Darkness (25 page)

Makara had been about to protest, but the idea that Char had presented, of Augustus
helping
us, had silenced her.

“Yeah,” Marcus said, coming out of his silence. “Char and I have talked about it a bit and I know I’m the last person you’d expect to bring it up. But there it is. We need him. We need all those soldiers he has. Instead of fighting each other, Augustus could be useful in attacking the Great Blight.”

“He’d never agree,” Makara said. “Samuel already tried to convince him, but he will only help if we hand him the Wasteland.”

“Which will never happen,” Rey said.

The other Vegas gang lords nodded their agreement.

A nervous giggle escaped Jade’s throat. “I’m starting to wonder whose side you and your brother are on, Char. I suggested this same move back in Vegas and I was nearly driven from the town.”

“I’m on humanity’s side,” Char said. “Territory will do us no good if we’re all dead.”

“It’d rather be
dead
than lose my honor,” Cain said.

Suddenly, the conference room erupted in arguing. Marcus and Char shouted down the rising protests of the Vegas gang lords. Makara sighed and turned her head, arms folded. Ashton stood, holding out his arms in an attempt to regain order. Michael and Julian watched on, silent.

The one I watched was Grudge, who had been entirely silent, which was unlike him. He now started speaking, not even yelling, and everyone broke off their arguing and began to listen to him mid-thought.

“...go to, and we can just fly to the Crater and...”

“Slow down,” Char said, his voice gravelly. “You’re going to have to start from the beginning. We didn’t catch that first part.”

Grudge stared at us all with his dark, brown eyes. This man had saved us in Bunker 84, and we all owed him a massive debt. Maybe that was why we listened.

“What I don’t understand,” Grudge said, “is why we don’t go to the Crater and blow
it
up.”

Everyone was struck silent by his words. Go to the Crater? Now? Would that even work?

“We have nukes, right?” he asked. “Why not use them? Blow those aliens to hell, back to wherever they came from. It’s a worth a shot, right?”

No one said anything. It was hard to tell if people were actually listening to him or if the idea was so stupid that we were all left dumfounded.

For some reason, I thought of the Wanderer. What would
he
think of that? He had said it all depended on me.
I
was the one who had to infect Askala, the
Radaskim
Xenomind, with the
Elekai
version of the xenovirus. Without that, well – anything, even a nuclear strike, would be pointless.

Yet, Grudge
did
have a point. Maybe a nuke wouldn’t outright kill the
Radaskim,
but it could severely weaken them.

“It’s worth a shot, isn’t it?” Grudge asked, looking at all of us. His eyes were bright and shining, and for some reason, they reminded me of a child pleading with his parents for something he really wanted.

Makara remained silent. She looked at Ashton, who in turn looked at her. Everyone in the room watched them both.

“It is something I’ve turned over in my head these last few days,” Ashton said. “And I only wanted to consider it as a last resort. Yes, it would be powerful. Of that I have no doubt. However, with that power comes a lack of precision that we need in order to defeat the
Radaskim.”
Ashton turned to look at me. “It would be denying the revelation that Alex received from the Wanderer – a revelation which I have yet to investigate, scientifically, yet which I believe to be true all the same. The only way to kill Askala is to convert her to
Elekai,
and only Alex can do that. Furthermore, if the nuclear strike
doesn’t
work – which is highly probable – we will be forced to attack while contending with high levels of radiation.”

“Don’t we have bigger problems than that, though?” Grudge asked. “I mean, we
are
talking about the future of humanity here.”

“I do not contest that,” Ashton said. “I just know, looking at history, that nuclear strikes have
always
had unintended consequences. They are unpredictable, as all powerful things are. It would be wise to set this option aside unless in the direst of needs.”

Grudge scoffed. “You sure didn’t hesitate when that dragon was attacking.”

Ashton met his gaze. “As I said: in the direst of needs.”

I was beginning to see just how
close
we were to the end of it all. Things were finally coming to a head, for the better or worse of humanity. There were just two obstacles left in the way of our attack on Ragnarok Crater – Carin and the Reapers, and Augustus and the Empire. Only when they were both neutralized, or brought to our side, could we attack. We could do as Grudge said – we could go now. And for all we knew, it might even
work.
But for some reason, I was siding with Ashton. We needed to take care of matters in the Wasteland first – and only after could we start the final battle.

“Ashton is right,” I said. “We can’t attack Ragnarok. Not yet. Even if we were to succeed, we couldn’t return to a Wasteland that wasn’t in our control. No one can predict what will happen from a nuclear strike, and Ashton has a point when he says it will be imprecise.” I sighed. “I have to do what the Wanderer has said. I have to find Askala and I have to infect her.”

Everyone now looked at me, as if what I said sealed the deal. Anna was watching me worriedly, but I tried to ignore that. Yes, the Wanderer had said I would have to sacrifice myself. I couldn’t worry about that though, strange as that might sound.

“So what do we do about Black, kid?” Rey asked.

I blinked in surprise – why was Rey deferring to
me?
I quickly recovered.

“We strike – hard and fast. Sometime in the next couple of days. If the assassination doesn’t go well – we throw everything we have into taking down Los Angeles. Once the Reapers are brought down, we reconnect with Augustus and let him know the Wasteland stands as one – the one thing he
doesn’t
want.”

Heads nodded around the table. I realized what I was doing; I was giving everyone a clear path to victory from here, from this Bunker to Ragnarok. It was something Samuel would have done.

Maybe I was becoming more of a leader.

“We have to make sure everyone here is as safe as possible, of course,” I said. “We can take some of the people to harvest Bunker 108 for food.”

“We already have a team organized for that,” Makara said. “They should be leaving tomorrow.”

“How long will that take?” I asked.

“Not long. Twenty-four hours at most.”

“When
Aeneas
returns, that’s when
we
go. A small team can be dropped into Los Angeles. Do the walls cover its entire perimeter?”

Makara nodded. “Raine, when he was alive, made sure of that. There is no way to access the city by ground anymore.”

“We can use parachutes, then,” I said. “Wait until the darkest time of night. Drop into one of the abandoned parts of the city. Then head toward Reaper territory.”

“Who’s going?” Char asked.

The room went silent at that question. Anna sat straighter in her chair, and I could tell from Makara’s face that she wanted to be there as well.

“Remember,” Ashton said. “This is merely locating Black and letting the ships take care of the rest. We won’t risk any lives any more than we have to.”

“I can go,” I said.

“We need you at Ragnarok Crater,” Makara said, shaking her head. “If I’d known how risky Bunker 84 would be, I’d have kept you back from there as well.”

I was about to protest, but Grudge cut me off before I could.

“I’ll go.”

To my surprise, Makara nodded her head. “Yeah, that works. Who else?”

“I don’t mind going,” Michael said. “I know I could be useful in a situation like that.”

Makara smiled. “You have a family to take care of. I’m not going to risk you again or Lauren will give me hell.”

“I said I can go,” Michael said. “We all have people we care about.”

Makara said nothing to that.

“I’ll go, then,” Julian said. “I’d have to be taught to parachute, but I think I can learn that easily enough.”

Makara looked at Julian for a moment. It was hard to read her eyes. Was she going to let him go?

“I can do this,” Julian said, meeting her gaze. “I have no reason why I shouldn’t.”

“Your family...”

“We all have families, and people we love,” Julian said. “I want to do my part.”

She looked from Julian back to Michael. “You both can go, if you wish it. Just...don’t let me explain to either of your families why I let you, alright?”

Julian smiled. “We’ll be fine. We’ve been in much worse spots.”

Michael nodded.

I wasn’t so sure about that. Los Angeles could be more dangerous than even Bunker 84.

“Alright, that’s Grudge, Michael, and Julian,” Makara said. “I’m only willing to send one more. Who will it be?”

“I’ll go.”

Ruth stood in the doorway of the conference room. How long had she been listening outside?

“Ruth,” Makara said, “I’m glad you want to help out, but don’t you think your place is here?”

Ruth stared at her for a moment, as if considering that. Then she shook her head.

“No. It’s not. I can fight. I survived in Bunker 108 when everyone else died. I killed dozens of Howlers in my time there. If there’s anything you can say about me, it’s that I’m a survivor. If you send me down there, I’m not dying. I can guarantee that.” She nodded toward Michael. “Plus, I can make sure he doesn’t kill himself.”

Everyone looked at her with shocked expressions. Even Rey and the Vegas gang lords seemed to be impressed. Makara continued to stare her down. Everyone looked at the leader of the New Angels.

“Fine,” Makara said. “Ruth is our fourth.” She sighed. “We have our team.”

“There was another reason I came,” Ruth said, smiling. “Samuel is up.”

Suddenly, the conference room became a scene of chaos. Makara’s eyes widened as she ran out, weaving her way through people now standing up.

She turned her head quickly. “Meeting adjourned.”

She ran out the door. I heard her boots stomp on the deck toward
Aeneas’s
medical bay, where Samuel had been transported.

Anna and I shared a look before we both walked out of the conference room and made our way to the medical bay.

Chapter 21

We rushed into
Aeneas’s
medical bay on the first deck. It was larger than
Gilgamesh’s.
At least three times the size, it had four beds along with an operating room which was separated from the rest of the bay. Several large cabinets, likely filled with medical supplies, were built into the walls. Despite the fact that the Community had access to this facility, it was clear that it wasn’t used very often, though it was likely they had taken bandages, antibiotics, and medicines when needed.

Samuel sat up in one of the corner beds, slurping down a bowl of soup. I didn’t blame him – it had been almost a week since he’d had a proper meal and not something fed to him intravenously. He looked thin and pale – a far cry from the warrior he had once been. It was amazing what one week in a hospital bed could do to a man. It was almost as bad as the original injury. A bandage still wrapped his forehead, and heavy bruising discolored a good portion of his head above his left eye.

Makara knelt beside the bed, looking at his face. For now, Samuel was just concentrated on trying to get the soup down. Lauren observed from beside him.

“Take it easy,” Makara said. “Not too fast.”

Samuel paused mid-slurp. “I remember how to eat, Makara. For a younger sister, you tend to act like an older.”

“Quiet,” she said, “and eat your soup.”

Makara turned to Lauren. “Is more being brought?”

She nodded. “I had Ruth go get a second bowl.”

Ashton entered the bay, striding over to Samuel’s bed. Samuel slowly turned his head to face him.

“How are you feeling?” Ashton asked.

Samuel drained the rest of his bowl, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Like hell. I’ve really been out for six days?”

“You have,” Ashton said.

“What did I miss?”

I laughed at that. At my laughter, Samuel turned his head ever so slightly to look at me. It hurt
me
a bit just to see how battered he was. A contusion such as he had taken on the head would take months to fully heal – that is,
if
it ever fully healed. Being in a coma for six days might have had lasting effects. But so far, Samuel seemed alright.

“I’m being serious,” Samuel said. “I want to know every single thing I missed.” He looked around the medical bay. “Because it seems like
a lot.”

“Well, for one,” Anna said, stepping forward to the bed. “We have a new spaceship.”

I followed Anna’s steps to the bed.

“Perseus?”
Samuel asked.
“Orion?”

Anna shook her head. “No. This is
Aeneas,
which we found in Bunker 84.”

“Bunker 84?”

“Alright,” Makara said, cutting off my response. “We need to let Samuel recoup for a couple of days before we overload him with information.”

“Really,” Samuel said. “It’s fine.”

“That’s an order,” Makara said. “Let’s give him the space he needs and let Ashton run his diagnostic.”

Even if all I wanted to do was talk to Samuel, and even if that was all he wanted, I could see that Makara made sense.

Anna pulled on my shirtsleeve. “I think we’re getting kicked out.”

“Oh,” I said. “Right.”

We left the medical bay behind. When I reached the corridor, Samuel called out.

“Alex.”

Samuel’s voice was loud, but raspy. He hadn’t used it for almost a week.

“Any word from your friend?”

It took me a moment to realize who he was talking about. I realized he was speaking of the Wanderer.