Rebel Rising: A Dystopian Romance (Cage of Lies Book 1)

by Susanne Valenti

  The yapping and shrieking of the coyotes gained a frantic edge as they hunted us. Kaloo snarled, showing a full set of gleaming white canines which reminded me that she was as much of a beast as anything that was hiding within the field. I was grateful to have her on our side.

  A flash of movement to my right made me jump and I nearly dropped the knife. The coyote slipped out of view as quickly as I spotted it but Kaloo gave chase.

  Rustling broke out around us in earnest. Coal stopped short and I walked straight into the back of him.

  “Ow!" I complained, rubbing at my nose.

  “Shhh," he spun me around and pressed his back to mine. "They're getting ready to attack, get your gun out."

  I did as commanded and shoved my knife back onto my belt before snatching my shotgun from my back. I held the gun up in front of me like a talisman, my numb fingers slipping into place as I repressed a shiver. Slowly, Coal started to move, I took his lead and we turned in a circle with our guns raised and ready.

  My breath huffed out in little clouds which momentarily obscured my vision. The growling and yapping sang out all around us, making it impossible to guess where the attack would come from. I clenched my teeth and steadied my breathing, my eyes darting back and forth.

  The husks beneath our feet split and crunched as we wore down the ground in a small circle.

  Sounds of canine fighting replaced the excited yapping in the direction that Kaloo had taken and I felt a small bubble of hope swell in my chest.

  The curtain of corn stalks in front of me rattled and began to part. I slipped my finger onto the trigger, ready to fire. Snarling and the snapping of jaws came from the rippling crops followed by a yelp of pain.

  I let out another breath as Kaloo stuck her head back through the corn to look at us. Her blue eyes held a question which I answered with a shaky laugh.

  The sounds of approach had halted and we took the opportunity to make our escape.

  Kaloo led us out of the corn field with her nose in the air like she was proud of herself. We emerged a short distance from a set of wooden steps that led up to a grand old farm house. We sprinted up the steps onto a porch that ran the length of the building. Kaloo circled behind us and growled at the field, a clear warning to anything that might try to follow.

  From the porch we could see the tops of the corn stalks as waves of movement rippled back and forth as around ten shapes moved within its depths.

  The door opened behind us and Alicia stood there with her hands on her hips.

  “Really? What happened to 'stick together no matter what'?" She raised her eyebrows at us, waiting for an explanation.

  “I tripped and by the time I righted myself you were gone," I muttered to my feet as I dragged my eyes away from the field behind us.

  “Sure, whatever. Are you going to stand out here all night and wait for those coyotes to try their luck with Kaloo or are the three of you coming in?"

  We stepped past her and Kaloo trotted up the steps behind us. Her tail was in the air, wagging profusely as she strutted through the door and I had to admit she had good reason to be proud of herself.

  Hunter laughed for a solid fifteen minutes when we relayed our story to him. I was beginning to think that near death experiences must go hand in hand with life outside The Wall and it was certainly better to laugh about it than cry.

  He headed back to our truck with Coal and they towed it to the farm house so that it could be charged overnight. The plan was to reach the end of the road around midday, at which point Hunter and his men would split off and start a series of small fires to draw the attention of any Creepers that happened to be nearby.

  The four of us would then head for the bunker, hopefully uninterrupted by terrifying mutants hellbent on killing anything that crossed their path. Easy.

  As we packed up our things in the morning, Alicia approached me.

  “I know we haven't had much time to talk, but I was thinking about what we were saying back in Franklin," she said.

  "About the way a small child could overpower me in a fist fight?" I asked, though it was irritating to admit it out loud.

  "Yeah, and though you really should work on that at some point, you obviously don't have the time to do so right now."

  "So what's your point? I'm not staying behind," I said narrowing my eyes at her.

  "No, I know you won't do that. I just noticed that you only carry a few weapons on your belt plus that shotgun on your back and seeing as, without weapons, you're pretty much screwed, I thought I'd just show you how to carry a few more." She flashed me a grin.

  "That's perfect." I looked at her with surprise. "Thank you."

  “Well it's for my benefit as much as anything else." She sat down next to me and produced several knives which were held in various types of sheathes. She then went about showing me how she hid knives in her boots and how to strap them to my forearms.

  “It's worth keeping some weapons concealed, especially knives, because if you're captured, they'll take anything obvious away from you." She seemed to be speaking from experience and that was all kinds of concerning.

  “In what circumstance might we be captured?" I asked.

  “Well, not everyone out here is all that nice. If we ran into some nomads, say, they can be a little aggressive at times. Or the travelling gangs, or the territorial gangs for that matter-"

  "Okay I get it," I stopped her before she completely terrified me. Maybe in this case ignorance was bliss.

  Alicia laughed and then made me prove how quickly I could reload my guns and corrected the way I loaded my pistol. There was a technique which involved careful timing and quick wrist action that meant I could load a new cartridge in the same move as ejecting the old one.

  I dropped the new cartridge nine times before I did it right and then she made me repeat it until I had it perfect.

  "Okay, I feel better about you risking your life now," she said finally.

  “Thanks, me too."

  “Are you girls ready to head out?" Hunter called over to us. Alicia jumped up and ran to the waiting truck, her long, white-blonde hair swishing around her as she went.

  I followed more slowly, getting used to the feeling of the knife in my boot, glad she’d given me the holster so I could be sure I wouldn't impale my foot.

  Laurie was already sitting in the truck and Coal opened the door for me to climb in before him.

  "I found something pretty cool in the farmhouse," Alicia said as we all settled into our seats.

  “I'm not sure that I trust your judgement on what's cool," Coal replied.

  "Oh you will." She pulled a clear plastic case from inside her jacket and shook it at him.

  "Does it work?" he asked, leaning forwards with more interest.

  "Only one way to find out." She snapped the case open and pulled out a shiny, circular piece of plastic which she slid into a slot on the dashboard.

  A second passed and the number one flashed up in green next to the slot.

  I glanced at Coal who was suddenly looking really happy and was about to open my mouth to ask why when noise filled the car.

  There was a lot of crashing and banging but it all worked together somehow to create a beat. A smile spread across my face slowly as a male voice kicked in and started to sing. Music in the city never sounded like that.

  “I hope you like rap music." Alicia laughed and cranked the volume up so that the speakers pounded.

  Hunter pulled up next to us, the same excited expression on his face as Alicia's. She flicked a button and the window descended so that we could talk to him.

  "We're gunna make use of these trucks today, it'll be the full off-road experience," he called over to us.

  "That's if you can keep up," Alicia yelled over the music, revving the engine.

  "Do you really wanna challenge me, little lady?" Hunter shouted as he sped off, splattering mud up from his wheels which flew in through the window and coated us.

  "I'll kill him," Alicia gro
wled, flicking mud off of her face and slamming the truck into gear.

  “Is there something I'm missing on the whole car front? I mean they make traveling easier and all but-" I waved a hand at Alicia who was practically bouncing out of her seat with excitement. The truck span wildly as she turned it back towards the road and the rear end slid sideways in the mud before levelling as we shot forwards in pursuit of Hunter.

  "I'll teach you to drive some time." Coal glanced at me. "It's great fun, but Alicia and Hunter do have a kind of obsession with big engines that's beyond most people's enjoyment of them."

  We were flung sideways as Alicia sped out onto the road and the tyres squealed in protest as they skidded on the tarmac before gaining traction. I fell into Coal’s lap, like honest to god face to fucking crotch.

  “Shit,” I gasped as I scrambled back, my cheeks flaming as I pulled myself upright hastily, hanging onto the door so that it didn't happen again.

  “Can’t say I minded,” Coal joked and my blush deepened as I tried to think of something to say in response to that.

  "Erm, so…how about you, do you like cars too?" I asked, changing the subject back hastily.

  “Yeah, I guess so, I prefer motorbikes though," he said, still giving me that cocky smirk.

  “How do they work?" I asked, ignoring the look he was giving me and having to speak loudly to be heard over the music.

  "I'll take you for a ride some time." He raised his eyebrows at me invitingly and I cleared my throat at the double meaning to his words, wondering if I was imagining it or not.

  The engine growled as we hit top speed. Alicia and Laurie were whooping and laughing in the front and I couldn't help but feel exhilarated by the drive too.

  The wide, straight road provided the perfect race track and the truck roared its challenge as we pulled level with Hunter. We nosed ahead and then Hunter did and then us again. Finally, I was looking at Hunter through the window next to me and we were still speeding up.

  Eventually Hunter gave up, he smacked his hands down on the steering wheel and let us take the lead. Alicia laughed triumphantly and we all cheered in excitement as the final leg of our journey began.

  ***

  The songs on the disc played around several times until I was able to sing along to some of the choruses. I wasn't really sure singing rap music was my life's calling but I liked it.

  “What happened to the coyotes?" I asked as I grew bored of the view once again.

  "I guess they went off looking for something easier to catch," Coal shrugged like being hunted by something that wanted to eat us was no big deal. And maybe it wasn’t to him.

  The truck lurched as Kaloo rearranged herself in the back and my gaze shifted to look around at her.

  “Does she go everywhere with you?" I asked, looking at the beautiful animal.

  "When I was younger I spent a lot of time wandering through the forests. I wanted to know all of their secrets. That was when I started to learn the value of the things I could find. I got to know the different plants and their uses and how to scavenge from abandoned housing and so on. It meant that I could earn my keep and I liked exploring too.

  I found Kaloo when she was very small. She was caught in a hunter's snare. I knew better than to interfere with the poachers but she looked at me with such trust in her eyes that I had to cut her free." He shrugged.

  “Like when you saved me," I said, remembering what he had told me about not consciously deciding to save me.

  “Right." He smiled at me. "I haven't regretted acting on those instincts yet."

  "And she stayed with you then?"

  "Yes. She's practically been my shadow ever since, though I'd guess she's saved my life more often than I've saved her's now." He looked at the huge dog fondly. She had her nose to the air, sniffing the wind as it whipped her ears back and forth, looking about as happy as I could imagine a dog could be.

  We pulled off of the highway and moved onto smaller and smaller roads. The path wasn't so straight anymore and Alicia set up the GPS to lead her through the twists and turns that our course required. We passed through towns where the people had tried to fight off the encroaching forest. They were barely recognisable now and I only noticed them when I spotted a windmill poking out between the greenery.

  "It's no good fighting the forest," Coal said as we passed a building with a huge tree sprouting from inside one of its windows.

  "How long did it take to do this kind of damage?" I asked, fascinated.

  "The plants are able to take hold within a matter of weeks. After that they just keep growing and growing until there's no choice but to give up. It takes a massive amount of time and energy to hold them back like they do in your city."

  "They have special branches of Wardens whose job it is to go out daily and burn everything that grows. They lace the ground with salt from the sea too," Laurie added from the front seat.

  "It's much easier to just live alongside it. The world is meant to be lived in, not controlled." He spoke with passion and I agreed with him.

  I reached across the seat and took hold of his hand before I could think it through too much. Coal stiffened for a moment and then relaxed, leaving our hands entwined as he looked back outside.

  A smile tugged at my lips as I looked out too. There were a lot of things about the outside world that were terrifying, but there were several that were pretty exciting too.

  The roads continued to narrow until we were travelling down what amounted to little more than a dirt track. Eventually we reached a place where the trees were too thick to find a route through anymore and the truck rolled to a stop.

  "I don't think the truck can go any further," Alicia said from the front seat.

  "Okay, it looks like it's time to move on foot from here then," Coal replied, jumping out.

  I picked up my pack, opened my door and hopped down. Coal caught me and set me firmly on my feet as I sank several inches into a thick layer of mud, his hands lingering on my waist for an extra moment as my skin tingled at the contact.

  "Thanks," I muttered. I hoped he was being polite rather than actually thinking I was so useless that I couldn't make it out of a car unassisted.

  “No problem,” he breathed, giving me that cocky grin which said he knew just how much he made my pulse race before he released me.

  Big clouds rolled across the sky turning it grey and muting the light beneath the trees. It cast everything in a kind of dim glow.

  Hunter pulled up behind us, half of his unit were perched in the truck bed looking distinctly windswept. He hopped out too and strode towards us through the river of mud.

  “This is where we part ways. Your GPS will lead you to the bunker. I think you should be able to take a straight route on flat ground for the first few miles but you'll have to go over more difficult terrain from there. We'll head west to start those distractions to draw any Creepers away and meet you back at the edge of an old town over to the east of this area by dawn tomorrow. I've saved its coordinates in your GPS for later," Hunter said. He gave each of us a quick one-armed hug before turning back to his truck, revving the engine and reversing back up the trail. We watched as his truck disappeared before preparing to head on ourselves.

  Coal jumped up into the truck bed and quickly handed out fresh bottles of water and some food supplies. While we packed them away, he unfurled a big tarpaulin. It was the same colour as the surrounding forest and textured to look like dead leaves. He spread it over the truck which, when coupled with the camouflage paintwork of the truck itself, made it very hard to spot.

  “Let's get going then," Alicia said, holding the GPS out to guide us.

  It was so dark under the cover of the trees that Alicia got her flashlight out and flicked it on. We crept forwards, trying not to cause too much disturbance as we advanced closer and closer to the green dot marked on the GPS.

  It was a tense journey. We squelched our way forwards through the gloom and I spent time checking my weapons were all in place
and easily accessible.

  The shadows between the trees promised of menacing things lurking within but the forest stayed calm around us.

  "It's quiet out here," I said to Coal, my own voice low.

  "It's Creeper country. Nothing goes near them if it's smart enough. Even the trees seem unhappy here," he replied, his voice quiet too.

  "So I take it we aren't smart enough?" My fingers shifted to touch my pistol for reassurance.

  "Coming here wasn’t a decision I made lightly. Let's just hope the distractions work and the Creepers stay well away from us," he said, raising an eyebrow.

  “What should I do if we see one?" I tapped a finger along the row of knives at my belt. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven-

  "Run. Shoot if you can, but there's never just one. If you see one and it hasn't seen you, just get the hell away."

  "Where to?" That hadn't been the answer I was expecting. Eight, nine, ten, plus one in my boot and one strapped to my right forearm. Twelve.

  “Anywhere. Anywhere at all so long as it’s a fucking long way from those monsters.”

  A shiver ran down my spine at his words and I found myself seriously hoping that we didn’t end up having any contact with those things.

  The air felt heavy, dripping with moisture that ran from the branches above us and splashed to the ground. It was cold, a kind of cold that ignored how thick your coat was and made a beeline for the centre of your chest.

  A sudden flash of light split the darkness in half and I dropped into a crouch with a shriek of alarm. Laurie did the same next to me, throwing her hands up over her head. My eyes darted back and forth into the gloom between the trees as I searched for the source of what the hell that had been and couldn’t spot a dammed thing.

  After a beat, I looked to Alicia and Coal who were staring over at us, their mouths slightly open with shock. It lasted for a fraction of a second before they started to laugh.