The Dead Planet Series: Exodus (Book 1)

by Drew Avera

  Chapter 32

  "Laurel?" I couldn't believe that Sorell had found the link between Laurel and me. Two policemen were holding her by the arms and I could tell that she had been crying, it made me think about Kara and when she had been abducted.

  "So I believe we have an understanding then?" Sorell said.

  "If you let her go then I will not kill you," I said. Sorell laughed at my words and stepped up to me with his smile drawn into a sneer. He back handed me across my face, a move that I didn't see coming.

  "That is not what this is about." Sorell screamed the words at me. "I am not afraid of you, Serus. I just don’t appreciate the fact that you feel that you can have power over me." He punched me in the stomach so hard that I was sure that he had fractured one of my ribs. I heard Laurel scream, but it was a muted sound because of the ringing in my ears. I felt like I was underwater and being held down by my arms.

  "During your training you are taught that you are nothing. Do you remember your training?"

  "Yes," I said between gasps, I was certain of the fractured rib now.

  "Yet you think that a person who is nothing, who has nothing, can stand up against the Syndicate?" He hit me again in the face. My vision was blurry, but I could see Laurel break free and run away. I tried to call out to her, but I was having trouble collecting my thoughts, maybe I had a concussion. My words came out in soft mumbles that even I couldn't understand.

  "Sir, what about the woman?" I could hear one of the men ask as the blood rush to my head settled down.

  "Let her go," Sorell said. "We can find her later, after we kill Serus and his sister."

  He's going after Kara too? I eyed him and realized that this would never be over. He didn't want me to surrender my cause; he wanted me dead and out of the way. If I died then Kara and Laurel will be killed too. By standing here and taking this punishment I was only conceding to his demands and enabling him to kill us all. I had to fight back.

  I steadied myself, ensuring that I had good footing for what I was about to do. Once my feet were planted I put everything I had into flinging the men who were holding me together. I only succeeded in throwing the man to my right down onto the ground. I was weaker than I had thought. The man on my left went to grab me but I reflexively threw my fist into his nose, blood splattered in a high arc over his head.

  "One of you men take control of this man." Sorell shouted. The policemen in the back started towards me, but my hands were already free and my gauntlet was armed. I fired at one of them and they fell over dead from a shot to the neck that seemed to have disintegrated the bones in his neck. I fired another wild shot narrowly missing the next man who tackled me. I struggled under his weight, but he was strong. He pinned my arms down so that I could not fire at him.

  Another of the policemen came up on my right side. I looked over and could see that his leg was in my line of sight so I fired my gauntlet and relieved him of his left leg. The man howled in pain and fell over, going into shock immediately. The larger man who was on top of me struggled to keep me pinned down. I was thrashing against his restraint and trying hard to break free. The first man that I had knocked down came up and pinned my right arm down and secured my gauntlet. I still struggled to fight them off, but it was useless. I had succeeded in killing one of them and knocking two more of them out of the fight. There were still three more policemen and Sorell to go up against, but my hope was quickly fading, as was my strength.

  "Very we'll played, Serus," Sorell said with a smirk. He was delighted by my show of force regardless of the outcome. "You are so very passionate aren't you? You obviously can see through the charade and know that I'm going to kill you. Before this moment I was perplexed at how to do it, but now that you have killed one of my policemen it only stands to reason that he will need to be replaced." Sorell smiled a toothy grin again.

  "What, do you think I'm going to work for you now?" I spit the question out of my mouth and noticed the taste of blood on my tongue. It must have happened when I was tackled before.

  "No I don't expect you to live past the next minute or so, but your gauntlet will make a nice addition to my already indomitable power. Wouldn't you agree?"

  I watched Sorell come up and unlock my gauntlet from around my wrist. I could feel the sensors pull out of my skin, but the discomfort of that moment was nothing compared to the dread that I felt. After he killed me then he will go after the ones that I love, Kara and Laurel. Sorell tossed the gauntlet in the air a few times playing with it.

  "Get on with it," I said defiantly.

  "Oh, I will. Don't you worry about that," he said. Sorell clasped the gauntlet around his wrist and made an awkward facial expression as the sensors dug into his skin. Once the sensation passed he was back to his normal, maniacal self. He turned the control on and took aim at a point on the wall behind him and fired. "This is an excellent weapon. I can see why the Agency has its people use them. It's so easy to fire."

  I looked at Sorell and still tried to fight against the men who were holding me. Sorell smiled at me again and adjusted the control to a lower setting. He fired the gauntlet at my neck and I could feel the burning sensation as the laser impacted my flesh. I grimaced at the pain, but I refused to cry out. His smile was only getting wider as I eyed him the entire time that he fired upon me.

  "This is great fun," Sorell said as he brought the gauntlet down and adjusted the control again. "But fun time is over. I think now is time to finish this." He brought the gauntlet back up and I fought to keep my eyes open as a blue laser beam tore through Sorell's chest. I had to blink and refocus on Sorell as his body fell over limply. Did I just imagine this? The large policeman on my left turned around and then fell backwards with a hole in his head.

  Realization struck at that moment that I was being rescued. The policeman who had been beside Sorell ran up to stop the intruder, but I put every ounce of my body weight behind my shoulder as I sent it into his stomach, stopping him instantly. I jumped onto him and began striking him in the head with everything that I had. Blood pooled onto the floor from his cracked skull that was caused by my assault. I could see the last policeman fall to the floor dead beside me as I continued wailing into the other man’s face. I was in a dark place of hatred and contempt and I could feel myself falling away from reality, away from my humanity.

  "Serus!" I could hear her scream my name. Kara had come to save me, but I was beyond saving now. Each punch that I delivered to the mush that was once a person’s head reminded me that I was too far gone. "Serus, stop!" It's too late, I can't stop.

  "Serus, please?" This voice was different. It wasn't Kara this time. Was I missing something? Laurel! I turned to see the horrified look on her face at what I had done, what I had to do to survive.

  "Laurel," I said feeling powerless. She would never understand what had happened. She would just look at me like I was a monster for killing this man with my bare hands.

  "Serus," she said as she wrapped her arms around me, unafraid of what I was and what I had done. I put my arms around her and held her close. Kara walked around the passageway and killed the two policemen who were still breathing.

  "You can't be too careful," she said as she looked at me. I nodded my agreement with her as I stroked Laurel's hair with my hand. Kara disappeared behind me and I could hear a metallic clicking sound before she returned to my field of sight. She was holding my gauntlet in her hand. "I think it would be a good idea for us to get out of here," she said.

  "I agree," I took Laurel's hand and followed Kara back up into the cargo bay, back up to a life that would be less dangerous, at least for a time. For now I had the two women that I loved most by my side, Kara and Laurel. That was more important to me than surviving my run in with Sorell.