“What the fuck do you think's wrong? I'm seriously tweaking here!”
“Maggie, we're gonna take care of you. Now, please, just get back in the car.”
“No!”
“Maggie, please…”
“Quit saying my fucking name! I don't know you. I don't want to know you. I want you and your friends to take me back to Kirk right fucking now!”
“I can't do that.”
His gaze sank to her belly.
She pulled the sword back and pressed it against her stomach.
“Is this what you fucking want? Huh?”
“Maggie!”
“I didn't ask for this! I didn't fucking want this! I can make it all go away.”
“Maggie, right now—”
“I said stop saying my name! What are you, a fucking shrink?”
“What's in your belly is the only hope your world has right now.”
“This isn't real.” She lowered the sword. “It isn't real.”
Kinzer stayed back, his arms at his side, signifying that he wasn't going to attack.
“I know you weren't asked to do this. I know it's not fair. But Maggie, if you don't come with us, those guys back there are going to find you and then you're really going to have shit to deal with.”
Dedrus stepped behind Kinzer. “Do I need to get some rope?”
“Leave me the fuck alone!” Maggie barked.
“Can younothelp?” Kinzer shot Dedrus a severe glare.
Tears rushed down her face. She glanced between Kinzer and Dedrus, her eyes wild, frantic.
“This isn't happening,” she said. “It can't be.”
“Yes, it is,” Kinzer said in as calm a voice as he could manage under the circumstances. “It's happening, and we have to get you somewhere safe.”
She shook. Dropping the sword, she fell to her knees in a patch of grass and weeds.
Kinzer approached her.
“Why me?” Her face sank. She cringed as if she was in pain.
Kinzer knelt beside her, set his hand on her shoulder.
“I just need to get back to Kirk. He's gonna be so mad. He gets mad when I'm gone too long. He gets real mad. Am I being punished? Why is this happening?”
“I know this might not seem very helpful right now, but what's happening inside you is the most important event in all of creation. We have the power to save your world from the most painful, agonizing apocalypse you can conceive of. We can't do this without you.”
She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close, trembling.
