Exodus

by R. J. Wolf

  ********************************************

  Anthony could hear the pitter patter of dozens of boots on the stone floor outside of his cell. They had been back and forth all day. The final preparations he thought, for what, he didn’t know.

  Daviathan and Lupercus had left his cell some time ago. He had been alone with his thoughts. Alone tying to digest the tsunami of information they’d told him.

  Anthony smiled as his mind drifted to his brothers for the first time. Lupercus had said they looked alike. Anthony tried to imagine them, smaller versions of himself, flying around like baby gargoyles.

  Suddenly the image of him flying away from a horde of robotic warriors popped into his head. And without anyone telling him he knew he was seeing through his brothers eyes. Daviathan had said his powers were beyond any of theirs, so naturally he could use amorphos in ways they had never imagined.

  Anthony closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. He tried to think about what he was doing the last time he found himself in someone else’s mind. Breathing slowly, he left himself drift away. He felt weightless and then he felt pain. With a loud smack he had toppled over and landed face first on the ground.

  Who was he kidding? Daviathan and Lupercus were convinced he was some kind of evolutionary step, but Anthony had to disagree. There was not one thing that happened to him that he controlled. The last time he found himself looking through someone else’s eyes it had just happened.

  Anthony stood back up, rubbing his face as he moved his jaw around ensuring it still worked. He felt a sudden rush come over him and the cell disappeared. A blue light flashed in front of his eyes. It swirled and moved like a living creature and then suddenly vanished and he found himself back in his cell.

  Anthony tried again, closing his eyes and focusing, but the rattling of keys broke his concentration. The heavy door to his cell screeched and grinded as it slid open. Anthony scampered into a corner, Daviathan’s words echoing in his head. “Don’t resist them; it’ll all be over soon.”

  “No need to worry pretty, we’re just about done with you.” Hanson grinned.

  He held a needle in his hand and a thick chain in the other. Whistling, he walked over to Anthony and kicked him in the side. Anthony grunted, but didn’t move.

  “I guess you deserve a little going away present.” Hanson laughed.

  Several more of the oversized guards crowded into the cell. One by one they took turns punching and kicking Anthony as he cowered on the floor. None of them seemed to care much whether he lived or died.

  “Hanson!” A stern voice called from the doorway. “I’m certain you have other ways to pass the time. If you do not, I can certainly find you some.”

  Hanson and the other guards quickly straightened up and faced the door.

  “Dr. Norton, I…I’ll get right to it.” Hanson stuttered.

  Anthony rolled over and spit blood onto the stone. He grabbed his side, wincing in pain. Dr. Norton glared at him momentarily, a hint of a smile vanished from his face.

  “Perhaps you should finish what you started Hanson. I hate to see a job half done.” Dr. Norton said and walked away.

  “Ya heard him boys.” Hanson smiled as he stomped his foot into Anthony’s back.

  XX

  “You sure about this?” Steve asked. “You don’t have to be here.”

  “I’m here!” Nickie yelled. “I wish everyone would stop asking me that.”

  “Guys try not to tell them we’re here.” Mit glared at them.

  “Here they come.” Mikey stammered.

  They ducked down low to the ground, hiding in the tall, tawny colored grass. A convoy of heavily armored black trucks passed by them and turned onto Amstere Lane.

  “Is this gonna work?” Mit mumbled nervously.

  “It has to.” Nickie replied.

  As the trucks moved further away, they all ran across the street and crouched in the ditch on Amstere Lane. They were all dressed in black carrying guns and military style backpacks. If it hadn’t been for their clumsy movement and Mikey’s bad habit of pointing his gun at anyone, they could’ve been mistaken for an actual tactical team.

  Steve stood up and stared down the road through a pair of high powered binoculars. He watched as the trucks turned into the parking lot of the plain white facility.

  As soon as they pulled through the gates, everything seemed to spring to life. Guards in their metallic suits stormed out of the building. They fanned out, forming a perimeter around the trucks. Each of them held a shiny silver gun that Steve knew could evaporate matter.

  “When they get here we’ve gotta be fast.” Steve looked back at the others. “Mit you’re positive about the dynamite?”

  Mit giggled. “I don’t know if this is news to you Steve, but I’m a genius.”

  Mikey and Nickie bust out laughing. Even Steve cracked a smile.

  “Okay, okay. Just for my peace of mind, let’s walk through this one last time. They’ll be heading down that road any minute.”

  “Geez Steve, it’s not rocket science. The dynamite should blow a nice sized trench in front of the convoy and one behind it. We stay hidden until they actually get out of the trucks. Mikey and me will do our Rambo impression while you and Nickie grab Anthony.”

  “Well I’m glad you seem to have gotten it down.” Steve said rolling his eyes.

  “Allow me to point out how utterly insane this plan is though. We only think Anthony will be in one of those ridiculous truck tanks. And even if we pick the right one, you really plan to have a gun battle with those…those things?”

  “Spectrals.” Nickie corrected him.

  “With those spectrals and their vaporizer guns?”

  “Yeah, that’s the plan Mit.” Steve said.

  Mit sighed and shook his head. He turned and looked back down the road. A ball of dust swirled in their direction as the armored trucks piled out of the parking lot and headed their way.

  *******************************************

  Anthony awoke to complete darkness. He didn’t know where he was or how long he’d been unconscious. His head felt like he’d swallowed a grenade. Fear started to overwhelm him and panic gripped at his heart.

  “Welcome back.” A voice spoke inside his head.

  “Daviathan.” Anthony said. “Where are we?”

  “They are moving us. You’ve been out for a while. When we get on the highway we’ll make our move. Just stay calm and I will get you.”

  Anthony sighed in relief. As he started to breathe away the suffocating fear, he tried to look at his surroundings. He was sitting on a bench in the back of some kind of enclosed truck. His arms were bound behind his back with a thick chain. His legs were also chained together and then locked onto the floor through a hefty loop, like the one in his cell. His head was covered in a black bag and another chain wrapped around his waist and latched to the wall.

  The truck lurched and rumbled as they moved. Anthony knew they had to be on some sort of uneven dirt road. Every time they hit a bump, the chains dug into his wrist and ankles.

  Outside Anthony’s friends hid in a ditch, only meters away. Mit’s hands shook with nerves as he waited for the trucks to pass his markers. There were at least ten black armored trucks rolling slowly down the road.

  Mit took a deep breath, trying to compose himself. Nickie put her hand on his shoulder and smiled.

  “Well, here goes nothing.”

  Mit squeezed the detonator and closed his eyes. The blast shook the ground and threw chunks of rock and dirt into the air, peppering the ditch.

  Inside of the truck Anthony was suddenly slung forward. The chains snapped tight and yanked him back. He felt the truck lean and then fall onto its side and roll over. The sound of shouting and gunfire erupted outside and he shivered.

  No one was prepared for what occurred when the explosions went off. Being Mit’s first demolition he was a bit overzealous with the amount of dynamite. The result was ten foot craters on either side.
<
br />   The convoy came to a screeching halt. Guards poured out of the undamaged trucks. Most were outfitted in the shiny metal suits that made them look like warrior astronauts. Behind them were regular guards wearing khaki pants and t-shirts.

  “The ones in the suit, they’re spectrals.” Mit whispered.

  Mikey nodded and took aim with his rifle. He gripped the gun tightly and slowly pulled the trigger. A burst of three bullets ripped down the barrel and sent him falling backwards. Mit and Steve followed and let off a barrage of gunfire at the guards exiting the trucks.

  The bullets didn’t faze them. With sharp pings and cracks they hit the metallic armor and tore off in random directions.

  The spectrals spread out, taking defensive positions around the trucks. The unarmored guards filed behind them. They took shots in random directions unsure of where the gunfire was coming from. Lobs of ultrasonic light screamed through the air, but collided with nothing.

  “This is the dumbest plan ever!” Mikey shouted over the flurry of bullets.

  Mit crouched down and opened his pack. Taking out a handful of grenades he handed them out and smiled.

  “A little something special I worked on with Mr. Clark.”

  Steve grabbed one and lobbed it into the air. It hit one of the spectrals in the head and exploded in a brilliant purple fire. The guard dropped to all fours trying to rip his helmet off. He frantically pulled at it and then collapsed and didn’t move again.

  “What the hell was that?” Steve asked in amazement.

  “Mr. Clark called it Zaspar on steroids mixed with a frag grenade.”

  “And you tell us about it now?”

  Steve grabbed three more and threw them at them into the field, creating a wall of purple fire between them and the lead truck. Without saying a word, Nickie jumped out of the ditch and sprinted into the fray.

  “Nickie!” Steve yelled as he darted after her.

  Nickie’s years of soccer had done her well. She moved like a leopard, jumping and dodging gunfire from the guards. She quickly made it to the rear of the front truck and slid to a stop.

  The truck was on its side and the rear barnyard style doors clung loosely to the hinges. Nickie kicked at the door until it tore loose and she was able to pull it away from the truck.

  Inside, there were several people with bags over their heads hanging awkwardly from chains attached to their waists. Nickie dove into the truck and immediately started pulling the bags off screaming for Anthony.

  “Anthony! Anthony where are you?”

  The first person she made it to was a woman. She was young and frail, but didn’t look frightened at all. Her brown eyes fixed on Nickie and a faint smile stretched across her face.

  Nickie paused. Suddenly she felt selfish, even cruel. She’d come thinking only of Anthony, yet these trucks were filled with people. People just like the boy she’d seen on the video that had been tortured to death, treated like a pest.

  “I…I can try to get the chains off.” Nickie said as she started to tug at the dense iron.

  “Go.” The woman muttered. “Go and find him. You haven’t much time.”

  “But, I can help you.” Nickie pleaded.

  “Help him.” The woman replied.

  Nickie hesitated, her eyes welled with tears. The woman nodded her head and whispered.

  “Just go.”

  Guilt ridden, she moved past the woman and continued to remove the bags from the other prisoners.

  “Nickie!” Steve called from the door of the truck. “Are you crazy?”

  “Shut up!” Nickie yelled back at him. “Either help me or go back and help Mikey.”

  Steve fumed. Grunting, he crawled into the back of the truck. As he pushed past the prisoners, something clamped onto his shoulder. Before he could turn around he was snatched backwards and tossed into the sky.

  “Steve!” Nickie screamed in horror.

  A spectral stood at the back of the truck where Steve once was. He slowly pulled his helmet off and glared at Nickie, his black eyes smelling more than seeing.

  “You have come to die human!” He spat in a deep harsh tone.

  His raspy voice made Nickie’s bones shiver. His thick elongated snout snapped when he talked. The sound of explosions and gunfire outside drifted into the truck, rattling the walls, but Nickie couldn’t take her eyes off of him.

  “It’s fitting your end come next to these vermin that fight so hard to protect you. My thirst for human flesh shall be quenched today. ”

  Nickie was scared to move. Her feet felt like they had fused with the floor. The guard scowled at her, licking his razor sharp teeth. He quickly bent his legs preparing to charge.

  Nickie staggered backwards. The guard sprung towards her and as he did she slipped and fell to the ground.

  He collided into the back of the truck with a bang, leaving a dent in the metal plating. The cabin wavered as the truck slid forward. Nickie jumped to her feet. She didn’t even look back, but dove ahead and slid out of the door.

  She landed on the ground and rolled to her feet, but the spectral was faster. He was already in front of her, his mouth cocked in a sinister grin.

  Nickie screamed as he lunged towards her again. She saw her life flash before her eyes, the spectrals gaping mouth only feet away. Then she felt something push her, not a hand, but an invisible force. The guard bounced backwards and slid across the ground as Nickie fell down.

  Lupercus landed in between them like a majestic, avenging angel. His orange eyes burned like dragon’s breath, his golden hair whipped back and forth like the arms of a raging fire.

  “Asher!” Lupercus spat.

  The guard sneered at him and snarled. “It comes as no surprise that you would be behind this. Of all our subjects you were always the most conniving fool.”

  “This should be a surprise.” Lupercus grimly said.

  In the blink of an eye, Lupercus was behind him. Before Asher could react he plunged his fist into the back of his metal suit. It ripped through him like a bullet, his fist tearing out of Asher’s chest.

  “We were never your subjects.” He whispered as Asher’s body fell to the ground.

  Nickie gawked at Lupercus with her mouth wide open. He started to speak and she took off in a full sprint. All around her bullets and spheres of green lights whizzed by.

  Lupercus bolted in the other direction ripping the doors off the trucks as he passed them. Nickie looked back just as he disappeared into the back of a truck. As she ran through the field blindly, her foot caught onto something and she tripped.

  “Ouch!” someone screamed.

  Nickie rolled over and looked back. Steve was rubbing his head staring around in confusion.

  “What the hell happened?”

  “I’ll tell you later, now run!” Nickie yelled as she jumped to her feet.

  Behind her, Lupercus emerged from the back of the truck followed by several people with chains hanging from their legs. The guards turned and started firing towards them, but their guns did nothing. The glowing light seemed to hit an invisible shield and bounce away.

  In unison, the spectrals dropped their guns and ripped their helmets off. Their faces were the perfect marriage of reptile and canine. Long snouts fitted with dagger like teeth, dripping with thick green sludge.

  In a symphony of snorts and howls, they collided with the freed prisoners like a pair of rouge waves. Lupercus stood on top of one of the over turned trucks, his arms stretched to his side. The truck burned like a bonfire as black smoke billowed from the engine.

  “Elementals, claim your freedom!” Lupercus wailed.

  All around them, elementals erupted from the trucks and clashed in deadly battle with the spectrals and the human guards. Daviathan emerged from the crowd clutching a spectral in his hands.

  “Where is he?” Daviathan shouted. “You moved him, where is he?”

  The spectral grinned and Daviathan squeezed his hand, crushing his neck. He dropped its body into the grass and t
ook off back into the battle.

  One by one the elementals slowly started to change. First their eyes began to glow and then blazed brightly, even under the sunlight. Then their skin blued and their hands stretched into massive talons.

  Nickie ran through the crowd frantically looking for Anthony. Steve followed close behind her. Mikey and Mit were still crouched in the ditch firing shots and throwing grenades.

  “I hope they hurry up.” Mikey shouted over the clatter.

  As Nickie rounded the last truck she stopped dead in her tracks. On the ground was a skinny boy in dirty rags with no shirt on. He was lying face down in the dirt like he was sleeping.

  Nickie hadn’t seen him in years and his frail body was only a shadow of the boy she knew, but she could find him anywhere.

  “Anthony!” Nickie called.

  She ran to his side and grabbed him. Steve skidded to a stop beside her. He turned Anthony over and shook him.

  “Anthony! Wake up Anthony.”

  Anthony slowly opened his eyes and tried to focus. He blinked as a rush of sounds flooded his ears. Shaking his head, he looked up and two images slowly became clear.

  “Nickie? What…what are you doing here?” Anthony asked.

  Grimacing he sat up and then noticed who was kneeling beside her.

  “Steve! You’re, you’re dead. I saw you fall. Am I dreaming? Did I die?” Anthony ranted.

  “Not yet.” Steve laughed. “I’ll explain later, but now we need to get out of here. Can you walk?”

  “Sure.” Anthony said as Steve helped him to his feet.

  They looked back across the field, which had now erupted in a full scale battle scene. Bodies littered the ground, blood colored the brown grass like a painting. The clash of metal and flesh played a song of destruction.

  “We need to make it back to the ditch.” Steve said pointing across the dirt road.

  Suddenly another armored truck barreled towards them. With the brakes screeching it came to a stop and the doors swung open.

  Hanson jumped out of the truck and stepped to the side. Dr. Norton followed behind him. He straightened up and brushed off the navy blue suit he was wearing. Adjusting his tie, he looked around surveying the fight.