Freedom Fighters: Twilight City (Book 1)

by Michelle Leyland

  I lost the place I started to think as home, I lost my possessions that we’re still left at my flat and I lost a friend and work colleague I thought I could trust.

  I hear sobbing coming from Sarah’s sleeping bag, so I wriggle out and crawl over to her, careful not to wake anyone else.

  I see her crying into her pillow and give her a hug, “everything’s going to be okay,” I reassure her.

  She snuffles into a tissue and curls up in her sleeping bag miserably.

  “What are we going to do, Star?”

  “I don’t know,” I answer and try not to worry. “Carl will think of something.”

  “I still feel so upset about Josh,” she says, her eyes red with crying so much. “I miss him.”

  “He’s not worth it,” I remind her.

  “I know, I never want to see him again,” she says, looking angry.

  “Just try and rest, it’s still early,” I say, feeling tired.

  “Okay,” she snuggles up into her sleeping bag and soon she’s asleep.

  I smile and go back into my own sleeping bag to warm up. Rickie’s still sleeping in his sleeping bag beside me, so I snuggle up to him, feeling safe to feel him close.

  He eventually wakes up and smiles and cuddles me close.

  “Morning babe,” he says and kisses my hair.

  “Morning Rickie,” I watch him run his fingers through his hair and giggle. It’s no longer gelled up into its spiky style, but it’s sticking up in all directions as if he’s had a rough night.

  He grins too, “bad hair day I guess?” he says, trying to tidy it.

  “It still looks cool,” I say, snuggling into him, feeling cosy. At least through all the bad stuff that’s happened we still have each other.

  Everyone else soon wakes up and they’re feeling pretty down and miserable too, but Carl looks strong and determined when we all meet up downstairs.

  “I know we received a bad attack from Snider yesterday and that sucks,” he says. “He may have destroyed our base but that doesn’t mean he’s stopping us. We’re all still here and we can still fight him, if we give up now it only lets him win.”

  I start to feel better, no wonder Carl was made leader when he could motivate us all so well.

  “We have another large building which can be used as our new secret base to live in. We’ll drive over there today so we can start settling in,” Carl informs us. “As for our possessions and equipment left at our last base, we’ll have to replace them. If we try to go back to the base we’ll be at risk of getting arrested or killed, so it’s better to stay away.”

  “We have some extra freedom fighter equipment stored in our other buildings,” Rickie reminds us all, “so if anyone needs them during a mission just let me or Carl know and we’ll get them for you, but I guess we’ll have to share them until we get our own replaced.”

  “I can’t believe all my make-up and clothes are still there,” Sarah sighs miserably.

  “Don’t worry, we can always buy more,” I say, trying to stay positive. “It’s a good excuse to go on a shopping spree.” I know this suggestion will cheer her up because she loves shopping. I see her smile for the first time that morning.

  “You didn’t leave anything important behind did you?” she asks me.

  “No, I already had my jewellery on and mobile with me. I’m sure the iPod, clothes and stuff can be replaced.”

  After sharing a breakfast of toast and orange juice, we all head over to our new secret base, which is at the South side of the city. It’s not as big as our last base and it needs re-decorating, but we all claim our new rooms and settle in.

  Even though I still miss our old place, it does feel a little exciting being somewhere new and it feels good to be moving on from something bad.

  Once we’ve put what little stuff we have into our new rooms, Sarah and I go into the city to do some shopping, although I have to hide inside a hoodie and wear sunglasses in case I’m spotted and recognised by any police officers.

  Luckily we both have money saved up in our bank accounts, so we dive into it to buy new clothing and essentials, which need to be replaced. I buy a new iPod for my dance shows and decide on asking Carl if I can use a computer and internet when I get back to download all my playlist onto it again.

  We go for lunch and finally we’re starting to feel better and happier.

  “Let’s go into Boots, I need more make-up,” she says.

  “I think I’ll stay outside, make-up isn’t really my thing, remember?”

  “Okay, I won’t be long, promise.”

  I smile and roll my eyes as she goes. Obviously she’ll be in there for at least an hour.

  I stand outside the shop next door and look at all the video games for something to do while I’m waiting. I can feel someone close to me and look up at them.

  “Hi Star.”

  I feel anger rush through me as I see it’s Josh.

  “What do you want? Coming to arrest me?” I ask angrily.

  “No, of course I’m not.”

  “Isn’t it obvious I don’t want to be anywhere near you after what you did; none of us do, especially Sarah.”

  Hurt flickers across his eyes, “why not? What did I do?”

  “Don’t act dumb with me!” I say furiously. “We know you told Snider everything, the rescue centre locations and where our secret base was.”

  He looks surprised that I know but at least he looks guilty about it, “I didn’t want to tell him. I’m really sorry.”

  “I bet you are,” I say sarcastically.

  “I really am, you have to believe me,” he pleads. “The truth is Snider threatened me. He found out where my family and I were staying and he said if I didn’t give him information he’d take us all to be executed.”

  “You didn’t have to tell him. You could have told us what happened, we would have helped you and kept your family safe,” I say, not forgiving him at all.

  “I wish I had but I was so scared, I didn’t know what to do,” he says sadly. “Surely you would do that if your family were in danger?”

  “My parents are dead,” I tell him angrily. “They were loyal freedom fighters who went to execution to protect me and the other people they knew, so don’t you dare think you can use them as an example because of how much a coward you are.”

  He looks as if I’ve just punched him hard in the face.

  “Like I said, I’m really sorry,” he says sounding hurt and looks down at the floor sadly.

  I notice Sarah has just come of the shop, “told you I wouldn’t be long,” she jokes to me, but then she stops and stares at Josh in shock. She looks over at me again, wondering why I’m with Josh, and I can feel my cheeks are still hot with anger. She seems to suss that I’m as unhappy to see him as he is.

  “Sarah…” Josh begins and she quickly looks back at him again.

  “I don’t want to talk to you, Josh,” she says, her eyes start to water. “It’s over between us and I don’t want anything more to do with you.”

  “Just listen to me, let me explain,” he tries, but Sarah walks past and ignores him.

  I follow her because I’m not ready to forgive him either, despite knowing the reason why he did it.

  Chapter 21

  Slowly things start to get back to normal. We decorate our new flats and all help out to decorate the rest of the building. After a week the new base looks great.

  Carl tells us the bad news that Snider’s troops burnt down and destroyed our old base in the end, but we all don’t care anymore because Carl was right; no matter how devastated we once were to lose it, Snider hasn’t defeated us and now we have a brand new base and were still fighting against him no matter what.

  Bryan sets up our new emergency phone line and calls from the public are finally coming through again.

  On Friday, Sarah and Rickie are put on emergency call. I have no work to do so I practise some dance routines in my room.

  I’ve nearly finished a so
ng when someone knocks on the door, and when I answer I see it’s Rickie.

  “Star, can you help us out?” he asks. “This phone call sounds like a pretty big mission, so we’ll need at least four people on it.”

  “Okay, I’ll do it,” I answer. “But who else can we ask? Most people are either out or busy with something else.”

  We head downstairs to see if anyone has come back, but it’s still empty apart from me, Rickie, Sarah and Bryan.

  “I would help but someone really needs to stay here for the phones and any emergencies,” says Bryan apologetically.

  “What about Carl? Can’t he help out?” Sarah asks. “I think I saw him before working upstairs in the office.”

  “He does missions if he’s not mega busy with anything else,” answers Rickie. “I’ll go and ask him.”

  Luckily Carl agrees to come with us, so we all set off to the car park to get two vans.

  “So what is the emergency?” Carl asks us.

  “Someone knows about a group of families who were caught and imprisoned at a local police station,” Sarah tells him. “If we don’t rescue them soon they’ll be sent to execution in a few hours’ time.”

  Carl gets into a transport van with Rickie, so I take the other one with Sarah.

  Ten minutes later we arrive at a large police station where the families are locked away.

  “Get your sleeping dart guns ready, we’ll have to get past a few police officers before we get to the prison cells,” Rickie reminds us and we go into the building armed with our weapons.

  Once all the police officers are unconscious, we make our way over to the prison cells to free the people who are arrested. However, we get a big surprise when we see all the prison doors are left open and the cells are empty.

  “What’s going on?” Sarah asks in confusion. “Where are they all?”

  “Maybe they already escaped,” jokes Rickie.

  “I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Carl warns us, but before we can run back out a group of troops arrive.

  “It’s a trap,” I say, finally realising what’s happening.

  They charge in and surround us, pointing loaded guns in our direction.

  “Don’t try to fight back, it’s not worth it,” Carl warns us. I see him press his emergency tracker and then hide it in the back pocket of his jeans, so Bryan will be able to track us and know where we are.

  I know he’s right and that there’s no point getting shot at when we’re outnumbered by them, especially when our sleeping dart guns and fighting skills are no match against their guns and bullets.

  Officer Vincent, the man who tried to get me executed before, arrives and I see him grin evilly as he sees us all captured.

  “Finally, we’ve managed to catch the legendary Granger brothers,” he looks from Carl to Rickie, looking incredibly pleased with himself. “I’m sure Lord Snider is dying to meet you two.”

  Carl and Rickie look at him angrily.

  “And we’ve got two other freedom fighters to take to execution as well,” his eyes scan over Sarah and they stop at me. “I know you! We caught you last month and somehow you managed to escape our prison cells,” he looks annoyed with me, “well looks like you’re going to be executed this time, Twinkle.”

  “My name is Star,” I tell him, pointing out the mistake.

  Rickie smirks amused that I’m giving the police officer attitude.

  “Whatever,” Officer Vincent says, dismissing it as if he doesn’t care what my name is, but it’s obvious the mistake embarrassed him.

  He turns to Rickie and sees him smirking, “and you won’t be laughing once Snider gets here. Being one of the most wanted criminals means you are sent to execution, and knowing Lord Snider he’ll send you two there straight away.”

  “Not unless we escape first,” Carl says casually.

  Rickie and I have to try hard not to laugh, because we’ve already annoyed the police officer enough.

  Officer Vincent looks so angry I’m surprised he doesn’t erupt.

  “Trust me, there’s no chance you four are slipping away and avoiding execution,” he tells us furiously. “We’ll have every single police officer in this city over here to make sure of that.”

  Rickie glances over at me and grins. “Cool. We must be really popular.”

  We all struggle not to laugh, especially at the huge extent of so many police officers coming over.

  Officer Vincent pretends he didn’t hear, “Officers, get them handcuffed and thrown into a police cell. I’ll contact Lord Snider immediately.”

  Chapter 22

  After the police officers have taken all our freedom fighter equipment and mobiles, we’re hand cuffed and put into a prison cell together.

  “Let’s just hope some help gets here in time,” says Carl. “I pressed the emergency tracker so Bryan will send some freedom fighters over soon.”

  “But what if it’s too late by then?” asks Sarah, looking worried. “You heard what he said, Lord Snider could be over here any minute and he’s sure to kill us all.”

  “Don’t worry, help usually comes fast, especially when there’s more than one person at risk,” says Rickie.

  I feel sick and anxious. Rickie puts his arms around me and I snuggle up to him, “it’ll be okay Star, I promise,” he whispers to me softly.

  Even though I feel safe in his arms, I still can’t stop feeling nervous. Last time it was just me who was going to be sent to execution, this time it’s also my boyfriend and two best friends and I don’t have Rickie outside to rescue me this time.

  “What if we don’t make it?” I ask him quietly.

  “The worst that can happen is we get taken to execution and even then there’s always a chance we can still escape,” he tells me. “You’ll have more time to get away, Snider will be more determined to get rid of me and Carl.”

  “That’s the worst part,” I feel tears in my eyes. “I don’t want him to kill you Rickie.”

  “I know,” he replies sadly, “I feel the same about you.” He plants a kiss on my forehead and holds me closer.

  “At least we’ll die doing what’s right,” I say, knowing that at least my life would end just like my parents had.

  “I feel so guilty,” Sarah says to Carl miserably. “If we hadn’t asked you and Star to help us out you both wouldn’t be here.”

  “It’s fine, Sarah,” says Carl. “You didn’t know it was a fake call and the mission needed more people so it wasn’t your fault.”

  “It’s so low that they’d do something like this,” I say, feeling angry.

  “That’s what Snider’s like,” says Rickie. “How did they get our new number?”

  “Who knows? His spies or workers probably found it,” answers Carl.

  “But if he has our phone number,” says Rickie looking worried, “then that means he can track our new base.”

  As this bad news hits us, we hear the prison door being unlocked. A few police officers enter and force us outside. I feel my heart race fast with nerves as two police officers hold onto me and we’re escorted down the corridor.

  We are taken into a nearby room where I see Lord Snider waiting inside. His evil grin widens as he sees Carl and Rickie, but I don’t think he even registers me and Sarah.

  “So, we finally meet,” he says to Carl and Rickie as he walks towards them. “I knew we’d catch both of you one day.”

  “You just got lucky, Snider,” Carl replies through gritted teeth. “If you didn’t play any games like this you’d never have caught us fairly.”

  Lord Snider laughs, “I never act fairly, surely you should know that; and now I have captured the two most wanted criminals in Twilight City,” he grins, looking at them both.

  “Sorry but we won’t be stayin’ long,” says Rickie. “Like you know already, we always escape.”

  “I would love to see you try,” he sneers. “You two are going straight to execution, so there’s no chance your pathetic freedom fighters can
help you.”

  “We’ll see about that,” says Carl.

  “We also caught two other freedom fighters with them,” Officer Vincent reminds him. “Should we send them to execution as well?”

  Lord Snider glances at me and Sarah for a second, but he doesn’t seem to remember me. “Yes, I want all of them killed.”

  “Shouldn’t we question them first?” asks Officer Vincent, but he sounds anxious as if he’s scared of interrupting him.

  “Fine,” answers Lord Snider impatiently but his eyes have an evil glint as he looks back at Carl and Rickie. “We’ve managed to find your rescue centres, even your old and new secret base.” I feel like I’ve been punched hard. That means the base must have been raided and soon that will be destroyed too.

  “But there is one more location we would like to have,” he continues. “We want to know where your precious sanctuary is.”

  I almost stop breathing; there’s no way we can risk him finding the sanctuary and killing all those innocent children.

  “We’d never tell you where it is,” answers Carl.

  “And you’ll never find it,” says Rickie.

  “I’m sure we will. If we’ve cracked down on your other locations it will only be a matter of time,” Lord Snider replies.

  “What if we offer you something in return for that information?” asks Officer Vincent.

  “We won’t be interested,” Carl tells him, annoyed.

  “What about your two friends?” Officer Vincent asks them eagerly, and I can tell he’s up to something. “Would you like them and all your other freedom fighters not to be taken to execution?”

  “Of course we would, but we still can’t tell you anything,” answers Carl.

  “Pity,” says Lord Snider. “Are these two your girlfriends?” Him and Officer Vincent snigger like it’s a really funny joke and I see Rickie blush a little.

  Carl looks annoyed, “it’s none of your business who they are.”

  Rickie quickly glances over at me worriedly for a second and then looks away, but Lord Snider manages to see this and I can tell he’s found out the truth.

  “How would you like to see your little girlfriend be executed, Rickie?” he asks him, looking over at me and grinning.

  Chapter 23

  I feel terrified and I hear Sarah gasp beside me.

  “Leave her out of this,” Rickie threatens him angrily. “It’s us you want, not her.”