Page 60 of The Infinite Glade
Ximena walked over to the open doorway of the Villa as Erros carried out two air canisters.
“We’re packing up some stuff, then we’ll be ready, okay?” he said as he walked by.
She looked over to the islanders and back at him before nodding. “Yeah. Okay.”
“Hey, Cian, watch these Remnants. . . . They’re everywhere and it’s hard to see out here.” Erros squinted in the dark, stepped over a dead soldier. “I’ll meet you at the Berg.”
Ximena wasn’t ready to get back to the Berg yet. She needed more time to figure out where to direct Cian to fly to “find” the Sequencers—a group of people she hadn’t heard a single whisper about until earlier that night.
Cian exited the Villa with an overflowing box of supplies. Something toppled out and he set the box down at his feet. She helped him reorganize the items so that they all fit. Such mundane activities after finding the body of a friend, bloated and dead.
“I told you there’d be stuff for the Sequencers,” Cian said.
She actually had no idea why anyone would want the things he had packed: old plastic containers, glass vials, weird measuring tools. Nothing of value to Ximena, but sometimes her inner-knowings surprised even herself.
“Some of this, the Sequencers have never seen.I’venever seen.” He held up a tool and made a face before stuffing it into the box of supplies.
Jackie’s and Miyoko’s cries grew from the bank, hurting Ximena’s heart. They were all so devastated. “We can’t leave them here,” she said to Cian, motioning to Isaac and the others. “Not after their friend got killed by the Remnant Nation and?—”
“No. They stay here.” Cian looked up at Ximena for only a second before his attention fell back down to the box. “That boy almost killed us.”
“I could have killed your brother, too.” She put her hand on her knife. “I still could if I wanted to.” She tried to make her young voice sound threatening, menacing, but it came out as a pathetic, empty taunt. She was more exhausted from the day's events than she’d thought. It was all catching up with her.
Cian picked up the box of supplies, now looking more balanced but still very heavy. “No. Not even up for negotiation.” He walked over the first dead Remnant. “See you at the Berg.”
“Isaac has the captain’s log, and there’re things in there you should see. He’ll share it if?—”
An arm seemingly came out of nowhere and swept Cian’s feet from under him; the box of Villa supplies flew out of his arms with a crash. Cian landed flat on his back, now held at knife point by a Remnant Soldier, still alive.
“Erros!” he cried. “Help!” His arms flailed as he tried to free himself; his feet kicked at the arms of the soldier. The Remnant appeared disoriented, stabbing at the air, the ground, and what he could of Cian’s moving body.
Ximena pulled her own knife and went at the Orphan soldier. He was distracted enough that he didn’t see her coming—she jumped on him, placed the tip of her blade on his bare neck. She blew the air and the fear out of her lungs, focused all her attention. She slid the knife into the Orphan’s flesh, at least an inch or two, watching as his arms slowly stabbed at the air with less energy and movement. Cian still struggled beneath him, having at least one wound himself.
“Bring the islanders with us, and I’ll end this.” She could let the soldier stab Cian as many times as he wanted to, if the man wanted to be stubborn. Cian tried to regain his footing but the snowy earth gave way. He shook his head at Ximena, refusing despite his desperate situation.
“Fine,” she said. “I’ll give you the Cure if you let them come.”
“You already said you would!” He wiggled his body around to face her.
“I said I’d take you to the Cure, but I wasn’t going to give it to you.” She scoffed. “Why would I?”
“You lied.” He grunted and struggled.
“I’m telling you the truth, now. It’s in my backpack, front pocket. Let them come with us to safety, and it’s yours.” She could easily let the Orphan soldier go, let him die a slow and painful death, bleeding out from gunshots and a stab wound in the cold. Or she could give him mercy, slit his throat like she had so many chickens back in her Village.
“Okay, alright!” Cian shouted as the soldier’s blade neared his chest in a wild swing.
Ximena flicked her knife, choosing the way of mercy.
“They can come. And the body of their friend, too,” she negotiated.
Cian sighed as he crawled to his feet. “Fine. Whatever. But you’re in charge of that kid, and if he tries anything like that little stunt he did again—you’re both getting thrown from midair without a parachute.”
“Reasonable enough.” Ximena pulled her knife, the one that used to be Kletter’s knife, out of the dead Remnant’s back. “If anyone has a right to visit the Sequencers, it should be them.” She looked Cian up and down. “Unlessyou’rethe one lying. About Frypan’s family being a part of it all, this whole under-earth thing?”
Cian just smiled. “I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?”
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
