Milly stayed dressed as Axe and Robin slipped on a heavy army jacket. They left the house and were joined by Helga, Salt, and Pepper. The dogs followed several basic commands and Milly had never seen them disobey. “To me,” Milly yelled, and the three dogs fell in beside her. Larry flew through the open door and disappeared over the wall. Milly feared she’d never see the nasty old crow again. Turnip trotted behind, head on a swivel, eyes bright as stars.
Through the maze, down the cracked path, out the gate, over the ash, and into the soldier pines they walked undisturbed. When they reached the armory yard Robin stopped, took the rifle off her shoulder, and jacked a bullet into the chamber.
“Try not to shoot any of them. Stay cool and it should be easier, but shoot if you have to,” Milly said. She held the Glock 19 in one hand and pulled her broken arm in tight to her body.
A crowd of virals awaited them. Milly had seen Axe feed the lost souls, but that was a chore she’d never been asked to do. Judging by the growls and chomping jaws the natives were hungry and getting restless. Milly and Robin jogged across the hardpan, Salt and Pepper clearing the way before them and Turnip and Helga watching their backs. They reached one of the armory’s side entrances that neither of them had used before. Robin had the keys out and ready. They stood huddled next to the building for several long minutes while she found the key, then they passed inside with the dogs.
“Salt, Pepper, and Helga, sit. Stay.” The dogs did as commanded. “If we need them, I’ll call them. Turnip, stay close.” The cat slinked behind them. Milly held her gun out straight with her good arm. Her ribs throbbed, and it felt like her nose had swelled more.
The main hallway ended in a T intersection, and Milly was sure their friends were to the right, where they’d find a series of hallways with doors, that when unlocked would lead to them. She would try the same path, except on the opposite side of the building. It was hard to see in the darkness, and several times they saw virals sleeping on the floor, or on cots. Turnip sniffed them, but stayed close.
Finding the right keys and unlocking the doors in complete darkness without making a sound was hard enough, but the smell made it even more difficult. It was like a bear cave; bones strewn about, rot and decay everywhere. They traversed numerous hallways, opened several doors, but they couldn’t find the courtyard.
“We’re on the outer edge, we need to work inward,” Robin said.
“I’ve lost all sense of direction,” Milly said.
“Dare we risk some light?”
“No.” The sounds of the diseased puffing, dreaming and snoring answered that question. Milly bumped into a door at the end of the passageway. “Wait, we haven’t opened this one.” She fumbled through the keys in the blackness, feeding in each one, then moving on to the next. When the lock turned, she said, “Let this be the lucky one.”
It wasn’t.
Chapter Twenty-three
Year 2075, Pass Christian Armory, Mississippi
Tye’s stomach ached as hunger pains fired every nerve in his body. He hadn’t eaten since Milly and Robin disappeared eight days ago, and he didn’t want to think about what might have happened to them. What still might be happening to them. He soothed himself with the thought that Axe was a crazy asshole, but hadn’t touched Milly. To that the pragmatic voice in his head would remind him that Axe didn’t think Robin was his daughter.
A white crow screeched as it circled the courtyard. Dark clouds rolled overhead, the sky fat with moisture.
Tye and his companions were used to the luxuries of their captivity, and without food their prison had taken on a harsher tone. What would Milly and Robin do if they killed Axe but didn’t have the keys to get to them? At what point would they leave them behind? Tye cracked his neck, remembering the night he’d spent on the lido deck of the Oceanic Eco as the world ended. Who had that young man been? Where had he gone?
His knees and back hurt with every one of his sixty-eight years. The thought of continuing on upset his stomach, but the thought of staying made bile creep up his throat. They’d all broken down over the last six years, all except Ingo, who looked exactly the same as the day they’d met him in Zee’s.
Tester lay on the ground beside Tye, and Ingo sat cross-legged before them, meditating. He still claimed to see the penultimate vision of them standing before the giant turtle. With a smile that was strangely warm he would insist everything would be fine, and Milly not coming back and Robin being taken hadn’t shaken his resolve.
Ingo’s eyes snapped open, and he smiled.
“What?” Tye said. “What did you see?”
“Our salvation,” Ingo said.
“Could you be more specific?” Tester said. He’d rolled onto his side and rested his head on his arm.
“I saw Milly and Robin hugging. Celebrating,” Ingo said.
“Where? When?” Tye said.
“Here,” Ingo said.
“Do—”
Tester cut him off as he got up. “Did you hear that?”
A faint breeze whistled through the courtyard. The crow shrieked again. Then Tye heard it. Gunshots. Several in fast succession. Yelling and cries of agony erupted from inside the armory. Tester walked the perimeter of the courtyard trying to determine what direction the sounds
