I gained speed on Wren as she limped in her running. She must have twisted her bad foot to make it hurt worse than it normally did. I caught up to her in no time.
Which meant the troopers could too.
“Are you okay?” I panted out.
“Yeah. Did the others get out?”
I risked a glance backwards and saw everyone was following us. That wasn’t ideal, we needed to spread out and reduce the risk of a large group being captured at once. We would have to work with what we had.
Beyond them was a group of troopers. They were running for us, their guns swinging back and forth with every step.
“They’re following us. We need to move faster. How’s your foot?”
“Fine.”
“And now the truth?”
She half-grimaced, half-smiled. “It hurts like hell. But I’m not hanging around and waiting for it to feel better.”
While my feet continued to run and keep pace with Wren, my eyes scanned our surroundings. We needed a place to hide, somewhere we could get to quickly without the troopers noticing.
The district was full of offices and supporting stores. We weren’t going to find any abandoned buildings there. It was a thriving sector, each of the businesses making the rich people of Aria even richer.
I ducked into an alleyway between stores, tugging Wren along with me. We raced along in the middle of the two brick walls, the stench of trash from a row of bins making the air thick and barely breathable.
We came out at the back of the row of stores. If we could make it for a few more blocks we would be able to scatter through Stone Park. It was the only true green place in the city and full of trees and shrubs. It was our best chance for finding a hiding place.
“Park,” I said.
Wren nodded and we kept running. Footsteps continued to pound after us. Whether they were friends or the enemy, I didn’t know. Right now all I could think about was getting to the park and finding a place to hide.
Wren wouldn’t be able to run forever and I would only be able to carry her so far. The troopers wouldn’t have any trouble catching up to us given enough time.
Nothing in the world would make me let go of Wren’s hand.
The park loomed in the distance, a green blob in a sea of gray. It grew larger and larger the further we charged. The footsteps behind us were gaining with each stride. We had to move faster.
“Come on, Wren. We’re almost there,” I panted.
She fastened a little, putting every last piece of energy into the action. Her bad foot had to be hurting her. If we didn’t find a place to hide soon she would collapse right where she stood.
The arched gate to the park came into focus. It was open, thankfully. We ran in and I scanned the area for a suitable place. Hiding was never better than running but it would have to work for us today.
I spotted a bunch of trees, huddled together like they needed to stay warm. Thick bushes and shrubs crowded around them, making the trees look like they were wearing skirts. I veered for them, Wren changing course to go with me.
We dived into the shrubs and went a little further inwards until we could crouch down with some semblance of being hidden. I pulled Wren so she was underneath me, my body covering hers as we tried to merge into the earth.
Some of the other Resistance members dived in after us, finding their own hiding place.
Our breaths were too loud as we tried to gulp in much needed air. My ears were hypersensitive, listening for the sounds I didn’t want to hear.
The boots of the troopers.
The clicks of their guns.
The voices of our enemies.
Nothing moved in the trees. We were rocks and boulders, hugging the ground like it might save us. If we hid for too long moss would grow over us, claiming our bodies as part of the foliage.
“Come out, Thompson,” a male barked. “We know you’re in here. Do you want your death to be fast or slow? Because I can make it go either way.”
Wren whimpered and I held her tighter. The taunts of my former comrades didn’t bother me, it was what I expected. Wren, on the other hand, wasn’t used to the direct talk of the troopers. They weren’t as personal when they raided the Defectives’ village. They usually only barked orders and called them names.
Voices mumbled together, too quiet for me to hear. The troopers were discussing something they didn’t want to be overheard. It seemed like they were so close I could reach out and touch them.
“Trooper Corporal Thompson, get out here with your Def girlfriend or I’m going to just start shooting.”
“You deserve a painful death, you filthy animal.”
They were just words.
They wouldn’t kill me.
My heartbeat echoed in my head, my veins pulsing with adrenalin. The troopers could be planning on staying out there for as long as it took for us to surrender. They would take it in shifts, making sure to outlast us.
I couldn’t let it get that far.
I needed to act before backup arrived.
Slow, painfully slow, I raised my head just a little. Between all the leaves of the shrubs I could just make out their booted feet. Four boots and no more.
Two troopers.
It wasn’t the best odds to take them on but it was better than ten to one which it would be soon.
I crouched down lower until my mouth was next to Wren’s ear. “Stay here until I tell you to move. Okay?” Her little head shook just a tiny bit.
Looking around, there were about eight others hiding in the area. One of them was Samson. I caught his eye and pointed to the troopers, mouthing ‘fight’. He nodded his understanding.
Now the odds were more even.
I pushed up off Wren and leaped through the bushes. Samson followed a few seconds later. We took the troopers by surprise, not giving them a chance to raise their guns before we were on them.
We both grabbed for their weapons first, wrestling them out of their hands and throwing them into the shrubs – away from the people hiding.
The odds were getting better by the minute.
All we had to fight with now were our hands. I balled my hand into a fist and threw it at the trooper’s open helmet. I knew him, his name was Doherty and he would fight dirty given the chance.
His head snapped to the side from the impact before I threw another punch to his ribs. His Kevlar vest was going to protect him from most blows, I had to hit him lower or higher than his chest. His neck seemed like a good place to start.
Using one hand to push his head backwards, I punched him in the throat with the other hand. Doherty went into a coughing fit, doubling over and leaning on his knees for support while he recovered.
He never got a chance. I continued to fight him, showing no mercy in the same way he didn’t. I glanced briefly to my right, seeing Samson about to lose the fight with his opponent.
I jumped onto the back of the trooper attacking him, grabbing his head and trying my best to twist off his helmet. It gave Samson just enough of a window to land a few blows of his own.
The trooper staggered backwards, trying to fling me away so he could finish off Samson. I linked my legs around his waist from the back, making sure he couldn’t throw me off. Samson didn’t waste any of the opportunity, whaling on him until his knuckles were bleeding.
With a groan, the trooper fell. I jumped off his back before he hit the ground. Doherty was still coughing and grasping his throat, staggering toward the gates.
“Everyone move!” I called out to the trees.
People started emerging, including Wren. I went straight to her and grasped her clammy hand in mine. We started running again, this time a steady jog instead of the fleeing speed we were used to.
We moved together in a group, encouraging the slower ones to make sure nobody was left behind. We were a team, we had to make it to safety together, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to live with ourselves.
Samson fell into line with me a few blocks further from the pa
rk. “Joseph said we need to get to the warehouse in a situation like this. If we keep up with this pace we might be able to make it before morning.”
“Sounds good to me,” I replied. “But we need to split up. A group this big is going to attract attention.
“We’ll go in pairs and triples. I’ll spread the word.”
“Thank you. See you at the warehouse.”
Samson nodded and fell back to the rear of our convoy. He started to give orders to the others until we broke into small groups. I steered Wren toward the next street. Shooting off to the right, we headed in that direction. The others disappeared in the distance.
When I was absolutely certain we weren’t being followed, we went down to a fast walk. The whole city was still our enemy so we stuck to side streets and shadows.
“How’s your foot going?” I asked.
“It’s fine.” She was lying again. Wren never complained about her foot, it was like she tried to pretend it didn’t exist. But it did and I knew she had to be hurting.
“I can carry you for a while if you’d like?”
She shook her head, her expression determined. “No, I can do it. It’s better now we’re walking and not running.”
I made her promise she would tell me if she couldn’t go any further. Even then I didn’t really believe she would but I had to try. I didn’t want her to suffer in any way, she didn’t deserve it.
We were too exhausted to talk so we walked largely in silence, all our senses trained to hear approaching danger. It was a long walk to safety.
Chapter 15: Wren
The warehouse was a chaotic mess when we arrived. Joseph had somehow beaten us, I assumed he managed to take the van and drive across town from the shelter.
Or maybe he sprouted wings and flew.
Tonight, nothing would surprise me.
We were exhausted and weary when we joined the others inside. Those that lived in the warehouse were aiding those that had fled the shelter. The numbers of the missing were startling. I hoped they were still on their way and not lying dead in the shelter.
Or worse, taken by the troopers.
I wrapped my arms around Soleil when I saw her, grateful that she’d made it. Soleil was always kind to the Defective Clones, she’d never shown fear or disgust toward us like most people.
Soleil was taking a roll call, noting Reece and I as having arrived in good condition. “There’s still plenty more missing. Hopefully they’ll all turn up soon.” She smiled but it was tired and forced. “Joseph said he wants to see you as soon as you arrive. He’s in the room in the far corner.”
I thanked Soleil and we headed toward the room she pointed out. We passed by all the injured, a mini-hospital was established where the wounded were being treated by other members. I doubted any of them were actually qualified to give medical treatment.
After I saw a man with his arm barely clinging to his body, I stopped looking and fixed my gaze on the far wall. He wasn’t going to survive the night, as hard as they tried to save him.
The troopers were heartless animals.
Just following orders was not enough of an excuse.
They were all fighting in a war, partially to protect those like me. I felt guilty that they sacrificed themselves for the cause, wishing there was another way to go about it.
It only made me hate Stone more.
I clung onto Reece’s hand like it was my lifeline, planning on never letting it go. If anything happened to him I would never forgive myself.
Joseph was at the front of a crowded room when we entered. His highest ranking members surrounded him and were talking all at once. Their faces were grim, their mouths set in frowns that threatened to be permanent.
“We need to scatter all over the city until President’s Day,” Joseph said, yelling louder than any other of the voices. He was trying to gain control of the room and wasn’t succeeding. “This attack changes none of our plans. It only makes us stronger and more determined.”
I had to agree with him there.
I was fighting not only for the clones now but for all the people that the troopers took away today. Friends and colleagues. Lost too soon without doing anything that meant they deserved their death.
“You will all take your allocated teams and hide them until next week. Communication is going to be dangerous and should be kept to an absolute minimum.”
“We need to act tonight,” George said. He wasn’t in the shelter when the troopers attacked, he was assigned to the warehouse. He’d avoided all the carnage. “Show them we won’t be taken down. We need to make a statement, be firm and hit them hard.”
Joseph was looking even wearier than normal as he shook his head. “No. Reacting to the attack is exactly what they want us to do. They want us to go in unprepared and rushed. We must stick to our original plan. One week is all we have to wait.”
More people yelled out their discontent at waiting. I understood their fervor. After seeing everything I saw in the shelter, and knowing how terrifying it was, I wanted to do something too. But Joseph was right, they wanted us to react which meant we had to bide our time.
They wouldn’t be expecting us in a week’s time.
Then we would get our revenge.
Good things came to those who wait.
The voices in the small room whirled around, picking up speed and volume until they were a tornado. I let them pass right by me, switching off as I became numb.
When Joseph had convinced them to stick to the plan, he came to Reece and myself in the corner. He wore dark circles underneath his eyes, his shoulders stooped by the weight of his responsibilities.
He put on a brave face. “You two need to come with me. I will keep you close for the next week. I can’t have you captured, you’re too important to the plan.”
He was talking about Reece, really. I didn’t have anything much to do in the fight. Reece was integral to knowing how the troopers would react and what their protocols would be. He was also strong in battle – something I’d witnessed earlier.
We followed Joseph all the way through the warehouse. He answered questions thrown at him, all of them variations on the same theme.
When are we attacking?
Where are such and such?
Why haven’t they arrived yet?
He answered them all kindly, whispering comforting words about staying positive and optimistic. He left them with traces of hope that would keep them going for a little while longer.
Joseph had one of the mission vans, confirming my earlier theory of how he got away from the shelter. He drove it himself, Reece and I his only passengers.
Nobody spoke on the journey.
We arrived at a small house in the residential section of the city. The door to the house’s garage automatically went up as we approached. Joseph guided the van inside and it closed again behind us.
He turned around in his seat. “This is one of our safe houses and we’ll be staying here for the next week. The neighbors are not friendly, they do not know about the Resistance. Therefore we must be vigilant at all times.”
“Got it,” Reece replied.
He helped me out of the van, picking me up and carrying me when my foot gave out. Being in Reece’s arms felt like the safest place in the world to be. He lifted me like I weighed absolutely nothing.
The house looked just like every other one – normal. The kitchen was stocked with food, the beds were made, personal knickknacks huddled on shelves with photos of people we didn’t know. It was like the true owners had just stepped out and we were taking their place.
I had my own room in the house. It contained a bed and a closet full of clothes that would fit any size. A bookcase was full of books, wooden love hearts at each end to keep them in line.
It was the loveliest room I had ever seen.
The first room I had ever had.
As tired as I was, I didn’t want to close my eyes and miss seeing any little detail in the room. The walls were painted pink,
they matched the bedspread and the rug on the floor. The curtains were made of lace with heavier ones attached so they could close over and keep eyes out.
I loved it.
All of it.
Reece laughed at my enthusiasm but I didn’t care. That little part of the world was all mine for the next seven days. My clothes and skin were too dirty for me to touch anything. I didn’t want to spoil a thing with my layers of mud.
I took a shower before I allowed myself to feel the softness of the bed. I slid under the covers and brushed my fingers over the soft pillowcase my head rested on.
It felt like I had died and gone to heaven.
But in the next moment, I blinked and fell asleep.
The seven days passed too soon. There was a regular routine of getting up, eating, playing some of the games from the hall cupboard, training with Reece, hearing stories from Joseph, and then finally showering and retreating to my room.
Some nights I couldn’t sleep. Those were the nights when the ghosts of the things I had seen and the horrors I had felt came to haunt me. They weren’t scared off by the pink innocence of my room. Instead they invaded my dreams like soldiers, marching on and taking me prisoner.
On those nights I read books from my bookcase.
I’d never read a book before.
Clones, especially Defective Clones, weren’t allowed library cards. Sometimes I would stand outside the huge public library and dream of all the wonders it contained inside the pages on the shelves.
I stole a book once, from one of the rich houses we had broken into for food supplies. We were almost caught that time and I dropped it in a puddle on the way back to the village. It was ruined, soaked through from beginning to end. I took that as a sign that Defective Clones didn’t deserve to read books.
In seven days I had read three books.
They were just as wonderful as I imagined they would be.
I was sad to leave the house with the pretty pink room that was all mine. But we had a mission, the biggest one of all. I reminded myself that I was fighting for our freedom. Fighting for the right to be able to walk into the public library and borrow a book.
One Spark of Hope Page 15
