Chaos Walking: The Complete Trilogy (155 page)

After what
one
of them has done,
the Source shows.
Peace is not only possible, it’s
vital
to our future.

Our
future?

He ignores this.
The only alternative is complete mutual destruction.

And the problem with that would be what?

But his own voice is already glowing with anger.
That’s not something the Sky would ask.

And what do you know of the Sky?
I show.
What do you know of any of us? You have spoken in our voice for a fraction of your life. You are not us. You will never be us.

As long as there is an us and them,
he shows back,
the Land will never be safe.

I make to answer but the voice of the Land calls down from the valley to the west, warning us. Our steeds begin to climb even faster. I look up the valley, through the flakes of ice still falling, through the fires that burn on either side, the smoke that rises into the clouds above–

And down the riverbed comes a bank of steaming fog, racing ahead of the river like the whistle before an arrow–

Here it comes,
I show.

The fog rushes by us and up, coating the world in white.

I give the Source one last look–

And then I open my voice–

I open it to all the Land that can hear it, seeking out Pathways to pass it on, until I know that I am speaking to
all
Land, everywhere–

And I hear it, the echoes of the first command I sent, the command to gather weapons–

Sitting there as if a destiny to be fulfilled–

I seize on it in the voice and send it again, send it further and wider than before–

Prepare yourselves, I tell the Land.

Prepare yourselves for war–

NO!
the Source shouts again–

But his words are lost as water as tall as a city crashes through the valley below us, swallowing everything in its path–

{V
IOLA
}

We pound up the road into town, Acorn and Angharrad running so fast I can barely keep hold of his mane–

Girl colt hang on
, Acorn says and manages to speed up even more–

Bradley’s up ahead of me on Angharrad, the falling snow whipping around us as we cut through it. We’re rapidly nearing the outskirts of town where the road meets the first houses–

What the hell–?
I hear Bradley yell in his Noise–

There’s a small group of men marching down the road. They’re in formation, led by Captain O’Hare, weapons raised and apprehension rising through their Noise like the smoke billowing up on the north and south horizons.

“TURN BACK!” Bradley yells as we get closer to them. “YOU’VE GOT TO TURN BACK!”

Captain O’Hare stops, his Noise puzzled, the men behind him stopping, too. We reach them, the horses skidding to a halt–

“There’s a Spackle attack coming,” Captain O’Hare says. “I’ve got orders–”

“They’ve released the river!” I shout.

“You’ve got to get to higher ground!” Bradley says. “You’ve got to tell the townsfolk–”

“Most of them have left already,” Captain O’Hare says, his Noise rising red. “They’re following the army up the road at full fast march.”

“They’re doing
what
?” I say.

But Captain O’Hare’s looking angrier and angrier. “He knew,” he says. “He
knew
this was suicide.”

“Why is everyone else marching up the road?” I demand.

“They’re going to the mistresses’ hilltop,” Captain O’Hare says, bitterness in his voice. “To
secure
it.”

And we see in a flash of his Noise just what
secure
means.

I think of Lee on that hilltop. I think of Lee unable to see.

“Bradley!” I shout, slapping Acorn’s reins again.

“Get your men to higher ground!” Bradley shouts as we ride around the soldiers and back down the road. “Save as many people as you can!”

But then we hear the
roar–

Not the
ROAR
of the Noise of a group of men–

The
roar
and
crash
of the river–

We look back–

To see an impossibly massive wall of water obliterate the top of the hill–

[T
ODD
]

The screens change. The ocean disappears and up pop the probes from the town. The Mayor’s got one of ’em pointed right at the empty waterfall–

“Here it comes, Todd,”
he says–

“Viola?” I whisper frantically, trying to find her in the screens, trying desperately to see if any of the probes are watching her ride thru the city–

But I don’t see nothing–

Don’t see nothing but the huge wall of water come shooting out over the hilltop, pushing a town-sized cloud of fog and steam before it–

“Viola,” I whisper again–

“Here she is,”
the Mayor’s voice says–

And he switches to a probe view that’s her and Bradley on their horses, racing for their lives up the road thru town–

And there are people running, too, but there ain’t no way under heaven they’re gonna outrun the water smashing into the bottom of the falls and flinging its way forward, thru clouds of steam and fog–

A wave heading right for the city–

“Faster, Viola,” I whisper, pressing my face close to the screen.
“Faster.”

{V
IOLA
}

“Faster!” Bradley calls ahead of me–

But I can barely hear him–

The
roar
of the water behind us is literally deafening–

“FASTER!” Bradley screams again, looking back–

I look back, too–

Holy God–

It’s almost a solid thing, a solid white wall of raging water, higher than the highest building in New Prentisstown, smashing into the river valley, obliterating the battlefield at the bottom of the hill instantly and
roaring
forward, eating everything in the way–

“Come ON!” I shout to Acorn.
“COME ON!”

And I can feel the terror coursing through him. He knows exactly what’s coming after us, what’s blasting the first houses of New Prentisstown to splinters and no doubt Captain O’Hare and all his men, too–

And there are other people running, screaming out of houses and running for the hills to the south, but they’re too far away, much too far to reach on foot, and all these people are going to die–

I turn away, spurring Acorn again with my ankles out of pure fright. His mouth is spitting foam from the effort–

“Come on, boy,” I say between his ears. “Come
on
!”

But he doesn’t answer me, just runs and runs and we’re through the square and past the cathedral and onto the road out of town and I sneak another look behind me and see the wall of water smash through the buildings at the far edge of the square–

“We’re not going to make it!” I yell to Bradley–

He looks at me and then back behind me–

And his face tells me I’m right–

[T
ODD
]

Outta the corner of my eye, I see a screen showing that we’re landing on the shore and there’s snow and sand and endless water, waves crashing in and dark shadows moving thru ’em just under the surface–

But my attenshun is on the probe following Viola and Bradley–

Following ’em as they ride thru the square, thru the people left behind, past the cathedral and onto the road outta town–

But the water’s too fast, too high, too powerful–

They ain’t gonna make it–

“No,” I say, my heart just ripping in my chest. “Come on!
Come on!
”

And the wall of water slams into the ruins of the cathedral, finally knocking over the bell tower that stood on its own–

It disappears in a flash of water and brick–

And I’m realizing something–

The water’s slowing–

As it tears thru New Prentisstown, as it
erases
New Prentisstown, all the junk and the buildings are slowing it down, just a little, just a bit, making the wall of water a little bit shorter, a little bit slower–

“But not nearly enough,” the Mayor says–

And he’s in the room behind me–

I whirl round to face him–

“I’m sorry that she’ll die, Todd,” he says. “I truly am.”

And I hit him with a
VIOLA
that’s packed with everything I got–

{V
IOLA
}

“No,”
I feel myself whispering as New Prentisstown is torn to pieces behind us, as the wall of water is now filled with timber and brick and trees and who knows how many bodies–

And I’m looking back–

And it’s slowing down–

Choking some on all the debris–

But not enough–

It’s reached the stretch of road just behind us, still coming quick, still coming full and hard and brutal–

Todd,
I think–

“Viola!” Bradley calls back to me, his face twisted–

And there’s no way–

There’s just no way–

Girl colt
, I hear–

“Acorn?”

Girl colt
, he says, his Noise ragged with the force he’s putting out–

Angharrad, too, I can hear her ahead–

Follow!
she says–

“What do you mean,
follow
?” I say, alarmed, looking back at the water not a hundred metres behind us–

Ninety–

Girl colt
, Acorn says again.

“Bradley?” I call but I see him gripping Angharrad’s mane tight just as I’m grabbing Acorn’s–

And
Follow!
she bellows again–

Follow!
Acorn answers–

HOLD!
they yell together–

And I’m nearly knocked off his back by an impossible burst of speed–

A burst of speed that can only be tearing the muscles in his legs, that can only be bursting his lungs–

But we’re doing it–

I look back–

We’re outrunning the flood–

[T
ODD
]

VIOLA!
I think right at him–

Hitting him with all the rage that she’s in so much danger, all the rage that I don’t know what’s happened to her, all the rage that she might be–

All
that
rage–

VIOLA!

And the Mayor flinches and rocks back on his heels–

But doesn’t fall–

“I told you you’ve got stronger, Todd,” he says, steadying himself and giving me a smile. “Not strong enough, though.”

And there’s a flash of Noise in my head so hard I fall back over a bed and crumple to the floor, the world reduced to nothing but the Noise echoing thru me,
YER NOTHING YER NOTHING YER NOTHING
and everything shrinks to just that sound–

But then I think
Viola–

I think of her out there–

And I push it back–

I feel my hands on the floor–

I use them to rise to my knees–

I lift my head–

To see the Mayor’s surprised face only a metre or so away, coming towards me, something in his hand–

“Goodness,” he says, sounding almost cheerful. “Even stronger than I thought.”

And I know another blast’s coming so I do it the old-fashioned way before he can gather himself–

I jump at him, pushing hard with my feet and leaping out–

He ain’t expecting it and I hit him about waist-height, knocking us back into the screens–

(where the river’s still shooting down the valley–)

(where Viola ain’t nowhere to be seen–)

And he slams into ’em with a grunt, my weight against him, and I pull back my fist to punch him–

And there’s a light tap on my neck–

Just light as a touch–

And there’s something sticking to me and I put my hand to it–

A bandage–

The thing he was carrying–

“Sleep tight,” he grins down at me–

And I fall to the floor and the screens full of water are the last things I see–

{V
IOLA
}

“Acorn!” I shout into his mane–

But he ignores me, just keeps up his insane run, Angharrad, too, with Bradley up ahead–

And it’s working, we’ve reached a curve in the road and the river behind us is still coming, still full of wreckage and trees–

But it’s slowing more, lowering its height some, keeping more to the riverbed–

And still the horses run–

Down the road and away, a rushing fog reaching out to us, its tendrils licking at the horses’ tails–