Those cluttered voices are the worst part of a push—besides the end result, of course. The confusion and chaos are overwhelming. My mind is no longer alone during this and it feels so intrusive. Now Farren wants me to invade someone else’s mind. It’s bad enough that I’ve forced people to do horrible things. Now he wants me to pry into their heads and basically spy on them?
Noticing my lack of response, Caiden pleads, “You want to save your friend, don’t you? Now is not the time to fall apart on us.”
Amanda has done too much for me to just give up and run away. I need to believe in what Ava said about our ability. No matter how it sometimes hurts people, the purpose of it is to make this collective existence better.
“Okay, okay. I’ll try.”
“Those voices during the push are just a jumble of individuals,” Farren says. “Just try to hone in on one to pick up whatever you can.”
Just like with any push, I extend my consciousness out to the surrounding area. The intensity of the situation is making it hard to concentrate. Interruptions are slowing my reach. I feel the expanse and then it quickly retracts. It doesn’t help that Caiden and Farren are watching my every move. Come on, Kaylin, focus. I take a deep breath and pull my knees to my head to create my own little cocoon. This seems to help, as I feel less exposed. After a burst of flickering lights splash across my mind, I hear the muttering of random voices. Farren says to try to lock in on anything that sounds operational, whatever that means. I believe what he means is to listen in on thoughts of Magnus personnel thinking about their responsibilities. If I can get any insight into what is going on inside, we can make our decision about continuing the mission.
From all the pointless internal dialogue, I pick out thoughts about securing the east wing or gate. It’s faint and sounds like someone yelling across a crowded room. Quickly I sense myself drawn closer to the presence and the words become louder. The other voices dim and turn into background chatter. Focusing on the voice, I see brief flashes of this person’s thoughts. Almost like layers of video flying at me from all directions. I can hardly grab hold of them as they move on and fade so fast. I try to lock on to the voice again and just as I do, the moving thoughts slow down. It’s like I can bring this person’s reality to a crawl while I pick through the mind for information. These visual thoughts become windows into what this individual is experiencing at the moment. I can tell this is a guy, as I see glimpses of his arms and hands. Now, I just need to figure out if this man has any real information or not.
His current experiences are pretty dull and not very helpful. He’s just watching people while rarely moving. He seems to be the typical guy, just checking out girls most of the time. I need to sort through this pointless crap and see if he knows anything of use. Everyone is depending on me to save this mission. That’s when an experience he’s having catches my attention.
A hazy vision shows me a young lady that comes up to him and asks, “Where do I need to be for this alert? I’m in Group C.”
Now we’re talking. When he’s not flirting with girls, he seems to be helping people find where they need to go.
“Well, hello there,” he says to her. “Just head to your assigned section at the east gate.”
I’m able to reach this young man with my push so he must not have the block implant, but he still seems to work for the hub. Shortly after this, a Magnus security guard approaches him. This pudgy little guard is dressed in the typical dark outfit of this group. I never understood why these groups like to dress their so-called employees in these dreary, stiff uniforms. Already controlled by the Magnus Influencers, there’s no need to intimidate the civilians. It must be a guy thing or something.
“Hello, sir.” He straightens as the Magnus guard addresses him.
“You’re doing a great job, kid,” says the guard. “Just stay focused on the task and not so much on the girls, please.”
Whoever I’m connected to seems to be a willing sympathizer. He’s eager to be a part of this group. I pick up on his desires to be implanted and promoted to an official member of Magnus. That makes no sense to me, but I don’t have time to judge him right now. I have to tell the others what I’ve seen.
Swiftly pulled back into my individual awareness, I let go of this person’s being. The voices disconnect, once again leaving me alone with my own thoughts. As the current moment takes hold, anxiety fills me once again. There’s something about being in the midst of a push that clears the mind and protects me from my personal weaknesses. An airy gasp slips out as I bring myself back to my current state of reality.
Farren leans uncomfortably close to my face. “Please let me know you saw something.”
I sit upright, gathering myself. “That alarm is a breach alert and they’re moving everyone to the east gate as a precaution.”
“This isn’t as we planned it, but…” Caiden stops to think. “It means our mission is still viable.”
What does that mean? I don’t like the unknowns from this change of events. I grab Farren’s wrist and argue, “Doesn’t a breach alert mean they think someone has breached the hub? Haven’t we lost our element of surprise?”
“Chaos is chaos,” he replies. “We either move now or never. They’ll regroup and fortify the hub once they assess the situation. This is Amanda’s only chance.”
There it is again, that magic word: ‘Amanda.’ Every time I hear her name, my motivation and courage return. I nod in agreement and wait for them to plan our next move.
Caiden doesn’t waste any time before he signals to Farren that we’re going to move on the settlement wing entrance. He leads with his weapon drawn as Farren trails behind me giving me a reassuring nod signaling that he has my back.
Just as they predicted, the entrance is locked down, as the guards have fallen back to make sure the main hub structure is secure. We make our way to the gate, which is no more than a large steel door flushed into the twelve-foot-tall cement wall. Barbed wire protects the top of the wall, so our only way in is through this entrance.
Caiden reaches into his pack and pulls out a small metallic disk no bigger than my palm. Quickly he places it near the door’s locking mechanism. He pulls two pins from the side and steps back a few feet. I cover my ears and turn my face instinctively, but there is no explosion. A small circle has bored through the door as white-hot, melted steel drips from its edges. With one swift kick, Caiden knocks the door open. It bellows and screeches to a stop. Farren takes cover on one side of the door as Caiden covers the other. Guided behind Farren, his weapon-free hand covers my torso as we creep closer to the opening. He pulls me in close to his body.
Caiden waves to us, signaling that we’re clear to move. Farren takes my hand and leads me into the settlement wing. This building is no more than a couple of construction site offices seamed together. I have seen these portable buildings all over Lost Souls, used for homes and shops. Caiden follows us in and crouches down at the unmanned reception desk. Farren and I fall back to a row of filing cabinets that line the wall. This structure is broken into several rooms segmented by temporary walls with large plastic windows. The purpose of this wing is to assess the usefulness of new recruits who are brought into Magnus from the south entrance to this group’s sector. Lined with folding chairs, the rooms almost look like small classrooms, but no one receives an education here. Recruits, thoroughly examined, find out how they best fit with Magnus’ plans to utilize them for the so-called betterment of the group. The cloudy memory of Mavis Edgeley forcing me to watch Amanda sit through a settlement evaluation ignites a fire in me. I’m eager to get going now and bring her to safety.
We make our way to the rear exit. Fully evacuated, we have no trouble making our way through the settlement wing. I peek out the window and notice the large clearing from this building to the hub’s main structure. Floodlights brighten every inch of the massive opening. Earlier at our little campsite, Farren mentioned the clearing is about seventy-five yards across. Looking at it now, this open
space is a lot of ground to cover while avoiding detection. They take care of the vegetation really well, too. There isn’t any groundcover to use when we cross.
Farren left his post with Magnus to come after me only a few days ago. Because of this, he knows more than Caiden about the current tactics of these hubs. Caiden was once a security head for a hub up north, but that was more than a year ago and things have changed. So, from this point, Farren will take the lead. Plus, Caiden is not shielded like Farren is with the implant. If the Influencer of this hub figured out we’re here, Caiden would be at risk of manipulation. Looking up toward the guard posts on the top of the hub, Farren squints and says, “Those posts are never left unmanned. I can’t see, but I know they’re up there scanning the clearing.
“We’ll split up,” he decides. “Caiden, you make your way across the left side and Kaylin and I will take the right.”
“Hey, Farren, don’t complain about having to drag her with you when I smoke you to the other side,” he grins.
“Shut up,” I say, rolling my eyes.
Caiden laughs, checking his weapon. Farren takes one last glance at the clearing and says, “Let’s do this.”
We fly into the clearing, separating after seconds. Caiden lumbers away from us as Farren and I sprint out in front. It seems like we are running for forever, but it has only been a few seconds when we see the mammoth structure come into focus. Just as we are about to take cover at the base of the hub, we hear a blast from the roof followed by a groan from Caiden in the distance. The protruding features on the hub’s walls block our view of him. A second blast screeches into the clearing. We see no sign of Caiden.
12
CHAOS
FARREN KICKS OPEN a door that leads us into a storage facility that smells of compost. The light from the clearing explodes through the entrance. Shadows cast on the back wall reveal huge, ancient-looking machines that must maintain the clearing. He has me crouch against the wall just to the side of the door. He instructs me to stay put and then without another word he leaves. Slowly, inch by inch, I stick my head out to see him following the wall, never taking his eyes off the top of the hub. With his pistol pointed at the roof, he is ready to fire. Slipping around the corner, he’s gone. Caiden is out there somewhere around that bend and Farren is going to find him, dead or alive. I’m alone now with no weapon and no idea of what to do next.
Minutes pass and I’m still sitting here where Farren put me, like a dog minding its master. Running my fingers over the contours of the pendant on my necklace takes my mind off the intensity of the moment. Hope for them to return is fading. Anxious energy is trickling out of every inch of me. I can’t sit here any longer just waiting for them. Sliding the necklace back under my shirt, I release a deep breath that motivates me to move. Looking over the storage area, I search for anything that might help my situation. It won’t be long before Magnus sends someone down here to investigate the incident. Quickly, I find a locked door on the rear wall. There is a security panel next to the latch. Without the hub’s access codes, there will be no way I can break through this door. Just as I turn to figure out what to do next, the panel on the door lights up. Someone is accessing this room from inside the hub. I stumble over the entry step, falling down while shuffling backward along the ground. A large tire attached to one of the green machines is the closest hiding spot I find. Tucked into a ball behind this massive rubber wheel, my breathing becomes fast and uncontrollably loud. A metal sounding clank bounces off the ceiling and the door creaks open. Several heavy footsteps fill the entry. A strong voice says, “We know you are in there. Throw your weapon on the ground near the door and come out with your hands on your head.”
Fear stops my breathing and I nearly vomit. Should I take my chances and make a break for the door? Or should I give myself up and, like Amanda, become a prisoner of Magnus? Before I have a chance to decide, someone puts a hand over my mouth. I’m just about to claw at the hand when Farren whispers in my ear, “Don’t scream, it’s just me.” My body relaxes as I nod and put my hand on his forearm to let him know that I understand.
“We don’t have time,” he whispers. “We have to run now.”
Without warning, he pulls me up and we rush to the door that leads out to the clearing. Several Magnus guards shout and come after us. “Stop or we’ll fire!”
Just before we get to the exit, Farren throws something behind us into the room. Guns fire and bullets zip past my head as he drags me to the ground just outside the door. A blast erupts inside the storage room, forcing warm air to rush out the entrance. The ground rattles beneath us as I find cover near Farren. We pull ourselves up to make sure we are out of the line of fire from the guards posted on the roof. There is no longer anyone rushing at us, but we are far from safe. Farren pulls me along the side of the hub until we reach a group of three large sewage lines coming out from the towering structure. Caiden lies tucked in between the rusty pipes trying to tend to his own wound. A bullet through his right leg has crippled him.
Reaching into my small backpack, I pull out the extra HypoPatch kit I salvaged from the ranger outpost. This worked wonders on the cuts on my arms, but will only stop the bleeding and relieve some of his pain. The ointment I used on my head would work great, but that was the only dose I found. Caiden removes the temporary wrap he fashioned from the sleeve of his shirt. Farren uses his small canteen to flush out the bloody bullet hole that has left an exit wound on the back side of his leg. Caiden bites his lip to hold back a groan. Once the wound is cleaned, I spray the antiseptic on both sides and then wrap the leg with the bonding film. Instantly Caiden’s face relaxes as the spray manages to ease some of his pain. Now it’s just a question of what we’re going to do with him.
“You sure do come in handy sometimes,” says Caiden.
“Sometimes, huh?” I ask, smiling.
Farren wastes no time and pulls him to his feet, supporting his weight on his shoulder. Before we start to move, Caiden stops us. “Hold on there, cowboy. I’m not going to be able to hold your hand through this mission anymore. You’re going to have to leave me here and finish this thing without me like a big boy.”
“That’s not happening,” says Farren. “I’m not leaving you here to be captured.”
“Hey, m-man…” Caiden stammers in pain. “It’ll be okay. I won’t let them find me.”
Grimacing, he sits back down between the corroded pipes. The indecision on Farren’s face amplifies as he watches his friend give up. This mission is going from bad to worse and we are no closer to rescuing Amanda. Grabbing Farren’s hand, I look directly into his eyes and say, “We have to go or we are all going to die.”
“Listen to your girlfriend,” blurts Caiden. “You’ve got bigger things to do now.”
Even in this intense moment, my cheeks get warm and flush with blood. I shake it off and nudge Farren to move. He promises to come back for him after this is over, no matter what it takes.
Reluctantly, Farren takes the lead and guides us along the wall as we head to the east side of the hub where all the citizens are gathering for this emergency. He refuses to look back at Caiden as we leave. I guess it’s his way of not emotionally giving up on him.
We must be out of sight of the tower guards, as no one is raining bullets on our heads at the moment. That’s always a good thing. Farren knows the ins and outs of these hubs, so he understands where the personnel will be during every situation. This gives us a shot at finding Amanda.
So far we’re able to move without notice. We only have one more bend to go around before we reach the east side of the hub. Just as we inch our way around the corner, we are driven back by a storm of bullets. Countless flashes burst from the roof’s edge. They were expecting us. It makes sense why we were able to travel so effortlessly up to this point. We’re pinned down now with nowhere to go. Clinging to the wall just behind the guard’s sights, we wait hoping for a break in the fire. Their shots are meant to contain us until we give ourselves up or make
a break for the main wall. I can see in Farren’s eyes that he wants to edge out to fire back, but the blinding floodlights from the roof make it impossible to find a clear target. It would be great if we could take the lights out, but there are thirty to forty on each side and not enough bullets to make a difference.
With no other options, he tells me he’s going to lay down some cover fire and commands me to sprint back to the settlement wing building. This is not a plan at all; it’s a death sentence for both of us, but we have no other options. I’m about to charge into the opening when he grabs my shoulder and says, “Wait.”
He looks at me as if he has found the answer and says, “I know this is hard for you, but can you try to use your push to get some animal backup? It’s all we’ve got right now.”
Using my push to turn animals into my personal killing machines is not something I ever wanted to do again. But, after talking to Ava about doing whatever is needed, I’m not quite as reluctant. Even with my heightened state of anxiety, I’m sure I could push past it, but while looking out at the clearing I realize it would be pointless. Those twelve-foot walls would prevent any would-be assassins from the wilderness from reaching us. Even if they somehow managed to get over, there is no way they would be able to scale the sides of the enormous hub to reach the gunmen.
Before I have a chance to talk to Farren about what I’ve realized, a sudden cascade of loud clicks rushes through the rooftop. Within seconds, the clearing goes dark. All that remains from the floodlights is a cooling glow that fades around the edges. Farren moves in front of me, shielding me from whatever might come next. We remain quiet and still with our eyes shifting back and forth from the clearing to the roof. I have no idea what just happened. We can’t see more than ten feet in any direction. Farren leans in and says, “We need to move now before they turn them back on.”
Influence (Influence Series Book 1) Page 9