Page 5 of The Infinite Glade
He walked up to her and braced himself for anger or tears . . . but Jackie’s face didn’t show any emotion. It was completely blank.
“What?” Isaac asked. “What’s wrong?” But no words came in reply. She only pointed northeast. Isaac looked, then squinted. Just above the tree line floated puffs and whirls of faint smoke, trailing higher and higher into the sky. Someone else, not very far from them at all, had started their own fire for the night.
The smell of burnt flesh rose into the Alaskan air along with the ashes of St. Petersburg. Madness. Death. Ashes. One of the only smells that had seared itself into Goddess Alexandra Romanov’s permanent memory was the burning of bodies from all those years ago in Crank Palace. A smell she could conjure at any moment in time, although she never wanted to, of course. She tried to focus on the sacred digits, but charred death made it difficult. Death and rebirth. Birth and death. The cycle continued, but now the Goddess had something the Evolution could have only ever dreamed of.
Dearest Sadina, Grandniece of Newt.
“I’m sorry about your city, Goddess,” dear Sadina said. So sweet. So innocent. So simple. So easily converted.
“Oh, the city will be rebuilt.” Alexandra looked over her shoulder at the charnel as they walked south with the rest of the group. “You will help with that.” She lifted Sadina’s small hand into her own and patted the top of it three times.
The girl named Trish spoke. Sadina’s girlfriend. “We came to help, but I don’t know if we can rebuild a whole city. There’s a special group on our island who do the building, and let’s just say we didn’t qualify.”
“I meant metaphorically . . .” The Goddess paused, trying to think of how she could possibly explain everything that needed to be explained. “You’ll help more than you know.”
She faked a smile at Trish. The world would soon return to its rightful Evolution. Sometimes moving forward meant needing to first take a few steps back. That was all the war was. A death before a fiery rebirth of sacred Evolution more powerful and advanced than even the Godhead knew it could be.
Red flashed in Alexandra’s vision so bright that she stumbled and winced.
“Goddess?” the boy without a weapon asked. “Do you need to stop for a minute?” The others turned around.
Sadina grabbed Alexandra’s arm, helping her balance. “Thank you,” Alexandra said as she looked at Sadina, but a red static covered the girl. Alexandra pinched the bridge of her nose, hard. “I think I’m just a little dizzy from everything.”
“We can stop and give you a minute to collect yourself,” the one with Orange hair said.
“No, no. On with it. We must go.” Alexandra ignored their stares and continued walking. “Yes. On with it.” She felt an unrecognizable sadness come over her. No war could ruin the fact that Alaska was home to the Maze, and it would still be the home of the Cure. Her vision of Evolution would continue because it must.
“Are we sure we put down the anchor when we landed?” the older woman asked. “I think it might have floated away . . .”
Alexandra didn’t care much for the one they called Roxy. She reminded her of the withered Pilgrim who’d turned on her. Although closer to Alexandra’s age than the younger ones, she looked ancient. Not everyone had the Godhead’s DNA.
“We’re close. It’s right up here, around the curve of this coast.” The boy with the gun spoke. He wore the same uniform as the soldiers who’d shot arrows at Flint, the ones who’d killed her precious servant. “We’re not going to miss it.”
Alexandra couldn’t rid herself of the scenes of horror from her mind and the taste of crumbling buildings from her throat. She coughed just thinking about the city of Gods turning to dust. “Good. We need to get out of here.” And just as the smell of burnt flesh reminded her of the Flare Pits, a squealing noise began to seep into the smoke-filled air and reminded her of the screams in Crank Palace.
The screams of those past The Gone.
“What is that, a war-coyote?” the smaller girl asked.
“Sounds more like a pig,” Trish added. The islanders knew nothing of the Alaskan shore or the animals and the death it carried before the war, but as soon as the child said the wordpig, Alexandra knew exactly where the noise came from. Was it unlikely? Yes. Impossible? No.
She had unfinished business to attend to.
“Go on ahead, I have to take care of something.”
Alexandra excused herself, began to turn away. But the group stopped walking and looked at her as if they were capable of doing nothing without her expert guidance and directives. “Go ahead. I need a moment.” She waved them off. Very used to dismissing her Evolutionary Guard, she was also used to themlisteningto her. “Go on ahead,” she said again more forcefully.
They just stood there looking at each other.
“But you just had a dizzy spell,” Sadina said. “I’ll go with you.”
“No,” the soldier snapped. “You stay here, Sadina. I’ll go with her.” He stepped forward.
The Goddess took a deep breath and tried to relax all the muscles in her face. Time for a little lie. “If you must know, I need to relieve myself.”
“Then I’ll go with you,” the soldier with orange hair said. “I’ll just be?—”
“Absolutely not.” Alexandra used all the power of her training in her voice. She’d sooner trust the old hag they called Roxy than depend on either of the two soldiers with the same clothing as those who killed her guards. Flint may have been a useless tool but he washeruseless tool. Clearing her throat, she said “Like you mentioned, I’ll see it along the coast, can’t miss it.” She forced a smile. “Please. I just need a private moment to myself. And who knows, maybe I’ll get lucky and witness aHollowingfrom the sounds of it.”
