by J. L. Harden
So I keep moving forwards and backwards, away from Wonderland, back towards the Buried City and the Wasteland. We walk in silence for a while and then Rob tells me there’s an elite team of Enforcers known as the Rangers on the loose. He tells me they’ve gone rogue and that they’re ready to rebel against Wonderland. They’re first act of defiance was to kidnap innocent citizens of Wonderland. Kill them. Poison them. Flay them alive and display their bodies in the Wasteland, in the Ruined City and near the entrance to the Canyons.
Rob tells me they did this to send a message, to the Lord. To the Collector. To the Overseers who answer to no one. To the good and innocent people of the Wasteland. He tells me that there’s a very good chance that one of the Rangers murdered Ruby. He tells me there’s a small possibility that they are hiding out in this tunnel.
The Long Tunnel stretches for hundreds of miles underground. Most of it is in darkness. Which means there are plenty of places to hide, plenty of places to set up an ambush.
“And,” he adds. “If the Rangers were to set up an ambush, we would never know what hit us. We would not feel a thing. Dead before we hit the ground.”
I say, “There are worse ways to die.”
“You are right. But this scenario is unlikely. Much more likely, we come across a patrol of Enforcers. This is better for us. They won’t be hiding. They won’t be looking to ambush us. We should be able to hear them coming. We should be able to hide and evade them.”
Twenty minutes later we make it to the Long Tunnel. Behind us is darkness and silence. Behind us is absolutely no sound of a pursuit. Maybe they figured it was better to let us try and escape. The odds of surviving are not good. That way, they, the Enforcers in charge of the quarantine facility, they could cover their asses and cook up any old story to tell their superiors. They could fix the chink in their armor before another incident happens.
“From here we can make it to the Ruined City,” Rob explains.
“How far?”
He points ahead. “This way. We will find a ladder that leads up to the surface.”
Rob leads the way again. And again we walk in silence for another few hours. Eventually we come to a section of the tunnel that is illuminated with candles. There’s a row of candles on each side of the tunnel.
The candles look fresh.
Recently lit.
“Someone’s been through here,” I say. “Someone is close.”
“Yes. We must move quickly.”
He moves over to an alcove built into the wall of the tunnel. He shows me a ladder leading to a hatch. The ladder goes at least a hundred feet straight up. Maybe more. Rob says the hatch is locked. But there is a keypad next to the ladder and he knows the security access code. He punches the code in quickly. A second later we hear the hiss of the pressure lock releasing up top.
“How’d you know that?” I ask.
“Five years in that place you hear things you are not supposed to hear. Protocol dictates that they are to change the code every so often. But they do not. They are getting complacent. They are starting to believe they are untouchable. Infallible.”
Rob has been a prisoner for years. He’s been locked up in a tiny cell for years. But lucky for us, and lucky for me, the years of confinement have given him an insider’s knowledge of Wonderland and its security measures. And now he is smiling. He is so close to freedom. I see a look of genuine relief on his face.
We’re about to make a move… but I hear whispering.
Behind me.
Like someone is standing next to me.
Speaking softly into my ear.
I turn around immediately, but no one is there.
The voices come from a dark place… deep within my mind. I don’t know who the voices belong to.
This will be his first real test. I have hand selected these men.
For what purpose?
To die…
“It is a long climb,” Rob says. “But we can make it.”
Rob goes on to explain what we have to do once we get up top. But I can’t hear him because something is wrong.
I’m hearing voices in my head.
And these candles are fresh.
Rob is telling me we need to go, that we need to climb the ladder. And I’m a million miles away. My senses, survival instincts I was born with are kicking in. Hairs on the back of my neck are standing up. I’m kneeling down in a tunnel known as the Long Tunnel, a secret place, a hidden place. I’ve got my head turned to the side, listening for any tell-tale signs of an ambush. I hear more voices in my head… a distant echo.
They can no longer be trusted. Their loyalty has been hollowed out… drained away… they have misjudged their standing in the world… they do not realize they are pawns… They have begun to suspect…
Suspect what?
That we can’t possibly take everyone…
The voices in my head fade away and now I’m hearing voices for real. I only know they are real because Rob hears them as well. And once he hears the voices, he freezes. He moves back against the ladder. “They are here,” he whispers.
They definitely are. And they are noisy.
I hear the sound of a boot dragging along concrete.
The pop and crack of a knee joint.
The sharp inhale of breath as a sniper lines up his sights.
I remember I had tracked Ruby’s killer to the Water Treatment Plant and beyond, to this tunnel, this secret goddamn tunnel. I remember I had to fight an army of Enforcers, an army of elite soldiers from Wonderland.
And now I can hear more of them.
More killers.
Marching this way.
Sick and sadistic.
Arrogant and complacent.
Hollow and corrupt.
They’re announcing their presence and their intentions. They’re telling me everything I need to know just by being here. They were waiting for us. They were expecting us. They are guilty. Complicit. They’ve definitely been tipped off. And I’m guessing this is why there was no pursuit from the quarantine facility.
Rob says we should hide. Says we should run. Tells me we should move up the ladder. But I’ve got other plans. I’ve got a much better idea.
Rob pulls my coat, urging me up the ladder. “Come on.”
“They know we’re here,” I say. “There’s no point in running.”
No point. We won’t get far. So I stand up and I move into the shadows created by the candle light. I’ve got the makeshift knife, a shiv, a piece of metal that has been filed into an instrument of death. And there’s no time to plan this out. No time to worry about how outnumbered I am. It doesn’t matter anyway. These bastards are all gonna pay.
This sharp piece of metal is all I need.
I make my attack from the shadows. They never see me.
I kill them quickly. Easily.
Painfully.
The shiv makes a real mess. Each cut and stab wound is jagged and chaotic. Completely unprecise. But it gets the job done.
Four Enforcers die where they stand. They fall to the ground in a pool of their own blood. And then I get my hands on one of their advanced weapons. My brother used to say, “The best weapon to have is your opponent’s.”
And now I’ve got one of these amazing weapons… so I open fire and kill more of them.
A lot more.
I cut them down where they stand… and I’m having a blast… I’m smiling and laughing and I forgot how good this feels. And just for a second I forget my worries and my troubles. I almost forget why I’m doing what I’m doing. But then I run out of ammo. And even though I’m having a blast, I realize I’ve been too slow.
Much too slow.
Because there’s another four bastards and they’re somehow still alive and they’ve cornered Rob.
They shoot Rob. Point blank.
Rob screams and I’m too slow. I have failed. Again. I can’t protect the people who need protecting. What fucking good am I? They’ve got him and they carry him away…<
br />
Away from me.
Away from the ladder and the outside world.
Away from freedom.
“Go!” Rob yells. “Run!”
He’s still alive. No idea how.
Telling me to run. To save myself.
He orders me to find the people responsible for Ruby’s death. He says, “Find the killer. Find the truth.”
And then the Enforcers disappear and Rob disappears.
Dead or alive is anyone’s guess.
And these were the last words of Rob… “Find the killer. Find the truth.”
So that’s what I’m going to do.
And there’s one Enforcer left. He’s alive. Barely.
This is unfortunate for him…
He looks pretty young. Too young to know anything of value. But he’ll have to do.
I walk towards him slowly, knife in hand. “Speak. Or die. Your choice…”
Chapter 7
Find the killer. Find the truth.
I left one of the bastards alive. He’s got a scar on his face, over his left eye. I’m not a hundred percent sure, but I think this means he’s a Commander. A sick and sadistic son of a bitch.
And he’s weighing up his choice.
Speaking.
Dying.
And yeah he’s young but maybe he’ll have answers after all. So I’m standing over him, breathing hard and now he’s begging for his life, begging for a quick death.
He can’t make up his mind.
Life.
Or death.
He can’t make up his mind because he’s scared.
I tune his voice out and I’m trying to think things through. Rob is gone. My guide. The closest thing I’ve ever had to a friend. Without him I’d never have made it this far. Need to think. Need to figure this out. My attention comes back to the wounded Enforcer at my feet.
The scar on his face.
His youth.
Nothing else to do but ask a question. Get an answer.
“Where are they taking him?” I ask.
“What are you going to do with me?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Don’t worry about it? How the fuck am I supposed to do that? I’ve heard what you do. I’ve heard what you are.”
“And what am I?”
“You’re a murderer. You’re a maniac. Untouchable. And unkillable.”
“You’re half right.”
“They brought you back from the dead. It ain’t right what they did. It ain’t right.”
“The only person who brought me back was a girl named Ruby.”
He shakes his head. He looks at me like I’m a ghost. He looks at me with fear and revulsion.
I’m used to it.
“Where are you taking Rob?”
“Who?”
I raise my fist. He flinches. He speaks.
“Where do you think they’re taking him?” he says. “He’s going back to the quarantine facility. They’ll lock him up. Question him. That’s if he’s not already dead. And that’s a big if. They’ll probably Exile him.”
Bullshit. They won’t Exile him. They’ll definitely kill him. As soon as they get as much information out of him as possible, as soon as they get bored of torturing him… they’ll kill him.
“There’s nothing you can do,” he says. “You can’t help him.”
“Wanna bet?”
I make this empty threat for no other reason than to sound tough. He buys it. He believes it. But there’s no way I can break into Wonderland, into the quarantine facility. Not on my own.
Find the killer… Find the truth…
I take a breath and I try and think things through logically. They’ll be a long time killing Rob. A long time. Which means in order to save him, the best way to help, is to find Ruby’s killer.
Find the killer.
Find the truth.
“What do you know about all of this?” I ask. “What do you know about people escaping from Wonderland?”
“I don’t know a goddamn thing. I’m just a soldier.”
A pawn.
I’ve heard this line before and I’m sick of it. So I cut a piece of him… slice it off… I show it to him.
He talks. He tells me he knows about a movement. A rebellion. He tells me about three Conspirators, working with the Rangers.
He says, “They’re meeting right now. Above ground. In the Ruined City.”
Three conspirators.
An Enforcer.
A Merc.
A Raider.
Three men. Sworn enemies most of the time.
He says, “You want the truth? Start there. But trust me, you don’t want the truth. You’re better off not knowing. Everyone is better off…”
Three conspirators meeting somewhere in the Ruined City. Above ground. In the heat. Under the gaze of the Red Giant. Where would they meet? I don’t know. The Enforcer doesn’t know either. But I know the only person who would know, who would have even the faintest idea.
Again, the Enforcer begs for his life and then begs for a quick death.
I leave him alive.
I’ve got a very important job for him to do.
I say, “Let your bosses know I’m coming for them. Let them know I’m going to kill every single son of a bitch who played a part in her death.”
“Thank you,” he says. “I will tell them. I will tell everyone. Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you…”
I give him back the piece of flesh I took from him. Maybe they can reattach it. Sure they can. They’ve got all kinds of advanced tech.
I head towards the ladder, towards the surface.
There’s a squad of dead Enforcers behind me.
One survivor.
I must be getting soft.
Chapter 8
I make the climb up the hidden ladder of this hidden tunnel. And sure enough the hatch to the outside world, to the surface is open. Rob has come through for me yet again, given me freedom and saved my life.
As soon as I’m out in the open the heat punches me in the face and it takes me a few minutes to get used to it. And while I’m sucking down as much hot oxygen as I can, I realize just how indebted I am to Rob.
He helped me escape the quarantine facility.
Led me to the Long Tunnel.
Opened the hatch to the outside world.
Without him, I would never have made it this far. Would never have made it out of that goddamn cell.
Find the killer… Find the truth…
These were Rob’s last words to me before he was shot.
Before he was taken away.
Dead or alive is anyone’s guess.
A whisper echoes through the Wasteland.
Make sure he finds his way to the Ruined City…
A voice so real it makes me turn around, makes me do a complete 360 degree turn.
But there’s no one there.
No one.
Nothing.
I’m alone again, somewhere outside, somewhere in the Wasteland, in the heat. Somewhere deep within the shadows of the Ruined City. That’s fine by me. I work better alone. No one to slow me down. No one to cloud my judgement and force me to listen to my conscience, to the angel on my shoulder as my brother would say. This means I can be as ruthless as I want. So that’s what I’m going to be. I’m going to be ruthless and terrible. I’m going to kill people who deserved to be killed.
And I’m going to find the person responsible for Ruby’s death.
But to do this I’ll need to be pointed in the right direction. That’s all I need. Just point me in the right direction and I’ll do the rest of the work.
The dirty work.
The bloody work.
I just hope the crazy old bastard is home.
His name is Charles. He’s a crazy old hermit who lives in the Ruined City. He’s not a Wasteland Raider, he’s just mad enough to live above ground, in the heat, surrounded by killers and butchers and cannibals. He’s figured out how to stay hi
dden. And if he’s unlucky enough to ever get cornered and caught, he’s smart enough to know how to get away.
He also knows more about Wasteland Raiders than anyone I’ve ever met. He knows more than me and more than my brother combined. He also knows a lot about the movements of the Enforcers outside of Wonderland. Every time they send out a patrol, a gunship, a Spider tank, he knows.
He is the watcher of the Wasteland.
So if anyone was to have a secret meeting, hidden away from prying eyes and ears, Charles will know. Or at the very least, he’ll have a damn good idea where they would meet.
His home, or one of his homes, is inside a nondescript building on an empty road, in an empty part of the Ruined City. I enter the building and he’s there, almost as if he was waiting for me. Almost as if he knew I was coming to see him.
“Hector, I knew you’d come. Quickly, you might’ve been exposed. Where exactly have you been? And how long were you outside for?”
“Exposed? What the hell are you talking about?”
“The mutants. More of them than ever. And they are bringing with them diseases. New and incurable. And the Enforcers are beginning to use bio-weapons again. This is a terrible time for us.”
“I thought that was against the law? I thought using bio-weapons would get you banned from the Arks.”
“And everyone else. But Wonderland is the law. Were you followed?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“Charles, what the hell is going on?”
“You haven’t heard? There is trouble. Big trouble. It will put all of us in danger, every single person who has ever dreamed of leaving this doomed rock, of escaping from the Wasteland and of escaping from Earth. If we don’t stop these bastards, there’ll be another war. The Truce be damned.”
I’m starting to think Charles has finally lost his mind. He’s always been eccentric, but maybe the years of isolation and heat, maybe it has finally got to him, maybe it has finally driven him completely insane. He tells me to follow him, so I do. I have no choice. Even though he’s got me worried, even though he’s freaking me out, even though he might be a complete maniac, I need his help.
“Charles, there’s a reason I’m here.”