Floor 21- Dark Angel

by Jason Luthor

  He slowly descends towards me, until he’s staring at me in the eyes. Looking into his, it’s like staring into an abyss. There’s nothing there, not any hollow part of a skull or anything like that. It’s just like staring into nothing. And as I’m standing there, staring at him, I suddenly feel this crack through my brain, like I’m getting the worst headache possible all of a sudden. I can’t keep back from screaming as I reel back, clutching at my head as I’m suddenly hit by a wave of memories. The first time I went feral. The time I rained down hell from the skies to save Kali and her team. The moment, from just a second ago, when I went into that flow state. All of its mixes into my head, like I’m seeing all three things at once, like I have more than one set of eyes and I can see all of these things at the same time.

  I come stumbling to a stop and stand there, breathing hard even as I’m trying to pull my eyes back up, to find the Stranger. When I do, he’s already a silhouette against the red portal, vanishing back to wherever he comes from. At the same time, I hear him say one last thing. “Everything that has led you here is part of a single puzzle that you must solve. What you want from me, the power to transcend your human limitations, is a gift nobody in all of the universe could give you. But you will face a choice, Jackie Coleman, that will mean the difference between victory and defeat for you. It is the choice that will determine whether you defeat your enemy or not. It’s up to you to recognize when it’s time to make that decision. When you reach that moment, remember to focus on what means the most to you in this life.”

  And then the portal closes, and he’s gone.

  Dodger’s Recording 20

  Yasmine shivers as she’s shoveling the last of the equipment into my Pocket Space window. “Even with how cold things are, you still haven’t slowed down. You know that you’re getting a little too good at getting around town. This time, you picked a spot just down the street from the apartment.”

  “It’s scary, right?” I say with a quiet laugh as I shut down my Pocket Space generator. “It sort of feels like I’m a city rat or something, scurrying around everywhere like this.”

  “At least you don’t need me coming out too often. People’d get suspicious if I was heading out here every night.”

  “What? You don’t want to see your friend?”

  “I don’t want to get shot in the street,” she says with a smile. “Patrols have been pretty quiet though.”

  “Well, since everyone has a curfew and can only travel to certain parts of the city, the military’s probably getting bored. You can’t stay on top of everything all the time. Especially when you think you’ve won.”

  “It feels like that sometimes.”

  Hearing those words makes my chest squeeze up, and I reach out to grab her shoulder. “Hey. We’re almost ready to move.”

  “I know. I trust you. Just feels like we’ve been waiting for forever. I know it’s been just a little more than two weeks, but still.”

  “I get it. We can’t rush whatever Jackie’s doing though. She’s got a plan. She . . .” I shake my head and look away for a second. “It’s hard for me, too.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply—”

  “You didn’t. Just, you’re not the only one who’s getting impatient.”

  She’s about to say something when the two of us go quiet. A rumbling along the ground gets our attention, and we both look down to the end of the alley, watching as vehicles start rumbling by. The two of us exchange glances and say it at the same time. “Tanks.”

  In a second, we’ve rushed down to the end of the alley, the two of us peeking out from around the edge of the building. At first, it’s hard to understand what’s going on. There’s troops securing the street and the doorway. They all just wait for a second before one of the transport’s back doors opens up. It’s just one minute later when a golden light starts to reflect in the street, and I feel my chest starting to lock up to the point that it wants to explode. It’s a tall, muscular guy I recognize, and he’s swarmed by soldiers as he enters the building. “Yousef.”

  “What the hell is he doing there? Did he come for you?”

  “He knows I’m not there. Maybe he came for you?”

  “If he did, then you need to get out of here. They’re going to start swarming the streets in a second if they come out here hunting for me.”

  And that’s when the screaming starts. Just, men and women shouting from inside the building. There’s no shooting, thank the Builders, but there’s something happening. “Sounds like they’re looking for something.” I’m about to say something else when there’s a piercing scream that echoes down the street, and somehow, I recognize who it is. My chest really does start burning as I focus in on the voice. “Cynthia.”

  “You think it’s her?”

  “I know it is. I just—” But I don’t have any more time for talking at that point, because I see Yousef walking out again, his golden arm literally dragging a girl along the ground as he walks back to the transport. She’s screaming and clawing at him, trying to slip out of her oversized jacket to get back in the building, but Yousef’s mechanical arm doesn’t budge an itch. He’s almost to the transport when Cynthia comes sprinting out of the apartments, and I just feel my breath stop when soldiers raise their rifles, pointing them right at her as her feet hit the pavement. “Don’t do it,” I whisper as I feel my eyes surge wide open. “Please don’t do it.”

  Fortunately, if you can call it fortunate, one of the soldiers turns and bashes her in the face with his elbow. Cynthia goes collapsing to the ground as blood splatters along the concrete, her nose obviously broken open. Yousef turns around to look at her for a second, like he might have a heart, before dragging a screaming Mandy into the back of the vehicle. A second later, the doors are closing, and I can feel Yasmine jerking at my shoulder. “Come on, lieutenant. We’ve got to do something.”

  My eyes fly to her. “Like what?”

  “Like . . . like save her?”

  “And how are we going to do that? Yousef’s traveling with three tanks and a dozen soldiers right now. What are we supposed to do?”

  “We can surprise them and get everyone in the building to bust open the weapons locker. You know, we can fight back.”

  “And what then?”

  “What? What are you talking about?”

  “And what then? When we’re done trying to rescue her and the tanks start firing on the buildings, what then? If Yousef finds out I’m out here making plans with you, what then?”

  “Lieutenant, you’re not just going to let them take her.”

  I take a deep breath, shut my eyes, and bow my head. “I am. You think I want to?”

  “Lieutenant. Dodger. You don’t give up on people.”

  That gets me angry, and my eyes fly open as I look back at her. “You think that’s what I’m doing? Giving up on her?” She looks a little shocked that I’m almost yelling. “I love Mandy, but if we throw all away our plans now then we’ll never get Central free, not even when Jackie starts the attack. If we throw it all away right now, then we won’t ever get the island free from Yousef.”

  “If you’re not going to do something, then I am,” she almost growls as she gets off of the ground, and she’s halfway out of the alley when I grab her by the arm and yank her back. When I do, she gets this really angry look across her face. “Let go of me.”

  “Yasmine, am I your lieutenant or not?”

  “What?” When I ask her the question, her face changes in an instant. Suddenly, she looks embarrassed, her eyes going to the floor while she’s getting herself together. “I . . . I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

  “It’s okay. You want to save people. Obviously, I want to do that too. But not like this, alright? We don’t know throw it all away like this.”

  “Alright. Alright. But we’re going to do something?”

  “Yeah. I promise. I’ll start by making a call.”

  Jackie’s Recording 34

  John’
s running scans on me in the medical bay when we get the call. He steps away for a second as a holographic screen projects in front of me, Dodger’s face filling the screen. She looks like she’s in a half panic, her eyes wide and her breathing coming like rapid fire bullets. “Dodger, what’s wrong?”

  “Jackie, please tell me you’ve already got a plan happening or something.”

  “What?” I shake my head as I slide forward on the medical table. “Did something happen?”

  “It’s Mandy. Yousef took her.”

  When she says it, it feels like I’ve taken a punch directly to the stomach. I look to the side for a second, at John, who sets his tools onto a table close by. After I take a second to calm down, I look back at her. “Why. Why did he do it?”

  “He didn’t exactly stop to explain. All I know’s that he searched the apartments specifically for her and took her away. He came here personally to get it done.”

  “Coward.” I can feel my hand shaking as I slide off the table completely, my fists clenching as I stand there. “I’ve . . . I’ve been making plans. I didn’t mean for things to take this long, it’s just—”

  “I get it. You’ve got to . . . make sure everything’s ready to go and whatever. Get everything lined up. But she’s gone, Jackie, and I have no idea why or what’s going to happen to her. I’ve been convincing myself that Tommy’s still alive because Yousef needs, I don’t know, a hostage. In case you came back around. Now I’m just freaking out and wondering if something’s happened to him. If something’s going to happen to the both of them. I don’t know, but I feel like something’s got to happen soon or . . .”

  “No, I get it. I agree.” I look her dead in the eyes. “Dodger, is everything in place on your end. Does everyone know what they have to do when the signal goes out?”

  “All we need is for you to give the okay.”

  “That’s great. Look, I’m coming. I thought we had more time, but obviously we don’t. Wait for the signs. Then put the plan into action.”

  “Okay. Okay. When the troops start moving out, we’ll do our part. I promise.”

  “I know you will. I trust you. Jackie out.”

  Just like that, the window closes, the audio dying out as the connection shuts down. My eyes go straight to the floor as I struggle to control my breathing. I almost flinch when John puts a hand on my shoulder, his fingers squeezing just a little. “Kid. Are you okay?”

  “They’ve got her. That monster has her. Tommy’s a soldier, but she’s just a little girl. What sort of inhuman . . .” I shake my head again as I shoot a look over at him. “We’ve got to move up the timetable. I was hoping maybe I’d have some sort of breakthrough and figured out a way to beat Yousef. There’s no time for that now. If Yousef’s kidnapping people again . . .”

  “Jackie, I hate to bring this up, but are you sure this is the right thing to do?”

  “What?” My eyes go over to him, and I know he hates the way they narrow when I stare at him. “What are you asking me, John?”

  “What if Yousef’s doing this just to push your buttons? What if he wants you to come out of hiding before you’re ready? You’ve said yourself that you can’t beat him.”

  “And so, what am I supposed to do? Let him take her? An innocent girl?”

  “I’m only asking if rescuing her’s worth putting the rest of Central Freedom at risk. I know you care about Mandy and you want to protect her because of Mike. But kid, let me ask you just one thing. If this were anyone else, would you be rushing out there to save them? Would you be risking all your plans for one person if this was anyone else but Mandy?”

  I can feel my chest hurting as I look at the ground, my eyes shutting tight for a second as I think about what he’s saying. It takes me a minute, but finally I’m able to look up at him again. “I can’t beat him. But maybe all of us can beat him. Me, and the raider clans.”

  “You’re really ready to try and make peace with the same people who killed the people you loved? In case you’ve forgotten, I’m the one who watched it all happen. Remember? What it was like for you to walk into that room and see the bodies of people you loved torn to shreds?”

  “I know better than anyone else what I saw out there,” I scream at him, my hands squeezing at thin air as I try to keep my composure. “I know what happened. I know. Her blood was on my hands. While I was gone, people got killed. Do you understand what I’m saying?” He just stares at me, not replying. “Because I wasn’t there, people died. And this whole past year, because I didn’t use my powers the way I could have, Yousef slaughtered innocent people back in Central. And now? Now he has someone I think of like family. Should I stand by again, John? Should I do nothing again?”

  John’s eyes look away as he takes a step back. “I don’t know, kid. Maybe so. Maybe not. All I know is that you going in to fight Yousef’s suicide, and I don’t want to lose you.”

  “I won’t be going in alone. That’s why the raiders will be with me. I hope. They’re not the same people who killed the residents of Highpoint. They’re more than just the bloodthirsty monsters we’ve been saying they are. Ishara and Tara might have given them an identity as the Sha’b, but there were good clans out there, good people out there, a long time before they came around. I have to believe they’ll see that Yousef’s the real threat we all have to face down. Most of them have been just as hurt by all this fighting as anyone living in Central Freedom or Fort Silence, and that’s exactly why I have to try and get us past all this arguing. Because if we keep killing each other, Yousef wins. And if Yousef wins? Do you think humanity will live even another hundred years with a man like that in charge of the world?”

  Last Testament of Ishara Suliman 07

  I am at the end of a story that I started writing long ago, and I would do a great disservice if I did not mention one final person. Erin Donoghue. His clan, Erin’s Army, belonged to the clans who were loyal to Daniel Pearson. Before any of the great clan chiefs decided to help us, Erin committed his forces to our cause. He became an early supporter, a strong one, who commanded enough men and women to help us tremendously.

  Erin was a survivor, a violent man with a violent past who’d lost most of the people he’d cared for. His grandfather had died on the Butchering Field, fighting alongside a young Pearson when Fort Silence and Central Freedom surprised the Sha’b and killed thousands of their men and women. He’d grown up envious of Central and watched his parents carve out meager lives. He only learned what it meant to feel safe after Pearson united the clans far north of Central, but by then he’d learned that violence was the only way to survive.

  Tara, the idea of the Tank, helped him imagine something better. Beneath the violent man he’d become, Erin wanted a home. He found that after joining us. Daniel Pearson, for all of his qualities, had no vision for creating a future. He only wanted to destroy Central. Erin was attracted to the ideas I talked about through Tara, ideas about justice and the nobility of the human spirit. Erin changed, slowly, even if he could never completely shed his violent nature.

  He was one of the reasons the great clan chiefs ever joined us. Erin was loud, brash, arrogant, and fully committed to the idea that the people of the Deadlands should come together. He frequently visited the clan chiefs, arguing for them to join our cause. Of course, Pearson was one of the first and easiest to convince, since we were committed to destroying Fort Silence. From there, he slowly won over the others, getting them to at least meet with Tara and talk about creating alliances.

  Maybe that’s why Tara trusted him so much. She was how passionate he was. Tara and I both realized that, should something ever happen to us, we’d need someone who could keep the people together. For better or worse, that was Erin. So, we told him our secret, that I was Yousef’s sister and the mind behind our movement. Tara was the face, a strong fighter who could keep me hidden but also inspire the people through her actions. And Erin accepted it and committed himself even more to helping make the Deadlands a safe place for all people
.

  Which is why I’m writing about him last. If you’re listening to this, then you’ve killed me, Dark Angel. No one else could have done it. You have to realize by now that we wanted to lure Yousef out, to destroy the Dynamis if nothing else and take his greatest weapon away from him. That’s why we left the false data on the tablet, to make it impossible for Yousef to resist attacking. I would have liked to draw Yousef out completely, to take him away from Fort Silence, where he’s strongest, and destroy his forces using the Panzer. Using the same was machine that my father left to me as my inheritance.

  But, since you are listening to this, it means that I made the wrong gamble. I doubt Yousef was able to take out the Panzer with traditional military might. If my mission failed, it’s because of something you did. It’s because I underestimated you.

  Maybe it was pride. I talk about how different Yousef and I were, but we are both my father’s blood. We both feel the same thrill of the fight. We both want to test ourselves in combat. The blood of the monster that my father used to be drives both me and my brother. Strangely, I could have forgiven him for trying to kill me. I could never forgive him for killing my father.

  But now that you’ve listened to all of this, I hope you understand the sort of man he is. What sort of man kills his father and tries to kill his sister? What sort of man would try to kill every living soul in the Deadlands, even if they were women and children? My brother is the Golden Jackal, a vicious hound who will tear apart anyone who stands in his way. I have to believe that you will see he is not a man worth fighting for. I have to believe that you will see the people of the Deadlands have been targeted time and again, first by a cruel man in Nikola Dravic, and then by a cruel man in Yousef. If the lives of the innocent mean anything to you, then please, bring justice to my father and I. Take this recording to Erin and let him know my final desire.