by Wesley Chu
“Tao, what’s next?”
Head northwest. Stay off the main streets. Once you near the edge of town, procure a vehicle and take it to the countryside.
“I don’t know if these guys can make it that far on foot.”
Traveling by car in the city is dangerous. You are bound to get stopped or stuck in traffic. The roads are always awful during coups.
A roar coming from the main street began to crescendo. Cameron signaled for the others to stay put and then crept back down the alley. A rumble of footsteps heralded a mob passing through the nearby intersection, chanting something he couldn’t quite make out. Down the street, glass windows from storefronts shattered. Projectiles were hurled through the air, striking cars and exploding against buildings.
This is bad. Avoid this mess at all costs. It may be a protest, it may be a riot. In either case, it will attract the police and the military. Once this chaos engulfs you, you will lose people. Circle around and then double back.
Cameron hurried back and roused the group, pushing them away from the burgeoning riot. He didn’t know how long they ran, just south then west and then north, following parallel to Leoforos Athinon, down a narrow street to a dilapidated part of town. Everywhere Cameron looked, the chaos spread. Rioters and political activists chanted and threw bottles and rocks. Seedy individuals and thugs eyed them, sensing easy prey. At one point, a long convoy of tanks and jeeps passed nearby.
A gang of youths attacked them near the intersection of Kristali and Sikionos. Cameron made short work of them. Another unruly group harassed them near Thivon. This time, he wasn’t putting up with any of this nonsense. Flashing his pistol got them past without incident.
The crowds became sparser the further they got from the city center. Run-down industrial centers gave way to neighborhoods and eventually, all the roads narrowed to no more than a carwidth wide. Cameron wasn’t taking any chances though. He skirted from narrow streets to alleyways to dark gravelly roads and eventually to narrow winding paths where the cars couldn’t pass.
They finally reached a neighborhood at the edge of town bordering the foothills some two hours later. Cameron ordered a stop and took stock of his beleaguered group. Most looked dead on their feet, even though according to the maps, they had hardly traveled six kilometers from Ira’s Hearth. Emily was helping Surrett stay upright. Negin was holding up Yang. Seth looked like a valet carrying everyone’s bags.
“We can’t keep this up,” he muttered. “We need to hole up and rest for a bit.”
A way out of town would be better. Once you get to the forested areas to the north, you should be safe.
Cameron led the group behind an apartment building to a narrow path flanked by two cement walls. He climbed over one of the walls and found a small yard and deck area on the ground level. He checked the garage and found no car parked. He went to one of the shuttered windows and peeked inside. It was dark. Cameron went back to the yard and gently nudged the metal gate open, wincing as a high-pitched squeal cut into the air. He beckoned everyone in. His friends collapsed, exhausted and thankful to be off their feet.
It is the leader’s responsibility to check the wellbeing of his people.
Cameron took this advice to heart. He stopped and spoke with everyone individually, checking for injuries. He thought he sounded like an insincere jackass when he tried to lift their spirits and felt like his words fell on deaf ears. Most of them didn’t react except to nod. Yang was busy checking on his viola, Negin and Emily could barely keep their eyes open, and Surrett and Seth were already passed out.
It comes with experience. You will get better at it with time.
Cameron looked over them like a worried mother. He knelt over the slumping Seth and pinched his nose. “Stop snoring, buddy. You’ll give our location away.”
Seth snorted awake. “Hey Cam, everything okay?”
“Yeah,” Cameron said. “I wanted thank you for rounding everyone up back at the university and then later at Ira’s Hearth. I can’t do this without you and Emily.”
“We got your back, bro.” Seth yawned and was soon snoring softly again.
Emily crept by and sat down next to him. She pushed his head with a finger until it lolled at a different angle. Seth’s nose stopped whistling. She flexed her finger and winked. “It’s all about how you tap the melon. Don’t worry, oh captain, my captain, I’ll make sure the rookie here doesn’t give away our position.”
A rare smile came to Cameron’s face and he squeezed her hand. He got up and moved down to the person at the end of the line. “Nazar. I’m going to scout ahead. Watch over them.”
“Actually, I’ve been meaning to speak with you.” The older man stood up pulled him aside. “I don’t know who these people are, but they are slowing us down. Are you sure it’s wise to bring them with us?” He patted this briefcase hanging close to his body. “You know what is at stake.”
I will not tell you what to say, but consider your options carefully. History will not judge you poorly for making the right decision.
Cameron wanted so badly to yell at Nazar and Tao and call them heartless bastards, but he knew both were right. Cameron was the bleeding-hearted fool. He looked back at his friends huddled against the wall, and then back at the man whom Cameron was entrusted with protecting. There were only bad choices. However, as far as he was concerned, making a choice to leave anyone behind was no choice at all.
“We leave no one behind,” he said, determined. “This is the last we will speak of this.”
Nazar shrugged. “As you wish, Cameron Tan, son of the Keeper.”
Cameron looked up at the building and walls encircling the yard. “Stay here unless you are forced to move. I’ll be back in an hour.”
Nazar drew his pistol. “If something bad happens, I’ll fire three shots into the air, two and then one. Got it?”
Cameron nodded, and then hoisted himself onto the wall. He tightrope-walked to the side of the garage and climbed the metal grating protecting the windows until he reached the roof of the three-story building. He stood on the corner of the roof and scanned the horizon.
To the west was the airport, which would most definitely have a heavy military presence. To the south was the sea and the ports, and the way back east was the heart of the city. That left only one direction to take.
“What street is that below?”
Filis. If you take it all the way north, you will hit the foothills.
“One of these days, Tao, you have to teach me how you do that.”
Do what?
“Every time we go anywhere, you have the map of the entire region memorized. What’s the trick?”
It is easy. The trick is I am much smarter than you. See that strange light source north near that road? That should be Attiki Odos, the main highway heading out of the city. Check it out.
Cameron jumped the gap to the next building over and rolled out of the steep drop, relying on the free-running skills Jill had taught him what felt like a lifetime ago. He scaled another wall, crossed rooves, bounded over obstacles, and hurdled over alleyways. He continued north, avoiding the street level unless he had no other choice.
Now that he traveled by himself, he moved quickly. It didn’t take long for him to reach the last building before Attiki Odos, a five-story apartment complex near the top of a hill. He crept to the edge of the roof overlooking the highway and peered over the side. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust from the darkness to the blinding white lights, but after a closer inspection, he realized that he was looking at a military blockade.
The roads are no longer an option.
“How are we going to get out of the city then?
Your only option is the foothills into the forest.
“We’ll never make it on foot.”
Find a ride then. You will need an all-wheel drive vehicle. Cameron frowned. “Most of the vehicles here are tiny cars or hulking vans.”
You passed by a construction yard on your way her
e. There might be something there.
Cameron backtracked the way he came, again using the rooftops as cover. It was so much calmer here than down on the ground level, peaceful even. It also brought back memories of the long free-run training sessions he used to have with his mother. He missed those times. Those days were long gone. It had been weeks since they last spoke and months since he last saw her. Jill was now consumed with being the Keeper and leading the Prophus. All he was doing was having a good time in Greece. He needed to be a better son and a better Prophus.
Yes you do. Roen would appreciate a call sometimes too. “Dad’s always traveling and dealing with the IXTF. I don’t blame him, though, with mom always working those crazy hours. That and he hates Greenland with a passion.”
It wasn’t easy to have such a busy family. Everyone was fighting the Genjix their own way. As far back as he could remember, his dad was always away. Even if he did prove his conspiracy theories true, it was something Mom rightfully held over Dad’s head.
Cameron found the construction yard a few blocks away from where he had left his friends. He scaled the barbed wired fence and began to poke around. There was a skeleton of a building, possibly a warehouse or a mid-rise. He found a cement mixer and a crane, and what looked like a baby bulldozer. None of these would work, though the cement mixer had possibilities as a last resort. He ventured deeper to the back of the yard to where raw materials were stored: stacks of concrete, bags of sand, pallets of lumber and mounds of dirt. There, he found an old truck with a wooden bed.
A tour around the truck told him it had been used recently. A quick break-in through the driver’s side window told him he could jump-start it. With a little luck, there would be enough diesel in it to get them out of the city. Cameron was about to get to work when he stopped.
Two shots.
Then he heard it. The third gunshot.
Cameron scrambled out of the cab of the truck and booked it. He threw caution to the wind as he climbed over the nearest fence, sloppily cutting himself against the barbed wire lining the top. He ran as hard as he could, barreling over a stranger who tried to obstruct his way. The man may have been trying to rob him. Lucky for him Cameron was in a hurry.
It was pitch-black now; there wasn’t a street lamp in sight. All of the buildings here looked exactly alike as well. Cameron wouldn’t know where to go if Tao hadn’t led him back to the right place. He bounded over the wall and rushed to the back, only to barge into a confrontation between Nazar, wildly waving his pistol, and an older rotund man with a receding hairline wielding a shotgun. The rest of the group was huddled behind Nazar. The rotund man was shouting and speaking so fast no one could understand him. He probably lived there, because he was wearing a bathrobe.
Three meters distance. Weight is on his hind leg. Left-handed. Go low before he notices you. Be sure to pull the shotgun toward you instead of away, or you risk an errant shot striking your friends.
Cameron was about to put Tao’s plan into action and take out the man’s legs when he noticed two other figures standing behind him. It was a woman and a little girl. Cameron stopped dead in his tracks. Instead of attacking, he raised his hands and spoke as calmly as he could.
“Parakaló, parakaló.”
Slowly and carefully, he waved at Nazar to put his pistol down. Cameron then moved in front of the shotgun. He repeated the phrase.
“Parakaló, parakaló.”
Please, please. It was one of the few Greek words he could pronounce reliably without Tao’s help.
“Tao, tell him we come in peace.”
Cameron, through Tao, told the man that he and his friends meant no harm and that they were running from the chaos in the city. He told them they meant to rest here for just a bit before going on their way. The man kept the shotgun trained on him, spoke loudly and rapidly, and repeatedly waved his shotgun at the entire group. It wasn’t until his wife put a hand on his shoulder that he finally lowered it.
The woman whispered gently to the man, and then stepped in front of him. She spoke in a soft voice, pointed inside her house, and then at the gate, and then she tapped her chest twice on the heart. For a second, she gave Cameron hope. It sounded like she was offering shelter and a place to rest. Perhaps maybe even a meal. He was starving, having skipped lunch and dinner today.
She says she is bringing her family inside and wants you assholes to leave. If we stay around, she will shoot you herself.
“Wow, I read that one all wrong.”
Keeping his hands up and his body in between the shotgun and his friends, Cameron slowly retreated to the back gate. He shielded them until his friends picked up their belongings, and was the last to get shoved out into the alley. The gate slid shut with a metallic thunk followed by an almost equally loud thunk of the lock clicking.
Cameron didn’t realize he was holding his breath until they were all outside. The rest of the group, unused to being threatened at gunpoint, was shaken up. He put a hand on Nazar’s shoulder. “Thank you for taking care of them.”
The older man nodded. “These kids are worthless, but they’re young and have many more years to lose than me.”
That was brave and humanitarian of you. Do not ever, ever do that again. It was too much of an unnecessary risk. I did not put all this knowledge and training into you just to have some trigger-happy jerk plug you with a rusty lever-action shotgun.
Cameron was about to snap back at Tao when the rumble of a convoy passing nearby cut their conversation short. He checked the time; they had approximately four more hours before dawn. Once the light came, they would be forced to hole up somewhere else. The further away they got from the city, the better.
He kept Nazar close to him and put Seth in the far back, trusting him to keep an eye on the others. Cameron felt like a mother duck leading his ducklings across streets. The group moved in a single file, snaking around the back alleyways and creeping across yards and hiding in bushes. Sometimes, they would be forced to wait behind cover as more vehicles—all police and military—drove by.
It took them another half-hour before they finally reached the construction yard. They found a loose gate and pried it just wide enough for everyone to fit through. After a few failed attempts, he was able to get the truck started. He checked the fuel gauge; they had a little under a half-tank of diesel.
Make your way to the foothills.
“Got it. What’s the quickest route?”
The fastest path anywhere is a straight line. You are in a dump truck. Run that gate over and pave your own way.
The Villa
They were fortunate to reach the edge of the residential area and get into the forest without encountering a patrol. They were even more fortunate that Cameron didn’t plow into a house or a tree or, later on, drive off a cliff. The dump truck was every bit as unwieldy as it looked.
Cameron had to drive the truck through moderately forested areas that were thick enough to provide cover yet still light enough for a truck to drive through. Some of the foliage was so dense Cameron couldn’t see past the nose of the truck. Add that to the uneven terrain, filled with rocky crags and sudden steep drops, and the trip into the countryside became the slowest, most nerve-wracking and terrifying drive Cameron had ever had to make at ten kilometers per hour. It was like watching a potential slow-motion train wreck every thirty seconds.
Negin and Surrett were sandwiched in the cab with him while Nazar, Yang, Seth, and Emily stayed in the back. Cameron wasn’t sure which seat was worse. On one hand, the ones in the back were able to lie down and stretch out. On the other, being on a truck bed while hitting some of these bumps couldn’t be fun. At least the ones in the back got to sleep. He had not planned for an all-nighter when he had woken up that morning.
Surrett at one point had offered to drive, but Cameron insisted he was fine. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Surrett with the task… actually, it was exactly that. He didn’t trust anyone with the job. He was the leader, and he already felt like he
was barely holding things together.
This is not how leadership works.
“You always tell me that the leader has to be responsible for his people’s well being.”
Yes, but that does not mean the leader has to do everything himself. Learn to delegate.
“Cameron?” Negin asked, her voice quiet.
“Yes? ”
“You move like a whirlwind. Where did you learn to dance in such a way?”
“And those things you can do,” Surrett added, “like hot-wiring the truck and shooting guns. You are comfortable with violence, it is obvious.”
“Are you one of them?” asked Negin.
One of them, as in no longer one of us. Were Negin and Surrett going to treat him different now if they found out the truth? No, they already did. He could see it in their reactions. When he moved close to them, they tensed or sometimes flinched, as if fearing he was a dangerous animal. Should he tell them the truth?
Be careful what you say.
He simply nodded.
“You’re one of the Prophus,” Surrett frowned. “Do you have… one of the aliens? A Quasing?”
Cameron didn’t answer. He kept his eyes focused on the space a few meters in front of the truck. That was as far as he could see without lights: shadows, tints of darkness, and outlines of shapes.
Finally, he nodded again. “I do.”
The conversation died after that admission. Cameron wasn’t sure for how long, but it lasted from just before the last crest of the hill, then down the other side to the dried riverbed and halfway up the next.
Negin was the first to break the silence. “What’s it like? Does it hurt?”
He shook his head. “Only when he yells at me or hurts my feelings.”
Oh poor you.
“What’s your alien’s name?” Surrett asked.
“It’s not important,” Cameron replied.
“Are there Prophus in India?” he asked.
