Speaker 1: Chapter twenty one. Sasha. Alexander hadn't seen it coming. He
Speaker 1: hadn't expected her at all. The sound of his furious
Speaker 1: scream was the most beautiful thing Sasha had ever heard.
Speaker 1: She hit him again and again, and he fell back
Speaker 1: and then down to the ground. Blood streamed from his
Speaker 1: nose in a gash above his brow. His eyes looked unfocused,
Speaker 1: his lip was split. He tried to scream or cry
Speaker 1: out or beg her, but she didn't give him the
Speaker 1: time to say one damn word. Instead, she hit him
Speaker 1: again and again and again. She didn't make the conscious
Speaker 1: choice to dive down on top of him, and in fact,
Speaker 1: Sasha was rather surprised to find herself straddling the prone,
Speaker 1: broken boy soldier. But once she was there, she kept
Speaker 1: hitting him until she felt his skull give way and
Speaker 1: the helmet had something soft, squishy and hot that lay beyond.
Speaker 1: She sat back and for what seemed like a year,
Speaker 1: just stared at the helmet and bedded in Alexander's ruined face.
Speaker 1: Blood pulsed out from around the edges where it met
Speaker 1: the skin. The way the blood bubbled up looked just
Speaker 1: a bit like the water and one of the fountains
Speaker 1: outside the hospital, her mother ran. For some reason, that
Speaker 1: similarity did more to raise her hackles than the act
Speaker 1: of killing. Her ears still rang, and so it was
Speaker 1: easy to lose herself. In contemplation of Alexander's body. Her
Speaker 1: mind turned to the Book of John and the words
Speaker 1: of her Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Do not be
Speaker 1: like Cain who belonged to the evil One and murdered
Speaker 1: his brother? And why did he murder him? Because his
Speaker 1: own actions were evil and his brothers were righteous? Had
Speaker 1: Alexander's actions truly been righteous? Sasha knew if she searched
Speaker 1: the Bible she could find scriptural justifications for everything Alexander
Speaker 1: had done. That's why she'd come here in the first place,
Speaker 1: wasn't it The heavenly Kingdom was finally going back to
Speaker 1: the letter of the Bible, the Word of God. Only
Speaker 1: now that she'd seen what that looked like, Sasha had
Speaker 1: found she could not abide it. Am I still a Christian?
Speaker 1: She couldn't say. Her faith had been such a part
Speaker 1: of her identity, it had been everything, and now it
Speaker 1: felt like a lie. What am I if not a
Speaker 1: righteous servant of the Lord? Where do I go from here?
Speaker 1: Eizash little problem here. Roland's voice jerked her out of
Speaker 1: her contemplation. She looked back at the man and her
Speaker 1: mind recoiled in terror. His skin had been shredded by gunfire.
Speaker 1: It hung in pale tatters down his face and arms.
Speaker 1: His clothing had largely been shot away, and the rags
Speaker 1: that remained were so drenched in blood that they clung
Speaker 1: to him. He looked almost as if he was clad
Speaker 1: in a single giant scab one if his eyes was unfocussed, dislocated,
Speaker 1: and something had happened to his left arm, it looked
Speaker 1: as if an enormous straight razor had burst out of
Speaker 1: the forearm. Where did you get that? She asked. Sasha
Speaker 1: was surprised and a bit disturbed by her curiosity. Roland
Speaker 1: seemed surprised too this. He looked at the blade. I
Speaker 1: really no, Ha'd sort of forgotten it was in there.
Speaker 1: He lifted his arm and its blood soaked blade up
Speaker 1: and looked at it like a small child opening a
Speaker 1: prized gift on Christmas morning. Then he flicked his arm
Speaker 1: down towards the ground, and the blade slid back into
Speaker 1: the meat of his forearm with a wet thwack. Look,
Speaker 1: he said, we got more press and shit to deal
Speaker 1: with right now. You're all those sirens. She actually couldn't.
Speaker 1: Her hearing had begun to recover from the gunfight, but
Speaker 1: Roland was just barely audible. Allowed Tenita's hum still rang
Speaker 1: through her ears. Sasha was pretty sure she'd suffered permanent damage.
Speaker 1: I can't hear much right now, she said. The gunfire,
Speaker 1: you know. Oh, he frowned. I forgot that could happen
Speaker 1: to you folks. Well, ah, there's a shitload of cops
Speaker 1: or martyrs or militia whatever. A bunch of them are coming,
Speaker 1: probably two or three hundred. They got tanks and drones
Speaker 1: and shit, God Almighty, Sasha felt fear rise up in
Speaker 1: her heart again. Yeah, listen, God's not really the dude
Speaker 1: to worry about right now. Manny's all fucked up. I
Speaker 1: stopped his bleeding, but you're gonna need to get him
Speaker 1: out of here. Manny, she'd forgotten all about him. Sasha
Speaker 1: realized with a start that she'd blotted the rest of
Speaker 1: the room from her mind. She looked around and took
Speaker 1: it all in. Manny was still lying where she'd left him,
Speaker 1: nursing a gunshot wound to the belly. He was pale, sweaty,
Speaker 1: and he looked to be in terrible pain. But he
Speaker 1: was conscious and alive. That was more than she could
Speaker 1: say for Marigold. The poor woman had been shredded by
Speaker 1: shotgun fire. Sasha couldn't bring herself to look too closely
Speaker 1: at the shattered, steaming remains, But Marigold's friends were alive.
Speaker 1: The young man Rick was unconscious and drenched in blood,
Speaker 1: but most of that blood didn't seem to be his own.
Speaker 1: His head was in Tullie's lap. She'd been wounded in
Speaker 1: the buttocks and bled quite a lot, but the wounds
Speaker 1: seemed to have clotted. There were tears and a haunted,
Speaker 1: pained look in her eyes. Oh my god, Sasha said,
Speaker 1: once her mind started to process the visual stimuli. Lord
Speaker 1: in Heaven, No, no, no, no, that poor woman, that
Speaker 1: unborn child. How could this happen? How could this be? Sasha,
Speaker 1: Roland shouted, This is a very bad time for you
Speaker 1: to have emotions. Try killing those for a while. How
Speaker 1: just think about the fact that every one but me
Speaker 1: will die if you don't get your shit together, and
Speaker 1: then get your shit together. Her initial action was anger
Speaker 1: and frustration. Is he that disconnected from humanity? Does he
Speaker 1: think people can just turn their empathy off? But then
Speaker 1: she stopped herself listen him and tried. She imagined herself
Speaker 1: putting on a heavy jacket, something that blocked out pain
Speaker 1: and horror rather than the cold. It worked, okay, she said,
Speaker 1: what do I need to do? You need to take
Speaker 1: Manny and uh, what's her name? And what's his face? Tooley?
Speaker 1: And Rick? Right, take the non dead people, run down
Speaker 1: and out the back door, and find me a car.
Speaker 1: Then you need to a car. He stopped sifting through
Speaker 1: the dead man's firearms to roll his eyes at her. Yes,
Speaker 1: a car. I'm not going to carry all you lame
Speaker 1: bloods out of here on my fucking shoulders. We'll need
Speaker 1: a getaway vehicle. I can't drive, she said. All the
Speaker 1: cars in the amphet are autonomous. He shrugged. You'll figure
Speaker 1: it out. Many moaned just then, almost as if it
Speaker 1: was in response to Roland's suggestion. Sasha knew it was
Speaker 1: more likely she'd just been too focused on the big
Speaker 1: posthuman to notice Manny's pained moans the whole time. Can
Speaker 1: he drive? Sasha asked, sure, Roland said with sudden cheer
Speaker 1: He's only lost what two quarts of blood? I gave
Speaker 1: him a little mine. I'm sure he'll be right his
Speaker 1: rain soon, Manny moaned again, handed his blood soaked belly.
Speaker 1: He didn't appear to be bleeding still, but he was
Speaker 1: pale and his face showed agony too obvious to ignore.
Speaker 1: Sasha doubted he'd be capable of driving a car in
Speaker 1: the immediate future. I can drive, Toulli said, in a cracked,
Speaker 1: broken sounding voice. Right Roland said, well, that's lovely. Get
Speaker 1: your asses up and get moving. You've got about two
Speaker 1: minutes before shitting fans start their lovely dance. The posthuman's
Speaker 1: good humor was incongruous in this blood soaked room. Addressed
Speaker 1: to two people who'd lost a friend to day. He
Speaker 1: grabbed one of the guard's pistols, which he'd shoved in
Speaker 1: his waistband, and handed it to Sasha. Safety's off, he said, cheerily,
Speaker 1: So once you pull the trigger, stuff'll happen. Sasha took
Speaker 1: the gun and then went over to help Manny up.
Speaker 1: Toullie did the same thing with her wounded friend. Neither
Speaker 1: Manny or Rick were in great shape, but Manny at
Speaker 1: least seemed capable of standing under his own power. Once
Speaker 1: Sasha got him to his feet, he stayed there. She
Speaker 1: looked him in the eye, and while he seemed sort
Speaker 1: of dazed and glassy, his pupils fixed on hers, and
Speaker 1: he nodded. We have to go, She said, sitra tempoima.
Speaker 1: He muttered what Sasha asked said, it's about fuckin' time.
Speaker 1: Just follow me, she said, with more confidence than she felt.
Speaker 1: I'll take care of everything. Oh fuck that, Manny said.
Speaker 1: He put a hand on her shoulder and moved as
Speaker 1: if to push in front of her and shield her
Speaker 1: with his body. Then he grabbed a side, groaned, and
Speaker 1: staggered back. All right, yeah, you lead the way men.
Speaker 1: Tully was up now. She had an arm around her friend,
Speaker 1: and together they moved almost as fast as a single
Speaker 1: elderly person with bad hips. Mannie was not much more mobile.
Speaker 1: Sasha looked back at Roland. Where should we meet you?
Speaker 1: The next street behind this building is called Alma. Take
Speaker 1: it and go left until you hit a road named
Speaker 1: Cross Bend. I should be there by the time you arrive.
Speaker 1: What if we can't find a he cut her off.
Speaker 1: Not finding a car is not an option. Talking more
Speaker 1: is not an option. I have to go kill people.
Speaker 1: You find something with wheels and get Tully in the
Speaker 1: driver's seat. Sasha star to say something, but the sirens
Speaker 1: had drawn very close. Indeed, she heard several shouts from
Speaker 1: outside the front of the building. Roland cursed. He'd already
Speaker 1: gathered up two of the rifles and slung them across
Speaker 1: his back. He had a large pistol in his left hand.
Speaker 1: At the sound of the shouting, he brought his right
Speaker 1: hand up to his belly and dug it deep inside
Speaker 1: his skin. Sasha watched in horror as he tore a heavy,
Speaker 1: blood caked weapon out of his gut. Roland walked up
Speaker 1: to the front window of the room and fired the
Speaker 1: weapon once, twice, three times. Its report was deep and bassy,
Speaker 1: like the sound of a heavy drum being struck. There
Speaker 1: was a brief island of quiet, followed by a trio
Speaker 1: of explosions that rattled the walls of the jail. Look.
Speaker 1: Roland said as he glanced back to her, I gotta
Speaker 1: go be a distraction. Find the car. Get to cross
Speaker 1: bend in Almah, I'll be therein. He glanced out the
Speaker 1: window again and shrugged. Ten maybe eleven minutes. Okay should
Speaker 1: Sasha started to ask talking time is done. Toolie's flat
Speaker 1: voice interrupted, he moves, We move now. She pulled her
Speaker 1: friend towards the door. Would have been something almost comical
Speaker 1: about the agonizing slowness with which they actually moved, but
Speaker 1: the gesture had its intended effect. Sasha took Manny by
Speaker 1: the hand. She let Tully lead the way to the door,
Speaker 1: but once they were in the hallway, the young woman
Speaker 1: had no idea where to go. Sasha took the lead
Speaker 1: then and guided her new comrades towards a flashing red
Speaker 1: exit sign that she knew led to a rear stairwell.
Speaker 1: For a brief passing second, she'd been worried that they
Speaker 1: might encounter other guards or jailers during their flight. That
Speaker 1: concern proved groundless. Gunfire had torn through the walls of
Speaker 1: the examination room and ripped apart the interior of the jail.
Speaker 1: She saw a few gouts of blood by the walls,
Speaker 1: and one sinister looking pool of it beneath a desk.
Speaker 1: It all drove an important lesson home for Sasha. Bullets
Speaker 1: don't stop when they miss. The stairwall was as deserted
Speaker 1: as the rest of the jail. They hobbled down at
Speaker 1: as quickly as three wounded people could manage. Sasha stayed
Speaker 1: in the back, under the instinctive assumption that it'd be
Speaker 1: best for morale if she didn't rush ahead. Their progress
Speaker 1: down the stairs was painfully slow, almost every step punctuated
Speaker 1: by the sound of gunfire out on the street below.
Speaker 1: It sounded like a full scale war had broken out there.
Speaker 1: There was a lot of screaming, and Sasha tried not
Speaker 1: to think too much about which of the nice young
Speaker 1: martyrs she'd met in the square were now dying by
Speaker 1: Roland's hand. What about Anne? What about Susanna? You're abandoning them?
Speaker 1: Sasha shook the thoughts clear from her head. There'd be
Speaker 1: time for self loathing later. Tully and Rick reached the
Speaker 1: bottom floor first. They leaned back against the wall together
Speaker 1: and caught their breath. Rick was as white as a
Speaker 1: sheet and looked like he could still barely stand. Tullie
Speaker 1: was doing better, but not by a wide margin. When
Speaker 1: she and Manny hit the bottom floor, he went straight
Speaker 1: for the exit door. He clearly intended to be the
Speaker 1: first out in case anyone had a weapon trained on
Speaker 1: the door. Sasha stopped him. That wasn't hard, because he
Speaker 1: was only a little more stable than Tully. She pushed
Speaker 1: him back, put a hand on the door, and then
Speaker 1: drew the pistol Roland had given her. She fixed Mannie
Speaker 1: with what she hoped was a firm, fearless look. You're
Speaker 1: in no state to be heroic. He looked at her
Speaker 1: as if he wanted to fight her, but then he
Speaker 1: looked down at the shaking hand he had pressed into
Speaker 1: the sopping wound in his side. Yeah, all right, you
Speaker 1: down to do the hero stuff. Then she nodded, well,
Speaker 1: then be my guest. Sasha didn't know how to use
Speaker 1: a gun. The m FED band almost all private firearm ownership.
Speaker 1: Her grandfather had owned a couple of bolt action hunting rifles,
Speaker 1: and he'd let Sasha hold them a few times. That
Speaker 1: was as close as she'd gotten too firearms training. She'd
Speaker 1: never actually shot the darned things. Once he'd died, her
Speaker 1: father had sold the guns rather than deal with the
Speaker 1: hassle and expense of a license. So she burst out
Speaker 1: onto the street with the pistol held high in front
Speaker 1: of her, like she'd seen in movies. It took her
Speaker 1: a few seconds to realize, sheepishly, that this behavior was
Speaker 1: more likely to get her gun down than aid in
Speaker 1: her defense. Thankfully, there'd been no martyrs watching the rear exit.
Speaker 1: Sasha waved for the others to follow her out and
Speaker 1: stashed the pistol under her shirt. For a few minutes,
Speaker 1: they'd ran, or rather hobbled, in what seemed like the
Speaker 1: right direction. The city still rang with the sound of sirens, gunfire,
Speaker 1: and the occasional concussive blast, but it seemed to be
Speaker 1: moving away from them. Plino wasn't exactly crowded, but there
Speaker 1: were enough people out on the street to notice the
Speaker 1: fresh wounds on Tulli, Rick, and Manny. No one approached them,
Speaker 1: though Sasha wasn't sure if they passed unnoticed, but they
Speaker 1: were able to pass through the city without incident. Fear
Speaker 1: and the flight reflex were enough to carry them a
Speaker 1: few blocks in relative haste. Once they were out of
Speaker 1: sight of the jail, Rick put up a hand as
Speaker 1: he slumped back against the wall. Tully continued to hold
Speaker 1: him up. She was pale, sweaty, and pained looking. Ryan
Speaker 1: shook and shuddered. His eyes were unfocussed, and he was
Speaker 1: clearly in shock. He needs to rest, Tulli said. Manny
Speaker 1: stopped next to them and leaned against the wall as well.
Speaker 1: He nodded at Tully and then looked back to Sasha. Yeah, ditto,
Speaker 1: I might prefer to lay down and die at this point.
Speaker 1: We need to find a car anyway, Tulli said, as
Speaker 1: she helped lower Rick down to sit against the wall.
Speaker 1: If I carry him for much longer, I'm going to drop.
Speaker 1: Sasha realized everyone was looking at her. Is that my job?
Speaker 1: Manny looked mortified, Tullie looked angry. Rick bless him, was
Speaker 1: too deep and shocked to react. Yes, Toulli said, in
Speaker 1: a toneless voice that still somehow implied deep disappointment. Okay,
Speaker 1: then Sasha said, when I find the car, I assume
Speaker 1: you'll know how to hot wire it. Tully laughed. It
Speaker 1: wasn't a nice laugh. If you're hiding a real nice
Speaker 1: deck somewhere and that's silly head of yours, or you
Speaker 1: find a car that's older than my dad. Maybe otherwise
Speaker 1: we're going to need something with keys in it. What
Speaker 1: so I'm just supposed to carjack someone. Tully stared dead
Speaker 1: eyed at her. Manny gave a pained, helpful smile. I
Speaker 1: mean you've got a gun, he said. Sasha felt the
Speaker 1: heat rise in her again. Why not, I've given up
Speaker 1: every other principle I have to day, I might as
Speaker 1: well commit armed robbery, the guilt staying her guts, but
Speaker 1: not as badly as it should have. Perhaps she was
Speaker 1: still numb from watching Doctor Brandton Marigold. Or maybe it's
Speaker 1: because I killed Alexander. Maybe I'm evil now and this
Speaker 1: is what that feels like. There was no time to
Speaker 1: mold the possibilities. Sasha left Manny and the others to
Speaker 1: catch their breath and darted down an alley towards a
Speaker 1: larger street that sounded like it might have traffic. She
Speaker 1: passed two parked cars and looked inside with the vain
Speaker 1: hope that, just maybe someone might have left their keys behind.
Speaker 1: It was to no avail. Sasha soon found herself on
Speaker 1: the cracked and shell pocked asphalt of Alma Road. The
Speaker 1: buildings on either side of this stretch of street had
Speaker 1: taken significant damage during the Heavenly Kingdom's birth panes. There
Speaker 1: were no people out on the sidewalks or visible in
Speaker 1: the windows. Anyone alive had probably hunkered down to avoid
Speaker 1: the shooting. There was still traffic on the road, though,
Speaker 1: three trucks and a dentted, fume spewing white sedan shot
Speaker 1: by her at the speed of wartime traffic. Sasha drew
Speaker 1: her gun, looked at it, and then hurriedly stashed it
Speaker 1: inside her blouse again when she realized how dumb that
Speaker 1: had been. Godly women do not carry guns. A series
Speaker 1: of four loud booms sounded in the distance. Sasha didn't
Speaker 1: know enough about weaponry to guess what those had been,
Speaker 1: but she knew they'd had something to do with Rowland.
Speaker 1: People are dying, so I can find us a car
Speaker 1: and get everyone to safety. She started walking down the street,
Speaker 1: face pointed towards oncoming traffic, hands waving above her head
Speaker 1: in the international gesture for oh God, please help me.
Speaker 1: Two more cars zoomed past without even slowing to check
Speaker 1: on her. It was odd how that shocked her after
Speaker 1: everything else she'd seen in the heavenly Kingdom, the faithful
Speaker 1: protect and support each other, pastor Mike had claimed, But not,
Speaker 1: it seemed, when a half human monster was on a
Speaker 1: rampage through their city. That helped debate her guilt, at least,
Speaker 1: or it did right up until the moment a familiar
Speaker 1: jankie brown truck rumbled to a stop next to her.
Speaker 1: Squise me, ma'am, do you need She turned around, and
Speaker 1: the man's face lit up in surprise, Miss Sasha. It
Speaker 1: was Darryll, the kindly old foreman who driven her to
Speaker 1: the House of Miriam on her first day in the kingdom.
Speaker 1: Was that really only days ago? Seemed like years? Sasha
Speaker 1: felt like an old woman, even though she was just
Speaker 1: on the edge of eighteen. You hurt? He slammed the
Speaker 1: car into park and opened his door one sec I
Speaker 1: got a first aid kit in the back. Where'd you
Speaker 1: get hit? Sasha looked down at her chest and realized
Speaker 1: she looked like she'd been badly injured. The blood wasn't hers,
Speaker 1: of course, but Darrell couldn't have known that. He thought
Speaker 1: she was hurt and he was trying to help. Am
Speaker 1: I really going to rob a good Samaritan? She was?
Speaker 1: Sasha waited until Darrell had closed the door, grabbed his
Speaker 1: medical kit and turned towards her. Then she drew her
Speaker 1: pistol and leveled it at his weathered, grease stained, and
Speaker 1: now thoroughly surprised face. WHOA, I need your truck. I
Speaker 1: need your truck, she said. Darrell dropped the medical kit
Speaker 1: and put both his palms out. Oh now, girl, all right,
Speaker 1: why don't you just put that gun down. Darrell ain't
Speaker 1: gonna hurt you. I'll take you anywhere you need to go.
Speaker 1: Let's just be real, calm, real slow about all this.
Speaker 1: Did somebody hurt you? I need your truck? It was
Speaker 1: so hard to keep her voice, even, so hard to
Speaker 1: do this cruel thing to a man who'd only been
Speaker 1: kind to her. Sasha could feel white hot tears streamed
Speaker 1: down her face. I must look like a crazy person,
Speaker 1: she thought. Maybe that will help, now, Miss Sasha, Darrell said,
Speaker 1: I'm a guess you don't know how to drive a truck.
Speaker 1: Mine ain't autonomous, it's old stick shift. Please, why don't
Speaker 1: you let me take you where you need to go?
Speaker 1: Sasha's mind raced. It was the same species of nervousness
Speaker 1: that had always gripped her during major exams in college
Speaker 1: admissions essays. She ran through and discarded a dozen different
Speaker 1: courses of action in her head. What if he won't
Speaker 1: give me the keys, What if he takes another step forward?
Speaker 1: What if he moved? It started with a single glance,
Speaker 1: Darrell's eyes darted towards the driver's side door of his truck.
Speaker 1: She almost didn't catch it, but for whatever reason, the
Speaker 1: gesture rose goose pimples on the back of her neck
Speaker 1: and forearms. I need your truck. Her voice was cold, strong, firm.
Speaker 1: Darrell nodded at her. His body posture stayed the same,
Speaker 1: but his eyes changed. There was something hard and haunted
Speaker 1: in them. Now, all right, miss Sasha, I'm just gonna
Speaker 1: reach in here for my keys. He took a step
Speaker 1: back and moved towards the door. The bottom fell out
Speaker 1: of Sasha's gut and she screamed at him to stop.
Speaker 1: Don't make another move. He dove for the door, pulled
Speaker 1: it open, and reached a hand down beside the driver's seat.
Speaker 1: Sasha saw a flash of metal in his hand, and
Speaker 1: she opened fire. She wasn't sure how many times she
Speaker 1: pulled the trigger, but soon the gun was empty. Sasha
Speaker 1: watched as Darrell stumbled back into the truck and then
Speaker 1: slid to the ground. Most of her shots had gone wide,
Speaker 1: very wide. She'd chattered two of the truck's windows and
Speaker 1: put four or five rounds into the vehicle's body, but
Speaker 1: at least one had hit Darrell right in his throat,
Speaker 1: a kill shot. He slumped to the ground, gagged on blood,
Speaker 1: and jerked like an electrified marionette. Part of her wanted
Speaker 1: to run to him, to hold him while he died,
Speaker 1: and say she was sorry. Then she saw the gun
Speaker 1: at his feet. It didn't dissipate her guilt, after all,
Speaker 1: she'd drawn on him first. But at least she hadn't
Speaker 1: shot and killed an unarmed man. She'd killed an armed man,
Speaker 1: an armed man who only ever helped me. Sasha slumped
Speaker 1: against the hood of the truck and lost herself in
Speaker 1: a storm of sobs. She didn't realize she dropped her
Speaker 1: gun until it hit the asphalt with a dull clank.
Speaker 1: She couldn't control her hands or her breathing. Her frantic
Speaker 1: sobbing had robbed all the air from her lungs. Her
Speaker 1: legs weakened, and she started to stumble to the ground
Speaker 1: when a pair of warm, semi strong arms caught her
Speaker 1: from behind. Hey, Hey, it's all right, it's all right, Manny,
Speaker 1: it's okay. You're gonna be okay. Her world went black
Speaker 1: for a little while. Sasha felt Mannie lift her up,
Speaker 1: heard the sound of the truck's engine rumble back to life.
Speaker 1: But she couldn't see, and she couldn't move, and she
Speaker 1: couldn't stop crying. Time lost any sort of meaning. When
Speaker 1: she came back to herself, they were in motion. Mannie
Speaker 1: sat next to her, and Rick next to him. Tully drove.
Speaker 1: Sasha's eyes were drawn to Mannie. He held Darrell's pistol
Speaker 1: in his left hand. She couldn't help but stare at
Speaker 1: the four spots of dried blood on the silver slide.
Speaker 1: You all right, Sasha, Mannie asked. His question passed through
Speaker 1: her ears without hitting her mind. Sasha couldn't stop staring
Speaker 1: at Darrell's blood. I did that. I ended him. She'd
Speaker 1: ended two men to day. She felt no guilt about Alexander,
Speaker 1: but that was almost more disturbing. It seemed impossible that
Speaker 1: she'd been a pampered suburban girl less than a month ago.
Speaker 1: Now she was a murderer. Whoever sheds human blood by humans,
Speaker 1: shall their blood be shed? Sasha felt as if a
Speaker 1: thick cloud of doom had fallen on her shoulders. The
Speaker 1: truck veered off to the right and slammed to a
Speaker 1: sudden stop. Sasha was flung forward into the back of
Speaker 1: Tullie's seat. A trio of vehicles zoomed past them, speeding
Speaker 1: in the opposite direction, like several bats fleeing the same hell.
Speaker 1: Sasha realized with a moment's focus that there was an
Speaker 1: awful lot of traffic heading away from them as fast
Speaker 1: as possible. Promp Tullie cursed and fought with a stick shift.
Speaker 1: The truck lurched forward again and made it back onto
Speaker 1: the road for a few seconds. Then another speeding car
Speaker 1: roared into the on coming lane and she was forced
Speaker 1: to veer off to the shoulder again. The sounds of
Speaker 1: gunfire grew louder. Sasha heard the thrumb of helicopter blades too,
Speaker 1: a second before one buzzed right over their heads. It
Speaker 1: looked like a military vehicle, painted matt black and laden
Speaker 1: with weapons. Sasha watched as it zoomed ahead and rose
Speaker 1: up over a pair of high rise apartment buildings near
Speaker 1: the horizon line. There was a loud crump sound, and
Speaker 1: black smoke billowed out from the side of the craft.
Speaker 1: It spun around drunkenly in the air for one very
Speaker 1: long second before slamming into the roof of one of
Speaker 1: the high rises. The resultant blast rocked the truck. Tuleye
Speaker 1: veered left and right around a pothole at another speeding truck, respectively.
Speaker 1: Her knuckles were white, her jaw was clenched. Sasha could
Speaker 1: see Tully's eyes in the rear view mirror. She looked
Speaker 1: terrified and angry at the same time. Rick moaned in
Speaker 1: pain with every shaken jostle. Manny closed his eyes, shook
Speaker 1: his head, and muttered something low under his breath. Are
Speaker 1: we close, Sasha asked Manny. He squinted and looked out
Speaker 1: at the road for a second. I mean, he shrugged. Eah, probably,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna guess. Rollins close to the explosions and also
Speaker 1: causing them. Smoke now dominated the horizon, which grew less
Speaker 1: horizony and more imminent with each passing second. In spite
Speaker 1: of all that, Sasha's eyes kept being drawn back to
Speaker 1: the gun in Manny's hand and the dry red brown
Speaker 1: stains on the slide that was a good man's blood.
Speaker 1: She thought, how did it come to this? Hey, Jesus girl,
Speaker 1: it was Tulli. Sasha looked up to the rear view
Speaker 1: mirror and locked eyes with the other woman. But the
Speaker 1: fuck up Cheeka, Toulli said. For the first time, Sasha
Speaker 1: heard real anger and not just cold indifference in her voice.
Speaker 1: The other woman continued, My best friend was just shot
Speaker 1: to pieces, My lover is bleeding out, and you're all
Speaker 1: fucked up because you'd gunned down some crystal fascist ship.
Speaker 1: Fuck suck your heart into your guts. I don't know
Speaker 1: where you came from, girl, but you're in a hard
Speaker 1: ass part of the world. Now it's time to fortify. Fortify.
Speaker 1: Sasha held on to that word like a life preserver. Fortify, survive,
Speaker 1: then you can lose your head in tears and shame. Okay,
Speaker 1: she nodded. She started to apologize, but was interrupted when
Speaker 1: the truck screeched to another's sudden halt and threw everyone forward.
Speaker 1: Sasha's head hit the front seat again, and her world
Speaker 1: dissolved into stars. Shit. Toullie cried, something rammed the rear
Speaker 1: of the truck. Sasha lost all orientation to reality. When
Speaker 1: her head and eyes cleared, the first thing she saw
Speaker 1: was Toullie nursing a broken nose. Blood poured down the
Speaker 1: other woman's face. Manny seemed intact. Sasha looked behind them
Speaker 1: and saw a small sedan had dashed itself against the
Speaker 1: bed of their truck and must have been following right behind.
Speaker 1: When Tullie hit the brakes. Sasha swung her eyes front
Speaker 1: to see why they'd stopped. She saw Rowland. He stood
Speaker 1: maybe ten feet in front of the truck's hood. That
Speaker 1: arm raiser of his was extended again, but the blade
Speaker 1: was cracked and half shattered. His other hand held some
Speaker 1: sort of large, black assault rifle he hadn't been carrying
Speaker 1: in the jail. The pistol grip grenade launcher he'd been
Speaker 1: carrying was still with him, but he'd holstered it in
Speaker 1: an open hole in his belly. The left side of
Speaker 1: his cheek had been ripped away. Most of his hair
Speaker 1: was burnt off, and Sasha made out at least one
Speaker 1: clear bullet hole in his forehead. There might have been more.
Speaker 1: All the caked on blood and gore made it hard
Speaker 1: to discern. His clothing had been mostly shot, burned torn away.
Speaker 1: The dominant colors on his body were black and red,
Speaker 1: with a few horrible spots of white where bone shone through.
Speaker 1: In the open air. The city behind him was all
Speaker 1: smoke and fire. Emergency lights from several vehicles blinked madly
Speaker 1: in the measthma, but there were no martyrs or emergency
Speaker 1: workers visible, at least none that were standing. Sasha saw
Speaker 1: several terribly still bodies lying among the piles of rubble.
Speaker 1: Roland staggered towards the truck and flung the passenger's side
Speaker 1: door open. He slumped into the seat, bringing with him
Speaker 1: an overpowering stink of blood and fire. He leaned back
Speaker 1: in his seat and took three long breaths, and then
Speaker 1: he spoke, Wait, head's pretty clear, but you might want
Speaker 1: to hang a right and then take a left avoid
Speaker 1: the traffic. Truly nodded, and the truck jerked forward again.
Speaker 1: The rhinout was so easy it scared Sasha. In fact,
Speaker 1: it seemed to scare everyone, but Roland. Manny's knuckles grew
Speaker 1: whiter and whiter. They navigated their way out of the
Speaker 1: old Metroplex Toolly's expression didn't change, but her body shook
Speaker 1: with nervous energy, and her jaw was set so tight
Speaker 1: that the veins on her neck bulged from the strain.
Speaker 1: It was a mercy that Rick was unconscious by that point.
Speaker 1: Convoys of military vehicles rolled past them, sometimes escorting ambulances
Speaker 1: and other emergency vehicles, sometimes bringing more soldiers to the
Speaker 1: chunk of the city. Roland had devastated. Sasha's heart leaped
Speaker 1: into her throat every single time, but somehow no one
Speaker 1: stopped their truck. Roland assured them all that it would
Speaker 1: be fine. I kicked their asses so hard it'll take
Speaker 1: him an hour to find their cheeks. His only discomfort
Speaker 1: came once they left the zone of active danger. He
Speaker 1: seemed to deflate. Then, after a half hour on the road,
Speaker 1: his wounds had mostly healed. The new skin that grew
Speaker 1: back underneath seemed weirdly dark compared to the skin above it.
Speaker 1: Roland scratched at it in irritation, and then as casually
Speaker 1: as if he'd been tossing an apple corps, he ripped
Speaker 1: off his face in one smooth at motion and tossed
Speaker 1: the bloody skin out the window. Jesus, dude, Manny said, disgusted.
Speaker 1: Couldn't you have waited until we weren't all in the car?
Speaker 1: Sasha stared in shock. Her hands started to tremble, and
Speaker 1: she felt the urge to vomit, but she fought it
Speaker 1: down and forced her stomach to an uneasy calm. You've
Speaker 1: seen worse than this now, and that was true. She
Speaker 1: looked back at Roland and forced herself to take in
Speaker 1: his new face, which she guessed was really his old face.
Speaker 1: Neither iteration of him had been exactly handsome. She watched
Speaker 1: in queasy fascination as he picked the rest of the
Speaker 1: white skin from his hands and tossed it out the window.
Speaker 1: When he'd finished, he glanced up at Sasha. What he asked,
Speaker 1: Please tell me you're not a racist. This would be
Speaker 1: a real bad time for you to be racist. She's
Speaker 1: not racist, dude, Manny said, you just ripped your skin off.
Speaker 1: That freaks people out. Oh, said Roland, Right, sorry, it's okay,
Speaker 1: she said, this is just my first time seeing someone
Speaker 1: rip off their own skin. First Roland grunted, but probably
Speaker 1: not last. Sasha didn't have the guts to question him,
Speaker 1: so she kept quiet for the rest of the ride,
Speaker 1: so did most of the other passengers. For a long time,
Speaker 1: the only sounds inside the truck were Rick's unconscious moans
Speaker 1: and Rowland's occasional directions to Tully. He led them through
Speaker 1: underpopulated neighborhoods and around checkpoints, past blackened buildings and wrecks
Speaker 1: of military vehicles destroyed during the Heavenly Kingdom's first great advance.
Speaker 1: Sasha was surprised at the emptiness of most of the city.
Speaker 1: She began to understand why Mannie called this place Sioda
Speaker 1: de Muerta. It took them two hours to escape the
Speaker 1: city sprawl and finally make their way out onto the
Speaker 1: open plains. They avoided the main highway that linked Dallas
Speaker 1: to Waco, and instead spider webbed their way across a
Speaker 1: series of farm roads. Every few minutes, they'd rolled past
Speaker 1: the bones of a rural town. Every town out here
Speaker 1: seemed abandoned, as dead and dry as the acres of
Speaker 1: yellow grass that swallowed them up. A little before dark,
Speaker 1: they rolled over a decrepit bridge across a dry river bed.
Speaker 1: A bullet riddled sign identified this area as Basqui County.
Speaker 1: Roland put a hand on manny shoulder and pointed towards
Speaker 1: a big metal barn on the horizon. Take us up there.
Speaker 1: We should probably stop for the night. What Tully spoke up?
Speaker 1: Why we could be at rolling fuck in an hour?
Speaker 1: Roland shook his head. We got two routes back to
Speaker 1: the city. Either we find the main highway and deal
Speaker 1: with Kingdom patrols, or we keep ride in these country roads.
Speaker 1: That'll take at least another two or three hours and
Speaker 1: a lot of time off road in the dark. There's
Speaker 1: no better recipe for cracking an axle or blowing at tire.
Speaker 1: Tully fumed, but she rolled the truck up and threw
Speaker 1: a gap in what had once been the fence line
Speaker 1: of a farm. There were a lot of farmhouses around them,
Speaker 1: stretched out across acres and acres of fields and pecan orchards.
Speaker 1: They all looked abandoned, devoid of light, half reclaimed by vegetation.
Speaker 1: The barn Roland led them to was just as empty.
Speaker 1: There were large holes in the sheet metal roof, and
Speaker 1: chunks of the metal walls had been peeled away for
Speaker 1: scrap metal. The underlying structure had been built from metal girders,
Speaker 1: though it seemed solid. They got out of the truck,
Speaker 1: Roland helped Tully carry her lover across the last few
Speaker 1: yards of field and into the old barn. The innerds
Speaker 1: of the building were dusty. Rusted tools hung from the wall,
Speaker 1: and boxes of assorted goods littered the floor. Some of
Speaker 1: them had been ripped open by scavengers, but most looked
Speaker 1: like they'd sat unmolested since the property had been abandoned.
Speaker 1: Mannie found an old couch inside Roland and Tulli helped
Speaker 1: Rick on to it. Then Roland walked off into the
Speaker 1: middle of the barn and started to root around in boxes.
Speaker 1: He came back a minute later with a load of
Speaker 1: canned goods in one arm and a handle of brown
Speaker 1: liquor in the other. He sat the whole lot down
Speaker 1: on the ground next to the couch, held up a
Speaker 1: can labeled water in big red letters, and then punched
Speaker 1: his finger through the top of the can. He handed
Speaker 1: it to Tully and she helped Rick drink. He was
Speaker 1: semi conscious now, Sasha thought there might be a little
Speaker 1: more color in his cheeks. Roland opened three more cans,
Speaker 1: one of water and two filled with some sort of
Speaker 1: gloopy beef stew. He ripped the aluminum tops open with
Speaker 1: his bare fingers and then passed them around. Sasha was
Speaker 1: still too deep in the throes of depression and adrenaline
Speaker 1: dumpage to have any kind of appetite. The brown gray
Speaker 1: color of the stew didn't help with that, but Mannie
Speaker 1: insisted she take a gulp, and as soon as the
Speaker 1: food hit her tongue, Sasha realized she was starving. She
Speaker 1: took two more deep gulps of the salty, mushy mass
Speaker 1: before passing it along to Tulli. The crew ate and
Speaker 1: rehydrated without conversation, Although not in silence. The sounds of
Speaker 1: gulping and lip smacking filled the barn for a few minutes.
Speaker 1: Roland didn't join in the eating. Instead, he popped open
Speaker 1: the liquor bottle and drained it dry over the course
Speaker 1: of about ninety seconds. The big man closed his eyes,
Speaker 1: a smile crept up onto his features, and he gave
Speaker 1: a deep, contented sigh. When the food was almost gone,
Speaker 1: he stood up and staggered back into the piles of
Speaker 1: gear to grab two more bottles. These ones were filled
Speaker 1: with an off yellow liquid. He sat one down in
Speaker 1: between Mannie and Sasha and immediately began to guzzle the second.
Speaker 1: Mannie glanced at Sasha, then at Tulli, then down at
Speaker 1: the bottle. He popped the top and took a belt.
Speaker 1: Then he offered it to Sasha. If there was ever
Speaker 1: a time to dive into drinking, it's the day I
Speaker 1: killed two people. Sasha took the bottle and stared at
Speaker 1: it for a second. The label said Talisker and identified
Speaker 1: it as a product of Scotland. The bottle itself was
Speaker 1: covered in dust. Hey, Roland, she asked, suddenly curious. Did
Speaker 1: you know this place would have food and water and alcohol?
Speaker 1: Roland paused draining his second bottle and fixed Sasha with
Speaker 1: his strange blue eyes. He looked tired for the first
Speaker 1: time since she'd met him. Sasha wasn't sure if that
Speaker 1: was due to the rampage he'd just carried out or
Speaker 1: her question. I've been here before, he half mumbled, years ago,
Speaker 1: back before this old chunk of dirt was as much
Speaker 1: of a shithole as it is now. Wait did you
Speaker 1: used to live here? Manny asked, I don't know. Roland shrugged.
Speaker 1: What do you mean you don't know? You clearly know
Speaker 1: this farm. He shrugged and gave a vague wave with
Speaker 1: his free hand. I have memories of this place, bright
Speaker 1: lights at night, people dancing, drugs and wine, and people
Speaker 1: in songs. I am memories of packing the supplies in
Speaker 1: the boxes, buying ammunition. He nodded towards the still locked
Speaker 1: door of the barn. I remember locking that thing up,
Speaker 1: But I don't remember or why exactly. I might have
Speaker 1: lived here, might have belonged to a friend. Either way,
Speaker 1: I feel like the last time I was here was
Speaker 1: back before the revolution. His mind is full of holes,
Speaker 1: Mannie explained, something happened to him a few years back.
Speaker 1: He remembers pieces of who he is, what he's done,
Speaker 1: but not everything. Tully kicked Sasha gently in the hip.
Speaker 1: She gestured to the bottle of whisky. If you're not
Speaker 1: drinking past the bottle, some of us have grieving to do.
Speaker 1: On impulse, Sasha took a pole from the bottle. She
Speaker 1: started to hand it over to Tulli, but then the
Speaker 1: taste hit her and she gagged. It was like someone
Speaker 1: had lit a fire in her throat, one that tasted
Speaker 1: of burning peat. She coughed and hacked for several seconds,
Speaker 1: while Tulli and Roland laughed. Once she'd regained her breath,
Speaker 1: Sasha finally handed off the bottle. You'll get better at it,
Speaker 1: the woman said, her lips twisted up into what might
Speaker 1: have been a real smile. Whisky's in acquired taste, like
Speaker 1: cigars nanarchy. Tully took a very deep pole and sighed
Speaker 1: and satisfaction, She handed the bottle off to Manny and
Speaker 1: started gently heading Rick's face. The wounded man was asleep,
Speaker 1: but he seemed much healthier than he had been a
Speaker 1: half hour earlier. How are you doing, Sasha, Manny asked.
Speaker 1: His eyes met hers, and Sasha saw a deep concern
Speaker 1: in his gaze. I'm fine, she said, not really meaning it.
Speaker 1: She's all fucked up over the guy she killed for
Speaker 1: the truck. Toullie grunted, shouldn't be fucker picked the wrong side,
Speaker 1: So did I. Sasha tried to keep the anger out
Speaker 1: of her voice. At first, Darrow was a good man.
Speaker 1: He didn't deserve to die. Neither did Marigold, said Toulli.
Speaker 1: Neither did Major Pirrone. Manny added, in a quiet voice.
Speaker 1: They hung him on the day you and I met.
Speaker 1: The whole world's full of good dead people, said Tullie.
Speaker 1: My advice don't cry over someone you shot in self defense.
Speaker 1: That's a karmac freebie. The guy had a gun, Manny added,
Speaker 1: seems like he just did what she had to do.
Speaker 1: Roland was quiet through all this. He kept drinking, but
Speaker 1: his pace had slowed. His face took on a dark cast,
Speaker 1: and he slumped down into his chair. He seemed to
Speaker 1: collapse in on himself. A little look Cheeka, Toullie said.
Speaker 1: There was a slight, drunken slurry were words. Now. I
Speaker 1: know I gave you a hard time, and it was
Speaker 1: dumb as fucky in a mood of this kingdom, But
Speaker 1: I give you credit for breaking free and for helping
Speaker 1: us escape. You might be a little dumb, but you
Speaker 1: aren't bad people in my book. Don't beat yourself up
Speaker 1: over doing what you had to do. There was quiet
Speaker 1: for a little while. Manny passed the bottle to Sasha.
Speaker 1: She took another gulp and managed to hold it down.
Speaker 1: This time. Toullie nodded an approval. When Sasha passed the
Speaker 1: whiskey on, Sasha found her eyes drawn once more to
Speaker 1: Darrell's gun. It was tucked into Toollie's waistband. Roland cleared
Speaker 1: his throat and gave a loud, flimmy cough. Sasha looked
Speaker 1: back at him. You didn't ask me for an opinion,
Speaker 1: he said, But since everyone else's way in, and I
Speaker 1: might as well. There ain't nothing wrong with feeling bad
Speaker 1: about murder, even justified murder. But personally, I don't think
Speaker 1: that's what's fucking you up. What do you mean, she asked.
Speaker 1: He drained the l asked of the whiskey bottle and
Speaker 1: tossed it off into the darkness. It landed with a clank.
Speaker 1: I got real good senses, you know, can't turn them off.
Speaker 1: So I heard your heart right. I smelled the narrow
Speaker 1: transmitters running through you synapses. I could taste the guilt
Speaker 1: wafting off you. But that's not the only thing I taste.
Speaker 1: He locked his unsteady gaze on hers. Sasha stared into
Speaker 1: the cold blue of his pupils. A chill ran down
Speaker 1: her spine, Sweat beaded on the back of her neck.
Speaker 1: When he spoke next, his voice was barely above a whisper.
Speaker 1: Back at the jail, When you crushed that guy's skull
Speaker 1: with a helmet, you enjoyed yourself. You liked it. Sasha
Speaker 1: broke his gaze. She stared down at her lap and
Speaker 1: struggled to find a reply, but there was nothing else
Speaker 1: for her to say. Roland was right. Hey, I'm Robert Evans.
Speaker 1: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I hope you enjoyed
Speaker 1: the chapters to come. You can find the free epub
Speaker 1: of every chapter, and eventually the whole book at atrbook
Speaker 1: dot com, complete with illustrations. If you want to support
Speaker 1: me in writing the sequel, you can crowdfund me at
Speaker 1: After the Revolution the Sequel at go fund Me. Just
Speaker 1: type and go fund me After the Revolution the Sequel.
Speaker 1: I'd like my books to always be free, so I'm
Speaker 1: just going to try to crowdfund the next one and
Speaker 1: see how that works. So After the Revolution the Sequel
Speaker 1: on go fund me. You can also find the community
Speaker 1: of fans of this book online at r slash after
Speaker 1: the Revolution on Reddit. So After the Revolution the Sequel
Speaker 1: on go fund me and r slash after the Revolution
Speaker 1: on Reddit. Atrbook dot com for the whole book. Thanks