The Preston Six Collection: (Book 1, 2 and 3)

by Ryan, Matt

  Travis lowered his head. “I can and will. And Julie, I apologize it took me so long to come around. When you have a city on your shoulders, you just can’t jump.”

  Julie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Just do it.”

  Lucas wanted to hear what happened to them over the last couple weeks, but they needed to get moving. Plus, the way Travis looked at Julie, like he knew her better than she did, annoyed him as well.

  “You really should get going. Send me a message when you get back and I’ll get you to safety.” Travis grabbed a few things from his desk and stuffed them in his pocket. “Make the trip quick. When you do something like I just did, there can be swift consequences.” He pulled the picture of Maya off the wall and walked toward the door. “Good luck to you.” He left.

  “What’s his deal?” Lucas asked.

  “Let’s just get out of here,” Julie huffed.

  Making it to the stone room, Lucas bent over the stone in preparation. “You guys ready?”

  The ground shook and a rumble blasted its way through the room. The shock wave sent Lucas to his backside. Julie and Hank spread their arms out to keep balance. Lucas stared at the ceiling, hoping it didn’t cave in on them. Then it stopped. The stirred up dust lingered in the air.

  “What’d you do?” Julie asked.

  “Nothing, I didn’t even touch the stone yet.”

  Hank walked to the door. “Sounded like a bomb to me.”

  “Oh my God, something’s gone terribly wrong,” Julie said looking at her Panavice.

  JOEY SAT AT THE HEAD of the kitchen table, with Samantha and Poly to either side of him. Poly grabbed a piece of bread made by Samantha and tore into it. Samantha looked at her lap and messed with her hands. In the silence, Poly’s chewing seemed exceedingly loud.

  He’d barely recovered from the heart attack she’d caused upon her arrival in the yard. Flinging Samantha off his body, he’d ran to her, touching her, making sure she wasn’t a mirage or some projection of a person. He’d hugged her limp body and felt her, verifying she was real.

  Now, he couldn’t stop staring at her from across the kitchen table, questioning his eyesight. She had died. In his mind, he’d buried her and said his goodbye. But there she was, eating bread in front of him.

  Samantha had tried to explain to Poly how they were being watched, and as long as they acted like a couple, Joey was left alone.

  Poly scowled at her words and hadn’t said much for the last two hours, except to confirm the rest of the Six were indeed still alive. This news felt heavier than Joey could handle and he only let a few pounds soak in at a time. He glanced at Poly, wanting to jump across the table and embrace her. He needed a physical connection with her, but her stiff body language told him no.

  “So this is where you two have been this whole time?” she asked.

  Joey jerked in his chair from the break of silence.

  “No,” Samantha said. “They kept us in an amusement park at first.”

  Poly dropped the bread on the table and wiped crumbs from her hands. She took a deep breath and looked at Joey. “An amusement park? Were there other people there?”

  “No, it was just us. How did you get here?” Joey dared a question.

  “I don’t know, some guy from the crowd grabbed me.”

  “What crowd?” Joey asked.

  Poly huffed, crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. “I’ve spent every waking second trying to get back to you. Remember Max, the man who took you?”

  “Yes,” Joey said.

  “I killed him in a duel on a stage, in front of a huge crowd and on live TV.”

  His mouth hung open. “You killed him?”

  “That is just part of the path I’ve taken to get back to you. And then I get here to find you in the arms of Samantha. I knew you liked her but . . . I am so stupid.” She looked away and shook her head.

  “We thought you were dead,” Samantha said.

  “Sorry to interrupt your perfect fantasy world, but I am alive.”

  “It’s not like that at all, Poly,” Joey said.

  “Isn’t it?”

  “We thought you were dead, all of you—that it was just us left.”

  Poly leaned forward. “Was it nice here? Did you two enjoy your time?”

  “Some of it, yes,” Joey glanced at Samantha as she glanced at him. There were nice moments, but with Poly sitting in front of him, it muddied the memories.

  She stood from the table. “I’ll tell you one thing, I am not staying in this place.”

  “This house is empty, there is a guest room—”

  “I am not staying in your guest room like some third wheel,” she burst out. “I am leaving this,” she flung her hands in the air, “simulation—this fabrication of reality. I can’t stand to be in it for another minute.” She stormed out of the kitchen, flinging the front door open.

  Joey and Samantha chased after her. Poly, for not knowing where she was going, kept a brisk pace. They passed the fountain and she veered off the path and stomped over bushes, creating a new path into the forest.

  The fog seemed thinner. Joey could see more of the trees and he realized he had never gone beyond the paths, never had a reason to. The forest leaves crunched under his feet and he felt the pull of Preston. Knowing the Six were still alive made everything different.

  Poly stopped and Joey nearly bumped into her.

  “Look.” She pointed ahead. “Is that normal?”

  Joey stood next to her, staring at the peculiar black rectangle standing in the middle of the forest. It was a door. He squinted and thought he saw artificial light flicker in the crack at the bottom. “No.”

  “What is it?” Samantha asked.

  “Let’s find out.” Poly continued her hurried pace through the fog, straight toward the door. She turned the knob and the door opened.

  Joey walked passed her and into the dark room beyond. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he made out shapes—a locker room with benches in the middle. Black streaks ran down the face of some lockers, paint peeled on others. The musty smell of dirty laundry filled the room.

  At the end of the lockers, another door stood open. One fluorescent light bulb on the ceiling lit their way into the next room. Joey turned back to the women and held a finger over his mouth. They both nodded. Poly scanned the room and had her throwing knives in each hand, while Samantha stayed close to him.

  Joey pushed open the swinging door and studied the long hallway. A few lights flickered and he pushed onward. Further down the hall, a brighter light shone on a clean, hinged door. When he got close enough, a shiny label that read Office hung on the door.

  “What do you think?” Samantha whispered, grabbing onto his arm.

  He shrugged and grasped the handle, opening the door. Joey put his hands against Poly and Julie, holding them back as he locked eyes with a man sitting behind the desk. He wore a MM black uniform with an R9 on his chest. His face gave no expression of interest or concern to the new arrivals in his office. Joey thought the man might have been dead until he blinked.

  Poly pointed at the man behind the desk, her aggressive stance putting the hairs up on Joey’s arm. “That’s him,” she said. “That’s the man who took me.”

  “WHAT?” LUCAS ASKED.

  “I don’t know, but my Panavice isn’t detecting a single device. Usually there are hundreds, if not thousands of names detected. But, there’s nothing.” Julie looked at the ceiling.

  “Nothing?”

  “Why is it so hot?” Hank asked, wiping the sweat from his head.

  The dome rumbled again. Lucas walked to the door and put his hand on the handle when Julie yelled, “Don’t open that door.” But he was already turning the handle.

  Yanking his hand back, he rubbed it against his shirt. “It’s hot.”

  “You hear that?” Julie asked.

  “Water,” Lucas said and got closer to the door. Water splashed around on the other side and hissed as it struck the do
or. The room cooled in a matter of seconds and Lucas dared another go at the door handle. Tapping the metal, it felt cool and he turned the handle.

  “Wait!” Julie said.

  But he already turned the handle too far to go back. The door flung open, knocking him to the ground with water rushing in, soaking them. It kept pouring in and Lucas jumped back to his feet. “We need to get out of here.” He took big steps, making his way through the knee deep water. Looking down the hall of the next room, he saw the water pouring from the elevator.

  “This place is going to fill,” Julie said.

  Half swimming, half walking, they got to the open elevator and pushed up on the top hatch. Water cascaded down on them. Through the steady stream, Lucas spotted daylight, but that couldn’t be right. An entire building sat above. “We’ve got to get back to the stone.”

  “No, it’s filled up,” Julie said. “Help!”

  The water pushed them to the top of the elevator and Lucas pulled his way through the opening. Hank and Julie filed through behind him, until they were all standing on top of the elevator.

  Water rained down from above, but the daylight shined through the opening a hundred feet above. The sound of rushing water filled the space and it wasn’t slowing down. Water bubbled up from the open hatch of the elevator and reached their ankles.

  “How can we get up there?” Lucas asked. “You got a freaking grappling hook attachment on that thing?” He pointed at her Panavice.

  Julie wiped the water from her face and studied the walls around them. “We wait. This water is filling up several inches a minute. We can ride it straight to the top.”

  Lucas saw the strain on her face. “What is it?”

  “The water is going to be aerated, making it difficult to stay on top.”

  Water reached Lucas’s waist and he pushed around the rising liquid with his hands. Bubbles swirled around as the steady streams from above crashed into the surface. “You talking about these bubbles?”

  “Yes, we’re going to have to swim hard.” The water reached her chest.

  “Hank, can we use you as a floatation device?” Lucas asked.

  Hank responded with a grunt, looking as nervous as Lucas felt.

  The water crested his chest and rushed to his neck. Julie paddled hard and Lucas let go of the foot hold and started swimming. It took a few seconds to find out what Julie was talking about. He fought to keep on top and already saw Julie struggling. He looked to the sunlight and it felt a mile away.

  The water rose and took on a different smell as they ascended. If he hadn’t been swimming for his life, he might have dwelled on the thoughts of possible sewer water getting mixed in.

  Halfway up, Julie went under.

  “Julie!” Lucas stopped swimming and dove down. She’d only dropped a foot and he grabbed her around the waist with one arm and kicked hard. They breached the surface.

  “I can’t, my arms are dead.” She swam as hard as she could, but was losing the battle.

  “No.” He looked at the opening not twenty feet up. “Just a little longer. You have to.” She dipped again, but Lucas had a hand on her and pushed her up. The strain of carrying two people with one less arm dragged on Lucas and he felt himself fading. “We can do this,” he screamed.

  Both of their faces dipped under and Lucas took in a mouthful of water. Coughing it out, he lost his rhythm and they both plunged. He kicked hard and swam but couldn’t get back to the top.

  Something grabbed his shirt and Lucas tried to free it, but it pulled him, propelling them to the surface. He held Julie tight and emerged, taking deep breaths. Looking up at the hole about the size of the elevator, he could see the edges were broken chunks of concrete and rebar. He reached for the top, and with Hanks help, pulled himself up halfway before turning back and grabbing Julie. He pulled, while Hank pushed, and she grabbed at the broken concrete, pulling herself from the hole.

  Lucas rushed out, laying on the rubble next to Julie, panting hard. “Hank,” he said between breaths, looking toward the opening.

  “Don’t worry about me. I’m just fine.” Hank appeared, climbing from the hole.

  “You’re Julie,” a man said. “Guys, I have Julie over here! Are you okay?”

  Lucas jumped up at the appearance of the man.

  “Yes, we’re fine.” Her face turned a light shade of red as the man gushed over her presence. She sat up and smiled.

  Lucas, dumbfounded, stared at the man. What had Julie left out of her story?

  “There may have been some banners of us around the city,” Julie whispered.

  “So, you’re some kind of celebrity?”

  “No, I’m a side kick. Poly’s the star.”

  He leaves the girls alone for a couple weeks and they go and become famous. “Excuse me, sir,” Lucas said. “What happened here?”

  “A bomb exploded. It isn’t safe here. You need to leave the area. More of the building could collapse at any second. A medical staff is forming on the street. You sure you’re okay?”

  “Yes, thank you.”

  The man nodded and walked away, holding out what looked like a metal detector in front of him.

  Above them stood a tangled mess of metal and concrete, Lucas dreaded the thought of any people in the building. They followed a path through the rubble and onto the street where several rescue personnel waited.

  “Julie, we’re so glad you’re alive.” A woman in a white shirt with an oak tree logo wrapped a blanket around her. Julie looked confused, but took the blanket and used it to dry her hair.

  Lucas took a blanket from a man and thanked him. The man gave long looks at his quiver and bow. He tried to dry his clothes as best he could but they were soaked. He wiped his face and hair and handed it back to the man.

  “Is there anything we can do to help?” Julie asked.

  “I don’t think so, the building was empty from all the commotion today. The trick with Poly flying off with that guy was pretty cool.”

  “She was kidnapped,” Julie said flatly.

  The woman’s mouth stood open as she stammered for words. “Who would do such a thing?”

  “MM, that’s who.”

  “I am just about fed up with the way MM is treating us here. I mean they kept orange from us! Look, you can see a wrinkle near my eye.”

  “What about them blowing up your buildings?” Lucas asked.

  “I bet it was the mutants,” the man in the yellow vest said.

  “Oh please, they don’t have anything capable of this.” Lucas shook his head. These people had no clue who the mutants were.

  “Who knows what they have out there?” the woman said.

  Lucas wanted to argue the point further, explain how they had just come from the island. How they would never blow up a building. Even if they wanted to, they didn’t have the resources. He took a deep breath and held back.

  “Has Travis been located?” Julie asked.

  “I haven’t heard,” the woman said. “Before you go, can I get a picture with you?”

  Julie looked at her Panavice and ignored the woman. “Okay, well thanks for your help,” she said, nodding her head to the right, indicating we should follow her.

  “Wait,” the man in yellow raised his hands and ran after them, “can you follow me?”

  “Dude,” Lucas said. “Thanks for the help, but we’ll be on our way now. We don’t need to follow you anywhere.”

  The man looked confused and switched his attention from Lucas to Julie. “No . . . what? Not like follow me, follow me, I mean . . .” he held his Panavice up and held it close to Julie. “If you follow me, I’ll get like a thousand social points, at least.”

  Julie closed her eyes for a second. Lucas chuckled, he knew Julie was rolling her eyes under those closed lids. “I am not connected in that way, sorry, I can’t follow you.” Julie turned and motioned with her eyes for Lucas to follow her.

  “Again, thanks for your help,” Lucas said with finality and rushed after Julie. />
  The man stood with a blank expression, holding his Panavice. The poor guy’s social score was going to have to stay where it was. Julie walked down the street, away from the building and damage. They crossed over a few barriers and into the city.

  The dust hung in the air and people filled the streets, pointing at the destroyed building. Cameras zoomed by, rushing to the disaster. Lucas looked for any signs of MM, but none appeared. Julie walked fast through the crowd, keeping the blanket over her head like a hood. She took a left down an alleyway and stopped when no one was around. The narrow path was enough room for the three of them to face each other in a circle.

  “What is it?” Lucas asked.

  “Travis sent me a text back. They barely made it out in time, but he’s at his shore house with Gladius.”

  “Well, that’s good, I guess.”

  “He helped us stay alive here.” Julie looked as if she was trying to figure out a difficult problem. He loved that look, it crunched up her nose and squinted her eyes in a cute way. She must have been contemplating this Travis guy.

  Lucas didn’t have such confusion with the tool. “He also stood next to Max for over a week. Or what about when he tricked us into that hell, Ryjack. Or when he dueled Poly. He’s tried to kill us all at some point.”

  “He’s different now. I think his hate is truly reserved for Harris.”

  “What is it with them?” Hank asked. “I thought Travis was going to stab Harris on the stage.”

  “I don’t know, but he’s sending Gladius to pick us up.”

  Lucas didn’t like depending on someone else, but it wasn’t safe to be running the streets of Sanct. He adjusted his bow. “Where are we going?”

  “It’s not far.”

  They were at the edge of a dock. The boards had rotted away long ago, leaving only concrete pillars and a few cross support beams. The waves crashed around the pillars, sending a salty mist into the air. After his lengthy excursion in the small rubber raft, he didn’t have quite the same fascination with the ocean as he once did.

  “She’ll be here any a minute,” Julie said, looking out on the horizon.