Chapter Thirty-Seven:
I'm sandwiched between Sloane and Amara, and though I'm the biggest out of the two somehow I'm the one being squished. We're in the Commander's tent, standing across from Olive, Dean, and Taylor Blake. Sloane marched us off to the tent once a basic introduction had been instituted.
"Where have you been?" Dean asks. Blake gestures to the entryway of the tent with a twitch of his eye.
"I had a secluded lab hidden in the city, after the outbreak," He says, glancing to Sloane. "I tried to stay in the hospital for a long time but it became too unsafe."
"Hospital?" Sloane asks. Blake nods.
"I worked with a doctor; Chambers," He begins. "We tried finding a cure for brain tumors." Out of the corner of my eye, I see the corner of Amara's lip twitch.
"Guess that didn't work out," She says. Blake grimaces.
"We didn't have promising results, and eventually it spread through broken skin contact, and by that time, it was too late to do anything," He says. "They tried with the military, they tried with firepower, but the patients just continued to infect everyone around them. It was issued a pandemic." He nods to me. "That was when they built the Bunker." He says. I swallow.
"You know about the Bunker?" I ask. He nods, his eyes burning a hole through mine, his right eye twitching every few seconds.
"I know things you wouldn't believe," He tells me, his eyes lingering. I look sideways at Amara, who's frowning slightly. Sloane clears her throat, and the man's eyes finally leave mine.
"You said it's a pandemic," She says. "So it's gone global?" She asks. Blake nods.
"Nowhere is safe," He says. I see Sloane swallow.
"So you're our Dad's brother," She flicks her gaze to Dean. "How come we never heard of you?" This time Dean clears his throat.
"I came from London, when I first heard about the outbreak," He says. "I knew my brother had a part in it, he'd been messaging back and forth with me, telling me about their progress, but the messages stopped. I came here to find him, to bring him back home with me, and eventually, I gave up. I'd assumed he was dead." Dean says, glancing to Blake, and the man looks back at him guiltily. "So I went through the city, that's when your Mother found me, much like how Amara found Oscar."
I feel the tips of my ears burn and I swallow, clearing my throat. I don't bother to glance at Amara, but even out of the corner of my eye I can see her turn red. Sloane grins.
"Okay so you were heartbroken, and that's why you never talked about it," Sloane summarizes. Dean nods.
"I mean, if you told me that the end of the world would result in my brother finally getting off his ass and making a life for himself," Blake says, grinning at Dean before he glances back to Sloane. "I would've triggered the apocalypse years before that." He says, and Dean chuckles, leaning his head back laughing. Sloane looks between them.
"So you can tell us more about the brain curse?" She asks. Blakes lip quips into a small smile.
"Brain curse?" He echoes.
"Cerebrum execratione maledicta congessit," Sloane says, the name rolling off her tongue. "It was named by Primus." She says. "The First Commander." Blake nods, his eyes sparkling.
"Okay then," He says, a hint of amusement laced onto his tongue, and his eye twitches again. "The virus spreads from any open wound caused by one of the infected, passing on necrotizing fasciitis, the flesh eating disease. Even still, I don't know why or how it transfers, but I think it has something to do with oxygen levels in red blood cells. Once it reaches the brain, it takes out neurotransmitters, all focused mostly on the frontal lobe. That way it strips you of your personality, everything you were, and it turns you into a monster." He says, leaving a heavy silence over the atmosphere. Sloane clears her throat.
"I think that's enough for today," She says.
"So what was he like?" Ethan asks me as we're working in the fields. I shrug, bending down to pick the wheat from the ground.
"Creepy; his eye twitches," I say.
"Really?" Ethan asks.
"Yeah, he was saying weird creepy stuff," I say. "He's probably fine though, just been alone for too long." Ethan half-grins and glances to me. Then he straightens and nods.
"Someone's looking for you," He says. When I turn, I see Amara walking through the field. Her face is set straight, but she smiles gradually as she nears us. Ethan comes to stand beside me, he nods to her with a smile. "Hey." He says, she smiles.
"Hey," She reciprocates, then glances to me. "Can I talk to you?" She asks. I look to Ethan quickly, but nod.
"Sure," I say, turning to Ethan. "Can you give us a minute?" I ask. He nods, looking smug, and when he passes Amara he turns behind her to wink at me. Amara glances over her shoulder quickly, then turns back to me.
"I need your help," She says. "There's something about Blake." I raise a brow.
"Your uncle?" I ask. She nods.
"I don't know, there's something about him that's just…"
"Creepy?" Amara nods, putting her hands in her pants pockets.
"So what do you want me to do?" I ask. Amara looks around us, then steps closer to me.
"I want you to talk to him," She says. My brow furrows.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"Look, I know you're close with my Dad, which means you'll probably be near Blake a lot more often now," She says.
"You want me to go undercover?" I ask, smiling a bit. She frowns.
"Don't make fun of me," She says, then sighs. "But yes." I shrug.
"Sure," I say. "But he seems fine, just a little creepy." She flashes me a look.
"That's not what I'm concerned about," She says. "There's something he's not telling us, and I feel like it's dangerous." She says, looking around feverishly before she steps even closer. "When we found him, he said he'd been looking for a cure for forty-three years, tell me that wouldn't drive someone crazy?" I sigh, realizing I'd said basically the same thing to Ethan only a few minutes earlier.
"Okay," I say, and she smiles. "But I don't think we're going to find anything. The guy probably just has some issues." She shakes her head.
"Oh how sweet you are," She says, and I blush. "Miserere mei, ut matres moribus ducant me ad termino." She says. I furrow my brow.
"What does that mean?" I ask. She grins.
"May my Mother's morals lead me to merciful endings," She tells me. "It's a vow to myself, that if you're right, and I'm wrong, I'll ask your forgiveness for having misjudged Blake."
I don't know what time it is when the screaming starts, but I throw myself out of bed still, Amara meeting me in the hall, springing out of her room, her black scarf in hand. We stand parallel to each other, and I reach for her arm, but she's already begun moving to the doorway.
"Amara—" I try.
"Stay here," She says, grabbing a bow hanging against the wall, and tying her scarf around her face. She takes a running step out into the village, and I pull back the scarf to watch from the doorway. My sisters and Dean are by my side in an instant, watching just as I am.
"What is it?" Juliette asks.
"It has to be something inside, a fire maybe," Dean says. Artemis yelps as a scream emits through the village, echoing off houses. She backs herself tight into my side and my left arm snakes around her to rub her shoulder affectionately. I look behind me and see Blake coming down the hall. I redirect my attention back to whatever's going on outside after he settles to stand behind me.
"That doesn't sound like a fire," Artemis mutters. "And wouldn't we see light, or smoke?"
"Maybe one of the animals got out?" Dean tries again, and stumbles back when another scream sends a shiver down my back. Kate shakes her head.
"That's not an animal. It's human," She says, half-glancing to me as she does so. "The virus is inside the village."
Chapter Thirty-Eight:
Instead of Melissa joining me on the roof that night, it's Amara. She sits cross legged on the roof, much unlike Melissa, who would find comfort next to me. We're quiet, and she enjoys the stars, understands them, something else that was different than Melissa; she likes hearing me talk about them, rather than just seeing them. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Amara grin. She points to a spot in the sky.
"Look," She says. "Gemini." I look sideways at her. "That's one of my favourites." She says.
"Mine too," I murmur. "It was the first constellation that got me into astronomy."
"Why?" She asks.
"My Dad was a gemini," I say, noticing how she smiles.
"So am I," She tells me. I smile too, turning back to look up at the sky. I nod towards the constellation.
"There's an Amazon queen in that constellation," I say, glancing sideways to see her looking at me. "One of the stars; Penthesilea. She was one of the most skilled Amazons, being able to wield almost any weapon. While she was hunting, she accidentally speared her sister, Hippolyta. She was distraught, but as a warrior and Amazon, she could only die during battle. She wanted to prove the Amazons were great warriors, and she wanted to avenge the prince, out of grief for what had happened to her sister, so the Amazons intervened in the Trojan War, after Achilles killed the Trojan prince. " I tell, and Amara is silent for a while.
"Did they win?" She asks after a moment. I shake my head.
"I can't remember," I say. "But Achilles fell in love with Penthesilea, right before she died." Amara's mouth quirks, and her eyes twinkle when she smiles.
"Tragic," She says, and I nod, but I suppose that's how most stories end.
Amara and I are walking through Eaden; her having stopped at the market, and me finding her on my way out, so I invited her to join me to walk around. Now, looking back, there really isn't anything too exciting, but it's nice to have her for company. She's telling me stories of the children she trains to become Amazons, and how the boys all sit from the sidelines and watch in awe, before running off with the girls again once they had finished their session. I'm smiling, because it makes me think of Artemis.
I perk when we see Ethan on the path ahead of us, but he's running, and he looks out of breath.
"Amara," He says, sounding rushed, looking between the two of us. "You've gotta come." He says. Concern sparks in her eyes when she glances up at me.
"What happened?" She asked.
"It's Primus."
When we get to the Commander's tent, Kate and Melissa are standing with Sloane, who's kneeling in front of Primus. When I get a look at the woman, I see how pale and out of breath she seems. She's laying in the doorway of the room she usually resides in. Her legs are folded beneath her and her one arm is draping Sloanes leg, almost in a feeble attempt to hold on to her. She glances up when we come in, and uneasiness settles in my stomach.
"What's wrong with her?" I ask, looking at Sloane. She doesn't meet my eyes, hers are too heavily focused on Primus, who still lies trying to catch her breath. "Is she hyperventilating?" Sloane nods.
"I think she had an anxiety attack," Sloane tells me. My jaw goes slack.
"Seriously?" I ask. Melissa raises a brow at me. "About what?" I ask. Sloane shakes her head, whilst getting Kate to gently ease Primus into an upright seated position.
"I have no idea," She tells me. "I was just talking about Blake showing up and she looked like she was gonna pass out." She says. Amara and I glance to each other.
"Do you think they knew each other?" Amara asks, going to stand beside Sloane. She shrugs.
"I don't know," She says.
"I mean they could have," I say. "They were both doctors." Sloane looks sideways at me.
"How do you know that?" She asks, her eyes beaded as she stares at me.
"I told him," Primus wheezes then, placing her hand over Melissa's, who waivers beside her. "He's smart." She looks to me with a small nod and I move to crouch beside Sloane.
"What happened?" I ask her.
"Defendere already told you," She says. "I had an anxiety attack."
"But about what?" I ask. She draws in a deep breath, looking to Sloane and Amara in turn.
"The doctor," She strains, exhaling shakily, squeezing her eyes before she continues to speak. "Blake." I perk.
"So you did know him," I say. She nods, taking in another deep breath, using Sloanes arm to help lean herself against the doorway.
"I wish I didn't," She says, her gaze flickering around the room. "Don't let him trick you." She says, her eyes finally resting on mine. "He's dangerous." Sloane's eyes flicker to me.
"What do you mean?" She asks. Primus shakes her head, her breathing becomes unsteady again. I intervene, lifting her small hand and pressing it over my heart.
"Breathe," I instruct, glancing up at Amara, who nods with an affectionate smile. Maybe I'm learning something here after all. Sloanes attention is still focused on what she had said.
"Primus, please, tell us why he's dangerous," She soothes. The woman shakes her head again. "Primus."
"Sloane, maybe just give her a second," I mutter. Sloane shakes her head.
"Oscar, I make the calls around here, I make the decision as to whether he'll be a threat to my people," She tells me sternly, and I look down, lifting Primus' hand away from my heartbeat. I glance up gently when I hear Sloane sigh, and see her bending into a crouch beside me.
"Primus," She tries again. "Why can't you tell me?" She asks. The woman looks up, her eyes only meeting with Sloanes.
"Because," She says, her tone thick and icy. She swallows. "You'd know the worst parts of me."
I'm trying to sleep when I hear someone come down the hall, their ankles rustling the blankets I had kicked to the bottom of my cot. I turn my head from where I rested it in my hand and look to the foot of my cot. My brow furrows.
"Cricket?" I ask, and hear a small sniffle in return. She moves further towards me, and she becomes more apparent in the light that peeks through the wood of the hut. She makes a small noise and comes closer to the side of my bed.
"Can I sit with you for a minute?" She asks. I blink and nod, rolling my legs off the side of the cot.
"Yeah," I say, moving my pillow so she can sit next to me. "Come here." I say and pat the spot I cleared. She nods and sniffles again, coming over to sit beside me, barely shifting the weight of the cot. "What's up?" I ask. She blinks rapidly, taking in a heaved breath, and sniffles.
"When we went out," She says. "On the mission with Amara, we saw a bunch of Zeros." She tells me, her gaze flickering up and searching my face. "We weren't going to engage unless they were going to, because they didn't look that gone yet." I nod again.
"Okay so what happened?" I ask. She sniffles again, drawing another heavy breath before her lip collapses. She begins crying, restrained at first, only echoed by the hiccoughs that get caught in her throat. I twist towards her and pull her into my chest.
"Shh," I say, and I smooth the back of her hair. She lets herself cry freely now, holding back nothing. Her hands cling to the back of my shirt, and her forehead is pressing against my ribcage.
"Artemis, you have to tell me what's wrong." I say with a swallow. "Otherwise I won't be able to help you." She hiccoughs again and nods. I nod too, looking down at her mass of curls, running my fingers through them, remembering how Dean had told me he'd done it for Amara and Sloane, and then even used it to calm me.
"Shh," I say again, trying to excuse the comment Kate had said about me being a 'Mom', even though it came clear to me in this moment. If anything, I was being a Dad.
"I was so scared," Artemis says, her voice still and broken. My heart drops into my stomach.
"It's okay," I say. "I'm here now—and you don't have to be an Amazon if you're scared, you can change your mind." I say. Artemis shakes her head.
"That's not why," She whispers. My eyes soften again.
"Then what is it?" I ask. She draws in a shaky breath and pulls are face away from my shirt, her face red and her eyes puffy. Tears shining from the outside light.
"I think I saw Mom."
Chapter Thirty-Nine:
"Oscar," Amara protests.
"No, Amara, please," I plead, following her around the Amazons tent. "She said she saw our Mother." I stress. "Who I left on a judgement call because that's what she wanted, and Artemis says that she saw her." I continue to plead. Amara shakes her head, breathing out a resounding sigh as she picks up discarded staffs around the tent.
"Oscar, she thinks she saw your Mother," Amara corrects, looking defeated when she glances over her shoulder. "And it's been four months since you left the Bunker, do you know how slim the odds are that she's still out there? Safe? And Alive?"
"We're out here safe," I argue. "Me, my sisters, Melissa." Amara nods.
"But we found you," She says, looking again over her shoulder. "I found you." I point back towards the gate.
"So why can't you find her?" I plead, the whining humility in my tone becoming more embarrassing.
"Oscar—"
"No, stop!" I say. "You found me. Why can't you find her."
"Because that was four months ago," Amara snaps, whirling around, and shoving the staffs into my chest, abandoning them in my hold. "We had search parties out for a month, scouting the entire perimeter and surrounding areas." She says. "And when I went out with your sisters? I made sure we stayed for the extra two weeks, because I knew you'd be heartbroken if I couldn't find her." She tells me, her voice strained. I soften, my guilt replacing itself with humiliation.
"It's not your fault," I say. She shakes her head, placing her hands on her hips.
"Your emotions are clouding your judgement, Oscar," She tells me plainly. "If we haven't found her by now, I doubt there's any chance left." I'm silent again.
"I'm sorry," I say quietly. Amara's demeanor drops, and her eyes are soft.
"Me too," She says, then pushes past me, leaving me to hold the staffs as I watch her go.
I go back to the house for lunch. Melissa joins me with Dean and Olive, and now additionally, Blake. We set up the table so that we're sitting in a pentagon; Melissa to my left, and Blake to my right. We're eating pork sandwiches, and Dean tells me proudly that the bread was made from the wheat I've been helping to grow and pick.
We talk timidly, discussing things of normalcy like the weather, mine and Dean's work in the fields.
"Oscar, I heard your sister up last night," Blake says suddenly, making me pause the bite I was about to take. "Everything okay?" He asks, his right eye twitching. I swallow, glancing to Melissa, and I set my sandwich back on my plate.
"Yeah," I say. "She had just been bottling up something from a while ago."
"What kind of something?" Blake asks. I frown a bit, sending Dean a questioning look. He just shrugs and goes back to eating. I keep my gaze on Dean before I answer.
"She thought she saw someone," I say.
"What?" Melissa asks me now, her hand laying on my arm. "From the Bunker?" She asks, her eyes wide. I nod.
"Yeah," I say. "She thinks she saw our Mom." Blakes eye twitches.
"Is she one of the infected?" He asks with a poised brow. I shrug.
"I hope not," I say, taking a moment to have a bite of my sandwich. "I honestly don't know what I would do if she caught it, and God I don't even want to think about my sisters getting it." I admit. Blake grins, his gaze remaining still even as his eye twitches.
"What if I told you," He says slowly. "I could fix it?"
I'm running through the village, turning every which way to search for Amara.
"Amara?" I call, looking down each path I pass. I turn the next corner, and someone smacks into my chest, yelps, and stumbles back. I cough from the impact but blink, looking at who I'd knocked down. "Amara—thank God." I say.
"Oscar?" She asks, seemingly disoriented. She shakes her head. "Look I can't talk right now." She says, putting her hand on my arm as she walks past me. "We think there's another Wanderer inside the village." I perk.
"So the virus did get inside?" I ask. Amara nods, glancing half-heartedly over her shoulder before she takes off speed walking again. "Okay, anyways, this is really important."
"More important than ensuring everyone alive will stay alive?" She asks.
"Yes." I say, and she stops, turning to face. "Well, maybe, they're about the same." I say.
"Oscar," She sighs. "What is it?"
"It's Blake," I say. Her eyes widen. "He says he can cure it." Her jaw drops, starstruck.
"Do you think he's telling the truth?" She asks. I nod.
"I do," I say, surprising myself even. I'd never admit it, but a part of me believed Amara when she told me there was something he wasn't telling us, although I suppose she was right.
Someone screams, and there's a ghastly kind of howl that follows it. I don't even blink before Amara takes off, sprinting to the source of the sounds, turning and skidding in the dirt as she runs. I take after her, following the wave of her hair as it whips around the village. We come out to where the round pit in the center of the village is. Three other Amazons, including Sloane, are trying to harbour the Zero into the pit, using spears and bows to keep it in place. I stop next to Amara, waiting as she surveys the scene.
"Why aren't they attacking?" I ask. Amara shakes her head.
"It's too risky, there's too many lives at stake," She murmurs.
"Are you going in?" I ask warily and look down to her. She nods, glancing up at me.
"What other choice do I have?" She quips and sprints again, using one hand to propel herself onto the roof of one of the huts and jumps off the roof into the pit, landing beside Sloane. The two of them flip and dodge each other, ducking and rolling in synchronization as they jab at the Zero. The three outside Amazons are maintaining them to the pit, and getting shots from afar, either throwing darts or knives and shooting their bows. I yelp as Amara ducks, sliding on her knees to cut her spear along the Zeros legs, restricting its mobility.
Sloane jumps around her uses her staff to score hits on the Zeros torso and upper body, distracting it and causing it to wince. Amara jumps up again and spears the Zero through its shoulder, making it screech, and recieving a cheer from the village.
"Anas!" Sloane yells to her, and Amara jumps back out of the Zeros reach, her heel hitting the back e
dge of the pit. She raises her spear again, and my eyes widen.
"Amara, no!" I yell.
She throws her spear, letting a wave of her hair fly over her arm and cover her shoulder as she does. It's like watching in slow motion, those movie moments where you can't even believe what just happened. The spear leaves her hand as Sloane slices through the Zeros neck, and it's body crumples to the ground, lifeless. Amara's eyes widen and I hear her begin to scream; something so ragged and painful, and I feel my heart give out just at the sight of her. And watching in slow motion starts to hurt; the look on Amara's face, the fear of Sloanes realization, and the spear poised between them.
The spear pierces through Sloanes chest. Her eyes widen as it breaks through her skin, and she falls back, the staff protruding from her chest. I start running forward, into the pit. Where before there had been victory, the village is desolate. Amara is crouched beside Sloane, cradling her head, and coughing out strangled sobs.
Sloanes eyes are still, looking up at her sister, and around them, the village bends to one knee, lowering their head. The Amazons place their weapons on the ground, and the sky mourns as it begins to rain, softly at first. Amara's cries are the only sounds in the village, echoing throughout the rain. Sloane gurgles, and takes a heavy breath, crying.
She lifts her left hand daintily, winces as she touches the wound, and she draws her fingers away with blood. Amara shakes her head.
"No," She whimpers, voice breaking into a sob. "Sloane, please—no."
"In sub dux verbi," Sloane chokes out, then translates. "Under Word of the Commander," She uses her two fingers to draw a small swirling circle on Amara's forehead. "You are reborn." She whispers, and Amara shakes her head, sobbing even louder as Sloanes head falls back against the ground.
"Amara's the new Commander." A woman near me mutters.
"What?" I ask, my voice feeling as though it's going to escape me. She nods back to where Amara is sobbing.
"Defendere passed the next symbol."
"What does that mean?" I ask, feeling heavy.
"The emblem of Commander has been transferred to Amara," She says sorrowfully, speaking low, so as not to disturb the silence of the village. Then I hear someone clear their throat. I look up, and see Dean standing at the edge of the round pit, tears falling from his eyes.
"Peace be with you," He says, loud, however shaky his voice is. It's an honor, and it's one being passed to Sloane.
"Peace be with you," Another person says, and I look beside me to see Black-Eye and Ethan emerging from between the houses and tents. Both are crying, and mixed with the rain, Ethans face looks like it's shining.
"Peace be with you," I say next, glancing to the woman beside me as she says the same. It goes around the village, a peaceful murmur, and a welcoming goodbye. Amara is the last one to say it, if she ever does.
I remember something I've learned during my time in Eaden.
Something Sloane taught me.
Something that tests a hero; but it's something I already said about Perseus.
What makes us any different than our villains?