The Days of Tao

by Wesley Chu

  By now, the remaining officers had retreated behind their vehicles. The military guys charged forward from the sides, and one of the suits advanced on the front door. Cameron lost sight of the other.

  The remaining two officers shot at the house, but not at Cameron. He heard return gunfire coming from upstairs and hoped Nazar played it safe. He was the vital asset, after all. Cameron peered through the other window at an angle and hit one of the military guys at the far side. The shot to the chest didn’t seem to make it through his body armor. The second to the neck did the trick, though.

  The front door of the house crashed open as one of the suits charged in. The guy swung to his right and fired, bullets kicking the ground where Cameron had been crouched moments before. Cameron dove to the side and scrambled to the back room.

  One bullet left. Conserve if you can.

  He crept to the corner between the two doors and listened for footsteps. The suit would either follow him from the front room on his right or enter through the hallway on his left. If he went up the stairs, Cameron would hear the steps.

  A scream came from the backyard, and then he heard wood creak. Cameron hesitated.

  The one going up the stairs will get the jump on Nazar.

  “Damn it.” Cameron turned into the hallway and saw legs between the gaps of the steps. He took a breath, aimed, and struck the guy in the shin. The man in the suit screamed and tumbled down the stairs. Cameron took off through the house and out to the backyard. He saw the other suit, pistol raised, approaching the temple.

  Right handed. Weight on front leg. Thirty meter distance. That is a lot of ground.

  The suit spun and opened fire. Eyes focused on the man’s eyes, Cameron danced to his left and charged, juking from side to side. Bullets zinged past, just missing him by inches. He closed the distance and slid, kicking at the suit’s ankles. He managed to only graze the man, who stumbled, but stayed on his feet.

  Cameron shot in again, trapping the man’s forearm and then with a twist and a kick, flipped him onto his stomach to the ground. Cameron plucked the pistol out of the guy’s hands, and then fired twice at close range.

  Emily popped her head out from the dark interior of the temple. “Thank God. Is everything all right?”

  Well done. Hurry back to the front and check on Nazar.

  “Just stay put,” he yelled, checking the magazine in his newlyacquired pistol and then charging back to the house.

  By the time he got back to the front of the house, everything was quiet. That could mean something good or something very, very bad. The man in the suit he had shot lay at the base of the stairs. He was clawing for the pistol he dropped halfway up the steps. Cameron dragged him back down to the floor by the collar and pocketed the pistol.

  I have some questions for this one. Check the rest of the grounds first.

  Cameron moved up next to the front door and leaned out the doorway. At first, he saw nothing, and then he saw Yang kneeling over Seth, who still lay face down on the ground.

  “Oh no, oh no.”

  Wait!

  Cameron threw caution to the wind and rushed outside. He already knew his friend was dead as soon as he started running. Yang looked up at him as he approached, tears streaming down his face. He fell to his knees and slowly rolled Seth onto his back. Seth’s eyes were open, and he was staring off into nothing. Cameron put a hand to his mouth and a sob escaped his lips. His body shook his hand closed his friend’s eyes.

  Listen to me. You have to secure the area. Grieve for Seth later. Damn it, listen! If some of them are still alive, they could hurt your other friends.

  That snapped Cameron out of it. He found the bodies of the four police officers, one of the military men where he had shot him, and the other closer to the house. He looked up at the window where Nazar was positioned. There was no one there. Check on your people’s wellbeing.

  Cameron ran back into the house and bounded up the stairs. He found Nazar sitting on the ground, slumped against the wall. He was sweating and breathing heavily as he pressed a hand against his left arm.

  Nazar waved. “At least they only hit my ugly arm, right? Thing couldn’t be anymore useless anyway.”

  “Are you all right?” Cameron asked.

  “Lucky shot, but I took care of those bastards. Are the kids all right?”

  Cameron shook his head. “Seth…”

  Nazar nodded. “I saw.”

  Cameron checked the wound. “Bullet went clean through.” He grabbed a blanket from the bed and tore it into a long strip. He wrapped the wound as best he could and helped Nazar up.

  “I’ll be fine, boy,” Nazar said, waving him off.

  There was another gunshot from below. Cameron nearly dropped Nazar as he raced back down. Did he miss someone? He stopped halfway down the stairs and gaped as Yang stood over the man in the suit with a pistol in his hand.

  Yang looked up at Cameron. “He was the one who shot Seth.”

  Damn it. I wanted to question him.

  Cameron went down to the base of the stairs and took the gun from his friend’s hands. “This isn’t who you are, Yang.”

  “He shot Seth.” Yang held up his blood-soaked hands. “He died in my arms.” Cameron felt the tears well up in his eyes again. He hugged his shaking friend and led him away from the body. Cameron took him outside and sat him down in the chair. Yang broke down and began to sob.

  Nazar came down a moment later. He checked the body for identification and pocketed the spare magazines. “I’ll get the others. We should think about getting as far away from this place as possible.”

  He is right. You have nine bodies, including military and police, and most likely Genjix operatives. Pull yourself together and take care of those who are still alive. Also, you have a very serious problem on your hands.

  “What’s that, Tao?”

  This is my fault. I should have seen it earlier. Tread very carefully from this point on, Cameron, but we have a traitor in our midst.

  The Final Leg

  They buried Seth in a shallow grave near the temple. It had to be shallow, since they had to use the broken and dull tools that hadn’t been scavenged from the house in decades of disuse. Everyone pitched in. The sounds of their crying filled the air. Emily was particularly devastated and inconsolable, staying by the grave until the very last second. She had known Seth since they were kids.

  “We have to go,” Cameron said, gently.

  “We can’t leave him here,” she sobbed. “I promised his mum I’d take care of him…”

  “We’ll come back and bring him home one day.” He meant it too. Seth deserved more than this.

  They procured one of the cars and squeezed everyone in.

  Cameron looked back at the villa one last time as they pulled away. It was a stab to the heart, and it hurt so terribly he wanted to weep. This was as personal of a failure as he had ever experienced. You did your best, Cameron. The responsibility is yours, but you cannot allow yourself to get weighed down by every tragedy. “Of course I can, Tao. It’s my fault.”

  This is war, son. It does not matter who is at fault.

  The drive west down route E952 was unbearably quiet. No one spoke or made a noise during the entire trip, save for an occasional groan of discomfort from Nazar as he shifted in the front seat next to him. Cameron would occasionally look in the rear view mirror and see Emily and Negin, eyes red and wet, holding each other tightly.

  Cameron was thankful for this quiet on the outside, because it was all he could do to handle the storm raging inside his head. At this moment, he was having a full-blown meltdown with Tao, arguing over whether there was actually a traitor in the group.

  “That’s crazy. If I had to suspect anyone, I would have thought it’d be Chris, but he left us back in Athens.”

  Think about it. First, we get hit at Ira’s Hearth, and now these men find us at the villa. They were also informed enough to bring a Penetra scanner. This is no coincidence.

  “Ho
w could you think that? Look at what happened to Seth. Look at the tears in everyone’s eyes!” Cameron knew he was grasping at straws but he couldn’t help it. They were his friends, and good friends at that. He had spent an entire summer with them.

  You cannot judge innocence this way. Perhaps the traitor did not mean for Seth to die. Maybe he is just a Genjix sympathizer trying to earn favor.

  “But why? The Prophus ran a background check on everyone before I enrolled. None of these are Genjix.”

  You know how easily background checks can be washed. Look, it is safe to say that Emily and Seth are not Genjix. However, both Negin and Yang are from Genjix-controlled countries, and Surrett is from a border country that will be one of the most hotly contested in the war. Even if they are not Genjix, the three of them have reason to be.

  “I don’t buy it. Look at the things we’ve been through. There were dozens of other opportunities for them to capture us. Yang even shot one of them.”

  Yang is my main suspect. Think about it. He was the one who volunteered to speak with the Genjix at the front of the house instead of letting us ambush them. He was the one who killed the remaining Genjix, who may have had the answers to our questions. And with his powerful family in China, we know he must have direct dealings with the Genjix in one form or another. It may have been his plan all along to get caught at the front of the house in order to extract himself from danger.

  Cameron couldn’t help but stare through the rear-view mirror at Yang sitting at the window seat, looking outside. He wasn’t crying anymore, but his face was still red. He wiped his face as he held onto that damn viola of his. As if somehow knowing he was being watched, Yang turned and looked at Cameron, and nodded. Cameron looked away.

  Tao’s words began to sink in, and they hurt him. Badly.

  You may have to consider the possibility that they knew who you were all along, that it was their job to get close to you.

  There it was. It was a thought in the back of Cameron’s mind that was poking into his brain like sharp needles. If what Tao said was true, then the friendships he had made this summer were fake. Someone was using him to get to Tao and his mom.

  I doubt that, though. The Genjix would never pass up the opportunity to capture me or the Keeper’s son.

  Their argument continued until they reached Loutsa on the western edge of Greece. Alonaki beach was just a few more kilometers past the resort town. However, they had been driving for over ten hours and he was exhausted. He did not relish digging up the raft in the middle of the night and trying to navigate the Ionian Sea tired, hungry and without any supplies or food.

  There was also the matter of the possible spy. If what Tao said was true, while they were digging up the raft would be the perfect time to set up an ambush. They would be exhausted from the work, and their backs would be to the sea, cutting off their escape routes. If they managed to escape on the raft, the CRRC, composed entirely of rubber, would be susceptible to small arms fire. No, Cameron and Tao had to figure out a way to escape without the potential traitor selling them out.

  You must find out who this traitor is and make sure they are not on the raft with us.

  Problems upon problems. Just when it seemed like they were so close. “Can we worry about that once we actually escape the country?”

  Our problem will not disappear even if we manage to escape Greece. From what Jill said, Italy is in chaos at the moment. The Genjix can follow us into Italy as long as the traitor is with us. Even if you make it there, you will still be in great danger.

  The group abandoned the stolen car half a kilometer outside of Loutsa and walked the rest of the way into town. He was surprised that the town did not seem affected by the coup, at least not yet. He had to remind himself it had only been a day. It felt like he’d been on the run for weeks now.

  They pooled their money together and stopped by a local convenience store to pick up supplies. They had enough left over to pay for one night’s stay at a small rundown motel off the main strip of town. Cameron made sure that the room they rented was on the second floor, with the front door opening to a balcony hallway that overlooked the woods.

  With their remaining funds, they splurged on a group dinner at a local gyro restaurant. They technically didn’t have enough money to cover the entire meal, but they bartered Yang’s watch to cover the difference. Cameron had stressed to everyone how important it was not to use credit cards. Tao wanted to go one step further and search everyone for anything suspicious. However, Cameron wasn’t ready to be so draconian.

  Those was the most expensive gyros we have ever had.

  “No kidding. I hope that wasn’t an expensive watch.” I am pretty sure it was. Did you see the look on Yang’s face? Dinner, like the drive, was muted. Seth’s death was still fresh on everyone’s mind, and the fact that they were eating gyros only depressed Cameron even more. He never did get to have that last meal with everyone at that joint near their dorms. He decided at that time to break the silence and enact the secret plan. He made a big show of receiving a call on his phone. He got up from the table and walked out the restaurant, and then returned five minutes later.

  “Okay guys, we finally got a spot of luck.” Cameron tried his best to sound thrilled. “Change of plans. We’re in the clear.”

  Again, theater major. You need some training, or at least an elective.

  “About time something went our way,” Negin smiled.

  Cameron toned down his cheerfulness. “I got in contact with the Prophus. They’ve prioritized our escape and are sending a team to extract us from the city and fly us to safety.”

  Both Surrett and Negin cheered. Nazar and Emily looked puzzled. Yang looked pissed.

  “What happened to digging up the raft?” Nazar asked.

  Cameron shrugged. “We don’t need it anymore. It’s first class all the way out of Greece.”

  Yang scowled and pointed at the bags of stuff they had purchased an hour before. “We just bought three shovels, waterproof bags, binoculars, a bunch of headlamps, and thirty bottles of water!”

  “So?”

  “So,” Yang emphasized the word. “If we’re just getting airlifted out, why did we buy all that? We could have used that money to pay for dinner, and then I wouldn’t have had to pawn a ten thousand dollar watch for a bunch of strips of lamb.”

  Cameron was taken aback. “That was a ten thousand dollar watch? Shoot, we should have gotten a round of drinks with our meal.”

  “You owe me a new watch, Cameron!”

  “How about I get us to safety instead? Unfortunately, I got the good news after we bought all that stuff. Sorry about your watch.” Cameron really wasn’t. He had a sinking feeling Tao was right about their traitor.

  “So when are they coming?” Surrett asked. “Where are they picking us up?”

  “They know where we’re staying,” Cameron replied. “Someone will knock on the room door between three and five in the morning, so pack right when we get back to the motel and be ready to go.”

  “Tonight?” Negin put her hand over his and shook him with excitement. She then reached to her other side and hugged Emily.

  Cameron’s grin extended from ear to ear and his cheeks flushed. “I told you I’d take care of you.”

  Easy there. You are trying too hard.

  The only person who didn’t look happy was Yang, who continued to stare at the blank space on his wrist where the watch used to be. “My grandmother gave me that,” he grumbled.

  Once the commotion settled down, Cameron checked the time, and then stood up. “All right, I’m freaking exhausted. Everyone turn in early. It’s still going to be another long night so get some rest.”

  In Their Midst

  The Genjix came at two in the morning. There were some where between eight and twelve total, a line of silhouettes moving with military precision across the second-floor balcony hallway toward their room. A man was stationed at the bottom of the stairwell, another manned the end of the drivewa
y, and a few more dotted the perimeter. Four of the Genjix huddled next to the door, one of them kicked it open, and they all rushed inside.

  Hidden in the woods approximately three hundred meters away, safely out of range of the Quasing-tracking Penetra scanners, Cameron watched the action unfold. The trap he and Tao had devised to confirm if they had a traitor in the group worked perfectly. He felt his heart turn to stone even as it dropped to the ground and shattered. The enemy knew exactly where to go, what exits to cover, and at what time to raid the motel room. He turned to the group huddled in the thickets behind him. “Get moving. I’ll meet you as soon as I can.”

  Nazar nodded. “Let’s go.”

  Negin looked scared and confused. “I don’t understand what just happened. Where are you going, Cameron?”

  Cameron turned his back to her. “Move. Now.” He grabbed Emily’s arm as she passed. “Don’t let any of them out of your sight, especially Yang. I don’t know how this person is getting in touch with the Genjix, but watch them like a hawk.”

  She nodded, her face grim. “Take care of yourself. When can you meet up with us?”

  “Once I’m sure I’m not being followed or tracked by a Penetra scanner.”

  One good piece of intel is that the Genjix do not have a tracking beacon on us. If they had, they would have come directly to this spot. I had feared the traitor would have it hidden on his person somewhere.

  “Like in a viola case?”

  Sounds as good a place to hide a bug as any.

  Cameron spent the next twenty minutes tracking the people tracking him, staying far enough out of the Penetra scanner’s range, but close enough to know where they were headed. It was one of the first rules of being the hunted: tail the hunter.

  By now, they must have realized that the intel they had received from the traitor was bad, and were either hoping to pick up his signal or wait for the traitor to contact them again. They stayed around the motel for another fifteen minutes before heading south to Vrachos Beach, away from Alonaki where the CRRC was buried. He stayed with them for twenty more minutes before breaking off.