Sky of Dust: The Last Weapon (11 page)

“
Please
,
”
Paul pleaded
,
holding the satchel out to Mary.

Mary nodded and took the satchel.

“
What is her name?
”
Mary asked with tears forming in her eyes.

Paul smiled like he was pulling all the memories he had of her and was reliving them.

“
Annie
,
”
Paul said as a tear fell from his eye.
“
There is a picture in the front pocket of t
he bag. She would be fifteen
now.
”

Casey and Peter lowered themselves through the door and disappeared.

Mary kissed Paul on the chee
k and promised
him
she would find Annie.

“
Please do not tell her what I did
,
”
Paul said in shame.

“
You have nothing to feel sorry about
,
Paul. You did the right thing
,
and that’s what matters. You are one of the bravest people I know
,
”
Mary told Paul as she lowered herself down.

Abigail gave a sympathetic smile to Paul and followed behind Mary.

Then
only Paul and I were left
.

“
Are you sure you will not come?
”
I asked Paul.

Paul smiled at me.

“
I admire people like you
,
”
Paul said.
“
Someone can do you wrong
,
and you are still worried about them. I hope my girl turns out like you. We need more people in the world like that.
”

He extended his hand out
,
and I shook it.

“
You must go quickly. I will try
to
keep them busy for you
,
”
h
e said with a new found courage.

“
Thanks…
”
I replied. It felt like I was leaving a friend behind, even if he had killed me and tried to turn us in.

I hesitated then took off my watch and put it on his right arm.

“
This will help you
,
”
I said as I pushed the
side’s
in.
“
It will make your abilities stronger.
”

“
I feel it
,
”
Paul said
,
looking at his hands. His body started to give off the glowing aura that I had first seen when he
zapped Peter.
“
Go. You do not have much time.
”

I lowered myself into the hole
,
and Paul closed the door above me. I heard the scrape of the bed being placed over the hatch and his footsteps walk
ing
towards the front of the house.

“
They are not cooperating
,
”
Paul shouted out.
“
Maybe you should send someone to help me.
”

I felt the walls until
my hands touched something squishy
and warm.

“
Watch where
you’re
touching!
”
Abigail snapped.

“
Sorry!
”
I apologized then quickly changed the subject
.
“
Why are you still here?
”

“
I wanted to make sure he didn'
t try to do something funny
,
”
Abigail replied.

We began to feel our way through the tunnel. It was only one person wide
,
and we both had to crouch about a foot down in order to avoid hitting our heads. I
did
not see how Paul would be able to fit
in
here if he needed.

“
Listen Abigail,
”
I started.
“
I’m sorry if I sounded like I was ungrateful about you trying to save me. I’m not. I mean
,
I am grateful. Thank you.
”

We walked another few steps before she responded.

“
I’m glad you’re al
l
right
,
”
s
he admitted.

“
Can I ask you something
?
”
I asked.
“
And you don'
t have to tell me if you don’t want
to
.
”

“
Go ahead
,
”
Abigail replied.

“
Why did you come back?
”
I asked.
“
I mean, if it is better in the
W
est
,
what
would you come back here for?
”

“
I have been gathering all the information I could about
my
mom and three sisters
,
”
Abigail said.
“
I have heard that
,
if people don’t show any symptoms of being infected
,
they would be placed into a living area with others like them
,
so they can be kept under surveillance. Like their own town. Anyways, I volunteered to come on this mission to try and learn more.
”

“
So you are trying to find your family
,
”
I summed up.

I felt bad for her. She was chasing after something that seemed impossible to catch. But I was not going to be the one to shatter her dreams. Besides, I had my own family I had to worry about too, and I would not want someone telling me that it
was
impossible.

“
That’s a good reason
,
”
I replied.

“
You don’t think I’m wasting my time?
”
Abigail asked like she wanted
someone to tell her for once
that
she could do it.

“
We are kind of in the same boat
,
”
I told her.
“
If I didn'
t believe you could do it
,
then there would be no hope for me.
”

Abigail did not speak for a second then said
,
“
Thanks
.
”

We finally reached the mouth of the tunnel where the rest
of our group was
crouched behind a giant rock.

“
Nothing has happened yet
,
”
Casey said.
“
They keep talking
,
but I cannot make out what they are saying.
”

“
Let’s go
,
”
I said in a hushed voice.
“
He said we didn'
t have that much time.

As we moved from behind the rock onto a worn path that lead to the woods, a clap of thunder echoed through the
canyon
and a bright blue light lit the sky like it was day time.

We turned and watched arcs of electricity connect with the helicopters
,
causing the engines to start up and glide across the ground. The Guards started shouting
,
and they began
to fire their weapons.

The lightening stopped.

“
We need to go
,
”
I choked.

We sprinted through the forest and tried to stay on the trail
,
but it was too dark to keep track of. A few times
,
we tripped on rocks and roots sticking out of the ground. We were about five minutes in when we lost site of the path.

“
Where…
”
I tried to catch my breath.
“
Does anyone see the path?
”

Everyone turned their heads
,
looking for some sort of sign of the path when the sky lit
up
and we
heard a loud crack coming from the
direction of the cabin
.
Paul must still be alive.

“
There it is!
”
Peter shouted.

Luckily
,
the path was only a few yards away
,
and we were still heading in the right direction.
We bolted towards the path when the sky lit up again
.

“
Mary!
”
I shouted as we ran.
“
We should be close. Turn on the beacon.
”

Mary swung her bag in front of her and pulled out the beac
on. She switched it on
,
and the red ball on the end started to flick on and off.

“
It’s on!
”
Mary shouted as she held it up
, trying
to get a better signal.

Mary was not focusing on the path though
,
and her foot caught on a protruding
root.

Mary slammed to the ground face first
,
and the beacon f
lew through the air and hit a tree.

Casey and Peter rushed over and tried to help her up.

“
She is out cold
,
”
Casey said.
“
We are going to have to carry her.
”

As Casey and Peter struggled to ge
t Mary propped up between them,
Abigail
went to pick
up the beacon.

“
The light is getting dimmer
,
”
s
he said.
“
The
batteries must be dying
. We need to hurry.
”

The sky lit up again and gunshots followed, but we were just able see a clearing up ahead. We were close.

“
We will run on ahead and try to get the helicopter
’
s attention
,
”
I told Casey and Peter.

They nodded as they started to drag Mary.

“
Good luck
,
”
Peter said.

Abigail and I darted and weaved through the trees, leaping over branches and rocks along the way. Within a few minutes
,
we had reached a clearing no bigger than a hundred feet.

“
Hold the beacon up
,
”
I told Abigail.

She stretched her arm as high as it would go. A mi
nute past. Then two minutes
. There was no other sound except the others making their way towards us.

The others fell through the tree line and all
dropped
to their knees.

“
Anything?
”
Casey asked.

“
No
,
”
I said in disappointment.

Abigail held it up for another minute then lowered her arm.

“
It’s no use. They are probably already gone
,
”
s
he said in defeat.

Anger started to build up in me. There is no way that we
had come this
far, lost Donald, and
had
Paul
sacrific
e
himself
just for us to fail. It was not fair.

I got to my feet and wrapped my hand around the beacon
in
Abigail’s hand and raised it up.

We stood there for another minute, hope slipping away. We heard the two helicopters in the distance lift off.