The Maddening: Book 2 in the Terror Saga

by Nicholas Head

  Colleen, with Jackson leading, started into a slow jog, quickly gaining ground on their destination. Lito picked up the pace, catching up with her.

  “We have one.” Colleen said, “We made it last night. Knock on the door and get her back. Sounds simple.”

  Lito jumped ahead, cutting her off. She tried to sidestep around but he wouldn't let her pass, “What’s your problem?”

  “You should see yourself right now. Running into some unknown building, barreling towards people we don’t even know.”

  She stepped toward him and shot a finger out, inches from his nose. “It was your idea to wait until morning. If I’d had my way, we would have struck them hard last night.”

  “And we would have scared the crap out of a lot of armed people and probably gotten shot. I'm not willing to do that.”

  “Well, I am.” She tried to push him out of her way, but he stood his ground, his penetrating brown eyes drilling into her.

  “I get it. I really do. You want to be the hero and rescue your girlfriend, to save her, to protect her. That’s great, but the Colleen I knew, wouldn’t go running into that place like it was a burning building. She would plan, strategize, and make the choice that didn't get others killed. Don’t forget you’re not the only one to look out for now.”

  “I’ll let that one pass.”

  He nodded his head.

  The Colleen you knew isn’t the same person I am now. The Colleen you knew shot you for double-crossing me,” she said, pushing her way around him, picking her pace back up again. Colleen spun around, doing an about-face, “and you should feel special. I have people like you and Truthmore to thank for that growth.”

  “I’m not Truthmore, and I’m not the same person I was before. I’m here to keep you safe. You are meant for so much more.”

  “You’re so weird sometimes.” She scrunched up her nose “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “It means I've changed, you’ve changed, we’ve—”

  “Not that,” she said, putting a finger into his chest. Colleen put her fingers up like making quotation marks. “I’m meant for so much more. What does that mean? You keep saying that and, to me, it sounds an awful lot like something else.”

  “Motherhood, helping people, I don’t know. It means a million things.”

  “I don’t have time for this.” Colleen pressed her index fingers to her temples and massaged the tense muscles that throbbed beneath the skin. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. It surprised her how much better she felt once she reopened them.

  "Here’s what we need to do: slow down and look lost, it’s the only plan that makes sense. Nothing is going to put people off more than strangers rushing towards them, and they don’t know why...”

  He put up his hands. “That’s what I just said—”

  “I’m not sure if it will work, but it’s better than nothing.” Colleen said, “If they have even the most competent of scouts, we’ve already been spotted away.”

  They slowed down, keeping a suitable distance between the two of them. If anything was to happen, they would need to find cover. Now only a hundred yards off, Colleen could see some movement across the top of the roof there, and it was gone. She scanned again, seeing nothing.

  “Quick,” she said, “Look dumb.”

  “What’s that supposed to—”

  “Just do it,” she growled

  They kept walking, Lito looking up, down, and all around. She wasn’t convinced of his acting, but maybe someone would be.

  Fifty feet until the door. She kept her head on a swivel, trying to look calm when she was screaming inside. The small hairs on the back of her neck were on end, sensing every change in the air. No one had taken a shot at them, and no Molotov cocktails had been lobbed. And yet somehow, this didn’t feel like a good thing.

  Hanging from the faded and rusted door was a massive claw, apparently substituting for a door knocker. They were only a few feet off now. She heard sounds of feet racing upstairs, doors and windows shutting, voices muttering.

  Colleen reached out and grabbed the fossilized talon and wrapped it three times against the reinforced door. The sound resonating with a hollow, metallic sound. Jackson perked up and pushed close to her.

  Schlitk-klikt

  She froze, staring straight ahead. Her hand still gripping the bone. The barrel of a pump shotgun slid through the window in the door, the bead of the front sight merely inches from her eyes.

  “Don’t want to use this, but if I have to, I will put you down.” said a small, shaky, and yet commanding voice.

  Colleen's hands slowly went up.

  “We want nothing from you,” Colleen said, “We just need—”

  “Then why you here?” The barrel moved closer. “If you don’t want anything, then why you knock on my door? Go away.”

  “I’m sorry, but we are looking for someone, and we’re hoping you might know where to find her. Her name is Marisha. Have you seen her?”

  “Many people come here. I don’t know them all. Why do you think she is here?”

  Colleen swallowed hard and balled up her fists. Without the upper hand, she should have been terrified, but she wasn’t far from it. She wouldn’t be surprised if her face was becoming a particular shade of red—games were not part of her plan today.

  “Because someone attacked us yesterday. Up there,” she pointed to the Space Needle with her thumb, “and I saw them take her here. I know she’s in there, and I want her back...now.”

  The barrel of the gun pulled back, and she could hear whispering just beyond the other side, but much too quiet for her to make out anything.

  “I don’t know what you are talking about. Maybe you drink too much and see things. Maybe the Terror making you crazy already.”

  “I’m not going to tell you again.--”

  “I’m the one with the gun. You aren’t making demands.”

  Jackson’s hackles were standing on edge. He bared his teeth, just enough to warn anyone around him.

  “Stand down, boy,” she whispered under her breath.

  “You better keep that dog under control. I would hate to shoot your puppy...”

  Colleen reached down to rub his side, feeling the tension draw out of him. He would still be ready if she needed him. He might be getting older, but his instincts were still better than any human.

  “He’s fine as long as I'm fine. Now please, please, please. We just want to see her.”

  “If you know she is here, then why are you trying to be sneaky.”

  There is a loud click as the lock turned. The barrel of the gun slowly slid back, disappearing from the window.

  “Step back.”

  Lito and Colleen obeyed, but stay on high alert. The metal door whined and groaned as it scraped along the concrete floor. The hinges emit a high-pitched squeal, the sound drilling into her skull.

  The door opened enough for them to see a diminutive, Asian woman, with closely cropped hair and stern dark brown eyes, holding a Mossberg pump-action shotgun at low ready. Her baggy pants were cinched up with a canvas belt, muscles flexed in her toned forearms as she still gripped the rifle.

  “Slowly.” was all the lady said as someone came up behind Lito and ushered them inside. Once they were both across the threshold, the heavy door closed behind them with an angry thud.

  Before they could react, hands were on them, roughly searching them all over. Fingers grabbed Colleen’s knives and placed them in a box, taking her gun and unloading it. Colleen brushed a hand across her chest, letting out a sigh. In all their haste, they had somehow missed it.

  “You might get them back if you leave,” a feminine but gravelly voice said.

  Lito tapped on Colleen’s shoulder. "See, I told you my plan would work.” A self-aggrandizing smile slowly formed across his face.

  “Yeah, it worked really well. We’ve really got the upper hand on them now.” The corners of her mouth turned up, but her eyes stayed narrow.

  “J
ust be patient, let it work itself out,” he said.

  Colleen felt a hand push her from behind, prodding her to keep moving. The small entryway emptied into a large glassed-in atrium, with twenty, maybe thirty people milling around, all with their eyes on them. A hard push to her side again, this time with the butt of a rifle. Colleen stared back and glared, knowing that’s all she could do.

  “So, what's your name?” Lito asked.

  “Me?” the lady said.

  “Yeah,” Colleen said, cutting him off to get her shot’s in. “Who else would he be asking?”

  The butt of the rifle slammed into her side again, perfectly placed below her kidneys. She flinched and stumbled forward. The sharp pain bringing tears to the corners of her eyes. This lady knew what she was doing.

  “It’s Lin,”

  “Nice to meet you too, Lin,” Colleen said, her name feeling like poison on her tongue.

  They wound through a few tight hallways leading to an old escalator. It now only an oddly shaped staircase that led downstairs. She stopped at the top and gripped the handrails.

  “I’m not going anywhere else until you tell me where we are going,” Colleen said, as the rage built inside.

  “You said you wanted to see Marisha, so that’s where we go. Now, move.”

  “No.” Colleen shot back, her hands digging into the rubber of the rails.

  “No? I don’t think you understand. The next hit I pop your spleen like a rotten piece of fruit.” Lin snorted, then leaned forward and mimicked an explosion into Colleen’s ear. If she wasn’t so sore, Colleen would have reached back and punched her.

  “Please, don’t do this, Colleen,” Lito said, pleading through his teeth.

  “Oh, I understand all right. I understand I don’t want to walk down into that basement just so you can shoot us.”

  Lin let out quick, “Ha. If I wanted to shoot you, I would have done that before you walked in the door.”

  The lady had a point. If they had wanted to kill them, they could have done that before letting them in. That was unless they were like New Estes. It would just be her luck. They all carefully proceeded down the steps, getting in no hurry. She was thinking Marisha might not be here at all, or worse, that she was dead.

  The basement was pitch black, save for a lone light at the end of the room.

  How poetic. I’m walking down a dark room towards a growing light, about to die. I never thought this was how I would die. I never thought I wouldn’t get the chance to say goodbye.

  The light was almost blinding now. Colleen squinted her eyes, hoping to see someone waiting inside. In only a matter of seconds, she had given up hope of ever seeing her love again, of ever kissing her lips, feeling her skin against hers as they warmed up next to a fire. How Colleen yearned to hear her name on Marisha’s lips, telling her how much she loved her. Or telling Colleen a filthy joke, only to laugh loudly at her own punchline as if she had heard it for the first time.

  With Marisha, she had never sought love. Love had been nothing she seriously considered as for her. Her mother’s love was steady, and kind, always the same. This kind made you weak, scared, complete, all at once. This love came out of nowhere like a Texas tornado, when she was at her most vulnerable and taken over by her soul. Colleen had tried to do as her mother taught her for anything new: rationalize it, study it, make sense of it. Little did she know this didn’t work with falling in love.

  With the last push to her back, Colleen staggered into the room. The light so bright she could barely focus a few feet in front of her.

  “Keep walking,” Lin said, her tone matter of fact.

  As her eyes adjusted, Colleen could make out a form sitting behind what looked to be a desk. She looked up, but the unnaturally white light blinded her again, her eyes still unable to focus, bringing up memories she would rather not relive.

  “I hear you’re looking for someone?” Came a silky-smooth woman’s voice. “Well, I’m afraid I can’t help you.”

  Forty-Three

  Marisha

  Quinn didn’t mess around.

  The asphalt blurred under their feet as he kept them at a nearly untenable pace. Yet, no matter how hard he pushed the conspicuously silent laborers, they didn’t complain.

  He certainly wasn’t kidding when he said they would cover twenty miles a day. The mile markers flew by as the group tore up Interstate 5. At least the weather was perfect for traveling. With the sun at their backs and not a cloud in the sky, they might make it to Vancouver in half the time she had expected.

  “Work release program, huh?” Marisha said, letting the question hang out there like a branch in need of pruning.

  “Yep,” Garrick replied in beat, not hinting at any further information.

  “And... what does that mean exactly?”

  “What does what mean?”

  She grabbed him by the arm and slowed him down to bring him closer to talk.

  “Um... a work-release program? It’s kind of vague, and Quinn hasn’t really been upfront on what this mission is all about.” Marisha said as she probed further, “Don’t you find that kind of odd?”

  Without looking at her, he faintly shrugged his shoulders. “Not really. That’s just how he does things. I don’t ask questions.”

  “You should.”

  “There are just some things I don’t ask about. Quinn knows what’s he’s doing, so I don’t ask. It’s doesn’t mean it's anything nefarious. If you could remember your time with us before, it might make some more sense.”

  Quinn subtly turned his head, and Marisha slowed down even more. It was like the guy had eyes and ears in the back of his head.

  “Yeah, that’s the thing.” She said, shaking her index finger “My mind doesn’t seem to have a problem remembering the happy memories, but once a bad one takes shape, all hell breaks loose.”

  “If it’s any consolation,” Garrick leaned down and whispered into her ear, “you two hated each other before as well; it's nothing new. You wouldn’t be the first one to hate him on days ending in Y.”

  Marisha looked just in time to see a huge grin on his face. Garrick nodded, clearly pleased with himself.

  Marisha bent down. “I wonder how he got the stick up there sideways. It just seems like an awful lot of work for so little return,” she whispered to Garrick, trying to hold back laughter.

  “He’s a lot more patient than you might expect. I’m sure if you read his journal, you’d find a diagram along with a pros and cons list for horizontal butt-stick insertion. He’s had one since we were kids.”

  She laughed, only to herself at first, but soon, she was full-on belly laughing. It didn’t take long until it had spread to Garrick, and he was doubled over, clutching at his sides. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for Quinn to take notice again and get suspicious.

  “What’s so funny that you two can’t seem to keep it to yourself?”

  “Told you,” Garrick said out of the corner of his mouth.

  “Oh, nothing...” Marisha barely got out before she was doubled over laughing again.

  Marisha sped up and leaned over, hoping to whisper the joke to one laborer. They quickly pulled away and shushed her before she could finish.

  “Hey, what did I tell you?”

  “Leave them alone?”

  “Right, so why not do that? I don’t want to have to separate all of you like children.”

  Marisha looked back, hoping to see a smiling Garrick. Instead, his face already looked scared, almost mortified, as he shook his head at her. She was just trying to lighten the mood, but to judge by their reactions, her action had been unspeakable.

  Colleen

  Giant white disks floated in and out, covering everything she could see. It had felt like an eternity as memories of her failing vision had come rushing back. Although it took far longer than usual, Colleen’s eyes finally adjusted to the blinding fluorescent light. A figure slowly stood up from behind the desk, pushing in their chair. An uncomfortably high-pitch
ed squeal of metal on tile echoed throughout the mostly empty room, bringing pain to her unusually sensitive ears.

  Colleen kept her head down, sensing the rifle's barrel was still only millimeters from her spine. The silent figure took a few steps closer, almost close enough for Colleen to reach out and grab her, which is what she might do if it came down to it.

  “Lin.” The woman’s voice was unlike anything Colleen was used to. The accent had a certain fanciful quality that almost comforted her.

  “Yes, ma’am,” said their captor, only this time the voice lacking its edge.

  “Can you tell me why our visitors are at gunpoint right now? I’d be interested to know what they did to warrant such a harsh reaction.”

  “Nothing awful, miss, except the girl got under my skin. She likes to talk a lot, running her mouth. Oh, and asking stupid questions.”

  Colleen stewed, a bit of anger close to boiling over. She gritted her teeth, feeling it was the only way to keep herself from popping off and making things worse.

  “And you found this to be an acceptable reason to respond like you have?”

  “I...I thought you would want me to after she told me who she looking for. I’m sorry, Kali.” Gone was the bravado replaced by a timid voice that trailed off.

  “And who,” Kali said, pausing, “is she is looking for?”

  Colleen kept looking down. She wasn’t about to give this woman the pleasure of any respect she might demand.

  “Marisha, you took her.” Colleen sneered before anyone else could chime in. The barrel grazed the sore spot below her kidneys, and she bit down on her tongue. Lito coughed, trying to hide the words to stop it. Kali clicked her tongue at Colleen, presumably to shut her up.

  “Lin, I believe you can recuse yourself now. I think we can handle things from here.”

  “But miss—”

  “Now, Lin. Return to your post and remain on watch. You can do more for us there.”

  Colleen felt the barrel press into the massive bruise that was already forming on her lower back. Lin jabbed her once more. Colleen yelped and spun around, lunging at her face, only inches away. The minuscule woman waved a finger in her face, the crooked smile signaling how pleased she was to have gotten one more excellent shot in.