Sky on Fire (12 page)

“What just happened?” Caroline asked again.

“I have news for you,” Astrid barreled on. “Good news.”

Jake set down his plastic spoon and looked up at her.

“We getting rescued?” he said bitterly.

“I'm pregnant,” Astrid said.

Jake just stared at her.

“What?” he asked.

“I'm going to have your baby, Jake.”

She pulled up her sweater—my sweater—and showed him her belly.

Jake saw the rise now.

Once you saw it, you couldn't miss it.

“How far?” he croaked.

“Four months,” she said.

“You're gonna have a baby?” Caroline gasped.

Astrid nodded. A smile played on her lips.

The kids squealed. They jumped up, so delighted. So happy. They hugged her and danced around.

Astrid laughed and let them have their moment, but her eyes kept flickering toward Jake.

Jake roared with happiness and jumped up. He swept Astrid into a big hug and kissed her.

I'd had enough.

I walked away.

“What's wrong with Dean?” I heard Henry ask.

“He'll be okay,” Astrid said, loud enough for me to hear.

*   *   *

Sure, sure, I'd be okay.

The girl I loved, who loved me back or at least liked me back, was going to get back together with her manipulative, depressed, drug-addicted boyfriend.

Also, the world as we knew it had ended and add to that the fact that I had killed a man. That one kept creeping up on me.

I went to look at the hole. I wanted to take down some shelf-boarding from the Accessories Department and put it up over the hole as a layer of extra protection.

That's when I heard the noise.

Something was rattling in the storeroom.

*   *   *

“Hello?” I called into the dark space.

I shined a flashlight around.

There was the shattered Operations Center, with the useless panels that had once controlled our power, air, and water.

There were the two lifeless bodies near the wall in their matching floral shrouds.

Boxes of merchandise spilled their guts here and there.

Empty pallets in a messy stack against the gate, next to the intercom.

Everything was in its place.

The rattle came again and it wasn't coming from the loading bay gate.

It was coming from the hatch.

I stormed back to the Kitchen. They were all gathered there, lingering over the breakfast that I had cooked for them.

“Jake!” I shouted. “Did you leave the ladder hanging down from the roof?”

“What?” Jake asked, looking befuddled.

“Did you leave the ladder hanging down from the roof when you left us, three days ago?”

“No,” he protested. “Alex hauled it up after me. I'm not stupid and neither is your brother.”

“Well, there's someone up on the roof now. And they want in.”

*   *   *

“Who are you?” Jake hollered through the hatch. He had insisted Astrid take the kids to the Train. She had agreed, much to my surprise.

The hatch was padlocked, thank God. I had checked it the day before.

“We're just some kids,” the voice said.

It did sound like a kid.

“Please let us in. It's scary out here.”

Now, that sounded a little like sarcasm. Jake and I exchanged a look. We stood on the metal staircase, crammed together, under the hatch.

“How did you get up there?” Jake hollered.

“What?” the voice said. “We can't hear you.”

Whoever he was, it sounded almost like he was laughing.

Jake and I shared an uneasy look.

“How the hay'd they get up there?” Jake murmured.

“We need to talk to you. We have a message from your other friends.”

“What other friends?” I shouted.

I'd put on a mask, of course, in case we decided to open the hatch.

“What other friends?” Jake repeated.

“The ones with the bus.”

I stared at Jake.

“You have to let us in!” the voice demanded. “We have Brayden with us!”

*   *   *

Jake and I scrambled to open the lock.

Not for a second did we think it might be a trick.

“Brayden!” Jake screamed. “How did you find Brayden?”

We pushed open the hatch, and three guys were standing in the beam of our flashlight. They had guns.

They wore dark uniforms. Dirty and ragged. Their faces were uncovered. One of them wore a beret and had some gold cords going under his arm. He was the leader, there was no question.

“Hi!” he said, cheerful as could be. “Thank you so much for letting us in!”

Then he kicked Jake in the chest.

 

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

ALEX

 

22–17 MILES

We set out again.

Max had to be carried. He had blisters on his feet that had burst. Niko had given him his extra socks, but apparently, Max's feet still hurt too much to walk.

I was sick of all the crying and whining.

I had blisters, too. Mine had burst, too. Every step was like little knives stabbing in my heels and I was hot in all the stupid layers. It occurred to me that I could just take them off. But then the little kids would whine even worse that it wasn't fair that I didn't have to wear layers, etc.

I had already paid the consequences of my blood type. I would never be able to have kids and I guess I would never be able to have sex. Wasn't that enough?

I was in a bad mood.

We trudged along. Maybe a mile an hour? Maybe?

I was in a very bad mood.

It was less dark than usual and I realized maybe it was midday. It was almost as light as a night with a full moon. Or maybe our eyes had adjusted to the light. But I could actually see, sort of. Everything was greenish, but I could see.

And then we stopped.

Niko crouched down, letting Max slide off his back.

He motioned for us all to get down, and as Sahalia and Ulysses crouched down, I saw why we were stopping.

Up on the road, under one of the floodlights, there was a soldier.

He was wearing lots of gear, including a machine gun.

Some equipment hung off his belt—2 bright-orange air masks and some vial-shaped things in a holster. Flares, maybe?

Niko was whispering to us to stay put, but Sahalia lurched to her feet and started running toward him.

“Help us!” Sahalia cried. “Hey, mister, please help us! Our friend is on a bus!”

“Wait!” Niko hissed, but Ulysses and Max started running toward him, too. “Wait!”

The soldier turned and at first I thought he was smiling at us. He took off a hat he was wearing and threw it aside, his arms open wide.

Then he brought up his gun and I was running then, too.

He fired it at Sahalia!

It just went
CLICKA, CLICKA, CLICKA.

And then he roared.

The soldier was O. Definitely O.

Sahalia skidded to a stop. She tried to back up but Ulysses crashed into her and then they were all scrambling backward, away from the soldier. He swung his gun free from his shoulder and started coming at Sahalia with it like it was an ax.

He said something. It came out a dry grunt.

He lifted up his gun and brought it down again. Said the word again.

Niko grabbed Sahalia and hauled her back. Josie grabbed Max, and Ulysses and I ran.

I ran by Batiste, who was frozen in horror, and grabbed his arm and shouted, “Run!”

The O soldier was right on us.

He kept grunting his word. And sometimes he would laugh this horrible, low guffaw that sounded like a cry of pain, but was his laugh all the same.

And then I understood what the word was.

He was saying, “Kids.”

All I had in my mind was to get away. I'm embarrassed I didn't take more care of the younger kids, but all I did was run.

So, my mind wasn't working in a logical way but my theory, looking back, is that the Os who had been out the whole time since the compound leak were worn-out. All that rage had drained them.

The O soldier was still vicious and strong and deranged, but he looked thin and thirsty. The bloodlust must make them stupid, is my idea. Too angry to eat or drink properly.

The O soldier stumbled on the underbrush as he chased us.

His slowness was good for us because we started to get some distance on him.

Tall, thin shapes rose up through the dark air in front of us and I realized it was an aspen grove. The skinny trunks stood white and it was very still between them.

Now we dodged away from him like rabbits, going in different directions, and he got very frustrated.

Josie grabbed me and pulled me with her behind a stand of three trees.

The little kids headed for Niko, who started boosting Ulysses up into the thin branches of one of the trees.

Good idea, I thought.

The O soldier headed toward Max.

Sahalia, who was behind a different tree, shouted, “Over here, dummy!” and waved. The soldier lurched toward her.

“Max!” Niko hissed, calling him. Niko was now helping Batiste into another tree.

Max moved toward Niko, but his boot got stuck in a root, I think, and the boot pulled halfway off. Max screamed and I realized his blisters were worse than I'd thought. I could see blood on his socks and the O soldier headed back toward him. Max couldn't get his foot free.

“Here!” Josie yelled, waving. “You stupid jerk!”

She threw a stick at him but the soldier didn't turn.

“A KID, A KID, A KID!” the soldier repeated, his voice deranged and happy and disgusting.

He was descending on Max's cowering form. Max screamed.

And then Josie stepped in front of me, and as she moved toward the soldier, she took off her mask.

Just pulled it off and threw it to the side, like it was nothing.

As she ran, she breathed in big, loud breaths.

She launched into the air and landed on the soldier's back.

The sound she made as she flew at him was horrible.

It was loud and jagged and throaty. It was also joyful. Liberated. Pure rage: “WRAAAAAAAAAAUGH!”

It seemed like something she'd wanted to say for a long time.

Josie landed on his back and I think she sunk her teeth into the back of his neck. He made a motion to swipe her off and the motion toppled him to the side.

Max finally pushed back, away from them, scooting back through the dead leaves and dirt.

The soldier threw Josie off him. She rolled back in the leaves and hit her head on a tree.

“You gonna kill us?” she growled as she rose, her voice thick with hatred. “A bunch of kids?”

They circled each other. Meanwhile, Niko dug in his backpack for the gun. Sahalia had come around the back of my stand of trees. She grabbed me to her. She clung to me, hugging me.

Josie launched forward through the air. Almost like flying. She tackled the soldier. He took a swing at her but missed.

“I can't get a shot. I can't get a shot!” Niko shouted, trying to aim the gun at the O soldier. His hands were shaking.

Then Josie was on top of him, sitting with her legs over his shoulders. She started punching the soldier on either side of his head in alternation. She was just whaling on him.

“Big guy?”

He was kicking, then more weakly.

“You kill kids?”

She lifted his head and banged it down. On a rock, I think, because there was an awful sound.

“You're tough?”

Again she banged down his head. Again the sick thud. Again.

Josie grabbed the soldier by the hair and screamed in his bloody face.

“You kill kids, huh?”

Only he was already dead. His legs weren't moving and his face was splattered with darkness. His head, actually, seemed to not be the right shape anymore.

“You gonna kill us?” Josie asked him again.

And another thud.

“He's dead,” Niko said.

She banged his head again.

“Josie, he's dead!” Niko shouted.

He dropped the gun and lurched forward toward her.

“No!” she shrieked, backing up. “Get back!”

“It's okay, JoJo. You're going to be okay.” Niko tried to reassure her. He had his hands up, as if to show her he meant no harm.

Niko scrambled to the dead soldier's body. He pushed him over, scrambling to grab one of the high-tech air masks on his belt.

“Put a mask on!” Niko pleaded through his own. “Let me get a mask for you! You'll feel better.”

Sahalia darted forward to try to help Niko get the mask.

“No,” Josie sobbed, backing up.

Batiste stepped forward.

“Josie, you saved us. It's over now.”

“Aaaaargh!” Josie cried. She wiped her bloody hands over her face.

Then she turned and ran.

“Josie!” Niko cried. “Don't go!”

“Josie!” we all screamed.

But she ran away.

I think she might have killed us if she stayed.

*   *   *

Niko started sobbing. There is no other word for it.

He just crumpled down over the legs of the dead soldier and sobbed.

I didn't know what to do. I sat down.

Sahalia went over and kind of rubbed Niko's back.

Batiste kept screaming for Josie.

Max was whimpering. He was in pain.

Ulysses climbed down from the tree and went and got Max's boot from where it got stuck under the root, and for a long while, that's all the movement there was.

Just fat Ulysses, trying to help his friend get his boot on.

Then, Niko sat up. He very methodically stripped the gun belt off the soldier's corpse. He took the high-tech orange air mask #1 from the belt, then took his own mask off and quickly switched, putting the better one on.

We could now hear his breathing. He was still having those leftover sobs. The sporadic ones. We could hear because the high-tech mask had some kind of a speaker built in.