The tip of the dirty kitchen knife was lodged firmly in bone. She was lying on her back, with the spear handle leaning against the hood of a car. While she was in an enormous amount of pain, she’d been hurt so much during training that she was able to keep her head. Bile filled the back of her throat. She swallowed hard to keep from vomiting, terrified at the agony the convulsions would cause her. She had to get it together and remove the spear from her shoulder.
The Aussies and Jules were standing above her, fighting off skin-faces. They were trapped in the alley and far outnumbered. She feared the skin-faces would soon overrun them. They’d finish her off, and she wouldn’t have a chance for revenge against the Anunnaki, wouldn’t be able to save Nat. A barrage of gunfire echoed between the buildings, and Kelly expected her friends to drop dead.
Not a single one joined her on the ground. They held their weapons pointed toward the skin-faces who’d chased them into the alley, seeming unconcerned about those who’d entered from the other side.
Unable to endure being out of the fight for a moment longer, Kelly huffed for air and built her courage. She wrapped her hand tightly around the spear handle, screamed, and jerked with all her strength. Dislodging from bone, the knife came free. The spear bounced on the ground near her head. Her scream faded to a tormented groan, and she rolled to a fetal position.
As the pain dulled, she perceived the alley had fallen quiet.
“Kelly?” Jules squatted beside her, putting a gentle hand on her back.
“I’m okay,” she said weakly.
“If that’s okay, then you’re the baddest of the bad asses,” Jules replied. “Let me help.”
“No, it’s not as bad as it looks.” As much as she tried to sound normal, her voice didn’t hide the discomfort she endured.
She wasn’t ready to be helped. This injury couldn’t stop her from completing the mission. Pushing off the bloody spot where she’d fallen, she slowly rose to her feet. She blinked away the spots in her eyes and reached for the memory of a conversation she’d had with her mom years ago. Her mom revealed to her that girls were much tougher than guys, warning it was a fact that guys hated being reminded of. There was nothing else overly special about the moment, but it was one of those cherished memories that had gotten her through hard times on more than one occasion. She clung to the memory, gleaning strength from it.
Her clearing vision revealed a crowd of armed kids behind the Aussies. They didn’t have on masks and looked normal except they all grinned blissfully and in an almost stupefied way. Apparently, they were with it enough to fight off the skin-faces, who were all run off or sprawled across the hoods of cars, riddled with bullet holes.
“Come with us, brothers and sisters,” a boy near the front said in Arabic. “We go to meet with angels.” He looked at Kelly, sincerity in his eyes. “You will be healed there.”
These kids were clearly under the influence of the Anunnaki, on a pilgrimage to the necropolis to surrender to the aliens. When they’d landed in Cairo, Kelly was concerned about encountering these possessed teenagers. After the run-in with the skin-faces, she couldn’t be happier to see them.
The boy and the rest of the dazed kids didn’t wait for an answer. They turned away and walked back down the alley, joining a river of kids flowing down the next street.
“Someone should take you back to Dr. Blain,” Jules said, her eyes filled with concern as she stared at the three-inch gash in Kelly’s shoulder.
There wasn’t much blood, the wound so jagged it clotted quickly. It was a miracle it didn’t hit her heart or lung. She took it as a sign she was meant to keep going. The spear lay on the ground at her feet, its tip disgusting. Without some medicine soon, she was going to get a nasty infection. The Aussies stood around her, all attention focused on her wound.
“No,” she said through clenched teeth. “We have to get to the pyramids and complete the mission.”
Ethan’s eyes met hers. “She’s right. And the boy is right. She’ll be treated there.”
The Anunnaki would repair any injuries and cure any diseases the slaves had during the harvesting process. Kelly just had to stay strong until they made it to the ship. Hopefully, whatever germs and nastiness she’d been infected with wouldn’t take her down before she got there.
“Let’s go,” she said firmly.
Grimacing, she picked up her gun with her good side. Resting the barrel over her shoulder, she held it by the pistol grip with her finger near the trigger. Jules’ eyes were filled with concern. She was definitely the yin to Tracy’s yang. The latter wouldn’t have given her a second glance, though she’d learned it wasn’t because she didn’t care. Tracy just seemed so afraid of appearing soft and got all tense when the situation demanded even a measure of compassion.
On first impression, Jules looked and acted even tougher than Tracy. Over time, she’d learned that this tall and lean girl with piercing green eyes was a total sweetheart. Her concern was a hindrance right now—Jules needed to focus on the mission and not on her. Not giving her a chance to object, Kelly stepped around her and headed to the other end of the alley. The parade of kids passed on the street beyond.
She didn’t look back to make sure anyone else followed, afraid someone would try and talk her out of continuing. Although each step hurt, sending jolts of pain radiating away from her injury, she was determined not to let it show. Her dad had taught her how wounded animals would hide their pain until the very end, so they wouldn’t appear vulnerable to predators. If they could do it, so could she. She wouldn’t acknowledge the wound, would make it to the ship and do what had to be done to save her sister.
“They look awfully happy,” Ben whispered ominously.
“If we’re mingling with them, we need to look the same,” Ethan warned.
At the end of the alley, Kelly paused. The street was packed from sidewalk to sidewalk with a parade of teenagers coming from the east. She took a deep breath, bracing herself to step in and be whisked away by these kids. They hadn’t planned to intermingle with the enslaved teens until they were close to the pyramid, but this seemed like the fastest and safest way to get there now.
Dismissing the fear that somehow joining with them would cause her to lose her free will, she stepped into an opening in the ranks. She sweated from the agony each step caused her and fell in behind a boy wearing a strange, brimless hat and a white dress that looked like a long-sleeved shirt stretching all the way to the ground.
Jules stepped in on her left side and Ethan on her right, the rest of the Aussies behind them. The blissful teenagers seemed glad to move aside and make room. Though they were surrounded by hundreds of kids, none of them talked. They kept their eyes forward, smiling and marching toward a horrible destiny.
How long had they been delayed by the attack of the skin-faces? She worried too much time was lost. She made an effort to go faster, stepping around the boy in front of her, but the little burst of speed taxed her to the point that she almost had to stop, and the pain left her dizzy.
“You guys need to push ahead and leave me here,” she said, panting.
“I don’t see any reason for leaving you,” Jules countered, sounding agitated. “We’re headed in the right direction now, and we’ll be there in no time.”
“We’re already behind, Jules,” she said firmly. “You guys need to make up some lost time.” She glanced at her, trying to convey that she wasn’t asking. “I’m gonna be useless once we get there anyway. At least until they heal me.”
Jules didn’t look at her, seeming like she’d decided she wasn’t leaving her and there was nothing Kelly could say to change her mind. Anger flashed in her. All that mattered was completing the mission, and Jules was suddenly turning into a mother hen.
She looked over at Ethan. When he returned her gaze, she was relieved to see him nod.
“She’s right,” he said, just loud enough for the others to hear. “We’ve got to press forward.” Looking at her, he spoke with a quieter voice. “You think you can handle recruiting the enslaved kids after we blast the reactor?”
“Of course,” she replied as confidently as she could. She didn’t want to give him any reason not to leave her behind.
He nodded again. “Alright, good luck.” To everyone else, he said, “Let’s go, people.”
Ethan slipped between two of the possessed teens ahead of them. They parted, not appearing the least bit bothered about being passed. The other Aussies followed. Jules was the last one, hanging back.
“Go, Jules,” Kelly demanded. “I’ll be fine. They need you. Everyone needs you.”
Her lower lip protruded slightly, and her brow furrowed. She kept her head straight a moment longer, pretending to ignore her. Kelly didn’t stop staring, conveying that she wouldn’t back down. Jules finally glanced over and frowned.
“Damn you,” she growled.
“I’ll see you soon enough,” Kelly said in a softer voice. “Once this is all over.”
Jules’ eyes looked damp. She didn’t seem to think she’d see her again. Kelly smiled at her and then turned her head forward, assuming the increasingly dazed expression of those walking around them.
Her tall, crew-cut-wearing friend let out a shaky and extended sigh. Jules pressed forward, pushing between the kids to catch up with the Aussies. Within a few seconds, she was gone. Darkness seemed to close in, though there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Kelly felt terribly alone, surrounded by hundreds of teens who were slowly losing themselves, their minds being erased by the Anunnaki.