I shake my head at him. “What do you expect?” I say to Stephen. My eyes go from him to the first guard. “Pigs.”
The guard meets my stare with a smirk on his face. “Shadowface likes us to be thorough.”
“I’m sure you don’t mind it either,” I say.
“Come on. The boss is waiting.”
I take a step forward and it feels surreal. Only days ago, I was studying the journal in Crestwood, trying to make sense of who this Shadowface person was. Now, I’m about to come face-to-face with him? Wouldn’t someone called Shadowface want to remain in the shadows? Wouldn’t he want to keep his identity a secret?
As we walk forward, I try to scan the surrounding area for noises, whispers. I look at the buildings, searching for someone giving instructions to other guards. Perhaps I might hear Shadowface devising his plot behind the scenes. If I can locate such a voice, it would give us an edge in the negotiations. If, that is, negotiations are what Shadowface has in mind.
The gate closes and in our short walk to one of the nearest buildings, I hear nothing. The guards escort Stephen and me up a flight of stairs and down a long, dark hallway. The place is dirty, and creepy. I feel like it’s the sort of place where a greyskin could jump out at any moment. I hate the feeling, especially since I don’t have a gun on me. I glance to my left at Stephen and he lifts an eyebrow. No doubt he’s unsure of his decision to bring us here. I’m already starting to second-guess my decision.
The guards lead us to a room with a table and a few chairs. There is no window, but there is a single light that hangs loosely from the ceiling. On the other side of the room is another door. The guards tell us to have a seat and that someone will be with us in a few minutes. When they close the door behind us, I can’t help but scan the room until my eyes fall on Stephen again.
“I feel like I’m on one of those old cop shows where the police sit and monitor the prisoners before the interrogation,” I say.
“Well, at least there’s no two-way mirror,” he says.
“Doesn’t mean there isn’t a camera or a microphone or something,” I say as I bend down to have a look under the table. Nothing but gum and pencil marks.
I sit up straight and set my elbows on the table in front of me. I hold my chin in my palm to make it look like I’m resting, but really I don’t want Stephen to notice that I’m craning my neck to get a better listen behind the door across from us.
This place is unfamiliar to me, so it takes a few seconds before I locate some noise. I can hear two people talking. A man and a woman.
“Just act as you normally would,” the woman says to the man.
“I still think I should test the waters,” he says. “I’ll be able to see if they are easily intimidated.”
“No,” she answers.
She’s clearly the one in charge, I think to myself.
“You know,” the man says, “sometime soon you are going to have to flex some muscle. Fear is a powerful emotion.”
“It’s a reckless emotion, Samuel.”
Samuel.
“When people are afraid, they tend to do stupid things. We don’t want them to do something stupid. We want them to trust us.”
Samuel doesn’t seem to respond. Perhaps he nods, or even shrugs. I turn my head away the moment I hear footsteps.
“Someone’s coming,” Stephen says.
“Don’t trust him,” I say to Stephen.
He looks at me, his forehead crinkled in confusion.
“The guy that’s coming in here,” I say. “Don’t trust him. He’s just going to say things that you want to hear.”
“How do you know that?”
But I don’t have time to answer before the door opens in front of us and a man comes walking in. He is tall and thin. His hair is cut short, almost shaved, and a five o’clock shadow darkens his jaw. His eyebrows seem sharp as they dart downward, darkening his already brown eyes.
“Are you Shadowface?” Stephen asks.
No, it’s Samuel, I think to myself. The way the woman seemed to be in charge, makes me wonder if Shadowface is even here. Unless, she is Shadowface…
“You must be Stephen,” Samuel says, taking the chair across from us and sitting. As he leans forward and rests his arms on the table, his jacket falls open and I can see a pistol lodged in a holster on the side of his chest. His eyes fall on me next. “I’m not sure I know your name.”
“You didn’t answer the question,” I say.
Samuel’s eyes narrow at me.
“You have two of my men,” Stephen says.
“Jim and David, right?” Samuel asks.
Stephen nods.
“They have been very cooperative and understanding. I will be happy to secure their release.”
“Under what conditions?” Stephen asks.
“Only that you take the time to hear me out. I’m not here to threaten you or anything like that. I first just want to explain that the reason we took your men was because they were in our territory when they shouldn’t have been.”
“Sealy is your territory?” Stephen asks.
He nods. “One of many.”
“So, you’re a gang lord,” I say.
Samuel looks at me sharply. “No,” he says. “But I am a recruiter. And I’m always looking to expand to new territories.”
“What if I don’t want to be a part of your territory?” Stephen asks.
Samuel looks at Stephen with a concerned expression. “I think you’ve misinterpreted what this meeting is all about.”
“Have I?”
“You have.”
I swallow, keeping my eyes fixed on Samuel. He still hasn’t answered the question about who he is.
“We simply want to talk. We are not forcing you into anything. Your men are free to go whenever you wish to take them.”
“Why did you hold them hostage in the first place?” Stephen asks. “Do you know how nerve-racking it is to have someone pick up the radio and say that my men have been captured, only to be forced to wait for hours before hearing anything else again?”
“Poor communication,” Samuel says. “That is my fault.”
“Just get to the point,” I say.
“Shadowface would like Elkhorn to become part of our network. We want you to be a friend to us.”
“Why would we do that?” Stephen asks.
Samuel smiles. “How do you like your wall?”
“Keeps the greyskins out.”
“For now,” Samuel says. “But no doubt if a large herd comes through it wouldn’t take much to break it down, would it?” He doesn’t wait for Stephen to answer. “And suppose a large group of raiders came to take you over. I’m guessing that you don’t have the manpower nor the defenses to withstand a well-planned attack.”
Again, Stephen is silent.
“Your men that we caught,” he continues, “were scouting, possibly looking for supplies, right? How would you like to do that with proper equipment? Between the two of them, there were a couple of blunt weapons and one gun. If you were allied with us, they could go out with assault rifles, and whatever blades they could want. Not to mention dependable vehicles. That is, if you decide that supply or scouting runs are even necessary. Shadowface would gladly supply your people with plenty of food, medicine, and clothing.”
I can already see Stephen’s face begin to soften. I’m sure that for a group leader, such luxuries, perhaps necessities, are hard to pass up. But I know there has to be a catch. What was Samuel talking to that woman about? He wanted her to show some muscle? I can’t just let this go on without putting in my two cents.
“I’m sure if you had it your way, you would just make us join with you,” I say.
When Samuel’s expression doesn’t change, I start to feel nervous.
“I’m sure if you were in charge, you would have come in here and told Stephen that if we didn’t join with you, then you would kill his men, wouldn’t you?”
He takes a deep breath. “Why are you here?
” He looks from me to Stephen. “Don’t let her keep you from protecting your people.”
“What is in it for you?” Stephen asks.
“Shadowface’s network is about moving toward a common goal,” Samuel says. “Obviously, there is no government running anything. Bandits strut around taking what they desire without any consequences. For your allegiance, we will give you everything you need. We consider helping you an investment.”
“What goal?” I ask.
Samuel gives me a look that says get out, but I don’t budge.
“Our goal is to move forward,” he says. “For the past three years, the world has been living in anarchy, and it’s becoming worse than just a problem with greyskins. We want to end starvation, bring raiders to justice, and ultimately find a cure for the virus. But we’re going to need backing.”
“Soldiers?” Stephen asks. “You’re raising soldiers.”
“Not necessarily,” Samuel says. “We’re looking for places of strategic advantages. Some places are more apt to farming, and will be able to help provide food. Some places are located near factories that can be used to mass-produce goods again.”
“And what does Elkhorn have to offer?” Stephen asks.
Samuel smiles at him. I see it clear as day, but Stephen is blind to it. By asking what does Elkhorn have to offer, he has too easily shown his interest. Now Samuel knows that he’s got him where he wants him.
“We aren’t sure yet,” Samuel says, still smiling. “But once an offer is made, we will not reject you.”
So this is how all the meetings went, I suppose. I can imagine Samuel sitting with a struggling Paxton, telling him about all the things that Shadowface could do for Crestwood. Then the thought hits me like a brick to the head. Is Shadowface the reason I loved being at Crestwood? It was all there. The wall was secure, the people well-fed and happy. There didn’t seem to be any complaints from anyone. The journal showed that once the town gave allegiance, Shadowface had a hand in everything. And I bet my life that whoever he is, he’s tallying every bit of aid he’s given to these places. That’s why I fear Stephen giving in to this guy. Someday, Shadowface is going to call in all his debts.
“I don’t like allying myself with someone that won’t show his face,” Stephen says. “Why would I work with someone without a name? Shadowface?” He shakes his head. “I don’t like it.”
“Every leader raises the same question with me,” Samuel says. “And I always tell them this: When raiders are trying to steal your children, rape your women, kill your men; when greyskins are traveling in herds, trying to rip down your barriers for a bit of meat, you aren’t going to care who Shadowface is. You’re just going to be glad that you are well-equipped to handle those situations.”
Sly dog, I think. Samuel almost has me convinced.
The room is silent for a moment. There really isn’t anything I can say. Samuel has Stephen thinking, and voicing any more of my opinion won’t help.
“This is something I have to talk over with my people,” Stephen finally says. “But you make a compelling case.”
“That’s what I’m here to do.” Samuel looks toward the door. “Mac,” he shouts. A guard opens the door behind us. “Bring in Stephen’s men.”
“Yes, sir.”
It only takes a minute for Mac to bring Stephen’s scouts to the room. Samuel, Stephen, and I all stand when they enter. The two of them look a little rough, but probably not from anything Shadowface’s men did to them.
“How did they treat you?” Stephen asks.
One of them nods and says everyone was nice to them.
Stephen looks back at Samuel. “I appreciate you taking care of my men and being civil about everything.”
“Why would I be anything less?” Samuel asks. He nods at one of his guards who promptly hands the radios back to Jim and David. “My only regret is making you worry last night.”
Stephen nods in agreement, but doesn’t say anything. I’m not sure he knows what to say.
A squawk on the radio turns everyone’s heads. At first it’s just static, but a voice finally breaks through.
“4978, this is Home Base, do you copy?”
“I left mine in the SUV,” Stephen says. He reaches out and takes the radio from one of his men.
“Must be good radios,” Mac says with a scowl.
“Got them from the police station in Elkhorn,” either Jim or David says. I’m not sure which.
Stephen walks to the other side of the room as if doing so will make it where only he can hear, though everyone is listening intently. “Go ahead, Lydia.”
“Just wanted to let you know that we let the three newcomers in to stay through tonight.
“That’s fine,” Stephen says. “I’m busy right now, I’ll get back to you later.”
“Ten-four,” Lydia says. “I thought I should tell you that they are looking for Remi.”
All eyes fall on me and my stomach drops. Why would someone be looking for me?
“They say their names are Gabe, Ethan, and Waverly.”
This time my heart leaps into my throat. Did she just say Waverly? Surely not. I can feel my mouth hanging open, and I know the look of shock on my face will raise some questions later, but I don’t care.
I’m about to shake my head and tell them that I don’t know what’s going on, but a rumbling from the building’s foundation interrupts all of our thoughts. Then, my ears feel like they burst when a noise that must be an explosion shakes the walls.
Everyone dives for the floor as the table and chairs rattle. The explosion sounds like a bolt of lightning just went off right next to my head. Several of the guards shout out curses, asking what the noise could have been. Finally, the rumbling settles and all is quiet again.
I close my eyes and try to focus my hearing in the direction of the explosion. In the distance, I’m not sure how far, guns are going off. My head snaps upward when the door on the other side of the room swings open. A woman is standing in the doorway, a look of worry etched across her face.
“They are here again,” she says, looking at Samuel. “We’ve got to get to the roof.” The woman glances at me for a moment. She looks to be about forty-five, maybe fifty years old. Her blonde hair is straight and cuts off at the bottom of her cheek. Her eyes stab into me and then flit to Stephen nervously. She has to be the woman I heard talking to Stephen before the meeting. And I can’t help but feel like I’ve seen her before. She seems so familiar.
Is she Shadowface? Surely not.
“Get you and your men to the ground floor,” she says to Stephen. “They aren’t after you. They want us.”
“Not exactly selling me on trusting you,” Stephen says, getting to his feet. Now he hears the sound of gunshots.
“Some don’t like the idea of prosperity,” Samuel says as he walks through the doorway. “Some find it very beneficial to keep the world as it is.”
With that, they leave through the door across from me, and the four of us are alone, with the sound of guns blasting in the distance.
Chapter 2 - Mitch
The motorcycle between my legs rumbles like thunder as I stare at the red traffic light, waiting for it to turn green. I don’t care that the engine is loud enough to wake the dead. I don’t worry about bandits hearing me. I choose to ride this thing and to stop at the light because it is a stark reminder of the world that used to be.
Three years ago, no one went to hell. Hell came to us.
I was just a kid then. A twenty-one-year-old barely out of college. I had plenty of dreams. Aspirations. I wanted to be something. Someone. I wanted to work my way up the ladder of success. I wanted to become famous with my accomplishments. No one could have told me that about a billion people just like myself had the same future in mind, only to be utterly disappointed the day after graduation.
A prospective architect found himself working on a construction crew, digging up ditches in the summer heat. A journalism student found herself writing obituaries part-ti
me for a small-town newspaper, forced to live with her parents because the job didn’t pay her enough for rent. An artist, compelled to pursue the career of pouring drinks and listening to the problems of drunks, never thought he would become the closest thing to a psychologist these people would ever see.
All of us had been promised the world. All of us were deceived.
The ones that did persevere enough to become the bright stars of deception, feeding into the lie that all of us can do it too, became so obsessed with money and power that greed and corruption became a way of life. Cheating on a spouse was flaunted. Love for thy neighbor was not even a concept to be considered. Murder wore the mask of lawsuits and complete annihilation of one’s assets. If you cannot kill your enemies, ruin them. Of course, actual murder was not uncommon either.
Perhaps the world we lived in and hell had already met long before the greyskins ever existed.
No one will say it, but I’m not afraid to: I think the greyskin virus was the best thing to ever happen to mankind. Do I wish things could have turned out differently? Yes. Do I wish that humanity would have come up with a different way to change? Of course. But it would never have happened. If history has taught us anything, it is that it takes a major disaster to change the way the masses look at life.
I’m not ignorant. I know that a lot of bad things have happened and that a lot of people have died. But there are no more bad people. Nor are there good ones. There are only survivors. The virus brought mankind to his knees and now we live by our basic instincts. We are no different from the animals.
I wait at a small intersection just outside the town of Sealy. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for my group. We are here to take the town from the one that calls himself Shadowface. I’ve never seen him. I’ve only heard what our group leader, my father, has said about him—that he’s dangerous and needs to be stopped. From what we know, he’s trying to gain power by influencing all the towns and settlements from here all the way to Salem, and bring them under his control. It’s as if this Shadowface never learned the lesson that I did—that greed and power-hungry people caused all this in the first place. We don’t need one all-encompassing government. We don’t need to look toward one man or woman. Perhaps where I see man’s corruptive downfall, Shadowface sees opportunity.
The Starborn Ascension: Books 1, 2, and 3 (The Starborn Saga) Page 24