Page 122 of Us Defiant Few

Another tear escaped. Maybe the Chief was wrong and that picture in the library represented the truth she never wanted to face.

Maybe the monster really was her.

“Khalani.”

Serene’s hand settled on her shoulder, turning her away from the window. “It’s time,” Serene croaked in a soft voice, trying to hide her sniffling.

Khalani finally made eye contact, sensation returning to her limbs as she gently nodded. They made their way outside, entering a chilling dawn. A gloomy mist hung over the air, like the earth was coating them in a blanket of spent tears.

The road was desolate, the town completely empty. But when they reached to the center of Desert Spring, she found out why.

A massive pile of bodies lay in the training ground, both Desert Spring warriors and Sinners alike. The remaining survivors gathered in a large circle.

Women cried.

The men’s grim faces hardened, like they’d never smile or know joy again.

She spotted Takeshi and Brock throwing bodies onto the bloody pile. Takeshi’s left arm was wrapped in a thick white bandage, but he didn’t slow or complain.

He transferred the dead like it was something he had to do.

She wondered if it weighed on him.

The burden of taking a life.

He carried the pressure well. But Khalani recognized the suffering in his eyes. The twinge of misery he hid so that others wouldn’t see the softest heart that dwelled inside.

Khalani’s throat felt like it was clamping up when Patreus’s lifeless body was thrown onto the pile. She thought he hated them the entire time. But even in the midst of his disdain, Patreus had died protecting them.

And when Takeshi and Brock picked up Elise’s small frame, Khalani’s legs shook. Serene and Winnie immediately wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her steady.

Before they loaded her body onto the pile, she croaked out, “Wait.”

They turned, faces tight with confusion as they lowered her body to the ground.

Khalani silently walked over.

Elise’s face was paler than she’d ever seen it, almost blue. Her mouth was slightly parted, and her eyes were still half-open. But her expression wasn’t filled with terror. She looked oddly at peace.

Khalani hated it. Every second.

Not even the sun pierced through the gray clouds as she knelt by Elise, her broken, silent apologies escaping with the cool wind.

The silver ring around Elise’s finger caught her attention. The one that said ‘Prometheus Inc.’ on the back.

It belonged to her father and was her most prized possession. Something told Khalani that she shouldn’t leave it behind.

Moving in a daze, she carefully slid the ring off Elise’s cold finger.

The weight rested in her pocket as Takeshi and Brock gently deposited Elise’s body with the rest. At the Chief’s order, Desert Spring’s warriors finally lit the pile on fire. The burning ash and flames rose high in the sky, and Khalani committed the harrowing sight to memory.

And when Penny wiped away her tears, her tanned face was set with renewed determination as she asked them to follow her.

Serene and Winnie flanked Khalani on either side, like they were afraid she’d crumble to the ground any second. Derek had his arm around Adan, his red-rimmed eyes sunken in. Brock and Takeshi took the rear, watching over them all.

Penny led them to the northeast section of the city, and Khalani’s eyes widened at the sprawling field of crops, something she’d never thought she’d see except for beneath the surface.

But Penny kept walking toward a barn near the wall.