Throne of Ash

by Lena Lee

  Throne of Ash

  Lena Lee

  Copyright 2019 © Lena Lee

  All rights reserved.

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

  For permissions contact: lenaleebooks@gmail.com

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real person, living or dead, businesses, or locales are coincidental.

  Chapter 1

  Two sentries at each entrance to the market. Shit. I leaned against the titanium siding of the tower block waiting for the perfect moment to make my move. I propped my leg against the side, not caring if the dirt on the bottom of my boots smudged the shiny surface. Screw them and their shiny shit.

  I was starting to feel a little impatient. I hated waiting for the perfect moment. Why did everything have to be so complicated here? Maybe that was the sacrifice to having security.

  The Establishment had increased their patrols over the past week, especially outside of the markets that sold what I was after. You would think I was stealing gold covered chocolate bars instead of pills.

  Theo had warned me that it was only a matter of time before they tracked the thefts. He hadn’t been exactly clear on how he knew this, but him being our leader probably gave him special insight into the inner workings of Felix.

  If they had already picked up on my thefts… well things were a lot more secure here than I originally thought. I guess I wasn’t as stealth either. I had underestimated them and their desire to control everything and everyone.

  A couple holding hands passed by, quickly snapping me to attention. They were probably on their way to grab food for their dinner. Dinner was a revered time in this city and I had watched people through pristine glass windows eat their well-balanced meals with silver- and gold-plated cutlery. They didn’t even bat an eyelash at leaving waste when finished.

  I pushed off the building and followed close behind the oblivious couple as they approached the two sentries at the entrance to the market. They held their wrists out and the sentries scanned them. The doors to the market slid open, admitting the three of us without a glance in my direction.

  A spike of adrenaline shot through me as I made my way past the entrance. I still got nervous every time I skirted past them without being detected. The first time I was in the city I had feared I would be caught and hung in the town square, if there had been a town square.

  I had discovered my gift, or curse depending on how you looked at it, only a month earlier on the eve of my best friend’s 18th birthday. It came about solely on a bad decision that left me at the hands of enforcers. It had saved me from the pit.

  It hadn’t taken me long to learn how to use my abilities to my advantage. When I wasn’t sleeping or training with the enforcers, I had been sneaking into Felix. If only I had this ability when my parents had gotten sick, I could have possibly gotten medicine from the city.

  At first, I hadn’t told our leader, Theo, about my activities, but once I started stealing medicine, I revealed I had found a way to sneak in. It would have been hard to explain the bottles of pills. He asked questions, none of which I answered. He accepted my refusal to answer, mainly because I had been straddling his waist when I told him.

  This particular market was rather empty around this time, less eyes to worry about. I bypassed the food and went straight for the medicine. We were used to lack of food, but could not handle another illness outbreak. Here there were medicines for everything from bug bites to a blocked artery.

  I went down the aisle, unzipping my bag as I went. I touched the white bottles of pills vanishing them from sight and shoving them into my bag. These pills were kept on a lower shelf, seldom used in the city because bacteria laden dirt spores weren’t usually a big problem here. The high walls blocked out a lot of the infected dirt from getting in and the buildings had purifying systems.

  Once full, I zipped the bag and headed for the front. As long as I kept hold of my bag, it and the contents were invisible.

  The exit scanned items as shoppers left. I followed a woman out as the door opened for her. She would get a nice surprise on her account. It was the least I could do considering she, among the others, ignored the sad state of affairs outside their very expensive walls.

  As we exited a sharp buzzer started beeping at steady intervals and the sentries stepped in front of the woman, causing her to stop abruptly and I nearly bumped into her.

  “Ma’am, we need to look in your bags,” the larger of the two spoke with authority.

  Before the woman could answer they snatched her bags and emptied them out right on the floor. A variety of fruits and vegetables, a package of wrapped meat, and a bottle of liquid spilled onto the floor. “Where do you have them?”

  “Wh… wha… what?” Stuttering, the woman was clearly shaken and backed up a little. I had quickly sidestepped out the door, not wanted to be stuck in the market if the doors were to close.

  “The spore antitoxin pills. Where. Are. They.” The other man picked up the woman by the front of her shirt and shoved her against the glass doors which had slid shut after my escape.

  My eyes went wide as the man started to shake the woman against the glass.

  Fuck, what was I supposed to do now? If I turned myself over, I’d be dead. If I tried to help, I’d be dead. I had been so stupid taking the same thing in mass quantities. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now that it was clear they had become suspicious, it was stupid of me.

  I wasn’t completely clear on how things worked here in Felix, but surely there was technology from before the culling. I had only heard tales of the great technologies of man-kind, until baring witness to them here in the city. Toilets were of particular fascination to me. They would be to anyone who hadn’t experienced one in their nearly 20 years of life.

  I quickly crossed the mostly deserted street and headed in the direction of my hideout. There were a few people milling about still, so I stayed close to the edge of the sidewalk so I could cross into the street if needed.

  Luckily, there were almost no vehicles here. In fact, I had yet to see a citizen in a car, most walked or rode electric boards. Vehicles were one of the reasons Earth from many decades ago ceased to exist. I didn’t quite believe that theory, but didn’t have much more information than what our elders bestowed upon us.

  The Establishment still had a few vehicles though, one was silently rolling down the street towards the market, its blue lights swirling on the top. They would have to release that woman. Right? She didn’t have the pills. I did.

  Distraction got the best of me, staring back at the vehicle as it pulled up outside of the market and I nearly collided with a group of men that had just rounded the corner in front of me. Their size was slightly shocking to the eye. They were definitely wider than most people in the city.

  These three looked like they were up to no good, dressed in black with glints of weaponry peeking out of pockets and holsters. Did one of them actually have a sword? The Establishment must have a breed of sentry they sent out in desperate situations.

  I looked back after passing and one of the men had stopped and was half-turned towards me. His eyes bored into me, as if he could see me.

  No fucking way, impossible.

  I practically tripped over myself but managed to maintain my composure. The other two men had continued on several feet before turning to inquire why their friend had stopped.

  I quickly picked up my pace, turning the corner. They didn’t seem to be following me, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that they were somehow going to find me. This night couldn’t possibly get any worse.

  Breath. Don’t panic. Take the
long way back. I tried to control my breathing but was honestly freaking out, especially since my newest attainment of pills had gotten a woman arrested or possibly worse. What if they killed her or beat her to a pulp? That was on me.

  I hadn’t had any issues with this power since discovering it. Kyra and I had tested it in many different situations and it never faltered. Clearly, we hadn’t tested every situation. I guess it really was too good to be true.

  Damn it.

  I tried to control the shivering that had started as I walked quickly and made my way to the building I was holed up in. It wasn’t even cold out, but the whole evening had left a chill to my skin.

  Out of the twenty tower blocks in this part of the city, the one I had chosen had the most open apartments I could squat in. It was half occupied, waiting for new tenants which meant I had plenty of options.

  I slipped into the building behind a small family. The sentry posted at the front desk glanced up from his computer, gave a brief nod, and went back to what he was doing.

  My invisibility wasn’t faulty after all, he couldn’t see me. Maybe all the sneaking around was just messing with my psyche.

  I was lucky these people were very keen on routines and structure so that not much thought had to go into getting to safety. Their predictability was why I could easily sneak in and out of buildings, as long as I was back from my endeavors before curfew.

  I had yet to see a person step out of line, but maybe that was because of what they did to them. What did they do to them? If only they saw my people and what we did when someone fell out of line, they would lose their shit.

  I took the stairs since the elevators required identification. I wondered why they put up with such close monitoring. It seemed intrusive and completely unnecessary when they had a giant wall to protect them. They probably had no choice in the matter if they wanted The Establishment’s safety.

  I entered the current apartment I was staying in and flopped down on the couch. I really wanted to leave back to Blight tonight, but that was an impossibility. The sky had just changed from a brilliant pink to a dark blue. With night there was darkness and one could not just simply waltz out at night outside the walls and expect to get to their destination in one piece.

  Wandering at night was inconceivable. There was no possibility of getting back without being eaten. Creatures lurked outside the walls at night and despite my invisibility they could smell a mile away.

  I had been sneaking into the city just before sundown, “shopping” until curfew, sleeping, then leaving at the first light of day. I avoided the beasts at all costs, I still had at least ten years left in me, no need to perish sooner and become a rabid beast’s dinner. I’d rather face death by choking on my own blood than be ripped to shreds.

  No use in worrying about my choice, there was no choice. I made my way to the bathroom to shower. Showering here always made me feel a pang of guilt. It seemed like a waste to have showers in every apartment.

  We were lucky to even have water to drink. Several wells provided us with water but there was little to spare for luxuries such as daily showers, especially if we wanted the occasional vegetable or fruit. It was food or smelling pretty. Most would agree that food was more important.

  I tried not to take longer than needed. No point in spoiling myself as much as I wanted to. I dried off and walked into the closet off the bathroom where I stored spare clothes, not that I had many. Cargo pants and tanks were my go-to attire, even for sleep.

  I was always prepared in case I had to leave on a moment’s notice. I hated sleeping in shoes, but if I had to hoof it from an apartment, I’d rather have shoes on.

  I couldn’t fight the feeling of unease as I tied my boots. I walked out of the bedroom and down the hall. I needed a drink. One thing I did like about Felix was their alcoholic beverage options. It burned, but it burned so good.

  I made it two steps into the open room with the living room and kitchen before I saw him. He was standing in front of the window, staring out. I would love to say I was a hardened criminal by now and it didn’t scare the bejesus out of me, but then I’d be a liar.

  It was the man who had stopped and stared at me in the street. Did they have special contacts to see invisibility now? Or maybe the contacts could pick up on heat.

  I quickly threw my invisibility on as he turned to face me. How had he even gotten in here? I tried to remember if I had locked the door. I wouldn’t be so stupid to forget something like that.

  I stood perfectly still and tried to determine my plan. There were three really. Run for the door, which had the security lock engaged, run back to the bedroom and escape through the crawl-through in the closet, or fight.

  At the moment my body was doing none of those three. What response was this? Certainly not fight or flight. Maybe it was a new response called idiot.

  I could probably take him.

  Who was I kidding?

  He seemed to have several weapons hooked to his belt. His shoulders and chest were broad and narrowed at the waist. He was built like a fighter, a soldier. I trained hard and fought often to practice my combat skills, but I had never seen a sentry fight and was unsure of their abilities.

  Since he wasn’t moving any closer, I took a moment to weigh my escape options. I could make out his eyes, which seemed to sparkle with glee. Sparkling probably because I had just been busted. With all the disappearing pill bottles, there was probably some kind of bounty or hit out on me.

  “Let me see you.” His voice was somewhere between velvety and rough, like he had just smoked a cigar and needed to clear his throat.

  What a creepy way to introduce yourself. Men these days couldn’t even open with a “Hi, nice to meet you, I’m McCreeper.”

  I slowly backed up a step. Clearly my exit was going to be the complicated kind. He looked fast. He could probably reach me in a few seconds. His demeanor was relaxed, the good fighters always looked relaxed before they pounced.

  If I went for the door, he had time to catch me before I unlocked it. I could fight with the best of them, but his slight height advantage and broad upper body left me at a disadvantage, even with my knife. I would be too injured to return home and I couldn’t risk that. The crawl space seemed to be my only option, if I could make it there.

  “I am not going to hurt you. I just… I need to see you.” McCreeper took a step forward, looking right at my face, seeming to know where my eyes were.

  A shiver went down my spine. I briefly looked down at my arm which still had the slight shimmer of invisibility. I could barely explain to myself how I invisibility was even possible; how could I explain how this man could see me?

  I continued to slowly back up. I was certain he couldn’t see me, yet there he was piercing me with his emerald eyes. I still couldn’t make out all his facial features in the shadows of the room.

  “Who are you?” I asked. He matched my retreat step for step, despite the silence my footsteps made. “And how are you seeing me?”

  “Who I am isn’t of importance at the moment, I can’t see you all the way… just a thick watery outline of you. I’ll tell you who I am once I can see your face.”

  I snorted back a laugh at his attempt to sway me. McCreeper wasn’t going to see my face. He tilted his head to the side at the sound I made but kept his features even.

  “Well unfortunately it is way past my bedtime, maybe tomorrow morning? Feel free to crash on the couch.”

  I took the last two steps into the room I had slowly backed towards during our discussion and slammed the door shut, locking it. He would break through it in no time if he decided to come after me, so I moved quickly.

  I could hear him trying to open the door as I shut and locked the bathroom door as well. I quickly moved the chair I had in the closet and pulled myself up into the crawl space between floors. My arms burned and I made a mental note to work on my pullups if I made it out of this alive. I pulled the cover back over the hole and quickly crawled about 50 feet to what was th
e closest apartment to the stairs.

  Theo had insisted I plan multiple exit strategies in case The Establishment came after me while here. We always drilled for worst case scenarios since we were never sure what the world would throw at us. You never knew when the shit was going to hit the fan either from Felix tiring of us using their wall as one side of our fence or from night beasts. Then there was that whole end of the world thing that was knocking on our door.

  I dropped down into the other apartment’s closet and quickly made my way to the door. I peeked my head out before dashing for the stairs. It was only a matter of time before McCreeper figured out I had escaped the bedroom and apartment. I was fast but judging from the looks of him, he would be faster.

  I practically flew into the lobby, causing the sentry on duty to startle at the sound of the stairwell door slamming open. Great. I quickly grabbed his emergency card from around his neck and gave it a yank. The clasp broke and he gasped in shock as I made for the door. “What the-” I didn’t hear the rest of his expletive; my mission was escaping.

  The door clicked shut behind me and I looked back through the windows as I ran, seeing McCreeper burst from the stairwell right before my sight was blocked. I heard the shatter of a window as I neared a corner. I braved a glance back seeing my pursuer landing on the sidewalk in a crouch before springing forward in my direction.

  What was he, part beast or maybe superhero?

  I pushed my speed as I ran down the street. This is not how I wanted to spend my evening. I hadn’t even gotten to have a drink.

  I didn’t know this man’s capabilities, but considering he had found me in the apartment building said enough. I was certain they hadn’t followed me, yet there he had been.

  I was really only left with one choice. Face the night even if that meant possibly losing a limb or my life.

  Chapter 2

  Running for my life made me doubt everything I thought I knew about myself. I would be delusional if I didn’t admit I was scared beyond belief. Things had certainly escalated quickly tonight. One minute I was basking in all my invisible glory and now I was running for my life.