The Praegressus Project: Part One

by Aaron Hodges

  Stepping back, Liz took Chris’s hand and led him back towards the living room. She frowned at the other’s lack of courtesy – and foresight. Someone should have stayed with Daniella and her mother, if only to ensure they were safe. As they moved down the corridor, she heard voices speaking, and recognised the faint whine of the television. The floorboards squeaked beneath their feet to announce their approach, and the voices suddenly broke off.

  The door clicked as she pushed it open and moved back into the living room. She hadn’t really taken it in earlier, but now her eyes passed slowly over the room. The apartment was plain and rundown, but still displayed far more wealth than her parents could ever have hoped for. Steel bolts held the front door closed directly opposite them, while to their left was the door to the kitchen. To their right was the square dining room table, and beyond that the white fabric couch and flat screen television. Past the television, a broad window looked out over the city, at the distant skyscrapers and steep hills of San Francisco.

  To her surprise, the television was dark, though she was sure she had heard it just a moment earlier. Daniella was still sitting on the couch, but her mother was standing, already starting towards them.

  “How was your shower?” Danny smiled.

  Liz’s ears twitched at the tone of her voice. Had it been slightly higher than before? She closed her eyes, weariness settling around her shoulders like a cloak. Forcing a smile, she nodded at Danny, dismissing her worry as exhaustion.

  “Wonderful, thank you,” Chris said beside her. She glanced across and saw him smiling, apparently at ease. “Just what we needed after that bus ride.”

  Danny nodded absently as Daniella lifted herself from the couch and moved across to them. Reaching out, she tugged at the sleeve of Chris’s jacket. “You’re wearing your jacket. Wasn’t what I picked for you… more comfortable?”

  “Leave him alone, Daniella,” Danny said sharply. Liz jerked her head up as the woman strode across and pulled Daniella away. “They’ll wear what they want.”

  Daniella scowled as she pulled herself free. “They don’t have too,” she retorted.

  Danny folded her arms and stared down at Daniella. The girl held her ground for a moment, then with a grunt, she turned and pushed past Liz, disappearing down the hallway. Shaking her head, Danny looked back at them and flashed a smile. “Would you like some coffee, dears?”

  Exhausted as she was, Liz wanted nothing more than to sleep. Coffee was the last thing she needed. But the woman was already moving away, muttering about boiling water as she disappeared through the door to the kitchen. Liz glanced at Chris, but he only shook his head. She noticed his face was pale, and taking his arm they moved across to the couch.

  Reaching across the coffee table, Liz picked up the first aid kit. Carefully rolling up the sleeve of Chris’s jacket, she applied a fresh layer of antibacterial cream to Chris’s wound. She was surprised by how fresh it looked already. She had been right earlier – the bleeding had stopped, and was it her imagination, or did it look smaller? Shaking her head, she dismissed the absurd thought, and started applying a bandage to Chris’s arm.

  Jasmine appeared as Liz was finishing up the bandage. Her skin was red from scrubbing and her black hair hung damp around her face, but she looked cleaner than Liz had ever seen her. She still wore the jacket from earlier, and Liz wriggled on the couch, reminded of the damp feathers slowly dripping water down her back.

  She smiled as Jasmine approached the couch, noticing the girl was looking relaxed. “Good shower?”

  Jasmine smiled back. “I could barely bring myself to get out. Where’s Daniella and her mother?”

  “Daniella is down the hall somewhere,” Liz replied. “Her mother is making coffee.”

  Jasmine wrinkled her nose. “I hope its decaf. Who’s taking first watch?”

  “I think Richard still owes us one there,” Liz replied softly.

  She watched Jasmine’s face darken, but Liz had decided in the hallway the feud between the two had gone on long enough. Richard had made a mistake, and he would have to live with it. But if they were to survive, the five of them needed to get along.

  “You have to forgive him sometime, you know,” she whispered.

  Jasmine looked up at that. Her eyes softened for a second, before her jaw clamped tight. “Do I?” she growled. “And why is that?”

  Liz did not back down. “Because you love him,” she replied. “Because he’s family.”

  “I…” Jasmine closed her eyes suddenly, her shoulders slumping. She dropped to the couch beside them and drew her knees up to her chest. “They almost caught us. Because of him.”

  “Yes,” Liz shrugged, “But in the end, we’re just kids, Jasmine. We’re not soldiers, we’re not trained for this, whatever mutations they managed to cram into our DNA.”

  Jasmine lowered her eyes at that, but did not respond. Liz smiled, hoping she had gotten through to the girl. Then she leaned back into the crook of Chris’s good arm and closed her eyes. Basking in his warmth, they waited in silence for Richard and Mira to return.

  Mira was the next to appear. She moved silently across the room and quickly climbed up onto Jasmine’s lap. Liz smiled inwardly as Jasmine rolled her eyes at her. She was beginning to suspect the other girl enjoyed Mira’s affections more than she let on. Eventually Richard emerged too, still drying his hair with a towel as he looked around the room.

  He paused beside the couch and looked around again, his forehead creased. “Where’s Daniella and her mother?”

  Liz blinked, struggling to look around, her mind foggy with sleep. She shook her head, suddenly realising Richard was right. Daniella’s mother still had not returned with the coffee. What was taking the woman so long?

  Just as she was struggling to sit up, Danny finally appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. She paused there, a steaming mug in each hand. Then she moved across the room and placed the mugs on the coffee table.

  “Everyone clean? Good, good, I’m so glad, must be a relief after that trip. Where did you say you came from again? Seattle right? Such a long, long way,” she paused, looking at Jasmine and Richard. “More coffee?”

  Before either could speak, she turned and raced back into the kitchen.

  Shaking her head, Liz struggled to muster her thoughts, and decided the coffee might not be a bad idea after all. Much as she’d like to sleep, and leave their worries for the morning, they needed to figure out a plan. Reaching across the table, she lifted the mug and took a long gulp of the hot liquid.

  Beside her, Chris groaned and sat up, blinking sleep from his eyes. He spotted the other mug and swept it up before anyone else could claim it.

  Liz sighed as the hot liquid warmed her chest. Though winter was behind them, the nights were still icy, and the house felt cold after the heat of the shower. The others remained where they were, Richard standing, Jasmine and Mira curled up on the couch beside her.

  “That was… strange,” Richard remarked, his eyes fixed on the kitchen doorway.

  Taking another sip of her coffee, Liz’s mind finally began to tick over again. She frowned, thinking of the voices she’d heard earlier, how she’d been sure the television had been on. Idly, Liz realised Danny must have switched it off when she’d heard them coming.

  “Danny switched the television off, before we came in…” she mumbled her thoughts out loud.

  Richard looked around. “What?”

  “They were watching the television, while we were getting clean. I heard it. But they switched it off when they heard us coming.”

  Frowning, Richard reached down and picked up the remote from the coffee table. They all turned to stare as the television flickered into life. The speakers started to blare, but Richard quickly hit the mute button. The five of them stared as a man appeared on the screen, pointing to a map of the Western Allied States, and the rainclouds approaching San Francisco.

  But that was not what drew their attention.

  A banner ran alon
g the bottom of the screen, bright red with white text that spelled out ‘wanted for treason’. Beneath the writing, four faces stared from the screen. Liz’s stomach twisted as she stared at her own face, an awful fear clamping around her chest.

  Richard flicked off the television and turned back to them. “We have to get out of here.”

  And then the lights went out.

  CHAPTER 23

  Chris threw himself to the floor as the door to the apartment shattered inwards. He heard a thud as something skittered across the floor, then a blinding flash of light and sound exploded through the room. A scream came from his right as red lines streaked across his vision. Rolling to the side, he screamed at the others, but over the ringing in his ears, Chris couldn’t even hear his own voice.

  Blinking in the darkness, Chris struggled to regain his night vision. Pain came from his arm, but he pushed it aside, fear sweeping through his chest. Scrambling on his hands and knees, he looked up as he heard the thud of boots on tiles. White lights danced across his vision, but through them he saw shadows moving through the darkness.

  They’re here!

  “Get away from the door!” he called a warning as he rolled behind the couch.

  As another thud came from the doorway, he began to crawl towards the window, praying the others would have the same thought. The apartment was on the fifth floor – if they could break the glass and jump, the hunters would not be able to follow them.

  His heart leapt as he heard glass shatter, and straining his eyes, he tried to see who had made it to the window first. Red streaks still flashed across his vision, but they were already fading, giving way to darkness. The room slowly came into focus, every inch easily visible in the dim light from outside.

  He smiled at their hunters’ mistake. With their altered senses, the darkness was no hindrance to them. Now, even with night vision goggles, the soldiers would be at a disadvantage. Crawling out from the cover of the couch, he looked back at the window, expecting to see Liz or one of the others already there.

  Instead, he froze as the hulking figures of two soldiers stepped through the broken window. Sleek black night vision goggles covered their eyes and they held heavy rifles at the ready. Glass cracked beneath their boots as they fanned out.

  How? They were five stories up, how could the soldiers have gotten in through the window?

  Chris quickly backpedalled behind the couch, but this time he was too late. As he ducked out of sight he saw the men turn towards him and raise their weapons. Gunfire crackled through the room, and Chris hurled himself to the ground, bracing himself for the bullets. He knew the flimsy sofa would offer no resistance against hot lead.

  To his surprise, the pain did not come. A series of heavy thunks came from the sofa, as muzzle flashes lit the room. Pulling himself up, Chris glanced over the edge of the cushions, and then dropped back down with a curse. Half a dozen darts had embedded themselves in the fabric. So the hunters weren’t here for blood – they wanted to take the five of them alive.

  Over my dead body, Chris thought grimly.

  Reaching up, Chris tore off his jacket and flexed his wings. He gathered himself, listening for the tell-tale crunch of heavy boots on broken glass. Before he could move, he sensed movement beside him, and turned in time to see Liz scramble around the edge of the couch. Her wings were already out, her sleek black feathers blending in with the shadows.

  The tread of a boot carried to their ears. He smiled, pleased by the caution their hunters were showing. These men were clearly wary of them. Chris just hoped they lived up to their reputation.

  A roar sounded from the other end of the room, and glancing around the corner of the couch, Chris watched Richard and Jasmine charge at the soldiers by the window. Wings out, lips drawn back in wild snarls, they attacked like avenging angels descended from heaven. The soldiers moved with painful slowness, unable to match the speed of their winged prey. In a second Richard was on them, Jasmine just one step behind.

  The first of the two yelled out as Richard tore the rifle from his grasp and hurled it at his face. Leaping to his feet, Chris moved to join them, but movement near the door drew his attention. Silhouettes strode through the darkness, fanning out from the doorway, already raising their weapons to take aim.

  Knowing they had Richard and Jasmine in their sights, Chris did not hesitate. Roaring, he dived at the nearest figure, catching him off guard and hurling him backwards. The others turned at the sound, momentarily distracted, and then Liz launched herself into their midst.

  The five silhouettes staggered back from her fury as one went down in a pile of feathers and fists. A second later Liz sprang back up, already moving towards her next target. The soldier she’d struck did not get back up.

  One of the men turned to point his weapon at Liz, but Chris was on him in an instant. He only had one good arm to work with, but in close quarters, that was all he needed. Balling his fist, he slammed it into the soldier’s chest. Even with body armour, Chris heard the distinct crack of breaking ribs. As the man gasped and sank to his knees, Chris spun on his heel and drove his boot into the side of the man’s head.

  He moved on as the man dropped to the ground, his keen eyes searching the darkness for another victim. Chaos had spread through the soldiers, the fury of Liz’s attack scattering them across the room. Muffled thuds came from the window as Richard and Jasmine finished off the hunters there, while only two soldiers were left standing on Chris’s side of the room. Grinning, he stalked towards them.

  But now the shock of their attack had worn off, and the soldiers were regaining their senses. More men swept into the room, charging through the doorway in a stream of bodies. Chris swore as rifles pointed in their direction, and he dove towards the dining table. Liz was already ahead of him, and she hurled it on its side as they dove behind it. The crack of steel darts on wood echoed through the room as the soldiers opened fire.

  Heart racing, Chris crouched behind the table with Liz and waited for the firing to stop. He prayed Richard and Jasmine had not been caught in the cross-fire. He had not seen what had happened to Mira, but he hoped the girl had found cover somewhere.

  Silence fell as the gunfire ceased. Chris glanced around the corner of the table in time to see Jasmine and Richard make a break for the window. The path was clear now, the men that had crashed through lying slumped on the ground. Jasmine was in the lead, her long legs carrying her across the room before the soldiers near the door could take aim. Her wings spread as she neared the open window.

  Movement came from beyond the curtains as the silhouette of a soldier stepped through, rifle already raised. Caught midstride, Jasmine had no time to react as the barrel flashed. But beside her, Richard was already moving, shoving her aside. An instant later, half a dozen darts sprouted from his chest.

  His eyes widened as he stumbled, then with a roar he threw himself at the man in the window. The soldier staggered sideways as a blow caught him in the temple, but two more were already stepping forward to take his place.

  And Richard was slowing now. Another dart sprouted from his chest as he staggered backwards from the men, still shielding Jasmine with his body as they retreated behind the sofa.

  The soft squeak of a floorboard reminded Chris of the soldiers near the door. He glanced at Liz, and found her crystal blue eyes watching him in the darkness. He swallowed, and flashed a smile that did not reach his eyes.

  “I’ll take the ones on the right. You get the left,” he whispered.

  Liz nodded, and gripping the edge of the wooden table, she hurled it across the room. The intruders had spread out as they moved to encircle their hiding place, but a group near the door still stood close together. They lifted their guns as Liz moved, but it was already too late. The dark mass of the table crashed into them, crushing them against the far wall.

  Then Chris was charging at the soldiers, taking advantage of their momentary shock to cross the distance separating them. But they were ready for him this time. Two al
ready had their rifles at their shoulders, and the barrels flashed as Chris reached the first of the intruders. He felt a sharp pinch in his side as he leapt and drove his foot into a man’s face.

  The force of his kick sent the man flying back into his comrades. Swearing, Chris reached down and tore the dart from his side. Tensing his fist, he quickly tested his strength, but he couldn’t feel any difference. A dull ache came from his wounded arm, but otherwise the bullet wound had not slowed him. He chalked that up to some increased resistance, and then hurled himself at his next victim.

  In the cramped quarters of the apartment, the men struggled to bring their bulky rifles to bear on the winged teenagers. Guns flashed, but with Chris and Liz amidst their ranks, they were just as likely to hit each other as their prey.

  Wings flaring, Chris leapt at another man, driving both feet into his sternum and hurling him across the room. Beside him, Liz crashed into another man, driving her shoulder straight into his chest. The force of the impact sent the man staggering into the soldier alongside him, and the two went down in a pile of limbs.

  But even as the soldiers fell around them, more poured in through the door and window. On the other side of the room, Chris caught glimpses of Jasmine laying into the men around her. Richard crouched at her feet, head bent, his wings limp, and the beginnings of despair clutched at Chris’s throat. Outnumbered and surrounded, there was no escape now.

  A sharp pain came from his back, and Chris spun to wrench the weapon from the soldier’s arms. Clubbing the man over the head with the heavy rifle, he turned again and hurled it into another soldier. The force behind the projectile sent the man crashing to the ground.

  A scream came from Liz and he turned in time to see her go down under a pile of soldiers. A second later she was up again, hurling the soldiers from her, scattering them like leaves before the wind. Chris moved towards her, and staggered as his leg went numb. His vision whirled and his stomach wrenched as a wave of nausea swept through him.