The Moon Dwellers (48 page)
“We’ll have the e
lement of surprise,” I continue
, “but that will only help us at the very beginning, so we have to take advantage of it.
Rivet will head straight for Adele and we’ll just have to hope she and her friends can hold him off until we get
there
.
We’ll pick off his other men from behind, one at a time.
We’ll each take a different one until they’re all gone.
Yell if you’re in trouble and I’ll do whatever it takes to get to you.
Understood?”
“Yes, sire,” he drones, but I can tell he appreciates
the direction.
“Once we’ve downed all the men, I’ll head for Rivet while you try to find a safe place for Adele to hide.
They may think we’re foes, so you’ll have to convince them otherwise.”
“I
’ll convince them,” Roc promises
.
* * *
Adele
I can
see them through the glass, several cars back, pacing around, punchin
g the walls, acting like they a
re on dru
gs.
Maybe they a
re.
Something to make them eve
n more violent—as if they need
that.
At first I
think
there might be
a way for them
to get to us while the train is still moving, but now I don’t think so.
We a
re seemingly safe for the moment.
I
know it wo
n’t last.
We have
n’t spoken since the train started movi
ng.
I don’t think any of us has the words, or kno
w
s what to say.
Even Elsey seems
to be lost in her thoughts, perhaps mulling ov
er the flash of violence she
witnessed by me at the train doors.
Tawni
is standing in the
corner, leaning against the wall, staring out the wi
ndow as the rocky tunnel flashes by.
Cole i
s seated, his head down, one foot tapping rapidly on the floor.
According to Cole, who seems
to have a pretty good handle on these sorts
of matters, the train ride will
only take two hours, b
eing an express.
Although I kno
w
we
a
re traveling at hundred
s of miles per hour, the ride is so smooth it barely feels like we’
re moving.
An hour goes
by in silence.
Typically
I’d be
com
fortable with the quiet, as I grew
used to it during the endless hours I spent alone in the
Pen, but for some reason I ca
n’t stand it n
ow.
With every second that goes by, the screaming in my head ge
t
s worse, until I ca
n’t take it anymore.
“Urrrrr!” I grunt
, making a weird growling, gurgling noise from the back of my throat.
Everyone looks at me.
Elsey grins
nervously.
Tawni
raises an eyebrow.
Cole laughs
, of cours
e.
“Are we there yet?” he asks
, purposely sounding as whiny as possible.
I ta
k
e a deep breath.
I need
to calm down, try to
get a grip on the anxiety I’m feeling.
I feel like I’m
about
to have a heart attack.
“I hope so,” I say, trying to sound tough.
I’m
secretly dreading our arrival, afraid of not being able to protect my friends, my sis
ter.
Afraid of what Rivet will do.
Afraid of what Rivet will
tel
l me about Tristan when I ask
him.
At the
same time, the waiting might be worse.
It i
s like pulling out a splinter
of rock
from your foot
.
Although
the pain i
s minor with it
in your skin, over time it beco
me
s
more and
more uncomfortable, until it’
s unbearable, leaving you making weird grunting-gurgling noises like some sick animal.
Left untreated
, the splinter
pushes deeper into the skin
, becoming a par
t of you.
The only treatment i
s to pull it out, swiftly and p
ainfully.
When the doors open at the end of the line, we’ll
have no choice but to remove our own
rock
splinter.
“What are the
y going to do to us?” Elsey says
, sounding like a normal kid, instead of my older-than-her-years sister.
I want to reassure her, but I also do
n’t
want to lie to her.
I hesitate
for a moment, trying to formulate th
e right words, but Cole answers for me.
“Nothing,” he says
.
“They’re not gonna touch any of you.
I’ll make sure of that.”
Coming from Cole, it isn’t just talk.
As he cracks
his knuc
kles, I can
see a level of
d
etermination in his face that
exceeds
even his normal level
of strength
.
As much as it comfo
rts me, it also scares
me, not because of what he might do to Rivet and his gang, but because of what they
might do to him.
Although I don’t voice it, I vow
at t
hat moment to do whatever it ta
k
es
to protect my friends, even
if it cost
s
me my life.
There a
re some things more important than your own life.
Like friendship, and love, and trust, and goodness.
We speak very little during
the final
hour, but for some reason it doesn’t bother me anymore.
I’ve made my vow, as has Cole, so there i
s nothing else
to talk about.
We have
no strategy, exce
pt to run from Rivet until we a
re forced to
stand and fight.
Then we will
fight.
I feel
the tr
ain slowing and my heart skips
a beat.
* * *
Tristan
The train slows and I stand.
Roc follows
suit, looking rath
er sick.
He tries
to
pull
his
sword from his sheath, but it ge
t
s
s
tuck three times before he can
get it out.
I know now i
s the time for a big speech, something to energize him for
the battle ahead.
My mouth feels sticky and dry, so I ta
k
e
a sip of wate
r.
I don’t know what I plan to say, so I just start speaking, hoping my heart will
do the rest.
“Roc,” I say
, “you’re my broth
er.
Always will be
.”
Short, concise, simple;
but I mean
eve
ry word, more than anything I’
ve
ever said before.
And it se
ems
to
do the job.
Roc’s hand stops trembling and tightens on his sword, his eyes change
t
o a steely brown, his jaw firms
up.
“I’m with you, Tristan.
I’d die for you.”
Tears fill my eyes but
I blink
them away.
No
w
i
s not the time for tears.
“
And I you,” I say
.
The train rolls to a stop.
A heavy mist roils
outsi
de the window.
Subchapter 26 i
s dark, b
ut not completely.
Something is lighting the sky.
We a
re standing flush against the doors, trying to be the first off—every second
will
be im
portant in the deadly game we are playing.
The doors open and we step
out into the mist.
Not mist—smoke.
The air i
s filled with the suffocating stenc
h of war.
The platform trembles as a bomb explodes
in
the distance.
The bombing has
reached the northernmost subchapter.
I ca
n’t
see through the
thick
smoke, but I ru
n along the tr
ain anyway, hoping that Adele is still alive when I reach
the end.
When I see Rivet his back is to me.
His men are so focused on what he i
s telling them that
they don’t see me.
I fade
b
ackwards into the fog.
I bump
into Roc.
“What is it?” he whispers
.
“They seem
confused as to what to do.
Rivet’s giving them orders, but they’re not just rushing the end car like they probably wanted to.
The war’s distracted them
,
I think.”
“Can w
e get around them?”
Roc coughs
.
His eyes a
re alread
y red from the smoke.
We need
to get away
from the noxious fumes.
They a
ren’t thick enough to kill us right away, but
prolonged exposure surely wo
n’t be good.
“I don’t know, but we have to try.”
We drift
right, moving further into the smoke, trying to carve a wide arc aro
und Rivet.
Already the smoke i
s
clearing, however, and it won’t be long before we’re able to see
them and them
us.
The bombing has
n’t
stopped—we can
still hear the rumble of explosions in the distance and intermi
ttent flashes of light—but it i
s moving away; hence, the clearing smoke.
Ahe
ad and to the left of us I
see dark figures huddled together.
Not Rivet and his men.
We
a
re past
them.
Adele and her friends—has
to be.
We move
toward
them.
* * *
Adele
“S
omething’s not right,” Cole says
, gazing ou
t the window as the train pulls
into the station.
“Th
ere’s so much smoke,” Tawni says
.
I try to speak but my voice catches
.
There i
s a lump in
my throat.
The star dwellers a
re bomb
ing subchapter 26.
My father i
s out there somewhere, unprotected, maybe already a victim.
Older-than-her-age Elsey grabs my hand, squeezes, and says
, “He’ll be okay.”
Although I know she does
n’t have an
y proof for her statement, it is comforting
.
The doors open
.
I
expected us to race from the train the second the doo
rs opened, but the situation has changed.
We can
hear booming explo
sions in the distance.
We can
barely see
anything outside; it i
s so smoky.
Cole says
, “Elsey should hide in the train.
They’ll think we’ve all left.”
I like the idea of hiding Elsey away somewhere, but no
t leaving her all alone.
She i
sn’t too happy with the idea either.
“No!
I’m coming w
ith you,” she says
.