Autumn in the Dark Meadows (The Autumn Series) (30 page)

Grey pulled me over the ledge, and we rolled away from it, both gasping for breath.  I remained on my back, arms shaking, but Grey immediately got to his feet.

“What?” I said, as he pulled me up.

“We should get out of here in case he decides to come back.”

Karl’s last words before he projected away echoed in my head.  “I think he’s probably gone for now,” I said, then realized I was still holding Karl’s fractured glass vial, but the gun was gone.  I had no memory of dropping it as we fell over the side.

“I think I lost the gun, but I still have this,” I said, holding up the vial.  Grey took it and looked at it briefly, before slipping it into his pocket.

“Are you okay?” he asked, smoothing my hair.

“I’m fine.  What did he do to you?” I asked, touching his bleeding temple.

“He kicked me.”  He winced as I used my sleeve to dab at a trickle of blood running down his temple.  “Come on,” he said, “I don’t like the thought of staying here.  Do you mind riding?  I’d project us, but I don’t think I have the strength.”

I looked at him in the darkness and knew he was right.  He was covered in dirt and dust, his face and knuckles were bloody, and his shirt was torn.

“Of course,” I said, as we approached the horses, which had miraculously remained tied where we’d left them, despite the fireworks, the gunshots and the distant rumble of the battle below us.

“Where should we go?” I asked, as he untied them from the mesquite tree.

“We should check on Jones,” Grey said. “The bridge came down late, so something must have happened.”

My arms felt weak, and my knees shook with the events of the last hour, but I managed to pull myself into the saddle and follow him toward the distant hill Hanson had pointed out to us. I glanced at Grey, recalling the conversation at the Eiffel Tower when he told me he believed someone from The University intentionally brought The Plague here. He had been right. I thought about the billions of lives extinguished for the sole purpose of giving Karl a blank canvas, how he’d already wiped out another entire planet with his failed first attempt, and I wished I’d shot him in the heart instead of the leg. I clenched my jaw and looked at Grey. His face was as grim as my own must have been.

“I should have known,” he said, catching my glance. His voice was low and angry. “I should have figured it out.”

“How could you have known?” I argued. “The University is a big place, and you’re all spread out visiting different planets and systems. And you haven’t been back for a while.”

He was silent for a moment. “We know for certain who the bioterrorist was, at least,” he said. “You know, the thought of Karl being responsible for The Plague crossed my mind, but I never linked my suspicion of him with my fear of a traitor within The University. And it’s too late to go tell them. They’ve moved on now. I won’t get a chance to go back for another four years,” he muttered. “And I really hate that he has my journals. I should have gone back for them sooner.”

“We’ll just have to do the best we can until you can get in touch with The University again,” I replied.

There was no trail, and it was dark, so it was slow going.  We left our flashlights off in hopes that our passing would remain unnoticed.  The sounds of battle grew weaker in the distance.  I hoped that meant the fight was ending, rather than moving away from us and toward Hoover.  Again, I found myself wishing I knew what was happening with my friends.  Where were Ben and Shad?  Had Tess retreated with the other sailboats to take cover in Painter’s Cove?   Had Daniel gotten the help he needed at the med center to survive his gunshot wound?

Staying on the darkest side, we crossed three small rises before reaching the base of the hill Jones was supposedly on.  Grey snapped his reins against his horse’s side, and charged up the side of the steep hill.  I followed, clinging to my saddle.

The hilltop appeared to be empty, but as we rode closer to the side nearest the bridge, a dark form lying in the grass appeared in front of us.  Grey swung down from his horse and knelt by the still figure.

“I’m guessing this is Jones,” he said, feeling for a pulse.  He inspected the dark, wet patch on Jones’ chest.  “Looks like the gunshot killed him instantly.”

“Then who lit the fuses to bring down the bridge?”

“I did,” wheezed a voice from the darkness.

I jumped.  Reacting to my movement, my horse danced backward, and I hauled back on the reins.  I knew that voice.  I slid down from the saddle, but Grey beat me to the shadow of a creosote bush, where another dark figure lay hidden.

“Shad!” I exclaimed, dropping to my knees in front of him.  He was pale, sweating and pressing one hand over a bloody gash across his chest.  A gun was clutched in his other hand.

“Well, aren’t you the very person I wanted to see?” Shad said, looking at Grey with half-lidded eyes.  His voice was weak, his breathing shallow.

Grey gently pulled Shad’s hand away.  I grimaced.  A gash about six inches long spread diagonally across his chest.  With the release of pressure from Shad’s hand, blood immediately began to trickle from the opening again, blending with the sweat than ran down his stomach.  I pulled off my sweatshirt and handed it to Grey, who pressed it hard against Shad’s chest.

“Is that from a knife?” I asked.

Shad gritted his teeth and said, “I’ve got some bad luck with cutlery.  Glad I’ve got the doc to keep stitching me back together.”  I was reminded of when Shad had been almost fatally stabbed when we still lived in Los Angeles.

“What happened?” Grey asked.  “We heard gunshots and thought Jones was dead, but then the bridge was blown anyway.”

“That was me,” Shad confirmed.  “Sorry I was late.  Did I get any of ‘em?”

I nodded.  “Yeah, you got a lot of them.”

“But how did you know?” Grey asked.

“Brody,” Shad gasped in pain.  “I was running ahead of the Vegas riders to try and help the Hoover Guard prepare for the attack, when I ran into Brody.  He warned me.  Said he’d been out toward the dam and overheard Hanson and Jones talking about ruining the mayor’s plan.  Said we needed to find the mayor and see his plan through.”

A small wave of relief passed through me.  Brody hadn’t double-crossed us.  He’d gone to stop Hanson.  And Shad had come here to stop Jones and set off the explosions for the bridge.

“If Hanson and Jones weren’t going to go through with the mayor’s plan, why bother to set the explosives on the bridge and in the pass?” I asked.

“Sounds like they were being watched and had to go through the motions.  They would have sabotaged the plan in other ways,” Grey said.  “Glad you and Brody managed to get up here to see it through.  You really saved the day.”

“The mayor told us everything,” Shad said, waving off Grey’s compliment.  “Guess he trusts me because I came in with you guys.  Did you see Brody down there?”

 “He’s dead,” I said, quietly.  “He and Hansen, well, I guess they killed each other.”

Shad squeezed his eyes shut.  When he opened them, they were bright with tears.  In the silence of the moments that followed, the noise from the battle loomed louder.  From this hill, yells and screams from the town below were carried toward us on the night breeze.  The low rumbling of a distant explosion drowned out the voices.  I looked in the direction of town and saw an unnatural orange glow tinting the black sky.  Fire.

I looked at Grey, but he was already looking at me.  He nodded in understanding.

“We should get you down to the med center,” Grey said.  “This is going to need stitches.  Think you can ride with me?”

“Might need a little help,” Shad murmured, his eyelids drooping.

Grey pulled Shad’s arm over his shoulders and helped him to a standing position.  I steadied him while Grey led his horse over.

“Shad, how did you get so far ahead of the rest of the Vegas riders?  Ben and the others-”

Shad interrupted me, a gasping, half-laugh escaping his lips.  “I told you Thunder was the fastest horse in the West.”

I smiled and shook my head.  “You mean Greased Thunder.”

He smiled, but a grimace shadowed his face.

“Where is he?” I asked, looked around the barren hilltop.

Shad waved his hand.  “He’s around.  He’ll come back to town when the noise dies down.”

I helped get Shad onto Grey’s horse, then Grey climbed up behind him, and I mounted my own horse.

“Autumn, it sounds like there’s still fighting going on, so I want you to stay as close behind me as you can.  I’m going to try to stay out of it, but we may have to ride fast if there’s no going around it.  And Autumn,” Grey paused, his voice low and serious, “I don’t want you stopping for anything.  Anything, do you understand?”

Grey’s blue eyes pierced through the darkness around us, and I nodded.

The night grew quieter, and as we descended out of the hills, smoke burned our noses. The silence was punctured with gunfire only every minute or two.  We left the hills behind us and passed in the shadow of the Central Tower, and the Hoover Settlement spread before us.  Several buildings crawled with flickering flames, and the shapes of people and horses were clearly visible as they darted down the streets and between houses and buildings.

Grey threw a glance at me as he gathered the reins tighter in his hands.  His arms were around Shad, holding him up, but Shad’s head lolled to the side.

“Is he okay?” I asked.

“He’s lost some blood.  We need to get him to the med center as quickly as possible.  I just hope it’s still standing,” he said grimly, looking out over the town.  “Ready?”

I nodded, and Grey kicked his horse into a trot, then a canter, and I followed close behind.  We crossed an empty patch of land behind a small cluster of houses on the edge of town, and as we came closer, I heard the yells and screams of fighting men and women, the frightened neighing of horses, and the crackle of flames.  The smell of burning lumber filled the air, and the smoke thickened around us.

“Stay close!” Grey yelled over his shoulder as we neared the houses.  It looked like he was going to cut through the middle of the neighborhood so we’d come out at the avenue that bisected Main Street.  The med center was on the corner there.

We kicked our horses into a gallop and flew through the long grass.  I could see details of the houses now, a flower bed someone had planted near their back door, trampled now by boots and hooves.  A smashed window, flames reflected in its broken edges.  A dead horse lying in the shadow of a clothesline still strung with bed sheets that wavered in the slight breeze.

A figure appeared around the corner of a house not far away.  He darted through the grass and flung himself through the back door into the house right as a gunshot ripped through the air, and the window in the back door shattered.  I recognized him immediately.  It was Ben.

Another figure appeared, chasing him.  He kicked open the door Ben threw shut behind him and charged into the house.

Without thinking, I yanked on my horse’s reins, steering him toward the house where Ben was hiding. We galloped across the yard, jumped over a small garden and rapidly neared the house.
Fortiter
, I thought, aiming for the open doorway. I ducked as we flew through it. The horses’ hooves made hollow clumping sounds on the floor as we crashed into a dark kitchen. A hallway in front of me led to the front door, which stood open to the avenue beyond. Ben was silhouetted in the doorway.

I yanked hard on the reins, and my horse’s hooves slid on the linoleum as he skidded to a stop, nervously snorting and tossing his head at the cramped quarters he’d suddenly found himself in.  The Frontman stood in the hallway between me and Ben, holding him at gunpoint, but his head was turned to stare back at me, eyes wide with surprise at seeing a teenage girl on a horse in the kitchen.

I kicked my horse in the sides again, and he charged forward into the narrow hallway, half bucking in fear and half obeying my command to go forward.

The Frontman took several steps toward Ben, and his gun clattered to the floor as he hastily climbed over the banister of the stairs that ran adjacent to the hallway.  Framed pictures fell off their hooks as we thundered past, shattering on the floor, and my horse reared, smashing a small side table under his hooves.

“Ben, move!” I cried as the horse tore through the hallway, sensing the open air beyond.  Ben jumped to the side and grabbed my outstretched hand as we flew by.  My arm felt like it might pop from its socket as Ben hauled himself up behind me.

The ground disappeared below us, and we sailed through the air, smooth and quiet for a blissful moment.  Porch railings and potted ferns sailed by, and warped wooden steps passed below us.  We landed roughly on packed dirt, and Ben held me so tightly I couldn’t breathe.

“You know, you appear normal enough!”  Ben shouted in my ear.  “But you’re certifiably crazy!  I can’t believe you did that!”

I saw Grey galloping ahead, veering through yards to the avenue ahead of us, Shad still bouncing in the saddle in front of him.  I didn’t need to command my horse to gallop; he was already going as fast as he could.  Moments later, we were behind Grey again.

Hearing our hoof beats, he glanced toward me and yelled, “Where the hell did you go?!”  He saw Ben behind me and did a double take, eyes wide with confusion.  “I thought I told you not to stop!” he yelled.

“I didn’t!”  I yelled back.

We reached the med center quickly, but reined in as soon as we saw the fire.  The entire building was crackling with flames so bright they hurt our eyes.  Our horses whinnied and backed away from it.

“Doc!” a voice yelled from across the street.  Kathy emerged from the smoke, waving her arms.  “We’ve moved over here!”  She motioned through the haze to the general store.

Ben slid down and reached for me, but I looked at the med center in horror.  “Where’s Daniel?”  I shouted to Kathy over the roar of flames.

“He’s fine!  We moved him out first.  Come on!”

I slid down from my horse and led him to the general store.  I started to tie the reins to one of the hitching posts, but Ben stopped me.  He pulled the reins from my hand and slapped the horse on the rear.  The horse took off down the street and disappeared into the darkness.