They put on their masks and went to a room filled with staff surrounding Layla. She looked at X and yelled, “Shut the damn door!”
X hurried inside the room but hesitated at the sight of blood on the sheets. He had seen boatloads of blood over the years, but for some reason this made him queasy.
“Come here,” Michael said, waving a gloved hand.
X took a few steps and swallowed hard.
“Almost there, Layla, great work,” Huff said encouragingly.
“A few more pushes,” Michael said. “You’ve got this!”
She gripped his hand and grunted.
“Good job, kid,” X said, not knowing what else to say.
The room started to spin around him. The screaming, the blood—it was like a damn battlefield! He held in a breath and blinked, trying to get control.
Another hour of screams, grunts, and heavy breathing passed. The nurse and doctor leaned closer.
“One more hard push,” Huff said.
Layla roared, and X looked away, wincing. He heard voices but didn’t comprehend the words. He did feel someone pulling on his arm.
When he turned back to the table, Huff held a wet child in his hands. Unlike other babies, this one wasn’t crying.
The doctor went over to another table, where they cleaned the child and wrapped it in a blanket. Layla and Michael watched, still hand in hand. They spoke, but X still didn’t hear a thing.
The baby was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
Huff wrapped the boy up in a towel and brought him over to Layla and Michael. She was crying tears of joy.
X moved closer to the bed, still mesmerized by the tiny fingers and toes and the matted gossamer hair.
“He’s perfect,” X said.
Layla looked up. “Isn’t he?”
Michael stared, too, every bit as dumbstruck as X.
“Congratulations,” X said, leaning down. “Hey, there, little buddy.”
Layla clutched Bray against her chest, and Michael bent down and kissed them both on the forehead. They held him for several minutes.
“We can move to your room when you’re ready,” Huff said.
Layla nodded.
X left, his heart full but also aching for all the people who hadn’t lived to see this.
Back at the lobby, everyone stood to greet him.
“Well?” Magnolia asked.
“He’s a healthy boy,” X said. “Almost eight pounds.”
Rodger and Magnolia embraced, and Katherine smiled warmly.
“Can I hold him?” Phyl asked.
“Soon, I’m sure,” X said. “Dr. Huff is getting them settled in a room, but then we can all go back and see them.”
An hour later, a nurse came and brought them back. She took them to a room at the end of a hall, with a view of the ocean.
Layla was sitting up in her bed, slowly rocking Bray with Michael by her side. The sun streamed through the windows.
“Wow,” Phyl said. She walked over, grinning from ear to ear.
Layla and Michael held the baby up together.
“We present Bray Leslie Everhart,” she said.
Katherine put a hand over her mouth, and Phyl looked up at her mom.
“We wanted to honor him,” Layla said. “He meant so much to both of us.”
Katherine didn’t bother trying to hold back the tears. “Thank you,” she managed to say. “He would be honored.”
Michael took Bray and held him over for Katherine and Phyl to see up close. Phyl chuckled, and Katherine wiped away a tear. The baby slowly opened both eyelids.
X made his best funny face and a cooing sound.
In response, Bray burst into a full-throated wail.
“Man, you really don’t know much about babies,” Michael said.
X frowned. “Like I said…”
“Here,” Michael said, holding the swaddled infant out. “You’re going to learn fast.”
Backing away, X shook his head and said, “Oh, hell no.”
“Come on.”
“Don’t you remember what I said happened when I held you?”
“You’re the godfather,” Michael said. “You’re holding him sooner or later. Best start now. Come on, I’ll help.”
X looked to Layla, who nodded her approval.
Reluctantly, he reached out with a stump and one shaky hand.
“It’s okay,” Michael said.
Bray had stopped crying and looked up while Michael handed him over.
X held the baby as if it were an unstable high explosive. Layla watched like a hawk, which didn’t help his confidence.
X walked cautiously over to the balcony doors with Michael, and Magnolia opened them. The cool breeze swept into the room.
Together, they stepped out onto the deck.
“You’re going to make a great dad, just like your father.”
“Thanks,” Michael said. “I’ve had several good role models.”
He reached out and took Bray from X. Then he raised him up to bask in the warmth—a new tradition for all children born at the Vanguard Islands.
“Welcome to the world, son,” Michael said.
The Sea Wolf rocked in the water below. X could see the airship, too, resting on its rooftop port, ready to fly when the need arose.
Both vessels had helped find this home and protect it despite all odds.
Michael lowered Bray and returned to the room to hand him off to Phyl, while Rodger and Magnolia hovered.
“You’re next, Rodger Dodger,” Michael said.
X grinned, but he stayed on the balcony for a moment, looking out over water that sparkled all the way to the barrier between light and dark.
They had saved a pocket of humanity, but if the weather-modification system was real, then just maybe they could also begin to reverse what had happened to the entire world, and bring it back from mass extinction.
One thing was certain. They all were going to enjoy retirement for a while, and the miracle of new life. But at some point, the world was going to need Hell Divers again.
I hope you enjoyed Hell Divers VII: Warriors. If you’d like to see a sequel to this series, please leave a short and honest review letting me know. This is the best way for me to gauge whether readers want more books. Thank you for reading!
If you’re looking for your next NSS read, I highly recommend Sons of War, my newest postapocalyptic thriller about a global economic collapse and the destruction of the United States in the wake of a Second Civil War. Bestselling Author Craig DiLouie called it, “The Sopranos meets Mad Max.”
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