0:02

Chapter twenty one. Sasha.

0:05

Alexander hadn't seen it coming. He

0:07

hadn't expected her at all. The sound of

0:09

his furious scream was the most beautiful

0:12

thing Sasha had ever heard. She

0:14

hit him again and again, and he fell back

0:16

and then down to the ground. Blood streamed

0:18

from his nose in a gash above his brow. His

0:21

eyes looked unfocused, his lip was split.

0:23

He tried to scream or cry out or beg her,

0:25

but she didn't give him the time to say one damn

0:28

word. Instead, she hit him again and

0:30

again and again. She didn't

0:32

make the conscious choice to dive down on top

0:34

of him, and in fact, Sasha was rather surprised

0:37

to find herself straddling the prone, broken

0:39

boy soldier. But once she was there,

0:41

she kept hitting him until she felt his skull

0:43

give way and the helmet had something soft,

0:45

squishy and hot that lay beyond. She

0:48

sat back and for what seemed like a year,

0:50

just stared at the helmet and bedded in Alexander's

0:53

ruined face. Blood pulsed

0:55

out from around the edges where it met the skin.

0:57

The way the blood bubbled up looked just a bit

0:59

like the water and one of the fountains outside

1:01

the hospital, her mother ran. For some reason,

1:04

that similarity did more to raise her hackles

1:06

than the act of killing. Her

1:08

ears still rang, and so it was easy to lose

1:10

herself. In contemplation of Alexander's body.

1:13

Her mind turned to the Book of John and the words

1:15

of her Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Do

1:18

not be like Kine who belonged to the evil

1:20

One and murdered his brother? And why did

1:22

he murder him? Because his own actions were

1:24

evil and his brothers were righteous?

1:28

Had Alexander's actions truly been righteous?

1:30

Sasha knew if she searched the Bible she

1:32

could find scriptural justifications

1:34

for everything Alexander had done. That's

1:37

why she'd come here in the first place, wasn't it

1:39

The heavenly Kingdom was finally going back

1:42

to the letter of the Bible, the Word of

1:44

God. Only now that she had seen what

1:46

that looked like, Sasha had found she could

1:48

not abide it. Am I still a

1:50

Christian? She couldn't say. Her

1:52

faith had been such a part of her identity, it

1:54

had been everything, and now it felt

1:56

like a lie. What am I if not

1:59

a righteous servant of the Lord? Where

2:01

do I go from here? Eisash

2:03

little problem here. Roland's voice

2:05

jerked her out of her contemplation. She looked

2:08

back at the man and her mind recoiled in terror.

2:11

His skin had been shredded by gunfire.

2:13

It hung in pale tatters down his face and arms.

2:16

His clothing had largely been shot away, and

2:18

the rags that remained were so drenched in blood

2:20

that they clung to him. He looked almost

2:22

as if he was clad in a single giant scab.

2:25

One of his eyes was unfocussed, dislocated,

2:27

and something had happened to his left arm. It

2:30

looked as if an enormous straight razor had burst

2:32

out of the forearm. Where did

2:34

you get that? She asked. Sasha

2:36

was surprised and a bit disturbed by her curiosity.

2:39

Roland seemed surprised too this. He

2:42

looked at the blade. I really no, I'd

2:44

sort of forgotten it was in there. He lifted

2:47

his arm and its blood soaked blade up and

2:49

looked at it like a small child opening a prized

2:51

gift on Christmas morning. Then

2:53

he flicked his arm down towards the ground,

2:55

and the blade slid back into the meat of his forearm

2:58

with a wet thwack. Look,

3:00

he said, we got more press and shipped to

3:02

deal with right now. You're all those sirens.

3:05

She actually couldn't. Her hearing had begun

3:07

to recover from the gunfight, but Roland was just

3:09

barely audible allowed tonight. As

3:11

hums still rang through her ears, Sasha

3:14

was pretty sure she'd suffered permanent damage.

3:16

I can't hear much right now, she said, the

3:18

gunfire, you know. Oh,

3:20

he frowned. I forgot that could happen to you folks.

3:23

Well, uh, there's a shipload of

3:25

cops or martyrs or militia whatever. A bunch

3:27

of them are coming, probably two or three hundred.

3:29

They got tanks and drones and ship. God

3:31

Almighty, Sasha felt fear rise

3:33

up in her heart again. Yeah, listen,

3:36

God's not really the dude to worry about right now. Manny's

3:38

all fucked up. I stopped his bleeding, but you're gonna

3:40

need to get him out of here. Manny, she'd

3:42

forgotten all about him. Sasha realized

3:45

with a start that she'd blotted the rest of the room from

3:47

her mind. She looked around and took

3:49

it all in. Manny was still lying

3:51

where she'd left him, nursing a gunshot wound

3:53

to the belly. He was pale, sweaty,

3:55

and he looked to be in terrible pain. But he

3:57

was conscious and alive. That was more than

3:59

she could say for Marigold. The poor

4:02

woman had been shredded by shotgun fire.

4:04

Sasha couldn't bring herself to look too closely

4:06

at the shattered, steaming remains, But

4:09

Marigold's friends were alive. The young

4:11

man Rick was unconscious

4:13

and drenched in blood, but most of that blood

4:15

didn't seem to be his own. His head was

4:17

in Tullie's lap. She'd been wounded in the

4:19

buttocks and bled quite a lot, but the wounds

4:22

seemed to have clotted. There were tears

4:24

and a haunted, pained look in her eyes. Oh

4:26

my god, Sasha said, once her mind started

4:29

to process the visual stimuli. Lord

4:31

in Heaven, No, no, no, no, that poor woman,

4:34

that unborn child. How could this happen?

4:36

How could this be? Sasha, Roland

4:39

shouted, This is a very bad time for you to

4:41

have emotions. Try killing those for a while.

4:43

How just think about the fact that

4:45

everyone but me will die if he don't get your ship

4:48

together, And then get your ship together. Her

4:50

initial action was anger and frustration.

4:53

Is he that disconnected from humanity? Does

4:55

he think people can just turn their empathy off?

4:57

But then she stopped herself, listened

5:00

him, and tried. She imagined herself

5:02

putting on a heavy jacket, something that blocked

5:04

out pain and horror rather than the cold. It

5:07

worked, okay, she

5:09

said, what do I need to do? You

5:12

need to take Monny and uh, what's her name

5:14

and what's his face? Touli and

5:17

Rick right, take the non dead people,

5:19

run down and out the back door and find me a

5:21

car. Then you need to a car. He

5:24

stopped sifting through the dead men's firearms

5:26

to roll his eyes at her. Yes, a car.

5:28

I'm not going to carry all you lame bloods out of

5:30

here on my fucking shoulders. Where we need a getaway

5:32

vehicle. I can't drive, she said.

5:34

All the cars in the am fat are autonomous.

5:36

He shrugged. You'll figure it out. Many

5:39

moaned just then, almost as if it was in response

5:42

to roland suggestion. Sasha knew

5:44

it was more likely she'd just been too focused on

5:46

the big post human to notice Manny's pained

5:48

moans the whole time. Can he drive?

5:50

Sasha asked, sure, Roland

5:52

said with sudden cheer He's only lost what two

5:55

quarts of blood? I gave him a little mine. I'm sure he'll

5:57

be right his rain soon, Many moaned

5:59

again, handed his blood soaked belly.

6:02

He didn't appear to be bleeding still, but he was

6:04

pale and his face showed agony too obvious

6:06

to ignore. Sasha doubted he'd be capable

6:08

of driving a car in the immediate future.

6:12

I can drive, Toullie said, in a

6:14

cracked, broken sounding voice. Right

6:16

Roland said, well, that's lovely. Get your asses

6:19

up and get moving. You've got about two minutes before

6:21

shitting fans start their lovely dance. The

6:23

post human's good humor was incongruous

6:25

in this blood soaked room. Addressed to two

6:28

people who lost a friend today, he

6:30

grabbed one of the guard's pistols, which he shoved

6:32

in his waistband and handed it to Sasha.

6:35

Safety's off, he said, cheerily, So once

6:37

you pull the trigger, stuff'll happen. Sasha

6:40

took the gun and then went over to help Manny

6:42

up. Tullie did the same thing with her wounded

6:44

friend. Neither Manny or Rick were

6:46

in great shape, but Manny at least

6:48

seemed capable of standing under his own

6:50

power. Once Sasha got him to his feet,

6:53

he stayed there. She looked him in the eye,

6:55

and while he seemed sort of dazed and

6:57

glassy, his pupils fixed on hers,

6:59

and he nodded it. We have to

7:01

go, She said, sitrat a the

7:03

tempo him. He muttered what

7:05

Sasha asked said, it's about fucking

7:08

time. Just follow me, she

7:10

said, with more confidence than she felt. I'll

7:12

take care of everything. Oh funck

7:14

that, Manny said. He put a hand on her shoulder

7:17

and moved as if to push in front of her and shield

7:19

her with his body. Then he grabbed a side,

7:21

groaned, and staggered back. All

7:24

right, yeah, you lead the way men.

7:27

Tuli was up now. She had an arm around

7:29

her friend, and together they moved almost

7:31

as fast as a single elderly person with

7:34

bad hips. Manny was not much

7:36

more mobile. Sasha looked back at

7:38

Roland. Where should we meet you?

7:41

The next street behind this building is called Alma. Take

7:43

it and go left until you hit a road named cross

7:45

Bend. I should be there by the time you arrive.

7:48

What if we can't find a he cut her off. Not

7:50

finding a car is not an option. Talking

7:53

more is not an option. I have to go kill

7:55

people. You find something with wheels and get Tullie

7:57

in the driver's seat. Sasha

7:59

start to say something, but the sirens had

8:01

drawn very close. Indeed, she heard

8:04

several shouts from outside the front of the building.

8:06

Roland cursed. He'd already gathered up

8:08

two of the rifles and slung them across his back.

8:10

He had a large pistol in his left hand. At

8:13

the sound of the shouting, he brought his right hand up

8:15

to his belly and dug it deep inside

8:17

his skin. Sasha watched in horror

8:19

as he tore a heavy, blood caked weapon

8:21

out of his gut. Roland walked

8:23

up to the front window of the room and fired the weapon

8:25

once, twice, three times. Its

8:27

report was deep and basy, like the sound

8:30

of a heavy drum being struck. There was a

8:32

brief island of quiet, followed by a trio

8:34

of explosions that rattled the walls of the jail.

8:37

Look. Roland said as he glanced back to

8:39

her, I gotta go be a distraction. Find

8:41

the car, get to cross Bend and Alma, I'll

8:43

be therein He glanced out the window

8:45

again and shrugged. Ten maybe eleven

8:47

minutes. Okay should Sasha

8:50

started to ask talking time

8:52

is done. Toolie's flat voice interrupted,

8:54

he moves, We move now.

8:57

She pulled her friend towards the door. There

9:00

would have been something almost comical about the agonizing

9:02

slowness with which they actually moved, but

9:04

the gesture had its intended effect. Sasha

9:07

took Manny by the hand. She let Tulli

9:09

lead the way to the door, but once they were in

9:11

the hallway, the young woman had no idea where

9:13

to go. Sasha took the lead then

9:15

and guided her new comrades towards a flashing

9:17

red exit sign that she knew led to a rear

9:20

stairwell. For a brief passing second,

9:22

she'd been worried that they might encounter other guards

9:24

or jailers during their flight. That concern

9:27

proved groundless. Gunfire had

9:29

torn through the walls of the examination room and

9:31

ripped apart the interior of the jail. She

9:33

saw a few gouts of blood by the walls, and

9:35

one sinister looking pool of it beneath a desk.

9:38

It all drove an important lesson home for Sasha.

9:41

Bullets don't stop when they miss. The

9:44

stairwell was as deserted as the rest of the jail.

9:46

They hobbled down at as quickly as three wounded

9:48

people could manage. Sasha stayed in

9:50

the back, under the instinctive assumption that it

9:52

would be best from a rale if she didn't rush ahead.

9:55

Their progress down the stairs was painfully

9:57

slow, almost every step punctuated

10:00

by the sound of gunfire out on the street below.

10:02

It sounded like a full scale war had broken

10:04

out there. There was a lot of screaming, and Sasha

10:07

tried not to think too much about which of the nice

10:09

young martyrs she'd met in the square were now dying

10:11

by Roland's hand. What about Anne?

10:13

What about Susannah? You're abandoning

10:16

them? Sasha shook the thoughts clear

10:18

from her head. There'd be time for self loathing

10:20

later. Tulli and Rick reached

10:22

the bottom floor first. They leaned back

10:24

against the wall together and caught their breath.

10:27

Rick was as white as a sheet and looked like he could

10:29

still barely stand. Tullie was

10:31

doing better, but not by a wide margin.

10:34

When she and Manny hit the bottom floor, he went

10:36

straight for the exit door. He clearly intended

10:38

to be the first out in case anyone had a weapon

10:40

trained on the door. Sasha stopped

10:43

him. That wasn't hard, because he was only a little

10:45

more stable than Tullie. She pushed him

10:47

back, put a hand on the door, and then drew the pistol

10:49

Roland had given her. She fixed Manny

10:51

with what she hoped was a firm, fearless look.

10:54

You're in no state to be heroic. He

10:57

looked at her as if he wanted to fight her, but then

10:59

he looked down at the shaking hand he had pressed into

11:01

the sopping wound in his side. Yeah,

11:03

all right, you down to do the hero stuff. Then

11:06

she nodded, well, then be my guest.

11:09

Sasha didn't know how to use a gun. The

11:12

m FED band almost all private firearm

11:14

ownership. Her grandfather had owned

11:16

a couple of bolt action hunting rifles, and he'd

11:18

let Sasha hold them a few times. That

11:20

was as close as she'd gotten to firearms training.

11:23

She'd never actually shot the darned things. Once

11:26

he died, her father had sold the guns rather

11:28

than deal with the hassle and expense of a license,

11:31

So she burst out onto the street with the pistol

11:33

held high in front of her, like she'd seen

11:35

in movies. It took her a few seconds

11:37

to realize, sheepishly that this behavior

11:39

was more likely to get her gun down than aid in

11:42

her defense. Thankfully, there'd been

11:44

no martyrs watching the rear exit. Sasha

11:46

waved for the others to follow her out and stashed

11:48

the pistol under her shirt. For a

11:50

few minutes, they'd ran, or rather hobbled,

11:52

in what seemed like the right direction. The

11:55

city still rang with the sound of sirens,

11:57

gunfire, and the occasional concussive blast,

11:59

but seemed to be moving away from them. Plano

12:02

wasn't exactly crowded, but there were enough people

12:04

out on the street to notice the fresh wounds on Tuli,

12:07

Rick, and Manny. No one approached them,

12:09

though Sasha wasn't sure if they passed

12:11

unnoticed, but they were able to pass through the city

12:13

without incident. Fear and the

12:15

flight reflex were enough to carry them a few

12:17

blocks in relative haste. Once they

12:19

were out of sight of the jail, Rick put up a hand

12:22

as he slumped back against the wall. Tulli

12:24

continued to hold him up. She was pale, sweaty,

12:27

and pained looking. Ryan shook and

12:29

shuddered. His eyes were unfocused, and he

12:31

was clearly in shock. He needs

12:33

to rest, Tulli said. Manny

12:36

stopped next to them and leaned against the wall

12:38

as well. He nodded at Tully and then

12:40

looked back to Sasha. Yeah, ditto,

12:42

I might prefer to lay down and die at this point.

12:45

We need to find a car anyway, Tullie

12:48

said, as she helped lower Rick down to sit against

12:50

the wall. If I carry him for much

12:52

longer, I'm going to drop. Sasha

12:55

realized everyone was looking at her. Is

12:57

that my job? Manny

12:59

looked mortified, Tuali looked angry.

13:02

Rick bless him was too deep and shocked

13:04

to react. Yes, Tuli

13:07

said, in a toneless voice that still somehow

13:09

implied deep disappointment. Okay,

13:12

then Sasha said, when I find the car,

13:14

I assume you'll know how to hot wire it. Tullie

13:16

laughed. It wasn't a nice laugh. If

13:19

you're hiding a real nice deck somewhere in

13:21

that silly head of yours, or you find a car that's

13:23

older than my dad, maybe otherwise

13:26

we're going to need something with keys in it. What

13:29

so I'm just supposed to carjack someone?

13:32

Tually stared dead eyed at her. Manny

13:34

gave a pain helpful smile. I

13:36

mean, you've got a gun, he said.

13:39

Sasha felt the heat rise in her again. Why

13:42

not, I've given up every other principle I have

13:44

today, I might as well commit armed robbery,

13:46

the guilt staying her guts, but not as badly

13:49

as it should have. Perhaps she was still numb

13:51

from watching Dr Brandton Marigold die. Or

13:53

maybe it's because I killed Alexander. Maybe

13:56

I'm evil now and this is what that feels like.

13:59

There was no time to hold the possibilities. Sasha

14:01

left Manny and the others to catch their breath and darted

14:04

down an alley towards a larger street that sounded

14:06

like it might have traffic. She passed

14:08

two parked cars and looked inside with the

14:10

vain hope that, just maybe someone might

14:12

have left their keys behind. It was to

14:14

no avail. Sasha soon found

14:16

herself on the cracked and shell popped asphalt

14:18

of Alma Road. The buildings on either

14:21

side of this stretch of street had taken significant

14:23

damage during the Heavenly Kingdom's Birth Pains.

14:25

There were no people out on the sidewalks or visible

14:28

in the windows. Anyone alive had probably

14:30

hunkered down to avoid the shooting. There

14:32

was still traffic on the road, though, three

14:35

trucks in a dented, fume spewing white

14:37

sedan shot by her at the speed of wartime

14:39

traffic. Sasha drew her gun,

14:41

looked at it, and then hurriedly stashed it inside

14:44

her blouse again when she realized how dumb

14:46

that had been. Godly women do not

14:48

carry guns. A series of

14:50

four loud booms sounded in the distance.

14:52

Sasha didn't know enough about weaponry to guess

14:54

what those had been, but she knew they'd

14:56

had something to do with Rowland. People

14:59

are dying, so I can find us a car and get

15:01

everyone to safety. She started

15:03

walking down the street, face pointed towards

15:05

oncoming traffic, hands waving above

15:07

her head in the international gesture for oh

15:10

God, please help me. Two more cars

15:12

zoomed past without even slowing to check on

15:14

her. It was odd how that shocked her after

15:16

everything else she'd seen in the Heavenly Kingdom, the

15:19

faithful protect and support each other, pastor

15:21

Mike had claimed, But not, it seemed,

15:23

when a half human monster was on a rampage

15:25

through their city. That helped debate

15:28

her guilt, at least, or it did right up

15:30

until the moment A familiar jankie brown

15:32

truck rumbled to a stop next to her. Excuse

15:35

me, ma'am, do you need She turned around,

15:37

and the man's face lit up in surprise, Miss

15:40

Sasha. It was Darryll, the

15:42

kindly old foreman who driven her to the House

15:44

of Miriam on her first day in the kingdom.

15:47

Was that really only days ago? It seemed

15:49

like years. Sasha felt like an

15:51

old woman, even though she was just on the edge

15:53

of eighteen. You hurt? He

15:55

slammed the car into park and opened his door one

15:58

sec I got a first aid kit in the back. Did

16:00

you get hit? Sasha looked down

16:02

at her chest and realized she looked like she'd

16:04

been badly injured. The blood wasn't hers,

16:06

of course, but Darrell couldn't have known that. He

16:08

thought she was hurt and he was trying to help.

16:11

Am I really going to rob a good Samaritan?

16:14

She was? Sasha waited until

16:16

Darrel had closed the door, grabbed his medical kit

16:18

and turned towards her. Then she drew her

16:20

pistol and leveled it at his weathered, grease

16:22

stained, and now thoroughly surprised face.

16:25

Huh, I need your truck, I

16:27

need your truck, she said. Darrel

16:30

dropped the medical kit and put both his palms

16:32

out. Oh now, girl, all right, why

16:34

don't you just put that gun down. Darrel

16:36

ain't gonna hurt you. I'll take you anywhere

16:38

you need to go. Let's just be real, calm,

16:40

real slow about all this. Did somebody

16:43

hurt you? I need your truck.

16:45

It was so hard to keep her voice, even, so

16:47

hard to do this cruel thing to a man who had only

16:50

been kind to her. Sasha could feel white

16:52

hot tears streamed down her face. I must

16:54

look like a crazy person, she thought. Maybe

16:56

that will help, now, Miss Sasha.

16:59

Darrell said, m I guess you don't know how to drive a

17:01

truck. Mine ain't autonomous. It's old

17:03

stick shift. Please, why don't you let me

17:05

take you where you need to go? Sasha's

17:08

mind raced. It was the same species

17:10

of nervousness that had always gripped her during major

17:12

exams in college admissions essays.

17:14

She ran through and discarded a dozen different

17:17

courses of action in her head. What if he

17:19

won't give me the keys, What if he takes another

17:21

step forward? What if he moved?

17:23

It started with a single glance Darrell's

17:26

eyes darted towards the driver's side door of his

17:28

truck. She almost didn't catch it, but

17:30

for whatever reason, the gesture rose goose

17:32

pimples on the back of her neck and forearms. I

17:35

need your truck. Her

17:37

voice was cold, strong, firm. Darrell

17:40

nodded at her. His body posture stayed

17:42

the same, but his eyes changed. There

17:45

was something hard and haunted in them. Now, all

17:48

right, miss Sasha, I'm just gonna reach in

17:50

here for m keys. He took

17:52

a step back and moved towards the door. The

17:55

bottom fell out of Sasha's gut and she screamed

17:57

at him to stop. Don't make another move.

18:00

He dove for the door, pulled it open, and reached

18:02

a hand down beside the driver's seat. Sasha

18:04

saw a flash of metal in his hand, and she opened

18:06

fire. She wasn't sure how many times

18:09

she pulled the trigger, but soon the gun was empty.

18:11

Sasha watched as Darrell stumble back into

18:13

the truck and then slid to the ground. Most

18:15

of her shots had gone wide, very wide.

18:18

She'd chattered two of the truck's windows and put

18:20

four or five rounds into the vehicle's body,

18:22

but at least one had hit Darrell right in

18:24

his throat a kill shot. He

18:27

slumped to the ground, gagged on blood,

18:29

and jerked like an electrified marionette.

18:31

Part of her wanted to run to him, to hold him

18:33

while he died, and say she was sorry. Then

18:36

she saw the gun at his feet. It didn't

18:38

dissipate her guilt, after all, she drawn

18:40

on him first. But at least she hadn't

18:42

shot and killed an unarmed man. She'd

18:44

killed an armed man, an

18:46

armed man who only ever helped me. Sasha

18:49

slumped against the hood of the truck and lost herself

18:52

in a storm of sobs. She didn't

18:54

realize she dropped her gun until it hit the asphalt

18:56

with a dull clank. She couldn't control her

18:58

hands or her breathing. Frantic sobbing

19:00

had robbed all the air from her lungs.

19:02

Her legs weakened, and she started to stumble

19:04

to the ground when a pair of warm, semi strong

19:07

arms caught her from behind. Hey, Hey,

19:09

it's all right, it's all right, Manny,

19:12

it's okay. You're gonna be okay.

19:15

Her world went black for a little while. Sasha

19:17

felt Manny lift her up, heard the sound of the truck's

19:19

engine rumble back to life, but she couldn't

19:21

see, and she couldn't move, and she couldn't stop

19:24

crying. Time lost any sort

19:26

of meaning. When she came back to herself,

19:28

there were in motion. Manny sat next

19:30

to her, and Rick next to him. Tully

19:33

drove. Sasha's eyes were drawn to Manny.

19:35

He held Darrell's pistol in his left hand.

19:38

She couldn't help but stare at the four spots

19:40

of dried blood on the silver slide. You

19:43

all right, Sasha, Manny asked. His

19:45

question passed through her ears without hitting her

19:47

mind. Sasha couldn't stop

19:49

staring at Darrell's blood. I did that.

19:52

I ended him. She'd ended two men

19:54

today. She felt no guilt about Alexander,

19:56

but that was almost more disturbing. It

19:58

seemed impossible to She'd been a pampered suburban

20:01

girl less than a month ago. Now

20:03

she was a murderer. Whoever sheds

20:05

human blood by humans, shall their blood

20:08

be shed? Sasha felt as if a

20:10

thick cloud of doom had fallen on her shoulders.

20:13

The truck veered off to the right and slammed

20:15

to a sudden stop. Sasha was flung

20:17

forward into the back of Tullie's seat, A

20:19

trio of vehicles zoomed past them, speeding

20:22

in the opposite direction, like several bats

20:24

fleeing the same hell. Sasha realized

20:26

with a moment's focus that there was an awful lot

20:28

of traffic heading away from them as fast as

20:30

possible. Promp Tullie

20:33

cursed and fought with a stick shift. The truck

20:35

lurched forward again and made it back onto

20:37

the road for a few seconds. Then another

20:39

speeding car roared into the oncoming lane

20:41

and she was forced to veer off to the shoulder again.

20:44

The sounds of gunfire grew louder. Sasha

20:47

heard the thrumb of helicopter blades too,

20:49

a second before one buzzed right over their

20:51

heads. It looked like a military vehicle,

20:53

painted matt black and laden with weapons.

20:56

Sasha watched as it zoomed ahead and rose

20:58

up over a pair of high rise up artment buildings

21:00

near the horizon line. There was a loud

21:02

crump sound, and black smoke billowed

21:04

out from the side of the craft. It spun

21:06

around drunkenly in the air for one very

21:08

long second before slamming into the roof of

21:11

one of the high rises. The resultant

21:13

blast rocked the truck. Tu Lee veered

21:15

left and right around a pothole at another speeding

21:17

truck, respectively. Her knuckles

21:20

were white, her jaw was clinched. Sasha

21:22

could see Tuli's eyes in the rear view mirror.

21:24

She looked terrified and angry at the same time.

21:27

Rick moaned in pain with every shaken jostle.

21:29

Manny closed his eyes, shook his head, and muttered

21:32

something low under his breath. Are

21:34

we close, Sasha asked Manny. He

21:36

squinted and looked out at the road for a second.

21:39

I mean, he shrugged. Yeah, probably,

21:41

I'm gonna guess rolands close to the explosions

21:44

and also causing them. Smoke

21:46

now dominated the horizon, which grew less

21:48

horizony and more imminent with each passing second.

21:51

In spite of all that, Sasha's eyes kept

21:53

being drawn back to the gun in Manny's hand

21:55

and the dry red brown stains on the slide

21:58

that was a good man's blood. She thought, how

22:01

did it come to this? Hey,

22:03

Jesus girl, it was Tuli.

22:05

Sasha looked up to the rear view mirror and locked

22:08

eyes with the other woman. Buck the funk

22:10

up Chica, Tuli said for the first

22:12

time Sasha heard real anger and not just

22:14

cold indifference in her voice. The other

22:16

woman continued, My best friend

22:19

was just shot to pieces. My lover is

22:21

bleeding out, and you're all fucked up because

22:23

you gunned down some crystal fascist ship.

22:25

Fuck suck your heart into your guts.

22:27

I don't know where you came from, girl, but you're in a hard

22:29

ass part of the world. Now it's time to

22:31

fortify. Fortify.

22:34

Sasha held onto that word like a life preserver.

22:37

Fortify survive. Then you

22:39

can lose your head in tears and shame. Okay,

22:42

she nodded. She started to apologize,

22:45

but was interrupted when the truck screeched to another's

22:47

sudden halt and threw everyone forward. Sasha's

22:50

head hit the front seat again, and her world dissolved

22:52

into stars. Ship Tulie

22:54

cried something rammed the rear of the truck.

22:57

Sasha lost all orientation to reality.

22:59

When her head and eyes cleared, the first thing she

23:01

saw was Toullie nursing a broken nose.

23:04

Blood poured down the other woman's face many

23:06

seemed intact. Sasha looked behind

23:09

them and saw a small sedan had dashed itself

23:11

against the bed of their truck and must have been

23:13

following right behind. When Tullie hit the brakes,

23:16

Sasha swung her eyes front to see why they'd

23:18

stopped. She saw Rowland.

23:21

He stood maybe ten feet in front of the truck's

23:23

hood. That arm raiser of his was extended

23:25

again, but the blade was cracked and half

23:28

shattered. His other hand held some sort

23:30

of large, black assault rifle he hadn't been

23:32

carrying in the jail. The pistol grip

23:34

grenade launcher he'd been carrying was still with

23:36

him, but he'd holstered it in an open hole in

23:38

his belly. The left side of

23:40

his cheek had been ripped away. Most of his

23:42

hair was burnt off, and Sasha made out at least

23:44

one clear bullet hole in his forehead. There

23:47

might have been more. All the caked on blood

23:49

and gore made it hard to discern. His

23:51

clothing had been mostly shot, burned, or torn

23:53

away. The dominant colors on his body

23:55

were black and red, with a few horrible spots

23:58

of white where bones shone through the open

24:00

air. The city behind him was all

24:02

smoke and fire. Emergency lights from

24:04

several vehicles blinked madly in the miasthma

24:07

but there were no martyrs or emergency workers

24:09

visible, at least none that were

24:11

standing. Sasha saw several terribly

24:13

still bodies lying among the piles of rubble.

24:17

Roland staggered towards the truck and flung

24:19

the passenger's side door open. He slumped

24:21

into the seat, bringing with him an overpowering

24:23

stink of blood and fire. He leaned

24:25

back in his seat and took three long breaths,

24:28

and then he spoke, way,

24:30

heads pretty clear, but you might want to hang

24:32

a right and then take a left avoid the traffic.

24:35

Truly nodded, and the truck jerked forward

24:38

again. The

24:41

riotout was so easy it scared Sasha.

24:43

In fact, it seemed to scare everyone, but Roland.

24:46

Manny's knuckles grew wider and wider as they

24:48

navigated their way out of the old Metroplex.

24:51

Toulli's expression didn't change, but her

24:53

body shook with nervous energy, and her jaw

24:55

was set so tight that the veins on her neck

24:57

bulged from the strain. It was immers

25:00

s that Rick was unconscious by that point. Convoys

25:03

of military vehicles rolled past them, sometimes

25:05

escorting ambulances and other emergency vehicles,

25:08

sometimes bringing more soldiers to the chunk of

25:10

the city. Roland had devastated Sasha's

25:12

heart leapt into her throat every single time,

25:14

but somehow no one stopped their truck.

25:17

Roland assured them all that it would be fine. I

25:20

kicked their asses so hard it'll take him an hour

25:22

to find their cheeks. His only discomfort

25:24

came once they left the zone of active danger.

25:27

He seemed to deflate. Then, after

25:29

a half hour on the road, his wounds had mostly

25:31

healed. The new skin that grew back underneath

25:34

seemed weirdly dark compared to the skin

25:36

above it. Roland scratched at it

25:38

an irritation, and then as casually

25:40

as if he'd been tossing an apple core, he ripped

25:42

off his face in one smooth atmotion and

25:44

tossed the bloody skin out the window. Jesus

25:48

dude, Manny said, disgusted. Couldn't

25:50

you have waited until we weren't all in the car. Sasha

25:54

stared in shock. Her hands started to

25:56

tremble, and she felt the urge to vomit, but

25:58

she fought it down and forced her stumf meck to an

26:00

uneasy calm. You've seen

26:02

worse than this now, and that was true.

26:04

She looked back at Rowland and forced herself

26:07

to take in his new face, which she guessed

26:09

was really his old face. Neither

26:11

iteration of him had been exactly handsome.

26:14

She watched in queasy fascination as

26:16

he picked the rest of the white skin from his hands

26:18

and tossed it out the window. When he'd

26:20

finished, he glanced up at Sasha. What

26:23

he asked, Please tell me you're not a racist.

26:25

This would be a real bad time for you to be racist.

26:28

She's not racist, dude, Manny said,

26:31

you just ripped your skin off. That freaks people

26:33

out. Oh, said Rowland,

26:35

right, Sorry, it's

26:37

okay, She said, this is just my

26:39

first time seeing someone rip off their own skin.

26:42

First. Roland grunted, but probably

26:44

not last. Sasha

26:47

didn't have the guts to question him, so she

26:49

kept quiet for the rest of the ride, so

26:51

did most of the other passengers. For

26:53

a long time, the only sounds inside the

26:55

truck were Rick's unconscious moans and Roland's

26:58

occasional directions to Tully. He

27:00

led them through underpopulated neighborhoods

27:02

and around checkpoints, past blackened buildings

27:04

and wrecks of military vehicles destroyed

27:06

during the heavenly Kingdom's first great advance.

27:09

Sasha was surprised at the emptiness of most

27:11

of the city. She began to understand

27:13

why Manny called this place Sioda de Muerta.

27:16

It took them two hours to escape the city

27:18

sprawl and finally make their way out onto

27:20

the open plains. They avoided

27:23

the main highway that linked Dallas to Waco. Instead,

27:25

spider webbed their way across a series of farm

27:28

roads. Every few minutes they'd rolled past

27:30

the bones of a rural town. Every

27:32

town out here seemed abandoned, as dead

27:34

and dry as the acres of yellow grass that

27:36

swallowed them up. A little before

27:38

dark, they rolled over a decrepit bridge across

27:41

a dry river bed. A bullet riddled

27:43

sign identified this area as Basque

27:45

County. Rowland put a hand on Manny's

27:48

shoulder and pointed towards a big metal barn

27:50

on the horizon. Take us up

27:52

there. We should probably stop for the night. What

27:55

Tulie spoke up? Why we could be at rolling

27:58

fuck in an hour? Land

28:00

shook his head. We got two routes

28:02

back to the city. Either we find the main highway

28:04

and deal with Kingdom patrols, or we keep ride

28:06

in these country roads. That'll take at least

28:08

another two or three hours and a lot of time

28:10

off road in the dark. There's no better

28:12

recipe for cracking an axle or blowing a tire.

28:16

Tuly fumed, but she rolled the truck up

28:18

and through a gap in what had once been the fence line

28:20

of a farm. There were a lot of farmhouses

28:22

around them, stretched out across acres

28:24

and acres of fields and pecan orchards. They

28:27

all looked abandoned, devoid of light, half

28:30

reclaimed by vegetation. The barn

28:32

Roland led them to was just as empty. There

28:34

were large holes in the sheet metal roof, and chunks

28:36

of the metal walls had been peeled away for scrap

28:38

metal. The underlying structure had been

28:40

built from metal girders, though it seemed

28:43

solid. They got out of the truck,

28:45

Roland helped Tully carry her lover across

28:47

the last few yards of field and into the old

28:49

barn. The innerds of the building were dusty.

28:52

Rusted tools hung from the wall, and boxes

28:54

of assorted goods littered the floor. Some

28:56

of them had been ripped open by scavengers, but most

28:59

looked like they'd sat unmolested since the property

29:01

had been abandoned. Manny found

29:03

an old couch inside. Roland and Tullie

29:05

helped Rick on to it. Then Roland

29:08

walked off into the middle of the barn and started to

29:10

root around in boxes. He came

29:12

back a minute later with a load of canned goods

29:14

in one arm and a handle of brown liquor in the

29:16

other. He sat the whole lot down on the

29:18

ground next to the couch, held up a can

29:20

labeled water in big red letters, and

29:22

then punched his finger through the top of the can.

29:25

He handed it to Tulli and she helped Rick drink.

29:27

He was semi conscious now, Sasha thought

29:29

there might be a little more color in his cheeks.

29:32

Roland opened three more cans, one of

29:34

water and two filled with some sort of gloopy

29:36

beef stew. He ripped the aluminum

29:39

tops open with his bare fingers and then passed

29:41

them around. Sasha was still too

29:43

deep in the throes of depression and adrenaline

29:45

dumpage to have any kind of appetite. The

29:47

brown gray color of the stew didn't help with

29:50

that, but Manny insisted she take a

29:52

gulp, and as soon as the food hit her tongue

29:54

Sasha realized she was starving. She

29:56

took two more deep gulps of the salty, mushy

29:59

mass before passing it along to Tulli. The

30:01

crew ate and rehydrated without conversation.

30:04

Although not in silence, the sounds

30:06

of gulping and lip smacking filled the barn for

30:08

a few minutes. Roland didn't join

30:10

in the eating. Instead, he popped open the

30:12

liquor bottle and drained it dry over the course of

30:14

about ninety seconds. The big

30:16

man closed his eyes, a smile crept

30:19

up onto his features, and he gave a deep, contented

30:21

sigh. When the food was almost gone,

30:23

he stood up and staggered back into the piles

30:25

of gear to grab two more bottles. These

30:28

ones were filled with an off yellow liquid. He

30:30

sat one down in between Manny and Sasha

30:32

and immediately began to guzzle the second.

30:35

Many glanced at Sasha, then at Tulli,

30:37

then down at the bottle. He popped the top

30:39

and took a belt. Then he offered it to Sasha.

30:42

If there was ever a time to dive into drinking,

30:44

it's the day I killed two people. Sasha

30:46

took the bottle and stared at it for a second. The

30:49

label, said Talisker, and identified

30:51

it as a product of Scotland. The bottle

30:53

itself was covered in dust. Hey,

30:56

Rowland, she asked, suddenly curious.

30:58

Did you know this place have food and water

31:01

and alcohol? Roland paused

31:03

draining his second bottle and fixed Sasha with

31:05

his strange blue eyes. He looked

31:08

tired for the first time since she'd met him.

31:10

Sasha wasn't sure if that was due to the rampage

31:12

he just carried out or her question. I've

31:15

been here before, he half mumbled, years

31:18

ago, Back before this old chunk of dirt was as much

31:20

of a ship hole as it is now. Wait

31:22

did you used to live here? Manny asked,

31:25

I don't know. Roland shrugged. What

31:27

do you mean you don't know? You clearly

31:29

know this farm. He shrugged

31:31

and gave a vague wave with his free hand. I

31:34

have memories of this place, bright lights at night,

31:36

people dancing, drugs and wine, and people

31:38

in songs. I have memories of packing the supplies

31:41

into boxes, buying ammunition. He

31:43

nodded towards the still locked door of the barn.

31:46

I remember locking that thing up, but I don't remember

31:48

why exactly. I might have lived here, It

31:50

might have belonged to a friend either way,

31:52

I feel like the last time I was here was back before

31:54

the revolution. His

31:56

mind is full of holes, Manny explained,

31:59

something happened to him a few years back. He remembers

32:01

pieces of who he is, what he's done, but not everything.

32:04

Tulli kicked Sasha gently in the hip. She

32:07

gestured to the bottle of whiskey. If

32:09

you're not drinking past the bottle, some of

32:11

us have grieving to do. On impulse,

32:14

Sasha took a pull from the bottle. She

32:16

started to hand it over to Tulli, but then the taste

32:18

hit her and she gagged. It was like someone

32:20

had lit a fire in her throat, one that tasted

32:22

of burning pete. She coughed and hacked

32:25

for several seconds, while Tulli and Roland laughed.

32:27

Once she regained her breath, Sasha finally

32:30

handed off the bottle. You'll

32:32

get better at it, the woman said, her lips

32:34

twisted up into what might have been a real smile.

32:37

Whiskey is in acquired taste, like

32:39

cigars nanarchy.

32:42

Tully took a very deep pole and sighed

32:44

and satisfaction. She handed the bottle

32:46

off to Manny and started gently petting

32:48

Rick's face. The wounded man was asleep,

32:51

but he seemed much healthier than he had been

32:53

a half hour earlier. How are

32:55

you doing, Sasha, Manny asked.

32:57

His eyes met hers, and Sasha saw a deep

32:59

concern in his gaze. I'm

33:02

fine, she said, not really meaning

33:04

it. She's all funked up

33:06

over the guy she killed for the truck. Tullie

33:08

grunted. Shouldn't be fucker picked

33:10

the wrong side, So did I.

33:13

Sasha tried to keep the anger out of her voice.

33:16

At first. Darrow was a good man.

33:18

He didn't deserve to die. Neither

33:20

did Marigold, said Tulli. Neither

33:23

did Major pirone man, he added, in a quiet

33:25

voice. They hung him on the day you and

33:27

I met. The whole world's

33:29

full of good dead people, said Tullie.

33:32

My advice, don't cry over someone you shot

33:34

in self defense. That's a karmic freebee.

33:37

The guy had a gun man, he added, seems

33:39

like he just did what you had to do. Roland

33:42

was quiet through all this. He kept drinking,

33:44

but his pace had slowed. His face took

33:46

on a dark cast, and he slumped down into

33:48

his chair. He seemed to collapse in

33:50

on himself a little look Chica

33:53

Tuli said. There was a slight, drunken slurry

33:55

were words. Now. I know I gave you

33:57

a hard time and it was dumb as fucky a

34:00

move to this kingdom, But I give you credit

34:02

for breaking free and for helping us escape.

34:05

You might be a little dumb, but you aren't bad people

34:07

in my book. Don't beat yourself up over

34:09

doing what you had to do. There

34:12

was quiet for a little while. Manny passed

34:14

the bottle to Sasha. She took another gulp

34:16

and managed to hold it down this time. Tullie

34:19

nodded an approval. When Sasha passed the whiskey

34:21

on, Sasha found her eyes drawn once

34:23

more to Darryl's gun. It was tucked

34:25

into Tullie's waistband. Roland

34:28

cleared his throat and gave a loud, flimmy cough.

34:30

Sasha looked back at him.

34:33

You didn't ask me for an opinion, he said,

34:35

But since everyone else's way in and I might as

34:37

well. There ain't nothing wrong with feeling

34:39

bad about murder, even justified

34:41

murder. But personally, I don't think

34:43

that's what's fucking you up. What do

34:45

you mean, she asked, He drained

34:48

the last of the whiskey bottle and tossed it off into

34:50

the darkness. It landed with a clank.

34:53

I got real good senses, you know, I can't turn

34:55

him off. So I heard your heart rate. I smelled

34:57

the narrow transmitters running through you synapses.

35:00

I could taste the guilt wafting off you.

35:02

But that's not the only thing I taste. He

35:04

locked his unsteady gaze on hers. Sasha

35:07

stared into the cold blue of his pupils.

35:09

A chill ran down her spine. Sweat beaded

35:12

on the back of her neck. When he spoke next,

35:14

his voice was barely above a whisper back

35:17

at the jail. When you crushed that guy's skull

35:19

with a helmet, you enjoyed yourself.

35:22

He liked it. Sasha broke

35:24

his gaze. She stared down at her lap and

35:26

struggled to find a reply, But there was

35:28

nothing else for her to say. Roland

35:30

was right. Chapter

35:40

twenty two. Manny Rolling

35:43

Fuck was as bright, shiny, and chaotic

35:45

as it had been when he left, But Manny

35:48

could see a real change among the citizens

35:50

themselves. Gone were the lounging

35:52

crowds of half naked people instead

35:54

of the perpetual party. A war camp

35:56

spread out around the great superstructure

35:59

of the city. Hundreds of men and

36:01

women were busy dawning armor, applying war

36:03

paint, and checking over stacks of weaponry.

36:05

Manny saw crates of guided mortars,

36:08

piles of rocket launchers, boxes of high

36:10

velocity ammunition, and enough firearms

36:12

to equip every citizen a dozen times

36:14

over. There was no discernible

36:16

rolling fuck uniform that Manny could

36:18

see. Some of the city's warriors

36:20

wore powered body armor painted in garish

36:23

colors and bedecked with various quotations.

36:25

Fuck your Day seemed particularly popular.

36:28

Many of them wore pieces of pop culture costumery

36:31

mixed in with their gear. Manny recognized

36:34

Darth Vader's helmet, hell Boy's red

36:36

right hand, and a surprising number of people

36:38

with Mickey Mouse's face spray painted on

36:40

their chest armor. An equal number

36:42

of Fuchians wore no armor at all. Some

36:45

of them were dressed in their normal, flowing lounge

36:47

garments. The weapons they wore were the

36:49

only signs that they had plans beyond debauchery.

36:52

Others were naked or mostly so. He

36:54

saw one man wearing the helmet of a Greek hoplight

36:57

and carrying two Viking axes on his

36:59

back. He saw a woman with a Dragonov

37:01

rifle on her back, an old German stallhelm

37:04

on her head, an Ottoman mirror armor

37:06

on her chest. She waved at them,

37:08

excited. It took Manny a second to recognize

37:10

Topas's face under the helmet. There

37:13

here, there she stopped.

37:15

Tullie had stopped too. She cast her

37:18

face down. Manny could see the shimmer

37:20

of tears on her cheeks. A crowd

37:22

gathered around them. In a few seconds, they

37:24

were encircled by dozens of heavily armed

37:26

post humans and a dizzying array of war

37:28

costumes. Scofucker Mike pushed

37:30

his way to the front and ran up to embrace Tulli.

37:33

Manny was surprised when she started to sob.

37:36

The big man held her tight, but looked to Rowland

37:39

what happened. Roland gave

37:41

him a look that said, you know, damn well

37:43

what happened. But then he spoke, anyway,

37:46

your friend didn't make it. Scofucker

37:49

Mike's jaw went tight, his eyes bulged,

37:51

and he held on to Tullie a little tighter. Manny

37:54

thought back to the night they'd spent in brain Breakers

37:56

and the things he'd said about Marigold. Manny

37:59

hadn't really known the woman at all, but he could tell

38:01

Mike had cared deeply for her. He looked

38:03

around at the crowd closing in on them, the

38:05

dozens of half human god monsters

38:08

with helpless rage carved onto their faces.

38:11

What happened, Mike demanded.

38:14

Roland opened his mouth to speak, closed

38:16

it and ran a hand over his bald head.

38:18

He opened his mouth again, managed to squeeze

38:21

out an eye before he slumped

38:23

his shoulders and hung his head. I

38:25

wasn't fast enough, he said. Finally,

38:28

they had better gear, newer suits than I had

38:30

expected, schoofucker.

38:32

Mike stared at him. Behind him, Tope

38:35

has slid down to the ground and buried her head

38:37

in her knees. Murmurs swept the

38:39

crowd, and then Sasha spoke up.

38:42

Your friends saved my life. Mike

38:44

looked over and seemed to notice her for the first

38:46

time, and who were you?

38:49

His voice was not unfriendly, it

38:51

wasn't exactly warm either. My

38:54

name is Sasha, she said, her voice

38:56

clearly on the edge of a sob. She looked

38:58

from Mike to TOOLI to tope as to the crowd,

39:00

and then back to Manny. He saw a panic

39:03

in her eyes, barely held in check by a

39:05

cage of steely resolve. I

39:07

made a mistake. I left my home for the

39:10

Kingdom. I thought it was the right thing to do. I

39:12

met Marigold while I was there, and she helped me

39:14

see how wrong I'd been. She pointed

39:16

to Roland. I tried to help him free your

39:18

people. We all tried, but they

39:20

were ready for us. They shot him.

39:23

She gestured to Roland. They shot him

39:25

a lot. They had us all dead to rights.

39:27

And then Marigold. I don't know how, but she got a gun.

39:30

She shot two of them, and then they shot her.

39:32

She died, saving us. The

39:35

silence that followed was louder than any artillery

39:37

barrage Manny had ever sat through. Finally,

39:40

Skullfucker Mike nodded at her. There

39:42

were tears in his eyes, and Manny soon

39:44

realized tears on every face

39:46

in the crowd. Some people fell to

39:48

their knees, others embraced and held their

39:51

friends. One voice, hoarse

39:53

and heavy with pain, howled out in anguish.

39:55

It was met by another voice and then another,

39:58

and then another, as Fucky and after Bucky

40:00

and tilted their head back and roared their

40:02

grief out to the empty blue of the Texas

40:04

sky. Rolling Fuck

40:06

preferred to mourn through activity. The

40:09

wailing and gnashing of teeth over Marigold

40:11

didn't stop the city's medics from taking Rick

40:13

and Tully to whatever building served as their

40:15

equivalent of a clinic. Topaz

40:17

stayed behind with a gathering crowd of mourners

40:19

while skullfucker Mike gathered up Manny, Sasha

40:22

and Roland. There will be time to process

40:25

later, He'd said, as much to himself as

40:27

to them. There's a war council soon,

40:29

and they'll be wanting to debrief you. Fine,

40:32

Roland said, but I'm stopping at the bar

40:34

first. I need some opium and some got am

40:36

tequila. Manny expected

40:39

skullfucker Mike to be angered by that, given

40:41

the circumstances, but the other chromed

40:43

man just nodded and said I

40:45

could use a drink or nine myself. They

40:48

headed for the lift underneath the main roller. Manny

40:50

started to prepare himself for the meeting with this

40:52

war council, whatever that term meant

40:54

in a place like this, whatever

40:57

happens, it's bound to be weird. They

40:59

reached the lift, skullfucker Mike opened

41:01

the door and gestured for everyone to enter, and

41:04

so. Less than an hour after arriving back

41:06

in the City of Wheels, Manny, Sasha, and

41:08

Rowland found themselves seated around the same

41:10

red wood table where they had first met Nana Yazi

41:13

and Donald Ferris. The room

41:15

was more crowded this time around, with two

41:17

new people he didn't recognize. One

41:20

was a shirtless man with writhing snake tattoos

41:22

across his chest and a pair of chaps that did

41:25

nothing at all to cover up his junk. It

41:27

didn't help that the man's legs were spread as

41:29

wide as possible. He seemed to be deliberately

41:32

showing off. Manny looked

41:34

away and found himself staring at a very tall,

41:36

very muscular, young seeming woman with a

41:38

mohawk made from thick chrome spikes.

41:41

She had light brown skin. Her cheeks

41:43

were covered in several long, thin, diagonal

41:45

scars. The woman's eyes had no pupils.

41:48

They looked gray at first, until Mannie

41:50

realized they were actually just filled with static.

41:53

When Mannie finally pulled his gaze away from

41:55

her. He was met with the biggest surprise of the day.

41:58

Deshaun Clark was seated chairs

42:00

down from Nanna Yazzi Major Clark,

42:03

Manny. The Major's lips cracked

42:05

open into a wide mouthed grin. The

42:07

left side of his face was still covered in hemostatic

42:10

gauze, and the edges of the skin around the gauze

42:12

looked black and burnt. His right hand

42:14

was a smooth, angry pink color, a sure

42:16

sign that had been severed and regrown in the recent

42:18

past. Major Clark was bloody

42:21

but unbowed. It's damn good

42:23

to see you, Manny. I can tell you how proud

42:25

I was to hear you'd volunteered for this mission.

42:28

Mr Pirrone, Manny started to say,

42:30

but Major Clark put up his hand, I

42:33

know, he said. Donald

42:35

Ferris ahemmed, which Manny took as

42:37

a gentle reminder that now was not the

42:39

time for personal business. The old

42:41

brick gestured first to the man with the writhing

42:43

snake tattoos. This is

42:45

Jim Shannon, he said. He heads

42:48

up a small mercenary outfit. I'm

42:50

the guy who roped Roland into helping,

42:53

Jim said, with a wink and this cheery

42:55

lass. Donald pointed to the woman with

42:57

a chrome hawk. Is Kashore. She's

43:00

the city's elected wally too for the past three

43:02

years. And who might

43:04

this young lady be, Nana Yazzi

43:06

asked, nodding at Sasha. The old woman

43:09

stood and stepped forward to greet Sasha

43:11

with a hub. Sasha tensed up. She

43:13

looked scared to return the embrace, so

43:15

Nana Yazzi backed off and favored the girl

43:17

with a warm smile. I'm sorry,

43:20

child, I didn't mean to pressure you. I'm just

43:22

happy or hear with us. Sasha

43:24

relaxed at that, but she still didn't step

43:26

forward. Her name, Sasha

43:29

said Rowland. She used to be with the Kingdom,

43:31

now she's not. He paused a second,

43:34

considered his words, and added, she beat

43:36

one of them to death with a helmet. Oh

43:38

my, oh dear. Nana Yazzi

43:40

tisked and shook her head. I'm so sorry,

43:43

Sasha, that must have been a terrible experience

43:45

for you. She enjoyed it, Jim

43:48

said, with a harsh bark of a laugh. I'm

43:50

sure Rowland smells it too. Isn't

43:52

that a radhun you loved? Killing? Whoever

43:55

the funk you killed and you feel shitty

43:57

about that. Will let me still stop

43:59

right now, or you'll leave this room.

44:01

Nana Yazzi's voice was firm, but devoid

44:03

of any anger or heat. To Manny's shock,

44:06

Jim stopped the post human, nodded and

44:08

said, I apologized Sasha,

44:10

that was a dick move, and then he lowered

44:12

his eyes just a little. In contrition,

44:15

Nana Yazzi offered Sasha a seat

44:17

and then busied herself in the corner making Sasha

44:20

a cup of tea. Once that was done and

44:22

they were all settled in, Nana sat back down

44:24

and looked at Manny. What happened,

44:27

is all she asked. Manny

44:29

started talking. He told her, and by extension,

44:31

the whole table, everything that had happened since

44:33

he and Rowland left rolling Fuck. He

44:36

told them about their trouble with the checkpoints on

44:38

the way into town. He walked them through

44:40

the intake process, his and Roland's few

44:42

days as martyrs in training, and what he'd

44:45

seen in the few sections of Plano he'd been allowed

44:47

to haunt during his time there. The

44:49

woman with the Chrome Hawk was particularly interested

44:51

in what he and Roland had to say about the Kingdom's

44:54

preferred assault tactics. They're

44:56

not going to be kicking indoors in fighting house to

44:58

house. Roland explained, just start

45:00

shelling at the first sign of resistance. They

45:02

don't care about civilian casualties. When

45:05

Manny explained what the Kingdom had been doing at

45:07

the old Tesla factory, almost everyone

45:09

looked horrified. Donald Ferris

45:11

spat at the ground. Most of the others

45:13

cursed or at least shook their heads. Nanna

45:16

Yazi teared up. Jim, though, seemed

45:18

almost enthusiastic about the revelation.

45:21

Fascinating, he muttered just

45:23

loud enough for Manny to hear. Once

45:26

everyone was caught up the table fired off

45:28

a few questions at him and more towards Rowland.

45:30

They seemed mostly curious as to what they'd been

45:32

able to glean about the number of recruits in the Heavenly

45:35

Kingdom. Manny didn't have much

45:37

useful there, so he shut up, leaned

45:39

back, and let Rowland give the answers. An

45:41

awkward silence descended on the table After

45:44

a few minutes. Well,

45:46

Donald Ferris said, finally, I

45:49

suppose we were fools to hope for much more

45:51

than what you've got as it stands.

45:53

Were left grappling to try an account for the sheer

45:55

number of men the Kingdom has deployed to

45:57

assault Austin. When

45:59

a thousand martyrs, Jim spoke up and

46:02

give a take a grand Manny's

46:04

blood went cold. The SDF

46:07

at its height hadn't been more than six thousand

46:09

fighters, and those were spread out across

46:11

the serried battle grounds of North Texas.

46:13

The whole free city of Austin didn't have more

46:15

than five thousand people in its full time defense

46:18

corps. Twenty thousand men was impossible,

46:21

he said, that's just fucking impossible. I'd

46:24

be inclined to agree with you, kid, said

46:26

Jim, if my own men hadn't double checked

46:29

the count for us. The Kingdom's already

46:31

marshaled half of that force on the outskirts

46:33

of d f W near Lancaster. They'll

46:36

be in Waco tomorrow if no one stops

46:38

him. Hell, they could be pound in Austin

46:40

with artillery by Doc Donald

46:43

Ferris nodded mister Shennon.

46:45

Here he gestured to Jim as

46:47

agreed to lend a hand, along with several

46:49

dozen of his mercenaries. Add that to

46:51

the warriors of Rolling Fuck, and we've got seven

46:54

hundred ish post humans. It's a large

46:56

enough force to hold Waco and badly

46:58

bloody their nose. But

47:01

Kushori spoke for the first time. She had

47:03

a deep, gravelly voice that sounded like she'd

47:05

been eating cigarettes for the last ten years.

47:08

Rolling Fuk is not in the business of volunteering

47:11

for our own Vietnams. My people

47:13

aren't signing up for a war. I

47:15

can guarantee our presence on the battlefield

47:17

for up to forty eight hours, enough

47:20

time for vengeance, she continued.

47:22

After that, you're hurting cats? Is

47:25

that a problem? Manny asked. I mean I

47:27

saw Roland lay waste to half a city,

47:29

six hundred of him. There's only one of

47:32

him, Kushori said. Jim

47:34

nodded in agreement and fixed Manny with

47:36

his uncomfortable gray eyes. See

47:39

kid, he said me. Any one a

47:41

Roland Fox war is as good for a few dozen

47:43

normal troops in a straight fight, more

47:45

of Wotok and half trained Potazans.

47:48

But nobody is like Roland. Manny

47:51

looked over to Roland. The big man seemed

47:53

distinctly uncomfortable with all the attention.

47:55

He stared down at his hands, which seemed to be

47:58

occupied with tearing up a paper drink coaster.

48:00

The martyrs have a lot of half trained partizans,

48:03

but they've also got tanks, artillery,

48:05

as suits the resources of a nation

48:08

state or close enough. Rolland

48:10

Fuck can hold that off for a while, But without

48:13

Rolland the best they can do is delay the inevitable.

48:16

Now with Roland, Jim continued,

48:18

this is a two hour five tops. We

48:21

set up our troops in some little chunk of the city

48:23

and start dropping mortars and rockets on the

48:25

van guard. They pull up and circle

48:28

us and start deploying their artillery to bombus

48:30

to kingdom come. Then, when they

48:32

are good and packed together, we drop

48:34

Roland on the asses. Kashurei

48:37

nodded, yes, She said, he'll

48:39

hit them and disrupt their whole order of battle

48:41

while our cavalry rolls around their flanks

48:43

and charges. That should be enough to make

48:45

them panic. Then we'd chase them down until

48:47

they lose cohesion. Rolland's

48:50

heads stayed down. He didn't speak. Manny

48:52

looked from him to Jim Tannani Yazzi and

48:54

Donald Ferris. So what's the problem,

48:57

Manny asked. If Roland and Rolling Funk are

48:59

all in the should be a walk in the park, Rowland,

49:02

Nanny Yazzi said, prefers not to fight,

49:05

But I just saw him. You just

49:07

saw me break a long streak of not killing

49:10

people. Roland's voice sounded odd,

49:12

hollow and dry, and utterly without any of

49:14

the mirth or mischief Manny had come to expect

49:16

from the chromed man. I

49:18

did that to get my memories back, Manny, he

49:20

shrugged, And I did it for you because

49:22

you're my buddy. But I got no stake in Austin.

49:25

But you know what the Heavenly Kingdom will do if they take

49:27

the city, Manny protested. You've seen

49:29

what they did to Plaino. They'll do that to millions

49:32

of decent people if they can. You have the power

49:34

to stop that. You're telling me you won't.

49:37

Roland met his eyes and just said, yes,

49:40

you son of a bitch. Manny felt

49:42

the anger well up inside him. It merged

49:45

with his grief over Major Pirone's death, Oscar's

49:47

death, and his rage at the Heavenly Kingdom,

49:50

the Martyrs, and every other group of assholes

49:52

who'd helped turn his young life into a parade

49:54

of nightmares. Hugh, absolute,

49:56

son of a bitch, You fucking coward. Manny

49:59

did think, couldn't think. He pulled

50:01

back his fist and swung as hard as he could for Roland's

50:04

face. The chrombed man didn't move,

50:06

didn't even blink. Manny hit him right in the

50:08

nose. He was softer than Manny would

50:10

have guessed, didn't feel any different from

50:12

punching a normal human. Manny swung

50:15

again and again until he felt something crack

50:17

in his knuckles. He cried out from the pain

50:19

and pulled back to nurse his wounded hand.

50:22

For a few seconds, Manny forgot about the

50:24

rest of the room. He closed his eyes

50:26

and let his thoughts dissolve into an ocean of physical

50:28

pain. The agony of his broken

50:30

hand was almost soothing. It was better

50:33

than thinking about mister Perrone. It was

50:35

better than thinking about Alejandro or Oscar.

50:38

It was better than thinking about his soon to be shattered

50:40

home. Manny felt a hand on

50:42

his shoulder. The sensation pulled him out

50:44

of his spiraling thoughts. He looked up

50:46

and saw nanny Azzi. She smiled

50:49

her sad smile and said, Manny,

50:51

every one here understands your pain. Not

50:54

me, said Jim. I've never been a big

50:56

fan. Austin too, damn. Roland

50:59

threw his empty pint glass at the other post human's

51:01

face. It shattered on impact, embedding

51:04

shards deep into Jim's cheeks and forehead.

51:06

His head snapped back, and he blinked in

51:08

shock A few times. Sorry,

51:11

he said, I deserve that, and

51:13

I deserved that. Roland said to Manny,

51:16

no hard feelings I get while you're piste, But

51:18

kid, you gotta understand something. Austin's

51:21

home to you, to me, it's just another

51:23

city held by just another side. Half

51:26

my remaining memories are of one cause or another

51:28

asking me to go murder in their name. I'm

51:30

fucking done with it. Minnie

51:32

looked to Major Clark, the STF

51:34

officer's eyes were lit by a familiar cold

51:37

fire. He spoke in a tone of barely

51:39

controlled anger. That is, you're

51:41

right, of course, you can choose to leave,

51:43

just as I will choose to fight and die.

51:46

I wonder what Manny will choose. Manny

51:49

hadn't really settled on that himself. Before

51:52

he could stumble through his response, Sasha

51:54

spoke, I'll fight, She said,

51:57

I don't know much about guns, but I'll do my best.

52:00

Roland slumped back in his chair and tossed

52:02

his arms up in a dramatic show of frustration

52:05

at too. Jesus girl, I'll

52:08

fight, Manny said to Major Clark, doing

52:10

his best to talk over Rowland. I'll choose

52:12

to fight too. This isn't

52:14

gonna work, you know, Roland said. I'm not going

52:16

to be shamed into fighting again. It's just not going

52:19

to fucking happen. Jim leaned

52:21

in. He fixed Roland with a look that seemed

52:24

almost hungry. I think it

52:26

will happen. I think the peculiar

52:28

arc of your moral cumbas won't let you

52:30

leave these kids to die. He seemed

52:33

surprised by the revelation. Huh,

52:35

fascinating enough of that. Donald

52:38

Ferris sounded angry. I won't stand

52:40

to see this man badge it and press it into

52:42

fighting against his will. We might as well dissolve

52:44

the council for now and reconvene without Rowland.

52:48

Good. Roland stood up and stomped

52:50

over to the exit. That's all you people need for

52:52

me. I'm gonna go get good and pissed and start my

52:54

walk back to Arizona. He flipped

52:56

his middle finger out at the room and slammed the door

52:58

behind him as he left. All

53:00

eyes turned to Mannie. I

53:03

should probably go talk to him. Don't

53:06

do anything you're not comfortable doing. Emmanuel

53:09

Donald said, fuck that. Jim

53:11

said the best. It's on the ropes. Shame

53:13

him, shame him good. As

53:16

he headed for the exit, Manny looked to Major Clark.

53:18

The old soldier's one good eye was narrow

53:21

and focused Mannie. He said,

53:23

if he didn't want to talk, he wouldn't have gone up to

53:25

the bar, He'd have just left. There's

53:27

no honor lost. In another conversation,

53:30

another try, Roland

53:33

was three beers in by the time Manny reached

53:35

him, and knowing rolling, fuck that

53:37

could mean he'd already ingested enough acid

53:39

to kill a large octopus. Hey,

53:42

Manny said, heybody rolland

53:45

replied in a voice that was just super

53:47

stoned. Sorry about getting

53:50

angry. Back there, the post human spun

53:52

his empty pint glass around on the bar table.

53:55

It was a strange sight to see. Mannie

53:57

had gotten so used to seeing Roland as something

53:59

akin to a Greek god. He certainly

54:02

wasn't omniscient or omnipotent, but he

54:04

was unspeakably powerful and just as

54:06

irresponsible to leave out around humans,

54:09

And yet here he was fiddling with an empty

54:11

pint glass like a nervous college freshman

54:13

standing at the back wall of some house party.

54:15

Many felt a surge of sympathy. It's

54:18

okay, man, I think I actually get

54:20

it, he said, like I've had plenty of chances

54:23

to join either the SDF or the Austin Defense

54:25

Forces. I never did. Maybe

54:27

some of that's because I'm scared help. Up

54:29

until like a few days ago, my plan

54:32

was to get the funk off this continent as soon as I could

54:34

afford it. Many paused and bit

54:36

his lip. It was an instinctive gesture,

54:38

his gut's reaction to a sudden burst of self

54:40

awareness. Many hadn't thought about

54:42

any of this before. I

54:44

don't know, he said. This ship has been going

54:46

on basically my whole life. I can't remember

54:49

a time when I wasn't scared of something like this happening.

54:52

I didn't understand any of it as a kid, but I

54:54

can remember being seven or eight years old

54:56

and just being so angry at the soldiers,

54:58

even our soldiers. I thought, if

55:00

all you assholes would just refuse to be led into

55:03

battle, none of this could happen. You

55:06

know, that's not how it works. Ryan Roland

55:08

asked as he turned away from Manny and waved

55:10

at the bartender. We love

55:12

this war ship. At least someone us

55:14

due those of us who were Oh the bartender

55:17

arrived, Roland ordered my time mixed

55:19

with the margharita and one of those what you got him column?

55:21

Oh yeah, a fucking mohito Roland.

55:24

Manny's voice was gentle but firm. How

55:26

many beers did you drink before I got here? Not

55:30

beers, Roland said in a casual voice.

55:32

Mushroom rum, sweet but not bad.

55:34

He licked his lips as he watched the bartender work

55:37

through the herculean task of crafting his requested

55:39

beverage. Roland Manny

55:42

said, and the chrombed man turned back to him.

55:45

Ah, sorry, it's just been too long a stretch

55:47

of sober for me. I got excited. What

55:49

the funk was I saying? That war

55:51

is fun? Oh yeah, as long as you

55:53

don't think you will die. That's why all

55:55

throughout history he had so many generals and politicians

55:58

kicking off conflicts because they felt safe

56:01

and when you're pretty sure you'll live, war is

56:03

an absolute hoot. That's the problem

56:05

with me, and fighting the

56:07

problem as you like it. Too much. Roland

56:10

grabbed his hand. The chromed man moved

56:12

so fast Manny didn't even see the motion

56:14

blur. Roland's hand was just wrapped

56:16

around his wrist, immovable. He squeezed

56:19

hard enough that it hurt. Roland's eyes bulged

56:21

out and stared into Manny with a manic intensity

56:23

that was frightening. I fucking

56:26

love it. It's like sex on heroin

56:28

and bungee jumping and getting rammed in the assid and that

56:30

first shadow liquor you is synake when you're fourteen,

56:32

all at once, and mixed with the best actual battle

56:35

drugs the most bloated military budget

56:37

in history can buy. He

56:39

loosened his grip and turned half away from

56:41

Manny. That's why I shouldn't do it,

56:43

because I'll get carried away like I got carried

56:45

away in Dallas. Maybe this time

56:47

I won't be able to stop when it's time to stop.

56:50

Manny kept his eyes on Roland's. The

56:52

big man turned a little further to the left,

56:54

but he didn't look away. How

56:57

do you know that your intervention won't make things better?

56:59

Manny asked. Maybe if we can kill enough

57:01

in the martyrs, their power will be broken forever. Maybe

57:04

your intervention will be the first step towards making

57:06

this a more livable part of the globe. Roland

57:09

laughed. It started as a low chuckle

57:11

that then cascaded into a series of rolling,

57:13

rib cracking howls. Manny didn't

57:15

get the joke, and he couldn't find any humor in

57:18

his words, so he sat tight until Roland's

57:20

mirth subsided and the chromed man had recovered

57:22

enough to explain himself. All

57:24

right, sorry, he

57:26

said, between chuckles. It's just a

57:29

ship. Kid. You're too young to know how funny

57:31

that is. Roland straightened up and

57:33

wiped a tear from his eye. So you're

57:36

talking about me the exact same way people talked

57:38

about the U. S. Military back when I was a

57:40

kid. The bartender came by

57:42

and sat down Roland's drink, an enormous

57:44

jug filled with a multi hued mix of alcoholic

57:47

beverages. The post human took a deep

57:49

poll from his my Tai Garito. Manny

57:51

took the chance to ask a question. I

57:53

thought you didn't remember anything further back than

57:55

a few years ago. I don't remember

57:58

anything clearly, Roland said, what I do

58:00

remember bits and pieces, and I remember being

58:02

a young man and watching the news break in an

58:04

off base bar. Some election had

58:06

gone bad in Bolivia. The president

58:08

announced he was sending in soldiers to keep the

58:11

pace. Did it work, Manny

58:13

asked? And no, kid, would your school

58:15

teach you about Bolivia? That there was

58:17

a genocide? At oh, Manny

58:20

said, as Roland's points sunk in right

58:23

yep. Roland grunted and took another deeper

58:25

pull from his ridiculous beverage. They

58:27

were quiet for a while. Manny took

58:29

the opportunity to take a long look at Roland.

58:32

His face held only a few lines around his

58:34

eyes and lips, and yet he still looked old,

58:36

positively ancient. There appeared to

58:39

be a tremendous weight to the man's eyes,

58:41

accentuated by the deep wrinkles underneath

58:43

them. It looked as if the chromed man's

58:45

face was sagging underneath the weight of what he

58:47

had seen Roland.

58:50

Manny asked, do you have any idea of where

58:52

you came from? I think

58:54

I was born around Mississippi ba

58:56

No, Manny interrupted, not like where

58:58

you were born, but how you became and what you are today?

59:01

You said, you've been disconnected from the internet for the

59:03

last ten years. I've got a guess your implants or

59:05

even older than that. But the way everyone

59:07

here talks about you, you're still king shit. Oh,

59:10

Roland said, yeah that, I

59:13

got no real idea what happened there. I know I

59:15

was in the army. I'm pretty sure that's when the tinkering

59:17

started, sure, man, he

59:19

said, but didn't A lot of the road people start

59:21

as ex special forces who went rogue? Why

59:23

are you special? You had no

59:26

clear answer to that, buddy, he smiled,

59:28

as if he just remembered something good. I

59:30

guess I've got that surgery coming up. Once

59:32

I get my memories back, I'll let you know what I find

59:34

out. Manny laughed too,

59:36

but his was cold and bitter. Sure

59:39

I'll probably be in a refugee camp at that point,

59:41

or dead, damn good.

59:44

Roland said, yeah, man,

59:46

he said, I'm really not trying to manipulate you

59:48

here. It's just now, I get it. I get

59:51

it. Roland waved him off. It's fair,

59:53

you get every right to be piste. I just can't.

59:56

He trailed off. Many put a hand

59:58

on Roland's shoulder. He didn't understand

1:00:00

how the post human felt. How could he?

1:00:02

Manny couldn't even conceive of having that kind

1:00:05

of power, but he could see why it was a

1:00:07

difficult choice. There was a part

1:00:09

of Manny, a dark, manipulative chunk

1:00:11

of his soul, that knew he was on his way to changing

1:00:13

Roland's mind. This was essentially

1:00:16

the same strategy he used on the job. You

1:00:18

built empathy with people through a combination

1:00:20

of shared experiences in regular engagement.

1:00:23

That empathy paid dividends when you needed some

1:00:25

lieutenant's approval to cross the check point.

1:00:27

It would pay dividends here if he was careful

1:00:30

and consistent as

1:00:32

fucked up man he thought, you're manipulating

1:00:34

your friend into killing a bunch of people. You

1:00:37

know what, Manny said, I'm sorry. I didn't

1:00:39

mean to. Roland drain the rest

1:00:41

of his mug, belched and looked over at Manny.

1:00:43

He looked unsteady, half conscious. The

1:00:45

chrombed man put his left hand over Manny's

1:00:47

hand while it rested on his shoulder. He

1:00:50

fixed Manny with his half focused eyes and nodded,

1:00:52

FuG it. Roland said, oh, fugen

1:00:55

alpia, and be a dick of it. Didn't thank

1:00:58

you, Manny said, with a nod. I know

1:01:00

not say anything else, kid, I don't really

1:01:03

want to think about what I just promised to do. Man.

1:01:07

He found Sasha sitting around a fire pit

1:01:09

outside the city, proper deep in conversation

1:01:11

with Donald Ferris. She sat on the

1:01:13

ground, legs splayed out wide, with her button

1:01:16

the grass. Donald sat in a folding

1:01:18

chair. It wasn't cold outside precisely,

1:01:21

but it had cooled off a great deal from the heat

1:01:23

of the day. The air held just the

1:01:25

barest hint of winter. It was shaping up

1:01:27

to be one of those odd September days where

1:01:29

Texas seemed on the verge of an actual seasonal

1:01:32

shift. One look at Sasha's

1:01:34

face told him that she was at least as unsettled

1:01:36

as Rowland. He didn't want to crowd her, so

1:01:38

he squatted down on the other side of Donald.

1:01:41

Emmanuel the old Man's voice was

1:01:43

as smooth and rich as man. He remembered from the narration

1:01:46

of his documentary, It's good to

1:01:48

see you. Sasha's been telling me her story.

1:01:50

She actually just turned to the subject

1:01:52

of you, Yeah, Manny

1:01:55

asked, Yes. She was telling me

1:01:57

how she met you and Marigold, and how you both

1:01:59

helped to find a way free of the kingdom.

1:02:02

Oh, he said, and looked at Sasha.

1:02:04

I never really met Marigold. I didn't realize

1:02:07

you knew her well. Sasha shook

1:02:09

her head. I only knew her a little while.

1:02:11

I was just supposed to be administering tests

1:02:13

to her. But I couldn't stop her from talking,

1:02:15

and she made sense. She

1:02:17

made more sense than what was going on out in the Kingdom

1:02:19

every day. Sasha stared

1:02:22

down into the fading embers of the fire. I

1:02:24

feel stupid forever believing in that place.

1:02:27

And what do you believe now? Donald

1:02:29

asked, I don't know, She said.

1:02:32

It seems arrogant to decide that God

1:02:34

doesn't exist just because I let myself get

1:02:36

taken in by a cult. M the

1:02:38

old man nodded. The good news is you're young.

1:02:41

You've got plenty of time to figure things out.

1:02:43

Again, his cheeks turned up into a

1:02:45

smile and his face blossomed with wrinkles.

1:02:47

Now he looked up at Manny. What

1:02:49

have you been up to, my dear boy talking

1:02:52

to Roland. Manny said he agreed

1:02:54

to help. By the way, he's going to fight.

1:02:58

Donald Ferris's smile turned into were

1:03:00

frown. Manny hadn't been expecting

1:03:02

that. How did you do it? He

1:03:04

asked in a somber, grave voice.

1:03:07

We just talked for a while, Manny

1:03:09

said. He explained why he didn't want to fight.

1:03:12

It sounded very reasonable. Manny

1:03:14

paused and then made the choice to lie just

1:03:16

a little. I wasn't trying to change

1:03:18

his mind. I didn't ask him to help. That

1:03:20

last part was true. At least. I do

1:03:23

feel bad, though, I'm sure he changed his

1:03:25

mind because of me. Is

1:03:27

it really on you if he chooses to fight, Sasha

1:03:29

asked, I killed two men. Both of

1:03:31

those deaths are on me. But you didn't order

1:03:34

Roland to do anything. No.

1:03:36

Donald Ferris agreed, but I doubt

1:03:39

Roland would have made the decision to intervene

1:03:41

if Manny hadn't pressed. That's

1:03:43

probably true, Manny admitted. Donald

1:03:46

looked from Manny to Sasha. There's

1:03:49

a war ritual peculiar to the men

1:03:51

and women in whatever's of this community.

1:03:53

I think you'd benefit from seeing it. A

1:03:56

ritual, Sasha asked, not

1:03:58

a religious one, I assure you, but yes,

1:04:01

they call it their war ritual. He extended

1:04:03

a hand out to the field around Rolling Fuck.

1:04:06

Many looked out at it for the first time since

1:04:08

coming out here and realized that people seem

1:04:10

to be packing up right

1:04:12

now. Donald said, the citizens

1:04:14

are packing up their tints and their ARVs and

1:04:17

preparing the city for departure. It's

1:04:19

moving out with their army. They'll drive

1:04:21

that thing. He jerked a thumb in the direction

1:04:23

of the City of Wheels, right up

1:04:25

to the damn battlefield. It'll be behind

1:04:28

them the whole time they're fighting. I think

1:04:30

they've stole the idea from the ancient Celts.

1:04:33

Anyway, he said. Once the cities

1:04:35

in position, they'll open up these little boxes

1:04:37

that look quite a lot like bee hives, and they'll

1:04:39

let out a swarm of about a thousand little drones.

1:04:43

Those are mostly just facial recognition

1:04:45

cameras attached to wings and a wee engine.

1:04:47

They'll record everything and send data

1:04:50

on the faces of every enemy fighter to a central

1:04:52

computer in the city. What did

1:04:54

does that do, Manny asked. It

1:04:56

gives us a chance to identify those

1:04:59

men or women, so we can scrape

1:05:01

their social media profiles and display

1:05:03

pictures and videos from their lives. Once

1:05:05

they die, the whole city, everyone

1:05:08

who isn't fighting turns out to watch

1:05:10

that. That sounds fucking

1:05:12

terrible, Manny said, What do we

1:05:14

gain from watching the home movies of Dead Men

1:05:17

a memorial. Manny

1:05:19

didn't understand, but he could see that Donald

1:05:21

Ferris was revving himself up for an involved

1:05:24

explanation. He let the old man

1:05:26

speak. I was

1:05:28

a small child when my country invaded

1:05:30

a Rack, along with the United States and a

1:05:32

few other nations. The war was news,

1:05:34

yes, but that's all it was. Even our own

1:05:37

soldiers were more numbers than real people.

1:05:39

I'd hear that two Royal Marines had died

1:05:42

in a roadside bombing, and it meant less to

1:05:44

me than when my neighbor broke his legs slipping

1:05:46

down the stairs. War

1:05:48

isn't like that for us, Manny said, I

1:05:50

don't know anyone in Austin who hasn't lost a friend

1:05:52

or family to the fighting. It affects us

1:05:55

all, So it does my boy,

1:05:57

So it does, and if any of our warriors die

1:05:59

today, you can bet it'll affect everyone in

1:06:01

this social experiment we call a city.

1:06:04

But you didn't let me finish. The

1:06:06

first thing that was truly toxic about my

1:06:08

childhood knowledge of war is that

1:06:10

it erased the other side. Our

1:06:12

boys didn't do body counts, so there

1:06:15

were seldom reports on how many civilians

1:06:17

we killed, how many enemy fighters died?

1:06:19

That information was out there, but you had

1:06:21

to look hard. Most people never

1:06:23

did. Donald Ferris shrugged

1:06:26

and then winced from the motion. It's

1:06:29

easy to get people to care about their own soldiers,

1:06:31

but if you want to stop wars, or at least

1:06:33

make them less common, you've got to get people to

1:06:35

give a shit about the soldiers on the other side.

1:06:38

That, my young friend, is where your people

1:06:40

are even worse than my own. You're close

1:06:42

enough to the war to not just feel indifferent about

1:06:45

these martyrs marching off to die. You

1:06:47

actively want them to die. That's understandable,

1:06:50

but it's also poisonous. When you dehumanize

1:06:53

others, you become less human yourself.

1:06:56

Many nodded, not sure of what to say,

1:06:59

and my you, Donald Ferris continued.

1:07:01

The country that occupied this continent was

1:07:04

the most powerful nation on earth. They

1:07:06

held the keys to the deadliest military

1:07:08

machine ever constructed. It was

1:07:10

easy to get Americans to support involvement

1:07:12

in a thousand little conflicts because each

1:07:14

only required a small fraction of the nation's

1:07:17

military power and only risked

1:07:19

a few American lives. But millions

1:07:21

of people around the world died, women

1:07:24

and children, and old men and dumby young

1:07:26

boys from Yemen to Turkey to Guatemala.

1:07:29

To justify those murders, Americans

1:07:31

had to make those people less than human. And

1:07:33

once they'd done that, it wasn't such

1:07:36

a great jump to do it to their neighbors. He

1:07:39

stared up at the setting sun, and many

1:07:41

saw tears in his eyes. What

1:07:43

you're going to see tomorrow is the best

1:07:45

attempt I've seen so far to

1:07:47

bridge the empathy gap between the people

1:07:50

and their folds. Chapter

1:08:00

twenty three. Sasha Rolling

1:08:03

Fuck trundled forward, crunching its

1:08:05

way over the Texas Plains and leaving a carpet

1:08:08

of flattened grass and broken trees in its

1:08:10

wake, and Sasha Marian, situated

1:08:12

in a little purple building atop one of the city's

1:08:15

tallest spires, couldn't quite believe

1:08:17

her eyes. In spite of its many

1:08:19

wheels, the city didn't look like the kind

1:08:21

of thing that should be able to move. It

1:08:23

was as if the Empire State Building had

1:08:25

taken up jogging. Sasha

1:08:28

had been more or less alone since the war Council

1:08:30

had concluded. She'd wanted to go up

1:08:32

to the bar with Manny and Rowland, since they

1:08:34

were the only people here she even sort of knew,

1:08:37

but their conversation had seemed a private

1:08:39

sort of thing. At first, she thought

1:08:41

that her hosts had made an oversight in leaving her

1:08:43

unwatched. Surely they wouldn't let someone

1:08:45

who had been their enemy just a few days ago wander

1:08:48

freely through their home. But as

1:08:50

the hours went by, it became clear that's

1:08:52

exactly what they'd done, So

1:08:54

Sasha explored it had been exhilarating.

1:08:57

Actually, every inch of the city was different

1:08:59

and strange, engine new to her. Across

1:09:01

the gantries there were numerous market stalls

1:09:03

with fresh meat and produce. At first

1:09:05

she recognized all the foods, but the

1:09:08

higher and further she went, the stranger everything

1:09:10

seemed. The meat went from beef

1:09:12

and chicken to alligator, in, zebra and mammoth,

1:09:14

and eventually something Sasha thought

1:09:17

might be from an actual dinosaur. She

1:09:19

was sure it was all lab grown, and the produce

1:09:22

was certainly gene modified. At

1:09:24

one point, she came across a kiosk filled

1:09:26

with fruit that had been tweaked to take the shape of

1:09:28

gigantic erect penises. There

1:09:30

were penis watermelons, penis oranges,

1:09:32

penis apples, and even bags of tiny

1:09:34

penis shaped grapes. She knew

1:09:37

she should have felt disgusted. Two weeks

1:09:39

ago, Sasha would have been horrified, but

1:09:41

somehow she just wasn't. She

1:09:44

felt a vague sense of unease awkwardness

1:09:46

at the sight of so many genitals, but after

1:09:48

all she'd seen in the Heavenly Kingdom, it didn't

1:09:50

exactly horrify her either. How

1:09:53

could it. The fondel boats

1:09:55

were another matter. The sight and the strange,

1:09:57

musky, sweet smell that wafted out of the

1:09:59

grind and groping crowd inside it made

1:10:01

her queasy. This is exactly

1:10:03

as depraved as Pastor Mike said it would be, she

1:10:05

thought. But she also thought, is

1:10:08

this really worse than all that violence and death?

1:10:10

Who were they hurting? The Lord?

1:10:13

Said a shrill, small voice in the back of

1:10:15

her mind. Why would God hate

1:10:17

this and not the hanging of good people, Sasha

1:10:19

wondered, Why would this make him angry

1:10:22

but not the butchery inside that factory?

1:10:25

You know what the Bible says, Sasha, There

1:10:27

is no getting around that. The scriptures

1:10:29

were clear. Well maybe they're

1:10:31

wrong. Then maybe they've always been

1:10:33

wrong, or maybe I read them wrong. Maybe

1:10:35

they didn't say what I thought. They said it

1:10:38

was odd, how freeing that thought was. She

1:10:42

made her way past a fondle boat, and, for

1:10:44

no reason beyond curiosity and the desire

1:10:47

to stretch her muscles, Sasha started to climb

1:10:49

upwards. The gantries that made up

1:10:51

the bulk of rolling Fox walking space were

1:10:53

fairly easy for a human to traverse.

1:10:56

They had high walls, so even the very drunk

1:10:58

were unlikely to fall, and in spite

1:11:00

of the city's clutter and bustle, its designers

1:11:02

had done a good job of making two clear

1:11:04

lanes for foot traffic. But the gantries

1:11:06

only gave Sasha access to a handful

1:11:08

of the strange, glittering buildings that dotted

1:11:11

the city's rolling superstructure. So

1:11:13

she left them and she climbed up. It

1:11:16

was not an easy climb. Here and there she found

1:11:18

small sections of ladder or knotted rope

1:11:20

to ease her passage. For the most part,

1:11:22

though, she climbed hand over hand up the criss

1:11:25

crossed metal girders. She passed several

1:11:27

buildings filled with people drinking and partying.

1:11:30

Sasha didn't stop to talk. The climb

1:11:32

was hard, but at least it allowed her to avoid

1:11:34

awkward conversation with whatever manner

1:11:36

of creatures lived in this place. By

1:11:39

the time she reached the top of the spindle, Sasha's

1:11:41

body was drenched in sweat and her arms

1:11:43

were too sore to pull her up one more foot.

1:11:46

She was grateful to whoever had decided to

1:11:48

cap this spindle with a tiny purple shack,

1:11:50

and she was even more grateful that the shack appeared

1:11:53

unoccupied. Sasha pulled herself

1:11:55

inside and collapsed on the floor for

1:11:57

a while. It was all she could do to regain her

1:11:59

breath. She wondered, in

1:12:01

a vague sort of way, if she'd just broken

1:12:04

into someone's home. Nobody

1:12:06

had warned her that there would be certain places she

1:12:08

couldn't travel here, but no one had told

1:12:10

her much of anything at all. After she'd arrived,

1:12:12

Sasha took stock of her surroundings.

1:12:15

The interior of the room was plush, The

1:12:17

walls were carpeted in thick, cushiony

1:12:19

velvet. The floor below her seemed to

1:12:21

be some sort of black shag. There

1:12:23

was a framed picture on one wall. Sasha

1:12:26

didn't recognize the artist, but it looked like

1:12:28

a cross section drawing of a handgun with

1:12:30

fetuses as the bullets. The sight

1:12:32

of it made her feel a bit sick, but there

1:12:34

was also something about the art that drew her eyes.

1:12:37

The center of the room was a low, flat table

1:12:40

that appeared to be made entirely of mirrored glass.

1:12:42

There was a pile of white powder on the center of

1:12:45

the table, along with a strange, rectangular

1:12:47

piece of green paper. Sasha

1:12:49

picked up the paper and stared at it. It took

1:12:51

her a moment to realize what it was. Money,

1:12:54

said a voice from behind her. Oh, it

1:12:57

used to be once upon a time. Saw

1:13:00

Sha rose stiffened. She turned around,

1:13:02

not sure what to expect, but with an apology

1:13:04

already spilling out of her mouth. I'm sorry,

1:13:07

sir, I didn't. Something in the man's

1:13:09

smile and the relaxed slump of his shoulders

1:13:11

made her stop talking. He stood in the doorway

1:13:13

of the little building, just a few feet in front

1:13:16

of her. She had no idea how he could

1:13:18

have climbed up and in there without her hearing

1:13:20

him. She didn't remember the man's name,

1:13:22

but she recognized him from the war Council.

1:13:24

Those writhing snake tattoos identified

1:13:27

him as clearly as a name tag I'm

1:13:29

she trailed off. He smiled at her. There

1:13:32

was something about his eyes that seemed off

1:13:35

wrong. She couldn't place it. His

1:13:37

pupils were somehow different than they should have been

1:13:39

when he spoke, though his voice was warm and

1:13:41

friendly. You are, Sashamarian,

1:13:45

the girl who was brave enough to flee her home

1:13:47

and family for the heavenly Kingdom, and then

1:13:49

brave enough to leave it when she realized what

1:13:51

it truly was. His head dipped

1:13:53

down into a slight bow. I'm

1:13:55

Jim Shannon. It's an honor to meet you,

1:13:58

miss Marian. Jim's squatted

1:14:00

down on his haunches and dropped his arms in between

1:14:02

his legs. It was a casual motion,

1:14:05

but he executed it with almost mechanical

1:14:07

precision. There was something to his movements

1:14:09

that spoke of terrible potential energy,

1:14:11

kinetic force just waiting to be unleashed.

1:14:15

It's nice to meet you, she said,

1:14:17

because what else could she say. Jim

1:14:19

smile didn't change, but his eyes did.

1:14:22

His pupils contracted and then changed shape

1:14:24

from a circle to a spiraling, rounded

1:14:26

star. No, it's not,

1:14:29

he said. That's not a lie to each

1:14:31

other. Eh, Sasha, I'm weird, I move

1:14:33

wrong. My eyes as

1:14:35

he spoke, his star pupils started to spin

1:14:38

in a hypnotic spiral. Are wrong,

1:14:40

They don't look human. I can hear

1:14:42

your hotbeat elevated as we speak. I

1:14:44

can smell cotazol in your brain and

1:14:46

elevated levels of blood glucose. I

1:14:49

can see in your eyes that me say

1:14:51

in this has made you even more nervous.

1:14:54

Yes, she admitted, Yes, you're

1:14:56

right, you scare me. That's

1:14:59

perfectly no on this, Marian. It is

1:15:01

not an act of weakness to admit fear.

1:15:03

Quite the opposite. You feel better now,

1:15:06

don't you? She actually did.

1:15:08

There was a queer sort of relief in admitting her

1:15:10

fear and discomfort in this man thing's presence.

1:15:14

I do feel better, she said. Why

1:15:16

is that admitting fear

1:15:18

is the first step to conquering it. You

1:15:21

don't strike me as someone who wants to live

1:15:23

in fear, miss Marian. You do strike

1:15:25

me as someone who seeks control, strength,

1:15:28

power over your own life.

1:15:31

I, she sputtered, I don't. I don't

1:15:33

know. A week ago, I'd have told you God was

1:15:35

in control of my life. Sasha

1:15:38

looked down at her lap, suddenly embarrassed.

1:15:40

It wasn't very long ago, but it feels like a

1:15:42

lifetime. It was so peaceful, just

1:15:45

handing over control. Jim

1:15:47

nodded and leaned his head forward a few inches.

1:15:50

That didn't end well, though, did

1:15:52

it. Sasha shook her head. You

1:15:55

traveled to the heaven the Kingdom with a certain

1:15:58

set of beliefs about the universe. Those

1:16:00

beliefs met reality. Reality

1:16:03

broke them into little pieces. There's

1:16:05

no shame in that. It happens to all

1:16:07

of us. Now you're a bit older and

1:16:09

a few bits wiser. She

1:16:12

looked up at him. His smile seemed somehow

1:16:14

softer. Now she felt like opening up,

1:16:16

confiding in this stranger. Sasha

1:16:19

wondered if that was another aspect of his modifications,

1:16:22

some alteration of his body, chemistry and physical

1:16:24

appearance that allowed him to seem more familiar

1:16:26

and trustworthy to her. She opened

1:16:28

up anyway, I just don't know

1:16:30

what to do now. I guess I could go home, but

1:16:32

I don't think I was wrong in leaving home. I don't

1:16:35

want a life in the American Federation. I

1:16:37

know that. I just you don't

1:16:39

know what's right, Jim finished,

1:16:41

in a voice that was gentler than she would have guessed

1:16:44

he was capable of sounding. She nodded

1:16:46

as she struggled for her next words.

1:16:48

I know I can't go back. I don't know where

1:16:50

to go next. I don't have any money or

1:16:53

really any useful skills, so I can't go

1:16:55

to California or Cascadia.

1:16:57

I doubt this place will take me, she gestured

1:16:59

down at the rolling city below them. And even

1:17:01

if they would, I don't really feel comfortable

1:17:03

here either. Hm

1:17:06

Jim nodded and leaned back. Perhaps

1:17:08

he said, you should weary less about where

1:17:10

you want to end up and more about

1:17:12

what you want to end up doing. I

1:17:15

don't have any options, Sasha said,

1:17:17

fighting down a rising panic that tickled

1:17:19

the back of her throat. I didn't even finish

1:17:22

high school. I've spent the last two years preparing

1:17:24

to join the Kingdom. I don't know how to do anything

1:17:26

useful. That's where you're wrong,

1:17:28

Jim said, in a firm voice. You

1:17:31

lied well enough to hide your intention from

1:17:33

your parents and am fed law enforcement.

1:17:35

You did that for years. Sasha

1:17:37

wanted to argue that she hadn't lied, not

1:17:39

according to Pastor Mike's definition of the word,

1:17:42

but she stayed silent while he spoke. You

1:17:45

escaped from one of the most fortified boadas

1:17:47

in the world, Jim continued, And you

1:17:49

did useful work in a medical facility.

1:17:51

Then you helped facilitate the escape

1:17:53

of several prisoners from the Kingdom jail. You

1:17:56

functioned effectively in a firefight and killed

1:17:58

a trained soldier and a hand combat.

1:18:01

Then you killed another man and stole a vehicle

1:18:03

to aid your comrades in an escape. Am

1:18:06

I missing anything? Sasha

1:18:08

looked down again. She didn't speak. She

1:18:10

felt bad about taking praise from murder,

1:18:12

especially for Darrell's murder. She did,

1:18:15

however, feel a tiny swell of pride

1:18:17

at Jim's words. It was immediately accompanied

1:18:19

by a flood of guilt. Killing is

1:18:21

not something to be proud of, she said,

1:18:24

Oh, I disagree, Jim

1:18:26

chuckled. Killing is a highly technical

1:18:29

skill, and you've proven yourself a

1:18:31

talented amateur. With some training

1:18:33

and a spot of chrome, you could really be

1:18:35

something. He trailed off. Sasha

1:18:38

was quiet for a moment. She looked into Jim's

1:18:40

eyes and tried to read something in them

1:18:42

that proved a fool's Errand there

1:18:45

was nothing in those orbs but cool confidence,

1:18:47

and even that might be false. What did

1:18:49

any gesture or look mean from a man

1:18:51

who could control every aspect of his body

1:18:54

right down to his pupils. I

1:18:56

don't want to get better at killing, she told

1:18:58

him. I don't want to fill my body the natural

1:19:01

things. Just thinking about it makes

1:19:03

me feel ill. And yet

1:19:06

Jim said, what do you mean? And

1:19:08

yet she asked, And

1:19:10

yet that thought intrigues you too. It's

1:19:13

no use, hadn't it. I can taste

1:19:15

deceit. Sasha shuddered

1:19:17

a little at that, but she couldn't deny that he

1:19:19

was right. As much as the idea repulsed

1:19:22

her, she had spent too much time powerless to

1:19:24

not crave power. I'm

1:19:26

not looking to push you into anything, Sasha,

1:19:28

but I would like to provide you with a unique

1:19:31

opportunity. What do you mean,

1:19:33

she asked. He smiled, plopped

1:19:36

down on his butt, and swung his legs in to sit

1:19:38

cross leget on the shag carpet. Jim

1:19:40

stuck a finger into the thick black fibers

1:19:43

of the carpet and started tugging at them.

1:19:45

It was an idle, nervous gesture, and

1:19:47

Sasha found it oddly endearing. Part

1:19:49

of her suspected that had been his goal. I

1:19:52

mean that I would be willing to take you on

1:19:54

as a project. A project,

1:19:57

he nodded. My organ is

1:19:59

a shan has access to skilled surgeons,

1:20:02

military grade agmatics, and vat growing

1:20:04

organ's. I'll front the bill and I'll

1:20:06

train you, and in return, you'll

1:20:08

work for me forever, she

1:20:11

asked. Jim laughed. She felt

1:20:13

a little annoyed by that, and it must have shown

1:20:15

on her face because he stopped. Sari,

1:20:18

Sari, He said, it's just that

1:20:21

be debt slavery. You must not know

1:20:23

this, but I helped kill the last country that

1:20:25

lived on this land in that sort of thing.

1:20:28

So how much time would I owe you, Sasha asked?

1:20:31

Five years, he said. Sasha's

1:20:33

heart trembled with excitement at the offer.

1:20:36

When she thought about the way the adrenaline had coursed

1:20:38

through her during the fight in the clinic, she wanted

1:20:41

to say yes, But when she thought about

1:20:43

Darrell bleeding out next to his car, the

1:20:45

shame inside her overwhelmed everything

1:20:47

else. Sasha knew she couldn't

1:20:49

handle more weights like that on her conscience.

1:20:52

I don't want to kill people, she said

1:20:55

in a tiny voice. Shame dripped

1:20:57

from every syllable. That's

1:20:59

fine, Jim said, his grin

1:21:01

widening. We always need medics.

1:21:04

You've shown an aptitude for them already.

1:21:06

I have a feeling you'll take well to combat

1:21:08

engineering. There's plenty for you to do

1:21:11

without pulling a trigger. If

1:21:13

I work for you, Sasha said, I have

1:21:15

a feeling I won't be able to avoid pulling

1:21:17

triggers. None entirely,

1:21:20

Jim shrugged. But any shooting you'd

1:21:22

do would be an immediate self defense,

1:21:25

and you'd have the right to refuse an

1:21:27

emissions that violate your moral code.

1:21:29

I know that's important to you. The

1:21:32

way he said that last bit set the hackles

1:21:34

on her neck a rise. Is

1:21:36

it not important to you, she asked,

1:21:39

morality? I mean, he

1:21:41

swung his hands out to the side, palms

1:21:44

up in a vaguely Buddhic pose. When

1:21:46

I was a young man, not much older than

1:21:48

yourself, I knew a lot of gallant men

1:21:50

who claimed to live by codes of honor.

1:21:53

Such things were fashionable in the warrior

1:21:55

culture of Adean Empire. None

1:21:57

of those codes stopped the men I knew from

1:22:00

serving that great beast we called a state.

1:22:03

When you see enough good moral men

1:22:05

enable war crimes, you stop seeing

1:22:07

value in the term morality, So

1:22:10

what matters to you? Sasha asked,

1:22:13

what do you believe in change?

1:22:15

Miss Marian He smiled, revealing

1:22:18

rows of pearly white teeth, the snake

1:22:20

tattoos on his chest and shoulders, writhed

1:22:22

in excitement, I believe in

1:22:24

change. I grew up in a time

1:22:27

when the climate changed and my home became

1:22:29

a deadly broiler. Politics changed,

1:22:31

and democracy became a dictatorship

1:22:33

of capital. For a time, I believed

1:22:36

in the promises of change handed out by

1:22:38

progressive politicians and scent of old

1:22:40

revolutionaries. But every one

1:22:42

of them was either co opted by the system

1:22:45

or killed by it. He shrugged

1:22:47

and cast his eyes down to the carpet for

1:22:50

a while, just a moment his mask slipped,

1:22:53

Sasha saw a deep, yawning pit of

1:22:55

despair in the tight lines at the edge of

1:22:57

his lips, and the subtle twitch of muscles below

1:22:59

his left eye. It passed, and

1:23:01

a black velvet smile took its place.

1:23:04

Then I met a man who showed me the way.

1:23:07

Nothing new could grow on this continent

1:23:09

until the weeds of the old were pulled out

1:23:11

by the root and tossed into the compost.

1:23:14

Pile of history, So he

1:23:16

said, forget the old debates about

1:23:18

what system should replace capitalism.

1:23:21

Kill the state, and the seeds of a

1:23:23

thousand new worlds will sprout on its

1:23:25

corpse. You've seen two of those

1:23:27

sprouts already, Sasha

1:23:30

shook her head. If you're referring

1:23:32

to the heavenly Kingdom, it's a

1:23:34

nightmare. The old US can't

1:23:36

have been worse than that, Jim shrugged.

1:23:39

Depends on your perspective. I suppose,

1:23:41

tell, miss Sasha, you left the Amphid,

1:23:44

the Old u Say's most direct successor

1:23:46

state. Why was that? Because

1:23:49

it's a soulless pit, she said, the

1:23:51

words almost leaping from her throat. Jim

1:23:54

smiled at that. This isn't

1:23:56

though, is it, He gestured out

1:23:58

at the city of wheels below them. No,

1:24:01

Sasha said, whatever else it was

1:24:04

rolling fuck was not soulless. Nither

1:24:07

is the Navajo Nation, Jim said, or

1:24:09

Cascadia, the black Stone Nation.

1:24:11

Even the Mormons are up to some interesting things

1:24:14

these days, one faction at least.

1:24:17

So which do you believe in? Who do you fight

1:24:19

for? He grinned again, night

1:24:21

the child, as I told you, I

1:24:24

fight for change, to cast down

1:24:26

the ossified bones of the old world

1:24:28

and make space for the new. I

1:24:30

owe allegiance to no national god,

1:24:32

save perhaps Lady Airis,

1:24:35

who he smiled. A bit

1:24:38

of smugness leached into the expression. She

1:24:40

could see it clear as day, right around his

1:24:42

eyes. It should have repelled her more

1:24:44

than it did. Heiris was

1:24:46

the Greek goddess of discord, back

1:24:48

when people cared about what the Greeks

1:24:50

believed. She set the spark

1:24:53

that lit the Trojan wall. I know it's

1:24:55

a bit silly reaching back to that old mythology,

1:24:58

but I can't help myself. There's

1:25:00

something about those old gods that calls

1:25:02

to me. I can identify with

1:25:04

them. He leaned in. There was

1:25:06

an eagerness to his posture, his tone,

1:25:09

his eyes. The snakes jerked

1:25:11

and spun on his muscled chest and arms.

1:25:14

I'm offering you a chance to join us

1:25:16

on Olympus. Dear Sasha, you've

1:25:18

spent your time in worship. It's

1:25:20

time to embrace your own godhead,

1:25:23

leave your antique books behind,

1:25:25

and rewrite the world with your will.

1:25:28

I don't know if that's what I want,

1:25:31

Sasha said in a still small voice.

1:25:34

She tried to ignore how much part of her ached

1:25:36

for what he promised. The thought of killing

1:25:38

again nauseated her as much as it excited

1:25:41

her. But the thought of having power, the

1:25:43

kind of power she'd seen Roland exercise,

1:25:46

that was intoxicating. She

1:25:49

hated how badly she'd started to want

1:25:51

it. Well, you don't

1:25:53

have to decide now, Jim shrugged

1:25:55

his shoulders and gave an amiable smile. The

1:25:58

floor rumbled underneath them. There

1:26:00

was a loud clattering wine as the whole

1:26:02

structure of Rolling Fuck came to a slow

1:26:05

stop. Jim waited for the scrunching

1:26:07

noise to cease and said, come and watch

1:26:09

what we do to day, then make

1:26:12

you call Rowland.

1:26:17

Dawn broke just as Rolling Fuck pulled

1:26:19

to a long slow stop by the shore

1:26:21

of Lake Wago. The city had taken

1:26:24

the long way around the reservoir, which had

1:26:26

added at least an hour to their journey but also

1:26:28

put a sizeable water barrier between Rolling

1:26:30

Fuck and the advancing forces of the Heavenly

1:26:33

Kingdom. It had been a tight fit

1:26:35

at several points, and Rowland had enjoyed watching

1:26:37

the wheeled city crunch over several abandoned

1:26:40

homes in many a street lamp, but

1:26:42

eventually the pilots and navigators had found

1:26:44

a suitably large public park and brought

1:26:46

rolling fuk to rest there. It's

1:26:48

a nice sunrise, Manny said. The

1:26:51

kid stood next to Rowland on a wooden

1:26:53

deck built onto the side of the main roller

1:26:55

skofucker. Mike had assured them this spot

1:26:57

provided the best vantage point to watch the

1:26:59

rising sun. It looked like he'd been

1:27:01

right in that the sky around them was a

1:27:04

heavy blend of red and orange that brought up

1:27:06

fragmented memories of my ties and fireballs

1:27:08

in Roland's head. Clouds clustered

1:27:11

at the top of the horizon ripe to bursting

1:27:13

with the color and light of the new days sun.

1:27:16

Roland nodded. Yeah.

1:27:19

The shame no one who lives here gets to see it,

1:27:21

Manny said, I've never seen the city this empty.

1:27:24

Roland looked over at his young friend. The

1:27:26

boy had seen a lot for his age, and Roland

1:27:29

could see how much it pained him. Sorrow

1:27:31

had a sent all its own. The plunging

1:27:33

levels of nora panephren and serotonin brought

1:27:35

out the sharp stink of cortisol in the greasy

1:27:38

odor of opioids. Lurking

1:27:40

just below those smells was the odd, spicy

1:27:42

tinge of the I L eighteen protein.

1:27:45

Roland could almost hear it weaken the valves

1:27:47

of Manny's heart. I imagine

1:27:49

this sucks extra much for you. I mean,

1:27:52

he's been where they are right twice,

1:27:54

Manny said. Roland nodded. I

1:27:57

can't exactly recall, he admitted, but

1:27:59

I spect I had something to do with the first

1:28:01

time Manny looked over

1:28:03

to Rowland. Chemically, it was clear

1:28:06

the kid was battling him a lunge of sadness,

1:28:08

trauma, and anxiety. His actual

1:28:10

thoughts, though, were just as hidden from Rowland

1:28:12

as they would be from any stock human, perhaps

1:28:15

more so. There were moments when Roland

1:28:17

feared he was losing the ability to read human

1:28:20

emotions or even display them properly.

1:28:22

On his face. Was

1:28:24

that look you're given me? He asked? Finally,

1:28:27

what do you mean? I can't tell

1:28:29

what a look on your face means, Rowland

1:28:31

explained, And I'm curious. Are you

1:28:33

angry at me? Manny shrugged,

1:28:36

and then he sighed. His shoulders slumped,

1:28:38

his head drooped forward and down just a

1:28:40

bit. No,

1:28:43

he said, I'm not angry. What

1:28:46

would I even be angry about? If you can't remember

1:28:48

what you did? Back then, are you even

1:28:50

the same person who did those things? And

1:28:52

even if you are, maybe you were doing the right

1:28:54

thing. I assume someone was at

1:28:56

some point in that fucking mess of a war. Maybe

1:28:59

everyone was, Roland offered. I

1:29:02

know the heavenly Kingdom think what they're doing is

1:29:04

right, Manny said, I also don't give a shitting

1:29:06

dick what they think. They're murderers. They can

1:29:08

all sit and spin. You're

1:29:10

confident in me murdering the lot of them is the right

1:29:12

thing to do, then I'm confident it's

1:29:15

better than letting them win, Manny said.

1:29:17

Roland nodded quietly and stared out at

1:29:19

the rising sun. The red had

1:29:22

faded and the orange had grown brighter. He

1:29:24

could see the shape of the sun behind the clouds

1:29:26

missed rose off the field in front of them, and

1:29:29

across the lake. A low light fog

1:29:31

rolled in over what appeared to be an old golf

1:29:33

course. You're probably

1:29:35

right about that, Roland said, But

1:29:37

where does it end. It ends

1:29:39

when they're beaten and Austin is safe.

1:29:42

Manny's words were forceful, but he looked

1:29:44

down and away from Roland when he spoke. You

1:29:48

know that's not true, Roland said. I

1:29:50

forget my own name a lot of the time, and I still

1:29:52

know you're full of it, killing these fox buys

1:29:54

austin time, and probably not a lot

1:29:56

of it. There are still millions of guns

1:29:59

and millions of pist staff desperate people

1:30:01

in this ragged chunk of country. So

1:30:03

what are you saying, Roland? It'd be better

1:30:05

to just let the one place around here that isn't terrible

1:30:08

get eaten by darkness, no,

1:30:10

Roland said, but read the riding on

1:30:12

the damn wall this place. He

1:30:15

waved a hand out in a gesture that encompassed

1:30:17

the whole horizon is fucked.

1:30:19

Don't stay here and die with it. Manny

1:30:22

crossed his arms in front of himself and leaned

1:30:24

forward on to the railing of the deck. His

1:30:27

head slumped into his hands, and he was quiet

1:30:29

for a while. Roland knew the army

1:30:31

of the Heavenly Kingdom was less than forty miles

1:30:33

distant. The scent of that vast ramshackle

1:30:36

horde had grown more prominent over the last

1:30:38

few minutes. His nose took in the

1:30:40

stink of diesel, the ozone odor of discharging

1:30:42

batteries, and the cumulative reek of hundreds

1:30:45

of vehicles worth of engine oil. Behind

1:30:47

those prominent smells lurked the foul

1:30:49

gangren a stench of ten thousand men, sweating,

1:30:52

fear and stress out of every pore. Roland

1:30:55

looked down over the deck and onto the yellow

1:30:57

grass that led up to the shores of the lake. The

1:31:00

warriors of Rolling Fok had started to assemble

1:31:02

themselves. There. A large group

1:31:04

of men and women had started to unpack dozens

1:31:06

of quadrfracts. The four legged

1:31:09

robots had been built by Boston Dynamics

1:31:11

back before the fall of the Old US. They'd

1:31:14

been meant to ferry men and equipment up steep

1:31:16

Afghan mountain sides. Roland

1:31:18

stared at them, and he stalked through the

1:31:20

lab, a razor sharp machete in one

1:31:22

hand and a machine pistol in the other. The

1:31:25

air reeked of blood. Ahead of him.

1:31:27

He could smell the fierce wet wafting off two

1:31:29

engineers as they hid beneath an overturned

1:31:31

metal table. Pieces of robotic

1:31:33

equipment were scattered on the floor. Roland

1:31:36

reached out his senses and felt that these

1:31:38

were the last two people alive in the facility.

1:31:41

He stepped forward, swinging his blade

1:31:43

in an arc that he knew would end in flesh.

1:31:46

Roland shook his head and pulled himself out of

1:31:48

the past. The flashes of memory

1:31:50

were growing more frequent. Guilt came

1:31:52

with them. It took some effort to force

1:31:54

his mind to focus again on the world around

1:31:56

them. Roland looked back out at

1:31:58

the mustering yard warriors

1:32:01

dawned armor, a fantastic array of

1:32:03

old fashioned polished steel plate mail,

1:32:05

ultra modern powered body armor, antique

1:32:08

flack vests, and a significant number of costumes.

1:32:11

He watched a man in armor that mixed the

1:32:13

aesthetic of a polish winged hussar with

1:32:15

an Imperial stormtrooper help a woman

1:32:17

in a crop top neil green Giei suit

1:32:20

as she locked a pair of rocket launchers onto

1:32:22

the flanks of one of the four legged robots.

1:32:24

Over to his left, another group of warriors had

1:32:27

started to assemble the city's vehicle pool.

1:32:29

Ramps had descended from garages in the bellies

1:32:31

of the rollers. A slow, steady stream

1:32:34

of armored vehicles motored their way down the

1:32:36

ramps and into the ragged lines on the field.

1:32:39

The bulk of rolling Fox vehicles were either

1:32:41

modified a PCs or armored motorcycles

1:32:43

sporting portable field guns or automatic

1:32:45

grenade launchers on side cars. There

1:32:48

were tactical arguments for the use of such

1:32:50

vehicles in open field combat, of course,

1:32:52

but Roland suspected they'd mainly been picked

1:32:54

because they were fun to drive. Almost

1:32:57

every vehicle's engine had been souped up well

1:32:59

beyond any potent chill battlefield benefit.

1:33:01

Most of them also had nitrous oxide tanks,

1:33:03

although Roland suspected those

1:33:05

were more for huffing than they were for speed.

1:33:08

Where did they get all this stuff, Manny

1:33:10

asked Roland. I had no

1:33:12

idea, Roland said, but when the old

1:33:15

government fell left behind a lot of equipment,

1:33:17

basses and basses full of mothballed ordinance.

1:33:20

I guess as these guys got in early before the

1:33:22

rush and grabbed what they could. At

1:33:24

that moment, Rowland caught Sasha scent

1:33:26

moving down one of the spindles above the main

1:33:29

roller. His hind brain guessed she was

1:33:31

headed to the deck he and Manny occupied.

1:33:33

Roland couldn't smell Jim, who was good at

1:33:35

staying hidden, but he knew that Sasha

1:33:37

couldn't have known where they were on her own. That

1:33:40

meant Jim had likely sniffed Manny out

1:33:42

and made the same assumption about Rowland's location

1:33:45

that Rowland had made about Jim's.

1:33:47

It wasn't long before the sliding metal door

1:33:50

slid open and Jim and Sasha walked out

1:33:52

on to the deck. Jim was in his familiar

1:33:54

battle gear, his blood red chaps

1:33:57

almost shone in the blinding light of the

1:33:59

morning sun. He had a smug, self

1:34:01

satisfied grin and gigantic pupils

1:34:03

that spoke of recent drug use. Beside

1:34:05

him, Sasha looked disheveled and exhausted,

1:34:07

but jittery. He could smell the coffee

1:34:09

wafting from her pores. Hey fuck

1:34:12

nuts, Roland said, Hey, Sasha.

1:34:14

She looked confused for a moment. Jim

1:34:17

just nodded and said, hey, shit

1:34:19

Bird, Hey Manny. Mannie

1:34:21

waved vaguely at them, without turning his head

1:34:23

to meet them. He continued to look out at the army

1:34:25

assembling in the field. It's a pretty

1:34:28

cool showdown there, Roland said, kinda

1:34:30

wish I had some dissociatives and maybe a blunt.

1:34:33

Now would be the time for one, ah,

1:34:35

she, Jim said, Just so

1:34:38

happens, I got both. He stepped

1:34:40

up alongside Roland, extended his full

1:34:42

arm and then tapped his left index finger to

1:34:44

the back of his right hand. The tip of

1:34:47

that finger detached and rolled up on to his

1:34:49

knuckle. A line of white powder poured

1:34:51

out onto the back of Jim's other hand. He

1:34:53

offered it to Rowland. Sure, Roland

1:34:55

said, and railed the line. Ketamine

1:34:58

wasn't Roland's favoritest to drugs. He

1:35:00

preferred m x C if he was going to snort a

1:35:02

dissociat event. In all honesty, a big

1:35:05

bottle of d x M heavy cough syrup

1:35:07

mixed with vodka was even more his speed.

1:35:09

But hey, drugs was drugs. Once

1:35:12

Roland had finished, Jim poured out another line

1:35:14

and offered it to Manny. No thanks,

1:35:17

said the fixer. It's pretty

1:35:19

good stuff, Roland said, in a helpful tone.

1:35:21

Ketamine goes well with unspeakable violence.

1:35:23

Might be fun to watch the battle that decides the future

1:35:26

of your people from inside a khole. Manny

1:35:29

looked defended. Roland shrugged.

1:35:31

He glanced at Jim, who gave him an I don't

1:35:33

know why you're looking at me. Look I'll

1:35:36

try some, Sasha said, I mean, fuck

1:35:38

it, why not? It was

1:35:41

a little cute how she stumbled over the fuck.

1:35:43

Roland found it in daring. It seemed Manny

1:35:45

did too. The cocktail of dopamine,

1:35:48

testosterone, at oxytocin that waffed

1:35:50

it off and made his feelings as clear as day.

1:35:52

Hell yeah, girl, Jim said, with

1:35:54

an exaggerated Southern twang. Get

1:35:56

all over here and rail this. That

1:35:59

means snorted, Roland said helpfully.

1:36:02

Sasha approached Jim's arm. She

1:36:04

looked him in the eye, then looked over to Roland,

1:36:07

and last to Manny. Then she stared

1:36:09

down at the powder as if she was hoping it would say

1:36:11

something to her. It didn't, but she

1:36:13

leaned in any way and snorted about half

1:36:15

of it before she sneezed and then wretched,

1:36:18

and then staggered to the side of the deck and vomited

1:36:20

over the side. Jim and

1:36:22

Roland laughed in sheer joy. Manny,

1:36:25

being a good person, moved to hold her

1:36:27

hair back and help her deal with the puky aftershocks.

1:36:29

While the humans engaged with their frailties, Roland

1:36:32

and Jim did a couple more lines each. That

1:36:35

was terrible, Sasha said, a

1:36:37

few minutes later. Yeah, Jim

1:36:39

chuckled it takes some getting used to,

1:36:42

and then the door slid open again. Skullfucker

1:36:45

Mike walked out onto the deck. Boy

1:36:47

ass hats, he called out, we're about

1:36:49

to war up. You should get down to the field as

1:36:52

app if you want to see the face taking what

1:36:55

Manny asked? Excuse me, Sasha

1:36:58

said, at the same time. Mike just laughed

1:37:00

and clapped them both on the shoulders. I'll

1:37:02

explain down in the field. Get a move on.

1:37:04

He nodded to Sasha and added, there's a

1:37:06

pukeuash station just inside into the right,

1:37:09

next to the bathroom. Right.

1:37:12

Jim rubbed his hands together in excitement. Why

1:37:14

don't you kids go roll with skull fucking

1:37:16

Mike. I've got to get Roland up to my mechanics

1:37:19

so we can suit him up. Roland

1:37:21

didn't like the eagerness in Jim's eyes or

1:37:23

the excitement in his voice when he said that

1:37:26

there was something indecent about it.

1:37:28

But a promise was a promise, so Roland

1:37:30

nodded and gave Manny a little squeeze on the

1:37:32

shoulder. I'll see you soon,

1:37:34

buddy, This won't take long, Manny.

1:37:40

Skull fucker Mike, Manny asked as

1:37:42

the chromed man led them through the gantries and

1:37:44

towards the elevator. What exactly

1:37:46

is so special about Roland? I mean, he's a

1:37:48

nice guy, but what makes him so much scarier

1:37:51

than the other chromed folks like you and Topaz?

1:37:54

What do you know about Roland's past, Mike

1:37:56

asked. In return, very little

1:37:59

Manny admitted, he doesn't seem to remember

1:38:01

much. I've sussed out that he was in the army back

1:38:03

before the revolution. He's talked about fighting

1:38:05

in Turkey, but also in Dallas and Denver

1:38:08

and a bunch of other American cities. Mike

1:38:10

nodded, Yeah, we met in Dallas

1:38:13

back before it was Cidad de Muerta. I

1:38:15

had just been dishonorably discharged from

1:38:18

the Marine Corps for He frowned,

1:38:20

shook his head, and continued, it

1:38:22

doesn't matter what. For I was broke

1:38:24

and I had a body fellow Uncle Sam's chrome.

1:38:27

He wanted it back. I wound up

1:38:29

taking shelter in the White Rock Commune.

1:38:31

Roland was there too. He was pretty political

1:38:34

back in those days, always quoting baccoon

1:38:36

In and Achalon and Red John. Did

1:38:39

you guys actually know Red John? Sasha

1:38:41

asked, Up until that point, she'd walked

1:38:43

quietly in the rear of their little group. The

1:38:45

few times Manny had glanced back, she'd

1:38:47

had her head down, stuck in her own little world.

1:38:50

But now she was alert and engaged. Many

1:38:53