Enduring Light (The Afterglow Trilogy #3)(38)
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy

“What happened?” I barked.

Calvin kept his eyes on Charlotte’s face. “She walked into the river.”

“What? How did she walk into a river?”

“She was sleepwalking. I do not know what happened.” Calvin stepped toward me. “I woke up quickly, and Henry was on watch, but he was patrolling the area around our camp, and he didn’t grab her fast enough.”

The agonized look on his face forced me to calm down. He had tried his best to take care of her.

She opened her eyes. “I’m fine.”

I let out a sigh of relief but then wondered if she’d been awake the whole time. “Were you trying to torture me?”

“You can put me down. I just need to find dry clothes.”

I set her down. “Sleepwalking? When did you start sleepwalking?”

“I think this is the first time.” She wrapped the blanket tighter around her.

Mom walked out of the cave. “Charlotte?” They hugged. “Why are you all wet? What happened?”

I touched the damp spot on my shirt from Charlotte’s hair. “Apparently, Charlotte sleepwalks now.”

“What?” Mom released Charlotte from the hug. “Did you open up your mind?”

Charlotte shook her head. “No. I just remember falling asleep and then Calvin shaking me awake.”

Mom sighed. “I don’t know for sure, but I would assume it was Blake.”

“What trying to get her to drown herself?” I asked.

Mom nodded. “His abilities are more powerful than any of us understand.”

“Mom?” Charlotte said. “Can we find me clothes? I’m freezing.”

I grinned at her. Charlotte knew what she was doing. Mom needed an excuse to do what she did best—mother.

Mom put an arm around Charlotte. “Let’s see what we can find.”

***

We weren’t a big group. There were only seven of us. I was with Henry, Liam, Calvin, Theodore, Lawson, and Charlotte. Samantha and another group that included Mom hung back with the dragons. The third and largest group of the Resistance was supposed to be moving in quietly right behind us. Even though I’d rather have had Samantha with us, it was the smart move. Besides, those dragons would protect her far better than I could.

“Do you think you’ll be able to get me to the cathedral?” Charlotte asked again. She seemed so calm and collected, but she wanted to run through the plan a million times.

“Yes. We’ll cover you. I have no idea what’s waiting for us inside, but the number one goal is to get you inside the cathedral.”

She nodded. “Just tell me when to create the distraction.”

We had decided to enter on the west side of Bellgard. From what we could tell, that side was guarded almost entirely by the undead. Zombies were scary, but at least we knew their weakness.

“How many do you think there are?” Henry asked. His eyes were fixed on the dark sky. It looked like a storm was brewing. I had a feeling it wasn’t just a rainstorm.

“Expect thousands.” Theodore stood beside me. I still didn’t know that uncle well, and I couldn’t tell what was going through his head.

“Let’s do this.” Liam gritted his teeth. I knew he wasn’t planning to leave Charlotte’s side for a second. I was glad.

The forest cover crept up close to the outer wall, providing us with coverage from discovery. Theodore and I scaled the wall first. I jumped down on the surprised humans that were guarding. Evidently, it wasn’t just the undead. I took out the humans first, knocking them out with the hilt of my sword rather than killing them. I saw the rows of undead moving toward us, and my stomach dropped. “Charlotte, it’s show time.”

Within seconds, the entire area was covered in a thick haze. The zombies rushed back and forth like chickens without their heads.

“All right, everyone. Move!” I yelled, assuming my voice would carry back over the wall.

Calvin and Liam climbed the wall with Charlotte, and Henry and Lawson followed behind them. The zombies were confused, but that didn’t stop them from coming near us.

One moved to grab me, and I cut off its head. The head rolled across the ground with dark blood oozing out of it. Charlotte gasped. I couldn’t blame her. It was a disgusting sight.

We made our way through the city. I knew that it was only a matter of time before the real army showed up, but if we had any luck on our side, Charlotte and her Guardians—minus me—would already be in the cathedral by that point.

I killed, or rather re-killed, a half-dozen zombies on our way over to the large stone building. I didn’t relax for a second. I knew that as soon as I put my guard down, we’d be attacked again.

“Duck!” Lawson called.

I immediately bent over and watched a zombie head roll past me. Without the warning, it might have been my head rolling instead. We reached the cathedral and closed the door behind us. Theodore and Lawson stood guard at the door so I could talk to Charlotte.

“How long do you need?” I hoped Charlotte finally had an answer. The Onyx was burning a hole in my pocket, and I just wanted the whole mess over with.

“I don’t know. I don’t exactly have anything to compare it to.”

“We will knock when we are ready. If we run out of time, you knock.” Calvin always explained things so simply.

I hugged Charlotte, well aware that I was probably getting zombie guts on her. She didn’t seem to care. She was a far cry from the girl she had been a year before.

As soon as the doors closed behind us, I heard them barring it. We’d left Charlotte, Liam, Henry, and Calvin inside. I also heard shouts and knew a whole new wave of Blake’s men, zombies and otherwise, were on the way. I hoped Samantha and the rest of them got to Bellgard on time.

Theodore, Lawson, and I jumped up on the wall to get the lay of the land. What we saw wasn’t pretty. The streets were littered with zombies and men, and Charlotte’s haze was dissipating. I knew it wasn’t her doing. Blake had the power to stop it.

I looked into the darkness outside the city and saw nothing, not even the smallest sign of the dragons. Either they were doing a terrific job hiding, or we were in big trouble.

Lawson walked along the wall, and I followed until we were back around the other side of the cathedral. We got there just as Mom jumped up on the wall.

Mom patted my shoulder. “Good job, Kevin. Now it’s my turn.”

“What do we need to do? Where is everyone else?”