Hundred Stolen Breaths

by Campbell, Jamie

  People were running everywhere on the cameras, clutching whatever they could as they moved. Fires raged in and around the small huts we so painstakingly built for ourselves in the village from nothing but scraps the humans didn’t want anymore.

  Troopers in their white uniforms marched by one of the cameras, holding their guns high while maintaining their formation. They were focused, intent on performing their mission.

  “What are they doing?” I asked, whispering the question because I could already guess the answer and I wanted it to be something different. I wanted to hear anything except what was racing through my mind at a hundred miles an hour.

  Joseph tore his eyes from the screen to look at me. “They are taking down the village and rounding up all the Defective Clones. They are bombing the outer areas, making sure they have nowhere to run.”

  “But the huts… the fires…”

  “Giving them nowhere to hide,” he replied calmly. How could he be so calm when there was so much carnage taking place just meters above our heads? It required a million things but calmness was not one of them.

  By any means or definition.

  They were all going to die.

  “Reece,” Joseph said, turning his attention. “Is there any light you can shed on this situation?”

  Reece swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing before he took a breath to answer. “There was talk a while ago of capturing all the Defective Clones and putting them on ice. The city was getting tired of the resources they used, both feeding them and keeping them in line. The popular opinion was that they were easier to handle in deep freeze.”

  He didn’t look at me at all while he spoke and I knew it cost him a small piece of his soul to speak like that. I knew they weren’t his beliefs, everyone here knew that wasn’t his personal opinion, but it was still painful for him to speak the words out loud. Even if he was only repeating what he’d heard.

  Reece was a good man.

  I would never forget that.

  “I suspected something like that,” Joseph concluded. “We need to secure our doors and attend to any damage the grenades and fires might cause. We should be fine to ride it out.”

  “What?” I yelled. “We need to get up there and help them. They need us now more than ever.”

  “There is nothing we can do without giving away our location,” Joseph replied calmly. Once again, his calmness was completely out of place and somewhere it had no business being. “We will check for survivors after the troopers leave.”

  The old man would never help me. His stance on the matter was starkly apparent but that didn’t mean I had to do what he said. I hadn’t joined the Resistance, he wasn’t my leader.

  I stormed toward the door, Reece grabbed my arm the moment we were in the corridor to stop my forward movement. We didn’t have time to stop and chat, not when my family was being torn apart above us.

  “I have to go, Reece.”

  “I know. Just let me go instead. Stay here and be safe, I’ll go and help as many as I can.” His eyes were so earnest, so true, so kind. They begged me far more effectively than his words could.

  I ignored them.

  Now was not a time for worrying about my own safety.

  “I can’t do that. We go up there and we rescue them together. That’s all I can offer, Reece.”

  He nodded.

  Once.

  As if convincing himself.

  “Then we’ll go together but you have to promise me one thing.” His gaze searched my face before he spoke again. “Promise me you’ll be careful and do everything in your power to stay alive. If it gets too dangerous, you run back down here. Okay?”

  We were wasting time.

  We didn’t have time to waste.

  “Okay,” I lied.

  I don’t think he believed me but we started running anyway. The corridor took us back to the central hub but the way above ground was not known to us.

  Reece spotted Autumn and grabbed her attention before she ran off. “How do we get out of here?” he asked.

  “We’re supposed to stay put,” she reminded us, parroting the leaders like she was little more than a puppet.

  “We can’t do that,” I said.

  She clenched her jaw, trying to keep the words unspoken, but she couldn’t. “It’s down that hallway, the final door on the left. It leads to a set of stairs that goes right up. It’s not the only way in or out, but it’s the most discreet. It will be unlocked on this side.”

  It was all the information we needed. We would deal with getting back inside when the problem arose. Right now, we needed to get out there and help the others. The Defective Clones had nobody up there helping them, they were all on their own. We wouldn’t be much, but two was better than zero.

  Our feet pounded on the concrete floor, our determined footsteps marching us into the battlefield. As we neared the door that we needed, I noticed we weren’t alone anymore.

  Turning around, Autumn and a group of people were following us. They had weapons in their hands, if not slung over their shoulders.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, this time unafraid to hear the answer. I got the feeling this one would be welcome.

  “We’re coming with you,” Autumn replied with more conviction than I’d heard her have before. “We’ll rescue as many as we can, bring them back down here.”

  “The odds are against us,” I warned.

  She pointed toward the ceiling. “It’s even worse for them. We’re evening it up a bit.” She backed up her words with a grin, one that spoke a million resolves to carry out the mission at hand.

  There was nothing more to say as we reached the door. People filled the hallway for as far back as I could see as Reece held the door open for me. We led the charge, the ex-guard-ex-trooper, and the Defective Clone. We were a pathetic excuse for an army.

  It didn’t matter.

  We would do whatever we had to do to help.

  Enough clones had died already.

  Chapter 14: Wren

  My heart broke into a billion pieces when I first saw the extent of the damage. Even though the troopers had raided the village no more than twenty minutes ago, they had torn down everything in their path.

  Few huts still stood, rubble and debris littering the pathways that had been made out of little more than many feet traversing over them repeatedly.

  The air was filled with smoke and the primal screams of those in agony. The moment the sound and smell hit my nostrils, I wanted to double over and vomit until there was nothing left inside me. It was like stepping into a nightmare, as dark and horrid as anything I had ever seen before.

  We hid behind a broken fence that kept the village separate from the city while we assessed the scene. I had promised Reece I would be sensible and this was my only concession to that vow. From here on out, I would save as many of them as I could regardless of my own safety.

  Reece told everyone to split up into groups of two and three, sending them in different directions so we had a better chance of covering the most ground.

  The Defective Clones’ village wasn’t very large, but it did house hundreds of us. It was a long and thin stretch of patch with a dense forest on one side and the edge of the city on the other. Beyond the trees was the tall and thick fence that ringed all of Aria.

  Well, there had been trees. Now there was a blazing inferno that radiated heat and anger. The wall of fire was glowing orange and flicked its tendrils as it danced in the wind.

  Across the dirt trail I could see the foot of a child. They were huddled underneath a sheet of tin, what would have been the roof or a wall of a hut only a few minutes ago.

  I willed the foot to move, to give some sign that they were still alive. My eyes fixated on that limb, praying for the tiniest of movements that would give me hope we could save at least one of them.

  The toes wiggled.

  Just two of them.

  I tugged on Reece’s arm and pointed, needing him to see exactly what I was seei
ng. He nodded when his gaze fell on the foot. The nearest trooper was at the end of the path and facing the other way. If we were quick and quiet, if they didn’t have a reason to turn around, we just might be able to grab the child and get it to safety.

  “Stay close,” Reece whispered.

  We crept out of our hiding spot behind the fence, trying to merge into the scenery like we were nothing more than a shadow. Reece was tall and his body was strong but he moved like the wind. He made no sound as he guided us along. I was all too aware of my defective foot as I limped along behind him.

  The path was quick to cross and we kneeled down to the pile of debris before we knew it. Unfortunately moving the metal was harder to do soundlessly. Reece shifted one piece and it screeched, the sound seemingly as loud as the earlier explosions.

  If there wasn’t screaming and the crackling roar of the fire, the troopers would have definitely heard it. For now, we had a momentary reprieve.

  Two little eyes peered out underneath the rubble. One eye was blue, the other green. Both were terrified.

  “It’s okay,” I whispered. “We’re going to get you to safety.”

  The child couldn’t have been more than four years old as Reece pulled his body from the remains of the hut. He went limp in his arms, letting us take him away from the horror surrounding us.

  We sprinted for the fence and returned to our hiding place. The trooper down the path was still intent on something else, never turning around while we were out.

  Reece clutched the boy to his chest as his little arms wrapped around his neck and held on for his life. There was no way he was letting Reece go for all the gold in the world.

  A girl’s scream pierced the sky, making us lock eyes with concern. Troopers were creating hell on earth for the clones. This wasn’t treating them with any kind of compassion, it was rounding them up like animals with no acknowledgement of their humanity. They needed their organs, probably the only reason they weren’t shooting on sight.

  I shifted around so I could see through the fence again, searching for more little feet or hands or any indication there were some survivors out there. We needed to hurry or there wouldn’t be anything left.

  A bush twitched.

  I stared at it, adjusting my focus through the gap in the fence so I could see better. I was standing on my tiptoes, wishing I was taller and that my foot didn’t hurt so much just from standing.

  There was definitely something behind the bush. It was crammed up against the fence just a little way downwards. It was big enough to hide something, I just wasn’t sure what it was.

  I patted Reece’s arm until he saw it too.

  We moved out with the child, sticking to the fence until we felt like a part of it. If we could only turn the same gray color, it would have made our cover that much easier.

  Snaking along, we stopped only when we made a sound and there was a risk of the trooper hearing. I hated listening to the girl screaming and imagining all the horrible things that could be happening to her, but she was saving us from being heard and I silently thanked her for that.

  Reece placed his free arm out to stop me once we got close enough to the bush to touch it. He stepped around me, going first carefully.

  The child whimpered in his arms as he leaned over the green leaves and pushed a branch back. Five dirty faces stared up at him and then ducked down, cowering in fear.

  I recognized them all.

  Daisy, Spider, Iris, Acorn, and Violet.

  The last time I had seen them was when they told me it was safer for them if I left the village. After that, I’d gone voluntarily. I didn’t want to put them in any danger and I knew the risk my staying would bring with it.

  Rocky had been the only one brave enough to come with me. He had stayed by my side the entire time.

  Until the troopers had dragged him away.

  I pushed the thought away, for the millionth time. I would save it for later, when everything was quiet and I was alone so the guilt could spread over and cover me completely. Then I could give it the attention it deserved.

  “Come with us,” I urged quietly, snapping all the eyes over to me and taking them away from Reece. Their expressions changed from terrified to surprised. They probably thought I would be dead by now.

  God knew I did.

  Their gazes flicked back to Reece, their distrust evident in the scowls on their faces. They probably recognized him from his village patrols. They might not have noticed him like I did during those missions, but a few glances now and then would have been enough.

  Defective Clones made it their business to be able to spot a trooper with only a glance.

  Sometimes their lives depended on it.

  “We have to hurry,” I urged. “We’re trying to help you. Stay if you want but we’re trying to take you someplace safe.”

  “How can we trust you’re not working for them now?” Acorn asked, not with menace but with genuine concern.

  Still, I raised my eyebrows with disbelief. “Do you really think I’d work with the troopers? They wouldn’t let me even if I wanted to. Stone would make better use of me.”

  That convinced them.

  They knew my history.

  With a nod of their scrawny, and in some cases deformed, heads they stood from the bush and we moved swiftly once they confirmed they would follow.

  We had to stick with the fence, crouching low and weaving through the overgrown weeds until the entrance to the bunker was in sight. It was the most treacherous part of the journey as we had to cross the path again to reach the door. Then it would take another few moments to get it open and everyone down in single file.

  Reece was at the front, his keen eyes searching for the faintest hint of a trooper in our vicinity. When he closed his eyes, I knew he was listening now too. Any hint of the enemy could be the end of our rescue mission.

  His finger curled up to beckon us forward. We organized ourselves into a single line and raced across the pathway. With only a few low shrubs to cover the door, there was absolutely nothing shielding us now we were fully exposed.

  Reece rapped on the door and waited for it to open from the inside out. From this side it was locked and bulletproof, impossible to open. If someone didn’t let us back in, we were going to be stuck out there for good.

  My heartbeat sounded desperately loud in my ears. Why was it taking them so long? Why wasn’t someone opening the door? The plan was to have someone waiting on the other side, ready for this moment and this moment alone.

  What if Joseph told them not to open the door?

  What if they decided it was best to leave us to the mercy of the troopers?

  What would happen if they never opened it?

  The child in Reece’s arms fussed as he prepared to cry, perhaps picking up on our nerves. Reece gently clamped a hand over his small mouth, muffling the sound. The little kid wasn’t the only one who felt like weeping.

  I stepped around everyone so I could reach the door and knock myself. I had to do something, it was impossible standing so still when everything inside of me was screaming and panicking. Doing nothing was never an option for me.

  We waited.

  I didn’t breathe.

  The fire roared as it waved heat our way and reminded us how close it burned. If the village floor was anything more than dirt, it might have crossed and taken over the city. But the troopers knew it wouldn’t. Even fire didn’t want to touch the village.

  Something clicked.

  It sounded like the trigger of a gun.

  The door opened, it was only the lock turning. I didn’t get a chance to register the relief as I helped the heavy steel door swing outwards. Reece handed the child to a woman as they hurried down the stairs. They didn’t hesitate, even though they didn’t know what was waiting for them at the bottom. Their trust in me would have been touching if their alternative wasn’t a certain death at the troopers’ hands.

  As the last of them were disappearing through the door, a nois
e caught my attention. I cocked my head to the side, turning my ear to the source to hear it better.

  A baby.

  The noise was the sound of a baby crying, the whimpers of a newborn. Troopers dropped off newly created Defective Clone babies all the time, whenever the lab decided the child wasn’t genetically good enough to be a Valid Clone.

  I went to run in the direction when a hand clamped around my wrist. Reece was holding me in place, worry etched across his features. “You should go down with the others, Wren. It’s too dangerous up here. I’ll keep searching.”

  “No, there’s a baby. Can’t you hear it?” He stopped long enough to listen. “I have to get to it, there’s nobody protecting it.”

  I slipped my hand from his and ran. Reece followed only moments later, matching my pace as we tried to avoid any troopers but also get closer to the source of the cries. The noise kept getting lost in the crackling of the fire when the wind whipped around us. At times we were moving blindly, hoping we would get there in time.

  Reece suddenly pulled me between a gap in the fence, his arms around my waist giving me no leeway to protest. He held a finger to his lips, telling me to be quiet. We crouched down as low as possible and didn’t move a muscle as three troopers passed by only a few seconds later.

  They were talking amongst themselves, boasting of the number they had already captured. I felt sick to the stomach thinking about it. We had been too late and too few to save them all. I hoped Autumn and the other teams were faring better than us.

  We waited for the troopers to pass and be out of sight before we started our race again. I wished for Reece’s stealthy movements, my feet felt nothing but clunky next to him. He moved like a panther while I stomped along trying to keep up.

  We had to hide several times before the crying grew so loud that we could see the source. When my gaze settled on the baby, my heart lodged itself into my throat. He was little more than a few weeks old, maybe a couple of months at the most. It was difficult to tell his age when he was malnourished.