catastrophic accident. The Prime chuckled, remembering. You’ve got to be careful around jet fuel.
When the pilot saw a naked man draped over the low branches of a scorched and smoking cedar tree, the Prime ordered the helicopter to land. He remembered the scene very well. The injured man had a great mane of dark brown hair. His features were European, definitely European. He was without apparent injury-a masterpiece of muscle and sinew-a beauty so profound the Prime immediately recognized its supernatural underpinnings. But he wasn’t breathing.
The Prime ordered the corpse taken to the Tower for dissection. The Tower was under construction then, and his offices were rising with it. On the way back to the City-the corpse took a breath, and showed signs of returning to life. It was brought in through one of the Authority safe houses on Zero because the Prime didn’t want competing interests to know about his discovery. The creature did not regain consciousness for three years.
A good thing too, the Prime remembered, since it had taken his Demon Ally that long to teach the incantations that would keep the thing captive. They installed its prison at the base of the Tower and there it stayed for decades-probably going mad in isolation.
In time the Prime had learned new and better techniques for drawing information from it. The thing could see the future, had told him about the First-mother, and the importance of knowing the God-wife. It foretold the coming Apocalypse and saw the Prime ruling the world.
It was all coming together, and that made a certain sense, but the Prime barely trusted his own eyes any more, let alone prophesy tortured out of a captured Angel.
80 – Fugitives
The way out of the Tower and away into the dark and scary tunnels was too much for some of the forever children. They were strange creatures with long and often troubled pasts; so many of them were reduced to near catatonic states by the dark, by their time imprisoned in the Tower, and by the possibility that they may actually be free. They were afraid to believe it.
So Dawn and Meg did their best to encourage any of the frightened kids they came across, the Squeakers, as the Quinlan boys called them. Eventually, Meg got busy helping a group of scared kids ahead, and Dawn got caught encouraging a group of little ones who were crying behind, and so they lost track of each other as they ran through the dark.
But they both had their hands full. No sooner would Dawn get one forever child running again than another pair would turn to the tunnel wall and start crying.
She’d whisper to them about Nurserywood. She’d tell them about Arthur the giant and most came around pretty quickly. She was afraid that some of the kids who felt the worst would panic and run off in terror, but then the grownup voice in her head just told her to do the best she could. You’ve got to get away too, Dawn!
And her memories of Nursie scared away any argument over that.
As she carried on, Dawn was amazed to see other kids appearing at the sides of the tunnels and on ladders, others like Liz and the Quinlan twins and that curious Conan with the helmet and finger-thing. These kids also wore plastic, metal and fiberglass armor and carried steel cutting weapons and small guns.
They also referred to the more frightened kids as Squeakers but were quickly silenced if Dawn gave them her worst and angriest look.
Then Liz came back to her. The little girl chain-smoked her way through the dark, pushing past all those little white nightshirts.
“Come on,” Liz puffed, grabbing Dawn’s arm. “Sorry to let you slide back.” The little girl looked around worriedly. “Where’s Conan?”
But Dawn had no idea where the little Nightcare fighter was. He moved like a ghost in the first place, and running in the dark had left her disoriented.
She winced and pulled away when Liz grabbed her roughly by the arm. Dawn stopped and pointed a finger at Liz’s little chest. “That’s enough pulling.” Tears started in her eyes-but she steadied her voice. “And enough pushing.” When she saw the tough girl’s worried expression she softened. “I’m coming.”
They’d been jogging for some time already, and the tunnels were full of forever kids and electric and fear smells and none of it was very pleasant. At a certain point where the underground lights were brighter Dawn saw the horrible stains on her nightshirt and realized some of the bad smells must be coming from her. She kept her mind from the ugly idea by turning her thoughts to running. Dawn was a good runner and she smiled when Liz had to stop lighting cigarettes to keep up.
“Who are the new kids?” Dawn asked pointing at a surly looking black boy with a handgun and motorcycle helmet.
“Nightcare fighters,” Liz puffed, her weapons clanking, “sent by the Creature to get stragglers.”
And Dawn was suddenly encouraged by the notion that the scared kids, the ones who might get lost would be helped by these more experienced fighters.
“What’s the Creature?” she asked, realizing with dread that she already had her fill of creatures.
“You’ll see,” Liz said, then hacked and spat.
It wasn’t long before they had to slow, as the way through sewers and tunnels got crowded with forever children. They hurried as best they could, past groups of kids sitting and huddling, and further on some eating and drinking being tended to by Nightcare fighters and strange grownups.
“Nightcare workers,” Liz explained, noticing Dawn’s dismay at the adults. But she didn’t say more.
Then as the going got thick and crowded, she started to recognize some of the forever kids she’d known during her stay at the Tower. These stood up, some even clapped and cheered when they saw her-before being hushed.
Dawn just blushed, and blushed more when she heard them whispering the words: First-mother.
“Why do they call me that?” she said, when they came to a wall with a curious opening-like someone pasted bricks all over a board and nailed hinges to it. There were big Nightcare fighters standing all around it, looking very grim and fearsome.
“The Creature calls you that,” Liz said and then chuckled. “She has her own reasons like usual.”
Liz led the way through the strange little door and into a low, dark room full of barrels and racks of bottles. There were lights, but they were low. There was the smell of food and the air was dusty.
A group of forever kids in armor stood beside a curious looking pair. One was a strange little man, a dwarf, with thick moustache and bowler hat. His blue eyes flashed at Dawn. Beside him stood a big girl, tall and almost pre-Change eleven or twelve. She had serious blue eyes and long straight hair.
The tall girl stepped forward, leaning slightly, with elbows bent and her fingertips touching. She was wearing a long dress that touched the top of her boots and was covered in a pale cloak.
“The Creature saw your coming, First-mother,” the tall girl said, her shoulders dipped, almost a bow. “We are pleased to meet you.”
Dawn didn’t know what to do, but felt awkward and silly in her dirty nightshirt and slippers.
“Thank you,” she said not knowing what else to say and then her ears burned. “But I don’t like that name anymore. I know it’s supposed to be grand and everything, but I don’t like it.” Tears started rolling over her downy cheeks. “I’m Dawn.”
“The Creature understands, little Dawn,” the tall girl said and opened her arms to embrace her. The little forever girl accepted the hug and just started crying and crying. She was shocked when the tall girl’s arms suddenly tightened.
Dawn looked up, and a shudder ran through her.
“Where’s Conan?” the Creature asked, her face filled with dismay. The small man in the bowler hat cursed.
81 – Battle at the End of the World
