It took all my effort not to fall over from the pain of feeling the Vampires. Chad grabbed my shoulders when I swayed, as Keith halted the rest of the group’s progression forward.
“How. Bad. Rachel?” Keith’s voice was low in the darkness. I couldn’t make out his features, but I could hear his tension in his tone.
“It’s a group.”
“Do we need to run, or can we stand and fight?”
Keith wanted to know how many Vampires I felt. They were still a distance away, or all the other Warriors would feel their presence as well. “Stay and fight.”
I hated having to make the decision. I’d had to choose whether we fought before, and as long as I had this strange ability to detect the monsters so much earlier than everyone else, we might as well use it to our advantage.
“All right, kids, this is show time.” Keith’s voice was hard. This was his standard fight signal. When I had been starting out, Keith hadn’t been an active Warrior, he’d only been teaching. Now that we were all above ground, there was no such thing as ‘teaching only,’ and he was back in the field with the rest of us.
I nodded, pulling Tia with me to the nearest tree. As I pushed back against the strong bark, I looked at her and hoped she remembered all of this from the preparation work we did in class.
The others were silent. They hadn’t felt the Vampires yet even as I shivered and tried not to freeze from the inside out. My senses reeled from the enormous pain.
“What’s…?”
Inwardly cursing, I covered Tia’s mouth with my hand. Flipping out was one thing. Getting us all killed was something else entirely. She seemed to have forgotten all of her training.
This moment—the pre-fight—was silent time. She needed to be quiet. Right now.
I felt it the second she sensed her first Vampire. Her body shook violently. I knew the feeling well, and I wished I could make it easier for her. Vampires made us cold. Werewolves brought on the worst case of goose bumps I’d ever had. Well, most Werewolves did. Jason and his pack hadn’t made me react at all, which meant it was possible I was signal deficient when it came to the lycanthrope population.
“They’re here!” Keith’s shout rattled me. I knew it was a large number—I could sense that—but for him to scream meant it was really, really bad. I hoped I hadn’t been wrong when I suggested we stay and fight.
As I flipped on my light, I briefly illuminated the small patch of trees around us and did a quick count. I’d seen four Vampires. That was doable. I switched off the light and squeezed Tia’s hand.
“This is it. You can do it.”
I jumped forward to enter the fray, leaving part of my heart behind with Tia. She was my best friend—my sister—and I couldn’t do this for her, no matter how much I wanted to.
She was going to have to fight on her own. Two Vampires immediately assaulted me. I didn’t handle them well. My mind—so full of fear for Tia—didn’t react as quickly as it usually did, and consequently my body felt sluggish. Still, after hitting the ground hard on my rather sizable rear end, I jolted myself back into concentration.
I rolled left and then I was back on my feet. I could feel my breath coming in and out of my lungs fast—like it always did when I fought the Undead. I pulled my stake from where I had fastened it to my leg as I plunged forward taking down one Vampire while I simultaneously kicked the one behind it.
“Oomph.”
I whirled around in time to see Deacon, his light still illuminated, get hit by the Vampire I’d thrown behind me.
Deacon is stronger and bigger than I am. It doesn’t matter when fighting these creatures. My genes are the same as his. We both joined the unlucky chosen when we were born capable of defending ourselves against the monsters. Still, he did something I’d never be able to do, which was to swing it over his shoulder and throw it to the ground before staking it, hard.
He jumped up as he grinned at me. “Watch where you throw those things.”
I smiled. Only Deacon could make this scenario anything less than miserable. I whirled around as I searched for Tia. She hadn’t moved. Motionless, she stood just where I’d left her.
I rushed to her side, fear making me move faster than I ever had before. If she was hurt, I’d never forgive myself. Rationally, I knew it wasn’t my fault but when Tia was involved, reason was not the process that dominated my brain. It was emotion all the way.
I grabbed her arm as I shook her. “Are you okay?”
She didn’t answer me and I turned on my light. Her eyes were wide—huge—but open and breathing was shallow but steady. What the hell was going on?
I whirled around looking for help. Everyone was engaged. Chad had three Vampires he handled flawlessly in the distance. Keith helped two other members take down four more. I turned around and shook Tia again.
“Tia!” I called her name.
Nothing. Not a movement or a response. Deacon appeared at my side.
“What’s up? Did they get her?”
I shook my head. “Not that I can tell. She’s just not answering.”
He shook her—harder than I had. “Tia, snap out of it.”
We both waited. The fear in my stomach growing with each second she was unresponsive.
Deacon whistled through his teeth. “I think she might be in shock.”
“Not possible. We’re Warriors. We all have the gene. It means we can fight them.”
“Yes.” Deacon nodded as he shook Tia again. “But we’re also human. Lots of things can make us really bad at what we’re supposed to be able to do. It’s the difference between them and us. They’re born to feed, to kill, and destroy us. Above all else, that’s what monsters do. Humans? We can do these things. We can fight—when we have to. We can survive, as a species.” In one swift movement, he put Tia over his shoulder like he had the Vampire. Her head bobbed like a mannequin I’d seen once in a store in Genesis. “Don’t forget, Rachel, not everyone with Warrior genes survived Armageddon.”
Without another word, he took off running, Tia over his shoulder in the direction of the tent city we lived to protect.
“What’s the problem? Is she hurt?” Chad’s panicked voice broke me out of my stupor.
We needed to get her help. I wasn’t even sure what to say to him. What did it mean to be in shock? Why couldn’t I ever decide to shut down completely and let other people take care of me?
I gasped at the horrible thought. Tia needed medical attention, not my resentment. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened to me if I had stood motionless by a tree the first time I’d encountered a Vampire instead of running for my life. I had a pretty good idea, and the image wasn’t pretty.
I would have been drained dry if Jason hadn’t rescued me. But today there was no one to rescue me from the horror that I’d somehow just failed my best friend.
***
I waited with the others for the medic to look at Tia. We didn’t have doctors in Genesis. In our area, none had survived Armageddon. Sometimes we would hear a rumor of a doctor existing somewhere else, in another habitat we would never see. Andon Kenwood, Jason’s father, had been a doctor. A real one. When the monsters had taken over and attacked humanity, Andon’s Wolf pack had been among them.
He described waking up one day to find he’d basically lived in a dream state for thirty-six years year. When he woke, members of his pack awoke, too. The weird thing? None of them had aged a day. Jason had been eight when he’d gone into the trance and eight when he’d woken up. Then he’d started to age again. That meant even though Andon looked like a fifty year old man, he was much older than that. He’d been alive before humanity fell and he’d been a real, medically trained doctor.
Not that any of that would help us with Tia now. I couldn’t help thinking about them. It was like anytime I was left adrift without much to do, my mind went back to their Wolf pack and the things I’d learned there. Truth was, even though it had been brief, I’d been happy with Jason. I think I missed that as much as I missed anything else. Those days had been filled with such sheer joy, brought on by his constant smile and his belief that, despite all evidence to the contrary, all would be well.
Now it looked like at least half of that stuff had been to manipulate me into doing what they wanted. The thought burned in my gut, but it didn’t change my memory of that time or the feelings thinking about it invoked in me.
“Rachel.”
Keith’s voice got my attention, and I looked up to where he stood by the door of the medical tent.
“Come with me.”
He motioned for me to follow him out the door, and I nodded. With a brief glance back at the Lyons, who were huddled around each other in a supportive circle, I followed Keith out of the door, wondering if I was in some kind of trouble.
He waited for me to catch up with him before he led me on in silence away from the tent. When we’d travelled a small distance, he stopped. Turning to regard me, I noticed right away how tired he looked. His eyes were bloodshot and his strawberry-blond hair completely disheveled.
“How are they doing?” His voice sounded strained.
“They’re tense, waiting. The medics aren’t sure they can do anything for her but wait and see, which is frustrating. Carol blames herself—she knew Tia wasn’t ready. She blames Patrick for sending her out.”
I swallowed. I also suspected she blamed me. I’d told her I would try to keep Tia safe, and I hadn’t done a very good job. If I had, she wouldn’t be staring off into space not responding to anyone….
Keith whistled, which grabbed my attention back to the here and now. “That wasn’t your fault. So you can quit blaming yourself, if that’s what you’re doing. She’s alive; a Vampire didn’t bite her. You took down three by yourself to protect her.”
Had I? I only remembered two. Inwardly, I shrugged. Who could keep track anymore?
“Why would she freak out?” My voice was barely above a whisper because my throat ached so badly from the tears I wasn’t shedding. “We’re meant to kill them.”
“No, we can kill them. We’re not necessarily meant to. It’s unfortunate that the presence of one gene determines who must go do the deed.”
He shook his head. The sun was barely coming up over the horizon, and I forced my gaze upwards to watch the show. I hadn’t seen a sunrise before six months ago, and the experience had nearly blinded me at the time. It was nice to be able to see the day come and go without it causing tremendous pain.
“Deacon said something similar.”
“I’m not surprised. Spending his years in cages waiting to be eaten by the monsters probably gave him some perspective.”
A cool wind blew into my cheeks and I shivered in my sweatshirt. I appreciated Keith talking to me like this. I’d felt like a bit of an outsider standing with the Lyons while they waited for news on Tia. I wasn’t family—even if I wanted to be.
“Keith, I have a question.”
It was the question I’d wanted to ask Keith for as long as I’d known him, and never had because he’d always been an authority figure to me. Even though he still was, he intimidated me less. Fighting side by side did that to people.
“Go ahead.”
I cleared my throat. “Why did you leave Scotland? I mean, I know it was to come teach here. But it’s not exactly easy to travel. Was it just for the job?”
Keith nodded, his eyes darting back and forth as he watched the tent city behind me. Finally, he regarded me again.
“No one ever asks me that.”
I raised a hand. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t intrude. It’s just, I realized I know very little about you; other than you’re a great teacher, a great Warrior, and married to a great lady.”
He grinned, showing the dimples all of us had admired daily when he’d been our teacher. “The last part of that being the most important. Tiffani is a great lady.” He sighed, which quickly turned into a yawn. “I was accused of murdering my brother. I didn’t do it and was acquitted. The man who did it, well, he killed someone else so it became obvious it wasn’t me. However, my family hadn’t believed me. I couldn’t stay there any more. The chance came and I seized the opportunity to take it. The trip was awful. At least one thousand times I thought I was going to die. But I got here.”
I wasn’t sure what to say. Of all the scenarios, Keith could have told me, that was not anywhere in my imagination. He’d been accused of killing his brother.
“Shut your mouth, Rachel. You’re going to catch bugs in it if you keep standing there with it hanging open like that.”
I closed my mouth.
“Here’s the thing. I want you to keep this in mind when you leave in a few hours: other places aren’t like here. Icahn was here. We got lots of messages, a lot of communication from other habitats. Other places…it’s not like that. It can be years and years between messages. People hold onto the idea of Isaac Icahn being the savior of humanity like it’s their job. You’re going to have to work a miracle to convince them otherwise.”
Great. That’s just what I needed. More pressure.
“Rachel!” I whirled around at Chad’s voice.
My heart fell into my stomach. Oh God, had she gotten worse? “What is it?”
“She’s coherent and she’s asking for you.”
He took my hand and pulled me with him.
“Be careful on your trip, you two.”
Keith’s voice followed me into the medical tent like a final proclamation from a teacher I would never look at the same way again. He was human. He’d been wrongfully accused of a crime. Somehow that made him less god-like in my eyes. All of my childhood fantasies had been slowly crumbling down around me for the last six months. Keith was just the latest.
I rubbed my eyes. I was tired. Bone tired in a way I didn’t think sixteen-year-olds were supposed to be.
“Chad,” I grabbed his arm, “Is your mother furious with me?”
He smiled, which made his face seem younger and less severe. “No, not at all. She loves you, Rachel. You’re family to us. I told you, this is Tia’s thing. Her issue. Not yours.”
Walking through the room towards where Tia was being treated, I wondered if someone should go get Glen. Remembering the tension between the Lyons men and Glen earlier, I quickly decided against it. If Tia wanted him, she could ask for him. There was no way I was going to suggest it. I valued my head staying on my shoulders too much.
Finally reaching Tia, I looked down at her and tried to smile. She looked pale but conscious. That was a good thing.
“Could everyone leave us for a second?” Her voice sounded steady, another good sign. Chad, Micah, and their parents turned to leave the room. I couldn’t hear what they whispered to each other and I was glad not to. This day was going on too long. I needed it to be over…soon.
“Rachel,” Chad looked at me, “We need to leave in about an hour.”
I nodded. “Can you drive? Have you had any sleep?”
“We’ll spell each other.”
I raised my hand to grab his sleeve when he tried to leave. “I don’t know how to drive that thing.”
“I’ll teach you.” He pressed my hand to his lips. “It’s easy.”
As he turned around, Chad dropped my hand and rushed from the room. It was easy? I shook my head. This was going to be one of those times when everyone else thought something was ‘easy’ and it was going to turn out to be hell for me. I sighed. There was nothing for me to do about it now. I needed to speak to Tia.
“How are you?”
She smiled. “I’m sorry I freaked out like that.” Her voice shook. “I had no idea. I mean you tried to tell me and I didn’t listen. The whole experience….”
“It’s okay.” I squeezed her hand as I sat down on the bed next to her. “Everyone gets one freak out.”
“No, it was more than that. I saw that thing and I just went somewhere. I don’t know to explain it. I just went away.”
I didn’t understand what that meant and opened my mouth to tell her so when she kept talking.
“I know there is no way they won’t let me fight. I heard my dad whispering with my mom as soon as I came back to myself. Something about bringing me out more slowly, a few minutes at a time.” She shook her head and I saw her hands fist on the bed. “No way, no how.”
I really wasn’t sure what I could say that would make this situation any better. “There aren’t that many options for people born with the gene.”
We all knew that to be true, we’d known it since we were old enough to know anything. Right now, and for the foreseeable future, this was how it was. Especially with the Vampires tunneling beneath us.
“There are options.”
I shook my head. “Not many.”
“I’m going to marry Glen and get pregnant.”
I coughed as it felt like the room shook on its axis. “You can’t be serious.”
“I’m totally serious. Glen will do whatever I want. He loves me.”
“I’m sure he does.” Everyone loves Tia. “But you’re sixteen years old.”
The thought of having a baby to me was so foreign that I couldn’t even begin to contemplate it.
“It’s legal to get married at sixteen.”
“Yeah.” I realized I shouted and lowered my voice. “But it’s icky. Almost no one does it.” Even in our current day and age where if we weren’t fighting, they wanted us breeding; most people waited until they were over eighteen. Certainly, the non-Warriors would never consider doing it so early.
“This is my out, Rachel. I can’t ever fight again. Not ever.”
This was way above my ability to fix. “Tia, maybe if you talk to someone.”
“No.” She shook her head. “I’m only telling you because you’re my best friend. I don’t want an argument. I’ve already decided.”
“Ahem.”
I jumped into the air as the medic came back in. “I’ve come in to give Ms. Lyons some medicine to help her sleep.”
I stared down at Tia. “I have to go now. Promise me you won’t do anything until I get back from Liberty.”
“No.”
I wanted to throw something. “No?”
She shook her head. “Go. Be careful. Look out for my brother. Come back.”
That was my plan. But if Tia did this thing while I was gone? If she got married and had a baby, my life here would be almost unrecognizable when I returned. How had the world tilted so completely in such a short period of time? Why did it feel like sometimes life moved slowly and sometimes it was so fast I couldn’t keep up?