The Bones of Valhalla (Purge of Babylon, Book 9) (18 page)

“Goddammit,” Rhett said again, and resumed pacing at the foot of Keo’s bed.

“What did you find out?” Keo asked.

“Like you said, they cut up black sheets and made those armbands. I don’t know how many there are. Maybe half of the damn island’s got black armbands hidden in their mattresses as we speak.”

“So search the mattresses.”

“I can’t search the mattresses.”

“Why not?”

“That would just escalate the problem.”

“How the hell would that be escalation?”

“Because we’re sitting on a powder keg. All it would take is one more Pollack or Stans or Bellamy to decide they’d rather go out in a blaze of glory, and I’ll have a full-fledged civil war on my hands. When that happens, people will have to start choosing sides. Putting the place on lockdown and starting to search people’s rooms will be the spark that causes that. All the other Mercer loyalists hiding out there will feel like they don’t have any choice but to fight.”

“Mercer would have done it.”

“And look what happened to him.”

“Point taken.”

“I just have to limit my circle to those I can trust. And even then...”

“You can’t be sure if one of them isn’t informing on you to the Mercerians.”

Rhett gave him a wry smile. “Mercerians?”

“Mercer loyalists.” Keo shrugged. “I coined the term myself. If you wanna use it, it’s gonna cost you a tribute.”

Rhett walked over to a chair and sat down, and spent the next few seconds just watching Keo putting the MP5SD he had disassembled on a clean bedsheet and was now painstakingly putting back together. Both Pollack and Stans had been carrying identical weapons, though the one Stans had was noticeably more well-worn and chipped, and its inside parts as equally poorly maintained.

He thought Rhett might balk at letting him have the submachine guns, but apparently two attempts on Keo’s life within two days had convinced him otherwise. The man had, in every way possible, fully committed to keeping not only Keo alive, but moving the island’s inhabitants onto a new era. Keo could see the strain of that commitment on Rhett’s face and wondered if he might not be having second (or hell, third) thoughts right about now.

“What did Pollack tell you?” Keo asked.

“Jack shit,” Rhett said. “He’s still unconscious. How many times did you hit him, anyway?”

“People need to stop asking me that. I hit the fucker enough times to get the job done. If he loses a nose over it, tough nuts.”

“I guess he had it coming.”

“You’re damn right he did. Speaking of getting what they’ve got coming, what about the third guy?”

“You sure there was even a third guy?”

“I saw him take off while me and Pollack were in the hallway playing footsy.”

“Did you get a look at his face?”

“Just a pair of boots running in the other direction. It was a guy, though.”

“You can tell that from a pair of boots?”

“Can’t you?”

Rhett shrugged, then nodded at the MP5SD. “You look like you know what you’re doing with those things.”

Keo put the final piece in place, then slipped the long magazine back into the weapon and laid it on the bed next to him. “I’ve been around a gun or two.”

“No shit,” Rhett said. He looked across the sickbay at the closed door. Kelly and Jackson’s replacements were outside, along with two more men. “There’s one good thing that came out of this…”

“I’m still alive?”

“Besides that.”

Keo snorted. “What’s the other thing?”

“Jackson’s death isn’t going to go down well with the island. The fact that they cut his throat… Jesus.”

“You think the ones stuck in the middle might turn on the Mercerians after this?”

“I’m hoping. Or at least push them further over to my side.”

“Let’s hope.” Keo stood up and slipped Pollack’s gun belt around his waist and cinched it. “Thanks for letting me keep the weapons.”

“Wasn’t my first or second choice.”

“Always happy to be everyone’s third choice.” Keo folded the bedsheet he had been using to clean the guns and tossed it across the room. “I don’t have to tip housekeeping, do I?”

Rhett grunted.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Keo said. “So how does this affect the
Trident
’s arrival in—” he glanced at his watch “—soon.”

“I don’t know. Maybe I should call it off.”

“What are the chances they might attack my friends?”

“Not your friends, but Riley and the others onboard. The…Mercerians still consider them traitors. They hate you for killing Mercer, but they don’t have any love for Riley, Hart, and the others, either.” He shook his head. “I’m talking about it with the others. We were already set on taking it slowly anyway, but after what happened this morning… I don’t know, now.”

“Don’t cancel the meeting,” Keo said. “You’ll want to hear what Lara has to say.”

“About this plan to take back the planet.”

Keo nodded. “That’s right.”

“I have to tell you, Keo, I’m not optimistic. What can she possibly know that we haven’t already considered? Or found out in the year or so that we spent scouting the collaborators in preparation for R-Day?”

“You’d be surprised what one well-placed source can find out.”

“So that’s it. You guys have an inside man. Am I close?”

Keo barely managed to suppress a grin. “Something like that.”

“Has to be,” Rhett said. “Riley hinted at it, but he wouldn’t come right out and say it.”

“Talk to Lara.”

“I never said I wouldn’t.” He paused, then, “I’ll tell you one thing: The fact that it’s coming from her is one of the reasons so many people are pushing me to meet with your friends as soon as possible. It’s not just anyone, after all. It’s her. Lara. The woman on the radio. A lot of guys here still carry around iPods with her message in a loop.”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t mention that last part to her.”

“No?”

“She doesn’t like the whole messiah thing. It makes her uncomfortable.”

Rhett chuckled. “That’s just going to make people like her more.”

* * *

M
ary the pretty nurse
, who in a previous life had been an EMT trainee, came to check his stitches about half an hour later. Sunrise was already filling the room, and he’d be damned if she didn’t look as good in the morning as she did every other time of the day.

“Stop,” she said as she unwrapped the bandages around his head.

“Stop what?” He sat on the bed as she worked. “I wasn’t doing anything but being a good patient.”

“You were staring at my boobs.”

“It’s not my fault you have very nice boobs.”

“If there were still human resources around, you’d be so fired.”

“Justifiable termination.”

“Sit still.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

He sat perfectly still as she checked the stitches along his temple, then did the same for the ones on his forehead. There was a little bit of blood in both places, but as long as it wasn’t pouring down his face, he wasn’t too worried about it. Even so, Keo had been doing everything possible to avoid his own reflection and took it as a good sign whenever Mary (or someone else) looked at him and didn’t flinch reflexively. Maybe one or two more scars would get him to Frankenstein territory, but he wasn’t quite there yet.

“You’ve really been through a lot,” Mary was saying as she picked up a fresh roll of gauze from a nearby tray. “I’m not just talking about your head. You have a broken nose, too. It doesn’t look like it had the chance to heal properly.”

“You’re worried about me,” he said, smiling up at her.

“It’s my job to worry about my patients.” She stopped wrapping the bandage long enough to trace the long scar that went down his cheek. She had very soft fingers. “Does this hurt?”

“Not anymore.”

“But it used to.”

“Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

“Tough guy.”

“Only in front of the pretty ones.”

She gave him a wry smile. “You’re not going to stop, are you?”

“It can’t be news to you that you’re very easy on the eyes.”

“Makes me think you’re overcompensating for something.”

“You don’t think it could just be old-fashioned lust?”

“Oh, I know it’s lust. But you’re coming on way too strong. So what’s the real story?”

Keo watched her finish her work, then pack up the medical supplies and return to a counter across the room. “I told you, almost dying gives you a new perspective on life. And I have so many friends on this island who want to keep giving and giving me those new perspectives.”

She glanced back at him with a pitying smile. “I have to admit, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more hated man in my life.”

“But half the people on this island love me for taking out Mercer for them, right?”

“Who told you that?”

“Not true? Not even a little bit?”

She shrugged. “Maybe. Most people still don’t know how to feel about Mercer’s death. A lot of them are still in a state of shock and confusion about recent events. You killing Mercer, Rhett recalling everyone. We don’t even know if this is the end of the war we spent a year preparing for. Things are…uncertain, to say the least.” Mary walked back over and handed him a small cup with two pills inside. “In case of pain. Did they bring you water?”

“Not necessary.” Keo swallowed them down and handed the cup back to her. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Have you figured out what you’re feeling about all of this?”

She smiled at him. “I’m not a Mercerian, I know that much.”

He smiled back. “Word’s getting around.”

“It’s got a certain ring to it.” She sat down across from him, where Rhett had been sitting earlier, and seemed to really think about his question for a moment. Finally, she said, “Maybe grateful.”

Keo was unable to hide the surprise on his face. Even Rhett hadn’t gone that far.

“We all saw the pictures the scouts brought back,” Mary said. “The towns, the people in them. When the planes took off, we knew what they were going there to do.” She shook her head and there was genuine sadness in her eyes. “So yeah, I’m grateful for what you did, Keo. I don’t have any problems admitting that. A lot of us are, even if we won’t say it out loud. The truth is, not hating you for what you did is the same as condoning it, which is then the same as admitting they’d allowed themselves to be blindly led by Mercer all this time. It’s...not an easy thing for people to confess, so you have to give them time.”

“How much time?”

“I don’t know. Maybe your friend coming here will help them get there.”

“They know about Lara?”

“It’s a small island, Keo,” Mary said. “Secrets don’t stay a secret for very long around here. You should know that by now.”

“I’m beginning to realize that,” Keo sighed.

I
f Rhett had been drinking
water when he climbed off the twenty-footer and onto the swimming platform at the back of the
Trident
, Lara was almost certain he might have done one of those spit takes from the movies. Instead, he just stared at her for a second or two, long enough to reveal his surprise, but also to quickly recover.

“Lara,” he said, extending a hand out toward her.

She shook it. “Rhett.”

“You’re not what I was expecting.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“Well, if it helps, you’re exactly what I expected.”

He reached up and rubbed his bald head. “Riley told you.”

“He might have mentioned it, among other things.”

“All good, I hope.”

“I don’t know yet.”

He chuckled and she smiled before turning and leading him onto the lower deck while Nate and Jolly remained behind, watching the lone man who had guided the offshore boat over from Black Tide Island.

Lara liked having Jolly around—he made for an imposing figure clad in the stripped down urban assault vest. Nate wasn’t entirely out of place next to the bigger kid, but he wasn’t quite as intimidating. The extra day’s rest had made Nate the healthiest he’d been since returning with Gaby and Danny, and she was glad he had given up trying to get her to reveal Gaby’s location. For now, anyway. According to Carly and Maddie, he was still asking around, but doing it a little less obviously.

“You got Jolly too, huh?” Rhett was saying as they walked side by side along the boat’s railing.

“He volunteered,” Lara said.

“He already looks at home. But I guess it’s not too hard to like living on a luxury yacht.” He glanced around. “Where’s Peters? I know he’s around here somewhere. That guy’s like a gargoyle, always perching high above you.”

“You’re right, he’s around here somewhere.”

“You had him watching us on approach, didn’t you?”

“He volunteered, too.”

“Of course he did.” Then, “Would he have shot us if we’d tried anything?”

“Funny, but I asked him the same question.”

“What did he say?”

“You know him better and longer than I do. What do you think he said?”

Rhett grunted. “That’s going to help, you know.”

“What’s that?”

“Getting Peters on your side. People respect him. Hell, having Peters on your side’s going to do more good than having Riley. You were smart to give him a home.”

“Speaking of homes, I was expecting to see Keo with you.”

“You didn’t say he was part of the package.”

“I just assumed he’d want to come back the first chance he got.”

“Circumstances being what they are, I’d have a full-blown riot on my hands if I let him waltz off the island after what he did.”

“So he’s still your prisoner.”

“Not quite.”

“Then what is he?”

“I have him on lockdown for his own good.” Then, when she gave him an unconvinced look, “He’s not my prisoner. In fact, he’s armed to the teeth.”

“You let him have a gun?”

“Guns. Like I said, he’s isolated at the moment, for his own good.”

“Let me guess: Not everyone has been as benevolent towards him as you?”

“That’s putting it mildly. You already know about the first attempt on his life. There was a second one earlier this morning.”

“But he’s okay…”

“He’s probably busy right now trying to get into my nurse’s pants, so what does that tell you?”

She smiled. “Sounds like Keo.”

They walked along the railing instead of going into the deck where most of Riley’s people were currently housed. Faces peered curiously out of the windows as they passed by, and Rhett stared back.

“Speaking of house arrest,” Rhett said.

“Not exactly,” Lara said. “We had some complications.”

“You too, huh?”

“It’s a dangerous world, Rhett.”

“The week I’ve been having agrees with you.”

“I’m glad you came. You made the right choice.”

“That remains to be seen.”

“Still, it took guts.”

“So did you, coming here knowing what we have.”

“Your planes…”

“Among other things.”

“I guess we both know there’s more at stake here than just us.”

“That we do.” Then, as they passed another window with civilians looking out at them, “Is everyone in there?”

“Just about everyone.”

“All squeezed into this little boat?”

“It’s not that little.”

“Smaller than the island.”

“Most things are smaller than your island.”

“True enough.”

“But you came here to talk about the future. So let’s do that.”

“All right.” He paused for effect. “You told me you had a plan to beat the ghouls. I’m frankly on pins and needles waiting to hear it. Like I mentioned on the radio, the last person who claimed to have a plan, well, we all know how that one worked out.”

“I’m not Mercer.”

“True, you’re better looking.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

“The fact that you’re not Mercer is why I’m here, alone, and unarmed.”

“That’s not exactly true now, is it?”

He chuckled. “No, I guess not.”

They were both taking big risks this morning. Even now, with the
Trident
adrift five miles from Black Tide, she didn’t feel safe at all. She told herself she would never feel safe around Mercer’s people, even if Mercer himself was no longer around to command them. These were, after all, the same men who had been razing towns full of pregnant women and children. People like that were not to be fully trusted, if she could help it.

So why are you here?

Because I don’t have a choice. Because I need them. Because Will’s chances go way up with them on our side.

“You have an inside man,” Rhett was saying.

“What makes you say that?”

“What else could it be? Besides, Keo confirmed as much.”

She nodded. “His name’s Frank. He’s in-country right now.”

“And Riley’s met him?”

“He has.”

“What’s he doing out there?”

“Making preparations for what’s coming.”

“You mean
if
we go along with your plan.”

If
you go along with the plan.
If
all of this wasn’t for nothing.
If
we don’t all die in the process.

There were a dozen more
ifs
that she could come up with, but every one of them led down the same road: Doubt. And right here and right now, she couldn’t afford that.

“I think you will,” she said, and the words came out so confidently that she almost fooled herself. Almost.

“What makes you so certain?” Rhett said.

“Because I’m offering you the opportunity to end this war. Really end this war in a way that doesn’t include slaughtering innocent civilians.”

“You’re going to keep hanging that over our heads, aren’t you?”

“Why shouldn’t I? You did it.”

He sighed. “Yeah, I guess we did.”

They walked the length of the yacht in silence for a while, and she led him up one staircase at a time. She could have taken him up using the ladder at the back when he first boarded and drastically cut down their walking time, but Lara wanted to get a feel for him out here in the open, with no one else around but the two of them. She needed to know if she could
trust
this man.

“All right, I take it all back,” Rhett said when they reached the final floor. “I can see you not wanting to abandon this place anytime soon. Not every day you get to call something like this your base of operations.”

“It’s nice,” Lara said, “but it’s never going to be home.”

“So where is home?”

“Texas.”

“Ah.”

“You?”

“Kansas. I was on a business trip when the shit hit the fan,” Rhett said. “What were you doing before all of this?”

You mean how old am I, don’t you?
she thought with a smile, and said, “At home.”

“Doing what?”

“Sleeping.”

“I mean, what were you
doing
. As in, your former occupation.”

“Why don’t you just ask it, Rhett.”

“Ask what?”

“My age.”

“All right. How old are you?”

“Old enough to keep everyone on this boat alive when no one else could, through more trials and tribulations than you could possibly imagine.”

Rhett chortled. “You wanna ask me how old
I
am?”

“No.”

“Aren’t you curious?”

“Curiosity has nothing to do with it. I don’t think your age matters. The only thing I care about is how capable you are and if I can trust you with the lives of my people.”

“And vice versa,” Rhett said. “So convince me, Lara, and I’ll see what I can do to convince you back that I’m worth allying with.”

* * *

I
t was just
the two of them inside the conference room, with the morning sunlight streaming through the port window. Rhett had listened to her in silence, interrupting only when he needed clarification. In all, he broke in a total of six times.

When she was done, he leaned against the table and looked across at her as if really seeing her for the first time. She read him back, but couldn’t tell whatsoever if she had convinced him or if he had concluded she was insane. The fact that he hadn’t laughed in her face or turned and left was, she thought, a good sign.

Maybe.

“So that’s your plan,” he finally said.

She nodded. “That’s our plan.”

“This Frank. Can you trust him?”

“With my life,” she said without hesitation.

“Even though he used to be one of them,” Rhett said. It wasn’t a question.

“He turned on them a long time ago,” she said, marveling at how easily the lie came. But then, was it really a lie? Will
had
turned on the ghouls very early on, didn’t he? “It doesn’t matter what he was before; he’s one of us now. I trust him enough that when the time comes, I’ll be committing lives to his plan; lives that I spent a lot of time trying to protect. He’s seen things no one else has. Knows things people don’t even know to look for. He risked everything to get this plan to us. And now he’s risking everything again by going back out there to take point.” She paused to let all that sink in before continuing. “So yes, Rhett, I trust him implicitly.”

“Even so, what you’re talking about, it’s dangerous. Hell, it’s borderline suicidal.”

“No more dangerous or suicidal than doing nothing. How long before they completely overrun us more than they already have?”

“Maybe it doesn’t matter. You’re on a boat, and I’m on an island.”

“They can’t get to you, but their human lackeys can. How long before they send an armada out here for you?”

“Have you looked around the Gulf of Mexico, Lara? There are no more armadas. They went around sinking every boat they could find along the marinas and shorelines a long time ago.”

“They only need a dozen boats with machine guns. I’ve seen it, Rhett. If the blue eyes want something badly enough, they’ll commit everything they have to take it. I’ve seen it. I’ve fought it. I barely survived it.”

He stared at her before finally nodding. “I believe that you have.”

“Besides, it’s no more dangerous than sending kill teams on hit-and-run missions all over Texas.”

“There is one big difference: those guys were fighting collaborators. Human beings. More importantly, a
limited
number of human beings. What we’re talking about here is taking on the entire ghoul population.”

“Not all of them. Just the ones in Houston.”

Rhett grunted. “How many people were in Houston before all of this? A million?”

More like two million.

“The vast majority of those people are ghouls now,” Rhett continued. “That’s a hell
of a lot to contend with, Lara, and we’re going to run right into the thick of them.” He shook his head. “It’s almost certainly a suicide mission.”

“Most of the fighting will be in the sunlight.”

“But not all
of it. We’ll have to go into the dark eventually. That’s their turf.”

“Frank knows what he’s doing.”

“Frank’s one man.”

“He’s also our best chance to end this.
Now.
Not a week from now. Not a month or a year. But
now
,
Rhett. This is our best chance.”

“You keep saying that.”

“Because it’s true. We don’t know how long the target’s going to be there. Right now, it’s vulnerable. But that might change in twenty-four hours. In a week. If we don’t take advantage of this opportunity, we might not get another one. Ever.”

“I get that you believe everything you’re saying, but what you’re asking…”

“Is a lot, I know. But it’s not any more than what your people were already committed to under Mercer. The only difference is, this time your bombs will be dropping on the real enemy, not kids and old men.”

Rhett sighed and looked down at the map, as if the answers were down there. She could have told him it wasn’t because she had lost count of the number of times she had done the exact same thing. It was just a map, and it didn’t shed light on anything.

He returned his gaze to her. “Just to be clear, I can’t order them to be a part of this. I wouldn’t, even if I could. It’ll have to be their choice.”