Chapter 26
Carter
Alex and the others had already left, that telekinetic sphere idea of Alastor’s worked. From where I was standing I could see a smooth path which had been paved by the combination of Alex and Tessa’s abilities. That aside William and I had a ways to go to get to wherever we were headed. I knew I was headed in the right direction at least I hoped I was. It wasn’t like I was really in the mood to be wasting my time but this had to be done.
What made it worse was the awful terrain, Alex and the others were lucky they were already clear of the devastation now. William and I were still trudging through it, as I looked around I could picture where some of the buildings would have been standing. Instead in their places were piles of stone and rubble. It was like the city was made of cardboard and had so easily been torn apart. I knew it was more than that, the power of that bomb the one Prometheus’ dropped. How did they get their hands on something like that? Stupid question. It was probably something they cooked up. Prometheus had access to some seriously high grade technology, and a whole lot of manpower, it wasn’t going to be easy to take them down. We were going to need an army or at least our equivalent of one. First thing first though, getting to Juliette and getting all the information she had on Prometheus.
“You know, Alex would have blurted out something random right about now.”
I barely glanced at William before replying. “Well, I’m not Alex.”
“I know that. But is a little light conversation too much to ask.”
Conversation was the last thing on my mind right now. Prometheus wasn’t going to get away. They were going to continue hurting people it had to end. I don’t care what it takes I was going to put an end to Prometheus…
“No, no, no. No, no there you go brooding I know, I’m mad too but you’re not going to accomplish anything if you go in seeing red.”
I smirked for a moment. “Hang on, you’re mad right now. You sound just as laidback as always.”
William smiled. “Call it part of my charm. It’s not like I’m mad at you just Prometheus.”
Even though William was speaking calmly I managed to catch the dark inclination in his tone when he said the word Prometheus. Now that I thought about it, Alex made a lot of strange friends when I was away. They all seem alright like the kind of friends you only make once in a lifetime. But were they truly ready for what was coming? We were going to war, and war is a crazy thing. There are no true winners only survivors. I only hoped that Prometheus wasn’t the surviving type it would make my job a helluva lot easier.
Without realizing it William and I had cleared a good portion of the way, heading toward the road where one of Prometheus’ bases used to be. From what I was told Alex and Adam had something to do with that or more accurately Adam had something to do with it while Alex was inside. I’ve never stopped to think how often there have been attempts on our lives, mine and Alexander’s the number was definitely increasing thanks to the oh so generous bounty Prometheus put on us. That reminds me we couldn’t really stir up too much trouble. We were suppose to be dead after all. I wonder if they actually believed that, considering no one was lying in wait I’d say it’s a good bet that they just assumed we were dead. Not the worst thing they could assume considering it gave us some much needed breathing room.
“We finally reached the road that’s good. So where specifically is this Juliette suppose to be?”
“If I knew that I would probably be in a better mood. The message from the walkie said a couple miles northwest.”
“A couple of miles northwest? Really? They weren’t any more specific than that.”
“Aaargh, of course they were. Either way we need to go a couple of miles northwest no one asked you to follow me.”
“Easy. No need to go all rage beast on me.”
“Sorry. I’m not looking forward to talking to Juliette again.”
I could see from the corner of my eye that William was blinking out of confusion. He also had an odd look on his face that seemed to say. Intrigued. There were a few options here, the first and very obvious one was to explain what my beef with Juliette was. The other options were pretty much the same boiling down to me just pretending I didn’t see the look on William’s face, it’s not like he actually asked about Juliette and me as long as he didn’t do that…
“So what’s the deal with Juliette and you…Carter? Carter?”
I could feel my insides twist uncomfortably, it was probably caused by my body subconsciously reacting to the fact that I should have anticipated William’s inquiry about Juliette. Now I’ll just pretend he didn’t say any….
“Hellooooo. The waiting only makes this story more interesting. Is Juliette an ex-girlfriend you didn’t call or maybe a prom date you stood up?”
“None of those she was the ex-fiancée I tried to kill. Twice.”
William stared at me with a blank expression then blinked once while rolling his hand toward me. “Go onnnnn.”
“To be fair she tried to kill me and Alex a good number of times. Orders she said like that makes it ok to put a bullet in me.” I was talking more to myself than to William he didn’t seem to mind though, probably just glad that I was finally talking.
“Juliette was part of a special British intelligence agency when we met. We worked together a few times and I guess…”
“There was a spark…love at first sight. Come on. Don’t leave me hanging.”
The way William was talking right now reminded me of a small dog piping up every now and again for attention. Too bad I didn’t have any treats to give him to distract him for a while.
“Uhhhh. Maybe there was a spark at some point. I don’t really remember it feels like a lifetime ago, now that I think about it. We obviously had some sort of connection for us to get engaged. Things kinda went downhill…”
Out of nowhere I could hear a loud mechanical grinding sound. A sound I haven’t heard in ages, seconds after I started hearing the sound I could see what was making it approaching. It was a large armored vehicle with tank tread running beneath it. It had more wheels than I cared to count and took up most of the road. I couldn’t help feeling this was the kind of thing we needed….that’s when the wheels slowly stopped turning and the door on the side slid open.
“So you found me. Not what exactly do you want?” Juliette asked.
William looked back at me for a moment swallowed then just stared at the armored vehicle. I couldn’t blame him the thing was massive. Juliette seemed to take notice causing her to smirk.
“Carter your friends seems to like my ride. It’s called the pup.
“What’s the hound look like a friggin building?” William remarked.
Juliette stared passed William making eye contact with me. She didn’t blink neither did I the only noise was the pup’s engine running.
“…Wait a second. How’d you know we were looking for you?”
Juliette’s smirk widened into a smile which unnerved me to see. She sighed loudly like she was annoyed but I knew it was just for show.
“My team has more than one way to communicate any good team would. You want to know what I know about Prometheus don’t you? Well if it were up to me…..”
I glanced at William for a moment then back at Juliette who had suddenly reentered the pup. She had stopped talking mid-sentence so something must have happened, the question was what. She didn’t leave the pup for a while but I heard a bunch of whispers. I couldn’t make out anything too important though.
“It’s all being transfer to the drive Ma’am just as you requested.”
Whoever just spoke didn’t even bother whispering it must not have been important or they were just an incompetent member of Juliette’s team. It wasn’t long after the guy had finished speaking that Juliette came out holding something. She walked over to me acting as if it was the most casual thing in the world. I wasn’t going to let my guard down though.
“Here. Take it.” Juliette commented while ha
nding me what appeared to be a flash drive.
“What is this?”
“Let’s call it a present my dear.” Juliette tilted her head to the side and smiled with her eyes closed. I smiled back for a moment until I realized what I was doing, Juliette opened her eyes then took a few steps back without turning around. When she finally did turn around her eyes linger on me for a moment while mine did the same with her.
“Oh and Carter. You don’t need a lift anywhere by chance?”
William’s gaze went back and forth from Juliette and me for a moment while the same expression from earlier worked its way onto his face. I wanted to roll my eyes but decided against it instead I moved toward the pup while William did the same.
“Why are you helping us?”
“Who says I’m helping. That flash drive could very well contain a bunch of my personal information. Maybe it’s my way of asking you out, who knows?”
If that was what she was saying I knew she meant something entirely different. I still didn’t trust her but a ride would make things go a lot faster. Juliette entered the pup and then William entered, I was the last to go in. The inside was kind of dark but very spacious there were a least six other people inside besides Juliette, William and I. Which made the total around nine not to mention the driver and whoever else was in the front. Even though it was dark inside the pup, there were lights from laptops and a number of high tech consoles which were scattered across the interior. Even though I accepted Juliette’s offer of a ride it didn’t mean I had to let my guard down.
“So how do you know Carter? Juliette asked casually.
I rolled my eyes and groaned quietly while thinking. This is going to be a long ride.
Chapter 27
Anticipation was a strange feeling in this situation. Mainly because of the fact that what came next was going to be a massacre. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind about that. The only thing we had to make sure of is that we weren’t the ones being massacred. Sadly the odds weren’t in our favor, we were going up against what was probably the most guarded and secure of the Prometheus bases. Their headquarters probably held the most crucial personnel there which meant there would be security rivaling their importance. All of this was obvious though I just had to run it through my head. It was one thing to talk about taking down Prometheus it was another thing to actually go and do it. This would be unlike anything we have ever faced.
I took a deep breath then sighed while looking around the infirmary. I had been here for a while mainly because there was a bed and I didn’t feel like walking around just yet. Tessa was here too while Mathew was in a different area along with AJ. Last thing I heard about Mathew was that he was stable while AJ’s arm might have been crushed. I wasn’t too sure it was just something I had overheard, hopefully he and Mathew would be ok…
“They’ll make it. They’ll be perfectly fine.” I said the words to myself even though they felt hollow.
I couldn’t be negative not right now. We had just survived a collapsing city, there was some good luck in our lives wasn’t there? It was sort of a rhetorical question, for one I don’t think a lucky person would have been in a collapsing city in the first place. Regardless we managed to survive that said something about us didn’t…
“An indomitable will.”
That was what Maxine Edge had said to me. Or maybe it was more like how she saw it. Maybe I was just too stupid to realize when I was in over my head, when I was suppose to back down. I guess you begin to think you can get through everything when you keep surviving life or death situations. Maybe in the back of my mind I thought that no matter what I’ll come out on top. That kind of thought process was definitely going to get me killed sooner or later.
“Soooooo, Alexan….alexan…der can…can you help me?”
Whoever spoke sounded sort of familiar but something was wrong. I turned to see who it was, it was Tessa she was wobbling around. It almost looked like she was dancing without a beat.
“Tessa are you ok?”
“Noooooo, toooooo much….toooooo much medicine hahahaha.”
I got out of my bed and walked over to Tessa who was still wobbling when I got to her. Once I reached her I could see that her right foot was red and swollen. That probably explained the wobbling…at least part of the reason. I went in close to lift Tessa’s arm to support her but she playful pushed me back then shook her head really fast. It was kind of creepy actually.
“How am I suppose to help you then?”
“Carry me.” Tessa immediately put her arms out to illustrate that she wasn’t joking.
“What…aragh…fine. But only because you shouldn’t be walking on that rutabaga you call a foot.”
Once I finished talking I bent over to pick Tessa up and she jumped into my arms. I managed to catch her, so she wrapped her arms around my neck then put on an extremely childish grin. Why’d they give her so much medication anyway what the hell was Alastor thinking. Well maybe it wasn’t exactly Alastor’s fault but someone who worked for him wasn’t thinking straight. Now I have to deal with….
“Let’s goooooooo, hahahaha.”
“Ok, let get you to bed.”
I heard it only a second after I said it, my face started to turn red. I was hoping Tessa was too drugged up to realize but I was hoping for too much because a sinister grin went across Tessa’s face before she said…
“I bet you’ve been waiting awhile to say that hahaahaha.”
I rolled my eyes and moved forward without saying another word, Tessa’s bed was on the other side of the room. Which under normal circumstances wouldn’t have been a problem if Tessa wasn’t playfully giggling and being as childish as she possibly could be. She kicked her feet in the air sort of like she was paddling water. When I actually took a moment to pay attention it was kind of cute. I also realized that she probably wasn’t going to remember this, that meant when she was coherent I had a chance to rub it in her face. Oh she was going to hate me….
“Here we arrrrrrre. Rrrrrrrrrr matey. Ahhh this is some good medicine you…you should get some from Al…Ala..la..stor.”
I smiled and nodded while setting her down in her bed. I thought for a moment she was going to start kicking or thrashing so I subconsciously prepared for it but it was all for nothing. Tessa just laid there quietly as I pulled her blanket over her. She stared into my eyes for a moment then started to drift off into sleep. So I turned around and headed back to my bed when suddenly Tessa spoke.
“What did you mean earlier when you said you remembered?”
I froze in place then turned my head to look at Tessa. “Well…I remembered…”
A small smile went across my face once I realized that Tessa had fallen asleep she must have been sleep talking. Which only made me wonder more about the medication she was given, aside from her being loopy her foot didn’t seem to be paining her so I guess it worked. The only problem was that Tessa was in no shape to go with us to hit the Prometheus headquarters.
“Maybe that’s a good thing.” I whispered to myself just before taking the final few steps to my bed.
Chapter 28
After a couple of hours three max I finally got my very own room. I was more than certain that the room I was in was once a supply closet or something like that. Of course it crossed my mind that this was some form of spite from Alastor. It wasn’t like the two of us were friends, the fact we were working together was still surprising. I guess that’s what happens when there was a bigger threat, alliances were forged from the unlikeliest of people. Still that didn’t mean I trusted him not by a long shot. How could you trust someone who tried to kill you and your friends someone who worked with…
“By that line of thinking I shouldn’t trust myself or Carter.” I sighed loudly while dropping back on my bed. My legs hit the wall which only seemed to help illustrate my earlier thought. I was better off sleeping in the infirmary at least it was more spacious. Then again it wasn’t like I was staying here too long…was I? That would
definitely get on my nerves, speaking of staying here we were waiting on Carter and William, they haven’t contacted us yet which wasn’t a good sign.
“Did something happen?”
It wasn’t like the bounty was off, if they drew too much attention to themselves then there was no telling what could happen.
“Aaaaagh dammit I should have gon….aaaaah.”
During my sudden outburst I had changed position on my bed rather quickly which seemed to bother my fractured ribs. I was given something for the pain which seemed to do nothing to help. It wasn’t all bad though at least one of my lungs hadn’t collapsed…yet. The pain from my ribs reminded me about Mathew and AJ, I should probably go check on them it was definitely better than staying in this closet that Alastor called a room. After taking in three deep slow breaths I got up and headed to the door which slid to the side. Apparently one of the things I was suppose to do to manage my fractured ribs was to do breathing exercises, those deep breaths definitely count.
The hallway was long and surprisingly narrow, in comparison to my room. It was more than spacious. I figured where AJ and Mathew were was on the other side of the airship so I started down the hallway planning on making a left turn at the corner but that plan was stopped in its tracks once I spotted Alastor heading toward me.
“AJ and Mathew are fine. We need to talk though.”
Alastor’s tone was the same as always but he seem pressed for time so instead of arguing I figured the faster we got our conversation over the faster I could check on AJ and Mathew. It wasn’t like him saying they were ok made me worry any less. At first I thought we were just going to talk in the hall but apparently that wasn’t Alastor’s plan because he hadn’t stopped walking even after he had walked passed me. For now I just followed silently I was slightly irritated but I highly doubted that Alastor really cared. The two of us continued until we reached a large door which led to the room with the glass panels on the ground. Alastor proceeded through the door without stopping for a moment so I reluctantly followed after him.
Noble Revelations (Noble Series Book 3) Page 16