Into Light (Shadow and Light Book 2)

by T. D. Shields

  Cruz’s moment of remorse was gone now. He paced furiously in front of us. “I don’t need you, Poppy! I offered you a chance but don’t mistake that kindness for softness. I will put an end to your disrespect!”

  I thrust my chin into the air. “You can kill me, but it won’t help you, Cruz. There are others who will take you down and put an end to this nightmare you’ve created.”

  Cruz laughed cruelly. “You mean your pathetic little resistance movement? That’s over. I’ve already taken care of that.” He jerked his chin at Mateo’s still body lying on the floor in a congealing puddle of blood. “Mateo was kind enough to give me the coordinates for your headquarters, so I eliminated that problem hours ago.”

  I could feel my gut tighten into a hard knot of dread. “What did you do?” I demanded.

  “You don’t need to worry about it anymore,” he told me. “You don’t have to worry about anything anymore.” He raised the gun yet again, seemingly unconcerned that his own henchmen were in the line of fire. Biceps and No-Neck shouted in alarm and quickly tried to move aside while still holding us in place for Cruz. I attempted to squirm out of Biceps’ hold, but his grip on my wrists never wavered.

  “Hold them still,” Cruz snarled. His aim wavered as he tried to adjust for my movements. A wild yowl suddenly echoed through the cavernous warehouse, and Cruz yelped in surprise, his finger spasming on the trigger. I flinched back as a bullet plowed into the concrete floor, sending sharp chips of concrete flying. I felt a shard slice across my forearm.

  The second gunshot left my hearing muffled, as if I had stuffed my fingers in my ears. But I could hear a second yowl echoing through the warehouse followed by a disorienting chorus of hissing and screeching as a wave of alley cats crested the stack of old crates that stood between us and the rest of the warehouse.

  Dozens of cats raced toward us from all directions and leapt at Cruz and his goons. The men screamed and flailed at the attacking claws and teeth. Cruz spun around and around as he tried to knock the cats away from him. Biceps cowered against the floor, wrapping his arms over his face to protect his eyes, while No-Neck tried to run away from the vicious attack. He tripped over the cats swarming around his feet and fell forward. He hit the concrete floor head-first and laid there, still.

  Sharra and I just stood there, stunned and staring, as the mass of cats flowed around us to reach their targets. These cats were not enormous like Roomie, but there were so many of them that the sight was staggering. A forceful nudge against my knee broke me free from my stupor, and I looked down to see Roomie glaring at me impatiently. I knew he was telling me to get moving, and without another moment’s hesitation, I grabbed Sharra by the arm and pulled her with me as I ran for the exit. After a stumbling start, she raced beside me as we dodged through the milling crowd of cats to make our escape, Roomie hard on our heels.

  I hit the exit door at full speed, barely losing any momentum as I slammed into the bar that unlatched it and let us out into the darkened streets. We moved as fast as we could to get out of reach before our captors could recover from the surprise assault.

  The cats who had come to our rescue fled as well, the feline army evaporating as quickly as it had appeared, leaving Cruz and his thugs alone in the empty warehouse. Through the ringing in my ears, I heard Cruz shrieking curses as the three of us sprinted away, losing ourselves in the shadows of the empty neighborhood.

  25

  I twisted to slide around a large tree, quietly working my way through the tangled overgrowth surrounding the old school that acted as headquarters for our little group of rebels. I could hear an occasional whisper of sound as Sharra and Roomie moved through the trees behind me. We were moving as silently as possible, unsure of what we would find when we reached the school.

  My palms were sweaty with anxiety as I remembered Cruz’s taunts that he had already “taken care of” the resistance. I was very afraid for my friends. The new Cruz who had emerged since my father’s assassination was not a benevolent or merciful leader.

  I pushed through the last line of the trees surrounding the asphalt island on which the old school stood, and my hands came away coated in thick pinkish-gray dust. The cracked black asphalt of the parking lots was also covered in the chunky powder. As I stepped onto it, my feet sunk several inches into the stuff.

  The old building lay in ruins, utterly destroyed. A single corner of the gymnasium still stood; its red brick dulled by a coating of the dust that was the residue of brick, drywall, and plaster blasted into powder.

  I heard a soft gasp behind me as Sharra emerged from the trees and saw nothing but a pile of rubble where the school had stood. She grabbed my hand, clutching it tight as we stared at the wreckage before us. Her voice shook as she said, “Maybe they were able to get out. If any orders went out over the network, Luna would have seen it, right? She could have warned everyone.”

  “Maybe.” I wanted to be hopeful, but something told me there were no happy endings to be found in this moonlit clearing. Tears streamed down my face and my heart ached in despair. This place had been a refuge. The group had been our chance to make a difference. Now it was all gone.

  We surveyed the area from our concealed position and saw nothing to indicate that Cruz had left anyone to guard the site. Since he’d already had me in custody when he gave the orders for this, he must have felt there was no need to leave anyone posted here. We watched and waited for fifteen minutes before my impatience won out. If someone was lying in wait for us, I’d deal with it when trouble came.

  I walked closer to survey the mangled ruins that had been a beautiful old building. The debris pile stood higher than my head.

  “I don’t even know where to start.” Sharra’s voice trembled as she surveyed the pulverized remains of the school. “How can we find anyone in all of that?”

  I shook my head. I didn’t know either. Sharra and I had certainly seen and explored our share of destroyed buildings in Denver where there were a few bombed-out structures on almost every block. But we’d never had to investigate the remnants of a building where we had lived and laughed only hours earlier. We’d never had to search the wreckage while hoping to find our friends and at the same time, praying we would not find them.

  More to feel as if I was doing something, I started walking to the other end of the wreckage. Sharra and Roomie trailed behind me, just as lost as I was. We rounded the one corner of the old gymnasium that still stood, and I felt my knees go weak as I finally found the rest of our little group. They were lined up in two rows, surely herded there by whatever troops Cruz had sent to destroy the headquarters. All of them lay still and silent, fallen where they’d stood when the order to fire was given and coated now in a thick layer of the dust that clung to everything in the clearing.

  I forced myself to move, to walk over to the bodies lying motionless in the tall grass. I knelt beside the first body and tried to roll it over. I needed to give the anonymous remains a name so I could say goodbye. The term dead weight is not just a turn of phrase; it’s incredibly difficult to move a completely limp and unresponsive body. Sharra helped me, and together we were able to turn the body far enough to recognize the man. Tears fell unchecked as I looked at Brady, who’d helped us call Lucas on our first day with the rebels.

  We continued our gruesome task, turning every person enough to recognize them and whisper our sad goodbyes. The last two people were a short distance away from the rest of the group. Martín and Luna had been called out as the leaders and, based on their positions, had probably been forced to watch as their friends and compatriots were executed before they were cut down themselves.

  Sharra stroked Luna’s hair back from her face. It was still and peaceful in death; a blaster left no ugly wounds like those from a gun. If not for the cold, waxy cast to her skin, Luna could have been only sleeping. Martín lay beside her, his eyes staring sightlessly into the distance. I knelt beside him, my throat too tight for words as I wondered what I would say to Letty. The tears
came in earnest now as I remembered my own devastation at the loss of my father; I knew how much Letty would hurt.

  I sobbed for the loss of the friend and father-figure I had known for so many years. As much as I had liked him already, since joining him here at the school, I had come to admire him so much more. I didn’t know how to carry on with our plans without Martín. I felt beaten and alone and ready to give up.

  Sharra shuffled over to join me, falling to her knees to wrap her arms around me. We held each other and sobbed helplessly. Hopelessly.

  26

  Sharra and I were cried out and numb. Now we sat in silence, slumped against each other in weary defeat. My mind, usually humming with plans and ideas, had simply shut down. I could only sit there, staring at my hand as it slowly stroked Roomie’s thick fur.

  Sharra was taking comfort from Roomie as well; her fingers gently toyed with the tip of his tail, running it back and forth across her hands. Roomie was not normally willing to tolerate such things, but he allowed our touch for the moment. Maybe he needed comfort, too.

  My mind and senses were so dull that an entire squad of mechs could have crushed their way through the undergrowth without my notice, so I guess it was no surprise that I didn’t register the importance of snapping twigs and swishing branches as something moved through the trees to my left. I heard the sounds but couldn’t muster the energy to care what they meant.

  Roomie was more vigilant. He jumped to his feet, ears pricked as he listened. A moment later, he raced away and disappeared into the bushes. I looked at Sharra and could see my own tired resignation in her eyes. We couldn’t run or fight anymore, so we simply sat and waited to see what new threat would emerge from the tree line.

  There were no words to describe my emotions at the sight of Roomie trotting into the clearing beside Lucas. How could Lucas be here? Why was he here? How did he know where to find us? And then my questions were forgotten as Lucas saw us and ran to where we sat, stunned and staring at him.

  Lucas knelt beside me and gathered me into a tight embrace. I flung my arms around him and buried my face against his broad chest. Sharra was leaning against his side, sobbing and stumbling through the story of all we’d gone through in one short day. I was unable to speak, or cry, or do anything but hang on and lose myself in the warmth and love that Lucas radiated. It was balm to my damaged soul.

  When Sharra had finished her explanation, I managed to ask, “How are you here? Why aren’t you in Denver?

  “My best friend and my best girl—how could I not come looking for you? I just had to get some things in place so I could go. From news reports we’ve been monitoring, I could tell events were heating up here, and I figured you might need my help soon. So I back-tracked the coordinates of that call we had a few days ago and came to find you.”

  “That’s so sweet,” I sniffled against his chest. “And only a little stalkerish and creepy.”

  Lucas just chuckled and hugged me tighter.

  Sharra managed a watery giggle of her own and leaned into our three-way hug. “Thank you for coming to stalk us, Lucas.”

  “Always,” he agreed. “Rivers would be here, Sharra, but I asked him to help cover things at home. He’s organizing evacuation plans in case it looks like Cruz is going to launch an attack on Denver.”

  Lucas looked at the devastation around us. “We can’t stay here,” he told us. “Cruz might send someone back looking for you. Where can we go to get out of sight?”

  Sharra and I looked at each other, coming up blank. “We always headed out that way,” Sharra said, gesturing vaguely to the left. “But that only goes out to the road. There’s some stuff the other way, I guess. I don’t remember.”

  I shook my head, “A park and maybe a couple of bars,” was all I could come up with.

  Roomie huffed impatiently and got to his feet. He padded toward the trees, looking back over his shoulder with a demanding meow. We got the message and hurried to follow him.

  Lucas supported both me and Sharra as we walked back into the trees, half-carrying us when we stumbled over small obstacles. Roomie led us confidently through the tangled greenery until it gradually grew less wild and better maintained.

  Eventually, we were following an actual paved path through pretty green trees and well-manicured bushes. We were in the open space that edged each of the residential districts in Goodland. These parks were popular with residents as a place to walk, jog, and enjoy the outdoors, but the area was mostly empty at the moment.

  I had regained enough alertness to hope that we didn’t run into anyone else. Sharra and I were so disheveled and dirty that we would attract too much attention. I hoped that Luna’s facial recognition hack still kept me safe from monitoring cameras, but nothing was proof against an encounter with a too-curious resident out walking the dog.

  Proving yet again that he was as perceptive as any human, Roomie led us straight to a public hygiene station where Sharra and I were able to go inside and clean up while Lucas hovered protectively outside watching for any sign of pursuit.

  I thought we were probably safe for the moment. I didn’t know what Cruz’s next move might be, but it seemed that catching us wasn’t his top priority right now. If he’d wanted to grab us again, he could have sent mechs to the school to pick us up. My stomach clenched at the thought of what he might have considered more important than re-capturing us.

  Giving up on simply brushing the dust off my clothes, I removed my leather jacket and pants entirely and slapped them vigorously against the wall to shake loose the worst of the debris. Sharra followed suit and we both used cupped handfuls of water to wash away as much of the dirt coating our bodies as possible.

  I also scooped handfuls of water onto my hair, both to clean it and to darken the color and make it lay flat. It was a pathetic bit of disguise, but it might help. At least we could feel fairly sure that Cruz hadn’t brought the general populace in on the search for me. If he had, my face would be projected on the public message boards standing at every intersection and along the walking paths in the park areas. Since we had seen nothing like that, I felt safe being in public for the moment. We would just have to continue to avoid any patrolling mechs.

  I pulled my clothes on again and checked my reflection. I looked a little disheveled but nothing remarkable. In a city this size there were plenty of jobs requiring manual labor, and I could easily pass for someone finishing up a day’s work.

  I stared into the mirror, lightly tracing the blue design inked onto my face with a finger. Now that Cruz had seen it so clearly, it was less of a disguise and more of an identifiable characteristic. But I had no way to remove the ink or cover it at the moment, so it would have to stay.

  “We’ll have to find some solvent and get that off,” Sharra commented as she stepped into her pants. “Now that he’s seen you, we need to get rid of it.”

  I nodded, sad. I’d gotten so used to the ink; it would be strange to go without it.

  I still didn’t feel like talking, so I just turned away from the mirror and walked to the door. I looked back to be sure that Sharra was ready to go and saw that the washroom was considerably worse for wear after our use, but we were both much more presentable.

  I left the hygiene station and walked over to Lucas and Roomie. Sharra came up behind me, and I saw her exchange a worried look with Lucas. I knew they were concerned about me, but I was still too numb to know how to reassure them. I didn’t know how to fix myself.

  Sharra wrapped an arm around my waist. “Come on, sweetie. We need to find something to eat first, and then we can talk about what to do next.”

  I nodded silently and reached out to hold Lucas’s hand. He squeezed my hand reassuringly and gave a light tug to get me moving. Roomie was already trotting away, and Lucas pulled our little group in the same direction.

  “Roomie appears to have a destination in mind,” he rumbled. “I say we follow the cat.”

  Sharra and I weren’t ready to argue with our fiercest frien
d either, so we followed the cat.

  27

  Roomie led us to a small commercial area on the fringes of the residential district. It was home to only a few small, run-down businesses, but one of them was open. In contrast to the deserted quiet of the park, raucous crowd noise spilled from the open door. No matter what chaos was going on in the city, apparently it was still a good time for a beer and a game.

  Roomie sauntered into the room and jumped directly onto the bar. The bartender saw him and I winced, sure that Roomie was about to be roughly batted away. Instead, the bartender’s thin face lit up with a wide grin.

  “Wouldya lookit that? It’s our lucky charm back again! Every time he shows up the Cougars win the game!” He shouted his announcement loudly enough to be heard over the noise of the acro-ball game playing on holo at the back of the room, and most of the bar’s patrons turned to cheer.

  I watched through the window as Roomie sat regally on the bar, simply accepting such praise as his due. The bartender placed little bowls of cream and chopped meat on the counter beside Roomie, and the big cat daintily helped himself to the treats.

  While everyone’s attention was firmly fixed on the cat, Lucas slipped quietly inside to place a carryout order. Sharra and I waited outside, huddled in the dim space between the wall of the building and one of the ever-present public message boards. Cruz had good descriptions of us both at the very least. He might have even taken photos and released them to police or mech squads, so we needed to stay out of sight as much as possible.

  I felt terribly exposed being out like this with not so much as a sunhat or shades to hide my face. But it was fully dark now, so wearing them would have only drawn the kind of attention I was trying to avoid.