After the Rise: Book Two
Author: Jacqueline Druga
Date: 2020-08-09 04:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Science Fiction
Description: Twenty Years after the Rise Series Decades earlier a debilitating virus emerges in India and quickly burns its way through the densely populated areas of Asia, eventually conquering the world. But the threat to man’s extinction does not come from the virus, it comes from what rises in the aftermath. The Ancients and the Sybaris. For thousands of years that have been on Earth. At one time, they were all powerful ruling the land. Until they are defeated and forced in hiding and hibernation. The virus changes all that. It is a weakening of the human race and a doorway back to power. After the vir

BOOK ONE

After the Rise Book One - Jacqueline Druga

After the Rise Series - Copyright 2020 by Jacqueline Druga

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any person or persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Thank you Al and Felicia for all of your help!

Cover Art Design by

Lindsey Jayne – Dark Hearts Design Co
https://www.facebook.com/DarkHeartsDesignCo/

1. Beginnings

My existence began in the back of an old pickup. Ironically, the truck was dead and it was there I took my first breath of life.

That was always the way the story started out, the tale of my beginning that I had been told many times.

The truck was tucked and hidden in an underpass west of Lordsburg, New Mexico. My young mother staggered as she walked, crying and holding her stomach. Her agony carried in the dead of the night, echoing loudly in the vacant and silent world, still reeling in the aftermath of the global catastrophic event.

There were two reasons the men came to her aid. Neither of them was because the two men felt sorry for her. One, for their own wellbeing, they needed her silenced and the other reason was an offering. Something that would satisfy ‘them’ and buy safety for the men and their families that were hiding not far away at a camp. That alone earned my mother a place, even if temporarily, with the Lordsburg camp.

I know not of my mother’s roots, because she only told of her journey. She and my father had traveled from the ravaged zones of war and plague to make it to an area free of destruction, only to be racing for safety.

The only place to go at the time was said to the southwest.

My biological father barely made half the trip and my mother, not much older than I am now, still a teenager, yet with child, thought only of that baby. She thought only of me. She didn’t want to cry or scream, but the pain was too much.

Shadows of the prowling cast around the Lordsburg camp, the refugees had been spotted and my mother’s cries led them like a guiding light.

There wasn’t much time and my mother’s body wasn’t even ready to deliver, keeping her a distance from camp, they brought her to the back of the truck.

One man covered her mouth to muffle her cries, while begging her to please be silent. The other impatiently prepared for my arrival. Perched ready between my mother’s legs, he got a grip on my head and yanked me from mother’s ill prepared body, handing me off a split second after he cut the cord.

My mother told me he said, “Quiet, the baby is fine. We need this afterbirth.”

With his brutal and forceful assistance, the afterbirth and remaining cord was expelled from my mother. He made her stand, allowing blood to pour into the bed of the truck, then he carried her quickly to the camp.

It was there my mother witnessed it firsthand.

They encompassed the truck, their beings distorted shadows of decrepit creatures. They didn’t speak, only groaned out animal sounds. So many of them, like starving ants flocking to one grain of sugar.

I arrived eight days after the event and three days following the eve of their rise.

My beginning was their beginning.

They rose from the ashes and dark to reclaim a world they say was once theirs. A world that man had stolen from them. Man’s demise became their rise.

They gathered their strength by preying on the weak and at the time, the weak was the human race.

How pathetic. Man had a chance to defeat these … things before they reached an unconquerable level. But he chose to bow and feed instead of taking a stance. Humans abandoned the fight.

That fight stirs everyday inside of me. Somewhere out there, there were others like me, ready for the fight. Ready to take back our world.

The creatures are strong, almost invincible.

Almost.

They are not unbeatable. History shows it. We defeated them once, we will defeat them again.

2. Getting Ready

“Vala.”

I stayed in my corner of the bedroom, hoping she’d give up calling me. Maybe if I pretended I didn’t hear ….

“Vala,” she said, drawing the privacy curtain aside. “Didn’t you hear me?’

“Um ... yeah.” Lying on my bed face down, I stashed the magazine under my schoolbook. “Sorry, I was concentrating on my essay about Sybaris kings and queens.”

She gasped. “Vala! I have told you to stop using that term. It’s bigoted.”

The thought, ‘whatever’ came to my mind, but I didn’t speak it. “Sorry. The Ancients kings and queens.”

“Better.” She reached down to my book and lifted it. With an exhale, she shook her head, discovered the small magazine of the previous world. “I have told you about forbidden material. Hide that or take it to the end limits and get rid of it. Especially today. It’s the first of the month. They come.”

I rolled over, finally facing my mother. I hesitated because she looked tired, really tired. “Are you unwell?”

“No, I’m tired and prefer to look that way when they come.”

“It’s working,” I said.

“Vala—”

“No, Mother, you look pale.” I sat up, swinging my legs over the bed. “Too pale.”

“Good. I have another year and then I won’t have to worry, I’ll be too old. But you are on the cusp.” She reached her hand out, cupping my face. “You’re a beautiful young woman and that scares me.”

I shrugged away her touch. “I’ll run home from school and not have water, so I look worn.”

“That may work. It’s only once a month.”

“Once a month inspection by a warden.”

“Vala, please stop reading forbidden material. This isn’t a prison.”

“It isn’t? They teach us what they want us to know, forbid us from learning anything remotely from our past. We—”

“Are not on the run,” my mother abruptly cut me off. “Not starving and not hunted. Be grateful. Finish up, tend to the horses, position them away, you know the routine. And walk with your sister to school, she’s scared today.”

I nodded. Her fear was understandable. I was scared for her too. That was why I didn’t mind walking her to class, just in case.

My sister Sophie seemed so young. Too young for school. However, the Elders thought her old enough at four and rules of the Ancients said she had to be educated early.

My mother paused in the doorway of the bedroom. “Vala, I know this is tough. But it is the best way. I did this for you. We lived the runners’ life. I know you remember. It’s not easy. This is the best way.”

With that, she turned and walked out.

Maybe for her it was the best way. Not for me.

For some unknown reason, a small part of the country was saved from the events that destroyed most of the world. That area is where the Ancients or as many call them, the Sybaris, rebuilt for the purpose of saving mankind. You see, they need us to survive. Our extinction would be theirs as well and so they pocketed us together, making towns where there weren’t any.

Very basic living, much like people lived in the old days before the act of enslavement was originally abolished. Every town was a mirror image of each other.

Like Italy resembled a boot, looking at a new map, the pocket of life resembled more of a hand with a rebellious finger gesture.

The bulk of the hand was formerly Arizona, the knuckle of the pinkie extended into New Mexico and the middle finger reached into Utah, with a tuck into California where the ‘ends’ stopped just before the Salton Sea.

Two things the Sybaris hate: bodies of water and horses. They stay away from coastal cities and lakes. That’s what I never got. Why didn’t we, as a race, set up civilization in those areas?

I suppose there are people who did. The runners. The nomads. The Prey.

For as scared as they were hungry, they were at least free.

We lived in a part of the country known as The Straits of Esperanza. Or Passage of Hope. It was far from a place of hope, it was a façade. At first glance, we were safe, fed, clean and healthy. In reality, however, we were no more than livestock fenced in and fattened until our time to be slaughtered was at hand.

3. Iry

The educator made me laugh and not in the way he believed.

He tried to be the cool guy to those in the fourth and final tier of schooling. Trying diligently to be one of us, making jokes, being animated.

But he wasn’t and never would be one of us.

The girls in my tier found him beautiful and adored him. I guess most of them pined for his attention. Not me. Iry, our teacher, was at the age where he would be selecting. The girls were placing their bids ahead of time. It was degrading. Maybe I thought differently because at eighteen years of age, I was older and more mature than most in my class.

It was the final stages of school. Graduation for me was not moving on to the next level where I became prime selection material. Graduation to me meant convincing my mother that my leaving Akana was for the best and I would return for her and Sophie to make a better life.

Some believed giving your family a better life was by being selected. I hated the monthly visits by the Ancients. Those wanting badly to be selected donned their best attire, all for a mere chance to be a competitor, companion or house servant, otherwise all slave positions.

The loss of all my dignity, not to mention my slow death via loss of blood, was not worth it. They claimed your family received the best life had to offer. But how do we know?

The Sybaris lie.

Those praying to be picked are going on faith. Not me. How can I believe they offer my family a better life, when I don’t even know where the Sybaris really live? No one does.

I am different, because in my class I am the only one who remembers living outside of Akana.

It wasn’t that many years earlier that I remember living under the bridge in Angeles City. My mother gave up much for us to live here. Her sacrifice was something Sophie would never know. But I did.

I didn’t hate my mother for it, I hated the Sybaris.

No matter how ‘great’ Iry tried to pretend to be, he wasn’t. He was one of them.

Iry stunk. I could smell him. His odor was masked by an offensive oil that was musky and earthlike. I hated it and it made my head hurt. There was nothing attractive about him, despite what the other girls thought. His ears were predominantly Sybaris, even though he was third generation. His skin was dark, his eyes sunken and large. While he looked to be in ‘man’ years about twenty-five, he was probably more like two thousand years old.

The Sybaris weren’t immortal; they just lived long and aged slowly.

One of the forbidden books is called The Bible. I asked my mother if the Sybaris knew of the prophet Jesus Christ who was in the second half of that book and she said if I mention that name, it meant my head.

Once I got out of Akana, that was something to look into. Why was something like the mention of a man in a book so offensive and illegal?

According to the educators, the only history that mattered was the history before they were pushed into hiding.

I was grateful I had seen forbidden books and I knew there a was a wealth of them outside of Esperanza.

In my own world and thoughts, the sound of the class laughing snapped me out of it and I looked up.

“Let’s break to eat,” Iry said. “Close your books, we’ll continue then.”

I shut my book as the other students stood in a rush.

“Not you, Vala,” Iry said. He put on a smile and headed my way.

“I’m hungry.”

“You will have time to eat. We need to talk.”

“About?”

“I engage the students. Yet, for some reason …” He sat on a desk near me and I backed up. “What is it?” he asked.

“Your fragrance hurts my head.”

He kept his distance, even sitting on a desk a little farther from me. “Better?”

“No. But not as bad as when you’re close.”

“Vala—”

“Am I in trouble?”

“No. I am concerned. Is something bothering you? Are you worried? As I stated, I engage all students, but you are in your own world.”

“I’m hungry. I didn’t get a chance to eat before school.”

“Does your family not have enough food?” he asked. “I can make sure—”

“No. I just didn’t have enough time. I had to move …” snidely I said, “the horses.”

“I see. Is this every day?”

“No.”

“Then why is it every day you slip further away?”

I shrugged. “I don’t want to be here anymore.”

“You can come to me, Vala,” he said. “I’m not like other educators, not like other Elders. You can speak freely with me.”

“You are part of the Ancients.”

“I am. But I am not—”

I stood abruptly. “May I please go eat?”

“Yes.” He lowered his head. “Yes, go eat.”

Grabbing my book, I began to walk.

“Vala?”

What now? Slowly, I turned. “Yes?”

“One more moon cycle.” He held up his finger. “One. Then you will be eligible for selection. You are beautiful, smart, strong; I fully believe that you’ll be sought out.”

“Contrary to what you believe, Iry, not everyone dreams of being selected.”

Iry seemed shocked. “Do you speak this way because your time in my class is coming to an end?”

I cocked an eyebrow. “I speak this way because you say you are not like the others.”

“You don’t dream of a better life for you and your family?”

“Oh, I dream of a better life for us. But it is not, nor will it ever be, through selection.” On that I walked out. I’d have my meal alone, like I always did. I was different and I knew it. Iry knew it.

I didn’t look back after my exit to see his reaction. If my words were going to get me in trouble, I would know soon enough.

4. The Show Line

My midday meal consisted of a piece of fruit and bread laced with jam. I sat off to the side, enjoying the outdoor breeze. It would only be a matter of time before the single bell rang and I had to return to the class. In the meantime, I was the observer, as I always was, watching the others interact, laughing and happy. Sometimes I was envious that they were so oblivious and knew nothing but good and believed only good.

They only thing that made me like them was my appearance. Visually, we were all alike, from the way we dressed to the way we wore our hair. Boys and girls, long hair pulled back in a single braided tail.

Yes, I looked like the others, but I wasn’t like them. Deep down inside of me I knew I was different and was destined to be somewhere else, something else.

From as early as I can remember and I didn’t arrive at Akana until I was five, we were taught to walk, talk and behave a certain way.

Before the age of five, little girls wore the plain and carefree white dresses. Between the ages of five and graduation, there was no distinction between male or female. We all wore the same brown pants made from hides of our slaughtered cows. Passed down from one girl or boy to the next, whatever you fit into.

Our shirts were loose white blouse material, all the same and never with a stain.

We were not allowed to be boys and not allowed to be girls. Purity was embedded in our brains as the only way of life. Being pure was the only way to be selected as the highest level of companion. The second highest honor was a competitor. Both of those gave families of the chosen rite of passage into the city of the Ancients.

But no one knew what all that entailed.

The educators made it sound glamorous. I always envisioned a companion as a well-kept body servant with a limited supply of energy.

Your service was complete when they expired your resources or took too much too fast and in that case you became a vicious watchdog, primed for battle.

I had arrived at an age where I was in the middle age group; too old for one type of selection, not old enough for the next.

My mother tried her hardest to appear strong when we arrived, I knew she wasn’t. Even at my young age I could feel my mother’s heartbreak. She had paid the ultimate admission price for us to live there.

My memories go all the way back to when I was only two, so being five upon my arrival was fresh in my mind. I was filled with confusion when we arrived. Still upset over what I had witnessed, I then found myself standing in a line with everyone else when the Ancients arrived.

They were my boogey men. The Sybaris. They were the ones we ran from in Angeles City. Yet, in Akana, they were well dressed and proper, browsing before us as if window shopping, making some of us step forward and turn.

They acted like royalty and people bowed to them. I may have been too young to understand, but I never liked it. I guess it was because I did see what they really were.

I’m sure the people of Akana and other towns did as well, but they refused to act as if they did. Living a short, fear free life with food at hand was more important than freedom.

My mother was scolded that first day. Some Sybaris, a woman with high hair and too much paint on her face, grabbed my mother’s chin.

“You smell of man and sweat. How dare you present yourself like this? And this child …” She looked down at me, “she reeks as well.”

“I’m sorry,” my mother said. “We just arrived. We didn’t know.”

“I should take the child to spare her of a mother such as you.”

I didn’t know exactly what that meant, but her words caused me to creep behind my mother and hide.

The Sybaris woman reached for me and was stopped by her husband.

“The child cannot be taken, Nito,” he told her. “The mother has gifted the Elders.”

Nito cocked her head in arrogance and stepped back. “Then I will wait for this one to become of age. She will be perfect then.”

Her fingers ran across my cheek, they were cold and hard. “Isn’t that right …” she leaned down and whispered, “Mare?”

Mare? I didn’t know what that word meant or why she would call me that. In fact, every month when she came to choose, she called me ‘Mare’.

I asked my mother what that meant and she only shook her head and said not to worry.

I was just curious. Nito seemed to single me out and that was a worry of mine. She paused to stare at me each month, inspecting me up and down before selecting someone.

I only paid attention when they selected small children. The mothers would proudly hand their offspring over to the Ancients. The Ancients would cradle the small children as if they were prizes. Adoring them instantly and showering them with affection.

Only once was I given an explanation from my mother on why they took the young children, why those under five years old would be selected.

“They cannot have children of their own, so we give them ours to raise and love. They will have better lives. Much better lives than we can give,” my mother told me.

"What about my baby brother?"

“He was different,” my mother said. “He was a gift.”

No. My brother wasn’t a gift. He was a sacrifice.

5. Rite of Passage

“Gretchen, you cannot do this,” Davis argued passionately with my mother.

We were in the basement of an old parking garage in Angeles City, old, abandoned cars all around us. Our home was a corner sectioned off by curtains and blankets. We had been there for a while, weeks and we hadn’t moved. It was safe.

“It’s the only way!” my mother cried. “I have to. Vala cannot go another day like this.”

“Like what?” he asked. “We have been good for weeks. Weeks. They can’t see or smell us down here. Or hear us.”

“That’s because when they’re near we get quiet. What about the baby when he comes?” she asked. “What about then?”

Davis lowered his head.

I held my doll in my hand, listening to them talk.

I remembered Davis. My mother tells me he is just a fragment of a dream, but he wasn’t. He was there when I was child, caring for me, protecting me. He hid me when the Sybaris would come and seek a meal, swooping down at us and snatching us up.

Many times, I remember people ejecting into the air by the force of the dark shadows, screaming in agony as they were flown away.

Davis kept that from happening to us. He was a strong man with a hairy face and I remember his smell. It was a smooth, smoky smell.

He always seemed to find food and water and always handed it to me with a smile. I sensed my mother didn’t believe he could keep doing it. In fact, I know or why else would she seek our rite of passage?

He begged her that night, his hand placed on her swollen stomach. “Don’t do this. Our child …”

“Our child doesn’t stand a chance, Davis,” she said. “What kind of life will he or she have? Never able to speak? To make a sound?”

“A better life than being dead,” Davis replied.

“Vala is what is important. She already is alive. She …” my mother looked at me, “is special. You know it.”

My unborn brother or sister was important and special too. Why didn’t my mother see that? She talked a lot about the procedure of silence. When the baby was born, the doctor cuts the umbilical cord and then cuts the vocal cord, rendering the child forever silent.

Not everyone did it to their child. Those who didn't usually moved on, because their crying infant endangered the entire community.

My mother and I left Angeles City just before dawn one morning by horseback. The first day she was fine and the second day of travel she started getting the pains. She kept looking over her shoulder, I guess to see if Davis was following us. He wasn’t.

As we crossed around the Salton Sea, we found shelter in an old shack and there my mother squatted as if she were passing a bad meal. Instead, she gave birth to my brother.

She didn’t cut the cord, she merely twined it, placed him and all the matter that ejected from her body into a sack, strapped it to her back and, after resting only briefly, continued on our journey.

I thought my newborn brother had died, but occasionally he whimpered. My mother stopped a few times to feed him from her breast, to keep him strong, keep him healthy.

As night fell on the third day, we stopped.

A long row of torches ignited brightly and a deep voice called from the darkness, “Leave the horse.”

My mother didn’t have much strength and she lowered me to the ground, then climbed down.

I only saw shadows.

She held my hand and we walked a few feet.

“You have come for what reason?” the man asked.

“I seek rite of passage for me and my daughter into Esperanza.”

“What do you bring to earn this passage?”

She slipped the sack with my brother from her shoulder. “The highest gift.”

“Bring it forward. Leave the girl.”

“Stay here, Vala,” she whispered.

“Mommy.”

“Shh. Stay.”

Her hand slipped from mine and she headed toward the torches. A large man emerged from the shadows; I was unable to make out his features. He took the sack and brought it to his nose.

“How old?”

“Two days.”

“The remnants of the womb?”

“It is in there.”

He nodded at her. “Get the child. You have earned passage. Come inside. In the morning you will be brought to Akana.”

“Thank you. Thank you.” My mother backed up, raced back to me and grabbed my hand. The gatekeeper waved her forward and we walked toward the line of torches.

“Look forward, do not look at them or look back,” she instructed as we passed by them.

I was a child. Of course I was going to look.

They were all men, large men, who I thought looked monstrous. Their features extended and distorted, faces pale.

As we moved by them, one lifted my brother from the sack.

“What are they doing, Mommy?” I asked.

“Keep moving, baby, keep moving. We’re moving forward. We’re safe.”

I peered over my shoulder once more when my infant brother cried. It was the first full cry I had heard him make.

After turning my head to peer forward, my mother paused and drew me close into her, clutching me with every emotion.

My brother cried out again, his wails carrying in the night air.

Crying.

Screaming.

And then with a single slurping sound, my brother cried no more.

6. History

They could not have known. If they did, they played cautious and naïve. But I honestly believed my classmates were truly ignorant of what the Sybaris were and what they did.

Our educational system was nothing more than a brainwashing technique. Then again, were they actually brainwashed? They had not witnessed the things I had witnessed. They did not witness distorted beings brutally consume a seven pound infant. That was my introduction to the so-called Promised Land.

An impression that would last forever.

What information I did get was only minimal and what my mother wasn’t afraid to share. The educators told us a history that they wanted us to believe. In a twisted way, it coincided with what my mother had told me.

There were two types of Elders; the ones within the limits of Esperanza and the ones that stood outside the limits. Those were Sybaris Elders. On this Earth the longest, left without substance for a long time and while their minds were clear and reasonable, they were never able to return to their once beautiful physical form, so they became the gatekeepers.

Infants less than one week old were the highest delicacy, reserved for the Elder Sybaris. However, the infants only held powerful effects for the Elders if they were a willing sacrifice from the human mother, such as my own mother did with my brother. As if the poor infants’ bodies held some sort of magical ability. The Sybaris believed that if enough were consumed the Elders would regain the energy and life that the infant was destined to have.

Infant sacrifices were not magical. My brother was nothing but a ticket inside my family’s extended death sentence.

The Elder Sybaris were a combination of both species of the Sybaris race. They had the mentality and genius of the pompous Ancients who picked through us once a month and looked like the Savage Sybaris that ravaged and killed outside of Esperanza. The Savages had no law and order, little reasoning or intelligence and they killed to survive, stalked and hunted.

They actually frightened me less than the civilized ones because a Savage could be outsmarted.

Davis had always said that.

The Sybaris divided. When they were given the chance to reemerge, the Savage population failed to follow the rules. Instead of pacing their feeding, they hungrily consumed anyone they could, as fast as they could.

It had adverse reactions and they became beasts. Much like what happens to humans when a Sybaris takes too much too fast from them.

Humans transform into an abomination of life, both physically and mentally. The Ancients use them for watchdogs, soldiers and fighters.

We are taught in history that the Gods had placed Sybaris, man and animals upon this Earth tens of thousands of years before. As animals are placed upon the Earth to feed man, so is man placed upon this Earth to feed the Sybaris.

Thousands of years before, Sybaris had ruled the Earth. We are told they were a peaceful species, unlike man. They fed from man and fruit, never taking too much. The Sybaris built cities all over and men were their laborers and slaves.

Then one day man rose up against the Sybaris. They brought plague upon the Sybaris, by substituting horse blood for human blood. While the Sybaris declared war against man, man retreated across the sea and far into the desert.

The Sybaris couldn’t cross the waters and therefore they eventually began to starve. They had to move into the hollows of the Earth and the veins of tombs they had built for their Elders. They avoided sunlight because the longer they went without food the more vulnerable they were to the rays of the sun.

For thousands of years they crept out at night, taking only what they needed to survive. They became folktales to the human race. Legends of undead, immortal, evil beings. The Sybaris are not immortal. Although they are strong and powerful, they do die, though they age much slower than man and their life span is thousands of years.

We are told the Gods freed the Sybaris from the dark imprisonment by casting death and destruction on man. They rose from the ashes and reclaimed what was theirs.

The Sybaris who call themselves the Ancients supposedly began to gather man to save him from the Savages. They weren’t saving us, they were hoarding us, rationing us for their future use.

I don’t know what is true and what is not. I do know I feel differently. Unlike others my age, I have seen what the Savage Sybaris do to human beings. The Elders are mere thinking beasts that don’t hesitate to consume a newborn life. The civilized Sybaris are nothing more than cleaned up Savages preparing us all for our eventual death. I know that man had his place on this Earth for thousands of years as well. In my youngest years, I remember David saying that man caused the events that destroyed the human race.

The truth is out there beyond the confines of Esperanza and I will find it. One day, I will find it.

7. The Day

I may have been young, but I remembered the first day I felt not only my fear, but the sheer terror of those around me. I was no older than four and had a mentality of such. I always knew we ran, were told to be still and quiet, I didn’t understand why until that day.

There were four of us, all little girls, all around the same age. We had found these plastic dolls. They were replicas of beautiful women with long blonde hair and grown up figures in plastic boxes, sealed and in perfect condition.

We were seated after dinner on the floor of what was once a store between empty shelves. We were playing with these dolls, pretending. I don’t remember the exact details, because our play time was cut short.

In Angeles City, men and women carried weapons called guns. They were loud and banged. The Sybaris tried to collect them all, because the weapons killed them as easily as they killed man. At one time man used them on each other, but not after the event. When the Sybaris rose, news of our species hurting each other was unheard of.

The bang of a gunshot caused me to drop my doll, but it didn’t frighten me as much as the sound of Davis’ voice.

He screamed my name so loudly and with deep conviction and urgency, I felt it. There was something terribly wrong and I jumped up to find him.

“Vala! Where are you?” Davis yelled.

I could hear the shuffling and shrill screaming. People were hurt.

The names of my friends were called out; they scurried away like I did. Just as I turned to run from behind the shelf to find Davis, a Savage Sybaris leapt over the shelf and landed on the floor before us. His distorted and gray skinned body twitched as he eyed his victim.

The Savages didn’t stand upright, they moved like a simian being. Arms long and narrow, fingers crooked, he opened his mouth with a snarl showing his grotesque fangs.

With a swift swing of his arm, he snatched one little girl by the throat and jumped high in the air with her in his grip. She screamed for a second and then it rained blood on me.

I was trapped in the shelving area and another Sybaris was there, then another. While both grabbed onto a child, jumping and racing away with their catch, I seized that moment and took off.

Hands covering my ears, I ran as fast as I could. No matter where I turned, I saw them.

Grabbing people, ripping into their throats as they flew off. But like a bird stuck in a house, the Savage Sybaris didn’t have an easy escape. They'd fly toward the ceiling only to be shot by one of us, then they’d release their victims.

Lifeless bodies of people I knew, children I played with, dropped before me, as did the dead Sybaris.

I kept running, zigzagging through a maze of horror until I found a hiding spot in the back of the store. I cornered myself there and squatted low, bringing my knees to my chest. I wasn’t alone. The body of my friend Liddy was there on the ground before me lying face down.

My eyes fixed upon her, watching the puddle of blood around her tiny body grow wider like a river. Her neck had been torn apart. Then she twitched. Her fingers moved and her body jolted. She jerked and flipped seamlessly from her stomach to her back. Her arms retracted to her body as her back arched and mouth widened.

I believed, at first, she was hurt and still alive somehow, until her head turned my way and I saw the gray of her eyes.

She made a snarling sound, then automatically sprang to her feet in a crouched attack position. She tilted her head and her neck cracked.

Her face was death gray and the whites of her eyes filled with blood.

After a single growling sound she lunged toward me and I could only cower back and close my eyes, screaming.

Bang!

The loud and close gunshot startled my eyes open. Liddy was on the ground and Davis stood there with a gun in his hand. He reached down and lifted me quickly into his strong arms, cradling my head against his shoulder. I clung tightly to him with my arms and legs.

“It’s okay, baby. It’s okay. I’m here. I have you. Don’t look. Don’t look.” He carried me away.

I didn’t look. I had already seen enough. And it wouldn’t be the last time.

8. Being Chosen

Sandra stood before our class of fourteen, reading from her essay, proud of what she had written and truly believing the words.

“If I am chosen, I hope it to be as a companion,” she said. “It would be an honor and my family would be proud. I would be there for my master at his beck and call. Awaiting his needs, giving what I could.”

Then she shifted her eyes with a certain seductiveness to Iry. Conveying somehow what we all knew. She was interested in being chosen by him. Our class all knew Iry was choosing. He too had come of age and was worthy of choice. They all pined to be his companion or one of his servants or competitors.

A competitor was the lowest honor of being chosen. Pretty much you were handed your death sentence and it was up to you and your skills on whether you would survive. A competitor was entertainment and protection. After being trained, the competitor fights battles in an arena against human abominations, that was the entertainment part. The protection came when Competitors were like soldiers, ready to battle the Savage Sybaris.

The Sybaris, the once peaceful species that ruled the Earth, were divided.

The bad and the worst.

The civilized and the Savages.

I looked forward to the day when the Savage broke into the city of the civilized and tore them limb from limb.

No one knew where the civilized Sybaris lived, not even the Savages.

All this is what I’d surmised by what little information I had been given.

I knew we feed them. Our blood flows for their livelihood.

It was presented to us in a glorified manner that if we are chosen, we are to feel honored. We provide for the Sybaris and in return, they provide for us.

Esperanza is proof of that. A sanctuary with food, water, doctors and no Savages.

Competitors not only fight the bad, they fight for a spot in Utopia. After so many battles they are awarded with passage there. A place they say is far away, safe from Sybaris of all forms, a place that grows and is full of life that man can appreciate. Sort of like throwing an ape back into a jungle, I was told.

I believe it’s an island, surrounded by water. If such a place exists, that is where I want to be. Competitors also are not suppliers for the Sybaris. They are not unending faucets of blood dripping into a glass.

Have a piece of fruit, tap into Vala, her blood is a good year.

No way. That is not for me.

My thoughts had drifted and I missed most of Sandra’s essay. The sudden round of applause snapped me out of my daydream state.

We were almost done with school. We had the test early in the day on Kings and Queens of the Ancients and after that, really, there was no more to learn. Only preparation for being chosen.

Iry told Sandra that she did a wonderful job. He sat on the corner of his desk, leg swinging, laid back and relaxed. His shoulder length hair was tucked behind his ear on one side, his shirt slightly open. The girls stared at him; I just didn’t see it.

Each day that passed, I hated that he became more comfortable with us when in fact he was studying us, scouting us, for his perfect long term meals.

“Vala?” Iry called. “Your turn.”

“For?”

“Your final essay on being chosen.”

I shook my head.

“Did you forget it?” he asked.

“No. I didn’t write one.”

“Was there a problem?” Iry questioned. “I can give you more time. You need this to graduate.”

“Then I don’t graduate.”

“Vala,” he said softly, “why didn’t you write one?”

“This essay was to be on why I want to be chosen and why I should be chosen. Correct?”

“Correct.”

“Well, I don’t want to be chosen.”

As if I had said the most offensive thing, the entire class gasped.

Iry held out his hand.

Sandra stood up. “What is your problem?”

“Sandra,” Iry warned. “Please.”

“No. Every day she comes in here and every day she gets worse.”

“That’s because every day I get closer to the selection process.”

“And you don’t want to be chosen?” Sandra asked. “It’s an honor.”

“It’s insane.”

“What do you know?” she snapped.

“More than you. I’ve been out there. I was old enough to see things. And there is a world out there,” I said. “One we, as men, built.”

“Then go!” Sandra yelled. “You think this is all bad? You are safe, you have food, medicine to make you well. If you hate it so much here, leave. No one is making you stay.”

“Sandra!” Iry scolded.

Sandra shook her head. “No, Iry. She needs to be told. We have been dealing with her decline for a while. Let her go, let her leave Akana. Let her see what living among Savages is like.”

“I have,” I said.

“Then if you have, you should stop acting as if the Ancients are like them. You know.”

“I do. And the Ancients are like them.”

Sandra’s eyes shifted to Iry.

“All Sybaris are alike, they look different,” I said.

Sandra squealed and her hand shot to her chest in a dramatic manner. “Iry, oh my Gods, she said the ‘S’ word. Do something!”

Again, calm, Iry held up his hand. “Class dismissed.”

“We still have an hour,” Sandra said.

“Go home,” Iry instructed. “Class dismissed.”

The students around me started to stand. Sandra eyed me as she slowly walked by me. “I hope he recommends you to the pen.”

I waited until she passed, then gathered my things to leave with the others, but somehow I knew it was coming.

“Not you, Vala.”

Silently I huffed, making a face that Iry didn’t see.

“Wait.”

I wanted to scream, yell, snap ‘what now?’ I didn’t. I waited until all the students had left the room and Iry walked to the door and closed it.

I placed my belongings on my desk, folded my arms and waited.

His stench grew closer and then Iry stood before me. “Step away from the desk.”

I took a step forward, my head hung low.

“Vala, I know you are confused. Look at me.”

“Recommend me to the pen and I’ll run.”

“I know you will. Look at me.”

I lifted my head, exhaling in frustration.

His eyes met mine. His already huge pupils widened. “I know well that you—”

“Don’t waste your time.”

“Excuse me?”

“It doesn’t work on me.”

“I’m … I’m sorry. What are you talking about?”

“That thing that all Sy—I mean Ancients do. You’re staring at me. Trying to get into my mind. Get me under control.”

He laughed in ridicule.

“Don’t laugh. Try it.” I opened my eyes wide and stared at him.

His pupils retracted.

“It doesn’t work on me. Nito has tried several times. Others too. Doesn’t work. I don’t know why. Now if that will be all …”

Iry reached out and gently grabbed my arm. It was the first time he ever laid a hand on me. His touch was cold.

Then I saw a look on his face that I didn’t expect. He quickly pulled his hand from me and inched back, almost in a state of shock.

I couldn’t determine if he looked in awe of me or frightened.

“Unbelievable,” he whispered.

“What? I told you it didn’t work on me.”

“Not that. I only heard stories, but never encountered one until now.” He tilted his head and squinted his eyes. “Do you not know?”

“Know what?”

“Vala,” he said. “You’re … you’re a Mare.”

9. Being Mare

“What is a Mare?”

I had been walking a distance from Iry. He’d asked me to join him in a walk so he could speak to me. We moved beyond the school to the tree lined area. The only reason I went was to find out why he, like Nito, called me this.

Apparently it was something the Sybaris knew and we humans did not.

“Before I tell you, because you obviously do not know the term, I—”

“Oh I know the term. Nito has called me that for as long as I can remember.”

He cocked back with a lock of shock. “She knows?”

“Of course, if she calls me that.”

“This is important. Has any other Ancient touched you?”

“What is a Mare?”

“Have they?”

“Not that I know of.”

“This is good.”

“Iry, what is this? Are you going to tell me soon? Because I have horses to check on.”

“The myth says that a Mare is not born, they are made. I believe you cannot instill such a thing unless one is born that way. Have you been told any tales at all about your birth?”

“Other than being born in a truck and having my afterbirth be a diversion?”

He shook his head. “A story that says someone placed a blessing on you?”

I hesitated, because that actually sounded familiar. My mother had told me about an old woman who placed a special prayer over me because, in essence, I had spared the camp. I looked up at Iry. “That would be magic and there is no such thing.”

“I agree. But on the chance magic works, did someone?”

“I heard a story, yes. Does it make a difference?”

“It depends. Some say it makes you stronger to be born that way. But I’m certain you have not come into your full abilities or you would know.”

“You’re talking in circles, Iry.”

“You are only the second Mare I have met in my lifetime.”

“How do you know for sure I am one, then, since you’ve only met one?”

“Two things. You complain of my scent. When did you start to pick it up?”

“This year.”

He nodded. “That will cease once you learn to control it. The other way I know … is when I touched you.”

“Did I burn you?”

Iry laughed. “Hardly, you jolted me with an immediate sense of feeling good. Like a medicine or the wine your adults drink.”

“That’s disturbing. So, as a Mare, I make Sy … I mean Ancients feel good?”

“As a Mare, you are three things. A blessing, a curse and a weapon. Those who seek to destroy the Ancients will seek to find you. Those who want to draw from you will seek to choose you and keep you and those who fear you, will seek to kill you.”

I laughed at the absurdity of what he was saying. There was no magic, no tricks. How could I have this ability, whatever it was? “I do nothing, Iry, honestly. I have no special ability.”

“You will come into it very soon. When you do, you must learn to control it. You will have the ability to do many things. Move things, travel with your mind and witness things far away. Just ...” Iry pointed to his temple, “… be thinking it and believing it. For example, if you wanted to hurt me, if you were thinking that you wanted to kill me, then I touched you, the moment my hand lay upon you, I would have been injured. Before you can do that, you need to control it. It will come upon you quickly.”

“I understand why someone would fear me then if this is true. What can they draw from me?”

“An Ancient who is wise and knows what to do with you can keep you safe and draw from you slowly.”

“My blood,” I stated bluntly.

“Yes. Your energy will be shared with the Ancient, until finally they are complete with you and may choose to convert you to an Ancient.”

That made me shudder. “What if I don’t want my blood to be used that way? If, truly, I can make my mind do anything, then I could make my blood poison.”

Iry waved a finger back and forth. “Except that. An Ancient who decides to kill you will drain you quickly and completely, consuming your energy, making the Ancient strong. And you ... " Iry reached for me again and I stepped back, “… you will be transformed into what can be considered the most vicious and vile abomination that man can become. You’ll thirst for blood and flesh, kill without thinking or feeling.”

I shook my head and just as I wondered who would do that to me, who would drain me quickly, I realized who. “Nito.”

“Yes.” Iry nodded. “If she has known, then she’s waiting for you to come into full ability. She’s going to choose you.”

“To kill me.”

“To take all that you have.”

“What about my family?” I asked. “She has to provide for them if I am chosen. That is Elder law.”

“Do you really think she’ll follow those rules if you die?”

He was trying to scare me and it was working. “I have to go.”

“Vala, many are going to choose you. If Nito knows you are a Mare, then all Ancients know and they will all place a bid for you."

“I’ll run.”

“They’ll find you.”

“I’ll cross the water.”

“Unless you cross an ocean there is no way.”

“I’ll find a device that floats on water, something, I won’t be chosen.”

“You will be. You are a Mare. They will hunt you down and take you.”

“Stop!” My hands shot to my ears. “Why are you doing this? Why are you telling me this?”

“Because when you are chosen, I need you to pick me. Let me choose you, Vala.” He stepped toward me. “Choosing me is the only way you will not die. Trust me.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t.”

I moved further back, spun as fast as I could and started to run.

“Vala! Do not expose yourself. It will be the end of all you know.”

As much as I didn’t want to hear what he had to say, his words stayed with me, in my heart and in my mind.

10. The Bag

I sought solitude in the stables after speaking with Iry. Casey, my horse, waited in his stall. A thoroughbred horse, I was told, one that in the previous world would have run races and won. He moved swiftly and seamlessly.

I loved the stables and everyone had a horse. It was our means of transportation from one town to the next, where we would travel to trade. I suppose that was the reason the Sybaris allowed us to have horses. That was the only thing that made sense, since the Sybaris feared them.

After feeding Casey a snack, I slipped into the stall and took a brush to his mane. He was beautiful, his coat rich and brown.

Casey knew me like no other and knew how I rode. Many times I took him out to run and we’d make it to the next town in less than an hour.

The stables helped me maintain my sanity and was the only place I could keep things I never wanted the Sybaris or my mother to find.

One of them was my bag.

When I was young, several years after we arrived in Akana, I was digging in the yard as many children do. Not more than a foot down I hit something hard. I continued to dig until I uncovered something metal the length of my forearm. It had a handle and latches. Very clever.

I called for my mother when I had it fully exposed. I remember the panic on her face when she saw it, like I had found a dead animal or something.

“A toolbox. We have to get rid of it.”

“Why?” I asked. “I haven’t even opened it.”

“If the Ancients come and see that, we will be cast out.”

How did she know it was a forbidden item without even looking at it?

“What is it? We don’t even know. Don’t you want to know?”

“It’s something from the past. Before the Ancients built the cities.”

Then my mother’s curiosity got the best of her. She looked around to see if anyone was watching and after covering the box with a cloth she carried it into the house.

I followed her, just as curious.

She was with child, my sister Sophie and her large stomach was in the way. She laid the box on the bed and opened it and lifted a sheet of paper from inside. “A time capsule,” she said.

I reached for the paper and while I could read the words, the manner in which it was written was different. I did, however, recognize the year. 1988. It was written by someone named Janie Morrison.

“A time capsule,” my mother said again. “This young woman, Janie, buried this box with items from 1988.”

“Why would she do that?”

“It was a common thing. A school project perhaps,” my mother said. “A way for a person in the future to know what the world was like. It is Janie’s message to the future.”

“To me, since I found it. She is showing me what the world was like before the event?”

“Yes, in a way.”

Enthusiastically I dropped to my knees and peeked in the box. In there were more sheets of paper, a book, a magazine, a small square object with two holes in the middle and what looked like spools of thick string inside. The words on it said ‘Best of Poison.’ I quickly dropped it in case it was still volatile.  “Janie Morison took great care,” I said, rubbing my hands. “She is informing us. What is all this?”

“Nothing.” My mother shut the box. “Can you lift it?”

I tried and was able to. “Yes.”

“Then you take it. Take it fast to the ends of Akana and leave it. Get it far away, you hear?”

“But it teaches us.”

“It teaches you of things that are forbidden. Now go. I’ll cover the hole.”

I took hold of the box, slid from the bed and carried it from the house. I didn’t understand rules and I certainly didn’t understand why this box was forbidden.

It was history. And a history of man that I wanted to know. Our history.

In my first rebellious move, I told my mother I had left it at the end of Akana, but I didn’t. I took it to the stable where we kept our horses. The Ancients would never look there because they stayed clear of horses. I kept it there and learned from it.

Janie Morrison was sixteen years old. She wrote a short biography and there were pictures of her in the box. She had a mother and a father, went to school, had friends. Back then, they used paper value to trade things. I don’t think her family had much of that, because it was clear they couldn’t afford a tailor. In a couple of the pictures, Janie’s clothes were torn and her top was so big it kept sliding from her shoulder. But Janie always looked happy.

The human race lived a brilliant and glamorous existence before the event. The people wore colorful and flashy clothes, their hair was full and large.

I may not have been born in 1988, but I can imagine it wasn’t much different than the world was before the event. My mother probably wore those same flashy clothes, her straight and braided hair was more than likely beautiful when she wore it big and high.

Often I wanted to make my hair big and high but feared if I did, someone would know I had knowledge of the past.

That box was my secret treasure. A treasure of knowledge of the world before Akana. Every chance I got, I read the papers, looked at the pictures and studied the contents. Always though, staying clear of the poison. I didn’t know why Janie would put that in there. I never did figure her reasons, despite the number of times I looked in the box. Maybe she had the information about the Sybaris and she was giving us a weapon?

I kept the box in a carrying sack hidden in the corner of a stall. It would be there for me to take when I left Akana.

The box made me knowledgeable of a world before the Sybaris. I suppose my knowledge was something that did make me different. I knew things others did not, forbidden things.

Now I had something else that kept me apart from the others in my tribe.

I was a Mare.

Although I still didn’t fully understand what that meant, I soon would.

11. The Ceremony

I walked aside Casey to the ends of the Akana town limits. I could have ridden him but I promised my mother that I would look tired for the monthly ceremony. The best way to do that was to stay in the heat and keep moving, not taking in any water.

Very few ever went to the edge of Akana. Mainly because it was dismal. While the event had not touched our pocket of the world, time took its toll and the civilized Sybaris concentrated on creating our communities out of places that once were thriving small towns, leaving the rest of the world to decay, fall apart or turn to waste at the hands of the Savage Sybaris and rebels.

I don’t know what it looked like before it became Akana since they removed many of the buildings. The farmland was kept thriving and the older roadways remained intact, unlike the ones of the former world that had set on the end of Akana just before the Salton Sea. Those roads were still there. They were barren, desolate and mere remnants of a world that once was.

The road was wide and made of smooth stone. Nature had reclaimed it and weeds, grass and other growth poked through and some of the road had broken. It was marked by a faded sign that had fallen from a metal post. I never knew what it meant, just what it said.

The number ‘86’ was on top, then the sign read with faded lettering ‘Next Exit, Awly – 2’.

The sign meant the end of the line to me, the end of the protected civilized world, the end of life under the thumb of the Sybaris.

I walked a good distance along the edge of the ‘ends’. A strong wind from the west brought in a mighty stench of the Elder Sybaris that waited hungrily and impatiently at the gates.

It was time to feed and feast.

I wonder how they fed them? The way they devoured my brother told me they were ravenous. It has been told to us that, unlike the Savage Sybaris, the civilized ones use machines and tools to take a small amount of the human blood every few days. They dare not mix their saliva into our bloodstream or they run the risk of turning us into one of them or allowing their appetites to get ahead of them, making us into creatures.

Instead, the Civilized feast on fruit and ration our blood like they did thousands of years before.

We are taught that our sacrifice is small. In my opinion, one drop of my blood to feed them is too much.

After a long walk, I heard the bell. It rang from the town square signaling the high and mightiest of the Sybaris were entering our town limits.

I was in perfect condition. My hair was messy and I was so thirsty and dehydrated, that I wasn’t even perspiring.

I hurried without stopping to the center of town, where everyone lined up in a single file. The sound of their motorized vehicles drifted over and shortly after the sun reflected from the shiny black vehicles.

I found my mother and Sophie and took my place next to them. My mother looked bad, worse than she had in the morning. Sophie appeared dreadful and pale. I knew for a fact that my mother had given her that syrup that caused her to expel the contents of her stomach. The entire day before I could hear my sister retching.

After the Sybaris had made their selections, Sophie would be fed and cared for. Until then, so she wasn’t selected, my mother kept her ill while the Sybaris did their adoption process and Sophie looked as if she was knocking on death’s door.

“Perfect,” my mother told me, then straightened my blouse so I didn’t look too intentionally messy.

I hated what was happening. Were we the only family to not look their best? Everyone stood proud and anxious.

Across the road Iry emerged from the school building. He too looked anxious, probably because this was his last ceremony to witness. He would move in a month from the outskirts of Akana to the City for the Ancients and then he’d start choosing himself.

He tried to make eye contact with me and I turned my head.

“Why is your educator coming this way?” my mother asked.

I lifted my head to see Iry walking our way. “I don’t know,” I replied. “I wish he wouldn’t.”

Iry approached, making his stand near me. My hand shot to my nose.

“Vala, concentrate,” he said in a whisper. “It will cease. Concentrate.”

I couldn’t, it was time for the ceremony to begin.

The civilized Sybaris emerged from their vehicles, walking pompously and wearing their best clothing.

Tutano was a leader, older, but fit and he stepped to the center opening where the Sybaris would browse. He spoke up as he did every month. “It is time to reward the Elders of your race with peace and prosperity. May they step forward.”

Were they that stupid? At least seven people from our town over the age of sixty stepped from the pick and choose line and made their way to the vehicles of the Sybaris. There they entered a larger vehicle.

Promised a better life, a free life, after years of never being chosen, they, I believed were the food for the gatekeepers. Still flesh, but not as fresh. Use them before they go to waste. That’s what I thought.

People cheered them as they walked out, wishing them luck and happiness.

Me, I didn’t believe they made it far.

“That will be me one day,” my mother said in a wistful voice.

“No,” I replied, “it will not.”

The choosing ceremony began and the Sybaris browsed each one of us. A mated pair chose an infant, lifted it with adoration and embraced the child. The baby’s natural mother rejoiced and thanked them.

Thanked them for taking her baby? Families aren’t even rewarded when they give a child.

The Sybaris came and took what they wanted. I didn’t understand or get it. When picked, people screamed with joy. I would scream in horror.

“This is absurd,” I said.

“Vala!” Iry scolded me in a whisper. “Cease.”

I shifted my eyes to him, then I noticed he looked in another direction.

Nito.

Her age was hard to tell. She painted her face with blue above her eyes and her lips as red as blood. She stared at me and walked in our direction.

Her mate was at her side. I wondered if he was a chosen companion at one time and she had turned him. His eyes were not deep like a Sybaris.

“Such attitude little one.” She walked my way then stood before me. “You’re not even trying any longer to look as if you didn’t wear down.”

Her stench was unbearable. I never recalled her smelling so badly.

“I’m waiting on you,” she said.

“Then you will always have to wait.”

“If chosen you will go. That is law.” She lowered her gaze to Sophie and smiled. “Perhaps I need a child in my life. Would you like to wear the prettiest dresses, feast on the richest food, have items of play?” she asked Sophie. “Perhaps I shall choose you as my own.” She reached out her hand to my sister.

“No!” I barked. “Don’t touch her.”

The corner of Nito’s mouth raised in a snide smile and she glided closer. “Then I choose you.”

“You can’t,” Iry quickly interjected. “She isn’t ready. She has one more month of education.”

“Teacher, please,” Nito scoffed at him. “I can finish her education.” She turned her head and raised her voice. “I place bid on this one. Anyone else?”

“Me,” Iry stated.

“You can’t.” She laughed at him. “You have another month, so you have no choice.” Again, she shouted to the other Sybaris. “Any bids?”

No one said anything.

“Then I guess …” Nito reached out, “you are mine.”

No sooner did her hand touch me and the breath of her final word seeped into my nostrils when I was hit with a sickening wave of nausea. Her foul breath made me gag uncontrollably and my mouth filled with saliva.

“Come now.” She tugged my arm.

She yanked me forward and everything that had built up in my mouth, involuntarily shot out, landing on her arm and when it touched her, Nito screamed in pain.

The fluid from my mouth was a watery fire that burned her skin upon contact. She released me and cried out over and over. It was so shrill it hurt my ears.

While I was trying to register all that was happening, Iry looked at me seriously and told me in a stern voice, “Run.”

I backed up.

“Run, Vala, run!”

In my turn, my hand grazed across my sister, I glanced at my mother and gushed out, “I’m sorry, Mother.” Then I took off.

The moment I ran, Nito ordered, “Get her!’

I couldn’t look back or wonder if they were chasing me. I knew they were and I headed to the safest place I could think of.

Running as fast as my feet would carry me, I headed to the stables. Once inside I made it to Casey’s stall and tried to catch my breath. What did I do? How did I do that?

I reached down to Casey’s water bucket, splashed my face, then brought some of his water into my mouth. As I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, I heard the motor sounds. Peeking out through the planks of the barn I saw the Sybaris vehicles surround the stables.

They had come for me.

My whole being shuddered in fear and there was no turning back, no giving up to the Sybaris. My only choice was to flee.

I always kept my satchel with the time capsule and other items in the barn. I tossed that bag over Casey’s neck, walked him from his stall and mounted him.

The doors to the stable were open and I knew the Sybaris could see me.

They didn’t come in, but their faces were smug, as they believed they had me encircled with their vehicles.

Taking a deep breath, focusing forward, I whispered to Casey that we were going to go as fast as he could.

With a loud ‘Ha!’ I snapped the reins and bolted from the barn.

The line of vehicles was ahead of me and I didn’t have enough distance to generate the momentum for a jump. But I had to try.

Thinking ‘leap over’ and ‘fly’, I pulled back on the reins and hoped for the best.

How it happened, I still don’t know.

Casey made the leap and without a problem, we cleared a vehicle. His hooves hit hard to the sandy ground surface and we didn’t stop.

We just kept going.

12. The Run

They followed me with their vehicles until the terrain of the land made it impossible for them to keep up.

I went south, then west, away from the gatekeepers and finally, I lost them.

Or so I thought.

I crossed over the old road on the edge of town and they turned around. I was foolish to think they ceased following me. I slowed down my pace, feeling secure.

In the few minutes that we trotted with ease, I decided I would go around the Salton Sea and head toward Angeles City. There were people there when I was a child, surely there were still people living there. As well as the fact that the Rebels against the Sybaris were somewhere, I just had to find them and hope that they would welcomed me.

The Salton Sea was never a thriving body of water, in fact it reeked of dead fish. But it was a passageway for refugees to make it to Akana.

I knew I could take the long way around the body of water and once clear of it, I was safe. The Sybaris never went that far west. That was Savage territory.

As soon as I came upon my route to go around, I realized how wrong I was in my thinking. I wasn’t safe. Not at all.

Six vehicles rapidly began to pursue me. They’d figured out what I was doing. Knowing well they could outrun my horse.

My only option was the Salton Sea, as foul as it was. I veered in that direction, planning to get as close as I could with Casey, then dive into the body of water, knowing they’d never come for me in there.

I’d get in the water, wait it out. Taking a refugee float was out of the question, Casey couldn’t do that.

I smelled the salvation of the sea and pushed Casey to the limits of his speed.

A little more. Just a little more.

The water was close and there was a planked bridge. All I had to do was get there, jump off and dive in. I was focused until Casey stopped and reared up on his hind legs with a painful ‘neigh!’

He didn’t go forward, in fact, he nearly threw me from his back. I tried to calm him, then I saw an arrow dug deep into his side.

“No!”

They had shot my horse.

Another neigh, another jolt and another arrow into Casey.

I could no longer keep him steady. Emotionally, I was crushed for my dedicated friend.

His final attempt to get me to the sea ended with an arrow to his neck. Casey’s legs buckled and he went down.

The force of his fall threw me to the ground and I rolled quickly to a kneel. The Sybaris climbed out of their vehicles and rushed my way.

Sea to my right, Sybaris to my left. I noticed my bags had been thrown from Casey and I snatched them up and ran as fast as I could to the planked pier.

Just as I was about to jump in, I spotted one of the floaters that Refugees used to cross the sea.

The Sybaris stopped. “Go on!” one of them shouted. “Jump in there. You were not educated in water. You’ll sink and die. It will consume you.”

They were right. I had no idea how to be in water or what it would do. I never thought past the idea of jumping in. There was a reason there were floating devices. Man, as well as Sybaris, weren’t meant to be in large bodies of water.

“Make your choice!” he shouted.

I did.

When I lowered my bag to the floating device, they raised their bows.

Eyes wide, I hurried to the edge and carefully climbed down into the floater. It was tied with rope to the pier. I undid it and pushed away. The floater moved slowly on its own.

Crossing the sea was going to take forever at that rate.

The Sybaris were relentless.

They kept aim on me and fired. An arrow sailed my way and while I tried to move, it hit into my arm. Not deeply, but enough to penetrate the skin. My reaction was to quickly remove it. Blood seeped from my wound. With nothing to cover my injury, I ripped the bottom of my blouse and held the cloth tight to the entry site.

The float drifted with the current of the sea. Slowly, but farther away from the Sybaris.

I couldn’t figure out why they still waited. What were they waiting for?

For me to drift back to them probably.

When an immediate sense of dizziness hit me, I realized there must have been something on that arrow. A poison. Everything went out of focus and my head swarmed in disarray.

I was fading, my eyes were hard to keep open and consciousness was slipping away. I could only hope that I made it far enough away from the Sybaris before I passed out.

13. Floating

Consciousness drifted from me. My eyes were heavy, my head hurt and it felt like the one time I drank wine. I had heard tales that Sybaris poisoned their arrows and I found the truth in that when one sailed into me.

Knowing how fast the poison worked, at least Casey didn’t suffer much.

I fought to keep my eyes open, using my hands in a manner to push the floater farther from the shore.

My battle to stay awake ended and my eyes grew too heavy to keep open.

The last I saw were the Sybaris at a distance from the sea. Standing there, watching me.

Was the poison deadly or did it only disable me? I guess I would find out. No matter how hard I fought it, it was stronger than I.

*

I woke to a dark sky speckled with stars, still in the floater. My head was shooting with pain, as was my arm. The blood from my wound had saturated the sleeve of my blouse and it was sticking to my injury.

Using my uninjured arm, I tried to bring myself to a sitting position but couldn’t move. My legs and body felt as if they were weighted down.

I tried to see where I was. Looking left to right, I discovered I had somehow made it to the middle of the sea. It was cold and my lips were dry from thirst. There was still nothing I could do but take comfort in my safety surrounded by water.

My eyes rolled to the back of my head and I passed out again.

This time, I dreamt.

It was a weird dream that started out with the feeling that the floater was spinning, as if it were going down a funnel. In the dream the floater threw me to the sky, through a series of bright lights and I landed at my home.

Just outside the sitting room window, I saw my mother inside, pacing, lit by a single lantern. It seemed so real, but it was only a dream. I knew it was a dream, especially when I passed through the walls and stood right by her. Her arms were clasped tightly to her body and I couldn’t decipher the look on her face. Worry? Fear?

Then again, my mother’s fate was unknown. Surely, with what transpired in the town square between Nito and I, my mother had been taken.

There was knock on the door, it opened and Iry walked inside. He peeked out of the windows and closed the curtain.

“Anything?” my mother asked him.

“They weren’t able to get her.”

My mother sighed heavily.

“You and Sophie will be fine, but it won’t be long before they use you as a bargaining tool to get her to come back.”

“Then what?” she asked. “Will they kill her?”

“It depends who takes her.”

“Iry, tell me you’ll do it. Tell me.”

“I’ll try. She has to return to be chosen. Otherwise, if they get her outside the Straits, she is free game.”

Slowly my mother’s head lowered and her hands went to her face.

It was an odd dream, very realistic. Especially when Iry looked directly at me.

It startled me and then there was a single knock on the door.

“Wake up, Vala,” Iry said.

Another knock.

“You are safe for now. Find refuge. I’ll come for you. This way is best.”

Knock.

“Wake up.”

I opened my eyes, immediately shielding them from the bright sunlight.

The knocking was slow and continuous and I noticed the float jolted with each knock. I must have drifted up against something.

My entire body ached, especially my arm. With the sun beating on me, I would think I would be warm, but I wasn’t. My body shivered with chills.

The floater hit again.

“Hey, you alive?”

I jumped at the sound of the male voice. Quickly I turned my body, my muscles were sore and hurt with every move. The poison had worn off. Sort of. My head still pounded and throbbed.

His face was young, possibly around my age. He was thin, but it was hard to tell how tall because he crouched at the end of a wooden pier.

His brown hair wasn’t long like the males in my community, it was shorter, as if he defied the laws and cut it.

“Man,” he said, “you look like crap. You okay?”

“Man? I am female, can you not tell?”

He laughed and extended his hand. “Here.”

I sat up. “What?”

“Take it.”

I looked at his empty palm.

“Take it,” he repeated with insistence.

“I don’t know what you are offering or if it is something I cannot see, but what is it I am supposed to take from your hand?”

Again, he laughed. “Funny. No, grab my hand. I’ll help you out. I won’t bite.”

I gasped. “I certainly hope not.” I knew by his appearance he wasn’t a Sybaris. Why would he mention biting me, though? Unless humans in the west did bite.

“You gonna let me help you?”

He talked strange.

“Yes.” I looked at his hand. “But I cannot touch you.”

“Why? You sick?”

“I was hit with an arrow that had poison.”

“I don’t think it's contagious, but that does suck.” He reached down and grabbed my arm.

I screamed.

“What? What?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”

“You are male. We are not properly courted. You touched me.”

“Oh my God, you’re one of them chicks. Seriously, those laws don’t apply over here. Please let me help you out of that boat. You look really bad.” Again, he held out his hand. “Let me help you.”

Reluctantly and with some fear of repercussion, I accepted his help from the float. As I made my way to the pier, my legs were weak and they buckled under me.

He removed a canteen strapped to his shoulder. “Your lips are really dry. Have a drink.”

“What is it?”

“Um … water?”

“You talk funny.”

“No, you talk funny. Drink.”

I took a drink. It was cool, but as soon as my mouth registered it, it tasted funny and it made me cough.

He lifted my arm. “You’re hurt.”

The back of his hand went to my forehead. I gasped. I was so shocked by his boldness I could barely move.

“Plus you feel fevered.”

I inched back.

“Why do you do get scared when I touch you?”

“Because you are male.”

“Yeah, so?”

“It’s just …” I took another drink and forced myself to swallow. “Never mind. How did you find me?”

“It was our day,” he said. “Every couple of days a group comes out here to check. Since we had a few people from Esperanza escape, our leader wants to make sure we check often. If you crossed the sea, you probably don’t know.”

“Know what?” I asked.

“A lot of things.”

“So there are others. Any from Akana?”

He made this groan sound, as if he was searching for words and tilted his head. “Not sure. You’re actually the first girl I’ve met from the netherlands. The few that came before you, they kept them separate until they normalized.”

“I am very normal.”

“Hmm. I bet. Well, you also seem very ill. At least look it. How are you feeling?”

“Tired, yet, I slept. Unwell, if that makes sense.”

“Yeah, it does. They hit you with one of their tainted arrows. Can I take you to camp? Have you checked out? We don’t want to waste daylight hours. Then we’ll take you to AC.”

“AC?” I asked.

“Angeles City. That’s why you crossed right? You wanted to get there?”

“I was being chased out. I was fleeing for my life.”

“Seriously?” he asked. “Usually people leave. Wow, you must have done something.”

“I vomited on Nito.”

“Wow, must have been some vicious upchuck for them to hunt you down.”

“It burned her.”

“Cool.”

Cool? He was confused. Burning was hot. It was going to take me some time to learn the way he spoke and fully understand.

I asked. “How far is the camp?”

“Just a few miles. You’ll be safe, I promise. You need someone to check you out, make sure you’re okay, look at that arm. You lost some blood.”

“It went into me.”

“Obviously. The car’s over here.”

We walked for a few feet and then I noticed the vehicle.  I stopped.

“What’s wrong now?” he asked.

“You have a vehicle of the Sybaris.”

“No, the Sybaris drive our vehicles. They learned the new fuel source from us. Sometimes it smells bad and makes the cars loud. It’s not like they said it was in the old days, but it gets us back and forth.”

“The old days, meaning, before the event? Like 1988.”

“Yep.”

“Yep?”

“Yep.” He opened the door for me. “Get in.”

“It is safe?”

“Very. And so am I.”  He faced me and held out his hand. “Tanner.”

“No. I am still in school.”

He smiled. “What?”

“You asked if I were a tanner.”

“No,” he laughed. “Tanner is my name.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. My name is Vala.” I slipped inside onto the cloth seat, it was warm and comfortable.

“That’s a great name. Vala.”

“Thank you.”

“It means, the Chosen. But I’m sure you knew that.” He closed the door.

Chosen.

Actually, I didn’t know that. And as Tanner got into the vehicle, I realized he was right. Like he said earlier, there was a lot I didn’t know and I was certain I was about to find out.

14. Car Contraption

As odd as it was, riding in the motorized vehicle frightened me. It scared me more than being chased by the Sybaris, because when I rode Casey, I was in control, mostly. But the vehicle seemed to move Tanner.

Yes, he turned the circular object in front of him, but there was a pull to it that was hard to describe. I was surprised that he wanted to ride in something that the Sybaris used frequently.

“It’s called a car,” he said.

“A … car. Is that an abbreviated word, like mom to mother?”

“I really don’t know.” He shrugged. “And another thing, when the Sybaris walked this Earth thousands of years ago, there were no cars. Man invented them.”

“That’s good to know.”

“How are you handling it? You’re holding on to the door handle for dear life.”

“I don’t want it to stop and me eject forward.”

Tanner laughed.

“What do you always laugh?”

“You’re funny. Maybe not on purpose and maybe it’s rude of me—”

“It is.”

“Okay.” He lifted his hand from the round turning thing. “I’ll stop.”

“Please keep your hand on that object.”

“Got it,” he said. “I’d play you some tunes, but it drains the car.”

I only nodded. Play me some tunes? I assumed that was some sort of game and I was grateful he chose not to, because I wanted his attention on the car contraption.

“Can I tell you something?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“You are going to laugh at this one day. Look back, maybe even in a month and laugh about how odd everything seemed to you.”

“Would you not be scared if you came to Akana?”

“Freaked out, maybe.”

“Explain what you mean when you say freaked out.”

Tanner shrugged. “Um … I guess it means that it makes you feel weird, sort of like you feel right now.”

“Why? You have not been there?”

“True,” he said. “I’ve heard stories though, like you were told about this side of Esperanza. I hear you guys all dress alike, look alike, act alike and anything to do with man before the Sybaris took over is purely forbidden. They teach you nothing about your history?”

“Mildly.”

“See?”

“I know plenty about Man’s history, I have read forbidden material.”

“Then why did you stay there?” he asked.

“For my mother and my sister. I always knew I was destined to leave. What do you know about the Sybaris?”

“A lot more than you. Because you’re shielded about them.”

“They hide the ugly truth,” I said. “Problem is, I can only speculate.”

“Not anymore. I or anyone else that is older can answer your questions.”

“Good. My mother took me from Angeles City when I was five, so I don’t have much to go on.”

“Five? So you have memories?”

“I do.” I nodded.

“Things have changed, you know.”

Hearing this surprised me. “For the better or worse?”

“I’d say the better, because we learned. For example, there’s a whole slew of kids who don’t talk because their vocal cords were cut so they didn’t cry or make noise as babies. We don’t do that anymore because we learned better how to protect ourselves."

“That is sad that they cannot speak.”

“They learned to communicate.”

“If you learned so much,” I asked, “why haven’t you defeated the Sybaris yet?”

“We aren’t ready, we need more information, I don’t know. I’m only a worker and a warrior. You’ll have to ask our leaders and believe me, they will want to talk to you.”

“Because I am from Akana?”

“That and you have information.”

“I don’t think I have any information that you don’t have.”

“Trust me, you lived there.  You have more information than you realize.”

Finally, the car stopped and we pulled in front of a rundown building. A single-story building, built of wood, much like our homes, only this one was old and weather beaten, with weeds growing up to the windows. There was a porch hidden beneath the foliage and the faded sign on the top of it said, “Fred's Bait Shop”.

Tanner turned off the vehicle and opened the door. “We’re here. Our camp.”

“Somehow, this is not what I envisioned as a camp.”

“It can’t be, not really. If it looked like a camp then it wouldn’t be safe. Not all the way out here. Once I get you in, I’ll hide the car.” He walked around to my side of the car and opened the door.

I swung out my legs nervously, still holding tight to my bags.

“Do you need help?” he asked.

“No. I am fine. I’ll walk.”

As soon as I stood, my head grew dizzy. The building not fifty paces before me swam out of focus and my body swayed.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I can do this.”

I moved slowly, because with each step I was fearful I would fall. But I was determined to make it to the building and do so on my own. I didn’t want Tanner to think I was weak or promiscuous, because I kept allowing him to touch me.

15. Camp

There was such a beautiful wisdom about Marie’s face that I was in awe of her while she tended to me. I had never been close to or encountered anyone who had aged to the point where she was. She had soft embedded lines around her eyes, her forehead was creased and even the skin on her neck was slightly loose. Silver and brown hair danced around her face. Her eyes sparkled blue and every time she connected them to me, I felt it.

She was full of life, which she had accumulated for many years.

“You alright, little one?” she asked.

“Yes, Ma’am I am,” I replied, tilting my head to look at her.

“Your pulse is a little rapid and you are fevered. I need to suture your wound but want to give you some medicine to fight off the poison first.”

“It didn’t kill me, so I’m fine.”

She smiled gently, brushing my hair from my eyes. “It’s in your system. You can get very sick. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen.” She grabbed hold of my sleeve and ripped it off.

I gasped. “My bare skin!”

“It’s fine. You’ll need to change those clothes and I want to wipe you down.”

“I can bathe myself.”

“Alright, but I’ll stay by you. I don’t want you passing out.”

“Are you a medicine woman? Doctor?” I asked.

“Medicine woman, sort of,” she said. “I’m a nurse and have been since before the world went to pot. Hold on, this will sting.”

She rinsed my arm with water and it did sting, but not as much as when she placed a solution on my wound.

“Give it a minute,” she said. “It will numb it enough for me to repair it.”

“How old are you?” I asked.

“I’m sixty-four.”

My mouth opened in my shock.

“What’s wrong?”

“I have never been this close to someone your age.”

“You don’t have older people in your town?”

I shook my head. “The age of fifty is considered ripened. We are not allowed near anyone of that age. Then they take them, they say, to live good lives in the Ancient City. I think they become feed for—” Realizing my words, I stopped. “I’m sorry.”

A guard, an older man as well, sat across the room. He was quiet at first, then spoke up when I talked about Elders in our town. “They probably don’t want you talking to the older ones because they know how this world used to be.”

“Oh, Snake. Stop,” Marie said.

I screamed and jumped up.

“What?” Marie asked. “What is it?”

“Snake! Where?”

She laughed warmly. “That’s his name. There’s no snake. Sit down.”

Tanner laughed at me as well. “She’s a funny one.”

“Boy,” Marie said, “go hide that car before sundown. Also hit the well for more water and get things heated before we have to buckle down. Make yourself useful. Go.”

“Yeah, go,” Snake repeated.

“Man,” Tanner said, shaking his head. “I get no respect.”

After the door shut, I asked, “Why does he demand respect from you? You are his Elders.”

Marie winked. “He’s joking. You’ll learn a little something called sarcasm.”

“Sarcasm?"

She nodded. “We’ll will fix this, hook you up with medication and once you change and clean up, we’ll eat.”

I trusted Marie. There was something about her I found comforting. “Are we staying here for the evening?”

“Yes. It’s not worth a chance of running into the Savages. They come out at night.”

“Only at night?”

“Yes. We’ll be safe here. This place tightens down.”

I didn’t know what she meant by that, but again, I trusted her. Fred’s Bait Shop looked run down from the outside, but obviously that was a cover. It looked like they used the building often.

Inside, it was clean and all the walls were metal. There were even metal coverings that looked as if they went over the windows. They probably did, to protect whoever was inside from the Sybaris.

There was a cooking area and sleeping quarters that were sectioned off. I was in the corner, which was set up for medical care.

Snake rocked back and forth in a chair, a huge gun laying across his lap. I tried not to look over at him much out of respect. His shirt didn’t have sleeves and he wore short pants that exposed his hairy legs. It may have been something Marie was used to, but not to me. I had never seen a man expose that much of his skin before. It was unsettling.

My mind was still reeling over all that had occurred. I was worried about my mother and my sister. I wanted to help them and I knew the best way to do that was to keep going to Angeles City. To fight for a better life for them. That was what I always dreamt of doing and now as I sat in a camp hidden in Fred’s Bait Shop, I was one step closer.

16.  Cowboy Chili

Before the sun set, right after Tanner had hidden the car beneath trees and brush, they closed the shop.

Marie referred it to ‘buckling the hatch’ and I understood what she meant when they did it. Every window was covered in metal, even the doors. When they were finished, without lanterns, we would have been a black metal box. The heat would get unbearable without much ventilation. There were only two small pipes in the ceiling.

I had fallen asleep once more, no dreams and woke to horrible hunger pains. I hadn’t eaten since before vomiting on Nito and even then, it wasn’t much.

Snake prepared the meal, which surprised me. A man cooking? A thick, brownish substance was in a jar and it ‘popped’ when he turned the lid.

He placed a heap on my plate. “Made this myself,” Snake said. “Best if you use some bread.”

The bread he gave me was crispy and flat. It tasted good but was not the bread I knew.

“What is this?” I asked.

“We call it cowboy chili.” I didn’t understand what ‘cowboy’ was and I guess it was apparent on my face. “It’s something the cowboys used to eat,” Snake explained. “A cowboy was a label placed on a, well, how do I put it? A horseman who lived out west. At night, while camping out, they’d make a pot of this and eat it around a fire.”

“It’s delicious,” Marie added. “And a big barter item. Snake is one of our best canners.”

“Canner?”

“Canning,” Snake explained and lifted the jar.

“I may be from Akana, but that is not what I know a can to be.”

Snake smiled, having promised me he would not be one to laugh. “It’s a crazy term, I know. That’s what they call it when you put food in a jar and seal it with heat so it doesn’t get air in it and spoil.”

“That’s a wonderful concept,” I said. “Much better than drying and salting for preservation.”

“Pretty innovative,” Snake told me. “I invented it.”

“Oh, horses,” scoffed Marie. “He’s telling tales.”

“About?” I asked.

Marie shook her head. “He’s not being truthful. He’s making things up and it’s all in fun.”

“Man,” Tanner sighed. “Do you guys take everything so literally?”

I turned to Tanner. “Why do you do that?”

“What?”

“Refer to everyone as ‘man’? Is that because we all are part of man as a species?”

Coughing then laughing, Tanner shook his head. “It’s just an expression. I don’t know why. There you go again. Literally.”

I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about Tanner. He found far too much amusement at my expense. Then again, I was used to males who were mild and reserved because they were taught to be that way.

Braving the substance on my plate, I lifted a utensil full to my mouth. The texture was odd and thick, but the second I took it into my mouth I was amazed at the tangy and wonderful flavor that exploded in my mouth.

“Is everything this good?” I asked. “Is this how you eat?”

Marie smiled. “Not everything is that tasty, but food is important. There’s a woman who has a garden of spices that makes all the world of difference in flavor.”

“What is this chunky stuff?”

Marie answered. “Meat.”

I panicked and nearly choked. “Please, tell me it is not human meat!”

“Oh my God!” Tanner burst into some sort of high pitched hyena style laughing and stood from the table.

“I beg your pardon?” Snake snipped.

Marie laid her hand on mine. “Vala, why would you ask that? Of course it’s not human flesh.”

“We are told that the only meat you have is what you get from your dead.”

“Dude, seriously,” Tanner sat back down. “They lied to you. You guys are the only ones with livestock.”

“It took a while to get things going again,” Snake said, “and it’s not back. Not nearly to where it was, but fifteen years is a lot of time. We didn’t wither and die, we grew like the Sybaris grew. We have cows and pigs, chickens too.”

Assured that I wasn’t eating another person, I returned to enjoying my meal. I decided to keep my mouth closed and not say much more. I was so out of my element and realized how much I didn’t know about life outside of the Esperanza Straits.

I was glad I at least knew my history and was grateful for the Janie girl and her time capsule from 1988.

17.  Starry Night

Tanner informed me that we would leave for Angeles City after sunrise once it was bright enough. I remembered the Savage Sybaris, but I didn’t recall knowing that they only came out at night. Then again, I was so young. It made me wonder how people slept, knowing the Savages were lurking and waiting to attack.

Angeles City was always a goal for me. I knew there were people and there was talk that the revolution was starting there. Now it was close and each moment that passed, I grew more nervous. I truly never thought beyond going there. It was my assumption that the people of Angeles City were no different than Runners or Nomads. However, I had a feeling that wasn’t going to be the case.

Thinking about my morning journey made it difficult for me to sleep. Not only that, but as I expected, it was hot in Fred’s Bait Shop ... stifling hot. What little air there was in the room was thick and stale. Breathing was difficult and my irritation over the heat magnified the pain in my arm. I swore I felt every beat of my heart as it throbbed around my injury site.

The new clothes Marie gave me were lighter but didn’t help. I wanted my sleeping dress. That was long and thin and allowed for me to feel cool on a heated night.

The heat didn’t seem to faze Snake, Marie or Tanner. They were fast asleep. After taking a sip of my water, I poured a little in my hand and splashed it on my face, running my damp hand over my neck.

Then I remembered the air pipe. I stood from my mat and walked over toward the kitchen area. The pipe extended down and the opening was about the circumference of a hand sized ball. Positioning myself under it, I hoped to catch some air. Even  a little.

Head tilted back, with my face directly under it, I could feel a smidgeon of relief. And as if that pipe were a scope to the sky, I could see the stars. So many of them. Just as I believed I found my relief moment, the stars disappeared and the view went black.

Only for a moment.

The black was replaced by an eerie green eye that peered down at me through the pipe.

Sybaris!

I gasped and within seconds, the Savage went nuts.

An eruption of noise took over the shop beginning with the sound of thumping. Like large stones rained upon the roof.

Thump-thump-thump

The thumping turned to pounding. How many of them were up there? They screamed loudly, sounding so much like demonic pigs.

I looked around the room to see Tanner, Snake and Marie were still sleeping. Was I dreaming? Was this actually happening? How could they sleep though it all?

The pipe shook violently and the Savage Sybaris screamed through the opening, as if warning me he was coming to get me. The entire building seemed to vibrate and it was so loud it was deafening.

“Tanner,” I called out. “Tanner!”

The pipe moved violently and thick slimy saliva oozed down the pipe and landed on the floor.

“Tanner!”

“What?” he replied groggily.

“Is this happening or am I dreaming?”

He sat up, rubbing his face. “You’re not dreaming.”

“Look at this pipe, Tanner. Look.” I motioned upwards to the shaking pipe.

With a groan, Tanner stood. He walked to the table and lifted an object that looked like a gun. I knew it wasn’t a gun, though, it had a longer front. Tanner placed a short arrow in the front barrel of the weapon, pulled a switch back on top and walked over to the pipe.

“He’s going to rip it from the roof,” I said.

“No he’s not.” Tanner looked up. “Man, he’s relentless.”

A line of ooze dripped onto his face. After swiping his hand over his cheek, Tanner calmly aimed into the pipe and fired the weapon. The arrow shot fast from the barrel and straight up the pipe.

The Sybaris screamed and I heard the deadened thump.

The pipe stopped moving and instead of saliva, a thick black liquid dripped to the floor.

My hand shot to my mouth, the odor was foul and rotten.

“Gross.” Tanner moved to a cabinet in the kitchen, reached in and grabbed a canister. After lifting the lid, he sprinkled some sand like substance on the floor. “Don’t touch it.” Placing the cap back on the canister, he didn’t return it to the cabinet, he set it on the counter.

Whatever he sprinkled on the black stuff took the edge off the smell.

“He’s not getting in,” Tanner said confidently. As if what he had done was nothing, he walked back over to the table, laid down the weapon and returned to his sleeping mat.

Even though he hit one of them, the noise on the roof continued. Just as loud and just as strong.

“What about the rest of them?” I asked. “We are being attacked.”

“No we’re not.”

“Then what do you call it?”

Tanner lay down. “Normal.” He closed his eyes. “Try to sleep. You’ll get used to it.”

I was astonished and shocked at his reaction and attitude about the situation. My question of ‘how could they sleep’ was answered right there and then by Tanner. They were used to it.

They were used to the noise, the heat, everything. To them, this was normal.

I had to wonder if I would ever be able to get used to it. As I listened to the savage beasts try diligently to rip through the structure to get to us, I doubted it.

I did know one thing for sure, I wasn’t going to be able to sleep.

18.  Last Leg to Angeles

My body finally succumbed to exhaustion and at some point I fell asleep. Not for long though. The ‘squeak’ of the metal shutters and the entrance of bright sunlight into the shop awakened me.

“Morning,” Marie said. “How did you sleep?”

“Not much. Well when I did. Thank you.”

“How are you feeling? How’s the arm?”

“Sore, but I feel fine.” I rose to a sitting position and was beginning to stretch when my attention was drawn to Snake, who was in the kitchen area.

“What the heck?” He kicked his foot about the floor. “How did we get Sybie blood on the floor?”

“Me,” Tanner answered. “I had to shoot one last night. He was pulling at the pipe pretty bad.”

“Wow, I didn’t even hear it,” Snake said.

“Me neither,” added Marie.

I made my way to the table where they were seated. “It was hard for me to sleep with the Sybaris above us.” I pulled out a chair and sat.

“You’ll get used to it,” Marie told me. “As long as you are in a safe place, don’t give it a second thought.”

“It was scary for me. I haven’t been around them in quite some time.” I accepted the bowl of food she presented me and this time I recognized it. Toasted oats and nuts mixed with dried fruit. It was sweet and delicious. It was my second day with my new companions and I vowed inwardly that I was going to listen and be smart. Try to decipher what they said instead of speaking up and sounding so confused and out of place.

We finished our meal, grabbed what few belongings there were and headed out. I carried my own bag, despite Tanner’s offer of help.

I walked out of the shop behind the men and as I stepped on the porch, Snake said, “There he is. Grab your arrow so it don’t go to waste.”

It wasn’t immediately obvious what he was talking about, though once Marie and Snake moved to clear the hidden car, I saw what Snake was talking about.

The Savage Sybaris lay on the ground, a thin line of smoke rising from his smoldering carcass. What remained of it was barely recognizable. It was nothing more than a burnt, shriveled mess. What looked to be a hand, burned as well, extended upward.

Tanner walked over to it and pulled out his arrow, wiped it on the side of his pants and placed it in the bag.

We loaded into the car and set forth for Angeles City. My stomach fluttered in nervousness about the journey. I had so many questions about the citizens of Angeles and the revolution.

Marie told me she would love to tell me, but their leader always liked to be the one to fill in newcomers, especially those who had little knowledge of the world beyond the Sybaris.

“Besides,” Marie said, “there are the Archives of History and you really want to see it instead of just hearing it.”

I understood and was anxious. There was a lot to learn and I would. I was smart.

“Tell me about your family,” Marie said as we sat in the back together. “Are you worried about them?”

I nodded. “Yes, more so that they are scared for me. I don’t think they will be harmed. They weren’t the ones who did wrong.”

“Do you have a mother, father, brothers, sisters??”

“I have a mother. I never knew my father. She married not long after we got to Akana, but he died from illness. I have a little sister who is five and I had a brother … once.”

“He passed away as well?”

“He was our rite of passage into Akana. He was just a few days old.”

Marie tried to hide her shocked reaction to what I said. She inhaled deeply, glanced away for a moment, then looked at me and clenched my hand. “I’m sorry. Do you remember it happening?”

“I was there when the gatekeepers accepted her gift.” I lowered my head. Just the thought of it made me sick and angry.

“Again, I’m sorry.”

Marie breathed out loudly. “Okay, change of subject. You seem like a nice girl. What on Earth could you have done so wrong that you had to flee for your life?”

“It was the monthly ceremony when the Civilized ones come and choose. They smell as it is and one breathed too closely to me and—”

“The civilized ones smell?”

“Not rotten like the Savages, more musky.” I shrugged. It was then I noticed Snake looked back at us and Marie and he locked into a stare.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

“No. No. Continue,” Marie told me.

“Well, her odor made me sick and when she grabbed hold of my arm to choose me, I vomited on her. She always had a distaste for me and I suppose it was the final straw. She ordered her henchmen to get me, so I ran.”

Marie laughed. “I’m sorry, that is funny. She must have really been mad about it.”

“That and it burned her, she screamed.”

“Holy cow,” Snake blurted. “You burned her and you smell them?”

“Yes. I’ve always been different. Nito—that is her name, the one that hates me— she called me Mare.”

Softly, almost a whisper, Marie asked me, “Mare? She referred to you as a Mare?”

“Yes,” I answered, then was hit with instant fear that I had said the wrong thing. “Please tell me I won’t be shunned in Angeles City.”

“No. No. Oh, Vala, more than you realize, you are not only welcome in Angeles City …” she gently rubbed my hand, “you are needed there.”

19. Arrival

What I remembered of my journey away from Angeles City was still vivid in my mind. I embedded it there so I’d always remember. I recalled roads that were empty, barren towns, remnants of civilization. The streets and sidewalks were cracked with growing weeds and grass and no one used cars. People moved in groups, pushing carts, some huddled under tents to keep them cool from the sun.

I recalled Angeles City being a huge place that was spread out. The main part was concrete and buildings that extended high into the sky. Many of the structures had seen their fair share of man’s last stand and were damaged and broken, some burnt. The city itself was void of life, with the exception of people that were no more than nomads.

My return to Angeles City was quite different and not at all what I expected.

Once we had left the deserted area, we took one road, more of a path, really. Only a hint of the former road could be seen here and there. Trees and grass grew high and any semblance of structures that remained were buried and hidden beneath the deep foliage.

It had gone from dusty and barren to green and full of life.

Angeles City was still there and from a distance, I could see the skyline peeking through the new forest. My hopes for a gleaming new city were diminished. The buildings were worse. They were jagged and damaged, resembling rotting and broken teeth trying to take a bite of the sky. That was from a distance.

It was disheartening to think with all the green around them, people still lived in the ruins of the past.

I believed that until we drove closer.

A faded, broken sign reached from the trees. It read, ‘Angeles City Limits’. Right after we passed that, a cow crossed in front of us and Tanner stopped to allow it to go by. It was then I spotted the first of many small farms. They weren’t huge pastures like we had, they were small pockets of personal farms, built around each house. Each owner of a house had their own farm.

The homes had seen their share of wear and tear. Many were covered with thick vines and tangled branches. Nature’s camouflage I supposed.

With each mile we traveled closer to Angeles City, the more small farms there were, along with animals. Lots of animals. People rode past us on horseback.

When we were farther away I could only see the tops of the buildings in Angeles City, but as we entered the city limits, I realized how different it was going to look up close.

Tanner stopped the car and announced, “This is where we start to walk. No cars from this point on.”

I could see why; there was no way to drive.

Trees had surrounded the old city. It truly wasn’t the Angeles City I remembered.

The buildings were painted by nature. Moss, vines and other growth crept up the sides of the metal and concrete structures. The streets were clear, though very little concrete remained. It was a mixture of grass, dirt and stone.

Speckled about the landscape were cars. They too had become part of nature. Growth had sprouted out of the old vehicles and in a few more years they would disappear.

There were so many people on the streets that it took my breath away. They had barter carts set up everywhere, trading and smiling. It reminded me of Akana and how we traded on Saturdays. I could smell food cooking. People waved and were pleasant to Tanner as we passed them.

We walked for a while and then we finally approached and stopped before a building. It reminded me of the art I had seen in class of the palaces of the early Ancient Sybaris, only it was a smaller version. Pillars graced the front of the building and a large staircase leading to the doors.

“Headquarters,” Marie said. “One of the few building we actually use all the time.”

“There are so many buildings.”

“A lot aren’t safe. They’re old. We use them for shelter or retreat. Most people live outside the city and come in for training and trading.” She waved her hand. “Come on. Don’t be scared.”

Marie and Snake led the way and I walked alongside Tanner. What I could only deduce as ‘guards’ casually emerged from the building. They wore black and carried weapons.

“That’s gonna be me,” Tanner whispered in my ear. “I’m gonna be a soldier.”

“What are you now?” I asked as we ascended the stairs.

“I’m just an escort and protector.”

“You do your job well.”

“Oh, wow, cool, thanks.” He smiled. “I start training this summer. I’m pretty excited about it.”

Marie looked over her shoulder. “He’s not gonna move you to infantry, Tanner. You’re too good at what you do.”

Tanner scoffed. “He will too.”

“Who?” I asked.

“Our leader,” Tanner answered.

The huge tarnished bronze doors were open and we walked in. The interior of the building was magnificent. It was clean, shaded and cool. The floors were marble and it was huge and hollow, with few furnishings.

Many soldiers moved about, walking up and down the staircases.

I couldn’t help but look up to the high ceilings. I was amazed.

“This way,” Tanner said. He took hold of my arm and led me across the large room.

At the far end was a desk and two men stood there with their backs to us. They looked to be discussing something.

“Hey, El Capitan,” Tanner called.

The bigger man on the right tugged his ear and shook his head. “Tanner, I have told you to stop calling me that,” he said, his voice deep and raspy.

Tanner laughed and with Marie and Snake on my other side, we approached the men.

“I come bringing a gift,” Tanner said. “Look what we found at the sea.”

The man turned around and looked at me.

“This is Vala,” Tanner said. “Vala, this is our fearless leader …”

My heart beat out of my chest and my throat tensed up almost to the point of choking. Tanner didn’t need to say the leader’s name. Even older, even with years past, his face was clearly recognizable. It was a face I had photographed and preserved in my mind.

“Davis,” I blurted in shock.

20. Davis

“I have known one Vala my entire life,” Davis said softly, his eyes staring at me. “Last I saw her she was maybe five years old. I knew one day I’d see her again.” He walked over. “It is so good to see you.”

Then, surprising me, he wrapped his arms around me and embraced me tightly. There was no shame in that for me, I returned the embrace, flashing back to the safety I felt in his arms as a small girl.

“Look at you.” Davis stepped from the embrace and laid his hand on my cheek. “So grown up. How is your mother? Please tell me she’s fine.”

“She is.”

“Your brother or sister? They have to be, what, fifteen?”

I shook my head. “My brother was killed. My mother used him as an entrance into the Straits.”

Davis’ hand shot to his face. “I’m sorry. I am so sorry. I knew it. I tried.”

“I remember.”

“Dude?” Tanner stepped to us. “You really know her?”

“Tanner,” Davis said irritably. He squeezed the corner of his eyes. “Go.”

“No, I’ll stay.”

Davis grumbled a little.

“Hey, Davis,” Snake said, “if you don’t need me right now, I wanna go see my wife.”

“Absolutely. Check in later.”

“Will do.” Snake paused. “Before I go … our, um, newcomer is gonna need full treatment.” Snake nodded his head toward me.

“Seriously?” Davis asked, surprised.

“Yep. She is immersed.”

Immersed? What did they mean by that?

Davis looked at Marie. “Is he exaggerating?”

Marie shook her head.

Standing there, my head went back in forth listening to their conversation. I knew they were talking about me, but was clueless as to what it was all about. I was the newcomer. But immersed? Immersed in what?

“You seem so shocked, Davis,” Marie stated. “I mean she is young.”

“I knew her mother. I would’ve never thought …” Davis rubbed his head. “Okay, if it’s that deep, prep a team, Marie. Our best. And we’ll plan for tomorrow afternoon.”

“That soon?” she asked.

Davis nodded.

“You don’t want to toss her in the mix at first.”

“If she is that immersed then it would only be worse.”

Snake and Marie left and once they were gone, Davis inhaled deeply, placed his hands on my shoulders and looked at me. “Where were we?”

“What is wrong with me? I know you were speaking about—”

His hand covered my mouth, shocking me.

“Nothing is wrong. Okay? Just … you are very much a part of that world and we can’t have that here.”

“I want to fight. I want to be part of this revolt I have heard about.”

“And you will, if that’s what you want. First things first though. You have to learn.”

“I already know much.”

Tanner giggled and Davis shot him a glare.

“I’m sure you do,” Davis said. “But we have a way. A fast track integration into our society.”

“Like Esperanza detox,” Tanner piped up.

“What is that?”

Again, Davis crinkled his brow at Tanner. “Part of training.”

“Yeah, we make you normal.”

“Tanner,” Davis scolded softly.

“I am normal.”

“Yeah, in that place you lived, but here you’re kind of a freak.”

“Tanner!” Davis shouted. “Have some tact for crying out loud. Now go, make yourself useful elsewhere.”

“Fine, fine, I’ll go.” Tanner took a step and stopped. “Oh, hey, before I forget. Speaking of freaks …”

“Tanner,” Davis growled.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean that. Uh, apparently … she’s a Mare.”

Davis looked at me and smiled. “Yes. I know.”

21. The Stroll

Although he was as irritating as a summer rash, there was something comforting about Tanner, like a favorite childhood blanket or toy. When Davis sent him off to ‘do something useful’, I missed him.

Davis was a busy man. His desk was sprawled with maps and papers, yet he excused himself to walk with me. We left the grand headquarters building and walked to the street. He explained about the bartering, which I was very familiar with and we stopped at one cart where a man handed me what looked like meat on a stick.

“I have no barter items,” I said.

“Enjoy,” Davis said. “Charlie here brings the meat to town to hand it out. Sometimes we have too much meat and this is a way to get rid of it so it doesn’t go to waste. I love these.” Davis held up his meat stick.

It looked odd and I took a whiff. It smelled savory, that was the best way I could describe it. I took a bite and discovered that the meat was tender, with just enough of a tanginess.

“Do you have any questions?” Davis asked.

“Where will I stay? With you?”

“More than likely. We’ll find you a job and start your training.”

“What will the training be?”

“Physical stuff, fighting and tactical. You said you wanted to fight.  And, well, you have a gift, Vala.” Davis stopped walking. “We need to work on that, bring that out, only we don’t know how. I have someone over at the library looking up old books. The woman who placed the blessing on you passed away three years ago.”

“So you knew?”

“I did. I was part of a transient group headed to New Mexico. I was in the camp when your mother arrived and gave birth. I was there with her in that truck. When you were born, I raced with you to get you to the camp.”

“You’ve known me my whole life.”

“Well, when you were with me. It broke my heart when your mother left.” He squinted and looked up to the sky. “I was sad for the longest time.”

“I’m sorry.”

“The special gift was placed upon you as a thank you for saving us and for protection. No one believed it would work. I knew when you were little. Many times the Sybaris were right there and it was like you were invisible to them.”

“They could see me alright in Akana.”

He began to stroll with me again. “How so?”

“They always looked at me during the choosing ceremony. Like they were waiting for me to be eligible. Or ready, as Iry said.”

“Who is Iry?” Davis asked. “A boyfriend?”

“Ugh!” I gasped. “He was my educator. I am not promiscuous.”

“What?” Davis laughed. You can have a boyfriend and not be promiscuous. It’s life, Vala, it’s what makes us part of who we are. Being human and being around humans. Touching them, being touched. Connecting, even innocently, it’s normal. The Sybaris  didn’t want you tainted, which is why you are going to the facility.”

“What is that?”

“The Sybaris want you to act a certain way and only know what they tell you. You are programmed, in a sense, to be exactly how they want you to be.”

I took offense to that. “I am rebellious.”

“I’m sure you are, but really, how rebellious are you when you act like having a boyfriend is a crime? You act that way because that’s all you know. We are going to secure you away and basically teach you all you need to know pretty fast. Sort of deprogramming you. We are going to teach you how humans act, talk, react. We are going to teach you man’s history.”

“I do know a lot about man’s history. I believe I at least have some advantage there.” I stopped, pulled back my shoulders and proudly stood straight. I was going to impress Davis with my knowledge.  “I know who Ronald Reagan was. He was a great leader of yours.”

“Yes,” Davis chuckled. “Yes he was.”

“And your God, he had long flowing hair.”

“He did.”

“I saw a picture of him.  He wasn’t wearing a shirt.”

“You’ll have that.”

“Not in Akana. Men always dress fully. Your God was very beautiful. In the picture, there was a light, it was behind his head, glowing through his hair.”

Davis nodded. “That’s called a halo. It signifies holiness.”

“I see. Do your people pray to him?”

“Many do, yes.”

“Is there a temple for him?”

“As a matter of fact, yes.” Davis said. “People keep it clean and go there regularly. It gives them strength and hope.”

“I would like very much to see the temple of Bon Jav Vie. Will you show me?”

As if I made a shocking request, Davis came to an abrupt halt. He turned to face me and stared down at me.

“Am I in trouble? Did I say something wrong?”

“No. Vala … you said ... Bonjav …?”

“Bon Jav Vie.”

He shuddered a bit. “Where did you hear the name Bon Jovi?”

“Oh, is that how it is said? I am so sorry. Are you impressed?”

“Yes.”

“I learned from a box I uncovered long ago. My mother said it was a time capsule from the year 1988. I kept it hidden and learned everything about man that I could from that box. It is special. I brought it with me.”

“I would love to see it.”

“I’ll show it to you. You’ll have to be careful.”

“Why is that?”

“Because there is poison in there. It’s the best of poison they had in 1988, so be careful. I didn’t throw it away in case we can use it one day on the Sybaris. You think we can?”

“Maybe.” He closed one eye, looking at me strangely.

“See?” I smiled proudly. “I am not as bad as Snake said, am I? I don’t have that much to learn.”

Davis didn’t really reply to that. He cleared his throat, placed his hand on my back, guiding me to walk. “Finish your food.”

23. Three Times

“What do you know about the Sybaris?” Davis asked me.

We had stopped at what looked like a garden. In fact, many people were resting there, enjoying their meat on a stick, talking to each other, laughing.

It was a comfortable place.

“In which way do you mean?” I asked.

“Do you know how many kinds there are?”

“Two. The Savage Sybaris and the Civilized,” I answered. “The Savage kill for food and do not reason. The Civilized ones use humans for food and workers.”

“Do you know where you are wrong in your answer?”

I shook my head. I honestly did not know because I did not think I answered incorrectly.

“There are three types,” Davis said. “The Savage, the Civilized and the Day Stalkers.”

“They are not Sybaris!”

“Ah, but they are.” Davis held up a finger. “They are a combination of the Savage and human. For every human a Savage kills, a Day Stalker is born. The numbers are growing, we are constantly fighting them. We have three thousand people here and we are trying to get more. One day I hope to go into the Wastelands of the east, as I really feel there are more people there.”

“How do you know?” I questioned. “How do you know that this isn’t it? That there are more people?’

“Because we get people every day. I send soldiers out to look for them. A lot of times they find remnants of villages and nothing but Day Stalkers. So people are out there, they just aren’t safe. I want to make them safe. I need to bring them here.”

“You control and kill the Savages?”

Davis shook his head. “Not always. We try. We lose people as well. The hardest to fight are the Day Stalkers. They don’t have the same weaknesses as the other Sybaris. They’re stronger because they can eat other things aside from humans, sunlight doesn’t hurt them the way it does the Savages and they are not afraid of water— they’ll dive in after you.”

I was speechless. This was new information.  “I … I did not know that.”

“It’s not water that kills the Sybaris, it’s the pressure of a lot of water. It causes some sort of internal combustion in them.”

“How do you know this?”

“Well,” he winked, “we experimented on a few Savages. It doesn’t work on the Day Stalkers because they were originally human. I’m glad that for some odd reason they migrate toward the Civilized or we’d be overrun. Those sons of guns are fast and tough.”

“The Civilized have the ability to control them,” I told him. “They call them. They use the Day Stalkers for entertainment and to fight Savages.”

“That’s because the Civilized go to great lengths to preserve the humans they have. Heck, you’re a meal for forty years. They take what they need, let you replenish, take some more. They want to control the human population so they are never overthrown again.”

“So it’s true, the Sybaris did rule the world at one time?”

“In a sense. That was long ago and man has ruled the world since.”

“This is what I do not understand,” I said. “In Akana we hear tales of a growing revolt. That is you? If they know of your revolt and they fear losing control again, then why do they let you grow?”

“Because with all of us centered here in Angeles City, it keeps the Savages out here. If we fail and lose to the Savages, then they’ll head toward the Ancients’ City. It will be a battle of all three breeds. And that, my dear, is actually a goal of the revolution.”

“A goal is to lose to the Savages?”

Davis shook his head with a smile. “No, we alone can’t defeat the Civilized. If we can figure out how to lead the Savages to the Civilized, then all we have to do is let them battle it out and they will. Then we pick off the remnants. The world, at least here, is ours again.”

There was something disheartening about hearing him say that. It wasn’t what I expected. I suppose it showed on my face as well as my silence.

“What’s wrong?”

After a brief hesitation, I answered him. “May I be honest?”

“Please.”

“This is disappointing. All we heard was tales of warriors training to overthrow the Civilized. It sounds as though what you really want to do is let others battle for you. Allow your enemies to combat, so when they kill each other, you take what is left.”

“That’s not a good plan to you?”

“No. It’s an easy way out.”

“Tell me why you say that, please,” Davis said.

I gathered my thoughts and hoped that my words would not offend him. “If a person wants to take full pride in and credit for the vegetables of his garden, then he should plant the seeds and nourish them. If you want this world to be yours, then do not get it by default. Do as our ancestors did. Earn your inheritance. Rise to the occasion, defeat them and only then take it back.”

24. Oceans Wide

I had heard of its existence, but never in my life had I believed the ocean would be so empowering and overwhelming.

Like a pilgrimage, people loaded into long vehicles that Tanner called buses, packed inside and they all rode to the end of the country.

I saw Tanner briefly, he said he was really busy and would catch up to me later. He was escorting people on the bus. It was as if I were forgotten about.  The only people I knew in Angeles City seemed so engrossed in preparing for something. The last thing Davis said was, “This is where we part. We have to get ready for the full moon tonight. You know what that means, right? I’ll catch you later.”

He too, would ‘catch’ me later as if I were going to be flying through the air. What an odd phrasing. I didn’t get it.

I toted my bag and climbed into the bus. A woman gave me a blanket and told me when we get to the ‘beach’ to stay with my assigned group.

I was lost, confused and had no idea what was happening. I didn’t even know what the full moon had to do with anything. All I knew was that I was shuffled about. Somewhere, somehow, it dawned on me that no one knew I was a new arrival.

My best option was to do what others were doing, be like a sheep and follow the flock. Obviously, they weren’t going to slaughter. Instinctively, I knew they were avoiding one.

The buses stopped with a loud squeal and everyone stepped off in an orderly fashion. I felt the coolness of the crisp breeze and the air smelled differently. Only a few steps into my walk I saw the ocean. It blended into the sky and extended out as far as the eye could see. The ocean was enormous. I had to take a moment to look. People brushed by me but I was frozen in awe.

What a beautiful sight, one I thought I would never see in my lifetime.

I did not know exactly who my assigned group was, but I followed those from my bus as they made their way to the beach. My feet sunk in the sand and it was harder to walk.

A woman must have noticed how confused I was.

“Honey, you can set up anywhere,” she said with a smile. “Pick a fire pit and relax, it’s going to be a long night.”

I thanked her and was still confused by what she meant. I stood there watching others set up blankets and plastic boxes next to rings of bricks, laughing and having fun, being relaxed. I was far from relaxed. I found my own ring of bricks, placed down my bag and blanket. There were charred sticks in there along with two fresh logs and twigs.

Fire pit. That must have been what it was.

I glanced around, noticing others creating a fire in their ‘pit’ and I figured I would do the same. In my stable bag, not only did I have my time capsule and some food items, I had the means to create a fire.

Starting a fire was actually something I was quite good at and I got mine going pretty quickly using the flint cube. After spreading out my blanket, I pulled out my time capsule box and a small sack of oats and nuts that my mother had mixed and baked with honey.

It was peaceful sitting there and staring at the ocean. I blocked out everyone. I couldn’t help but stare.

“Sweetheart, I am so sorry,” Davis said, plopping down on the sand next to me.

“For what?” I asked.

“Leaving you alone.”

“You are the leader, Davis. I understand.”

“You did a great job on your fire.”

“Thank you.”

“I brought you dinner and water.” He handed me a bottle and an item wrapped in a cloth. “It’s a sandwich.”

I smiled and accepted it. “Davis, why are we on the beach and what does the full moon have to do with anything?”

“You don’t know?”

I shook my head.

“Then I apologize again. The first night of the full moon, the Sybaris are at their worst. We try to bring as many people as we can together near the water. See that wall behind you?”

I turned and peered. I had been so busy I had not noticed the large wall that extended all the way down the beach.

“The Sybaris will come to that wall. It’s our way to get the most of them when they are all out there. We’ll shoot them. They’ll try to get people and they may succeed. But they’ll get a heck of a lot less people here than if people stayed in their homes. Here, people retreat to the ocean and go into the water.”

“I cannot do that. I’ll sink.”

“You don’t need to go out that deep. Just to your knees. Don’t you swim?”

“Swim?”

“I guess not. Swimming is a term we use for when you go into the water, don’t sink and are able to move about and float.”

“Thank you for explaining that.”

“Hey …” Davis smiled and reached down. “Is this your time capsule?”

“Yes, it is. I always like to look through it. It tells so much. The girl, Janie, who made this box, wrote pages and pages of explanations. It has your leaders, your warriors …”

“Our warriors?’

“One,” I replied. “He must have been a great one. “I searched the box for the picture of the strong man. His arms were bare except for the large gloves that came nearly to his elbows. He wore a leather warrior outfit and his chin and face were chiseled and strong. “Here.” I handed it to him. “Ben Hur. You must have been proud of him.”

Davis took the photo. “Ben Hur is actually Charlton Heston, an actor.”

I stared at Davis, waiting for him to say more.

“You don’t understand do you?” Davis asked. “You will know after tomorrow. Let’s just say he was a hero to many. And boy, I’ll tell you, that Janie person was an odd one.” His hand moved about the box. “Oh, hey, Best of Poison.”

“Do not touch it!” I said quickly before he could pick it up.

“Val, it’s a cassette. No worries, okay? It’s old. They stopped making these a long time ago.”

“That’s a good thing.”

Davis smiled and stood. “Well, I have to be going. I have to get my guards ready for this evening. I won’t leave you alone too long. I’ll send Tanner over.”

“He irritates you but you trust him,” I noted.

“Yes, yes I do. You can say … in a sense, he saved my life.”

“Oh, a hero like Ben Hur?”

Davis laughed. “Not quite.” He rubbed my head and walked off. I didn’t understand why he patted my head, though it seemed friendly enough.

After he was gone, I settled back into my box and shifted between the contents of my time capsule and studying all that was taking place around me.

For as many people as they were, it was the first time I truly felt alone. I was in a new place, with new people, far away from my family.

25.  When the Moon is High

The moon had not peaked in the sky, yet darkness had started to settle in. To my left and right, dots of fires illuminated the beach in a straight line. Though there was a beauty about the entire scene, I felt sad and out of place. I did not know if people intentionally avoided me or if they were so consumed with their friends and family that they did not notice.

I nibbled on my sandwich. I wanted to make it last all night as well as the fire. I poked the fire to keep the flames going.

Finally, Tanner showed up. I was really happy to see him. He dropped with a loud exhale.

“That is an impressive fire,” he said. “Who built it?”

“I did.”

“Good job. So Davis said you have a Poison cassette.”

“I do. I’ll let you see, but don’t touch it.”

Tanner held up his hand. “I won’t. I promise. I don’t want to die.”

“I don’t want you to die either.”

“Val, I’m kidding. Joking. Get it?”

“No. And you called me ‘Val’. Why?”

“A nickname. Something we do. Shorten names. And I was joking about dying too.” Tanner smiled at me. “Do you know what a joke is?”

“I do. We tell them all the time in Akana.”

“We do too. We also joke with each other. Kind of made-up tales that are exaggerated.”

“Why?”

“It’s a …” Tanner shrugged. “It’s dumb. Don’t worry about it. So tell me a joke you know. I’m curious as to what you Akanians find funny.”

Tanner wanted to hear a joke. Finally something I could do. I knew lots of jokes and we told them often. “Here is one.” I paused to giggle. “Why did the pig cross the road?”

“Um … I don’t know. Why?”

“To get to the other side!”

Tanner just stared at me.

“Do you not get the joke?”

“Oh, I get it. It is the same one as why did the chicken cross the road.”

“There is a chicken version?” I laughed. “That is even funnier.”

“Um … yeah. How about another one.”

“How many Sybaris does it take to ride a horse?”

Tanner shrugged.

“None. Sybaris do not ride horses.” I laughed, one of those uncontrollable laughs that escape through our nose.

Tanner did not laugh.

“Did you hear that one before or do you not think I’m funny?”

“Oh, I think you’re freaking hysterically funny.”

“Thank you,” I answered proudly. “I do not get—” I stopped. I heard something. A noise or rather noises that I had not heard before. They flowed through the air, blending together. “What is that?”

“What?”

“It sounds like tones. Lots of tones.”

“That?” Tanner pointed back with his thumb. “That’s music. They’re playing guitars.”

“It is beautiful and soothing. I am amazed at so many things.”

“Don’t you have music?” Tanner asked.

“We do. But they are only singing and that is it.” I listened and soon voices were singing along to the music. “What are they singing?”

Tanner listened. “An old Bon Jovi song, I think.”

“I love spiritual music. This is really …” I leaned forward and was greeted with yet another thing I had never seen. Two people, a man and a woman, who originally were huddled closely to keep warm now seemed as if they were sharing air.

“What’s wrong now?” he asked.

“Why are their mouths locked?”

Tanner looked and then ran his hand down his face as if he were trying to swipe away a smile. “They’re kissing, Vala. Don’t you know what kissing is?”

“I know what kissing is. My mother kisses me. She never kissed me like that.”

“I should hope not.”

“They keep going.”

Tanner reached out, touched my chin and turned my head from staring. His touch set me back and I jumped. “Vala, you need to relax. It’s not a crime or sin to touch. It’s normal. It’s … human. And I promise, after you go through deprogramming, you will feel like you had a fog lifted. You may just want to try a kiss.” He winked.

“I doubt that. It cannot be sanitary.”

“That was funny,” Tanner said. “You’ll feel different. I promise.”

“How do you know?” My eyes shifted back to the couple.

“Because that’s what others say and quit staring at them.”

“I am not understanding it. What is the point of holding lips together?”

“There’s a whole bunch of stuff behind it. Things you probably know but don’t understand. Deprogramming is going to teach you about human nature. Actions, expressions, speaking.”

“I do not get this deprogramming. Why do I need it?’

“If you say things like your mother never kissed you like that, then you need it. It’s a cool thing. It really is. It was designed years ago by someone that arrived in Akana when they were eight years old. Then after you deprogram, you’ll see why and understand how people interact. How we joke and jest, gripe and flirt.”

“Flirt?”

“Yeah, it’s a playful thing a man and woman do. They joke around. Innocently touch. Do the flirting nudge?”

“What is that?”

“This.”

Tanner bumped his shoulder into mine. I was not ready for it and flew sideways to the sand.

“Oh my God, I’m sorry.” Tanner laughed loudly.

“That is rough play.” Sand had hit my lips and face and not wanting to taste the grains, I lifted my head and blew out.

That moment was when everything changed.

The music stopped abruptly and as if a war cry, the sound of many screaming Savages carried in the night air. The shadows of the Sybaris poured over the wall. So many of them, they flowed like a black river. Gunshots rang out, arrows sailed, but it was not enough.

Tanner yanked my arm and pulled me to my feet. “Get to the water, Vala, now!”

“I ... I cannot, I am afraid!”

“Now.” He scooped up his weapon and pointed. “Now!” He took off to go battle, firing his weapon with every step he ran.

People were running to the water as they cried out. Savage Sybaris braved the ocean air, swooping down, grabbing people and lifting them high.

It was all too reminiscent of a memory from my childhood.

Frozen in fear, I did not know what to do. I had no choice but to run for the water. As I turned, I heard a child’s cry.

Twenty paces from me was a forgotten child; she could not have been more than three. Lost in the confusion of the run, I thought of myself when I was that age, crying, holding my ears, not moving, just like that child in the sand.

I could not leave her alone, I had to get her. Right when I made that decision, she was spotted by a Savage. It moved quickly to her, like a simian, using its hands as well as its feet to run.

I did not have a weapon and the only thing I knew that was deadly was that Poison.

In my dash, I swiped up the Poison cassette, raced to the little girl and without stopping, swooped her in my arms.

Head for the water, I thought, Head for the water.

She clung tightly to me, her arms around my neck, legs around my waist.

I turned to run for the water and the Savage Sybaris had leapt over us, landing right before me and the child.

He twitched his head and opened his mouth, readying in typical attack mode.

I had to use my only option. Hoping with everything I had it worked, I hurled the cassette at the Savage beast.

It bounced off of him and landed in the sand.

The poison did not work. Or did it?

As he moved forward to lunge for us, I thought hard for it to work and wished with everything I had.

Please work. Please work.

An arm’s reach from us, the poison kicked in and the Savage Sybaris exploded. It was like nothing I had ever seen. Every ounce of his body erupted outward, spraying me and the small child with Sybaris blood and guts and only a wiggling arm remained. It twitched on the sand in the midst of the remains.

Seeing that as my clue to get to the safety of the water, child in my arms, I raced as fast as I could.

I was terrified. I did not know what the ocean would do and I was not just responsible anymore for only my wellbeing, I had the child to protect. I moved into the water until it encompassed my lower legs.

It was hard to stand there, the power of the water kept making me sway, but I turned so I had a view of what was happening on the beach. I wanted to see the battle.

The fighting ensued, but something caused the Savage Sybaris to change their minds.

Suddenly they started to flee as if scared. They ran from the beach, leaping to the wall and making an escape.

The guards and soldiers continued to fire their weapons, trying to take out as many as they could.

I witnessed it all, all while the little girl cried in my ear. Her mother must have spotted us, because a woman raced through the water to reach us.

“Thank you. Thank you so much!” she cried as she reached for the child.

“You are welcome.”

“You saved her, thank you. I just turned for a moment …”

“It is alright.” I released the child, who jumped into her mother’s arms.

My eyes stayed on the beach. I searched for Tanner, for Davis. Were they alright?

The commotion died down and a whistle blew. People began to leave the water. It was then I spotted Davis and he approached the remains of the Savage I had killed.

“Val!” Tanner rushed over. “Are you alright?’

Slowly I took my eyes from Davis and turned to Tanner. “I am. Are you?”

“Yes. You saved that girl. You … you took out that Savage.”

“I had an advantage,” I said and walked toward Davis.

“I’d say you did,” Tanner commented.

Davis crouched down by the remains of the Savage Sybaris. “I saw it, Vala.” He reached down for the cassette. “I saw what happened.”

“Do not pick that up. Please. You know what that does.”

“Vala …” Davis grabbed the cassette and stood, “why is this here?”

“It was the only weapon I had. I threw it at him.”

I heard a snort and turned my head. Tanner held up his hand, holding back a laugh. “Sorry.” He snorted again.

“What is funny?” I asked. “Davis, if we can get more, that poison cassette could be a weapon in battle.”

“Vala, it didn’t kill the Sybaris.”

“I do not understand. I threw it at him. If that did not kill it what did? What weapon made it explode like that?”

“You,” Davis said. “You’re a Mare. You are the weapon that made it explode.”

26. Comprehending

I was the outcast. People were friendly to me before, yet avoided me. And after the Sybaris incident, no one wanted to even look at me.

“They’re afraid,” Davis explained. “I don’t know how to tell them or what to tell them, except it’s a gift.”

“It is also a curse, as Iry told me.”

“Iry? The boyfriend?” Davis asked.

I actually tried to stomp my foot like a pouting child, but it was useless in the sand. “No. My former educator.”

“Let’s sit, Vala.” Davis led me near the wall where we took a seat on the stairs. “You have brought this man up before.”

“He is not a man, he is a civilized Sybaris.”

Davis cocked back. “And he knows for sure you’re a Mare?”

“He told me about things. Said I was a blessing for some, a curse for others. He must have meant I was a curse for man.”

“No.” Davis shook his head. “Far from it. You are a curse to them. What you did to the Savage was unbelievable.”

“Iry said I can make things happen by feeling it or thinking it.”

“I’ve heard that as well.”

“What if I get angry and hurt someone that isn’t bad? Like Tanner?”

“Well, I can see Tanner pushing those buttons.”

I gasped.

“I’m joking. Yes, it is a risk, but it is something you have to work on. Just like the other parts.”

“Other parts?”

“When you were a little girl and the Savages would come, you’d close your eyes and cover your ears. That created an invisibility about you. We have to work on making that happen without covering your eyes. The weapon portion, another part. The transporting can be a big thing.”

“What do you mean?”

“One of the abilities that we are certain of is an out of body experience in which the Mare can travel anywhere, by direction of the mind. You have to have been there, though, I remember being told that.”

“So if I trained, then I could go to the sea and look for people instead of you sending Tanner and Marie out?”

“Conceivably.”

“How do you know so much about Mares?”

“Because we had one for the longest time. Problem was, she was quite old and couldn’t do much more than mental work. She was the one who blessed you with the gift and hoped one day you’d come back.”

“I did. Sadly, I have missed her.”

“I have people going through the library and her notes. We’ll piece it together. For now, things are calm. You should try to rest.”

“My heart still races and I feel as if I am being shunned.”

“Nah, people are just a little taken back. They’ll be fine.”

“Will I see Tanner?”

“Probably not. He’s on cleanup. Body burning. You’ll see him tomorrow.”

I stood and prepared to walk to my area and fire pit. I paused and looked back. “Davis, you were playing music. You were even leading it. You are very good.”

“Thank you, Vala. I should hope. When the world ended, I was topping the country charts.”

I smiled awkwardly. Not having a clue what ‘topping the charts’ meant, I took it as an accomplishment because Davis stated it with such pride. Rest was not easy. My body felt as if my blood was still pumping at full speed. I lay there listening to the ocean and absorbing the sound it made. I could feel the pull of it, even with my eyes closed.

Then it happened again.

A state of sleep, yet in a realization of what was happening.

My mind knew my body was sleeping, yet I was aware of all that was going on. Aware that I felt pulled at my center core. Physically, I felt as if I were spinning.

Spinning. Spinning.

Release.

I’d experienced it before, two nights earlier when I was floating on the sea. Perhaps it was the water. Whatever the case, I was filled with the sensation of flying. Moving fast, I soared through the night sky, flashes of light hitting my eyes. A part of me feared I had died, because when I turned from the flashing lights, I found the ground far below me.

I was being pulled and that was the only thing I could think of to describe it. I had no direction whatsoever, lassoed by an invisible rope and quickly reeled in.

Over the fields, the mountains, the desert until finally … I descended into Akana.

It was night and the village was dark, except for my home.

I knew the reason for that. My poor mother was sick with worry over me and could not sleep. She was probably pacing the floors, sobbing.

Was it a lucid dream or had I traveled some way to Akana? Traveling like Davis said, using the ability I had as a Mare.

I landed behind my home and used the back entrance to get in.

The eating area was dark and the light came from the living room. To get there I had to pass my own room and I paused.

Even though it was only a couple days, I missed my little sister Sophie and I stepped into the bedroom. Seeing she was sound asleep, I walked to her bed. The thin cover had dropped halfway down and I reached for it.

My hand was translucent. I could see the blood pumping, but it did not look like blood, it was illuminated. Streaks of light pulsated through my veins. I reached for the covers and brought them to her shoulders.

Sophie groaned and rolled over, her eyes opened slightly.

“Vala?” she said groggily.

“Shh, Sophie, I miss you.”

“I miss you, too.”

“Go back to sleep. You are dreaming.” I leaned down to her and placed my lips gently to her forehead. Sophie rolled to her other side.

I stood completely, then went to check on my mother. I heard voices. I recognized my mother’s but not the other voice.

I walked the narrow hall that led to the living room. My mother sat in a chair and beside her, kneeling, was a woman. The woman had long, thick, curly auburn hair and a beautiful face. She smiled at my mother, then removed a tube from her arm.

She was taking my mother’s blood.

“You are very gentle, Nezil,” my mother said. “The woman last night was tough.”

“I have been doing this for a while.” She stood and smiled again. “I’ll make sure they get this.”

“Please tell Nito for me.”

“I will,” Nezil said. “She knows.”

In a flash of anger, I knew Nito was taking my mother’s blood. A tradeoff of some kind to keep my mother and sister safe. All because of me.

Nezil placed the tube in her satchel. She then pulled out a small velvet sack and placed it in my mother’s hand. “Nito says she placed extra in here to buy your little one the best dress when the dressmakers come to town.”

“Thank you. I will. Not much longer and I will not have to do this. Give Nito my thanks and please tell her, I will deliver Vala.”

No.

No.

I backed up. It was a dream. It had to be a dream. My mother was selling her blood to Nito with the promise of giving me to her?

There was no way. My mind was playing tricks. The dream was a nightmare. I spun, raced down the hall and out the back door.

Just as I stepped out into the cool night air, Nito appeared.

She stood before me with a wicked smile. “Wake up, Mare. I am coming for you soon.”

With a feeling of falling a hundred feet and a hard thump to my chest, I sprang awake and sat up, out of breath.

The sky was getting light. My fire had dwindled to a smolder and the beach was quiet.

The ocean had moved closer and the temperature had dropped. My body shook from the chill and from the dream.

Grabbing the blanket, I pulled it around my shoulders. I was awake now and falling back to sleep was not an option.

Something about the dream shook me to my core. I kept telling myself it was not real. It couldn’t be.

27. Knowing

In the morning, everyone was responsible for cleaning their area and fixing the fire pit for the next beach night. I had not seen Tanner and was worried that I would not. When I was finished cleaning my area, I waited by the stairs while Davis took command of all that was going on.

Finally, Tanner appeared. He offered me a cup of hot brown substance and a plate of eggs. He gave me both with a tired smile.

I accepted them gratefully.

“You did not sleep?” I asked him.

“No, I was on watch after clean up. You did, though.”

“You watched me sleep?”

“No, that’s creepy. I checked on you. Did you sleep alright?”

I shook my head. “My dreams were bad. They depressed me.”

“I’m sorry. The good thing is, they’re only dreams, right?”

“Right.”

“You have a busy day.”

“I do?”

“Yep. You get to go to the museum and then you go into the bunker for your deprogramming.”

“Tanner, you, Davis, Marie and Snake are all I know. Please tell me I will see you when I am in this deprogramming.”

“Do you want to?”

“Yes.” I nodded, enjoying the food he brought. The drink was bitter, but I did not want to shadow his generosity by showing my distaste for it.

“Then I’ll find a way. For now, I’ll leave you with Davis and I have to get some sleep.”

“Please do. You have Sybaris eyes.”

“I have what?”

“Darkness under your eyes.”

“Oh, yeah. Lack of sleep does that to you.”

Tanner stayed with me until I finished eating. He talked about cleaning up the dead Savage Sybaris and then how he would go to his field job after he had gotten some sleep. He also spoke of training to be a soldier. He spoke so highly of being a soldier that a part of me longed to do that as well.

However, as it was explained to me, I had a lot to do first.

I was curious and nervous about the bunker. I was also excited about the museum. I had heard of them, but never saw one.

Davis came for me after I had finished eating and took me to a horse drawn carriage. There was a sense of familiarity about the carriage and I took comfort in that. It was just him and me and we rode the overgrown streets of Angeles City for nearly one-half hour, arriving at a building that was long and huge.

The front had an arched entranceway and like everything else, was overgrown with vines.

“Last stop.” Davis reached to the back of the carriage and pulled out a large sack. “This is your new wardrobe and belongings. Your bunker teachers will help you with them.”

“This is the bunker?”

“No, this is the museum of man’s history. The bunker is under this.”

He stepped from the carriage, secured the horses, then helped me down. I placed both my own bag and the new one over my shoulders and followed him up the path to the building.

The sign by the door clearly read ‘Museum’ but over the previous name, written in red ink was the word ‘Man’s’.

Man’s Museum.

“It’s quite awesome in here,” Davis said. “People come here all the time.”

“Even though they know man’s history?”

“Absolutely. We like to be reminded.” He led me to the double doors. “Don’t let the outside fool you.” Davis reached for the door. “We take great care in preserving what was here, but we also added our own new division. Things we’ve collected and added. Come on.” He opened the door.

The sunlight streaked through the windows, adding a warm feeling to the wooden and marble interior. Stepping down the small staircase, I was immediately greeted with a huge sign. On the left side of it was a picture of a man. He wore dark clothing, a vest, jacket and a tie like most Sybaris wore. His legs were crossed and he had a studious look about him. “T.S. Eliot,” Davis said. “A great writer and poet. We thought he would be fitting for this exhibit. We call this the T.S. Eliot wing.”

“Why?”

“Because of a poem he wrote,” Davis said. “This is part of it.  It’s called, The Hollow Man. You can read the whole piece inside.”

This is the way the world ends

This is the way the world ends

This is the way the world ends

Not with a bang, but a whimper.

The words were strong and sobering. I read them out loud, the last of which rolled from my tongue in a whisper. “Not with a bang, but a whimper.”

“How true that is.”

“I thought this was a museum about man’s history. Is it not?”

“It is,” Davis said. “Man makes history every day. This place will tell you about how we lived. And sadly, you are also about to learn how we ended.”

We were alone in the building and Davis’ voice echoed against the hollow and somber walls of the museum. I felt humbled and ready to absorb all that I could. With an open mind and heavy heart, I followed Davis.

28.  Hollow Man

It was bigger than I, round and beautiful. Davis called it a globe. I had never seen one and once he told me exactly what it was, I could not stop looking.

“This is our world.”

“It is huge,” I replied.

“Yeah, it is. And all of this ...” he motioned about the globe, “had people at one time. Do you see now why I hold out hope that there are others?”

“Yes, I do.”

“We are just a speck.” He moved the globe and pointed to Angeles City, in a land labeled ‘California’. “This is where we are.” He turned the globe. “This is where the Sybaris are said to have originated and ruled at one time. And this …” he spun the globe a little, “is where the end began.”

“India.”

“One point three billion people. Roughly one thousand people per square mile. To give you a comparison, the United States averaged eighty-five people per square mile.”

“So the people in India were crowded.”

“Very. Not as crowded as areas of China. But crowded enough that a bacteria, unable to be stopped by modern medicine, spread like wildfire. It started as a fever and then BAM … it was everywhere.”

He took me by my arm and led me down a hall. On the walls were large images with words encased in glass. “These are old newspapers we are preserving them. This is the first of them.”

I looked at the images. Bold wording saying ‘Virus!’, ‘Millions dead!’ Images of crying people wearing masks. One image was of soldier standing near a pile of burning bodies.

“The beginning,” he explained. “And then …” he stepped further down.

China Closes border.

“It hit the next country,” I said in dawning realization. “You mentioned that one as being crowded.”

“You got it. This was about six months before everything went insane. The bacteria was being pretty much contained to overseas. Really taking its toll. We had the means to travel by air. But all of that was shut down so no one over there could make it here with the sickness.”

“Then how did we as a country fall?”

“War with those things. Don’t get me wrong. It hit here, on the East Coast. Scientists were battling every day to find a cure for this thing. People got angry.”

Davis was pointing to different newspapers and images as we walked.

“The Westward Movement started and people headed out here from the east. There were some nuclear exchanges. Personally, I feel war was a cover-up for the attempt to burn it out.”

“I do not understand ‘nuclear exchange’.”

“Bombs of fire with power like you couldn’t imagine.”

Halfway down the hall the images stopped. replaced with photographs and written word on paper. “Where are the … newspapers?”

“The world ground to a halt. All of these papers are firsthand testimonies from people all over the country who witnessed the world end. Who witnessed … the rise of the Sybaris.”

“It is all here?”

“Yes. You’ll be in this building for a while, so you can come up and read all of these whenever you want.”

“You have an entire process for me.”

“We do. And I think you’ll like it.” He led me to a door.

“Are we leaving this part?” I asked.

“Yes, like I said though, you can come back. This here is the end. We need to start at the beginning.”

We turned a bend and walked into a huge open hall. In it was a giant but still monster. Its head was huge, teeth large and he was in skeleton form.

I shrieked at the sight of it.

“Welcome to the beginning …” Davis said. “to the world of dinosaurs.”

29. The First Step

We moved through the museum at a fast pace. Davis explained a lot and it was speed learning. There was no way I was to take it all in. It seemed as if a part of him thought I knew all of which he spoke of. I did not. I had no idea who the Native American Indians were or that there was something called ‘snow’ and people survived in that. I did not see how that was possible. Temperatures so cold that water freezes and some falls like a dust from the sky. It was incomprehensible.

I hoped to never see snow in my lifetime.

There was so much for me to learn, thousands of years of history was marked in images and statues. I could see myself spending a lot of time here in this museum.

There was one section that struck me as familiar, as if I knew it under different names. The look of the people and the way they dressed.

It was so familiar to me with the history I had learned of the Ancients, that I had to ask Davis.

“Were the Pharaohs the original Sybaris?” I asked.

“There is speculation but no one knows for sure. Why?”

“Because they look like the Civilized Ancients. The hair, the body decorations, the paint on the faces, all but the way they dress.”

“Well, no one can say for certain. Again, speculation. Some say the Pharaohs were the Sybaris and the Israelites were the humans. There are so many different theories on it that no one knows for sure.”

“Israelites. I really would love to know that side of the story.”

“You can.” Davis reached for the bag he had given me and slid it from my shoulder. He opened it. “We have a counsel and they voted that this book be included in the deprogramming process. Some believe in it, some don’t. Overall, it really shows how people act and react and it has some good advice.” He handed me the thick book.

I read the title out loud. “The Bible?”

“It’s a compilation of books told by man of God’s word. Some believe in God, some don’t.”

“Which God?”

Davis laughed. “To man there is only one God.”

“Ah, yes, Bon Jovi.”

“Um ... he goes by many names.” Placing his hand on my back, he took me to yet another doorway, this one leading to a flight of stairs. “Three years ago, a man named Jason came across the sea and had escaped one of the villages in Esperanza. He had lived there since he was eight years old. So, at twenty-one, he was a lot like you. We used books, old magazines and different things to help him understand our way of life. Even the way we spoke. See, we use a lot of expressions and clichés and things called figures of speech. Those are probably the hardest for you to get. After his so called ‘light switch’ went off on his head, he asked if he could help. He designed the system you will experience now.”

“Was your system not good enough?”

“It was. But he brought up the fact that he was taught to read on a different level so some of the things we gave him were hard to understand. He said if he could see it, he’d learn it better. So we helped him build his idea.”

At the bottom of the staircase was a door. Next to it a faded yellow sign. “Fallout Shelter?”

“Bunker. Your home for the next week.” Davis opened the large metal door. Anxious and nervous, I stepped inside.

30. The Time Bunker

Marie stood from behind a desk with a warm, welcoming smile. “Hello, Vala.”

“Marie will be your teacher,” Davis said. “Snake will stop by too. I figured since you knew them, they’d be best.”

“Plus,” Marie said, walking over, “I lived a decent amount of time before the event, so all of this is stuff I remember.”

Turning slowly left to right, I took in the room. The first thing I noticed was the lighting. There were no candles or lanterns. It was artificial. “How is that possible? It has no fire?”

Davis smiled. “We use a lot of battery power. You’ll use lanterns at night. But during the process, this place gets the juice. It’s needed and we have some good, intelligent people that figured out batteries and diesel fuel. Stuff you’ll learn.”

“We don’t want to overwhelm you,” Marie said. She took my things and placed them on a sofa.

“Will this beat me down?” I asked. “I am ready.”

“No.” Marie shook her head. “It may scare you at first, but I promise, we’ll have to drag you out of here by the end. You’ll enjoy it that much.”

The room was overwhelming. There were shelves and more shelves of books, large pictures on the walls, toys and some objects I didn’t recognize. One corner of the room was set up like an eating area. One similar to what I had seen in the forbidden Soap Opera magazine.

“The entire idea behind this room is to make you experience it,” Davis explained, “because you can’t learn it unless you see it. When I was ten, we moved from a place called New Jersey to Nashville. I went from speaking one way, to sounding no less than a country boy in a year’s time. Because I lived that life, I became a part of it. You would be one lost and confused girl if we let you learn it on your own.”

“We are going to give you a crash course,” Marie added.

“You have that time capsule, right? This, in a sense, is a time bunker. And this is where I leave. Good luck.” Davis kissed me on the cheek. It was nice and it made me smile. After giving a squeeze to Marie’s shoulder, Davis left us. The door closed with a heavy thump.

My stomach flip-flopped.

Marie took my hand and led me across the room. “This way. I’ll explain the start.”

“Do I need my Bible?”

“No. That’s for you to look at when you want.” She indicated a chair. “This is where it all takes place.”

The chair was large and fluffy and it looked as if it could hold two people. I sat down and noticed the black square. It was large and perched eight feet from the edge of the chair. A picture frame with nothing in it.

“This is called a television,” Marie explained. “This was an important part of culture and civilization. People viewed it to be informed, but mostly they did it to be entertained. It shaped many opinions. There would be things called television shows, some funny, some scary and no matter how outlandish or silly, the shows still depicted how people were. How we talked, acted and what life was like before the event. And to think, we haven’t changed at all, except we don’t have all the gadgets.”

“How am I different?”

“We stuck to the way of life we knew. The way of speaking that we knew. You were given and shown an entirely new way of life, a new way of speaking. You have no idea about these things because no one told you. You are like a fish out of water.”

“Except I do not flop for air.”

“Ah,” Marie held up her finger, “but you do. In a manner of speaking. You’re flopping around lost and confused because you don’t know what the heck we’re talking about half the time.”

“I have my time capsule. Will that help?”

“That will come in handy when we get to the episodes of Full House.”

“Episodes?”

“You’ll see. Like Davis said, the best way to learn this way of life is to live it. Or, in this case, watch it. You, my dear, are going be living the pre-event teenager’s perfect life. You will get to sit and watch television all day.”

“All day?”

Marie nodded.

I looked at the black square. “All day?”

“Yep, from that chair.”

“It does not do much. It is just black. How can I watch that all day? I will get bored.”

Marie laughed and reached down. Within a second the black turned to a beautiful blue.

I gasped. “It is magic!”

“Wait.” Leaning again, Marie pressed something else and suddenly the color disappeared and a grey and white heart appeared. There was music and a man’s voice said, “I Love Lucy.”

What was happening? I filled with fear when I saw that inside the black square was a colorless house with a colorless little person.

“Where is her color?” I asked.

“This is called black and white. We’re starting at the beginning of television culture.”

“How did she get in there?”

“She’s not in there, Vala. This is an episode of a television show. This is pre-event culture. Moving images recorded and shown on this box. This is what shaped a lot of our world and now, it’ll shape you. Um, I hope.”

“Oh.” I sat back.

“Just study, listen, learn and be entertained. Feel free to ask any questions.”

The moving images were similar to the newspaper images. No color. How advanced man really was at one time to create such a remarkable thing.

I was seeing people inside the television. It was like I was a God, monitoring their lives and everyday events.

There was something exciting about it. They were not there, but they were. While I did not quite understand how this was going to ‘shape’ me, I did not argue. I merely sat back quietly and with intrigue, watched this "episode" called I Love Lucy.

31. Deconstructing

By my third day in the bunker, I was in the flow of things. I absolutely loved watching the old television people. Laughing at their lives, understanding the wisdom the parents passed on to the children through lessons. The interaction between men and women. Something called relationships. Ricky and Lucy had a funny one. They used sarcasm a lot. Marie explained that was the show. They fought and made fun, but they loved each other.

The other family shows were different. The parents did not insult each other like they did on Lucy. Despite what happened, in the end, there was always a lesson. It took me a couple of days to realize that. Pay attention, look, listen ... learn.

One thing was abundantly clear, something that was very different than in Akana. Men and women needed each other, they worked well together and there was something natural about them becoming a team. They were not meant to be separated and treated as mere dolls.

So many decisions were made based on the feelings or guidance of the partner.

It was the way in the beginnings, after the dinosaurs of course.

In the Bible, Adam listened to his woman and they got in trouble, but they worked together. In Akana we are taught that once we realized the opposite sex was different, we were sinning. They were not to touch us.

Looking back, it made no sense. Especially since Marie told me the truth about where babies came from. She drew me disturbing pictures and diagrams that she called ‘technical’ and ‘educational’ and ‘not scaled to size’. After her explanation, it made sense.

If men and women in Akana did not touch, how did they produce children?

Marie asked me, “Well, what were you told? What did your mother tell you about where babies came from?”

For a second I drifted off to the dream I had a few days earlier. What I told myself was just a dream. My mother would never offer me willingly to the Sybaris, especially for her own benefit.

“Vala?”

“We were told when our bodies and minds were mature, the Gods would deliver a baby pill. We would swallow it and then the child grew in our stomachs.”

“That’s not how it’s done!” Marie exclaimed.

“I know that now.”

“How do you feel about it all?” Marie asked.

“The soap opera magazines make sense now. I feel silly.” Then I lowered my voice to a whisper. “Sometimes when I would look at the pictures, I would see a man and a woman looking at each other and it would make me sigh. It was beautiful and warm. I thought it to be a tale, because in Akana men and women do not look at each other like that. When they wed, they wed because they are told who to wed.”

“That was the way things were for a long time and that isn’t just Akana. Truth be known, Vala, it’s better to discover your husband or boyfriend by yourself, because that look is worth it. It makes your heart race; it makes you smile. Loving someone because you want to, not because you are told to, is an amazing thing.”

“Did you love?”

“Oh, yes,” Marie placed her hand on her chest. “Leo and I met when we were eighteen. Your age. I knew I loved him the moment I met him. When he kissed me, my stomach fluttered. It fluttered to the day he died.”

I sighed. “That’s beautiful. How did he die?”

“He died last year. Natural causes, not a Savage attack, just fell asleep and didn’t wake up. It broke my heart. I loved him very much.”

Knowing her age, I started to calculate how long they were together. And before I could speak, something happened. My eyes … they grew blurry and they welled with tears. They were not tears of sadness; I had no idea why I wanted to cry. A tear rolled down my cheek and I swiped it away. “I do not know why that happened.” I looked at the moisture on my fingers.

“You’re human, Vala and it’s coming out. Those tears are showing that you were emotionally touched by something.” She squeezed my hand. “We are making progress.”

“It sounds wonderful to have that. It makes sense now, why I felt the way I did at times. I hope one day to be kissed.”

“You will.” Marie laid her hand on my cheek. “You’re beautiful, smart and sweet. You will have lots of kisses in your lifetime.”

“Just …” I exhaled dramatically, “no babies. The route to conception sounds traumatic.”

Marie laughed. “You say that now.” Then she winked.

We talked for a while, one like I never had with my own mother and I loved it. Just before bed as I was making notes in the Bible, Davis stopped by. It was nice to see him; I had not had contact with him or Tanner in days.

“I got something for you,” Davis said, sitting in a chair next to my bed. “I see you’re reading.”

“Making notes.”

“In the Bible?”

“Yes, is that wrong?”

“No. Not at all.”

“They speak a lot like me.”

“Yeah, actually they do.” Davis folded his hands. “Are you, uh, understanding us more now?’

“Oh, yes. Lucy has taught me a lot. Ricky not so much, he speaks oddly.”

“Yes, he does.”

“Was Moses a Mare?”

“Was Moses a what?”

“A Mare?” I swung my legs over the bed. “I was reading about him and the kings and queens. He was raised as one and was thrown out for defending man. He led them away from bondage and performed great feats. Was he a Mare? It goes along with the story we are told of how man defeated the Ancients.”

“Moses was chosen by God.”

“So God created Mares?”

“In a sense. He does a lot.”

“Bon Jovi is crafty in many ways.”

Davis smiled. “HE is. And here.” He handed me a book. “This is from the library. I have been studying day and night about controlling your sort of telekinesis gift.”

“What is that?”

“Telekinesis is the ability to control things with your mind. You threw the poison cassette at the Sybaris because you wanted it to destroy him and it did. You have that ability. I’m working on how we can bring that out. This …” he pointed to the book, “is all on you. I want you to work on this.”

I glanced down to the title of the book. “Transporting with Your Mind. How to Have an Out of Body Experience and Astral Project.”

“That’s an ability you have. Only you can take it one step further. You can communicate with those around you. If you go somewhere, you have the ability to be seen if you want.”

“Davis, I have had this happen twice. I told you about the one time, but the other night on the beach; I do not know if it was a dream or if I was there.”

“What happened?”

“I went back to my village and my mother as giving her blood for payment to Nito. She was promising me to her. It seemed so real, yet, why would my mother do that? Was it a dream?”

“I can’t tell you, Vala. Only you know. You’ll know for sure when you actually try to do it.”

“You knew my mother as a woman, not as a mother.”

“I did.”

“Would she do something like that?” I asked. “Would she sell out her own child for her own benefit?”

“Vala, I will not talk negatively about your mother.”

“Please?”

Davis took a deep breath. “When your mother sets her sights on something, she does it. Your mother came west for a better life. When she heard about the Sybaris offering a better life than what she found, she set her sights on that. She didn’t want to run or be hungry.  All she wanted was to be safe. She had a great life before this world went to hell.”

“She did?”

“Oh, yeah. She was rich. Like the Ancients are. So much money. She was spoiled.”

This news surprised me because I never knew that about my mother.

“When your mother knew that a child was the key to getting in, she set out to get pregnant. I begged her not to go. I followed her and she promised that she wasn’t planning to sacrifice the child.”

“Why did you not stop her, Davis?” I asked.

“There’s no stopping your mother.” Davis stood. “Now, please, will you read that book?”

“I will.”

“I’ll let you rest.” He leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead. “Good night.”

“Davis?”

He stopped. “Yes?”

“Was my brother ... was my brother your son?”

Davis hung his head low, then peered at me through the tops of his eyes. “Yeah, Vala, he was.”

“I am so sorry. I truly am.”

“Me too.” After giving me a sad, forced smile, Davis turned and left.

I lifted the book. If not for anything else, I would learn for Davis.

32. Projecting

The first night that I read from the book Davis had given me, it happened again. The spinning sensation. I likened it to when I was a little girl and I would turn around and around and when I stopped, everything spun around me. This new internal sensation was followed by a feeling of release and flying. My spirit escaping my body, soaring out of the bunker, only this time I did not go home to my village.

It was odd because there was a moment when it happened that I thought to myself, I know I am sleeping but I am aware.

I soared through the door of the bunker up the stairs and through the museum. I could hear the screams of the Savages as they conquered the streets. Once I passed through the museum, I slipped easily through the door as if it were air and saw Snake seated on the top step of the museum. He was drinking from a brown bottle and he looked sad.

He would take a drink, then a Savage would drop down from the sky. It would move to attack him, then Snake would shoot it with an arrow, take another drink and wait for more Savages.

The next morning when Snake arrived to introduce me to the world of ‘color television’, I asked him about what he had done the night before. At first, he told me he was hanging out at home reading. I dismissed my experience as a dream, until I told him about it. It was then he told me that he actually was killing Sybaris while getting ‘drunk’. It was a bad day for him. The anniversary of his son’s death.

That alone confirmed that I was indeed doing some sort of out of body traveling, so all that remained was me being able to control it, learn to do so while I slept and then eventually develop the ability to do so while I was awake. There was a chapter in the book that mentioned bringing a ‘trigger’ into my dreams. A trigger means to think of an object as I fall asleep. It will cause my subconscious to bring it into my dream. When I see it, it would ‘trigger’ me to know I was sleeping and in turn transfer me to a lucid state, enabling me to transport.

The next two nights I was able to do so. Setting my traveling goal on a simple one, I remained in Angeles City, watching the Savages try to take victims.

To be able to achieve the ultimate goal in transporting, I had to be able to do so at will and not only when I was sleeping. The book told of using something called ‘white noise’ and to focus on it.

Marie said the ocean was perfect to visit during the day but I was not able to leave the bunker until I was finished with my program. She pulled out an old clock that ‘ticked’ at a steady pace.

It was in the middle of the day, just after I finished viewing an informative news show called Sixty Minutes. I lay next to the clock and focused on the steady sound. Once I had gotten into the rhythm of the sound, my body relaxed and I did all the steps the book had outlined.

My key was spinning. My body had to spin. Fast and faster my core spun like a child’s toy until I could release.

I was not sleeping at all and with my release, I looked down at myself lying on my bed. I feared, at first, I had died, then dismissed it. Marie sat in a chair reading from a thin paper magazine. The words on its front said ‘Caught Cheating’ and she was engrossed in it. I moved to her and she didn’t see me or notice I was there.

“Marie,” I called to her.

She turned a page.

Think. See me. Think.

After concentrating on my visibility, I called her name again. “Marie.”

She glanced up from the magazine and screamed. I frightened her and in return, she scared me into instantaneously returning to my body. I discovered at that moment, returning too quickly made it hard to breathe. I sat up gasping for air. One thing was certain, however. I had reached a milestone. It was something that could be a powerful tool and I had to perfect it.

Three times a day, in between our television lessons, Marie would have me practice traveling. She would send me places, all places I had been to in my short time in Angeles City.

Then innocently enough she told me to go to the ocean. To see the magnificent body of water in the day. I thought that was a great idea, especially after seeing Mike, Carol and all the Brady children go to ocean.

I traveled there and it was so much better in the light of day. I could not wait until I got released from the bunker and physically went there, because in my infancy point in projecting, I could only hear and see. I could not feel the ocean air or the sand beneath my feet.

Standing there, enjoying it, my attention was drawn to a familiar laugh.

Tanner.

I grinned widely. I had not seen him at all since being in the bunker. I had asked Marie about him. She told me he was busy and that Davis did not want any outside influences for me. For some reason I was filled with excitement over hearing him and I turned from my ocean view to see him.

My smile fell from my face. Tanner flapped a blanket on the beach and he was not alone. Smiling, he sat down with a girl.

She looked older than me, though not by much. Her short hair was auburn and it blew softly in the wind. She had a beautiful face with petite features. They sat together on the blanket and Tanner pulled out some fruit from a bag. I could not make out what they were saying but they were giggling. The sensation and sound of blood rushing filled my ears. They did that flirting nudge and then … then he not only touched her, Tanner leaned into the girl and kissed her.

It seemed in slow motion and they held the kiss for a long time. My gut swirled and my head buzzed. Anger and sadness, both at the same time, consumed me and I wanted to scream. I did not know or understand why it happened and the clash of opposing emotions swept me back and returned me to my body faster than I wanted.

“Vala!” Marie grabbed hold of me. “Breathe. Breathe!”

I could not catch my breath.

“Open your eyes and breathe,” she said.

Finally, I gained control and my breathing eased.

“Here, take a drink.” She handed me a cup. “What happened? You went to the ocean?”

I nodded and took a sip.

“Did something happen?”

“No.” I handed her the cup and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

“You look upset.”

“I … I saw …” Locking eyes with Marie, I paused. “I saw the ocean. And it frightened me because I could see it clearly.”

“Oh, sweetie.” Marie compassionately stroked my hair. “You’re fine. Why don’t we eat lunch and get back to our lessons? You’re almost done. I know you can’t wait to leave here.”

Something inside told me my mind wouldn’t be on my lessons, they would be on Tanner and that disturbed me.

33. Release

“It is called hero worship.”

I was not transporting or leaving my body, I was having a dream. A simple dream. I was in the bunker enjoying the books. Yet, there was Iry standing before me.

“It happens when someone saves you,” he said. “What you are feeling will pass.”

“How do you know what I am feeling?”

“Because I have been around.”

“Why are you in my dream, Iry?”

“Because you opened that door. You have been moving about. Now you can see me more. I know what you saw when you transported, him and that girl. It bothered you. It will pass because it is a simple infatuation. You feel jealousy.”

“This is a dream.”

“Yes, it is, but I am here.”

“Why?”

“Because, Vala, this is not you. This living in Angeles City, that’s not you. You are more than this. You are destined to be something more.”

“Akana is not for me either.”

“No, it is not.”

“Then what is?”

Iry smiled. “Me.”

I did not respond.

“This is very limited,” Iry stated. “Conversations in your dream state are limited to what your subconscious will allow. Once you are free from this iron cell called a bunker, I will find you. I will speak to you more. I will ... I will see you soon.”

Then he vanished and I slipped back into a normal dream state. One where I was not lucid, where Marie looked ten years younger and Snake was wearing Alice the maid’s uniform. A restful sleep and dream until I woke up and Davis was there.

“Ready sleepy head?” he asked.

I rubbed my eyes and sat up. “Did I sleep late?”

“No,” Davis said. “I want to get you into your new home, then start training you.”

“Training to do what?”

“I’ve been working on something. For now, let’s get you out of here.”

“After she eats,” Marie said. “She has to eat.”

“I’ll feed her when we get home.”

Marie shook her head. “I already have it prepared. Come on, Vala.”

I made my way to the table, where Marie had a meal prepared for me. I had gotten so comfortable with Marie that I did not want to leave.

I had been in the bunker ten days.  Longer, she said, than anyone else she ever knew. Marie told me I was harder to break than toilet training her son was. Prior to my time in the bunker, I would not have gotten that joke.

I learned so much. Marie told me she knew when I used the words ‘yeah’ and ‘okay’ I was good to go. ‘Okay’ was a new word for me. I liked it a lot, especially when I found out it actually was short for ‘all is good’.

Relaxing my speech was something I had to work on. It still was not natural and I supposed eventually it would be. I focused on how they talked on television and incorporated that into the way I talked. If I wanted to be accepted into Angeles City, I had to be like them.

I did not like leaving Marie. She was comforting and, in a sense, I knew she needed me, as if I were a welcome distraction. For as much as I was slightly afraid of leaving the bunker, I was sure Marie wanted to go home and I asked her that.

“Are you missing your own home?”

“Very much so,” Marie replied. “Davis promised he was keeping an eye out on it.”

“Fields are good. Ready for picking,” Davis said. “I even got Vala’s room ready.”

My eyes widened with surprise. “I will be living with Marie?”

Marie smiled. “I hope that’s all right.”

“Yes!” I shrieked enthusiastically and leapt from my seat to embrace her.

“I’m glad you’re happy. Finish up.” Marie said, darting a kiss to my cheek.

I returned to my seat with a newfound excitement.

“Wait until you see what I found for your bedroom wall,” Davis winked.

“I can’t wait.”

Davis nodded his head at Marie. “She’s talking like us.”

“Pretty much so,” Marie said. “She slips, but she’s getting there.”

“So it worked well? I was worried,” Davis said. “She was down here quite a while.”

“Even though she tends to whine like Lucy now, argued to get a Carol Brady haircut, mentioned she will not settle for a husband unless he looks like Jessie from Full House, she—”

“His hair is amazing,” I interjected.

Marie snickered. “Oh, yeah and she laughs like ALF.”

“What kind of laugh is that?”

I demonstrated. “Ha … Ha-ha ... ha.”

Davis laughed.

“At first I found it difficult to grasp,” I explained. “A furry, toy looking man with a deep voice and an affliction for dining on cats. However, …” I held back my laugh, “he is the king of sarcasm.”

“I concur. You love that eighties stuff.” Davis ran his hand over my head in an affectionate manner. “Finish up. We have a lot to do and I want to start that training.”

“Davis? The last we spoke of any battle, you didn’t know what exactly was going on. The only plan was to let the Sybaris battle it out themselves. Have you figured out how to do that?”

“No. That was the plan and that was all that we had to work with … before you arrived. Now that we have you, Vala, all that has changed.”

“You have another plan?”

A pleased smile slipped across Davis’ face. “We have a plan.”

34.  Lyon Estates

The village of homes was located outside the city limits of Angeles. No big buildings, trees or bushes took over the roads en route there. Davis called it a ‘housing plan’ or that’s what it was called prior to the event. He showed me what he referred to as a ‘brochure’ of what it looked like previously.

It was well hidden in the trees. Once we approached it, I saw what they had transformed it into. It had two huge stone walls with an iron gate. The words ‘Lyon Estates' were etched on a bronze style sign.

My first thought was there was no way that simple gate would keep away the Savages. Then I realized it wasn’t supposed to. The homes were plated with metal shutters and reinforced roofs.

Unlike in the brochure, there were a lot of homes missing. Some were ‘shelled’ out and used as indoor plant housing. Some were leveled to make room for planting gardens. All around the homes were small farms and people moved about the road, carrying goods by way of horse drawn carts.

With the exception of the farming so close to the homes, it really held the same peaceful simplicity of Akana.

Marie’s home was third on the right and oddly enough, a large gray structure. The second floor of the structure was sealed tight.

“Why are the windows permanently sealed?” I asked.

“We don’t use the second floor,” Marie stated. “We consider it a buffer, should the Savages make it through the roof. It doesn’t happen much though.”

The stone path to her home was lined with small flower bushes. She opened the door and I followed her in, entering a large room. Remnants of a staircase dangled from the ceiling, but the top was sealed as well.

Just a few feet into the entranceway, she gestured to a metal door.

“This is our retreat room,” she said. “Should a Savage attack become severe, we retreat to it. It’s reinforced. Typically the steel shutters do the trick though.”

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep through a Savage attack like you did. It was quiet in the bunker.”

“You’ll get used to it, trust me.” Marie smiled and walked me down the small hall.

“The kitchen,” I said.

“See?” Marie looked at Davis. “She calls it a kitchen now, not eating room.”

“Lucy never used her kitchen,” I said. “But the Tanners always were in theirs. Ha … Ha-ha … ha.”

Davis laughed. “That’s good.”

“Your room.” Marie pushed open a door off of the kitchen. “You can place your things in here. Davis has plans for you, so while you’re out, I’ll try to find you more clothing.”

“Thank you,” I stepped into the room. The walls were clean, there was a single bed there, a tall dresser and on the wall across from the bed hung a long color picture. With a gasp, I turned to Davis. “You placed a picture of your God in my room. Thank you.”

Davis winked. “Figured I had to keep you focused and spiritual.”

“I will. I love it, thank you.”

Davis clapped his hands. “Well, we better head out; I want to have you back before evening.”

I set my things on the bed and that was when I heard Tanner’s voice. Typically it made me smile; this time it sent this shocked twitch to my gut.

“Oh, cool, I’m not late,” Tanner said. “I can catch a ride with you. Hey, Vala.” He tapped my arm.

I spun around, stared at him then looked at Davis. “Can we go?”

“Wow, whoa,” Tanner said. “You ignored me.”

“Yes, I did.”

“How was the bunker?”

“Fine.”

“Are you mad at me?”

I wanted to say ‘yes’. I wanted to berate him. Where were you? Why didn’t you come see me in the bunker? More than that, I want to know who the girl was. I didn’t say any of that. I just said 'no'. Of course, in typical Tanner fashion, he was aloof and just said ‘cool’ and followed me out.

35. The Jail

The words were so faded they were hard to make out. The years had taken their toll on the gold words painted on the black background. Buildings all around the fenced in structure were burnt and destroyed, almost like monuments of man’s final violent hour.

It was obvious the fence had been restructured and the concrete road around the building was uplifted with growing grass and bushes.

“What is Men Central?” I asked of the only two words that were semi clear. The rest were pretty washed out with only letters remaining here and there.

“It used to say ‘Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Men’s Central Jail’.”

“I know jail. Lucy was in jail. She was arrested with Ethel, season two, episode thirty-one.”

“Then you know what this place is.”

Tanner laughed.

“That’s funny?” I asked.

“Yeah, that you know the episode and season. You’re so weird.”

“Grow up,” I snapped at him and returned to Davis.

His eyes were wide. “Did you just tell him to grow up?”

“I did.”

“That’s excellent! Anyhow …”

“Are there criminals still here?”

“No,” Davis said. “No. Something else is in here.”

I took no more than one step and knew by the odor that flowed my way. “Sybaris.”

*

Just inside the entrance to the jail the smell was overwhelming, even making me lightheaded. No one else seemed to notice it as much. It was horrible.

“Why do you have them here?” I asked. “Why not slaughter them?”

“Eventually we do,” Davis said. “But to beat your enemy you must know your enemy.”

“They aren’t your only enemy.”

“No, they aren’t. But the Civilized ones aren’t fighters. We defeat them, we still have all of these to contend with.”

“And the Day Stalkers.”

“Yeah, those too,” Davis said. “So we experiment. We haven’t fed them, but they don’t die.”

“The Savages?” I asked. “Because the Civilized will live for thousands of years with very little nourishment, they just wither away.”

“These do too. The only ones that die from lack of food are the Day Stalkers. But they don’t eat people, they are people. They kill people. Make sense?”

“Very much so. How many do you have?”

“About fifty. They aren’t easy to catch. Some have been here for years. We catch them by slowing them down with battery operated lights, loop a rope around their necks, like a lasso, then it takes about three of us to bring one in.”

“Killing them isn’t the hard part,” Tanner said. “It’s getting close enough or catching them.”

“Which brings us to you,” Davis said. “You have this ability and we’re hoping to use it to fight them, if you’re willing.”

“Very willing.”

“We’re hoping you can kill multiple Savages at one time,” Davis said. “You have the gift and if you think it against them you can make it happen. I want you to come here, see them and try it.”

“Think them dead?” I asked.

“Just one. Focus on one and then we’ll work.”

“I want to train,” I told him. “I want to fight the Civilized, as well.”

“You’ll be more on the intelligence side of our civilized Sybaris battle.”

That made me smile. Not that I was part of the intelligence portion, but because they were going after the Civilized and not leaving it to the Sybaris to battle themselves.

“You realize they aren’t physically that strong,” I said. “They can be brought down many ways.”

“I do.” He nodded. “If we can do it all at once the better. But we need to know where they are, their weaknesses, their city’s weaknesses, so we can pull off a full-scale attack. Once that commences, the Savages are going to run for humans and we have to be ready.”

“So you are going to infiltrate?” I asked.

“Yes, we are. We have a person we feel is perfect. We are going to send her into Akana or Belau to live and hopefully she’ll be chosen. She is with child, so they’ll let her in. That’s where you come in. Marie said you have been getting really good with transporting.”

My eyes shifted to Tanner. “Yes, I have seen things, gone places … the beach.” Of course, Tanner didn’t pick up on my insinuations.

“I want you to get to know her. So much so that you’ll be able to tap into her when she goes. You can’t transport anywhere you haven’t been. But I believe you can locate a person.”

“It’s so dangerous to send an expectant mother to the Straits,” I told him. “She risks losing her child to them.”

“We know, so we’re hoping she gets chosen before birth and we can get the attack formulated.”

“That sounds good.”

Davis smiled at me. “Oh, you approve of this one?”

“Yes, because you want to bring them down, not rely on the others to do your dirty work.”

Davis shook a finger at me with a pleased look. “I like that you picked up a lot of the language.”

“Full House and ALF were the best teachers … and a show called Roseanne.” I hurriedly looked at Tanner. “Smart comment?”

“Um, no, I’m sarcastically challenged right now.”

“Good.” I returned to Davis. “All right, let’s go try this Savage thing you want me to do.”

Davis reached for a thick door. “It’s gonna be loud in there. We’re gonna walk into what’s called a bay. The cells will surround you. Pick one, any one, maybe the first one. Focus and think about his death.”

“I’ll try.”

“Good girl.” He opened the door.

I gagged. The reflex hit me and I had to turn. It was worse than the time the pigs all got sick and died. I took a second to compose myself and stepped in.

They went insane. Every Savage Sybaris screamed and they were hard to see because the area was dark to shield them from sunlight.

I heard them jumping and banging against the cages. I brought my hands to my ears to block out the noise. It was unbelievably loud. I wanted to try Davis’ suggestion and get out of there.

No more than five steps in, one of the Savages reached from his cage and grazed my skin with his cold touch.

I spun to him. That would be the one.

His teeth hung over his bottom lip and when he widened his mouth and growled at me; I reacted instinctively and without thought returned a mocking hiss.

He whimpered and yelped like an injured animal. Then the entire bay drew silent and they all pulled back far into their containment areas.

“It’s like at the beach,” Tanner said with surprise. “She scared them.”

“Not good?” I asked.

Davis crinkled his brow. “Not exactly what I hoped for. We don’t want them scared, we want them dead.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Davis said. “Not at all. This is remarkable. We need to move to plan B.”

“Okay.” I nodded. “What is plan B?’

36. Plan B

We moved from the jail out to a field. I assumed it was where everyone trained because we passed a lot of soldiers doing hand to hand combat, practicing marksmanship, until we arrived in an isolated area.

Tanner and two other men drove a covered cart to the area, inside of which was a Savage.

He positioned me about thirty paces from the back end of the cart.

“We’re going to release him,” Davis said.

“He’ll burn.”

“You'll have about thirty seconds until he feels it. Up until then he is going to charge at you. I don’t want you to do that scaring thing. I want you to use the um … magic weapon.”

“Magic weapon?”

“Yes,” Davis said. “I made it for you as part of plan B.”

“So you’re a wizard?”

Standing next to the cart, Tanner laughed loudly until I looked at him and then he stopped.

“No. Just smart.” Davis pointed to his temple. “Just like the Poison cassette tape only worked for you, so will the magic weapon.” He raced back to our carriage and came back holding what he called the magic weapon.

“It’s a stick,” I said.

“A really big one and sharp too.” Davis turned the end of it toward me. “Here is the dangerous part.” He handed it to me.

“What do I do with it?”

“Once you grip it, you will learn to transfer the power. The power has to go from your mind to your hands and it will flow into the stick.”

Drumming up some of that ALF sarcasm I said, “Really?’

“Really.” He turned me to face the wooded area behind me. “Pick a tree. Any tree.”

“Okay.”

“Got it?”

“Yes.”

“Now grip the weapon and—”

“Stick.”

“Weapon. We’ll name it later. Grip it like a sword.”

I placed both hands together on the end.

“Now concentrate. Concentrate power going to the weapon.”

I closed my eyes and thought of power.

“When you know you have concentrated, I want you to swing out with the intention of slicing through that tree.”

I nodded, focused and concentrate. “Ready.”

“Do it.”

I swung.

Nothing happened.

“Try again.”

“It’s not going to work. It’s a stick.”

“Weapon,” he corrected. “Try again. Imagine the power coming out of the weapon as you swing.”

I bounced my shoulders up and down to release my stress, got a good grip on the stick, thought about power, looked at the tree and swung again.

It didn’t fall down, but I felt something. Like I hit it.

The tree swayed.

“Yes!” Davis shouted. “Good. Good.”

“It didn’t fall down.”

“It might not fall down, you may just slice through it. Now, we need some wood to burn. Take that power and imagine it as a beam of light. A beam that has the power of the hottest fire you can imagine.”

“Like a laser beam?”

“Hey? How did you know that?”

“ALF.”

“Figures. Yes, imagine a laser beam shoots out of that weapon and can cut the tree.”

I understood more clearly since he explained it as a laser beam. In my mind I created it, I swirled it and blasted the image into the stick. My fingers were the trigger and I knew when I swung and squeezed the beam would come out.

Once I was certain I had it, no more failures.

I swung out, squeezing when I knew I was close to the tree and the tree fell over with a loud whoosh.

Davis cheered, along with Tanner and the other man.

“Again.” Davis instructed. “That one.”

I looked where he pointed and swung out. That one went down as well.

“Again.” Davis indicated another tree.

A turn, a swing and another felled tree. Davis kept pointing to trees and I decimated them. Again. Again and again.

Then he yelled out, “Release!”

Release?

I heard the ‘clink’ of the cage and turned around quickly. Tanner aimed his weapon as well and out of the caged cart, the Savage Sybaris charged at me.

He was fast, ignoring the daylight. With a mighty growl and everything I had, I focused forward, swung outward, then up.

My first swing through the Savage sliced through horizontally and with such a force, he divided in half. His torso flew into the air and as I cut upward I easily sliced straight up and through his head.

There was no blood, only a thump as the remains dropped to the ground.

The sun took over from that point and he began to sizzle and smoke.

“Excellent, excellent job!” Davis hugged me. “Didn't I tell you it was a weapon?”

“It’s a stick, but I see what you did,” I said. “I needed a focus point. Like the cassette, the stick is my focus.”

“Piece of cake, huh?” Davis asked.

I looked down to the stick still in my hand. My heart was racing, I was slightly out of breath and still a little frightened. “No, not at all. But …” I inhaled, “with practice, it will be.”

37. Receiving Iry

It was the most physical training I had ever received. For three days straight my life consisted of waking, tending the fields for Marie, then off with Davis to train. I was able to run and do other physical training with the others, but for hand to hand combat I was strictly trained with the Savages. I wanted to be with the soldiers, however, Davis stated that until I was one hundred percent in control of my ability, he couldn’t take a chance of me engaging in fake combat only to make it real against someone who wasn’t my enemy.

I understood.

I went from battling one to fighting two. The sunlight was on my side, it slowed them a little. My true test would come when I was placed in the street to patrol.

It was something I was anxious about yet looked forward to.

After several days, Davis thought I was ready and told me to get some rest. I wasn’t used to sleeping in the afternoon because it was too hot. However, I fell asleep fast and hard. I had no intention of projecting and even placed that in my mind.

It was a dead sleep that began without a dream. Until I smelled the flowers.

“Vala.”

I went from complete darkness and nothing to bright sunlight and vivid colors. The feeling of being awake in a dream state hit me. Where was I? How did I get there without purposely transporting?

The sound of trickling water was behind me and then Iry stepped through a huge wall of flower filled vines. He smiled and handed me a flower.

“Take it,” he said.

“Why?”

“Just take it. So I can find you.”

“I didn’t come to you,” I said as I took the flower.

“No, I brought you here.”

“Then why do I need the flower?”

“So I can find you outside of your sleep world.”

“I’m in Angeles City, you know this. I’m not hard to find.”

“How are you, Vala?” Iry asked. “I can’t tell in this state. You look the same.”

“I’m good. Where am I? Is this some sort of Iry plane of existence?”

Iry laughed. “You picked up the human sarcasm.”

“I’ve always had it, I just never really knew how to use it.” I looked around. The grass was maintained, behind me was a small manmade waterfall. “Where am I?”

“This is my garden. My home.” He reached for my hand.

I pulled back.

“I won’t hurt you. I promise. Remember, I told you, in this state we are limited to what your subconscious will allow.” His hand touched mine.

His fingers weren’t cold like they were in Akana, they were warm and soft and slipped over my hand, gripping me gently. I stared down at our joined hands.

“It’s all right. I promise. Come.” He led me down a small path where thick green bushes reached out to us. We emerged to a large yard and in the short distance a house. No, it was more than a house. I think they were called mansions. Behind it, in the distance, the skyline of shiny buildings loomed.

“Is this your home?” I asked.

“Yes, it is.”

People moved about, tending to his property.

“Why did you bring me here?”

He stopped walking, turned with an exhale and faced me. “Well, I was hoping to entice you. This is where you need to be, Vala.”

“To be your blood slave?”

Iry laughed. “No. It’s more than that with you, Vala. It really is. You are more than that. You are a Mare. You are special. You’re special to me.”

I pulled my hand from his. “I can’t be that.”

“Look around, Vala. Luxuries for you. A life for you, your mother and your sister. No struggles, no worries. All the conveniences of modern man. The things that you only saw remains of in Angeles City. Vala ...” With a sneaky smile he said, “… the air inside is cool. Very cool.”

“No. This is not enticing. You only want to pull my blood, put it in tubes like Nito is doing to my mother.”

His demeanor changed abruptly, his cocky and arrogant smile vanishing instantly. “What are you talking about?”

“Like you don’t know,” I said with disbelief. “My mother is giving her blood to Nito for gold.”

“I did not know this. Are you sure?”

“Maybe not. Maybe it was a dream.”

Iry genuinely looked disturbed by what I told him. “Vala, I need you to trust me.”

“I can’t, Iry, I can’t. You’re one of them.”

“I’m more than just one of them. I’ll show you. Go back to sleep.” He lifted his hand and snapped his finger.

Everything went black until I woke up to the sound of the wind-up alarm clock. I believed it to be just a dream until I looked down and looked at the flower in my hand.

38. Nightfall

There was one custom I was glad I embraced and that was wearing a shirt with no sleeves. The weather was hot and sticky and it seemed as if any dirt and dust stuck to my body and the perspiration was the adhesive.

Marie packed me a sack meal for later and with that and my magic stick strapped to my back, I headed toward the meeting place.

I had one other thing with me ... the flower. I kept it with me during my meal and wanted to show Davis.

Sergeant Barrows was waiting by the transport. There were several of us coming from Lyons Estates.  He said to call him ‘Sarge’ and that he was our platoon leader.

“Is Davis on the bus?” I asked Sarge.

“Davis is busy. Can I help you?”

“No, I need to speak to Davis.”

“I’ll tell him. You need to get on, we have two more stops and I have to get you assigned.”

Davis was the leader and surely he wasn’t going to be around me all the time, I understood that.  I spotted Tanner as soon as I got on the bus.

“Hey,” Tanner called out brightly. “Sit here.” He patted the seat next to him.

I took the first seat behind the driver.

The drive into the city was short and we stopped two more times to pick up more soldiers. I hoped to see Davis, but it didn’t look as if that was going to happen until after my patrol shift.

Sarge was pretty good about telling me what my duties entailed. I had a two block radius in which I would ‘walk a beat’. He said it could be quiet or all hell could break lose. It never was the same day to day and the Savages were only predictable during the first night of the full moon.

I would not be in the same place twice. One night in the city, the next I could be walking Lyons Estates. Everyone rotated.

The bus dropped us off a good two block walking distance from our destination.

I didn’t know where to go and was told since I was new, I would be put with someone quite versed in patrolling. Unfortunately, that was Tanner.

I still had not processed why I was so mad at him.

Tanner was upbeat and oblivious as we walked to our destination. I remained quiet. We really didn’t do anything until the sun went down. I couldn’t figure out how we would see anything when it was dark. Maybe my eyes would adjust.

“What do we do?” I asked. “Just walk up and down?”

“That’s it. If you see one lurking, shoot it. More than likely if they come out, they’ll attack. Usually four to five at a time. But I have had nights where I didn’t see a single Savage. Who knows? You may scare them away.”

“Hmm,” I grumbled.

“Okay, what gives?”

“What? Gives who what?”

“Stop. I know you know better now.”

“Know better?” I laughed. “I knew before.”

“You know what I mean. Why do you hate me?”

“I don’t hate you,” I said. “That is a strong word.”

“You act like you do,” Tanner said. “I mean, we were getting along really well. You told me jokes, we talked.”

“That was before I went into the bunker and you didn’t come. You said you’d come.”

“Oh my God! No matter where you are from, a female is a female.”

I stopped walking. “What does that mean?”

“Chicks get mad so easily. I wasn’t allowed to visit you there. Davis told me, all right? I wanted to but he said no.”

“Fine.”

“Good. Can we be friends again?”

“We weren’t friends before.”

“Aw, man, you hurt my feelings. We were. You clung to me.”

I gasped. “I didn’t cling to you!”

“Yes, you did. You always wanted me around. It made me feel good.”

“Not good enough,” I mumbled.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

“What?”

I exhaled. “I decided after watching many episodes that you are mean.”

“I am not.”

“Please. Yes you are. You make fun of me. Mock me,” I said.

“You were funny because you had it all wrong.”

“No.” I poked him in the chest. “You had it all wrong.”

“No I didn’t. You spoke funny. Took things literally. Used complicated words.”

“You cheated.”

He laughed out loud. “What!’

“Cheated. You were lazy in speaking. And because I chose not to be lazy I was labeled weird. To be accepted I had to adapt and be lazy or be weird.”

“Yeah.”

“Not yeah. I wasn’t lazy, I spoke properly.”

“You spoke weird.”

“No … you ... spoke weird. Gimme, gotcha, kinda, wanna, wow. What is that? Not to mention, cool, awesome and every person is a man.”

“That’s pretty much the way it is,” Tanner said in his defense. “It’s the right way to talk.”

“You think that, but it’s wrong.” I argued. “What is the oldest book known to man?”

“The Bible.”

Smugly, I smiled. “I speak like they do. Or did. So it wasn’t wrong.”

Tanner growled. “Okay, can we call a truce? We’re patrol buddies. We have to have each other’s back.”

“I’ll have your back. Truce.”

“Friends again.”

“No.”

“What the …” Before Tanner could finish his sentence, surprising us both, a Savage Sybaris dropped down to the street in front of me.

Neither of us was ready. Tanner reached for his bow and I grabbed behind me for my stick.

The Savage lunged for Tanner and I swung out.

The stick broke and only mildly annoyed the Savage. What had happened to my training abilities? I tried again and nothing happened. I could only deduct that my argument with Tanner had consumed my mind and my focus. Frustrated and in my final attempt, forgoing magic and ability, I thrust the broken stick into the throat of the Savage.

Another dropped down from the sky. An arrow sailed into his head.

With a turn of my body there was another. One went for Tanner the other lunged toward me. I had no weapon, only my fist and I struck out as hard as I could. My fist sunk into his blackened flesh, through his chest and my fingers clenched his cold, still beating heart.

I retracted my hand with force, ripping out the heart. The Savage Sybaris fell to the ground and the cold blood pumped over my fingers. I tossed the organ.

Before I could comprehend what was happening, more surrounded us. Too many.

It was raining Savages.

Tanner was wearing a whistle around his neck. He brought it to his mouth and blew as he launched his arrows.

I was defenseless. I had nothing tangible to defend myself with, only my being. Drawing myself into the right frame of mind, I concentrated on my hands and focused on delivering whatever I could with them.

As Tanner fought, so did I. Only I fought differently.

Feeling as if I pulled from all the energy of my soul, I screamed a battle cry and palmed out my hand in the direction of a Sybaris.

An unseen force struck it and it exploded like the one on the beach. A splash of his remains fell at my feet. I spun to my right and tossed out my hand to the next. He erupted as well.

That was all it took. The Savages began to flee.

No, I thought. “No.” I filled with rage. How was I supposed to fight and defeat them if they ran away? That wasn’t beating them, it was only making them scatter.

“They’re leaving,” Tanner said, lowering his bow.

I could taste the outrage on my tongue. I wanted to prove myself, I wanted to be a protector. With wrath raging inside of me, I covered my ears and screamed.

What had happened?

The ground rumbled and windows that weren’t already broken shattered simultaneously. Glass not only poured from the sky, but so did Savage blood. Black and tarlike, it plopped down, filling the night air with a foul stench.

I had not even understood what all I had caused and was still processing it when Tanner wrapped his arms around me and pulled me out of the way.

“Watch out!” he said, pulling me back under cover.

It was not until we were under the safety of an awning that I knew why.

It was a downpour of Savage body parts. Limbs, heads, torsos and legs all dropped down. Remains of dozens, if not hundreds, of them.

Tanner had blown his whistle for assistance and by the time the other soldiers arrived, Tanner and I were standing in the silent aftermath of our bloody battle.

39.  Humbled

Sarge made a comment that it was going to be a long morning, because we had our job cut out for us with cleanup. No other Savages came to our assigned area that night. In fact, Sarge moved me to another quadrant. It was quiet and peaceful the rest of the evening.

The other soldiers and those on patrol tossed out compliments to me and Tanner about how ‘cool’ we were and congratulated us on the ‘good job’ of taking down so many Savages. Even Sarge handed out compliments.

After the tedious task of washing the streets and bagging remains, I received word that Davis was waiting on me. I expected that when I met with Davis at the end of my shift I would be greeted with the same high praise. Instead, I was thrown off by his anger.

Davis didn’t praise me, he scolded me.

“What were you thinking, Vala?”

My mind was stifled. I stumbled for words and was at a lack of response. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Davis roared. “Let me tell me what you were thinking. You weren’t thinking.”

“I was.”

“No, Vala, you weren’t.”

“How can you say that?” I said angrily.

“You killed … as we estimated, close to sixty of them.”

I folded my arms. “Then tell me job well done.”

“I will do no such thing. And you better lose that arrogance right now or, Mare or no Mare, we’ll continue without you.”

I gasped. “Davis, what did I do that was so wrong?”

“You didn’t think.”

“I did. I wanted to kill them. I didn’t want them to flee.”

“So I am to assume, in your mind, you thought about blowing up all the Savages if you just screamed?”

I lowered my head. “No, I thought about killing them, but not with the scream.”

“The scream did it.”

“I know.”

“Vala, you didn’t think when you screamed. You blasted them with emotions and lucked out. I’m not talking about lucking out and killing Savages, I’m talking about lucking out and not killing Tanner.”

That was something I hadn’t even thought of.

“As once stated in Superman, with great power comes great responsibility. You have a gift, but if you don’t learn to use it properly, you are useless. You can’t run it on emotions, you have to run it on skill.” He moved closer. “What happened?”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I was unable to draw upon the power to use the stick.”

“Tanner said you struck out with your hands and it worked.”

“Yes.”

“And then …?”

“They ran. They fled and I didn’t want them to flee, I wanted them to die. I got angry.”

“So a temper tantrum killed them?”

“I suppose.”

“Vala,” Davis placed his hands on my arms, “if you told me that blast of destruction was intentional, I would scream for joy from the rooftops. However, it scares me that you did that.”

“I’m sorry, Davis, I really am.”

“It scared Tanner.”

“I’ll apologize to him.”

Davis placed his lips to my forehead. “With practice, you will learn to do that intentionally. I promise. Until then, please understand that I am going to have to put you in rural areas not often frequented by Savages.”

“I understand.”

“Now …” he moved back, “Sarge said you were looking for me earlier. Did you still want to talk?”

I had almost forgotten. My eyes widened. I sought out my meal sack. “I think you can change your plan.”

“What plan?”

“The one to send the pregnant girl into Akana.”

“Vala, we need to send her to be chosen. You need to tap into her to see the Ancient City.”

I pulled the flower from the sack. “Here.”

“Thank you. This is nice. As I was saying—”

I giggled. “No, that’s not for you. It was to show you. I received it.”

“Oh, you have an admirer. That’s very nice.”

Davis didn’t understand and I guess I wasn’t clear. “No, I got that from Iry.”

The smile dropped from his face. “The Sybaris educator.”

“Yes. He came to me and pulled me from a dream.”

“He pulled you?” Davis asked. “Like, he transported you himself?”

“Yes.”

“Vala, this isn’t good.”

“You’re missing the point,” I said. “It is good. He gave that to me.”

“This is disturbing. How does this change plans?”

“Because Iry made an error by giving me that. That flower is from the city of the Ancients. He took me there. I have seen it. I’ve been there. And now ... I can go back.”

Davis glanced at the flower, the smile returning to his face.

40.  Advice from Marie

What happened on my first real night of patrol stayed with me and hurt the productivity of my training. Not that it mattered. I was fast labeled the “Sybaris Repellent”, because if I was there, they never attempted to attack. For over a week, I went where they needed me and walked a boring patrol. The only interaction I had with the Savage Sybaris were in the field training. It lacked the realism and tension of a real attack. That was the training I needed.

Housing areas that were always hard hit needed only for me to show up one night and the Savages stayed away. I was defeating the purpose. There was no way to destroy them if they did not come close.

To make matters worse, they started pairing me with the pregnant girl, Mindy. She was nice, but I didn’t understand why they had to send her. Why they had to risk her life and her baby’s life when I simply could work on getting to the Ancient City though transporting.

Davis simply stated having someone there was best.

Any gifts that I had were going to waste. I was becoming a pretty good grape picker.

Marie sensed my depressed mood. She prepared a nice meal before I went on my evening patrol, which coincidentally was at Lyon Estates.

I adored Marie. She was so kind and different than my mother.

My mother. I don’t think a day went by where I wasn’t troubled by the thought over what I saw or worried for my sister.

“Eat. You have a long night.”

“This smells wonderful.”

“It’s stew and biscuits.” She joined me at the table. “It's such a warm night and it will be a pleasure sleeping with the windows open for once.”

My heart sank and I sighed. “Because I scare them.”

“No, my dear.” She placed her hand on mine. “You protect us.”

“I want to beat them. I want them all to go away and the only way that will happen is if we beat them into extinction.”

“You’ll get there. They’re afraid of you today, but who knows what tomorrow brings? They may figure out you aren’t all that.”

My mouth dropped open.

“You know I am teasing you.”

“Thank you.”

“Why are you still down?”

“Because I want to fight but … but ... I’m afraid of what I am capable of.”

“I see.” Marie nodded. “Afraid of losing control again.”

“Yes and I can’t even practice that without a real attack. Thing is, I wasn’t focused that night. That was it. I know that was it.”

“What happened?” Marie asked. “Why weren’t you focused?”

“I was fighting with Tanner.”

She crinkled her face with a confused look. “Why were you fighting? I thought you were friends?”

“Were. We were friends. He gets me so mad.”

“I think it’s because you like him.”

“Oh, I don’t like him.”

“What brought it on? What did he do? He’s typically a really nice boy.”

I paused in eating and looked at her. “I don’t know why it got me so mad.”

“What?”

“I don’t understand why, Marie. I was transporting, I went to the beach and he was there with a girl, they were kissing. I felt this rage in my belly and wanted to scream.”

Marie sat back. “You were jealous. Jealous, angry, probably hurt.”

“I don’t understand why.”

“Because you probably didn’t understand that you were becoming attracted to Tanner. You are still learning how to decipher feelings. You weren’t raised to recognize the signs of ‘liking’ someone. But you feel it and you feel it when they hurt you, whether intentional or not.”

“Should I not be mad at him?”

“Oh, I’d be pissed. He did seem to take an immediate liking to you. Then he’s off traipsing about with someone. Who’s the girl?”

“I don’t know. Please don’t tell him.”

She held up her hand. “I promise.”

“So that feeling I get, the warm tummy flopping feeling I had when he looked at me ... that need to smile and my heart beating, that is all part of liking someone?”

“That’s the beginnings. Just wait until you feel love. And you will. You will also feel that tummy flopping for someone else. I promise.”

“You don’t think I’m being silly?”

“You’re never silly,” Marie said. “Except when you laugh like ALF.”

“Ha … ha-ha … ha.”

She reached out and tapped my nose.

“I want to feel that. I saw it on television. I want that,” I said.

“That’s not silly, Vala.” She reached out and squeezed my hand. “That is human.”

I stared with comfort into Marie’s warm eyes. We had gotten close in the short time I had grown to know her. I had never had a conversation with my mother like I did with Marie. We had honest conversations; I was glad she was in my life and hoped she stayed there for a very long time.

41. Warning

Working and farming the fields had to be done early in the morning. The weather was far too hot to be out in the elements, even with thin clothing.

Mindy, the pregnant girl, suffered from the heat. Her face was red and, despite drinking water, she wasn’t cooling down. I worried because she was with child.

I worried about her a lot. She would be leaving soon and I tried to convince them not to send her. I knew what happened to newborn babies, especially when they were male.

I heard a sigh and looked over to Mindy. She was balancing the basket on her stomach and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. A purple stain smeared with her sweat.

“Take a break,” I told her.

“No, I’m fine.”

“Go sit by Tanner, he’s in the shade.”

“Do you mind?”

“No, not at all. And eat some grapes. Fruit is good for you.”

Dirty as it was, she popped a grape in her mouth and headed off toward Tanner.

I didn’t understand why he was suddenly in the vines with us. Tanner usually worked other fields. Maybe Marie was trying to get us to talk. I did speak to him, nothing more than a simple greeting and I certainly didn’t share any more jokes with him.

I moved slowly down the vine of grapes. It wasn’t easy work and it was tedious. I knew that portion of the vineyard would have to be cleared by the next day. I reached for a bundle of grapes and examine them. They looked ripe. They would be used for making wine. I couldn’t wait to stomp them. In fact, as I held the grapes, I started laughing because my mind flashed to Lucy and the winemaking episode.

“Vala,” someone called softy. My heart jumped and I spun around.

“Iry. What …?”

“There you are. Do you know how hard you are to find?”

“What are you doing here?” I asked, shifting my eyes around.

“I’m not really here per say. I’m transporting, like you. Who on Earth did you give that flower to? I kept following it and every time I tried, I ended up in the room of some big man with graying hair and a guitar.”

That made me laugh. “Davis.”

“You just smiled.” Iry said. “I don’t think I’ve seen you smile much. You look beautiful.”

I lowered my head.

“This sun and training, it has done well for you. And … the lack of sleeves works, too.” He winked.

My eyes widened. “Why are you here?”

“I’m here to be serious. You said something the other night.”

“What did I say?”

“About your mother. Vala, she … this is going to be difficult to say or to believe. She is … placing you for bid.”

“What does that mean?”

“That means she is giving assurance to many well-off Ancients that you are coming back and she will convince you  who you should go with. Nito has taken over. And in good faith exchange, your mother is giving her blood.”

“Why would she do that? Why would she want to sell me out?”

“I don’t know. But there’s more. Nito has said enough is enough. I overheard her say she is sending a warning.”

“To who? To me?”

“For you,” Iry said. “She is going to force you to come back. To do so she is going to send a Stalker attack here.”

“Stalkers don’t attack here.”

Iry raised his eyebrows. “Leave, Vala. Come back on your own. Don’t let them come for you. Don’t let them warn you. It will only hurt these people you have grown to like. Don’t do that. Just leave.”

“I can’t leave, Iry. And do what?”

“Come back to Akana. You’re marked. Your passage is secure after the sea. Come back and choose me.”

I laughed in ridicule. “You’re lying. You’re doing this so I come back and you can choose me. You want me to believe Nito can scare me into coming back, then I return and still get a choice? How are her warnings valid?”

“She’ll make sure you don’t walk through the gates of Akana.”

“You said safe passage.”

“That’s because I will provide it. I will come out and meet you.”

“I can’t believe what you say. You are lying.”

“No, Vala, I am not. Nito wants you back. She’ll send the Stalkers and then let you know it was her. She’ll keep sending them until everyone here is dead.”

“No.”

“Then she’ll go after your mother …”

“No.”

“Your sister.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Believe me. With everything I am, this is not a lie. Leave now. Leave tomorrow. But leave before the warning. Reach out to me, I’ll meet you.” His head lowered. “Please.”

“Iry …”

“I have to go. That odd boy you like is coming and attempting to be heroic.” Iry sidestepped from in front of me.

“Get away from her!” Tanner yelled as he raced across the fields.

“Watch,” Iry said.

Tanner raised his bow and fired without hesitation. The arrow sailed straight to and thru Iry.

“See?” Iry smiled. “Think about it.” And then he faded.

Out of breath, Tanner reached me. “Where’d he go?”

“He wasn’t really here, it was a transportation image.”

“I wasted an arrow.”

“It’s over there.” I pointed.

He grabbed my arm. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you? Did he say anything to—”

“No, I … I have to see Davis.”

“Let me get my arrow and I’ll take you. With that thing coming here, it can’t be good.”

I didn’t respond, but more than he knew, Tanner was right. It wasn’t good.

42. Deciphering the Truth

Tanner seemed mad at me because I was speaking to Iry. He led me like a prisoner to the horse and cart and took me to find Davis in the city.

Davis was, of course, where he always was during the day: at his headquarters.

Tanner badgered me for information, but I thought it was important that Davis hear it first. I guess this irritated Tanner, because he grew angrier with me with each passing minute. Hand on my arm, in a manner I didn’t like, Tanner took me to the headquarters and led me inside.

“We have problems.” Tanner announced.

Davis cleared his throat and stood from his desk. “Did she blow up more things?”

I yanked my arm from Tanner. “I am not your criminal and I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Oh, yeah? How about communicating with the enemy?”

“I was not communicating with the enemy. It was out of my control.”

“Hold on.” Davis held up his hand. “Both of you sit.” He nodded to the chairs near his desk.

Again, Tanner reached for me and I stepped back, taking my seat. “Tell him to stop treating me like this.”

“Tanner,” Davis said, looking at him, “stop treating Vala like that.”  He turned to me. “How is he treating you?”

“Like a criminal.”

“What happened?” Davis asked.

I tried to answer, but Tanner spoke at the exact same time and his words mixed with mine, so we both started talking louder to be heard.

“Enough!” Davis yelled. “Tanner, five words. What happened?”

Tanner counted on his fingers as he spoke. “She met with the enemy.”

Vala,” Davis said. “Five words.”

“Iry transported to see me.”

“Iry?” Davis asked, “The boyfriend?”

“The enemy’s your boyfriend?” Tanner asked.

“He is not my boyfriend. He is my former educator.”

“Then why is he bringing you flowers?” questioned, Davis.

“He brought you flowers, too?” Tanner peeped out. “Wait. When? So this isn’t the first rendezvous?”

“It was one flower. One. And he brought it to track me,” I said. “He gave me the flower so he could find me. But I gave it to Davis, so he kept going to him.”

“That’s interesting information,” Davis stated. “That it can be an object, not just a person.”

“Davis,” Tanner snapped. “We have a problem. Really, this guy is a Sybaris. How many times has he come to her?”

“Four,” I answered before Davis could. “But I never summoned him and this is the first time he came outside of sleep. Because of the flower.”

“She was standing there talking to him like it was a nice visit,” Tanner told Davis. “She was smiling.”

“He said something funny.”

“Really?” Davis asked. “What was funny? I’m not being sarcastic, I’m curious as to what Sybaris humor is like.”

Tanner mumbled, “Probably along the lines of ‘why did the pig cross the road’.”

“What Iry said that made me smile was how he kept ending up with Davis when he tried to find me,” I said. “That’s all.”

“Tanner,” David said, “why are you so mad?’

“Because she isn’t afraid of him. She is nice to him. I’m beginning to wonder if maybe she isn’t a set up.”

“Oh, stop,” Davis said sharply. “She’s not and don’t let me hear you say that again. Vala, did Iry say why he came?”

I nodded. “Yes. Two reasons, one of which concerns me. The other night when he gave me the flower, I mentioned about my mother giving her blood. He came to tell me that she was telling the Sybaris I was returning and was taking bribes to influence my choice. She also was offering her blood as a good faith measure.”

Tanner audibly scoffed. “Oh, please, he’s lying. Whose mother would do that?”

Davis simply answered, “Hers,” then looked at me. “What else?”

“Nito, the highest of Ancients,” I said. “She wants me and has called for me. Iry said she is going to send Day Stalkers as a warning if I don’t return and she’ll keep sending them until I do.”

“Did he explain to you why he was telling you all this?” Davis asked.

“Yes, he said I should return to Akana on my own, be offered up in the ceremony and choose him.”

“Did it dawn on you he was lying to get you to go?” Tanner asked.

“It did,” I replied. “I don’t know what to believe. Davis?”

Davis folded his hands and calmly looked at me. “I have to say he’s lying. Vala, this former educator is obsessed with you. You are a Mare, he wants that. He’s pursuing you. He told you the Day Stalkers were coming just to get you to go to him, that’s all.”

“What about my mother?”

“Well, I might believe that, only because I knew your mother. But the Day Stalkers aren’t coming,” Davis said assuredly. “They are far away. North and East. How are they going to get here? We went to great lengths to draw them away.”

“Why would she use the Day Stalkers though?” I asked. “Why not say Nito was sending Ancient soldiers? He specifically said the Day Stalkers.”

“Why do you want to believe him?” Tanner snapped.

“Because he’s always been different. Even though I never trusted him, he’s not the same as other Sybaris. He tried to be sincere and honest with us students.”

“You are important to him,” Davis said. “He needs you, wants to claim you and will say anything to get you. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wants to have a child with you.”

“Sybaris don’t mate.” I said.

“Not with each other they don't,” Davis said. “But they can mate with humans. There have been incidents where Savage Sybaris have had their way with a woman and impregnated her. The results, well,” he exhaled, “the mother dies during birth and the child is a deadly abomination.”

“What happens to the child after the mother dies?”

“We were merciful. Let’s leave it at that,” Davis said. “It had to be done.”

“Davis, I have lived in Akana a long time and I never heard of interbreeding. They choose human children, raise them and then turn them.”

“They never had a Mare, Vala. It’s been said that if a Civilized wants ultimate power, all he or she has to do is mate with a Mare. The child will be special. And it’s never happened. He wants you so he’ll tell you anything to get you. That’s it. Simple enough.”

“So there are no Day Stalkers coming?”

“I promise you,” Davis stated. “They aren’t coming. It’s impossible.”

Davis looked so certain. I hoped he was right. While I had never been close to a Day Stalker, I’d heard stories. The thought of them scared me to death.

43. Riding with Marie

There was something uncertain in Marie’s eyes after I told her about the reassurance I received from Davis in regards to Iry’s warning. Did she think otherwise? I asked her about it and she shook her head and smiled.

The next morning, when I returned from my patrol, she was different.

“Vala, can you not take your morning nap? There’s something I want to do with you.”

“Absolutely,” I told her. “I can skip it.”

“No, no. No need to skip, just delay, you can forgo the fields today. I know Mindy has been attached to your hip since Davis wanted you to get to know her. You need a diversion from that. Also, it’s warm outside and instead of picking, you can squash grapes.”

“Oh! I have been waiting to do that. Season five, episode twenty-three of Lucy. Thank you!”

“You’re welcome. This is very important and it’s our secret. Can you keep a secret?”

“Yes. What are we doing?”

She lifted what I called a ‘saddle sack’ from the table and waved for me to follow her. We walked outside and headed to the back of her property where the stables were.

“You can ride, right?” she asked.

“Yes, I’m pretty good.”

“Excellent.”

“Are we going off alone?”

“Yes. I want you to see something and it can only be experienced through me. Again, this is our secret and what I am going to tell you has to stay with you.”

I placed my hand over my heart. “I swear.”

I adjusted the saddle on Roughneck, the horse. I liked him. Even though his name was harsh, he was gentle and he reminded me of Casey. His coat was silky light brown and he had a white streak of fur against his chest. I ran my hand down his mane, thinking of my Casey. A part of me believed my horse had not been killed, just subdued with the poison of the arrows. I hoped that, I really did. I hoped that Casey rose, shook off the fog of the drug and rode off to freedom.

Like me.

Marie didn’t say much, just that we had about an hour’s travel. We rode at a good pace, toward the mountains. We approached a hill, trotted up to the top, Marie leading the way, then we stopped.

From where we stood, we could see a small, quaint town nestled in the green mountains. There was something different about it, however.

It wasn’t overgrown with trees and foliage. It looked like a normal town with only spots of green. None of the houses were buried or hidden under trees or vines. After a decade, surely a regeneration of nature would have occurred. Nature was stubborn. Like man wanted the world back from the Sybaris, Nature wanted to reclaim its land as well. This town was barely touched by the process.

I didn’t see anyone, not a soul, not even an animal. “Do people live here?” I asked.

“Not anymore. At one time, in its peak, there were twenty-five hundred people that lived here. Before the event, not even a thousand people lived here.”

This made quickly look at her. “It got more people after the event?”

“Yes.”

“Is it cursed?”

“Why do you ask that?”

“Because even in Lyons Estates, homes are overgrown. Nature took over. Where is the high grass, the vines, the overgrowth of the foliage?”

“It’s there,” Marie replied. “Just not much, because it’s only been empty a few years.”

“Did you live here?” I asked.

“Yeah, I lived here most of my life. This is home. I’ll explain it all.” She snapped the reins to her horse and trotted down the hill to the town.

As we drew closer, I could see that life was gone. The barren town was exhibiting the beginning signs of natural regeneration. There was a main street blocked by old trucks.

I kept a few paces behind Marie, sensing her sadness. She stopped the horse and peered to her right.

“The pit,” she said.

I looked over to see a huge black circle. It looked like the remnants of the biggest bonfire I could ever imagine. “What is it?’

“It’s where we burned the bodies.” A snap of reins and she trotted a little closer to town.

She slowed to a complete halt and dismounted, tying the horse to the handle of one of the trucks.

I did the same.

She grabbed her saddle sack. “This way.” We walked down a narrow street of little homes. The third one in, she froze.

“This is your home.”

“Yes.” She breathed out in her answer. She had such a look of reflection and remorse on her face, I felt it. “When the sickness hit America, we were spared. The war started and freakish natural disasters happened. People claimed they were brought on by weapons.” She shrugged. “I didn’t know, because it never touched us. We believed, you know, we were spared by God. News traveled that the west was the best place to go and people came. Most people, like your mother, went further south toward Mexico. But a lot of people made a pilgrimage here and we welcomed them.” She walked up the path to the simple one-story home and to the door. “This town did well. When Los Angeles fell to violence, we survived. When earthquakes flattened the northwest, we didn’t feel a shake.” She opened the door. “When the Savage Sybaris constantly stalked Los Angeles, it was as if we were invisible to them.”

I followed her in, stepping right into the living area. It looked untouched, very dusty. There was a mantel over a fireplace and on it were photographs. “Your husband,” I said.

“That’s Leo.” She walked to the photographs. “He was all I had in the world.”

“Why did you leave these here?”

“I had Leo. I didn’t need the pictures. But that’s one of the reasons I am here.” She reached for the pictures, paused to look and smile at them, then placed three in her saddle bag. “This is all I need. One of the reasons I brought you here, Vala, is because I know I am safe with you. The other thing I want to do …  well, just follow me.”

She headed back to the door.

“Don’t you want to take anything else?” I asked.

“This is all I want. Everything else is here.” She pointed to her temple. “As you will soon know.”

We left her home, leaving the door open and started walking back down her street toward town. As soon as we hit the town square, the scenery told of a different story.

Windows were broken, parts of buildings were burnt or destroyed and splashes of what could have been blood were on the exterior of all the structures. I was mortified.

“Like I said, we in this town were invisible to Savages. Want to know why?” she asked.

I nodded.

“Davis told you there was one Mare. Remember? That Mare lived here. Like they do with you, the Savages stayed away from us. We bartered with Angeles City, we were a haven. But Davis never bought it. He chalked up our invisibility to our location and not one person.”

“If you were so protected, what happened here? Where is everyone?”

“That’s the other reason I brought you here.”

“To tell me?”

Marie shook her head. “To show you. You have a gift, Vala.”

“I know.”

“No, you don’t. You have a gift that Davis and the others are unaware of. I know, because I knew the Mare. The other Mare … she was my older sister.”

“Does Davis know that?”

“Oh, yes. But Cecilia, my sister, never told of this gift to anyone. Except me. It is a weapon that you can use that isn’t deadly. You have abilities, as you know. However, this one, you weren’t told about. You can get the truth. The ability is extraordinary and is called retrocognition.” Marie grabbed for my wrist and held firm. “Look at me. Look at me and focus.”

I locked on to her eyes and instantly I felt sluggish. My head spun and I was dizzy. I was connected with Marie and then suddenly, I wasn’t looking into her eyes, I was looking at Marie from a distance. It was a different time. I could tell by the way she looked. Her hair was shorter, less gray. It was as if I were a remote viewer. She was speaking to another woman.

“It isn’t anything more than a dream, Celia,” Marie said to her sister. “These are no more than vivid dreams.”

“No. No. She came to me again, I swear she did,” Cecilia responded. “She warned me. What should I do?”

“You can’t go. You can’t trust this.”

“She said she’d send them.”

I went from witnessing the conversation as if I were there, to looking at Marie again. I was confused. Send who? What warning?

“Davis told you not to worry,” Marie said. “Davis told me not to worry as well, that the Day Stalkers weren’t a threat. No one had ever seen more than one or two at a time. We found out our little ‘God protected’ community wasn’t as infallible as we thought.” Again, she latched on to my wrist. I was transported back and I realized, Marie’s memories were now my experience.

Hands and arms were all reaching, they had crashed through the glass of Marie’s window and reached in. So many of them.

Gunshots rang out and the screams of the damned carried into the house. It was loud, unbelievably loud.

Marie struggled to close the thick wooden interior shutter. Then Leo placed his rifle behind his back and aided her.

Marie closed her eyes. “They’re everywhere out there.” She jolted when someone’s scream from outside carried to her.

“Help me! Oh, God, help!”

Marie turned.

“No.” Leo stopped her. “Keep sealing the house. We’ll be fine.”

“Our people are dying out there!” Marie said through sobs. “We can’t just stand by and do nothing.”

“Yes, yes we can. We’re alive and safe.”

Marie raised her head. Cecilia had stepped into the room.

“This is my doing.” Cecilia said. “And I have to stop it.”

Marie shook her head. “What can you do?”

The wooden shutter burst open and dozens of arms reached in, grabbing onto Marie.

She screamed in horror as they pulled at her. Then I got my first close look at a Day Stalker. His face pale, skin torn from one cheek. His neck had a huge gaping hole and the flesh that remained on his body was rotten.

As soon as I saw him, I snapped out of that vision.

Marie released my wrist.

I was trembling and my heart was racing. I was there, I experienced Marie’s fear, her desperation and even though the Day Stalkers never touched me, I could feel their cold hands on me. I saw what she did and I felt what she had.

“When you cried out on the street during your patrol and killed the Savages, that was what Cecilia did,” Marie explained. “They had me. She just wanted to save me. Her blast of emotions wiped out the hundreds of Day Stalkers and many of the people in this town.”

My eyes closed. “That’s why Davis is cautious.”

“My sister didn’t mean it. It took everything from her. She lived another year but was never the same. No one knows where the Day Stalkers came from, how they got here, but they did.”

“If Davis knows this, then why is he dismissing my warning?”

Marie shook her head. “Maybe he’s scared. I don’t know. But you need to be prepared. You need to find another way.”

“Did they ever send another warning?”

“No. I think they thought they got her, because after the attack, she stopped using her gifts.”

“Should I go back to Akana?” I asked. “Maybe I should leave.”

“That’s not why I brought you here, Vala. I didn’t bring you here to drive you away and make you go back. I brought you here to be prepared. To learn from my sister’s mistakes. To show you the gift of sight. You can do it.”

“How?”

“You can’t fight what you don’t know,” Marie stated. “I brought you here not only to experience my memories but to experience the memories of this town, live that fateful day, learn from that day. Pick up everything you can from here and find a way to fight the Day Stalkers.”

“So you think they are coming?” I asked.

“You received a warning, Vala. It wasn’t a dream, it wasn’t a ploy. It’s not a matter of ‘if’ they come,” Marie said, grabbing my hands. “It’ s matter of when.”

44. The Quarrel

In all my years, though not many, I have never heard people argue or yell at each other. To be fueled by so much emotion that they project negative energy all around them.

Davis was that angry.

He was speaking in a stern voice unlike any I had never heard from him, nor would I have ever expected he would use with Marie.

“What were you thinking?” Before she could answer, he said the same thing to her as he did to me days earlier. “You weren’t thinking.”

Marie wasn’t me; she didn’t respond like me either. Her left eyebrow raised and her hand swung out. “Don’t you dare take that tone with me, Mathew Davis. I am not your flunky, your inferior, your grunt or a child. I am your elder and you will respect me, you hear me?”

I mentally cheered Marie on as she stood up to Davis, though I didn’t understand how it had come to an eruption of arguing. We returned to Lyons Estates relatively quickly, just before lunch. I was squashing grapes with Mindy in the bin, stomping our feet to music, when Davis showed up.

At first I thought he was mad because I was stomping and smashing grapes instead of picking them.

“Get out of there, Vala. Clean up and meet me inside.” He turned and walked away.

Then I saw Tanner. I thought perhaps he had told on me for not picking grapes. After I washed my feet and arrived back at Marie’s house, Davis asked. “Were you two at Rio?”

I didn’t know the meaning of Rio.

Marie said nothing and I pled pure ignorance of the question.

“Don’t try to cover, Tanner told me.”

Marie scoffed. “How would Tanner know?”

“Well, for starters, he said Vala wasn’t in the field. Then he told me that the horses were gone and so were you two. So I sent him looking. Were you at Rio City?”

“Yep,” Marie answered.

Then Davis did his ‘what were you thinking’ bit.

After Marie scolded him to ‘respect her’, I believed that was it. End of Argument.

But no. Davis yelled right back at her, “I will respect you when you follow the rules. This was against the rules.”

“What was so wrong?” Marie asked. “We aren’t prisoners. We can go and do what we want.”

“I cannot protect you if you leave the province, Marie. I can’t.”

“I didn’t need your protection, I had Vala.” Marie folded her arms, never flinching or backing down. I realized at that moment I had so much to learn from her. She was strong and unwavering.

Davis growled.

“Don’t you growl at me, young man. I mean it. And if we are finished, I have wine to make and Vala has grapes to stomp.”

“I’m not done. Why did you go?”

“Because she needed to know about Day Stalkers."

“And taking her to a graveyard was the answer?”

“Absolutely.”

“Vala,” Davis said, “did you learn anything?” he asked, his question laced with sarcasm.

“As a matter of fact, I did.”

“You two are frustrating! Marie, you know how valuable she is and you have her squashing grapes.”

“She’s having fun. Fun. She is not just a weapon. She is a person with abilities. You need to start treating her like a person. Like a woman, Davis. A part of me thinks you view her as some robotic thing and not a human.”

“Oh, I do not. Stop. And stop acting like some overdramatic hormonal female trying to protect her helpless child.”

Marie gasped. “Well it’s better than acting like some small-minded hick dictator sending his flunky wonder boy to do his dirty work.”

“This is ridiculous.”

“Yes it is. You are telling us what we can and cannot do. For a man who wants to fight so diligently to give us our freedom from the Sybaris, you certainly are taking liberties to secure that only you control our freedom.”

Davis opened his mouth to speak, closed it and then shook his head. “I’m done. This is out of control. Everything I do, Marie, it’s not done as a power trip. We are the minority. I need us safe. I just want to have us all close so I know we’re safe. That’s all.” He snapped his finger at Tanner. “Let’s go, wonder boy.”

Once he had gone, I asked Marie. “Why was he so angry?”

“I think Davis still feels guilty about what happened in Rio. So he buried the town. In doing so, he is trying to bury what he believes was his mistake.”

“You’re very good,” I said.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean so strong. I never have heard a woman face off with a man like that. Well, Ethel and Fred. But not in my real life. I want to be like you, Marie.”

Marie smiled gently at me. “That means a lot. Thank you.”

“Well, I want to go finish the grapes. We have a lot to squash.”

“Go on, I’ll be right there.”

“You’re going to watch us?”

“Oh, no, I’m angry and I need to stomp out some of that frustration. I’m washing my feet then I will be out there.”

That made me laugh and I was thrilled that she was going to join me and Mindy. Marie was amazing and I didn’t want to sound infatuated with her, but I wanted to know more. I wanted to know what made her so internally powerful and not afraid. How did she get like that? She was one person I wanted to see face off with Nito.

I’d give up a pint of blood to see that.

Perhaps as she stomped her anger out on the fruit she could teach me and Mindy a thing or two, because what she possessed as a woman was rare in the aftermath of the event and a quality we all needed to get back.

45. Almost

Patrolling the night before was more like planning. Everyone was preparing for the full moon. I couldn’t believe I had been in Angeles City for nearly a month. It had been a month since I had physically seen my mother, though I visited my sister through projections all the time.

There was talk about having the children be by me since the Savage Sybaris avoided me, that I was a sense of protection. Davis asked me to promise that if I were responsible for the children, I would keep my cool. I knew what he meant by that. Marie said she would be with me to ensure I did the right thing.

I was glad they were civil to each other. Then again, by the evening following the argument, Davis was over for dinner and they acted as if nothing had transpired.

Me, I couldn’t stop being mad at Tanner and this time it had nothing to do with the girl he kissed.

There was a word I learned from Full House.

Tattletale. And Tanner was certainly that.

It was all hands on deck that morning after patrol. The fields needed tending and the grapes were on that verge between ripe and rotten. It was a hearty harvest, so there were a lot of us in Marie’s vineyard.

Children darted in and out. They’d steal the grapes and eat them. Tanner followed me and I could hear Marie laughing. She must have known how he irked me.

“What did you call me?” Tanner asked.

I balanced my basket while I picked. “A tattletale. A big fat tattletale.”

“I am so not fat.”

“Now who is being literal?” I asked.

“You know, I think I liked you better when you were clueless and spoke wrong.”

“I liked you better when I didn’t know much about you.” I reached for grapes.

“I think the problem is, you like me more.”

“What?” I laughed.

“Yeah, you like me.”

“If I did, I don’t anymore. You have a girlfriend.”

“I do not,” he argued.

“You do. I … I was practicing projecting and I saw you and some girl on the beach. You kissed her.”
“Yeah, so?” Tanner shrugged. “That doesn’t mean she’s my girlfriend.”

“So you fraternize with promiscuous women?”

Tanner laughed hard. “She is not promiscuous. It was just kissing. Geez. Lighten up. She has a boyfriend.”

My mouth dropped open. “Your lack of morals shocks me.”

“Oh my God.” He laughed again. “Vala, she has a boyfriend now, not then. Okay? And it was nothing.”

“So you used her.”

Tanner brought his hand to his face with a slap. “I didn’t use her. I was bored, she was bored, it was something to do. I wanted to make out. If you were around I would have asked you.”

“I am not a slut.”

Tanner shrieked a laugh. “That’s hysterical. You aren’t a slut if you kiss and I like that you know that word.”

“Blame ALF.”

“I will. But I would have.”

“Would have what?”

“Invited you out.” He playfully nudged me.

“I wouldn't have accepted.”

“Yes, you would have.”

“No, I wouldn’t.”

“Yep, you would. You would have said,” then Tanner changed his voice to a high and feminine one in an attempt to mock me, “Oh, Tanner, I would love to have you be my first kiss.”

I gasped.

Tanner smiled. “You like me. Admit it. That’s why you got jealous.”

“No.” I turned and continued picking grapes.

“I like you.”

I stopped and looked at him.

“I do. How can I not? You’re pretty awesome.”

My stomach fluttered and I was frozen in a moment of shock. I would have said something, made a comment, but the moment was broken when a high squealing sound not only drew my attention, but the others in the field.

Marie called out, “Why am I hearing air brakes?”

“Air brakes?” I asked.

Tanner replied, “That’s the sound. It’s coming from out there.” He pointed east and toward the edge of Lyons Estates.

“Are we expecting a truck?” Marie asked.

Tanner shook his head. “Not that I know of.”

I searched for the noise and located the source as the squeal grew higher pitched and stopped. It came from the eastern edge of Lyon Estates. Whatever made the noise was shiny, reflecting the sun. “There.” I pointed.

“It’s a semi,” Tanner said.

It was a truck, big and long and the back end was facing us. It was just parked there as if someone just brought it and dropped it off.

Tanner took a few steps forward, as did Marie and I . As we moved, the sun blindness subsided a bit and the truck was less masked.

Two figures appeared beside the back of the truck. They were still somewhat shadowed by the sun, but I could make them out.

“Ancients,” I said. “They look like Ancient soldiers. They’re here for me.”

Before anyone could say anything, a third, smaller and slender figure appeared.

Tanner drew his bow.

Marie held out her hand. “They’re too far. You have to get closer.”

Tanner nodded and walked forward. I joined him. I was going to fight for my freedom. The slender figure climbed to the top of the truck. It was clear it was a woman and even more clear … it was Nito.

I spun around to Marie. “That’s Nito!”

Marie grunted. “She is not coming anywhere near you.” She charged forward.

Tanner was ready to shoot, I was ready to fight and Marie was prepared to take on Nito.

“Vala!” Nito shouted. “You have been warned.”

We stopped to rethink our strategy.

Nito opened the back of the truck and out poured hundreds of Day Stalkers – charging our way.

46. Day Stalkers

It was like nothing I had ever experienced. Why would I? The closest thing I came to a full blown attack was when the Savages pounced on us at the beach. Tanner had never experienced anything like it either and I saw it clearly on his face.

How many Day Stalkers did she have in the truck? They flowed out and ran our way through the high grass of the fields. They didn’t move like Savage Sybaris, they stood upright and were superfast. When the last of the Day Stalkers came from the truck, Nito jumped down. Focused on me, she followed behind the Day Stalkers as if they were her wall of protection.

“Everybody back!” Marie shouted. “Run!”

I moved backwards, unsure of what to do. Did I go and hide in the retreat room or stay and fight?

I heard the scream of a child as he ran. That’s when it dawned on me. We had to protect the children.

“Mindy!” I hollered to her. She stood frozen, seemingly in shock. “Go to the house. Get in the retreat room, now!” I ordered and backed up.

Mindy acknowledged what I said with a nod of her head.

“Vala, what are you able to do?” Tanner asked. “Are you powerless against them or can you fight? I need to know.”

“I … I don’t know.”

“She isn’t powerless against them,” Marie said, “but we need to take the kids now. Now! Go warn the villagers, hurry!” she instructed Tanner.

Her words spurred me to action.  I spun around and took off running. “Tanner!” I yelled, when I saw him still standing there. “Come on!”

“I’m gonna fight them,” Tanner said.

I ran back to him, grabbed his arm and yanked. “You can’t! Not alone. Help me warn the people and once you get the kids get to safety, you need to go get Davis. That’s all you can do.”

“What about you?”

I looked over my shoulder at Nito, so assured and confident, moving my way. Her two soldiers were a few paces behind her.

“I have to help the others to safety first.”

There were four children in the vineyards with us, Marie grabbed one of them as she raced to the house, Tanner grabbed two and I lifted a child into my arms as well.

We bolted to the safety of the houses, Tanner screaming out, “Retreat! Retreat!” He lifted his whistle and blew it loudly and continuously, a clear warning signal to all. “Day Stalkers! Retreat!”

Would the retreat rooms hold? I didn’t know. They were designed to withstand Savage attacks and I had heard the Day Stalkers were stronger.

We had reached the back door of Marie’s home and I set down the child I carried. It was not until then I realized Mindy wasn’t with us.

Marie took the four children into the house while Tanner ran toward the center of the village, blowing the whistle and shouting out the warnings.

“Vala!” Marie called. “Let’s go! Get inside!”

Where was Mindy? Finally I spotted her. She was moving slowly, holding her stomach. She was winded and in her pregnant state couldn’t move fast. Behind her, making up the distance and closing in were the Day Stalkers.

“Get them in the retreat room,” I told Marie, not taking my eyes off of Mindy for more than a second at a time. I stepped off the porch and grabbed the first thing I could, which was the stirrup hoe. I didn’t need much, I needed a focus for my ability. I wasn’t going to fear them, nor was I going to lose control.

I stayed focused. I was stronger than them.

With Mindy in my scope of vision, I ran toward her.

Her eyes connected to mine and she reached her hand out. Her shoulders dropped as if in relief that I was on my way and then … a Day Stalker lunged over the vine and landed on her.

“No!” I screamed, picking up speed.

Another Day Stalker joined in, then another.

Mindy screamed, a long, deep, bloodcurdling shriek that conveyed unbearable pain and fear.

I was motivated by rage and anger and I was so close. Just as I arrived, hoping against hope to help her, the Day Stalker stood. He was covered in blood. The second Stalker stood with something horrifying; in his hand he held Mindy’s tiny baby. He lifted it high and victoriously like a trophy. It was small, its arms flopping over his hands.

I didn’t know if the child was dead or alive, but I couldn’t allow them to have it.

Instantly I was reminded of my baby brother and I used that as emotional fuel. I could have easily aimed the stick and focused, but instead I leapt his way, swinging out, hitting him hard with the stirrup hoe. I wanted my anger to be focused on my intended target.

When the long handle end connected, it seemed to melt right through him, dividing his head in two. As he dropped to my feet, the infant in his hand rolled from his grip and before I could grab it, another Day Stalker snatched it and hungrily brought it to his mouth.

With a war cry, I struck down at him before he could consume the child. I knew there was one more there. I spun around ready to engage and took out that Day Stalker before he could strike.

More were coming, there had to be. There were hundreds of them. The Day Stalkers ignored us and ran toward the village of Lyon Estates.

I dropped to my knees, landing in a puddle of fresh blood.

A feeling of devastation consumed me as I looked down at the tiny baby not even ready to be born into this world. He never got his first breath, never had a chance for life. All that had ended at the foul hands and mouths of the vicious Day Stalkers.

I couldn’t even look at him. There wasn’t much that remained.

I had failed the baby. I had failed Mindy.

She wasn’t dead. Her stomach was a wide open wound, the umbilical cord dangling from her. She coughed blood with every gasping breath and her head twitched to the right.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” I reached down to her.

“My … my … baby.”

“I’m sorry.” I wanted to scream. Sobs built inside of me and Mindy whimpered. One small whimper and then she died.

Everything that transpired around me seemed to freeze in time and I swam in the aftermath. Briefly, I forgot about the attack. Then Mindy’s eyes opened. Her mouth widened and she made a hideous sound.

She had transformed.

For the final time, I apologized to her, lifted the hoe and using the handle, I ended her short time as a Day Stalker.

The stirrup hoe dropped from my hand and everything came back to me in a rush.

There were screams and cries all around, coming from Lyons Estates. The people there, like those in Rio, were being attacked.

Children cried in pain, women and men screamed in agony.

Knowing I would deal later with the grief over Mindy, I had to fight.

Once again, gripping the only weapon I had, I stood.

“Going somewhere?” Nito asked. She held her hand back to her soldiers, keeping them at bay.

I wanted to attack, I wanted to go after her, but I also knew she was the single source that could end it for Lyons Estates. “Stop this. Please,” I pleaded. “Stop this now. Call them off.”

“If I do, you will go?” Nito asked, stepping toward me. “I will stop this. I will call them back. However, you will return to Akana and you will choose me.”

I was about to answer, prepared to drop my weapon and surrender when Marie’s angry voice blasted from behind me.

“She will do no such thing!” Marie stepped in between Nito and me, holding a spear. She didn’t show a single ounce of fear. “We’ll end this and she stays. We kill the Stalkers and then you’re next.”

Nito laughed. “You feeble old woman. You know nothing.”

Marie did not take her eyes from Nito, but she moved back, spun her spear and struck at Nito. It hit Nito in the side of the face, sending her backwards.

A soldier moved for Marie and with the spear end out, she quickly impaled him in the chest. When she retracted it, Nito had gained her footing.

“Vala, go!” Marie yelled, swinging toward Nito, only Nito caught the spear. They engaged in a struggle over the weapon.

Marie wanted me to leave, but I couldn’t. What if she needed me? Even though I knew Marie wanted to handle it, I stayed.

The remaining soldier came forward to intervene and Nito screeched at him, “I have this!” With a grunt, she took control of the spear, swung out, striking Marie. The blow stumbled Marie back and blood poured from her forehead.

That didn’t stop Marie. With a closed fist, she struck Nito, causing the spear to drop from her hand.

I believed Marie was facing her victory. Nito was actually bleeding from her lip.

Then it all happened so fast. Nito acted so quickly, I barely caught movement. She reached out, grabbed Marie by the throat, yanked her close, then with a wicked, demonic scream, struck into Marie’s chest and ripped out her heart.

Nito looked at me with a snide smile. “We’re not so different after all, are we, Vala?”

Marie was still alive; her body jerked and twitched. Nito released her and Marie lifelessly dropped to the ground.

That was it. With a bellow of rage I raced toward Nito with all intentions of taking her down. She was done.

I was a Mare. I could take her, of that I was certain.

I came within an inch of stealing her life, an inch of striking out at her, when she grabbed hold of me with a strength I didn’t know she had.

Her hand clutched tightly to my throat and I gasped for air. I couldn’t breathe. My throat felt as if it were crushing as she lifted me from the ground.

Nito's face blurred in my vision and my life was slipping from me.

Her eyes connected with mine and she spoke. “You stupid little girl. All you had to do was come back. Now you have no—”

Nito’s eyes widened, she coughed once and blood shot from her mouth, splashing against my face. Her grip loosened and she released me. I dropped to the ground, gasping for air. Coughing and choking, I looked up to see an arrow protruding from her torso. It had entered her from a side angle.

Before Nito fell to the ground, her remaining soldier grabbed hold of her, swept her in his arms and took off across the field.

“Oh my God.” Tanner dropped down beside me and reached out. “Vala, are you—”

“Don’t …” I said hoarsely over my ragged throat, “don’t let her get … away. Kill … kill her.”

He stood quickly and took off.

I rolled over to my knees, trying to stand, trying to get all of my air. I saw Marie. Her wide open eyes were staring at me.

Unlike before, they weren’t warm. They were cold and without life.

No. No. No.

I crawled over to her. Her chest was saturated with blood and her heart lay next to her on the ground.

This wasn’t happening, it couldn’t have happened— not to Marie. I was crushed; my heart was right there along with hers.

The first tear rolled down my face and a sadness like I never experienced swept over me. It was a pain that I felt physically as well as emotionally. I reached out for her, wanting with all of my soul for her not to leave me. She had just come into my life. I needed her.

My grief consumed me. I wept uncontrollably. It rolled from my chest and through my throat and all reasoning left me.

“No,” I whimpered and lifted her heart. Maybe … just maybe if it were returned to her ... maybe if I wished it hard enough, I could bring her back to life.

How foolish I was. Crying, I returned her heart to her chest and held my hand over it.

Live. Live. I wished and prayed.

Marie didn’t move, she didn’t breathe or blink.

She was gone.

I slipped my arms under her, rolled her into my chest, held tightly to my friend and sobbed.

47. Aftermath

I hadn’t moved at all. I remained on my knees in that vineyard, Marie’s head resting on my lap and I just didn’t want to move. I stayed with her a long time. So much so that the screams of the attacking Day Stalkers turned to gunfire and then finally, silence.

A battle raged behind me and I was frozen in my grief.

Marie’s body grew cold and all color of life drained from her. I had taken my fingers and closed her eyes, I didn’t want to let go.

Death was something I had never really faced. Other than my brother, Marie was the only person I had cared about that had died. I didn’t know how to handle it. I was angry and sad at the same time.

Marie’s death did not have to happen. She died because of me, trying to stand up and protect me.

Tanner had returned at some point. He found me where he had left me and crouched down before me.

“I couldn’t catch them,” Tanner said softly. “I tried.”

I glanced up only a second, the returned to looking at Marie. “Nito will die. The arrow went into her chest.”

“Vala, I’m really sorry. Do you need me to help you?”

“No.”

“I can carry Marie …”

“No. Leave me. Please.”

He did.

I stayed there reflecting on all that had transpired. How Mindy lost her life, the child she carried was ripped from her, then Marie was killed She didn’t deserve it. The people of Lyons Estates didn’t deserve the pain and terror they had endured.

Some time had passed, the air had cooled and the sun wasn’t as bright when Davis found me.

“Vala,” he said softly, “I know you’re in shock, but we have to leave. We have to bury Marie and leave the village before sundown.”

“I’m safe from Savages.”

“I don’t want you left alone.”

“I don’t want to leave her.”

“You have to, sweetie.” Davis lowered to the ground to be close. “You have to.”

“How many people died?”

“Vala, you can’t think—”

“How many?”

“We lost forty people. One child.”

My eyes closed tightly. “This is all my fault.”

“No, it’s not. This was done by the Sybaris.”

“Because of me. If I had left, if I had heeded the warning, none of this would have happened.”

“We don’t know that,” he said.

“I do.”

“Nothing I can say right now will take away your pain. I can only tell you that they will pay for this.”

“Yes,” I whispered. “They will.”

“We’ll come up with a new plan.” He placed his hand on my arm. “Now we have to bring Marie in from here.”

I nodded. “Can I have just a few more minutes? Just a few more?”

“Five. That’s all. Okay?”

“Yes.”

Davis stood. He ran his hand over my head as he walked away.

Five minutes. I had five more minutes left with my friend. What would I say to her? Would she even know or hear me?

“Vala.”

I knew the voice and when I heard him, a part of me felt outraged. I glanced up to see Iry.

“I’m only going to stay a moment.” Iry crouched down. “This didn’t have to happen, I told you. Why didn’t you listen?”

“I don’t know.”

“This isn’t over.”

“Oh, I know that. At least Nito isn’t going to be a problem.”

“She is, Vala,” Iry said. “She isn’t dead.”

I looked at him shocked. “She has to be.”

He shook his head. “She’s not. She’s going to strike again if you don’t come back.”

“I’ll be ready.” I glanced back down to Marie.

“She’s not coming with the Day Stalkers next time. She has one intention and one intention only. You have to leave here, Vala,” Iry said pleadingly. “Because your hero boy, Tanner … he’s next.”

My heart pounded a single beat that thumped against my chest. When I looked up, Iry was gone. He had said enough and said all I needed to know.

48. Dawn Decision

I was exhausted, yet any attempt to sleep was futile. Each time I dozed off, I would quickly jolt awake with visions of Marie and Mindy. It made me sick to my stomach. I didn’t want to drink or eat.

Davis took me off of patrol for the night, but I stayed outside. With only a few days before a full moon, the Savages would get restless and at the very least, my presence could offer some sense of protection for the Lyons Estates citizens.

They had suffered because of me. They weren’t going to suffer anymore.

For as much as my heart and head were consumed with sadness over Marie and Mindy, I thought clearly about what I had to do and what needed to be done.

There was only one choice.

At first light, I slipped into Marie’s house. It was so empty without her. I washed and placed on the best outfit I had in my possession. I grabbed Marie’s saddle bag, placed in it a few food items and water. When Marie and I had gone to her home in Rio, she had retrieved photographs from her mantel. One of them was a picture of Marie and Leo in which they were young and happy. That picture also went in the saddle bag.

I took a moment and with great thought, I left a letter for Davis. In it I told him what I was doing and why.

After I finished that, I headed to the stable and saddled Roughneck.

“We’ve got a long day ahead of us, boy,” I said, stroking his mane. “Are you ready?”

It was peaceful and quiet at Lyons Estates, the sky was light and it was time for me to go.

I opened the stable doors, mounted my horse and with a deep breath of courage, I gave a gentle tug of his reins and we started our journey.

Quietly and without notice, I slipped from Lyons Estates. I took the route east through the vineyards and across the fields behind Marie’s house.

It wasn’t long into my journey and I had just made it to a road, when I heard a steady sound of trotting behind me.

“Vala!” Tanner called out. “Vala, stop!”

I pulled back on the reins and brought Roughneck to a halt. Tanner pulled alongside, jumped from his horse and ran to me.

“Val, what are you doing? I read the note.”

“If you read the note, then you know.”

Tanner shook his head. “This is crazy. You can’t go.”

“I have to. I am the one who caused the hurt and pain and I have to stop it from ever happening again.”

“And leaving is the way to do it?”

“Yes. Davis wanted to send someone to the Straits. He wanted to get some chosen and into the city of the Ancients. It has to be me.”

Tanner reached up and grabbed my hand. He held it firmly and his words quivered. “So you’re just gonna go back. That’s it?”

“The only way to get inside their city is to be chosen. I’ll do it, if that’s what it takes.”

“By him. Chosen by him?”

“If that’s what it takes.”

“You know what that means. You know what it means if you go with him.”

I hesitated and swallowed my emotions. “If that’s what it takes.”

“No, Vala. No,” Tanner pleaded. “Please. Please don’t go. Don’t do this. We’ll find another way. Please don’t leave.” He placed his lips to my hand.

The moment his lips touched my skin, my entire body jolted and my heart jumped. He stared up at me, his eyes pleading as much as his voice.

“I can’t. I’m sorry. I have to do this.” Slowly and reluctantly, I pulled my hand from his, taking in every second that our fingers touched until my hand was no longer in his. “I’ll see you again.”

I snapped the reins and began to go. I couldn’t look back.

“Vala!” he cried out. “Don’t do this!”

His voice faded from my ears the farther away I rode, but he didn’t fade from my heart.

I heard him, I felt him, I just wouldn’t allow myself to look back and see him.

It was what I had to do, my only choice. I knew from the earliest age I was destined to battle the Sybaris.

I left my new friends and family of Angeles City in the wake of the aftermath of a horrific battle. It was a battle that we lost.

However, it was far from the end. It was only the beginning.

The beginning of my destiny. The beginning of my journey. The beginning of the war.

Man would prevail again.

<><><><>

After the Rise Book Two

Now Available on Amazon

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Table of Contents

- BOOK ONE
- After the Rise Book One - Jacqueline Druga
- 1. Beginnings
- 2. Getting Ready
- 3. Iry
- 4. The Show Line
- 5. Rite of Passage
- 6. History
- 7. The Day
- 8. Being Chosen
- 9. Being Mare
- 10. The Bag
- 11. The Ceremony
- 12. The Run
- 13. Floating
- 14. Car Contraption
- 15. Camp
- 16.  Cowboy Chili
- 17.  Starry Night
- 18.  Last Leg to Angeles
- 19. Arrival
- 20. Davis
- 21. The Stroll
- 23. Three Times
- 24. Oceans Wide
- 25.  When the Moon is High
- 26. Comprehending
- 27. Knowing
- 28.  Hollow Man
- 29. The First Step
- 30. The Time Bunker
- 31. Deconstructing
- 32. Projecting
- 33. Release
- 34.  Lyon Estates
- 35. The Jail
- 36. Plan B
- 37. Receiving Iry
- 38. Nightfall
- 39.  Humbled
- 40.  Advice from Marie
- 41. Warning
- 42. Deciphering the Truth
- 43. Riding with Marie
- 44. The Quarrel
- 45. Almost
- 46. Day Stalkers
- 47. Aftermath
- 48. Dawn Decision