Inner Circle

by Y A Marks

  He grinned. “Trivet believes that you can unlock the security system and disengage both the alarms and the fence.”

  “I know there’s a ‘but’ coming, cause my life is never that easy.”

  “Yeah well, we are in the middle of the Death Days, and Trivet is sure that the attack in the Nobody Township wasn’t a coincidence. He believes someone is watching you and that Norwood wants you dead.”

  I didn’t flinch when he told me that. I had a feeling ever since I was invited into Norwood’s office that Dalton had given Norwood the task of killing me. Why else would Norwood be so upset about it when he had his own teenage daughter at home?

  “Do we know who he’s given the job to? The Originals? The Rattlers?” I asked.

  “No clue. But Trivet believes that his people are still uncompromised because all of them hold onto the dream that he can free them. So, they will protect you because—”

  “I’m the key to getting them out—pun intended,” I said.

  “You act like it’s a bad thing, Paeton.” Jonas’s eyebrows tightened.

  “It’s not. I’m just… I’m trying. I’m sorry. They’ll protect me.” I wish I could have taken those last words back. It was the old Paeton trying to come back out, but I had to find a way to keep her in check. The lone-wolf Paeton needed to disappear, and I needed to be what everyone else was: strong, confident, self-assured.

  Jonas sighed. “I’ve sent three of Trivet’s people to Raj to let him know that we’ll be attacking Circle One. I’d have felt more comfortable if we still had Devin, Travis, Pyra, and Shannon, but—”

  “Hey, I’m not dead.” Shannon grumbled and sat up in her bed, before placing her arms behind her for support.

  I couldn’t believe this girl. I craned my head around to see her wide eyes and hopeful smile. Did she ever give up? Did she ever stop going forward?

  Jonas leaned to the side to see around me. “Shannon, you’re hurt.”

  “So, it’s not like you stop fighting when you’re hurt.” She thrust out her head and waved her arm around, showing her displeasure in his words.

  “Look, this is not going to be easy. As far as we know, every inmate in this place is going to be coming after us, to kill us all.”

  “Duh, so it makes sense that you’ll need my bow. It’s not like Paeton can shoot.” She turned to me and smiled. “No offense.”

  “None taken,” I said.

  “I agree,” another voice said. A few coughs followed.

  We all turned around to see Pyra rising up out of bed.

  “I think this is the dumbest plan I’ve ever heard of but, I really don’t want to be left in here if you guys make it out,” she said.

  “Guys…” Jonas started.

  “Ladies,” Pyra corrected him. “You’re the only guy here.”

  “Ladies, look, you two are in bad shape.”

  “So, you’d trust complete strangers with your life? We may be beaten up, but I think we can still make it.” Shannon grinned.

  I turned to Shannon and then looked at Pyra. “We won’t be able to slow down. We’ll be running the whole time.”

  Pyra’s face pruned, and her back twisted in anger. “Ohhh, why is she taking his side?”

  “Look, just give us whatever pain meds they have in here that won’t affect our aim, and we can get moving,” Shannon said.

  Jonas’s mouth opened and closed in repeated movements as he tried to figure out what to say.

  I laughed and leaned over to him. “I don’t think we have a choice. I think they might shoot us if we don’t let them save our lives.”

  CHAPTER 18

  I helped Shannon out of her cot. She still favored her right leg. After a few steps, she pushed me away. “Now, I can’t have you helping me. I’ve got to do this on my own.”

  I noticed a quick grin at the corners of her lips.

  “Great,” I said. “But let me help you now, so you’ll have the strength to save me later.”

  She laughed. “Yeah well, I guess that makes sense.”

  I still felt bad that she had aided me during my mental breakdown a few hours ago. She wouldn’t mention it, but I wanted to prove to her—well, prove to myself that I was going to be a better person. I didn’t care if I had to become like Shannon’s clone with a side of Sun Hi and Rylan. I would be the person everyone needed me to be.

  Jonas helped Pyra up. I still wasn’t that good of a person to let her whiny butt lean on me. She was stronger than she looked and moved pretty easily despite the hole in her side.

  Trivet joined us on the main floor of his house. He had six more people with him, which caused the tiny space to become almost suffocating, especially with the faint, metallic blood smell in the air from Pyra and Shannon’s wounds.

  Shannon slid down into a chair and removed her arm from around my neck. Pyra did the same maneuver with Jonas. I know both of them wanted to help, but I had my doubts that either would be much good in a real fight.

  As Jonas walked closer to Trivet, I sat down on the floor, close to Shannon. There was an irritation near my lower back. I pulled out the empty gun, the same one I had beaten the woman in the woods to death with. I had almost forgotten I had it. I laid it on my thigh and tried to focus on Trivet.

  “If you guys can, by some miraculous maneuver, make it to Circle One before the sun rises, then you’ll be in better shape,” he said.

  My hand rose barely above my shoulder. “What happens when the sun rises?”

  “Norwood has his morning coffee.” He glanced with eyes so intense, I couldn’t believe this was the same person. Sure, the sarcasm existed within the actual words, but there was no inflection in his voice. The words cut into me. It was almost spooky.

  “He looks out over the prison in the morning. Sits right at his window and stares until he’s had two, full cups of coffee,” Jonas added.

  “And how long does that take?” I asked.

  “About forty-five minutes. But he does read the local news via a holo-panel or two. Unless some major event happened last night that we don’t know of, he’s going to want to see what’s happening with the Death Days in his prison.” Trivet’s stare relaxed as he glanced back and forth between me and Jonas.

  “So, we’ve got about an hour,” Jonas said.

  “Sure, we’ll go with that.” Trivet motioned toward the other, six people in the room. “These guys are some of my best. They ain’t Originals quality, but they can hold their own.”

  A thin, Asian guy gave me a slight nod. He stood in front of four white men and one Indian man, all in their mid-twenties. The Asian guy whispered something in Trivet’s ear.

  Trivet nodded with the information and continued. “We’ve already sent a large group to the north wall. I figure they should get there around the time you guys make it to Circle One. I’ll get the last of my people moving. The thing that you have to remember is that once you destroy the generator, climb the outside wall, and break into Norwood’s office to take out the security…” He said the events as though they were some kind of grocery list. Each one of those things was more dangerous than anything I had ever done. “…then our Master Key girl here has to get into the computer and disable the main security. After that, you’ll just have a nice three mile run to the north wall to escape. Simple, really.”

  I glared at him, hoping he would feel my disdain. There was nothing simple about this plan. While I did appreciate Trivet’s enthusiasm and his intelligence, I still didn’t agree with Jonas that he was smarter than anyone else in the prison. I mean Crix, I could have said, “Yeah, you twenty people go die for me so I can break through the outer wall—it’ll be a piece of cake.”

  Trivet grinned and leaned back in his chair. “Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, and since this is the Death Days, you can’t let the probably hundred or so people out there with real weapons kill you. It would be bad if you died.”

  Jonas sighed. He released a bit of dread as he added, “Yeah, it would be.”

  Trivet slapp
ed his hands together and stood. “Alright well, I’ll get my people together and we’ll head toward the—”

  An alarm blared in the distance, a continuous whining noise that increased steadily. Soon, another joined it with the same sound, but closer and more ragged. A final one joined in so that all three of them wailed around the township.

  “Shit,” the Asian guy said and shot past me. He threw the tarp at the doorway back and spun back toward the rest of us.

  “What is it?” Trivet asked.

  “We’re being attacked. Half the township is on fire.”

  Trivet put a hand on Jonas’s shoulder. “You need to go. My people will take care of you.”

  “Can you make it on your own?” Jonas asked.

  Trivet cracked a smile. “Of course. Just get to Circle One.”

  After a glance at the rest of us, Trivet shot out of the small house to gather any stragglers together, moving them north. I exchanged looks with Jonas and ran outside.

  “This way,” the Asian guy said.

  We followed him, crouching down and dashing across open areas.

  “We have some supplies. We shouldn’t leave them if we don’t have to. Taking Circle One will be difficult.”

  “Paeton go with them and try to find some weapons.” Jonas stared over the camp. He was thinking the same thing as I was—that we wouldn’t get out of there if we didn’t start fighting back. He took a step toward Shannon and Pyra. “Kill anything that moves.”

  Pyra grabbed his arm. Her hand slid down, and she gripped his hand in hers. “What about you?”

  “I’m going to kill anything that doesn’t move so make sure you don’t shoot me.”

  “Roger that,” Shannon said.

  Jonas pulled away but Pyra held on. A moment passed before she released his hand. I was a little confused by the exchange, but then again, Pyra’s injuries kept her from being as mobile. She was a sitting duck if anyone made it past her arrows.

  “We need to go,” the Asian guy said.

  I nodded and sped off after him. I glanced back as Jonas disappeared into the flickering night. Shannon rubbed Pyra’s shoulder as Pyra raised her bow, then Shannon did the same.

  I followed the Asian guy, and we dashed into a double house near the center of the township. It was filled to the brim with all types of weapons, from darts, to knives, to bows and arrows.

  “See anything?” he asked.

  I glanced over the weapons, but none of them were right for me. I wasn’t trained in anything. “No, nothing.”

  A loud noise startled him and then he turned to glance out of the window. “We need to hurry. Um…” He contracted and stretched his fingers in repeated motions. “I’m guessing that you’re not an old-fashioned kind of girl,” he said.

  I shook my head. “Nahhhh. I’m uh, kinda new at this.”

  “I couldn’t tell. From everything I’ve seen, you seem like you’ve been doing this all your life.” He maneuvered through the piles of equipment on the floor and hanging from the ceiling. I followed him staying at his heels.

  “Surviving, yes. Killing, no.” I was trying to get back to my more sarcastic self. The irony of life fueled my soul.

  “I have something that may work for you,” he said.

  At an empty space near one of the walls, he leaned down and moved a few floorboards. A small box was brought up from the hole and opened. He took two metal objects out before handing them over to me.

  “There’s not many, so use them sparingly. I mean, really sparingly.” His eyebrows were twisted as though he were both worried and contemplative.

  I glanced down at his hands. There were two clips that should fit into my gun. My heart leaped inside of me. I had just won the Death Days lottery.

  “How many bullets?” I asked.

  “Each clip has eight in them.”

  “Sixteen shots.” It would be enough. I refused to complain when just a moment ago I was trying to figure out the best way to bludgeon someone to death from fifty yards away. I glanced up at him and gave him my best smile. “What’s your name by the way? I’m Paeton.”

  “I know. Everybody knows who you are. I’m not really important, but most people around here call me Ares.”

  “Alright, easy to remember,” I said.

  Another explosion rattled the ground, almost toppling me over. I pulled myself up and tried to ignore the sensation of my stomach working its way into my intestines. The familiar feeling of anxiousness slid into my body, the sounds around me sharpening, my vision narrowing.

  “We need to get out of here,” Ares said. “The township is lost. All backup is heading north with Trivet.”

  Without waiting for any more prompts, I spun toward the door and dashed through it. A second later I was back in the middle of the street. Half the township was on fire. My eyes caught a glimpse of a huge dome of white and yellow as another building in the distance ignited.

  Ares ran up beside me. He slid two, long knives into his belt. He hefted a small bundle of swords and other sharp weapons on his back. “You see anyone?”

  “No. We might need to—”

  My words caught. The building behind us erupted into a ball flames. Heat roared forward belting my back. I tumbled through the street. A sound like a crack of thunder erased my hearing and sent whistling noises into my brain.

  I flipped over and managed to wrap my arms around my head before my body struck the ground. I rolled a few times with the stinging heat frying the back of my legs. Blurry brown strands covered half of my vision as my gaze zigzagged over the entire area. Heavy footfalls vibrated underneath my body and in a matter of seconds, I could hear the thick breath of someone running.

  I gazed at the sky, just in time to see a figure raise something over his head. Without stopping, he forced the object down toward my face. I slid out of the way, flipping my hair back to get a better view.

  The man was about thirty-five with dark clothing on. A few flashes of orange let me know this was someone from the Originals. The man yanked on what looked like a baseball bat that was stuck in the ground. I used my hands to push myself backward as I tried to understand the scene. A glimmer from the tip of the bat passed through my vision. Some kind of metal was attached to the end of the bat.

  The man rocked the bat back and forth and with a yell, yanked it free. Loose dirt powdered the air around him, forming a small cloud. He tossed the bat from his right hand to his left and back again. As he moved closer, I could easily make out the forty or so nails sticking out of the end. He had made a medieval weapon—a mace.

  He circled his head with the homemade mace and prepared to strike me with it. My mind flashed white before my eyes, and my back turned into a soggy, pudding mess. I leaned back against the ground, searching for an answer. My gun bent with the odd position of my arm and pinched my fingers against the ground.

  I had a gun. I had bullets for the first time. This guy was about to have a bad day.

  My arm flew up and aimed.

  A shower of shivers washed over my skin as the corners of my mouth lifted.

  I pulled back on the trigger. A blast of powder burned through the air in a vibrant cloud, carrying a metal bullet with it. The man fell back grasping his chest while the mace bounced twice beside him on the ground. I rolled myself forward onto my knees and released another bullet into him. This time, part of his face burst into wet redness.

  As the glowing embers of the burning wood floated up around me, I jumped to my feet and ran toward someone who I thought was Ares. Three men surrounded him. He crouched with a knife in each hand. The guy closest to him lunged at him with some kind of sword. Ares bent backward, dodging the first swipe. As the guy turned the sword for an overhead cut, Ares moved to the side and sliced the man. The first strike landed across the back while the next hit under the ribcage.

  Ares rotated his body around and kicked his first attacker to the ground. After the two blows, I didn’t think the first guy would be getting up anytime soon. I didn’t wa
it for the next two to make their move. I steadied my feet and fired two more shots. The gun howled as it forced two more bullets into the night. One found its mark, leaving only one person for Ares to fight.

  Ares spun toward me. “Save your bullets!” he demanded.

  That was gratitude for you. However, he was right. I needed to save as many bullets as possible. I drew back, my mouth dry. Two more guys appeared, moving out of the shadows.

  Four shots were gone. I was down to twelve. I stood helpless, watching Ares as the men surrounded him. I aimed at the closest guy to Ares. If for whatever reason something went wrong, I’d pick off the attacker. Ares was worth more than a clip of bullets.

  I inched closer, aiming the gun between two of Ares’ attackers. A rush of something moved outside of my vision. I turned, but someone struck me in the side and sent me flying. A man hulked over me. My hand flew up, but the gun wasn’t in my hands. It was gone. My head swiveled as I searched. A second passed as I searched for the gun. The man didn’t wait for me to find it and pummeled me across the face.

  “Paeton,” Ares yelled.

  My head pounded into the dirt. I glanced at Ares for a moment as everyone around Ares blurred. I blinked, trying to clear my head. A few more strikes rolled me over the ground. Dust settled and my body fell limp, but my vision was back.

  The man lifted a foot and stomped into my side. In the same instant, Jonas appeared from the shadows. He flew around two of the Ares’ attackers. In a moment, two of the three men fell into the dust. Their hands wrapped around their waist to control the bleeding. Jonas didn’t slow down or stop. He continued in one fluid motion until he reached me. He threw himself into my attacker. Both tumbled clean over me. There was a rumble for a few minutes before a snapping sound echoed into the night.

  My mind swirled, and I tried to regain my composure from the man’s strikes. Jonas dashed up from behind me. I saw him swoop down toward the ground for an instant before he grabbed a blade off the ground. He ran a few yards away and flung the blade toward Ares, who was tangled with someone. The blade struck the man fighting with Ares in the back. The man shuddered, and Ares pulled back and slit the man’s throat.