Boneyards & Badlands: The Complete FTW Series

by Morgan Hobbes

  One the men sitting by Kara looks familiar. I stare at his face through the small screen on my wrist when it hits me. Stilwell! He’s alive too. I’m not sure who the other one is, though if Kara and Stilwell are with him I can assume he’s trustworthy.

  Captain Jacobs breaks my train of thought by announcing our imminent arrival. Damn. At least with me here they won’t come to harm. I doubt he’s willing to annoy Jameson any further by ignoring the order given by his daughter.

  Our aircar glides down the full length of the building and touches down on the road. The door pops opens but Captain Jacobs holds up his hand and tells me to wait.

  Half of his team jumps out and sprint across the road and into the building. The other half remains in the aircar with us.

  The door closes and the aircar lurches upward. Next thing I know we’re halfway up the building and pointing straight at the windows. The pilot pushes forward, and we smash through the glass and into the room beyond.

  The door pops open once again and the rest of the team jump out. Once his team has exited Jacobs ushers me out and together we join his men running across the makeshift landing bay.

  Captain Jacobs’ team descends the stairwell like ghosts. Not a single thump of a boot hitting step rings out. Captain Jacobs stops me before we enter.

  “Wait,” he says. “Let the experts do this bit.”

  Inside I’m fuming but I bite my tongue. I can’t do anything that’ll jeopardize my friend’s safety. I can’t possibly be as quiet as his team. All I’d do is give advanced warning and start a retaliation.

  The seconds tick by like hours. I’m desperate to know what is going on. The number ‘12’ painted inside the stairwell looks back at me. Seven floors down to Kara.

  Captain Jacobs holds a finger to his ear and replies, “Affirmative,” then looks at me. “We can go now. We’ve captured and restrained the targets.”

  “After you,” I say, and then follow Captain Jacobs down the stairwell.

  I ready my nerves and get my emotions in check as we descend. I’m about to see Kara again. The girl I love. The girl I thought I killed. For her sake I have to keep up the pretense of not knowing her. I hope she’ll forgive me.

  Yelling and cursing drift up the stairwell to meet us. It sounds like Kara is really giving them a verbal assault like no other.

  When I turn into the final set of stairs I’m greeted by the angry faces of Kara, Stilwell, and the other guy, their wrists bound behind their backs. Kara is about to launch a barrage of words in my direction but pulls up short. I watch the recognition play out across her face.

  Before she can say anything I jump in first.

  “Captain Jacobs, well done,” I say.

  The recognition on Kara’s face changes to one of betrayal as I congratulate the captain. It breaks my heart but my face remains like stone.

  “Echo, what the hell?” Kara spits and moves towards me. One of Captain Jacobs’ team grabs Kara’s bound wrists and yanks her backwards.

  My expression flips to anger in a heartbeat.

  “What part of ‘not to be harmed’ doesn’t your team understand?” I growl at Captain Jacobs. “Escort them to the aircar, now. Get them there unharmed and I may not mention this to my father.”

  Captain Jacobs can barely look at me. He nods and orders his men to take the prisoners upstairs. Kara and Stilwell look at me in disbelief on their way past.

  I follow them in silence all the way back to the aircar.

  “Captain,” I say when we arrive. “Make alternative arrangements for your team. Only you will accompany us back.”

  “But, Miss Fox, surely-” he says.

  “But nothing, Captain. I don’t need other people listening in. I’m only tolerating you in case these guys get any ideas.”

  Truth be told I don’t want him there at all, but I think it’d seem too suspicious to get rid of all the security detail. Jameson said he wanted to deal with Jacobs when this was all over, so it’ll help me from that respect too, like I’m biding by his wishes. Captain Jacobs nods and sends his team on their way.

  A few minutes later and we’re airborne once more. I choose a seat at the front of the aircar facing Kara sitting opposite me, her hands still bound and now shackled to the seat. Stilwell and the other guy - Nils, as I have learned - sit behind Kara, facing Captain Jacobs.

  I lean forward towards Kara. She narrows her eyes and looks away. This is killing me. I lean back into my chair and wait. Kara’s eyes flicker towards me and I lean forward again.

  “What?” she spits, venom in her voice.

  Over her shoulder I see Captain Jacobs’ head turn at this sudden outburst.

  “You look like you’ve been through hell,” I say to her, keeping my voice low to stop anyone overhearing me.

  Kara glares at me and says, “No thanks to you, traitor.”

  Her anger hits me in the stomach like a punch. I want nothing more than to tell her the truth, but it’s too dangerous.

  “How the hell are you working for him, that’s what I want to know,” she says, leaning forward as far as her restraints allow. “After everything, how could you? Was it all some big lie?”

  I move my body forward on the seat, leaning closer to Kara. In turn she looks into my eyes. I hope she can see my soul. She stares at me for ages then when I’m sure Captain Jacobs isn’t looking, I wink.

  Kara’s eyes grow wide and her pupils dilate.

  “They caught me, wiped my mind,” I whisper as quick as I can. I shift a little in my seat and glance over Kara’s shoulder again. Captain Jacobs’ attention is elsewhere.

  “Reprogrammed me,” I continue in my fast whisper. “But I found myself. I remember. I’m still with you.”

  Kara’s eyes narrow, and she says nothing.

  “You know me better than anyone,” I whisper, almost pleading.

  “How can I be sure?” she whispers back.

  “Kara, I love you,” I reply. “You have to believe I’m not against you. Look in my eyes, you’ll see the truth.”

  Kara stares into my eyes, unblinking. I can barely believe she’s in front of me. It’s killing me sitting here and not being able to touch her.

  “Arriving now,” the pilot’s voice says from the front.

  Before Kara can answer me we’re jostled sideways and we push ourselves back into our seats. The aircar glides to a stop on the landing bay and my eyes plead to Kara to believe me. She doesn’t give me any sign either way.

  I help her out of the aircar while Captain Jacobs helps out Stilwell and Nils. While he’s busy with that, Kara turns to me and whispers, “Back pocket.”

  My heart soars with joy. I haven’t lost her faith in me. To make it look like she’s my prisoner I move behind her and take her bound wrists in one hand. With my other I surreptitiously slip my hand into her back pocket.

  My fingers rub up against a piece of paper, and I quickly pull it from her pocket and stick it into one of mine.

  From behind Kara I can see her cheeks twitch with the smallest of smiles.

  We march our prisoners across the landing bay and into the headquarters of FTW. A small contingent of armed security is waiting for us and escorts us inside. After a short walk we pile into an elevator which is a tight squeeze considering how many of us there now are.

  We’re hard against one side of the elevator. I keep hold of Kara’s bindings, but slip my fingers into hers to let her know I’m there. Kara turns her head as far as she can to look back at me.

  I glance around but no one is paying attention to me, so I move closer to her. She tilts her head so she’s whispering almost directly into my ear.

  “When you can, unfold the paper and point it at a screen,” she whispers.

  I nod, acknowledging the instruction.

  The elevator dings and we spill into the corridor. I was expecting to come out in the control room where I’ve spent the past few days, but instead there are just two hardened cages in the middle of the otherwise bare floor.
<
br />   “Take the prisoners to their cells,” Jameson’s voice rings out from everywhere. I look around but he’s not here.

  The armed security escorts us forward into the room. When we’re standing in front of the cages, one of the security enforcers produces a knife and slices through the bands holding Kara’s wrists together.

  He arms fly forward in response and she massages her wrists. There are red rings around each one from where the restraints have bitten into her skin. Stilwell and Nils’ wrists are likewise freed and they do the same.

  “I’ll get you out of this,” I whisper to Kara.

  An electronic buzzing fills the air followed by the thunk of a latch being released. The doors of both cages swing open.

  “All prisoners to their cells,” Jameson’s voice rings out again.

  The armed security guy next to me pushes Kara forward. She stumbles but stays upright. She turns and looks at me. Stilwell and Nils complain about brutality as they’re shoved into the other cage.

  The clack of a gun being cocked silences the protesting.

  A few seconds tick by in silence.

  “ALL PRISONERS TO THEIR CELLS,” the voice of Jameson demands.

  Before I know what’s happening the same enforcer is pushing me forward into the cage with Kara. I make a grab for my gun but he’s quicker, and he takes it from me.

  “What the hell? You have any idea who I am?” I say. It’s worth a shot at least.

  The guard says nothing and slams the door shut behind us. We’re trapped. The guards turn and head back to the elevator, and when the door closes behind them, the lights in the room turn off and we’re left sitting in nothingness.

  “Well,” Stilwell’s voice says through the darkness. “This might be a problem.”

  I don’t know how long we sit in the darkness for. The comms on my wrist doesn’t respond to my touch. No doubt Jameson turned it off remotely. It won’t even turn on to give us a bit of light to see by.

  Before anyone talks I tell everyone not to say a word about any plans they had coming in here. We might be sitting in pitch black but anyone could be listening. Captain Jacobs laughs out loud at this. Damn, I forgot he was there.

  There’s a hard thump, followed by what sounds like a body collapsing to the floor.

  “Don’t worry about him,” Nils says through the darkness. “He’s having a little nap.”

  So, rather than talking about what they’re up to we talk instead about their trip to the west coast. They tell me of the tunnel collapse and how many of their numbers died. I bite my tongue.

  I’ll tell them one day, but telling them now won’t help our situation. They tell me of how many more of them died because of some psycho named Hank and his men.

  Before I can stop him, and because he’s on a roll with telling the story of how Hank met his demise, Stilwell goes on to talk about the underground cavern the Fox Hunters are using as a base of operations.

  “Stop, tell me about that later,” I say a little too loud.

  “Damn, sorry. I got carried away,” Stilwell says.

  “I’m sure it’ll be okay, just better safe than sorry,” I tell him. “Skip ahead a bit.”

  Nils takes up the story from there, telling me about his fantastic piloting of the armored aircar. When they finish their story, I find I’m almost bear-hugging Kara to death.

  I can’t believe what they went through, how close she came to death. How close I came to killing her.

  “We’re here now though, that’s what matters. So long as we’re alive, we have a chance of succeeding,” Kara says.

  Someone out in the dark claps slowly.

  “Who’s there?” I shout into the black.

  “Me, of course,” replies the voice of Jameson. He stops clapping and clicks his fingers. The lights in the room flick on and my eyes snap closed in response. Once they’ve had time to adjust I open them again, and outside our cage stands a smug-looking Jameson T. Fox.

  My eyes adjust in time to see him pull a gun from behind his back. He doesn’t point it at us though. He lets it hang towards the floor for the moment.

  “How long have you been standing there?” I ask.

  “Long enough to hear what I needed,” he says. “Well done, Echo. You’ve done more for me in the past few days than anyone else has achieved in years.”

  Kara pulls away from me as if I’m on fire.

  “What the hell? You are working for him!” she shouts at me. The look on her face screams betrayal.

  Before I can respond Jameson laughs. A deep throaty laugh that drips of evil.

  “As fun as watching this play out might be,” Jameson says when he’s done laughing, “I’ve neither the time nor the patience. Yes, you pathetic little girl, Echo is working for me.”

  I’m about to cry out and tell Kara what Jameson said is a lie but I stop myself. While I don’t want Kara thinking it’s all been some kind of set up and I don’t really love her, at the same time if Jameson thinks I’m still on his side I might somehow get everyone out of this.

  Kara looks like she’s ready to lunge at me and rip out my throat. A gunshot rings out, echoing around the empty room. My head snaps around to face Jameson.

  The gun is pointing behind and away from us though.

  “Your one and only warning shot,” he says.

  When nobody makes any other movements, he presses a finger to the comms on his wrist and the door of my cell opens. Jameson trains the gun on Kara as a warning and tells me to come out. I glance at Kara as I stand and she’s seething.

  “Close the door behind you,” Jameson says.

  I push the door closed and it thunks into place and buzzes when the locks engage.

  “Come now, Echo. We’ve much to discuss.”

  I look pleadingly back at Kara, trying to tell her with only my eyes I’m still on her side. Her expression is one of absolute fury. Damn. I’ll make this better... somehow.

  We ride the elevator back to the control room in silence. Jameson looks at me, grinning and happier than I’ve ever seen him. I’m disgusted with myself.

  The doors open we enter, and once again it’s empty. It is late in the evening so that’s no real surprise.

  “Walk with me,” Jameson says. “Let me show you what I’ve found while you’ve been away.”

  He leads me past the banks of work stations. Their screens still glowing, alive with information even though there’s no one around. I can’t feel it but I’m aware of the scrap of paper in my pocket. Kara said to point it at a screen. Whatever their plan involved, this part must have been key.

  As we walk, I pull the paper from my pocket and unfold it. I keep it hidden behind my back, aiming it as best as I can at screens as we pass. We’re almost at Jameson’s office, but the screens show no apparent response to the paper.

  I point it towards each screen we pass but nothing happens.

  Only one screen left to try. Risking everything I move my hand from behind my back and grip the paper in both hands, flattening it out as best I can.

  The screen flashes red for the briefest of moments and lines of code scroll up the screen.

  I crumple the paper and I shove it back into my pocket. I pull my hand out just as Jameson turns around and sits on his desk facing me.

  “How are you, Echo?” he says.

  “Fine, but a little shaken. I wish you’d told me of your plan to lock me up,” I reply.

  “Ah, but I wanted it to look authentic.”

  “So you said you wanted to show me something?” I say, trying to change the subject. From the corner of my eye I can see the code scrolling up the screen has stopped. Is that all? What was their plan?

  “Yes, of course,” Jameson says. His finger swipes the screen on his desk and brings up a video file.

  My stomach lurches into my throat. It’s footage of me in my room wearing the mind halo. My vision goes dark around the edges and I sway a little, but I catch my footing before I fall.

  “You’re cleverer th
an I gave you credit for,” Jameson says. In his hand he’s holding his gun again, which he rests on his thigh but keeps it in his grip. “Too bad I’m smarter. I knew you were playing me, but it was in my interest to keep you close. And it’s paid off nicely. Through your friends you’ve delivered me the terrorists’ headquarters location.”

  “W-why did you bring me here?” I ask. “Why not just leave me in the cells with my friends if you knew all along?”

  Jameson laughs that throaty laugh at me again.

  “Where’s the fun in that? There’s precious little entertainment in this life. If I can’t make your lover go to her death thinking you betrayed her then what point is there?”

  He laughs again. I’ve never wanted to kill anyone more in my life than I do right now. My hands ball into fists by my side, but Jameson raises his gun and aims it at my head.

  “Don’t be in a rush to die,” he says.

  I can’t think of what else to do. He’s beaten me. Beaten all of us.

  So I’m grateful that it’s at this moment all hell breaks loose behind me. Every screen in the room turns red and emits a sharp, wailing sound.

  Jameson’s eyes glance over my shoulder but the gun doesn’t waver from my face.

  “What the hell is this?” he shouts.

  Jameson storms around his desk, all the while keeping his gun trained on me.

  With his free hand he stabs and swipes at his screen. Not getting any response he smashes the butt of his gun into it, then lifts the screen from its mount and hurls it across the room.

  His eyes burn with fury as he looks at me.

  “Is this your doing?” he says, jamming the muzzle up to my eye.

  “N-no,” I stammer. Jameson screams incoherent curses and smashes the gun into the side of my head. It doesn’t knock me out but my vision swims in and out of focus and I drop to the ground.

  Jameson storms across the room to another terminal. Before he can do anything the flashing red on screen stops and turns black.

  An animated fox runs in from one side of the screen. It stops in the middle and looks around like it’s worried. The fox then bolts across to the other side of the screen as dogs and people on horseback run in from the other side.