Faith Defiled (Gray Spear Society Book 14) (21 page)

The two of them sat and buckled their seatbelts as the engines spun up.

* * *

Yang looked out the window of the van. He had lived in many parts of the world, but in all his travels, he had never seen a winter like this one. It was a brutal arctic wasteland. Some snowdrifts were higher than the houses. The highway had been cleared, but some of the side roads were completely lost in the snow. He didn't know how people were surviving under such difficult conditions. Just getting to the grocery store would be an adventure.

Marina was driving the van. Normally, she let one of her
legionnaires
take the wheel, but she had the most experience with snow. She was going a little too fast for Yang's comfort, and they were passing other cars on the left and right. Her face was locked in an expression of total focus.

The team had stopped at a camping and hiking supply store earlier. They had loaded up on coats, boots, mittens, hats, thermal underwear, and anything else that looked useful. Marina had made her people run through the store, and they were winded by the end of the shopping spree.

Now they were back on the highway and headed south. Yang didn't know the area, but he could tell Marina was avoiding the interstates. She seemed to have a sneaky route in mind.

He was getting more nervous with each mile. The more he heard about the situation in Chicago, the worse it sounded. God wouldn't summon the entire Gray Spear Society unless a true war was about to be fought. Yang had fought in other wars and had no romantic delusions. A lot of people were about to die.

He took out his phone and called Jia. He couldn't stop himself.

"Yang!" she said. "I was waiting for you to call. Are you OK?"

Yang kept his voice down. He was sitting next to Ipo, and Hanley and Katie were right behind Yang.

"I'm fine," Yang said. "It's very cold here, but we have warm clothes."

"All of us are worried. It's weird not having any
legionnaires
around. Did you know the President was kidnapped?"

"I heard. We'll be home soon, I hope. Tell everybody to stay safe until then. How is Olivia doing?"

"The poor girl is spooked," Jia said. "She lost her real father, and now you're gone."

"Let me talk to her."

Yang looked around. Ipo frowned but didn't comment. Hanley and Katie were making a point of not paying attention, but they could overhear the call. Hanley's gift allowed him to hear both sides of the conversation.

"Hello?" Olivia said in her sweet little voice.

"It's me," Yang said gently. "I just wanted you to know I'm all right, and I'm coming back soon. We just have some business in Chicago we have to deal with. I'll tell you all about it when I get home."

"I heard about the cannibals."

"Don't worry. The five of us can handle anything. We have Marina with us, and I don't have to tell you how tough she is. Just do your homework and try not to worry. I'll always be there for you. Give the phone back to Jia."

After a moment, Jia said, "Be safe. I love you."

"I love you, too. Bye." He hung up.

The van was quiet for a moment. The only sounds were the purr of the engine and the tires crunching through snow.

"You shouldn't lie to that girl," Marina said.

"I lied, ma'am?" Yang said.

"You don't know if you're coming home. None of us do. All we know is God needed a thousand
legionnaires
for this fight. I don't think that's ever happened before, not in the fifteen-hundred-year history of the Society. We don't even know what we'll be fighting. The Society itself could be destroyed."

"I was just trying to make Olivia feel better, ma'am."

Marina sighed deeply. "OK. No more phone calls. The Rosemont Tower Hotel is only forty miles away, and I expect this road trip is about to get interesting."

* * *

Iris's airplane touched down at the General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee.

She immediately closed her eyes and sent her consciousness out into the world. She was searching for a specific set of eyes. They were the color of jade and full of anger. They were the eyes of somebody who killed without hesitation.

Iris couldn't find those eyes. She cried out in frustration.

"Ma'am?" Laurence said.

She looked over at him. He was still wearing the police uniform he had used to rescue her.

"The target has already moved out of my range," Iris said. "We were too slow."

"That's very unfortunate. What are we going to do?"

She looked out the window as the airplane taxied towards a hanger. She had expected a snowstorm, but "snow-apocalypse" was a better description. Snowdrifts were the size of hills. So much snow was being blown around, she couldn't see across the airport. Where the snow had been plowed, she saw treacherous patches of ice. She shivered.

Iris had to make a decision. Going out and searching for the enemy seemed like a mistake for a couple of reasons. First, she hated cold weather, and the idea of wandering around in that frozen hell made her queasy. She didn't even know which direction to go. The woman with green eyes could've gone north, south, or west. Iris needed to get within thirty miles of her target, and that would take a considerable amount of luck.

The second reason was Erika. She called herself the "Queen of the Pythagoreans," but it was a title she had granted to herself. She was the most powerful Pythagorean in the Western Hemisphere and notoriously vindictive. People who crossed her didn't last long. The only thing that stood between Erika and total domination was the Gray Spear Society.

Erika was running a massive operation in the Chicago area. Iris didn't know the details, but she had heard it was the most ambitious project ever attempted by the Pythagoreans. Erika would not take kindly to Iris showing up uninvited. The Pythagoreans weren't above sabotaging each other, and Erika would automatically assume the worst.

There was a good chance the Society team from San Francisco had been sent to Chicago because of Erika's operation. Iris thought about warning the queen but then decided not to. Iris didn't owe Erika any special favors and had little to gain by helping her. If she failed and died, it would open up opportunities for the rest of the Pythagoreans. Everybody else would move up one slot in the pecking order. At a personal level, Iris certainly wouldn't mind seeing that arrogant bitch suffer. If Erika succeeded in Chicago, she would gain additional powers and become truly unbearable.

"The enemy was driving a van," Iris said, "and I saw what it looked like. It's parked in front of the executive terminal in San Francisco. They rushed off without even bothering to pack. Clearly, they don't intend to stay away from home for long. I'm certain they'll come back within a few days if not sooner, and we'll be waiting for them."

"That's a very reasonable plan, ma'am. It doesn't expose us to undue risks. Erika..." He had an anxious expression.

"My thoughts exactly."

Iris stood up and went to the cockpit.

"We'll be in the hanger in a moment," the pilot said.

"Turn around. We're going back to San Francisco."

"But..."

"You heard me," she said.

"Yes, ma'am."

Iris glanced out the window, and the horrible weather made her shudder again. She was very glad she didn't have to go out into that mess.

She went back and sat in her seat.

Chapter Twelve

Marina saw a barricade ahead and slowed down. An Army truck was parked directly across the road. Four heavily armed soldiers were standing in front of the truck, and they looked miserable in their puffy winter gear. Marina certainly couldn't ram the truck, and tall piles of ice and snow prevented her from going around. The soldiers were also a problem. She didn't want to gun down innocents just to get past a road block.

"Damn it!" she said. "I was hoping they would forget about this road."

She was on North Sutton Road also known as Highway 59. It had just one lane in each direction and barely qualified as a highway. Only locals used it. The area was a mixture of farms and suburban developments on the extreme periphery of the Chicago metropolitan area. Marina could hardly believe the Army was out so far.

She made a U-turn and headed north.

"You're going to try another way, ma'am?" Ipo said.

"No. I just want to get out of sight of those soldiers. We'll go around on foot."

Marina glanced in the rearview mirror and saw horrified expressions on the faces of her team, but nobody complained out loud.

She parked in a nice spot behind a snow drift. She turned off the engine, but nobody hurried to leave the warm van. The sound of an icy wind warned them of what was waiting outside.

"The trick is to keep moving," Marina said. "If you slow down, you get cold, but you don't want to get sweaty either. The moisture will freeze on your skin. Maintain a steady, comfortable pace."

"You actually lived here?" Katie said.

"Yes, but I've never seen a storm like this. I have to believe God is doing it on purpose. Maybe He's trying to slow down the enemy and buy a little extra time for the twins. Regardless, we're under orders and can't just give up because the weather is unpleasant. Let's go."

Marina made sure her coat was zipped up all the way. She pulled her ski cap down over her ears and put on her mittens. She was already wearing thermal underwear and snow boots.

She opened the door. A blast of freezing air made her wish for even more protection. She stepped out into snow that went up to her thighs. After living in California for a year, where the weather was always perfect, she wasn't sure she could handle this adventure.

Her
legionnaires
also got out and muttered about snow and cold.

"We won't take all of our equipment," Marina said. "It's too heavy. The snow will be enough of a challenge. Go through the bags and pick out what seems necessary."

They sorted through the gear until everybody had just one light bag to carry. When the team was set, they headed east towards a housing development.

Marina's nose was soon stinging from the cold. Snow crept into her boots and made her socks damp. She was already miserable.

Why are you doing this, God?
she thought.

There was no response. Apparently, the Lord was too busy to talk to her.

Marina eventually found a rhythm that allowed her to make steady progress through the thick, heavy snow. Buried sticks and rocks tripped her a few times, but she brushed off the snow and kept going. Feeling sorry for herself wouldn't improve the weather.

The Spears reached a row of small, single-story houses. The streets had been plowed but not recently. It would take a brave driver or a robust vehicle to get through. At least the streets were easier to walk on than the surrounding land. The team picked up speed and headed south. Their breath created white clouds in the freezing air.

Marina was in the lead and made sure to maintain a comfortable pace. Overheating was as much of a danger as hypothermia under these conditions. The team's heavy clothing trapped heat and sweat which could lead to premature exhaustion. The journey was a marathon, not a sprint.

She caught glimpses through frosted windows of people in their homes, but nobody was out on the streets. Even though it was the middle of the day, the neighborhood was dead silent. Some doors and windows were boarded up, and she guessed it was because of the cannibals. Chicago was a city under siege.

After a half-hour of trudging, Marina judged she had bypassed the Army barricade. She turned back towards the highway.

"Look for another vehicle," she told her team. "We might have to steal one."

"Yes, ma'am," her
legionnaires
said.

She looked back. They had pink faces from the exertion, and nobody seemed to be in distress. All of them were in extraordinary physical condition, so it was just a matter of adjusting to the cold.

Marina's phone rang, and she checked the caller ID. Wesley of all people was trying to reach her.

She grimaced. The Voice of Truth didn't usually engage in light conversation. When he spoke, it changed the lives of those who heard him.

She answered the call, "Yes?"

"Where are you?" he said in an urgent tone. His voice was as musical as a symphony orchestra.

"Marching through snow."

"Hurry."

"Why?" she said. "What's going on?"

"Certain things have to happen at certain times, or it just won't work. We need you here!"

"I'm just a run-of-the-mill commander. You have seven legates there."

"Six," he said. "Ethel is in Washington."

"Right. Six of the most powerful people on the planet and hundreds of other commanders. You have an entire army of
legionnaires
at your disposal. Get started without me."

"We can't! You and Aaron..."

"What about us?" Marina said. "Obviously, there is something very important you're not telling me. Why are you still keeping secrets?"

"Just get here as quick as you can. If you don't make it..." Wesley paused.

"What?!" His evasiveness was making her angry.

"
Everybody
will die."

The call ended.

Marina stared at the phone in her hand. She had no choice but to believe him. It was physically impossible for him to lie.

"What was that about, ma'am?" Ipo said.

"It was Wesley. He wants us to pick up the pace. It seems I have an urgent appointment in Chicago of some kind."

The team returned to Sutton Road. This section was wider and better plowed than before, but there were no cars. The stillness was creepy. It was like the rapture had actually happened.

Marina looked around. A farm beside the highway seemed like a good place to find a vehicle. She led her team across a field of snow which was deep enough to make each footstep a chore.

They came to a red farmhouse. There was an old barn and some modern steel sheds. A wide wooden porch was probably a pleasant place to sit during the summer.

A big, blue pickup truck caught her eye. It had oversized, knobby tires which were perfect for snow. She went over to inspect the vehicle.