Armageddon's Children - Terry Brooks [59]
“Most.” She tried not to think about the ones she hadn’t, the ones she’d lost. “As many as I could. It wasn’t easy. They’re hidden up in the hills north, waiting for us.”
Helen shook her head. “I can’t believe this is happening. I tell myself it is, know for a fact it is, and I still can’t believe it. Sweet Heaven!”
They went down a set of steps and along a second corridor that ended at a steel wall with a metal keypad recessed into its surface. Helen punched a sequence of numbers on the pad, and a set of hidden locks released. Angel pushed against the wall, which swung open far enough to allow them passage. The women stepped through into bright light and eerie silence.
Dozens of children sat cross-legged around makeshift tables on a concrete floor. The smaller children were drawing and working with puzzles. The older ones were reading. A few not quite old enough to fight at the walls or work in the nursing stations were helping the adults supervise. No one was talking in a regular tone of voice; everyone was whispering. Frightened eyes glanced up as Angel and Helen appeared through the door, fixing quickly on the former with her strange black staff.
A small clutch of women came forward, faces drawn, eyes filled with fear.
They knew.
“Is it time?” one asked.
“What do we do?” asked another.
Helen reached for the closest and squeezed her arm reassuringly. “Gather them in their safety groups and put one older child or one adult with each group. Remind them they are not to speak or make any sounds at all once we leave this room.”
Those addressed broke away, spreading out across the room and summoning the children to their feet. But now a different woman came charging over, her face flushed and angry, her hands gesturing wildly. “No, no, no!” she cried out, coming right up against Helen and gripping the smaller woman by her shoulders.
“What do you think you’re doing? You can’t take these children out of here!”
She swung around on Angel. “This is your fault. You’ve caused nothing but trouble with your scare tactics and false prophecies! I’m sick of it! Who do you think you are? These aren’t your children! You can’t just come in here and take them away!”
She was furious, and now she was joined by several others, all of them looking as if they meant to attack her if she even moved toward the children.
Angel held her ground. “The gates are about to collapse under the weight of the attack. The enemy will be inside in minutes. When that happens, all chance of escape will be cut off. You will be sealed inside. Eventually, you will be found. You know what will happen then.”
“I know what you say will happen! Anyway, I don’t believe you! You’d do anything to get those children!”
“I would do anything to save them, yes.” Angel kept her voice even, her gaze level.
“Get out of here! Leave us alone! We’re safe right where we are! Our men will protect us from those creatures outside!”
Angel stepped right up to her and seized her by the arms. “Look in my eyes. Tell me what you see. Go on, look!”
Squirming to break free, but held fast by Angel’s strong grip, the woman did as she was told. It was impossible to say what she saw there, but Angel knew what the effect would be. It was a skill she had learned when she had become a Knight of the Word, although she was the only one she knew who could do it. She pictured the worst things she had ever been witness to; she conjured the most terrible images of the most heinous acts of the demons and the once-men.
Something of that horror reflected in her eyes when she did so, and anyone looking caught a momentary glimpse of Hell.
“Oh, my God!” the woman breathed. She shrank down inside herself as if deflated; she would have fallen if Angel wasn’t holding her. Her hands covered her face and tears began running down her cheeks. “Don’t show me any more!
Please, please don’t!”
She was shaking now, completely undone. The others who had supported her clustered about protectively, hands reaching for her, faces stricken. Angel