Traven looked at himself in the mirror on the closet door, the long crack running its length slightly distorting his reflection. Fabulous, it looks like I’ve been on the run for weeks. He picked a tattered baseball cap off the floor and put it on.
Just then, Kalma entered the room wearing his Guard-issued dark gray skimps, the underwear tight-fitting to allow freedom of motion in a fight. He was a lot paler than Traven had previously thought.
Kalma joined Traven at the closet. “Let’s see here.” He made a show of looking through the clothes. “I don’t have anything to wear! What’ll the neighbors think seeing me dressed in this garbage, dear?”
Traven rolled his eyes. “If I’d known you were this bad at making jokes, I’d have asked Wren to assign Malik to this mission.” In all honesty, Traven was starting to like Kalma, even with his odd sense of humor. But he wasn’t ready to let Kalma know that.
Traven rummaged through the contents of the dresser and found a tan cloth belt to hold up his trousers. He wrapped it around his waist, but just like the pants, it was far too big. Taking a knife from his gear on the bed, he cut the end off the belt. This time it fit well enough, and he tied a knot in the front to hold it tight. Looking back in the dresser, he grabbed a similar blue belt and tossed it across the room to Kalma. “Here, it’ll go with your eyes,” he said mockingly.
Kalma caught the belt in midair and wrapped it around his waist. It was too big, so following Traven’s lead, he cut it to size. “What do you think?” He was wearing plaid cargo shorts that were frayed at the ends with holes in the back pockets, and a black T-shirt in about the same shape.
“Looks good to me,” Traven said. “You can hide your gear under the floor.” He pointed to a plank that he’d wedged up the night before after Kalma left.
“Thanks, but I already hid my gear in the kid’s room.”
“Very well.” Traven moved to the door. “We need to get a lead on where we can connect with the resistance. Shouldn’t be too hard, I suspect.”
When the morning curfew was lifted and they left the house, people were already filling the streets. Kids were running around playing with toys. Vendors who had been pushed out of the city proper were selling merchandise out of mobile carts, and crowds were headed to work. Most didn’t own a vehicle, so they were making their way to the public transit system, an underground network of magnetically levitated high-speed trains running on high-temperature superconducting rails. Antigravity, rail-less trains were reserved for wealthier parts of the city.
Traven and Kalma walked the suburb and the local shopping center for three days before getting the break they needed. In the afternoon of the third day, they came across an Urlowen patrol harassing an elderly man.
“Where are your papers, old man?” a patrolman crowed.
He clearly wanted to make an example of him. A crowd had even formed to watch the exchange, although they were all keeping their distance. No one dared stand up to the patrol, not even for the frail gray-haired gentleman leaning heavily on his walker.
The old man was afraid, visibly shaking. “I’m sorry, sir.” His voice cracked as he spoke.
“Well, where are they?” the patrolman asked again. “I’m waiting.”
“I must’ve left them at the house. My memory isn’t quite what it used to be. I left in a hurry, you know. Have to get to the pharmacy before it closes. My wife is very sick.”
“Do you know what the penalty is for losing your papers?” the officer spat. He knocked the walker out from beneath the man’s arms, sending him tumbling to the ground. “It’s imprisonment and hard labor.”
“Sir, please. My wife, she needs her medication.” The old man didn’t attempt to get up. He’d clearly been hurt by the fall.
“You should’ve considered that before losing your papers,” the patrolman announced, glancing at the crowd gathered around.
Traven approached the guard and the old man, stopping a few feet short. “Excuse me, sir,” he began, making his voice quiver as if he were afraid. “Maybe you could let this slide, just this once, for his wife’s sake.” Traven knew this would infuriate the patrolman. In fact, he was counting on it. At the same time, Kalma had made his way behind the other three patrolmen but kept just enough distance to keep them from addressing him.
“How dare you interfere in police matters. Clearly you both need to learn a lesson.” The officer kicked the old man in the side, causing him to cough up a little blood. Then he withdrew a bludgeoning rail from the holster at his side and drew it back to hit the old man in the face.
Traven jumped between the two, grabbing the officer’s arm mid-swing and using his momentum to flip him head over heels onto the ground. The other three officers began to withdraw their sidearms, but Traven pulled a knife from his pants leg pocket and threw it directly into the thigh of the next closest patrolman. The man dropped his plasma-accelerating handgun from pain and shock, then realized he’d made a grave mistake. In the next instant, Traven leaped through the air, wrapping his legs around the patrolman’s neck and twisting. The guard was thrown to the ground with Traven landing right beside him.
While this was happening, Kalma ambushed the other two patrolmen from behind. He swept the leg of the first and pushed the falling officer’s body so it fell into the second, knocking both to the floor. Kalma took the bludgeoning rail from the closest of the two and slammed the end into the face of the first officer, rendering him unconscious. The other patrolman rolled to the side and leveled his gun at Kalma.
Kalma dove to the right and threw the rail, making it spin into the officer’s hand, disarming him. Then he and the officer got to their feet and squared off, but a solid thud emanated from the patrolman’s head as a rail hit him from behind. He fell to the ground, revealing Traven standing behind him. The fight was over in a matter of seconds.
“You’re welcome,” Traven said to Kalma.
Kalma shrugged. “I had him.”
“I know you did, kid. Just thought I’d help you out a bit.”
The reaction of the crowd was mixed. Some scattered as soon as the fight began, but others watched, curious of the outcome. A few now huddled around the old man to assess his injuries.
“We have to get him to a hospital,” someone said.
“What would we tell the doctors?” a different girl questioned. “If they know he was involved in an altercation with a patrol, they’ll immediately call the police. The doctors are as afraid of breaking the law as most of us are. No one wants to end up beaten like this.” She eyed the blood dribbling out of the man’s mouth.
A young man, maybe twenty-two, stepped out of the surrounding crowd. “I know a place to take him. He’ll be safe from the Urlowens there. Leave him to me.”
Everyone looked relieved and began to disperse in various directions, leaving the old man to the care of the volunteer.
“We’ll help you bring him,” Kalma offered.
The young man looked at both Kalma and Traven for a minute as if considering his next words carefully. “Given what you did here, I suppose you’ve earned it. Besides, you’re certainly no friend to the Council’s men. When they get word of what you did here, you’ll be fugitives.”
“Well, it’s too late for that,” Traven said. “We’ve been on the run for a few weeks now.”
The man looked back at the patrolmen lying unconscious on the ground. “I believe you,” he said with a little amazement in his voice. “Not many people could take down four officers as fast as you two just did. Maybe you should finish them off. If they give your description to their superiors when they wake up, you’ll be as good as dead. My name’s Eric, by the way.”
Traven walked over to the officer on the ground with the knife protruding from his leg. He pulled the blade out and wiped it clean on the officer’s uniform before sheathing the knife and placing it back in his pocket. “We’re already being hunted. There’s no reason to make it worse than it already is, and I’m not the sort to participate in needless killing.” And he m
eant it. The work he did for the Guard was certainly not needless. Sometimes he did unspeakable things in the service, but they were always necessary.
“Your choice, I suppose,” Eric said. “Help me carry him. My car’s just a few blocks away.”
“Sure thing, Eric,” Kalma said. “I’m Tomas, and that ugly mug over there is Trevor.” He lifted the old man gently to his feet, sliding one of the man’s arms over his shoulders, and Eric did the same. They supported his weight as they walked down the street, Traven following a few paces behind.
“Where are we going?” Traven asked.
“I just happen to know where a resistance hospital is hidden,” Eric whispered. “We can take him there.” He stood a little taller, seemingly proud of himself. “They’ll even be able to send someone to help his wife.” Eric grinned. He had never helped recruit before, but these two would be his first. It’s gonna be a good day for the resistance. I don’t think there’s anyone in our crew who can fight like that. We need guys like these, and I’m going to bring them in.
“A resistance hospital,” Kalma said. “That’s great. I’m really tired of running. It’s about time we brought the fight back to the Urlowens.”
Eric’s smile grew wider. Yes, today’s gonna be great!
Chapter 5
Allison limped to the outdoor fireplace that contained the smoldering embers from the fire Ethan had just put out. They were on the balcony of an abandoned condominium in the northwest side of the city. Earlier that evening, they’d broken into a suite in the abandoned building to shelter for the night. On the balcony, they found a couple of couches and the fireplace, which they used for cooking. The power to the building had long since been cut, leaving all the electric-powered stoves nonoperational. They’d been on the run for two nights now, and although her leg was healing, it was still a bit tender. Ethan was looking up at the night sky from a leather couch near the embers when Allison sat next to him.
“Look what I found,” she whispered mischievously, scooting just close enough for her thigh to press lightly against his.
It didn’t go unnoticed by Ethan. He was just as captivated by her now as he’d been growing up. No, she’s just being nice. He was desperately afraid of losing her by jumping to conclusions about her motives. With great effort, he tore his eyes away from her beautiful face and looked down at what she held out to him. In her hands was a single unopened beer and two glasses. She would’ve only brought one if she was into me. Disappointed, he took one of the glasses and held it out. She poured half the bottle into each cup.
“To your parents and Susan,” Ethan said, raising his glass.
Tears swelled in Allison’s eyes. “To them.”
“And fallen friends,” Ethan added. He lightly tapped his glass against hers and threw back the entire contents into his stomach. Allison took a drink as well, but hers was much more dignified than his. They sat in silence for quite some time, just staring at the stars.
“Do you wanna talk about it?”
Allison sniffled and wiped tears from her eyes. “No,” she said quietly.
Time passed, though neither knew how much. Allison was the first to break the silence. “Ethan, do you think we really stand a chance against them? I mean, they came from a different world. They traveled the stars, and not like we have. We’ve only managed to scout out a couple of close star systems. Do you ever wonder if we’re simply outmatched?”
“I don’t know,” Ethan said honestly. “I think about that every day, and the only outcome I see terrifies me.”
“Me too,” she responded in an equally uneasy tone.
“The alliance has lost so much ground.” He paused for a moment, noticing the worry in her eyes. Sliding his arm around her, he pulled her closer. “I do know that we can’t give up. We certainly won’t beat them if we give up.”
“Can’t argue with that,” she whispered.
They sat for several more minutes, gazing at the stars and thinking of their friends and futures. Allison slowly pulled away from Ethan and stood up, hesitating for a moment as she looked at him.
“Well, we better get some sleep,” she said after a few seconds. “Good night.” And with that, she made her way to one of the bedrooms inside the condo.
“Good night.” Ethan stretched his legs out over the rest of the couch and took a deep breath. It wasn’t as relaxing as a bed, but it was comfortable enough. It didn’t matter much anyway, since sleep had been hard to come by the last two nights. Every time he managed to fall asleep, he dreamed of his friends taking their final breaths as he stood helplessly outside a dark storefront.
He rolled over and shut his eyes. “Tomorrow will come,” he reminded himself, then drifted off into another restless night of torment.
The sun woke Ethan the next morning as it rose over the mountains far in the distance to the west. The balcony wasn’t the most strategic place to camp in the city, but it sure had spectacular views.
He sat up on the couch and watched the sun as it began its never-ending journey across the sky. The mountain peaks were covered with snow all year round, and they shimmered as the golden orange morning light danced across them. Farther below, a lush green forest engulfed the mountain range, running all the way to the outskirts of the city.
Getting off the couch and walking to the waist-high guardrail, Ethan remembered what he’d learned about the mountains in school.
At one time, cities around the world would reach deeper into the forest each year, but expansion was halted when the Earth’s atmosphere indicated decreasing levels of oxygen due to the loss of plant life. Numerous arboretums and emergency environmental restoration zones were created to restore the fallen trees and heal the earth’s oxygen supply. It took a long time, but the oxygen levels eventually returned to normal. The residents of Madison City were far luckier than those of other large cities, as the forest beside them was relatively unscathed from the ravages of expansion. It was one of the oldest and most magnificent mountain ranges left on modern Earth.
“We narrowly avoided extinction at our own hands,” Ethan muttered to himself. “How are we going to manage getting out of this one?” The conversation he’d had with Allison the previous night was still weighing heavily on his mind. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, and heard Allison’s footsteps as she limped up beside him.
“It’s beautiful,” she said, looking toward the mountains beyond.
“It really is.” He glanced down at her injured leg. “We have to get someone to look at your leg. The messenger the western resistance sent us before the atta—” He paused a minute, thinking of Allison’s parents. “Well, you know, just before a couple nights ago. He said they’d been able to scavenge enough medical supplies to set up a passable field hospital.”
Allison turned to look at him. “My leg can wait. First we need to tell them what happened to us. Maybe they’ll be able to keep it from happening to them. Then we can go to the hospital. I’ll be all right until then. It’s not broken, probably just a sprain.”
They looked at the mountains one last time, then at each other. “I guess we should head out,” she said. “If we hurry, we should be able to get to them by curfew.”
They’d been traveling during the day to avoid Urlowen night patrols. It was easier to blend into the traffic while people were running errands than at night when the streets were barren. The pair didn’t have any belongings to speak of, since they were fleeing for their lives, so they simply left the condo and began the day’s trip.
The journey, fortunately, was not all that interesting. They walked most of the day, stopping to steal food a couple of times when they were hungry. Allison hated resorting to thievery, but it sure beat walking for miles on an empty stomach. She made sure they only stole from those loyal to the Urlowens—at least, that’s what she told herself. It helped put her mind at ease.
In some ways, the walk was a nice change of pace. Her life had become a hectic mess ever since the war began. Like Ethan, she
’d been a senior in high school. Her parents and sister, Sophie, lived on the east side of the city. When the Urlowens took over, her sister was killed by a couple of drunk soldiers, and Allison and her parents moved back to the northern side of the city and joined the resistance. Since then, she’d done her best to work as an analyst, planning various raids and compiling the small amount of information the resistance obtained. She missed her sister terribly, and now her parents were gone too. She missed them all.
Ethan interrupted her thoughts. “I think that’s it up ahead.”
Allison looked at the nondescript Chinese restaurant in the distance. The sign read ‘Emperor’s Dragon,’ with a golden dragon wrapping around the letter E and the bottom of the S becoming a bowl of lo mein noodles. The building was painted red with gold trim on the window frames. Before the attack, Allison talked with Micah, the messenger from the western resistance. He’d told her how to find their operations center, and it started here, at the Emperor’s Dragon.
The restaurant was still serving dinner when they arrived. Ethan and Allison asked for a table for two, and the hostess ushered them to a booth across the dining area. There were only a few other customers, and each seemed to be minding their own business.
“Not quite what I expected,” Ethan said, taking his seat.
Allison shot him a look that said, ‘Shut up before you say too much.’ Ethan got the hint and opened his menu to see what they were serving.
“What can I get for you?” an elderly Chinese lady asked. She was short with graying black hair pulled into a tight bun.
“Hi, I’m Allison,” she started in her friendliest tone. “My friend Ethan and I just got in from the Eisenhower sector. We’ve been thinking about opening our own restaurant and wondered if you could show us how the kitchen’s set up here. We need as much help as we can get. We’ve never opened a restaurant before.”
“I see,” the waitress replied. “I’ll have to check with the chef, but we’re always happy to help other culinary proprietors when we can. Give me a minute and I’ll be right back.”
Earthborn Awakening Page 4
