Jude (sci-fi romance - The Ember Quest Book 5)

by Arcadia Shield

  “How the hell did you find this place?” Jude cursed as a thorn sliced his hand.

  “I was searching the few remaining houses in this town,” said Octavia. “I came to the pile of bricks that used to be the house and kept going. Some of these big places have their own vegetable plots. You could often find fresh vegetables that had been abandoned. I came in at a different angle on my first visit and discovered the air raid shelter. It was perfect for what I needed. I stayed several days to make sure it was secure and no one else was using it.”

  “It’s definitely got great defenses.” Jude sidestepped a thorn bush.

  “Watch out for this bit up ahead. There are holly bushes. They’ll have your eyes out if you take a wrong step.”

  Jude ducked under a vicious-looking branch of holly. He rounded the corner and slowed. In front of them was a squat gray bunker, partially sunk into the earth, with a black metal door and a huge padlock.

  Octavia fished in her pocket and pulled out a key. “I’ve got a combination code on the door as well. It’s hidden round the side so no one will notice it and get suspicious about what’s inside.”

  Jude watched as Octavia shifted a loose brick and keyed in a code. She then moved to the front door and unlocked the padlock. The door was silent as she yanked it open.

  His eyes widened as he peered inside. There were three shelves, rammed full of equipment. “I never knew you were a hoarder.”

  She gave him a half smile. “It’s always handy having backups. Some of this stuff doesn’t work, but it’s useful for spare parts. Things were always breaking on the van, and I needed to know I’d be able to repair it.”

  Jude walked into the air raid shelter. He inspected three transmitters and a damaged laptop.

  “If there’s anything you want to take while we’re here, go ahead,” said Octavia.

  He glanced at her and his gaze shifted down her body. He knew what he wanted, but it wasn’t a piece of equipment.

  Their gazes met, and Octavia’s cheeks flushed. She grinned at him before turning away.

  “This is what we came for.” She patted a small, squat black box. “With this, we’ll be able to keep up with the State.”

  “How’s it going in there?” Heath said over the comms.

  Jude activated his earbud. “It’s all good. We’re checking over the equipment now. We’ll be back in five minutes.”

  “Can we take some of the extra kit?” asked Octavia. She handed him the frequency hopper equipment, which he stuffed into his own backpack.

  “Grab what you need,” said Jude. “We’ll need to be quick. The longer we’re out in the open, the riskier it gets.”

  “I understand that.” Octavia pulled open the backpack she’d brought with her. “I could do with a few new circuit boards and, somewhere in here, I have a bio-nanomachine. It’s an early prototype, but I want to see if I can get it working.”

  Jude quickly scanned the rest of the shelves. He grabbed a receiver and what looked like a motherboard from a wetware server.

  Octavia zipped up her backpack and turned to him. “I’ve got what I need. Let’s get out of here.”

  They headed back out into the darkness. Octavia locked the bunker, and they made their way through the thorn and holly bushes.

  “We’re on our way back now,” said Jude.

  There was no response from Heath or Malachi.

  He tried again. Nothing. A shiver of concern ran through him. He opened the comms link to the bunker. “Is everything okay with the comms?”

  Kade came online. “Everything’s good this end. Are you having problems with the equipment?”

  “I’m not getting a response from Heath or Malachi.”

  “Hold on a second, let me check.”

  Jude increased his pace, dodging thorns as he did so. Something felt wrong.

  “Everything is working this end,” said Kade. “But I’m not picking up anything in your location.”

  “You mean you can’t see all of us?”

  “I mean, I can’t see anything. You’ve just vanished from my screen.”

  OCTAVIA SAW THE WORRIED look in Jude’s eyes as he broke into a run. “It could be the State jamming signals with an EMP.”

  “If they did that, I wouldn’t have been able to reach the bunker,” said Jude.

  She tamped down on her panic. The State couldn’t know they were here. She was always careful when she’d visited, concealing her tracks and traveling by foot for the last part of the journey so they wouldn’t detect any electronic signals.

  Jude raised a hand, gesturing for Octavia to stop. They’d reached the hedges. He eased out his pulse laser before looking around the side of the hedge.

  Octavia held her breath, expecting a blast of pulse laser to hit them.

  There was nothing.

  Jude cursed under his breath. He stepped around the hedge. “They’re not here.”

  Octavia followed him. The road was empty. The Foxhound had gone, along with Heath and Malachi.

  “Maybe they thought they’d been detected and hid.”

  “They’d have let us know.”

  “They can’t have gone far,” said Octavia. “We’ve been gone ten minutes.”

  Jude tried the comms link again. “Heath. Malachi. Can either of you hear me?”

  An ominous silence sounded along the comms link.

  “Kade, we have a problem,” said Jude.

  Octavia’s stomach clenched as no reply came back.

  “Shit!” Jude’s fingers clenched around his pulse laser.

  “We need to get to a safe place. If they haven’t destroyed them, there are three houses about half a mile down the road. We can try them.” Octavia was already moving.

  Jude grabbed her arm. “Go slow. Keep a lookout for any militia.” He handed her a pulse laser. “Use this if you have to.”

  She knew her way around a pulse laser and kept it in her hand as they walked swiftly along the road.

  Catching a movement out of the corner of her eye, Octavia swung to the left and raised her weapon. She couldn’t shake the feeling they were being watched.

  “Let’s keep moving,” said Jude, “and get to these houses.”

  “It will be okay.” The words sounded like a lie on Octavia’s breath.

  Jude swung to his right, his weapon raised.

  “What do you see?”

  He kept his weapon up. “Nothing for certain. I just have this feeling...”

  “You’re not the only one,” breathed out Octavia. “We’re being watched.”

  A twig snapped, and they both tensed.

  “Lower your weapons,” said a harsh male voice.

  “No bloody way,” muttered Jude.

  “We already have your companions. If you want them to live, you’ll do as we say.”

  “Don’t listen to him,” whispered Octavia. “He could be lying.”

  Movement behind her had Octavia turning. Three militia dressed in black emerged from the shadows, their pulse lasers aimed at her.

  “You won’t be told again. Drop your weapons and put your hands in the air.”

  Jude glanced behind him. He looked at Octavia and gave a small shake of his head. Slowly, he lowered his pulse laser.

  With gritted teeth, Octavia did the same, placing the pulse laser on the damp soil in front of her.

  “I want the female to walk toward me,” said one of the three militia as he emerged from the darkness. “Keep your hands raised at all times. Any sudden movements and I will shoot you.”

  “You take us together,” said Jude.

  “You don’t get a say in what happens from now on,” said the soldier. He gestured at Octavia. “Over here. Now.”

  She glanced at Jude. “I’ll be okay.” Keeping her chin up, she inched toward the soldier. When she was within arm’s reach, he grabbed her and spun her around, restraining her arms behind her back.

  “Be careful,” growled Jude.

  The soldier restraining Octavia smirked at
him.

  A second soldier stood in front of her. His skin was pockmarked with old acne scars, and he was missing several teeth. He leered at her as he yanked her cap off and grabbed a handful of her hair. “This one would be pretty if it wasn’t for these scars.” The rough pad of his thumb grazed across her cheek.

  “Keep your damn hands off me.” Octavia turned her head away, out of his rough grasp.

  “I can’t do that,” said the soldier. “You belong to us now. That means we can do whatever we like with you.”

  “Stop playing with her,” said the soldier restraining Octavia. “Check for weapons. We need to get out of here.”

  “I’m happy to oblige.” The soldier with the pockmarked face kicked Octavia’s legs apart.

  “Watch it,” she hissed at him.

  Jude made a move toward her, his hands in fists and his glare fixed to the soldiers.

  Octavia’s eyes widened as she saw three more militia appear behind Jude. They grabbed him before he could get any closer.

  The soldier in front of her grinned. “Looks like your boyfriend can’t help you now.”

  “You’re going to pay for this.”

  “Keep your mouth shut.” He ducked down and ran his hands up her left leg and then her right. His fingers rubbed across her groin, a leer crossing his face as he did so. “We can have fun with you before it’s over.”

  “I’d rather be dead.”

  “That won’t be a long time coming,” said the soldier. “I’ll fuck you from behind so I don’t have to see your scars.”

  Octavia’s throat tightened, but she refused to drop her gaze as the soldier ran his hands up her arms and across her chest.

  He took a step closer and inhaled deeply.

  Octavia slammed her knee into his groin. Her foot connected with his jaw as he bent over. She struggled in the other soldier’s grip, slamming her head back and making contact with his nose.

  For a second, she was free. Her gaze landed on a pulse laser on the ground. She launched herself at it. Her fingers had just touched the weapon when her head was yanked back by a fist tangled in her hair.

  “Try that again and you’ll be dead.” The soldier she’d head-butted spun her around and backhanded her across the cheek, making tears spring to her eyes.

  He dragged her back to the waiting militia. The soldier with the pockmarks still clutched his groin. He stared daggers at her.

  “I will enjoy making you pay for that,” he spat at her.

  “I doubt anything you’ve got is working after that.”

  “You’ll find out soon enough, you little bitch.”

  “That’s enough,” said the soldier who held her. His gaze shifted to Jude. “Is that another Ember brother?”

  “This one’s Jude,” said a tall, blond soldier who had him by the arm.

  A sly smile spread across the soldier’s face. “It looks like we got lucky tonight. Two Ember brothers, a dragon hybrid, and who are you?” His gaze roved over Octavia. “Just another deluded resistance fighter?”

  “Better than being deluded and brainwashed by the State.”

  The soldier shook his head. “Whatever you say. Your loyalty to the resistance movement will be rewarded by your death. I hope it was worth it.”

  Octavia looked at Jude. It was. For all the sleepless nights and worry she’d gone through, for the danger she’d faced and the risk of discovery, it had all been worth it. To keep him safe. To keep as many people as possible safe.

  “Take her to the transport,” said the soldier. “The rest of you get Jude to talk.”

  He pushed Octavia toward the guy with the pockmarked face, who tied her hands behind her back and shoved her forward. “Get moving, bitch.”

  She glared at him, but her gaze shifted as she heard Jude groan.

  Two soldiers held his arms, while another slammed his fists into Jude’s stomach.

  Her breath caught in her throat. They were going to kill him. She had to stop them. She took a step toward Jude but got yanked back by her hair.

  “Keep walking. He’s not your concern anymore.”

  Octavia glared at the soldier. “You won’t get away with this.”

  “We will. We do. Your life is over. You’re a dead woman walking. And your friend back there, he’s already dead.”

  Chapter 10

  The first thing Jude felt was a tingling in his right hand. He tried to open his eyes, but they felt glued shut by something sticky.

  He attempted to turn, but a lancing pain in his right side convinced him it was better to stay still.

  His parched tongue traced over his swollen, split lips. The metallic tang of his own blood made him gag.

  The memories hit all at once. Being at the air raid shelter, collecting the equipment, being discovered by the soldiers. Octavia being taken away. The beating he’d received.

  Where the fuck was he?

  Jude took several deep breaths, each one making his chest throb. With effort, his right eye partially opened. He blinked several times, and saw a pale-gray dawn light overhead. Wherever the hell he was, it stank like rotten meat.

  Turning his head to the left, he came face to face with the blank-eyed gaze of a middle-aged man.

  As Jude’s vision continued to clear, he could see there were more dead bodies around him. Swallowing his horror, Jude realized he was in a pit full of dead and dying people.

  The sound of quiet, distressed moans filled his ears. There were other injured people in the pit.

  Wrapping an arm around his ribs and easing himself away from the dead man lying next to him, Jude gingerly sat up. Something dug into his right shoulder. He reached around and realized he still wore the backpack containing the equipment from the air raid shelter.

  The pit he was in was a long, wide rectangle, about thirty feet by twenty feet. It was full of bodies. Jude had seen this before. It was a death pit. The State used them as an easy way to clear up after a mass attack on a population. When they’d first taken over, these pits had been dug in every urban area.

  He’d never expected to find himself in one.

  Scanning across the sea of broken and damaged bodies, he tried to find Octavia. Had they brought her here too? The last memory he had was of her being dragged away by a tall, solid-looking soldier with acne scars and a dangerous glint in his eyes.

  She’d been foolish to try to escape, but Jude had admired her courage as she’d fought the soldiers. They’d be nursing bruises for days.

  Shifting onto his knees, Jude stifled a groan. He had no clue if there were any militia around. The death pits were usually operated by civilians. He didn’t know what they’d do when they saw one of their dead crawling out.

  His hand went to the empty holster on his belt. Of course, they’d taken his weapon.

  Crawling to the edge of the pit, stifling another gag as he slid on the cold flesh of other people, his fingers latched onto the side.

  Jude risked a glance over the edge. There was no one about.

  Pain bit into his side as he slowly stood. His chest was swollen and sore, but his arms and legs worked fine. Jude heaved himself over the edge of the pit. He took a moment to get his breath and fight the sickness that threatened to overwhelm him. One eye remained stubbornly closed, giving him limited vision. Anyone could be watching his escape attempt, aiming a pulse laser at him right at this second.

  There was nothing he could do, other than hope they weren’t, as he scrambled across the muddy ground, heading toward some trees to give himself cover and time to think.

  Jude’s earbud had gone, so he couldn’t comm the bunker. His wrist comm had been smashed.

  As he reached the trees, he risked a glance back. What if he was leaving Octavia behind in that pit? She could still be alive. And where were Malachi and Heath? They’d been taken before him, but had they been brought here?

  Where the fuck was here? The tepid light suggested he’d been unconscious for hours. He had to get a signal back to the base and let them know
what was going on. They would know something was wrong, but would have no clue where he was.

  Jude rested against a tree for a moment. He pulled open his shirt, his pulse laser vest gone, and saw deep-purple marks covering his chest where the soldiers’ fists had slammed into him. His head throbbed with a sickening regularity along with his heartbeat. He wasn’t sure he could keep going.

  He slid down the tree and landed on his butt.

  For a second, his head hung down. Defeat overwhelmed him. Octavia was gone. This was supposed to have been an easy mission. Grab the equipment and get out. The State must have seen them, tracked them to the bomb shelter, and gotten lucky.

  “You’re not finished yet,” he said through gritted teeth. Jude eased the backpack off and opened the zipper. Letting out a relieved sigh, he saw most of the equipment was intact. He pulled out a receiver. Octavia had said some of this was broken. If he could get it operational, he could use it to get a message back to base. Let them know he was alive and needed help.

  Jude pried a nail under the edge of the cover and yanked it off. Although the wires were frayed, nothing looked broken.

  There was no way he could send an encoded message. If the State were listening to the comms channel he used, they’d pick him up instantly. It was worth the risk. He needed help to find the others.

  He switched on the receiver, switched it to output mode and tested it. A gentle, reassuring buzz signaled it was working. “Kade. Are you receiving this?”

  The receiver continued buzzing gently.

  He tried again. “Is anyone receiving this?”

  Despair hit him. It must be faulty. Maybe the output channel was corrupted. He lifted the cover off again and stared at the workings. Everything seemed fine. He tried one more time.

  “Danni. Kade. Anybody.”

  “Jude! Holy fuck. Is that you?”

  Jude let out a relieved sigh. “It’s me. Kade, where are the others? Have you heard from them?”

  “No! What the hell happened? One second everything was fine and then the signal cut out. We’ve been trying to reach you all for hours.”

  “The militia found us,” said Jude. “I have little time. Can you track this signal?”