He caught Persephone’s gaze and they shared a look of disbelief. Alistair swallowed then smiled at her with as much phony bravado as he could muster.
Suddenly, guards rushed onto the stage and grabbed both of them. Alistair tried to resist, but there were too many guards and he was too weak. They pulled his arms behind his back and hoisted him into the air.
“Wait!” an elderly woman shouted.
She’d been sitting silently in the crowd but when she spoke it was obvious that her words carried weight. Moses froze then narrowed his eyes and the crowd around her moved to the side as she stepped toward the front.
Sighing, she pushed her long, braided white hair over her shoulder and stood to her full height. She was a tall woman, age had slowed her down but she had an undeniable power to her that even Moses seemed to respect.
With stoic green eyes she surveyed the crowd then turned toward Moses. Silence fell across the masses as she crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side.
“Faith,” Moses started with the slightest hint of resignation in his voice. “This must be done, Faith.”
“Must it?”
“You saw what she did. We all saw what she did. This man is an imposter, a con-man who has done nothing more than turn one of our own. We can’t be fooled any longer.”
“What I saw was the hand of God. What I saw was our lord take hold of that young woman and work through her. All praise be to the Earth God.”
“All praise be to the Earth God,” the crowd came to life behind her. They leapt to their feet and shouted their approval.
Faith looked back to them and smiled. She let their cheers linger for a moment, making sure Moses understood. Then she held her hands up and they fell silent again. “Did you see something different, Moses?” she asked in an accusing tone.
Fuming, Moses looked back to Persephone. His gaze bounced between her and Alistair as he tried to control the rage that burned inside of him. The crowd was his, the crowd was always his. But this wasn’t the hill for him to die on, he knew the real battle would be in the vast wasteland that lay ahead of them.
“Release them,” he ordered. “As usual, you are right Faith. The hand of God was at work tonight. Tomorrow, thanks to this prophet, we will lay eyes on our lord and all our questions will be answered.”
“Thank you, Moses.”
Faith smiled and sat back down. Moses scowled at her from across the pit with a stare that would’ve been lethal if she was closer. He curled his lips then turned around and marched toward Alistair and leaned into his ear.
“You’ll pay for this. You and that bitch. Mark my words, this isn’t over!”
CHAPTER 25
WHEN THE RAIN FALLS
“I need to stop for a minute,” Craig huffed in a deep voice that fogged up his visor.
Max swallowed and nodded. He dropped his bags and leaned against a rock as his eyes surveyed the landscape in front of them. Hills of rolling, orange dust stretched as far as he could see. The dim glow of the sun tried hopelessly to penetrate the thick smog that clouded the air, but the world was now a constant state of dusk.
Much of it was what he expected. He just never imagined he’d still be on Earth to see it firsthand. Sighing, he leaned his head back and looked up to the sky. Somewhere far above the dense clouds was the habitat he’d envisioned. Somewhere among the stars was the place he was going to call home.
The thought struck him in the heart. He’d spent years envisioning it, years willing it to reality. But he’d been left by the people he’d trusted the most.
Frowning, he turned back to the apocalyptic landscape. “You think they made it this far?” Max asked as his mind wandered.
“I’m sure they did. MJ doesn’t know how to fail.”
“Their last update was a mile back. Still haven’t seen a trace of them.”
“You said it yourself, some kind of pulse is affecting communication. I just think they lost track of time. Look around, there’s nothing out here. No tribe of mutated zombies or monsters, just what’s left of the world. At least we’re here to start over. Everything’s gonna be okay.”
Max lowered his head. “I should’ve told her I forgave her. I shouldn’t have let her go.”
Craig didn’t respond. He moved his leg gingerly and sipped water from the siphon inside his helmet. He’d intentionally avoided all of Max and Cindy’s drama and wasn’t keen on entering the fray now.
“She thought I hated her,” Max continued. “I mean, I did but everything is different now, everything has changed. I should’ve told her that, she shouldn’t have been out here…especially with that on her mind.”
Max paused. He might have been crying but Craig avoided his gaze. He wasn’t the comforting type and Max certainly wasn’t a soldier. So instead, he stared in the other direction, waiting for the time to pass. But the silence lingered on and he could feel Max’s eyes on him. Reluctantly, he turned to face him and took a deep breath.
“I don’t know your situation, Max,” Craig started with frustration lacing his words. “But love is always complicated.”
“She cheated,” Max blurted out. “With my best friend. I found out in the middle of all of this.”
Craig twisted his face as he struggled with what else to say. He cursed under his breath, regretting the fact that he’d said anything at all. Who was he to give any kind of relationship advice? The only relationship he’d ever had worth noting was with the military and that had led him to where he was now. His other attempts at love, were more than complicated.
Max frowned and let his head hang. He mumbled to himself under his breath and banged his fists into the rock behind him.
“I’m sure she knew you cared,” Craig mumbled. “Women always know things like that.”
Max looked up and gave him a weak smile. “Enough of my problems. How’s your leg?”
“Sore but it’ll do.”
“Well, let’s get back at it.”
“You sure? If you need time to clear your head…don’t rush on my account.”
“No. We’re on the clock. We need to get going.”
Craig agreed, and in silence they headed off. They trudged through the uneven wasteland for hours but for all of their effort they hadn’t travelled far. Craig couldn’t walk very fast and every fifteen minutes or so he needed to stop and rest his leg.
Whenever they stopped Max spent his time trying to reestablish communication with the egg and testing the air quality. He wasn’t having any luck with either but the tasks kept his mind off what was really bothering him. He needed to find Cindy.
The way they left things was eating at him. He didn’t want to lose her and it killed him to think that she could be out there alone with that same emptiness in her heart. He had to find her, it was the only thing that mattered anymore.
“We need to head back,” Craig instructed after they reached the peak of a craggy sand dune. “We’ll resupply and try again tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” Max echoed. “She could be dead tomorrow. Cindy might not have another night. We should keep going.”
“We can’t. We can’t make the same mistakes they did. No one was ready for this, no one knew what we needed, what to expect. We can make a better plan now that we know what we’re facing.”
“I have to find her,” Max replied. “I don’t care what it takes.”
“And who will find us? If we push it too far, we’ll be leaving everyone else to die. Cindy has MJ and Jacob with her. We need to be smart about this, Max.”
Craig’s words sank in as Max stared out over the desert. A vast ocean of death as far as his eyes could see. Clumps of rock and dry soil, hills and valleys of barren land. There was nothing left for them, the world had died and soon they would die too.
He tried to resist the fear that was creeping into his mind. The fear that seemed more of a reality the further they went, the fear that Cindy was already dead. As he stared into the emptiness, he knew that Craig was right. They couldn’t ri
sk getting lost, too many people depended on them.
Sighing, Max lowered his head and started back down the hill. “Let’s go,” he said in defeat.
Craig followed after him. It was a much harder path downhill than going up. He moved slowly, step after step, nearly dragging his injured leg through the dirt.
Max was a little way ahead of him. He’d look back every few minutes, which only made Craig feel like a child. He tried to pick up the pace when, suddenly, the sand shifted beneath his feet and sent him sliding downhill. The buried rocks and debris made it impossible for him to catch his footing and he found himself tumbling downhill, head over heels.
He tried to slow himself, he sprawled out his arms and legs to break the momentum but it was no use. He rolled through the dirt, bashing into rocks and the salt-like sand until he landed at the bottom of the hill staring up at a quilt of wispy, gray clouds through a spider-web of cracks in his visor.
“You okay?” Max huffed as he reached the bottom, shortly behind him.
Craig took a deep breath then started to laugh. Max gave him a cautious look then joined him and laughed until tears rolled down his cheeks and his face hurt. It was good to laugh, good to think of something else besides their reality, even if it was only for a few minutes.
Both of them had been fighting to survive for so long, they’d forgotten there was much else to life. The feeling of wonder had been replaced with fear, the feeling of living replaced with anxiety. For a moment, they remembered what it was like to be human.
“Don’t tell anyone how I busted my ass,” Craig said as the laughter died.
“I didn’t think you were ever gonna stop rolling. At least you found a faster way down. Looks like you cracked the helmet, though.” Max leaned over Craig’s visor and held his palm across the broken lines. He ran his fingers across the surface then frowned. “I don’t feel anything coming out but it’s cracked all the way through. This isn’t good.”
“Can we make it back?” Craig asked. “Do you think it’ll hold that long?”
Max grabbed Craig’s wrist and slid open the access panel. He tapped a few icons and swept the screen to the left. A string of numbers ran across the LCD then he turned to Craig with a grave look. Slowly, he shook his head. “Doesn’t look like it. The CO2 levels in your suit are already up and the more oxygen you lose, the worse it gets. All that walking is just gonna waste air you don’t have. I can go.”
“And I’m just gonna sit here and wait? Nah, I got a better idea.” Craig shrugged and started to disconnect his helmet.
“What the hell are you doing?” Max shouted.
“If I can’t make it back, I’m gonna die anyway.”
“I can bring another helmet back!”
“You won’t make it in time…you know that. You’ll come back and I’ll be dead. I’m not gonna die in this suit, I’d rather take at least one breath of real air.”
“Craig, you can’t! It’s bad. The last results before we lost contact were terrible.” Max reached out to grab Craig’s hand but he was too late.
Craig twisted the helmet and pulled it off. Air hissed from the sides as he held his breath and set the helmet on the ground. Max watched him carefully, expecting the worst, expecting him to die right before his eyes.
Gritting his teeth, Craig forced a weak smile then took a shallow breath. He strained his face and blew out then inhaled again.
“You…you okay?” Max asked nervously.
Coughing, Craig cleared his throat and nodded his head while holding up a finger. He took another slow breath then lifted his head and sucked in a lungful.
“It’s breathable,” he said in surprise. “It um, it feels funny though. Not like it used to. But I can breathe it. Maybe it’s just been so long since I’ve been outside.”
“That’s good news. I’m glad you didn’t die but I think I’ll keep this on,” Max said with a laugh. “Make sure you don’t drop dead in ten minutes.”
Craig smirked then latched his helmet onto his utility belt. “I think they’re still alive. I think we can all survive out here.”
“Did we think they were dead?”
“Honestly, I couldn’t see how they weren’t. But there’s breathable air. Maybe there’s water somewhere…maybe survivors.”
“I don’t think we’re gonna find any survivors. Not any that were up here at least.”
Craig shrugged and looked up at the sky with wide smile. “Well, we’re gonna survive, we’re gonna make it.”
Suddenly, with a loud trembling rumble, the air around him came to life. A flash of blue danced across the sky and the ground vibrated slightly. Craig groaned then put his helmet on and turned the air supply off so he could breathe the air outside.
“Looks like rain is on the way,” he said. “Let’s get home.”
Max nodded and together they started toward the egg as a light rain fell. The gentle beads tapped against their helmets and rolled down the visors. Droplets fell into the dirt, running like little red streams turning the soil into crimson sludge.
Craig tried to match Max’s pace but he’d pushed his leg as far as it could go. Doubling over, he placed his hands on his knees and huffed in exhaustion.
“You okay?” Max asked.
“Yeah…yeah. I just need a minute.”
“Take your time.”
“This was a stupid idea, huh? Take a damn cripple across the desert. We’ve still got at least six miles to go and I think I’d be better off crawling.”
Max let out an empty laugh. “We’ll make it. Then we’ll come back out and find everyone else.”
“You’re damn right we will.” Craig straightened up and took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m ready now.”
“What is that?” Max asked as he stared across the empty slate of land. “What the hell is that?”
His legs quivered and he slowly stumbled backward. In the distance a large blur bounded across the sand toward them. Craig narrowed his eyes then grabbed Max by the arm.
“Run!”
CHAPTER 26
THE LAST PLAN
Alistair had never been so happy to be back in the rickety shed they called home. He’d missed every piece of the weathered shack and was content for the time being to lay on the floor with his foot propped up on a wooden chair.
He closed his eyes but couldn’t find sleep. MJ was on the warpath, she’d been pacing back and forth for the last hour. To call her furious would’ve been a joke and Alistair’s injury may have been the only thing stopping her from attacking Moses at that very moment.
“I’m gonna snap his arm off,” she grumbled as she turned sharply and started back down her linear path. “I’m gonna break his legs and feed him to those fucking Vees myself!”
“That’s not gonna help anything,” Daniel said calmly.
MJ shot him a look then stomped her feet harder. Daniel shrugged and looked away.
“I’m just saying,” he continued. “The gig is up. They expect Alistair to take them to their God. What happens when we don’t?”
“I don’t care, I don’t care! Moses is a dead man.”
“What about you, Alistair? Sleeping beauty, I know you can hear me.” Daniel nudged Alistair with his foot.
“What?” he snapped.
“You’ve got a plan?”
“Yeah, to sit here…preferably in silence and let my foot heal.”
“Screw your foot. We’ve got six hours before we’re marching back across that fucking desert.”
“I was almost eaten tonight. Give me some time to recoup.”
Daniel grumbled then froze as a knock sounded at the door. He turned around just as it opened and Persephone stuck her head inside.
“I’m sure you’ll get up for her,” Daniel mumbled under his breath.
“I—I don’t have much time,” Persephone started. “I brought some people I thought you should meet.”
She pushed the door open and walked inside. Behind her, was an older lady with braided gray hair and tat
tered rags clinging to her shoulders. She wore a medieval chest plate and a holster around her waist with a black pistol on either side.
There were two men behind her. Younger, probably in their thirties with scraggly beards and hardened, weathered faces. Both of them were tall and slender, with veins pulsing beneath their bronze skin. They surveyed the room from behind her, their hands resting on the hilt of blades that had just been sharpened.
“Wait!” Daniel said and tensed up. “Who…who are these guys?”
“They’re okay,” Persephone replied. “This is Hector and his brother, Gendry, and this is Faith.”
The gray-haired lady stepped inside with the two men and closed the door behind them. She gave Daniel a scornful glance then cleared her throat. “Keep your voices down,” she warned. “It won’t be safe for any of us if we’re seen here.”
Alistair rolled over and hobbled onto his good leg. He tried to balance but nearly fell over and grabbed onto Daniel’s shoulder for support.
“You were brave out there,” Persephone whispered to him.
“What is this?” MJ asked in a tone between annoyance and exhaustion. “This isn’t the time to start making new friends and I haven’t even decided where we stand with you, Persephone.”
“I like her,” Faith replied. “Straight to the point. What is your name, beautiful?”
“MJ.”
“Is it true, MJ? Is there another place, a safer place?”
MJ glared at Persephone then Alistair. She curled her lip and mumbled something beneath her breath.
“You can trust her,” Persephone said. “All of them. Tell them, Faith.”
Faith smiled. “Not all of us follow Moses blindly. Some of us…some of us even wish to see him dead.”
Hector stared at Faith from the corner of his eye with a wary look. “Faith,” he warned.
Deconstruction- The Complete series Box Set Page 97
