“If they come back, when they come back, we’ll be ready for them,” Nathan said.

  “We’ll be ready,” Caleb said.

  “We’ll be ready,” Max repeated.

  “We’ll be ready,” Hayden agreed.

  “So did we win?” Tora asked.

  “Pozz,” Hayden said. “Earth is ours. Proxima is safe. The Hunger is cut off. I’m calling it a win.”

  Tears began to roll down Pyro’s cheeks as she began to realize what that meant. Hayden felt it too, his own eyes beginning to cloud. This was the dream he and Natalia had shared.

  And he had made it come true.

  “Consideration,” Max said. “We require a celebration. Hahaha. Hahaha.”

  Hayden nodded. “We sure do.”

  74

  Hayden

  “Good morning, Sheriff Duke.”

  “Good morning, Sheriff.”

  “Hey, Sheriff Duke!”

  Hayden waved to each of the people he passed, even those who didn’t shout out greetings to him, as he guided Rosie down the street. The number of volunteers for the cleaning crews had been steadily increasing as people became more comfortable with the idea that there was nothing out there to hurt them. Today there were nearly a hundred volunteers, just on this street alone.

  Hayden glanced to his left, looking through the first line of buildings to the docks beyond. Two Navy ships had gained a new home there—the Truxton and the George H.W. Bush—the temporary homes for the thousands of refugees who had fled Edenrise before it was destroyed. He could see people out on the decks, enjoying the sunshine but still not quite ready to leave the safety of the vessels to venture into the settlement.

  He kept Rosie at an easy trot. The gray mare was a gift from a group of nomads who had come across the Centurion checkpoint at the newly reopened tunnel that connected Manhattan island to the rest of the former United States. They had decided to join the other survivors who had already flocked to the new settlement, and when they heard the already overblown stories about what Hayden had done, they had gifted him the horse.

  “Good morning, Sheriff.”

  “Good morning, Sheriff Duke.”

  Hayden tipped his hat to the woman and her daughter sweeping debris from the road. Then he turned his attention forward. The park was still a few blocks away, but Pilgrim was visible from almost everywhere on the island.

  Three months had passed since the Pilgrim had returned to Earth, but the memories came flooding back every time he looked at the ship. Not only those that had to do with Natalia and Hallia, but everyone who had fought, sacrificed and died so the people he was passing now could live in freedom. In the beginning, those memories had been laced with bitter sadness. He had shed more tears in the first week after his venture into the Collective than he had ever cried in his life. But he also held fast to Natalia’s memory, and to what he knew she wanted from him. Never to give up. Never to lose himself in despair.

  He’d had time to mourn and memorialize, but that time was over. When he looked at the Pilgrim now, it was with a sense of resolve, purpose and pride. His memories didn’t bring him to tears. They drove him. Motivated him. Gave him renewed strength. The world had changed when the trife arrived. The world was changing again now that they were gone.

  “Good morning, Sheriff.”

  Hayden waved to one of the Centurion patrollers as they passed. Three months, and it still felt strange to have two human hands again. There were plenty of times when he missed the augments and their enhanced strength, but he definitely didn’t miss the pain. The Sanctorum had purified his body, removing every bit of damage he had suffered over the last couple of years. It was a mixed blessing. The scars had been mementos. Reminders of the dangers of becoming complacent and careless. They had become part of him and his self-definition. Their loss had left him lost for a time. Now his perfect, unblemished skin was a part of his legend. Sheriff Duke, the man the trife couldn’t hurt.

  If only...

  The Sanctorum had left him with something else. Something more. Something he still couldn’t describe or define, and he definitely didn’t understand it. It was more than the urge he had felt to go down to the interlink and unleash the virus. It was like a secret door in his mind. He could sense it, but he couldn’t access it—at least not intentionally. Nyla suggested it was a result of his so-called genetic purification, a side-effect of removing the mutations caused by the serum. But Hayden wasn’t sure. The process had put him back together the way it believed he should be, not necessarily the way he was before.

  And how much had Vyte messed with that process before abandoning it?

  The Organization’s doctors told him he was fine. No abnormalities. Perfect health. But it was there. He was certain.

  He just didn’t know what it was.

  “Hey, Sheriff Duke.”

  Hayden waved at another civilian. Then he urged Rosie into a trot, speeding up to ensure he made it to his appointment on time. The people still smiled and waved at him as he passed, and he tipped his hat at them, a familiar sense of unease starting to return.

  He traveled up the street parallel to the park, moving along the side of the Pilgrim. The port side of the hull was scorched and burned, the site of one of the enemy’s direct hits through the shield. A large scaffold containing a huge lift and stairway had been constructed just past the scar, leading into the ship’s cavernous hangar. Hayden looked up in time to see a dropship vanish into the opening and another fly out, carrying another airdrop of fresh clothing, blankets, tents and other necessities to the groups of people scattered across the landscape, both here in the former U.S. as well as overseas. Everyone knew by now that the alien invaders were dead. A lot of them had heard the oral history of how. But it didn’t mean Earth immediately went back to normal. Far from it. There was a lot of work to do. It would take the planet years to recover.

  But it would recover in time. The Hunger wasn’t eradicated, but they were set back, and regardless of what Shub-Nigu had said, he believed they would think twice before expending their energy on the two human settlements again—especially when there were still so many other worlds to conquer.

  That was the rub, of course. The reason the Organization was still the Organization and hadn’t been immediately disbanded in the wake of their victory. The battle for Earth was over, but the war wasn’t. The threat wasn’t gone.

  Maybe it never would be.

  The Hunger had been out there conquering planets for thousands of years before humankind knew about them. Now that they did know, they could prepare. If the Relyeh came again, when the Relyeh came again, they would meet a civilization ready to fight them.

  Hayden figured to be long dead before any of that came to pass. And he had plans for his immediate future—a future without Natalia. There was only one way he could live like that.

  He guided Rosie to the lift, which was currently raised. Chief Ranger Hicks and Chief Deputy Barnes were already waiting, and they waved to him in greeting as he slowed Rosie back to a walk.

  “Morning Sheriff,” Hicks said.

  “Am I late?” Hayden asked.

  “Yes, sir. But so are they.”

  “I saw the first of the new blocks going up on my way uptown,” Hayden said. “I can’t believe how many people are in the city already.”

  “We’re processing almost three hundred new entries a day,” Barnes replied. “Up from a hundred a day last month. People hear about this place, and they want to be part of it.”

  “I tried to convince Governor Stacker to call it New New York, but he didn’t go for it,” Hicks said.

  “I like New York,” Hayden replied. “It’s classic, and it tells the people we’re aiming to rebuild what we’ve lost.”

  “Roger that.”

  Hicks paused, listening to his comm. He glanced at Hayden. “They’re on their way down.”

  Hayden slid off Rosie, keeping a grip on her reins. It took a couple of minutes before the lift, with everyone on it, started to descend from the Pilgrim’s hangar at a moderate rate.

  The people on it—General Haeri, Caleb, Nathan, Pyro, Tora, Nyla and Max—became visible as it neared the ground. Hayden was surprised to see Nyla had adopted Proxima fashion, covering herself in a long red scaley over a pair of black slacks and a purple shirt. She would never look human, but it definitely helped her look less alien.

  The end of the Relyeh had also signaled the end of Nathan’s run as General of the Liberators. He still had the powered armor Tinker had made for James, but he had traded it for a freshly minted Proxima civilian suit more befitting his new status as Governor. It looked awkward on him because of his size, but it did give him a different air of authority.

  Caleb and Tora wore the dark blue dress uniforms of the Organization, which meant they were unencumbered by hardware or insignia. Max was still Max. He hadn’t changed at all, while Pyro had traded her dirty overalls for a knee-length dress.

  They all smiled when they saw Hayden, though they didn’t wave or offer any greetings until the lift touched down and they stepped off.

  “Sheriff Duke,” General Haeri said. “It’s good to see you again.”

  “General Haeri,” Hayden replied. He glanced over at Nathan. “How did it go?”

  “I’m not on Proxima’s most wanted list anymore,” Nathan replied.

  Hayden smiled. “You know that’s not what I’m asking.”

  Nathan hesitated to answer. “You know it’s a delicate situation.”

  “Because Proxima lied to its people, and now that Earth is safe, those lies need to be more carefully untangled,” Hayden said.

  “That’s right,” Haeri confirmed. “I’m doing the best I can to provide aid, but it will take time before we can maximize our output.”

  “But you will ramp things up?”

  “It’s complicated. I’ve managed to undo the damage the enemy did to my reputation, but the new Chair isn’t a supporter. She’s already talking about my retirement, like it or not.”

  “Does she know the truth about Earth?”

  “Not yet. She will.”

  “What about the Axon?” Hayden asked, looking at Max.

  “Unknown. I’ve lost communication. They may have blacklisted me. Hahaha. Haha.”

  Hayden sighed. “Earth needs help, General. Supplies, yes. But also raw materials to build more housing, like the project downtown.”

  “And a raft of other things,” Haeri said. “I’m aware. That’s why I invited Nathan to Proxima. So we could identify and prioritize things Earth needs and things I can procure. I’m on your side, Sheriff. Don’t forget that.”

  “I know,” Hayden replied. “I do believe that now.”

  “Good. I understand you didn’t want to participate in the negotiations.”

  “Nat was always the diplomatic one. That kind of bureaucracy isn’t for me.”

  “Be that as it may, there’s a reason I asked you to be here when we returned. Colonel Card?”

  Caleb stepped forward. “Hayden, we’re—”

  “No,” Hayden said.

  “I didn’t get to ask you anything yet.”

  “Maybe not, but the answer is no. I know what you’re going to say, Cal. You’re planning to do something about the rest of the Hunger. Track them, fight them, whatever.”

  “I should have known you would have already thought about it,” Caleb said. “They’re still out there Hayden. Still attacking civilizations. Still enslaving innocents. We shouldn’t let that happen. Not when we can fight them. Even Ishek’s on board.”

  “He kind of has to be, doesn’t he? Anyway, Nyarlath’s ick has decomposed. The interlink is non-functional.”

  “If we find them, we can get another ick,” Nyla said.

  “Which won’t help you if the Collective is still shut down.”

  “No,” Caleb replied. “But we’re bringing other weapons too. New technology Nyla’s shared with us. She isn’t bound to the Axon the way Max is.”

  “Participation,” Max said. “Don’t you want to stop the Hunger, Sheriff?”

  “I do,” Hayden admitted. “But no. Maybe later. I’ve got other plans for now.”

  “How long do you need?” Haeri asked.

  “As long as it takes,” Hayden replied.

  “I see. Well, we have some preparations to make before we can put this new branch of the Organization into service. You have time to reconsider.”

  Hayden swept his eyes across the group. Everyone else had their purpose, their mission, and he was glad for that. It just didn’t line up with his, at least not right now.

  “I’ll tell you what,” he said. “If you have a specific need for me, you come and find me, and I’ll help you out. I’m not about to abandon what we fought so hard to achieve. But that works both ways, and it’s part of the reason I won’t sign up.”

  “Part of the reason?” Caleb asked.

  “I won’t take the oath you took, Cal. Not on my life. I don’t judge you for doing it, but it’s against what I believe in. That’s why if you need me I’ll be there, but I’ll never be part of the Organization, at least not as long as that oath is the same.”

  “I respect that about you, Sheriff,” Haeri said. “I always have, and I always will. So, what comes next for you?”

  “Why, I’m glad you asked,” Hayden said. He reached up to the breast of his scaley duster, grabbing the star there and pulling it free. He tossed it to Nathan. “Nate, consider this my resignation. If you’re interested in recommendations for the next Sheriff of New York, I believe Chief Ranger Hicks is an excellent choice for the job.”

  “What?” Nathan said, catching the star. “You’re resigning? I don’t understand.”

  “This place doesn’t need me, Nate. I know you know that. It’s safe here. Safer than anywhere on Earth with the weapons you took out of Tinker’s stash and the number of people you have now to use them. But it isn’t safe out there. The Hunger may be gone, but people like King existed alongside the trife. What do you think people like that are going to do now that the Relyeh are defeated?”

  “We’re doing our best to supply them,” Haeri said.

  “Pozz. Sorry to say, but your best isn’t good enough. I understand you’re working with both hands tied behind your back and I applaud the effort. But someone needs to do more, and that someone is me.”

  “How will we find you if we need you?” Caleb asked.

  “If things out there are the way I think they are, I don’t think I’ll be hard to find.”

  Caleb nodded. “You’re a good man, Hayden.”

  “So are you, Cal. Always remember that.”

  “Sheriff,” Max said. “I should like to travel with you. With my friend. Hahaha. Haha.”

  Hayden smiled. “Can you promise to follow my orders without question?”

  “Affirmation. As long as they don’t run counter to Axon directives.”

  “What if they do?”

  “My programming doesn’t allow it.”

  “Which could make you a liability.”

  “Disagreement. The Axon are no threat to Earth.”

  “I wish I believed that one hundred percent, but my gut tells me otherwise. Sorry, Max. I need to go it alone.”

  “Acceptance. If you require me, I am available. Hahaha. Haha.”

  “Thanks, Max.” Hayden backed up a few steps, climbing onto Rosie. “Good luck, Colonel. Nate, Chandra, I’ll be in touch. General Haeri, don’t let me down.”

  “Be safe out there, Sheriff,” Pyro said.

  Hayden smiled. “I’m not Sheriff anymore.”

  “You’ll always be Sheriff, Hayden,” Nathan countered. “And Earth is a safer place because of it.”

  “Thank you, Governor,” Hayden said, tipping his hat to Nathan and the others. “Let’s go, Rosie.” He tugged on the reins, guiding the horse to the west and the tunnel leading off the island.

  The sun was setting in front of him, and he rode into it without looking back.

  Thank you for reading!

  Thank you so much for reading Damnation. I truly hope you’ve enjoyed the series.

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  Michael.

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