by Matt Ryan
“Yeah, this hard floor broke my fall,” Char said.
“Sorry, guys, guess I got impatient up there. I really thought I could just melt these doors.”
A red glow lit up the chamber and Kris held his hand over his eyes as Maggie held onto glowing red rocks. “Where the hell are we?” she said, looking up.
Kris for the first time got to see what they were in, and looking up, he almost preferred the darkness. Above them, ran a four-sided shoot, with smooth as glass walls, gleaming in the red light. The doors above them, one on each side, sat a good fifty feet above.
“We are not going to die in here, Maggie.” Kris said.
“I never said we were.”
“WHERE’S EVELYN?” GLADIUS ASKED, LOOKING around the massive white building.
“I . . . she should be here,” Kylie said and pulled on her braid.
Harris held out his gun and pointed it at Kylie. “Where is she?”
“I don’t know, Jackie portaled with her.”
“She took her to the queen, I bet. She’s going to try and exchange the little one for the daughter,” Wes said.
“Shut up. She wouldn’t do that, Wes,” Kylie said.
“And you did nothing to stop it,” Gladius said. It wasn’t as if she liked the little weird girl, but she was probably their only chance to stop these people. If she got bamboozled by that vile Jackie girl, then it probably meant the end.
“Tell us where she is,” Harris said, keeping his gun trained on Kylie.
“She could be anywhere. I don’t know,” Kylie said.
Gladius wanted to yank the girl’s braid and chop it off. They all knew, they had to. If Harris wouldn’t do what needed to be done, she would. She stepped closer to Kylie, with knife in hand.
Hank grabbed her shoulder. “These aren’t the bad guys.”
She closed her eyes to conceal the eye roll. Hank and his damned do-goodiness. Vanar would take these people and flush them out. Each one of them had seen some stuff, she knew that much from looking at them. They all had an arrogance about them. Probably because she couldn’t do the things they could with their little stones.
“Where are we?” Travis asked.
Gladius hadn’t given it a good look yet; as she gazed at the high ceiling and the broken glass wall, it felt as if it had been somewhere important at one point. Now, the weeds grew in from the broken walls, and scorch marks marred the perfect white walls. A dry creek ran through the middle of it with ornate white bridges crossing it. The whole place gave Gladius the creeps.
“This was a place of learning. Before the war,” Kylie said. “You know, Jackie isn’t a bad person. She just wants her friend back.”
Gladius scoffed. “And you think we’re going to be okay with her using our friend to get that done?”
“No,” Kylie said. “Listen, you don’t get it. The queen, as you call her, is the ruler here. She’s going to find out we helped you and then we’re all dead, or at the very least, stuffed away somewhere. And whatever is in that bag, isn’t going to change a damned thing. She’ll read your mind and stop time if she has to. She’ll stop you. That is why Evelyn was so important, she got through all the defenses. She made it to the queen and faced her. She is the only one who had a chance to stop her, and now Jackie took that away from us, and you.”
Gladius felt a vibration in her pocket and pulled out her Panavice, at the same time as Travis and Harris. She gawked at the message from Evelyn.
Help.
Harris eyed her, then Travis, as each of them read it.
“What are you all looking at?” David asked.
“Our friend needs us,” Travis said. “I’m getting to the next stone.”
Jackie popped into existence near David. “Where is she?” she said with rage.
“You took her,” Gladius said.
“She escaped and I know you all can track each other with those tablets, so just tell me. Where is she?”
“We’d never give up one of our friends.”
“This is impossible. I used a suspended stone on her, and she blinked away. I can’t find her. So, if you don’t want her stuck in suspended animation for the rest of your lives, I suggest you give me her location.”
Jackie produced several stones and kept them between her fingertips, like a magician might with a stack of cards. Gladius watched her slide into an attack stance and had to give the woman credit. She had balls to confront them, or maybe it was pure arrogance.
“Don’t do this,” Kylie said. “We’ll find another way. We aren’t like this.”
“Shut it, Kylie,” Jackie said.
Gladius raised an eyebrow at Jackie’s tone, bordering on manic. She knew crazy and how dangerous it could be.
“Jackie, maybe we can find a middle ground here. After all, I think we both are after the same thing,” Travis said.
“What are you, some politician? You have no idea what’s going on here, none of you do.”
“Help us understand then,” Travis said.
Gladius hated when her dad did this diplomatic crap. She wanted to throw a blade right between Jackie’s eyes and end it.
“You’re just a rube, all of you are. The only one who had potential is Evelyn, and I want her back. I don’t want to hurt you, but I’ll do what I have to do,” Jackie said.
“You aren’t going to hurt us,” Travis said and motioned for them to lower their weapons.
Gladius grimaced and lowered her blade.
“I just want my friend back, okay? And Evelyn was my ticket to her.”
Travis walked closer to Jackie. “I know what it’s like to lose someone close to you, and I’d do anything to get them back as well. But you’re fighting the wrong people. We can help you. Do you think Evelyn is going to be so careless next time she sees you? If she chooses, she will end all of you, before any of you know what happened. But there is a way out of this, a way where we all win. You help us get to our friend, and we’ll ask her to help you.”
Jackie lowered her hand. “You think she would help us after what I just did to her?”
“If the cause is noble, she would.”
Jackie shook her head and looked at the ground. “I just tried to trade her away. What makes you think she’d help me now?”
“Because she’s a child. Even with all that power, she’s only amassed experiences for not much more than a year. She hasn’t been beaten down with distrust and hate like the rest of us. She still finds good in people, for now.”
Gladius resisted a smirk. Her few encounters with Evelyn didn’t seem like they were dealing with a naïve child, but a mastermind and manipulator. Her dad was good.
“Fine, but I’m going with you. She’s going to need a reverse stone.” Jackie held a stone out.
“Okay. It’s just me and you,” Travis said.
“You can’t trust her, Dad. She’s already proven that,” Gladius said.
“I can handle this, Gladius.”
Jackie sneered at her and stuffed the stone in her pocket. “He’s your dad?” She swung her attention to Travis. “What, were you getting busy at ten years old?”
Travis squared his shoulders and spoke in an authoritative voice. “The deal is, Jackie, I want the rest of your friends to help my team in stopping the invasion.”
She laughed. “You think it’s stoppable? The reclamation has been fine-tuned, to where the best you can hope for is to slow it down. Everything she has created is a damned model of efficiency.”
“We have something that can end it, we believe,” Travis said.
“You going to use your bomb?” she asked, pointing to Harris. “Whatever. You guys help them out,” Jackie said to Kylie, Wes, and David.
“We’ll do what it takes to stop this.”
“God, I hope so. I’m so tired,” Jackie said and looked at the ceiling. Gladius thought she spotted tears welling in her eyes. “All of this fighting and running . . . That little girl gave me some hope, hope there could be an end to all of this. I’m
sorry I tried to use her.”
“If you hurt her. . . .” Gladius warned.
“She should be okay, we just have to find her,” Jackie said. “Just me and you?” She looked to Travis.
“Yes.”
Jackie faced David, then Wes. “Show them the production center. If we ever had the means to take out one camp, that’d be the one.”
“Thank you,” Travis said.
“I don’t want you going alone with her,” Gladius said.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I’ll get Evelyn and be right back.”
Gladius’s lips thinned and she felt Hank’s hand on her shoulder. She knew her dad could usually handle himself, but he had a soft spot for the female species, and she hoped this black widow wasn’t spinning a web to trap him in. These purge people had strange powers; who knew how far they went.
She watched her dad walk off with Jackie in close conversation, before they disappeared using one of those portal stone things. Gladius huffed at his quick departure, without so much as a goodbye.
Gladius turned to face Kylie, who seemed stunned by Jackie’s quick appearance and disappearance. “So, take us to this place she mentioned.”
Kylie tugged on her braid. “But it’s on a planet where the dead walk and no one would ever go there.”
“Don’t even say it,” Hank said.
“You know the planet?”
“Are you talking about Ryjack?” Gladius said. She’d heard of it from Hank, but he refused to show her these abominations of humankind.
“Yes. Isn’t that the most peculiar name for an Earth?” Kylie said.
“So you’re saying the most damage we can cause to this invasion is to stop this base of operations on Ryjack?” Harris asked.
“Besides getting rid of the queen herself, yes. She keeps her production center off of this earth, to keep it clean, as she says.”
“Okay, when can we leave?” Harris said.
“Now, I guess.” Kylie shrugged.
They paired up once again, with Gladius sticking close to Hank. She demanded to be transported with him. Once again, Gladius felt the portal stone soak into her. The world swirled around and the sensation of falling lasted until their feet firmed.
“World portal’s right over here,” Kylie said and let go of their hands.
Gladius spotted the Alius stone, learning that their purple stone could only travel within the world they were in. That’s why they still had to use the Alius stones. She walked with Hank, keeping an eye on the surrounding forest. Something didn’t feel right, almost as if someone was watching. She gripped a knife and spotted Harris tapping his gun.
“You guys ready?” Wes said kneeling next to the stone.
“Hold on,” Harris said. “Somethings coming.”
“We’ve got to go,” Wes said and put his hand on the stone.
Harris had his gun out in a split second. “You put your other hand on that stone, and I’ll blow it off.”
“Wes, get us out of here,” Kylie said. “A freaking drone’s coming. Harris, if you don’t let him put in the code, we’re all dead.”
A buzzing sound grew and Gladius looked up into the sky, past the tree canopy. A black cube, much smaller than the ones on Earth, hovered above.
“Crap, it’s spotted us. She’ll be here any second,” Wes said. “I’m putting in the code.”
Harris looked to the sky and nodded.
The stone hummed and a gust of wind blew by them. A woman appeared in the forest. She stared at Gladius and she felt pressure in her mind. Gladius screamed and grabbed at the sides of her head, begging for it to end. So many memories flooded through her.
She kept screaming and felt Hank grabbing her and shaking her. “You’ve got to stop screaming,” he said. “They’re going to hear you.”
Gladius opened her eyes and lowered her hands. Another forest, in another world.
“Too late, here they come,” Kylie said, holding multiple stones in her hand. A group of grinners stumbled toward them.
Gladius fumbled for her knives and got three blades in her hand. The sickening groan and the foul, black mouths made her want to throw up.
Kylie threw a stone and it hit the chest of the first grinner nearing the circle. It bounced off its chest and cracked open like an egg. A cloud formed around the group of grinners and each one fell to the ground in a heap of ashes.
“What the . . .?” Gladius had the horrible realization these people could have easily killed every one of them, at any given time.
“Jackie invented that one,” Kylie said and smiled.
“How do you make them? I want one,” Gladius said looking down at her knives. She touched the sides of her head. “Who was that woman back there? She got into my head.”
“That was her, the queen,” David said in disgust. “And now she knows we’re with you.”
“Guess that means I just lost my corporate job,” Wes said. “And I was this close to a promotion.” He pinched his fingers close together.
“Shut up,” Kylie said. “Did she find out where we were going?”
“I don’t think so. She was just pulling out my history—who I am. I think she wanted to hurt me.”
“She only wants one thing,” Kylie said.
Bushes rustled in the forest and more grinners appeared.
“How far to the base from here?” Harris asked.
“Not far, when you have a portal stone,” Kylie said and held up a purple stone. “You ready?”
They portaled and freezing air hit Gladius like a slap on the face. Wind blew past her, and a humming sound roared all around them. Kylie rushed and huddled up with Wes and David. Hank held her, and Gladius cursed for trusting these people once again. In the darkness, she still spotted them, they looked like they were going to jump. They were going to leave them there and let them freeze to death.
The cold seeped into her throat and body with each breath. Her thin shirt and pants clung to her body. She outstretched her fingers and wanted to throw her blade into the heart of Kylie. She could probably take her dead body and get a few minutes of warmth.
Then a glow appeared around the three of them. It dangled in the air and grew. Soon, Gladius backed away from its brilliance. She’d never seen such a terrifying and beautiful object in all her time. She was sure the glow was going to kill her. Kylie, Wes, and David approached. She didn’t think she could do anything to stop them.
FAR FROM THE DOME AND the collapsed dreams of humanity’s hope, Poly leaned her head against the SUV’s window. If she watched long enough, she’d spot a black cube flying across the sky.
Lucas drove down the dirt road, with Julie and Will in the front. Derek sat next to Poly in the back. She glanced at his bandaged stump. She didn’t think she’d ever get over cutting his arm off.
At least they didn’t have to walk. Evelyn had planned out a few cars in case of this very escape. Poly was proud of her little girl, but she hadn’t heard from her, and had no idea where she was. The worry of it wrenched at her gut, and made her silently gaze at the passing desert.
“We should warn people,” Julie said. “If there is a way we can even save one city, we have to try.”
“How long until these things start grabbing us?” Lucas asked.
“Evelyn told me of their progression,” Derek spoke up. “They set up their reclaiming towers first, then they start the snatch and grab.”
Poly felt her Panavice vibrate in her pocket. She yanked it out and hoped to see Evelyn’s number, but the ID wasn’t familiar. She pressed the button and heard a familiar voice through the speaker.
“I don’t know if it’s working,” Trip said, then a clatter of noise, as if he’d dropped it.
“You’re doing it wrong. There’s a connect button,” Gretchen said.
“I hear you,” Poly said.
“You hear that?” Trip asked.
“Hear what?” Samantha’s mom replied. “Did you call her?”
“I don’t know. It says
ping, connect, nudge, and some other crap I don’t know how to pronounce,” Trip said.
“Here, give it to me.”
“No, let me just look at it again. I think I found her.”
“Guys?” Poly said.
“Just hit the connect button.”
“I did, I think it’s ringing.”
“Trip, can you hear me?”
“Hey, Poly, how did you know it was me?”
“Caller ID. You guys seen Evelyn?” Poly asked.
“No, but the lot of you just went to the purge people’s world.”
“Hank and Gladius?”
“Yep, with Travis and Harris. We caught one of them bastards at the portal stone. Where you guys at, out saving the world I assume?”
“We failed.”
A pause. “Yeah, we’ve been hearing them on the hammy. Every major city seems to have one of them towers now.”
Julie looked over her shoulder. “He has a ham radio?”
“Sure do. Knew something like this would eventually happen. These portal stones are like keeping the front door open with a welcome mat; anybody can come on in and take your stuff.”
“What’s your broadcast power?” Julie asked.
“One and a half kilowatts. Though, I don’t have the license for that much juice. But being what things are these days—”
“Trip, we’re coming to you,” Julie said.
“Good, I’ve got supplies and guns. We can take it to these bastards,” he said.
“We can’t do much, but maybe we can save a few.”
“POLY,” TRIP YELLED AND JOGGED up to her as she exited the vehicle.
She couldn’t help but smile as he wrapped her up in a big hug and shook her. “Hey, Trip. Good to see you guys.”
“Where’s Evelyn?”
“I don’t know.” Her stomach plunged.
He frowned and set her back on the ground. “We’ll get through this. If we can take out Marcus, we can handle some flying blocks.”
“I think Julie has a plan.”
She did and they all went into Trip’s strange, caged room and discussed the idea.
“Let me get this right,” Trip said, pointing at his wall of ham radio equipment. “You can hook up your boy to my radio, and transmit a signal to be picked up by these things Marcus implanted into the world’s population?”