by K. L. Lewis
The group stood silent, and the woman spoke again. “B-2, report. Is everything alright?”
Sarah picked up the radio. “This is B-2. Everything’s fine!” she lied.
“What…happened to your voice?”
Sarah faked a few coughs. “Uh…don’t worry about it. I’m okay.”
“Uh-huh?” It didn’t sound like the speaker bought it. DeMarcus held his breath as he waited for her response. “Just report back here.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Sarah sat the radio on the ground and smashed it with her foot. “Okay, what now?”
“Just stay near us and stick to cover,” said DeMarcus. “There’s no going back after this.”
He stood guard outside the door, keeping watch for anyone coming their way while Yue led everyone else through the corridor. Following behind as they backed against the walls at the intersection, DeMarcus went ahead and aimed into the left hall while Yue led the group right.
They stopped at the end, each tensing over their next move. “Okay, you guys ready?” Yue whispered. Everyone nodded, and they followed her through the corridor.
CHAPTER 28 – HIGH TIER ESCAPE
Fara entered the command room, approaching the table where Lian and Lucas reviewed their plans and tracked their troops in their area. Lucas raised his head as she sat down, looking at the blank wall behind her. “Where’s Iya?” he asked. “She was just with you.”
“I deployed her into the ruins to keep an eye on our pursuers,” said Fara. “With any luck, we’ll gain some valuable intel.”
“Will she be alright by herself?” Lucas asked. “I know she was able to sneak into the country with them, but—”
“She’ll be fine,” said Fara. “She knows how they operate. And I had some of our friends from Coalesce add a few upgrades to the suit she wore the day she joined us—enhanced thermoptic camo and a quantum comm-link to keep in touch any time we need.”
“Why couldn’t we have gotten new thermoptics?” Lian asked.
“That stuff isn’t cheap,” said Fara. “And I had to get other comm-links for the other cells staying behind to back her. Don’t worry, we’ll get new gear in Torvil.”
With their transports arriving at dawn, there was plenty of time to store everything they needed before this hideout was discovered. But something poked the back of Fara’s mind.
She checked her OmniMorph for the time—it had been five minutes since she last contacted B-2. “They should have been back by now,” she said, turning to the large monitor. “Show me B-2 and B-3’s current position.”
The screen projected a layout of the base, showing the blinking dots of B-2 and B-3’s position still idle in the storage room. She squinted her eyes. “Show me the visual feeds.”
Multiple screens appeared in a grid, the top one showing the outside of the storage room where the two militants laid unconscious. Her fingers clawed on her desk, and her tone deepened to a growl upon glancing at the screen of the empty convenient store. “What happened? Where the hell are the watch guards?”
Lian shrugged. “On break?”
Then, one-by-one, her lower screens went static. She rewinded one back, showing five kids sneaking around, shooting down their cameras.
“Uh oh,” said Lian.
“Deploy all available teams and bring those kids to me!” Fara commanded.
Lucas relayed her message as Fara went to suit up in her quarters, rubbing her head in anguish over how all of this started to happen now.
Yue peeked into an empty hall, where a ball shaped camera hung on the ceiling. She shot it down, and whispered to the others. “We’re good here.”
Mitch’s body shook as he panted. “Guys, I’m not sure. What if we don’t make it?”
“Calm down,” said Tyrone. “We’re gonna make it.”
“How do you know?” Sarah asked. “How was anyone supposed to know this was the Amalgam Concord’s hideout? We never thought this would happen!”
Things were bad enough they were in this mess, but DeMarcus knew complaining wasn’t getting them out of it. “Guys! Stop freaking out! We’ve prepared for something like this. We’re gonna make it.”
Maybe he was getting their hopes up, but at least they had a fighting chance. Anything to keep his friends from the fate he suffered years ago—he couldn’t imagine what the Amalgam Concord would do if they we’re working with his killers.
Reaching the next corner, Sarah pulled out her OmniMorph and dialed emergency numbers. “What’re you doing?” Tyrone asked.
“Calling for help,” she answered. “But I’m not getting a signal!”
DeMarcus shushed them as he heard footsteps scamper around the corner. He signaled Tyrone over as he listened to the nearing voices conversing. “Wonder who snuck in?” asked a man. “Didn’t think we’d be discovered so quickly.”
“Just hurry to the lab,” said a woman. “We need to load up the research.”
“Get ready,” DeMarcus whispered to Tyrone.
The two turned the corner, their guns aimed at two parahuman scientists, a stout, black bearded man and a taller, brown-haired woman, both gasping and raising their hands. But then the scientists relaxed, scoffing at DeMarcus and Ty. “Wha—these are the intruders?” the man questioned.
“What are kids doing down here?” asked the woman. “This place is off-limits!”
“Better question: how do we get out?” Ty asked.
“This is our base you’re in,” the man barked. “You think you can just waltz out so easily?”
The woman gave the man an angry glance, but before she spoke DeMarcus pulled his trigger and fired a warning burst near the scientists’ feet. “Does that answer your question?” he asked. “Because if you need another hint, just ask.”
His finger inched on the trigger again, and the scientists shot their hands back in the air. “Turn left down the corridor, up the stairs, then make a right!” the man jabbered. “There’s an exit that’ll take you straight out!”
“You heard him, guys,” Tyrone said to the others. “Go on, we’ll cover you.”
Yue escorted Sarah and Mitch past them and around the corner, with DeMarcus and Tyrone circling around the scientists, keeping them in sight. Reaching the corner, DeMarcus told Tyrone to go on ahead. “I’ll watch them. Let me know when you’ve reached the exit.”
Tyrone joined the others, leaving DeMarcus alone with the scientists. He kept his finger close to the trigger as the woman made a move. “Easy now,” she said in a calm retreat. “It doesn’t have to be like this.”
“Oh, really?” DeMarcus quipped.
“DeMarcus, everyone’s out! Let’s go!” Tyrone shouted.
In the split-second DeMarcus turned his head to Ty’s voice, the stout man pulled out his pistol. Spotting him from the corner of his eye, DeMarcus dove behind the wall as the scientist fired at him. He backed against the wall and fired blind shots around the corner before checking himself for any wounds.
“DeMarcus!” Yue shouted.
“I’m okay!” said DeMarcus.
“You won’t be for long!” shouted the man.
Yue rushed over and helped DeMarcus to his feet, heaving him to the exit while Tyrone shot at the scientists reaching the corner, pinning them behind the walls. With everyone outside, the gang pushed the door back and locked it. They gazed out at the surrounding decay of the city ruins before them—dead husks of parks and playgrounds, mounds of rubble and debris sloped down towards the crumbling buildings, and metal rusted by grimy water wading from the jagged shores below. The pristine city they came from sat on the plateau behind them, blocked by the walls and mountains of debris.
“Great, now what do we do?” Sarah asked.
The door behind them slowly twisted open, followed by approaching shouts and clapping footsteps around them. DeMarcus peeked around the rusted cars and rubble at Amalgam militants in dark blue, red, and grey uniforms scaling up toward them, drawn to the noise the gang made on their way out. Leading the group toward t
he plateau, his eyes noticed a red dot licking the ground beside them.
“Keep moving!” he shouted, turning and shooting at a disc shaped drone flying overhead. The drone dashed away from his shots and lashed back, its underslung gun hammering out bright blue shards that skimmed DeMarcus’s arm.
He ran back with the others rushing behind the mound of debris toward a crumbling two-story house. Jumping over the hills of concrete and running inside, Yue guarded the house entrance, firing at the Amalgam troops closing in. DeMarcus and Tyrone popped shots at the drone above, feeling a gust of air nudge them as another drone sped by and whisked its shots across the ground.
They dove out of the line of fire, but DeMarcus’s stomach sank as the shots rained down on Sarah. Sarah collapsed to her knees and fell to the ground, leaving DeMarcus speechless as Ty rushed over and bellowed her name. “SARAH!”
CHAPTER 29 – ENTRAPMENT
In a fit of rage, DeMarcus sprayed a storm of bullets at the advancing militants and drones, covering Ty and Mitch in their rush for Sarah. They cradled her limp body on the way to the bombed-out house where Yue stood guard, and with them safe behind the walls, DeMarcus retreated from the puffs of dirt and rubble splashing at his feet from the Amalgam troops firing back. Tyrone unpinned a grenade and threw it behind the rusty aircars, scattering the militants from the ensuing explosion that flushed them out in the open. One of them was shot down by Yue and DeMarcus, but the militants kept swarming in, returning a volley that pinned them behind the walls of the house.
Yue crouched behind the door and peaked back outside where a few militants ran about. She held her rifle out and closed her eyes as she pulled the trigger, belching bullets outside and scoring a hit on a militant. “I think I got one,” she said as she leaned back behind the door.
Great, but they still had dozens more out there. DeMarcus rushed over to Mitch and Tyrone as they laid Sarah on the ground. She was still alive, breathing rapidly, sweating heavily. They examined her body—it was stricken with dark red bruises, none of them leaking blood. It was a sigh of relief, until the gunshots outside went silent.
Twitching his ear, listening for any hint of sound beyond the walls, DeMarcus surveyed the windows to the outside. He climbed up the rubble to the second floor, gritting his teeth at the sight of more Amalgam militants crawling closer toward the front. He leaned down to the gang below. “How’s Sarah doing?” he asked.
Tyrone pressed two fingers on Sarah’s neck. “I feel a pulse,” he said. “She might be okay.”
Some good news, but short-lived. “The Amalgam is creeping toward the front, so I might need some help up here,” DeMarcus said.
Tyrone stood up and reloaded his gun. “Keep an eye on her,” he told Mitch as he joined DeMarcus on the upper floor.
A shot echoed from outside, and one of the militants fell to the ground while the others resumed fire, pelting the bricks and metal of the house as they moved closer to the front. With a small sweep of his gun, DeMarcus halted the nearest militants, sending them running behind the mounds of rubble off to the side. Ty made another spray, falling back as the Amalgam’s shots slammed at their cover.
There was another round of silence, this time with the militants keeping their distance. DeMarcus leaned down to Mitch. “Any luck calling for help?”
Mitch checked his OmniMorph. “Still no signal!”
A faint clap echoed from behind, making DeMarcus’s ear twitch as he scanned the floor below. It paused, then clapped again, each pausing a second longer than the last. Amidst the shards of rock and fallen walls, he squinted down at a faint, glassy image swirling in the shadows.
Mitch snapped his head in the same direction, then jumped and snatched up a steel rod by his feet. “Oh shi—!”
An Amalgam woman uncloaked before his eyes, her gun leveled at his head as he stood guard over Sarah. “That’s enough!” she shouted. “Drop your weapons, now!”
DeMarcus took aim and fired at the militant, who ducked away behind a small piece of a wall. He ran along the floors edge toward the militant, pulling out his electric baton and dropping down with a kick to the militant’s head. The militant fell on her back, and DeMarcus rushed her with a swing of his baton. But the militant blocked the strike with her arm, breaking the baton on impact before kicking him away. He lifted his head to the barrel over her gun, then a quick flash hit his eyes. BANG!
The woman collapsed to the ground, laid out from Tyrone’s shot from above as he dropped down and picked up her rifle. He pocketed some ammo and a few grenades, then slid his and the fallen militant’s pistols over to Mitch. “There. Be careful with them. Give one to Sarah if she wakes up.”
DeMarcus checked on Sarah, still unconscious but breathing. The sooner they got her out, the better.
A bullet cracked over their heads, puffing from the walls behind them as the shots outside resumed. Yue leaned away from a barrage slamming her cover. “Guys, a little help? They’re getting closer.”
Mitch ran over and unpinned a grenade, throwing it out the door to the militants outside. A loud pop echoed, but the bullets continued pelting at the walls, pinning them at the edges. Tyrone looked over DeMarcus and pointed to the back of the house. “Let’s go through there,” he said.
Behind them was a hole back out into the ruins, a narrow passage with rubble and junk snaking toward the plateau where Grand Detroit stood. Tyrone lifted Sarah on his back, carrying her through the fallen walls. “I’ll carry Sarah ahead,” he said. “Come on!”
They made a slow retreat, firing back as three militants reached the lip of the door. They heard a woman shouting orders at the others. “Search the rooms!”
The gang rushed through the narrow passage, following the jagged path toward a tall, glassy hotel slanted over the edge of the plateau. DeMarcus dropped a grenade that blew up the debris behind them, sliding metal and concrete down the passage that blocked the Amalgam’s pursuit.
“Great thinking,” said Yue as they reached the hotel.
The further they ventured through the passage, the narrower it got. Yue took the lead, aiming ahead with her rifle until they stopped at a dead end. They cursed at their misfortune, then gasped and shook from the militants’ rapid footsteps. Yeah, great thinking alright—now they’re stuck!
Yue grumbled. “Now what?”
Tyrone nudged DeMarcus and tilted his head at the walls. “Over there!”
There was a door leading inside the hotel, and possibly a way up to the edge of the plateau. DeMarcus ran over and pulled at the door, barely budging it an inch. Then he fired his rifle at the door’s weak, rusty hinges, but the bullets hardly cracked the metal.
The militants’ footsteps pattered closer. “Over here!” one of them shouted.
Tensing at the voices and footsteps, DeMarcus stood back, then threw heavy kicks at the door. He tumbled inside as the door flew open, then rolled onto his feet and sweeped his rifle at the darkness. Tyrone stepped in next, followed by Yue and Mitch who lifted the door back in place and blocked it with a torn-up couch. Lights poured from the shattered windows as the drones outside peeked in, forcing the gang behind the ravaged cabinets and tables until the darkness poured back in.
Feeling their way around the destroyed furniture near the doorways, DeMarcus and Yue checked the rooms for a way up. On his end, DeMarcus glanced out the windows at the Amalgam militants still searching outside. A human woman masked from the nose down directed the militants searching outside.
DeMarcus recognized her short hair: it was Fara Torres herself. “Search around the alleys and buildings,” she ordered. “They couldn’t have gone far.”
Sneaking back to his friends, DeMarcus whispered to his sister. “Yue, you find anything?”
Yue’s light flashed on him from above. “Over here!” she whispered.
DeMarcus signaled the others over, watching the windows while Ty ferried Sarah over the debris and up the flight of stairs. Mitch followed behind, and DeMarcus stood guard as footsteps outside c
lapped toward the building. “I saw light inside,” said a militant. “Check it out!”
DeMarcus pushed the group onward. “Go! Go! Go!”
They ascended to the second floor, racing across a bridge toward the next flight of stairs as the footsteps closed in. It wasn’t long until the militants appeared on the bottom floor, ducking from the gang’s shots above. Reaching the third floor, parts of the floor collapsed around the gang. They made cautious steps, but they couldn’t afford to slow down now. They were almost at the next stairwell, their path to freedom in the city above.
The path ahead sank to the floor below, leaving a huge gap of nothing but a few beams bridging them to the staircase ahead. And just to make things worse, the Amalgam militants caught up to them. The gang raised their guns and took cover behind the walls, and suddenly Sarah began waking up. “What…happened?” she groaned. “I’m still alive?”
“We’re almost home,” said Tyrone, letting her down. “But we’ve got company.”
Mitch passed Sarah the extra pistol and ammo, and they joined DeMarcus unloading a barrage at the militants approaching the bridge. He looked down a gap where three more militants jumped along the walls of the second floor, and one of them, Fara Torres, climbed the steps up to their floor. He squeezed a few shots, halting them at the stairs before moving Mitch away as Fara shot back.
More of the floor started to collapse and slant on the walls below as the two groups exchanged fire. Tyrone threw a grenade at the bridge, blowing a gap in the Amalgam’s path to them. Then he pointed at the beams. “Only way we can do this is if we each walk across those boards to the stairs,” he said.
“You go first, Ty,” said Yue. “We’ll cover you.”
Ty went ahead, balancing on the beam to the other side. The rest squeezed bursts at any militants peeking their heads around their cover until Ty reached the end. Next went Sarah, then Mitch, who almost fell near the end until Sarah pulled him over.
