by Garr, Amber
“Who’s Patrick exactly?”
Riley paused and I wasn’t sure if I’d get an answer. “General Patrick. He’s the head of security for Oasis One and…” I stared at him, waiting. “And he’s my step-father.”
Before I could respond, Riley pushed me back around the platform and lifted me up to the fence. If not distracted, I would have marveled at the ease in which he did that. “Your step-father?”
“A conversation for another day.”
He hoisted my leg up and I climbed to the other side with ease. Riley disappeared behind the column again, but appeared by my side a few moments later.
“Thanks for this,” I said. Perhaps kindness would get me another reprieve from duty. If Riley had connections that went all the way to the top, I’d just found my new best friend.
“Anytime.” He smiled down at me, and I knew he meant it.
FIFTEEN
Zach
After three days of following the trails in a dead man’s uniform, I sighed in relief when we saw the landscape changing. Greener trees and hints of grass were a sign of water nearby. Everyone knew the government had dammed what was left of the Mississippi River to divert the water for their factories. Although not drinkable in its current form, it would still provide nature with the necessary element.
“Are you sure about this?” I turned around to whisper in Sasha’s ear. Still dressed as a deserter, she opted to go in as a prisoner instead.
“I have to be there for him.”
Her excuse was that she could survive whatever they threw at her on the inside, but in fact, she just wanted to find Max. I tried to convince her that she’d have a better chance of doing that as one of the government workers, not as a prisoner. But she wouldn’t listen.
So Jackson, Lew, Annie, and I had “collected” Trevor, Sasha, Wade, and Reynold. An even split, and we hoped we weren’t making a huge mistake.
“Here comes another one,” Lew said and we all crouched to the ground. We’d been following the main road for the past day, staying hidden whenever a truck passed by. They seemed to be more frequent now and our plan counted on that pattern continuing.
“Is everyone ready?” Sasha asked.
“We’re really gonna to do this?” Reynold’s wide eyes trembled with his shaky voice. “Will this work?”
Jackson jumped up, grabbed Wade by the shoulder, and began to pull him toward the edge of the road. “There’s no turning back now,” he grumbled. Waving the hand that held his gun high over head, he tossed Wade forward in an attempt to get the driver’s attention.
“Hey, you don’t have to be so rough,” Wade said, trying to stand.
“Sorry, just playing my role,” Jackson replied. “Stay down.” He moved his arms into a surrender position and waited patiently for the mercenaries to slow down.
The rest of us watched as an oversized cargo truck screeched to a stop just inches from Jackson. A large cloud of dust covered him like a fog, and when it cleared, two mercenaries jumped from the sides and pointed their guns at Jackson.
One of the men shouted, “What are you doing?”
“We were ambushed back there about ten miles,” Jackson jerked his head to the side. “Our vehicle was confiscated but we got most of the deserters.” He bent forward and jerked Wade up to his feet.
“Who’s we?” the other man asked, lifting his gun a little higher and taking another step closer to Jackson.
“The four of us.” Jackson motioned us forward.
Well, here it goes. Letting out a deep breath, I recited the mercenaries’ names over and over in my head. We had all been thankful for the embroidered name tags on the uniforms.
I yanked Trevor up with a quick wink, thanking my friend for playing a captive. Despite our issues, Trevor was my friend, and a sudden pang of guilt paralyzed me. What if we never saw them again? They could be marching to their deaths right now. Maybe we should run.
Sasha shook her head, seeing my internal struggles. “It will be okay,” she whispered as Annie walked behind her with a gun pointed at her back.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and nudged Trevor through the weeds and onto the road. He snagged his foot in a hole and he tripped, nearly causing me to fall on top of him. I automatically reached forward to help, but caught a glimpse of a mercenary watching us closely. Deciding if this was all a ruse. I straightened up and let Trevor falter.
“How did you let them get a jump on you?” The first mercenary continued to question Jackson.
“They had weapons and we underestimated their numbers.”
“How many got away?”
“Only two, sir.” Jackson looked at all of us. “These four thought they were clever, but we caught up to them within the hour.”
As if on cue, Sasha spat on the ground and shoved Annie hard enough to look convincing. Annie yanked her back by her hair and pushed her down to her knees.
“Let me guess? Their leader?” The skeptical mercenary, I couldn’t see his name tag, leaned down to be at eye level with Sasha. “You’re done leading now, deserter scum.” Then without warning, he knocked the butt of his gun against the side of her head. The crack reverberated through the stillness as Sasha slumped to the ground, unconscious.
His eyes darted around the group, again looking for some kind of response. I did my best to remain neutral while Trevor cried out for our friend. The mercenary walked closer to me, ignoring Trevor’s sobs. My height and slightly older, he outweighed me by at least fifty pounds. Most of that looked like it resided in his biceps. He pushed the tip of his gun against my name tag.
“Name?”
I swallowed. “Barto, sir.”
He moved to Jackson. “ID number?”
Jackson squared his shoulders. “Number 137652, sir.”
We hoped they wouldn’t recognize the recycled identification number. Although, Rachael wouldn’t be needing it anymore. Annie had taken care of that for us. Somewhere near the place we met the second group, a shallow grave now sat with a misguided mercenary inside.
“Sir?” the younger soldier asked his superior.
He looked at each of us one more time. Annie shifted to hide the blood on her sleeve, and I did my best to look uninterested.
“Did you find your truck?” he asked Jackson.
“No, sir.”
The man swallowed and sucked in a deep breath, contemplating our words. His decision would seal our fate.
“Put them in the back.” He nodded toward the covered cargo portion of the truck then dragged Sasha by her arm along the road. I trembled as her head bounced listlessly over the pavement and her legs grated against the surface. It took every ounce of self control I had not to step in and do something. But everyone, especially Vee, was relying on us getting inside alive. And to do that, we had to pretend not to care.
When he reached the rear, two more mercenaries jumped down from the sides, startling me. They pulled open the back cover to reveal a dozen bodies inside. Some stared out with panicked eyes, others didn’t move at all. But what disgusted me the most was the smell. The putrid odor burned my nose and stung my eyes. How long had they been riding in their own filth?
“Throw them in. You all can ride on the sides.” The lead mercenary dropped Sasha’s arm and walked around to the other side of the vehicle. I stood still, in shock at the callous way he handled another human being. Then I remembered that I was one of them now.
“Help me lift her,” I said to Lew, who’d just reached us with Reynold in tow. I watched as Reynold got a whiff of the cargo truck and wanted to so badly to tell him that it would be okay. Except I didn’t know that. None of us did.
Lew and I lifted Sasha into the back, making sure her head didn’t touch the bottom of the bed. Who knew what lurked underneath there. After loading the rest of our group inside, we hopped up onto the back bumper and held on tightly as the truck lurched forward. Thankfully, we were alone, as the other two mercenaries had climbed up near the cabin. The obnoxious roar of the grinding
engine gave us a chance to go unnoticed.
“I don’t know if I can do this,” Jackson said only to me. “I can’t be like them.”
I knew exactly what he felt but forced myself to be strong. “We have to. They need us to get inside.” My voice quivered with everything that could go wrong. “Vee, Hunter, and Max are counting on us, whether they say so or not.”
Jackson smiled. “Yeah, I wonder what Max would be thinking right now.”
“He certainly wouldn’t let Sasha do this,” I said and Jackson nodded.
“Definitely not. And Vee wouldn’t be too thrilled with you either.”
“She doesn’t control me.”
Jackson laughed this time. “Okay, Zach.”
Vee had complete control over me and I liked it. Not that I would ever admit that to Jackson.
An hour later, the truck rounded a bend in the road and the landscape changed from semi-green to lush nature. The trees didn’t resemble the ones we’d been living in with their dried up bodies and withered leaves. Instead, they flourished. The smell of moss tingled my nose and I smiled at Jackson. Trees that looked like giants lined the road right up to the monstrous fence.
And behind the fence sat a city.
The truck stopped, but I barely noticed. I couldn’t take my eyes off the city in front of us. Jackson’s mouth hung open and Lew and Annie stared in awe as well. We needed to get into character again.
I jumped off the truck and cleared my throat. “Where do you want us?” I asked the lead mercenary.
“You four go with Dixon. We’ll take the scum.”
Dixon was the first mercenary to speak to Jackson and seemed much nicer than his supervisor. “Yeah, Control’s probably gonna want to talk to you about the attack.”
“Control?” Lew asked, and Annie elbowed him in the side. He stumbled over his words. “I mean, last time this happened…uh…to a friend of mine, he didn’t have to report to Control.”
Dixon shrugged, oblivious to Lew’s mistake. “It’s been happening more often.”
“Attacks on mercenaries?” I asked.
“Yeah. Some deserters are getting a little too confident.” Dixon started walking toward the gate. “But looks like you guys got the upper hand.”
“Eventually,” I said and Dixon turned to look at me. “But they were able to ambush us. Does anyone know where they’re getting the guns?”
Jackson raised his eyebrows asking a silent question. Shaking my head just enough for him to see, I wanted to relay my message: the more we know, the better for our friends.
Dixon seemed unfazed. “Doucheman seems to think they have help from the inside.”
“Doucheman?” Jackson asked.
Dixon smiled. “Yeah, captain go-getter over there.” He pointed to the lead mercenary of his group. “His name’s Doucenné or something like that. You haven’t heard the nickname before?” Something suspicious flitted across Dixon’s eyes.
“No, we haven’t had the pleasure of working for his unit,” Annie answered, and I sighed in relief at her quick thinking.
“Well, consider yourself one of the lucky ones then.” Dixon swung his gun over his shoulder and pulled open a large metal gate that surrounded several barrack-like buildings. Beyond the fence, the silhouette of a large factory caught my attention. The four of us shared a look behind Dixon’s back. Was that where they collected the blood?
“When should we speak to Control?” Annie asked.
“When should you go to them?” Dixon huffed. “You don’t go to them, sweetheart. They’ll come to you.” He stopped suddenly and swung around to face us. “You’re telling me you don’t know this?”
“We’ve never been in trouble before,” I said.
“It was our first patrol,” Jackson added quickly.
“Really?” Dixon asked. We all remained silent. “Well then, you’re in for a real treat. First time out and you get bushwhacked? You’ll be stuck on babysitting duty for sure.”
“Babysitting?” Lew asked, speaking for the first time and possibly giving our cover away. Again. I tried not to react.
Dixon shook his head. “Man, what hole did you crawl out of?”
I watched closely to see if Dixon would figure us out. Jackson shifted slightly behind the mercenary, ready to subdue him if needed. I flashed him a look telling him I was ready too. But thankfully, Dixon wasn’t too quick on the uptake.
“Babysitting means watching the duds.” We all stared in confusion. “The duds?” He shook his head and sighed. “You know, the pods, blood sacs, voids? The deserters who are beyond help?” Dixon’s eyes flashed to the factory behind us in the distance.
Bile rose to the back of my throat. “Blood sacs? Like they supply blood?” My voice squeaked with the last word.
“If you believe in old wives tales, although I think they just tell us those stories to scare us into submission. ‘If you don’t eat your vegetables, I’ll send you off to the factory’.” Dixon mocked in a high-pitched old lady voice. “Like the Bogeyman…it’s not real.”
I had serious doubts about that right now. “How do you get on babysitting duty?” Annie asked, tension pinching her forehead and a look in her eyes that dared Dixon to laugh at her.
“Hey, if you want it, just ask. That place gives most people the creeps.” He shrugged and began walking through the fence, expecting us to follow. “I’d rather collect the deserters than patrol the ones that can’t fight back.”
My knees gave out and the sudden rush of dread made me dizzy. Our information had been correct. No one left and with the way our group always fought back, I feared they were all in the factory right now.
Jackson’s hand grabbed me underneath the arm, stopping my impending fall. “We’ll get them,” he whispered and I nodded in agreement.
“You guys coming? It’s almost dinner time,” Dixon said. “But you might want to clean up first.” He stared at our recycled clothing and disheveled hair and wrinkled his nose. “We usually only get two showers a week, but I think they’ll make an exception for you. You guys reek.”
Lew huffed and I laughed. I bet we did smell something awful. Not to mention the distinct scent of dried blood and lingering death embedded into these borrowed uniforms. And did he say shower?
We followed Dixon through the gate in into one of the buildings where most mercenaries resided. With one last glance at the factory lingering like a black cloud behind us, I ducked my head and walked inside.
We’d accomplished part one of our plan.
SIXTEEN
Vivienne
“Vee! Get up!”
Hunter’s voice drifted through my hazy thoughts as I covered my face with the pillow. “Go away. I just fell asleep.” I’d spent another restless night thinking about my interaction with Riley and wondering how I could use him to our advantage. I vaguely remember drifting to sleep after swearing off the tenth stupid plan.
“Get. Up.” Hunter yanked the pillow off my head and tossed the small, but comfortable, blanket to the ground. “I have to show you something.”
The chill in the air forced me to open my eyes but I only found darkness. “What time is it? And why are you waking me?” I tried to pull the blanket up off the floor, but Hunter stepped on it. I glared.
“Be quiet,” he said in an exaggerated whisper and I had to smile. I don’t ever remember Hunter taking control like this before and I felt proud. Then the annoyance kicked in.
“If you don’t want us to get in trouble then you should just climb back in your bed and go to sleep,” I said. Although the large room with several hundred beds gave us a minuscule sense of privacy, the armed guards that stood watch at the doors all night would be suspicious to see us talking right now.
Hunter dropped to his knees so he wouldn’t be seen. “I have to show you something. Someone, actually.”
“Someone?” My heart flipped. “Someone we know?”
Hunter smiled a little. “Yes, but not Zach. Sorry.”
The tears i
n my eyes built until I could no longer blink them away. “It’s okay.” I tried to smile. “Take me to them.”
Hunter slunk away between the beds like a stealthy ninja and I wondered how many times he’d done this before. We’d only been here a few days, yet he’d learned where all the shadows were and how to use them to his advantage. The surge of pride swooped over me again like a warm coat. I had no doubt Hunter would find a way to survive if he were on his own. We’d taught him well.
Halfway through the room, he suddenly stopped. Waving me back against the wall, I crouched down between two bunk beds. The deserter on my left snored so loudly I doubted any of our guards would be able to hear us. In fact, I couldn’t even hear myself think.
I turned my head to look at the bottom bunk on my right and almost screamed when I caught someone staring back at me. Under the cover of the blanket, a pair of eyes glared out at me. They belonged to an older man and I couldn’t interpret his look. Chills swept down the back of my neck in a way that set my senses on high alert.
The scuffling of boots drew my attention away from the creepy man. Hunter had nestled against the next set of beds and huddled in the corner, perfectly blocked by the shadows. A mercenary shuffled by slowly, turning his head from side to side looking for trouble makers. I crouched down low enough I could have crawled under the bed. When my knee hit the metal frame and caused a screech, I held my breath.
The old man continued to stare at me and I couldn’t tell if he was friend or foe. The mercenary stopped walking and took a few steps backward, obviously hearing my mistake. I lifted my finger to my lips asking the man to remain silent. He winked and another surge of chills flitted through me. But at least he kept my secret.
A minute later, the mercenary returned to his rounds and walked to the other side of the vast room. Hunter flagged me forward again and I followed him past several more sets of beds. We were almost to the end when he jumped to the side and stooped down next to the bottom bunk.
“See?” he whispered to me.