“We can’t retreat!” I tell her. “If we—”
“Move!”
Pulling me between the trees, she forces me to duck as the energy beam slices through the air above us. Several more trees come down, slamming into the wet ground, as individual energy blasts are sent flashing toward our position. Other soldiers are already pulling back and diving for cover but, when I turn to look back, I see that the warship is still coming, smashing through the trees while foot-soldiers approach through the darkness below.
“What is that thing?” I stammer.
“Don’t freak out on me now!” Mads shouts, aiming her gun and then firing several blasts at the enemy.
“Who are they?” I ask. “Who are we fighting?”
“For real?” she hisses.
I turn and fire some shots into the darkness. There are shapes up ahead, hurrying between the trees, but I can’t make them out properly and I can’t see exactly who or what they are. “This happened,” I whisper after a moment, as I realize that I’m reliving a memory. “This actually happened, we—”
Suddenly a blast fills my vision and I fall back. The shot misses me by inches, but a moment later I hear a cry as Mads slumps to the ground. Crawling toward her, I find that she’s taken a direct hit to the chest, and the damage has broken through her armor. Blood is flowing from the wound, and she lets out a gasp of pain as she tries to get up.
“Run!” she shouts. “Asher, you—”
Before she can finish, blood starts bursting from her mouth. She tries to speak, but she simply brings up more and more blood.
“I’m not leaving you,” I stammer, grabbing her arms, ready to pull her to safety.
“Run!” she gurgles.
Hearing a loud creaking sound, I turn and see that the warship has begun to turn, heading straight toward us through the forest. Energy blasts are flashing through the air in both directions, and cries of pain are coming from all around. We’re right in the heart of the war and there’s nothing I can do except try to get Mads out of here.
“Don’t get yourself killed,” Mads whispers, sounding weaker by the second. “Asher, leave me! Get the hell out of here and go back to join the unit!”
Ignoring the advice, I start pulling her across the damp ground, but after a moment I stumble and fall. By the time I’ve managed to get up, the warship is even closer, sending trees crashing down all around us. For a moment, all I can do is stare up at the vast lights of the machines as it starts to fly directly over us. The engines are deafening, whipping the air all around into a gale and causing the ground to shudder.
“Run!” Mads screams, her voice barely audible as the warship’s engines enter a new surge-cycle. At the same time, the blast from the cannon is burning the air.
Nearby, foot-soldiers are screaming.
“Asher, run!” Mads shouts. “Get out of here!”
“Medic!” I scream, hoping against hope that someone from our side will hear me. “I need a medic!” I look around, but all I see are dead bodies scattered throughout the forest. “Medic!”
“Asher!” Mads continues. “It’s too late!”
Filled with panic, I aim my gun straight up and start firing futilely at the warship’s brightly-lit underside. The shots bounce off harmlessly, of course, and a moment later I realize foot-soldiers are getting closer and closer. Turning, I aim at them and fire, blasting them as fast as possible. They return fire, but their shots miss while I manage to hit two of them almost immediately. Overwhelmed by a sense of fury, I start running toward them, still firing, figuring I’ll take as many of them out as possible before inevitably one of them—
Suddenly I trip and fall, landing hard against the ground. When I get up, I see no more foot-soldiers up ahead but I keep firing anyway, sending blast after blast into the cold night air before realizing that the sound of the warship has stopped. Looking up, I see dark trees rising toward the night sky, and then I turn to check on Mads, only to find that she’s not here. With shaking hands, I look the other way and see Steadfall burning in the distance, with screams still ringing out.
Nearby, Deckard’s body is on the forest floor, with Ben’s a little further away.
When I look down at my trembling hands, I realize that I must have experienced some kind of flashback. Deckard’s death seemed to trigger something, and for a moment I was back in a war I don’t even remember fighting. Swallowing hard, I look around for a moment, but the foot-soldiers and the warship are gone. They were just memories, albeit of something that I think actually happened.
And Mads…
As screams from Steadfall continue to fill the air, I look down at the gun in my hand and realize what I have to do. Stepping over Deckard’s body, I make my way toward the burning town.
Chapter Forty-four
Gasping with pain, I try to sit up, only to feel a stabbing sensation in my shoulder. The energy blast might not have hit me directly, but it still caused a lot of damage, and I can just about make out glistening flesh and blood beneath my torn tunic. Every time I take a breath, something sharp slices through my chest.
Nearby, in one of the other huts, people are screaming.
“We’ll be next,” a voice says.
Turning, I see one of the town’s younger women, Natalie, watching me with fear in her eyes.
“I don’t know why he’s saving us ’til last,” she continues, “but it won’t be long now. He’s burning the others.”
Despite the pain in my shoulder, I stumble to my feet and head to the door. I can’t get too far, not with a rope around my leg that’s securing me to the wall, but I manage to peer out and see that most of the other cabins are in flames. Harold is making his way to the cabin next to this one, and he stops for a moment to stare in at the people he’s tied together. I can just about see their terrified faces, and while some of them are screaming, others are begging for their lives.
Ignoring their pleas, he tosses some kind of liquid over them.
“Please!” one of the women screams. “I’ll give you anything you want, but don’t kill me!”
Ignoring her, Harold takes a piece of tarpaulin and sets it on fire.
“Please!” the woman sobs. “Don’t—”
Before she can finish, Harold tosses the burning rag into the cabin. Flames erupt, and for a moment I can see the people inside as they desperately try to get free. Their screams and cries continue for half a minute or more, and Harold simply stands and watches as they burn to death. Watching the back of his head, I start to realize that he genuinely enjoys their suffering, that he considers this kind of execution to be an art-form. Some of the figures in the heart of the inferno are still moving, as if they’re struggling to get free, but they quickly slump down and fall still. Finally, as the flames continue to burn, Harold turns and stares straight at me.
“We’re the last ones,” Natalie sobs behind me, as Harold smiles and starts walking this way. “He’s going to burn us next!”
“Please!” Natalie shouts as we’re led through the forest, with a few other women ahead of us. “I’ll give you anything you want! Just don’t do this!”
“I can already take anything I want,” Harold replies calmly. “You’re not in a very good bargaining position. Just keep walking.”
“No!” one of the other women shouts, turning to him with fear in her eyes. “Please, just—”
Before she can get another word out, Harold fires a shot that hits her in the upper chest. She falls back and slumps to the ground, and her body twitches for a moment before falling still. One of the other women turns to run, but Harold dispatches another couple of shots, one of which hits her in the back and sends her clattering into a tree before she, too, drops dead to the ground.