Monsters of Men Read Online Free Page B

about
anything
.”
    “She
what
?” I hear Bradley say.
    “You had Wilf, kind, sweet, peaceful Wilf marching into town blowing up buildings–”
    Mistress Coyle starts. “
Viola–
”
    “I said,
shut up
!”
    And she shuts up.
    “Do you know what’s happening down there now?” I say. “Do you know what you were sending the Answer into?”
    She just breathes at me, her face a storm.
    “The Mayor figured out your trick,” I say. “He would have had a full army waiting for you by the time you reached the centre of town. You would have been annihilated.”
    But all she says is, “Don’t underestimate the fighting spirit of the Answer.”
    “What’s the Answer?” Bradley asks.
    “A terrorist organization,” I say, just to see the look on Mistress Coyle’s face.
    It’s worth it.
    “You are speaking
dangerous
words, Viola Eade,” Mistress Coyle says, stepping towards me.
    “What are you going to do about it?” I say. “Blow me up again?”
    “Whoa, whoa,” Simone says, moving between us. “Whatever’s going on,” she says to Mistress Coyle, “you clearly haven’t told us the whole story.”
    Mistress Coyle sighs in frustration. “I haven’t lied to you about what that man did,” she says and turns to me. “Have I, Viola?”
    I try to outstare her, but no, he really did do terrible things. “We’ve already
beat
him, though,” I say. “Todd’s down there right now with the Mayor tied up but he needs our help because–”
    “We can sort out our differences later,” Mistress Coyle says over me to Bradley and Simone. “It’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. There’s an army down there that needs to be stopped–”
    “Two armies,” I say.
    Mistress Coyle turns to me, frustrated. “The Answer does
not
need to be stopped–”
    “That’s not what I’m talking about,” I say. “There’s an army of Spackle marching down the hill by the waterfall.”
    “An army of what?” Simone asks.
    But I’m still looking at Mistress Coyle.
    Because her mouth has dropped open.
    And I can see fear move right across her face.

[T ODD ]
    Here they come–
    This part of the hill is all rock and steepness so the Spackle can’t come straight down onto us but they’re surging cross the clearing towards the weakness in the line of men and here they come–
    Here they come–
    Here they come–
    I raise my gun–
    I’m surrounded by soldiers, some pushing forward, some pushing back, knocking into Angharrad who keeps calling Boy colt, boy colt! in her Noise–
    “It’s okay, girl,” I lie–
    Cuz here they are–
    Gunfire erupts everywhere, like a flock of birds taking off–
    Arrows zing thru the air–
    The Spackle fire their sticks–
    And before I can even have a thought, a soldier in front of me staggers back with a weird fizzing sound–
    Grasping at his throat–
    Which ain’t there no more–
    And I can’t take my eyes off him as he stumbles to his knees–
    And there’s blood just everywhere, all over him, real blood, his blood, so much I can smell the iron tang of it–
    And he’s looking up at me–
    Catching my eyes and holding ’em–
    And his Noise–
    My God his Noise–
    And I’m suddenly in it, inside what he’s thinking, and there’s pictures of his family, pictures of his wife and his baby son and he’s trying to hold onto ’em but his Noise is breaking into bits and his fear is pouring thru like a bright red light and he’s reaching for his wife, he’s reaching for his little bitty son–
    And then a Spackle arrow hits him in the ribcage–
    And his Noise stops–
    And I’m jerked back onto the battlefield–
    Back into hell–
    K EEP IT TOGETHER , T ODD! the Mayor puts in my head.
    But I’m still looking at the dead soldier–
    His dead eyes looking back up at me–
    “Dammit, Todd!” the Mayor yells at me and–
    I AM THE C IRCLE AND THE C IRCLE IS ME.
    Thudding thru my brain like a dropped brick–
    I AM THE C IRCLE AND THE C IRCLE IS ME.
    In his voice and