It wasn't until then that I realized just how many of them there were.
"This area got hit," Yumi said aloud. "That's why it's so quiet...everyone around here is dead. Dead...or they left this part of the city."
Her words sounded eerily loud in the silence of the park.
That time, Revik didn't bother to tell her to be quiet. Instead, he began backing away from the path, and the line of bodies that lay on either side of it. I could see now that that line stretched literally for further than I could see.
"Come on," he sent through the headset. "There seem to be less over here..."
Forcing my eyes off the rows of dead, which now seemed to form a gruesome procession along the lawn as the path sloped off into the trees, I nodded.
Glancing at where he stood, I realized Revik was right. Whatever had pushed the bodies off the path, it didn't seem to have moved them very far. Where Revik and Jon stood, the path itself and the nearby lawn seemed to be clear. Swallowing back another mouthful of bile when a breeze blew the smell of decay and death and defecation back in my direction, I stumbled backwards, only to have Neela catch hold of my arm and lead me in the direction of Revik and Jon. She looked overly pale too, and her gold-rimmed eyes appeared close to dazed, but she didn't look sick the way Jorag and Yumi had.
Yumi joined me on my other side, even as I thought it, still looking slightly greenish, her eyes overly bright. I found myself gripping her hand in mine...maybe for her or maybe for me, I don't know, but it seemed to snap her out of wherever her mind had gone. She squeezed my fingers back, but didn't let go until she wanted that hand back to unholster her gun.
Together, we crept along the trees and grass just on the other side of Fulton Street, gauging our progress with the GPS.
At that point, I think all of us were wondering just what we would find when we finally made it to the rendezvous point at Jaden's.
22
RENDEZVOUS
I COULD TELL Revik was wound tight, maybe as tight as I'd ever seen him.
Even with only a toe in the Barrier, I could feel a kind of electrical current around him, and knew he probably had the telekinesis at hair-trigger setting as we got closer to the junction of 33rd and Fulton.
As for me, the longer we walked through the trees at the rim of the park, the more nervous I got, too. I knew anyone trying to approach Revik would likely try to do it at a distance, so in that case, our semi-camouflaged route through the park remained preferable to us walking down Fulton Street in broad daylight, where a sniper positioned in one of the taller building windows or houses could easily pick us off from a few hundred yards.
Even knowing this, I kept having minor panic attacks that someone was going to hit Revik with a dart through the trees...especially since the camouflage also limited our own visibility. But as far as I could tell, no one came near us.
We didn't hear anyone, either.
I didn't let my light get too close to any of the smatterings of resonance I felt in the Barrier, especially any that reminded me even remotely of the Lao Hu. I'd gotten close enough the one time to freak myself out. Not only had it frightened me that one of the Lao Hu infiltrators might have noticed, it had been enough to remind me of that feeling I'd had, being in China, especially for those weeks after I killed Gerwix. And really, that was the last thing I needed to be thinking about right then. Not only was it potentially dangerous for all of us, in that those memories would make me resonate more with the Lao Hu infiltrators...but it started to fill me with paranoia as I remembered key things Ditrini had said to me, along with the fucked up head games he liked to play more generally.
When I checked my headset's GPS, I was relieved to find us only a few blocks from our destination. I knew our biggest risk likely lived in our approach to the house itself, but at that point, I welcomed the distraction. The last thing I needed was to blow our cover because I had some kind of PTSD attack about Ditrini.
We'd seen more bodies, too...especially on the sides of the roads we'd been forced to cross as we made our way west. The worst of these had been along Park Presidio Road, which had literally piles of dead people on either side...bad enough that we had to walk down the street a few hundred feet deeper into the park in order to find a place to cross where we wouldn't have to step on or climb over any of the the corpses themselves. It looked as if they'd used some kind of tractor to shove them off the asphalt of the road.
I couldn't help getting angry as we made our way through a narrow gap between piles. While I avoided looking at those blackened faces as much as possible, particularly given the smell...I couldn't help thinking about the relatives of those people. I also couldn't help wondering why whoever shoved them off the road like so much garbage hadn't at least tried to move them somewhere a little less grossly public.
When we crossed over 30th Avenue, which also had bodies stacked and shoved into piles on either side of the road, although no where near as many as had been lined along either side of Park Presidio...Revik gestured for us to stop.
I could see Spreckel's Lake up ahead, and wondered idly if it still teemed with non-native turtles. Somehow Spreckel's had been tagged "turtle pond" over the years, and a few hundred city residents had dumped their once-beloved pets in there, once they'd decided that their exotic reptiles, often bought illegally in Chinatown, were more trouble than they were worth.
Revik motioned for the rest of us to join him, once we were past 30th and in the shelter of the trees...and thankfully upwind from the smell of the bodies behind us. Crouching down in a small strand of trees, he fell to one knee, looking around at the rest of us as we joined him. He spoke aloud that time, albeit in a low voice.
"We need a scout," Revik said, glancing around. "Volunteers?"
Jon cleared his throat, but Revik shot him a look.
"Not you, Jon," he said.
"Why not?" Jon said, exasperated. "They know me. They'll let me in...even if Gar and the others aren't there. I'm human, so if there are Sweeps in the area, they probably won't bother with me, either. I think my ID stuff is even still current, so it shows me as a resident..."
Revik clicked softly, shaking his head. "Or a terrorist sympathizer."
"You're assuming they'd bother to scan my implant," Jon said, impatient. "...Which has been altered anyway to clear me of any of the Allie stuff..."
Revik's eyes narrowed. "You're assuming most of the SCARB agents in town aren't already working for either Shadow or the Lao Hu...and that they don't have your features memorized as part of the SOP to grab and gain leverage on your sister...and eliminate any high-ranking humans and seers on the Displacement lists, for that matter..."
"SOP?" Jon looked at me.
"Standard op procedure," I clarified.
"The answer is no, Jon," Revik repeated, even as Jon turned back in his direction.
But Jon just shook his head, almost as if he hadn't heard him. "You're forgetting something else. No one in the Lao Hu gives a damn about me...not really."
I intervened that time, giving my head a hard shake. "Not true," I said. "You're my brother. We already know they came here to collect hostages."
"Then why am I here at all?" Jon said, exasperated. "Seriously. I should do this, and you all know it...you're only not letting me because of Wreg."
There was a silence.
In it, Revik and I exchanged a look. Reading my reaction to Jon's words, Revik puffed up his cheeks with air and exhaled again.
"Fine," he sent through the subvocalization. I could swear I heard his German accent in it, but he only looked at Jon for another instant before he went on. "...Neela, you go with him. That will be the fastest way for us to get an idea of who's out there...and Jon, jesus. If you feel anything at all, ping us...hit Allie if you can, you two are the most closely connected..."
Jon gave me an eye roll and a smile, probably to reassure me, but it didn't really.
Anyway, I could still tell he was nervous.
Neela looked more determined...i
f not out and out deadly.
Revik told me she'd been one of his best fighters among the rebels, but I'd never been in the field with her before. She'd been on Revik's team for the Registry job and I'd been on Wreg's. Anyway, I wasn't worried about her not protecting Jon...I was more worried about what might happen to her in the process. Neela, who already wore my clothes and looked roughly similar to me in build and height and hair color, had been chosen for this trip partly as a decoy for me. I'd spent the past few days and most of the flight here helping her weave a cloak that simulated my aleimi. I'd also been practicing with her on shielding, and teaching myself how to project my telekinetic structures over her head, in case anyone decided to take a closer look.
I didn't like the idea of sending my brother and Neela out there to potentially be shot at by people who were after me, but after a short pause, I nodded.
"Agreed," I sent through the same channel. I glanced at Jon. "And by the way, screw Wreg. I just don't want to have to train all of those damned newbie humans."
Jon smiled faintly at that, even as he rolled his eyes.
The other seers gestured in agreement, too.
Looking at Jon then, I nudged his arm. "Seriously, though," I said. "Don't get killed. Unless you want me and Revik to meet you very shortly in the afterlife..."
Jon surprised me, leaning over and kissing my cheek. "Stop worrying, sis. Anyway, I already told Wreg he wasn't allowed to retaliate if anything happened to me."
Revik snorted. "Yeah. That'll work."
Yumi laughed, as if in spite of herself. Even Jorag was smiling.
I gripped Jon's wrist though. "Seriously," I said. "...Fuck Wreg. Pardon my saying it, but he's the least of my worries. Don't get killed for me, okay? I need you. We all do."
Rolling his eyes again, Jon flushed slightly before glancing at Neela. "You ready?"
"Of course, sir."
Jon looked a bit taken aback by the 'sir' part, but when he glanced at Revik, Revik only shrugged, his clear eyes like glass.
"They know the chain of command. Make sure you do, too," he said.
That time, Jon only nodded.
I found myself watching as he rose quickly back to his feet, walking to the edge of the trees overlooking Fulton Street. I felt my light tense around my form, but didn't realize I hadn't actually moved until Revik nudged me gently with his light. Standing with Jorag and Yumi, I moved across the small stretch of lawn to the opposite side of Jon as Revik so we could cover him from as many angles as possible.
Jon glanced at Neela, then both of them pushed through the trees and onto the street.
Neela remained right at his elbow, I noticed. I found her alertness reassuring, although maybe not as much as I perhaps should have. As they jumped down from the low stone wall and onto the sidewalk, I saw guns appear in the hands of Yumi and Jorag out of the corner of my eye, even as I raised my own, my gaze roaming the windows of the nearby buildings. I also tightened the shield around all of us...Jon and Neela especially.
I had to fight to stay out of the Barrier. My heightened nerves made me want to look again for the Lao Hu, as well as for any signs the house was being watched. Despite this, I managed to pull back enough to keep from going near the edges of the shield. Jon and Neela didn't waste a lot of time, but crossed the road at once, heading straight for the front porch of the bright blue, Victorian house on the western corner of 33rd.
I held my breath as they climbed the creaky wooden stairs, then stood there as Jon knocked. I gripped Jon's light in a near-stranglehold as Neela covered his back from the stairs, her gun hidden behind her jacket but definitely in her hand. A curtain twitched at one of the side windows, and I exhaled when I recognized the broad, scarred face that appeared.
"It's Gar," I subvocalized through the headset.
Revik sent a pulse of relief my way, too.
"Give it a minute," he said. "Wait for the signal from Jon."
We'd given him a few different hand signals, of course. One to tell us things were fine...and another to tell us that it was a trap. A third to tell us something felt off, but that nothing conclusive indicated precisely what.
The door opened a crack while we watched.
I saw Gar signaling to Neela and Jon, as well. He'd been equipped with a different set of symbols indicating roughly the same things, but I couldn't see well enough through the shadowed door to know what passed between them. My fingers were starting to tense around my gun's grip when Jon and Neela turned, seemingly in the same instant. They both made the 'all clear' signal, right before they stepped through the door.
Revik turned to me.
"Put on the mask, Allie," he sent via the headset. "And your hood."
I nodded, pulling up the face mask and then tugging the sweatshirt hood over my head. I sent him a pulse or reassurance, but I could tell it didn't do much for him.
"Come here," he sent.
I knew it didn't make total sense tactically, but I went to him anyway. He surprised me then, putting the gun to my head and tightening his grip on me.
"Honey?" I murmured, glancing up at him. "Is there something you'd like to discuss?"
"Not really, no," he said, kissing the side of my face. His fingers were so taut on my arm, they practically hurt, even through the armored shirt. "If that fucker's out there, I want him to think twice before he pulls the trigger..." He kissed me again, sending me a pulse of love, enough to take my breath. "Trust me, baby. Please."
I nodded, glancing back at him. "I do."
Swallowing, he motioned with his head for Yumi to go first.
Once she'd broken out of the hedge and jumped down from the stone wall, he guided me forward to do the same. He took the gun off my head long enough to get us off the wall, then he pulled me against his chest again, his Glock pressed firmly against my temple. My fingers still traced the handle of my own gun, but I didn't draw it. My eyes scanned windows as we walked.
"Do you feel him?" Revik asked, as he walked me into the street.
I shook my head, but Revik's nerves were starting to jangle my own, too much for me to feel much of anything with real confidence. We were already more than halfway across the road, but it seemed to take painfully long. When we reached the wooden steps, Revik turned me around with him, bringing me up each set of rickety, wooden planks walking backwards.
When we reached the door, it was already open.
He backed me through it, with Jorag following close behind us, his gun also trained backwards. When we were all inside, the door shut, and Revik let out a breath, pulling the gun off my temple. He still had it out when I reached up to pull the face mask off my nose and mouth. He tugged the hood off my head while I did, then leaned down to kiss me, gripping me tighter before he glanced around the rest of the front room.
My eyes had began adjusting to the gloom in the pause. I realized suddenly that I stood in a room full of people, even though I couldn't yet make out most of their faces.
Two of them stood by the windows, guns in hand. I recognized one of those as Poresh a second later, who was looking at me with a dumbfounded expression. Garensche stood by the other window, his enormous girth hidden behind one segment of wall between the two front windows. My mind immediately clicked backwards, assessing what I was seeing. They had everyone collected in one room...separate construct. I didn't feel anyone else in any other part of the house, although a bathroom fell under the loop of the construct as well. Some kind of shootout had happened here recently...or something else to put all of them on high alert.
Something other than us, I mean.
Apparently, they felt they could defend easier from the front than the back rooms...which was interesting. To me, anyway. I would have thought the reverse.
I was still standing there, assessing the space, when a voice burst out angrily from my other side, loud enough to make both Revik and I jump.
"Jaden?" the high-pitched voice said. "What the fuck is your psycho, skank-whore-nutcase of an ex-girlfriend doing i
n my house...?"
MY EYES SWIVELED immediately to the couch.
I found myself still struggling to see through the dim light from the closed curtains, and wondered why it was taking so long for my eyes to adjust. The glare outside had been bright; those high clouds could be blinding when the sun reflected hard enough, but that didn't fully explain why my seer eyes couldn't make the transition.
It dawned on me then that the curtains weren't just closed.
The windows had been boarded. Not a single ray of actual sunlight made it through that layer of closed panels, with the exception of the opening in the front window that Garensche had used to look out at Jon and Neela.
As I watched, the pirate-looking seer returned a flat panel to that open spot as well, covering it neatly and seamlessly, without leaving so much as a single crack of light. Staring at the panel as it fit perfectly back into place, I realized they hadn't placed boards on the windows, precisely...but organic panels, and likely bullet-proof.
"Is someone going to answer me?" the same voice said. "...Or am I just friggin' talking to myself, as usual?"
"Calm down, Tina," said another voice, that one a lot more familiar.
I felt Revik stiffen next to me.
Then his eyes swiveled in the same direction as mine. I knew he was a lot better at seeing in the dark than I was, from all of the night combat training and whatever else. I was still trying to focus my vision more precisely when someone ignited a lamp on a low coffee table I recognized. In fact, I'd painted that table myself, covering it in that exact swirl of black and white patterns that made it resemble a wood-cut drawing of mountains with high clouds.
Floating above those clouds hovered a mechanistic-looking pyramid surrounding by lightning-like rays of light. Staring at it, I looked for the image of the boy in the corner of the field. When I found it, I squeezed Revik's hand almost without knowing I did it.
Allie's War Season Three Page 61