by T. C. Edge
A thought came again, something bigger than all this. He needed Mikel alive. He needed to take him in. He was right there, waiting. He had to go after him.
He took a half step forward, but felt Chloe take his hand. He turned.
“Don’t,” she said. “Please.”
“I…I have to, Chloe,” he said. “I…
Her expression changed, eyes narrowing. She turned suddenly off to look in Mikel’s direction. Ragan followed her eyes, searching through the misty rain. The shadow, the wispy form in the gloom, was gone.
“He’s leaving,” Chloe whispered. “He’s…escaping.”
“Escaping? From who?”
Chloe barely had time to answer. From the distance, off towards the war camp in the east, a force of soldiers were coming. Regular soldiers, with Panthers in their midst, drawn to the commotion, to the chattering gunfire. They were spreading quickly through the streets, some black-clad, others in regular fatigues, all moving in units with rifles to shoulders, helmets on, closing fast.
Ragan searched once more for Mikel, for that blurred black shape, prowling in the shadows. There was nothing, no sign of him. Like a predator interrupted during the hunt, he’d fled. There would be no catching him now.
He turned to the others, mind cranking right back into gear. He hurried to Tanner’s side, Nadia at the other, and quickly began moving off west. The sound of Quinn’s men, rushing from the south, cut off that retreat. They’d need to move round them, flank them, and then head south to the falcon.
Beyond that, Ragan didn’t know.
Everything had gone to hell.
The group headed west, moving down the closest street they could find that led in that direction. Ragan and Nadia stayed at Tanner’s side, ready to assist should he stumble or fall. His face was so badly damaged; that right eye of his cut through, his left ever trying to blink away the blood, the rain, the desperate pain. He staggered, his pace slow, a stream of blood marking a trail behind him.
Chloe ran at the back, seeing that trail form as it poured from his face, her rifle heavy, her mind equally so. Remus, up above them, stayed slightly behind now, keeping watch on their backs, alerting Chloe as anyone got near. Quinn’s unit was closing fast, enraged by losing two men, desperate to hunt them down. And beyond them, more soldiers were now coming, flooding the streets, a gathering storm of men to join the tempest above.
They were too slow like this, far too slow…
They veered down side streets, praying they weren’t blocked by fallen walls and rubble, Ragan urging the group on, stepping to Tanner’s side and hauling on his ailing body with a growing urgency.
He glanced back at Chloe in alarm, and those eyes said it all - we’re going to get caught any moment at this rate. We need to go faster!
The voices of Quinn’s men were near, Remus updating Chloe on their positions. She looked to the skies and cursed the storm. Her hands began to glow blue, nanites gathering, charging. It was a natural response when in danger, electricity fizzing and sparking, preparing to be unleashed. But here, under this deluge, that could be dangerous; it made her a conductor, attracting violent strikes from above.
But maybe…
She had a thought, a wild, dangerous thought. She rushed up to Ragan, grabbing his arm.
“Keep going. I’m going to hold them back.”
“What!”
She lifted her hands, fizzing with electricity. Above, the skies seemed to churn in response, as if preparing to send a bolt right down upon them. She shut her fists, focusing hard to control the energy. She had to hold back the flow, keep it locked in, just simmering beneath the surface. And when the time came, let it explode.
“Ragan, trust me, I know what I’m doing.”
“No, Chloe! It’s too dangerous.”
Chloe looked ahead. Nadia was now alone beside Tanner, the two still jogging on up the street. A side-street beckoned on the left, turning them south.
Chloe took off again, running to catch up. Ragan followed, confused, the group quickly joining together once more. Chloe took the lead, heading for the side-road on the left, leading the team into it. She gazed forward, noting the path through was clear. The area had seen recent fighting, creating craters and hollows in the ground, now filling with murky rainwater. There were many of them, the street pockmarked and the ground unsteady.
She turned back around. Quinn’s unit were speeding up the street now, just about in sight. Another minute or so and they’d be caught. And the rest - the soldiers and Panthers of the NDSA - weren’t far behind, Remus ever alerting her of their growing presence. There were so many of them, a hundred, more. They’d soon be swallowed up…
“What are you doing!” questioned Ragan.
Chloe looked up the side-street again.
“Go, that way,” she said. “I’ll meet you at the top.”
“What! No, I’m not leaving you.”
Chloe’s hands buzzed louder, zips of silver electricity cracking through the gaps in her closed fingers. She drew a breath, holding back the storm in her palms.
“Ragan,” she said, locking him with a defiant glare. “Go. I’ll meet you at the top.”
She stared him down, and didn’t look away. Nadia and Tanner stood by, the latter’s head hanging limp on his neck, his posture weak, blood still flowing into the puddles. Ragan looked at them, then back at Chloe.
He leaned in.
“Don’t die,” he growled.
She smiled.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Ragan nodded, rushing over to Tanner’s side, grabbing his arm as Nadia took the other. They headed quickly up the street, splashing through puddles, moving round the chunks of rubble and debris, the occasional car left abandoned down the road. Chloe watched them go a second, waiting for them to get a good distance away. Then she looked back to Quinn and his force of men, moving up the road in crouched postures, rifles preparing to fire.
She didn’t move, not immediately, standing at the opening of the street. She needed to make absolutely sure that they’d seen her, that they’d follow her. She closed her hands tighter, sucked in a breath, calmed her fizzing fingers. Remus came sweeping down on mental command, moving into a better position to help track the movement of the men, and any gunfire they might send at her. She stood, tall and undaunted, against the force of eight men.
And then the firing began.
She moved, alerted by Remus, spinning off into the safety of the side-street. Bullets cracked loudly, chattering among the storm, snapping into the brick walls as she fled from sight. She hurried a little way up the street, eyes searching for the best spot to hide. She saw a car, overturned, burnt out, and hurried behind it and into cover. The pursuing men charged around the corner, entering the street, boots splashing into pools of water as they came.
They were twenty metres away, and hurrying fast. With her back to the roof of the overturned car, Chloe shut her eyes, slowly filled her lungs with a full breath, and let the energy surge and boil in her palms. She watched, briefly, from Remus’ vantage as the men came, rushing towards her, slowing slightly as they entered the tighter street. Heads craned left and right, searching for her. She let them come near, ten metres away, and then opened her eyes wide.
And opened her palms too.
Fierce, violent sparks of silver and sapphire light danced and wreathed around her fingers. They cracked, sparking loudly, building and building, just aching to be unleashed. Chloe felt a tremble run through her, coming from the depths and spreading right to her palms. It built to a terrible crescendo, and then…she stepped out.
Moving to the side, she took a pace out of cover, revealing herself to the men. They saw her, but too late. All stood still for a split second, feet in puddles, bodies drenched. They saw the glowing blue hands, the sparking light, a mesmerising show of colour and energy.
Palms facing out, fingers tense, Chloe finally let loose the storm. The lightning burst out of her, speeding instantly for the sodden ground
on which the men stood. It connected with the water, with the many standing puddles, and the entire street burst with a web of streaking white light, the tendrils of electricity reaching up from the floor and taking the men in its grasp.
It ensnared them all, their bodies surrounded by white and blue sparks of energy. The reaction was immediate. Rifles were dropped from shivering hands, bodies convulsed and shook, faces contorted in pain. Chloe roared through it all, unloading her full ferocity. The dam had burst, and was difficult to plug, the force so strong when fully unleashed.
She felt a warning from Remus, and instinctively looked to the skies. A light was gathering up there, faint lines of electricity showing through the thick grey clouds. Chloe felt a panic rush through her, and shut her hands tight, screaming as she did. It was like trying to crush rock with your bare hands, the flow of lightning so difficult to stem.
Above, the true lightning continued to gather, far more devastating than her own. She stepped back, hands still shutting, and turned to see a doorway leading into an apartment block. She rushed towards it with all she had, sensing the impending attack from the heavens. She reached it, smashing hard with her shoulder, cracking the frame. It needed another go.
She tried once more, hitting it hard, bursting through it just in time. She tumbled to the floor, hands now fading, as a terrible light swelled at the ground outside where she’d stood. It came from nowhere, meeting the earth with a crack that split open the skies, causing the car she’d been hiding behind to burst into a swarm of sparks. The thunder that followed was like the earth opened up, a deep, penetrating rumble that reverberated right through to her very core.
She breathed, letting out the air she’d been holding, and looked to the opening. The ground still fizzed, sparks dissipating. She saw Remus buzz down through the door, losing his cloak temporarily. He fizzed himself, moving erratically with a nervous energy, rushing towards her and turning into a fluttering bird. He circled her once or twice, before reforming into a drone, calming, and moving back for the opening.
Chloe got to her feet. There was no time to delay. She moved to the cracked doorway and stepped through, looking down the street the way she’d come. Quinn and his men were all on the floor, still now, silent. Chloe felt a terrible shame at the sight. She hoped they weren’t all dead…
She tore her eyes from them, and looked the other way. Running hard, she continued to the end of the street, her energy waning. She stumbled out into a wider road to find Ragan waiting, the others a little way off, and still moving. He took her into his arms in a tight, desperate embrace.
“I thought you were…” he started, eyes shadowed by fear.
“It’s OK,” she whispered, softly, weakly. “I’m fine.”
“Quinn?”
“Down. Maybe dead, I don’t know.”
A sudden noise beckoned from the north, and the east. More men were still coming, the NDSA soldiers still following. They grabbed at each other at the same time, and moved right off after Tanner and Nadia. Ragan reached Tanner’s side, speeding them along. Chloe’s legs burned, head starting to swim. Each step was becoming a struggle, each breath hauled into her lungs a pain.
And the falcon was still a way off.
81
Ragan felt a fear he’d never experienced before.
Seeing that lightning come down, the most violent he’d ever witnessed, right where Chloe stood…in that moment, he thought she’d been killed. It was the single most terrifying moment of his life.
The sense of relief at seeing her rush back out up the street was equally profound. The lightning had blinded him; he hadn’t seen her escape into the building just in time. But seeing her emerge, and hurry on towards him, filled his heart with a renewed radiance. He’d never felt such a contrast in emotions in such a short scale of time.
Now they were running again, hurrying southwards, inching ever closer to the falcon. It remained some way off, and Tanner was flagging, his step growing increasingly fragile as he continued to lose blood. His nanites would be working hard to cover the losses, but there was only so much they could do. And with their pursuers still bearing down on them, they had no time to stop and apply a temporary field dressing to his face to stem the flow.
That face…
Ragan grimaced, hardly able to look at it. He glanced over at Nadia on Tanner’s other flank, her lips drawn into a line, eyes strained and red, skin pallid and lacking its usual colour. She continued to whisper to Tanner, trying to keep him calm, trying to keep him going. It was a heartbreaking sight to witness them both.
Chloe looked weakened too by emitting that lightning strike. A spectacular thing to witness, even from as far away up the street as Ragan was. He’d watched from afar, seeing her hands light up and discharge a storm of lightning, the glow of white and blue so bright as to make her little form nothing but a black silhouette against it. It had worked to hold Quinn back, though may all have been in vain. As they moved onwards, it became clear that some soldiers were still in pursuit, still on their trail.
Panthers, most likely, Ragan feared. And if that were the case, they’d catch up fast…
He looked at Chloe, face whiter than normal, her usually bright blue eyes dulled. She’d taken a huge risk to hold back the tide of coming men, putting herself on the line to help her friends get away. Now she was spent, weakened. Her pace was slowing, a grimace appearing on her face as she tried to keep up, chest sinking and eyes blinking hard to stay focused.
Ragan took them all in - Tanner, Chloe, both weakened; Nadia devastated. They were too far from the falcon still, much too far. If they were caught, and had to fight off a unit of Panthers…they’d all get killed or captured. Tanner and Chloe were in no real state to repel anyone. They had become the walking wounded, pursued by an enemy that Ragan knew so well. An enemy he so recently called his friends, his brothers.
But why were there Panthers after them, or any NDSA soldiers? Commander Wexley had told Ragan he wouldn’t interfere in the hunt for Mikel. Had things gone beyond that now? Were they just trying to capture Ragan and the others, bring them in?
That couldn’t happen, Ragan knew. If they captured Chloe, Nadia, or Tanner, none of them would be safe. Chloe was an enemy of the state; Nadia and Tanner were known special forces operatives working for rival nations. Only Ragan himself - if he could somehow convince Wexley of his loyalty - might have a chance.
He hadn’t caught Mikel. He’d failed. Though their immediate survival had become of chief concern, there was still something much bigger at stake here. He needed to convince Commander Wexley to help. Mikel or no Mikel, he had to try. He had to…
He looked again at his friends, and his decision was made. This was the only way to help them escape, the only way of finding the secret facility in the MSA, destroying it before it was too late. He had to go back. He had no choice in that now. For Chloe, and Tanner, and Nadia. For the sake of the future. He had to go back.
He turned to Chloe, her eyes shaded, weary. He smiled at her, even as they ran, at that beautiful face, the warrior spirit that lay within.
“Where are the nearest chasers?” he asked her softly. “What does Remus see?”
Chloe blinked, as if needing a moment to think. A focused expression overtook her face, though she didn’t shut her eyes to look through the drone’s perception. She didn’t need to, really. He was quite adept at updating her without her looking for herself.
“There’s a group near,” she said, shaking her head. “They’re getting close. Right behind us.”
“How many?”
“About a dozen. Remus says…they’re closing fast. They’ll catch us soon.”
She seemed almost resigned to that fate. Her defiant spirit had been drawn back by her sudden fatigue, the expelling of all that energy. She shook her head again, running onwards, panting.
“It’s a Panther unit,” Ragan whispered. “And they will catch us soon.”
He didn’t say it in the way she did. She noted th
e look in his eye, and slowed her step at seeing it. She was intuitive enough to know…
Ragan liked that about her. He loved that about her.
She looked at him, expression growing grave.
“No,” she said. “You’re not thinking…”
“I have to, Chloe,” Ragan whispered. “If I don’t, they’ll catch us. None of you will be safe.”
“And you! You won’t be safe either.”
A new swell of emotion filled her, breathing in new life. Eyes flared, hands reached out and grabbed him, stopping him in the street. She held his arms as if unwilling to let him go. He smiled softly, as Nadia and Tanner continued on into the pouring rain.
Ragan glanced back down the street. He could sense the Panthers getting closer.
“Look at them, Chloe,” Ragan said. He turned to the others, stumbling into the mist, and Chloe followed his eyes. “They need you.”
“We need you,” Chloe returned quickly. “You can’t go. I’ll never see you again.”
Ragan dragged her into a hug, holding her tight.
“Of course you will,” he said, voice tender. “I have to try to make this right. I’m the only one who can.”
She pulled back, eyes visible through her visor. Ragan reached up and lifted it, revealing in greater detail her stark expression. He did the same with his own, two sets of blue eyes, locking together.
He reached into his pocket, placing a tiny orb into Chloe’s hand.
“Take this,” he said, handing over Dax’s earpiece. “Get Tanner back to the falcon, stitch him up. I’ll be fine, Chloe, I promise you. You can’t be caught. I can. Now go. They’re waiting.”
He looked up, Chloe doing the same. Nadia and Tanner were waiting away in the mist, refusing to leave their friends. They were alone, unprotected. Ragan saw Chloe’s eyes change. She knew she had to go.
She turned back to Ragan, nodding slowly.