Текст книги "Intermix Nation "

Автор книги: M. Attardo

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Текущая страница: 23 (всего у книги 23 страниц)

Gabirel aims the pistol at her head.

Shivering in the rain, Nazirah holds her arms out passively, palms open. She looks into the crowd, imagining she sees Cato or Niko in the sea of Medis, with her until the end. Death is not her enemy; it’s where Nazirah will reunite with her parents. Absolved of fear and hatred, graced with acceptance, she is not her enemy either.

Today, Nazirah is free.

And that is something she holds onto.

Everything slows. Nazirah’s heart rate drops. The rain slacks. The shot fires, lighting and thunder scorching the air. Nazirah waits for the pain to tear through her like a thousand knives. She waits and waits and waits for her life to end.

It doesn’t.

Gabirel clutches his throat. His gun, unfired, escapes his grasp and clatters to the ground. Blood trickles from his mouth. It spills, gushing as he falls to his knees. Gabirel makes a strangled, gurgling sound. Then he collapses into eternal silence.

Brown eyes meet green.

A war erupts with Nazirah standing frozen on the platform. Shots are fired, fists are thrown, and blood is spilt. Reporters and bystanders scream, ducking for cover as rebels surge onto the roof. Insurgents emerge from the crowd, including Niko and Luka, pulling down their hoods and brandishing weapons. Shock wearing off, the Medi troops retaliate. Many people slip in the rain, off the edge, plummeting thousands of feet to their deaths. Smoking gun still in hand, Adamek looks at Nazirah once before disappearing into the fray.

A grenade explodes nearby. Nazirah is wrenched off the platform, pulled out of the line of fire and detonation. “You’re with us?” she cries, glancing into the face of Gabirel’s kinder bodyguard.

“You don’t recognize me, do you?” she yells back.

The face is different, but Nazirah recognizes the staunch voice. She asks, “Ms. Bairs?”

“I still haven’t read that essay,” Ileana jokes grimly, pushing her further to the ground.

“How –”

“MEDIcine!” she yells, struggling to be heard over the chaos. “It was Adamek’s idea to tell everyone at headquarters I was visiting my mother! I’ve really been intercepting and relaying information to Nikolaus for months. I didn’t learn of your kidnapping until too late!” She covers Nazirah’s body as part of the platform collapses. “I wanted to tell you last night, but I couldn’t risk it!”

“What’s happening?”

“Isn’t it obvious, Nazirah?” she says. “The revolution has started!”

Smoke fills Nazirah’s lungs. Silver and gold bullet shells litter the rooftop coast, treasures of war, relics of a dream. Nazirah peers over the edge, dizzy with height. The skytowers around them are thick with fire and ash. Sirens blare throughout the city, sounding horns in warning. Nazirah turns around, sees a flash of blonde. Lumi embraces her, handing Nazirah back the dagger. She wears a bulletproof vest and there’s an excited spark in her eyes. “I don’t have another gun,” she cries, “but I kept this safe for you!”

“Get down!” Ileana shouts, crouching.

The explosions around them continue as Medi helicopters barrage the roof with bullets and fire, army soldiers descending by ropes. The rebels retaliate, trying to bring the choppers down with cannons. More insurgents flood onto the roof from inside.

“Stay here,” Ileana yells, “until you can find a suitable weapon! I have to get Solomon into the control room!”

They watch her crawl away. Nazirah sobs, “I never thought I’d see you again!”

Lumi smiles, glances over her shoulder. “A promise is a promise, right?”

“How is this possible?” Nazirah asks, still in shock.

“I took the train back to Krush like you said!” Lumi yells over the whir of the chopper blades. “I hid in the one that smelled like rancid fish and hoped it was right! When I returned to headquarters, it was absolute chaos! Ivan’s troops were destroyed, all fallen and dead on the ground. Aldrik and Adamek were already there. They knew something was wrong when you didn’t show up to the meeting! They tried to find us, but we were already gone!”

“But –”

Lumi scoffs. “What do you think Niko has been doing for months? For years, even? He and Solomon have planned this for a long time, Nazirah! Your kidnapping set everything in motion. The rebels were up in arms when they heard you had been kidnapped!” A helicopter crashes through a nearby skytower, sending a huge fireball into the sky. “Niko contacted our allies throughout the territories, told them what was happening. We rode the trains to Mediah this morning!”

“How did you get in?”

“It was kind of brilliant!” she says. “A few of us used MEDIcine to disguise ourselves … just enough to overtake the guards lining the city walls. Then we broke loose, marching through the underground tunnels and storming the trains! Some came here, to besiege the capitol building. Mobs of intermix are protesting! Cayus is leading riots in the streets with firebombs! Deathland mercenaries are battling the army, charging the Medi armories. They may have better weapons, but they’re the unprepared minority! We’re taking over!”

“Lumi, watch out!”

A soldier hurtles towards them. Lumi shoots him without hesitating. She looks at Nazirah, a little proudly. “That was for Taj!” she cries, shaking.

“I’ll get his gun!” Nazirah shouts. She glances around, crawling from safety into the bullet storm. Nazirah has barely moved when she hears a bloodcurdling scream. She turns, watching a man barrel into Lumi, intent on pushing her off the roof. Thinking quickly, Nazirah stabs him in the ankle. He shouts, grabbing for her. She kicks her feet into his chest, knocking him over the edge. Nazirah clambers over to Lumi, who’s hanging on by her fingertips. Nazirah stands up, ignoring the gunshots, ignoring the vertigo, laser focused. “Grab my hand!” she yells.

“I can’t!” sobs Lumi, terrified.

“I won’t drop you!” Nazirah screams.

Lumi shuts her eyes and reaches for Nazirah. Straining and sweaty, Nazirah pulls Lumi from the ledge. Lumi slumps onto the roof, hugging the ground, coughing and sputtering. Just then, another Medi spots them, grabs Nazirah’s fallen dagger.

Nazirah hunches over Lumi protectively. He’s a foot away when he collapses on top of them. Nazirah pushes him off, revealing Cato with a gun, furious. They lock eyes and the battle falls away. Nazirah is only vaguely aware of the explosions lessening, of the rebels cheering as the last of the Medi troops and choppers are either captured or destroyed. Cato pulls her into a deep, rib-cracking hug. Nazirah is unable to believe he’s really there, afraid to let him go again.

“I’m so sorry!” she sobs incoherently, into his chest.

“No, Irri!” he cries, face full of dirt and tears. “I’m sorry! I was so awful, and you were just honest.”

“Even, then?”

“Yeah.”

Nazirah half laughs, half cries. “I think we won,” she says, not fully believing it.

“I think so too.”

Lumi tries to stand, but her ankle is twisted. Cato helps her up, supporting her weight. Fists of every race and color pound triumphantly in the air as the rebels raise their victory flags in the skytowers across the city. Nazirah looks around the roof shakily, not truly comprehending. It’s a bloodbath, rebel and Medi alike.

Nazirah sees Cander through the mist, hunched over a fallen intermix from the slums. Cander shuts his eyes gently, sleeping corpse, says a prayer. Healers scatter, sifting through the dead. Even Bilungi is there, tending the injured. Several recruits cry over a lifeless Anzares, warrior until the end. Nazirah feels sick. She was ready to die. And now so many have taken her place.

Death is not racist.

Death welcomes all.

Nazirah stands over Gabirel’s body. Relief floods her. But there’s incredible sadness too. That it has to come to this. Adamek is now an orphan, just like she is. So many people are dead. And more will follow.

Because although they have won, for now, Nazirah has no idea what happens next or what the future holds. “Beautiful morning to die, Chancellor,” she whispers.

“Irri.”

Nazirah whips around. Nikolaus sits a few yards away, slumped against the broken platform. Bilungi and Aldrik bend over him somberly. There’s a bullet wound in his chest.

“No!” Nazirah screams, crumpling before him. She tries frantically to staunch the flow of blood with her hands, desperate.

“Nation …” Aldrik gently grabs her shoulder.

Nazirah snarls, wrenching her arm away and returning it to Niko’s chest. “What are you doing?” she screams at them. “Why are you just standing there? He’s your Commander! Save him!”

“MEDIcine won’t work,” Bilungi says sadly. “Bullet’s too deep, hit too much.”

“Just try it!” Nazirah yells.

“Irri,” Niko says calmly, voice hoarse. “I don’t want them to try.”

Cato watches; Lumi sobs into his shoulder. Nazirah’s vision blurs from salty tears. The rain has stopped, streaking the roof in sunlight. Nazirah doesn’t feel it. “Don’t say that!”

He touches her face. “It’s too late. Only God can save me now.”

“Niko …”

“I’m sorry I haven’t been a better brother.…”

“Stop, please!” she chokes, grabbing his hands. “You’re the best brother I never wanted.”

“We both know that isn’t true,” he says sadly, breathing shallowly. “I’ve been distant … for a long time. I couldn’t handle everything … and shut down. I wasn’t there for you when you needed me most.”

“Then be there for me now!” she cries. “Don’t give in!”

“Seeing how much you’ve grown,” he wheezes, “I’m honored to call you my sister … to call you a Nation. Riva and Kasimir would be proud … they are proud. You’re the light Irri … you give us hope.” He coughs. “And you need to be strong now. The war is over … but our fight has only begun. Do you understand?”

“Okay.”

“Tell me you understand.”

“I understand!”

He nods. “There’s more.”

“Don’t say anything else!” she weeps. “It’s too hard.”

Nikolaus untangles their hands, touching her heart, touching the pendant. He smiles in recognition, looks at her. “I took a vow,” he whispers, “but there’s something you must know.”

“What is it?”

“The conditions of Morgen’s pact.”

“Conditions?” she asks, bewildered. She scans the roof for Adamek but doesn’t see him.

Nikolaus fights to stay conscious. “When we first made the blood pact,” he says, “in exchange for his allegiance … Morgen wanted only two things. The first was the sole right to kill his father.…”

“I know this already!” she snaps, voice rising. “He wanted to kill his father and receive amnesty.”

Nikolaus looks into her eyes. “No,” he says sadly. “He never wanted amnesty.”

“I don’t understand.”

Lie.

Nazirah looks at the pendant. Why did Adamek leave it behind, buried for good?

Don’t ask a question, if you don’t want to know the answer.

And she never had.

“Nazirah … he wants to die.”

“No.”

“His second condition was that we not interfere … when he chooses to go.”

“No!” she yells, so loudly it frightens her. “You’re lying!”

Nikolaus’s breathing slows. “Like most men,” he says, “he wants to be judged for his sins.” His eyes close.

“It’s not fair.…”

“When is life ever?”

Nazirah grabs his face, trembling. “How am I supposed to live without you?”

He smiles. “You just … live.”

He passes that way, face upturned at the sun. Nazirah watches the last family she has leave. She bends, slowly kissing his forehead. “I love you,” she whispers, then stands shakily. Everyone around her, even Aldrik, is crying. No one speaks, for no words can comfort. Cato detaches himself from Lumi, making sure Cander supports her. He hugs Nazirah tightly, wiping a tear with his thumb. “What happens now?” she asks him, staring at what remains.

“Now,” Cato says, “you go save him.”

Nazirah pulls back. “What?”

“Nazirah,” he says, “when have you ever listened to your brother?” He leans in close so only she can hear. “It’s time you stopped living for the dead.”

She whispers, “Thank you,” because it’s exactly what she needs to hear. Nazirah takes off, weaving through the crowd, jumping over rubble and ruin. She bolts down the winding staircase, back into the grand room, searching frantically amidst the rebels.

He isn’t here.

Nazirah stops. She closes her eyes, tries thinking like him, imagining where he might go. Her head snaps up immediately. She makes a sharp left, sprinting towards Adamek’s room. Nazirah passes it quickly, turning down an unfamiliar hallway she knows far too well. Not bothering to knock, she enters the first room on the right. Soft pastels and feminine scents waft over her. Nazirah walks through Victoria’s chambers, heading straight for the bathroom. She hesitates for only a moment before turning the handle.

Her breathing relaxes marginally. Adamek sits on a chair, gun resting in lap, in front of the empty bathtub. He’s largely unharmed, but his eyes are empty. “I figured you’d come eventually,” he says, staring at the gleaming white porcelain. “Wouldn’t want to miss the finale, right?”

Nazirah wordlessly sits before him, cross-legged, a child at story time. She gently places his gun on the cold floor, takes his hands. They are both miraculously okay and have come so far and still she may lose him yet.

“Thank you,” she says, “for saving me again. I seem to always owe you my life.”

Adamek nods distantly, distracted by her hands. Nazirah needs not ask what he’s fixated on. He brushes her knuckle, looks at her. “Ramses?” he asks quietly.

“It felt good,” she confesses, “to do it. Just for a second, but that second felt so good.”

“You’re not a killer, Nation,” he says, kissing her knuckle. “You’re so pure it hurts. You’re everything I ever wanted. And nothing I could ever have.”

“You don’t have to do this,” she whispers.

“But I want it,” he says. Tears fall down his face, baptizing her anew. “I can’t live with this guilt anymore. I need the judgment … the peace.”

“What are you waiting for, then?”

“I couldn’t do it,” he mutters. “You were so fearless before, so ready to die. When it comes down to it, I’m a coward … exactly like my father.”

“You’re not a coward,” she says earnestly. “You’re the bravest person I know.”

“I am a coward,” he repeats. “But if I’m being entirely honest, I also wanted to see your face one last time.”

“How did it feel, Morgen,” she asks, “to finally … take it?”

“It felt good, Nation,” he answers, looking into her eyes. “So good.”

Nazirah shuts her eyelids. He touches them, and she wishes time would stop. She thinks of her parents, of her mother’s last wish. She thinks of the promise she made, now the last Nation standing. She thinks of what Adamek wants … and she knows.

Nazirah opens her eyes. “Morgen,” she says softly, “has my day come?”

Adamek searches her face. He knows what she’s offering, what she’s sacrificing. “You don’t have to do it, if you don’t want to,” he whispers.

Nazirah picks up the gun, shaking. “I think I have to,” she says, “despite what I want.”

He nods, standing slowly. She rises too, dragging the moment out. “Is Caal okay?” he asks.

“Fine.”

“Your brother?”

“… Fine.”

He sighs. “You always were a crap liar.”

Nazirah bites her lip.

“I’m sorry,” he says suddenly, as though realizing he’s never said it before. And he hasn’t. “For everything.”

“I know.”

Nazirah inhales deeply. She aims the gun at him, trying not to waver. Adamek stands before her, awaiting release, awaiting redemption. “I thought I wasn’t worth salvation,” he jokes, a fit of madness to make her smile.

Nazirah says she’s changed. But standing there, she realizes there are some innate things that will never change. She knows what they need, what they want, what she should do to make everyone else happy. But Cato is right. It’s time she stopped living for the dead … and started living for herself.

She is so selfish.

And she won’t do it.

“I lied.”

Nazirah unloads the gun, tossing it away with satisfying finality. She watches the conflicted emotions cross his face. Disappointment registers, then anger, then anguish. But maybe, just maybe, there’s relief too.

“I told you not to save me again.”

She steps forward. “I’m not,” she tells him. “I’m saving myself.”

“I’m no good for you, Nation,” he says. “I’m no good at all.”

Nazirah pulls the amnesty pendant off her neck. She slips it back over Adamek, the rightful owner. “I don’t believe that,” she says. “Do what you want with your life … but I won’t be the one to take it away.”

“Aren’t you afraid of being with me?”

“Yes,” she replies honestly. “But I’m more afraid of being without you.” Nazirah stands on tiptoes, gently grabs his shoulders. Into his ear she whispers, “I forgive you.”

“It can’t be that simple!” he cries, breathless and overwhelmed. “You forgive me, after everything I’ve done? That’s it? End of story?”

Nazirah smiles, shakes her head. “It’s not the end, Morgen,” she says. “It’s the beginning.” She kisses him. He doesn’t respond, but she doesn’t give in. And slowly, so slowly, he kisses her back.

Nazirah Nation is alive.

###

About the Author

M.P. Attardo is a twenty-something, part-time writer, full-time daydreamer. She has a college degree … is still trying to figure out what on earth to do with it. She loves amateur baseball commentating, heckling, and overindulging.

http://maryattardo.blogspot.com

https://twitter.com/maryattardo