Chapter 10

Grace

Grace, Ryan's voice came through my mind, begging for immediate attention. I froze, still wrapped around Dean. Sensing the change in my body language, Dean lifted his head away from my shoulder and waited patiently.

"Kids okay?" he asked, his green eyes narrowed.

I nodded, still waiting for more details from Ryan. "There's a town under attack, not far from where they are in Tulsa," I explained, uncoiling from Dean. "Here."

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and opened my mind enough for Dean to hear the communication I shared with the kids and the Warriors. "Serra, pay attention," I muttered, pushing my thoughts towards my sister as well.

She didn't answer and I knew it was because she was asleep.

Rolling my eyes, I pushed myself up and out of bed, away from my husband, shaking my head sadly. "Well," I sighed, "it was nice while it lasted."

"Hey," Dean shrugged, "we got one round in." He grinned roguishly at me. "There's always tomorrow."

I smiled and pulled on my jeans, speaking aloud again for Serra's benefit. "Ryan, give me more details. We're all kinda separated right now."

Hearing Serra thump her way out of bed, she trudged closer to our room and I unlocked the door, pushing it open slightly for my sister.

We're safe for now, but we've got word that a whole group of those zombie things are headed this way, Ryan continued. 'Lique is on her way to check things out, but she's on horseback. We didn't have enough gas to get her out there.

I nodded. "As soon as you have a visual, let me know, Angelique."

I'm cresting a ridge right now, Angelique answered immediately, sounding anxious. Shouldn't be too long. The fires decimated the area and there's nothing to hide in.

My eyes flicked towards my sister and husband, knowing somewhere in the pit of my stomach that we were due for some very bad news. It had been months since we had an attack on a town and the tiny red flags in my brain had been right this whole time: civilians were once again at risk and this wasn't getting any better any time soon.

Holy shit, came Angelique's voice once more.

I gasped audibly, seeing the burned hillside in my mind's eye. Serra reacted much the same way, tapping into my mental pictures and seeing the view from Angelique's place. "Oh, my god," I whispered, shaking my head.

There, not more than a few miles away, there were hundreds of the zombie-like creatures, snarling and sprinting across the burned prairie. They moved as one, in a giant herd towards the east, making their way across the landscape at startling speed.

"How far away from the town are you?" I asked, buttoning my jeans and pulling on a shirt.

Not even a mile, Angelique answered, shaking her head. There's no way to evacuate in time. We're looking at three thousand civilians.

Dean took a deep breath and exhaled quickly. "Well," he began, pulling on a shirt of his own. "Get the kids back here. We're going to Tulsa."

"Give us five," I whispered to Angelique. "Get people underground into storm cellars or wherever they can find. Lay as many sigils as you can before we get there. I'm sending the angels and we're not far behind."

…

Liberty

"Mom wants us back, ASAP," Glory muttered behind me as I jogged towards the farm. We were so close to getting what we needed, but I already knew that we were going to have to abandon our food-run plan.

Nodding, I turned towards my sister, "I know, I heard her," I muttered, shaking my head. "Come on Charlie," I pivoted in time to see Charlie roll her eyes. "Oh, don't give me that," I continued. "This is just gonna give you a chance to shoot something else."

Faith was already holding out her hands, waiting for us to clasp them. I moved closer to her as she closed her eyes. "Sawyer," I muttered. "I'm sorry, I thought you'd get a chance to work into this slowly but get ready to jump."

"Jump?" he asked.

I took a deep breath, willing myself not to make a big deal about taking his warm hand in mine. "Yeah," I continued, "Faith is going to take us to Tulsa." I felt my sister take my hand on my left side and we all took a collective breath. Jumping through space and time was something that we were pretty used to, but when we all went as a group like this, it really took it out of me.

"Count of three," Charlie muttered. "One, two…"

Levi closed his eyes and I glanced at Sawyer. He watched with wide eyes as we were pressed through a straw, landing hard in pitch darkness. Glory, Faith, and I stayed on our feet, and Charlie and Levi faltered slightly, taking a step back and rubbing their faces.

Sawyer, on the other hand, fell to his knees and held his head in his hands.

"Are you okay?" I asked, squatting to his level and trying to see his face. "It's rough the first couple of times. My dad still has a hard time and he's been doing it for about twenty years."

Glory moved closer to me as we heard the roar of monsters floating through the night. "We need to meet Mom on top of that ridge," she whispered, pointing to the hills to the north. "Angelique and Ryan are already over there."

Chuckling, Levi began to jog, "Your drop zone was off, Faith," he teased. "Now we have to walk." I turned in time to see the happy-go-lucky grin slide off my cousin's face. "Holy shit," he whispered.

We stood and followed his gaze and I felt the clench of stress from my cousins and siblings as we realized what we were staring at.

There, moving up the hillsides at an alarming rate was a black herd of shadow and smoke, growling as it joined the pack of zombie-like creatures. I gasped and glanced at Levi. "There's too many," I whispered, shaking my head. "We can't take something like that on by ourselves."

"Then it's a good thing we're here," Mom whispered as she appeared with a whoosh behind me, Dad and Auntie Luck standing on either side. There was another whoosh of angel wings as a few members of the brigade appeared as well; Uncle Cas, Lucia, Khamael, and a few others stood at our flanks, waiting for orders.

"Well," Auntie Luck sighed. "It's been awhile since I thought we were all gonna die."

"That's a nice vote of confidence," Daddy muttered under his breath. "Maybe take it down a notch. My ego can only handle so many compliments."

Mom ignored both of them, "Okay," she whispered, her bright blue eyes flashing with angelic power as she strengthened our shields. "The angels will go help the Warriors at the front lines. We need to go into town and do what we can to save as many civilians as possible. Kids," she turned and licked her lips, "go and start laying sigils around the outskirts of the town. Let's try and bring the wall up and around the entire city before they break through the boundaries."

The angels disappeared on the spot and I knew they were already out, helping Ryan, Angelique, Santiago, and Donna at the front lines. Auntie Luck held out her hand towards Faith, "Come on, kiddo," she breathed, "drop us in." Charlotte and Levi moved forward as well, taking Faith's hands as they closed their eyes again.

With that, it was just Mom, Dad, Glory, Sawyer and I at the top of the ridge. "Where's Everett?" I asked.

"Sleeping," Mom answered. "This kind of situation is not something we need him to be a part of."

I rolled my eyes. "There're four of us. It'd be nice if we actually were able to use that combined power occasionally."

"Do you want him out here with those things?" Mom asked, gesturing to the herds.

"He's gonna have to deal with it some time," I muttered, bringing out my guns. "It'd be nice if he was there to cover my ass as many times as I've covered his."

Mom clicked her tongue, "Noted. Get to work."