cross that bridge when you get there,” Cynthia mumbled and secured the bandage around his leg. “All set.”
Craig shrugged then stood up. Wincing, he fixed his pants and turned back to Cynthia. She held out a red medical kit.
“What’s this?” Craig asked as he took the pouch.
“Vicodin. It’ll help keep you going. Just follow the dosage levels.”
“Thanks.”
“Take care of yourself out there, Craig. And bring them back, bring them all back.”
Craig smiled and tipped his head. “Alright, Max. Let’s spread the news.”
Together, they made their way to the common area where Thomas and Melinda were sitting at a table playing cards. Melinda looked up as they walked in then huffed and turned her head.
“Whatever you have to say, Craig, I don’t want to hear it,” Melinda spat. “Just save your bullshit and leave us alone.”
“I’m going to get them,” Craig replied.
Melinda dropped the deck onto the table and picked her mouth up from the floor. She stared at Craig as he balanced unevenly. The words she wanted to say wouldn’t come, she’d spewed too much venom to offer a genuine sentiment. Instead, she blinked the tears from her eyes and nodded.
Deconstruction- The Complete series Box Set Page 94
