I redirect my fury toward the new threat. They probably have guns, so I pull on every ounce of wrath inside me. A tsunami of rage and power floods through me, blinding in its intensity.
A dim light flickers somewhere. It fades. It’s going to darken without me.
I’m empty, though. I give in to the darkness.
38
“My son is on that island. With the substantial investment of resources into the infrastructure, experiments, and people, why would we leave the two sides to fight it out and see who prevails?” – Electronic message from Aldous Thatcher to New America President Soren Whitman
Briar
I’m surrounded by a damp ammonia smell. I stir and someone smooths a hand over my hair.
“We’re in the cave,” Amira whispers. “Rest while you can.”
I’m curled up on my side, the cave’s floor a cold, hard mattress. My head is in Amira’s lap.
The smell of bat shit is downright invasive. It didn’t smell this strongly when I was last here with Marcus. I shift and get into a sitting position, my head heavy with grogginess.
“How did I get here?” I whisper.
“Pax carried you. You passed out, but Ellison says you’re fine. She thinks it was just from exhaustion.”
I remember the light in my mind flickering out, but after that ... nothing. I shake my head.
“When was that? I don’t remember what happened.”
“A couple of hours ago. Seriously, go back to sleep. Do you want some water first?”
I nod and she grabs a canteen, her outline barely visible in the near pitch-black darkness of the cave. She unscrews the cap and passes it to me, making sure it’s in my hands before she lets go.
After a few sips, I’m more awake. I pass it back to her and ask, “Is everyone okay?”
“We’re all okay. Ingrid’s guys not so much.”
A dim light appears at one end of the cave; I don’t know if it’s the cave’s belly or its entrance.
“That’s Pax’s torch,” Amira whispers softly. “He and Olin are checking the cave.”
She doesn’t sound like herself. Amira can usually crack a joke no matter how serious things are, but she seems almost scared.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
She sighs heavily. “There was a snake hanging down from the top of the cave by the entrance. I ran into it and genuinely thought I might die of a heart attack.”
“Oh god.”
“Yeah. I guess we’re safe, but with quote marks around the word safe? I’m dissociating since I can’t see anything or scream if something slithers over me.”
As Pax moves closer, I can make out Nova and Ellison sitting across from us, their backs against the cave’s wall. Ellison is resting her head on Nova’s shoulder.
“What happened to Ingrid’s guys?” I ask, sensing I already know.
“The vines killed all of them,” Amira says. “They ... wrapped around them really fast and cut off their heads and legs. Some of them just got squeezed into like ... human pulp.”
“Oh.”
“They all had guns. They’re our guns now. We couldn’t have defended ourselves against them and Theron. Don’t feel even a little bit bad about it.”
