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Back The Drowned Cities Save as PDF
Chapters (53)
  1. Welcome
  2. Dedication
  3. PART ONE
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. PART TWO
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  52. Contents
  53. Copyright

Mahlia splashed to Mouse’s body and yanked it up, mindless and desperate. There were ways to breathe life into the drowned and dead. She could still save him. The doctor was good.

But even as her mind told her stories, she knew that they were nothing but silly little licebiter prayers, wishes that would never be answered.

Mouse’s head came up out of the water, and suddenly he spit a stream of mud in her face.

Mahlia leaped back with a yelp, trying to understand how the dead spit, all her mother’s stories of war dead rising making her skin prickle, but suddenly Mouse was laughing, and now he was standing, and she finally understood that he wasn’t dead.

The damn licebiter was laughing.

Mahlia lunged for him and grabbed him and Mouse’s skin was warm with life and air, and still he was laughing. Mahlia sobbed with relief and then she slugged him.

“Owww!”

“You maggot! I’ll kill you for that!” She shoved him under the water. “You faked me?”

Mouse was laughing and trying to fight her off. Tears blurred Mahlia’s sight. She was laughing and sobbing and hating him and loving him, and all her terror that she’d kept bottled up inside came flooding out.

“You maggot!” She hugged him. “Don’t ever do that to me! I can’t lose you. I can’t lose you.” And as she said it, she knew it was true. She’d lost too many. She couldn’t take any more. Every part of her old life had been ripped away. In its place, there was only Mouse.

Mouse was untouchable. He had the Fates Eye on him. Soldier boys didn’t see him. Bullets missed him. Food always found him. Mouse was a survivor. He had to survive. And Mahlia was terrified to realize that she would do anything to make sure of it.

“Damn, Mahlia,” Mouse said. “I think you really would miss me if I bit the bullet.” He was still laughing. Trying to shake her off, and then he started to hit her, pounding her with all his strength.

“You were late!” he shouted as he beat on her. And then he started to cry. Sobs wracked his small frame.

“You were late.”

14

IT TOOK A WHILE to get Mouse calmed down and get the story from him, as well as to tell the story of their own experiences with the UPF soldier boys. The half-man lay in a hollow not far away, huddled amongst banyan roots, like some kind of dead troll from a fairy tale.

Mouse squatted on the swamp bank and stared across at the creature’s corpse. He pushed red hair off his freckled face.

“It let me go,” he said. “I dunno why.”

“Maybe it died too soon,” Mahlia suggested.