Evolution

They shared a look, but it didn’t last long. Samuel strode out the door, walking quickly to the steps. The rest of us guarded him, making sure nothing else jumped out at us.

As we entered the stairwell, the power in the building shut off, leaving us in blinding darkness. It was dead quiet, but from below we could hear crawlers, their scuttling legs heading for the stairwell. I heard one of them hiss from below in the darkness.

“Go, go, go!” Samuel yelled.

We ran up the stairs. The creatures below were out of sight, but they made their presence known by their screaming. The metal of the stairs rattled as the crawlers ran up at lightning speed.

After two flights, Samuel burst the door open, revealing the hospital’s flat rooftop. Being the last one up, I shut the door, barring it with my back. Julian joined me in holding the door closed.

“The flare, Anna!” Samuel yelled.

Hastily, Anna reached at her side, withdrawing the flare gun from its holster. She pointed upward and fired. A long streak of red surged into the dark sky, arcing high above and falling again toward the ground. It left a trail of smoke that lingered and glowed in the night.

The door shook as a crawler battered it. The shock nearly made me fall over. From the clouds, a light descended. Instantly, several winged creatures screamed in the distance, making their way toward the speeding spaceship. Gilgamesh raced downward, to our position.

We had to hold on a little while longer.

The creature rammed the door again, throwing it off its hinges and sending Julian and me sprawling to the ground. I crawled ahead, scrambling up before the creature could set itself on me.

Ahead, the shape of Gilgamesh evened out with the building, hovering at a standstill. The dragons in the distance were closing. The ship’s blast door slid open, revealing the lit interior.

We were going to have to jump.

Samuel ran with Makara on his back. With a roar and the force of his powerful legs, he jumped through the air, landing in the spaceship. Anna followed close behind, making the jump with ease.

Julian and I ran forward, abandoning our positions by the door. A xenodragon dropped from the sky, heading directly for Gilgamesh’s front. As its claws extended, the ship’s twin turrets fired, nailing the monster with a shower of lead. The dragon roared in pain, arcing to the side and out of the way.

Julian jumped, rolling neatly into the spacecraft. Three crawlers behind me, I gave a mighty leap, pushing off with my right leg. I sailed through the air, arms outstretched. As I landed, the ship turned away. The turn caused me to teeter on the edge. I was about to fall through the open doorway. But as I fell backward, the door shut, and my back was stopped by the cold metal.

A bump came from the side of the ship, where one of the dragons had pummeled it. After rocking slightly, Gilgamesh arced at an even steeper angle, going straight for the clouds.

We lay on the deck, holding on for dear life as Ashton gave the ship all it had. We flew higher and higher, until finally, there were no more roars of flying monsters. The ship evened out, and we all lay, bloody and beaten, but still alive.

After the horror show we had just gone through, I almost couldn’t believe it.

Chapter 22

Almost an hour later aboard the bridge of the Gilgamesh, Samuel and I stood next to Ashton. Anna and Julian were asleep in the back. As much as I wanted to be there with them, Samuel wanted me here to update Ashton on the situation. Makara was resting in the clinic. Ashton had seen to her care, making sure there was no damage during the escape from the hospital.

“What’s the report?” Ashton asked.

“Augustus is on the move,” Samuel said. “His army is marching north and will be in the Wasteland in two months.” Samuel paused. “His first target will probably be Raider Bluff.”

“That doesn’t give us much time to muster a resistance,” Ashton said. “I take it he was counting on that.”

Neither of us answered Ashton. He sat, his blue eyes concentrated, his finger steepled. It was a stark contrast to his dishevelment before.

“Any damage to Gilgamesh?” I asked.

“None to speak of,” Ashton said. “Let’s hope it stays that way.” He sighed, long and tired. “It’s a miracle everyone got out of there alive.”

Ashton’s mention of miracles reminded me of my moment of weakness in the Coleseo. I had prayed that Makara would live. For some reason, that didn’t bother me. We were all grappling with forces, seen and unseen — forces far beyond our control. There were mysteries that no science would ever be able to explain.

Thinking of that prayer reminded me of Julian for some reason.

“When can Julian go home?” I asked.

Ashton’s tired eyes looked up at me. He looked every bit his age, and more, but some light came to those eyes at the mention of home. He was quiet, thoughtful.

“We can take care of that when the time comes. We have bigger fish to fry for the moment.”

“Understood,” I said.

“He was a huge help,” Samuel said. “He saved Makara when I wasn’t able to. He blocked off that entire doorway and kept the crawler off her.”

“Heroic,” Ashton said.

“I would like him to become part of our crew.”

I looked at Samuel. We could use someone like Julian. But would he agree when home was so close?

“Talk to him,” Ashton said. “See if you can get him on board. I’m inclined to agree with you.”

“He hasn’t been home in ten years,” I said. “Shouldn’t we let him go?”

Ashton and Samuel looked at each other. Finally, Ashton spoke. “We need every able man we can get. But if he would rather stay in New America, then I won’t stop him.”

“What’s our next course of action?” Samuel asked.

“We need to refuel,” Ashton said. “We’re running on vapor, but luckily the Pacific isn’t too far. Once there, we can refuel and head to Bluff. We need to update Char on the situation. And from there, we must find the other Wasteland leaders. Carin Black must be either dealt with or brought to our side.”

“I think Augustus might be in league with him,” I said.

Ashton frowned. “That’s disturbing news. What makes you say that?”

“Augustus told us not to even try to persuade him,” Samuel said. “Like he knew something we didn’t.”

“He also said that we would be smart to bring Black to our side,” I said. “That’s if we joined up with the Empire.”

“Makara won’t hear of it,” Samuel said. “Black is the reason the Angels fell four years ago. And the raiders don’t really like the Reapers, either.” He sighed. “We will need to choose one side, or the other.”

“How is that even a choice?” I asked.

Samuel didn’t say anything as both Ashton and I waited for his response.

“A lot of what Augustus said made sense,” Samuel said. “I hate to say it, but if we give Augustus what he wants, his army and Black’s can control the entire Wasteland. They can force everyone else there to help us…Char included. The alternative is to organize the raiders and any other group who will listen to us. We have two months to do that if we go down that road. The Reapers and the Empire together will be hard to stop.”

“I don’t trust Augustus,” Ashton said. “There’s a reason I didn’t give him that berth in Bunker One. He tried wheedling it away from Dr. Keener, Alex’s grandfather. He might have been able to charm President Garland and the others, but I saw right through that bullshit.” Ashton sighed. “I know you’re tempted to believe him. Hell, I am too. He makes it sound so easy. But this is anything but easy. We won’t sell our souls unless that’s what it comes down to.”