“Impossible,” the general fumed. “The very best minds in the world scoured those sites for anything like that.”
“None of those people live at an abduction site. Or know that a year ago, when I felt the first tremor, the first inkling of control over me, I saw it for the first time, before my very eyes. I saw it again in Maryland just a week ago—in the form of swarming cicadas—where I suspect the boy, Ryan, was taken. I can tell by your expression that I am correct. The cicadas took the form of the strand.”
The general stammered. “What does it mean?”
“I believe… it’s how they mark what they’ve done to us. What each person taken or returned is afflicted with. It’s how they’ve engineered us. Ultimately, where to position us.”
William looked out. “So you think… out there… wherever Lily and her sister were returned to earth, there will be some indication? In the skies—”
A high-pitched sound tore the air, echoed in several locations throughout the camp. A harsh light began to pulsate not far away, positioned next to the cage where the movement of the rodents had now come to an abrupt stop.
“Go! Go!” General Wolve yelled. “It’s coming! Get back now!”
William sidestepped the general, taking his grandmother by the arm while holding tight to Lily. In the chaos, one of the soldiers broke loose, jumping into one of the ATVs on the perimeter, calling for the general to follow. He fired it up, clearly hoping for a faster escape.
“Major, no!” the general cried out.
The man looked over and then reached up to his throat. A second later, he began to convulse, his skin changing to a yellow pall.
As they ran, William caught a glimpse of Lily’s face as she craned her neck to look back towards the mesas. He’d seen the girl look so frightened for so long, it was startling to see her calmness, her expression void of fear. For a moment, she looked at him, her eyes conveying a simple message.
William thrust Lily towards his grandmother. “Nanna! Take her!”
He practically dumped her into his grandmother’s arms, turning and bolting back towards the perimeter.
“No!” the general yelled.
“William!” he heard his grandmother cry out.
He choked back the bile rising to his throat, seeing the soldier’s body now slumped against the window.
It took only moments to reach the ATV. He stopped, bracing himself, his eyes clenched shut.
Nothing. He felt nothing. No pain, no convulsions. The waves of sickness that killed the soldier had no effect on him.
It’s how they’ve engineered us, Nanna had said.
Lily’s look explained it all. She hadn’t been afraid because she knew she was immune. A carrier of the disease couldn’t be killed by it.
As the conduit of it all, neither could he.
Swallowing his revulsion, he slid the body of the soldier, devastated by disease, out of the ATV. Its engine vibrated, stuck in neutral.
The fleeing crowds had stopped, all now positioned behind the first cage they’d passed. Even without being able to see inside, he knew the rats inside were alive. The wave hadn’t reached that far.
Of all of them, Lily would be the only one to survive the journey ahead, but he had no intention of taking her where he had to go.
He climbed in, positioning the gear to reverse.
No less than two minutes later, the phone inside the ATV began to ring.
“Send in your drones, General,” William said.
“You’re going to turn around and get your ass back here—”
“Send them throughout the area looking for a swarm. I’m driving blind here. I’ll need directions how to navigate the canyon as well.”
He could almost feel the spittle of the general’s words through the phone. “You get back here now. There is real belief that you used that little girl in your arms to send out that blast so you could get away. And if you think I’m joking, then know right now she has about fifteen high-powered rifles pointed at her.”
William winced at the image. “You know I wouldn’t have risked my family—”
“I don’t know a damn thing but that I have another dead soldier and a furious leader of the free world. You turn around right now or things are going to get worse. If you don’t believe me, then perhaps this will convince you.”
The phone was jostled, and another voice came onto the line.
“William, it’s Aunt Kate.”
“Is Nanna OK? Are you and Stella all right? Roxy?”
“We are. William… we don’t have much time. I’ve talked to the president. They’re considering drone strikes, to just wipe out the entire area. I am trying to convince them to let you try and stop this. But they very much believe you’re not acting of your own accord.”
William paused. “Convince them otherwise. You know I’m the only one that can control them all. If they wipe me out, then there’s no stopping what’s happening all over the world.”
“They know you can’t do anything unless you make physical contact with them. William, there’s no way you can do that in time. You can’t get to all of them.”
“But I can protect the US. Tell them that. Tell them that we could be the last ones standing. Because I’m sure they’re listening in to this call right now.”
“I’ll do my best, William—”
“I don’t know if you heard Nanna, but she’s figured out how to find the girl. I got lucky in California that the man causing the fires ended up near to me so I could directly track him down. This canyon is too vast and too broken for me to just drive. I need help. I need those drones to search for the swarm. Ask Nanna.”
“William, please be careful—”
“I will. Kate, there’s one last thing. I know that Dr…. that Steven died. But he was carrying something that you all need to see. It explains what I told you to ask about. It explains Blue.”
“Mom has it, William. He gave a flash drive to her. She hasn’t been able to look at it yet.”
“Nanna saw Steven? Before he died?”
“He lasted long enough to give it to her—”
Kate’s voice was abruptly cut off. He could hear her arguing, and the general’s voice came on the line. “Just know that the final move will be ours, William. You do anything we don’t like, it’s all over.”
“The guns come off the girl, General. Now. That’s a deal breaker. We are on the same side here. I promise you, if I do anything that concerns you, take any maneuver you wish. But I won’t drive a foot further until I know those guns are down.”
“There’s a whole lot more at stake for you than just that little girl if you try to pull something over on us.”
“Understood. But the guns. Now.”
He heard the general cover up the receiver and bark commands.
“It’s done. But know that these drones are armed.”
“I realize that. And General, I’d pull everyone back as far as you can. I’m not in control of Lily’s sister. It could spread rapidly.”
“Is that’s what’s coming? Dammit, son, if you’re holding out—”
“I’m not. I just don’t want my family or any other innocent people that close to a wave like that again. And frankly… it concerns me that it is what’s coming next. The positioning of those carrying the weapons… it isn’t effective.”