Justice (A Science Fiction / Fantasy Romance)

by Fall, Carly

  After a few moments, he finally slowed, and Blake pointed at a rock formation in the distance. “Isn’t that the place we broke out Annis and Micah, then had to go back for Jovan?”

  “Yep.”

  Blake chuckled and shook his head. “Man, that was messed up.”

  “What happened?” he asked.

  “The government got a hold of Annis and Micah, and some of the others that came down here with them. They were running experiments on them, in the name of science, of course. Jovan sacrificed himself to get them out, and then we had to go back for him.”

  “Wow. It sounds like an incredible, precise military operation on your part.”

  Blake nodded. “It was incredible, and we had a plan, but as for precise military action, I don’t know about that. Maybe controlled chaos are better words to describe it. That was when I also became the most wanted on the FBI list, even though I was an agent. There was no going back for me.”

  Justice looked out the window. He preferred to live by basic, yet stringent rules, and expected those around him to do the same. His unit lived simply and had broken out their daily routines into regimented segments where everyone had a job to do, something to accomplish.

  As he’d been escorted out of the silo this morning, all had been quiet, which he’d found strange. Where had the Saviors been? Why hadn’t they been taking care of their respective chores or exercising to keep their bodies in prime physical shape?

  It baffled him that the Saviors had aligned themselves with a human, namely Blake. He must have been able to offer them something they couldn’t refuse. It would seem the best course of action would be to keep their existence a secret from humans, and the fact they wore contacts at night only backed up that thought. He also wondered about the female, Beverly, who’d come out to meet Hudson when they’d arrived late last night. Who was she? He thought she and Hudson had a close relationship, but what role did she play in the Saviors’ lives? He supposed at some point, he’d have answers to his questions, but for now, it seemed best to keep as quiet as possible while Noah evaluated the situation.

  About a half hour later, he recognized the place he’d called home for the past few years off in the distance. Leaning in between the two front seats, he pointed out the front window. “It’s straight ahead.”

  Noah nodded. “I see it. What about the gate? What is this place, Blake?”

  “Don’t know. We’ll have to get in closer.”

  “The gate will open once my crew sees me,” Justice said.

  They drove in silence for a moment, and then Noah came to a stop. Justice stepped out of the car and glanced at the camera. The gate didn’t budge, so he nodded, hoping that he conveyed that all would be fine.

  A long moment later, the gate ground to the right, and he smiled into the camera, thankful those he commanded trusted him.

  Justice got back into the car, and they drove the short distance to the entrance.

  Glancing around, he tried to see his quarters for the first time. Yes, from a distance, one would never know that it existed with its dirt-colored walls and ceiling, all sitting low to the ground. To enter, one needed to go down seven steps, so if they stood at the top step, they actually towered over the building.

  He led the way down the steps, and the door opened.

  “Welcome back,” his second in command, Chance, greeted him.

  Justice nodded and stepped into the small room, noticing that the rest of his crew crowded the space, their weapons drawn.

  “At ease, please,” he murmured, motioning them to put their guns away. “I bring friends.”

  As Blake, Noah, and Hudson filed in, the room became claustrophobic. It simply didn’t hold the space for eight large males and one small female.

  “I’d like to introduce you to Noah and Hudson from the Six Saviors,” he said. “And that’s Blake. Perhaps that would be better if we moved underground.”

  “Underground?” Noah asked.

  “Yes. Please, follow us.”

  He noticed uncomfortable glances exchanged between Noah and Blake, but they followed through the chain link fencing and down the corridor.

  It used to bother him that the whole place was the same red-ish toned color as the dirt outside, but he barely noticed it now. As they followed the narrow path, they descended a couple hundred feet underground and the walls were made out of the earth. The temperature cooled, and the light bulbs above cast an eerie yellow glow in the narrow space. He barely noticed this any longer, either.

  Finally, the hallway gave way to a large room, also made out of rock and earth from which it had been carved. A metal table sat in the middle of the space, and five bedrooms lay on each side of the room.

  Blake let out a low whistle as he looked around. “Is this it?”

  “No. Through that door over there is a computer room, and also our garden.”

  “Garden?” Noah asked.

  “Yes. Come.”

  His crew took their places at the table and watched warily as Justice led their guests through the closed door.

  He pointed out the large bank of computers and kept moving into the garden.

  As the largest space in the bunker, it stood about two-hundred-by-two-hundred feet. Growing lamps lined the ceiling, and Justice looked over their vegetable and fruits growing heartily all around them.

  “Where did you get the seeds for all this?” Blake asked as he fingered a strawberry plant.

  “We found them here.”

  “Blake?” Hudson asked. “What the fuck is this place?”

  The male looked around and shook his head. “I’m going to take a wild guess, but it looks like a government bunker for wartime. They have them all over the place. A secure location where the important people can go, where they have seeds to grow their food, where they can hunker down while the world outside burns.”

  “When did they make these?” Noah asked.

  “Probably about the 1950s. With the computers, though, my guess is that it’s been updated periodically throughout the years.”

  Noah turned in a circle, taking everything in. “I have to say, Justice, I’m impressed. Really, really impressed.”

  He grinned and bowed his head. “Thank you. It was a rocky start, but we came through. We’re completely self-sufficient. The bunker had been stocked well. Clothing, food, weapons … humans could live down here for a very long time.”

  “Judging by the looks of you, you’re eating more than strawberries and lettuce,” Hudson commented.

  He pointed to the corner of the room. “Yes. We also have a pallet of meals called M.R.E.s. They aren’t very good, but they do supplement our diets.”

  Blake grimaced. “I’ve had to eat a few of those myself. They tend to be on the nasty side.”

  He nodded and grinned. “Yes, but one eats what is needed in order to survive.”

  They stood in silence for a moment. “Would you like to be introduced to the rest of my crew?”

  Noah nodded and grinned. “Yep. Might as well meet our new friends.”

  Just under an hour later, Blake chatted amicably with Kade and Macy. Kade reminded him a lot of Talin, except the dude might be even more intelligent than Talin had been. The guy was nice enough, but Blake definitely felt out of his league.

  Macy, a Healer like Cohen, proved to be quiet and demure, but very sweet. Sophia would like her, and he wondered what the future looked like for all of them. Would Noah introduce these people to the Six Saviors family? As Blake watched him talk to Axel and Justice while Hudson said something to Roman and Chance that made them laugh, a bit of worry crept through him. These guys seemed like good people, but how in the hell would all this work? Would Noah leave them out here? He couldn’t bring them to the silo—the place was jam-packed. Of course, they could all camp out in the gym, but that would get old for everyone involved in a very short period of time.

  Sighing, he was glad he wasn’t the one who had to make decisions in this little party.

 
“So, Blake, do you miss SR44?” Macy asked. “Or are you happy here?”

  Yeah. He didn’t know quite how to answer that question, but decided the truth would be best. “I’m human. Never seen SR44. I’ve heard the stories, and it sounds like it was a great place.”

  A look of confusion traveled over Macy’s face. “It still is. But why have the Saviors aligned themselves with a human? I thought their job would be to integrate into human society, but not let them know of their existence.”

  Shit. He’d forgotten none of these people besides Justice knew that SR44 was nothing but bits of rock floating through space.

  “Well, it’s a long story, but I’m part Colonist—“

  “What?” Kade gasped. “You’re part Colonist?”

  He pulled his gun and leveled it at Blake.

  This wasn’t going well.

  “Look, I can explain.”

  “There’s no need for explanation!” Kade bellowed, his thumb pulling back the hammer.

  It would be really good to have some sort of emergency happen right now. Maybe an earthquake, or a measles outbreak. Instead, he yelled for Noah.

  “Whoa!” Noah said, placing his hand on Kade’s arm and lowering the gun. “He’s one of the good guys, man. You don’t put holes in the good guys.”

  “But he said he’s part Colonist,” Kade pushed out through gritted teeth.

  “Yeah, he is.” Noah ran his fingers through his hair. “Look, there’s a lot we need to fill you in on.”

  “Why did he say that SR44 was a nice place?” Macy asked, her gaze never leaving Blake. “Like it doesn’t exist anymore?”

  “Oh, hell,” Noah mumbled. “Blake, we haven’t even been here an hour and you’re already causing trouble?”

  “I didn’t mean to. I was just—“

  A deafening alarm sounded, and Justice and his crew scrambled to the computer room.

  Blake followed, glad the situation had been diffused, but wondering if things had just gone from bad to worse.

  They huddled around the computer and a woman driving a military jeep came into view. Blake studied her as she punched in the gate code, his heart thumping in his chest. What the hell was the military doing here?

  With blonde hair and a slim, small frame, her lips constantly moved as if she talked to someone. It didn’t seem anyone accompanied her, so maybe she was deep in conversation with herself?

  “Who the hell is that?” Noah asked, and Blake heard the tension in his voice.

  “That’s Holly,” Justice answered, his voice soft. “She’s nothing to worry about.”

  “I beg to differ. She’s military, and she’s outside your front door. That seems like a problem to me,” Hudson said.

  Justice shook his head. “No, she shows up here about once a week to make sure all is secure. We lock the chain-linked fence, and she can’t get down here. I actually find her quite amusing as she talks like there’s someone here.”

  They all watched her get out of the jeep and head for the doorway.

  “Oh, no,” Chance muttered, his eyes growing wide.

  “What is it?” Justice asked.

  Chance glanced at everyone, panic racing across his face. “We didn’t lock the fence.”

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Noah mumbled.

  Chapter 8

  Corporal Holly Lewis opened the main door to the bunker and yelled, “Lucy, I’m home!” in her best Dezi Arnez impression which frankly, sucked.

  As the low man on a high totem pole in an elite section of the army that dealt with all things supernatural, her job was to simply make sure all the government bunkers that had been built in the 50s remained safe and out of sight from the general public. When the good people of the United States found out about the government secrets, they got curious and wanted to see things for themselves. That’s what had happened with Area 51. The base appeared to continue its clandestine operations with the guards, the manufactured stories of those who had been detained there, those who had been chased off the land, the UFOs and alien bodies inside … all of it had been held up as a front when it had been discovered by the general public.

  In a nutshell, that was to cover the building where the real stuff went down—Area 2.

  She’d been in there many times, and had served as security at that place for a while. A couple of years ago, she would have been involved in a shootout that took place in the building if she hadn’t had to take care of her brother that day. Shaking her head, she recalled the stories from those that worked there—men posing as scientists breaking in to rescue aliens, one of them giving himself up to save the others, and then the big finale of him being freed from the back of a cargo truck. It sounded like something out of a science fiction book.

  But it had all happened, and frankly, she had been glad when the program that studied the aliens had been shut down. Some of the things she had witnessed had been cringe-worthy.

  “So how are things going today?” she called as she checked the cabinets, making sure all were secure. Glancing up at the camera, she smiled and waved, wondering if anyone ever checked the footage at home base. For good measure, she gave it one finger salute, as well.

  “My day’s been good, thanks for asking. Although, I do have to admit, I’m not looking forward to driving around in this desert once the heat hits. But today’s nice. I saw a coyote and a javelina this morning. Not together of course, but at separate times. That would be funny to see them hanging out together. The coyote would probably make some bad joke about craving bacon.”

  Everything looked good, the exact same way it had looked last week and the weeks and months before that.

  She liked to pretend that friendly people inhabited these bunkers because the thought of going into an empty one kind of gave her the creeps. These things had never been inhabited, and the long years of sitting empty and silent made her very uncomfortable.

  Turning, she looked at the chain link fence and walked over to pull on the lock. Gasping, she stopped in her tracks. The lock hung open.

  Pulling her gun from her belt, she pointed it toward the dark hallway and backed up, fear coursing through her. “Whoever is in there, you need to come out right now.”

  Her voice came out strong, but her breath caught in her throat as she listened, trying to hear something through the silence.

  After a moment, she heard footsteps, and the lights went on. Two large men filed toward her—a white man with dark, wavy hair followed by a bald, black man. Both smiled at her.

  “Hi, Holly,” the white man said with a friendly grin. “My name’s Noah. I’m a consultant with the Army, and I want to congratulate you on a job well done. Please, put down the gun and stand at ease.”

  What?

  “This is Lieutenant Justice, and we were tasked to see if you were actually performing your duties, or if you were skipping out on them.”

  She lowered her gun a little bit, confusion rolling through her. If these two were military, they certainly weren’t dressed correctly. Both wore jeans and t-shirts, and Noah’s hair violated military regulations. But he had said he was a consultant, so the rules wouldn’t apply to him. Would they?

  But how did they know this was her job? How did they know her name?

  “Yes, you’ve done well, Holly,” the lieutenant said. “We’re very happy to have you among our ranks.”

  She glanced over their shoulders as they entered into the room, both of them towering over her. Standing at five-foot-five, she imagined these two hovered in the six-foot-five range. Both had broad shoulders, trim waists, and long legs. As Lieutenant Justice crossed his arms over his chest, she noted the bulging biceps and realized they could overpower her within seconds, even with the gun.

  Backing up toward the door, she grinned. “Thank you, Lieutenant Justice, sir. This has been quite … quite a surprise. I never expected to actually meet anyone on my bunker patrols.”

  He smiled, his dark eyes twinkling, as if he knew a secret she didn’t. Or could that be a look
of amusement? Like something she had said he found funny?

  She thought of her entrance and her bad Dezi impersonation. Knowing that someone had actually heard her antics made her cheeks flush with embarrassment.

  “You can take off now, Holly,” Noah said. “We’ll lock up the gate and make sure we report back to your superiors that you’ve done a great job here.”

  As she stood with her back against the door, she holstered her gun, ready to get the hell out of there.

  “Sounds good,” she said. “I’ll radio headquarters and let them know we met.”

  “No,” Noah said. “This was supposed to be a surprise operation, and your commanders aren’t aware of it yet. The orders for this inspection came from way up the ladder.”

  She stared at him a moment, and more unease washed through her. “Who did you say your commanding officer was?”

  Both continued to smile at her, but the silence morphed. She didn’t know whether to run or to shoot them both down.

  “Smith,” Noah said. “Out of the Vegas branch.”

  She made a mental note to check the name. “Okay, I’ll be going, then.”

  “Remember, silence is the key, Holly,” Lieutenant Justice said.

  “Yes. We can’t let your superiors know about our operation until everyone has been tested. We’ll definitely be able to put in a good word for you, though.”

  She nodded and left, the door shutting firmly behind her.

  She slipped on her sunglasses and started the jeep. As she drove away, she thought about her encounter. If she reported what she saw, then she could be in big trouble by outing their field inspection. However, something about it didn’t sit quite right.

  Neither man wore a military uniform. That could easily be explained by them wanting to be comfortable as they conducted their research.

  They knew her, but she found it odd they didn’t address her by her military title of Corporal. Instead, they’d called her Holly.

  So, she had a decision to make.

  Did she say anything to anyone, or did she let things play out and see what happened?