DIANA’S LEGS ACHED. Her bare feet were bloody. Justin was trying to help her but there was no way to ease the pain of bare soles on sharp stone.
Anytime she slowed or stumbled Drake would snap his whip, and the pain of that was so much worse.
She couldn’t imagine that she would make it to the gaiaphage alive.
Diana knew that was the objective. Drake had taken to gloating about it. She’d had plenty of opportunity to think of snide remarks. But each one came at the cost of another slice in her flesh. Or worse yet, Justin’s. So she stumbled along in silence.
“Don’t know what he wants with you,” Drake said, not for the first time, “but whatever he leaves is mine. That’s all I know. Make some of your witty remarks to the gaiaphage. Hah. Try that.”
He was still looking over his shoulder constantly. Diana had come to think of it as Breezanoia—a terrible fear of Brianna.
“She can come zooming up all she wants,” Drake said. “See if she can cut me without cutting the brat. See if she can do that.”
Drake was spiraling down almost as fast as Diana herself. His fear was palpable. And not just fear of Brianna. The dying of the light scared him, too.
“Gotta get there before dark,” he muttered more than once.
Diana realized that once absolute night fell Drake would be as lost as anyone. And then how would he keep control of Diana and Justin?
No comfort. They could get away from Drake. Maybe. And then what?
Diana’s hand went to her stomach. The baby kicked.
The baby. The three-bar baby. The baby was what he wanted, of course. Diana had no doubt about that. The dark creature wanted her baby.
When she could take her mind off the agony in her feet and legs and back, when she could suspend for a brief few seconds the crushing fear that bore down on her, Diana tried to understand. What did it want with her baby?
Why was this happening?
She missed her step, stumbled, and landed hard on her knees. She cried out in pain, and then screamed as the lash landed across her back.
In a rage she flew at him. Her fists punched and her fingernails tore but he was far too quick. He punched her in the face. It was not a slap. It was a full, hard punch. Her head swam and she saw stars.
Just like a cartoon, she thought. Then she fell straight back.
When she came to she found Justin next to her, holding on to her and crying.
Brittney was seated a few feet away.
The circle of blue sky was the color of new denim, and smaller, noticeably smaller than it had been. The sky was a black, featureless bowl.
“You’re pregnant, aren’t you?” Brittney asked almost shyly.
It took Diana a few moments to make sense of things. Drake was not here. Drake couldn’t be here so long as Brittney was.
Whip Hand was not here.
Diana climbed quickly to her feet. “Come on, Justin, we’re out of here.”
“I found some rocks,” Brittney said. She held up a good-size rock in each hand. “I can hit you with them.”
Diana laughed in her face. “Bring it, zombie freak. You’re not the only one who can find a rock.”
“Yes, that’s true,” Brittney said. “But it won’t hurt me when you hit me. And you can’t kill me.” Then, as an afterthought she added, “Anyway, I’m not a zombie. I don’t eat people.”
“Why are you doing this, Brittney? You were the one fighting us at the power plant. You were on Sam’s side. Or don’t you remember that?”
“I remember,” she said.
Diana’s mind was turning at top speed. If she told Justin to run back toward the lake, how far would he get before the darkness closed in? Which was worse? To wander alone in the dark until he fell off a cliff or was scented by a coyote or wandered into a zeke field or . . . or . . . or . . .
“Then what happened to you? Why are you helping Drake? You should be fighting him every time you get the chance.”
She smiled and Diana saw the broken wire sticking out of her braces. “I can’t ever fight Drake, you know. We’re never together.”
“Exactly. So whenever he’s gone you can—”
“I’m not doing this for Drake,” Brittney said earnestly. “I’m doing this for my lord.”
“Your . . . Your what? Your what? You think God wants you to be doing this? Did you go stupid on top of being undead?”
“We each must serve,” Brittney recited, like a lesson she’d learned a long time ago.
“And you think Jesus wants you to do this? This? Threaten a pregnant girl with a rock? That’s your religious theory? Jesus wants you to help a sadistic mental case to turn me over to a monster? I must have missed that part of the Bible. Is that part of the Sermon on the Mount?”
Brittney looked at her, very serious, and waited until Diana had run out of breath, if not scorn.
“That was the old God, Diana. That God was before. He doesn’t live in the FAYZ.”
Diana felt like choking the girl. And if it would do any good she would, and gladly. She wondered if she could stun Brittney long enough to get away. Surely a big rock would at least stun her.
But unfortunately everyone knew the story of what had happened when Brianna fought Drake. She had sliced him up like a butcher with a hog. And yet, he had survived. The same would be true of Brittney. And Diana didn’t have a machete.
“God is everywhere,” Diana said. “You were a church girl; you must know that.”
Brittney’s eyes were bright, eager, as she leaned forward. “No. No. I don’t have to follow an invisible god anymore. I can see him! I can touch him! I know where he lives, and what he looks like. No more little children’s stories. He wants you. That’s why we came for you.” She made a chiding face. “You should be excited.”
“You know what? I’m ready for Drake to come back. He’s evil, but at least he’s not an idiot.”
Diana stood up. So did Brittney.
“Justin,” Diana said.
“Yes?”
“See the place where the hills end? The lake is just past that. Start running.”
“Are you coming?” Justin cried.
“Right behind you. Now, run!”
Brittney didn’t come after Diana, although Diana swung on her again. Brittney ran after Justin.
She caught him easily. Diana tried to grab Brittney, but a pregnant girl running in the sand . . .
Brittney hugged Justin to her with one arm. In her free hand she held a sharp rock very close to Justin’s chattering, fearful mouth. It was a heartbreaking parody of maternal protectiveness.
Diana remembered again who Brittney had once been. The brave, decent girl who refused to disappoint Sam and Edilio.
It was Diana, along with Caine and Drake, who had made this Brittney. They and, of course, the Darkness. What a fatal little group they had proved to be. Look at the damage they had done, she and Caine and Drake. And the gaiaphage.
Now here they were on their way to a reunion. Diana, and Drake, and the gaiaphage. And Caine’s role would be played by his son or daughter.
She had wanted so badly to escape it all. For that briefest moment she believed she had changed Caine. And that was when they had created the baby inside her.
“Keep walking,” Brittney said, actually stroking Justin’s face with the stone. “Please.”
It was not Drake. The distant figure Brianna had seen was not Drake. It was Dekka. And Brianna had raced up within shouting distance with her machete out before she realized.
She skidded to a halt.
Dekka was covered in blood from hand to elbow, with sprays of it across her face.
“Where have you been?” Dekka demanded without so much as a hello.
Brianna sheathed her machete and decided against answering. “What’s with the blood?”
“It’s your boyfriend’s,” Dekka grated.
“My what?”
“Jack. He went after Drake by himself. Drake cut his throat.”
Brianna stared at her. “Are you nuts? Jack went after Drake? Jack doesn’t do things like that.”
“He does when there’s no other choice,” Dekka said.
Dekka kept looking past her. Brianna kept doing the same. The world was ending, Jack was hurt, maybe dying, maybe dead already, and they were being awkward.
“Drake has Diana and Justin. He’s heading toward the mine shaft, toward the gaiaphage.”
Brianna shook her head, feeling like she was missing something. “Who is Justin?”
“Where were you? You were supposed to be within earshot. Sam shot off some rounds and no Brianna.”
“I was looking for Drake,” Brianna said defensively.
Dekka glared pure fury at her. “You don’t love Jack. You don’t even care about him, do you? You haven’t even asked how he is.”
Brianna actually took a step back. “Why are you hating on me?”
Dekka’s jaw actually dropped. It would have been almost funny, if it wasn’t Dekka. “Are you that clueless? How do you not understand how irresponsible you are? Right now Orc is running back to the lake with his hands barely holding Jack’s blood in. And Drake is probably whipping Diana across the desert.”
Brianna shook her head violently. “That’s not my fault! That’s not on me! I was out looking for Drake.”
Suddenly Dekka’s bloody fist was flying straight for Brianna’s nose. Brianna easily sidestepped and Dekka stumbled forward.
Brianna was too astonished to hit back.
Dekka wasn’t finished. She actually kicked at Brianna. This unbalanced her completely and she fell heavily on her side.
Suddenly Brianna found herself in a column of floating sand. She tried to run but there was no solid ground beneath her. Gravity was suspended.
That did it. Brianna yanked out her sawed-off shotgun and leveled it at Dekka. “Put me down or I’ll shoot you!”
Dekka had gotten to her feet. “You would do it, too, wouldn’t you?” She waved her hand angrily and Brianna dropped two feet back to earth.
“Do you ever think about anything besides yourself?” Dekka yelled. To Brianna’s amazement there were tears in Dekka’s eyes. She wiped them away so violently it was like she was slapping herself. She left a smear of blood, like red paint.
“Hey, I’m sorry or whatever,” Brianna said hotly. “What do you want me to say? I hope Jack’s okay. And I’ll kill Drake if I get the chance. What do you want from me?”
Dekka’s face was an ugly mask of emotion, unreadable to Brianna. Aside from it being obvious that Dekka was mad about something.
“Four months and you haven’t even said anything to me,” Dekka said.
“I’ve talked to you,” Brianna said. But she looked away as she said it, suddenly even more uncomfortable. She could deal with anger. Need was something different.
“I told you—” Dekka began before her voice choked off. She took a few seconds to master it. Then, unable to meet Brianna’s eyes, she said, “I thought I was done for. I mean, I don’t scare easy. The pain . . .” That stopped her again; then she shook her head angrily, like she was pushing through it. “It was bad, that’s all. And I was dying. I should have died. But I didn’t want to die without telling you.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Brianna said, shifting from side to side and just about unable to resist the desire to go tearing off at a hundred miles an hour.
“I told you I loved you.”
“Uh-huh.”
“And you said nothing. Nothing. For four months.”
Brianna shrugged. “Look, okay, look.” She swallowed hard. “Look, besides me you’re the bravest, toughest chick in the FAYZ,” Brianna said. “I mean, I always thought we were like sisters, you know? Like badass sisters.”
Dekka’s eyes, so hot and furious, went blank. For a long time she just looked at nothing. At the space beside Brianna. Finally Dekka sighed. “Like sisters.”
“Yeah, but like rocking-the-tough-chick-thing sisters.”
“But . . . you don’t . . .”
This was a Dekka Brianna wasn’t prepared for. She looked smaller. She looked like a big rag doll with half the stuffing gone. Darkness was coming on fast now. Shadows were deeper, and the shadows were just shadows of other shadows.
Dekka squared her shoulders. Seemed to be arguing with herself. Finally: “You’re not gay. You don’t like girls.”
Brianna frowned. “I don’t think so.”
“Do you like boys?” Dekka asked, her voice strained.
Brianna shrugged. Every part of this made her uncomfortable. “I don’t know, jeez. I made out with Jack a couple of times. But that’s because I was bored.”
“Bored.”
“Yeah. And it didn’t help that much.”
“You’re not in love with Jack?”
Brianna barked out a surprised laugh. “Jack? Computer Jack? I mean, I like him okay. He’s nice. I mean, he’s sweet. And if I’m reading a book I don’t understand he can always explain stuff. He’s smart. But he’s not—” And there she stopped herself.
To Brianna’s surprise that drew an incredulous laugh from Dekka. “This is you, isn’t it? The real you.”
Brianna squinted. What kind of question was that?
“All this time . . .” Dekka didn’t finish the thought. “Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“What?”
Dekka balled her fists up. “I swear to God I’m going to kill you if you keep playing dumb!”
“I like boys, okay? I think. I guess. Probably. I mean, I’m just thirteen! Jeez! I know it’s the FAYZ and all, but I’m really just . . . a kid.”
Brianna blushed. Why had she said that? She wasn’t a kid. She was the Breeze. She was the most dangerous person . . . okay, third most dangerous person . . . not a kid, though. Not like a little kid.
Well, she was fast, but she couldn’t snatch words back. Jack probably dying. The light going out. Maybe it was just okay to say stuff.
A sharp intake of breath from Dekka. “You are, aren’t you?”
Dekka said softly. “I forget.” She repeated it sadly. “I forget.”
“I mean, it’s like, you know, I have a crush on Sam or whatever, like every other girl—well, except you, I guess—but it’s not like that. It’s like . . . you know . . .” She tapered off lamely. Then added, “I just like being The Breeze. Capital ‘T,’ capital ‘B.’”
All the anger was gone from Dekka. “I forget, Brianna. I mean, I see you do stuff that’s so crazy brave. . . . And I see how Sam depends on you. How everyone does. And I see you run into a fight with Drake and, wow, I mean, I look at you and you’re, like, everything I ever wanted in a girlfriend. And I forget you’re still just a kid.”
“I’m not that young,” Brianna said, now really wishing she could take some of it back.
Dekka sighed a deep, long sigh.
“I mean, maybe in a couple of years,” Brianna said, definitely feeling like she was coming out on the worse end of this conversation.
Dekka laughed. “No, Brianna. No. A crush on Sam? Making out with Jack? Nope. Nope. I was letting my own . . . I was seeing what I wanted to see. That’s what I was doing. I wasn’t seeing you.”
“But you and me. We’re cool?”
Dekka was crying again, but this time she wiped the tears away with a laugh. “Breeze, how could we not be cool? We are definitely the badass sisters.”
“What do we do now? I can’t run very fast in the dark.”
“Yep. But we still go after Drake. He’s got Diana, and we can’t leave her to him. He hates women, you know.”
“Yeah. I did notice that about him.” Brianna felt energy flowing through her again. The tiredness, the frustration, they were gone. And the coming darkness? Well, she could still swing a very, very fast machete. “The boy hates chicks, right? Let’s go give him a good reason to.”
Astrid walked holding Cigar’s hand. Sometimes it would freak him out and he’d be convinced she was going to eat him. His mind was gone. Or if not gone forever, then gone for now. Gone until he somehow got help.
But he could see what she could not. He could see her brother. She had sensed it from the start when she had seen the coyote with the human face. Not stupid, but ignorant, heedless. Something or someone with staggering power and no idea how to use it.
Little Pete was an unseen, almighty god who played ignorant, heedless games with the helpless creatures in the FAYZ.
Maybe the stain was his, too.
Maybe he was the one shutting down the light.
Well, it would figure, wouldn’t it? Sooner or later the game had to end.
She walked on tired feet toward Perdido Beach, knowing now that it was a hopeless effort.
They were all mere humans, after all. And the closest thing they had to a god was a reckless, indifferent child.