The List Keepers (The Justar Journal #3)

by Brandt Legg

“What?” he tried again, shaking his head at the VMs. “We’ve lost . . . we’ve lost, we’ve lost,” she said in a voice so sad his own eyes watered. “I’m sorry Munna. I don’t understand.” “No one does,” she whispered. Across the short distance of water that separated Runit and Ryder Islands, Deuce secretly watched the conversation between Munna and Nelson. The revelation that she could still see the prophecies caught him by surprise, but her tears concerned him. This woman was one hundred thirty-three. She had seen it all. Deuce couldn’t imagine anything to make a person like that break down. What are you seeing that is so upsetting? he wondered. War? That can’t really be so shocking to you. The miracle is that the war hasn’t happened sooner. “You have to tell me,” Nelson said. “Munna, please. Cope told me there were things worse than the Banoff. Is that what you saw?” She stared blankly at the two scrambling VMs and then to the other six dark ones. Nelson wondered if she was considering bringing them back to life. “Show me,” he said, gently touching her hand. She jolted and turned toward him. “It’s too late,” she said in a voice filled with despair. “The prophecies can change, right?” Nelson asked. “Tell me what you saw. We can change it.” “I saw the end,” she said quietly. “The cruelty of it. I saw the end.”