Uprising

by Gareth Otton

  “No one is taking anyone’s home,” the angry man shouted. “We just want a place where we’re safe. People can still live here, they just have to abide by our rules. Cardiff will be a place of safety, not just for dreamwalkers, but for anyone who wants to live with dreamwalkers in peace.”

  Stella couldn’t help it, she laughed, and that only angered the man further.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to laugh, but surely you realise that will never happen. You can’t forcefully take a city and expect to live in harmony with the people you conquered. I don’t know what you’ve been told, but even if this goes perfectly, you will never have peace. The army will attack you to reclaim the city. The rest of the world will support them because you succeeding here will set a dangerous precedent. And finally, the very people of Cardiff will rise against the threat you pose. You just showed everyone that when you don’t get what you want, you use your powers to take it anyway. That’s hardly a way to make normal people feel safe. There aren’t enough dreamwalkers left to hold out against all that. The world will see this as an act of war and they will continue that war to end you.”

  “Act of war? Your government fired the first shot when they introduced a law to make dreamwalkers sub-human. Jacob has shown us the truth and reminded us that oppressed people take decades, even centuries, to rise up peacefully. We have learnt from history and will not accept that same oppression. And as for your stupid war, just try coming after us and you will see what even a few dreamwalkers are capable of.”

  Stella shook her head like she was sad he couldn’t see reason.

  “There was a genuine chance this law wouldn’t pass, but now your actions have guaranteed it. You need to re-evaluate your motives. Did you all know you were taking it this far? Or was it just idiots like this loudmouth who made plans and convinced you to follow them? Think on that,” she said before she leaned back inside and closed the window. She paused to catch the angry-man’s reaction and wasn’t disappointed when he started screaming at the closed window, undermining his own mental state.

  She stepped away and turned to Leon and Trevors.

  “They sound like a cult,” Leon said, echoing her thoughts. “I only heard that one guy talking, but you could see on the rest of their faces that there’s a lot of doubt in that car park.”

  Stella nodded in agreement.

  “There is. I think Jacob played on their fear, and most of them never knew they were signing up for. However, they’re not ready to back down yet, not after their ghosts were destroyed. We need to keep trying to convince them. At the end of the day, they’re not hardened criminals or revolutionaries, they’re just scared people coerced into action they didn’t understand. I’ve got to convince them it’s not too late to turn back.”

  “But can you do it in time?” Leon asked.

  “That’s the million-dollar question. Maybe if we hadn’t destroyed their ghosts.” Turning to Trevors, she said, “This is why we don’t use overwhelming force as first choice. It just closes doors and removes options.”

  A few hours ago there might have been an angry answer from the large man, but seeing his men killed so easily had affected Trevors’ confidence.

  “So what do we do?” Leon asked.

  Stella wasn’t sure. She’d like to spend more time talking the dreamwalkers down, but she couldn’t rush that process and she was on a deadline. Her team were the only people trained to deal with supernatural threats, and she didn’t like the idea of the normal police or army dealing with Jacob’s people without her input. That meant she needed to get out of here as soon as possible.

  There was also the added pressure that eventually the dreamwalkers would figure out that while they couldn’t use their powers on the building, they could use conventional methods. How long before they started throwing bricks or using things like Molotov Cocktails to burn them out?

  Sudden shouting made her look toward the window. At first she thought they were arguing amongst themselves, but at the sound of another voice she raced back to the window to see if she heard correctly. Yet again the angry man was shouting, only this time he was backed by his people and his ghosts who surrounded two new figures.

  At the centre of their semicircle, Tad stood tall, looming over them while Growler looked like he was ready to pounce. Stella opened the window to hear what was happening.

  “…crazy doing something like this. Simon can’t possibly be speaking for all of you. Sandra, Eric, Bill, I know you’re smarter than this. You’re reasonable people. Think about what you’re doing and—”

  “I don’t know how you got free, but you’re not calling the shots here,” the loudmouth shouted, pointing at Tad. “Your stubborn refusal to listen and failure to act is why we’re in this mess. So don’t come in all high and mighty. Jacob’s plan is good and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.”

  “Simon, even you must realise you’re going too far. Look at where you are, look at what you’ve done.” Tad gestured to the dead bodies with an expression of horror. Again the faces of the dreamwalkers twisted with doubt, but it wasn’t enough. Simon wouldn’t back down and he was done talking.

  He clapped his hands dramatically and before Stella had time to blink, there was a fireball in the palm of each hand.

  “Jacob was wrong to try capturing you. We should have killed you from the start. You’re not going to stand between us and safety any longer.”

  That’s all warning he gave before he launched those fireballs across the car park with blistering speed. However, for all that Stella’s heart lurched, Tad calmly raised a hand, his injured one at that, and fireballs puffed out of existence.

  Simon’s eyes widened, but he wasn’t done. His anger got the better of him and this time the fireballs were twice as big and so hot Stella could feel them from upstairs. Again terror gripped her, but once again Tad waved his hand and the fireballs vanished.

  “That’s always been your problem, Simon. You’ve got no imagination,” Tad said, and suddenly the ground beneath Simon’s feet turned to liquid and Simon sunk to his knees before it turned solid again, trapping him in place. He flailed helplessly as he tried to get his balance, but Tad had already turned his attention to the other dreamwalkers.

  “How many of you knew they tried to trap me this morning? They were so worried I would shine some reason onto this that they tried to keep me from talking to you.”

  “No more lies,” Simon screamed, his words accompanied by a terrible eruption of concrete and tarmac, showering the crowd, the building and the cars hard enough to set off alarms. The furious man climbed from the hole he created and glared at Tad. “We trapped you because you’re a traitor who won’t be happy until you’ve reduced us to nothing.” He turned to his people and said, “We played it his way for a year and look where that got us. It’s time to do what we agreed, and he’s standing in our way. You don’t need to kill him, but if you want to be safe, help me subdue him.” He turned back to Tad and said, “How’s this for imagination?”

  Suddenly he pulled a device from his pocket that Stella instantly recognised. She screamed for Tad to dreamwalk away as Simon pointed a laser pointer at him, but she was too late for Tad to react…

  But not too late for Growler.

  The dog covered the distance between Tad and Simon with the kind of speed cheetahs would envy, then lept high and snapped his jaws closed on Simon’s arm. Simon screamed and a flash of red light was swept off target.

  The laser missed Tad by an inch before cutting through cars and nearly burning one of his own people before shutting off as Simon fought with the dog. Tad flinched away from the laser, staring at the destruction with wide eyes before looking back to where the angry dreamwalker battled Growler. For all Growler’s aggression and speed, Simon was getting the upper hand and aimed that deadly laser pointer at Growler’s skull. Tad’s shock vanished in an instant and his expression set as he did something Stella had never seen before. He raised his hand toward one of the dead Dream Team memb
ers, and suddenly a gun jumped from the floor and flew toward him.

  Tad snatched it out of the air and in one smooth movement, brought the gun up and pulled the trigger. Simon’s hand that was holding the laser erupted with blood as a bullet passed through it. The man screamed in new agony and fell away as Growler let go.

  “Holy Shit,” Trevors whispered in awe. “Who the hell taught him to shoot like that?”

  Stella shook her head, wondering the same thing. She had never seen Tad so much as pick up a gun, let alone fire one. Where he got the confidence to fire it so accurately, she couldn’t imagine. Still looking down the sights of that gun, he looked more like one of Trevors’ men than the dreamwalker she was familiar with.

  She put her curiosity aside as the dreamwalkers’ expressions changed from shock to horror as they looked at the mangled ruin of Simon’s hand. Just as their ghosts being destroyed was the catalyst for their earlier anger, Simon’s mutilation was one step too far. They looked at Tad like he was a dangerous animal that needed to be taken out before it was too late.

  Stella shouted again, begging Tad to dreamwalk away. Again he didn’t listen, never taking his eyes from the dreamwalkers.

  “Get the front door unlocked,” he shouted without turning. Stella didn’t like his tone and was worried about what he would do, but she had to trust him.

  “Mitchell, get the door unlocked and let him in when he’s ready,” she said to one of Trevors’ men.

  “Are you crazy?” Trevors asked, grabbing her arm and turning her to face him. “What if he brings them inside?”

  “Seriously? You think Tad is involved in this? I know you have your problems with him, Trevors, but surely you know him better than that.”

  “I’m not saying he’s with them, I’m saying that opening the door is weakening our defences.”

  Stella shook her head stubbornly.

  “It’s a risk we’ll have to take. We’re not getting out of here without help and we need to get out of here soon.”

  Turning to Mitchell, who was waiting for orders, she added, “Go.”

  As Mitchell did as asked, Stella turned her attention back to the growing tension outside that was about to break into violence.

  Simon was still screaming, clutching his hand even as he was being pulled away from the growling dog and other dreamwalkers took his place. They pointed outstretched hands at Growler while the others were glaring at Tad. Stella didn’t need to be a dreamwalker to know they were all pulling Dream and were ready to fuel some new nightmare aimed at the tall figure and his dog.

  However, none were quick enough.

  There was an almighty crack that sounded so loud it was like thunder underground. It was like what the earlier dreamwalker accomplished when he stamped his foot, but on a whole other level. Tad didn’t crack the ground with his foot, he barely even twitched as he released his will upon the world. However, the results spoke for themselves.

  Thousands of cracks filled the car park as Tad staggered back, clutching his head and grunting in pain. However, for once, Stella’s eyes weren’t on him but on what he did, her jaw slack and eyes so wide they hurt. Out in the car park, dreamwalkers gasped in surprise as those thousands of cracks followed intricate lines that flowed in twisting patterns. Light shone from those cracks like the sun was trapped beneath the ground.

  Not a single one threw a Dream at Tad because none of them could touch Dream. Somehow Tad had created multiple dreamcatchers that surrounded each cluster of dreamwalkers. Other than Tad, not a single dreamwalker had access to their powers.

  This flew in the face of everything she knew about what Tad could do. This wasn’t augmenting reality, as there hadn’t been any clever tricks to make his dream come true. This was pure creation and while he was paying for it, Stella didn’t think he should even have been able to do it.

  However, for all that he had done it, Stella recognised it wouldn’t last. Those lines weren’t as neat as they could be and the tarmac was melting, filling in the cracks. Tad needed to get out of there as soon as possible, but he couldn’t move at the moment as he was clutching his head in agony.

  Again it was Growler to the rescue, the dog biting Tad’s trouser leg and dreamwalking them both to the entrance. It was the last thing Stella saw before she abandoned her position and ran towards the door at the end of the corridor, bursting through it and rushing downstairs to make sure Tad was alright.

  He was standing upright when she reached him, and though the physical signs of pain were gone, she could see the lingering hurt in his eyes.

  “Mitchell, get that door shut and locked,” Stella ordered before turning her attention to Tad to make sure he had no other injuries. After giving him a quick once over she hugged him tight for a second, feeling something inside her unclench now she could feel him safe with her own two hands, then stepped away again so she could look him in the eye. “Where the hell have you been? I’ve been trying to contact you four hours.”

  “Been stuck in America. Jacob told me to come to Texas because it was important. When I arrived they trapped me inside a giant dreamcatcher on Brad’s ranch. It’s taken me until now to get away.” Tad looked back outside in dismay, “Do you have any idea why they’re doing this? Jacob didn’t tell me much before he disappeared, other than that I had chosen the wrong side. I’m assuming they’ve done more than surround this place?”

  Stella recapped what happened this morning. By the time she was done, Tad was swearing.

  “What’s wrong with them? They can’t possibly believe this will achieve anything good?”

  “I saw their faces, Tad. I don’t think they knew what they were getting themselves in for today. If I had to guess, Jacob has been stringing them along with lies and his own twisted view of the world. The rest of them have gone along with it because they’re scared and don’t know what else to do. Before they knew what was happening, they were already in over their heads.”

  “Shit,” had repeated rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced outside. “This is a disaster, Stella. It will blow everything we’ve been trying to do for the last year out of the water. You can just imagine how other governments will see this, and it’ll only take us that much closer to war.”

  Stella glanced at Mitchell who was listening, then looked back at Tad, telling him with her expression that he was revealing too much. However, his words were true. This had been exactly what they didn’t need, especially on Merging Day when the whole world was watching. This was supposed to be a day to help soothe fears and remind people of what good had come from the Merging. Jacob’s revolution ruined that.

  “One problem at a time,” Stella said. “The first thing we need to do is get out of here. Unfortunately, the same dreamcatchers that keep them out is keeping us in. You have any ideas of how we can deal with that?”

  Tad shook his head like he was about to say no, but then his eyes widened in surprise.

  “Yeah, I know what to do. We need to rearrange these dreamcatchers. With some careful work and a few quick creations of our own, we can change things so that rather than keeping people out, it will direct them exactly where we want them to go.”

  Stella looked at him suspiciously as he seemed to change, almost like he was speaking with someone else’s voice.

  “How did you get out of that dreamcatcher?” she asked.

  Tad’s expression shifted as he shuffled from foot to foot before admitting, “I had to accept Tony’s advice and move on.”

  It took Stella a second to understand what he was saying, then her eyes widened.

  “Rodney?”

  “And Thomas. It took both them and Tony to help me break out of that thing.”

  “And I take it that whatever you’re suggesting is one of their ideas? Just like I’m assuming your new shooting skills are actually Rodney’s?”

  Tad smiled sheepishly and nodded before that smile slipped and his expression turned serious.

  “We’ve got some work to do. We need to set up tra
ps, create a killing ground, and then lure those dreamwalkers in and lead them where we want them.”

  “Killing ground?”

  Tad waved her concerns away.

  “Just an expression. We need to lure these people into a place where we have the control and then take them out. How many of Trevor’s men are left?”

  “About half.”

  “Really? So few? Damn.” He glanced back outside at the dead bodies and shook his head like he couldn’t believe it had come to this. After a second to compose himself, he added, “Hopefully it will be enough. Let’s gather everyone up. We’ll need everyone’s help if were going to pull this off.”

  Together they rushed back upstairs to find Trevors had gathered what remained of his Team. Stella stood back and watched as Tad took charge like he had been leading people all his life, and again she could almost see someone else speaking through him. She knew that Tad was channelling his ghosts’ knowledge and talents, but it was the first time she had really seen it with her new senses. It was a little uncomfortable seeing the man she loved become someone else, even for a little while.

  However, she pushed that aside because whether she liked it or not, he was outlining their best option to escape. She had to concentrate on the task at hand because it was long past time to take back control of her DTHQ, and then take back Cardiff.

  31

  Wednesday, 30th November 2016

  14:30

  Tad stood behind Miles, watching the array of video feeds. Each of the six monitors housed four windows displaying locations within the DTHQ. Tad cast a critical eye over them all before deciding the time was right and speaking into his radio.

  “Okay, let’s get this done. Mitchell break the dreamcatcher. Growler, as soon as it’s broken, dreamwalk back here.”