Until We Break (6 page)

The helicopter camera panned upward to reveal a great cloud of smoke coming down over the town. “Lots of smoke,” Bethos noted.

Atlas nodded. “And dead bodies everywhere.”

They knew exactly what it meant. “Zagreus,” Brandon growled.

“That means this is an attack by Zero Grade,” Bethos said.

“Poor Ev,” Freya said. “If Zagreus is there, then Hades can’t be far. If Ev meets up with him, he’s dead.”

Atlas held his bald head high. “Bannen can handle himself. I made sure of that.”

Freya slammed her palms down on the table and leapt to her feet. “But this is the Flawless Few we’re talking about! Ev’s still just a student. He doesn’t stand a chance against them. Even if he were a full-fledged god, he might not be able to win.”

“There is no guarantee Hades will make an appearance,” Dian Cecht said.

“There’s no guarantee he
won’t
,” she shot back.

Suddenly the broadcast went to static and was shortly replaced by a dark blue screen with text:

We are Zero Grade

Upton is ours now

More cities will fall

Bow to us or be destroyed

Brandon got up. “Where are you going?” Bethos asked him.

“Where do you think? To save Ev!”

The president shook his head. “You can’t.”

“You expect me to just stay here while Zero Grade butchers an entire town and threatens one of my students? I brought him here; he’s my responsibility.”

“It’s more than that, isn’t it?” Bethos said. “You failed to protect so many potential gods from Belial’s scheme over the years. You can’t bear to watch another one die. I understand that, but you can’t just go charging in there in an emotional state. We all know they’ll be expecting us to make a counter-attack. They’ll slaughter anyone who goes to Upton without a plan.”

“So what do we do?” Brandon said, desperation in his voice.

The president mulled it over. Finally he said, “We mobilize the troops. Call everyone. I want all former faculty members and alumni brought in. We didn’t want it to come to this, but the next great war is here, and it’s going to take everything we have to stop the world from being destroyed again.

They nodded, the pain of the last war still on their minds. Bethos hadn’t been around for that one, but he shared their desire to prevent another apocalypse.

Chapter IV

Two hundred miles west of Seraphim City was the Morovian capital of Vinguard, and in the center of that city was the Vin House, home of President Joe Lambda.

The nation’s leader sat inside one of the large white building’s conference rooms with his staff watching the broadcast from Upton. Despite the intensity of the situation, there was no sweat on his ebony skin. Nothing about his body language suggested he faced a crisis of epic proportions. “What does it mean?” he asked after seeing the message from the masterminds behind the day’s attack.

“It’s a terrorist attack, pure and simple,” General Sem Haig said. He had a thick neck and a no-nonsense attitude. “This Zero Grade is obviously a group of radical extremists.”

Lyra Connors, Lambda’s Chief of Staff, shook her head. “I’m not so sure. We have to face the possibility we’re looking at another attack by gods.” With her beautiful amber skin, the [resident couldn’t help but be attracted to her, even though he was a married man. The attraction always bothered him, but this was not the time for such thoughts.

“There’s no such thing as gods,” Haig insisted. “Obviously the enemy has created some sort of chemical weapon and is using it to terrorize us.”

Lambda furrowed his brow. “That seems unlikely. Just look at what they did in Stiftung, and then in the Tru Republic. We’re obviously dealing with beings that possess powers far beyond what humans are capable of. Right now we need a way to retake Upton and rescue survivors.”

“It doesn’t appear that there
are
survivors,” Lyra said.

“We can’t assume that,” Lambda said.

Nevertheless, she replied, “We still have phone service in Upton; both cell towers and land lines are active. If there was still someone alive down there, we would have heard from them by now. In addition, thermal images taken by satellite aren’t picking up anything. I’m sorry to say this, but the town appears to be quite dead.”

Lambda sighed and rubbed his face warily. “Why Upton? What’s so special about it that they’d attack there first?”

Ben Hinsom, the Secretary of State, said, “Do you remember the satellite we launched last year? SatTech 5?”

“It was filled with the latest in scientific instruments, wasn’t it?” Lambda said.

“Yes, sir. It was designed to detect things never before seen by man. Well, not too long ago, our tech geeks began finding unusual energy signatures scattered around the planet. They hypothesize it could be a previously unknown fuel source. One of these so-called Hot Zones is located in Upton.”

“Why wasn’t I informed of this?”

“We planned to bring it to your attention when we had more information. Currently, we have no idea how to use this new fuel source, if it even is that.”

Lambda steepled his fingers. “So you believe this Zero Grade wants these…what did you call them… Hot Zones… for themselves?”

“We believe it to be a strong possibility,” Hinsom said. “I don’t see any other reason to attack a small town or an isolated site like Stonecroft last year. They have no strategic value whatsoever.”

Lyra pointed out, “Not to humans, anyway. There’s no telling with gods.”

Haig rolled his eyes. “Mr. President, I still believe we’re dealing with fanatics with chemical weapons who want to strike terror into the hearts of small towns everywhere. Think about it—if a small town isn’t safe, no place is. They want to prove they can attack us anywhere.”

Crossing his arms, Lambda said, “We have to assume we’re dealing with a worst-case scenario, that we’re up against gods. The Murnau military couldn’t make a dent in the giants that appeared in Stiftung, and our weapons aren’t much better. We need some sort of defense should they appear in Morovia.”

“Let me send in the 103
^rd
Batallion. We’ll put a swift end to these bastards,” Haig said.

“But if they really are gods, it won’t matter how many soldiers we send,” Lyra said.

“What do you suggest?” Lambda asked her.

She sighed. “There’s no easy way to say this, Mr. President. If they really are gods, then our only option might be nuclear if all else fails.”

“You’re suggesting we detonate a nuclear bomb on Morovian soil?” he said, dumbfounded.

“That’s outrageous,” Haig said. “If we start launching nukes at bogeymen, we’ll make this country uninhabitable.”

She insisted, “If we’re dealing with hostile deities, we’ll have to stand strong and deliver a powerful message: ‘We won’t bow to you.’”

Lamba sighed. “At this point, nukes are off the table. I need something else, something that will give us an edge but limit civilian casualties and environmental impact.”

It was then that Cid Larson, the Secretary of Technology, finally spoke up. “Mr. President, I think there’s something you need to see.”

* * *

Maya and Jaysin arrived at Freya’s office that evening. “Thank you for coming,” she said from behind her desk.

Maya’s face was still marred by fresh tears. “Have you heard from Ev?”

Freya leaned forward, hands folded. “I’m afraid not. Please, sit down.” They did so. “I’m sure you’ve heard by now, but earlier today his hometown was attacked by Zero Grade. We believe he went there to fight them off.”

“We already figured that out,” Maya snapped. “Where is he now?”

Freya replied, “Maya, I’m not going to insult you by pretending everything’s OK. It’s not. Right now, we fear the worst. We have reason to believe Ev may have had a run-in with a member of the Flawless Few. We haven’t heard from him at all since the attack.”

Maya found her self-control disintegrating. “No! He’s not dead! He can’t be! Why aren’t we out looking for him?”

Freya explained, “Bethos has decided to wait until we have reinforcements before going to Upton.”

“That’s easy for him to say!” she said, hot tears rolling down her face. “There isn’t anyone he cares about in Upton, no one who saved his life and means everything to him.”

Jaysin tried to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “It’ll be OK, Maya.”

She swatted him away. “No, it won’t! Didn’t you hear her? Ev could be dying in Upton right now, and these professors don’t give a damn about him!” With Ev missing and CiCi facing her own crisis, Maya firmly believed she was at her emotional limit. She saw her life crumbling before her eyes, and no one was doing anything about it.

“How can you say that?” Freya said. Maya looked up and was astonished to see tears in
her
eyes. “Have you forgotten? I’m a goddess of love; I feel the pain known only by lovers. I know exactly what you’re going through, so please don’t say I don’t care. It’s just that… sometimes we have to make choices that could kill us because any other choice will kill
many more
people.”

Maya stared at her. “I’m sorry,” she finally said. “I was only thinking of myself.”

Smiling, Freya said, “You weren’t just thinking of yourself; you were thinking of the bond you share with Ev. Love is selfish, Maya, and that’s OK. We do what we do because we want to be happy with someone else, and I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

She nodded. “Thank you, Professor. But I can’t just stand by while Ev faces his execution. I’m going to save him.”

* * *

Ev didn’t know how, but suddenly, he was in the kitchen. The last thing he remembered was being swallowed up by Hades. But now Hades was gone, though the sight that now greeted him was just as unreal.

Lying on the floor was the body of his father, the knife still in his kidney, the tile soaked with blood. The scene wrenched Ev’s heart open again, the guilt threatening to drive him mad.

From somewhere, Hades’ voice called out to him. “You couldn’t save your father.”

Ev panicked and ran into the living room. There, he saw the horrifically familiar sight of his mother nailed to the wall.

“You couldn’t save your mother.”

Ev howled in agony before running out the front door. This time, he was on a bridge, and the house vanished behind him. The body of Arcturus Reich lay on the concrete, his heart punctured by steel shrapnel from their battle.

“You couldn’t save Arcturus Reich.”

Ev bolted over Arcturus’ body and kept running until he was on the other side of the bridge. This time, he was faced with a gruesome scene that hadn’t yet happened: Maya’s head hung on a pike, blood dripping down. “No!”

“You won’t be able to save Maya Brünhart.”

Ev screamed, “What do you want from me?”

“To recognize your own sins. Their blood is on your hands. You cannot change that.”

He cried out, even louder, “You’re the one who murdered my mother!” He could feel his voice getting raw.

“You provoked us. You mocked us. This is how gods settle affairs.”

“She had nothing to do with this!”