The Gift of Volkeye (39 page)

“We fixin’ ta’ leave Miss Annie?”

“That’s right, Miles, it’s time to go. Just like I told you, remember?” she said, now looking to them all. “I promised I would get you all away from here one day, and that time has come much sooner than I expected,” Annie explained, handing several chunks of licorice to a small black boy, who she’d just woken. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and immediately began gorging himself on the licorice.

“You see these nice people with me? They’re going to help us get out of here…and you all can leave the guns behind, you won’t need them anymore.”

Annie gazed about their faces a moment, making sure they clearly understood that they’d never be handling guns again if she could help it. She was worried that they wouldn’t be able to give them up, as they’d been the boys’ only source of entertainment, and (like Joshua) she suspected they’d grown attached to them. However, this wasn’t a problem with any of them, for they’d become so close to her that she was nearly like a mother. Whatever Annie spoke was the law in their eyes.

“Now I need all of you to stand up and get in a single file line and keep quiet.”

They did this with no trouble. The girls, as well as her mother, were amazed with Annie. The boys’ level of obedience was astounding, for not even Vlajdimir had such control over them. Samantha was aghast at the amount of time that her daughter must’ve secretly spent in this stable. It was all the more amazing due to the fact that most of the boys were so big and strong, any of them could’ve killed Annie instantly, yet they’d never lift a finger at her. Samantha smiled with pride at her daughter.

“Ah, those are good boys, you are! You’re a great lot of sweetie pies, and I love you all so much,” she said, watching the contagious smiles spread around. “Now we’re going to wait just a second for my friends to do something for me, but when we get out here, not one of you is to make a sound. Do we understand each other?”

“Miss Annie says ‘no noise,’ ” they recited.

“I’m so proud of you all…let’s see if we can keep this up.”

Annie now waved Bahzee over.

“I guess you’re pretty strong, eh? You killed those birds without breaking a sweat, and they were huge!” she whispered. “You think you could quickly move those bodies out of sight? …I think they might startle the boys into a commotion that might get us killed.”

“You’re right,” Bahzee nodded, impressed.

Bahzee found an empty trash container some feet away from the entrance to the stable. So rusted and dirty that it blended in with the surrounding walls, Bahzee hadn’t noticed it on the way inside the barn. After tucking the bodies and the dead birds away, she heard a faint whisper from indoors.

“We all set, Bahzee?” Annie asked.

“Let’s go,” she replied.

Then Bahzee saw something strange up against the brick wall. It was webbed and partially covered in debris. She reached out and detached it with ease, noticing that it had been there so long that its soggy imprint was left on the wall. This mildewed patch of bricks, littered with insects and cobwebs, gave off the offensive stench of decades passed.

What Bahzee held was an enormous hammer of some sort with a handle just over four feet long, reaching all the way up to her breasts. The head, a massive piece of steel was as big as two large watermelons. No human being could’ve lifted it, yet Bahzee swung it about with ease. She heard the others exit the stable.

Annie came out first, followed by her mother, Sing, and then a neat and organized line of the boys. They were slow but quiet, just as Annie had asked. Lyn Sha came up in the rear with her arm transformed. It was clear that now that they’d gathered the boys, she was anxious to get out of here.

“Okay, you all, we’re going to be quiet, but I must ask that you walk briskly—we’re in a hurry! Now let’s…” Annie’s thought was interrupted as she gazed at Bahzee. “Oh my goodness, how are you lifting that?!”

“Zynathian…we told you he was real,” Bahzee said, grinning.

“There used to be another tower at the center of town, where we’ve built our bonfire. There was a bell at the top, and what you’re holding made the chime,” Samantha said, in as much awe as her daughter. However, they were nearly floored when they looked at Lyn Sha.

“And you, my God…your arm!” Annie exclaimed.

“It’s a long story, Annie, I promise we’ll explain when we next meet. Daddy should bring us down to the Igloo as soon as Teshunua’s better,” Lyn said.

“Daddy? …Oh, Zynathian, you mean! So who’s Teshunua? Is he sick?”

Lyn grinned but didn’t answer, grasping Annie’s hand, moving the herd along.

**

They made it back to the center of town and went to Samantha’s house. Sing watched the boys in the living room, whilst Bahzee helped Sam gather her things, and Lyn accompanied Annie. Being so poor, Annie had only two changes of clothes to pack. She didn’t seem bothered by this, however. In fact, to Lyn Sha’s great delight, the only thing Annie absolutely
had
to have was her Wrinklegus PoisonTongue stories! Her suitcase was chockfull of them, old beat-up volumes that she’d read dozens of times. Lyn and Annie had spent the last half hour discussing their favourite characters and by the time they caught up with the rest of their party, outside, everyone was ready.

The citizens paced about nervously.

“I can see why they’re afraid to get moving. It’s the dead of night, and we’re sending them into uncharted territory where they could likely freeze to death if not careful. I wouldn’t leave unless I had all my friends at my side either,” Sing said.

There was a deep growling sound, and then from behind a large, shabby-looking cottage, came a hovering bus. It was so caked with dirt and grime, the girls could tell it hadn’t been piloted for some time. They couldn’t even make out the natural colour of the vehicle.

“Oh great, I was wondering where we’d put all of you,” Annie said, looking at the boys, who’d now begun pacing with excitement. “Ah, ah, ah, you stay put, Miles!” She said, grabbing his arm to prevent him from wandering too far.

The bus pulled up right beside them, covering them in a cloud of dust as it crashed awkwardly to the ground. It was clear that its driver was out of practice. The shield slid sideways revealing the entrance. A deep, raspy voice that seemed as if it came from a throat filled with phlegm, spoke from within.

“Just one Arhyz pebble in the engine did ‘er good! Hah, hah, this bitch is dirty as all hell, but she works fine! Anybody need a lift to ‘the Icebox?’ ” Bobo, the bus driver, asked with a wide toothless grin.

“The
Igloo!
”
Sing smirked. “And no, not us…just them.”

“You guys better get going,” Lyn said to Annie and Sam.

Annie wrapped her arms around Lyn’s neck as if she’d never see her again. “Thank you so much,” she said. “I’ve dreamt about getting them and mommy out of here for so long.”

“You would’ve done it anyway, eventually, I’m certain,” Lyn replied. “Hey, I’ll contact you from home in a few days, okay? When I call, you’ll receive a page, announced from the ceiling speakers in the complex, and they’ll ask you to go to the control room of the Igloo. Once you arrive, we can talk to each other through screens. Deal?”

“That’ll be wonderful. I can’t wait to hear from you! Be safe…all of you,” Annie said.

With that, Lyn and Annie kissed each other on the cheek and parted. It was evident to everyone that these two were going to be close, if not friends for life. Samantha was touched at her daughter’s quick bond with Lyn Sha. As she climbed aboard the bus to discuss the Igloo’s location with Bobo, she smiled, watching Ann hug everyone goodbye.

Sing and Bahzee handed two laser pistols to Samantha and Bobo, quickly showing them how to turn off the “safety” and fire. After bidding farewell to Annie, they began rounding up those remaining, ensuring that their vehicles were hovering and at the ready.

“Come on, you lot,” Annie said, motioning the boys forward. She waited for them to climb aboard, and as the last of them, Miles, stepped on, Annie followed and gave a final wave to her new friend. While Lyn listened to Sing yelling over the vehicle engines in the distance, encouraging everyone to stay in a tightly knit group while traveling, she shifted her arm from weapon to waving hand several times, just for Annie’s amusement. Annie watched Lyn with wonder, as did her mother from the side.

Though it was a rough start, the bus was now hovering properly in the air, and as it propelled itself forward to join the other ships, Lyn noticed Miles looking through the windshield pointing at something in the distance. The other boys joined him in the amusement, unable to comprehend the gravity of the situation. Lyn took no notice, for she’d quickly become accustomed to the fact that it didn’t take much to make these boys happy. However, it wasn’t until Annie appeared at the window with tears in her eyes, beating upon the dirty glass that Lyn Sha understood the situation.

“Sing, Bahzee, heads up!” she warned, motioning for Bobo to put the acceleration peddle to the floor. He punched it.

Sing and Bahzee couldn’t hear Lyn over the roar of the engines surrounding them, so it wasn’t until they saw Lyn strafe right, firing madly into the distance that they knew what was going on. Sing, who’d drawn her laser pistol and began firing in plain view of the citizens, swatted the trunk of the leading hovercar, making him speed off on instinct. He was followed closely by the others.

As Sing caught up to Bahzee, the bus raced by them with Samantha leaning out of the window, firing wildly at the approaching army of ravenous beasts. The creatures raced forward with thick globs of drool flinging from the corners of their mouths.

“Damn it—Karnovs!” Sing said, observing the dog-faced, lion-like creatures. They were but seconds away.

There were several dozen of them left, minus ten or fifteen dead ones with missing limbs, sprawled about the frozen earth (compliments of Lyn Sha). She’d run out to meet them head on, making it a point to first get the ones being ridden by soldiers. There were just a few of the soldiers left now, as the others had died at the same time as the Karnovs they were riding.

Lyn swore in pain, having been shot in the right arm by one of the last three of Phyllamon’s riding minions. He’d taken a small chunk out of her shoulder. Bleeding within her combat suit, she leapt in the air with all her might when she felt rank dog breath envelope her. She twirled about in a free fall, firing at the many Karnovs below who’d surrounded her. Two were killed before she’d even shot them, for they’d bitten into each other’s heads, intending upon hers. The others, however, whimpered as the blasts burned through their backs and the tops of their skulls, at a loss for who was attacking them! Lyn had disappeared far too quickly for them to notice where she’d gone.

With stunning accuracy for one falling from so far above, Lyn slew twelve Karnovs by the time she righted herself for a proper landing, crashing upon the back of one of the beasts. Having forced her feet down with the landing, she’d crippled it, and as it lay howling in pain, Lyn kicked it in its underside as hard as she could. Her boot tore through its chest, spewing blood, as the beast rose into the air, soaring dozens of feet into the distance.

Meanwhile, Sing and Bahzee had set up. They stood shoulder to shoulder, aiming their weapons at the charging Karnovs. Bahzee, afraid that she might not get a second chance, let loose a flurry of shots that missed their mark entirely.

“Goddammit!” Bahzee growled, knowing that she’d, once again, been too impatient—an act which her mother had warned her against many times.

“Baz, forget the gun…do what you do best!”

With this encouragement, Bahzee tore the pulse rifle’s strap from around her neck, aimed the weapon, and sent it hurling into the chest of the Karnov before her. The beast and its rider fell, and they didn’t even have a chance to breathe before Bahzee was upon them. The Karnov, though mortally wounded, was granted no sympathy as Bahzee crushed its neck with her boot. The beast’s counterpart, blind from the Karnov’s blood, wiped his eyes clean only to find his vision impaired by Bahzee’s open palm, grasping his face. The realization that he did not want to die was the last coherent thought to enter his mind as he felt all the bones in his head crush. He squealed in anguish as darkness enclosed around him.

As Sing pulled the trigger, burning a hole through the stomach of the next to last soldier atop a Karnov, she was shot in the chest by the one riding next to him. Thank goodness for her armour, for this was the third time in two days that she’d been hit in this spot! This most recent, being at a much closer range, hurt all the worse. She could see the smoking burn mark on her suit where the laser had penetrated, colliding with her armour.

Although she could hardly breathe at the moment, Sing knew that if she laid there a moment longer she’d be dead. Forcing herself up, she found the rider and his beast preparing to rip her in half. However, being a quick thinker, Sing resorted to more suitable methods for such close proximity. Out came her favourite weapon, and off went the Karnov’s right leg. Her assailants went colliding with the hard earth in a most awkward fashion.

The leader was still tangled up in the leather straps of the saddle when Sing ran up from behind, yanked his head up by the hair and took retribution for her bruised chest. She cut his throat from ear to ear. The Karnov tried desperately to fight her off with its remaining three limbs, but being that it couldn’t stand, its efforts were futile. She took both its eyes out and then finished by ramming the blade as deep in the throat as possible.