Mike pounded the man's fist. "Even though wefam , under the circumstances jumping off these days, you might wanna make us recite something from a holy text . . . just my recommendation."
"Oh, yeah, oh, yeah, sho' you right," the rifleman said. "But I saw her wings and I figured that was a sign."
"Under normal circumstances," Mike countered."But like I said, we in some strange times. Seen some new entities with feathers but they ain't hardly on our side."
"I feel you, bro.Good lookin' out. I'll pass the word." The Guardian smiled, his pecan complexion catching the late-afternoon sun. Nodding, he straightened his urban guerilla beret that was jauntily cocked to the side, causing the brass and copper Ankh he wore like dog tags to swing against his fatigue jacket.
"You're Damali, right? Phat G said you'd be here-your family is downstairs. I'm Anthony."
"Pleased to meet you," Damali said, turning to introduce the others. "This is Big Mike, Inez, her Ayana, and . . . well, Mom Delores, who is having a real hard time with all of this."
"You hold tight, I'll get her some water-and will get a couple of brothers up here to help her downstairs . . ."
"I got her, man," Mike countered. "Shedon't weigh more than two-fifty, two-sixty-I'm good."
Anthony looked from Mike to the large, prostrate woman on the ground, and then his ripped-up T-shirt and jeans that bore bloodstains. "But you bleeding, man . . . dayum-I heard about the Neteru team.Y'all straight, gangsta."
"Thanks so much," Inez said and then lifted her braids off her neck. "My momma's been through a lot . . . shedon't need all this, but there's nothing we can do."
Anthony nodded again and then shrugged as he pulled out a cell phone. "End of days, what can youdo ? She's still standing and ain't nicked, so you blessed, sis. We'll make sure Momma is okay." He turned away from them and spoke quickly into the phone. "Send Rodriguez and Rene up here with some water and a triple-XL T-shirt so the team's strongman won't cause a buzz in the crowd-we've got the rest of the Net squad with two civilians . . . and the momma ain't feeling none of this. Go light on the weapons, ya mean. If she sees heavy artillery, you might have to thump on her chest."
Mom Delores groaned and began to come to. Inez and Mike tended to her and the baby while Damali's thoughts drifted. They were a family within the larger family. The stakes had risen yet again. She briefly closed her eyes and blotted perspiration from her brow. God walk with her husband. His nerves were shot, his father was dying. When was it ever going to stop?
It was only a few moments to wait for water and Mike's fresh shirt, but time was doing funny things in her mind. It was still the same day, and yet it felt like it had been a yearlong siege. The bombardment began at dawn with daywalkers and hadn't let up since. If she wasn't so wired, she would have done what Mom Delores had done and just laid down on the flat roof.
Damali scanned the horizon, watching the low-hanging sun cast late-afternoon gold on the monstrous skeletal structure of train tracks looming above. Long gray columns of steel, stories-high, bisected wide boulevards by the river. Dinosaur bones, they seemed. At one time that species roamed freely, so they say. The bones told the story. That was all that remained. Now they were gone. It left dizzying questions for a thinking mind.
She wondered if humans would finally be wiped out, and if so, then what? A new Genesis as promised? And who would be that first man and first woman to step out of the primordial pool, or out of the clay? Would God even bother again after all this madness? Would husband and wife still share a rib? After the Armageddon, who would tell the story . . . or would the epic be left in the bones and ashes, fossils pieced together by a curious alien species that wouldn't begin to have a clue. Damali looked up as the metal door to the roof opened, thinking about what the last dinosaurs on earth would have told paleontologists about their finals days before the apocalypse.
"This is Minister Rodriguez-he blesses us up and keeps us tight . . . and this is the Professor, Rene . . . brother is tight on the research we need. Lisa, our Guardian sister, also got a son, Rene. It's allfam , you know."
Fists got pounded, bear hugs shared. It was good to be home, and a safe house was just that-a home. Seeing other seemingly regular people helped Mom Delores, as did the bottled water. Damali glimpsed Ayana, who held her mother around the neck, taking it all in.
"The whole building is sealed in prayer," Minister Rodriguez said. "We own the whole thing, every floor. The restaurant on the bottom keeps us going, keeps us in ammo and supplies."
"Minister, we can't thank you enough-"
"No, just Rod.And it's our pleasure to have you in our house." He beamed at Damali and then looked up at Mike. "You're gonna love the grub here, man. Downstairs they told me you put a hurtin' on ribs."
"That be true, that be true," Mike said, laughing.
"Imagine cooking for him and the team," Inez said with a growing smile.
Laughter poured over the small retinue as they walked, serving as balm to everyone's tattered nerves. It was perfect medicine, a necessary release.
"There's a false half floor between the first floor and second," Rene said as they walked through the redbrick structure. "UV hot-wired, ammo stashed, leads out in case this joint gets crashed. We've got a Situation Room on three, backup generators to the backup generators . . . me and your technical man need to do a walk-through. Then we've got suites-just apartments hooked up for incoming family and permanent residence for our squad."
"This is primo real estate, bro," Mike said, impressed.
"Historic, too," Anthony said proudly. "Practically around the corner is the Cotton Club, so like, we ain't trying to blow up this end of Harlem orHarlem period. Our tacticals work with the trains; can show your squad how we jump the cars and pull power off the third rails in a tight spot to hot vamps that come too close to home."
"That isbrilliant, " Damali said, quietly monitoring Mom Delores's composure. "But right now, how about we all fall back, eat, and rest."
Just like they all did, Inez's mother needed a moment of normalcy to balance her mind. Food at a down-home eating establishment would go a long way.
They were ushered into a huge ground-floor dining facility. Damali and Inez glanced around with Big Mike. Inez slipped her mother's hand into hers. As they passed tables, they noticed a huge wall rack being used as a seating divider that was filled with fireplace logs that were suspiciously filed down to stake points. Colorful designer graffiti graced the walls, with scenes of dinosaurs and monsters riding bikes.
"Monsta Burgers," Damali said, pointing out a sign and a menu header before Inez's mom could pass out again.