by Casey Herzog
“What did you do, Maria?” he managed to ask fearfully, but there was gratitude on his face despite the pain. The taser had left two cuts on his back, and Maria wished she had a chance to continue stabbing the grinning thug, but he was already dead.
The door burst open a moment later, and Maria knew she and the children had to make their move. Now or never, her heart and mind told her.
The thug with the crate had no idea what hit him when Maria slammed his body into the metal door and pinned him to it with her knife, bowling over the fellow behind him with no regard for her own safety. The thug began to shout, but Maria punched him in the mouth and slammed his head into the metal floor to knock him out.
Three corpses and one unconscious man lay at their feet, and nobody knew yet. They would know soon, but Maria and the kids were momentarily free to leave their small storage warehouse, for good if need be.
“This is…it was an illusion,” she realized, spotting the neighboring warehouses and realizing they were in one big, noisy storage chamber with the wall giving them a false impression of being in an open space. “We’re only a few ants in a massive colony, but that means one thing…”
“It means we can disappear,” David said with a weak smile.
The other children dragged the bodies of the men inside and Maria made sure to block the door as best she could before they left their room behind. It would give them a few more minutes to hide if more thugs came calling, which they most likely would. No keys were found on the men’s belongings, although the unconscious one had a strange tattoo on his forearm that made Maria wonder for a moment if it had a use other than decoration.
“Where do we go now?” a particularly vicious young boy named Roger asked, interrupting her thoughts. He was one of their best warriors.
Sarah, the next in age after Alex and Maria, stepped forward.
“Maria, are you thinking what I’m thinking? About Alex and the rest? About there being a chance?”
The older girl sighed and turned away, already starting to walk away from their small warehouse. I am, Sarah. She couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud. There was now a high probability their friends, and her boyfriend, were still alive somewhere, and that the enemy had simply lied to them. After all, what was the point of killing useful workers? Only now had she begun to realize just how valuable they could be in such a massive place.
“Maybe. Let’s not get our hopes up. Keep your eyes open, we’re about to become the most wanted workers in the entire place.”
They hugged the tall wall and followed it along, walking in single file and making as little sound as they could. There were echoed voices coming from beyond the wall and the sound of small vehicles moving around. A loud crash echoed from somewhere and curses followed, but thankfully it meant Maria and the rest could run without being heard.
The group reached the end of the wall and saw the space separating them from the door on the wall of the actual warehouse. It was too far for them to reach without revealing themselves, and there was no guarantee it was even open. An uglier passage led elsewhere, but Maria decided to follow her gut and get to the door before investigating the rest of the place.
“Anyone gonna volunteer to open that?” she asked, nodding at the entrance.
As if by the power of thought, steps echoed from the other side of the door, and someone began to fumble with the handle.
“Shit,” Sarah said, pulling some of the kids to the closest hiding place they had: between two of the smaller storage warehouses. Maria ducked inside after them, hugging one of the walls and lifting her blade to her head. If someone spotted her or the kids, she was going to kill them.
“…he was screaming for a long time, had to put the bastard to sleep with a knockout shot of drugs,” a rough voice chuckled.
“Kids still working though, right?” a second voice replied.
“Damn right. We can’t let them rest too much. Everyone has to play their part here, even if they don’t want to…Their other half is already working hard on the mail packaging and all that. They’re doing pretty well with the tragic news we gave them at least…”
The men passed by and continued their walk. Maria couldn’t move, her heart still and her body feeling cold.
The men were talking about Alex and the rest, moments before talking about us.
A sad little smile spread on her face as she realized that the other group was alive.
Alex is alive. Her heart warmed and she let out a deep breath.
I’m coming for you, baby. I promise you, we’re getting out of this hellhole.
With a quick glance back, she pulled Sarah behind her and they ran into the now open door, disappearing further into the building.
A pale face tilted slightly as a boy watched the cameras, his dark eyes following the scenes of murder that took place. Several of them winced as they saw the mounting bloodshed Maria and the other children made as they escaped their storage room and advanced further into the building.
Nathan felt so sorry for them, the innocent children and Maria herself, for they had no idea of how his father dealt with insubordination and blood debts. Poor you, the pale-faced boy lamented, caressing Maria’s face on the screen, if only you’d known…
He watched the fleeing group stumble down the corridors leading to the fridges and chuckled, watching as they took a turn which ensured they wouldn’t come across Alex and the rest. It was a real shame, too, considering what Alex had been shown just two days before. Those burned and cut-up bodies he saw…he’ll never have the chance to get that out of his head now. Perhaps if he’d seen Maria, it would have given him hope. This way, he might just die thinking it was her and the others.
Nathan pressed a button and alerted the men in the sector Maria’s group was about to run into. They were fully armed and armored and would have no trouble dealing with a group of frightened children. The dark-eyed boy thought of being there when they were captured, but there was also something else on his mind.
Eden.
Father would surely allow him to return, would he not? It was an excellent place to start over as a satellite headquarters for their operation. If possible, they could easily take over Ayia and connect both settlements, creating one big network that would allow them to control the flow of guns, food, medicine and drugs left in the surrounding areas. Nathan was just a child, but he dreamed big when it came to expansion plans.
The door behind him opened, and a lieutenant stepped in with a nod.
“Our men have the escapees covered; they’re not getting much further from their current location. Do you wish to be present at their capture, sir?”
Nathan was used to the respect and the authority he enjoyed, but this was something else. His father’s men knew he’d grown fond of Maria, Alex and the rest, and that he would deal with them himself if it became necessary. The lieutenant’s question warmed him pleasantly, and he nodded.
“Yes, I wish to let them know of my presence once they have been subdued and held. They need to be taught an important lesson.”
In truth, Nathan didn’t care about the dead men. He and his father had known all along that Maria had concealed the knife thrown at her feet. We wanted her to use it, the dumb bitch. She held onto it for much longer than expected.
She had fallen into their trap, and now there would be consequences.
With a last quick glance at the screen, as the group of fleeing teens and children hurried down a dark passage with hopeful smiles on their faces, Nathan stood and turned to the door.
Those smiles are going to die soon, he thought with a cruel grin. I am going to enjoy punishing you for this, Maria…
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Wilderness, Part III
The examination had started off as an inconvenient situation.
It soon turned into a torturous hell.
Animal was dead, finally giving in to his wounds and collapsing half an hour after they’d begun to run from the horde of subhumans. He’d
begged them to keep going without him, and frankly, even Dante had accepted there was nothing more to do for the wild boy. His screams of agony had followed them and haunted their escape, killing the last of the hope they’d previously carried.
In front of them, the familiar form of Webster’s avatar appeared once more and waved a hand.
“You’re so close!” it laughed, the eerie grin on the young Webster’s face an infuriating sight for them all. The forest burst into flames a moment later, a small flame turning into a hellish blaze that ignited the trees, bush and canopy of the woods.
Animal hadn’t been the only victim of the forest’s attacks: Keith was soon limping from a poisoned dart lodged into his thigh; Servant had suffered burns in an explosion; and a boy named Tektor had almost lost an eye in the initial conflagration when a wooden splinter had fired into his face. Dante knew that he had a chance to heal them after, but there wouldn’t be an after if they couldn’t get out of the woods. A large branch fell in front of them and crackled as the flames ate into it. Heavy smoke rose into their faces and Dante coughed a warning at the rest.
“The fire is worse up ahead, we have to go around!”
He guided them to where he believed it to be clear, but the road was running out for them. Time is also running out, Dante thought. The woods were burning hotly with no sign of extinguishing, and the only sign of safety the Healer managed to spot was a small path between two burning oaks. He pulled a dizzy Keith hard behind him and ran towards the thin trail, following it and keeping as far from the flames as possible. Observer cried out as half of a tree trunk fell at his feet and almost cut the path off from him, but Servant kicked it away with his boot.
“Come on!” he cried at the boy with the gifted eyes.
Dante squinted his own eyes and finally saw the end of the flames — the end of the forest itself, even. He sighed in relief and turned to tell his friends what he had seen and how close they were to escaping, but when he looked back they were gone.
What?
Dante’s heart pounded in his ears, and a moment later he realized he shouldn’t have been able to hear it. There was absolute silence and his surroundings were quickly darkening and turning black. An instant later, he was standing in the middle of a pitch-black darkness.
“Guys? Where are you?” he asked uselessly as he swatted the air around him.
No, he noted, everything is just gone.
He stopped moving around and looked at something in the distance. It was a familiar scene, one that made the hairs rise on the back of his neck. Surely, they haven’t found a way to exploit that particular memory and bring it back to me? Please stop, he begged to nobody in particular. It was almost like what Brant Albridge had done to him before he arrived at the University, except that he was just a spectator now, and not actually reliving a moment of his past. Dante wasn’t sure which way of witnessing a traumatic memory was worse.
A wide, circular floor with a staircase and an elevator shaft, a crowd, two sides facing each other…
“Please, don’t,” Dante pleaded, but he saw the scene repeat itself, the terrible scene he had been a part of. The final moments at the Tower of Ayia, before he’d summoned his powers and brought everything crashing down.
Johanna, Dante sighed, his mouth curling sadly as he saw the woman still alive, his foster mother in their small underground community, the second parent figure he’d ever properly had.
They’re still waiting for Russell so that the exchange can take place, Dante noted. This is just moments before Callum fires at him. Webster had somehow found a way to push Dante into imagining this scene in his head, and the Healer was helpless to do anything but relive it. He watched as the enhanced killer descended from the elevator with his men and spoke, admiring Dante as he walked and making promises he probably never would have kept. There was a strange, eerie sword at his side, and a keychain hanging in his hands.
“No! Make it stop!” Dante screamed. He tried to run closer to the scene, but it was impossibly far despite the clarity.
Bang.
The shot flew past an already-moving Russell, who had spotted Callum at the very last second before the soldier had pulled the trigger. Dante shouted and closed his eyes, knowing what came next, but he was forced to see it anyway.
The strange, alien sword flew down like a bolt of lightning and cleaved Johanna in half.
Tears filled Dante’s eyes, and he sobbed as he witnessed her death again. It all came back to him, and at that very moment the scene faded into nothing. The darkness turned back to the burning light of a massive fire. Dante stumbled forward and fell onto his knees, finally dragging himself out of the treeline and onto the familiar clearing beside the group he had come so far with. All of them had made it except for Animal and one other who Dante had not properly met, the rest carrying faces of terror and pain. They are just as wounded and lost from their own ordeals, Dante knew.
Webster sat there on his tree stump, sharpening his blade and waiting for everyone to arrive. To one side stood a familiar figure, his face strained as he fought to conceal a smile. Andrew. His expression said it all.
“It was you, wasn’t it?” Dante asked with fury. Already, his wounds were healing and the soft, soothing energy of his gift began to cure the pains and injuries of his fellow group members. “You made me see that vision, that dream…It was you.”
King smirked.
“So it worked, did it? I was curious about finding your weak point. It looks like there are moments when you can’t stop my gifts. I guess I’ll use that to my advantage.”
Webster looked up from his seated position, catching Dante’s gaze and challenging him. Dante stared into the professor’s eyes and hated him more than ever, but the Lucid Dreamer’s leader had taken his fury to a whole new level.
“You made me witness the death of my mother for a test? In the middle of a burning forest after having watched my friend die?” Dante’s teeth were clenched and grinding against each other. His nails were cutting into his palms; such was the strength with which he was clenching his fists.
King hesitated for a second, but his confident expression returned when he looked around and saw the rest of the students and fellow Dreamers around him.
“Why yes, I di—”
Andrew’s left shoulder exploded outwards and his body was thrown back with force, causing him to land awkwardly and scream in agony. Dante took a couple of steps forward, but the Lucid Dreamers blocked his way and formed a wall of angry faces as both Aaron and Beth ran to their leader’s rescue.
“You little bitch,” one of the Dreamers said, a tall, dark-skinned boy with long dreadlocks. “If he’s hurt you’re gonna pay…”
“Oh yeah?” Dante asked, lifting his palm up at the boy’s face and grinning maniacally. “Let’s do this right now.”
The line of Dreamers moved as one and Dante took a deep breath as he prepared to take at least a couple of them with him before he was killed—
The wall of earth burst up from the ground and surrounded him, forming a tall, impenetrable barrier that shadowed Dante from the sun. The Healer punched it and cried out in frustration, but it was too late. Webster had stepped in and stopped the fight. The same fucking Webster I was supposed to get revenge on, Dante thought. His mind returned to Shermont the Chosen’s words about consequences and misuse of his powers. If I’m supposed to control them, then why do I keep getting tested with such horrible things like these?
Dante let out a long sigh and rested against the face of the wall, sliding down to the ground and letting the fury drain from his form.
“You must be angry,” Webster said with a mocking tone. There’s something about what happened towards the end, Dante knew. It felt personal, like he specifically targeted us. I’ll need to talk to somebody about that. Silas Webster seems more like a psychopath and a bully than an actual professor.
Dante grunted in reply. Webster chuckled softly.
“You should be. I couldn’t contain my ange
r after you killed Lulissa, so I set my gift-spirit on you. He’s a cruel little bastard, isn’t he?” Dante’s anger flared, and he looked up from the ground at the wall. I could still destroy it and…
No. He needed to behave from now on.
“Why?” Dante asked. “Why did you play with our lives like that? All of our lives, not just our group. We’re students, not prisoners,” he said, raising his voice, “We need to be taught and examined, but we need to be able to make mistakes! By killing us you can’t accomplish that!”
There was a long silence. The Dreamers, who had been struggling within their own prison, stopped complaining and shouting all of a sudden. The wall around Dante began to lower into the earth and Webster’s face began to emerge in front of the Healer.
