“Are you out of your mind? Are they here?” My voice echoes throughout the forest. It is so quiet in this forest that my voice likely carries through the patches of evergreen trees to wherever the monks are meditating. “Are they fucking listening? Because if they are, you better walk the hell away or I will end you.”
“I’m the one with the gun, remember?” He holds the barrel at me once again, and with his other finger he taps his neck. I stare at him dumbfounded in response.
There’s not much I can do.
He is the one with the gun, and if I try to snag it from his bulky body, I will probably be laid flat out on the floor if I’m not shot first.
My heart pounds in my chest as sweat drips down my face and uncomfortably pools in my beard.
If I pull out the Chimera Cube, I could kill him, but by the time the item is made that will end him, it may be too late.
“Remember what I told you the last time I saw you?” Justin says, recognizing my inaction. He speaks in a slightly nervous tone, as if he is expecting something to happen.
“Yeah, that my dad killed his father.” I eye Jake, whose eyes are focused off to the side, attempting to find people hiding among the wilderness. Knowing Justin and the nature of the Syndicate, he has to be playing some sort of game with me.
I won’t know whether he is working with them or with me until it’s too late.
“Well, yes, but there’s a reason I told you that in the first place.” Justin returns the pistol to his side, his stance softening as he senses my own guard being let down. My mind is transported back to our conversation—I remember that day on the cliffs vividly. “You are valuable to me. You are an asset that I need.”
“What for?” I inch forward as a loud snap reverberates in my ears. I turn around, expecting a bullet to be inside Jake’s body or soon find its way into mine, but instead nothing more than a large tree branch falls right on top of the stream.
“You know what for. For building a new world. For changing everything that we know about how human society works today.” He eyes me and smiles, and I can’t help but feel like he is staring through me right at the Chimera Cube.
“That’s not why you are here, though,” I say, expecting Jake to also respond with a comment that is both cruder and wittier than mine. But for the first time in a moment of adversity he is silent, only staring around at the landscape with panic.
He must see something that I don’t.
“I’m not here because of that. Our time will come.” He points to his neck, the universal signal for Syndicate members that he can’t tell me the full truth because they are listening. It’s a subtle code that no one in the world understands but those who have given their blood to the brotherhood, and for those who have rescinded it like me, we should be dead. “I’m here because we want to help you. The Chinese government is only days away from finding your exact location and destroying you both. We want to take you to a secure vehicle, where we can act on our first steps to conquer the current regime.”
“Are you being serious?” I take one step closer to Justin, his face now within reach of my fist, which causes him to tighten his grip around the pistol. “After you set us up into a trap that had us being publicly held responsible for killing fourteen million, jail Jake, and kill Riva, you expect me to work with you fucks on taking over this country?”
“Notice how I didn’t ask.” He laughs afterward, the chuckle coming unruly. From the robotic way he speaks, I know his lines are now being scripted by people in the Syndicate listening in on our conversation.
One solution I have is to rip the chip out of his neck and hope he doesn’t kill me.
My other solution is to simply speak to them instead.
“Why would you want to help us, even save us, when I tried to destroy you?” I ask, knowing that someone on the other end is typing their response right now, which they are likely voicing over to Justin in a tiny earpiece.
“Our goal has always b-been to take over the world,” Justin responds, stumbling over one of his words. The dissonance between what he is saying and the expressions of his body are almost laughable. He is speaking words that you would expect to come out of a smooth, cunning leader, but instead he appears uncomfortable, even stressed out. It’s impossible to know if what he said earlier in the conversation was his own thoughts or whether he was acting as a mouthpiece for the Syndicate.
All I know is that I can’t trust him.
“This organization was set up this way intentionally by the founding brothers, and until the Syndicate’s empire extends to the stars, the collective must push onward.”
“I don’t give a shit about that.” I point a finger at him, only one second away from driving my fist through his skull. My movement seems to be a bit too threatening for him. He lets me know by raising his arm up, keeping the barrel of the pistol pointed at my feet instead of anywhere lethal. “Tell me why you want our help, when instead you can just kill me right now? I know what you guys are looking for. I know what you want. And you can have it.” I hold out the backpack, baiting both Justin and the Syndicate people listening in to see what they will do.
The second he reaches forward, I will have his balance in my direction and can knock the gun out of his hands.
Then he will be dead.
I don’t care if he has helped me in the past.
Renegades can’t trust anyone.
“I don’t want your backpack and the silly school lunches that are inside. I want you guys to help us take over the world. We need you and you need us. And we promise that whatever we have been through together in the past is now behind us. We are only focused on the future. A future that is entirely in our control.”
“That’s such bullshit.” I throw my backpack around my shoulders, my fists clenched and face vibrating with anger. “Every promise the Syndicate has ever made us in the past has ended up with someone dead and one of us close to it. You put him in jail for the crimes you forced us to commit! And you were happy with me rotting in a federal prison for the rest of my life too. What makes you think I’d ever believe a word that you are saying?”
“I don’t care if you believe me, the Syndicate, or anything in this world.” He pauses, his rough northern accent traveling through the thin air. At this high altitude of thousands of meters, it takes one multiple days to adjust to the harsh climate. “We can either do this the easy way or the hard way. You can come and follow me right now and we leave this place—take you both to safety where we can start the downfall of one of the world’s most powerful regimes. Or you can try and fight back. But be warned I’m the one with the weapon and there are over a dozen more operatives hiding in the surrounding forest, ready to subdue you both the second I make the call.”
Jake speaks up, “Sam, c’mon, let’s just—"
“I have a deal for you.” I grin, cutting off Jake before he can say anything stupid that will get us killed. If he thinks we can somehow manipulate and destroy this group from within, he is wrong.
The collective net worth of this group is pushing five trillion dollars. They have more money than God—their amount of wealth has divorced them from the reality of human existence that most would scarcely even call them a member of the human race.
“You’re not the one making the deals.” Justin’s expression is unreadable. I know he is only saying the words of the Syndicate, but it’s impossible to tell whether deep down inside he is with or against us. “This isn’t a deal. This is what’s happening, you are both coming with me right now. We have that Ai friend of yours already waiting in the back of the helicopter parked a few miles away. And if you choose to make this more difficult than it has to be, we will burn her alive inside of it.”
How the hell does he know who Ai is? A surge of anxiety courses through me as I analyze my memories. I checked thousands of times throughout Gyurtog to ensure there were no security cameras anywhere throughout the compound, but that still doesn’t mean they don’t have any spies. I bite my ton
gue, refraining from asking him about how they know the truth.
I already know his response; he will say the Syndicate knows everything.
What they don’t know is that I am about to play them.
“I have something to tell you that they can’t hear.” I mouth the words so that the listening device implanted in Justin’s throat doesn’t pick it up. He tilts his head, an odd glow in his eyes.
In the moment of silence that follows, a harsh gust of wind whistles through the forest. A row of dark clouds has formed above us. In a matter of minutes, heavy rains will downpour on us, turning the entire forest into an unnavigable muddy mess.
If I’m going to create a distraction, the time is now.
“We have over a dozen people surrounding our location.” Justin’s gaze focuses in on the river behind us. “If you don’t comply with my orders in the next minute, they will force you too. We want to work with you to build an empire. We want to take power over the world together.”
Jake grabs my shoulder, urging me to give in.
I will never surrender.
“Let me whisper a secret.” I hold up my bag again and say the words in such a soft voice that Justin can barely hear it. He doesn’t respond, but he doesn’t fight back when I lean in.
In an alternate universe, this moment may look like I’m about to kiss him passionately as the first thick droplets of an oncoming thunderstorm fall between the canopy.
In this universe, I plan to kill him.
“I have a weapon in this bag.” My voice travels into his ears, his body stiffening at my words. I’m within inches of my body touching his, my voice too soft for the chip in his neck to register. “It’s a weapon that will either save or end this world. And you can share it with me, as long as you let us go.”
I smile, pausing before I continue my speech. I am only looking to interest him to the point that he lets his guard down so that I can disarm him and promptly shoot his brains out.
“I know you hate the Syndicate,” I continue, and Jake tugs on me again. The barrel of Justin’s gun is driving right into my stomach, one shot and I will fall to the ground, at the mercy of whatever Justin and the Syndicate decide to do to me. “I know you have a plan to take them down. And we can do it together. Together we can ensure these horrid people are wiped from the face of the Earth.”
He lets his guard down.
I knew exactly what words would get him to feel guilt for doing this. I know exactly how to get anyone to believe exactly what I want—if there’s one thing I have learned from years of being manipulated, it’s how to do the exact same thing to other people.
The moment the barrel of his gun shifts from my stomach to the floor, I kick into action. I use my left hand to grab the wrist his gun is in and my right hand to wrap around the front of his neck. The force from which I erupt onto him causes him to drop the pistol to the forest floor.
I have the advantage.
“Fuck.” He winces as I dig my nails into his throat. One great thing about not keeping up with one’s personal hygiene is that your long nails can be used as a perfect weapon to make an already painful chokehold unbearable.
“Stop!” Jake yells. I feel his hand dig into my shoulder, but I elbow him off me. I don’t care what he sees closing in around us. I will send the Syndicate a message.
They can’t take me down.
“I will kill you and every last member of the brotherhood,” I snarl at him through gritted teeth. Saliva foams out of my mouth and onto his face, my entire body vibrating with the vexation.
Justin’s body is much larger than mine. He has at least fifty pounds on me, with broader shoulders, and much larger legs despite him being a few inches shorter.
He coughs, his attempts to inhale oxygen from the surrounding air becoming more desperate as I shift my body to strangle his neck using both of my hands. I hope the claw marks from my nails leave permanent scars on his body. I hope seeing my madness, seeing my power, scares everyone away.
In a surge of energy, he squeezes his hands around my waist, attempting to throw me off him. I counter his attack straining my waist to the left to avoid being thrown on the ground and force my weight on top of him.
Then, I deliver the punch I have been waiting for. I take one hand off his neck and deliver a forceful right hook to his skull. He falls to the ground, the wind knocked out of him with the power of my punch.
My knuckles are bleeding from how hard I punched him and one of my fingers is swelling up, the joint jamming together from the friction of my jab.
Yes. I stand above him, feeling powerful, feeling like nothing can stop me in the world. But to believe that would be the most delusional thing ever.
All the Syndicate operatives who used to be in hiding spots behind trees, rocks, and bushes in the forest have all emerged from their places in the woods.
They are charging at us from all directions. The sounds of the leaves and twigs rustling and snapping beneath their feet sound like gunshots of their own. Each figure is wearing the same white masks that adorned the faces of each of the Syndicate members during the induction ceremony on White’s Island, while all-black outfits that likely consist of a bullet-proof vest cover every portion of their bodies.
These people came prepared.
They have their guns raised at us, ready to light up Jake and I with dozens of bullets at a moment’s notice. There is no way we are getting out of this.
The Syndicate is going to win.
I twitch. I want to lunge on top of the pistol and use it to make Justin my hostage or fire at one of the dozen figures sprinting towards us in hopes that it knocks them dead.
But Justin has already managed to grab the pistol, his body landing on the floor right next to it.
Jake stops panicking.
He stares at the oncoming wave of hellish-looking figures. I have no time to pull out the Chimera Cube and escape this. The only thing I can do is create a bomb that will kill all of us—which to put it lightly won’t end well.
“You should have listened,” Justin says, his voice still strained from the agony of my fist colliding with him. He coughs and stands up, wiping a stream of blood that drips out of his nose.
Droplets of water hit my ankles as the splashes from people dashing through the water hit my body. They are only feet away from us.
We are trapped.
I turn to look at Jake, who stares at Justin and nods.
In a second, the entire forest erupts into chaos.
A horrible sound smacks against my ears. The strength of the noise has a tangible effect on my body, forcing me backward and causing me to stumble to the ground. Leaves dig into my skin and branches scrape my arms and legs in at least a dozen areas.
The sound is at the exact frequency that drives me to a state of pure insanity almost instantaneously. My thoughts are wiped from my mind as all sensation in my body fades. Jake is entering a similar crazed state as his body helplessly succumbs to the force of the sound.
A horrible beeping sensation swathes my ears and body until it takes over my entire being—the beeping feels powerful enough to cause every cell in my body to burst.
I close my eyes, the drizzle of rain hitting my face from the canopy turning into a rush of heavy droplets as the clouds open up in the sky.
Several hands hold me down as I squirm about in every direction. The sound sends me into a series of convulsions, one that makes me helpless to their forceful maneuver at ripping my backpack off me. I scream.
A scream that surely every monk within multiple miles can hear. No one will ever answer my calls for help.
No one will be here to save me.
I do everything I can to shake them off me—everything to get them to give me my backpack, but it doesn’t work.
They have the Chimera Cube.
They have me in their hands.
And we aren’t going anywhere.
The group of smiling white masks encircling my vision welcomes me to a new form of h
ell.
And this time, I have no idea how to get out.
Chapter 25
I will crash this helicopter to the ground.
I don’t care if I kill everyone in it. I don’t care if I kill myself.
I can’t let the Syndicate have the Chimera Cube.
I can’t let them win.
“They won’t ever work together with us,” I explain to Jake, who has been in denial about the entire situation. He somehow has an optimistic view that after being sent into a state of shock by a horrible noise and picked up by several people who subdued and carried us miles through the woods, things will magically work out okay.
“They know we have something powerful.” Jake looks out the window of the helicopter, the rocky mountain peaks of the Himalayas piercing through the clouds in the sky. “They know that we can help them.”
“What the hell are you guys talking about?” Ai glances at me with both alarm and confusion. Her short hair falls into bangs that messily dangle over her ears as she sits in the corner of the helicopter, refusing to let any of the operatives touch her.
“I’ll explain later.” I hold up a hand, hoping that will get her to stop asking the same question over and over again. I get what it must feel like to be trapped and have no idea what is going on, but the moment I even utter the word Syndicate, the man with the gun directed right at her head will kill her.
She isn’t special, though. The Syndicate has some gang members that they hired to hold a pistol up at each one of our heads, their bodies protected in bullet-proof armor, and faces still covered in the creepy white masks.
These people are nothing more than expendable operatives in the eyes of the council. Their lives are nothing more than a small price to pay, a price they are willing to risk.
That’s exactly why Justin left us once we entered the helicopter along with a few of the other masked figures who are likely all Syndicate members handpicked by the council to carry out the horrific task of reintegrating us into the brotherhood and torturing us for the rest of our lives.
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