Page 77 of The Infinite Glade
Kit smiled shyly, but had no words.
“Roxy makes the best stew, Kit,” Orange said, adjusting her gun strap to a relaxed position. “She’s a real good mom to all of us.”
Dominic pushed through the crowd of Remnants to get to Minho.
“What the hell?” the boy asked, and Minho understood it to be one of those questions that wasn’t meant to have any real answer. He probably looked like a monster in more ways than one to Dominic.
“I’m sorry,” Minho said, not completely sure why.
“I’m just glad you’re okay.” Dom hugged him without warning, and Minho was too proud to tell him how much it hurt.
Orange slapped the boy’s shoulder. “Careful, Dom. He’s got some broken bones.” She looked around the Glade. “We’ve got to get you to a combat medic . . . but I don’t see one . . .” Any medic on this war mission was likely gathered close to the Bearers of Grief, the weakest people of the Nation.
“They’re probably back with Griever Ayes.” Minho winced at the thought of facing them again.
Orange’s face grew fierce. “We’ll take you. We’ll all take you there and kill every last one of the Grief Bearers if we have to.” She hoisted Minho up straight.
“Hold on, there’s something I need to do first.” Minho coughed as he bent over to lift Alexandra’s blood-soaked Pilgrim’s cloak. He shook the cloak out until theBook of Newtfell from within its folds. He grabbed it carefully, sure not to get any of his own blood on it. “Where’s Sadina?” he asked Dominic. His ribs screamed and burned with every twist and turn of his body.
“Here I am . . .” a soft voice whispered from behind.
Minho turned around to see a terrified Sadina. “I’m sorry about the Godhead. I’m sorry for everything you had to see. I really think she brainwashed . . . she did it to all of us.” He wanted to apologize for so much more. He handed her the book along with his sympathy.
Sadina took theBook of Newtand folded her arms around it. “Thank you.” She looked at Kit and Roxy, Dominic and Orange. “I’m sorry, too. I really let her suck me in. From what I overheard the Pilgrims say, she was a horrible person.” She tilted her head at Minho. “I know that you were just trying to protect me. All this time. Thank you.” She cried as she gave Minho a gentle hug.
“Can we get you to a combat med now?” Orange asked over the many sounds of Pilgrims and Remnants mixing in the Glade.
“No. Not yet.” This was far too great of an opportunity to plant more seeds. A Revolution of Evolution had begun, and he couldn’t leave without telling the Nation what awaited them.
“Soldiers . . .” His voice faltered. It seemed like he’d already exhausted his last bits of energy.
“Hey, listen up!” Dominic shouted to get the people’s attention.
Minho lifted his gun in the air with Dom’s help, fired a single shot. The Glade quieted to complete silence. “Soldiers! The Remnant Nation was built to destroy this city . . . and now that their mission is complete, what do you think they’ll do with you afterward? They’ll destroy you, too. Just like they always have.” He cleared his throat, willed his lungs to draw strength as soldiers around him murmured. “They entertain themselves with destruction. If you want to continue to fight, then fight the real enemy—the Grief Bearers above who’ve placed you in the living prison you’ve always been trapped in.”
Most soldiers raised their weapons in agreement, but a few others looked unsure of what they were hearing.
He continued. “There’s freedom out there. There’s a whole world of people, places, and sounds you’ve never even been allowed to make or hear . . . like laughter and singing. There’s feelings that you’ve never felt and sensations you’ve never touched—like the sand under your bare feet on the coast of the ocean and the water cooling your legs. I’ll take you, I’ll show you. And I promise you it’s better than all your rules and regulations, or any level named Hell you leave behind.” He watched as the tide of support turned ever more in his favor.
“What about the City of Gods?” one doubting Remnant asked.
“It’s ours, now! Why would we leave!” another shouted. Orange shifted to a soldier’s stance. But the naysayers were already the minority, by a long shot.
“Let these Pilgrims keep their history.” Minho looked around. The Maze and the Glade deserved to stay sacred to those people. They’d been through enough. “We can, and we will, create our own story. One of courage and creation instead of constant, incessant destruction!” His lungs burned and his chest felt splintered into pieces. He wasn’t sure what else to say to convince these fellow soldiers to change their fate. To be something more than orphans who owned nothing. It was up to them, now.
Orange raised her gun, but this time, in place ofKill the Godhead, she shouted, “Free the Remnants!” And just like that, all at once, the Orphans from all corners of the Glade had their new mission. They raised their guns and chanted along with her in unison.Free the Remnants. Free the Remnants. Free the Remnants.
Dominic joined in. Roxy and Kit cheered. Sadina raised theBook of Newtlike a beacon.
Minho’s entire family chanted as one.
“Free the Remnants!”
Everything was coming together. So well, in fact, that he thought maybe they had time to take a little ride in that Berg he’d found.
Some unfinished business . . .
CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE
