Making Friends: Apocalypse Parenting, Book Two by Erin Ampersand

Author:Erin Ampersand [Ampersand, Erin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-04-04T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 33—Reckless charge

The second I was dumped back amidst the healers, I started trying to talk, but it was more difficult than I expected. What I’d intended as a shout came out as a ragged whisper.

"Tamara! Where’s Tamara?"

"What’s that, honey? Can’t hear you. Hang tight a mo’."

A woman laid a hand on my cheek and the blessed itchiness of Healing Touch spread through me. My leg still hurt, but it scabbed up, and I felt something in my chest pop back into place. I hadn’t even realized I’d broken ribs.

I took a deep breath. It still hurt, but it wasn’t unbearable. "TAMARA!"

"Here!" The voice came from behind me. "I saw them dragging you back. What do you need?"

"Are you in touch with your husband?"

I’ve got an eye on both of you. I’m listening.

I jumped. Tamara gave me a wry smile. "Guess he just told you he’s listening in?"

I nodded. "When I got close to the Dragons, I could hear—they have an Announcement running over and over. Very short range. There didn’t seem to be much point to what they were saying, so… I’m wondering if one kind of communication can block others. Dane said they seemed to hear his Announcement begin, but they didn’t react to the things he said, and Colin said they didn’t react to his Mental Speech at all."

Tamara frowned. "That could be, but how does that help us?"

I gestured toward the fighting. "I’m pretty sure their Announcer is that person with the pale-blue scales. If we can just distract that person, and Dane does an Announcement to their followers…"

That’ll tap me out for sure. Mental Speech and surveillance aren’t too taxing, but I’ve been doing both all evening, and I did a couple Announcements earlier, both over wide areas. The bigger the area, the more tiring it is. If I have to do another… I’ll be out after that. Probably fall asleep.

"Well, if you don’t think we should…"

No, it’s a good call. We need to end this, fast.

"He says to go for it," I told Tamara. "But he’ll be too tired to do anything else afterward."

It was one thing to make the decision, but another to implement it. We had a small opportunity, fortunately. While I’d been carried back, a few of the Dragons had climbed up onto the roof of the house they were hiding behind. Our people had fled, but other than a broken leg jumping down, we hadn’t suffered casualties, and the Dragons mostly lacked the ranged abilities to make holding the nearby roof an asset. There were two standing up there watching us, and the one with the fireable spines had taken a few shots at us, but… we had some breathing room.

"Tamara, talk to our melee. Find me people willing to make a charge. I’ll lead it. We need people with Knockback, especially."

Tamara nodded and left. She said nothing, but her silence communicated her worry clearly enough. I was worried too, but we didn’t have much choice. They were right there, less than a hundred feet from our walls.

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