by Alex Mersey
He went quiet and in the stillness, Beth said in a slightly mocking voice, “That’s all?”
“Oh, there’s more.” There always was. But he didn’t possess superpowers and he couldn’t see through walls. He rolled his head to look at Beth. “What I’m saying is, Cassie knows we’re out looking and she doesn’t need to take point. She doesn’t let emotion cloud her judgement and she’s not the type to go rogue on a personal quest. The president’s son is amongst the missing. If Colonel Ainsley got the word, he’ll send a search and retrieval unit and Cassie will be here to meet them, to get them up to speed. That’s all she’s doing, the job that none of us are patient enough to do. She cares, and she hasn’t given up hope.”
“You’ve still completely skipped the most important bit.” Beth sent him a quizzical look. “Cassie’s more than just a soldier, you idiot. She’s also a woman.”
“I’ve noticed,” he drawled.
“But has she noticed you noticing?”
“You’re meddling in my love life now?”
“Heaven forbid.” Beth snapped her gaze from his and honked the horn. “What the blazes is Jackson doing? Thirty seconds and we’re leaving without him. I swear, he has less urgency than a sloth.”
She honked again and Jackson emerged from the house with an overstuffed backpack hanging off one shoulder.
Sean settled in his seat, thankful Beth’s erratic nerves had moved on from his love life and on to Jackson’s tardiness. She slammed the truck into gear and revved off before Jackson had both legs inside.
They found Williams waiting for them at a junction about a quarter mile past the gas station. He waved them over and pointed down the side road. “They went that way.”
“We already tried that road,” Jackson said.
“We’ve already tried every road,” Sean reminded him as he climbed down from the truck and walked up to Williams. “You sure about this?”
“Look.” Williams squatted by a bush and brushed aside a cluster of branches.
Sean looked. Twigs and undergrowth, mulchy soil.
“What are we looking at?” demanded Beth, peering over his shoulder.
Williams touched a pair of twigs that could very well have fallen naturally into the rough-shaped cross they formed. “This is Chris’ breadcrumb, if he ever got into trouble.”
“Oh my God,” Beth breathed out. “They’re alive. They’re really alive.”
Realism weighted Sean’s own relief, but he kept it to himself. Let Beth enjoy the moment, she’d figure it out before too long. They had been alive when they’d left town, that was the only certainty.
“The short end of the cross points me in the right direction,” Williams went on, straightening from his crouch.
“You’re serious,” Jackson said dryly. “This Chris kid has his own breadcrumb, except they’re twigs. He gets into trouble often, does he?”
Williams didn’t dignify that with a reply. He cupped a hand over his brow and looked down the road.
“Chris is Christian Merrick, the president’s son,” Beth explained.
Jackson’s jaw dropped as he processed the information. “One question, does the president know his son is missing?”
“If Ritter and Evans made it through to base command last night,” Sean said, “then yes, he knows.”
“So where’s the cavalry?”
“You’re looking at it,” Williams said, returning his attention to them along with a string of orders.
The breadcrumbs would be hidden, from prying eyes and natural elements. It could be a scratching on the bark of a tree, stones arranged in the cross, twigs, lines drawn in the dirt, anything Chris had at his disposal. They had to search under every bush as they walked, check every tree and keep a sharp eye on the ground.
Williams walked one side of the road, Beth and Sean walked the other. Jackson drove the truck behind them, crawling along at a snail’s pace. It was slow going, and while they took more care when the road forked or intersected, they couldn’t assume Chris’ trail wouldn’t deviate from the road at any time into the fields or forests along the way.
The sun marked their progress, rising to its midday peak while they followed more than a dozen breadcrumbs through the maze of left and right hooks, down narrow forested roads and farm lanes. They didn’t go looking down any of the tracks, but they did investigate the farm houses visible from the road. All deserted, not a soul in sight to question, not a clue left behind as to what had caused these people to drop what they were doing and leave. No sign of anything to indicate they weren’t the only life around, human or alien, until they came to a thin stream cutting through a field of wild grass and the backdrop of ash-dusted trees.
Sean’s blood chilled at the stark evidence of Silvers action, but he didn’t give up hope. None of them did. That was not an option. They found footprints, scuff marks in the soft soil, a broken bush that looked like it had been in a fight, and they followed the stone bridge road to the foot of a hill.
There the road forked, and the trail of breadcrumbs ran dry.
Sean’s gaze travelled the right fork that wound up around a hill, until the last spiral that wasn’t road but a massive ring wall. “A dead end or a destination.”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Williams said. “But we leave the truck behind. No reason to warn them we’re coming.”
- 15 -
Sean
The wall was less impressive up close, standing a little over six feet, just cropping their view. Thick, hanging trees dripped over it from both sides and the creamy stone of low-lying, flat-roofed buildings topped from behind.
Williams put a finger to his lips, as if they weren’t already stealth-walking and breathing shallow. He crept closer to the wall, taking care to not snap dry twigs or crunch last year’s autumn fall beneath his boots.
Birds and insect life stirred the air, a playful breeze kicked at their heels and brushed through the trees, shaving the edge of quietness that surrounded them. And there was more, too. Sean heard it from where he stalked deeper within the trees with Beth and Jackson. The dulled shuffling sounds, activity within the perimeter, then suddenly a snarl that snapped his spine stiff.
“Keep walking!”
“Keep your damn rifle out my butt,” muttered a second man. “You don’t have to do this.”
“It’s for your own safety.”
“Snap out of it. You know this is wrong. Please. Let me go and I’ll bring back help.”
“It’s not safe out there.”
“It’s not safe in here!”
“We will protect you.”
“Bullshit.” A short pause. “Come on, man, just let me go. No one needs to know.”
“Keep walking,” the first man said and the voices faded.
Sean couldn’t wrap his head around the conversation. Obviously someone was being led somewhere, at gun point, but there could be any number of reasons that put those two men at opposite ends of a rifle. He exchanged a look with Beth. Anyone you recognize?
Her face pulled into a frown of concentration, she shrugged. No.
“Did he say rifle?” Jackson whispered, pushing between them. “Does that mean we’re dealing with regular thugs and not Silvers?”
“First we find out if our people are in there,” Beth said in a low voice, eyes prodding the wall, “then we worry about the specimen of thug.”
Williams waved them over, pointing to a gnarly tree, the wild canopy leaning heavily against the wall. Not waiting for them, he hauled himself onto a low branch and climbed into the twisting thickness of greenery.
The rest of them gathered at the foot of the trees, watching his progress.
Sean’s blood hummed with impatience, maybe some curiosity, he wanted to swing up right behind Williams and take a look for himself. He placed a restraining hand on Beth’s arm when she reached for the branch, shook his head. He doubted any of them could mimic Williams’ grace. One slip of the foot, one clumsy grip that rustled a branch, th
at was all it would take and they couldn’t risk exposure. Not until they knew what was happening on the other side of that wall.
No further voices.
No sounds of movement.
What was Williams seeing? The man perched on a branch, eyes trained into the enclosure.
Sean propped his rifle against the trunk, slid his backpack from his shoulder to the ground, slowly, quietly, and dug out a pair of binoculars to strap around his neck. He indicated for Beth and Jackson to stay put and pulled himself up to stand on the low branch, his back pressed to the trunk, his elbow hooked over another branch to hold him steady. The leverage gave him just enough height to peer over the wall.
Wooden benches. Floppy trees. Rock features and gravel. Some sort of courtyard hemmed in by the buildings and the wall. His view was mottled by the shroud of leaves that hid him from plain sight and it took another moment before he spotted it. The marching legs, black boots, army browns.
What the hell?
In the silence, the distinct scrape and click of a door. Crunching gravel. Sean used the noise distraction to hoist himself up to Williams’ level. The arrangement of branches opened, giving him a clear line into the courtyard and the man below.
His heart slammed into his chest bone. “Is that…?”
“Captain Davis,” Williams confirmed in a hushed voice, his eyes tracking as the captain strode along the gravel path.
What looked to be three reception areas faced onto the courtyard in an overlapping semi-circle. Large windows and French doors rimmed in creamy stone, the one directly to their left secured by thin, black bars that ran top to bottom. Gravel paths and dark alcoves delved between the buildings and the captain turned a corner into one of those alcoves and disappeared into the shadows.
Another soldier remained, the legs Sean had first seen. Rifle resting loosely in the crook of his arm, patrolling a paved path that followed the contours of the low-lying L-shaped building that enclosed the courtyard.
Sean breathed out slow, thinking about how quickly Ritter had shot his theory down. “I was right, It was the army who evacuated the town, some damn protocol to clear the area, or contain classified intel, before the unit from base command arrives to swoop in on the battlecruiser at the fort.”
“Perhaps.”
“You have another theory?” Sean said, watching the solider reach the far end of the buildings and then perform a sharp about turn.
Williams said nothing for a while, his concentration never wavering from the courtyard. “Something feels off.”
Sean waited a beat, for the soldier’s patrol to pass in front of them and take him to the farther ends of the courtyard. “Care to elaborate?”
“Davis didn’t leave a single man stationed behind in Little Falls,” Williams said thoughtfully. “He abandoned all his weapons, food, vehicles, supplies. Besides, you can’t just move an entire town against their will and I guarantee this, Chris would never have left without me, not willingly.” His gaze lifted from the soldier to scan the surroundings. “In my line of work, we call that abduction.”
Sean wasn’t convinced. “We’re under martial law, the usual rules don’t apply.”
“Christian Merrick isn’t your average citizen,” Williams returned smoothly. “The usual rules have never applied.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m not sure, yet, but I intend to find out.”
“Okay,” Sean agreed, lowering his voice as the soldier neared again. “We’re going to have a chat with our friend down there?”
“Something like that, except there’s no we.”
“I’m not letting you go in alone.”
“Listen to me.” Williams slanted a look on him. “We’re a little short on numbers here. If things go south and I’m not back in fifteen minutes, you’re the rescue operation.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
The hardening around Williams’ eyes said he wasn’t.
Sean sent a nervous glance down the tree. Patience stretched on a visible tether, Beth glared daggers up at him. She looked ready to take on the whole world if it stood between her and her sister. Jackson, on the other hand, was…well, he didn’t really know Jackson, but the long-haired kid didn’t seem to have a lot of bite to him. He stood there, leaning a hip against the trunk, arms folded, staring up into blue nothing.
“Me, Beth and dreamer boy up against an entire army division,” Sean muttered. “That’s not going to end well.”
“Don’t worry,” Williams said and shifted forward along the branch. “I don’t plan on not being back.”
He waited for the soldier to reach the path beneath the barred windows and then he dropped over the wall, landing with a soft thud.
It was enough to whirl the young soldier around. “Where did you come from?”
Williams pointed toward the bend in the pathway that curved between the farthest building and the wall. “Captain Davis sent me.”
“You can’t be out here.”
“Why is that?” Williams drawled, advancing on the man with an easy step.
“You need to be inside. All civilians must be kept safe inside. Stop!” The soldier lifted his rifle, aimed and locked on Williams as his deceptively relaxed pace rapidly closed the distance between them. “Stop right there or I’ll shoot.”
“You want to keep me safe or shoot me?” Williams didn’t stop, didn’t slow. “I’m not armed. I’m not a threat. I told you, Captain Davis sent me to—”
He reached the soldier mid-sentence and it happened so quickly, Sean’s eyes missed most of the in-between. One moment Williams was walking up to the man, talking nonsense. The next moment, the rifle went flying and the soldier was spun about with Williams’ arm choked around his throat.
The tree shook slightly and Sean glanced down to see it was only Beth squirreling up. Her patience had finally snapped.
When he looked again, Williams was dragging the limp soldier around the massive rock feature tucked into the corner of the perimeter wall.
Beth hauled a leg over the adjacent branch, scowling down into the seemingly deserted courtyard. “Where is Williams? I saw him go over. What is happening? Who was he talking to?”
“The good news is,” Sean told her, “Captain Davis and his men appear to have the run of this place.”
Her scowl lightened into relief. “And the bad news?”
“I think Williams just killed one of them.”
“Why?” Her frowning mood returned, zoned in on Williams as he stalked out from around the rock. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Nothing,” Sean assured her. “Williams felt something was off and you heard the conversation he just had with Davis’ man. He may be right.”
Jackson hopped onto the lowest branch and poked his head up. “Maybe he didn’t recognize Williams.”
Not as oblivious as I assumed.
Beth lurched forward and Sean grabbed her by the arm.
“If Captain Davis is here,” she hissed, “then so is Alli. So is Lynn, Johnnie, Chris, Doc Nate, everyone.”
“I know, but I promised Williams fifteen minutes, okay? Let’s give him a chance to do his recon.”
Beth jerked her arm free. “My sister is down there. Maybe in danger, that is what you’re implying, isn’t it?”
“We’re just being cautious.”
“Williams killed a man!” She stabbed him with a black look over her shoulder. “Sounds like he’s pretty sure.”
“I said I think he might have killed the soldier,” Sean said. “He probably just knocked him out…” He trailed off as he watched Williams collect the rifle from the ground and jog up to one of the reception areas, the large window with the security bars.
Sean lifted the binoculars to his eyes and zoomed in. The reflection off the glass made it impossible to see into the depths of the room. The silvery mist twirling and hugging the wiry thin, vertical black bars? That he saw as clear as day and a lump formed in his throat.
“W
hat is it?” demanded Beth.
“Hang on.”
“I’m with Beth,” Jackson said. “We should get in there and find Captain Davis, hear what he was to say about all this.”
Meanwhile, Williams cupped a hand over his brow, peering through the floor-to-ceiling window, then he tapped on the glass.
He’s seen someone inside there.
Shadowy forms darkened the window, pressed closer and the reflective glare could no longer hide the front row of women clustering around Williams on the other side.
Sean picked out the dark-haired Rachel, one of Chris’ friends. A few familiar faces he didn’t have names for. There was the dimple-cheeked Mrs Preston, the mayor’s wife. He scanned back and forth, a band of desperation tightening his chest. Where were they? He couldn’t see much beyond those who’d practically plastered themselves to the glass, but this was Williams who’d drawn them, Lynn and Allira should be right up there, shoving their way through.
Then his eyes lit upon the pixie face, feathered light blond hair, and the band around his chest slackened an inch.
“It’s Lynn.” Sean lowered the binoculars, his heartbeat slowed, his mind thick. I found her. Behind bars shimmering with alien metallurgy. But alive.
“You saw Lynn?” Beth gasped in a pitched voice. “What about Alli? Did you see Alli?”
“Jake?” asked Jackson.
“No, I…” Sean slung the strap off from his neck and handed Beth the binoculars so she could see for herself. “That doesn’t mean they’re not there, further back.”
“I can’t find her,” Beth said. “Alli, come on, where are you?”
Williams moved along, flattened his back to the stone and kept going, until he’d slipped into the alcove between that building and the next, and the shadows retreated from the window.
“The bars on the window. Beth, you seeing that?” Sean said at last. “The dusting of mist? We came across that at—
“—at the fort,” Beth finished in a small voice, the binoculars slipping from her eyes. “They’re being held prisoner.” She looked at him. “Captain Davis? The Silvers?”