CARNAL, The Beast Who Loved Me (36 page)

Carnal turned to Free. “They have two hundred people who know how to use the weapons, but we can only carry a hundred and thirty-six. The six fuel rigs will haul as much weaponry and ammunition as we can carry, and Crave’s Promise gets a place on the back of one of the bikes. Almost all of those two hundred are at the munitions plant.”

Free looked at Sychon and Forshep. “Do you understand what we’re doing?”

“Yes. You’re attacking the Rautt,” said Sychon.

“We’re
attacking the Rautt,” Free corrected. “We need your people out of bed, in their clothes, ready to move an hour ago. We’re going to carry them across the wasteland on our bikes. We’re going to go in and extract a prisoner. When we have him safely away, we expect your people to rain the fire of gods down on the miscreants until no one and nothing is left. Are you prepared to lead your people?”

Sychon looked at Forshep, then back at Free. “Yes,” she said. “We are.”

Carnal stepped forward. “Swear your allegiance to us as allies.” He searched the woman for signs of deception, but found none.

“We are your allies in this.”

“Can you speak for him?” Free nodded toward Forshep. “Is he mute?”

“I’m not mute,” said Forshep, sounding a little offended. “I’ve been hauled out of bed in the middle of the night to lead an unplanned battle with people we’ve not previously considered friends. Women are more flexible.”

Free nodded at the wisdom of that. “Are you prepared to make a shift in your perspective?”

“Why now? At whatever fuck in the morning? Why couldn’t we sit down at a reasonable hour and discuss this in a civilized way?”

“The rain.” Free waited to see if the human would put it together, but there was nothing in his expression but blankness. Free cocked his head. “When the Rautt attack your city, we’re always here to defend it before they arrive. Do you know how we know when to come?”

Forshep’s expression remained blank and he was actually beginning to look impatient. Free was astonished that the humans, even the military leaders, knew so little about how they’d been protected.

“We know because traveling the wasteland raises high plumes of dust that can be seen for ten miles from here, farther from the hill where we live.”

Finally, Forshep seemed to put it together.

“It’s raining to the north. Wet sand won’t float on the air,” Sychon said. “They won’t know we’re coming until we’re there.” She sounded genuinely impressed.

“The last time the wasteland was wet was nearly twenty years ago,” Free added. “This opportunity is worth losing a little sleep for.” Free nodded toward Carnal. “My oldest son, Carnal, gets the credit.”

Forshep flicked a glance at Carnal. While he took in a quick deep breath, he seemed to make a decision to man up. “Yes. I’ll fight with you.”

“Good,” Free said. “It’s good that we’re able to resolve this amicably and quickly. Forgive me for feeling I need to add a caveat, but since you were planning to murder all of us, I’d be remiss by not saying that anyone who turns on us in the heat of battle will find their body in one place and their head in another. Clear?”

“Fair enough,” said Forshep.

“While your people are waking up, getting dressed, and preparing their weaponry, you will discuss strategy with us.” Free motioned to the elders standing behind him. “Assuming that the two of you are going, that leaves one hundred thirty-four people. Can we find that many qualified people at the munitions facility?”

Sychon answered, “Yes.”

“Good,” Free said. “You can be deciding who makes the cut on the way.” He pointed to Sychon. “You ride with Serene.” He pointed to Forshep. “You ride with Cage.”

Cage grinned at Forshep, showing off his fangs. “That’s me.”

Forshep pulled back instinctively, but to his credit, didn’t run.

“Mr. Mayor,” Free said to Comstock. “Someone in your city has been colluding with Rautt.”

“That’s impossible,” he said.

“Not only is it possible, but we have proof. We can’t stop word of our preparations from getting out, but the wasteland north of the city is being patrolled by young warriors. Anyone who tries to get a message to the Rautt will be executed on sight. I’m making you aware of this so that, in the eventuality of a death, you’re a witness to our accusation of treachery. After all, no one would be leaving Farsuitwail to travel across the wasteland for any other reason. Right?”

The mayor nodded reluctantly and begrudgingly. “Yes. That’s true. But we have a time-honored, traditional structure in place for handling wrongdoings, a system of laws. People who commit crimes are tried in a court of law where guilt and punishment are decided fairly.”

Free barked out a laugh. “Were you planning on putting all of us on trial before you murdered us in our sleep? In six weeks’ time?” The mayor looked away. “That’s what I thought.” He leaned toward the mayor, not caring that Comstock blanched as Free towered over him in a threatening manner. “Executed. On. The. Spot. Do you understand?” Comstock nodded, trying to shrink away, but Free stopped him. “You’re riding with Thorn. He’s not a fan of humans.” Thorn held up his hand for identification purposes and laughed darkly. “Your presence will be required for reassuring your people until we’re ready to leave. Then you can stay behind.” Free thought about that for a second. “Unless you want to go.”

“Me? Uh, no,” the mayor stammered. No one seemed surprised.

Carnal pulled Max over. “Go home, kid. You did good. If you ever need anything from us, just ask for Carnal and tell them I owe you a favor.”

“I’m sorry about…” Max looked at the mayor like he was ashamed of what others had been planning. ”And, um, good luck.”

Carnal and his crew led the way to the munitions facility in the predawn darkness. Rosie clung to his back, arms wrapped tight around his middle, as the gravity of the situation began to settle over her soul like a pall.

They stopped in front of the little shack that hid the humans’ great secret that carried the potential for both carnage and peace. The trailers were given priority parking near the entrance, with Carnal’s elite crew and the elders parking nearby.

Clash located the spring that opened the floor to the stairway down. Someone lit a lamp so the humans, including Rosie, could see well enough to navigate descent to the rooms below ground. Yellow was one of the first to reach the bottom and went to work lighting the lamp sconces on the walls, as he had at City Hall. Rosie wondered if he had a proclivity toward pyromania or just liked staying busy.

There were hallways branching off from the main room in several directions. Forshep, Sychon, Cage, Breaker, Thorn, Clash, and Easy began banging on doors, yelling, “Report for battle.”

Doors were opening all over. People were stepping out into the hall in whatever they wore to bed, to get an explanation. Seeing Comstock, Forshep and Sychon seemed to calm everybody.

“Get dressed for rain and cold and do it on the double. We’re taking it to the Rautt.”

Sleepy people had looked at each other like they couldn’t believe what was happening, but they scrambled to comply and assembled in the big room, dressed and ready to go within minutes.

“Everybody trained on guns, over there,” Sychon shouted and pointed to a corner. “Artillery, over there.” She pointed to the opposite corner then conferred with Forshep as people were moving into place.

“What are you discussing?” Free said. He’d learned his lesson about human capacity for secrecy and subterfuge.

Sychon looked up. “We think we should take everybody trained on artillery because that’s what will do the most damage, but somebody is going to have to figure out how much we can carry.”

The Exiled had six vehicles that had been modified so that they could take fuel with them. They were motorcycles with two wheels in front and one in back, designed to pull two-wheeled trailers. Without a fuel load, there were forty-six cubic feet of space in each trailer.

In sync Free and Carnal looked at the walls of shelves holding pipe cannons.

“Fill up five of the trailers with the pipe cannons and the bombs they propel, then decide how many people you need to manage that most efficiently. We’ll pair them up with Exiled. Strap a gun to
every
human’s back whether they’re gunnery or artillery and fill the sixth trailer with ammunition.

“Get an instructor over here to demonstrate how to fire the guns and launch the pipe bombs.”

“You mean right now?” Forshep practically gaped.

Free dropped his chin. “I mean
right
now. We’re probably smarter than you think. Just do it.”

Forshep shook his head. “Reynells. Come show them how to load and fire a rifle. Blathekin. Same with a cannon.”

After a two minute demonstration, the Exiled nodded like they understood.

“Questions?” asked Blathekin.

Carnal said, “Yeah. Is it necessary to use a pipe cannon to launch one of these?” He held up one of the round balls in his big hand.

“Well, yes. How else could you do it?”

“We could throw them.”

Blathekin started to laugh dismissively, but his smile faded when he realized it was a serious question. “How far do you think you could throw one of these?”

Carnal tossed the ball up, testing for weight, then turned it over in his hand. “A hundred and fifty yards. About.”

Blathekin’s mood turned serious as he looked at Carnal with what appeared to be a newfound respect. “Yes. That would do it.”

“Okay, people, you heard that,” Forshep said. “It means we need more balls and less cannons. Let’s get those trailers loaded fast. Get a move on. We’re burning darkness.”

Rosie grabbed Carnal and pulled him aside. “Carnal.”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t want you to go.”

“Rosie. This is no time for joking around.”

“I’m not joking! I don’t want you to go.”

“Where’s this coming from?”

“You could be hurt. Or worse. Look around. There are plenty of people, humans and hybrids. They don’t need
you
.”

“They don’t need me?” He looked angry. “Yes. They do need me. But even if they didn’t, you think I could live with myself if I stayed behind? We’re going to get my brother. What kind of example would I be setting if I put this in motion and then said, ‘Hey. Good luck. Let me know how it turns out’.”

“Yes. You could live with yourself. And with me!”

His face softened when he realized she was scared of losing him. “Rosie. Love is the most important thing in the world, but it doesn’t stand alone. It has to be supported by people who are worth loving. If I didn’t go try to get my brother away from those monsters, I wouldn’t be
worth
loving. At this moment, you’re the most important thing in the world to me, but I can’t hide from this. Not even for you.”

And in that moment, as she searched Carnal’s face and saw the truth of his heart reflected in his eyes, she understood what Glen had once tried to tell her. A person can love and put themselves at risk at the same time, especially when the cause is a noble one.

Carnal saw understanding flicker across her face and was grateful. He kissed her with emotion born of both gratitude and reality, knowing there was a chance it would be the last time. And then he let her go. “Help us get ready.”

“I’m going.”

“You are not going.”

“If you’re going, I’m going.”

“Rosie, you cannot go. I can’t do my job and worry about you at the same time.”

“You know there’s nothing to worry about. I can take care of myself. Remember?”

“Intellectually I know that, but emotionally I don’t. You’re not going.”

She knew there was no point in arguing so she pretended to acquiesce. If he thought he could keep her away, then he really didn’t understand her at all.

By the time they had sorted out which humans would go, the seventy or so who would be left behind actually looked disappointed rather than relieved.