“On three,” he instructed Metalcore. “One, two, three!”
“I’ve been thinking about one of Metalcore… Daniel’s songs. I never liked the music, the whole noisy screaming thing, but I like his lyrics,” Manning told Greyfall. The two men were lying on their backs in their cells, under fed and tired.
“Gather the scattered and the exiled in one place. One noise will rise and declare one race. Call up the lost and drowned, the rejected and the dead. The root will rise and reach for the remnant mislead. Raise up the banner, amass the nations, this is a call to arms.”
Greyfall said nothing but nodded.
“I hope they’re ok. I hope they’re all ok,” Manning said, almost to himself. “I hope Israel is ok,” he added. Greyfall turned to look at his cellmate.
“You love the boy don’t you?” Greyfall stated, rather than asked.
“Like a son.”
“It is clear he loves you too.”
Manning sputtered half of a laugh. “Yeah, he’s a pain in the ass some times, but I guess all kids are. It really doesn’t feel that long ago I was reading him bedtime stories.”
“Tell me about him,” Greyfall just wanted to hear anything that would distract him from their present situation.
“There was one story that always scared him, but for some reason he always wanted to hear it. Stonehood, the broken hearted. It’s one of those stories that got passed around those of us in the know about the super powered. An urban legend we could nearly believe in, knowing what we knew. The story went that there were two super powered lovers who would meet on top of Hayes Tower every night. You know Hayes Tower? Sky scraper on the west side?”
Greyfall nodded.
“Well they would meet and court every night under the stars. The girl was a flyer, the guy a stone changer. During the day he would turn to stone, like a statue wherever he was, so he stuck to the rooftops so as not to be noticed. The girl, wishing they could be together like normal during the day, sought help from someone she thought she could trust with their secret. Instead that person betrayed her, handing her over to the authorities on account of her illegal powers. She stopped showing up to meet her lover at Hayes Tower and the guy started to panic and after several nights of no shows he began moving from rooftop to rooftop searching for her. Eventually he took to the streets, only ever searching at night. For years he scoured the city, always returning to the Hayes Tower roof in case she would show up one night. But she never did. Now he spends his nights searching for his lost love, returning to the rooftops of New Belfast to be turned to stone again.
The thought of Stonehood finding his way to our rooftop some night scared Israel something silly when he was a boy,” Manning laughed.
“It is sad tale.” Greyfall said.
“Where you raised on any stories, growing up in your world?” Manning asked.
Greyfall smiled. “Yes. Old Man and Ghost Dog: Solving Mysteries Under The Sea, by John Devlin.”
Manning looked at Greyfall. “Uh…”
Before Manning could say any thing there was a loud clunk. Then another. Then another. suddenly the door to the cell slowly slid open. Manning and Greyfall instantly sat up, alert. This wasn’t the normal time for a meal. The two men sat still, looking to the door for something to happen. For several moments they sat in silence until they heard something coming from outside in the hall. Cackling laughter slowly began to echo through the cells from somewhere at the other end of the long corridor. Another few voices started to sound off. At first it was relatively quiet, but began to gain in volume and in quantity. It didn’t take long before the whole corridor was in uproar. Manning and Greyfall sat still in their cell listening to what was clearly a horde of the inmates who were now out of their cells.
“No guards boys!” one inmate could be heard shouting. Manning and Greyfall looked to each other, shocked and confused.
“What do you think has happened?” Greyfall asked.
“I have no idea, but it can’t be good,” Manning answered.
Both men stood up and made for the cell door to see what was happening. Suddenly from outside in the corridor there was a huge crash. Something had exploded or broken somewhere. The shouts were silenced as the inmates now stood looking at what caused the destruction. Manning and Greyfall rushed out of their cell and strained to look through the dust that was thick in the air. Neither man could make out what was happening. Some of the inmates closer to the scene started to band together in a defensive position.
“Who the hell are you?!” one of them yelled as Manning and Greyfall started taking steps towards the dust. It was clear now that something or someone had broken through the wall in the corridor. A voice called out from the dust.
“My name… is Warstone!” Ronan bellowed as Elaine and Daniel stepped forward to join him on either side. As if choreographed the three moved as one into the crowd of inmates.
“So what?! I ain’t never heard of no Warstone,” the same inmate yelled. “You breaking us out or what?”
“No,” was the short answer from Warstone.
“Then get out of my way!” the inmate ordered as he started to run at the trio to get passed them. Elaine raised her arm and a sheet of thick ice sprung up from the ground which the inmate ran into and fell back on his backside.
“The hell?” he spat. “What’s your deal?! Why you breaking in here if you aren’t gonna let us out?! Where’s the guards?!”
“You have been abandoned,” Ronan told them. Murmuring started to ripple through the crowd of criminals. “There is a situation in the city. The guards have gone to help and left you here to rot. The bridge is destroyed.”
The murmur was now a loud noise of disdain and panic. The trio walked forward into the corridor, making their way down it to the other side as the inmates yelled out their questions.
“What are we supposed to do?! Can we have our powers back?! Turn these dampeners off! What will we eat?!”
Ignoring the cries, Warstone, Metalcore and Elaine found what they were looking for. At the very end of the corridor stood Manning and Greyfall, quiet and grinning. The five friends stood and took in the moment for a while, ignoring what was now a slowly growing riot behind them.
“Well…” Manning began, pointing at the wall behind him. “Shall we?”
Warstone smiled and stepped forward. With all of his might he punched the wall which exploded outwards, bricks falling far into the sea below them. Manning and Greyfall breathed deeply though their noses, enjoying the light and smell of the sea.
The criminal inmates began making their way towards the hole in the wall and their freedom. Ronan immediately stepped forward to meet them, Elaine by his side, now turned into solid blue ice and wielding two spiked ice spears in each hand. Metalcore simply hovered several feet in the air. The criminals stopped in their tracks.
Maning stepped forward and whispered to Ronan.
“Have we really been abandoned? Is the bridge gone?” he asked the masked wrestler.
“Yes,” Warstone confirmed.
“Then we have no choice. We must set them free,” Manning instructed.
“They will be free. But I’m not sharing a boat with them.”
“A boat?!” Manning exclaimed.
Elaine turned and smiled at Manning. Running grabbed him by the shoulder and began to run at the hole in the wall, jumping out and taking Manning with her.
“Elaaaaaaine!” Manning yelled as they plummeted several stories. Elaine reached out and created an ice slide like she had done before on their way into PATMOS. The two slid for several moments before the slide levelled out just before sea level and they skidded to a stop. Following behind them came Greyfall, sliding down on his own. He was happy to make the leap from the prison on the slide himself without assistance. By the time he made it to the bottom Elaine was already at work. She was bent over at the edge of the ice with her hand in the water. Manning and Greyfall watched in awe as a large structure began to grow out of the water. Aft
er a moment it took the shape of a boat, simple but large enough to carry them back to the city. Manning and Greyfall climbed in. Elaine looked back up for her brother who was now flying and carrying Warstone down towards them. In a moment the men were all onboard the boat. Elaine could see the inmates were fighting to see what was going on through the hole in the wall of the prison. She couldn’t hear their words but could hear them all yelling down at her. Raising her hand she pointed at the end of the slide she had created. The structure started to slowly extend itself upwards towards them until it reached a height just shy of the inmates. Climbing on board the ice boat she gestured to her brother who nodded. Metalcore flew to the back of the boat. Using his power of flight he began to push the boat slowly across the water towards New Belfast. As they floated across the water Elaine had her hand outstretched at the back of the boat. As they travelled the levelled out landing of ice at the bottom of the slide was extending and following them. High above, the inmates were arguing whether to trust her and jump or not. If she stopped making the ice they would be stranded on the sea. There was no way of climbing back up the slippery slide.
Manning stood at the front of the boat taking in the scene of the city. Huge pillars of smoke were visible from all over New Belfast. Helicopters littered the sky. Fighter jets were cycling high above them.
“What has happened?! We saw the news report that the Skyborn was under attack from Mastadon.” Manning turned to Warstone. “Is everyone ok?!”
Warstone reached up and took his helmet off. Breathing deeply he looked his friend in the eyes.
“We’ve got a lot to fill you in on.”
Chapter 23
Vincent Kennedy stood looking out from one of his offices on the thirtieth floor of the Skyborn Building sipping his tea. Frank was reporting the news from the outside.
“The bulwark has now spread to a nine block radius and growing.”
“Is it holding firm?” Kennedy asked.
“Completely. Simon is convinced it can go at least another ten blocks.”
“Then lets go another ten blocks. When does he think he can get there?”
“Another three days at this rate. As the bulwark grows it not only weakens but takes a longer time to expand.”
“Obviously. Excellent. What of our boys? How many now?”
“Still coming through the tunnels under the city. Hundreds every hour. The Skyborn is at capacity so they are taking to setting up in the buildings within the first five blocks that weren’t destroyed.”
“Good. The whole world can see our defences. If there is a way through the bulwark, no one would be stupid enough to even want to get through when they see that lot.”
Manning had butterflies in his stomach. He has known this was coming for a long time and yet like a child waiting for Christmas he felt it would never get there. The ice boat had docked at the harbour which was now abandoned and silent. Looking around he saw very little boats remained.
“It’s deserted,” he said aloud.
“Yeah. People have been fleeing the city using any means they can. It’s manic on the bridges but they are still making it out. The news said there are still an estimated forty or fifty thousand left, waiting to see what happens, but the vast majority of new Belfast has fled. Millions of them,” Elaine informed him.
“My word.” Was all Manning could say.
“Manning, do you think there is a way through that thing? That forcefield?” Warstone asked as the five friends walked from the harbour towards the city, making their way to the wrestler’s high-rise apartment which was still unharmed and a safe enough distance away for them to be concerned yet.
“I have my thoughts. I just want to regroup. I just want to make sure Israel is safe,” Manning said, obviously tired.
“We’ll get him Manning. But what about this coma? Is it safe for us to move him?” Warstone asked.
“I think I know what’s happened to him. There’s no time to waste.” Manning turned to Metalcore. “I need you. The rest of you head back to Warstone’s apartment. Metalcore and I will gather what we need. We may have lost the hideout but I have items hidden in several safe spaces in the city. Judging from the size of that dome I’ve lost one or two of them for sure but there’s a couple more.”
“Is there anything we should do while we wait?” Elaine asked.
“Just get in contact with anyone who can help us. Anyone who knows anyone or who thinks anyone has powers. I don’t care who it is. We need numbers. There’s a woman in Florida called Maggie Warner and a man in Pennsylvania called Dustin Kemp. I don’t know how you will, but find them. Get in contact with them and tell them everything. We’ll need them.” Manning turned to Metalcore. “Take me up there. I want to see the extent of this madness.”
Without hesitation Metalcore wrapped his arms around Manning from behind and flew high into the air.
Elaine looked to Greyfall and Warstone.
“You heard the man,” she said.
“Back to mine guys,” Warstone announced as the three ran off into the deserted city.
Flying high above New Belfast Manning could hardly believe his eyes. The destruction left behind by Kennedy's laser wall was like something he would have watched in post apocalyptic movies. Buildings had been turned to dust, the ground a barren wasteland. Trenches littered the area as if an earthquake had ripped through the city. All along the circumference of the massive and slowly expanding wall buildings were crumbling slowly, falling inwards on top of the sphere where they would be reduced to ashes.
“God please don’t let there be anyone in these buildings,” Manning thought to himself, confident that there wasn’t. “You would have to be sleeping off one hell of a hangover to not be aware of what was happening he thought to himself.”
Craning his neck up and around he yelled over the wind to Metalcore.
“Fiftieth street!”
Metalcore immediately changed direction and made his way to the location. Being nearby it only took several moments. Manning pointed to the ground to indicate they would need to go through the front door. The duo descended until their feet were back on solid ground and Manning ran to the door of the building. Metalcore looked up, inspecting the place. It was a simple and unassuming apartment building. Manning was standing at the door before the intercom. There were twenty eight apartments in the building and Manning began pressing the buzzers in what appeared to be a completely random fashion to Metalcore. After several moments the front door to the building suddenly buzzed and Manning pushed his way inside. Metalcore followed the older man down to the end of the hallway were Manning had come to another door with an electronic keypad attached to it. Manning keyed in eight numbers and opened the door, turning on the light to a small windowless room. Inside were several lockers which Manning began sort his way through. Taking a backpack out of one he began filling it with smaller items. Once filled he tossed it to Metalcore.
“Put that on please,” he instructed as he continued rifling through the lockers. Taking out a second bag he repeated the process until it too was full. He put the second bag on backwards so that it was on his chest. Metalcore figure it was so they could still fly comfortably as before. Lastly Manning reached into a final locker and pulled out a long and obviously heavy cylindrical container about four feet in length. Struggling to hold it, Manning closed the locker with his foot and Metalcore stepped forward to take the container from him.
“That’s it for this stash. There are a few more but first we have to get Israel. Let’s get back to Ronan’s place.”
Ronan wasn’t the biggest fan of hosting any kind of gathering and was pacing back and forth in his kitchen. He felt bad, knowing that half the city lay in ruins, but if one more person put a drink down without a coaster he didn’t know if he could cope. He lived very happily in neat, single solitude. It was for this reason that the gathering of super powered beings was making him anxious. The front door wasn’t even locked any more and people were coming as they pleased. When
Manning and Metalcore arrived Ronan breathed a sigh of relief, hoping they would be leaving to march on the Skyborn Building then and there.
“Manning!” he announced to the room as everyone turned and went silent. Manning stared back at the faces looking at him and felt a small sense of hopeful pride in his friends. Forty-one men and women had immediately answered their call and had been arriving throughout the last couple of days.
“It’s good to see all of you…” Manning began but immediately stopped as he noticed two faces in the room. “Maggie! Dustin! How did you get here so fast?!” Manning asked, looking to Elaine and Greyfall as if they would provide an answer.
“They were already here Manning,” Elaine answered him. “We didn’t every have to try.”
Maggie stood up from her seat.
“We came as soon as we heard Manning,” she told him.
“Yeah man,” Dustin added, also standing up and walking to Manning, hand outstretched. “It’s now or never. No more hiding.”
“We’re in this until the end Manning.” Maggie announced.
A chill was sent shivering down Manning’s back. The whole room now stood up.
“Thank you all. Thanks for coming,” Manning said, fighting back his emotion.
“There are more,” a female voice came from somewhere. Manning looked to see who it was and couldn’t believe his eyes when she stepped through the bodies to the front.
“Silvercord!” Manning stepped forward to embrace the smaller woman. Dressed from neck to toe in a light armour, sword sheathed on her back, she hugged Manning enthusiastically.
“I thought you were dead! Years ago!” Manning stated.
“You were meant to,” Silvercord told him.
“I would very much like to hear you story, but it will have to wait until another day. You say there are more?”
“Yes. My women are gathering everyone they can. They should be with us no later than tomorrow.”
The Hade War Page 23
