The Expedition

by Chris Babu

  Drayden held her hands. “I do. I believe it’ll work. Even if it doesn’t, we’ll still find a way to win. After that I think it may take us a while to handle business in Boston, whatever that is, and then we’ll get home. You’ll see your sister again, safe in the Palace.”

  Drayden didn’t mention his own improbable return, since this story was all fantasy anyway. He hadn’t a clue whether they’d win this battle or not, and no idea what would happen after. He thought it highly unlikely anyone else would make it home either. They would all have to pray the Bureau showed mercy on their families and allowed them to remain in the Palace. They’d left New America with one-way tickets, as people used to say back when airplanes flew. Deep down, Sidney probably knew it too, which was why she asked. But it was much easier not to face the harsh reality.

  She cupped her hands over her mouth, sobbing in short bursts. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

  Drayden hugged her, rubbing her back. Given how strong a person she was, it was easy to forget that she was human too. Her love for her sister had pushed her to do what needed to be done, but it didn’t mean she wasn’t scared. Everyone expected her to step up, to deliver. It struck him how much she needed support as well.

  Sidney rested her head against his chest. She pulled back, wiped her eyes, and smiled. “Sorry. I try not to think about her, because I always start to cry.” She shook out her hands. “I’m better now. Thank you, Drayden.”

  He gazed into her eyes, their faces now an inch or two apart.

  Her warm breath kissed his lips. She tilted her head a tad more and closed her eyes.

  The head of lettuce exploded.

  Sidney tumbled off his lap.

  “Jesus!” Drayden yelled, flopping off the guardrail himself. He checked the roof.

  Eugene was kneeling with his elbow rested atop the roof’s wall. His Glock remained in place, aimed directly at them, or where the lettuce innocently sat before it was assassinated. He’d shot it with his silencer on to alert them.

  It meant the Guardians were in sight.

  Charlie jumped up and down on the roof, frantically gesturing toward the highway.

  Drayden’s stomach twisted in knots. Holy freaking shkat, it was finally time to do this. He took short, rapid breaths and drew his Glock. But his feet wouldn’t move.

  Sidney grasped him by the arm and yanked him up the highway exit ramp. She flew ahead of him, pumping her arms, her pistol in her right hand.

  Drayden wheezed, struggling up the ramp, which ran uphill, curving to the left. Thick trees lined it on both sides, making it tunnel-like, providing superb cover.

  Out of breath, he reached the top of the ramp.

  Sidney was crouching behind the guardrail, viewing the highway. Her chest heaving, she motioned toward the south.

  Drayden knelt beside her.

  The sky’s brilliant canvas of pink, purple, and blue was fading. I-93 ran downhill away from them, curving to the left. They hid on the southbound side, with the northbound lanes on the other side of the concrete barrier.

  In the distance, three silhouettes carrying rifles marched up the northbound lanes. One of them was limping.

  CHAPTER 31

  Guess it was Captain Lindrick’s foot you shot,” Drayden whispered to Sidney. They remained behind the metal guardrail where the highway and the exit ramp met. “Well done.”

  “I was hoping for Duarte, but Lindrick’ll do.”

  Captain Lindrick hobbled, putting little weight on his right foot. The limp made him seem much older and weaker. If the Guardians had noticed the smoke, they revealed no sign of it.

  Sweat dripped down Drayden’s cheeks and dampened his back. With shaking hands, he cocked his pistol.

  “When do we go?” Sidney asked.

  “Not yet. When they’re about two hundred feet away.” Drayden noted the Guardians weren’t wearing the privates’ backpacks. They must have taken what they wanted and left them.

  They were still about a quarter mile down the highway.

  The timing was critical to the plan. The Guardians first needed to see them, and then give chase. The distance between them would be significant later.

  As the Guardians neared, their heads turned toward the smoke.

  They looked awful. Dirty, gaunt, ashen. Drayden didn’t care to imagine the nightmares they had experienced the past three days. Considering the trauma the privates had endured to reach Boston, they must have survived their own horrors as well.

  He wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. Allowing the Guardians to inch closer was nerve-racking, but the strategy had to be executed with discipline. Two hundred feet was close enough to yell. When the Guardians eventually began shooting, Drayden had to ensure he and Sidney weren’t hit.

  “Sid, get ready,” he whispered.

  The Guardians carried their rifles in the low-ready position—ready to act but facing the ground.

  Drayden was trembling. He took a deep breath and exhaled. You can do this. He touched Sidney’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”

  The two of them strolled side by side onto the highway, heading toward the city up the southbound lanes. They walked a few steps; enough for the Guardians to notice them. It needed to appear as if he and Sidney were simply jaunting north, unaware of the Guardians’ presence.

  “Now, Sid!”

  Drayden spun around and dropped to his knee, taking aim at the Guardians, who were preparing to fire themselves. He squeezed off five high-speed rounds.

  Sidney also knelt and fired.

  The Guardians scattered. Duarte jumped behind the guardrail bordering the northbound lanes, and Greaney dove down onto the asphalt. Lindrick took a knee and fired a flurry of bullets at Drayden and Sidney.

  “Get down!” Sidney screamed.

  She and Drayden scampered back to the guardrail and ducked behind it.

  The Guardians methodically approached, using the cement barrier between the north and southbound lanes for cover.

  Drayden fired two more shots from behind the guardrail.

  Almost time.

  The Guardians took cover.

  “It’s time, Sid!” Drayden said.

  She grabbed him by both cheeks and pecked him on the lips. “You ready?”

  He nodded. They jumped to their feet, fired once more at the Guardians, and dashed out of sight down the ramp.

  Sidney blew by him.

  Drayden hopped over the guardrail on the side closest to the office building. Before escaping into the trees, he glanced back.

  The Guardians were charging the ramp. Lieutenant Duarte and Sergeant Greaney led the way, with Captain Lindrick struggling to keep up.

  It was a relief that they bit and were following. All according to plan, though Lindrick’s lagging could become a problem.

  Drayden ducked into the heavy foliage beside the highway ramp. Dodging tree trunks along the way, he stumbled down a steep embankment to the swampy area below. At the bottom, he surveyed the marshland surrounding the building. He bolted, splashing through a trifling stream in two giant strides. The water soaked his boots and socks, chilling his feet, but he continued running as hard as he could.

  This part of the plan would be the most difficult for him. He needed to reach the roof of the building before Sidney arrived in the marsh. It was going to be close.

  Drayden whacked tall reeds out of the way, powering through his burning legs and heavy lungs. He leapt through the mud with increasing urgency.

  Right now, Sidney would be sprinting down the exit ramp, the Guardians in tow. Since she moved like lightning, she would have to ensure she didn’t get too far ahead. They needed to observe where she went so they could follow. If she let them get too close, however, they could shoot her. Hopefully she was managing her speed accordingly.

  Drayden reached the parking lot, sprinting his heart out
. His wet feet sloshed around in his soaked boots, and he was totally out of breath.

  Charlie and Eugene would be watching Granite Avenue with their rifles drawn. If the Guardians neared Sidney enough to shoot, they needed to protect her. Catrice would have heard the gunshots on the highway, and she would be in position in the marsh, ready to go.

  Drayden flung the building’s back door open. He darted inside, sliding all over the linoleum floor with his wet boots. His lungs were on fire, his wheezing audible. How in the world could he climb five flights? He could barely breathe. Maybe he messed up his own role and wouldn’t make it in time. He could miss the whole damn thing.

  He jumped up three and four stairs at a time, grunting, wiping the sweat out of his eyes. Two stories, three, four, five.

  Drayden entered the makeshift house on the roof and stopped for a second to gather himself. Sweat poured down his cheeks. He had to be quiet now. He couldn’t be breathing heavy and sure as hell couldn’t cough.

  He nudged the door to the roof open, on the side opposite where Eugene and Charlie stood, and tiptoed down to the edge of the house, near the roof wall that overlooked the marsh. He stopped there, staying out of sight in case they turned around.

  A little to his left, both boys were leaning over the waist-high roof wall with their backs to him. Propped up on their elbows, rifles aimed, they watched the action through their scopes.

  Drayden struggled to catch his breath. He scrunched his face up to choke back a cough desperately trying to escape.

  He’d made it in time. Sidney was racing down Granite Avenue, just shy of the marsh. Duarte was a few hundred feet behind her, with Greaney right behind him. They were a little far, but within sight of her, which was all that mattered. Captain Lindrick trailed way behind Sergeant Greaney.

  Running for her life, carrying her pistol in her right hand, Sidney’s face glowed bright red. She veered left into the marsh. Once inside, she took broad, hopping strides, fighting to move swiftly through the mud.

  From the Guardians’ angle, she would have gone out of view. They would have witnessed her enter the marsh and disappear among the tall reeds. A line of trees along the marsh’s edge blocked the view into its depths. They would see the smoke from the fire deep in the marsh, and hopefully assume she was headed there. Once the Guardians reached the marsh and entered, they would be able to see her again through the reeds.

  Drayden bit down on his lip.

  Now that she was trudging through the swamp, dealing with the mud and the weeds, she had slowed. The Guardians were gaining on her, fast.

  C’mon, Sid. Move, dammit.

  She arrived at the mud pit and dropped down out of view.

  From the roof of the office building, she was visible lying down on the mucky marsh floor. From inside the marsh, though, she’d be hidden.

  Immediately after she laid down, Catrice jumped up, just past the mud pit. Sporting her Guardians cap, she bounced toward the fire, carrying her pistol in her right hand.

  The Guardians cleared the line of trees and charged into the marsh, chasing after Catrice. Except they believed it was Sidney, still running for their “camp” at the fire by the river.

  The Guardians followed Catrice in a straight line with her path to the fire. They were headed right for the mud pit.

  The privates and Eugene had tinkered with the mud pit, turning it deadlier. They covered the first few feet of it with the shower curtain liner, which they concealed with mud, weeds, and reeds. It was totally invisible. By the time you stepped on it, finding only air beneath, you were done. Even if the Guardians veered left or right of the shower curtain, the pit was wide and malicious enough.

  “Euge,” Charlie said. “Euge, we got a problem. Lindrick is way too far back. He’s gonna see the other guys drop in the pit. He’s not gonna fall for it.”

  It was a serious problem. With the limp, Lindrick couldn’t keep up with Greaney and Duarte. Little did he know the limp would save him from nose diving into the mud dungeon.

  Catrice was not the athlete Sidney was. The Guardians were rapidly closing the distance—much closer, and they could shoot her. But they were headed straight for the pit. Almost there.

  Drayden contemplated how Lieutenant Duarte and Captain Lindrick believed he was weak. They were wrong. While he wasn’t ruthless or skilled with weapons, he had his own skills. He was about to prove that he was stronger than they were.

  Duarte and Greaney were ten feet from the pit. Duarte raised his rifle at Catrice.

  Five feet from the pit.

  They disappeared, as if they vanished into thin air.

  Yes! Drayden pumped his fist in the air. It worked!

  Catrice continued moving toward the fire, as instructed.

  The other Guardians screamed like crazy from inside the pit, trying to keep Captain Lindrick from falling in. He stopped just short of it.

  “Oh shkat,” Charlie said.

  Drayden’s smile faded.

  Sidney.

  She lay in the weeds, mere feet from Captain Lindrick, who was raising his rifle at Catrice.

  No!

  He lowered the weapon, and looked around, confused.

  Catrice slowed to a jog. From Lindrick’s position, she was a sitting duck. Target practice, if he decided to shoot.

  “Euge!” Charlie said. “We gotta take him out. He’s gonna kill Sid or Catrice. We have to do it, Eugene!”

  “Yeah.” Eugene stood upright, holding his rifle in the air.

  Charlie glanced up at him for a second, before looking back through his rifle’s sight. “You want the shot? Or you want me to do it?”

  Eugene didn’t answer.

  “Eugene! We have to shoot him, dammit!”

  Eugene set his rifle down, drew his Glock, and held it to Charlie’s head.

  “I don’t think so, Charlie. Drop it. Now.”

  Charlie gawked at him. “Euge, what are you doing? It’s me.”

  “Drop it. Now!” Eugene barked.

  Charlie dropped his rifle on the roof.

  Drayden snuck up behind Eugene and shoved his Glock into the back of Eugene’s head. “You drop yours, you two-faced snake.”

  Eugene turned his head back a tad. “What the—you gotta be kidding me. Drayden?”

  “I said drop it, you shkat flunk.”

  Eugene sneered. “What, you gonna shoot me? You refuse to kill people, remember? Hell, you couldn’t even hit me from there.”

  Drayden drove the muzzle into the side of Eugene’s head. Hard. “How about from here?”

  Eugene dropped his weapon.

  Drayden peered into the marsh.

  Captain Lindrick raised his rifle once more, aiming it at Catrice.

  Catrice. No.

  “Charlie, grab your gun! Shoot Lindrick! Now, Charlie!”

  Charlie fumbled for it and aimed.

  “Take the shot, goddammit!” Drayden screamed.

  Eugene kicked Charlie in the head, knocking him over. He cried out. The rifle tumbled to the ground.

  Oh my God.

  Drayden couldn’t hit Lindrick from here. Nor could he pull his gun away from Eugene.

  Catrice!

  Wait…what if…

  Drayden held his Glock right by Eugene’s ear, aiming it up to the sky. He pulled the trigger. The gun fired with a loud pop.

  Eugene let out a horrible scream and collapsed to the rooftop, his hand over his ear. He writhed around in pain, moaning.

  Captain Lindrick spun around, spotting them on the roof, and prepared to fire.

  Sidney jumped up from the weeds and shoved him in the chest toward the mud pit.

  Lindrick started falling backward. He flailed his arms, his feet sliding out from beneath him.

  Drayden held his breath. It happened as if in slow motion.

&
nbsp; As Lindrick fell back, he pointed his rifle at Sidney.

  No.

  Sidney backpedaled as fast as she could.

  Lindrick fell into the pit, but not before firing one shot as he went down.

  Sidney!

  She fell onto her back.

  Dear God, no.

  She didn’t get up.

  Drayden’s heart stopped. “Sid!”

  CHAPTER 32

  Drayden hopped down five or six stairs at a time, hyperventilating and crying.

  No, Sid. No no no. Not you. Please, Sid, please be all right.

  Third floor.

  He practically fell down the stairs, sliding like they were covered in ice.

  Second floor.

  He’d instructed Charlie to restrain Eugene somehow and ensure he wasn’t overpowered. Shoot him in the leg if need be.

  First floor.

  Please, please, please.

  Drayden barreled out the front door.

  Sidney and Catrice strode side by side through the marsh, heading back toward Granite Avenue.

  He released a huge breath, his tears turning to joy.

  Thank God.

  He wiped his eyes.

  The girls broke into a jog when they spotted him. Sidney, all smiles, leapt into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist.

  Drayden held her tight, weeping once more.

  “You did it, Drayden!” Sidney sobbed. “You did it. Thank you.”

  He set her down, his hands on her hips. “I thought we lost you. I thought you got shot.”

  She beamed, wiped the tears from Drayden’s eyes, and kissed him on the lips. Not a deep kiss, just a kiss.

  Drayden held her briefly before letting go.

  Catrice had tears in her eyes as well.

  “Are you okay?” he asked her.

  Crouching down, she covered her face, sobbing into her hands.

  “Catrice…?”

  He didn’t know if it was the moment, everything that had happened, or if it had something to do with him and Sidney.