Storm Forged

by Patrick Dugan

  “Too bad, I’d like to thank him for taking out Powell.”

  “Here,” Jose said. “Put one on each of the two. Don’t bother with Tommy. Take the third to the tech guys.”

  “What are they?”

  “One of the other kids reprogrammed the chips from the collars to stop their Gifts temporarily. Put them in the zoo until we are ready to ship them out.”

  “Yes, Reaper. It shall be done.”

  Two guys picked me up and carried me through the building and down a few flights of stairs. I heard voices as we went, but not enough to make out what they were saying. We passed through a kitchen; I willed my stomach to not growl in hunger. Remaining limp, not opening my eyes, I tried to map the turns we made. If we did escape, knowing how to get back to the front would be helpful. Abby or Jon groaned as a metal door opened. They dropped me on the floor and left me alone. Jon and Abby were put in cells, a series of metallic clicks followed. Jon got a few more kicks from the guards before the metal door clanged shut with a loud bang.

  Listening like my life depended on it, I waited until the guards left. I was on a stone floor, the surface rough and cold. I counted to one thousand before I cracked my eyes without moving too much. Phew, no guards.

  I tilted my head slightly so I could see more, sure surveillance cameras would be watching. Bunkbeds stood along one wall, and an old metal picnic table dominating the center of the room. I heard noises from the far corner but couldn’t see who made them.

  Abby and Jon were each in a cell, shackled to the wall, with Marcel’s reprogrammed watches affixed to their wrists. Both were still out cold. Abby appeared smaller than usual. I guess her Gift really did increase her size.

  Assured the guards had left, I got to my feet. The pistol’s energy churned inside me. I touched a metal bedpost, but I didn’t shock it. The red blinking eye from the camera mounted in the corner of the room kept me from using my Gift. Them thinking I was burned out was a good thing under the circumstances.

  I walked to the first door. I opened it and peered inside. There were toilet stalls, sinks, and showers. Well, at least I could use the bathroom when I needed to.

  The next room was fronted with Plexiglas dotted with air holes.

  “Welcome to the zoo,” a voice said. I jumped, startled. At the back of the room sat a teenage girl. She had shoulder-length light brown hair and bright blue eyes. Her t-shirt read “Stay Calm and Kill Zombies.”

  I regained my composure. “Hi, I’m Tommy.”

  “You can call me Molecular Mollie.” She grimaced. “How did you get so lucky to be added to the zoo?”

  “The Grim Reaper brought us here.” I sounded depressed even to my ears. I should have never trusted him. “He told us we were going to get help from the Underground to free Cyclone Ranger before they kill him. How about you?”

  She sighed. “I am part of the Underground. Well, my parents are. I’m Gifted, but you can’t be a member until you are eighteen, and I’m only fourteen. I decided to prove I was ready and got nabbed by the Syndicate.”

  “Why aren’t you behind bars like the rest?” I asked. The air holes had a fine mesh over each one.

  “Watch and you’ll understand.” A second later, she was replaced by a white rabbit, then a rather large cricket, then a turtle. She shimmered, and Mollie was back, knees pulled up to her chest, her arms wrap around her legs. “See?”

  “So if you had bars, you could just morph into something small and get away.”

  “Got it in one, Genius.” Her face lit up with a smile. “I’m hoping my parents can get me out of here. Usually they will trade us for supplies, but I’m never going to live this one down.”

  “I know the feeling. So, who else is in the zoo?”

  “I haven’t been here long, but I hear the guards talk.” She moved closer to the barrier. She pointed to the far enclosure. “Over there in the corner is Puppeteer. He can take control of anyone he touches, so they keep him covered and blind so he can’t get out. Feeding time is interesting to say the least.”

  “I can imagine. He must have a hard time with the bathroom.”

  Mollie laughed. “No doubt. The next one is a guy in a wheelchair when he’s here. He sounds crazy, if you ask me. He’s got a big Italian dude sleeping out there who takes care of him. He’s up with the doctors again, but he’s kept down here when he’s not being treated.”

  Imprisoning handicapped guys was extreme even for The Grim Reaper. He ceased being Jose once he double-crossed us. The transition came too easily; I should have listened to my gut. “Reaper is running his own prison?”

  “Yeah, it is a nasty business down here. Your friends are in the next two, and the rest are empty for now. Sometimes they bring down drunks or guys who got in fights.”

  “What is the Syndicate? I’ve never heard of them.”

  Mollie shrugged. “My folks say they were criminals before the attacks. Now they hide in all the destroyed cities. We think they leave to commit crimes. The real Underground can’t get the resources to fight the Reclaimers since we are constantly fighting off the rats and these guys.”

  “That sucks.”

  “Well, it sure beats being locked up in The Block.”

  She had a point there.

  I woke to incoherent screaming. I jumped off the bunk I had fallen asleep on. The wheelchair guy was behind the bars raving, pulling at his long blond hair, tears streaming through the stubble on his face. Both his legs were gone, leaving only the stumps where his knees should be.

  “Alyx, I’m here,” a deep voice said from behind me. I turned to see a short, muscular guy roll off the bottom bunk. They must have returned from the doctor while I was asleep. He moved to the door—really, he flowed with a gracefulness I’d never seen, even from Blaze.

  “Come Alyx, things are good now, you are safe.” The calmness and caring in his words juxtaposed his muscular exterior. Alyx continued to sob uncontrollably as the big man held him, gently patting his back as he spoke softly to him.

  Alyx settled after a bit. The man came over to me, hand extended. I shook it. “Hello.” I noticed a trace of an Italian accent. “I am Nico Desiderius, but you may call me Gladiator if you wish.”

  “I’m Tommy.” I didn’t shake my semi-crushed hand. The dude was even more impressive than I first thought. He could have been a professional bodybuilder, but not in a burly way. “My friends Abby and Jon are over there.”

  “My friend is Alyx.” He jerked his head toward the wheelchair-bound man. “Would you come over and meet him?”

  I hesitated for a moment before nodding.

  “It is okay,” Gladiator said, putting his hand on my shoulder. “The drugs they force on him cause him issues, but he is stable now.”

  Alyx’s head lolled to one side, but at least he wasn’t screaming. His dark eyes had a far-off vacant look to them. “Hello,” he rasped.

  “Hi, I’m Tommy.” I wanted to add something, but words escaped me.

  Gladiator smiled. “Where are you from, Tommy?”

  “Redemption.” I probably shouldn’t have told him, but under the circumstances, I figured it couldn’t hurt.

  A frown creased Gladiator’s face. “You aren’t collared. Do you not have a Gift?”

  I paused. If someone listened in, I didn’t want to admit I hid it. “My friends and I were attacked by a man named Powell.”

  “Powell? General Powell of the Reclaimers?”

  “Yes, but retired to teach at the Redemption High School. He planned to kill us, but I managed to kill him. My Gift burned out in the process.”

  Gladiator nodded, a look of admiration on his face. “He was a mighty warrior. You did well to kill him.”

  “Thanks, but it was self-defense. I didn’t know what I was doing. It just happened.”

  “That is the way of battle,” Gladiator said approvingly. “And with you not having any combat training. It is impressive.”

  “I had a little.” I felt a bit self-conscious. From the number
of scars crisscrossing his exposed skin, Gladiator had seen more than a few battles. “Blaze trained me in martial arts at The Secret Lair.”

  “Blaze!” Alyx shouted. “Blaze save me, don’t let them do this. Please, not my legs. No!”

  “I’m sorry,” I said frantically, looking from Gladiator to Alyx.

  Gladiator held Alyx’s head, speaking to him in the calming voice he’d used before. It worked, as Alyx calmed down. Gladiator turned back to me.

  “How is it you know, Eugene?” He emphasized Eugene. I understood I needed to use Blaze’s real name. It must be safer.

  “He’s friends with my mom. I worked for him at The Secret Lair in Great Falls. He taught me some Kempo since I got bullied.” I tried not to, but my eyes kept flicking to check on Alyx.

  “Eugene was with us the day Alyx lost his legs.” He watched Alyx out of the corner of his eye. “He tried to help but couldn’t reach us.”

  “Then how did you get here?”

  “The Syndicate wanted to use Alyx to open portals so they could come and go, but after he was compromised, his magic became unreliable. They keep him drugged so he can’t escape while they try to figure out a way to force him to do their bidding.”

  “He can do magic?”

  “Yes, he is extremely powerful.” A wistful look crossed Gladiator’s face. “He could move you around the world in a moment or collapse a building with his magic. But my friend is rarely lucid between the drugs and the guilt.”

  “Guilt?”

  “Eugene fell in love with a member of our team.”

  “Pep…” Gladiator’s hand covered my mouth in a second.

  “Yes, her name was Raychel.” He took his hand away, his piercing eyes imploring me to be careful. “Alyx loved her as well. Grim Reaper killed her to get even with Eugene. The same fight where Alyx was hurt. It drove him mad. We were captured by the Syndicate and brought here a short time later.”

  “How long have you been here?”

  “Over ten years,” he said simply. “We’ve been prisoners of the Syndicate for almost twenty. There is no way out of here. We’ve tried many times.”

  A new voice chimed in from the doorway. “Tommy, that is a lesson you should take heed of,” Grim Reaper said. “The only way out of here for you is in a body bag.”

  I felt my heart sink into my stomach. If Gladiator and Alyx couldn’t break out of here, what chance did I have?

  30

  Grim Reaper walked into the room, two armored guards flanking him. He jerked his head toward the back. They dragged barely conscious Abby and Jon from their cells. They quickly handcuffed them and dumped them on the other side of the table.

  Gladiator sneered at Reaper. “What kind of man brokers children with the enemy?”

  Reaper laughed. “Hombre, the only thing that matters is the payola,” he said. “These kids will get us out of this hellhole once and for all.” He tossed a cell phone on the table in front of me.

  “What’s that for? Galactic Legions got a new game?”

  He waved the guards out. When the door clanged shut, the Reaper began. “You are calling the dead drop and getting where the next safe house is.”

  “And just why would I do anything you asked?”

  He removed a pistol from his belt and put it to the back of Abby’s head. If she noticed, she didn’t bring her head up from where it slumped on the table. “If you don’t, I’ll blow Abby’s brains all over the table.”

  “Why do you want to know where the safe house is?”

  He shrugged. “I’ll be honest with you, we need Marcel.” He pushed the gun more firmly against Abby’s head. “With his Gift, we wouldn’t need to commit crimes; he could provide for us. I’ll even sweeten the deal and let everyone go if you call now.”

  I thought about it for a second. There was no way I was handing Marcel, Waxenby, and Wendi over to Reaper. We were all dead anyway.

  “Maybe I should have picked Jon instead. No.” A wicked grin settled on his face. “That might be doing you a favor.”

  It dawned on me he didn’t know I had heard his plans to turn us over to the Reclaimers. “I’m not calling, Reaper. You can go to hell before I’ll hand my friends over.”

  “Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He pulled the hammer back. “Pick up the phone and dial. At the count of three, she dies.”

  I locked eyes with him. I had enough stored power to knock him out. I would have to time it perfectly.

  “One.”

  I gathered the energy. The hair on my arms stood on end.

  “Two.”

  I set my arms on the table, ready to fire the energy into the man who had betrayed us. I was only getting one shot, so it had to be perfect.

  “Th… Wait.”

  My arm shot out, but I stopped just before I released the strike against him. The gun was pointing at the ceiling. Something had changed.

  “Gladiator, we’ve got to get you all out of here before the guards bring the Reclaimers down here. They will be landing on the roof in thirty minutes,” Reaper said, but he sounded different. Yet another accent came out of his mouth.

  Gladiator glared at Reaper. “Why should we believe a scum bag like you, Reaper? You have no honor.”

  “Because this is Pepper Spray, you big dolt.”

  “Pepper?” Alyx asked coming out of his stupor.

  Reaper handed the gun to Gladiator before reaching out to cup the ravaged magician’s cheek. “I’m so sorry, Alyx. I never meant for any of this to happen.”

  My mind balked at the Reaper stroking Alyx’s face with the words of their long dead teammate coming from Reaper’s lips. Where was Jerry Springer when you needed him? Reaper pulled a hypo and shot it into Alyx’s arm. “That will counteract the drugs they’ve been giving him for a few minutes.”

  “Pepper,” Alyx sobbed. “I tried to save you, but Reaper killed you, and Ruby Lash took my legs while I tried to get to you. Blaze tried to save us both, but he couldn’t. We had no Gifts. If we had, you might have lived.”

  Tears were running down Reaper’s face. “You did all you could, Alyx, but I dropped as soon as Reaper hit me. I saw through his eyes what they did to you both. I’m sorry, I couldn’t stop him, but I can now if we hurry.”

  “How is this possible?” Gladiator said.

  Yay! I’m not the only confused one.

  Reaper unlocked Abby’s handcuffs with a key from his pocket and tossed it to me. He slapped them around his wrists after looping it around one of the legs bolted into the cement. “When Reaper kills, the person is trapped within him. We all can experience what he does, just as he knows what is happening now.”

  All those people stuck in the cesspool of Reaper’s head. Yuck! “So it is like he has multiple personalities.” I reached across the table to unlock the handcuffs holding Jon.

  “Right,” Pepper said. “Alyx, listen to me now. I can’t keep control of him for much longer. You have to find Jinx. She is in Charlotte. Marcel can get the address for you. Tell her Pepper Spray should be called snow spray. You have to go now.”

  Alyx’s eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. He began speaking in a language I didn’t understand, but I could feel the power. I wondered idly what would happen if I tried to absorb the magic but thought better than to try. A slim bluish-red disc appeared about waist high, spinning with a crackling energy as it grew until it was large enough for Gladiator to shove Abby and Jon through.

  Alyx yelled, “Tommy, I can’t hold it open much longer. Run.”

  I heard Mollie pounding her fists against the Plexiglas, screaming. I pointed at the wall, and lightning arced from my fingers into metal frame, shattering it. A heartbeat later, a hawk flew past me to freedom. Gladiator hefted Alyx out of the chair, threw him over his shoulder, and ran to the portal.

  “It is collapsing, we must go,” Gladiator yelled to me. He jumped through.

  I grabbed the cell phone as I vaulted over the table, landing in front of Pepper Spray/Reaper. I wan
ted to free Pepper, but how do you release a dead person out of someone else’s mind?

  “Tommy,” Pepper shouted as I ran for the portal. “Tell Blaze I love him more than anything, but he has to let me go.”

  “I will, I promise.” I dove from prison to a parking lot under Carolina blue sky. The portal winked out of existence. We were safe, for the time being at least.

  I walked to the street seeing a sign labeled Mint Street. Across the road stood Bank of America Stadium. My mother would have been ecstatic, having grown up a huge Panthers fan. Good thing it wasn’t Sunday, or this place would have been packed during a home game. A small seating area, complete with a globe suspended on flowing water rotating it, offered a good place to get oriented and figure out a plan.

  We had escaped but had no car, no money, and a legless man without his wheelchair. The good part of our predicament being it was early on a Saturday morning, so when we appeared in the middle of an abandoned parking lot, the guy who noticed rubbed his eyes, swearing loudly about the effect of too much acid.

  Mollie pounced on me, hugging me like there was no tomorrow. “Thank you, Tommy, for getting me out of the cell.”

  I grinned. It made me feel good for something nice to have occurred out of the debacle. “We’d love to have you on the team, Mollie, if you’d like.”

  She shook her head. “My parents are going to kill me as it is. They’ll be worried sick. I’ve got to get back, but I hope to see you again.” She pecked my cheek, morphed into a hawk, and flew off into the bright blue sky. I watched her go, marveling at her Gift.

  Gladiator carried Alyx up and got him seated on a bench where they spoke together softly. Abby sat on the ground, still not completely recovered from what they knocked her out with. Jon sprawled on the other bench, working with a small knife he’d kept in his boot to get the watch off since the clasp had been fused shut. Once his Gift kicked in, he’d heal the broken nose, bruises, and any other damage he had sustained.