I guessed that the beacon would take me somewhere close to Wickham, maybe even directly to him. If the meeting concerned Vita Aeterna, the secret society’s leader would probably be there. But I couldn’t use the map at this distance. It didn’t show any detail, and there was no way to enlarge it. I could bring up maps on the HUD, but they only covered the Corp Ring — the Quarters and the Dregs didn’t count, I guess.
Wherever I was going was in the Corp Ring. To start with I could make my way there. Once I got close enough I’d take the card out of the bag periodically, long enough for it to update, and check the direction indicator. That would probably allow SecureCorp to figure out where I was, so as soon as the beacon was updated, I’d have to cover it up again and run to a new hiding place. And I’d have to keep that process up until I got to the meeting location.
To accomplish my mission, I’d need to be mobile. I set off for the spot we’d seen Tory and the other dead gangsters. It wouldn’t be much use in the Dregs, but back in Tintown I could cover a lot more ground if I had my board. I fought to keep my stomach contents down as I gave the bodies a wide berth and searched the area. There was no sign of my pack, but I found the board lying in a pile of other booty they’d locked in a nearby room.
Before I started, there was one connection I had to make. I’d had it with the Dead Shift, and I still wasn’t sure about the Rebels, but somehow I had to contact Laura and explain what happened. I had to make sure she knew I wasn’t a traitor.
I made my way back to the last place the Rebels had been. Of course, they’d moved. Alone, I’d probably never be able to find them. I was still new to the Dregs; I wouldn’t even know where to start. But it occurred to me that I knew somebody who was an expert.
CHAPTER 30
Laura
It took a whole day to find my way back to the building where I’d first met Benny — his ‘headquarters’. My plan was just to hang around and hope I’d run into him, assuming he was still alive. The last time I saw him his wound looked pretty gruesome.
When I reached his ‘office’, there was no sign of him, but judging from the patches of blood on the chair he usually sat in, he must have been there recently. It didn’t look like his wound had gotten any better. I realized that I was exhausted. I lay down on the floor and went to sleep.
A noise startled me awake. I looked up. Benny was standing in the doorway. I wasn’t sure how he’d react when he saw me. I was relieved when he smiled.
“You came back,” he said.
I checked out the wound in his side. His crude stitches had partially pulled loose and it was festering yellow and purple, oozing a mixture of blood and pus.
“You need to get that looked at,” I said, cringing at the sight of the wound.
He got anxious and stepped back. “No way.”
“You’re going to die if you don’t—”
“They’re not gonna touch me,” he said, his voice shaking. “I’m getting better.”
“Okay, okay,” I said. “Settle down.”
I got up and stood in front of him.
“I need your help,” I said.
“For the CCE?” he whispered.
I hesitated. “Yeah, that’s right.”
I gestured for him to come closer. He came and leaned down toward me. I lowered my voice. “I’m going to meet Mr. Wickham.”
He stood up straight and stared at me in awe. Technically it was true, but I didn’t tell him why. I felt like a shit lying to him, but I needed his help and it was the only way.
“First I need to connect with the Rebels,” I said. “But I’ve got no idea how to find them. Will you help me?”
His face fell.
“It’s important,” I said. “Everything depends on it.”
He stood motionless, staring at the floor for almost a minute, wrestling some inner demon.
Finally he looked up. “Wait here,” he said. “I’ll be back.”
He took off without another word.
☼
Benny was gone for two days. Luckily, the expired food packets were still lying around, along with the stale crackers and biscuits. I stuck to the most recent date-stamps, and they didn’t make me sick, so I kept eating them. I found a secluded spot outside where there was enough sunlight to charge the crypted phone. Then I just hung around and waited.
Finally, early on the morning of the third day, he returned.
He led me through a maze of garbage and rubble strewn back alleys for five hours. We stopped in a part of the Dregs I’d never seen before, climbed to the fourth floor of an abandoned building, and peered through a window opening.
“There,” Benny whispered, pointing down at what might have once been some kind of bus station.
“You’ve seen them?” I whispered back.
He nodded.
We hung around for a couple more hours, watching. He was right. I saw a few guys I recognized. I didn’t see Laura. I was hoping against hope I’d see Bailey, or even Travis, but neither of them showed. The next problem was going to be how to contact Laura without alerting the others. I wasn’t sure how they’d react to me after what happened.
I waited until the guard was at the farthest extent of his patrol, then snuck up to opposite end of the building. I removed Laura’s medallion from around my neck, threw it on the pavement in plain sight, and took off. Back at the hiding place I watched the guard return to the corner where I’d been. He picked up the medallion and looked at it, then looked up. I ducked away from the window as he scanned the surrounding buildings. Eventually he wandered to the door, and called to somebody inside.
A couple of guys came out and searched the immediate area. We were ready to run if they expanded their search, but I don’t think they had the manpower. They gave up and went back in. My only hope was that Laura would hear about the medallion and get the message.
☼
Later in the afternoon, my heart jumped as she appeared at the entrance and stood talking with the guard. They argued for a few minutes, probably about how unsafe it was for her to be walking around alone. Finally, the guard waved his arm around, indicating something like: ‘stick around this area’.
She wandered straight ahead for a few minutes. I got ready to move. When she’d gotten about fifty meters away, she ducked behind a corner and took off. The guard reacted, and started to chase after her, then realized he didn’t dare leave his post, and came back.
I rushed downstairs and outside to intercept her. After a few minutes I heard her whispering for me. I headed toward her voice and found her standing in a cramped square, in the shadows. When she saw me, her face took on this look of something like loathing. I felt sick to my stomach.
“How can you show your face around here after what you did,” she said. She nodded her head toward the hideout. “If they catch you they’ll probably kill you — and you’d deserve it. I won’t give you away, because part of me still cares for you, but you’d better leave.”
She explained what she’d heard from Hank, the Rebel fighter I’d seen bending over Travis and Bailey before Zack dragged me away. He’d reported that Zack and I were working together. His partner had died in the firefight with Zack. Both had been waiting as ‘insurance’ some distance away, in case things went off the rails.
“My father’s dead,” Laura said, her eyes welling up and her lower lip quivering.
I felt sick, my worst fears confirmed. “I’m sorry,” I said. I stepped forward to comfort her.
She jumped back and pushed out her hands. “Don’t come near me. This is all because of you. You and Zack.”
“Zack’s dead.”
Her eyes went wide for a second. “I don’t believe you.” She shook her head slowly. “After all my father did for you…”
She said Bailey was alive, but moving in and out of consciousness. Hank had contacted the Rebels, who’d brought Travis, Bailey, and the dead fighter back to the hideout. Of course, they’d all had to move again.
“It’s not lik
e you think,” I pleaded. “I didn’t—”
“I don’t want to hear any more from you,” she said.
She was shaking, and the tears started to come. Instinctively I reached out to her. She backed away.
“Please leave,” she sobbed. “And don’t come back.”
She turned to walk away.
“Wait,” I called after her.
She stopped without turning.
“Benny’s up there waiting for me,” I said. “His wound is really bad. He needs a doctor.”
She turned and stared at me for a second, like she thought maybe I was lying.
“He had nothing to do with any of this,” I said.
“I’ll keep an eye out for him,” she finally said. “If he shows up, I’ll make sure they don’t hurt him, and maybe Dr. Treadwell can look at him. That’s all I can do.”
“Thanks,” I said. “Laura—”
She shot me one last contemptuous look. “Come back here again and I’ll give you up — or kill you myself.”
She turned and walked away.
☼
I felt like part of me had died as I watched her disappear into the shadows. I couldn’t leave things like this — but I had to. Maybe someday she’d understand. For now, there was nothing I could do.
It seemed like I didn’t have a chance in this world. It made me even more determined to complete my mission. Back at our hiding place, I tried to convince Benny to see Dr. Treadwell, but he didn’t want to go anywhere near the Rebel hideout.
I appreciated him helping me find Laura, but I couldn’t take him where I was going. I’d have to have to ditch him at some point, but I wasn’t sure how to do it. I wished I hadn’t told him about Wickham — now he was all hot to go with me, for the chance of meeting his hero. He wouldn’t be so happy with me if he knew what I was planning.
For now, it was good to have him around. He knew how to navigate the Dregs to avoid the thieves and gangs, and if we did get into trouble, he was there to help me. I didn’t want to think about what would happen when he figured out what my mission was. For now, his excitement at the prospect of meeting Wickham was overriding his fear of leaving the Dregs. I hoped that once we got close to the borderline, his fear would win out and he’d give up on following me.
I left him for a few minutes and slipped the card out of its protective bag. The beacon light started flashing green. I mapped out what direction I should go, and checked the distance — thirty-two kilometers. I’d actually been closer the last time the card was updated, when I’d first entered the Dregs.
The meeting would probably be packed with assholes like Chuck — all the people that were after me. It would be like stepping into a swarm of killer drones. Zack had said that the main goal should be to kill Wickham. Zack wasn’t around anymore to accomplish that task, if he ever intended to do it in the first place.
But I might be holding a free pass for a ringside seat to Zack’s target.
CHAPTER 31
A Visitor
Benny lightened up when I said we were finished with the Rebels. It was late in the afternoon, and we didn’t want to travel at night, so we found a hiding place in an abandoned building not far from the Rebel hideout, and spent the night.
The next morning we took off, headed in the direction I’d figured out from the card. The first day went without a hitch. We reached the edge of the Quarters. As I’d expected, Benny started getting jumpy and anxious, torn between his fear of leaving the Dregs and his desire to meet Wickham. His fear seemed to be winning, which was fine with me. Tomorrow we’d be in my territory. I knew well enough how to get around there. We stopped just outside the border and found a hiding place for the night.
I couldn’t sleep. Benny was snoring beside me as we lay on an upper floor of yet another abandoned building. I kept thinking about Laura. The look of disgust she’d given me at the hideout was etched into my brain. I knew she was wrong, but that didn’t matter. A new goal was taking shape in my psyche like a gathering storm cloud. If I caught up with Wickham, not only could I take out my rage on somebody, I could end this nightmare once and for all, with Zack’s ultimate escape.
I heard voices in the alley below, two male, one female. Then I heard a woman scream. I sat up, stuck my head out the window, and peered down. Lit by a pale patch of moonlight, two guys were dragging a girl toward the building across the street. It was obvious what they had in mind. The girl was screaming and fighting them. They moved closer to the light and I jumped up — it was Laura.
I leaned down and shook Benny’s shoulder. “Benny, wake up!”
He sat bolt upright and grabbed me by the throat. “It’s me,” I barely managed to croak. He loosened his grip.
“It’s Laura,” I whispered, nodding toward the window. “She’s down there. A couple of creeps have got her. We’ve got to help her.”
He got up and leaned out the window. Laura was still screaming. We raced down the stairs, and got outside just in time to see the guys drag Laura into the building’s smashed front door. We crossed the street and ducked behind the open doorway.
There was almost no light inside, but I could hear scuffling, and the sound of tearing clothing. Laura was screaming and her attackers were laughing. I had the gun, but didn’t want to risk hitting Laura. As my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I scanned the floor for some kind of weapon. I spotted a length of two-by-four, but it was out in the center of the floor. I’d be in plain sight of the rapists if I went for it.
I was trying to decide what to do when Benny made my decision for me, running full-speed at the guys. I ran after him, picking up the two-by-four on the way.
Benny grabbed the closest one by the shoulder and tore him away from Laura. Before the guy even had a chance to scream Benny had snapped his neck. The other one turned to see what was going on. I could just make out a gun in his belt. He pulled it out and aimed it at Benny. I took a flying leap and brought the two-by-four down on his skull. The gun went off, but the bullet ricocheted off the floor. The guy went down, blood spewing from his head.
I grabbed his gun and held it on him, still breathing hard. He didn’t move. Laura was on the ground. She staggered to her feet and swayed, like she was going to fall. I rushed over to hold her up.
“Can you walk?” I asked her.
She nodded. I took her hand as the three of us rushed out of the building. Outside, in the moonlight, we stopped and I checked her out. She was still shaking. Her shirt was ripped open, and her right eye would be black tomorrow, but otherwise she looked okay.
“We better get out of here,” I said to Benny, stuffing the gun in my belt. “The gunshot will attract people.”
We took off, putting as much distance as possible between us and the rapists. Benny found us another good hiding place and we hunkered down for the night.
“What the hell are you doing out here by yourself?” I asked Laura once we were settled. Moonlight streaming through the numerous window openings bathed her features in an eerie pale blue. Benny lay in a corner, snoring again like nothing happened. Laura and I sat on the floor, with the wall as a backrest.
Tears welled in her eyes. “Bailey finally regained consciousness and I talked to him,” she said. “He told us Zack had a gun to your head. And our sources confirmed what you said about Zack being dead. I couldn’t live with myself, the way I treated you. I had to find you and apologize.”
I felt like a ten-tonne weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I turned and took her in my arms. Suddenly she kissed me, full on the lips. Again, I felt a stab of guilt about Cindy. But part of me thought back on what I was doing here and how my quest was likely to end. Would Cindy blame me for finding a tiny interval of love within the horror my life had become?
Then I was lost in Laura’s kiss — lost in the warmth of her, in her innocence, her love. For a few seconds there was nothing else.
I leaned back, still holding her. “Thank God we were there to help you,” I said, sobbing myself now.
> I told her how her father had died, how I was kidnapped by Zack, and all that had happened after that. I didn’t mention anything about my ‘mission’, or even where I was going. I knew she’d try to stop me. Anyway, there was no way I was going to say anything while Benny was around.
I closed my eyes and pulled her close. For a brief moment I felt safe and at peace. I could forget about the nightmare unfolding around me and lose myself in her warmth and love. For the first time since all this started, I was happy.
She finally broke away. We sat back in each other’s arms.
“Who’s in charge now?” I asked. “Now that…”
Her eyes went moist, but she got control of herself. “Bailey’s taken over,” she said. “He’d lost a lot of blood, but his wound wasn’t that bad. He’s been taking it easy — he’s healing incredibly fast. It’s tough for everybody, but we’ve been through it before. We all knew what life was going to be like when we got involved in the movement.”
She wiped away a tear, and smiled. “I’ve got some good news…”
Her smile was infectious. I put my hands around her waist and smiled back. “I could use some of that.”
“I got my Appraisal,” she said
My throat tightened. “What was it?”
“Guess,” she said.
“How should I know?” I blurted out. I cringed when I realized there was anger in my voice. She didn’t seem to notice.
“One point four,” she said, beaming.
She still didn’t know. For a second I closed my eyes.
“What’s wrong?” she said.
I opened them again, and forced a smile. “Nothing,” I said. “That’s great news.”
“You’ve never told me what yours is,” she said, teasing.
My gut clenched. I hesitated.
Her smile disappeared. “Oh God, is it bad?”
Vita Aeterna Page 17
