Wasteland

by Ann Bakshis

  Braxton is cautiously walking to a group of men in odd Regulator uniforms, who have entered the complex from the main road. I begin to wonder why Gage and Tobin didn’t signal to us that we had visitors, as they were supposed to.

  The men are standing in front of a large armored vehicle with high-wattage spotlights attached to the front, casting shadows around Braxton.

  “That’s far enough, Captain,” the man says.

  “Who are you?” Braxton asks, hands fidgeting at his side.

  “I’m Commander Caderyn of the Territorial Army of Tyre.”

  “Army? The cities don’t have any armies.”

  “Acheron may not, but Tyre does,” the man says, then snickers. He snaps his fingers and twenty additional Regulators climb out of the vehicle, all brandishing weapons I haven’t seen before. “I need for you to come with me.”

  I hear movement behind me and turn my attention towards the sound. A small figure quietly jumps into the pool and crawls over to me. I pull out my knife from my back pocket, but I pause when she places her finger over her lips, making a shushing sound. I look quizzically at the young face streaked with dirt, filthy blond hair pulled back into a braid.

  She can’t be more than eleven years old.

  I nod my head to show I understand and we both turn our attention back to the men.

  “Why should I come with you?” Braxton asks, slowly backing away.

  I notice Keller and Jagger stiffening; something doesn’t seem right.

  “It would be better if we spoke in private, Captain.” Commander Caderyn takes a step closer to Braxton, his men readying their weapons.

  “We can talk here just fine.”

  “Very well.” Caderyn takes another step forward. “Captain Braxton, you’re being detained for violations against Sirain.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Premier Vladim has ordered the detention of all those who have violated the laws of Sirain. You left your post as head guard to the High Ruler of Acheron, which allowed the city to be attacked by the Hostem. Therefore, Captain Braxton, you’re to be remanded to the Reformatories until you’re sentenced.”

  “High Ruler Vladim has declared himself as Premier? What about the Acheron High Ruler?”

  “The High Ruler was assassinated several days ago. Premier Vladim has appointed a new leader to the city. Now, Captain, will you come willingly or forcibly?”

  “Time to go,” the girl next to me says.

  She grabs my arm just as the evening sky lights up. Deflagration rounds scream across the atmosphere, landing only a few feet away, creating a series of concussions, and shrapnel flying everywhere. We run across to the far end of the pool, and jump the wall. Men and women pour out of the forest in front of us as the rounds continue to fly from the same direction. I prepare to defend against their blows, but they run past us.

  I freeze in my tracks in confusion until the little girl tugs desperately at my arm.

  “Come on!”

  I look back in the direction we just came from. Braxton is fighting off three Regulators; Keller is firing his canon at the vehicles that are moving into the complex to no avail; Jagger is lying on the ground not moving and bleeding.

  I shake the girl loose and run for Jagger as I hold out my Levin gun, firing at anything in a uniform. The Regulators seem to be shielded somehow, because the energy blasts aren’t penetrating deeply enough to be fatal. But at least they’re still causing substantial injuries.

  Jagger is bleeding badly from his left shoulder, pieces of shrapnel poking out of his face. I look over to the cannon he was operating, but it’s been utterly destroyed.

  “Braxton,” I shout out.

  “I’m a little busy,” he calls back, knocking a Regulator out.

  “What do you need?” The girl asks, as she suddenly appears by my side.

  “Here,” I begin, grabbing her hands and placing them on Jagger’s wound. “Keep pressure on it. I’ll be right back.”

  I scramble over to Braxton. Two Hostem have joined in the fight, pulling a Regulator off of Braxton’s back while he pounds the other one into the concrete. The man’s head cracks and he stops moving. I help Braxton to his feet and we run to Jagger. From the satchel around Braxton’s shoulders he removes one of the four remaining syringes and injects it into Jagger’s bicep.

  The two of us carefully pick him up, trying to balance his bulk between us.

  “Grainne,” a man shouts at us from a few meters away, “get them out of here.”

  “We have to go, now!” the girl shouts to us.

  She leads the way past the pool, behind the building that was once the research lab to the outer rim of the complex.

  I hear whirring sounds from above. The air begins to spin around, dried leaves and grass blow in our faces. I look up to see what’s making the noise, but all I see is darkness.

  We enter the forest, but don’t stop right away. After a few minutes we come upon a large group of Hostem. Two men come over and relieve us of Jagger, laying him down next to another wounded man.

  “I have to help Keller,” Braxton wheezes, hunched over and panting from exhaustion.

  “I’ve got him,” someone shouts to our right. An elderly man sets Keller down on a fallen tree trunk. Braxton goes over to check on him while I make my way back to the tree line.

  The whirring noise has increased, but I still can’t find the source. I spot Commander Caderyn climbing into one of the vehicles, which then begin to retreat. Grainne appears next to me, the both of us crouching down, trying not to be noticed.

  We see the bright blue flash before we hear it.

  The shock wave hits us seconds later, throwing us several feet into the forest. I hit the trunk of a large tree, landing hard on the ground. I frantically look around for Grainne, calling out her name as I begin to heal from the cuts and the burns on my arms and face.

  I hear her moan off to my right. Following the noise, I locate her buried under splinters of wood. I gingerly remove the debris, careful not to add to her injuries. She has suffered a deep gash just above her right brow, her cheeks blistering from the heat that was generated from the detonation.

  “Lie still. You’re badly hurt.”

  “I’ll heal,” she says, though with her injuries, I’m not sure she’ll survive the next hour. I carefully uncover her legs and feet to get a better look at the extent of her injuries.

  “That was a Quantum mortar,” she says through shudders of pain. “It incinerates everything it hits.”

  I look behind us and see several feet of forest have been leveled. As the sun begins to rise I can better see the extent of the damage done.

  All relics of the Dormitories are shattered; ash with tiny fragments of concrete and granite rain down from the sky, littering the earth. No one remains in the devastation, not even any body fragments. There’s nothing left but bits of rubble and an indentation in the ground.

  “Terrifying isn’t it,” Grainne says.

  I look down at her and am astonished at what I see.

  The gash on her forehead is gone. There are no longer any burns on her face.

  “Hi, Trea,” she says. “We’ve been looking for you.”

  End of Book One