by H. J. Lawson
Reznor stares down at it with suspicion. He doesn’t like Purenet stuff.
“This may save your life,” I tell him. He shakes his head in response and unwillingly places it on his wrist.
We never did get the food or water we needed … the whole reason we stopped here. I hope we find something on the way.
“Let’s ride,” I tell them. With that, we leave the tiny home behind us.
The small street has hardly any sand; it's as though the buildings are protecting it, and the sand is dancing into the main street where the party of bloodshed is.
Hayden slows down, along with the others. Trinity and I are at the back, making it easier for Trinity to stop anyone from attacking us from behind. She’s our very own secret weapon.
I peer around the edge of a crumbling stone building, then swiftly lean back. There’s a light beam—it's one of the drones scanning the location. I hold my breath … one … two … three. I look back around and let out a sigh of relief as I see the drone has moved on. It’s awful that they can just sneak up on us like that.
We continue riding down the narrow street, and Hayden stops once again—the path has come to an end.
There is no choice but to go back onto the main road.
I glance up, and spot them the same time as they spot me. The light from the guns showing the way for our attackers.
Caribes and Purenet soldiers charge forward—united in their hatred toward us.
Luckily we have a head start on them, and they are all on foot.
“Go!” I yell to the others. A wave of adrenaline races though my veins.
I squeeze the throttle and my bike hums with excitement to be driven away from the sandy land.
The distance between them and us widens—we are going to make it.
“Dax … Dax … come out wherever you are,” Xander’s voice enters my mind. He is here. I look everywhere but don’t see him.
“Where are you going so quickly?” he asks.
“How’s Father?” My mind runs away from me before I can stop it. I hate the fact I still care for that man—I am weak like Zion, my brother.
“Oh look at you being the caring son … I’m fine, thank you for asking!” Xander snaps.
“I knew you would be fine— you always are….”
“He’s not happy with you, stealing and siding with his Bazi. I see you have taken a liking to her—is she your new Bazi? You do know we are rich and you can have any Bazi, not just Father’s castoffs?”
“Don’t be sick!”
“Ha ha … Ayah has been replaced so quickly,” Xander mocks me.
“Leave her out of this!”
“I never knew you were such a player, looks like all these ladies love Dax … even your sister has a soft spot for you.”
I squeeze the throttle down. I have to get out of here—I can’t listen to this anymore.
“You’re a jerk, may you rot in hell!” I snap.
Xander goes blank for a moment. “What’s hell?” he asks. Looks like big brother doesn’t know everything after all.
Ask the Caribes … they will tell you.
He’s in there, in the Purenet plane, standing at the window. Obviously he would not get his hands dirty and join in the battle, choosing instead to stand by and watch.
Xander waves at me. See you soon, little brother. For your sake, I hope I reach you before the Emperor’s army does. His voice has a touch of concern to it.
Goodbye, for now, I respond, as we ride out of the city and into the unknown wasteland. I know the soldiers will be back on the plane in a few minutes. We have to act fast….
Chapter Forty-One
Dax
The screams of pain and gunfire die down as we distance ourselves from the old town. Once Xander gets his soldiers into the plane they will be here in no time.
I press my bracelet. “Location,” I say to it loudly, so it can hear me over the bike engine. We cannot stop.
The guys look over at me, all eager for the bracelet’s response.
A map appears in front of us. “There is my home,” Trinity squeals out with excitement.
“Are you sure?” I ask.
“Yes … there is the big water, and the Aurum Sanction, with the man-made gold mines. There is the rainforest divide between their Sanction and our home,” Trinity says, as she points toward the hologram. “We need to head to my tribe. That way….”
“Will we make it in time?” Lowell asks.
“We have to.” I click off my bracelet. Now we have only the bike’s dim lights to guide us through the darkness. I hope we get there in time.
My head feels dizzy from the lack of food and water. I know the others will be feeling the same, but the will to survive forces me on … forces all of us on.
“Lowell, can you see in the dark like Skylier?” I ask.
“Yes,” he proudly replies.
“Okay, you ride up front. We’ll need you as our guide … once the plane comes over we will have to turn off our lights,” I inform him. The ground here is more even than the wasteland outside Purenet, and there is less sand and more sections of greenery.
He does as I request. I click the bracelet for one last check and the map appears. We are nearly there.
“Turn off your lights,” Lowell yells. We do, plunging us into darkness.
I can just make out the roaring sound from the plane’s engine. He has heightened hearing, like Skylier, I think to myself.
“Keep straight … there is a clear path in front of us,” Lowell shouts.
The sound of the plane gets louder. They will be on top of us at any moment.
“I can see trees, keep going,” Lowell yells frantically. I squeeze down on the throttle and will the bike to move faster.
The ground beneath me begins to rise up, hitting my legs. The pressure from the plane is driving the ground fragments up into the air … the plane is nearly above us.
“We’re here!” Lowell shouts.
Hayden’s bike suddenly stops, and I crash into the back of it, knocking him and his bike to the ground. Trinity leaps off as I quickly place my foot down to steady us, and Reznor’s huge arm comes out of the darkness and picks Hayden up off the ground. “Leave the bikes—we cannot ride in there.”
A weird sadness washes over me. I know it's only a hunk of metal, but I don’t want to leave it.
Reznor is right; there is no way to get our bikes down there. I haven’t got a clue how we are going to get down there.
Time to run, Dax… Xander’s voice rings into my mind. I look up, and the plane is above me.
Block. No time to be sentimental. I drop the bike and take off running with the others—into an unknown landscape.
“Trinity, do you know your way?” Lowell asks.
“This used to be my playground, but in the darkness it's hard to see anything,” she admits.
We need light….
As though Xander is reading my mind, the plane flies overhead, its lights blazing down to reveal a thick jungle in front of us—and the horror of how we’ll get to it.
There is just a steep, muddy drop down. It looks like the Earth was split in two at this point. Maybe from an earthquake…. One side is desert, the other a jungle with its own tropical oasis. The plane will not be able to land down there.
Wait…! Block. Is he able to break through my block? It wouldn’t surprise me if he has Cueva families in the labs trying to break the power of the block. Just the thought sends a shudder up my spine.
“This way,” Trinity says, breaking my thoughts away from my brother’s torturous ways.
“Lowell, I’ll need your jacket again,” Trinity says.
He throws his jacket over to her, and she quickly wraps it around her waist. “I always wanted to do this, but in the rain!” she screams out, as she disappears down the slope.
Our only choice is down … I head to where Trinity slid away. I take off my jacket, tie it around my waist like she did, and sit on it. The others quickly foll
ow me.
“I don’t have anything to sit on,” Lowell complains.
“That will be the least of your worries if you stay here,” Reznor says bluntly.
Here goes nothing … I push down on the ground and go over the edge, just as I hear the sounds of gunfire coming from the plane. They are shooting at us!
I keep pushing my hands down to go faster, but spikes of roots stick through the rough ground. It would have been more fun if this was water.
“Ouch… arh!” Lowell shouts in pain. The tough ground must be ripping along his butt.
“Reznor! Watch out!” Reznor's body slides toward me and his feet slam into me.
“What?” He laughs as he flies past—he’s enjoying this. I have to admit it is fun.
Bang … bang. The plane continues firing down on us. Well, it was fun. At least with them above us I can see where I’m going.
I push down harder … arh! Too hard … my body launches down the slope at an uncontrollable speed, swiping sideways, away from oncoming trees, and then the other way. I can see the others doing the same.
The air feels different around me, damp, with a musty smell to it. There must be water down here. My throat feels even dryer at the thought.
I’m going too fast … I’m going to crash at the bottom. I push my arms down on the ground. Ahh! I quickly pull my hands back up. Not the best idea—now my palms feel like the top layer of skin has been ripped from them.
“Slow down!” Trinity screams from the bottom where she’s standing with Reznor.
“I can’t!” I yell back, just as my body slams to the ground.
“Watch ou—” Before Hayden can finish, his body crashes into mine. I push him off me and quickly get to my feet before Lowell can land on me as well.
There’s a loud thud as Lowell tumbles onto the muddy ground. “That’s the last time you borrow my jacket,” he pants, trying to catch his breath.
I bend over to help him up, and my body twinges. What was that? I reach my hand around to my buttocks. My head begins to sway backwards … I’m dizzy.
What’s that? I can feel something lodged into my muscles, and my fingers go numb. I pull at the object and bring it to my eyes … it's dancing.
I try to focus. It's a dart … a poison dart.
Reznor is pulling at something in his neck, and Trinity is lying on the ground, not moving.
My legs begin to weaken under my body weight, and I collapse. The weight of my eyelids is unbearable. I cannot keep them open any longer….
Chapter Forty-Two
Trinity
“What have they done to you?” The sound of a voice echoes off the stone walls … I know that low, gravelly tone. It’s my father. I’m home.
Or is it just a dream?
I’m hope I’m not just having the same recurring dream that I’ve had since I was taken from my tribe….
Quickly I open my eyes, thinking that if I don’t, he will simply fade away. It is him … it really is my father.
My heart feels like it wants to jump through my rib cage and into his arms.
I follow my heart's wishes. My feet land on the cold stone floor beside the bed I’m in. At first my legs wobble uneasily, like a child walking to her parent for the first time. Then I fall into his waiting arms as he catches hold of me. We both wrap our arms around the other.
His body feels different than I remember—leaner, without wasted meals on his body. Now he’s pure muscle and bone.
As though my dark shadow has come to my side, a feeling of dread and disappointment floods every vein in my body. How do I answer his question, "What have they done to you?" I cannot tell him the truth.
“What did they do to you?” he repeats. He looks at me as though he can read my mind. Which he can’t, and I’m grateful for that.
Our eyes lock together, and the look in his eyes changes. As if he knows what has happened. I quickly look away in shame—he will never be able to look at me the way he used to … I’m no longer the daughter he remembers. She was killed the day I was taken.
I loosen my grip from him.
I’m finally in my father’s arms, and I feel like an imposter … as if I’m someone else living in Trinity’s body.
My father places his hand under my chin and lifts my head up.
“We will cleanse your body from their sins.”
Chapter Forty-Three
Dax
My throat is so dry I can barely breathe. “Water,” I moan, hoping someone will come to my aid. But no one does.
I peel my eyes open, but I cannot see anything—nothing at all. I reach down to my wrist; they have taken my bracelet! Damn it!
A dirty stench drifts up my nose, and it’s clear why I cannot see anything. I’m in a hole dug in the ground. My body is crushed up against the muddy walls around me, and I hurt all over … was it from the landing, or did someone throw me down here? How far underground am I?
Pulling my legs in towards my stomach, I pull myself up, holding the wet, muddy walls for balance. No section of my body hurts more than another, so I will take that as a good sign that nothing is broken.
I place my hands out in front of me as a guide, pressing against something rugged straight away, with my elbows still bent. The air begins to feel heavier around me, as if it's all being sucked out.
I frantically begin breathing in and out, trying to keep the air in my lungs. But the more I do, the more I panic. I don’t like small spaces, and this one feels like it's getting smaller by the second. The blackness feels like a heavy blanket trying to crush my bones.
I’m spinning around, feeling the muddy walls … there are just more walls. There is no door down here … no way to get out.
Cold sweat pours from my skin, stealing the only liquid from my body. I am going to die down here.
“Help me!” I scream at the top of my lungs. The sound echoes upwards … like it goes on forever.
“Help me,” I plead again. No one answers, and no one is coming to help me. I’ve led everyone to their deaths. I thought I could make things better. Instead, I made everything worse.
“Xander, if you can hear me … please help me,” I beg. I stand silently waiting, listening. But there is nothing. Is Xander even here?
I slump down to the ground, and feel how sore my buttocks are. It wasn’t the Purenet soldiers who shot us with the poisoned darts, it was Trinity’s tribe—the Enlighten tribe.
Is this some kind of Enlighten test? Or are they just trying to kill me?
I’m not sitting down here to find out!
Reaching my arm up, I rub the surface of the wall and pull down on a tree root with my fingers. Once it's long enough I wrap it around my wrist, lift my foot up and kick into the muddy wall.
With my other arm I reach up and repeat the steps … I get into a good rhythm as I try to block out where I am and where I’m headed. It feels like there is no end in sight. The drop down would kill me, but what is waiting for me at the top?
Out of nowhere, the sunshine’s bright rays beam down onto me, blinding me with their brightness. My body jerks in confusion, and my feet slip out of their holes.
“Arh!” I scream out in pain, as the roots rip through my wrists. The only thing stopping me from plummeting to the bottom are the roots that are shredding my flesh. I scramble to get my legs back in their holes, but without success … they just slide down the muddy wall. I start to panic—I’m trapped.
“Stay calm,” a voice says softly from above.
“Stay bloody calm, I’m about to fall to my death!” I snap.
I look up, and I can see a hazy silhouette of a person. “Help me,” I plead, as blood begins to drip down my arms.
“Help yourself … stay calm … focus,” the voice says.
Another voice speaks before I can yell back. “Dax, put your feet in the holes,” Trinity yells from above.
I look up toward Trinity, as I frantically hang. She’s moving around. “Help me,” I call up to her in a panic. Is she pu
nishing me for what my father has done to her?
My arms go limp at the thought.
“Trinity, help me, help me,” I plead, no longer ashamed of my fear. Darkness has haunted me since I was a child.
“Stay there, I’m coming down,” Trinity says, as some tangled vines are thrown down. She’s not punishing me.
My heart rate slows a little knowing that she’s coming to help me.
I don’t move—I don’t think I can, from all the fear and burning pain ripping through me.
I think past the agony of my wrists being shredded and close my eyes. Ayah’s image appears in my mind. “Stay calm for me … one day we will be together again,” her soft voice drifts into my mind, just like Skylier’s—as though it belongs there.
Taking in a deep breath, I search for the foot hole in the wall. After a few tries I find it—much to my relief. I place my feet back into the holes and raise my body up onto them, releasing the tension from my wrists. My heart feels as though it’s trying to rip my chest open to get free from the muddy cell.
“Sorry, they didn’t know,” Trinity states as she comes to my side in the muddy, endless hole. There is barely room for the two of us.
“I’m going to have to cut you free from the root,” she says, as she moves toward me with her silver blade … my father’s blade.
“You ready?” she asks.
“Yes,” I reply.
I work one hand free, reach out with that hand, and grab hold of Trinity’s vine. She starts cutting through the root that’s wrapped around my other wrist. Instantly my hand grips around the vine, pulling it toward me and the wall. Trinity disappears back up the vine in the blink of an eye. There is no chance I can move that fast, but I'm also not going to stay down here forever.
With my arms burning in pain, I pull my body up—but nowhere as gracefully as Trinity.
The sunlight burns my eyes as I reach the top. I take in a deep breath, allowing the fresh air into my lungs. It smells like the Grounders’ community.
“Where are the others?” I blurt out as my body collapses on the grassy ground.
