A part of me was tempted to punch him in the face but as of now they still didn't recognize us as the reason why the ship was tilting to the side like a boat taking on water. Giving them concrete proof by hitting him would only add to our list of troubles. Turning away from the man, I put my arms out beside me to keep my balance as I began to walk across the rail.
A low groaning echoed throughout seconds before the ship began to list even further to the side. My feet slipped, but I somehow managed to keep my balance on the six inch around rail. Thoughts of Bethany drove me onward with a growing urgency to escape this doomed vessel. I yearned for so much more time with her than what we'd had. I wanted more touches and kisses, more love, and I wanted our child.
Someone behind me cried out but I didn't look back as I heard the sound of their body bouncing off of something below us. With the grace of a deer, Jessica leapt off the rail and onto the next platform. Betty hurried forward, followed closely by Craig, and finally me. Jessica led the way down the hall, past the rooms with the crystal doors at a speed that would have beaten a cheetah but didn't seem fast enough for me.
Sirens and lights continued to blare around us as we ran. The doors surrounding us had stopped changing color; instead they had all opened to reveal a single, twin sized bed and a small chest within. Every room was the same white color; there were no identifying pictures or personal objects in them.
Jessica didn't even hesitate before scurrying onto the next golden rail with her arms straight out at her sides. Betty and Craig plunged out behind her just as the ship gave another jerking lurch to the side. More cries sounded from behind me but Betty's piercing shriek was the only one I heard as her feet lost their traction and she plummeted from view.
"Shit!" I hissed from between clenched teeth.
Craig stumbled before me and nearly fell, but he managed to catch his balance in time to save himself. I had come up here fully expecting to die, but I'd be damned if I went out like a tightrope walker in some sort of demented carnival. Drawing on the strength Bethany's blood and soul had given me, I poured on the speed as the ship began to tilt into a more downward angle.
I realized with absolute certainty that this thing was as doomed as the Titanic as Craig made it to the next platform and I leapt off behind him.
"Getting back to the container room is useless now," I said to Jessica. "There has to be an emergency way off of this thing."
Jessica shook her head as she looked at me helplessly. "There's a way off, but..." she glanced at the ever shifting environment surrounding us. "I'm not even sure it would still work."
"It's better than nothing. Just get us there."
She nodded and took off down the hall again. This time she bypassed the stairwell we had used to go over the massive central room. She leapt over the golden rail and dropped the thirty feet into the main room with the rest of our confused and panicked species.
Chapter 23
Bethany,
"Bethany what happened?" Abby cried as I stepped through the door.
"Are you hurt!?" Jenna gushed.
I shook my head as I barely glanced at the blood coating my body. "Aiden!" Abby screamed as she finally looked beyond the blood on me to who I was carrying.
I pulled Abby's hands aside before she could grab at Aiden and feel the lifelessness of the body pressed against my back. "Abby no," I told her with a small shake of my head.
Tears bloomed in her mahogany eyes, eyes that reminded me so much of Aiden's that for a minute I was almost unable to continue forward. "There has to be something we can do," she breathed forlornly.
I couldn't find any words for her. The tinkling sound of glass shattering thankfully distracted her as Bishop swept the microscope and blood samples from the table. I knew that the gesture was as useless as my newer blood samples had been but I couldn't bring myself to say those words as I gently placed Aiden's body on the table. Before Abby could get any closer I turned around and pulled her against me.
"Please," she breathed as her small fingers curled into my shirt and her tears wet through to my skin.
"Bethany..."
"I know," I cut Bishop off before he could state what I already knew.
Abby's slender shoulders shook as she started to sob harder. Bret pressed us against his chest and enfolded our heads with his hands. I took solace in the warmth and comfort he offered, but it did little to ease the shattering of my heart within my chest. Wrenching sobs escaped me, Abby pressed closer and Bret rested his forehead against mine. It was the wrong time to lose control, I knew that, but I couldn't help myself as my shoulders shook and I clung to the two of them.
The echoing fire of gunshots finally pierced the thick haze of grief enshrouding me as I recalled that there was no time for grief here, not right now. There was still a battle to be fought, still an enemy to kill. And I wanted to kill.
I wiped at my tears and reluctantly pulled myself from their embrace. Blood from my clothing and body stuck to their clothes and skin but they didn't seem to notice it through their misery. My gaze fell to Molly as she hesitatingly approached Aiden's broken form and took hold of his hand. Sitting on the stool beside the table she began to weep openly. I longed to comfort her but as she bent to press a kiss to his forehead I knew she needed some time alone right now.
The shaking of the earth tore me away from her sorrow as the windows in the house began to rattle. I took hold of Abby's shaking shoulders. "Abby, I need you to stay here, ok?"
"No!" she cried as she clutched my shirt. "No you can't leave me too!"
Those words tore at the already fragmented pieces of my heart. I would have given anything to be able to stay with her, but to cower in this house would do nothing more than put her life in jeopardy. Darnell and Lloyd were powerful fighters, but I was stronger than they were now, and they needed my help now more than ever.
"I'm not going to leave you Abby, I'll be back but Lloyd and Darnell need help. Please Abby stay with them. Molly really needs someone right now too."
Her lower lip trembled, tears spilled down her face but she didn't offer any more protests as she stepped away from me. Jenna hurried forward and pulled Abby against her chest. "Be careful," she mouthed.
I nodded and turned away quickly. Lloyd held a rifle out to me and Bret. "Ready?"
"I'm more than ready," I grated out as my sorrow began to ebb toward a growing fury.
I rushed down the stairs behind him and Darnell as gunshots rang out from somewhere down the street. I turned in that direction but didn't make it one step before two smaller Seekers burst from the side yard of the house next door.
Cade had taught me how to become still, how to feel within myself in order to hunt my prey, but something else came over me now as I focused on the enemy barreling down upon us. They had killed my mother, they had killed my brother, and now I was going to make them pay.
Blackness seeped through my veins once more, but it didn't frighten me, in fact I welcomed it as I felt its strength infusing my cells. I almost tossed away the rifle and leapt at one of them again, but I could only take one of them down and I would be putting the others at risk if I abandoned my position. No, instead I lifted the rifle to my shoulder and smiled grimly as I began to pull the trigger.
Disgust curdled through me as my stomach rumbled in hungry response to the blood that gushed from the wounds. Clenching my jaw, I adjusted my stance and shut out the world around me. I became solely focused upon destroying these monsters that had taken almost everything I loved. The only thing that mattered right now was killing them.
***
Cade,
My hands rested upon the floor as I landed silently beside Jessica in the cavernous room. Like a waterfall, water from the river spilled across the floor and rushed toward us as the ship continued its precarious tilt. The watermelon sized crystals fell to the floor and clattered like marbles in a jar toward us. It had been grueling enough to keep our balance with the sinking ship, but trying to stay on our feet in the w
ater while dodging the crystals was worse than trying to rake leaves in a hurricane.
"This way!" Jessica shouted over the growing racket.
The water was completely out of the riverbed now; the olinades became projectiles as they tumbled by us and smashed against the back wall. I was on my hands and knees as I fought against the pull of gravity. Scrambling to the side, I barely managed to avoid being taken out by a tumbling crystal. Grabbing hold of one of the crystal bases I pulled myself up against it and braced myself carefully. Something within the ship fractured with a groaning sound that momentarily drowned out the screams around me.
There was little that surprised or unnerved me, but the back wall ripping away with a wrenching groan and spiraling toward the ocean was a disconcerting sight. Fresh air rushed in around us, the salty scent of the ocean drifted up to me as my hair was blown back. Screaming Tintagelians plummeted past me; they spiraled out of control as they tumbled out the back of the ship toward the unrelenting sea fifteen thousand feet below.
Shoving myself off the base, I lunged for a doorway over my head and pulled myself through. Jessica and Craig were each holding onto a base, their feet dangling in the air as the ship continued its precarious roll. Leaning out the doorway to my waist, I stretched out toward Jessica and clasped hold of her hand. She held onto me, her feet kicking in the air as I lifted her up and through the door. I took hold of Craig's hand next and helped to pull him up as more Tintagelians plummeted toward their death beneath us.
I took a deep breath and leaned against the wall. Jessica's chest heaved with the force of her breaths, her coffee colored hair straggled around her flushed face as she tilted her head to look at the hallway that was now directly above us.
"At least we succeeded," I said as I wiped the sweat from my brow. This wasn't where or how I wanted to die, but no matter what happened from here on out all that mattered was that we had won.
"They'll be ok," Craig panted. "They'll be safe after this."
"They will be," Jessica agreed as she looked out the door to the open area now beneath us. "If we can somehow make it to the other side there are emergency shuttles designed to hold one Tintagelian at a time. I have no idea which direction they would be pointed in now, we could get to them only to discover we won't have enough time to keep them from plummeting into the ocean. And it's that way." She pointed at the hall now directly above us as the ship had rotated one hundred and eighty degrees.
"Who knew chopping down a tree would cause so much damage," Craig muttered as he ran a hand through his disheveled hair.
"It's what we came here for, to ensure their survival, to give them a chance. To give them the life they never would have experienced if we hadn't. They'll have some peace now," Jessica whispered. "I hope Leo finds happiness with it."
"He will," I assured her. "And so will Bethany."
I knew that eventually Bethany would find some happiness, but I also knew that she would forever be broken, as would I if something were to happen to her. That thought drove me back to my feet. It may be nearly impossible, but I wasn't going to go down without a fight for her. I grabbed hold of the edge of the doorway above my head and pulled myself up. It was going to be one hell of a climb, but if the ship remained steady until we were out of this hall there was a chance we could make it.
Rapidly climbing up by using the doorways, I made it to the closed door at the end of the hall and pulled the golden handle down. I just barely managed to dodge the door as it swung toward me and crashed against the wall opposite of me. Crystal from the door shattered and spilled over Craig and Jessica before it tumbled into the void below us. I pulled myself through the doorway and looked back, but other than Jessica and Craig I saw no one below us anymore.
We continued to climb swiftly through the hallways as we made our way steadily toward the back of the ship. My arms and back began to throb from the strain, sweat trickled down my back and plastered my hair to my face but I refused to give up, refused to be deterred. The last door opened into another hallway that thankfully ran parallel to the one we were in. Craig and I helped to pull Jessica through and fell back against the wall. I glanced down the hall to the empty space beyond as the ship gave another heaving groan that set my teeth on edge.
"Let's get out of here." I ignored the twinge of my arms as I shoved myself to my feet. "Which way?"
Jessica pointed to the right and we broke into a run. Our feet thudded dully on the crystal doorways we ran across as we dashed across them to another massive crystal at the end. "There's no handle!" Jessica panted from behind me. "I don't know how it's supposed to open but there's no handle for it."
"The Ancients would want to make sure that no one was able to get off of this ship unless they allowed it," Craig said.
I could only hope the bomb didn't blow a hole through the floor as I pulled one out and lit the fuse. We ran back down the hall and darted through a doorway before it exploded. Debris and smoke blew outward and flew past the hallway we were sheltered in. I found myself holding my breath as I poked my head back around the corner. My shoulders slumped when I saw that the massive door had been blown outward but only a small hole had been punched into the floor.
Returning to the crystal I stepped carefully around the hole in the ground. Wind rushed in from outside to whip the hair back from my face and plaster the damp clothes to my body. My eyes watered as I took in the vast expanse of ocean and sky spread out before us. We were supposed to be near the top of the ship; instead we were stuck on the side of it with nothing but the sea below and the sky above in a dizzying array of blue.
The small ships that Jessica had been talking about were strapped to the side of the main ship. They were pointed straight at the sky instead of the land they were supposed to be directed toward. It didn't matter where they were directed though; we had no other choice but to use them. Stretching one leg down, my foot searched for the first pod before I stepped onto it. I braced myself against the side of the ship as I bent to fumble for the button on the side of the smaller ship.
My finger pushed it in and the top slid open. The wind drowned out all other noise as I turned to extend my hand to Jessica. She took hold of it and carefully slid down the side of the ship to join me. "Let's hope I don't end up hitting the sun," she said with a half hearted smile.
"You'll be ok," I assured her.
She settled into the driver's seat and I pushed the top shut for her. Craig took hold of my hand and helped pull me back into the doorway. Heat blasted from the small engines at the back of the oblong shaped object that Jessica sat in as the engine roared to life. I caught only a brief glimpse of her being thrown back against the seat before the small ship shot straight into the air. Craning my neck to look out the newly created doorway I watched it go until I couldn't see it beyond the wall of the ship.
Sliding back out of the doorway, I opened two more tops on the ships before rejoining Craig. "Go," I said to him.
He didn't have to be told twice as he scrambled out the door. I was reaching for the remaining two bombs when I saw his capsule shoot off the side of the ship. Lifting the lighter to the wick, I was about to ignite it when I felt something seize hold of my ankle. I went completely still as my gaze fell to the hand wrapped around me and the face and body that it belonged to.
Osiris's mouth was twisted into a ferocious snarl as he jerked on my ankle with enough force to twist it over. A loud popping sound rent the air as the joint was wrenched out of place and I was knocked on my ass. The Zippo tumbled out of my grasp and across the floor as Osiris jerked me toward the blown hole in the floor that he had pulled himself through.
A growl escaped him as he released my ankle and used his only hand to pull himself half out of the hole. Rage exploded through me and though my ankle felt as if it was only hanging on by a thread, I drew back both my feet and slammed them into his face. His nose twisted to the side with a loud crunch and a wave of blood poured forth.
A shout escaped him but he didn't lose his h
old as he lurched forward and squeezed my dislocated ankle. Stars burst before my eyes, I was momentarily dizzy from the burst of pain I was fairly certain was going to shatter my skull. His hand scrabbled over my calf as he began to tug me toward the hole.
Reality returned as I jerked back and scrabbled for the lighter. My fingers brushing against it did nothing more than push it even further away from me. A sound of frustration escaped me as Osiris yanked me further into the hole. Spinning back around, I sent his head shooting back as I lashed out and drove my fist into his cheek.
His grip momentarily loosened on my leg and I flung myself backward in search of the lighter. A breath of relief escaped me when my hand finally wrapped around it. I didn't attempt to light the bomb again but brought it up to Osiris and fired it up underneath his chin, and against the collar of his shirt. A roar escaped him; he completely lost his hold on me as he beat at the small flame against his neck.
Drawing my feet back, I smashed them repeatedly into his face. My ankle screamed in protest, my body fought against the repeated action, but my rage and my desperation to see Bethany again drove me onward. Bones broke and crumpled beneath my feet but I didn't stop, and I didn't look as he slid backward in the hole.
Gasping for breath, I finally took the time to look at my father's crumpled face. A face that no longer held any resemblance to my own, or to any Tintagelian anymore. A sneer curved my lip, I felt no pity as I pulled my legs back again and drove my feet forward with every ounce of strength I had. His head twisted to the side as he finally lost his precarious grip he had managed to retain on the floor.
A startled shout escaped him before he tumbled backward. Crawling forward I peered into the hole to watch him bounce against the halls and doorways beneath me. He crashed onto a wall three floors below and lay unmoving. I wasn't convinced he was dead, but I was going to make sure that he was as I gathered the remaining bombs and the grenade before dragging myself toward the crystal doorway above the pods. The dislocated ankle would take a couple of hours to heal, but it would be fine if I survived long enough for my body to be able to start repairing it.