The Fractured Fallen (A Dark Fantasy Horror): The Edge of Reflection Book 4

by Carver Pike

  “It’s him,” Billy said.

  “Not quite,” Haylay replied. “Now, why don’t y’all invite a lady back to your place for some hanky panky? Miss Haylay’s ‘bout to show you what an asshole’s really for.”

  Chapter 11 - Life Isn’t Fair

  Tact led the way toward the large black tower with X’s crisscrossing its front. Getting there hadn’t been as easy as it seemed, as each street they traveled seemed to be blocked by some sort of dead end. Destroyed cars stacked one on top of the other had halted them once. A bonfire of sorts served as a second blockade.

  The world was oddly quiet. A couple crossed the street in front of them, holding hands, like any couple would on a regular Chicago street. A few minutes later, a man jogged up the sidewalk, looking to be actually exercising, not running from someone or something. Gabe couldn’t believe it. He would’ve been less surprised to see a dragon fly by.

  Lisa dragged her feet next to him, looking exhausted. The very short rest they’d had at Jaundice Jones’ place didn’t provide the second wind Gabe had hoped for.

  “I can’t wait to get to this tower and collapse,” he said, openly stating what he knew they must all be thinking.

  Lisa moaned. “I could collapse right here.”

  “We’ll be there before you know it,” he promised.

  He looked back at Bronc and Emma, who were last in line, making their way slowly down the street. Gabe wished he could send them back to the boat, and he’d actually mentioned it right after the general disappeared, but would sitting on the water be any safer?

  “We should be able to take this street over to the main road that leads to the tower, I think,” Tact announced.

  “Just lead and we’ll follow,” Hawks replied.

  Ayana walked next to him, her bow slung over her shoulder.

  “I still don’t really get what you hope to find there. What if this is all for nothing?”

  “All for nothing?” Hawks asked. “Oh, it won’t be all for nothing. I don’t give a shit if we have to hang this Oddity from the top of the tower by his balls, he’s gonna come up with something important to tell us.”

  A loud scream, a woman’s scream, ricocheted off the buildings and shattered the silence.

  “Sounds like that general’s not doing so well at keeping the peace,” Tact said.

  As if the general had been waiting for his name to be spoken, the siren began to wail, ending the time of peace, and launching them back into the time of sanitation.

  “Is that?” Lisa asked, not needing to finish her question.

  “The siren, already?” Hawks asked.

  “That motherfucker,” Gabe said, knowing full well what the general had been hinting at towards the end of their conversation.

  He’d said something about staying far away from him once the siren blew.

  “It’s the general,” Hawks warned. “He wants your sons.”

  “Everybody wants my sons!” Gabe replied.

  “I no want them,” Bronc disagreed.

  “Finding a babysitter should be a breeze,” Hawks yelled over the sound of the siren.

  “We need to get off the street,” Ayana yelled.

  Tact led them onto a narrow side street. They sloshed through the puddles and carefully onto the next main road, to find a group of armed men and women, all wearing either pillow cases or other cloth bags over their heads, stretched out in a long line, blocking their path. One guy stood out front, with a potato sack over his head, the obvious leader.

  “What we got here?” he asked.

  “Maybe we should try a different way,” Lisa said just loud enough for Gabe to hear.

  “Looks like they might have some goodies!” a female voice called out.

  “Just leave ‘em! We need to get indoors. Don’t you hear the sirens?” another voice called out.

  “Just drop all your shit!” the leader yelled. “Drop your guns, drop your royce…”

  “Drop your clothes!” another male voice cried.

  “This is madness,” Tact said as he aimed his gun in the gang leader’s direction. “Look, Pacino, we’ve had a rough day!”

  “Back up,” Gabe said softly. “Maybe they’ll let us go.”

  As he began to retreat, the members of the gang raised their weapons.

  “Don’t fuckin’ move!” the leader yelled.

  “Just let ‘em go. We need to get inside before the general comes!” a woman yelled.

  “Shh,” the leader said. “It’s a mistake. The siren never blows so soon.”

  “They’re like a bi-polar KKK,” Hawks whispered.

  “Look, man. There’s no need for bloodshed,” Gabe yelled over the siren. “You live here. We get that. We’re just passing through.”

  “Oh!” the leader said as he held his hands up in the air and turned to his gang. “They’re just passing through.”

  “Just passing through!” someone else in the crowd repeated.

  “We’re so sorry!” another cried.

  “Pardon us!” mimicked another.

  “We’re sorry, friends,” the leader said. “We should be ashamed. We should be welcoming guests, not frightening them.”

  “Can I shoot him?” Hawks muttered from behind Gabe.

  “Not if I do it first,” Tact added.

  “I’m getting antsy,” Ayana whispered. “Maybe it’s time to let loose a few arrows.”

  Gabe turned to them and shook his head.

  “Might we know what all of the whispering is about?” the leader asked.

  “Nothing,” Gabe replied.

  “We were just wondering which of you to make an example of,” Ayana called out.

  “Excuse me?” the leader asked.

  “Nothing,” Gabe said. “We have no problem with you and your gang.”

  “Sounds to me like they’re chicken shit!” the leader yelled.

  His goons all followed with laughter, nearly all of them taking their eyes off their targets, a stupid move, and one that told Gabe they were all talk, only tough because of the numbers.

  “Hey!” Ayana yelled.

  The leader turned his attention to them, and Gabe turned as well, just in time to see Ayana yank an arrow from her pack, nock it, and let it fly. Gabe’s gaze followed the arrow as it sped through the air and slammed home, right between the leader’s eyes, straight through his potato sack mask.

  “Get down!” Gabe ordered, as fear overtook him.

  He knew it was the end of the journey. This crowd of gang members was about to mow them down.

  “Kill them!” one of the gang members yelled.

  Nobody fired.

  “We don’t have any bullets!” one of them yelled.

  “Jason said we’d be okay without ‘em!” another yelled.

  A girl wearing a pillowcase stepped in front of the rest and raised a machete. “Then throw the guns to the ground, you lousy pieces of shit, and fight with blades! They killed my Jason!”

  “Are you fuckin’ kiddin’ me?” Tact asked.

  “We got this,” Hawks said as he stood, aimed his gun, and fired on the crowd of gang members.

  Ayana let two more arrows fly in rapid succession.

  “If you guys wouldn’t mind picking up my arrows whenever you can, I’d appreciate it! Might need ‘em later!”

  Bronc handed Emma over to Lisa, who had her gun out in front of her, but wasn’t yet shooting.

  “Lisa, keep an eye on her please.”

  Before Lisa could reply, Bronc let out a loud roar, stepped forward with his shotgun, and blasted down one charging gang member. The guy’s axe was high over his head, ready to come down, when Bronc caught him in the chest.

  “This is too easy,” Tact called out. “How could they not have bullets?”

  The answer came from overhead, somewhere on the rooftops, where machine gun fire rained down. With Gabe and his group so close to a nearby building, rather than out in the middle of the street like the gang, none of the bullets hit them. The
gang was torn to shreds.

  “Another gang?” Hawks asked.

  “No, the general!” Gabe answered as he ushered everyone to the side of the building. “The general has all the bullets!”

  “Well, he ain’t sparing any now!” Tact yelled.

  “Gabe!” Lisa yelled.

  In all the excitement, he’d lost track of her, hiding in the shadows of a building overhang, with both babies slung in her arms. Emma was crouched down next to her. Gabe rushed to their aid, keeping his gun trained on the rooftops around them.

  “This general is sick bastard!” Bronc yelled as he wrapped Emma in his arms.

  “Ova hea!” came a familiar voice, calling out to them from a busted window.

  Gabe glanced over to see Jaundice Jones crouched down in the shadows, trying to get their attention. “Psst!”

  Gabe waved the others towards the building and led them through the window frame. Inside, he wrapped Jaundice Jones in a big hug.

  “How did you get here?” he asked.

  “This hea ma town. I tried tellin’ y’all that, but you wasn’t listenin.’”

  “That general is one sick son of a bitch,” Gabe said. “You didn’t tell us he was that insane.”

  “Well…” Jaundice said as he looked down at his feet and raised his eyebrows. “Yeah, he crazy.”

  “We need to get to the tower, my friend,” Gabe reminded him.

  “Maybe we should just leave this town,” Ayana argued.

  “The fastest way out is yur boat, and dat ain’t gon be easy,” Jaundice replied. “Easier getting’ to da tower.”

  “And how the hell are we gonna do that with a fuckin’ army on top of us?” Tact asked.

  Jaundice Jones passed Tact a wink and a smile.

  “Did he just…did he just wink at me?”

  Jaundice ignored him and made his way into a back bathroom. Gabe followed, just in time to see the man slide a toilet out of its place, revealing a hole in the ground, just large enough for a man to drop down into.

  “Didn’t tell ya everything really. Kept a few secrets, but ya should know now!” he announced. “Come on!”

  He dropped down into the hole. Gabe heard the sound of the man splashing into shallow water below.

  “Foller me!” Jaundice yelled.

  Gabe held Lisa’s hand and looked her in the eye.

  “We’re gonna have to follow him, Lis. I don’t like sewers anymore than you do. Trust me. I’ve seen enough of ‘em. But we don’t have a choice.”

  “I’m not a porcelain doll, babe. I’m pretty bad ass, remember?” she said with a forced smile and touched her right fist to his chin in a fake knockout punch.

  “Yeah, you are.” Gabe agreed. “Look, I’ll go first. You hand the boys to me once I’m down there.”

  “Got it.”

  He dropped down into the sewer and reached up for the boys. Once everyone was down in the tunnel, Tact and Hawks lifted Jaundice up so he could slide the toilet back in place, completely hiding their escape route.

  The sewage tunnel was pitch black. Jaundice snapped glow sticks and handed them out. Faint green light illuminated the tunnel. As they sloshed their way through the tunnels, Jaundice filled them in a little.

  “Where did these come from?” Hawks asked as he waved a green stick around like he was dancing at a rave. “I don’t imagine you have many party stores in town.”

  Jaundice didn’t answer and Gabe figured all sorts of shit must’ve been brought back from the other side of the mirror. Hell, according to their navigator, there’d been mad scientists building bombs not too far from where they now stood.

  “Sorry, had to disappear on ya, but Slim was spooked. He’s scared ta death a tha general, and perty much anything else that makes noise,” Jaundice explained.

  “It’s cool,” Gabe said. “I was actually glad you left. I would’ve felt pretty bad if something happened to you because of us.”

  “How do you know about these sewers and that hole under the toilet?” Lisa asked.

  “I done survived a lot hea. Ya can’t make your way around, reportin’ ‘bout the Chi-Killian if’n ya don’t know the shortcuts.”

  “So where are we, exactly?” Gabe asked.

  “The maze,” Jaundice informed them.

  “Wait, the maze? Like in the general’s maze?” Hawks interrupted.

  “Yessir.”

  “Hold on,” Tact stepped in. “We’re in the maze? The maze that’s used to get rid of the really bad guys in Chi-Killian?”

  Jaundice Jones nodded and smiled

  “Yup.”

  Tact rubbed at his head, started to speak, but then stopped and rubbed his head again, looking completely confused.

  “Jaundice, we’re a little baffled, man. What the hell are you talking about?” Gabe asked. “Why are we in the maze?”

  “Y’all needed an escape and I gave it ta ya,” he replied. “Don’tcha worry none. Yur safe wit me.”

  “Please tell me there aren’t any monsters in here,” Lisa said. “We’ve dealt with monsters before, Mr. Jaundice, so please tell me we won’t meet any down here.”

  “Is not what y’all heard,” Jaundice assured them. “In fact, is nothin’ like ya heard. Trust me.”

  “But what about the story you told us in your apartment?” Gabe asked. “About the people in the maze.”

  “Didn’t tell ya all. Thought ya could be a rat, da general be usin’ rats all da time, ya know? But now that I know you ain’t in cahoots with that general, guess I can share a little a da truth. Look, y’all just faller me. You get it soon enough.”

  Having no other choice, Gabe decided to trust Jaundice Jones, and the others trusted Gabe, so with glow sticks in hand, they made their way slowly and quietly through the dark tunnel system. Sounds from above ground echoed through the sewer, as well as some strange noises from within. Every once in awhile Gabe would hear a moan or a cry or a whine, each one making the members of their group huddle closer together.

  Finally, after about a fifteen minute march, Jaundice turned to the rest of them and held the glow stick up, which only intensified the sickly look of the man’s face.

  “Listen close,” he said just above a whisper. “I told ya about the people sufferin’ from da blast. The general sends people down here in da maze, an they don’t survive because they come in here lookin’ for a fight. These people don’t wanna hurt nobody. They nice people. But you gotta treat ‘em as such.”

  “The cannibals?” Hawks asked.

  Jaundice looked up as if fishing through his brain for an answer, some alternative to calling them cannibals. When he found none, he just nodded and shrugged his shoulders.

  “Ya, kinda. They eat what they can, but never by force, unless force is how it comes to them. Understand?”

  “Man, I don’t know about this,” Tact said with a shake of his head.

  “You’ve been down here before?” Hawks asked.

  Jaundice nodded his head. “Yessir.”

  “And they like you?” Hawks followed.

  Jaundice scrunched up a corner of his mouth.

  “Like is a maybe a strong word. They don’t be dislikin’ me.”

  “Do you believe this shit?” Hawks asked as he walked away.

  “Are we safe, Jaundice?” Gabe asked. “That’s all I need to know. Are they going to let us pass?”

  “Yessir,” Jaundice assured them. “Keep da guns hidden an just keep walkin’.”

  Gabe didn’t like it any more than the rest of them, but there was no alternative. They could climb out of the sewers and take their chances with the general, who seemed to have eyes in the sky, or they could stay below ground and try waltzing right through the mutated cannibals who were known for ripping apart those who’d pissed off the general and couldn’t make it through the maze.

  Either way could result in fighting for their lives, but at least in the tunnels there was a slight chance they’d make it out peacefully. So far, Jaundice seemed like a trustworth
y friend. After all, he had risked his life to save them from the general’s slaughter.