by Kate Sander
Carter paused for a long time, “It’s weird Sen. They are all already unlocked?”
Senka pulled the door. The red light remained on but she heard the clink of the lock and the door slid open inwards.
“Oh this is very bad,” she said to Carter.
“Bail. Evac is,” she heard him typing away at his computer. “Evac was turned around. That wasn’t my order,” his voice was rising with panic. “Sen I’ll fix it I swear.”
“Well I guess the only way to go is forward then,” she said calmly. Carter was typing so fast it was annoying in her ear. “Any ideas which way?”
“The schematics aren’t right,” Carter said, almost frantically, “It’s like they have been scrambled. My guess is that straight is to the kitchens, left is to the gym and right is to the unknown.”
“Right it is then.”
“Sen I’m so sorry. I don’t know who gave the order for evac to turn around. Must be a communication line down.” Carter was frantic. She needed to get him under control.
“Carter I know,” she started having a suspicion in her gut, but she couldn’t voice it right now. “This isn’t the same as Tomo, and I never blamed you for that anyway.’
“I messed up,” Carter said.
“We all did. You tried to call off the airstrike, communication broke down. Life is rife with communication break-downs.” She stepped through the door and swept her gun and flashlight. The hallways were concrete and dark, lit only by yellow lights spaced far apart. There were no windows. There was a hallway straight ahead and one to the left and right. She turned right. Leo took point.
“I was drunk that day, Sen,” Carter said quietly. “The day Tomo died. I came to work still drunk from the night before. I killed her.”
Senka sighed. She wasn’t supposed to be dealing with an emotional partner and people trying to kill her at the same time. It was a lot to focus on.
“I know,” she said quietly. They were walking swiftly through the dark hall. “We all knew. You were going through shit. But Tomo didn’t die because you were drunk. She died because the radios cut out at that moment. Nothing more, nothing less. A freak ten second communication error killed her.”
When Carter didn’t say anything, Senka continued, “Carter you’re the best handler in the ZTF. You didn’t even make a mistake. It was beyond your control which is why it’s bothering you.”
She heard him breathing and typing.
“I need you here with me.”
“I’m here for you,” Carter said. “Sorry I panicked. Evac said they must have gotten the wrong code. They are just over an hour out. We will get you out of there.”
“I will get Isaac out with me,” Senka said. “I promised.”
28
Isaac
October 31, 2023, 04:07
Location: Dorfen, Germany.
Isaac was sitting on the floor of his cell. His back was towards the wall shared with the strange woman. He was lightly hitting his head repetitively against the wall.
He wasn’t sure what to believe or what to think. The woman had been out of the cells and it looked like she was being forced here against her will when they came and retrieved Kelly. But François hadn’t balked at her presence. And she had admitted that she’d worked with these guys.
He wasn’t sure what time it was or even what day. They left the lights on in the hallway all the time. He slept when he fell asleep, woke when he needed to.
He tapped his head, over and over.
Kelly was dead. The woman wanted to help him out and get him out of here. She said she knew his father. He didn’t really believe her. Those seemed like slim odds, he’d never seen this woman in his life. He didn’t know why she would even try to help him when she had been working for the bad guys. She must have made them mad because she was in prison, but he didn’t really feel bad for her.
Suddenly, quietly, he asked, “What’s your name?”
A long silence followed. Isaac started fearing the woman was dead or hurt. He didn’t know if he’d get out of here without her help.
“Dr. Charlie Penner,” she answered finally, to Isaac’s relief.
The lights around the cells flickered slightly. Isaac stayed silent as a couple guards jogged lightly past his cell door.
“Your time is going to come soon,” Charlie said cryptically when the guards were gone.
“How do you know?”
“Didn’t you see the lights flicker?”
Isaac scoffed, “That could be anything.”
“How long have you been down here?” Charlie asked. “Tell me, have the lights ever flickered?”
Isaac thought back and found that she was right. The lights had been steady until that point. “No, they haven’t.”
“Exactly,” Charlie whispered, “something was activated. I’m going with a silent security system of some sort. You have to be aware of your surroundings, kid.”
“I’m a fifteen year old kid from the suburbs,” he whispered angrily. “How am I supposed to know any of that?”
“Stop worrying about yourself and worry about what’s around you. If you would have done that in the first place I bet you we never would have met.”
Isaac wanted to yell. He settled for kicking the bed in front of him. It was bolted to the floor and pain exploded through his foot. “You know nothing about me,” he exclaimed angrily, gritting his teeth and grabbing his foot.
“I know you probably ran away and got caught by some asshole because you were angry. Probably at your parents. For being good parents and giving you shit because you deserved it,” she said steadily through the wall.
Tears filled Isaac’s eyes and this time he did yell, “It wasn’t my fault!”
“Take responsibility for your actions, kid. Even if someone is holding a gun to your head, you decide how you act.”
The anger grew. He wanted to punch something, anything. He realized he wasn’t angry at her but at himself. She was right. He had stayed at the party too late. He had run away from his mother.
A hurried whisper, “Good. He’s coming. You’re only going to get one shot at this. I’m sorry it has to be you and not me.”
Isaac was confused, he didn’t know what she was talking about. Suddenly he heard the hall door open and the smooth steps of polished shoes, not boots, in the concrete hall outside.
“What am I supposed to do?” Isaac whispered frantically. The ominous steps grew closer, clipping sharply down the hall. Charlie stayed silent. “Help me!” he whispered loudly.
François stopped in front of his cell door. He was in a tailored blue suit with brown leather shoes. Isaac didn’t notice that his tie was slightly askew.
“What is all this yelling about?” François said smoothly in his French accent. Isaac stepped back in fear. He had a predatory look in his eyes and Isaac was instantly uncomfortable.
“Help me!” he said again. Silence from the cell next to him. Isaac had a sick feeling grow in his stomach. Charlie wasn’t going to help him. Charlie wanted him dead, just like Kelly, and he had bought into her lies.
François smiled broadly and scanned his key card. Isaac’s cell door opened and he stepped inside, leaving it open behind him.
“I am sorry I haven’t been able to break your spirit,” François said. “I have been exceptionally busy. I have found a buyer for you, however.”
Isaac took another step back. He was filled with disgust and dread. Someone had bought him. His back hit the wall. He had nowhere to go.
François approached him slowly. “Unfortunately, due to a recent visitor to our compound, I need to move you earlier than expected. The buyer won’t be ready for you for another week,” François stopped in front of him. “He’s an especially affluent man in Norway. I think you will do well.” François slapped him across the face, hard. Shock and pain caused Isaac to stumble. He steadied himself and wiped his mouth. The blood on his fingertips mesmerised him.
“But, fortunately for me, this buyer does not care if I have a bit
of a go at you before you’re sold.”
Isaac’s stomach roiled. He began to figure out what he was talking about and he was so afraid.
François rushed forward towards him.
Isaac reacted purely from fear. He pushed François back, hard, using the wall as an anchor. François was surprised by the sudden movement. He stepped back and his shiny brown shoes slipped on the concrete. He fell backwards. Isaac held his arm out to catch him. François fell in slow motion. He hit his head on the steel bed frame. His eyes rolled up into his head. His arm twitched a little and then he was still. Dark red blood pooled slowly around his head.
Isaac was shaking. He stumbled back and fell over his own feet, hitting the ground hard. His stomach was turning. He was sick.
“Good job, kid,” he heard Charlie say from behind the wall.
Isaac lost it. He tried to steady his shaking hands and stood up. “I JUST KLLED A MAN!” he yelled. He accidentally looked at François’ dead body. It made him sick and he threw up.
“Calm down,” Charlie said quietly.
“I killed him. He’s dead. I just wanted him off me. He’s dead!” Isaac rose from his knees.
“You did what you had to. The real world is a terrible place. You did what you had to do to survive.”
“How can you be so calm?” Isaac yelled. His hands were shaking. He was trying to walk it off. But he couldn’t. That guy was evil, sure, but who was he to take a life?
“Isaac,” Charlie said, slow and steady, “I need you to deal with this later, ok? You need to focus on the problem. Slow your breathing.”
Isaac listened. He tried to slow down his breathing. But the panic, the panic was rising. It was going to break the surface again.
“Isaac, you need to get his key card.”
Isaac shook his head, “No, no! I’m not touching him.”
“It’s in the right pocket of his pants, on a leather lanyard. You just need to grab the lanyard and pull.”
“No, no, no!”
“Isaac,” Charlie spoke softly but firmly. Isaac was instantly reminded of his mother. His heart rate slowed a little and he listened. “Isaac, there are other kids here. These guys are going to sell them. They are going to sell you. You need to get the keys. You need to get us all out of here.”
Isaac looked up. He saw a little girl, no more than six, looking at him from across the hall. She was dirty, her hair was mangy. She was pressing her face to her cell bars, staring at him. He was surprised, he had always thought that the cell across from him was empty. She must have always cowered in the back corner in the dark. She was staring at him blankly, willing him to get her out of there.
Isaac rose and approached the body. He was still shaking but he had to do this for the little girl.
He saw the lanyard. He focused entirely on it. He didn’t look at François’ face or the blood. He kicked the leather away from the body. He composed himself when he saw the body move. He leaned down and grabbed the lanyard and pulled. His pulse raced when it caught slightly in the pocket, but he was relieved when it came free.
“I have the key card,” Isaac said.
“Good job,” Charlie said kindly. “You need to hurry.”
Isaac nodded to himself. François had left his cell door open and he ran out. He hoped that no guards would come. That would be his fault.
He went across the hall and scanned the card. The light popped green and he heard the lock disengage. He pulled the door open and the little girl scurried out.
“Wait here,” he said. He ran to the end of the hall and began to unlock the doors as fast as he could. There were no older children left, Isaac was the last of them. They had all been taken over the last few days. There were a total of six other children, all under the age of ten. No one said a word. They were all in shock and emotionally shut down. But they were listening.
Isaac returned to Charlie’s cell. He didn’t know what he was expecting. He hadn’t really taken a good look at her when she had been brought to his cell. He had been too busy trying to stop them from taking Kelly. He saw a beautiful woman, mid-thirties, red hair that was still tied back pristinely. She was sitting cross-legged beside her bed, back against the wall that she shared with Isaac’s cell.
They stared at each other. Isaac was frozen. This woman had helped him, but she had helped kill Kelly. He was sure of it.
Charlie smiled at him. “I get it. Go left outside the main cell doors. Stay right down the hallway. All the way to the end. There’s a kitchen, go through the back and out the loading bay. There shouldn’t be any barbed wire on top of the fence with the gate. Climb over and run. Find a house, call for help.” She smiled at him, a sad smile.
“You killed Kelly,” Isaac said. “I don’t trust you at all.”
She nodded, “I don’t blame you. You shouldn’t trust me. But make your decision fast. I hope whatever the disturbance was that François was mentioning buys you enough time to get out. There will be a couple of guards on the door outside. They are still too scared of me. Catch them by surprise.”
That surprised Isaac. If they were scared of her, maybe she wasn’t all bad.
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” he said and unlocked her cell door.
Charlie looked surprised, and as she stood she replied, “Until they stab you in the back.”
29
Dr. Charlie Penner
October 31, 2023, 04:16
Location: Dorfen, Germany.
Charlie gathered the children behind her and led them to the door. She used the key card to tap the lock and, thankfully, the light turned green and she heard the latch unlock. She slowly opened the door inwards. There were two guards, heavily armed, standing on either side of the door.
Where Senka was fast, Charlie was balanced. Senka saw auras, Charlie was so smart she knew exactly how her opponent would move before they did. That meant that Senka and Charlie were pretty much equals in hand to hand, close range weapons and long range weapons. Senka, however, had embraced firearms more quickly than Charlie had. Charlie still liked using her hands and her sword. She was still a wicked shot, and Senka was unreal when she had her Tantos in hand, but it was preference. And luckily for Charlie, she preferred close quarters. Charlie shook off the memories of Senka. She was most likely dead. It was no good remembering the dead.
Charlie was worried. It had been a long time since she was in a fight. But she trusted her decade in The Other Place. She turned to Isaac and held up a finger. “Stay,” she mouthed to him. White-faced, he nodded. She could tell the adrenaline from killing François was wearing off and fear was starting to creep in. She needed to move fast, get him moving again. If he froze she couldn’t trust any of the younger kids to get them all out.
She took a deep breath and exploded through the door, catching the guards by surprise. Before they could raise their guns she elbowed the man to her left in the nose, crushing it in a spurt of blood. His head snapped back and hit the concrete wall hard. She turned quickly and kneed the second man between the legs. He made a loud “Oof” sound as he doubled over in extreme pain. She used his forward momentum to crush his face into her knee. He fell to the ground, unconscious. She turned and kicked the first man in the face.
Both men lay on the floor in unconscious heaps. And her elbow and knee were sore. She shook her hand out a little to stop it from tingling. It was going to be a long day.
“Woah,” Isaac said softly behind her, “how do I learn how to do that?”
She chuckled softly, “Trust me, kid, you don’t want to know.” She moved her shoulder, it was already starting to stiffen up. She wasn’t as young as she used to be. She looked around. There was no one else in the long, dark concrete hallway. The only light came from flickering florescent lights spaced far apart.
“Remember stick right. All the way through the compound. Stay in the shadows. If you see anyone coming just duck somewhere and hide.”
Isaac was still staring at the unconscious men. Charlie noticed h
im making a fist. Charlie grabbed his shoulder, turning him towards her. “Don’t be a hero,” she said harshly. “You run, kid. You get everyone out. You have to go see your mom.”
Isaac nodded and the fist relaxed. He had determination all over his face. “What about you?” he asked.
“I’m going this way,” she said, gesturing down the dark concrete hallway. “I’m going to make as much noise and hassle as possible. I’ll draw them my way.”
“You’ll die!” Isaac whispered.
She smiled at him and knelt beside the downed men. She grabbed a steel baton and held it out to him. “Takes a lot to kill me,” she said. When he reached for it she added, “Aim for the head. Swing to kill.”
Isaac paled but grabbed it from her. She was struck again by how young he was. And how much he looked like Carter.
“You’ll be good,” she falsely reassured him. “Remember what François said? There’s something amiss, a disturbance. Use it to your advantage.”
He nodded again. Charlie could tell he was trying to reassure himself. She wasn’t convinced herself. She knew that it was a long shot that the kids got out. But a long shot was a still a shot. And the only one in the foreseeable future. Isaac gathered the six other kids around him. They all were terrified, but they stayed silent. Not even a sniffle. Charlie gave them a reassuring smile and handed Isaac François’ key. Isaac took it and stared at her.
“Go,” she said harshly. They had been in this long hallway way too long.
He stared her in the eyes and held out his hand. He looked so much like Carter in this moment Charlie took a visible step back. She gathered herself and took his hand, giving it a firm handshake.
“I hope to see you again,” he said.
She smiled at him and nodded. “Get out of here.”
Isaac turned with the children. He went a few steps then, looking back, he asked, “Who is my father?”
Charlie waited a moment. “Carter Green,” she answered.
