Eleven Graves

by Aman Gupta

  Emma, when looked closely, realized that it was near the spot where her car had broken down earlier. She told Joey about hearing a girl’s voice while she was sitting in the car.

  “I don’t think we’ve found all the girls. One more is missing. Let’s go,” said Emma.

  “It’s almost midnight. We’ll go tomorrow,” said Joey.

  “But the girl could be gone by then,” said Emma.

  “I doubt anything could change overnight. If she’s there for a long time, she’ll likely be there tomorrow as well. Plus, it’s a strange territory. We can’t navigate there safely at night,” said Joey.

  “Okay, we’ll go tomorrow,” said Emma.

  Emma didn’t go home that night. She sat on the couch impatiently. Joey couldn’t go home either.

  Meanwhile, Kate had found a lead of her own in those two days. While looking into Anton, she came across a photograph where Anton was seen talking to a man. The date was a year ago, the location, tagged ‘San Antonio’, thousands of miles away from New Frontier.

  It wouldn’t have made sense to Olivia, but Kate recognized the man. He had handed her the weapon to kill Sarah and Katie. Kate was shocked. She browsed through more pictures, looking for recent ones, but couldn’t find one. She saw hundreds of videos and photographs, looking for that man.

  While skipping through a video, she saw a person limping down the road, with his back towards the camera. One of the men who was walking next to him sounded like Anton, based on the other video recordings that she had seen, but the voice was distant and incomprehensible. She played the video frame by frame, to check for clues about their possible location. The penultimate frame captured a road marker.

  ‘Not Welcome to TS – 19’

  She thought of telling Emma and Joey, but decided that it wasn’t their fight.

  Emma and Joey were waiting for the sunrise.

  “See you tomorrow,” said Kate, as she left the station.

  She drove to the bridge, hoping to cross into TS – 19. Getting into TS – 19 was just a beginning. Scanning hundreds of square miles of area for a person looked more daunting.

  She crossed the bridge on foot, and reached the fence. Cutting the fence without making noise, took an hour of her time, but she managed to get through. She kicked herself for not thinking of carrying bolt cutters.

  Walking through the waist high bushes, she was forced to walk across a swamp. She could feel small fishes on her legs and waist, but she kept moving forward.

  It was only a hundred meters, but the darkness made it looked like she was walking into the abyss. After crossing the swamp and walking for another mile, she reached a small town, with less than ten homes. She saw couple of men talking near the entrance gate, and couple of kids playing around fire. Wary of being treated as hostile, she went right instead of forward, hoping to go across the town.

  She wasn’t even sure what she was looking for. It’s almost as if she hoped to run across Anton, standing alone, unarmed in front of her. After walking for a mile, she felt that someone was following her. She would turn around, even use the flash light but couldn’t see anyone. Soon, the movements multiplied. Every step she took, she could hear at least four more distinctive sounds. Stealth wasn’t their priority anymore, Kate thought.

  She picked up her pace, and after few seconds, started running. She looked behind and saw around five people running after her. She changed her direction and went straight towards a town she could see few miles ahead, down the slope. She tripped on a rock hidden in the dense vegetation, and rolled down the slope. Eventually, she fell into a cavity. She could hear the men approaching. They stopped and looked around. After a few minutes, Kate could hear them walking away.

  She jumped and climbed out of the hole, using her arms. She went towards the town after slowing making her way down the slope. She can’t keep running, she thought.

  As soon as she reached the town, her phone rang.

  “Walk away, Jenna,” said the caller.

  “Who’s this?” asked Kate.

  “Walk away,” said the caller, and disconnected the call.

  Kate called back but the number was unavailable.

  Kate looked around but couldn’t see anyone. She thought about it for a minute, and entered the town’s perimeter.

  Suddenly, she heard a shot that hit an empty tin can, few feet away from her, blowing it away into oblivion. Stunned, she stood her ground.

  She remained resolute, and sauntered forward after a few seconds. No more shots were fired. The town was abandoned. The cobblestone road was lined with ornate street lamps, rustic old world style buildings carved out of white marble and stucco, as well as outdoor cafes. Kate knew she was going the right way, and whoever she was up against, wasn’t ready to kill her yet. Her confidence grew higher than the world’s tallest mountain.

  ◆◆◆

  In the morning, Emma and Joey drove to Old River. Emma parked her car at the very spot she had earlier.

  “What now?” asked Joey.

  Emma scanned for different frequencies through the console attached to the dashboard of the car, but received no output.

  “This is useless. Let’s go,” said Emma.

  They got out of the car and went into the neighboring forest, based on the radius marked by Olivia.

  With their weapons drawn, they walked into the forest. They weren’t prepared for a battle, only a fight.

  Emma looked for tracks or footprints, while Joey glanced around hoping to see a structure. They failed to make any headway in their first hour. Joey estimated that they had already crossed the radius, and asked Emma if they should head back and go in a different direction.

  Emma reluctantly agreed. They headed back, this time towards the right. Another fifty miles and they would’ve reached the Byre Lake. After wandering for an hour going in all sorts of directions, they stopped to take a breather.

  “Maybe she got the area wrong,” said Joey, sipping water from a bottle.

  “I heard the voice,” said Emma. “It sounded like a girl.”

  “Maybe it did come from the town. It could be a prank,” said Joey.

  “I don’t think so. I mean, Olivia was also interested in this place. Why? Didn’t she and Anton work on the same team? And Anthony also told Olivia to back away. I do believe she was onto something,” said Emma.

  “Maybe we should go to Atlantis and ask her,” joked Joey.

  “If this doesn’t work out, I will,” said Emma.

  “You’re not serious, are you? There’s no way I’m going back there, or letting you go there by yourself,” said Joey.

  “Why? I’m not scared,” said Emma.

  “Neither are these people. Did you forget what they almost did to Morrow? I mean, they levelled a town for a freaking chip. It’s not about courage, it’s about wisdom,” said Joey.

  “Since when do you talk about wisdom?” smiled Emma.

  “The day I realized that courage is useless without wisdom. I mean, you should’ve seen the people at Atlantis. It was all mind games. Vik told me that Atlantis could just be the beginning of a whole new world if something wasn’t done. But if that’s the case, we’ve already lost. We can’t do this alone. We’re not just talking about an army here. I mean, how do I possibly kill someone on the 40th floor if I can’t get to the 40th floor because the freaking gate of the building won’t open without the right access code?” said Joey.

  Emma nodded in agreement.

  Joey picked up a branch and drew a circle on the ground. He divided the circle into eight sectors.

  “Here, we have covered these 5. Now, these 3 on the other side are left,” said Joey.

  “Okay, let’s go,” said Emma.

  “One more thing – if we do find something, don’t go all guns blazing. We’ll talk about it first. Feel the area,” said Joey.

  “You’re smothering me with your wisdom,” smirked Emma.

  “I mean,” said Joey, before being interrupted.

  “I k
now. I know. I was just joking,” said Emma.

  They went to the overlooked sectors. As they were crossing over to the second sector after not finding anything in the first, Emma spotted a hut.

  She called out Joey’s name in a low voice, and pointed out the hut to him. He came over to her, and together, they walked towards the hut.

  They went around it to spot if someone was guarding the place, but couldn’t find anyone.

  “It looks abandoned,” said Joey.

  “So, what’s the plan, the wise one?” said Emma, with a straight face.

  “You go in first. If you don’t return, I go home,” said Joey.

  “Okay,” said Emma, and started walking towards the house.

  “She really is a dolt,” murmured Joey. He followed her.

  They knocked on the door for a while, but nothing happened. They picked up a huge rock nearby and broke down the lock of the wooden door.

  It looked like a normal house from the inside, only a little too destroyed. The floor was smashed, the glasses were cracked, the walls were broken and the furniture was torn apart. They tried to switch on the lights but it didn’t work.

  “Looks like someone left in a hurry. And didn’t want anyone to know about this place,” said Emma.

  “Let’s check around,” said Joey.

  They split to go into different directions. While searching, Joey found a door to a basement. He walked down the stairs to investigate. The area was poorly lit, the only light in there was sunlight coming through a tiny hole on the top of the left wall. Half way through, there was a partition wall with a door in the middle, and a small window on it. He looked through the door window, but the curtains were drawn.

  He opened the door, and entered the room. As he looked around, he realized what it was. It looked like a hospital room. The machines were turned off, but the bed looked being recently slept in. No dust inside this quarantine room, did throw off Joey’s estimates. He looked around for some clues, but couldn’t find one. As he was about to leave, he stepped on a pillow which made a crackling sound. He picked up the pillow and found a locket inside it.

  After a while, he returned upstairs and looked for Emma. She had found a room that could’ve been a bedroom a thousand earthquakes and hammers ago.

  To Emma, it looked like a little girl’s bedroom based on the size of the bed, the color of the walls, and clothes under the debris.

  Joey stumbled upon a small room with cables pulled out of the wall, and a broken monitor on the floor. He removed the yellow debris of the adjoining wall to investigate. He found a remote radio device, with a broken console. It looked like the device had been smashed with a hammer.

  Emma called out Joey’s name. He rushed towards her voice.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Joey, after catching his breath.

  “I found this picture hidden inside the pillow,” said Emma.

  She showed the picture of a young girl. Brown hair and blue eyes.

  “She looks familiar,” said Joey.

  “Yeah, she does. I’ve seen her somewhere,” said Emma.

  “The photograph looks recent too. Recognize the place?” asked Emma.

  “No. Why, do you?” asked Joey.

  “My sister and I used to go there every year. That’s the Mount Rainier National Park,” said Emma.

  “Didn’t Mount Rainier erupt few months ago? I heard about it or was it something else,” said Joey.

  “Yes, it did,” said Emma.

  Joey showed Emma the locket he had found in the basement. Emma looked at the locket for a minute, and then stared at the photograph.

  “I know who she is,” said Emma. “We’ve seen her pictures before.”

  “Oh my god,” said Joey, looking at the picture intently.

  ◆◆◆

  After taking a break in an abandoned shed, Kate continued her journey the next afternoon. She had reached a road that cut through the fields. She decided to walk along the road, wherever it turned, hoping to hitch a ride to a nearby town. Hope these people use cars, Kate thought.

  After walking for an hour, Kate heard a car coming from behind. She turned around and saw an SUV coming towards her. She initially hid in the fields, but later stepped out. She waved her hand, hoping to stop the car, but the driver didn’t apply the brakes. The car stopped a hundred meters away. She ran towards the car, and knocked on the passenger side window. Suddenly, three men got down from the back of the car, and pointed their guns at Kate. The driver rolled down the window and told Kate to get in. They put a bag on her face, and tied her hands. Kate attempted to memorize the route that they were taking, but soon realized that the guy was driving around in circles every few minutes, to throw off Kate.

  Around two hours later, the car stopped. When the bag was removed from her head, Kate saw that she was in a warehouse tied to a chair.

  She saw a man coming from the west corner of the building and stopped in front of her. He was the guy she was looking for, all this time.

  “You shouldn’t have come here, Jenna, or should I call you Kate? I think I’ll call you Jenna. Makes me feel like we go a long way back,” said the guy.

  Kate smiled, then started laughing.

  “What’s the joke? Please, do share,” said the guy.

  “Another hour, and I would’ve left. There’s no way I could’ve possibly found this place. I just hoped that someone would be stupid enough to take me to you. Didn’t know it would be you,” said Kate.

  “That might be the case, but it’s not like you’re going anywhere,” said the guy.

  “I am already where I want to be,” said Kate.

  “Oh, Jenna. You’ve always been short-sighted,” said the guy, and turned around to leave.

  “What’s your name?” asked Kate.

  “You can call me Nick. I changed it, named myself after your late son,” said the guy, and left the room whistling.

  Kate’s smile vanished.

  Nick received a call, when he stepped out to smoke a cigarette. The caller chastised him for being stupid, and ordered him to get rid of Kate. He asked if he could get rid of her permanently, but was told to keep her alive.

  The day passed. Kate was being prepped for transport to a remote facility, from where she would be taken back to Morrow.

  “Why did you leak my name to the cops?” asked Kate.

  “You know why,” said Nick. “Not that it mattered.”

  “How was Anthony Arnold involved? I know he was the one who ordered the hit on my family. But why?” asked Kate.

  “You’re grasping at straws here. Even fishing for clues that aren’t really there,” said Nick.

  “Then why did you kill him?” said Kate. “I take it that it was you who hired Morgan to take out Anthony. You got me involved. But why? You could’ve hired him directly.”

  “We don’t work with entry level amateur thugs. You, on the other hand, had the means and the motive. Should things have done wrong, we would’ve hung a rope around your neck and cried justice. People would’ve believed it too. It’s not exactly beneath your legacy,” said Nick. “I’m a businessman. I choose the work and the way to do it, where I can maximize my profit. Fortunately, I was told of your willingness to assist us, and how easily you could be guided. That’s the profit of controlling people. You can really control them.”

  “Wow, for a guy who is pretending to be in control of the entire operation, you really are trying hard to justify your worth to me,” said Kate.

  She was told that her friends would die a painful death, should she enter TS – 19 again or continue searching for Nick and his associates.

  “I won’t rest till I meet your handler,” said Kate.

  “You don’t really understand,” said Nick.

  “Tell them I can make it worth their while,” said Kate, as Nick was about to close the car’s door.

  After a second, he reopened the door.

  “How?” asked Nick.

  “Set a meeting, face to face. I’ll tell
them directly,” said Kate.

  Nick smiled, “Nice try.”

  “I know where Jay is,” said Kate, in a hurry.

  “So do us. We know when he breathes, where he breathes, and how he breathes. I think even he knows it, sometimes,” said Nick. “Anything else?”

  “I have all the data. Jay stole it from Olivia before he destroyed Atlantis,” said Kate.

  “Strike two,” said Nick. “We control the backup.”

  “Not this data. It was Olivia’s private research. Hidden from everyone. I think your employer would be interested in it,” said Kate, with her poker face.

  “Where?” said Nick, after thinking about it for a minute.

  “Arrange the meeting,” said Kate.

  “I need proof that you have what you claim to have,” said Nick.

  “Sorry, I don’t work with amateur thugs,” said Kate. “If you don’t believe me, you can close the door. I’ll make sure that every single byte of that research is erased forever.”

  “You have it on you?” asked Nick.

  “Don’t be stupid. It’s hundreds of terabytes even after maximum compression. But I know how to access it,” said Kate.

  “Give me a minute,” said Nick.

  He went away, and made a phone call. Kate saw the animated conversation in the rear-view mirror. He returned a minute later.

  “Be careful what you wish for,” said Nick, as he shut the door.

  Kate was blindfolded. It was an hour away, said the guard next to her when Kate asked. The roads were damaged, the ride was painful, and the wait was dreadful.

  ◆◆◆

  Vik drove to the cemetery, after leaving the church. As he walked down on the lone cobblestone path with Olivia in her arms, hundreds of memories flashed before his eyes. He would stumble occasionally but would gather himself. He couldn’t afford to let her down. A grave had already been dug up for Ally’s empty casket. He kissed Olivia on her forehead and laid her down in the pit. His body was losing strength, while his hands were almost numb. Exhausting every ounce of strength, he buried Olivia. Each time he used the shovel, his heart broke into hundreds of pieces. He had never imagined he would be burying her in the quest of his vengeance.