“We need to find Michael,” James said, “and the rest of the fallen. If I can’t stop them, then I can hold them back long enough that our people can break a hole through Civic Protection. My job will be done if the walls to the outside can be broken down.”
“It sounds good,” Sean said, “I just hope you’re planning on returning. You seem to have a knack for placing yourself in harm's way.”
“I’ll help,” William said. “I’m going with you. To try to stop them.” James nodded to William.
“Can you keep up with me?”
William smiled, “I’m Wolfgang’s match, or at least I was seven years ago.”
“Then we’ll all be placing ourselves in harm’s way,” James said, “but that’s the way it has to be.”
“Then go Vanguard,” Sean said. “Save us all, but come back. We have enough dead heroes.”
110
Dante stood next to three of his siblings as they rode a cylindrical elevator down from the sky into the top floors of the capital. The elevator moved quickly, but Dante was never comfortable using it. He looked over at Ares, who had a cold look of patience. Medea smiled calmly to herself, softly humming a tune. Lucien leaned against the wall, fidgeting with his sheathed blades nervously. Dante couldn’t help but smile to himself a little.
“What’s got you entertained, Dante?” Ares asked.
“Oh,” Dante said, “just the irony of the situation. Father, Wolfgang, and Damaine are the strongest of us. They’re the ones that are out of commission now, and we have to take care of things on our own until they’re all right again.”
“It won’t matter really,” Ares said as he adjusted his glasses slightly, “Father will undoubtedly activate the scrambler once he is functional again.”
“Why couldn’t we activate it?” Dante said.
“Father’s the only one who has that level of concentration with the mind’s eye, and the strength," Ares said. “It requires us our ability, and he’s the strongest of us. He’s the only one who would use it effectively.”
Lucien had a face like something was bothering him.
“Is this really the right thing to do?” he asked. There was honesty in his voice.
“What do you mean?” Ares said.
“Is this really right, what we’re doing. I’ve been thinking a lot about it, since I talked to the Hunter. If we’re really saving humanity, then why do I feel so guilty? Why does it feel wrong?”
“But, that’s not what we were taught, ” Medea said as she looked at him with understanding eyes. “Father’s orders said we had to follow him unquestioningly. Is that not the right thing to do? You know all he’s told us, everything about the city’s past. Humans rape and murder their own.”
“Yes, but what makes us so special?” Lucien said. “From what I’ve seen, the only difference between us and the humans are the abilities with the mind’s eye, and our appearances.”
The elevator stopped, and Ares spoke up.
“That’s what makes you weak. You can’t see the big picture. It’s not about what we are now, but what we’ll become.” Ares stepped out of the elevator, onto the carpet. He adjusted his suit coat, fixing his tie a little. They all stepped off the round elevator, walking down a hallway to another elevator in the capital.
Ares entered a code into the panel next to it. The elevator doors opened, and Ares entered. The others followed him quietly. As the doors closed, Ares pulled a small remote from his jacket pocket. He flipped the safety switch off on it, and pressed the button. They heard an explosion from above.
“What did you just do?” Dante asked.
“Father wanted to be sure he was safe,” Ares said. "I just destroyed the use of that elevator to the top of the dome. We wouldn’t want anyone climbing it, would we?”
The elevator moved downward, to the middle of the capital. It stopped, and a large attachment of Civic Protection soldiers were there waiting. Dante was once again surprised.
“What’s this,” Dante said, “I didn’t order any soldiers to meet us here.” Ares stepped out of the elevator, and the soldiers raised their weapons at the other three.
“Just step out of the elevator,” Ares said. The light was reflecting off his glasses in such a way that they couldn’t see his eyes, making it difficult to see his expression. Ares’s lips betrayed a slight smile of satisfaction.
Dante raised his hands and walked out slowly. Medea and Lucien followed. They had looks of confusion on their faces as soldiers took their weapons. Medea had simply one pistol, and Lucien had his two blades. Soldiers then pulled two separate pairs of pistols from Dante.
“What’s the meaning of this,” Dante said. “We're on your side.” Ares smiled slightly, fangs visible in his teeth.
“I’ll tell you,” Ares said, “but first we’ll go to our control room.” Ares moved them and the soldiers through the floor to a large office room that was empty. Down a nearby hallway was another large office where Civic Protection officers had set up a workspace, using data screens and radios to coordinate soldiers in the city.
Dante and the other two were marched to an empty office quietly down the hallway from the control room.
“Now, we weed out the traitors," Ares said. "I know you saw William. I know that he convinced you to let them go. Now, I can truly see what kind of influence he’s had on the three of you.”
“We decided they weren’t a threat,” Lucien said. His voice was strained with a tinge of anger.
“It’s not up to you to make the decisions,” Ares said sharply.
“What are you saying,” Medea said, “are you going to kill us? Weed us out of Father’s perfect world?" Ares smiled wickedly at her.
“You’re kidding me, right?” Ares said. "I’ve even heard Dante say it. There’s no place for you in Father’s new world. There’s no place for people, who are supposed to be loyal, questioning the authority. You are mere mercenaries, up for the highest bidder.” Ares held out his hand and a soldier handed him a pistol. "Looks like your contract just got canceled.”
“Please, it’s not supposed to be like this,” Medea said. She had tears coming down her cheeks. Her illusion had finally been shattered.
“Say goodbye to your brother,” Ares said as he squeezed the trigger. The gun was aimed at Lucien, but seconds before Ares fired Medea pushed Lucien out of the way. The bullet hit her square in the forehead. There was a short spray of red from behind her head, but she was already falling to the ground.
Dante caught her body, and both he and Lucien knelt over her. Lucien had tears running down his face. Dante stared at her lifeless eyes.
“It was never supposed to be like this, sister,” Dante said as he stroked her hair. “You were the best of us.”
“She’s gone?” Lucien asked helplessly.
“I’m not sure I’ve felt this way before,” Dante said as he looked at her, rage in his voice.
“Dante, this is a surprising amount of emotion from you,” Ares said. "I’m touched you cared so much for her.” There was sarcasm in his voice. Dante was quiet, and he looked over at Lucien.
“Lucien,” Dante said telepathically, “do you still have the knife?” Lucien looked up at him, and nodded. “Use it, and get out of here as fast as you can.”
“What are you saying to him?” Ares said. He raised his pistol up again, and suddenly Lucien leaped backwards at the nearest soldier. In an instant he had pulled a small blade from his boot, and before they could react he’d stabbed the nearest soldier in the neck.
Before anyone had a chance to respond, Dante picked up the fallen soldier’s rifle and fired shots at several men to distract. Lucien threw himself into the nearby door. It broke open and he ran down the hallway. Soldiers were shooting behind him, but none hit him. He saw a window ahead of him, at the end of the hallway. Dante turned the assault rifle to Ares, and squeezed the
trigger. The clip was empty. Dante hadn’t realized he'd already emptied the clip. Ares smiled as he shot Dante in the stomach. Dante dropped the rifle and hunched over on the carpet.
As Lucien reached the window, he activated the dagger. It began glowing blue, and when he swung his weapon at the bullet proof glass, it shattered. He didn’t stop before jumping out.
Dante watched Lucien with his mind’s eye and smiled, knowing his brother had escaped. He remained looking downward as he held his hand on his wound. He glanced at one hand, seeing it covered in blood. He chuckled slightly. Ares was angry. He approached Dante slowly.
Dante sat there, on his knees. He looked into Ares’s eyes. Ares raised the gun to Dante’s forehead.
“It’s as you said, brother,” Dante said, “there’s no place for me in Father’s perfect world.” Ares held the gun for a moment, and lowered it. He bent down to eye-level with Dante.
“You’re going to suffer,” Ares said, “and watch the fall of humanity as you slowly fade away. You will die and will be forgotten, just like the rest.” He stood up and kicked the empty assault rifle away from Dante. He turned to one of the soldiers. “Keep the weapons away from him, and keep him in the center of the room. Let him die slowly.”
Dante got off his knees, and rolled over on his back. He pulled a small pack from his pocket, something he’d always kept with him but had never used. The cigarettes were completely unheard of in Dirge, with a lack of paper. He’d found these years ago in a scrap heap, and had kept them close to use one day. He felt like this day was probably his last chance. He opened the pack, and pulled one out, placing the cigarette in his mouth. He looked up at one of the soldiers nearby.
“Do you have a light?”
111
James stood in the underground facility, watching the line of people leave. Leaning against the wall, he was quiet. He felt a little nervous. He’d been rehearsing the words in his mind, but that wouldn’t be the same as actually saying them. He finally stood straight, and walked over to Christina. She was helping some children pack their bags.
“Christina,” James said, “can I talk to you for a moment?” She turned to him, and smiled. He stared at that smile, taking a picture of it with his mind. He red hair was held back in a ponytail, but her bright eyes stood out. It always took his breath away, seeing how beautiful she was. I still can’t believe this beautiful woman loves me, he thought as he smiled at her.
“Sure,” was all she said. She stood straight, and took his hand in her own. James took her to a secluded place, an empty room that had once been an office of some sort. He sat her down at a chair, and he sat in front of her.
“Christina,” he said, “I love you. I’ve told you that before, but I don’t think you understand how much I’ve needed you. You’ve been my anchor, my hope. I want to know that when all this is over, we can be together.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying I love you, and well,” he knelt down in front of her, “will you marry me?” She was quiet for a moment, seemingly in shock. Suddenly she wrapped her arms around him.
“Yes,” she said, “of course I will.” He smiled, and sat her back down on the chair. He took her left hand. He placed his fingers over her ring finger. A sliver of metal extended from his hand and wrapped around her finger. It connected on the other end, and pulsed as it took shape. When he pulled his hand away, she had a silver ring that looked like a vine made out of metal that had been wrapped around her finger.
She held her hand, examining it closely.
“I’m sorry I can’t give you more,” James said, “but this...” She cut him off by joining her lips with his. He noticed her smell, and wondered how someone in the middle of a war could still manage to smell beautiful. They held each other, kissing. Soon it would be time to leave, and they would need to go to the surface. They would have to fight. Now though, they kissed. All they thought about was each other, and the hope that the future could bring, if they both survived that day.
112
James helped the others climb out onto the surface from the manhole. The alley itself was barren, but gunshots and shouts could be heard in the distance. James stood before the group as it grew from people exiting the base. James looked up, into the sky that could be glimpsed from the buildings above. It was late morning, probably almost noon.
Sean stood next to him, as did Christina and Alicia. Alicia was quiet, but James could tell she was scanning everything with her mind’s eye. She had an alarmed look upon her face.
“You’re leaving, aren’t you, James,” Alicia said. James looked at her solemnly, and nodded.
“I have to face Michael,” James said. "I’m the only one who knows him, who can stop him.”
“James, how do you know him?” Christina asked.
“I can’t explain it,” James said, “something happened to me last night, while I was underneath the building. I remembered things. Things I shouldn’t know. Things that happened to my mother. Somehow I have pieces of her memories.”
“What can you remember?” Sean said. He was standing nearby and had overheard him.
“I remember you,” James said. "I remember my mother beginning the resistance. I know more than that, though. I know how this city came into existence. It’s all in pieces, and I still need to sort it all out. That’s why I have to go.” He turned to Sean. "Take care of my sister and Christina.” He embraced Christina, holding her for a moment. “Remember what I told you,” he whispered in her ear. She nodded. He crouched down to Alicia, hugging her.
“What do you need me to do?” Alicia said.
“Take care of everyone else,” James said. “You're stronger than you realize. Embrace the mind’s eye and it will make you stronger.”
She acknowledged him, and he stood up. He turned to the rest of the group, who had now filled the alley.
“This is it, go to the wall and tear it down,” he said. "I’ll join everyone after I’ve taken care of Michael.” Suddenly he grew claws and jumped to the nearest wall, scaling the building. He was gone in an instant. William nodded to them, and ran down the alley, up the street in the direction of Capitol District.
Sean stood in front of the group, and ejected the clip from his assault rifle. He examined it a moment, and placed it back in the weapon. He then pulled his satchel over his shoulder. He pulled a pistol from it and handed it to Christina.
“You may need this," he said. "Let's go.” He led the group through a series of back alleys as they headed south.
113
Khaleel had been racing to get to the wall as fast as possible, but that was proving to be difficult. Civic Protection was getting more reinforcements, and was gathering in a line to stop them. They’d set up several strong barricades, stopping many groups of the resistance. His group was held up on Main Street, which ran all the way from Capitol District through East and Old Districts. They were near the crossover into Old District, but Civic Protection had set up a large barricade of tanks and soldiers ahead.
Several shells were shot towards them, and he ducked into an alley. Pieces of concrete fell around him as one of the shells nicked the building corner. He could hear the bullet pings all around him. He turned to one of his men, John.
“Can you tell where the other groups are?” he shouted over the loud shots.
“No, we’ve lost communication with everyone," John said. “I think Civic Protection is jamming all our radios.”
“Does that mean they can’t communicate with each other?”
“Probably, but it doesn’t really matter since they’re winning.”
He tried to focus, thinking what to do to get out of the situation. Suddenly there was another explosion that threw him to the ground. Everything went bright for a moment, and he felt numb. Pull yourself up, he thought, get up. He focused himself on standing up, which was at first a strain. There was a ringing in
his ears, but it was fading. He put his hand to his face, and felt a deep cut on his cheek. He looked to see how John was, and saw him on the ground. There was blood coming from John’s face, and it was obvious he wasn’t breathing.
Khaleel felt faint, and he heard the sound of footsteps. He fell to the ground again. Two Civic Protection soldiers were shouting as they saw him. They ran over to him. One of them stopped to check John, the other pulled his rifle up, aiming at Khaleel. Khaleel saw the man begin to squeeze the trigger and he shut his eyes. He heard several gunshots, but was amazed to find he was still alive.
He looked up, and saw several others from the resistance. They all wore homemade patches on their arms in the shape of a “V." In front of them was Savannah and Kyle. Savannah lowered her rifle, which had smoke coming from the barrel where she had downed the two soldiers. She smiled at him.
“Looks like we didn’t miss anything,” she said.
“No,” Khaleel said as he began to pull himself up, “but you’re late.” Kyle and another helped him up. He stared at John’s body. Savannah pulled a canister from her pocket. She took a finger of a black, sticky salve and rubbed it on the cut on Khaleel’s face.
“That’ll stop the bleeding; are you all right?” Savannah asked. "We have to move out of here. The gunships are making passes.”
“Not to mention the tanks,” Kyle said. Khaleel took a deep breath and looked around for his rifle. It was lying on the ground a few feet away among some rubble. He picked it up, and checked it. The clip was good, and it was undamaged. He pulled the strap over his shoulder and began to move with them.
He looked out ahead onto the street from the alley. There were three tanks that he counted up front, and several more behind them. There were soldiers littered about, anywhere there was cover.
“We need to get ahead of them,” Savannah said. "Do you have any suggestions?”
“Keep pushing,” Khaleel said, “it’s the only way we’re going to get through. They’ve got just about every block in this direction covered. Main Street would have been the best way for us to make it to the wall, but they know that, too.”
City of Twilight Part III: The New Dawn (The Vanguard Chronicles Book 3) Page 9