Escaping Darkness (Book 6): The Shadows

by Richards, E. S.

  They had broken into his previous prison with such skill and force, the woman in particular commanding the room from the second she had walked inside. All Jorge knew about them was that they wanted information from him about Yellowstone and that they wanted to return their city to how it had been before the eruption. Beyond that he was completely at their mercy, and despite the hospitality and the food that was laid out in front of him, Jorge still didn’t feel at ease with his situation.

  “Okay then,” the woman spoke in a slightly louder voice in the kitchen; clapping her hands together and making Jorge look over in her direction. She was staring at the Spaniard now, clearly ready to speak to him and declare their intentions. “Let’s get started.”

  Jorge immediately noted that none of the three had removed their masks yet, making it clear they all still had something to hide. “You seem to know so much about me,” he spoke clearly as they walked toward him, refusing to show any fear in his voice. “Can I not even see your faces?”

  The three of them paused and looked at each other, uncertain how to react. Taking charge once again, the woman sighed and removed the cotton mask from her face, revealing herself to Jorge. “How does one out of three sound? For now, at least.”

  Staring at the woman in front of him, Jorge narrowed his eyes and acknowledged her carefully. There was something about her that was unmistakably familiar, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was. He felt like he recognized her or had seen her before somewhere, the answer to his question floating just out of reach in his mind.

  “Better than nothing,” he replied simply, still trying to play it cool with the three of them. “Are your names secret too then? Or am I allowed to know them?”

  “You can call me Clover,” the woman replied. “This is Oak and Willow.”

  Jorge sighed, hearing the very obvious code names and rolling his eyes discreetly. It was obvious to him that he wasn’t going to get the truth from this woman, nor was he going to learn their real names. It made him doubt the three of them more rather than anything else, suspicious of why they were so secretive about their identities.

  “Bueno,” he muttered, “what a pleasure to meet you all.”

  “Once again I feel I should apologize for how we brought you here,” Clover started speaking, seating herself in a large armchair while Oak and Willow stood on either side. “You’ll understand our haste was necessary to get you out of Mason’s hotel; that man is going crazy with power and you can never be too careful around him.”

  Jorge nodded, agreeing with everything Clover had said so far about the leader, still waiting for Clover to reach her point. There had to be a reason why they’d broken him out of the hotel and that was the snippet of information that Jorge still found himself searching for.

  “How are you feeling, Jorge? Are you comfortable here? Have you eaten?”

  The last question was delivered ironically, everyone well aware of the untouched cheese sandwich that sat on the coffee table in front of Jorge. He was starving, but reluctant to eat until he trusted the people in front of him more. Clover’s questions might have sounded simple, yet he knew there was a lot riding on how he chose to answer them.

  “I’m fine,” he replied bluntly. “Just a little confused about what you want exactly. Why did you break me out of that hotel? What’s your end game?”

  Clover laughed, seemingly amused by Jorge’s choice of words. “I think it’s a little early to share our end game,” she answered. “As I said to you before, we want to restore Phoenix to how it was before this tyrant took control. We want things to return to normal, and I suppose where you come in is that we need to know when that will be in terms of the aftereffects of the eruption, so we can make sure our actions line up.”

  Jorge listened carefully, trying to soak up every word and read between the lines for any other snippets of information he could decipher from the subtext of what Clover said. One thing was clear to him: she didn’t understand the gravity of the eruption at all. If she was playing a waiting game, she was going to be waiting a long time.

  “I’m afraid you might be a bit confused about what has happened here,” Jorge began, choosing his words carefully so he didn’t offend the woman in front of him, but so it was also clear she was wrong. “The effects of this eruption aren’t just going to go away. We’re going to be living through them for years to come. This isn’t something that will just go away overnight.”

  Clover looked back over her shoulder at Oak and Willow, both men sort of shrugging and shaking their heads as if to say they didn’t know any better. Jorge wondered again where he recognized Clover from, her facial features so familiar to him he could’ve sworn they’d crossed paths in the past. Perhaps she had a link to the scientific community but had dropped out in some manner, hence why she didn’t understand the full extent of the eruption. Maybe she had been in one of his lectures before, a face within a crowd that had stuck with him for some reason. If she did in fact know him, then that made things even more suspicious, though the woman had shown no indication of being familiar with Jorge so far.

  “There has to be some sort of timeline you can put on it,” Clover continued. “When will the temperature stop dropping? When will there be sunlight again? When can we breathe the air without wearing masks?”

  Jorge shook his head, realizing that of course the vast majority of people were still clueless about what was happening. He was one of the lucky ones; he had been right at the source of the incident and he was equipped with the knowledge to survive it. Everyone else had been without any news or information source since that day. They had been fighting blind against an adversary they knew nothing about, just hoping that one day it would go away and they could have their lives back.

  “I’ll make you a deal,” Jorge proposed, seeing how much these people truly needed his knowledge and not willing to give it up for nothing like he foolishly had done with Mason. This time he was going to be smart about it and make sure he didn’t end up locked up in a room. “I’ll explain everything that’s happened to you and how much longer the effects of Yellowstone are going to be present. I know a lot more than just the science. I know exactly what caused it as well, and I know where the literal finger of blame can be pointed.” He looked up at Clover and the two men, seeing them nodding along and appearing to be on his side for the time being. “But,” he punctuated his sentence carefully, “in return I want you to tell me exactly what is going on here—how Mason managed to rise to power and exactly what your plans are for overthrowing him. You ask a question, and then I ask a question. Equal partners. Deal?”

  There was silence in the terraced house for a moment, Clover and the two men staring at Jorge with surprised expressions on their faces. It was clear none of them had expected the Spaniard to barter so well with them, Clover accidentally letting on how important his knowledge was to them. That had been her first mistake, and Jorge was certain that if he asked the right questions, she would make more.

  “Okay,” Clover eventually replied, reluctance thick in her tone. “Fine. We go first, though. Tell us what caused all of this. You just said you know more than the science. What is more? What caused Yellowstone to erupt?”

  “Fracking,” Jorge replied matter-of-factly, enjoying the expression Clover wore on her face as he explained the truth to her. He left out names and places, simply telling her and the two silent men behind her about the fracking site he had been to and what had been uncovered there. He explained the science behind it all, making it absolutely clear that the disaster could have been avoided.

  By the time he was finished, Clover’s jaw was practically on the floor and one of the men—Willow, Jorge thought—had slumped down on the arm of the chair. It didn’t take a genius to see they hadn’t been expecting that, Jorge finding a fair amount of pleasure in their reactions, pleased to finally see people responding to the news as he had expected.

  “My turn,” he continued, taking advantage of the stunned silence and swo
oping in with his own question before Clover had a chance to follow up. “Where do I know you from? You look so familiar. Have we met before?”

  Clover was shocked again; the question Jorge had asked her was obviously far from what she had been expecting. Jorge himself wasn’t even totally sure where it had come from, but it was the sort of thing that he knew would annoy him for days on end if he didn’t get to the bottom of it. Clover was so familiar, and he just needed to know where from. It might shed some light on what she and the others were doing in the city as well, and if it didn’t, Jorge figured he still had a lot of time to ask questions. No one looked like they were in a rush to leave the terraced house any time soon.

  “We haven’t met, no,” Clover shook her head. “I understand that you might find me familiar. My real name is obviously not Clover. I was an actress in my younger days before all of this happened. You probably recognize me from The Generation series.”

  Jorge slapped a palm against his forehead, Clover’s face finally falling into place in his mind. She was Felicity Dover, the award-winning actress who had played the part of Zahyra in the hit dystopian film franchise. She had been the most famous teenage actor of her generation, making millions of dollars practically overnight and then retiring from the profession to become more of a humanitarian and environmentalist. Looking beyond her to the hidden faces of Oak and Willow, Jorge wondered whether they too were celebrities, more questions quickly bubbling up inside of him and each vying with the other to be asked next.

  “I hope your next request isn’t going to be for an autograph,” Clover—or maybe Jorge ought to refer to her as Felicity now—teased, letting out a faint laugh that for some reason, made Jorge feel more at ease.

  “No,” he smiled in return, “I won’t, I promise. Go on, then. What else would you like to know?”

  The conversation between the two of them became much more amicable after that, Felicity’s celebrity status no longer relevant in a world without movies or televisions, but making Jorge feel like he was talking to someone he knew, rather than a complete stranger who had charged into his hotel room with a mask over their face. He answered her next question as clearly and plainly as possible, explaining how it would be many years before the world returned to how it had been before Yellowstone erupted. He spelled out the results of the ash cloud and how the sun would be blocked out and the temperatures forced to drop following the particles given off in the eruption. He told them that to survive they would have to adapt; there was no point waiting around for things to change in their favor. From now on life was going to be an uphill battle for everyone involved. The planet had finally bitten back, and it had done so with a vengeance.

  Following Jorge dropping that bomb on Felicity, he learned more about what exactly she was doing in the city and whom she was working with. To his surprise, Jorge uncovered what appeared to be a network of influential and powerful people working together in secret to try and learn what they could about the eruption and put things back to normal. It was comprised of former celebrities, politicians, government officials, and all-round do-gooders who had found themselves up in arms against Mason and other people in his group, an organization called the Authority.

  For every piece of information that Jorge shared with Felicity Dover, he received something insightful back and by the end of the discussions they were communicating like equals, not like a former prisoner and vigilante. Oak and Willow eventually removed their masks to reveal the city’s mayor and a local weatherman. Finally, after hours of awkwardness and uncertainty, the four of them spoke openly and tried to figure out what they were going to do about the city and how they were going to survive the coming weeks, months, and years.

  Later that night when Jorge was finally alone, he found himself reflecting on everything that had happened to him recently. It had felt like a whirlwind since arriving at the fracking site and uncovering the truth, falling out with Mia and leaving her behind, to then arriving in Phoenix and being kept prisoner and finally, finally being saved by a group of like-minded individuals and given a chance to do what he felt was right.

  Jorge knew he hadn’t gotten to that point in the best or most straightforward manner. He did feel guilty about the way he had left things with Mia and truly hoped that she had found a way back to her family. Nonetheless, when he weighed everything up, he honestly believed that the ends justified the means. He had both suffered himself and caused others to suffer too, but at the end of it he was now able to do something which would make a difference to the world and which would hopefully guarantee a better future for everyone.

  Not only that, but people would also know that he was integral in creating that future. He would be brushing shoulders with the country’s best and brightest—the A-listers; the people who mattered. When Jorge considered everything, he knew what was important to him and if he had to do everything all over again and make the same decisions, he knew he would happily do it. After everything, he was going to be a success, and as Jorge drifted off to sleep in a comfortable bed that night, that was the thought that left him with a smile on his face.

  Chapter 19

  Jackson couldn’t quite believe his luck, wanting to be absolutely certain what he was hearing was correct before he got overly excited. The days since leaving the office facility had been going well, their new location completely hidden from the Authority and their plans coming together for what would hopefully be the final assault. But in order for that final act to be a success, they needed a lot of firepower and their access to that was what was holding them back. Now, it sounded like Jackson might finally be getting his wish.

  “You’re positive it’s them?” he asked feverishly, grilling the scout in front of him. “One hundred percent?”

  “Yep,” Ollie nodded, “no doubt about it.”

  “Well, let’s get out there!” Jackson was on the move before Ollie could even react, rushing out of his new makeshift office and heading to the nearest exit, grabbing supplies along the way. “Quick. Before we lose them!” He was over the moon with the report, the sighting of Vic and Blake the piece of good fortune he’d been waiting for. Vic’s store held rows upon rows of weaponry, just what he needed to take down the Authority once and for all. They had all the other plans in place, they knew the schedules and routines and where to strike. All they needed now was the ammunition, and Vic was a man who could provide that for them and then some.

  Yanking a full-face filtration mask over his head, Jackson quickly got himself ready to leave the underground facility. He hadn’t been outside since they arrived there three days ago, his work keeping him hunched over a desk at most hours of the day, painstakingly trying to plan how to overthrow the Authority with pen and paper. As soon as Ollie was ready, he tugged open the airlock doors that were designed to keep the equipment at a certain temperature and hurried through, the scout following closely behind him. After the thirty-second countdown that the doors took, the two of them were outside, the chill almost knocking Jackson off of his feet.

  “Jesus Christ!” the father exclaimed, wrapping his arms around his body and rubbing his hands up and down his arms. “This has dropped.”

  Ollie looked at him as if he was stating the obvious. The young scout was out in the city every day, so the low temperatures didn’t come as quite a shock to him. “We’re lucky it’s not snowing,” he commented. “Means we can still see a ways.”

  Jackson narrowed his eyes. His visibility was barely a few yards ahead of him; he dreaded to think what sort of low visibility Ollie was referring to. Very quickly he decided that he couldn’t stay cooped up inside for so long again. He’d received reports of low visibility, but he hadn’t known the extreme degree of it. If Jackson was going to be a good leader and his plan successful, he needed to experience more things for himself rather than living life behind his desk.

  “Which way?” he asked, cutting the chatter short and swiveling his head around, peering into the gloom ahead of him. Blake and Vic had surely gaine
d even more ground on them by now, and the last thing Jackson wanted was to lose them.

  “Follow me,” Ollie replied, taking off at a jog. “If we keep a decent pace up, we should catch them. It looked like one of them was injured. Couldn’t tell if it was Blake or someone else.”

  “It’s not just the two of them?”

  “No,” Ollie called back, already running off ahead of Jackson. “Someone else with them. Didn’t see a face.”

  Jackson picked up his pace so he was able to keep up with the scout, taking a few seconds to manage his footing so he didn’t slip over on the icy ground. The layer of ash that coated everything from the eruption had sort of frozen to an extent, and then become a sludge that was both tacky and untrustworthy underfoot. He kept his eyes trained on Ollie’s heels ahead of him, knowing there was no point in trying to map their route and trusting his scout entirely.

  As they ran, Jackson couldn’t help feeling worried about who the third person was accompanying Blake and Vic. They had left the city with three of the children who were rescued from the pit, and he thought it unlikely that any of them would have returned, as they left to reunite with their family. That made Jackson feel slightly suspicious. If Blake was injured, then there was a chance they would have to rely on someone’s help and that someone might not necessarily be a friend.

  Once they located the trio, Jackson decided they would have to approach carefully. He was armed with a pistol that was always at his waist, but other than that he and Ollie were not prepared for an altercation. The last thing they needed was a run-in with the Authority. Leaving the underground facility in such haste had probably already been unwise of Jackson, he realized—if anyone had spotted them, he could’ve very easily given away their location by mistake.