Yesterday's Gone: Season Six (49 page)

And in that moment, Emily turned her attention back to landing the ship. Instead of lowering it slowly, she let it drop.

As the ship plummeted, Marina dropped the shotgun and tumbled forward, straight into Emily, sending her back into the wall’s soft flesh.

Marina grabbed Emily by the hair, pulled her forward, then slammed her head into the wall.

Emily cried out, kicking, but doing no damage.

The ship crashed to the ground, a thunderous boom reverberating through the ship.

Lights stuttered, power disrupted.

Marina reached up with both hands around Emily’s throat, strangling her.

Emily tried to push the woman away, but she was too strong.

“Please,” Emily cried, staring into the infected woman’s eyes. “Stop.”

Something shifted in Marina’s eyes. Her fingers released their grip on Emily’s throat.

She looked at Emily and through a cracked voice, said, “I’m sorry.”

Emily stared, confused. Had she somehow broken the alien’s control over Marina?

A gunshot exploded.

Hot blood erupted all over Emily as Marina’s body slumped dead on top of her.

Emily screamed then saw the gunshot’s source standing over her.

“Daddy!” she shoved Marina aside and jumped into his embrace.

He hugged her tight, “Oh, God, I thought I lost you.”

Emily looked down at Marina watching as a black shape poured from her mouth.

Emily’s father pushed her aside, into the arms of Brent, standing with Teagan and the kids. He stretched his hand out toward the dark alien shape as it rose.

Suddenly, his hand was surrounded by a bright-white glow. A blast of light shot out, into The Darkness, disintegrating it.

“Whoa!” Emily said, staring at her father. “How did you do that?”

“No time to explain. We need to get out of here.”

“Where are the others?” Emily asked.

“They’ll meet us. Come on!”

They ran. To where, Emily didn’t know, but at least she was with her father, knowing he’d protect her.

* * * *

CHAPTER 26 — Boricio Wolfe

Bullets rained on the control room glass in a torrent as Paola shoved her hands deep into the control panel’s black flesh, keeping the ship’s cargo bay doors closed. They couldn’t let anything off the ship. Yet.

As she continued to hold the cargo doors closed, more Guardsmen lined up, firing more weapons.

Tiny cracks spread across the glass. It was holding up remarkably well, but Boricio wasn’t sure how much time they had left. It could give way any moment. Then the Guardsmen would bring them both down, open the cargo bay doors, and make their hope disappear.
 

Boricio held the control room door as best he could. He watched through the glass as chaos unfolded in the cargo bay — Guardsmen and giant ugly centipede-moth-like aliens racing toward the shuttles, trying to escape as the ship tilted and rocked, lowering to The Island.
 

Several Guardsmen hammered at the door with fists, weapons, and large sledgehammers, trying to break it down.

Boricio glared at the enemies, laughing. “Not by the hair of my chinny, chin, chin!”

He flashed back to the belfry door, remembering his forced surrender, and how Ed lost his life as the door gave in and Boricio escaped onto the church roof.

Sorry about that,
Boricio thought to Ed, also in his mind.

Forget about that. Focus on this!
Ed snapped.

“Yes, sir!” Boricio cracked.

Paola turned, “What?”

“Nothing. How’s it going?”

“I can feel someone trying to override the controls, but I’m holding it down.”

“Good. Just hang in there. I’m calling for backup.”

Boricio reached out in his mind, calling for help. Connecting with every human and alien that Luca had poured The Light into over the past four years.

Come. Take the ship.

The door burst open.
 

Boricio’s connection to the others broke as he was snapped back into the moment, just in time to see an old man with bushy eyebrows standing outside the door with a giant square weapon-looking thing that must have broken the door’s seal.

Behind him stood the biggest, ugliest red centipede-moth-like creature.

They stormed the control center.

* * * *

CHAPTER 27 — Mary Olson

Mary fell for what felt like forever.

After finally hitting the ground, she found herself in a large black circular room that reminded her of a fighting arena.

The floor and walls were made of the same black flesh with embedded amber lights. Desmond stood in the red glow, smiling. His eye was already healed, but Mary was sure he was still pissed and wanting to lash out.

“I knew one of you would follow me.”

Above her, Mary heard metal sliding.

“Now you’re trapped.”
 

“We’re both trapped then.”

“You forget, Mary. We are many. We cannot be contained to a handful of bodies. We are nearly a thousand strong on this ship alone, with thousands more out there in the world. And you are what? A handful of people?”

Mary glared at him.

“That’s all we need.” She thrust out her palm, surprised as an electric arc of light sliced through the air and sent Desmond back.

She ran toward him, feeling The Light working through her, transforming her fist into a golden blade of light, eager to finish him off.

As she leaped at Desmond, he opened his mouth, shooting out dark swirls of matter.

The Darkness hit her in the gut, sending her flying back.

Mary hit the ground hard as The Darkness disintegrated then jumped back into Desmond’s body.

The ship rocked, sending Mary sideways, sliding toward the wall.
 

“Looks like the ship is going down!” She smiled, feeling The Light working to land it, though she wasn’t yet sure about the rest of its plan.

As she started to stand, thick ropes of Darkness shot out of Desmond’s mouth, wrapped around her ankles, and yanked her back hard.

Mary hit the ground hard, knocking the breath from her lungs.

Desmond’s Darkness reeled her in, pulling her in too fast for Mary to counter the move as she panted and puffed, catching her breath.

His hand formed a dark blade when she reached her. As the dark tendrils snapped back into his mouth, he sliced down, straight into her gut.
 

Unable to scream, Mary gasped.

* * * *

CHAPTER 28 — Boricio Wolfe

As the eight-foot red alien shoved the old man with bushy eyebrows aside and burrowed through the doorway, Boricio’s fist burned bright, forming a sharp triangle-like blade. He brought it up, straight into the fucker’s underbelly, and sliced up.

Boricio used his other hand, also burning bright but still in its human form, to tear into the insect’s flesh, ripping out guts and chunks of goo, screaming as he did.

The alien fell to the ground, black liquid pooling from its maw.

No, not liquid, but the alien’s essence — its soul, seeking a home.

“Take that shit outta here!” Boricio yelled, thrusting his open palm toward the thing.

A bright-yellow spark of lightning shot from his hand and fried the fucker.

Bushy Eyebrows came at Boricio, no longer holding the big square thing but instead holding an assault rifle.

“Enough!” the old man screamed, firing.

Bullets smacked into Boricio, but he wasn’t going down like that.

He raced forth, even as the gunfire tore into flesh, driven forth by Charlie and Keenan’s white-hot anger.

Bushy Eyebrows looked up, startled, wondering why the fuck Boricio wasn’t falling.

Boricio grabbed the gun, snatched it from his old fucking hands, and spun it around, fired point blank into the old man, tearing his organs apart.

Boricio kicked the old man back from the doorway then looked up to see a line of Guardsmen, weapons aimed at him.

He raised his rifle, fired, screaming, “Die, motherfuckers, die!”

“Kill them!” one of the helmeted voices screamed.

Gunfire erupted, tearing into Boricio’s flesh. He fired back, taking out as many of them as he could before they brought him down, hoping they wouldn’t hit any vitals.

The ship rocked, sending Boricio and the others skidding along the floor, again starting to take off.

Boricio grabbed the doorway, pulling himself back into the control room.
 

“Someone’s overriding the flight controls! They’re moving the ship!” Paola screamed.

Shit! Fuck!

“Can you keep the bay doors closed and land the ship?” Boricio asked, unable to look back as the Guardsmen scrambled to their feet and opened fire on him again. Boricio returned their shots but was taking too many himself.

“I’m trying!” she cried out.

“We need to land before we open the doors,” Boricio said. “So land this fucker, now!”

“We’re too high!” Paola said.

“Find a way!”

The ship rocked again.

Guardsmen and giant insect fucks alike slid and fell.

Boricio dropped the rifle then grabbed both sides of the door, struggling not to fall, or die, as blood poured from his dozens of wounds.

Guardsmen found their feet and aimed their guns to finish Boricio off. Gunshots tore into his body.
 

He staggered backward with each shot’s impact, struggling to hold tight to the doorway, standing as a makeshift barrier to keep anyone from getting Paola.

The ship lurched downward then hit the ground, sending Boricio’s enemies back to their feet.

The landing was hard, but not enough to hurt the fuckers. Just momentarily disable them.

“Get out of the doorway!” Paola cried. “The ship’s landed! Lemme open the doors!”

Boricio looked up and down his bloodied body. Gunshots pocked his chest, legs, arms, and gut, gushing blood.

“No, not yet. We’re not ready!”

More gunshots came at Boricio as the Guardsmen continued shooting, even from their positions lying on the ground.

Boricio could see dozens of shuttles lining up, hovering in the bay, light burning beneath them, waiting to flee the ship.

You fuckers aren’t escaping.

More gunfire as the Guardsmen regrouped, charging at the control room. If he wasn’t responding to gunshots, they’d come and physically remove him from the doorway. No way he could fight them
all
.

Lightning erupted randomly from his body, like an instinctual defense system, hitting some of the Guardsmen, knocking them back, and frying a few. But there were too many gunmen firing.

Chunks of flesh ripped apart.

Bones were breaking.

His kneecap exploded.

Boricio fell then pulled himself up, doing his best to keep shots from getting inside and hitting the girl.

Boricio wasn’t sure what was holding him together and keeping him alive, but it couldn’t last forever.

Why won’t these fuckers give up?
Charlie screamed inside him.

Something had to give.

Outside, Boricio heard what he was waiting for.
 

They’re heeeeere.

He turned to Paola. “Open the cargo doors!”

“Which ones?”

“All of them!”

A bullet found Boricio’s left eye, half blinding him. The pain was intense, like a dagger through his pupil, screaming into his head.

The sound of heavy machinery and the loud banging of opening cargo doors drew the Guardsmen’s attention away from Boricio and the doorway. They turned, running to join the exodus.

“Boricio!” Paola screamed, leaving the control panel and dropping to his side as he fell into her arms.
 

Boricio watched the shuttles race toward the bright daylight.

Shit, we didn’t stop them!

But then a smile spread across his face as a beautiful realization dawned on him. They weren’t running into the brightness, but rather into The Light.

Thousands of Light bleakers — the black aliens that Luca had infected now burned with a radiant white-hot light — flooded the exits, slamming into the shuttles and blocking their escape.

The Light tore through the shuttles, alien insect fucks, and Guardsmen like a tsunami of Light.

“You need to go!” Luca said to Paola, blood pouring from his mouth.

“No, I can’t leave you here.”

She tried to lift him, but he was too heavy, and unable to help her.

“Go!” he yelled again. “They’re going to destroy this ship!”