The Starborn Saga (Books 1, 2, & 3) (40 page)

“We’re alive aren’t we?” I ask. 

“What were
they
doing in the Vault?”

“That’s something I’d like an answer to as well.”

Aaron gives up with a shake of his head. I don’t want to tell him that I had no idea where they were when we planned this little trip. I don’t want to tell him that I was able to find out where they were by my ability to spy on people without their knowledge. I just want to drop it and get back to Springhill. 

With the success of our own mission, I can’t help but wonder how things are going with Connor and the others. 

“If it’s all the same to you, I’m going to try and get some shut-eye. I have a feeling we aren’t going to get much sleep tonight. The elders will have a lot of questions.”

Aaron shakes his head and mumbles something about shoving something somewhere up an elder, but I don’t pay attention. I’m already watching over Connor’s shoulder. 

He stands next to Danny and Heather in the woods facing the compound. Greyskins are scattered everywhere. Even Heather would have a hard time getting through without notice. 

“What exactly are we looking for?” Danny asks. 

Connor takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly. With a hand, he points to a building in the distance. “You see that over there?”

Heather and Danny both look to where he’s pointing but they both shake their heads. 

“The far east building. To the right. The satellite dish is at the top. Aaron seems to think that’s what will work.”

“Can we fit that into the car?” Danny asks. 

Connor shrugs. “If not, I suppose you could rip off the top and make it fit, right?”

Connor seems to have meant it as a joke, but Danny nods with confidence. “Yeah, I think so.”

Connor walks over to the back of the SUV and opens the back hatch. Inside is an arsenal big enough for a village it seems. He pulls out a shotgun and gives it a pump so it’s cocked and ready. Heather and Danny come up behind him. He hands the shotgun to Danny, then he hands him some sort of wooden club. He gives Heather a dagger and pistol and gets out a rifle with a large scope for himself. He also grabs a hatchet and a pistol. 

“Why do you guys get the big guns?” Heather asks. 

“Wouldn’t want to slow you down,” Connor answers. “If we run out of weapons I think there’s an armory in the basement of one of the buildings. Not sure which one though.”

“We sticking with your plan, Connor?” Danny asks, swinging the strapped shotgun over his shoulder.

“What do you guys think?” he asks. 

“You know what I think,” Heather says. “I think your plan stinks. We should stick together. Even if you aren’t a Starborn, there is strength in numbers.”

“But I can cover you both from the top of this hill.”

“And greyskins will swarm you within minutes,” Danny says. “We can take a lot of them out, but we can’t do anything for you if you’re up here snipi uppens ng. Your gun is loud. Should be a last resort in my opinion.”

Connor accepts the decision with a nod. “Then we go together. If we get split up, meet back at the car. Make sure nothing is following you though. It’s our only way out of here.” He reaches into the back one more time and pulls out three black wristbands. They’re the same kind everyone is forced to wear in Salem. “Put these on,” he says. “If we do get split up, we can use these.”

Heather scowls. “Hate wearing these things. Puts a bad taste in my mouth.”

“I modified them,” Connor says. “No Screven soldier will be tracking you.”

Connor closes the back hatch and sighs, looking at the other two in the eyes. Fear is etched on each of their faces, mixed with a touch of confidence. Holding their silent weapons ready first, they step forward and begin their descent onto the trail leading to the compound. 

Watching them, I can’t help but think about the equipment we have in our truck. After being covered in blood and bullet holes…there’s no telling if any of it will work. I feel like we should all be there to help them. I have confidence that they can make it through, but it only takes one scratch. Only one bite.

Edging their way to the front gate of the complex, sweat trickles down their necks as the summer heat bears down on them. The stench of the undead fills their nostrils and I can tell that they are sickened by it. 

“Just think,” Danny says. “All of these greyskins were once people like us.”

“No,” Heather says. “Not like us.” She waits for a second. “Maybe Connor. But not us.”

“Thanks,” Connor says, rolling his eyes. 

“Don’t worry,” Heather says, “you might get into a sticky enough situation that you’ll discover your own little gift.”

“Let’s hope not,” Connor says. He takes a deep breath. “Quickly and quietly.”

The other two nod and they step into the compound. Immediately the first greyskin sees them but Heather speeds up next to it. With a quick swipe, its head rolls to the ground. Disgustingly enough, it’s still biting, begging for one more bit of flesh. Danny finishes it with a quick slam to the forehead. 

Connor is busy with his own pair of greyskins. His hatchet cuts through the temple of the first, but before he can swing into the second, Heather dispatches it to the ground where it stops moving. Connor gives her a slight nod of thanks as each of them moves on to the next one. 

Watching from my consciousness, I can’t help but think this is going to take forever. The building Connor is trying to lead them to seems so far away considering the number of greyskins in the area. 

Their movements aren’t quiet enough either. Even with a club and silent blades, the commotion of each encounter brings in more greyskins. Like a domino effect, they turn their heads to see what is happening, intensely drawn to the prospect of feeding. 

Danny can’t be stopped. He smashes through the skulls of each greyskin, one by one. He hits each with such force that, even with a wooden club, many of them end up headless. 

Darkened, congealed blood and brains run down each of their weapons, and soon, all over their hands and arms.

Connor finds himself surrounded by five greyskins moving toward him quickly. The first, he’s able to slice through the front of its skull, but the hatchet sticks into the bone and won’t budge. With little time to try and wedge it out, he’s forced to pull out his pistol. Four shots, four downed greyskins. But the echoes reach every corner of the compound. 

Now all of the greyskiof ced to ns know something is happening and they’re ready to eat. 

A shotgun blast barrels out into the open air as Danny blows away two that had been behind him. In the same motion he grabs a slab of crumbled wall from one of the buildings and chucks it at a group of six or more greyskins, flattening them to the ground. 

Heather speeds past him, slicing away at their enemies, but there are too many now. 

“Connor!” Danny yells out. “We’ve got to run!”

Connor doesn’t make him say it twice. He sprints toward Danny. Heather has already made it to high ground on top of one of the shorter buildings, just out of reach of the greyskins. 

Connor runs up beside Danny, fully intending to make his own way to the top of the two story structure, but Danny picks him up by the back of his pants and tosses him up. Connor lands hard on the roof next to Heather. 

Danny jumps up as high as he can, hitting the side of the building hard. His hands grip the side of a windowsill and he’s able to pull himself up and out of reach of the greyskins. Looking out from the roof, they can see maybe a thousand or more stalking toward them. The number of greyskins seems close to the amount that stormed Salem just days ago. 

“Doesn’t look like we’re going to make it to your satellite,” Danny says. 

“No,” Heather answers. “I can get to the other side of the compound and make some noise.”

Connor shakes his head. “It’s too dangerous.”

“I’m not asking you, earthworm. I’m fast enough to move around and cause a ruckus. You should be able to get to your building if their attention is drawn elsewhere.”

“You may be super fast, but it only takes one mistake,” Danny says. “You could run into one of them. You could get scratched. We’ve got to do something else.”

“What do you have, like twenty shells in that thing?” she says glancing at his shotgun. “That’ll help a lot.”

“It’s a good idea,” Connor says.

“See,” Heather says to Danny. “Earthworm agrees with me.”

“Look at the buildings,” Connor says pointing at them. “They’re all connected at the top floor.”

He’s right. At the top floor of each building is what looks to be a glass walkway connecting them. They could get across without ever stepping foot outside. 

“If you can cause a distraction,” he continues, “I can get inside the first building and make my way to the last one.”

“How are you going to navigate that?” she asks. 

“I’ll be able to see where I am when I get to each bridge.” He looks out for a second, counting something. “There are six buildings between us and the one we need to get to.”

“Don’t you think it should be me going to the seventh building?” she asks.

Connor looks at her and smiles. “It’s not a race there,” he says. “It’s actually all on Danny. I’m not sure either of us can lift the dish effectively. I can probably pick it up, but I won’t be able to move like he can when we finally have it.”

“Another problem,” Danny says. “How are we going to get it back to the truck?”

Connor sighs. “You’re going to have to carry it.”

“You don’t even know what is in those buildings. Could be hundreds of greyskins,” Heather says. 

“Probably,” Connor says. “That’s why we’ve got to be quick.”

The three of them sit in silence for a short moment. The grunts and moans of the greyskins belt out below them, but they are harmless from tarmck.”

his position. Most people would feel terrified in this situation, but these three have seen it all. Unfortunately,  experience doesn’t keep one from dying. Overconfidence has no place in a world where the dead rule.

“How do you plan to get into building number one?” Heather asks. 

“That’s your job,” Connor says. “You get to the other side of the compound and start shooting greyskins in the face. Hopefully, they’ll all turn to you and we can slip in through the back door.”

Heather nods. And without so much as a blink, she’s gone. Connor looks up in surprise, scanning the horizon for a sight of her. He spots her once he hears the gunshots in the distance. 

“Probably should have given her my shotgun,” Danny says. 

“No,” Connor replies. “We might need it.”

The two of them hunker down low at the edge of the rooftop, out of sight from the greyskins. They watch as Heather screams, kicks, and shoots through groups of them at a time. All of the greyskins mindlessly turn toward the commotion allowing an opening for Connor and Danny to make their way to the bottom of the other building. 

“Good news is we only have to go up one building,” Danny says. “All the bridges are at the top.”

Connor nods in agreement and the two of them walk hunched over and out of view of the greyskins.

“I hope she will be alright over there,” Danny says. 

The two of them make it to the back door of building one in a hurry. “If it were me or you over there, we’d be dead in a couple of minutes,” Connor says. “She will be fine. We just need to hurry.”

Connor reaches for the back door handle and tries to open the door but it’s locked tight. He motions for Danny to give it a try. 

Danny looks over his shoulder to make sure nothing is lurking behind him. With a squeeze of a handle, he’s able to snap the latch off the door. The sound of breaking metal makes them both wince, but none of the greyskins seem to have heard anything. The door swings open and the two of them walk inside the dark room having no idea what could be ahead of them. 

I open my eyes to the sound of my name. I’ve been so engrossed with what was unfolding with the others that I forgot I was even in the truck headed back to Springhill. 

“I know a lot has been going on lately, but you must be having these crazy dreams all the time,” Aaron says. 

He looks down at my hands clenching the side of the seat. I’ve got to stop reacting to what I see with my mind. 

“Sorry,” I say. 

“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” he says. “It’s not your fault.”

But it is.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asks. 

“Same old stuff,” I say. “Greyskins are all I dream about these days.”

He nods with a sympathetic smile. “Sometimes you just wish you couldn’t dream at all?”

I nod. 

“I get it. I’m with you.”

You have no idea.

Part of me wishes that I could just tell him what was happening. I wish I could tell him that Connor, Danny, and Heather are risking everything at this moment. But I can’t. This ability of mine must stay private, though I can’t be sure Evelyn will keep my secret forever. 

Evelyn.
The thought of her makes me want to fall asleep again so I can see more of what became of Willow; how Jeremiah continued with his mad plan. Part of me hates the idea of continuing the story, bu thll t I know it’s important. The insight will give me more motivation with the mission we have to carry out. 

I look out the back window and see Sadie holding her brother’s head in her arms. Christopher is asleep, which is a nice break from the pain he feels. I can’t imagine having to take my own pain plus the pain of another. His gift is truly unselfish and wasn’t wasted on him. I just hope he makes it through the day before we get him to Springhill. The bleeding may have stopped, but that doesn’t mean he can’t get an infection. 

Sadie examines her leg and chest where bullet holes used to be. There isn’t even a mark. The only remnant of her injuries is the blood on her clothes. I remember looking at my leg where I had been cut. After Christopher had healed me, the cut was completely gone. I didn’t even have a scar. 

Looking at Sadie, I wonder how and why she had been captured and put into the Vault. Why was Commander Green so interested in her? Why was he threatening her like that? I understand that he was trying to get information, but it sure didn’t seem like he was trying to make allies. It makes me think there is something deeper going on here.