Wasteland: Age of Sanctions (A Invasion Survivor Series)

by Hayley Lawson

  I smile as memories come to my mind. Surely, we have had many funny and crazy adventures together. “Of course, and we were cornered by the Mutes. We had to fight them and save ourselves.”

  “It was the first time that we had to fight the Mutes,” Hayden says. “We were terrified.”

  “But we were crazy, as we were together,” I chuckle. “I remember you running around the Mutes, confusing them, while I hit their heads with the stones from behind.”

  “Poor creatures didn’t know where the stones were coming from,” Hayden’s chuckle turns into laughter.

  I nod, remembering what we’ve been through together. I tilt my chin back and look up to the stars, through the glassless window. “Do you think there is anything else out there?” I ask him.

  He looks up as well. “If there is, they are just laughing at us destroying one another.”

  I turn back to him and chuckle. “You are probably right ... for a change.”

  Hayden smiles back at me.

  “How long does Skylier have before they start the Hosting?” Hayden asks, concerned. She is too good for him.

  “Thirty moons.”

  “Will we make it back in time?” he asks.

  “No.”

  Hayden gasps. “What do you mean, no?”

  “We’re not going back. So we will not make it in time.”

  “Then what’s the whole point of building an army to rescue them?” Hayden shakes his head.

  “We are going to rescue her from the Emperor’s Palace on the eve of the Sanction games. The Hosts and Bazi will join my father and the other untouchables at the games … that’s if Trinity didn’t kill him. You know every Chancellor from all the Sanctions will be there. The outsiders will stand up and fight against the Untouchables and the Emperor; they are the reason we live like this—that is our only chance,” I explain, and Hayden nods in agreement.

  “But what about the Grounders? We have to go back for them.”

  “Reznor will lead another, smaller army into Purenet as we are storming the Emperor’s Palace. There will be fewer soldiers there, so he will be able to get in … and overthrow it.”

  ***

  We check all the rooms in the tiny house, and they are all completely empty.

  Every few moments, Caribe, Mutes, or Purenet soldiers run past our hide out. Trinity was correct to choose this place; it's completely overlooked, almost as if it's invisible.

  Occasionally we hear a scream of pain … Good, let them kill each other.

  Trinity sleeps on the floor wrapped up in Lowell’s jacket, her body still twitching in pain from coming down off the drugs. She lets out groans of agony in her sleep.

  Lowell and Reznor take turns doing look-out. Trinity has taken care of Reznor’s arm, but he needs it stitched up—he’s lost too much blood.

  Hayden and I are the upstairs look-out.

  I tinker with the bracelets … these will come in useful later. The light on my bracelet changes color, and I quickly press the ‘accept’ button.

  A message streams from the bracelet onto the back of my hand.

  "Get out now—the soldiers are all at the front of the city. Ride away from the town. Good luck, my dear friend—Gavyn."

  He’s here.

  “Hayden, we have to go. Now.” I sweep up all the bracelets from the ground and shove them into my pocket, except for one.

  “Catch,” I throw Hayden the bracelet. “Wear this.”

  Hayden looks at it for a split second, then places it on his wrist.

  “Did you have one of these when you lived in Purenet?” I ask him as he stares down at it fondly, like he’s been reunited with an old friend.

  “Yeah. I’ve missed it.”

  “You can only message me and the other bracelets—they are all linked together,” I inform him.

  Hayden looks up and smiles. “Thank you.”

  “We have to get out of here,” I reply gruffly, as I head down the stairs. “We have to leave now,” I inform the others when I reach the first floor.

  “Why so suddenly?” Lowell asks.

  “I have someone helping us from the inside … we don’t have long,” I reply. “Trinity, wake up,” I say, gently nudging her shoulder. Her tiny body slowly opens up, like a newborn baby. She stares at me with her big brown eyes. I can see why Father liked her so much … she is beautiful—mesmerizing.

  I can sense I’ve been staring at her for too long. I leave the room without saying a word to anyone else.

  “Don’t let Reznor catch you looking at her like that. He will cut your balls off, like he wanted to when you first met Ayah,” Hayden whispers under his breath, as he walks over to me.

  I remember that day so clearly. As if it was only yesterday, not months ago....

  *****

  I thought getting the across the desert would’ve been the worst part of the pain to get to the Grounders’ community. Sadly, I was wrong.

  Without Hayden and his knife, I would’ve surely been eaten by the coyotes or bitten by the Mutes. We both barely survived the attack.

  And that was when I met Ayah.

  *****

  “Hold still,” a female Grounder told me. She was smaller than others, and she had a natural grace about her, even while she told me off.

  “Bossy, aren’t you?” I tried to laugh through the pain I felt each time she poured the clear, white liquid over my arm. It felt like she was sticking it into a hot fire.

  “Wait till you meet my brother.” Her face lit up as she laughed back, a twinkle in her brown eyes.

  “Ayah, away from the Outsider,” a deep voice announced sternly, as a man entered the hut.

  Oh, jeez … he’s huge. His arms had to be thicker than a tree. He looked like he could rip me in two.

  “His name is Dax,” Ayah replied to the scary Grounder. “Dax, this is my brother, Reznor … and he is our leader.” She said the last part with a deep tone to her voice as she smiled up at him. I could not help but stare at her. Ayah was not like any of the girls I had met in Purenet … she didn't know who I was, and didn't care.

  Ayah pointed her finger toward me. “Don’t you look at me like that,” she said sternly, as if mocking her brother. “You’re not my type,” she added to me, as she headed out of the hut.

  Not her type? What’s that supposed to mean? No one had said that to me before. I shook my head as she walked away.

  I could feel Reznor’s eyes burning into me, as I clearly lingered on his sister’s behind for too long … why do women wear shorts so short? It wasn't my fault I had to stare.

  He leaned over to me, so close I could smell rotting meat on his breath. “You stay away from my sister! You go anywhere near her, and I will cut your balls off! Ayah’s too good for your kind.” He growled at me through his teeth, and I gulped in surprise.

  “What’s with this, my kind?”

  “Your kind! The pure breed idiots who don’t have a clue what’s really going on in the world. You all live hidden away in your dome cities, thinking you are better than us. Keeping your medicines and technology from us, making us live like animals.” Reznor frowned as he paced back and forth. He really hated us … and so did I.

  “I know,” I responded. Reznor stopped pacing.

  “You know?”

  I paused for a moment. “I found out what’s happening in Purenet, and that the fresh air is no longer harmful.”

  “What else do you know?” he asked.

  “That they are poisoning the outside communities to make them still believe that the virus in the air is harming them, but it's all a lie.”

  Reznor raised his hand toward his lip as if he was trying to remember. The he lowered his hand and frowned again. “Are you trying to trick me? Do you think I’m an idiot?” He slammed his hand on a table beside me, and everything that was on it went flying.

  “No…” I mumbled.

  “I don’t like you! And if I had my way we wouldn’t allow your kind to stay here! But we are not animal
s like your people.”

  He’s going to let me stay? A smile appeared on my face before I could stop it.

  “Ha … you can stay if you survive the test….” Reznor laughed as he left the room.

  “What test?” I yelled out to him.

  “He can’t hear you, he’s gone,” Hayden responded. I had completely forgotten he was in the room. Even then, Hayden was overlooked by the Grounders; it was like he was invisible to them.

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Skylier

  I can’t lie in bed while Madison is out on the wasteland.

  Enoch let Rian and me share his quarters for tonight, and the boys are both fast asleep. They both began snoring as soon as they lay down. I know I fell asleep soon after them. The toxic liquid seems to have that effect on everyone when they stop drinking.

  Where is Abaven at this time of night? By the silence of the caves it must still be nighttime, but the lack of natural sunlight makes it impossible to work out the time.

  I look down towards the area where the party was last night, and it’s littered with empty cups and leftover food. It looks like an explosion of garbage. In the Cueva, we never party like this. Under other circumstances I would have felt a bit of joy from the experience, instead of the guilt that weighs me down.

  Now it’s time to squash this guilt and do something about it.

  Great. The only person up is Gerel. Much to both our disappointment, I head towards her. She looks as if she’s ready to throw one of her favorite knives at me.

  “What are you doing wandering around?” Gerel asks. I was just thinking the same about her.

  “I thought you were on lookout?” I reply.

  “What, you think you can ask me what I’m doing? Go to bed,” she says, walking away from me.

  “Where’s Abaven?”

  “Why?” she replies.

  “Can’t you just answer the frigging question, instead of coming back with another one?” I snip, not in the mood for her nighttime mood. My frigging head has started to throb.

  “Think you’re brave, don’t you? You think you’re better than us. You’re no better than us.”

  “Look, Gerel, I don’t get why you dislike me, and I don’t care,” I say, walking away from her.

  A gust of wind sweeps past my hair, making the fire-red ends of my hair dance. I see a glimmer of light reflect from the flying object. She threw her knife at me! “You threw your knife at me?” I yell. “You’re crazy!” I add.

  The fire in me drives me towards her. It’s time to wipe the smug grin off her face.

  “Come on, little girl, show me what makes you so special,” Gerel mocks as I run towards her, growling with rage. I can’t take this anymore.

  Gerel’s hands fly up, both with blades in them. My arms reach out for her neck. Gerel pushes my hand, knocking me sideways onto the ground. “You dumb kid, next time I will make you the target and not the wall,” she laughs, walking away and disappearing into one of the rooms, dropping the sheet door behind her.

  I lie for a moment on the cool floor. What am I doing? She’s right, I am just a dumb kid. How am I going to be able to help rescue Madison and my family if I can’t even fight off one crazy knife girl?

  You’re weak like Dax. Xander’s words haunt me as if he is in my mind again.

  “What are you doing on the floor?” Abaven asks, looking down at me, his voice full of concern.

  I want to tell him what Gerel did and said, but then Gerel and Xander would be right.

  “Nothing, I was looking for you,” I say, getting to my feet.

  “You won’t find me down there. Come on up. I will have a word with her,” he says.

  “Please don’t,” I say, shaking my head. “It was nothing.” I am standing firm; I can’t let him think I’m weak, even if I feel it.

  “Why were you looking for me at this hour?” Abaven asks as I approach him. “You don’t need to answer that. Come on, I will show you Madison is okay.” We walk to the room full of monitors.

  Madison and the other girls are huddled together by the Sanction wall, trying to protect themselves from the harsh elements of the wasteland. I rub my hand over my barcode, the element that separates all of us. “Abaven.”

  “What?” Abaven mutters. Damn, I hadn’t realized he had fallen asleep. He had slumped into one of the seats when we got into the monitor room, and my eyes had been locked on the screens for a while.

  “Sorry, I didn’t realize you were sleeping.”

  “Just resting my eyes. What is it?”

  “If you can make me a temporary barcode and upgrade the others permanently, why can’t you do it for everyone? Then there would be no Hosts to rescue.”

  Abaven smiles.

  “Wait, that’s your plan?”

  “One day.”

  “What are you waiting for?”

  “It’s one thing giving a few people the upgrade, but all of Cueva? That’s a whole different level. But I’m very close to working it all out.”

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Dax

  “I think we should go down the back way,” Lowell continues. “I’ve been watching, and not many people have gone that way.”

  “I agree,” says Reznor.

  “Back door it is.” Trinity opens the plastic door. If it was wooden, it would’ve been stolen for firewood by now.

  We crank the engines of our bikes, quickly filling the small kitchen with the smell of gas.

  Goodbye, little house. Thank you for keeping us safe, I think to myself.

  Trinity jumps onto the back of my bike without being asked, and I pass her my gun.

  “Thank you,” she replies.

  I quickly rummage through my pockets. “Here, wear one of these….” I pass the bracelets out to everyone.

  “Press here to speak with me.” I show them the small button on the side.

  Reznor stares down at it with suspicion. He doesn’t like Purenet stuff.

  “This may save your life,” I tell him. He shakes his head in response and unwillingly places it on his wrist.

  We never did get the food or water we needed … the whole reason we stopped here. I hope we find something on the way.

  “Let’s ride,” I tell them. With that, we leave the tiny home behind us.

  The small street has hardly any sand; it's as though the buildings are protecting it, and the sand is dancing into the main street where the party of bloodshed is.

  Hayden slows down, along with the others. Trinity and I are at the back, making it easier for Trinity to stop anyone from attacking us from behind. She’s our very own secret weapon.

  I peer around the edge of a crumbling stone building, then swiftly lean back. There’s a light beam—it's one of the drones scanning the location. I hold my breath … one … two … three. I look back around and let out a sigh of relief as I see the drone has moved on. It’s awful that they can just sneak up on us like that.

  We continue riding down the narrow street, and Hayden stops once again—the path has come to an end.

  There is no choice but to go back onto the main road.

  I glance up, and spot them the same time as they spot me. The light from the guns showing the way for our attackers.

  Caribes, the Mutes, and Purenet soldiers charge forward—united in their hatred toward us.

  Luckily we have a head start on them, and they are all on foot.

  “Go!” I yell to the others. A wave of adrenaline races though my veins.

  I squeeze the throttle and my bike hums with excitement to be driven away from the sandy land.

  The distance between them and us widens—we are going to make it. More Mutes are coming from another direction. We must go faster.

  “Dax … Dax … come out wherever you are,” Xander’s voice enters my mind. He is here. I look everywhere but don’t see him.

  “Where are you going so quickly?” he asks.

  “How’s Father?” My mind runs away from me before I can stop it. I hate t
he fact I still care for that man—I am weak like Zion, my brother.

  “Oh look at you being the caring son … I’m fine, thank you for asking!” Xander snaps.

  “I knew you would be fine— you always are….”

  “He’s not happy with you, stealing and siding with his Bazi. I see you have taken a liking to her—is she your new Bazi? You do know we are rich and you can have any Bazi, not just Father’s castoffs?”

  “Don’t be sick!”

  “Ha ha … Ayah has been replaced so quickly,” Xander mocks me.

  “Leave her out of this!”

  “I never knew you were such a player, looks like all these ladies love Dax … even your sister has a soft spot for you.”

  I squeeze the throttle down. I have to get out of here—I can’t listen to this anymore.

  “You’re a jerk, may you rot in hell!” I snap.

  Xander goes blank for a moment. “What’s hell?” he asks. Looks like big brother doesn’t know everything after all.

  Ask the Caribes … they will tell you.

  He’s in there, in the Purenet plane, standing at the window. Obviously he would not get his hands dirty and join in the battle, choosing instead to stand by and watch.

  Xander waves at me. See you soon, little brother. For your sake, I hope I reach you before the Emperor’s army does. His voice has a touch of concern to it.

  Goodbye, for now, I respond, as we ride out of the city and into the unknown wasteland. I know the soldiers will be back on the plane in a few minutes. We have to act fast….

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Dax

  The screams of pain and gunfire die down as we distance ourselves from the old town. Once Xander gets his soldiers into the plane they will be here in no time.

  I press my bracelet. “Location,” I say to it loudly, so it can hear me over the bike engine. We cannot stop.

  The guys look over at me, all eager for the bracelet’s response.

  A map appears in front of us. “There is my home,” Trinity squeals out with excitement.