Текст книги "Monsters of Men"

Автор книги: Patrick Ness

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Текущая страница: 28 (всего у книги 33 страниц)

{VIOLA}

“It’ll destroy the town!” Bradley says, before Ben even tells us what’s happening–

Because we could see it in the Noise all around us, see 1017 telling them to release the river–

“There are still innocent people down there,” Bradley says. “The force of a river pent up this long will wipe them off the planet!”

It’s already done, Ben says. The Sky has spoken and it’s already started–

“The Sky?” I say–

The new Sky, he says and looks behind us–

We turn. 1017 is walking forward out of the shimmering haze over the hot rocks of the riverbed, a look in his eye different than before.

“He’s the new Sky?” Bradley asks.

“Oh, shit,” I say.

I can talk to him, Ben says. I’ll try to help him see the right thing but I can’t stop the river from coming–

“We have to warn the town,” Bradley says. “How much time do we have?”

Ben’s eyes unfocus for a moment and in his Noise we see the Spackle dams holding back an impossible amount of water, backed up on the plain where Todd and I once saw that herd of creatures calling Here to one another, stretched horizon to horizon, now filled with water, a whole inland sea of it. It’s way back, Ben says, and there’s work to do to release it. He blinks. Twenty minutes, if that.

“That’s not enough!” Bradley says.

That’s what you’ve got, Ben says.

“Ben–” I say.

Todd’s up there, Ben says, looking into my eyes, his Noise feeling like it’s going right into me and I can hear it in a way I’ve never heard from a man on this planet. Todd’s up there and still fighting for you, Viola.

“How do you know?”

I can hear his voice, Ben says.

“What?”

Not clearly, Ben says, sounding as surprised as I am, not anything specific, but I could feel him up there. I could feel everyone as we chose the Sky. His eyes widen. And I heard Todd. I heard him fighting for you. He rides closer on his battlemore. You have to fight for him.

“But the Spackle are dying,” I say. “And the people in town–”

If you fight for him, you fight for us all.

“But war can’t be personal,” I say, almost asking it–

If it’s the person that’ll end the war, Ben says. Then that’s not personal, it’s universal.

“We need to go,” Bradley says. “Right now!”

I take a last second and nod at Ben and then we’re turning the horses around to try and find a safe path through the fire–

And see 1017 standing in our way.

“Let us go,” Bradley says. “The man in the ship is the enemy of us both. He’s the enemy of every creature on this planet.”

And as if on cue, we can hear the roar of the scout ship coming back this way, ready for another pass–

“Please,” I beg.

But 1017’s keeping us right there–

And I can see us in his Noise–

See us dying in his Noise–

No, Ben says, riding forward. There’s no time for revenge. You must get the Land out of the way of the river–

But we can see the fight in 1017, see his Noise twist this way and that, wishing revenge but wishing to save his people, too–

“Wait,” I say, because I’m remembering–

I pull up my sleeve, exposing the band, pink and healing and no longer killing me, but there for ever–

I feel the surprise in 1017’s Noise but he still doesn’t move–

“I hate the man who killed your Sky as much as you do,” I say. “I’ll do everything I can to stop him.”

He watches us for a moment longer, the fires still raging around us, the scout ship still coming back down the valley–

Go, he says. Before the Sky changes his mind.

[TODD]

“VIOLA!” I scream but still no answer on Communicator 1 or Communicator 3 as I feel the floor pitch below me. I look up at the screens and see us coming round after having left a scorching fire down the riverbed–

But there’s too much smoke and I can’t see her or Ben–

(please please please–)

“Look at the Spackle,” Todd, the Mayor says over the comm, sounding intrigued. “They’re not even running.”

I’ll kill him, I’ll bloody well kill him–

And then I think, stopping him is something I want, it’s something I desire more than anything and if it’s all about desire–

Stop the attack, I think, concentrating hard thru the rocking and rolling of the ship, trying to find him up there in the cockpit. Stop the attack and land the ship.

“Is that you I feel knocking on my door, Todd?” the Mayor laughs.

And there’s a flash in the middle of my head, a flash of white burning pain and the words he’s used since the beginning, YER NOTHING YER NOTHING YER NOTHING and I stagger back, my eyes blurry, my thoughts a mess–

“And you didn’t need to try anyway,” the Mayor says. “It looks as if our Viola has survived.”

I blink at the screens and see us flying towards two figures on horseback, one of ’em Viola–

(thank god thank god–)

Riding towards the lip of the hill in full fury, avoiding fire where they can, jumping thru it where they can’t–

“Don’t worry, Todd,” the Mayor says. “My work here is done. If I’m not mistaken, the river will be on its way and we shall await our fates at the ocean shore.”

I’m still breathing heavy but I stumble back to the comm panel.

Maybe my comm was Communicator 1 but it was Mistress Coyle who was number 3–

I reach up and press Communicator 2.

“Viola?” I say.

And on the screen where I can see her, all small and tiny on Acorn’s back as they reach the lip of the burning hill and fly right over to the jagged path below–

I see her flinch in surprise, see her and Acorn stumble to a halt, see her reach in her cloak–

“Todd?” I hear, clear as anything–

“What was that?” I hear the Mayor say–

But I’m still pressing the button–

“The ocean, Viola!” I yell. “We’re going to the ocean!”

And I’m hit with another blast of Noise–

{VIOLA}

“The ocean!?” I yell back into the comm. “Todd? What do you mean–?”

“Look!” Bradley calls, a little farther down the wrecked zigzag road on Angharrad. He’s pointing at the scout ship–

Which is hurtling through the valley away from us, heading east–

Heading towards the ocean–

“Todd?” I say again, but there’s no response from the comm. “Todd!?”

“Viola, we have to go,” Bradley says and gees Angharrad back down the hill. There’s still no sound from the comm but Bradley’s right. There’s a wall of water coming and we’ve got to warn who we can–

Even though I know as Acorn charges down the hill once more that there are probably going to be very few lives we can save–

Maybe not even our own–

[TODD]

I groan and pick myself up from the floor, where I fell on Ivan’s body. I glance back up at the screens but I don’t reckernize nothing now, don’t even see no fires, just green trees and hills below us–

So we’re on our way to the ocean–

For the end of it all–

I wipe Ivan’s blood off on my coat, the stupid uniform coat that matches the Mayor’s exactly, and even the thought of us looking the same fills me with shame–

“Ever seen an ocean, Todd?” he asks.

And I can’t help but look–

Cuz there it is–

The ocean–

And for a second, I can’t take my eyes off it–

Filling all of the screens at once, filling ’em and filling ’em and filling ’em, a stretch of water so huge it ain’t got no end, just the beach at the start, covered in sand and snow, and then water for ever and ever into the cloudy horizon–

It makes me so dizzy I gotta look away–

I go back to the comm screen where I got thru for a second to Viola but of course it’s off, the Mayor shutting down anything and everything I might use to talk to her.

It’s just me and him now, flying to the ocean–

Just me and him for the final reckoning–

He went after Viola. He went after Ben. If the fire didn’t kill ’em, the flood might, and so yeah, we’ll have an effing reckoning–

Yes, we will–

And I start thinking her name. I start thinking her name good and hard, to practise it, to warm it up in my mind, in my Noise–

Feeling my anger, feeling my worry for her–

He may have made it harder to fight by making my Noise quiet, but if he can still punch with his Noise, then so can I–

Viola, I think.

VIOLA–

(THE SKY)

I must send the Land through fire to save it. I must send them climbing up the burning hills of the valley, through trees that blaze, through secreted huts that collapse and explode, I must send them through great peril to escape an even greater peril now rushing down the riverbed–

A greater peril that I set on them–

A greater peril that the Sky deemed necessary–

Because these are the choices of the Sky, these are the choices the Sky has to make for the good of the Land. Huge numbers of us would burn to death if we let the fire keep raging through the forest, huge numbers of us might still burn to death as we make our escape–

But at least if the second happens, we will take many hundreds of the Clearing with us–

No, I hear the Source show, clambering up the steep hill behind me. We are on our battlemores, trying to find a way through the burning to get far enough above the riverbed before the water hits. The battlemores are suffering as we go but we have to press on, hoping their armour will save them.

The Sky can’t think that way, the Source shows. War against the Clearing will only destroy the Land. Peace must still be possible.

I turn to him from where I stand in my saddle, looking down to where he sits on his, like a man does. Peace? I show, outraged. You expect peace after what they’ve done?

After what one of them has done, the Source shows. Peace is not only possible, it’s vital to our future.

Our future?

He ignores this. The only alternative is complete mutual destruction.

And the problem with that would be what?

But his own voice is already glowing with anger. That’s not something the Sky would ask.

And what do you know of the Sky? I show. What do you know of any of us? You have spoken in our voice for a fraction of your life. You are not us. You will never be us.

As long as there is an us and them, he shows back, the Land will never be safe.

I make to answer but the voice of the Land calls down from the valley to the west, warning us. Our steeds begin to climb even faster. I look up the valley, through the flakes of ice still falling, through the fires that burn on either side, the smoke that rises into the clouds above–

And down the riverbed comes a bank of steaming fog, racing ahead of the river like the whistle before an arrow–

Here it comes, I show.

The fog rushes by us and up, coating the world in white.

I give the Source one last look–

And then I open my voice–

I open it to all the Land that can hear it, seeking out Pathways to pass it on, until I know that I am speaking to all Land, everywhere–

And I hear it, the echoes of the first command I sent, the command to gather weapons–

Sitting there as if a destiny to be fulfilled–

I seize on it in the voice and send it again, send it further and wider than before–

Prepare yourselves, I tell the Land.

Prepare yourselves for war–

NO! the Source shouts again–

But his words are lost as water as tall as a city crashes through the valley below us, swallowing everything in its path–

{VIOLA}

We pound up the road into town, Acorn and Angharrad running so fast I can barely keep hold of his mane–

Girl colt hang on, Acorn says and manages to speed up even more–

Bradley’s up ahead of me on Angharrad, the falling snow whipping around us as we cut through it. We’re rapidly nearing the outskirts of town where the road meets the first houses–

What the hell–? I hear Bradley yell in his Noise–

There’s a small group of men marching down the road. They’re in formation, led by Captain O’Hare, weapons raised and apprehension rising through their Noise like the smoke billowing up on the north and south horizons.

“TURN BACK!” Bradley yells as we get closer to them. “YOU’VE GOT TO TURN BACK!”

Captain O’Hare stops, his Noise puzzled, the men behind him stopping, too. We reach them, the horses skidding to a halt–

“There’s a Spackle attack coming,” Captain O’Hare says. “I’ve got orders–”

“They’ve released the river!” I shout.

“You’ve got to get to higher ground!” Bradley says. “You’ve got to tell the townsfolk–”

“Most of them have left already,” Captain O’Hare says, his Noise rising red. “They’re following the army up the road at full fast march.”

“They’re doing what?” I say.

But Captain O’Hare’s looking angrier and angrier. “He knew,” he says. “He knew this was suicide.”

“Why is everyone else marching up the road?” I demand.

“They’re going to the mistresses’ hilltop,” Captain O’Hare says, bitterness in his voice. “To secure it.”

And we see in a flash of his Noise just what secure means.

I think of Lee on that hilltop. I think of Lee unable to see.

“Bradley!” I shout, slapping Acorn’s reins again.

“Get your men to higher ground!” Bradley shouts as we ride around the soldiers and back down the road. “Save as many people as you can!”

But then we hear the roar–

Not the ROAR of the Noise of a group of men–

The roar and crash of the river–

We look back–

To see an impossibly massive wall of water obliterate the top of the hill–

[TODD]

The screens change. The ocean disappears and up pop the probes from the town. The Mayor’s got one of ’em pointed right at the empty waterfall–

“Here it comes, Todd,” he says–

“Viola?” I whisper frantically, trying to find her in the screens, trying desperately to see if any of the probes are watching her ride thru the city–

But I don’t see nothing–

Don’t see nothing but the huge wall of water come shooting out over the hilltop, pushing a town-sized cloud of fog and steam before it–

“Viola,” I whisper again–

“Here she is,” the Mayor’s voice says–

And he switches to a probe view that’s her and Bradley on their horses, racing for their lives up the road thru town–

And there are people running, too, but there ain’t no way under heaven they’re gonna outrun the water smashing into the bottom of the falls and flinging its way forward, thru clouds of steam and fog–

A wave heading right for the city–

“Faster, Viola,” I whisper, pressing my face close to the screen. “Faster.”

{VIOLA}

“Faster!” Bradley calls ahead of me–

But I can barely hear him–

The roar of the water behind us is literally deafening–

“FASTER!” Bradley screams again, looking back–

I look back, too–

Holy God–

It’s almost a solid thing, a solid white wall of raging water, higher than the highest building in New Prentisstown, smashing into the river valley, obliterating the battlefield at the bottom of the hill instantly and roaring forward, eating everything in the way–

“Come ON!” I shout to Acorn. “COME ON!”

And I can feel the terror coursing through him. He knows exactly what’s coming after us, what’s blasting the first houses of New Prentisstown to splinters and no doubt Captain O’Hare and all his men, too–

And there are other people running, screaming out of houses and running for the hills to the south, but they’re too far away, much too far to reach on foot, and all these people are going to die–

I turn away, spurring Acorn again with my ankles out of pure fright. His mouth is spitting foam from the effort–

“Come on, boy,” I say between his ears. “Come on!”

But he doesn’t answer me, just runs and runs and we’re through the square and past the cathedral and onto the road out of town and I sneak another look behind me and see the wall of water smash through the buildings at the far edge of the square–

“We’re not going to make it!” I yell to Bradley–

He looks at me and then back behind me–

And his face tells me I’m right–

[TODD]

Outta the corner of my eye, I see a screen showing that we’re landing on the shore and there’s snow and sand and endless water, waves crashing in and dark shadows moving thru ’em just under the surface–

But my attenshun is on the probe following Viola and Bradley–

Following ’em as they ride thru the square, thru the people left behind, past the cathedral and onto the road outta town–

But the water’s too fast, too high, too powerful–

They ain’t gonna make it–

“No,” I say, my heart just ripping in my chest. “Come on! Come on!”

And the wall of water slams into the ruins of the cathedral, finally knocking over the bell tower that stood on its own–

It disappears in a flash of water and brick–

And I’m realizing something–

The water’s slowing–

As it tears thru New Prentisstown, as it erases New Prentisstown, all the junk and the buildings are slowing it down, just a little, just a bit, making the wall of water a little bit shorter, a little bit slower–

“But not nearly enough,” the Mayor says–

And he’s in the room behind me–

I whirl round to face him–

“I’m sorry that she’ll die, Todd,” he says. “I truly am.”

And I hit him with a VIOLA that’s packed with everything I got–

{VIOLA}

“No,” I feel myself whispering as New Prentisstown is torn to pieces behind us, as the wall of water is now filled with timber and brick and trees and who knows how many bodies–

And I’m looking back–

And it’s slowing down–

Choking some on all the debris–

But not enough–

It’s reached the stretch of road just behind us, still coming quick, still coming full and hard and brutal–

Todd, I think–

“Viola!” Bradley calls back to me, his face twisted–

And there’s no way–

There’s just no way–

Girl colt, I hear–

“Acorn?”

Girl colt, he says, his Noise ragged with the force he’s putting out–

Angharrad, too, I can hear her ahead–

Follow! she says–

“What do you mean, follow?” I say, alarmed, looking back at the water not a hundred metres behind us–

Ninety–

Girl colt, Acorn says again.

“Bradley?” I call but I see him gripping Angharrad’s mane tight just as I’m grabbing Acorn’s–

And Follow! she bellows again–

Follow! Acorn answers–

HOLD! they yell together–

And I’m nearly knocked off his back by an impossible burst of speed–

A burst of speed that can only be tearing the muscles in his legs, that can only be bursting his lungs–

But we’re doing it–

I look back–

We’re outrunning the flood–

[TODD]

VIOLA! I think right at him–

Hitting him with all the rage that she’s in so much danger, all the rage that I don’t know what’s happened to her, all the rage that she might be–

All that rage–

VIOLA!

And the Mayor flinches and rocks back on his heels–

But doesn’t fall–

“I told you you’ve got stronger, Todd,” he says, steadying himself and giving me a smile. “Not strong enough, though.”

And there’s a flash of Noise in my head so hard I fall back over a bed and crumple to the floor, the world reduced to nothing but the Noise echoing thru me, YER NOTHING YER NOTHING YER NOTHING and everything shrinks to just that sound–

But then I think Viola–

I think of her out there–

And I push it back–

I feel my hands on the floor–

I use them to rise to my knees–

I lift my head–

To see the Mayor’s surprised face only a metre or so away, coming towards me, something in his hand–

“Goodness,” he says, sounding almost cheerful. “Even stronger than I thought.”

And I know another blast’s coming so I do it the old-fashioned way before he can gather himself–

I jump at him, pushing hard with my feet and leaping out–

He ain’t expecting it and I hit him about waist-height, knocking us back into the screens–

(where the river’s still shooting down the valley–)

(where Viola ain’t nowhere to be seen–)

And he slams into ’em with a grunt, my weight against him, and I pull back my fist to punch him–

And there’s a light tap on my neck–

Just light as a touch–

And there’s something sticking to me and I put my hand to it–

A bandage–

The thing he was carrying–

“Sleep tight,” he grins down at me–

And I fall to the floor and the screens full of water are the last things I see–

{VIOLA}

“Acorn!” I shout into his mane–

But he ignores me, just keeps up his insane run, Angharrad, too, with Bradley up ahead–

And it’s working, we’ve reached a curve in the road and the river behind us is still coming, still full of wreckage and trees–

But it’s slowing more, lowering its height some, keeping more to the riverbed–

And still the horses run–

Down the road and away, a rushing fog reaching out to us, its tendrils licking at the horses’ tails–

And the river still coming–

But getting farther behind–

“We’re doing it!” Bradley shouts back to me–

“A little farther, Acorn,” I say between his ears. “We’re almost out of it.”

He doesn’t say anything back, just keeps running–

The road is becoming thicker with trees, half of them burning, slowing down the river even more, and I recognize where we’re getting to. We’re nearing the old house of healing where I was kept for so long, the house of healing I ran from–

And found the hilltop with the communications tower–

The hilltop where the army’s marching somewhere ahead of us–

Maybe already even there–

“I know a back way!” I shout. I point up the road, to a little farm off to the right, up a hill with a forest above it where the fire hasn’t reached. “Up there!”

Girl colt, I hear Acorn say in acknowledgement and the horses turn for it, skirting the corner and shooting up the drive, heading for the narrow path I know is there through the woods–

There’s a huge crash behind us as the river comes pounding down the road we just left, sloshing water and trees and debris everywhere, dowsing the fire but drowning everything else, surging up the drive behind us, swallowing the little farmhouse–

But we’re in the woods and branches are smacking my face and I hear Bradley cry out once but he doesn’t let go of Angharrad–

And it’s up a hill to a flat–

And then another uphill–

And through some shrubs–

And then we’re sailing into the clearing, hooves thumping into the crowd, scattering screaming people this way and that, taking in the scene in a flash–

Seeing the probe cameras still projected on the sides of tents–

They know what’s been happening–

They know what’s coming–

“Viola!” I hear shouted in surprise as the horses race through the camp.

“Get people off the drive up the hill, Wilf! The river–!”

“There’s an army!” Jane shouts next to him, pointing across the clearing to the entrance–

Where we can see Captain Tate leading what must be nearly the entire army–

Marching up the hill–

Their guns raised, ready to attack–

Cartloads of artillery ready to blow the hilltop to pieces–