The Ashes of Pompeii (Purge of Babylon, Book 5) (31 page)

Danny was looking at the nearly empty weapons rack at the back of the room. “Been busy, huh? I guess it’s true what they say: Give a woman the key to your place, and before you know it, she’s reorganizing everything. Should I ask what you’ve been doing with all the stuff me and your boyfriend collected over the last few months?”

“They’re around.”

“Can you be more specific?”

“Here, there, everywhere.”

“Ah. All part of the plan?”

“Yes.”

“So, tell me about it. That is, if you have the time. I mean, if you don’t, maybe I can make an appointment or something. I can see you’re a very busy gal these days.”

“I’m sorry about before. At the pier…”

He waved a dismissive hand. “Water under the yacht. So tell me about this plan of yours that’s supposed to keep everyone alive.”

She did.

“Hunh,” he said when she was finished. “I guess it’s a good thing we stocked up on those cheap boats and emergency ladders.”

“That’s Will, Danny. He’s always thinking ahead. That’s why he’s such a good leader and I’m…barely hanging on.”

“You’re doing all right from what I can see.”

“Barely.” Then, “So tell me. Am I going to get everyone killed?”

He thought about it for a moment. “It’s risky,” he said finally.

“It’s very risky. But I don’t see any other way. If we need to abandon the island, the
Trident
has to be ready. For that to happen, it can’t be involved until we need it.”

“It’s a big boat.”

“We’ll have the cover of darkness, and I’m hoping they won’t be able to adjust their assault plan on the fly. Or want to, given their overconfidence.”

“So many maybes, Aunt Bee would be jealous.” He seemed to think about it some more before nodding. “What’s the worst that could happen? They try to board the big boat?”

“Keo did.”

“Yeah, but from what everyone’s told me, that guy is half-dolphin. Besides, I brought something that’ll discourage them if they do decide to go that path. Have you ever stared down the barrel of an M240? It’s guaranteed to make anyone cry for their momma.”

“The other option is to pack everyone and everything onboard the
Trident
now and take our chances at the channel before nightfall.”

“And you say they’ve got that place sealed tight?”

“Keo barely survived.”

“He’s a merc. You can’t really trust a merc. Even one that’s half-dolphin.”

She sat down on one of the crates and looked over at him. “Tell me the truth. Am I going to get everyone killed, Danny?”

“Like I said, it’s risky, but I trust you.”

“Why?”

“You’re smarter than me.” He grinned, and despite the bruises and cuts, she could almost believe he was the same Danny who had left her and Carly to go look for Will. “Let’s face it, you’re smarter than everyone on this island. I used to think it was just book smarts, but Willie boy’s convinced that’s not the case. And I’ve learned to trust his instincts, even though this time it got me a busted nose.”

“Funny, because I don’t feel so smart.”

“Now you know how I feel every day. Wait, did I just say that out loud?”

She managed a smile, but her mind was already elsewhere. She hesitated with what she was going to say next because she had been dreading it, but knew it was inevitable.

“What happened out there, Danny?” she finally asked.

“What do you wanna know?”

“It’s her, isn’t it? Kate?”

He sat down next to her. “They went to great lengths to take us alive back at Route 13. Kate’s orders would be my guess. I don’t know what that bitch has up her fleshy sleeve, but it’s got everything to do with Willie boy.”

“He was only with her for one night. Or did he lie to me?”

“Nah, I think that was it. But it’s not like I have a bell around his ankle or anything.”

“So what is this, some kind of schoolgirl crush?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Then what?”

He shook his head, and she could see that Danny had been thinking about it for some time now, too. “Putting on my serious hat here, but I don’t think it’s something we would understand. You know how she would sometimes show up in his dreams?”

Lara nodded. It was one of the more infuriating things about Kate.

“He used to tell me they had this unexplainable connection,” Danny said. “Some psychic shit, or something. Maybe it happened back in the early days of The Purge. The Kate you met on the road wasn’t the same Kate we first saw back in Houston. She’d changed a lot by the time you joined us.”

Everyone changes. You adapt or perish.

“So I don’t know what happened between them,” Danny continued. “You should ask him when he comes back.”

“I will.”

“And he will come back.”

“I know.”

“Your boyfriend’s stubborn. It’s one of his most annoying qualities. Sometimes I want to punch him in the face just for being him.”

“I’ll tell him you said that.” Lara reached over and squeezed his hand. “I’m glad you’re back. You know I love you, right?”

He grinned. “What would Carly say?”

She kissed him on the cheek. “Welcome home. I’m sorry you’re not going to be able to spend a lot of time with Carly.”

“Fortunately, I don’t need all that much time. Back in college they used to call me Speedy Danny. You don’t wanna know.”

“I think you’re right,” she smiled, and this time it came out easier.

“I could tell you.”

“No.”

“It’s a funny story.”

“Save it for tomorrow.”

“Right-o.” Then, “So. Your own little Plan Z, huh?”

“I’m trying to come up with a better name, but yeah. If we need it, that’s what I’ve come up with.”

“Eh. I’ve heard worse.”

“When?”

“Whenever your boyfriend opens his mouth.”

Lara laid her head against his shoulder. “He’ll be back. As long as he’s alive, he’ll come back to me. He promised, and he knows I’ll kick his ass if he breaks that promise.”

“Well, that settles that, then.”

They didn’t say anything for a moment, and the only sound for the longest time was the humming of the lights around them.

Finally, Lara said, “What if they don’t do what I think they’ll do? What if they’re smarter than that?”

“They’ll definitely go for the beach,” Danny said. “They won’t be able to help themselves. They have the manpower and firepower for it. They’ll overwhelm us with force. Shock and awe. Or, at least, that’ll be the plan. Personally, Willie boy and me could have come up with something better. Like, a billion times better. But we’re not talking about professionals here. They’ll take the path of least resistance because they’ll be overconfident in their numbers.”

“Do they really have that many soldiers?”

He nodded. “However many you think they have, they actually have more. Everyone loves a winning side, right? And you don’t get any more winning than taking over the planet in one night. Hell, if we’re smart, we would have joined them long ago.”

“It’s a good thing you’re not that bright, then.”

“Ouch.”

“But I love you anyway.”

Danny put his arm around her and pulled her tight against him. “One more day. That’s all we need. Just long enough for Big Willie to make his way home. I don’t like to tell him this, but he’s the brains of the operation, you know. If there’s a Will, there’s a way.” Then he added, “Get it?”

“I’m not an idiot, Danny.”

“Well, you did drop out of school.”

“I had a really good excuse,” she said.

*

She found Gaby
in her room. The same one she had left behind weeks ago when she climbed into the helicopter with Will and didn’t come back to until now. It still looked the same because Lara hadn’t touched it since, and Carly had visited it once every few days to keep the dust at bay. From the looks of the clean carpeting and bed, Carly had done a good job of it.

Gaby was sitting on the end of the bed, looking at the open bathroom door across from her. Someone was in the shower singing some song that sounded familiar, but Lara couldn’t quite place it. It was probably the young blonde girl who had stood on one side of Gaby while the young man, Nate, stood on the other when they arrived on the island earlier. Looking at the two girls was like seeing sisters, and she wondered if that’s what people saw when she stood next to Gaby.

A dirty T-shirt and pants lay crumpled on the floor next to the supply packs Gaby and the girl had brought with them. Gaby was still wearing her gun belt, and her M4 rifle leaned against the bed within easy reach. There was an awareness about her, as if she was waiting for something to happen so she could explode into action, that hadn’t been there when she had last seen the teenager.

Always the soldier. You trained her too well, Will.

“Hey,” Lara said.

Gaby looked over. Despite the bruises, the cuts, and the healing broken nose, she still looked very much like the painfully pretty eighteen-year-old teenager who had come to her and Will not all that long ago. Josh had been with her then, but that was another life. These days, Gaby had other boys scrambling for her attention, and no amount of bodily injury was going to stop that.

“Some homecoming, huh?” Lara said. “‘Welcome back. Oh, by the way, we’re about to be attacked by an overwhelming force. Can you grab that rifle?’”

Gaby smiled. “Beats what’s going on out there.”

“You’ve been through a lot.”

“Who hasn’t?”

Lara nodded. She couldn’t argue with that.

And Will was still out there…

“I was hoping you’d come by,” Gaby said. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted to see me after…earlier.”

“I’m sorry about that. I reacted badly.”

“I’m just glad you didn’t shoot me and Danny.”

They exchanged a brief smile, then Lara pointed at the open bathroom door.

“Claire,” Gaby said.

“Mini you.”

Gaby chuckled. “I guess we do kind of look alike.”

“What’s she singing?”

“I think that’s a Taylor Swift song.”

“I don’t know who that is.”

“Taylor Swift?”

“Yeah.”

“She was a country singer, sang mostly about boys and breaking up and all that girlie stuff. Then she became a pop singer. Then…well, I don’t know what she did after that. This happened.”

Lara walked over and sat on the bed next to her. Gaby hadn’t changed clothes since she arrived. She was still wearing the same cargo pants and long-sleeve shirt, clothes that would make other women look tomboyish or plain, but of course other women weren’t Gaby.

“You should have seen me this afternoon,” Gaby said. “I was wearing a dead man’s uniform.”

“Why in the world were you doing that?”

Gaby told her about posing as soldiers in order to get past the barricade at the Lake Dulcet exit.

“Oh,” Lara said. She wondered how many of those “soldiers” were running around out there right now. More importantly, how many Will would have to elude
(kill)
in order to come back to her.

However many it takes, Will. You better come back to me.

“From what Carly told us in the dining room, it sounds like you have everything ready,” Gaby said.

God, I hope she’s right,
Lara thought, but she said, “Will has a saying: No plan survives first contact with the enemy. I just hope I don’t get everyone killed.”

“We’ll do fine. I was trained by two of the best, and you guys have been fighting for this island for a while now. We’re going to give them a hell of a fight.”

They didn’t say anything for a while. Instead, they sat quietly and listened to Claire singing inside the shower. Gaby was right; the song was about a boy and heartbreak, and maybe a high school was involved somehow. They could make out Claire’s figure behind the curtain, scrubbing herself down as heavy mist drifted through the open door.

“I told her there was a five-minute limit,” Gaby sighed. “I think she’s way past that.”

“It’s okay. Let her enjoy it.”
Because it might be the last shower any of us gets for a while,
she thought about adding, but didn’t. She said instead, “Then you should take one, too.”

“I will. I have a lot to scrub off.” She paused for a moment, before adding, “Thanks for keeping my room clean, by the way.”

“Thank Carly. She did all the work.”

Gaby looked toward her patio window. “What are the chances he’s out there, you think?”

“Who?”

“Josh.”

The question caught her off guard. It had never occurred to her that Josh would be out there right now, somewhere on the shoreline waiting for nightfall. Would Kate send him to do her dirty work? The Josh she knew was still eighteen, tall but gangly, even nerdy, and if she had to pick someone to lead a battle, he would have been the last person on her list. But according to Will and Gaby, that teenage boy was long gone, replaced by a very capable (and dangerous) ghoul collaborator. So who was to say what he was capable of now?

Adapt or perish. Maybe Josh has adapted, too.

“I don’t know,” Lara said. “Would they let him join in the attack?”

“The Josh I saw out there wouldn’t be a part of the attack, Lara; he would be leading it.”

“Josh?” She knew he had changed, but had he changed
that
much?