by L. S. O'Dea
A little over a third of the group raised their hands.
“Their loved ones are still being slaughtered.” His eyes met Trinity’s. She wasn’t happy but now she was in the corner. “We need to go to those camps first. I promise that as soon as we get back—if the Almightys aren’t on our trail—we’ll send teams to all the camps. I give you my word.” He’d make sure that Trinity wasn’t in the group that went to the Remore camp. His stomach twisted at the thought of her with Jethro. She was too trusting and from everything he’d heard the boy was no longer trustworthy.
There were a few mumbles about the value of the word of an Almighty but they were quickly hushed.
Trinity’s gold eyes captured his. “Don’t worry. If something else comes up, I’ll go to every Producer Camp myself.”
He really was going to strangle her one day.
CHAPTER 55: HUGH
THE BACK OF HUGH’S head hurt from resting against the hard steel of the dumpster.
“It’s almost time,” whispered Sassy.
“Can’t happen soon enough.” Brennon shivered for effect. “This place makes my skin crawl.”
It’d been a long day for Hugh, Townsend and the two Guards. The four of them, along with Gaar, had arrived in the city early in the morning. He wished they’d been a little later. An elderly, male Guard had been executed at dawn.
Hugh had stood in the shadows while two Almightys at the shelter had ordered their Guards to string up the stray. The old Guard had gone to his execution with dignity. He hadn’t handled it as well. If Gaar hadn’t been there, he would’ve blown their mission. The Handler had grabbed him and held him, repeating, “Wait. Watch. Patience of a predator always pays in the end.” So, he’d waited and watched as the Guard twitched and kicked in the air.
After they’d gotten into the dumpster, he’d had to wait again. He hadn’t been able to see anything but he’d heard every word. The next Guard who’d been executed had sounded young. He’d screamed, begging and pleading, but there’d been no mercy for him. It’d taken everything he’d had to not shove at the lid to try and help the Guard, but this was war. He had to focus on the bigger picture, the larger number of Guards and Servants to save.
The lid lifted and Gaar stared down at them. “You can get out now.”
He wasn’t sure where Gaar had waited out the day since the Handler had refused to get into the dumpster. They climbed out of the container as quickly as possible. They were in a side alley by the building where they’d stayed the last time.
“Still glad we couldn’t wait inside?” Townsend rubbed his neck. Someone had changed the software that ran the cameras inside of the building, stopping the reporter from hacking into the system and disabling them like he’d done the last time.
“Yeah, I am. Patterns aren’t good in war.” Patterns meant anticipation, capture and death.
“There’s something off about these things.” Brennon closed the lid.
The Guard could pick a lock faster than he’d ever seen but he did have a habit of stating the obvious.
“No kidding, genius. They’re clean.” Sassy raised her arms over her head stretching. “I’ve been in a lot of dumpsters and I doubt they’re this clean when they’re made.”
Brennon’s eyes wandered to her chest.
It was a good thing Bruno had been tasked with freeing the Guards in another shelter because he wouldn’t appreciate Brennon ogling Sassy. After freeing Reese and the other Guards, Sassy had stayed at Townsend’s house with Bruno. Hugh hoped for her sake she’d make it permanent. The streets were dangerous for stray Guards and Townsend was one of the few Almightys who understood that those in the other classes were equals.
“I don’t mean because they’re clean,” said Brennon. “Any idiot would know that.”
Sassy shot Hugh and Townsend a speaking look. Bruno didn’t have to worry about Sassy becoming interested in Brennon. She had no tolerance for the other Guard.
“There’s something else.” Brennon lifted the lid, sniffing. “Bleach and something...” He shivered. “It makes the hair on my neck stand straight.”
Hugh’s eyes met Townsend’s. “They might use bleach to clean up blood.” He glanced around. “It’d explain why there are no cameras in the alley.”
“They wouldn’t want anyone seeing them move the females. As soon as this war is over, I’ll get back on this story,” said Townsend.
“I’ll help in any way that I can. Sex trafficking of all classes has to stop.”
Brennon backed away from the dumpster, his eyes wide. “That’s what the smell is. Fear. The bleach masked it.” He touched his nose. “And blood. There was blood in there too.” He shuddered and moved as far away from the dumpster as possible.
Gaar stood in the shadows near the end of the alley, watching the Midtown Shelter. “They’ve picked another one.”
They all moved over by the Handler. There were two cages outside of the shelter. One cage already contained a female Guard who looked about twelve years old. The younger of the two Almightys led an old female to the other cage. Hugh forced himself to steady his breathing. Neither of them would die. Not this time.
Gaar nudged him on the shoulder. One of the Almightys was speaking to the young girl. Her large, brown eyes were wide with fear and her face pale.
“What’s he saying?” Out of the corner of his eye he saw Townsend shake his head. He turned toward the other Almighty. “Don’t tell me you can hear them. Your hearing can’t be that much better than mine.”
“No, I can’t hear them,” said Townsend.
“We should go,” said Gaar, ignoring Hugh’s question.
The twelve Guards protecting the Midtown shelter were in the perfect position for Hugh’s team to make their way to the back of the building. They had to move now or wait until the next patrol and that would mean almost dawn. That’d be too late. This needed to be a coordinated effort so no facilities were notified and locked down.
“Go,” he said.
Gaar slipped out of the alley and crossed the street, Brennon and Sassy trailing behind him. Hugh and Townsend followed a few minutes later.
“Does he make the shadows?” asked Townsend, his tone fascinated.
“I don’t know. It used to terrify me, but it doesn’t seem as bad anymore. I must be getting used to him and the way he is.” He studied Gaar’s back. There was something off about the Handler. He didn’t seem as big and as menacing and he didn’t blend in here as well as in the forest.
He and Townsend stopped at a building directly across from the back of the shelter. Gaar and the two Guards moved farther down the street and then separated. Sassy and Brennon stopped and waited in an alley a block away while Gaar went to the crematory and scaled the building.
“How can he climb rock like that?” asked Townsend
“We have limited knowledge of everything that Handlers and Trackers can do.” He glanced at Townsend. “At least I wasn’t privy to that information.” If he survived the war, he’d love to study the Handler’s genetics and isolate how Gaar merged with his surroundings.
“Conguise and the Supreme Almighty are probably privy to that information.” Townsend’s tone was tense.
“They didn’t know enough to create functioning pairs.”
“Thank Araldo for that,” said Townsend. “We need to learn everything we can about Trackers and Handlers. Otherwise, if someone figures out how to control them, we’re all doomed.” He took a deep breath. “I’ll look into it. It’ll go on my list after the sex trafficking story and before”—he looked back at the building where they’d stayed—“the tunnels.”
“Tunnels as in plural?” He knew about the one they’d used to sneak into and out of the building but the reporter hadn’t mentioned any others.
“While I was investigating the building trying to find the female Servants, I discovered very old blue prints of the city.” Townsend looked at Hugh, his eyes bright. “There are tunnels all over the older sections of the city. I
don’t know if they all still exist but the one to this building does. So, maybe.”
“This area was renovated a few years before my arrest. I would’ve heard about tunnels.”
“Not necessarily.”
“I wasn’t that out of the loop.” Sure, he hadn’t known about the Tracker and Handler camps or Conguise’s experiments but he’d been connected. He’d known the Necessary Truths.
“That’s not what I meant. These passageways are deep. I think they were an underground railroad or something like that. The developers would never have found the tunnels unless they pulled up the entire foundation. And to make them even more difficult to locate, the entrances only exist in a few of the buildings.”
“An underground railroad? There’s nothing in our past to explain something like that. Who would’ve used them and for what?”
“Not sure. I don’t think our history books are complete.” Townsend shrugged. “Anyway, the Night of the Trackers happened and then your arrest and the rebellion. I got sidetracked, but there is a story here.” He put his finger to his lips and nodded toward the shelter.
The two Guards patrolling the area kept to the same schedule which was a mistake. As they moved behind the crematory, one stopped, sniffing the air but it was too late. Gaar dropped from the top of the building and knocked their heads together with such force that Hugh winced. Those Guards were going to have a headache when they woke. A moment later, Brennen and Sassy darted over to Gaar and changed into the Guards’ uniforms.
“Step one, accomplished,” said Townsend.
And so many more to go. Hugh shifted his gaze to the front of the building. Everyone was making their rounds. No one had heard or suspected a thing. The Almighty was no longer talking to the little female, but she continued to stare at him, fear waging war with disgust on her face. “What do you think the Almighty said to the little Guard?”
“Let it go.” Townsend held up his hand. “For now. We can talk about it as soon as we’re all out of here.”
He had his suspicions, but it didn’t matter. The Almighty wasn’t near the little female now and the girl would soon be safe.
Brennan and Sassy walked toward the other two Guards who stood near the back of the shelter. The Almightys’ Guards straightened as they turned toward Brennon and Sassy. They were suspicious, paying attention only to the approaching Guards, giving Gaar the opportunity to creep up behind them and with one slam of their heads they were down.
“The back is secured,” Hugh whispered. “Now, we wait on the Servants.”
Somehow, Townsend had located an explosive. It’d looked homemade, but as long as it worked, Hugh didn’t care. The Servants were to set it off a few streets down. It wasn’t dangerous but it was loud. It’d distract the Almightys and the remaining Guards long enough for Gaar, Brennon and Sassy to slip inside and disarm the House Servants on duty.
They waited but there was nothing but silence.
“It should’ve gone off by now” said Townsend.
“We’ll give them a few more minutes.” He had to trust that the Servants didn’t panic and leave. If they ditched, he’d never convince the Guards to work with them again.
Brennon and Sassy glanced in Hugh’s direction, shrugging slightly as if in question.
“The Almighty’s Lead Guard will be making his rounds soon,” said Townsend.
The Lead Guard always checked with each member of his team for an update. Hugh couldn’t let that happen. Gaar, Sassy and Brennon could handle the other eight Guards but not without a commotion which would give a Guard, Servant or Almighty the opportunity to sound a warning and that’d draw the soldiers. “Just a few more minutes.” He raised his hand to run it through his hair and stopped. “I hate this cloak.”
“What are we going to do if they don’t set off the explosion?”
“We’ll have to come up with another distraction.”
“Like what?” asked Townsend.
He ignored the question, his focus across the street.
The little female whispered with the older female and then walked to the front of her cage, clasping the bars. “Sir, I’ve decided.”
“Oh, shit,” muttered Townsend.
They were close enough now, that even they could hear.
The older of the two Almightys smiled and headed toward her.
“Don’t do anything rash.” Townsend put his hand on Hugh’s arm.
“I’m not an idiot. I won’t risk the mission.” She wasn’t in danger. As soon as the explosion went off, she’d be free.
The Almighty stopped at the cage, running his finger over the little Guard’s hand. “Have you now?”
She swallowed visibly and nodded.
The Almighty’s eyes roamed up and down her body.
Hugh’s fists clenched at his side. She couldn’t be more than twelve, if that. Townsend mumbled something about stupid House Servants.
“I think you’ve made the right choice.” The Almighty opened the cage. “My friend is going to like you.” He ran his hand from her shoulder down her arm. “A lot.”
She’d be safe in a minute. Hugh reminded himself. This Almighty was procuring her for someone else.
The Almighty continued to caress her arm and shoulders, his hand straying down her back but stopping right above her rear.
Her eyes filled with tears, but she didn’t run, instead she only leaned away a little. “Can I go back inside to wait for your friend?”
“I think you need to come with me first.” The Almighty’s hand trailed across her butt.
The younger Almighty on duty came over by them. “Trevor, don’t. Let her be. The—”
“Shut up, Todd,” said Trevor. “This is none of your business.”
“He won’t want you sampling her.” Todd blushed as he glanced at the little Guard. “You know he likes to be the first.”
“I’m sure I won’t be her first.” Trevor yanked the little Guard to him, his hand resting on the her rear. “Will I?”
She was trembling as she nodded.
“See. She’s never done this before,” said Todd. “He won’t want you—”
“He’ll never know if you keep your mouth shut. He won’t expect to be the first from a street Guard.” Trevor started walking toward a camper parked on the lot. It was where the Almightys went to rest when on duty. “This will be our little secret won’t it?” He patted the Guard’s backside.
The little Guard tried to pull away, but Trevor was too strong. “Good, you’ve got spirit. I like it when they fight.”
This was not going to happen. Hugh took a step forward.
“Patience of a predator and all that.” Townsend grabbed his arm.
“I’m not going to stay here and do nothing.” He jerked free from the reporter’s grasp.
“You can’t be rash. We can help her later.”
“That’ll be too late and you know it.” He grabbed a section of Townsend’s cloak and scrubbed the black tar off his face and arms.
“Hey, stop that,” said Townsend yanking on the cloth. “I smell bad enough already and you need to mask your scent.”
“We needed a distraction. Well, here it is.” He strode out of the alley and across the street, keeping his head down so his cloak concealed his face.
The Lead Guard’s lips were twisted in a sneer as he turned away from Trevor and the little Guard to make his rounds. Another Guard tapped his shoulder and he stopped, looking toward Hugh. He sniffed and straightened, sniffing again and glancing at the other Guards.
Hugh smiled beneath his hood. His odor was Almighty and shit. No wonder the Lead Guard was confused. “You there, gather your Guards,” he commanded as he moved toward them, his face still covered.
“I only take orders from the Supreme Almighty or his soldiers.” The Lead Guard sniffed again, glancing at Trevor and Todd.
“You take orders from your betters and I am an Almighty,” he roared. “Don’t make me report your behavior to Jason.”
The Lead
Guard glanced at the Almightys as the other Guards lined up behind him. Trevor shoved the little Guard into the camper and locked the door. He and Todd moved behind their Guards as Sassy and Brennon slipped around the corner and into the building.
“You know Jason?” asked Trevor, his tone worried.
“Oh, yeah. I know that fat, florid, little twerp.” He unsheathed his knife under his cloak.
Todd’s snicker died in the air at Trevor’s glare.
Hugh moved closer, the Guards sidling out of his way. The likelihood of him making it out of here alive was pretty slim but it was better than Trevor’s. His hand trembled a bit. He’d become a martyr for the Allied Classes. Not exactly the role he’d wanted. He almost laughed. He hadn’t wanted any role in this war, so martyr it’d be.
“I demand to know who you are. Show your face.” Trevor strode closer.
“Gladly.” He flipped back his hood.
There was a gasp from just about every creature in the area.
“High Hugh Truent,”whispered Todd.
He bent as if to bow and darted forward shoving his knife into Trevor’s gut. “You will never touch another child.” He twisted the knife like Trinity had shown him and then shoved upward.
A Guard tackled him, knocking him away from Trevor and sending him skidding across the pavement. He jabbed his hand into the Guard’s side, but he’d left his knife in Trevor’s stomach. Trinity would be furious with him. She’d trained him better than that. The knife was an extension of his hand. He wouldn’t leave his hand behind, so he shouldn’t have left his knife.
As soon as they stopped flying across the parking lot, the Guard scrambled to an upright position, sitting on Hugh’s chest and pinning one of Hugh’s arms against his side. Hugh punched the Guard in his gut. It was like hitting rock. The Guard smiled down at him as his fist connected with Hugh’s face. His head snapped back and the metallic taste of blood filled his mouth.
“You’re going to have to do better than that.” He snarled and jabbed upward with his fist while trying to free his other hand, but the Guard was heavy, giving him no wiggle room.