by Brandon Hale
“Or,” Oliver said, “we can kill our guests, say they tried to commit some kind of terrorist act, then go in and destroy New America.”
“If you do that,” Cassius said, “you’ll create unrest in all of Topia. There are many Topians – and some vampires – who actually want to live peacefully with the humans. If you make the humans martyrs—”
“Enough,” Oliver said. “You’re a politician, Cassius. Your ability to manipulate people has been valuable, but we simply don’t need you anymore.”
“You don’t need me?” Cassius said. “I sought you out, remember? This is my world, Oliver!”
“Was.”
Oliver quickly pulled a gun and fired it at Cassius’s chest. Cassius staggered back several feet, then fell to the ground.
“I want to thank you,” Oliver said as he stood over Cassius’s motionless body. “This world is beautiful. It really is. She’ll love it. By the way, I know you’re not dead. You’re centuries old, my friend. If you were dead, you’d be dust. I clearly missed the heart.”
Cassius sat up. “Who’s ‘she’?”
Oliver smiled. “You don’t know her. But your creator knew her well.”
“Arcas?”
Oliver pointed the gun at Cassius again. “Goodbye, Cassius. You were valuable for a while, but now you’re just in the way.”
Cassius moved so fast, even Oliver’s vampire eyes had trouble seeing him. He leapt from the center of the room and crashed through the window behind him. Oliver ran to the window just in time to see Cassius sprinting toward the forest beyond the city walls.
Oliver smiled. “Have fun with the werewolves.”
The intercom on his desk beeped. “Yes?” he said, his voice activating the intercom. “This had better be important.”
“It’s Baxter and Grung, sir,” a male voice said. “We have them.”
Oliver spun around and looked at the intercom. “You captured them?”
“Not yet,” the voice said, “but it’s just a matter of time. Currently, a squad is chasing them on Level Two. We think they’re trying to get to the human sections.”
“Stop them before they get there!” Oliver said.
“We will, sir,” the voice said. “All available officers are on their way to Level Two. They have nowhere to run.”
“Excellent. Keep me updated.” Oliver turned around and looked out the broken window. Cassius was gone.
No matter, he thought as a smile crept onto his face.
Oliver had bigger things to think about. He had plans for Lily Baxter.
Big plans.
***
Isaac pulled a glass of blood from his microwave, walked to his apartment’s living room, and turned on his radio so he could hear the communications from the other Protectors. Even if he wasn’t participating in the hunt, he wanted to know how the hunt was going.
He got one sip of his drink before the reports started pouring in.
“They just turned down Barrow Street.”
“We have a visual. She’s riding the wolf’s back. They’re climbing up a building.”
“Looks like they’re heading back to Level Three.”
“I have a clear shot. I’m taking it.”
“Aim for the wolf. Our orders are to keep Baxter unharmed.”
“Damn. Missed. But they’re back on Level Two. They’re headed toward the business district.”
Isaac placed his glass on a table and picked up his gun belt.
“Screw this,” he said. “I can rest when I’m dead.”
He slipped on his boots and ran out the door.
***
Scott and Ellie sat on the couch, listening to the plane’s speakers broadcast the conversations between the Topian Protectors. The pilot had managed to tap into their communications.
When the first reports came in that they had spotted Lily, Ellie stood up and began to gather her equipment.
“Ellie, wait,” Scott said.
“Scott,” Ellie said, “don’t try to stop me. I’m not gonna sit here and listen to them attack my friends.”
“I’m not trying to stop you, kid,” Scott said. “Just give me a minute to get my backpack. Odds are good I’ll be wolfing out. I need something to hold my clothes. We also need communicators that are tapped into their transmissions.”
“That’s an answer I didn’t expect,” Ellie said.
Scott slipped the backpack over his shoulders. “Then you’ve got a lot to learn about what it means to be on the B-Team.”
Despite the danger ahead of them, Ellie smiled.
***
Carrying Lily on his back, Grung leapt from building wall to building wall, grabbing whatever he could dig his claws into. He climbed around a corner, leapt to another building, then dropped to the ground.
As soon as they were on the ground, he turned back to his human form. “They saw us come this way. We’ve got maybe a minute’s lead. Where to, boss?”
“The human section seems completely cut off from us,” Lily said. “I’ve not seen any potential entrances. It’s like they really are in a dungeon.”
“I’ve been dodging bullets, so I haven’t really paid attention to our direction,” Grung said. “How far are we from the city’s edge?”
“No idea,” Lily said, “but I think they’re trying to keep us away from the edges.”
“Okay,” Grung said. “I’ll just do my best to keep running in one direction. We’re bound to hit the city limits sooner or later.”
“Let’s hope sooner.”
A bullet whizzed into the alley and slammed into the wall behind Grung’s head. Lily spun around to see two Topians running toward them.
Grung shifted to a wolf and dived toward them. They fired wildly, but he was on them before they could get a clean shot. He grabbed each Topian and slammed them to the ground, then kicked their guns across the street.
“Don’t kill them!” Lily screamed.
Grung turned back toward her and snarled.
“Snarl all you want,” Lily said. “If we kill a single Topian, we’re screwed.”
“There!”
On the street behind Grung, several Topians were sprinting toward them.
As they began firing, Grung scooped up Lily and sprang to the side of a nearby building. With shots firing behind them, Grung again bounced from building to building as he made his way toward what they hoped was the edge of the city.
Lily wrapped her arms around Grung’s waist and said, “As soon as we’re out of their sight, find a camera and destroy it. Then head up a level. There’s too many down here.”
Grung gave a nod and continued bounding through the city.
***
As Isaac ran toward the lift to take him to the lower levels, he tapped his communicator. “Who’s in charge on Level Two?”
“Me, sir,” a female voice answered.
“That doesn’t tell me much,” Isaac said. “Kate, is that you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Status report.”
“We chased them into an alley near the business district. We have the alley surrounded, but the suspects haven’t emerged. We think they might be heading to Level Three.”
“Is there anybody on Level Four?” Isaac asked.
“I pulled most of the officers down to Three, sir,” Kate answered.
“Send them all back to Level Four,” Isaac said. “Have them meet me at the building the wolf is climbing.”
“Sir,” Kate said, “that will leave Level Three unguarded. We suspect they’re trying to get to the city’s edge. Without a full complement there, they’ll almost certainly escape.”
“We won’t catch them by chasing them,” Isaac said. “The wolf is too fast. Our only chance is to outsmart them. I want Level Three empty. Get those officers to Four. That’s an order.”
“Yes, sir.”
***
“Skip this level,” Lily said as she looked at the empty street. “Go straight to the next one.”
&n
bsp; Grung, still in wolf form, gave a grunt that clearly communicated his confusion.
“Something’s not right here,” Lily said. “They want us to jump off here. It’s a trap, Grung. Go on to the next level.”
Grung drove his claws into the side of the building and continued to climb. When they reached another level, Lily’s heart sank.
At least two dozen Topians stood on the street with guns pointed at them. Isaac stood in front of the Topians.
“We have just as many troops below you and above you,” Isaac yelled. “My officers have guns aimed two feet from you in every direction. They have orders to fire if you move. No matter how fast you are, if you try to escape, you’ll just run into a wall of silver bullets. Please don’t try it.”
“What do you want with us?” Lily yelled. “We didn’t do anything!”
“We just need to question you about your recent activities,” Isaac said. “If you really didn’t do anything, you’ll be released. Topians are dead, Miss Baxter. We can’t let that go, no matter how famous you are.”
“You’re putting yourselves in danger,” Lily yelled. “You know Travis is around here somewhere.”
“Then come with us so we can get somewhere safe,” Isaac said.
Lily looked at Grung. “What do you think?”
The giant wolf just shrugged. In another situation, his movement would have looked comical.
“If it matters,” Isaac said, “I believe you. Both of you are heroes. Don’t let it end this way. Please.”
Lily sighed. To Grung, she said, “I don’t see a way out, big guy. He could be bluffing about the level below us, but I don’t want to risk your life to find out.”
Grung gave a deep sigh, then leapt to the street in front of Isaac. As soon as Lily dropped from his back, he became human again.
“Your men tried to kidnap us,” Lily said to Isaac. “That’s why we ran. Of course, you probably know that.”
“I promise you,” Isaac said, “if one of my officers assaulted you, it wasn’t on my order.”
“He told us he was taking us into custody,” Lily said, speaking as loudly as she could. She wanted every Topian in the area to hear her defense. “He threatened to kill Grung if I didn’t go with him. What would you have done? Would you have trusted him?”
“Ma’am,” Isaac said, “if what you say is true, no harm will come to you. I give you my word.”
“We did nothing wrong,” Lily said. “We could’ve killed your people a dozen times tonight, but we didn’t.”
“If my officer did what you claim,” Isaac said, “he was acting alone. Maybe he was some kind of extremist. I don’t know. All I know is that the order did not come from me and it did not come from the president.”
“It came from somewhere,” Grung said. “I heard him coordinating with another soldier on his communicator. The man wasn’t acting alone.”
Lily could see that Isaac looked troubled. He believes us, she thought.
“We can come back from this,” Lily said. “It doesn’t have to be an incident. Nobody got hurt. Let us go back to our plane and we’ll take your word that it was some extremist group. Question your officers. I’m sure you can find the truth.”
“Ma’am,” Isaac said, “those officers are dead. As soon as you jumped off the walkway, Travis killed them.”
“Oh hell,” Grung said.
Isaac nodded. “So now you understand why we’re suspicious. You ran away just in time for Travis to show up and kill my people.”
“You think we’re working with Travis?” Lily said. “Really?”
“What would you think?” Isaac asked.
“Travis was obviously following us,” Lily said. “You have to believe me. We had nothing to do with what happened after we jumped off that road.”
“I believe you,” Isaac said. “I really do. But there’s no way I can let you go. Not until we’ve had a full investigation.”
“You gave me your word,” Lily said. “If we’re proven innocent, you’ll make sure we’re released.”
“I promise,” Isaac said.
Lily sighed. “Okay. We surrender.”
“No, you don’t.”
Travis floated above the group. He held a stake in each hand.
“Fire!” Lily yelled. “Aim for the heart!”
None of the officers moved.
“Isaac,” Lily said, “tell them to fire!”
“Fire!” Isaac yelled.
Travis dropped on them like a tornado. The Topians opened fire, but none of the shots hit Travis’s heart. He bounced from Topian to Topian, sinking his stakes into every chest he could reach.
“We could escape,” Grung whispered. “Nobody’s looking at us.”
“Grung,” Lily said, “stop him.”
“Lily…”
“STOP HIM!”
“Dammit,” Grung mumbled as he shifted back to a wolf.
Isaac dropped to one knee and pointed his gun at Travis. He tried to get a shot, but Travis moved too fast. “What the hell is he?”
“He’s the worst of you,” Lily said. “I need a weapon.”
Isaac hesitated.
“Give me a damn weapon!”
Isaac pulled a small hand-held crossbow from his belt and tossed it to Lily.
Lily caught the weapon and immediately fired a bolt into Travis’s shoulder.
“Dammit, Lily!” Travis screamed. “I’m trying to help—”
Grung crashed into Travis, tackling him to the ground. With a few jumping strides, Lily was above them. She pointed the stake at Travis’s chest and fired.
The bolt imbedded itself into Travis’s heart.
“Step back,” Lily said to Grung. “It’s time to finish this.”
Grung transformed to a human again and took a step back.
“They’ll… kill you…” Travis gasped as he lay on the street.
“Not before I kill you,” Lily said. “I should’ve done this sixteen years ago.”
“No!” Isaac screamed. He grabbed Lily and shoved her away from Travis.
“What the hell are you doing?” Lily screamed. “Stakes won’t kill him. They’ll just hold him in place for a few minutes. I’m the only one who can kill him.”
“I have orders to bring him in alive if possible,” Isaac said. “In Topia, everybody gets a trial.”
“You idiot,” Lily said. “You’ll never be able to contain him.”
“She’s right,” Travis said as he pulled the stake from his chest and tossed it to the ground.
“Grung, look out!”
Lily’s warning was too late.
Travis kicked him in the chest.
Grung flew through the air, slammed into a nearby building, then fell to the level below.
Travis then kicked the crossbow from Lily’s hand, grabbed Isaac by the throat, and lifted him into the air. They floated about ten feet above the street.
“Thanks for the save,” Travis said. “You seem to have honor. I bet your blood is scrumptious, even for a Topian.”
A werewolf leapt from the shadows and swiped a claw across Travis’s back. Travis and Isaac fell to the ground.
Lily immediately noticed the werewolf’s fur was brown, not black. “Scott,” she whispered.
The brown wolf spun around, ready to continue the assault.
Isaac was climbing to his feet, but Travis was gone.
Lily looked around the street. Several Topians were dead. At least ten. The remaining Topians stood quietly, suffering from a mixture of shock and grief. Death was something these Topians didn’t witness much.
A black wolf climbed up the side of a building and jumped to the road. Ellie ran past the wolf and stopped in the middle of the street. “What’d I miss?”
Scott shifted to his human form. “Apparently everything.”
“You’re late,” Grung said. He too was now human.
Ellie tossed a backpack to Scott. “Put some clothes on, you two.”
Lily walked up to Isaac a
nd punched him in the face.
“I probably deserved that,” Isaac said.
Lily punched him again. “That was for saying probably.”
“I have my orders,” Isaac said.
“Your orders were stupid!” Lily said.
“That’s not for me to decide,” Isaac argued.
Lily looked at Ellie. “I hope you’re listening to this. It’s exactly what I tried to teach you in Colorado.”
“Yeah,” Ellie said. “Lesson learned. I never want to be as stupid as this guy.”
Lily turned back to Isaac. “You just killed a shitload of Topians. We had a chance to kill him and you took that chance away. Now, he won’t stop. I promise you, he won’t stop.”
“We’re not at war anymore,” Isaac said. “We can’t just kill someone because they’re our enemy. Every Topian gets a trial.”
“He’s not a Topian!” Lily yelled.
“Calm down, chief,” Scott said. He and Grung were now dressed in Day Soldier fatigues. “What’s done is done. Let’s get back to the plane. We’ll come up with a way to catch him. Hopefully, he’ll come to the plane because you’re there.”
“I can’t let that happen,” Isaac said.
“I hope you’re joking,” Grung said.
“I wish I were,” Isaac answered.
“We just saved your lives!” Grung said.
“Yes, you did,” Isaac said.
“Good,” Scott said. “Explain that to your president. We’re going back to the plane.”
“You can’t, sir,” Isaac said. “Well, you can, but they can’t.” He pointed at Grung and Lily.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Grung said. “You just agreed we saved your asses.”
“That’s because I was here,” Isaac said. “I saw it. These officers saw it. But in a report, it will look extremely suspicious. Think about it. We finally captured you and Travis showed up and went on a rampage.”
“We stopped him!” Lily yelled. “You let him escape.”
Isaac nodded. “And I’ll testify to that in court. As will my officers. This society can’t work if we ignore the law when it’s inconvenient.”
Scott laughed coldly. “There won’t be a trial. I hate to break this to you, sport, but your president’s a liar. I’m absolutely certain he ordered the attack on Lily.”