Seth replied with a, 'pfft.'
“What's your problem?” bit Fletcher.
“I don't know how long ago you came through here Richy but I wouldn't call the city safe at any time of the day. As far as the occupants are concerned it's their city and if you take one step inside, anything could happen,” replied Seth. “We're not even safe here in the outskirts if you ask me.”
“We didn't ask you,” mumbled Fletcher under his breath.
Ebony cuddled in closer to Seth's side.
“Anything? Like what?” asked Braven.
“They'll steal everything you own including the clothes off your back. And that's if you're lucky, we've had many patrol groups come back with fewer members than they left with,” said Seth.
“They kill people?” asked Vega.
“Yeah, and worse. Some of the people in the city have no shred of humanity left in them.”
“Do we have to go through the city, Richy? Surely there's a way around?” asked Braven.
Richy's light blue eyes held a grave expression. “I'm afraid it'll take another week if we walk around the city. But if we walk through it'll take a day, two at most. If you want to get to Arcadia as soon as possible this is the best way.”
“If you go through the city you might not make it to Arcadia at all,” argued Seth.
“Let's rest for the night and worry about the city in the morning,” I suggested.
Fletcher took my hand and gave it a squeeze.
“Where are we going to stay?” I asked.
“Pick a house, any house,” replied Richy.
“Doesn't look like any of them have a roof. Are you sure they aren't going to cave in on us in our sleep?” asked Vega.
“No, but it'll help shelter us and will keep us away from prying eyes,” said Richy.
“I thought you said there wouldn't be people out here?” I said.
“I said there shouldn't, not there wouldn't. Like Seth said, it's been a long time since I've been through this way. It's best to keep out of sight.”
As we strode down the pathway which Richy called a street, he told us about the different vehicles earthlings use to drive and how many there used to be. It was hard to imagine all of those people had lived in the suburbs before the world went mad, with the houses crumbling around us and the plants and wildlife moving in. The first house we chose didn't have a door, but Braven and Richy went in to check it out.
A roar filled the air and Braven came tearing through the doorway. We ran to his aid, his face a pale white as he bent over his knees panting.
“What is it?” I asked placing my hand on his back.
He placed his hand on his heaving chest. “You should've seen it. I swear it looked at me.”
Richy stepped through the doorway chuckling. “It was a python.”
“A python?” asked Maya.
“A big snake. But it's harmless, it's not poisonous and won't touch you if you don't touch it. Has he reacted like this every time you've seen a snake?”
“We've never seen one,” I replied.
“Well, that's incredible. To trek as far across the country as you have and not see one snake. I'm impressed.”
“Can we see it?” asked Fletcher.
We all followed Richy inside, with Braven trailing behind us. Inside Richy pointed out the long thick dark green creature slumped over the beams above us. It didn't move an inch, and I wondered if it was alive at all.
“That scared you?” Vega tried her best to suppress a laugh.
“What? It's easy for you, Richy told you it was harmless before you saw it.”
“Are we going to stay here?” asked Vega waiting for Braven's reaction.
“I think we should find somewhere else,” he replied. “Don't want to disturb the python, do we?”
A few dwellings down we found a place with most of its floor intact and a little bit of its roof remained to keep us sheltered from above. We each rolled out our bedrolls and settled in for the night.
“I'll take first watch,” said Braven.
“What about us?” I asked. “Maybe us girls can keep an eye out tonight.”
Braven looked at Richy who shrugged. “Why not.”
“I'll take first watch,” said Vega.
“I'll take second,” said Maya.
“Wake me up when you're tired and I'll do the early morning shift,” I replied.
“I'll get up with you,” added Ebony.
She and Seth had been quiet during our journey making it easy to pretend they weren't with us at all. I'd taken to ignoring them for the time being, but Fletcher tensed every time Seth so much as breathed.
“I don't trust him,” Fletcher said as we settled down for the night.
“You were the one who encouraged me to let them tag along. No 'what if's' remember?”
“But now I'm starting to wonder if people can change. Can they?”
“I don't know. But what can we do, we said they could join us?” I replied.
“I know he's your brother, but the way he left me in the river…”
“They've done nothing to show us they're going to turn on us since they joined our group,” I said.
“Except for letting me half drown.”
“Which was your own silly fault,” I smirked. “Your clumsy feet are to blame for that one.”
“Me? Clumsy feet? Never,” he replied narrowing his eyes.
“What?” I asked.
“I'm happy we talked.”
“About Seth?”
“No, about us,” he gestured between us.
“Yeah, me too.”
“And you looked pretty good in your underwear,” he wiggled his eyebrows.
“You didn't look too bad yourself,” I said.
He leant closer, pressing his lips against mine, making my entire body melt.
Chapter Seven
“Aurora, Aurora.” Maya gave me a gentle shake, waking me from my deep sleep. “I need a bit of rest, are you okay to be lookout?”
“Sure.” I sat up, rubbing my eyes and stretching my neck.
“Thanks and you two are cute by the way,” she said.
I looked down at Fletcher, his lips slightly parted. He was so peaceful.
“It makes me miss Tyler and Alice.” The corners of her eyes softened.
“I bet they're missing you too,” I replied. “And once we get all of this pendant stuff sorted you can be with them again.”
“What if Tyler's changed his mind? What if he's met someone else?”
“Someone more amazing than you? No way. Why would he want some boring girl living at a military camp when he can have someone who's on a mission to bring down the floating city guard?”
She lifted her chin a little higher. “You look after each other yeah?” She gestured towards Fletcher who hadn't so much as stirred.
“Always.”
“Night Rora,” she said, before making her way to her bed.
“Night Maya,” I replied.
Standing, I wandered through the doorway of the main room we were sleeping and made my way down a hallway towards the front entrance. I hugged my arms around myself as the chill of the early morning air reached me, and I took a seat on the top step. What I wouldn't give for a coffee to perk me up, or at least a warm shower. I sniffed at my right arm and screwed up my nose. I could definitely use a wash.
The stars above me were shrouded in a blanket of soft cloud, which also dimmed the light from the crescent moon making it hard to see down the street. But all was quiet, even the wildlife was fast asleep.
“Aurora?” Ebony's soft voice sent a jolt through my body.
“You scared the crap outta me,” I snapped at her with a whisper.
“Sorry, you were supposed to wake me.”
“You looked like you were having a good sleep so I thought I'd leave you.” The truth was I hadn't thought about waking her. I was more than happy to have some time alone. After years of spending most of my time by myself, I hadn't had a
moments peace since I crash landed on earth.
“Can I join you?”
Looked like I wasn't about to get peace anytime soon. “Sure, but I warn you I'm not good at mornings.” I moved over to give her room to sit beside me.
“It's okay. I'm used to getting up early,” she replied.
The silence returned and I relaxed at the thought she may not want to speak until her voice sent another jolt through me.
“Aurora?” she whispered, disturbing the silence.
“Stop doing that. What?”
“Sorry, I wanted to tell you something.”
“What is it?” I calmed my voice, my heart rate settling.
“Seth comes across as guarded and grumpy, but he does want to know more about you. He thinks… don't worry.” As though catching herself saying more than she should, Ebony shut down looking down the buckled street.
“What does he think? I'm angry about what he put Braven and me through? Yeah, I am.”
“No, he…” She looked up at me with a pained expression.
Clenching my jaw I did my best not to snap at the following silence. “What?”
“He thinks you're a bit of a… snob.”
My eyes widened as though I'd been punched in the chest. “Me? A snob?”
“Yeah. He says you think you're better than us because you all grew up on floating cities with privileged lives while we stayed on earth trying to survive the mess created by your leaders.” She shrugged, her eyes meeting mine, waiting for my response.
“Privileged? He has no idea what it was like up on Utopia, or what it's like on the other floating cities. I may have had food, clothes and a roof over my head but there were a lot of things I didn't have.”
“Like what? I mean. Sounds like a good deal to us.”
“Choice, we didn't have the choice to do or be or go wherever we wanted. And despite what he may think, as much as my father loved me he wasn't around much. Not to mention I spent five years believing he was dead. My mother, she loved me in her own way. But she barely spoke a few sentences to me. She resented me being there at all. I'm not going to pretend I understand what Seth's been through, but he can't assume I had an amazing life because I was on a floating city.” I resented the way my muscles tightened and my jaw clenched. Who was Seth to judge me after everything he'd done?
“I'm sorry Aurora, I guess everyone has their story,” she replied.
“Do you know why I'm down here?” I asked her.
She shook her head.
“The guard exiled my father and told us he was dead. They murdered my mother while I watched, and hunted me down in an attempt to get rid of me too.”
Her eyes widened as I spoke. “I had no idea.”
“Exactly. Tell that presumptuous boyfriend of yours to stop making up his own stories and if he wants to know the truth all he has to do is ask. If anyone is sick of lies I can promise you it's me.” I wiped angrily at the tears beginning to run over my cheeks.
Looking up I let the cool breeze dry them away and drew in a deep breath to ease the tightness in my chest. In the moment of silence there was a shuffle of boots. Almost inaudible.
“Aurora, I-”
“Sssh,” I held my finger to my lips and lowered my voice. “Did you hear that?”
A second passed before there was another scuffle and I looked at Ebony to find her sitting rigidly.
I leant closer to whisper in her ear. “Inside. We need to wake the others.”
Creeping into the dwelling we nudged the others awake.
“What's wrong?” grumbled Fletcher.
“Sssh, someone's here,” I whispered.
My words woke him immediately and everyone awoke before settling into silence. A creaking floorboard echoed from outside the room. With baited breath I edged my way towards Fletcher, gripping his hand in mine.
A radio crackled before an all too familiar voice cut through the air. “When you find them, kill them all except Aurora Adams. I want her alive.”
“Yes Officer Banks, sweeping the neighbourhood as we speak,” the guard answered before stepping closer towards our room.
“Window,” I instructed.
“Our bags,” Maya asked.
“Leave them,” Richy replied ushering her towards the glassless window frame.
Maya climbed out of the window followed by Ebony, Vega, Seth then Fletcher who urged me to follow him. I glanced towards the window where my friends were escaping into the darkness before looking back to where a figure was stepping around the corner.
“Aurora Adams, halt!” The broad man trained his gun on me.
“Go,” I whispered to Braven.
“What? No way.”
“Go.” I'd heard them on the radio, they weren't allowed to kill me, but they could kill my friends.
I took two steps towards the man standing in the doorway and as if understanding Braven pushed Richy towards the window as the man reached for his radio. At his cue I bellowed, bounding towards him and running as fast as my legs would go. Bowing down, I rammed my shoulder into the softest part of his stomach. His weapon fired, echoing through the air as he lost balance and fell backwards into the crumbling wall.
As he dropped, I scrambled over him but he grasped tight onto my left ankle. “No, you don't. Officer Banks wants you.”
On my hands and knees, I jerked to free my leg but he gripped it tighter. Staring towards the doorway ahead of me, the bright morning sky was meters away. Bringing up my right leg, I brought it back down, my heel smashing into his nose with every muscle in my body with a pop and crack. He shrieked and released his grip to grab a hold of his nose. Crawling a little way, I regained my footing and stood to run down the hallway towards the front door. As I reached it a group of guards appeared outside, approaching the dwelling, weapons held at chest height.
“Aurora Adams, halt!” one of them called out as I spun around and ran a few steps back into the dwelling to step into a small room off the hallway.
The bathroom barely had a floor, and I balanced my way across the remaining boards to climb on top of the basin. The banging of Officer Banks' men kicking in the doors of my parents dwelling echoed in my memories. The pop of the gun when he ordered my mother to be killed. Approaching footsteps pulled me back into the present and I pushed memories of my escape from my bathroom on Utopia to the back of my mind. I squeezed myself through the empty window frame and fell into a heap on the dirt ground below. The noise of my fall alerted the guards and one appeared around the corner of the dwelling. Climbing to my feet I took off towards the neighbouring dwellings hoping the guard would follow their orders and not kill me.
Zipping in and out from between the dilapidated homes, I had no idea what direction I was headed in or where my friends had gone. Squashing the tightening in my chest I pushed harder, running as fast as I could manage. Once I was away from the guard I could make my way back to the city and my friends.
Turning a corner I came face to face with a guard who lifted his weapon and aimed at my stomach. Backing away I turned on my heel to run around the corner of yet another dwelling.
“Aurora Adams, halt,” he called after me.
“Rora.” Fletcher's voice brought with it the desire to cry, but I swallowed hard searching for where it'd come from.
A hand reached out from behind a nearby home and pulled me around the corner where I found myself clinging to Fletcher's chest.
“Thank the Elite.” He exhaled heavily pulling me close.
“We have to keep moving,” I replied. “Where are the others?”
“They're making their way toward the city, Richy and Seth don't think they'll follow us inside,” he replied. “I couldn't leave you behind, Braven is looking for you too.”
“We have to find him,” I replied.
“Aurora Adams. Halt.”
Fletcher and I took off in a run towards the neighbouring dwelling, but as we reached the corner a loud bang rang through the air. A stabbing pain seared through my right
calf, faltering my step, but I pushed myself to keep pace with Fletcher. There went the theory they weren't going to shoot me. Running at the guard in the dwelling had been a stupid and dangerous idea. Ducking in and out from around the dwellings we managed to lose our pursuers and ducked behind another dwelling where we found Braven peeking around the opposite corner.
He spun around holding his stun gun out towards us before relaxing. “Thank the Elite. Are you guys okay?”
Fletcher replied with a breathy 'yes,' and I panted beside him glancing down to my searing leg. A small dart lodged in my calf.
“What's in your leg?” asked Fletcher, crouching down to take a closer look.
“They shot me with it.” I gripped it tight and yanked it from my skin, wincing at the stinging sensation.
Braven took it from me and looked it over before sliding it into his utility belt pocket. “Are you okay to walk?”
“Yeah, I'll be fine.” My leg throbbed in protest.
“Come on, the groups this way.”
Braven led us towards the city at a sprint until the sound of the guard's heavy boots was far behind us. After looking back over my shoulder for what must've been the hundredth time I turned to peer up at the building looming over us, casting eerie shadows as the sun began to rise. As we drew closer we slowed to a brisk walk and Braven held a finger over his lips, guiding us past a number of buildings with large glass windows to a heavy metal door with a 'Staff Only' sign pasted across it.
“In here.” He pushed the door open and guided us inside.
As we entered, Richy and Braven pushed a chair up against the handle and guided us down a hallway to a small, bare room. All that remained were the rotting ceiling, the damp walls and the concrete floor.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Seth gasped staring at me.
“Seth, don't say that word,” said Ebony.
“He's right. What were you thinking?” asked Fletcher. “You… you ran at him.”
“Officer Banks said they couldn't kill me…” My vision blurred for a moment and I stumbled to lean against Fletcher.
“Are you okay?” Fletcher asked.
“Yeah, I'm okay. Must be all the running,” my vision darkened again and I swayed.
Arcadia Page 5