Rising Tide (40 page)

And I got rid of my knife.

Then I hear someone say, “Eat this!” and I look up to see Rosie on the other side of the street, a weapon in her hands. Next to her is Diego in a rickshaw. Then a vapor trail shoots from the weapon and suddenly the Feral is exploding and I feel heat and smoke lick over me.

I cover my face, and when I look again, the Feral's a burning mess of meat. Diego and Rosie come over to me and help me to my feet.

“I am so happy to see you.” I look at Rosie. “Both of you. How did you find me?”

“Someone came looking for help. Said the crazy ship captain sent her.”

“And you thought of me?”

Diego shrugs. “Who else?”

“Nice weapon you have there,” I say.

“We brought one for you,” Diego says. He hands me the long cylinder. “They've been using them against the ships, but we thought they might be of use here. I can't use it with my arm.”

“I'll be glad to,” I say.

“Ben . . .” Diego says, shaking his head.

“I know,” I say. “We just have to try.”

He nods.

“I have an idea,” I say. “If your arm isn't working too well, how are your legs?”

“Great,” he says.

“Good, then what say you give me a ride?”

He raises an eyebrow but doesn't say anything.

“Can you find another rickshaw?” I ask Rosie.

“Probably.”

“Good. Then try to get one and meet us at the little park on the east side.”

“Okay,” she says.

“And be careful.”

She looks at me, then at Diego. “You too.”

I nod to her.

Then I climb into the back of the rickshaw. “Let's go,” I say.

Diego pedals off.

Rosie arrives at the park a short while after us, rickshaw and all.

“You're going to have to draw them out,” I say. “But you should be okay on the rickshaw. That way you can outpace them. But you have to be careful. Stick to the streets. Otherwise they'll have you.”

“I know this place, Ben,” she says.

“I know. That's why you have to go first.”

She frowns. “What are you going to do?”

“Follow you.” I heft the anti-aircraft launcher to make my point.

Her eyes widen. Something crosses over her face. Some expression I can't identify. “Okay, let's go.”

“Don't forget to ring your bell,” I say.

“What?”

“It will attract their attention.”

Rosie nods, then she takes off, pedaling up and down the streets. Diego stays close behind, but not too close.

Then the first Feral sees or hears her and starts bounding after her. We catch sight of it and stay right behind. Watching the thing run behind her, I can see it's all muscle. An engineered killing machine. We barrel toward an intersection, and I yell out, “Left!”

Rosie banks to the left and I fire the launcher, which bucks against my chest. The explosive rips through the air and into the Feral, exploding it into pieces.

“Nice one,” Diego says.

“Only two more shots left,” I say. “Let's make them count.”

We take off again, and Diego holds the rickshaw steady as Rosie takes the lead. This time she rings her bell more furiously, trying to attract whatever Ferals she can. Another takes the bait, and again I have her turn off as I fire at the thing. The shot is low, instead hitting the ground, but it throws the Feral up into the air and onto a nearby house. Rosie returns with her pistol to finish it off.

One last shot to go. “Let's head back east a bit, see if we can't draw any out.” So Rosie heads that way and Diego pedals behind her and I load the last shell into my launcher.
We could actually win this
, I start to think.
We just need to coordinate.
But I see that the ships above us are larger now, closer to us. At the moment, I can't tell if they're theirs or ours.

Then Diego starts pumping his legs as another Feral tears out after Rosie. I'm becoming aware of a dark shape moving above us, but I can't really take my eyes off of Rosie and the Feral. Trying to hold steady, I raise the launcher to my shoulder.

And as I'm lining up the shot, the world breaks apart around me.

For a moment, I'm not sure what happened. But I'm thrown from the rickshaw and the sky tumbles above me. I lose sight of Diego and God knows where Rosie is. A moment later, I smell the fire, and the stink of some kind of explosive.

Did I accidentally misfire the launcher?
I think.

My ears are filled with a high-pitched buzz, and that's all I can hear. I call out for Diego and Rosie, but I can't even hear my own voice.

I manage to push myself up and finally catch sight of Diego. He's lying on the ground nearby, the rickshaw is turned over next to him.

And the Feral appears, moving toward him. I try to call out, but how would he hear me?

I'm trying to get to my feet, trying to find one of my pistols, when Rosie runs into view. She doesn't appear to be armed, but she kicks the Feral in the head, a flying kick with all of her weight behind it. The thing has a heavily muscled neck, but it snaps back from the force all the same.

The Feral is stunned, but it throws both arms around Rosie, pinning her arms to her sides and restraining her.

He's going to bite her
, I think, and then I'm running toward them, and I remember that my reloaded revolver is in the thigh holster and I pull it out and start firing into the Feral's back.

It turns to this new assault, letting Rosie slip away, and as it starts moving toward me, she sweeps its leg and aims an elbow, with all her weight behind it, into the thing's back. It goes down, and without stopping I walk toward it, firing at its head and shoulders. Once, twice, three times until it stops moving.

Rosie immediately moves to Diego, who is now stirring. I kneel beside them and reload to help cover them. “What the hell was that explosion?” I ask. I can barely hear my own voice. But the answer comes a moment later as I scan the town to the east. A large area, a block or two at least, is now a burning, smoking mess. A moment later, I realize what direction that is. And even though Diego and Rosie are here, I start running.

Because the fire is coming from the direction of Miranda's house.

I don't know what I'm seeing. The place where the house is, that whole part of the street, is burning. I see the wreckage of several buildings. But I can't get close to it with the smoke and the heat of the fire. Even with my scarf, I'm coughing from all the smoke.

Miranda.

I push my way through the fire where I can, covering my face. My skin. I get farther up the street. Just ahead is the house. Just ahead is . . .

What used to be the house is just a mess of kindling. The ceiling is gone, the walls little more than broken sticks. Fire rages in its center, sending thick gouts of smoke into the air.

“Miranda!” I call. Maybe she got out. Maybe she's somewhere nearby.

Except you barricaded her in.

“Miranda!”

I double over, coughing, dizzy from the heat, and sink to my knees.
This can't be happening. This isn't happening.

A moment later, I feel hands on me, pulling me back, out of the smoke, out of the fire.

I'm lowered to the ground. Diego coughs above me. Rosie is next to him. “What are you trying to do?” he asks.

“Miranda,” I say. “Miranda was . . .”

“Oh, God,” Rosie says. She looks at Diego and then back at me. There's sympathy there, but I want to tell her that it's okay. This isn't happening. Miranda can't have been in there. She can't have been.

“Miranda!”

“She's gone, Ben,” Diego says. He puts an arm around me. “I'm sorry, Ben. She's gone.”

“No!” I say. “She's not gone. She's just . . . she's just . . .”

She's gone. Oh my God. She's gone. What am I going to do? What do I do?

I climb to my feet. She's gone. And I can't be here anymore. I was here because of Miranda, and she's not here. I have to go.

“Where are you going?” Diego asks.

“I have to get out of here,” I say. “I'm sorry. I have to get back up in the air.”

I run for the western airfield. The
Dumah
is there, I know. She will get me back into the air. She will take me away from . . .

Miranda.

I push thoughts of her aside. There will be time for that later. Time and alcohol and the comfort of the air. It's all I can think of right now. Getting back. Going back.

There is no back.

It doesn't matter. I run. I'm aware that any second a Feral might find me. Might jump out of the shadows and bite my face off. Somehow that doesn't scare me as much as it used to.

My body hurts and my lungs hurt as I suck in air and my eyes are blurry with tears, but I keep running. Up the hill to the airfield. Any second now, I'll see the ocean off the western side of the island. And soon I'll be flying over it, away from Ferals and raiders, and I'll be back in the air where I belong.

As I crest the hill, I look down on the ocean. And my steps falter. A large shape sits on the water. A ship. A military ship. The
Phoenix
.

Already as I look, the
Dumah
is in the sky, moving toward the ship.

Mal is here. On Tamoanchan. He found us.

Miranda.

There is no back.

The fight leaves me then. My battered and abused body sinks down to the ground, on my knees, and I stay that way for a while. Not praying, but almost prone. Just trying not to think anymore. Not to feel. If I could spread wings and fly away, I would. But gravity has me in its grip and I can't seem to get free.

People move toward me. I ignore them. Then I hear a voice.

“Benjamin.”

I look up into Mal's face.

“We have some unfinished business.”

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

R
ising Tide
was conceived at the wedding of my friends, Matthew Kressel and Christine Tokash, in Woodstock, New York. Mazel Tov!