Chaos (22 page)

Takeshi shook his head. “We can follow the riverbed all the way to the southern edge of the city, and it will be a straight run from there. It’s chaos on the streets, I’m sure. We can take advantage of that and sneak to the gate. We scale it, and we’ll be out of here.”

Treasa stopped and turned on her heel, looking at each of us. I’m sure she was thinking the Smith had been right when he said we were only out for ourselves.

Malachi shook his head. “It isn’t as simple as that, Takeshi.”

“He’s right,” I said. “We can’t just sneak out. We have to get the humans out of here. There’s never going to be a better opportunity.”

Takeshi’s grip on Ana tightened. “There are perhaps a million people spread throughout this city. In every den, in the meat factory, in the streets. Most of them are weak and broken, and the ones who aren’t seem more interested in dominating here than being free anywhere else.”

Ana leaned on him. “We’ve completed the mission, guys. This is our chance for freedom, and you’re willing to give it up? Because that’s what you’d be doing if you try to liberate all these people. Think about how many there are. And what happens to them beyond the dome?”

I frowned. “You’re willing to abandon these people here, just for a chance to save your own hide,
Captain
?”

“I’m saying we served the Judge for decades,” Ana said quietly. “All of us. Except for you, Lela. You can’t possibly know what it’s like to work that hard, to sacrifice that much—and to still be treated like a pawn. We’re not responsible for these people. The Judge is.”

“Fine. I haven’t suffered as much as you have. But I know what it’s like to be abandoned.” I pointed at Takeshi. “So do you. You know how much it hurts, to have your hope drain away day by day. How can you leave, knowing you’ve abandoned the people here?”

“I’ve done my time!” Takeshi shouted. “I survived only to have Ana back in my arms, and to get the peace I was so close to all those years ago.”

“And what about everyone else?” I yelled back. “They haven’t done their time? They don’t deserve peace?”

Takeshi’s expression twisted with frustration. “You say that you love Malachi. If you do, I’m your best hope. I can get him out.”

He was right. I could keep fighting. I was willing to try. But Malachi was falling apart. He couldn’t take much more punishment. I grimaced and put my hand over his, holding it against my shoulder.

Malachi cleared his throat. “Do you know how I spent my time while I was chained in that square, waiting for the Queen to do her worst?” He raised his head and met Takeshi’s eyes. “I looked at the faces of the people. Each and every one of them, scars on their bodies, their backs bent, collars around their necks.” He swallowed and squeezed my shoulder. “And I recognized so many of them. I remember cutting their throats in the dark city. I remember saying prayers over their lifeless bodies and believing I was freeing them. It was a beautiful lie, one I clung to instead of facing the reality. All I was doing was condemning more innocents to this fate.” He stood up a little straighter. “I have to do something about that now.
We
can do something about it.”

Takeshi stared at the ground. His hand was still curled over Ana’s forearm, like he wanted to make sure she was completely healed. I turned to Ana. “You’re my Captain. And I respect you. But if you tell me to leave this city without even trying to free everyone else, I won’t. I can’t.”

“Neither can I,” Malachi said quietly. He released me and slowly stepped forward, putting his hand on Takeshi’s arm. “I believe we were chosen as Guards for a reason. We are stronger than most. We fight harder.” He leaned in. “And we have never done any of it for ourselves.”

“When is it enough?” Takeshi whispered. “Why must I fight for a master who has not fought for me?”

“We will not fight for a master,” Malachi said. “We will fight for the ones who have been abandoned.”

I laid my palm on Malachi’s back, loving him more in that moment than I’d ever thought possible.

Ana looked conflicted. “Takesh
i . . .
”

“This is an impossible task,” he muttered.

Malachi grinned, the scars on his face silvery white. “How many times have you said that to me?”

“Of course you’d remind me.”

“And how many times has it been possible only because we were in it together?” Malachi asked, more serious this time.

Takeshi bowed his head. “This is a lot to ask.”

Ana kissed him. “You know who you are,” she murmured in his ear. “And I know who I fell in love with.”

He closed his eyes and touched his forehead to Ana’s. “Well. That settles it, then.” He kissed her.

“We have to go back to the Smith,” Treasa said, clearly pleased.

Malachi looked down at me. “The one who stabbed you?”

I nodded. “But Treasa trusts him and was working against the Tanner on his orders. He also happens to have more weapons and vehicles than anyone else.”

“He’ll have the best handle on what’s going on in the rest of the city,” said Takeshi as the ground rumbled again beneath our feet. “And we’d better hurry.” He looked upstream, toward the temporary dam that held back the powerful waters of the river. How long would it hold?

We began to jog, following Treasa down the main riverbed and through a well-disguised crevice that connected to another tunnel system. Lit only by Treasa’s tiny lantern, our way was jagged and slippery, and we hit at least one cave-in that required us to backtrack. Takeshi knew another way, though, and led us easily, his palms sliding along the rock walls as he translated every vibration. “A lot of people moving up there. It’s going to be absolute mayhem.”

“That might be a good thing,” said Malachi as we began to climb a set of rough steps.

“We’ll see,” huffed Takeshi, pulling open a steel door at the top of the stairs.

The cool night air of the city wafted over my face, bringing with it the stench of blood and fear. Screams and explosions echoed in the darkness, along with a deep rumbling that coursed up through the soles of my feet. A sharp crack came from above us, and I looked up to see fissures snaking along the surface of the dome. It brought a smile to my face, especially as a bright light caught my eye. Over the rooftops of the buildings, in the direction of the city gates, there was a glow, and the cracks in the dome seemed to be emanating from it. “We need to—” Ana began.

“Welcome back, Guards,” boomed the Smith through his PA system.

I spun around. We were standing at the edge of the Smith’s vast yard, right at the rear corner of the factory nearest the city wall and the dome. He stood on his platform, where he’d obviously been addressing his people, who were armed and at attention. And now all of them were staring at us.

“Seize them!” the Smith roared.

TWENTY-THREE

T
REASA STEPPED IN FRONT
of us, and as soon as the Smith saw her, he shouted, “Stop!”

The guards who had been about to grab us froze. The Smith came forward, yelling, “What have you done?” He glared at each of us, livid. “The Bone Palace is destroyed. The Mazikin are in a frenzy. It is only a matter of time before we are overrun. It will take everything we have to defend the factory.”

“We’ve done it!” Treasa cried, a jittery excitement in her voice. “We killed the Queen and the Tanner, and the portal has been destroyed!”

The Smith swayed on his stumpy legs as the ground shifted beneath us, followed by more deep rumbling. “These damn earthquakes are getting worse,” he replied. “I suppose you’re responsible for that, too?”

Treasa looked stricken. She’d obviously expected him to be thrilled by what she’d helped accomplish, but he was so concerned with maintaining the status quo that he couldn’t think past it. “We need to get inside and lock this place tight,” he said.

“The river is dammed,” Malachi said. “The Bone Palace collapsed in on itself and blocked it.”

The Smith’s ruddy face paled. “That river runs like an unstoppable force beneath this city. If it breaks loos
e . . .
” We all knew what he was thinking. We were trapped under the dome. If the river burst free, would it flood the city? Where would all that water go?

“There’s a way out,” I said. “For everyone. We can leave now. There’s an opening in the dome.”

The Smith’s bushy eyebrows drew together. “A way out? How can you be sure?”

I couldn’t. All I had was the faint hope inside me and the light in the distance. I pointed to it, and he looked in that direction, squinting. “Because we destroyed the portal and killed the Queen, and because the Judge keeps her promises.”

“Yes. The Judge is so benevolent.” He laughed—a bitter, awful sound. “There is no telling what awaits us if we try to leave the city.”

“You’re right,” I said. “But what future do you have here?”

He once again looked at the humans gathered around him, at those scarred faces and broken bodies. Within each of them resided a soul he’d deemed worth saving. “I don’t know how to protect them if we leave the compound.”

“You have vehicles and weapons. We can make a charge to the south,” Ana said.

He crossed his arms over his thick chest. “The Mazikin will try to stop us. They’re massing down there already. I’ve gotten word that Ibram and his enforcement squad are at the gates. You say there is a way out, but apparently there is some force stopping
them
from leaving, so it seems the Mazikin have turned their efforts toward keeping humans imprisoned alongside them—and punishing any who would try to escape.”

“Maybe the opening in the dome is only for people,” I said. “That’s a good thing.”

Ana nodded. “The Wasteland doesn’t need any more predators.”

“All the predators are in the city with us!” the Smith said in a strangled shout. “And they know we have the means to make it to the gates. The only reason they’re not at the metalworks already is that we’ve put up barricades and traps, and they know we’re ready for them. But if we leav
e . . .
” He ran his hand over the top of his head and gestured at his people. “They could be torn apart. Look at them. They’re not warriors. They’re not strong.”

Takeshi leaned toward him. “We can scatter the Mazikin,” he said. “You’ve seen me do it.” His eyes met Ana’s, and he touched his tunic, beneath which the grenades hung. “We can clear a path. We’ll help everyone get out.”

“They can do it, master,” said Treasa, moving forward to clutch at his sleeve. “We could get out.
You
could get out.”

“I don’t care about myself,” the Smith said, and I knew he was telling the truth. The Tanner had been out for himself, but the Smith only wanted to protect his makeshift family. He rubbed his jaw and peered up at Treasa, a glimmer of hope in his eyes that flickered as the ground beneath us shook again, powerfully enough that the facade of a building across the street cracked. Heavy chunks of cement crashed to the pavement.

“All right. We could try,” he finally said, nodding to his guards. “Nazir! Take a group to the garages and fuel the carts. Holloran! Gather everyone in the yard.”

He turned to us. “You can take the lead vehicle. We must leave at dawn, well before the fire hour. We don’t have much time.” He glanced toward the east, where the cruel sun would rise, then back to us. “I’m trusting you with the souls of these people.”

“Then we need to borrow a vehicle and make a little side trip first,” I said, looking at Ana.

The Smith scowled. “For what purpose?”

“We need to get to the square.” I laced my fingers with Malachi’s and squeezed, a plan forming in my mind. “Everyone in this city needs to hear the good news.”

I stared at the hulking beast, pulling my cloak a little tighter. “The biggest thing I’ve ever driven is a Corolla.”

The looming vehicle the Smith had provided was the size and shape of a front loader, or maybe an industrial-grade snowplow. It had a massive scoop on the front and crudely fashioned rubber tires that were as tall as I was. It was the largest and most powerful in the Smith’s fleet, and we would need it, because we had to crash through the barricades and possibly hundreds of Mazikin to get to the main square.

“Good thing Treasa’s driving then,” called Ana as she strode over to us from the direction of the Smith’s armory, fingering the new blades at her thighs. Treasa was with her, and she scaled the side of the vehicle and dropped into the driver’s seat behind a steering wheel as big as she was.

I craned my neck. “Are your feet even touching the pedals?” I asked as I climbed up the ladder on the side of the thing.

“You’re funny,” she said, and though her tone was flat, she wore a smile.

My grip tightened as the ground shook again. The earthquakes were brief but getting stronger and more frequent. At some point, the river would break free, and we’d either ride out on a wave—or maybe end up pressed against the dome, caught within a giant hellish snow globe.

The Smith’s people were all around us, bustling in their preparations for the mad dash they were about to make. Everyone had a job—some were gathering the oldest and weakest and gently placing them on raised platforms atop the twenty or so wheeled vehicles that lined the block. Each vehicle was different, some with huge exposed engines, some with thick metal bumpers and shielded drivers’ compartments, a few with plow blades like ours, and several wide flatbeds, onto which most of the Smith’s people were climbing. Others were shouting orders and tucking weapons into their belts as they clung to the sides of the vehicles—these were the guards, the ones who would defend the vulnerable if any Mazikin tried to attack. A small group of men and women huddled near the destroyed fence around the yard, each holding a wickedly curved blade. The Smith had told us they were supposed to take care of those who couldn’t make it to the wall. A quick decapitation would ensure that those too weak or injured would not be left to the mercy of the Mazikin. It wasn’t an ideal solution, since those who died inside the city were much weaker when they came back, but it still gave them a chance.

He’d given us the use of his most powerful vehicle for one purpose—to make it to the city’s central PA system. When I’d told Malachi what I wanted to do, he’d rewarded me with a kiss that I’d felt all the way down to my toes.

Someone banged against the side of the vehicle, and I looked down to see the Smith, a row of knives arrayed down his arms and around his belt. “We leave as soon as you return.” His dark eyes met mine. “I’m entrusting these people to you, Guards.”

“We will not fail,” said Malachi, who had been given a new set of clothes and equipped with a holster for knives that crisscrossed his chest. He climbed up next to me, followed by Takeshi and Ana, who was still favoring her right arm.

The engine growled as Treasa put it in gear. The Smith grinned at her. “Bring it back in one piece,” he shouted.

She saluted him, then gestured at us to hold on. Without giving us much of a chance, she floored it, and we went shooting forward. She swerved around the other vehicles in line, and I caught a glimpse of blurred faces, eyes wide and hopeful. The glowing light in the south tugged at me, but in the distance, I could hear the roar of a Mazikin horde. Treasa took a sharp right at the end of the block. Malachi’s knuckles were white as he clung to the bar and laid himself flat next to me on the roof of the vehicle. Ana and Takeshi were on his other side, squinting up ahead.

A massive barricade, made of metal scraps and bones, blocked the road in front of us. Treasa pushed a lever forward, and the heavy plow blade hit the street. Sparks flew from the road as it scraped the surface, and Malachi threw himself on top of me, holding my head against his chest as we collided with the barricade, sending debris flying up and over us. We crunched over what remained and roared onto a street past the Smith’s domain.

It was crowded with Mazikin and their slaves. Many of the humans were weighed down like pack mules with the Mazikin’s possessions. They were fleeing south, away from the rumbling ruin of the Bone Palace, and they scattered as we motored up the road. Treasa hadn’t bothered to raise the plow blade, preferring to mow through anything or anyone caught in our way. She’d been given one mission—get to the square and get out again—and she seemed determined to make it happen. Her head was low over the wheel as we collided with a mechanized cart that had broken down in an intersection. Metal shrieked as the vehicle scraped and skidded along the road ahead of us, finally careening onto the sidewalk as we barreled forward.

Through the windows and spaces between buildings, I could see that the ruins of the palace were giving off an eerie sapphire light. “Do you think the portal is still intact?” I yelled.

“Not if you dropped a grenade in it,” shouted Ana as we crashed into a smaller car and went up on one wheel as another flattened the car’s hood.

“The blue substance might not have been destroyed, though,” said Malachi close to my ear. “We don’t know what it was.”

I stared at it, new fear riding down my spine. Then I reminded myself that the dome was open, for now, at least, and that meant we had to have destroyed the portal. It meant Juri couldn’t possess anyone else. He might, in fact, be dead. The fight could be over.

If we got out of the city. Ahead of us, the stadium lights of the square were blinding. Mazikin scrambled from points west and north. A few humans wandered aimlessly, still wearing collars, while others lay destroyed on the street and sidewalk. It looked like a war zone.

“The Mazikin sought to punish all humans when the Tanner declared he had killed the Queen,” Takeshi said, his face grim.

Treasa slowed as she entered the square, where bodies lay thick on the ground, and blood was smeared across the cement. She ground to a halt in front of the platform where Malachi had been tortured. As we stood up on the flat part of the vehicle’s roof, the creatures spotted us. Some shrieked and dropped to all fours, scattering, but most ran forward.

“We have to keep them off of us,” I shouted to Takeshi and Ana. “And we’ll have to take turns.” I pointed to the steps that led up to the platform. Malachi’s blood still darkened its silvery surface. Malachi shuddered against me but didn’t say a word.

“We’ll keep them off you,” Takeshi said as he and Ana leaped off the loader and began to carve their way through any Mazikin stupid enough to approach. Treasa hunched at the wheel, knife at the ready, while Malachi and I jumped from the back and onto the steps.

The PA system the Queen had used to address the entire city was only a few yards away. “Watch my back,” I said to Malachi as three Mazikin rushed the steps from the opposite side, out of Ana and Takeshi’s reach. “Then we’ll trade.”

He nodded and drew two knives, and he looked so fierce that the beasts slowed and began to circle him. I sprinted for the podium, stopping only to slam my blade into the chest of a torn-eared Mazikin who tried to get in my way. I grabbed for the microphone and pressed a button on the side, causing feedback to ring through the speakers.

I gazed up at the bright-white glow, the cracking dome, the carnage all around me. And I began to speak. “Attention, everybody. There’s a way out of this city. Go to the gates in the south, where the light is. Help whoever you see. Every human needs to go to the city gates. There’s a way out.”

I lowered the mic to find several of the humans in the square staring at me, dumbfounded. I looked right at them and repeated the instructions, pointing toward the south. “Malachi,” I called when I was finished. “Get up here and repeat that in every language you know!”

He finished off the last Mazikin opponent with a brutal twist of his blade and ran toward me, flinging a knife at an oncoming creature along the way and hitting it square between the eyes. He took the microphone from me and began speaking in a language I couldn’t identify. I left him to it and headed down the steps, searching the chaos for Takeshi and Ana, who were nowhere in sight.

“They need help!” called Treasa, waving her arm toward the first floor of a building at the edge of the square. “The Mazikin took them that way!”

I glanced back at Malachi, who was speaking in a different language now, and he frantically gestured at the building, telling me to go.

I ran down the steps, leaping over bodies and debris, and saw a cluster of Mazikin, all wearing cloaks with black triangles on the back. Ana was on the ground, blood splattered around her, and Takeshi was in front of her. He had a grenade in his hand.

“No!” I shouted, throwing myself forward and landing on a cloaked Mazikin’s back. I drew my blade across its throat and kicked another as it tried to stop me. “Get her to the vehicle!”

Takeshi had been seconds from blowing them both up—along with all of our grenades. It would have gotten us all to the gates, but not the way I wanted. While the Mazikin descended on me, all claws and jaws, Takeshi carried the unconscious Ana toward the vehicle. I stabbed and punched with all my might, taking out another and wounding one more, all while listening to Malachi’s steady voice, now speaking Spanish, repeating my message to the people of the city. I only hoped they listened.