I grimaced and turned back to my stairs and pulled myself up faster. My leg was throbbing even more now, and I knew that I was running out of options. When I reached the rooftop I looked around for an exit, and what I saw sent a chill through my body. There was nowhere left to go. How did I keep getting myself into these situations?
The only other building that was even remotely the same height as the one I was standing on was across the street. I jogged over to the edge of the building and saw that it was a two lane road that spanned between me and the next roof, which was a good ten feet lower than the roof I was currently on. A glance down to the street told me that only death waited there. There was not even a stall to jump down onto like a few days before. Just my luck. Now I would have to come up with another miraculous escape without falling to my death. I was too high up for even the softest of landings to have a chance of survival. I turned back and started running toward the stairs again, and was halfway there when I saw the large man pulling his way up onto the roof with me.
I wasn't going to jail, and I knew for a fact that I wasn't going to the military. I made the decision, and started running toward the edge of the building. I was fit. I was fast. I was light. I could make this.
"Alex, stop!" The voice was familiar, but I tuned it out as I ran toward the edge of the building. I had to concentrate on making this jump. It was freedom or death. I hit the edge of the building at full speed and leapt out over the gap.
The second my foot had left the ground I knew I had made a mistake. There was no way I could make this jump. My leg was too hurt. I wasn't at my peak. I felt the air around me freeze as I realized I was going to die. This was it. I was dead.
A small shock wave passed through me, like silent thunder, and powerful hands grabbed me from behind. My momentum halted and I was yanked back through the air and onto the roof I had just vacated. As I fell to the concrete my head slammed hard into the ground. My world spun and I shook back and forth, trying to make sense of the images around me. I blinked as darkness started in on my vision, but squinted through it to look at the man who had grabbed me.
Bradley, the boy from prison, lay next to me breathing hard. He turned to me as my world started to fall away, and when they settled on me I froze. The gray seemed to draw me in as I stared him. I couldn't look away.
He blinked and gave me a grin. "Well that was a close one."
The spell broke, my head fell down, and the world went black.
TEN
I woke to my body throbbing in pain. I opened my eyes, blinking away the brightness as they adjusted to the light. I could hear the hum of an engine, and by the way I jostled back and forth it was obvious I was in a vehicle of some kind. I tried to sit up but found my hands tied behind my back, and instead just managed to wriggle on the ground.
A deep voice rumbled. "She's awake."
I felt hands grab me from behind and start to lift me, but I thrashed out of their grip and fell to the floor. I hit the ground hard and a moan escaped my lips.
"Are you alright?" I looked up at the source of the new voice and found Bradley standing before me, concern etched across his face.
I closed my eyes and took a breath. "What the hell do you think?"
"Let me get you out of those cuffs."
"You sure that's a good idea?" said the man with the deep voice who I now recognized as the large man who had taken me out of the police station.
Bradley raised and eyebrow at him. "You think she's going to escape now?"
The man rolled his eyes and shrugged, turning away from the two of us and closing his eyes to sleep. I glared at the back of his head while Bradley undid my wrists. I felt the click of the release and my arms were free.
"There you g—"
I pushed my hands into the ground and threw my head backwards into Bradley's face. It connected with a crack that threw Bradley back off me. I spun and pushed him hard to topple him off balance further and he hit the metal wall behind him with a thud. I jumped up and spun to face the large man who was now standing and reaching toward me.
I reached past his outstretched hand and grabbed his wrist, pulling him off balance and slamming my elbow into his face. He gave a small grunt in pain, but the pain that shot through me made me think my arm broke. I pushed him away, ignoring the pain, and rushed to the nearest door and throwing all my weight into it.
I grunted as I pushed hard, but the thing didn't budge. There was no visible locking mechanism, so I concluded they must have locked it from the outside. I spun on my feet to put my back against the door and face my attackers.
I wasn't expecting what I saw.
Bradley was standing with his head tilted back and his hand pinching the bridge of his nose. Blood was fresh on his face from the nosebleed my blow had given him. The large man was back in his seat, chuckling at Bradley's comical look.
"Yeah yeah, Gus, she cracked you one too."
The large man, Gus, shrugged. "I'm not the one bleeding like a little girl." He lay back, putting his hands behind his head and watching Bradley as he tried to stop the blood flowing.
My heartbeat started to slow and I lost a lot of the tension that had built up in my body. I felt sore, and tired, but relieved they weren't going to attack me. I wasn't sure what to do next.
"Um…"
Bradley looked at me sideways. "You didn't have to do that you know." He reached into an overhead storage unit for a towel and pressed it to his face. "I was just trying to take off your cuffs."
I felt myself blush. "I'm… sorry?" I said, frowning for a moment. "No, wait, I'm not sorry. You kidnapped me. What the hell is going on?"
Bradley rolled his eyes. "We didn't kidnap you. You passed out and we brought you here. You're not a prisoner."
I raised an eyebrow. "Then why was I handcuffed?"
"Well Gus over there thought it was a good idea in case you freaked out when you woke up or something." Bradley glared at me and gestured to his face. "Which, in light of things, wasn't such a bad call."
"Fine, but why am I still locked in?"
Bradley looked over to Gus, who let out a chortle of laughter. This set Bradley off who started laughing, which in turn made Gus laugh harder. I stood with my hands on my hips and waited for them to stop laughing at me, getting more frustrated by the second.
"What the heck is so damn funny?"
Bradley stifled his laughter and looked at me. "That door isn't locked, but you won't be able to open it at the moment."
I sighed. "And why would that be."
"Because we're about 36000 feet above the ground."
My eyes widened as I realized what kind of vehicle I was in. I ran over to the nearest seat and threw myself down and strapped myself in. I started gasping in air as my whole body shook, and stared around the cabin in horror. My heart leapt into my throat with each beat and it felt like I was going to throw up.
I was in an airplane. In the sky. Not on the ground.
Bradley handed me a paper bag which I started breathing into to calm myself. After a few minutes I had stopped shaking enough to remove the bag.
His annoying grin was back on his face. "First time flying, huh?" I glared daggers at him and tightened the seat belt.
Gus cleared his throat. "You know that if we crash that thing won't save you right?"
Bradley shot him a look. "You're not helping."
Gus tilted his head to the side. "You thought I was trying to be helpful?" He turned back away from the two of us to sit straight in his seat. After reclining he closed his eyes and lifted a set of headphones and placed them over his ears. I turned to look at Bradley again.
"How can you be so calm about this? We're in a tiny piece of metal flying through the sky."
Bradley laughed. "You think this is bad? Wait until you're sitting on the leg of a low flying chopper as it tears above the tree line so fast you can only see a blur of green below you. This right here is damn luxurious."
I shook my head and looked him over. He was
wearing the same black clothing that I had seen him in last night, the same clothes that Gus and the other man had been wearing. That is where I'd recognized it from.
I sighed. "So I'm going to hazard a guess and say that you're military?"
"In virtute."
I frowned at him. "What does that mean?"
"It's Latin. That's the motto of the Pulsers."
"The what?"
"It's what we are, but I don't want to get into it now. We'll talk about it more when we get to where we're going."
"Where are we going?"
"Training camp."
I opened my mouth to push him further, but another thought occured to me. "Why were you in the cell next to me back in lockup? That was a setup, wasn't it."
Bradley grimaced and had the good graces to look sheepish. "Yeah, sorry about that. I wanted to meet you before all this recruiting crap. Wanted to see if I could see the real you."
I raised an eyebrow. "And?"
"Jury's still out," he said with a half smile.
I grit my teeth. "So Trey sold me out the moment we got into jail, huh?"
Bradley gave me a sidelong glance. "Look, I—"
I held up a hand. "Don't."
A few minutes passed in silence before I sighed and turned to him again.
"So how long left on this trip?"
"Should be there in about three hours."
I crossed my arms across my chest. "So you say I'm not a prisoner, but I'm going to some training camp with you. You going to brainwash me?"
Bradley shook his head. "Nah, no need."
"And whys that?"
"Because you'll choose to join us."
"What makes you say that?"
"Because of where you're from."
My eyes widened and I leaned forward to poke him in the chest. "You know nothing about the city I grew up in you stupid tourist. You don't get to spend a day in a place I've spent my entire life and then judge me for it."
Bradley raised his hands up, palms outward. "Hey, wait, that's not what I meant. I saw the way you moved through the place when you ran. The effortless way you slipped between people and maneuvered your way out of danger. I got to see you at full speed running from Gus and Roger, and I've got to say, I'm impressed."
I felt heat in my cheeks at the compliment, and scolded myself for acting like a schoolgirl. This man wasn't my friend. He was my enemy. I shouldn't be happy about any of this, and I damn well shouldn't be crushing on the guy who was forcing me into a life I didn't want. Either way I took my finger from his chest and sat back down on my seat. "Who's Roger?"
Bradley pointed toward the front of the plane. "The pilot. Other man who was with you and Gus."
I nodded and waited a few moment before replying. "So you could see me when I ran?"
Bradley nodded. "I could see it on your face. Even in the awful situation we put you in you loved the thrill of the chase. You loved the escape. The moment that I saw you make the decision to jump from the roof is the most happy I have ever seen anyone. You'll love it with us."
I snorted laughter at him. "That's where you're wrong. You watched me so hard but missed the most vital point. The reason I was happy wasn't because I was going to jump off that roof. It was because—"
"Because you were free," Bradley finished, smiling at me.
I frowned in confusion. If he understood then how could he think that I would be happy about having my freedom taken away? I opened my mouth to ask him but he beat me to it.
"I think you have a lot of misconceptions about what it's like in the military. Especially in our division." He turned away from me and leaned his head against the headrest on the chair. "How about you just hold your judgment until you've seen it for yourself."
"Only if you stop pretending you know everything about me."
Bradley smiled. "Oh trust me, I know there is a lot more to you than meets the eye."
I frowned again. What did he mean by that?
"Let's try to get some rest."
I looked up at Bradley, but he already had his eyes closed. I shook my head and sighed, trying to convince myself that now wasn't the time to worry about some boy's opinion of me. After wriggling on the chair to find a comfortable position I closed my eyes and tried my best to sleep.
I wasn't successful.
ELEVEN
I grit my teeth and gripped the armrests as the plane touched down. Bradley had offered to let me sit up with the pilot for the landing, but I'd put a halt to that foolish notion right away. Once we'd stopped we made our way to the door. With a bit of noise it opened up by itself and folded out into a stairway.
I squinted into the brightness of the daylight as I stepped off the last step and onto the tarmac. Large, green trees encircled us. They could have gone on for half the world for all I knew. I could see mountains nearby and the sea of green ran up the base of them too, so I knew this wasn't a small forest. The air was a bit cool for the time of year which meant we were further north than New York. The smell that filled my nostrils was unlike anything I had smelt in my life, even with the plane fuel burning right at my back. The sweet and tangy air left an odd taste in my mouth which would take some getting used to. When I turned to look for any sign of civilization, all I could see was a small white building on the corner of the short runway.
I turned to Bradley. "Not what I expected from the military. I thought you guys were the richest organization in the country."
Bradley smiled and shrugged. "Close to it, but I think the underground drug trade is beating us this year. Anyway, this isn't a military facility in the strictest sense. Its purpose is ferrying people to and from the training camp."
"It's not with the other military training camps?"
"No. We have… special needs."
I nodded, even though I didn't quite understand, and followed him and Gus toward the building. I looked around at the landscape. This would be the perfect opportunity to make a run for it. Only two things were stopping me. The first was that I had no idea where I was or where the nearest town was, so without supplies I would be dead within a few days. The second is that I kind of didn't want to any more. Bradley's words had piqued my interest, and if what he said was true I didn't want to risk missing an opportunity to see the facility.
When we were halfway to the building I heard the plane fire up again and watched as it started taxiing out onto the runway. I turned back to ask Bradley a question and realized they had keep walking without me.
"The plane is leaving?" I called out as I jogged back up to them.
Bradley nodded. "It comes at our request."
"What if I don't want to stay?"
Gus's deep voice rumbled from up ahead. "Then in a weeks time, on the supply delivery, you can catch a lift back out on it."
I looked up at the mountain of a man. "So what do you do?"
He grunted.
Bradley clasped a hand on his shoulder. "Sergeant Peterson here is our public relations officer."
Gus grunted again.
"I think you need a new one," I mumbled under my breath.
Bradley laughed. "You might not like his methods, but he got you here didn't he?"
I didn't respond to that and followed them past the building to another black sedan. We all jumped in, Gus in the driver's seat, and pulled out onto the road.
"How long until we get there?"
"Another two hours." Bradley turned to look at me over his shoulder. "Know any good driving songs?"
I sighed and turned to look out the window at the scenery as it went past. I was so used to concrete and brick that I had no idea how big these forests were. I had seen them in books and on TV of course, but it was hard to appreciate the scale without being there. I couldn't see more than thirty feet into the woods with how thick it was, but I knew it would go on for days, or even weeks, if I tried to walk it. I felt myself smile at the view.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
I turned to Bradley and saw he was looking at me. I
nodded and turned back to the window, not wanting to miss anything on our journey. This had been the kind of thing I had wanted to do, even if I didn't know the specifics. Seeing things I had never seen before and getting new experiences. That was when it hit me.
I was out of the city.
Even though the circumstances weren't like I imagined, it didn't change that fact that I was free of that life. I would never have to live in that kind of fear again. That constant state of vigilance.
It was every bit possible I would never have to see my mother again.
I frowned at that thought. It had been something I wanted, leaving her, but I didn't know what to think about it now that it was real. I decided to ignore it for the time being and concentrate on the landscape around me.
A large white mansion sat on a huge clearing of land in the forest. Most of it was grass, but there were sections which I could see that differed in color. I could make out rows of buildings peeking out from behind the mansion itself. There were various set-ups of what looked to be training equipment scattered around the place. As we drove down the long driveway, I could see a team of people jogging in the distance. We weren't close enough to make out how many people were there.
I turned my eyes back to the centerpiece of the area and took in the whole thing as we approached. The place was huge: at least five stories and looked to be about hundred and fifty feet in width. I couldn't tell from here how far back it went, but I was guessing it wasn't small in that regard either.
I was unable to keep the awe out of my voice. "That's where you live?"
"Not the recruits, no." Bradley pointed off to the back corner where the rows of buildings I saw earlier rested. "We live in the barracks until our training is over. We use the mansion for the officer's quarters, education, and some of the different training exercises."
"Different?"
Bradley waved his hand. "Pulser stuff. You'll see when you stay."
The Pulse Series (Book 1): Pulse Page 6