The Renegade

by Daniel Evora

  “No! Let me go!” Lily squealed.

  “Don’t you hurt her!” Thomas raged, struggling in his shackles. But, he couldn’t do anything to stop it.

  The man that grabbed her, tied her up to another chair, and left the room without a word. Adrana walked up to her slowly as I tried to do something to stop it. It was no use, I sat there in despair and guilt. Adrana pulled out a combat knife, and lifted it up to Lily’s neck. Lily shivered in fear; crying. The knife went to her face; Lily was shaking with fear and anger at the same time.

  “If you won’t tell me, Nate, then I’ll guess you’ll have to watch me cut her. Until she breaks.”

  “

  She completely ignored my previous statement, and continued to intimidate Lily.

  “If you’re not gonna tell me, then I’ll have to kill her.”

  “Don’t tell her, Nate. Go find Ben without me,” Lily requested of me.

  “Adrana, just--” I started to become a bit desperate, and hesitated to spit it out to her.

  “Nate, please,” Lily begged me not to tell, but I was afraid of what this...where she was going.

  “Where. Are. They.” Adrana demanded as she was just about to make a cut on Lily’s cheek.

  “They’re going to Nipton!” I blurted, quickly regretting it.

  Adrana pulled away from Lily. “Now that was so hard, was it?”

  I thought about it for a second. “You seem confident.”

  “You shouldn’t,” Adrana answered while sheathing her knife.

  “Then if that’s the case,” I added, then sighed. “I know Ben is being held at Nipton, isn’t he?”

  “You’re smart, Nate. But, not smart enough. Tomorrow morning, all of you will be in chains. Now, since you got the answer right I’m going to give you a prize. But it’s your choice. Hanging, guillotine, by rifle, or lethal injection. You choose how you want to go and your friends shall follow suit. Except for Ben. He still owes us something.”

  “Fuck you, Adrana.” I was much too angry at Adrana to think straight.

  “You should’ve thought of that before ignoring my explicit warnings,” Adrana replied.

  “Is that what this is about?” I quizzed her. “Some stupid promise?”

  “It’s not about that,” she fired back.

  “Then what?!” My blood started to boil. I was confused and angry at the same time. “What the hell do you want from me?! An apology? For not killing the Agent?”

  Adrana paused, and her face relaxed.

  She sighed, her eyes while staring at me. I knew what she was telling me--without even saying a word--but I didn’t want to believe any of it.

  “You don’t mean that. I did what I had to.”

  “Then, you only have yourself to blame, Nathaniel. If you would’ve surrendered at first, I would've let your friends go. If you would’ve considered my warning at all we wouldn’t be here. But, who pulled the trigger first? Huh, Nate? Who did it first?!”

  “I did,” I mumbled.

  “Louder! So they can hear!” Adrana screamed in my ear. The other rebels could hear me behind the glass in their cuffs.

  “I shot first,” I said clearly.

  “Louder, dammit!” Adrana ordered as her words were shrill and deafening.

  “I shot first! It’s my fault that Ben’s captured!” I yelled ruthlessly, full of hate. Adrana had broken me, yet I was so angry at her for doing this to me. So many evil thoughts in my head were aggravating me. I couldn’t resist, so I let loose.

  I tried to free myself, but she had knocked me out before I could do anything in the situation.

  ...

  All that Ben could do was stare into space. In the dark. Alone. Sitting on his knees and chained up like he was a monster of something. Kept captive in a large cage. It was so incredibly quiet that he could hear his own breathing through his nose. There was soaring pain from the punches he received in interrogation. There was nothing he could do to ease himself of that pain in his side.

  All he could do was sit there and suffer.

  Until, the door to the room opened and the one who walked in wasn’t Adam.

  Ben looked up at him. Confused of who he was, trying to place him based on every higher up in the Silents that he was aware of from his history in war. But, he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. So finally, he asked the question.

  “Who are you?” Ben asked passive aggressively. It wasn’t really intentional for him to sound confrontational, but his side hurt to the point where he was irritated by anything.

  “General Walker,” Sam responded as he turned on the comms speaker inside the holding cell, like Adam.

  “Walker...so you’re her son,” he realized.

  “You knew her?”

  “Obviously,” Ben rolled his eyes a bit. “I was there when she died at The Siege.”

  Sam fired up a little from her mention. “You don’t get to speak of her,” he spat.

  “She was a tyrant, an anarchist,” Ben explained to him. But, Sam wouldn’t have it.

  “She was my mother,” Sam shot back. He started to get a little emotional.

  His sudden loud volume silenced the entire room. Sam’s blood boiled to the point where he wanted to just kill Ben right on the spot. But, he knew he couldn’t do so.

  Ben muttered, “That don’t mean shit.”

  Sam didn’t say anything for a while and just stared at him. Thinking about what Ben had just told him.

  “You said that you were there when she died, at The Siege,” puzzled Sam.

  He stared off for a quick moment to think, but then he finally figured it out. And his eyes widened from realization.

  “You know who killed her, don’t you?” Sam questioned through the comms.

  Ben didn’t make a sound either, but the fact that he acknowledged the question by looking up at him told Sam everything that he needed to know. Sam approached closer to the glass screen and looked at Ben.

  “Tell me,” Sam demanded. “Who?”

  “Even if I did,” Ben informed him. “You’d be hitting a dead end. He died that same day.”

  “I don’t believe it. Stop bullshitting me.”

  “Then I don’t know what to tell you,”

  Sam sighed. He thought he was so close to figuring it out. A part of him knew that getting Ben to say something would be a mountain too difficult to climb. But, he had to try something. One last time, he turned on the speaker.

  “Putting that aside, I’ve been ordered to transfer you; where that is, is none of your concern.”

  After turning off the speaker for the last time, the doors to Ben’s holding cell finally cracked open. Along with it two Silent Death guards in heavy armor restraining him as they uncuffed his legs and transferred them to a new cuff. So that he could at least walk, but not run.

  Finally, they put a heavy chest plate on him which made it hard for him to make any sudden moves on the guards. They were in heavy armor anyway, so making any attempts to escape would be useless at this point. As they escorted him out of the room. Sam stared at him all the way throughout until all he could see was his backside.

  He looked back into the empty cell and couldn’t stop thinking about their conversation, and whispered to himself.

  “You can’t hide forever, I will find you,” murmured Sam, while loosely following the guards outside the holding cell, and shut the doors behind him.

  ...

  Matthews and his squad hid atop of a hill just over the bank of it. He reached his belt and took out his visors. While staying as low as possible, Matthews prone and scouted the front of the Nipton of the base. The walls did not nearly stand as high as Kalo City, not even close. But, they were still tall and too thick to penetrate through the use of an explosive. Like all the bases, the front entrance was heavily guarded, about twenty soldiers at the post along with four scouts, as trucks filled with supplies and soldiers went in and out the gates here and there.

  Matthews looked back towards his troopers and updat
ed on the information.

  “How does it look, sir?” a woman asked.

  “Not great. Looks like the only way in right now is through the front entrance,” Matthews clarified. “The radar tower is heavily armored, so there’s no way we’ll be able to take it down without being detected within those walls, and the thirteen of us can’t cover too much ground, so we’ll have to use a much more stealthy approach.”

  “We could use the trucks as a cover up,” one of the troops suggested. “If we can’t get in undetected, then we go in as one of them.”

  Matthews looked at the man and replied, “Exactly what I was thinking. Okay, I’ve got a good plan.”

  The group headed farther down the road from where the supply and infantry vehicles were traveling. One man crouched as he used the dark of night and the plant life of the basin to his advantage, as one of the trucks passed by, the troop waited long enough for it to gain distance and get comfortable. Then, the group advanced onto the truck which wasn’t going all too fast. Matthews’ squad stood up from the ground and advanced while staying quite low. The man locked onto the truck, aimed down sights and penetrated one of the tires. The rubber popped instantly, as the shot muffled itself. The drivers heard the sound and the vehicle began to slow to a halt.

  The Silents within the vehicle stepped out and checked around the vehicle to find the flat tire. Matthews and his crew slowly got closer and closer towards the vehicle. In an instant every one of Matthews' troops jumped out from cover into the Silents’ peripheral vision. Each was taken out quietly without the use of lethal weapons. Then, they used the bushes to drag and hide the bodies as they took the armor off of them and took their weapons. However, there were a few spare outfits left lying on the floor.

  Matthews glanced at everyone to see them all dressed appropriately in the outfits of the Silents.

  One of the crew members, a slimmer man, Johnston put on the outfit and smiled.

  “You know, this isn’t that bad,” Johnston implied as he felt the armor pieces.

  “Alright, everyone in the truck,” Matthews ordered as everyone followed through quietly. “Put your helmets on, and try to act natural.”

  Matthews and another woman, Fraser, stepped into the front of the truck to drive the vehicle. Matt adjusted the mirrors and followed down the road. Suddenly, a message from the base came in on the communications device within the dashboard.

  “Vehicle JF1-A113,” a voice said. “Driver, do you copy?”

  “Er...copy,” Matthews answered quite late.

  “Your vehicle has stopped, what’s wrong?” the voice asked.

  “Just popped a tire,” Matthews explained to the man.

  The man did not respond for a couple which made it much more intense as Matt and Fraser looked at each other for a quick moment.

  Suddenly the voice came through, “Do you have any spare on you, copy?”

  “Uh, no, sir,?” Fraser spoke for Matthews.

  “Roger that. Vehicle JF-1 please head back to base for repairs, copy?”

  “Affirmative,” Fraser responded.

  Matthews nodded at Fraser, put his hands on the wheel and slightly stepped on the gas. The truck turned around on the road and they headed back towards Nipton base.

  Once Matt reached the front gate they were ordered to slowly drive through into the base. Matthews' chest was pounding as they were escorted inside. No Rebel had stepped foot inside Nipton base and had survived as long as Matthew did. Fraser looked around in awe of the facilities within its thick walls. Silent Death soldiers swarming the entire place like wasps in a hive.

  “Okay, we’re only here for Ben,” Matthews whispered to Fraser. “Tell the crew to spread out and place bombs in any weak point. Here. Take this signal jammer. Plant it somewhere well hidden. That should be able to interfere with the security network.”

  Fraser nodded. Matthews stopped the vehicle once ordered to.

  “Everyone exit the vehicle,” the Silent Death escort said. He looked at me weird as I hopped out the truck and passed by the vehicle.

  Matthews’ group marched past the repair depot and stepped out into the courtyard where they could hide actions among the Silent Death troopers. The courtyard was mostly surrounded by more walls as Matthews looked up to see four scouts looking about from up above in their safe spaces using spot lights. Each crew member in Matthews’ squadron spread throughout the courtyard using the dozens of soldiers as cover for exiting the sector without looking too suspicious. Fraser went to the center on the courtyard and reached behind her back and placed the signal jammer on the bronze statue right behind her. Fraser gave a thumbs up to Matthews as she activated the jammer, disabling the camera's ability to share video footage with the head of security. She followed Matthews as they too exited the courtyard.

  “Where should we meet up, sir?” Johnston asked as Matthews heard his voice through the helmet.

  Matthews opened up Jacob’s map layout on his Interface device and looked around for the prison block. He spotted it, marked the location and sent the map to everyone else.

  “We’ll meet up right here, the prison block,” Matthews explained.

  “Copy that, general,” Johnston said.

  Matthews looked to his right, and then to his left. He quickly scouted the area to find the entrance at the prison block, continuing to look at his map. Matthews looked down at his location, then looked up to the freight train, as the booming sound of its horn made him jump.

  “I think we just found our way out,” Matthews said to himself.

  “Well, then we’d better hurry,” Fraser replied, while going into the prison block. “C’mon.”

  “Hold on,” Matthews stopped Fraser in her tracks.

  “What?” Fraser asked.

  “Take me as your prisoner,” Matthews told her.

  Fraser smiled. “I like the way you think.”

  Fraser brought out some short rope and “cuffed” Matthews as they went through the front door. A man at the front entrance of the prison block called to us as we approached.

  “Halt,” the trooper ordered. “Where are you going with him?”

  “Where do you think?” Fraser asked the guard. She revealed Matthews’ face. “I caught this rebel snooping around the base. He is to be taken to the prison.”

  “On whose orders?” the guard asked.

  “Um...er,” Fraser paused. Trying to make up a story.

  Suddenly, Matthews used both of his tied fists to knock out the guard. Fraser dragged his body behind. Johnston and the others came through to the prison block. He glanced at the body and then looked at Matthews in cuffs.

  “What the hell happened here?” Johnston asked.

  “No time to explain,” Matthews responded. “Are the bombs ready?”

  Johnston nodded and tossed him a remote. “Almost. Here. All you gotta do is pull the trigger.”

  Matthews un-tied himself from his fake shackles. The crew broke into the prison block to see not too many prisoners. One of the prisoners shouted out and banged on the tough windows. Demanding that they should be freed from captivity. No guards.

  “Why are there no guards?” Matthews asked himself. “This is a trap. They know we’re here.”

  Suddenly, dozens of Silent Death troopers came out from their hiding spots and raised their weapons. Soldiers came out from all sides of the prison block and some even grappled down from the ceiling. Each of them were surrounded as Adrana came out into the circle. Her hands behind her back and a smile on her face. A blinding light from the block roof shined upon the group revealing them in the shadows.

  “Good job,” Adrana replied. “You figured it out.”

  “Lieutenant Adrana, no?”

  “Is it, General...Charlie Matthews?” Adrana struck back at him.

  Matthews angrily breathed out of his nose from hearing someone using his first name.

  “I’ve heard quite a bit of your combat record,” Adrana explained. “A great warrior. A “hero” of the Res
istance. You know it’s quite ironic given your family’s...history.”

  Matthews balled up his fists, slowly getting his hands closer to his smoke screen.

  Adrana raised her hand. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. You and your crew are surrounded and outnumbered.”

  “Maybe. But you’re outskilled,” Matthews smirked, while arming the bombs on the base. While counting to three, the bombs exploded. Matthews dropped his smoke screen and his crews covered each other by firing out into the prison block blindly. They rushed out of the prison block and Matthews quickly took attention to the slowly moving freight train that was about to leave the base.

  “Over there!” Matthews shouted, while pointing at the moving cars.

  Suddenly, the base’s alarm system roared as Matthew’s crew ran as fast as their legs could carry them and onto the freight train. Then, the train's horns went off at a full, thundering blast. A few of the crew members stumbled a bit. Some recovered while the unlucky ones were being shot at as they got closer and closer to the last car. Bullets were flying and ricocheting at every conceivable angle. Matthews sprinted towards the trolley car and hopped onto the platform.

  “Everyone get on!” Fraser demanded as she threw her weapons onto the accelerating train car.

  Each of the members got on as swiftly as possible, as Matthews and Fraser each grabbed the reaching arms of the squadron. The crew members panting for air. Unfortunately, Johnston was lagging behind, gasping for air as the train continued to go faster and faster. Matthews held out his hand to Johnston as there were Silent Death troopers shooting at the train.

  “C’mon, John!” Matthews yelled that reached out farther. “You can make it!”

  Johnston got slower and slower until he was shot in the chest and he was blown to the ground. Matthews grunted in anger, pounding the car floor with a fist.

  “Dammit!” Matthews shouted in frustration. He gripped his own hair and took a deep breath.

  The small group of eleven strolled right in the trolley car. To be met by almost nothing but supplies.

  “What are your orders, general?” Fraser questioned.

  Matthews sighed, searching his mind for any solutions. “We gotta go back for Nate’s group. If they knew we were coming, then Ben’s most likely been transferred.”