I had a moment to wonder if that wasn’t so much my power or the strength of my blood, but desperation on Erebus’s part. If I was Aether’s champion and we were turning the tide so the world didn’t actually end with the apocalypse, maybe Erebus’s minions were amping up to try and turn the tide?
And then I wanted to smack myself in the head. I would never know for sure, and playing the grand scheme game would just give me a headache. It was happening. The why didn’t always matter so much as what to do about it. If there was a real why answer, a concrete one, sure, tell me. It helped so we don’t have the problem again. But no one would ever be sure when it came to beliefs.
They were sort of mutually exclusive. You were either sure of a fact or you believed in a path or purpose. That was why cults annoyed me so much. They weren’t talking facts, but beliefs. Not the same thing.
And even the facts were second million hand stories. We had problems now.
And that was a fact.
The second pass was slower and I fired the minigun in a “W” pattern to do the most damage. After the third pass, I wasn’t worried. They were slowing down, and I had a feeling the super ancients were enjoying the hunt and blowing off some steam.
I know I was.
We did one last pass and then landed.
“Good?” James called over when the engines were powering down.
“Yeah, we’re down to a trickle,” Tyson answered. “No reason to waste fuel. You good?”
“We’re good,” he promised, Chris saying the same. “So what trouble are you guys in?”
“That might not be a conversation with the masses,” I muttered, nodding to the very large group gathered. Most looked ready to help, but I wasn’t stupid enough to buy that. I glanced at Chris. “It’s your call if you want to go down the rabbit hole, but we’re not offering you everything we have. Maybe help. That’s it. I was clear how I feel about certain ways settlements act.”
“What does that mean?” someone said from behind the fences.
I didn’t shy away from the question. “I’m not into the rise of these cults. Your beliefs are yours, not for you to preach to everyone. None of us are special because we survived, we just survived. And I’m really not a fan of this shit that women are below men and saved to pop out babies.
“I’m not against people coming with us, but there are rules and they have to be of use. There’s no free pass and we’re not all inclusive, so you need to prove you’d fit. We have enough generals and cooks in the kitchen but if you want to help, and get help in return, we can talk about it. Maybe. You’d have to convince us.”
“Wow, so do as you say and work hard. That sounds great,” a guy drawled.
“It’s hysterical you take that attitude when many of you were for merit-based immigration and denying refugees,” Darius drawled. “Funny how you’re annoyed now that the shoe is on the other foot. It’s our settlement and our resources so yeah, it’s our rules. You don’t like it, stay here, go anywhere, but that’s fair if we take a risk on you. There’s no US left, so you want a chance with us, you have to earn it.”
“We have a large group of sick and elderly,” Chris cut in before things got nasty.
I nodded. “We’re not against helping. We can get some hotels running we can use as nursing homes. Hospitals too. We can’t handle it all though. If you have people who would work there and qualified as—”
“We have some doctors and medics, but not many,” James said for me. “We need to get back. It’s your call if you come with us for the night and check it out. You’ll want to sniff our butt as much as we’ll sniff yours. The difference is all of you won’t sniff our butts or question us. You want our help or to join us where we have more than you do, that’s the way it works.”
“I’ll come for the night,” Chris agreed.
Tyson looked so relieved it wasn’t even funny. Chris gave orders to help bring in everything while keeping people looking out for corrupted stragglers. We’d have to come back a few times with the chopper to pick up everyone the truck brought along with it. It would be for show, like we were hopping over to Laredo or whatever, but it would work.
“Let us be clear that we are willing to maybe deal with this man as he was vouched for by one of ours we know well,” Kristof said to the group. “If one of you is stupid and tries to pull a coup while he’s gone, we will not revisit the idea of giving you anything or aid.”
“We’re loyal to Chris; he’s a good leader,” someone promised.
Kristof shrugged. “There are always a few idiots who ruin everything in their grabs for power. I simply want it clear that it will also upset us.” He didn’t wait for a reply, getting on the chopper and making it clear he was in the first group with me.
The moment we landed, they didn’t even give Chris time to catch up, blurring us back to the castle. He didn’t have the greatest reaction to that, looking seconds from passing out.
“Okay, so humans handle it worse than baby vampires,” Moon worried. “Shit.”
“I’m good,” Chris groaned. “Not sure what that was, but I’ll live. Probably.”
“We move faster than humans,” Tyson explained as he squatted down next to Chris. “It’s just easier, especially with
