Under Vanishing Skies (29 page)

“
I can’t,” she cried.

“
Of course you can. We’re almost there,” I said. “See? It’s right over there, under the huts.” I pointed and she looked.

Shaking her head, she said. “I can’t leave. Not without her.”

“
Without who?” Kamish asked.

“
The girl. She was on the boat with me. She doesn’t have anyone to help her.” She pleaded and looked into my eyes. “They took us into that hut there, the one on the end. I can’t leave her there.” She looked up at me with pitiful eyes.

 
I looked at Kamish. He shook his head, but I said, “Okay. Let’s go.”

The boardwalk was unguarded. We ran up to the hut.

“
Is this the one?” I whispered.

She nodded.

“
Is there anyone else in there with her?”

“
No,” she said. “They tied her up to the bed before they took me away.”

Kamish opened the door and we followed him in. An emaciated woman in her mid-forties stood on the far side of the room. She held a rifle tight up against her shoulder, her cheek glued to the butt of the rifle. Staring at us with one eye through the sight, she moved the barrel back and forth between me and Kamish.

I’d never seen a woman with a face like that before, so hard and callused. She had the face of a deep-earth miner. Her head was shaved, except for a shock of red hair that ran down the middle of her skull. At first I thought it was a man, but then I saw her flabby tits swing freely beneath a dirty white tank top.

“
If you move,” she said in a thick, Russian accent, “I will shoot you between the eyes.”

I wasn’t about to move. But without warning, Shannon ran past me, straight for the woman.

“
Shannon, no…stop!”

I tried to grab her, but Kamish held me back.

“
I said do not move!” the woman with the Mohawk shouted.

I froze and waited for her to shoot Shannon, but Shannon brushed right past her. Then she stopped, and turned around. A thin smile stretched across her face, a smile that sent a chill up my spine. Her eyes were wide and darted back and forth between Kamish and me.

Why didn’t the woman shoot her? She didn’t even look at Shannon, she just kept her eyes locked on me and Kamish.

Like a computer program choking on unexpected data, my brain couldn’t process what had happened. I felt like I needed a reboot.

“
Shannon,” was all that I managed to say.

Shannon laughed. 

She must be in shock. What else could explain her wide-eyed stare and the way she panted like an overheated dog? But shock didn’t explain why she wasn’t dead on the floor. I wasn’t ready to face the truth, but the truth refused to be ignored. It pushed its way up through the layers of my consciousness and exploded in my head.

“
You’re…” I couldn’t finish the sentence.

“
You’re what? With them?” A maniacal cackle escaped her mouth. “That’s right, Aron…I’m with them. I thought for sure you had figured it out back there…when you broke into our hut.” Tears began to fall from her eyes. “When you murdered Jamal!”

“
No,” I said. “He was raping you. I…I saved you!”

“
He wasn’t raping me, you stupid bastard! He was making love to me.” Her voice cracked. “And now he’s dead.”

As I watched, her face transformed. The sadness disappeared and was replaced with a calm and cool expression. Pulling the sheet from her shoulders, she tied it off just above her breasts. Then standing up straight and pulling her shoulders back, she said, “You killed a great man, the man that I loved.” Her last words cut through me like a machete through a banana leaf.

“
Great man? How can you say that? He was a murderer, a fanatic!”

Shaking her head she said, “He was no fanatic. He was a genius. After the storm, when everyone else huddled together in their towns and villages, he built an army. Societies collapsed, but his army grew. He understood what it took to survive in the new world. You call it murder, he called it what it was, thinning the weak from the herd”

I heard a low guttural growl and looked over at Kamish. He glared at Shannon, seething with fury. I spoke up before he did something that would get him killed.

Looking back at Shannon, I said, “I don’t know what he did to you or what they did to you after they kidnapped you yesterday, but you’re not thinking straight.”

She laughed that cruel laugh again. “Yesterday? I’ve been with Jamal for nearly three years. Do you really think that I went for a walkabout?” She laughed again. “I was on a supply run when they took me prisoner. Nobody came looking for me. So I did what I had to do to stay alive. It wasn’t easy, but then I met Jamal” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing. “You want to know what he did to me? I’ll tell you. He opened my eyes. He saw within me the spark of a survivor. He reminded me of the lessons I had learned growing up in the slums of Dublin. Fists, Aron…fists. You fight for what you want or you get nothing.”

“
That’s not what Islam teaches,” I said.

“
You’re such a dolt. Jamal didn’t care about Islam or any religion. He used religion to build the army. His army gave him strength, the strength he needed to take the resources so we could all survive.”

 “
He didn’t just take resources. He killed innocent men, women, and children.”

“
I don’t have time to explain this to you. You’d never understand anyway.”

She looked at the woman with the rifle “Nika. Give me the weapon and tie them up.”

Nika handed Shannon the rifle. Shannon pointed the barrel at Kamish. “Start with him, the big one. He looks like he might try something stupid.”

“
What should I use?” Nika asked.

Motioning with her head toward the window, she said, “Use the cord from the curtains. And be sure to tie his hands tightly. Don’t worry about cutting off the blood supply. He won’t have need for blood when I’m done with him.”

Nika nodded and went over to the curtains.

“
No!” I said. “If you’re going to kill anyone, then you kill me. I’m the one who cut up your boyfriend.”

I saw rage flash in her eyes, but she remained calm. “Trust me. You will die. But first, you must tell me a few things.”

“
I’m not telling you anything, you bitch!”

“
Is that any way to talk to the woman who rescued your heart?” She laughed. I felt the darkness rising within me. It took every ounce of willpower to keep it in check. I had to stay in control. I had to think of a way out of this.

“
Once I start to cut up your friend like I cut up Rick, you’ll tell me everything I want to know.”

I couldn’t breathe. It felt like I’d been kicked in the stomach.

“
You killed Rick?”

I closed my eyes and let the darkness sweep over me. My whole body began to shake, not with fear, but with adrenaline.

“
And if you still won’t talk,” Shannon said, “then we’ll bring Jin out here and start cutting him up…what’s left of him anyway.”

“
Jin’s alive? Where is he?”

She motioned with her head, “Next door. I’ve been trying to get him to talk, but he hasn’t been very cooperative.” She smiled. “I’m actually glad that you came out here, because we were about to give up on him and come pay you and William a visit. From what you told me at the Council meeting, you and the boy were pretty close to figuring out how to control the satellite.”

My fists clenched and my heart raced. Nobody, not this psychotic bitch, not anyone, threatened William! I was about to charge when Nika turned to face us. I stopped and watched her coil the cord in her hand. I prepared to make my move.

“
Put your hands behind your back,” she said to Kamish.

I looked at Kamish. I could tell that he was about to make his own move, so I readied myself. He glared at her, but he put his arms behind his back.

As she walked behind him, Kamish turned on her. In one smooth sweeping motion, he pulled a knife from the back of his belt and stabbed her. Nika cried out, but her voice was drowned out by the blood that began pouring from her mouth.

Shannon yelled, “Nika!” Then she lowered her cheek on to the butt of the rifle, aimed, and fired. The sound of the shot was deafening. Kamish let go of Nika and she fell to the floor. Blood oozed from a small hole in his shoulder. He charged at Shannon. Another shot, this one to the head. Kamish fell back on top of Nika, the knife flying out of his hand and sliding across the floor.

I went to him, but stopped when Shannon yelled, “I’ll shoot you too, Aron. Don’t think that I won’t.”

“
Go ahead. Shoot me. When I’m dead, you’ll never get the information you want.”

“
Oh I don’t know about that. William’s a smart kid. He can probably tell me what I want to know.”

Just before an ocean of darkness engulfed me, I saw a little girl walk out from a back bedroom.

 “
Mama," the dark-haired toddler said. “I heard a scary noise.” 

She began to cry.

Shannon looked over at her, “It’s okay, dear. Mama is here.”

She had barely finished her sentence when I buried my shoulder into her stomach. The rifle flew out of her arms. The little girl screamed, “Mama!” I slammed Shannon into the wall. She collapsed onto the floor, but immediately crawled towards the rifle. I scrambled to get it before she did, but she stuck her leg out and tripped me. I fell hard. Pain shot up my elbow as I hit the floor. She pounced on me, clawing my face. I ignored the pain and rolled over on top of her. I slugged her in the face…again and again. Blood spouted from her nose. 

The little girl screamed. 

I reached for the gun, but Shannon grabbed my ankle. I fell next to the girl. Without thinking, I scooped her up and rolled over.

 “
Let go!” I said kicking her hand from my ankle. I sat up facing Shannon. Holding her daughter in one arm, I used my free hand to scoot backwards. My hand landed on something. It was Kamish’s knife.

Shannon rolled towards the rifle and I yelled, “I’ll kill her! I swear to God, if you touch that rifle, I will slit her throat!”

Shannon stopped and I saw fear in her eyes. Then she screamed, “Put her down!”

I moved the blade a few inches closer to the girl’s throat. “Move and she dies.”

Shannon stayed where she was. I stood. The little girl cried and struggled to get free.

Holding her brought back memories of my own girls. I knew there was no way I could hurt her. My face must have given away my thoughts.

“
You won’t do it, Aron,” Shannon said. “I know you.” She got up on her knees. “You don’t have what it takes to harm a child. You’re pathetic.” Spit flew from her lips. “You’re like the rest of them. None of you have the strength to do what it takes to survive.”

The girl leaned forward, squirming to get away. I almost dropped her. I managed to hold on, but the child shrieked. I looked down. Blood dripped from her arm. I had accidently cut her with my knife.

“
No!” Shannon screamed. She moved toward me, but stopped. “Okay, I’m sorry. Just don’t hurt her. She’s all that I have left of Jamal.”

I looked at the cut. Thankfully it wasn’t deep, but it was still bleeding. I adjusted my grip on the girl by placing my hand over her arm and holding it tight against her body.

I didn’t mean to cut her, but Shannon didn’t know that. Now I was in control.

 “
I’ll let her go, but first you’re going to tell me something, like what the hell is going on.”

She glared at me, but kept silent. I shook the girl, not a lot, just enough to make her cry louder.

“
Okay, okay. I’ll tell you.” She looked at her daughter as she spoke. “I was on the Council so I could gather information about the inhabitants of the Maldives.”

 “
But what about the list? Who are those people you put on the list at the last minute?”

“
The crazies…the religious nuts.” she said.

 “
I don’t understand.”

She shook her head. “Jamal started his army with Islamic fundamentalists from across the horn of Africa. He professed to be a prophet of Allah and they believed him. As his legend grew, his army grew with it. But they were becoming a liability. Like you said, Islam teaches something different than what we were doing. So Jamal recruited and trained others, survivors like me. Once he had enough people to carry on his mission, he told the crazies that Allah had spoken to him. He said that Allah wanted to send them to Mars where they would establish a new paradise, free from infidels.”