“Yes,” Leah nodded. “That is why I will be leading the assault myself.”

The Councilors looked at each other, but none voiced their concerns out loud. Sure, having someone as high profile as Leah rush into the grinder put their own side at risk, but no one was more experienced than her. More than that, she had to be the person to kill Abraham herself. After what his people had done to her, there could be no other way for this to end.

She let the silence sit before continuing. “Abraham believes that if I were to attack him, the Lord would bury me under the earth. That’s his greatest weakness. His arrogance in assuming that he’ll be protected by divinity. When push comes to shove, he’s just a blind zealot, and we can use that against him. He can’t even fathom a strike this bold coming for him.

“As seen from the map though, their camp is most exposed in the south where they’ve concentrated their security. Charon will keep our heaviest armament hidden in the alleys nearby. Dwayne will take my personal guard and cover the western front, while Flamingo will take the east once the rest of the El Dorado force arrives. We won’t have to worry about the north. Their camp abuts a cliff that is too steep for them to climb. That’ll also be our insertion point.”

“Senora, could I not join you with assault?” Flamingo asked. “You know how much they take from my people.”

“I’d love to have you with me, but I need our flanks under lock and key. You’re one of the only bilingual Hunters left, and I trust no one else to command the people from El Dorado once they enter the fray.”

He bowed his head in silence.

Kinkaid chuckled. “Was wondering why you brought me here, but I see that this is where I’ll be stepping in.”

“That’s right, Kinkaid,” Leah said. “You’re coming with me. Being quick and deadly is the Last Scotsmen’s specialty, last I checked.”

“Aye, lassie. You want this done, you’ll have no one better than my boys.”

He wasn’t lying. Standing over six feet tall with a beard to match, Kinkaid was hardly the stealthiest type, especially with the bright red kilts and sashes that him and his crew wore. But they were also experts of the craft. The Last Scotsmen were a crew of six grizzled Hunters that could each lead sorties of their own, but they’d all been fighting under Kinkaid instead. Having that level of loyalty and experience overrode every other detriment, especially in missions this delicate.

“Got any questions?” Leah asked.

“Where do you think they’ll be holed up?”

“As Evelyn tells it, if our timing is right, they’ll be preparing for Mass in this building here.” She tapped the map. “The ‘tabernacle’.”

Kinkaid squinted at Evelyn. “Why you trusting her anyway, Leah? Last I checked, the living were just as much our enemies.”

“It’s my child they’re looking for,” she snapped.

Leah sighed. “Relax, Kinkaid. She’s the one who drew this map to scale. We wouldn’t have any intel if Abraham hadn’t taken enough of an interest to let her come and go.” Leah had also burned a UAV to confirm the layout, but Evelyn didn’t need to know that.

“Anyone else still feeling lost?” Leah asked.

This time, no one responded.

“Good. The operation begins before dawn tomorrow.”

With their business concluded, the rest of her party filed out to make their own preparations. Only Evelyn remained, with nowhere else to go.

She drew close once alone. “I’m coming with you.”

Leah could’ve laughed. “Absolutely not.”

“I’m the only one who’s been inside that camp. You need me.”

“No, I don’t.”

In truth, Leah wasn’t sure where she stood with Evelyn. The two only knew each other through Liam, and he was nowhere to be seen. Without him, did she really give a shit about her?

“Seems like Abraham’s been giving you a pretty sweet deal,” Leah deflected. “Might be that you won’t know who to pull the trigger on.”

Her cheeks reddened. That struck a nerve. “Screw you! We’re only here because of Abraham.”

“Exactly. Liam is in fuck-off-nowhere right now while you’re being sweet with the enemy in his camp. Yeah, you’ve done a good job of drawing a map and identifying the patrols, but I sure as shit won’t bring you with me. You’re human, weak, and too emotional to keep up.” She wrinkled her nose. “You’re also sick too, aren’t you? I can smell it.”

It was faint beneath her disguise. Somewhere between fresh and fatigued, with more sweat than usual. Leah couldn’t quite place this smell, but she’d definitely tasted this sickness before. Back when there were more living humans floating around.

“I’m fine.” But the pale flush on her otherwise dark face and dribbling beads of flesh told otherwise.

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“Stop being ridiculous, Evelyn. Even if I thought you could hold your own in a gunfight against rezzers, I’m not about to tell Liam I let his wife get killed because she went in over her head. You don’t have the stones for this game.”

She clenched her fists. “I’ve stayed alive in this hell for fifteen years…”

“Only thanks to Mother,” Leah pointed out. “Without her, you’re nothing but dead weight.” She turned around and began to march away. “Tell you what though, Evelyn. You’re welcome to watch from the top of the Styx while I clean up your mess. You can thank me when I return.”

She stood and stewed without another word, too crippled by Leah’s words to do anything else.

Whatever. Leah didn’t need her. She didn’t need anyone.

* * *

The operation began without a hitch. All the major players coordinated under an encrypted radio channel and only mobilized their troops at the last moment. Leah wasn’t about to give the Beholders a chance to have one of their loyalists provide them with advanced warning. By the time the three separate forces had fallen into position, Leah and the Last Scotsmen had already rappelled into the valley. It was still nice and dark, and torches burned throughout the camp, throwing off the night vision of any who might otherwise be keeping watch.

Leah was decked out to the max too. With all the amenities back at her disposal, she’d brought everything for the occasion, from her token M1911 with the oversized suppressor she’d recovered from El Dorado to her favorite black steel combat knife to the M16 she preferred for these heavier engagements. Even with the information they’d gained, there was no telling how severe the resistance could be, especially when the Beholder ranks were still swelling by the day.

Hmm… Quieter than I was expecting. Only a single Inquisitor patrolled around their insertion point, with nobody else nearby.

“What do you think?” Leah whispered.

Kinkaid stroked his beard. “Think we’ve got a perfect chance to have one less of ‘em to deal with.” He turned around. “Sterling, you’re up.”

He nodded and drew a pair of knives. A child-sized rezzer with a painted face, Sterling was one of those Hunters who could move with the speed of a cheetah but the silence of a mouse. He was out of cover and onto the shoulders of his enemy before anyone could blink, his blades planted into the ears of his target. Kinkaid dragged the dead Inquisitor out of view, and the rest of the Scotsmen marched through the opening.

A white-cloaked congregant wandered their way, but Maisie popped a round from her suppressed Nagant in an instant, and Skye had the body hidden seconds later. The two gave the thumbs up, and the rest pressed their advance.

They continued through the camp, purging a Beholder every so often, though that was a rarity. Most of the tents were abandoned, their owners nowhere to be seen. Where the hell is everyone?

“Someone’s off,” Whiskey said, giving his giant nose a rub. “Ain’t there ‘upposed to be thousands ‘ere?”

“Aye,” Kinkaid agreed. “Don’t know where they’ve gone.”

Leah peered around the camp, along with the skeleton crew that lingered in the open. “Might be that Mass came early today.”

“What’s that mean?” Sterling asked.

Kinkaid scoffed. “Means we’re gonna have a bunch of angry Beholders the moment we purge their bosses, yeah?”

“Yep,” Leah said. “We’ll have to be quick and dirty if everyone is watching, then bug the fuck out like nobody’s business.”

“Got another one,” Maisie whispered.

But Lock stepped out of his hiding spot and wrapped his arms around the Beholder’s throat before anyone else made a move. A soft pop was all that heralded the Beholder’s death as Lock snapped his neck. Another second, both were nowhere to be seen.

“We can’t drag this out anymore,” Leah said. “Especially if they’re having a service. If a single one of his sentries raises the alarm, we’ll have to fight our way through Abraham’s entire congregation to bring him down.”

Kinkaid grinned. “You heard our fearless leader, boys. Time to go double time!”

With renewed urgency, they rushed for the tabernacle, quietly eliminating everything else in their path. It wasn’t long before they reached the edge, with the curtains drawn down, though with the torches burning inside, they could make out a shifting crowd of silhouettes on the backdrop.

Still quiet. Were they doing a silent prayer or some shit?

Leah raced for the back, with Kinkaid and the Scotsmen behind. They reached their final spot, right next to where Abraham and the others would be standing. Skye drew his kukri and pressed it against the fabric of the tabernacle, then raised three fingers for a count. The rest of them braced for impact.

Three… Two… One… Skye thrust his kukri, ripping the fabric apart. Leah lunged through the newly formed hole, M16 drawn.

…Only to see the space empty. Leah pivoted her gun this way and that, but no one else was there. The “crowd” they’d seen outside had just been sacks of animal feed piled in the middle of the tent. Kinkaid slashed through the back areas, only to discover the “Holiest Place” abandoned too.

“Bloody hell!” Whiskey hissed. “There’s no one in ‘ere!”

“No one out there either,” Kinkaid echoed, his normally jovial tone now somber. “Which begs the question… If they aren’t in here and they aren’t out there, then where the hell did thousands of rezzers run off to?”

Where, indeed. Leah scanned the empty tent, searching desperately for answers, yet seeing nothing in the end. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. Leah was going to stop Abraham here. This was it. It had to be!

The sky suddenly erupted with thunder, and the ground shook under their feet.

Maisie gasped. “What the fuck is that!?”

Leah sprinted through the exit. Her chest tightened as she stared powerlessly into the insurmountable force bearing down on them.

The cliff north of camp had fallen apart, now transformed into a colossal landslide. Everywhere she looked, there was nothing but shifting earth, as if an entire mountain had come to life to take her out!

This couldn’t be happening… There was no Lord, and nothing protected this place. It was all just Abraham’s mind games… Right!?

As Leah watched the wall close in, the memory of the warning she’d been given came back. If you tried to strike me down, the Lord would open the very earth where you stand and bury you beneath, he’d said. That is His power.

Then she was swallowed whole.