by Jaymin Eve
The light to indicate activation was no longer lit. I turned toward the gate. It was already slightly ajar.
I gave it a shove.
It swung open.
Peering around the edge, I couldn’t see anything untoward in the outer gardens. Stepping through, I ran to the front door with everyone following. There was a real feeling of neglect surrounding the compound now. I tried the front door – it was unlocked. Josian stopped me from entering first. I rolled my eyes as he pushed me behind him and stepped through the doorway.
As we moved into the front hallway, a familiar voice echoed throughout.
“Well, it is about time you got back here, Aribella. I’ve been waiting for a week.”
Josian spun around defensively as a familiar figure stepped out from the small side classroom.
Pushing my protective giant aside, I ran forward and threw my arms around Quarn in a tight hug. He looked exactly the same and I was so relieved. He stepped back, holding me at arm’s length. It was hard to tell through his usual stoic expression, but I think he was happy to see me.
“What happened, Quarn? Where is everyone?” I couldn’t believe he was here.
Before answering, he stepped over to Lallielle and took her hand. He gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek. Josian was at Lallielle’s side so fast he blurred at little.
“I have missed you, old friend,” Lallielle said as she shooed the deliberately towering over them Josian.
But Quarn stepped back quickly enough. At no point did he acknowledge Brace or Josian’s presence.
I cleared my throat.
He smiled. “I see you have not learned patience in your time on Grandier.” He stepped closer. “When you and Lucy left me in the alley, I was ambushed moments later. The same men, but with fifteen of their closest friends. I was all for having a shot, but I realized even for me that wasn’t the best odds. I managed to get out of the alley and they gave chase.”
He had enjoyed that: typical Quarn.
“I made it as far as this compound. When I noticed the gate was open, I ducked inside. Being so far ahead, no one noticed or followed me. I came in to check out the house, and it was a war zone. Girls were everywhere. Your compound leader was in the middle of a girl-rebellion. But then something unusual happened.”
He looked troubled.
“Somehow she subdued the girls. They turned into ... zombies, before, quite literally, disappearing from the compound.”
“How could she have subdued all of the girls? Even if she used some type of drug, she couldn’t get them all at once.” I looked around the messy hallway. “Where did she take them?”
“I don’t know how she got there, but I followed one of the men she left behind.” He looked directly at me. “Are you missing something, Aribella?”
I was confused for a minute, before understanding kicked in. “She has Lucy?”
He nodded. “I staked out her hideout for a few days, and in that time Lucy was one of the many herded inside. That is why I came back here to wait. I knew it wouldn’t be long before you came looking for her.”
“They only took Lucy like six hours ago, Quarn. It couldn’t have been a week.”
Lallielle interrupted us. “Gosh, I’m so sorry, Aribella. Josian and I should have mentioned: it takes time to move through the wormholes. I’m not sure of the exact ratio, but a week could definitely pass on Earth. Even though we move at the speed of light, our planets are very far away, inhabiting their own star systems.”
Josian gave a succinct nod. His expression revealed he was proud of Lallielle’s Walker knowledge.
I blinked a few times. “I guess that explains my exhaustion. I’m jetlagged, apparently. One day to one week is quite a time-zone jump.”
Quarn spoke again. “Since that day, no one has come back to the compound.”
Josian stepped forward again, but this time, instead of ignoring him, Quarn’s expressive features narrowed in hostility.
“What are you doing here, Josian? I trusted you with Lallielle and you left her alone and pregnant. My Hallow was killed coming to Earth and there is no one to blame but you.”
Lallielle gasped then. Moving forward, she stopped in front of Quarn. “No ... Qua... tell me it isn’t true. Hallow can’t be gone.” Her pain was palpable as she gulped back tears, although a few overflowed. “My choices cost so many people.”
Quarn shook his head. “No, Lalli, it was not your choices, and it wasn’t Josian’s either. I just have seventeen years of anger, and since he is an arrogant piece of ... Well, let’s just say I was content to focus on him.”
Josian’s face twitched and he ran his hands through his red mane, which was something he never did. Generally he didn’t seem to possess the same nervous twitches as the rest of us. He mainly looked upset by how close Lallielle and Quarn were standing.
“Hallow was killed as we arrived on Earth. We landed in the midst of a gang shoot-out. I did the best I could with Aribella, but without Hallow I couldn’t look after her. I left her in a rebel’s compound and stayed around to protect her.” He glared at me. “The girl has a slight problem with staying put.”
I shrugged. “It’s not my fault. I obviously have some crazy-ass genetics; I was looking for home and freedom.”
I wondered if all those ‘lucky’ close calls I had on the streets were mainly due to Quarn’s vigilance in keeping me alive.
“Thanks for being an awesome protector.” I smiled at him.
In that moment his expression told me two things: he loved me and he loved my mother. I just hoped Josian wouldn’t notice and decide to kill him. Feeling agitated, I started to pace back and forth.
“I thought Lucy was missing for only six hours. Now I find out it’s been a week.” My voice rose a little as the potential images flooded my mind. “We have to hurry.”
“The only reason for them to take Lucy from First World is as a trap for you, Red. Someone knew about your relationship, because Lucy has no significance to either world.” Brace’s flat words halted my pacing.
My head flew up; we locked eyes.
“Olden knew. She’s our compound leader. But how would she know about First World?” I started pacing again, musing as I went. “Olden had an awful lot of cash in her room. Maybe it was bigger than just working for the gangs.”
“If it’s a trap, Aribella can’t just stroll up there and hand herself over. I won’t let her.” Lallielle’s black hair was practically bristling in anger; her hands were firmly planted on her hips.
I shrugged. “I will be going no matter what. Lucy would do the same for me and I’ve left her long enough.”
Josian was also exuding annoying levels of concern. “They will expect you to have that very attitude.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but he cut me off.
“All Walkers have a slight problem with impatience, so I understand. So I’m not saying don’t go, I’m saying be smart about it. Running in there blind, without a plan, is just stupid.”
I sighed, conceding to them for the moment. “Okay, we need some type of plan. But first let’s see what weapons we can be packing on our way.” I turned to Quarn. “Give me a quick rundown on where they’re being held.”
A blind moron could tell Quarn was military trained. His reply was quick and succinct.
“Large warehouse in the Upper East Side. Surrounded by deserted industrial zones. Isolated but close enough to the compounds to get any supplies they could need. I observed two entrances: one in front and the other on the left side. The rest of the building is locked down very tightly. Each entrance is guarded by two men; they are armed, dangerous and highly trained.
“An armored Hummer arrived each day at fourteen hundred hours. A cloaked person would exit with four armed guards; they entered the building, staying around forty-five minutes. The guard shift changes at seven hundred and nineteen hundred. The rotation of guards is the same each day.”
This was good information, but we needed weapons. There was no dou
bt the guards would have them.
“The building is huge, with two stories, but I couldn’t get inside to check out the layout.”
I took a deep breath. “They’re going to vastly outnumber us. And, despite the shortage, I’m sure they’ll have guns in that type of setup.”
Lallielle shook her head. “What’s a gun?”
I closed my eyes briefly. This lack of knowledge was going to get someone killed.
“It’s a weapon that ejects a piece of metal at a rapid trajectory, faster than the eye can track. They are deadly, easily able to blow a large hole in a person.”
Quarn’s face was grim. “A gun was what ... took Hallow when we first arrived. I had never seen a weapon like it and we weren’t prepared. Depending where the projectile hits, the damage can be too great for our cells to repair.” He looked around, throwing his hands to emphasise his words. “Even on Earth, with limited abilities, if you pay attention, we are still fast enough to track the bullets. Do not lose focus; if they start shooting, expand your senses.”
I shuddered at the thought. “Okay, let’s leave that as a last resort. Ideally, we should get in and out without anyone really noticing. We don’t want a shoot-out. Innocent people will get killed.”
Lucy didn’t have any super speed and a stray bullet would end her life.
“So, I’m going to the training room now. I’ll see if anything useful has been left.”
“We will all go with you. Now is not the time to split up,” Brace said, his tone serious.
I tried to get a read on him, but right now he was locked down tight. Was his lack of power making him nervous?
The group were waiting on me. I stepped away from my biggest distraction, Brace, to gather my focus. It was battle time; Lucy was depending on me to save her.
Well, she probably wasn’t. She’d be trying to save herself and irritating everyone to death in the process. I just hoped she wouldn’t get hurt through sheer bloody-minded stubbornness.
The solar power was still working, so the stairs were lit enough for us to traverse them easily. They were narrow and rickety, and even in the low light I almost lost it down the last three steps.
Nothing looked disturbed on the lower level, but there was a strange feeling in the damp air. I stepped across the cement floor.
“Aribella – stop!” I froze at Josian’s order.
He was looking around, his features frozen in a type of confused worry. “A doorway has been opened here ... recently. The rift is still open.”
That must be the heaviness I could feel in the air. “It feels different to the one we took here.”
He nodded. “Yes, it is unusual. But as long as we don’t step too close, we should be fine.”
I could feel his unease spreading through our group.
“I don’t feel anything.” Quarn looked around. “Where is it?”
Josian pointed to the far corner. “It’s in the space over there, although there seems to be a trailing of power I don’t like.”
I was feeling a little nauseated. Like a cloak of heaviness was pressing down on my stomach, threatening to expel all the delicious food I had eaten earlier.
Lallielle moved closer to Josian. He draped one of his massive long arms around her protectively.
I stepped around them, staying as far from that corner as possible. Moving across the cold room, I made my way to the built-in shelves lining the back wall. Nauseating shivers continued to wrack my body.
Shoving a few of the blue workout mats to the side, I wrinkled my nose as the smell of old sweat assaulted me, bringing back a few memories. I sighed, reminded of how much I loved fight class. Skills I was sure to be utilizing in the very near future.
I had to crouch down to check the bottom lockers first. After some rummaging through old clothes and ratty bits of screwed-up paper, I did manage to find a familiar small blue box – compound-issued lock-picking kit.
Bending from his lofty heights, Brace peered over my shoulder. “I doubt that is much of a weapon, Red.”
Quarn laughed derisively. “I am constantly amazed at the weapons they utilize on Earth. Sometimes they are much smaller than you’d expect.”
Brace looked more interested now.
I shook my head. “Sorry to disappoint. This is just a lock-pick kit.”
I stood quickly, forgetting Brace was right above me. I smacked hard into his chest, and am pretty sure I saw stars as I fell to the floor again.
Reaching down, he helped me back to my feet. His hand lingered just longer than necessary on my own, the sparks between us alive and well, even in the dead zone.
I shook my head and stepped around the group. The tall locker was the storage vessel for this compound’s training weapons. And also the reason I needed the pick kit.
Josian reached out to grab my arm. “That is where the rift is.”
I shrugged off my over-protective father. “I know, but I need to get into that cabinet. I’ll be careful,” I assured him.
Josian turned back to the group. “You all stay here.”
Quarn and Brace’s expressions were a mirror of annoyance, but they didn’t comment.
I took the four steps across the room. Josian was on my butt the entire way. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Go from having no parents to hovering worried ones in a matter of hours. Yeah, okay, I kind of liked it.
When I reached the cabinet, the energy was so strong I almost gagged. Swallowing loudly around the lump in my throat, I flipping open the blue box and withdrew the two-piece tools. This locking mechanism was slightly more technical than the ones we generally practiced on, so it took a few minutes of twisting. The quiet in the room made the job easier. Finally, as the last of the grooves clicked into place, the bolt opened up.
Yanking the door open, I peered inside.
“Anything we can use?” Josian peered over my head, riffling through the higher shelves.
Damn these giants.
Focusing on the contents, I smiled, one of my first true ones since Lucy’s disappearance. We were going in armed.
Reaching forward, I grabbed a handful of palm-sized grenades. Dark gray in color, they had small red tags attached to their detonator pins. Smoke and gas grenades, we used them in simulation practices, but they were real. Apparently that was the only way to really understand their debilitating nature. More like the only way Olden could torture us and receive payment for it.
They weren’t lethal, but damn you’d find yourself dizzy and disorientated.
Josian opened his pack.
I placed them inside with care. “These grenades will be perfect for our initial infiltration,” I said as I went back to the cabinet. “And these goggles are night vision and assisted breathing.” I threw one to everyone. “Keep them on you until we get there.”
I went back to the hidden gold mine in the cabinet.
“Pepper spray.” I held it up so they all could see. “Spray straight into their eyes.” I moved on to the next gem. “Tasers – hold and press.” They were high voltage, knock an elephant down.
I pressed the button; Brace looked impressed as the visible electricity arced across the prongs.
Near the back, I found the gun lock box. Dragging the heavy container toward me, I dropped it to the floor. It rattled loudly. I crossed my fingers that it still contained the training weapons.
I picked the bolt-lock. Within thirty seconds I was inside staring at three revolvers.
I pulled out the first gun.
“This is a Colt 911, a semi-automatic weapon.” I checked the clip. “It has seven rounds, so you need to make the shots count.”
I turned to Quarn. “Do you have any experience handling guns?”
He was my best chance. Despite guns’ rarity on the streets, they weren’t non-existent.
Quarn nodded. “Besides chasing you around York, my other aim in life was to remove every gun from the Gangers. Which was hard to achieve without handling them on more than one occasion.”
&n
bsp; The second gun was the same. I handed that to Josian, after pointing out the basics. “That’s the safety; click it off before you shoot.”
He dropped the gun into his deep side pocket.
The third gun was useless, just a prop for beginners.
“So the guns are just as useful as a threaten-scare tactic. With some luck we won’t need to use them,” I explained to the men.
At some point everyone had moved nearer and we were pushing uncomfortably close to the corner of the room.
Most of the gear went into Josian’s bag, although the tasers and pepper spray were shared around.
Josian reached up to the top shelves. He pulled out a sheaf of rolled material, which he handed to me. I recognized it immediately.
A wicked smile crossed my face. This was my weapon.
I untied the leather string that held it together. I felt a slow motion flood of anticipation as the roll unraveled.
Quarn, smiling broadly, let out an exclamation. “A throwing-knife set. Are you going to use that?”
He leaned forward eagerly, his blue eyes alight. He wanted his sword, a gun and the throwing knives. Someone had a problem sharing ... weapons’ hog.
I nodded. “Oh, yes. This was one of my specialized advanced classes. I’ve been waiting to get my hands on this set for a long time.”
I lovingly stroked the shiny pearl handle of one of the eight knives. Lifting it free, I laid it flat on my hand, inspecting the high quality and perfect balance.
Reluctantly, I re-sheathed the weapon and tucked the leather into the deep pockets of my coat.
“Let’s go kick some ass.”
“Aribella,” Lallielle protested half-heartedly.
My swearing had eventually breached her maximum mother capacity.
Josian laughed. “You’re definitely my daughter; your mother is going to have her work cut out.”
He ducked down to kiss her cheek. She chuckled, accepting his attempt to appease her.
Looking away, I found myself caught in Brace’s stare. Something was up with him; his aloof coldness was growing the longer we were on Earth.
I didn’t have time right now – but something was there and I would figure it out. I shook my head. Well, I probably wouldn’t; Brace was awfully good with the secrets.