He sat on the bed and pulled his boots off. “Haven’t you read that thing two dozen times? Here’s an update: all those idiots are dead and whatever they were doing didn’t matter—even before the plague.”
“It reminds me of the world before the plague. It’s like revisiting the normal world.”
“You think that world was normal? You’re crazier than I thought.”
She tossed the magazine aside and curled into him, gently kissing his exposed ribs where he had just pulled his shirt off. “Rough day at the office, Sir Broods-a-Lot?”
Dorian pushed her off of him. “You wouldn’t talk to me that way if you knew me better.”
She smiled innocently. It contrasted sharply with the cruelty on his face. “Then it’s a good thing I don’t know you better. But… I do know how to cheer you up.”
CHAPTER 47
Immari Operations Base at Ceuta
Northern Morocco
From the watchtower, David adjusted the binoculars and waited for the battle to begin. The Immari divisions had been slowly chasing the Berber tribes for the better part of three hours. From his vantage point, David could see the trap they had set—a line of heavy artillery and fortified lines on the far side of a high ridge looking down on a small valley. The Berbers would cross the opposite ridge and descend into the valley soon, then the larger battle would begin. The Immari would win, capturing and killing every Berber in the valley.
“How are the tribes faring?”
David turned to see Kamau standing behind him on the platform.
“Not well. They’re almost in the Immari trap. Where are we?”
“Eleven men.”
David nodded.
“I can widen the net, but the risk grows.”
“No. We’ll have to make do with eleven.”
Several hours later, the sound of heavy artillery echoed across the charred field that had been the city of Ceuta. David stood, walked to the edge of the watchtower, and held the binoculars up. The carnage in the valley was near total. On the farthest ridge, a group of riders on horseback charged up the hill toward the big guns camped there, but the Immari shot the horses out from under them, then raked them with automatic gunfire. Behind them, tribesmen fell in waves. David let the binoculars drop to his side, then returned to the bench and waited.
As the sun set, the Immari procession reached the outer gate. David watched from the guard tower. Major Rukin was the first to reach the gate, and as his jeep sped by, he and David shared a glance. The major’s lips curled slightly, but David simply stared.
David sat in his room, waiting. He would take one last nap before the final battle began. The next few hours would determine his fate and that of millions more.
CHAPTER 48
Immari Sorting Camp
Marbella, Spain
Kate forced Martin to eat a little more of the candy bar—part of the paltry “buffet” Shaw had rounded up. She held the bottle of water to Martin’s lips, and he drank greedily. He couldn’t seem to get enough water.
Shaw stood in the corner wearing an expression that said, This is a waste of time that could kill us. Kate already knew him that well.
She jerked her head toward the silver double doors. Shaw rolled his eyes and wandered out.
“Martin, I need to ask you about your notes. I don’t understand them.”
His head rolled back and forth against the cabinet. “Answers are… dead. Dead and buried. Not among the living…”
Kate wiped a fresh layer of sweat from his forehead. “Dead and buried? Where? I don’t understand.”
“Find the turning points. When the genome changes. We searched… not alive. We failed. I failed.”
Kate closed her eyes and rubbed her eyelids. She considered giving him more steroids. She needed answers. But there were risks. She grabbed the bottle of prednisolone.
The kitchen doors parted, and Shaw stuck his head in. “It’s happening now. We need to move.”
Kate nodded her assent, and she helped Shaw stand Martin up and escort him out of the building. Past the revolving door, the sight of the camp almost stopped her dead in her tracks. The tower of the survivors spilled people onto the grounds in an endless stream. The palm trees swayed above the unseen masses that flowed below them. Guards were waving flashlights, herding people. A massive cruise ship stood tall at the shore, towering over the coast. Two massive ramps loaded people onto it, as if it were Noah’s Ark.
“The far ramp,” Shaw said quietly, and began tugging Martin.
Four guards were minding the far ramp, which Kate took to be the Immari loyalist loading point.
The ship came into focus. The once-white luxury liner now looked derelict, and Kate wondered if it would even float.