Pahnyakin Rising (20 page)

The Pahnyakins remained mute as the group approached the gate. 

“Where’re Phil and Brady?” Jamie asked, jumping up from an upside-down 10-gallon bucket she had been using as a seat. 

“Dead,” Zane mumbled.  “They’re dead.”

Jamie and the other guard panted as they pushed the gate open. 

AJ stormed past the guards and Jamie called after him.

“Let him go,” Dresden said.  “Sound the alarms.  Now.”

Anne nervously looked to Jamie and Zane.

“What about Shepherd?  Shouldn’t we tell him what’s going on?”

Dresden handed her chains to Zane.  “You and Anne take them to the cells. 
Separate
them.  At no time should you think they’re not dangerous.  They don’t care about you.”

Anne’s eyes were darting about.  “I’ll get Shepherd.  Then you can tell him what’s happening.”

“No,” Dresden said assertively.  She lifted her head proudly.  “Shepherd isn’t calling the shots anymore.”

“You’re back?” asked Jamie in awe.

Dresden nodded and pointed to the gate.  “Jamie, sound the alarms and then help me get this closed.”

Zane and Anne guided the Imperators away.  They clicked to one another as they peacefully surrendered.

Report location for attack.

“Why are you just standing there?” Dresden growled at Jamie.  “Get those sirens going.  I want this entire town awake now.”

Jamie nodded quickly and ran to a hollow metal pole sticking out of the ground.  It stood to the woman’s thigh.  On the top of the pole was a small black square with a red button in the center.  The woman smashed her palm atop the button and the blare of sirens echoed through Easton from white speakers affixed to a telephone pole next to the run-supply house. 

Jamie jogged with her limp back to the gate and she and Dresden pushed it closed.  Dresden looked towards the village and could see lights coming on in the guards’ houses.  Down the block, people with candles were coming out of their homes, dressed in night robes and ratty pajamas.  Guards emerged from their homes, armed with pistols and automatic rifles.  They hadn’t bothered to get dressed.  The girl noticed most didn’t even have their shoes tied. 

“What’s going on?” asked one of the guards over the sound of the sirens.  “Are you hurt?”

“Your job is to get all children and anyone who can’t fight to the factory and stay with them.  Find someone to help you.  Keep them calm,” Dresden instructed.

“Where’s Shepherd?  I’m not doing anything without his order.”

“Your orders come from me now.  Get everyone to the factory.”

“No,” he argued.  “I’m not doing anything you say.”

“Gaige,” Jamie hissed, “she brought two of them back here and Brady and Phil are dead.  Just do what she says.”

The man glared at Dresden with his sweet tea eyes before mumbling to himself and walking away.  “Jay,” he called to a man on his left, “come help me.”

Dresden, for the first time since awakening in this place, felt as if she belonged.  She was remarkably calm and confident that she was making all the correct decisions for the town and her people.

Her people.

She looked onward with fierceness in her eyes and watched as guards continued to pool to the streets. 

“Turn off the alarms,” Dresden ordered Jamie. 

Down the block, Dresden saw Dodge racing towards the gate with a look of sheer panic.  The alarms fell silent but the town was still overrun with shouts from its people.

“Tell us what’s going on,” one of the guards shouted to Dresden.  “Where’s Shepherd?”

She cleared her throat and took a step forward.  There was Shepherd, at least ten feet behind Dodge. 

“A group of five went out tonight,” she announced.  “Brady and Phil were killed.”

There were groans and gasps abound.

“There are two Imperators in our holding cells right now,” she continued over the crowd.  “And there is going to be an attack on Easton.”

Dodge neared and pushed his way through the grumbling group of people. 

“We are
not
going to panic, but we
are
going to assemble quickly.  If you cannot physically fight, I want you in the factory with Gaige and Jay.  If you can fight, I want you to have a weapon.  Guards,” she nodded to three men gripping rifles, “are to be stationed along fences.  Under no circumstance are you to fire first, do you understand me?”

“And what makes you think these people are going to listen to you?” Shepherd asked from the back of the crowd. 

Easton’s people spread and let him through.  He stood next to Dodge.  He was fully dressed in sandblasted jeans and a gray hoodie. 

“If you don’t want to take orders from me,” Dresden addressed the crowd, “you are going to die.  Take that chance if you want, but do it out there.”  She motioned to the Rising.  “I will not let anyone put another’s life on the line.  You’re not under Shepherd anymore, people.  We are in the middle of a revolution.  This is the calm before the storm.  We will win this war, but we have to take care of each other.”

“How do you know there’s an attack?” Shepherd scoffed.  “And what makes you think you can lead any of us after what you did to your last group?”

“I am painfully aware that I have made mistakes,” she proclaimed.  “And for the lives lost due to my faults, I am sorry.  But that was then.  Now, some of our people will die tonight.  But humanity will survive.  You have to ask yourselves if
that
is worth fighting for.  Is your
freedom
worth this war?  Is the
safety
of your children—of your wives, of your husbands—worth a war?  People, we can keep living this way, or we can fight back and take back our land, take back everything the Pahnyakins have stolen from us.  We shouldn’t have to live in fear and I
refuse
to.  Every day here is a struggle for survival.  Let our lives
mean
something.  Let us stand for something.  If they want me, they’ll have to take me out kicking and screaming because I’m not going down without a fight.  Are you?”

The townspeople went wild with shouts of agreement and applause. 

Shepherd’s face was red.  “Are you people going to listen to this crap?” he screamed.

“Oh, shut up, Shepherd,” Jamie grunted.  She looked to Dresden.  “I’ll start handing out guns.”

The woman hobbled past Nick and rammed her left shoulder into his upper arm. 

“Get dressed,” Dresden instructed the people.  “And if you aren’t armed, go to the run-supply house.  Anne is distributing weapons.”  She clapped twice.  “Let’s go, people.  We’re running out of time.”

As the crowd dispersed, Nick followed some and attempted to dissuade them from joining Dresden’s army.  Each and every one shoved him out of the way. 

Dodge approached Dresden and asked worriedly, “Whose blood are you covered in?”

“Pahnyakin,” she replied.  “Dodge, I need you to come with me to the cells.”

“What happened out there?” 

He pushed her hair from her forehead with the gentle swipe of his hand.  “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I
have
to do this,” she said.  “Because if I don’t, we are going to be extinct.”

She took Dodge by the hand and pulled him towards Easton’s heart.  For once, people were not jumping out of her way in fear or hatred, but with the respect and knowledge that she was putting her own life on the line to protect theirs.  Dresden walked quickly and squeezed Dodge’s hand tightly, afraid to let go because she knew her life was not promised through the night. 

He squeezed back and her heart skipped a beat.  It was in that moment, she realized, that she was utterly terrified of losing that man.  Just a few hours before, he had been dead against helping her, but here he was again, a rubber band snapping back when it came to keeping her safe and helping her climb to the top of the leadership ladder. 

“Dresden,” he said, after she dragged him for blocks, “slow down.”

“I can’t.  Dodge, I have to tell you something nobody else knows yet.”

She pulled him to the side of the brick pottery factory and glanced around to make sure nobody was listening. 

He could feel her hand trembling in his.  He squeezed tighter to steady her nerves. 

“Calm down and tell me what you need to tell me.”

Dresden inhaled sharply.  “They’re going to take me.  This is what this attack is about.  It’s not about wiping us out—not yet.  And if that time comes, if they take me…”

“No,” he said, shaking his head violently.  His cheeks were burning.  “No.  I won’t let them take you.”

“Dodge,” she said, “they’re going to kill anyone in their way. 
Do not
try to stop them.”

“Dres,” he protested with tears swelling in his eyes, “I’m not letting them take you.”

“Yes,” she shouted, “you are.  If it comes down to you or me, you’re going to let me go.  I mean it.”  She lowered her voice.  “It’s an order.”

Dodge let go of Dresden’s hand and put his own together.  He rested the sides of his fingertips against the tip of his nose and his thumbs under his chin.  He closed his eyes and sniffled. 

“You can’t ask me to do this, Dresden.  I love you.”

“If you do, you’ll do what I say.”

“But why?”  he pleaded.

“Because you should know by now that if I had to choose between my life and yours, I would
always
choose to keep you alive.  You are my best friend and you’ve helped me so much, Dodge, but I can’t live with knowing I’m the reason you’re not here.  So just listen to me and don’t interfere.”

He pulled Dresden against his body and kissed the top of her head. 

“Fine,” he said softly.

“Fine,” she repeated.  She pulled away from the embrace she wished she could experience until the end of time.  “We have to get something out of these Imperators. 

She and Dodge walked to the back of the building and into the underground holding area. 

Jamie and Zane were standing guard at a distance from the cells.

“They’ve been clicking like this the whole time,” Zane complained over the deafening racket. 

The beings, seated on the cold concrete, stood when they saw the girl.  They both backed up to the wall and continued to speak to each other.

Dresden closed her eyes and concentrated on the clicks.  They were faster and louder than before.  She sucked on her lower lip as she attempted to arrange the decoded letters one by one and translate the string of letters to Chemehuevi.  She was beginning to feel overwhelmed and struggled to recall the long-forgotten language. 

“Gates,” she said.  “East.”

She opened her eyes and looked at Dodge.  “Is there an East gate?” she shouted.

He shook his head.

Dresden closed her eyes again and visualized writing the letters on a clean chalkboard. 

“Diversion at the gates, ambush from east.”

She turned to Anne in panic and ordered, “Leave a quarter of our people at the gates and put the stronger guards along the eastern fence.  Go!”

Jamie raced up the stairs and the metal door closed with a slam. 

Dresden took a deep breath and relaxed her shoulders as she returned to her mental writing surface.

“Transform girl. Take to base.”

She looked at Dodge.  “They keep talking about a base.”

“The silo,” Dodge replied.  “Past Bicknell.”

She had forgotten all about the silo. 

“Why haven’t you taken them down?” Dresden screamed, looking to anyone to blame in her panic.  “Why is any of this happening right now?”

Dodge was shocked at her accusations.  “Dresden, nobody can just walk in there.  About three miles out they have patrols.  They have that place locked down.  Nobody goes in unless they’re taken.  Amos said you died about two miles south of here.  I don’t even know why you took people the first time.”

“I died on the way to the silo?”

“You said something about electricity and convinced a bunch of people to go with you for something.  I don’t know.  You didn’t tell anyone anything.  You’d been out in the Rising all day and then  you just got a group together and left.”

“Electricity,” she muttered to herself, trying to spark a fire when she clearly knew the matches were in the
other
Dresden.

“Dodge, what happened to Kinetixe?”

“They dismantled a lot of machinery and took it to the silo,” Zane answered.  “That’s why the people with power have to run generators.”

Commence,
the Imperators clicked in unison. 

The three in the holding area heard shrieks and gunshots from above. 

“They’re attacking,” Dresden gushed.  “We have to get out of this room now.”

“Why don’t we just stay down here?” Zane asked in a shaky voice.

She pointed at the cells.  “The rest already know where we are.  Right now we’re in a death trap.”