In the Land of Giants - Book 2 of the Acropolis series

Chapter 17

  "What the hell do you mean, he died?" Sam asked, shaking his head with disbelief. "He was just fine ten minutes ago, I saw him!"

Spalding held his hands up defensively. "Hey, look, I don't know what you want me to tell you." He said. "He just stopped breathing, okay?"

"No!" Sam shouted, stepping toward the man. "No, not okay!" But Everett could barely hear either of them. There was a high ringing filling his ears, and his bones had gone stiff. He couldn't move at all.

Bear was dead? That couldn't be right. He didn't understand. Everett had learned what authority was from Bear. He learned how to show respect, without any of the hard hands that Everett was sure Bear had been subjugated to. Bear never shouted or punished, but you knew exactly when you had done wrong, and when you had done right. Bear had been the moral fence post Everett had aimed to keep himself following, but something had ripped those posts out of the ground. How was he supposed to keep his balance now?

"What did you do?" There was a deadly, cold quality to Sam's voice that Everett had only heard once before – when Sam had held a pistol to Everett's head.

"What are you talking about, boy?" Spalding asked, looking at him with an eyebrow cocked.

"Bear was doing just fine." Sam said slowly. "For hours now. And we leave him alone with you for only a few minutes..."

"¡Cierra la boca!" Spalding hissed suddenly, stepping forward and shoving Sam. "You'd better think very carefully about the words that come out of your mouth now, my friend."

"You are the single shiftiest motherfucker I have ever met." Sam said simply, not moving. "I don't trust you in the least, so I'll ask again: what did you do?"

Everett's gaze went to the crowds that had gathered. Around Sam was much of first squad, all of them sharing equal looks of devastation at the news of Bear's death. However, Spalding's people were grouping together behind their leader, and he could see the glares on their faces as one of them stepped forward.

"Just what the fuck do you think you're saying?" The woman asked, shoving Sam backward. "You calling the sergeant a murderer?"

Sam looked to Spalding, who only glared at him without expression, as though to repeat his comrade's question. "I'm saying it's pretty goddamn convenient," Sam said slowly, "for someone who wants to be in charge."

Spalding slowly tilted his head to one side, smiling as he stepped past the woman to face down Sam. "Oh, I see how it is, cabron." He said calmly. "You island people...you all have knives behind your backs. You're only looking out for yourselves, so you can't trust anymore." He scoffed and held his arms up and out to either side. "So when you're faced with someone honorable, you don't trust him, either."

There was silence. For an instant, Everett thought the incident might be at an end, but then he saw the look on Sam's face. Spalding had cut him deep, and he wasn't ready to let it go just yet.

"I don't trust you because I'm pretty sure you're crazy." He said coldly.

"You're the crazy little cabron." Spalding growled. "I haven't done a thing. I'm as upset about it as you are."

"Then fucking act like it!" Sam roared, and the two were stalking toward one another, silenced by Everett's voice as it cut through the cave, louder than he himself had expected.

"That's enough!" He shouted, getting between them and holding his arms out. There was silence around him, and so he filled it, speaking and only barely thinking about the words. "You'll have to hit me first if you want to hit each other. Do either of you want to hit me?" He asked, looking into the angry eyes of both men. They both stepped back just slightly, but kept their wary stances, so Everett kept talking. "We're at the precipice here, people. We're on the edge of forever and about to fall off." He looked around at the crowd of people that had gathered for all the excitement. "Six weeks ago we brought the war on Earth to a standstill. We only managed it because we stood together. We abandoned all of the things that were keeping us apart, and we trusted each other." He brought his attention back to Sam and Spalding as he continued. "Look at you now. Back where you started. Accusing each other, scheming against each other, turning your backs on each other. The Acropolis is within sight. The end of this war is within sight. Stand together with me now and we'll see peace before the end."