The Bones of Valhalla (Purge of Babylon, Book 9) by Sam Sisavath Page A
Authors: Sam Sisavath
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immediately outside and around the infirmary—evidence left behind by Danny and the others as they moved around last night—but no actual people.
She slipped outside using the nearest door, drawn forward by the rays of light on the other side. The sun and cool weather against her face was a monumental relief, and she hadn’t realized how much she needed the fresh air until she was standing in the middle of it. The old Gaby would have loved to lie in bed for days being tended to, but Gaby 2.0 needed to move even when there was nothing to do.
The Trident was almost as quiet outside as it was inside, with just the waves slapping against the hull and the occasional howl of wind gusts. It was a nice (ridiculously nice, in fact) cloudless sky, and she had the urge to keep going rather than retreat.
She ended up down the side of the boat until she was on the lower deck. She didn’t know how she got there, but soon she was walking toward the engine room and spotted a lone, small figure standing guard in front of it.
Maddie heard her approaching and glanced over. “She lives!”
Gaby smiled. “Hey, Maddie.”
“What are you doing out of bed?”
“Bed was getting boring.”
Gaby glanced past her at Lorelei, who was moving up and down the deck behind Maddie. The girl looked as if she were moving in slow motion, or maybe she just wasn’t certain where she was going, if anywhere at all.
“Kid’s all messed up,” Maddie said. “Fighting through it like a champ, though. Good for her.”
“I heard about Carrie.”
“Yeah. It sucks. But at least Benny’s going to get through it.”
“Thank God for that.” Then, looking past Maddie at the engine room door, “Is he alone down there?”
“Yes. Why?”
“I haven’t really gotten the chance to…talk to him.”
“You sure you wanna go down there? The last two people who did didn’t come back up.”
“I’ll be fine,” she said, and managed a forced smile while thinking, She’s right. Stay up here where it’s safe. You don’t really want to go down there, do you?
Well, do you?
She hadn’t turned around and left by the time Maddie pulled the hatch open, so Gaby gave the small Texan a pursed smile and stepped inside. She moved on automatic pilot through the machinery, not sure what she was doing down here or if she really wanted to see what was waiting at the other end—
She smelled the blood before she actually saw it on the floor toward the end of the narrow hallway. She stepped cautiously over and around the dry puddles until she was in front of the cabin door. Gage had been using the room until Lara dealt with him, and once upon a time it was supposed to be hers and Nate’s. But now it had become a makeshift brig, though at the moment there was nothing to fear from its only occupant.
Keep telling yourself that; then maybe your hands will stop shaking.
She managed to calm down enough to pull the lever and yank on the door, relying entirely on her good right arm. Artificial light from the hallway glinted off spent shell casings that still littered the floor, many of them held in place by the plentiful blood that had been spilled last night. She tried to look for the black among the red, but if Will had been injured and bled out, she couldn’t spot the evidence.
Gaby didn’t close the door behind her as she stepped inside. She told herself that there was no point—because sunlight didn’t reach this far down and the cabin’s only window was covered from the outside world—but the truth was she wanted an easy way out if she needed it.
I won’t need it. Not down here, not with Will.
Not with Will…
There was a slight movement in the corner of the room as a figure—tall and skeletal—stood up in the shadows, piercing (pulsating) blue eyes watching her back from the blackness. The hairs on the back of her neck went straight, and a shiver snapped up and down her spine. Memories of the farmhouse, of the nights in Gallant, rushed back in a
She slipped outside using the nearest door, drawn forward by the rays of light on the other side. The sun and cool weather against her face was a monumental relief, and she hadn’t realized how much she needed the fresh air until she was standing in the middle of it. The old Gaby would have loved to lie in bed for days being tended to, but Gaby 2.0 needed to move even when there was nothing to do.
The Trident was almost as quiet outside as it was inside, with just the waves slapping against the hull and the occasional howl of wind gusts. It was a nice (ridiculously nice, in fact) cloudless sky, and she had the urge to keep going rather than retreat.
She ended up down the side of the boat until she was on the lower deck. She didn’t know how she got there, but soon she was walking toward the engine room and spotted a lone, small figure standing guard in front of it.
Maddie heard her approaching and glanced over. “She lives!”
Gaby smiled. “Hey, Maddie.”
“What are you doing out of bed?”
“Bed was getting boring.”
Gaby glanced past her at Lorelei, who was moving up and down the deck behind Maddie. The girl looked as if she were moving in slow motion, or maybe she just wasn’t certain where she was going, if anywhere at all.
“Kid’s all messed up,” Maddie said. “Fighting through it like a champ, though. Good for her.”
“I heard about Carrie.”
“Yeah. It sucks. But at least Benny’s going to get through it.”
“Thank God for that.” Then, looking past Maddie at the engine room door, “Is he alone down there?”
“Yes. Why?”
“I haven’t really gotten the chance to…talk to him.”
“You sure you wanna go down there? The last two people who did didn’t come back up.”
“I’ll be fine,” she said, and managed a forced smile while thinking, She’s right. Stay up here where it’s safe. You don’t really want to go down there, do you?
Well, do you?
She hadn’t turned around and left by the time Maddie pulled the hatch open, so Gaby gave the small Texan a pursed smile and stepped inside. She moved on automatic pilot through the machinery, not sure what she was doing down here or if she really wanted to see what was waiting at the other end—
She smelled the blood before she actually saw it on the floor toward the end of the narrow hallway. She stepped cautiously over and around the dry puddles until she was in front of the cabin door. Gage had been using the room until Lara dealt with him, and once upon a time it was supposed to be hers and Nate’s. But now it had become a makeshift brig, though at the moment there was nothing to fear from its only occupant.
Keep telling yourself that; then maybe your hands will stop shaking.
She managed to calm down enough to pull the lever and yank on the door, relying entirely on her good right arm. Artificial light from the hallway glinted off spent shell casings that still littered the floor, many of them held in place by the plentiful blood that had been spilled last night. She tried to look for the black among the red, but if Will had been injured and bled out, she couldn’t spot the evidence.
Gaby didn’t close the door behind her as she stepped inside. She told herself that there was no point—because sunlight didn’t reach this far down and the cabin’s only window was covered from the outside world—but the truth was she wanted an easy way out if she needed it.
I won’t need it. Not down here, not with Will.
Not with Will…
There was a slight movement in the corner of the room as a figure—tall and skeletal—stood up in the shadows, piercing (pulsating) blue eyes watching her back from the blackness. The hairs on the back of her neck went straight, and a shiver snapped up and down her spine. Memories of the farmhouse, of the nights in Gallant, rushed back in a
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