Junkland (The Hoarding Book 1)

by Patrick Johns

  Jahrys had spent most of his time keeping an eye out on the water for any sign of the Octa Monster. He wasn’t about to have a giant tentacle drag him to the bottom of the lake during the night. But the calm waves breaking on the shore had been soothing, and made it nearly impossible to stay awake. It had reminded Jahrys of the times his parents had taken him to the Sandy Shore.

  When his teammates had decided to move on towards the Manor, Jahrys was sad to leave. However, he was excited to finally explore further into High Point where the mansions lined the edges of the cliffs. He had never been to the Manor before. He knew that Lord Ide Velton, the lord of Sible, lived in the Manor—or had lived there. Jahrys had heard Lord Ide’s home towered above all the mansions at the edge of the cliff.

  They had found a path through a junk wall and discovered most of the mansions crushed beneath the walls of debris. The junk walls had looked like large waves flowing from one mansion to the next. Junk blocks had been scattered on the ground at the base of the walls. Some of the blocks had shattered and debris filled the roads. But Jahrys had been disappointed when they had arrived on the eastern side of the lake; there had been no sign of Lord Ide’s giant mansion.

  The junk walls were even more massive here—perhaps because all the people had left, and the junk blocks hadn’t been broken down for scraps. While the junk blocks were heavily compacted when the Hoarders released them, they could be taken apart with some work. It was a lucky day for a Retriever when useful items were found within a junk block.

  After they had searched the area for most of the day for the diary, Jahrys, Kevrin, and Elyara decided to find a place to sleep. They had found a house that was still standing—sort of. The house had been tilted at an awkward angle; part of it had been raised in the air from the weight of the junk wall on top of it. They had climbed up the lopsided steps that had brought them onto a faded white porch. A burnt cherry colored door had been hanging off its hinges in front of them. Jahrys had been surprised to have even see a door at all.

  Jahrys had grabbed his Captor that had been clipped onto his hip. He had turned the light on top of his helmet on, which was powered the same way as his Captor. He had used the tip of his Captor to nudge open the broken door. Kevrin and Elyara had followed close behind him. Elyara had also taken out her Captor and Kevrin had fumbled around his belt, looking for the knife Riago had given him.

  The room had been dark. They had followed the light down the hall, stepping cautiously, trying to avoid the sound of creaks from the wooden flooring.

  “You search the upstairs,” Kevrin had nodded his helmet towards Jahrys, “Elyara and I will finish down here.”

  With the light still guiding him, Jahrys had ascended the stairs taking each step with caution, raising his Captor high. The clouds of dust had made it difficult to see past the point of his Captor. The air had been thick and made it hard to breathe, even with the air filter in his helmet.

  Once he had reached the top of the stairs, he hung a quick right and continued down a narrow hallway, keeping his head low from the crushed ceiling.

  There had been a door at the end, giving him a sinking feeling in his stomach. He had crept slowly towards the door, which felt like it was calling him. Was it calling him? The black door at the end of the hallway had a hypnotic aura around it. Sweat had begun to run down his forehead. However, he couldn’t wipe it through his helmet, and so it dripped into his eyes.

  He had finally reached the end of the hall and was standing in front of the door. It had seemed a lot taller than he had originally thought as it towered over him. He had placed one hand on the doorknob and pushed the door forward. The door had flung all the way to the left side with a loud creek before it crashed against the wall. Dust had flown up into a thick cloud, blocking his vision.

  When the dust had cleared, Jahrys saw an image carved into the wall across the room. He had walked over to it and outlined the image with his fingers. He had traced it from the bottom all the way to the top. It looked like a temple. A grand staircase led up to the entrance where pillars surrounded the base. The roof of the temple rose high towards the ceiling of the room Jahrys was in. There had been palms, like the ones on top of Pastor Allen’s church, except these palms had been holding a sphere. Jahrys studied it, fascinated. He had never seen anything like it. He wondered where this temple was—it was definitely not in Astenpoole.

  When Jahrys had returned to Elyara and Kevrin, Kevrin had asked, “Did you find anything upstairs?”

  Jahrys had decided to keep the temple he found to himself. He didn’t want to worry his teammates. “Nope, everything is clear. Let’s make camp down here.”

  Thoughts of their journey and the mysterious temple in the room above made Jahrys forget his bad dream. He looked at his friends—Elyara was there next to him, still sleeping, but Kevrin was no where to be seen. Kevrin had taken watch last night.

  Jahrys tossed Lily’s necklace into his bag and jumped to his feet, feeling the tightness in his ankles from the traveling they had done the previous day. He looked over at Elyara, who was still sleeping.

  “Elyara, wake up,” he whispered, nudging her.

  “What?” Elyara murmured, her eyes half open.

  “Kevrin is gone.”

  That got her attention. She shot up. “Gone? What do you mean gone?” Her eyes searched the room for Kevrin. “Where is he?”

  “After you went to bed, we stayed up a bit to talk. He told me he would take the first watch.” Jahrys noticed Kevrin’s bag was also gone. “He must have gone out into the Junkland.”

  “Let’s go find him,” Elyara was up and moving.

  They both put on their helmets and helped each other clip on their Captor Packs. As soon as Jahrys’s Captor Pack clipped in, the blue lights on his suit and the light on his Captor Pack illuminated. They both grabbed their Captors and attached them to the long tubes.

  Jahrys noticed the blue light on his Captor was fading.

  “I’m running low. How’s your Captor?” Jahrys asked Elyara. He knew he would have to recharge his soon. The lights on their helmets used up a lot of their energy.

  “I have enough for now. We can recharge them later.” Elyara turned towards the door. “Follow me,” she ordered.

  They walked out the back door, which brought them out to another porch at the back of the house. The air was musty and thick. It was also dark and hard to see, but Jahrys didn’t want to risk using his light. It was probably close to early morning anyway.

  “Maybe we should stay here just in case he comes back. We don’t want him to have to come look for us,” Jahrys suggested. He was worried they would get lost and not be able to find their way back in the darkness.

  Elyara didn’t stop. She walked down the uneven steps and said, “I’m going out there to look for Kevrin. He would have told us if he was going out alone. He wouldn’t go out there without us. He doesn’t even have a Captor.”

  She was right. He was out there with just his knife. Jahrys didn’t have a choice. He stumbled after Elyara, staying close behind her. He raised his Captor and his finger rested lightly on the top trigger. He walked down the slanted steps of the porch.

  What could have been a courtyard before the Hoarding was spread out before them. A thick fog hovered over the ground. A fountain was toppled over in the center, and a bench to the side was split in two. A few yards past the courtyard, Jahrys could see the start of a junk wall, but its top was lost to the darkness of the sky.

  Through the fog, Jahrys made out a path that separated the junk wall. Jahrys motioned to the opening with his Captor, and him and Elyara headed towards it.

  They crossed the courtyard. There was no grass, only hard dirt. Junk blocks had fallen from the walls around them and were scattered across the yard. Some of the blocks had shattered and had broken into pieces of metal, glass, and wood. Visibility was low, and it was difficult to dodge the loose debris on the fog covered ground.

  Jahrys’s foot caught on something hard, and
he fell face forward. His hands went flying out in front of him to break his fall, causing his Captor to go spinning to the ground.

  “Are you okay?” Elyara spun around. Jahrys couldn’t see her face through her helmet, but he could tell by her voice she was concerned.

  “Yea, I’m fine. I just got my foot caught on something.” Jahrys rolled over to see what had caused him to fall. Even through the fog, he was able to make out the outline of a body.

  Elyara gasped. With fear in her voice, she asked, “Who is that?”

  Jahrys found his Captor and turned to bend over the person.

  “It’s a Retriever,” Jahrys said, analyzing the body that was lying face down. The lights were still illuminated, giving the suit a blue glow.

  “Is it someone we know?” Elyara bent down next to Jahrys.

  “Let’s find out.” Jahrys clipped his Captor back to his hip.

  He unclipped the Captor Pack from the person’s back and placed it on the ground next to him along with the Captor. Jahrys then rolled the body over and reached his gloved hands out towards the person’s helmet. He unclipped it and wiggled it off to reveal a man’s face. His eyes were swollen, bulging out of his skull. His face was ghost-like and waxy, and his lips were purple. He had been dead for several days.

  “It’s Havrick,” Jahrys could tell from the dark hair and crooked nose.

  “Why haven’t the Hoarders taken his body?” Elyara inquired.

  Jahrys looked down Havrick’s body.

  “Look.” He pointed towards Havrick’s foot. A metal trap was digging into his suit, down to the flesh of his foot. Dried up blood stained his suit and the ground around his leg.

  “The Hoarders must be setting traps. They must not have discovered his body yet,” Jahrys proposed, trying to fit the pieces together.

  A blast suddenly whipped past the left side of Jahrys’s head, exploding into the fountain in the center of the courtyard several yards behind them. He could feel the heat even through his helmet.

  Jahrys scrambled for his Captor and spun around.

  “Run!” A voice yelled out across the courtyard.

  Jahrys recognized Kevrin’s voice. Kevrin was running through the fog, towards them. His left arm was covered in blood.

  “Kevrin what—” but his words were cut short when he saw what also came into view across the courtyard.

  Five Hoarders exploded out of the entrance between the junk walls. Their yellow suits glowed bright in the darkness. They had their Captors raised and were shooting at Kevrin.

  Captor blasts filled the courtyard.

  Chapter 17

  Jahrys

  ELYARA FIRED, BUT Jahrys grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

  “We can cover him from the porch,” Jahrys yelled over the blasts.

  Elyara agreed.

  They left Havrick and sprinted back towards the porch. They passed the fountain, dodging the loose debris on the ground. They were only a few yards away from the porch now.

  Kevrin was a hundred feet behind them when he made it past the fountain. Captor blasts were exploding into the ground and off the scattered junk blocks.

  Heart pounding, Jahrys followed Elyara up the crooked porch steps, towards the back door. He reached for the doorknob, twisted it, and pushed it open for Elyara.

  “Grab what you can. I’ll cover Kevrin,” Jahrys yelled.

  Elyara nodded and ducked through the door.

  Now on the porch, Jahrys turned back towards the courtyard. He saw a Hoarder standing over Havrick in the distance, pointing a Captor at his dead body. The other four Hoarders were now between the fountain and the porch, firing at Kevrin.

  Jahrys bent down on one knee and lifted his Captor to the right side of his face, leaning against the railing. He took a deep breath in, trying to focus, but the railing began to shake and Jahrys lost his concentration.

  There was a deep, low hum.

  VHRUUUUMMMM.

  A yellow beam shot out from the Hoarder’s Captor. The beam filled the courtyard with a blinding light.

  When the light cleared and Jahrys’s eyesight returned, Havrick’s body was gone.

  The Hoarder took off after the others.

  The shaking had stopped and Jahrys regained his focus. He aimed and shot at the Hoarder closest to Kevrin. He missed. He shot again. Missed. Then a third time. The third shot hit the Hoarder’s tube. There was a loud hiss as the tube broke, sending yellow smoke into the air, blinding the Hoarders as Kevrin ran safely up the steps.

  Jahrys grabbed Kevrin and pushed him through the door. Jahrys kicked the door shut and locked it, knowing it wouldn’t give them much time. They ran through the hall.

  “Kevrin!” Elyara shouted when she saw him. She threw her arms around him.

  Jahrys wasn’t happy, however. He grabbed Kevrin’s shoulder and twisted him around.

  Kevrin winced. “My arm—”

  “Again? You disappeared again!” Jahrys was furious. “We talked about this.”

  Kevrin held up the diary in his hands.

  Jahrys couldn’t believe it. “How did you—”

  There was shouting as they heard the Hoarders marching up the porch steps.

  “I’ll explain later. We need to go.” Kevrin motioned for the front door.

  Elyara handed Kevrin their bags. He tied them all together and hoisted them over his shoulder.

  The house began to shake. The three Retrievers tried to balance themselves as the floor shook beneath their boots.

  There was a deep, low hum outside the back door.

  VHRUUUUMMMM.

  A loud crack sent the door flying off its hinges, disappearing. The five Hoarders piled into the room—Captors raised.

  The teammates exchanged quick glances and bolted for the front door, Captor blasts exploded around them. Kevrin and Elyara pushed through the front door. Jahrys followed, but one of the shots grazed his left shoulder. He cried out in agony as he felt the heat burning through his suit.

  “Come on, Jahrys. Let’s go!” Kevrin yelled out. They were already down the porch steps.

  Elyara was pointing her Captor at the door, giving Jahrys cover. Jahrys leaped over the steps, landing hard on the ground. He clipped his Captor onto his hip and regrouped with his teammates. They ran down the path they had come from the previous night, back towards the lake.

  Captor blasts exploded around them, sending debris flying dangerously in the air. The Hoarders were close behind. The junk walls around them were getting narrow. They had to form a single line as they twisted and turned through the maze. Jahrys was hit numerous times in the helmet by something hard, probably stray pieces of metal from a junk block, but he ignored it; his helmet protected him. His shoulder was burning, a searing pain was spreading from his shoulder to his arm. He kept running.

  The fog was beginning to clear and the darkness was beginning to lessen. It was getting easier to see all the obstacles in their path.

  Jahrys jumped over a statue that was jutting out of the ground. He felt the heat of a Captor blast burst against the statue beneath his feet. His heart was pounding in his chest. He could feel the sweat soaking his suit. His sweaty hair was stinging his eyes under his helmet. His ears were ringing from the blasts from the Captors, yells from Elyara and Kevrin up ahead, and the shouts from the Hoarders behind him. His legs were wobbling beneath him; he was afraid they would give out any second. He had to keep moving, though. He didn’t want his fate to be like Havrick’s, sucked up inside a Captor Pack, being crushed into a junk block.

  The path parted up ahead into Ocean Lake. They would soon be out in the open of the shoreline. If the Hoarders made it through, they would be easy targets.

  When Jahrys stumbled through the opening, Elyara turned and fired her Captor at the junk wall above Jahrys’s head. The blast exploded and junk blocks came crashing down behind him. There was a cloud of smoke covering the opening, but when the smoke cleared, the path was blocked by numerous junk blocks that had fallen.

 
They all let out a quick sigh of relief. They were saved—for now. The Hoarders would find a way around eventually, or simply break through. They needed to keep moving.

  “Don’t move,” a deep, muffled voice ordered behind him.

  Jahrys felt something hard jab into his side. He turned his head slightly to see three people in blue suits pointing Captors at them.

  He couldn’t believe it. “Rallick, what the—”

  “I said don’t move, Jahrhead. All we want is the diary.”

  Stade was pointing his Captor at Kevrin, and Taygar had his pointed at Elyara.

  Rallick turned his head. “Stade, grab it.”

  Stade kept his Captor pointed at Kevrin as he marched over to him. He snatched Kevrin’s bags from his hands and fumbled through them.

  “Get out of there.” Kevrin tried to grab his bag from Stade, but Stade slammed his Captor across Kevrin’s bleeding arm. He let out a scream as he fell to his knees.

  “Kevrin!” Elyara yelled.

  Stade pulled out the diary and handed it over to Rallick.

  Rallick grabbed it with his free hand.

  “Rallick, please,” Elyara pleaded. “We must keep moving. The Hoarders. They will—”

  “Keep your mouth shut, you stupid forester,” Rallick snapped at her through his helmet. He held the diary out in front of him.

  “You’ve been following us?” Jahrys asked through gritted teeth.

  “Let’s just say you all have been helpful guides,” Rallick said.

  Jahrys knew Rallick was grinning under his helmet.

  “You can’t do this,” Jahrys yelled. “It’s our job.” He wouldn’t let Rallick get away with this. They couldn’t go back to The Arcalane with another failed job—not this time.

  “It’s the Junkland, O’Jahrys. We can do whatever we want,” Rallick sniggered.

  Stade and Taygar laughed through their helmets.

  “No hard feelings, really. Come on guys, let’s get out of here.” Rallick motioned for Stade and Taygar to follow.

  Kevrin reached out towards Stade, a knife at his neck.

  “No one’s going anywhere until we get that diary back.” Kevrin’s hand was shaking, but he held the knife firmly below Stade’s helmet, right on top of his Adam’s apple.