They Are Monsters (Deathless Trilogy, #2)

Chapter Thirty Two: Before the War

We leave flowers in the barn for Ben before we go in the morning. Funerals are important to my dad, which only makes me more determined to get Nina to the coast. After Ian left with one of the pods, each of us said our final words to Ben. I didn't say much out loud, I just read General Sato's poem, but when my mind raced through all of my memories with him, I couldn't help but shed tears for Ben.

Afterward, my mom and dad, Eleanor, Daniel, Nina, and I piled into the remaining pod, and headed to the Atlantic. We had to hurry, since we didn't want to be too far behind Ian, especially not after Ian and I had the same dream. We both dreamt that Gunther landed the plane in Old England and met with a dark skinned woman with tight braids and a strict face. He shook her hand, and she introduced herself as Sergeant Major Belinda Lawrence. He told her lies to support her assumption about what happened to her pilot, and she said, "We'll prepare for counterattack."

Then I woke up, but Ian and I both knew it wasn't actually a dream. We knew it was Gunther sharing this information with us. He doesn't want to surprise us. He wants, as he always does, to mentally torture us. To let us know he's coming with an army, and that there's nothing we can do to stop it. And he's right: We're no match for whatever armies are left in the rest of the world.

Ian left to warn Declan. Radio transmissions are too risky. Gunther wants us to know, but we don't want Sergeant Major Lawrence to know. When the rest of us get back, we'll set our plan into motion: Force Mitchell into creating a separate, secure network for Ian and I to use; plant Ian and some other soldiers we can trust at Cooper's estate for Gunther and Lawrence to find; and use Ian and I to transmit the information Gunther doesn't want us seeing so we can stand a chance. But we can't hide forever. We will have to end this war.

The cold ocean water washes over me as I wade knee deep in the Atlantic, and I open the urn of Nina's ashes. With my family on the beach behind me, I tilt the urn on its side and let Nina slip into the sea.

"Two funerals in one day," I say to myself.

I watch as her grey ashes mix with foam, and decide to say my final words to her. "I didn't know you very long, but as soon as we met, you felt like an old friend. You told me to tell the drones I had the runs," I say, laughing to myself, "and I thought that was so funny. There I was in this terrible place with Gunther's threats hanging over my head, and you came up to me and talked about diarrhea. You were like that, though. You always found a way to escape the fear, whether it was through the drains or through laughter or through song, you never let it get the best of you. At least not when I knew you."

Unless all of that was her mask, I think, remembering her suicide attempt. Maybe she was afraid all along, like me.

I take a deep breath and look across the grey ocean, which reflects the overcast sky. Somewhere across from me Gunther is celebrating, and my stomach turns in discomfort. "How do I escape, Nina?" I ask. "How do I escape the fear and the anger?"

Water slushes behind me, so I clear my throat and turn. Daniel's walking toward me. His black Deathless pants are rolled up to his knees, but they still catch water. "What are you doing?" he asks.

"I was just saying my goodbyes. We can go now," I say.

"No," he says. "Nina deserves better... so do you."

I bow my head, hiding my face in case this is the conversation I've been dreading. The one about being friends and maybe getting back together when we're past this part of our lives. He stops beside me.

"Daniel, I...."

"I'm sorry," he says. "It was unfair of me to be mad at you for what Gunther did to my mom."

I allow myself to meet his sunshine eyes, and they somehow bring warmth to this cold, dark day. "It's okay," I say. "You know that nothing ever happened between me and Nate, right?"

"That's not why I was mad," he admits. "I was mad because I love you, and there were things I wanted to experience with you. Things like having a baby, when we were ready. But now... you're going to sort of be a Mom already... without me. In a few months there will be this kid who is half of you and half of someone else, and that kid is going to be in my life forever. And you know what the worst part is?"

I shake my head. It gets worse?

"I can't even hate the guy. He protected both of us. If you hadn't been immune to the Knock Out gas, and if you didn't know the room number, I would have been forgotten in the bunker." He turns away and scoffs. "What a jerk."

"I'm sorry you feel cheated," I say. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"Of course you didn't," he says, "but every thing happens for a reason. You were meant for something greater. You were meant to be something to these people. I have to admit, I envy you for that."

"Well, they won't feel that way for long. Once I tell them what's coming for us, they'll hate me."

He takes my hand and a little of my fear washes away in the waves. "No they won't," he says, "because we will stop Gunther... together."

For a long time, we just stand there, hand in hand, staring off the edge of the world. Old world explorers thought everything ended at the horizon, and in this instance, I wish so badly they were right.

With each push of the waves, I imagine my scales falling into the water, my sins washing away like in old folk songs, and a new Isla emerging. The Isla who has always lived at my core, the one my dad promised I could find again. She's brave and smart, she's kind and powerful. She's the woman Nina, Ben, Nate, and Ava always believed I could be. I hope the rest of the Deathless will be able to see her too.

"We have to go, Tiger Lily," my dad calls from the shore, so Daniel and I turn and wade back to land. But I'm scared. I'm scared I'll disappoint Daniel, my parents, Eleanor, Declan, Celia, Jane, and all the other people who are still alive and counting on me. The weight of them all nearly anchors me to the ocean floor.

My only comfort comes when, just before squeezing back into the pod, a brush of warm air caresses my cheek, and an image comes to me, which I'm sure Gunther doesn't mean for me to see: He sits at a desk, biting his nails and breathing deeply to steady his pulse. He's lost people too... and he's afraid.

Maybe our armies won't be evenly matched, but at least now, emotionally, it will be a fair fight.

The End.

We've reached the end of book 2 in the Deathless Trilogy! What did you think? What are you hoping to learn about, see, or happen in the 3rd book?

Book 3 is in the process of being written currently, so it will not be posted for a while (if ever). I can tell you that there will be some happy surprises and some big changes in the 3rd book though!

Thank you so much for reading and being amazing fans and supporters of me, Isla, Beatrice, Declan, Daniel, and the whole gang! <3 Much love to you!