She walked into the cool morning mist and past one woman who had begun to stoke the coals. Dia nodded, and the woman smiled as she walked past. The path through the settlement curved to the east and then branched, one direction heading to the plant and the other winding through a patch of forest and ending on the shore of the small island in the bay. If the fog hadn’t consumed the ruins this morning, she’d be able to see them from the shore. Although being in the steel skeletons of the old world could be unnerving, Dia enjoyed gazing at them from a distance, in an almost meditative state.

  Walking through the trees and then along the rocky sand, Dia strolled to where the bay waters lapped the shore. She looked across the water and saw the fog sitting on top of the ruins, obscuring the tallest peaks of the man-made mountains. She could see the red limbs of the giant extending into the clouds—the painted and rusted supports of the Golden Gate Bridge. A thought occurred to her. How long would it last? How long before nature took back what rightfully belonged to her?

  “Hey.”

  Dia spun, but saw nobody.

  “Dia.”

  She turned the other way, still seeing nothing.

  “I must be losing my mind.”

  “You know the woman is evil. Don’t give up on righteousness.”

  “Hado?”

  Could it be? Physically impossible, and yet Dia was certain she’d felt her mentor’s presence. Hado had spoken words carried on the seagulls’ wings, ushered forth across the bay’s cold waters. Dia had heard them, even if they’d been inside her head.

  “I don’t owe them anything. I was Los Muertos a long time ago, and not with this clan. They are still strangers to me and I shouldn’t let Shiva use their lives as leverage over mine. I can turn my back, head back into the ruins, and survive in the way I know I can.”

  “Alone?”

  “Yes. I don’t need anyone.”

  “We all need someone.”

  Hado’s words faded, but an image came into Dia’s mind—the charm. She’d pulled it from Hado’s neck as the woman had drowned. Not in an attempt to get the charm, but hoping to save Hado from an icy death. Dia had come away with the charm’s chain wrapped around her fingers while her mentor had slid to the bottom of the river.

  Dia knew the charm had belonged to Katy, Hado’s birth mother. Well, at least half of it had. Katy had given the charm to Hado and worn the other half around her neck. When Katy had “escaped” prior to her appearance before Shiva and the Council, Hado had given her mother the charm back.

  She couldn’t remember when, but at some point before Hado and Dia had left for Denver, the charm had appeared around Hado’s neck again. She’d kept it beneath her shirt and cloak, but Dia had seen flashes of it when Hado had bent over to stack firewood or gut a deer.

  The memories came faster now, seemingly random events sliding into a logical sequence. Hado had gone to the shore for weeks after Katy’s disappearance, sent there by Shiva to confirm the woman’s death. There had seemed to be no doubt that neither Katy nor the boat had survived the storm that day. In fact, hunks of mast and timber had washed ashore, but none had ever been identified as part of Katy’s boat.

  But Dia had been with Hado one winter morning when, walking across the sand, Hado had bent down and picked up a shiny object. Dia could remember watching her shove it into a sack. And it hadn’t been too long after that when she’d seen the charm around Hado’s neck once again.

  And from that moment until she’d slid beneath the ice, Hado had not taken the charm from her neck.

  “I never gave up on my mother. I couldn’t spare her life, but I could restore her dignity.”

  “You missed her.”

  “Yes. Of course, I did. But I had you.”

  “You had someone.”

  “We all must have someone.”

  Dia wiped the tears from her face as she picked up a rock and skipped it across the water. Whether it had been Hado’s spirit or the conjurings of her own mind, whoever Dia had been communicating with was now gone.

  “Do I need Lane? Los Muertos?”

  She’d asked the question aloud, not expecting or getting an answer from the universe. More questions flooded her mind and she began to stomp around the beach, throwing more and bigger rocks into the bay.

  Could she trust Lane?

  Could she trust Los Muertos?

  Could she trust Shiva?

  And yet, all those questions seemed to hover and block the more important one, the question Dia believed Hado had been trying to force her to face. The question that shouldn’t have been posed to a girl her age in a cold, violent, murderous world that shouldn’t be. The question that neither the ruins nor the water could answer for her.

  “Can I go it alone?”

  Chapter 10

  Dia had joined the others around the fire, telling jokes and laughing even though the cisterns had dropped to dangerous levels and the game had seemed to disappear with it. The larger creatures, like deer, had begun to migrate inland in search of water during a drought that must started decades ago, leaving smaller animals that could barely sustain one of the clan’s families, let alone an entire settlement of about 50 people.

  The night had come quickly, bringing with it a bitter wind that swept down from the north and battered the flames of their paltry fire. Clouds had mottled the purple-hued sky at dusk, but cleared in time for a first quarter moon to cast a silver patina over the ruins.

  She now stood on the roof of the water filtration plant with Lane as daybreak threatened the horizon, checking on some pipe or hose that he called “mission critical”—although they all looked the same to Dia. She’d followed his instructions and quickly mastered the mindless task of valve turning, and thought that Lane wanted her to take on more responsibility, although there didn’t seem to be much else to do. Those at the plant turned valves, checked cistern levels, and cleaned and activated the charcoal. Any of Los Muertos could have done this, and yet Lane seemed to be investing his time in training her.

  Lane huffed. “You’re quiet. I mean, even for you, you’re quiet.”

  She smiled, looking at him as he managed to strip the meat off the stick and skewer another with one hand. Dia hadn’t been around Hado for long after she had lost her arm, and the woman had not adjusted well. But, then again, Lane had probably been without his for much longer.

  “How are your valves?”

  Dia giggled. “What?”

  “We used to call it small talk. It’s what friends do in addition to this.” Lane waved at the others drinking and laughing around the fire. “Socializing. Ever heard of it?”

  “No.”

  “Doesn’t surprise me. The world is so different now.”

  “Not for me. It’s as it’s always been.”

  “That’s what worries me, you know. Kids your age, you have no memory of civilization. I’m not saying it was all that and a bag of chips.” Lane paused, raising his eyebrows and smiling, but when Dia showed no reaction, he continued. “There were problems. Many problems. But the thing with civilization is that it gives you a story. All of us had a story—a common one. We held the same things sacred and, in a way, it protected us.”

  “And destroyed you.”

  “Yes, true. Like water and fire. Both elements we need to survive.”

  Dia shook her head. Hado had been significantly younger than Lane, and yet she’d had these conversations with her, as well. Those with a memory of the old world struggled to let it go, holding on to the nostalgia and memories of a life before. She’d been so young when everything had happened that it all felt like what this was, stories around a campfire and nothing more.

  “What do you remember, Dia?”

  She normally hated hearing her own name because it meant she wasn’t alone. But, when Lane said it, it felt different. Almost comforting. “Nothing.”

  “Been talking to Willie, and he’s liking what he’s seeing from you.” Lane must have sensed that she wasn’t going to open up about her past, so he focused on her future. “Even Snowball stopped calling you a little shit.”

  “Wow. Thanks, I guess.”

  “I don’t know what you want to do, but we’d like you to stay.”

  “I didn’t think I had a choice. I thought I’d seen the plant and that meant Willie wasn’t going to let me leave.”

  “He doesn’t think you’ll steal the technology or take it to another clan. Willie knows you want to live on your own, out in the ruins. God knows why, but it’s clear that’s where your head is most times.”

  “Do you?”

  “Do I want to live in the ruins? God, no. I couldn’t live with all those ghosts.”

  “No. I meant, do you think I’ll steal from Los Muertos?”

  “I don’t. Never did. Los Muertos took me in, and they were careful with me at first, too. It’s just how they are. Nothing personal.”

  “Everything’s personal.”

  “Suit yourself. You can move through this world with whatever attitude you so desire. It’s one of the few things left we can control.”

  “I have to pee.”

  Lane motioned to the path which led to the privy, as if Dia hadn’t been using it since she’d first arrived at the settlement.

  She pulled her cloak tight around her neck as the forest sucked the warmth of the fire from her bones. Being in the forest made Dia forget she’d been working and living on an island in the bay. It felt more like home than anything since she’d left Erehwon with Hado.

  As Dia turned down the winding path toward the privy, she caught movement out of her peripheral vision. She kept walking, now sensing that she was being followed. Instead of stopping at the privy, she took off into a full sprint past the outhouse and toward the shore. She looked over her shoulder to look for a pursuer, and when she turned around, she ran right into the towering, masked Venganza warrior.

  “I need to know what you’re going to do.”

  Before Dia could reply, Shiva lifted her mask and spoke again. “Please don’t run or scream. I have enough warriors here to end Los Muertos right now.”

  “But you won’t because you’ll have the plant but not the technology.”

  “True.”

  Dia stared at Shiva as more Venganza slithered from the darkness to surround them both.

  “I don’t recognize most of these masks.”

  “No, you wouldn’t. When I set out from Erehwon to chase you and Hado across the god-forsaken land, I did so alone. I couldn’t trust others. And, like you, I’d rather be alone. But once I made it to the Denver settlement, I had others wanting to follow me. We all heard the same whispers about this place that you did. We all want the same thing, don’t we?”

  “I just want to be left alone.”

  “Well, that’s not going to happen, so you’re going to have to make a decision.”

  Dia closed her eyes and inhaled. Opening them, she asked, “Right now?”

  “I don’t see this as a difficult decision. I think I’ve given you plenty of time to realize the consequences of it.”

  She wanted to spy for Shiva, to steal whatever information would be necessary to save the women in Erehwon. That settlement, those people—they were her family. And yet, she kept thinking about Lane. These people had taken her in, given her the opportunity to contribute, and trusted her with the clan’s most precious resource. They’d brought her into a new family—one that didn’t run through the ruins in masks, stealing babies and putting them on spikes.

  And Lane really seemed to care about her with the same kind of sibling love Hado had shown Dia. She knew what made sense logically, but her heart didn’t care. If this was what it meant to be part of a society, of “civilization,” Dia could understand the benefits. Maybe this was how Los Muertos settlements everywhere operated. How would she ever know if she was just another spear in Shiva’s army of assassins? Ever since they’d grabbed her from the ruins, Dia had seen nothing but the systematic elimination of the tribe she’d been born into. And maybe that was where she really belonged.

  “No.”

  Shiva took a step forward, placing her hands on her hips. “What?”

  “My answer is no. I won’t spy on Los Muertos and steal the water technology for you. I won’t water whisper for you. I want nothing to do with Venganza.”

  Dia stared at Shiva knowing full well that the warrior wouldn’t let that happen. Shiva’s hand landed on Dia’s shoulder, the woman’s fingers digging into the soft flesh near her collarbone.

  “Once I have what I want, you can go. Run like a feral cat through the ruins, hunting rats and mumbling to ghosts in those abandoned skyscrapers. I don’t give a fuck what you do after I get what I want.’

  “I don’t believe you. I don’t think you’ll ever let me walk away from Venganza.”

  “You don’t trust anyone, do you?”

  “I trusted Hado.”

  “And look where that’s gotten you. Where it’s gotten her.”

  Dia looked at the warriors standing around them. “I have to get back. They’re going to be wondering where I am.”

  “Last chance. Come with me, Dia. Let’s take what we need and go home.”

  “I won’t go anywhere with you.”

  Shiva shook her head, grabbing a knife from her belt and raising it into the air.

  “You can’t kill me.”

  “You’re right. But I don’t need the rest of those simple-minded barbarians.”

  Chapter 11

  She watched the fires rage less than an hour later.

  Dia stood in the middle of the settlement, the smoke mixing with the smell of blood and shit. They’d come at dawn, and she’d known Shiva had spared her life so that she could watch it be drained from Los Muertos.

  There hadn’t been time to alert Lane or Willie. The Venganza had come on silent wings of death, floating from beneath the trees in masks and with spears in hand. Shiva had ordered one of her soldiers to stand twenty yards from Dia, the warrior’s bow noched and aimed at Dia’s heart. The old bitch had wanted her to watch, to see what it meant to turn down the most powerful Venganza leader in the ruins.

  She’d watched one of the plant workers die. Dia couldn’t remember his name, or maybe they had never been introduced. Not all of them had trusted her like Lane had, and this man had kept his distance, walking past the valves without so much as a glance in her direction. Dia hadn’t judged him for that, simply acknowledging his fear of the unknown. And he’d been right. Dia had brought this destruction to the settlement and she might as well have been the Venganza warrior putting the tip of a blade in his heart.

  The huts and cabins had gone up in flames shortly after Shiva had attacked. This simple yet ancient battle tactic was irreversible, and she understood why Shiva had done it. She wasn’t just defeating Los Muertos; she was eliminating them. As she’d promised.

  More and more Los Muertos fell, and Dia couldn’t imagine them resisting for much longer. She’d been hearing shouting, crying, and the last moans of the dying. She hoped Lane would survive, but Dia doubted his fighting ability, with only his one hand. So, when the horn blew and the Venganza warriors turned to face the woods, so did Dia.

  It wasn’t Shiva or one of her lieutenants who’d blown the horn. In fact, Dia couldn’t remember the Venganza ever using something like that in battle. They preferred stunning the enemy visually with ghoulish masks and war paint on their bodies.

  “Stop!”

  It wasn’t the word that caught her attention, but rather the person who yelled it from only a few feet away. The woman had golden hair so light that, at first, Dia thought this was an ice queen with snow upon her shoulders. Her locks had been braided into a single strand and lay over her shoulder and on a shiny breast plate. She carried a long sword in one hand and a shield in her other, a brass helmet protecting her face but letting her sharp, blue eyes shine. Dia studied her face, smooth and yet strong to match her toned muscles. Probably in her late twenties, the woman’s movements and mannerisms reminded Dia of Hado around the time the Venganza had yanked her from the ruins.

  “In the name of the Lord of the Bay, I command you to lay down your weapons.”

  The Venganza ignored the leader of the clan, but they could not ignore two dozen warriors sweeping through the settlement. They took down several of Shiva’s soldiers in a matter of minutes. Dia watched as Shiva emerged from a hut, covered in blood and grinning.

  “My fight is not with you.”

  The woman raised her sword and walked to Shiva as the fighting died down, the soldiers on the field of battle now watching the two commanders.

  “If you bring violence to the realm, it is with us.”

  Shiva grinned, turning her spear around and shoving the blunt end into the blood-soaked dirt. “I’m Shiva, of the mighty Venganza.”

  Dia watched as the mysterious warrior with the hair of golden sunshine looked around, her eyes then locking back onto Shiva.

  “I am Quinn of the River Rangers. You are a stranger in our realm and,” Quinn said as she spun and pointed at the destruction with her sword, “you are an enemy of it.”

  “Are these not your enemies? Have we not done you and the realm a great service?”

  Shiva had spoken the word realm with the taint of sarcasm, and Dia could see it light a new fire in Quinn’s eyes.

  “Los Muertos. Come forth and stand beside your old enemy because it is time to fight a new one.”

  Dia looked around as only a handful of Los Muertos emerged from the battlefield, some stumbling out of huts that had yet to catch fire while others crawled through their own puddles of blood—injured, but with an unbroken spirit.

  As they came forth, Dia saw Snowball and Willie walking toward Quinn. Snowball had blood covering the left side of his face, but Willie seemed untouched, as if he’d just left his hut after a long night’s rest. Both were grinning as they marched past Shiva to stand next to Quinn.

 

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