I pulled Hellfire from her holster and racked the slide. Quickly ducking behind a large building, I waited until the gunfire died down before moving again.
As the soldiers ran toward their brother's pleas, I sprinted toward a bunch of buildings on the outer part of town. They looked like they could have been storefronts at one time.
“The bastards killed him! Not my cousin.” A pained wail filled the air.
“Daniels, suck it up. Grab his tags, and take his body to the chopper,” a gruff voice replied. I determined he was their leader.
“We were supposed to watch each other’s back,” Daniels cried. “I failed him. I failed.”
“He’s gone, and if the rest of you don’t keep your guard up, you’ll end up like him. Now, get your shit together! Keep moving and clear this damn town so we can move on to the next.”
Terrifying growls reverberated through the town, followed by more gunfire. It sounded as if the Arvies were everywhere. There was no escaping them.
I ducked into one of the buildings and knelt behind a wall that had a small crack in one of the slats, allowing me to see what was going on outside. As I pressed my eye to the opening, a figure shot past me. I gasped, throwing my hand over my mouth. I hit the ground as more shots fired. Bullets splintered the wood directly above my head. If I hadn’t dropped down, I’d be dead.
When the bullets stopped flying, I dared a peek and witnessed two soldiers driving mutants out into the open and shooting them. I could hear the Arvies screaming in my head, then heard a different growl. A louder roar in one of the rooms behind me. They were in my building and knew I was here.
“Check each building and clear it. Gather all of the supplies and make sure every mutant dies. Then burn it all down. If you find the girl, make sure she stays alive,” the same gruff voice ordered.
If they were going to enter every town in my path, taking all supplies and burning down whatever remained, there was no way I’d survive the long, arduous journey. Gathering food was a crucial part of my survival plan, and going back was not an option.
Footsteps hammered across the wood planks directly outside of my building. The soldiers were coming to clear them out, and it was only a matter of time before they found me. There was nowhere for me to run or hide.
Desperately scanning the area, I noticed a small hole in the floor behind one of the counters where the wood had rotted and cracked. It looked like something had fallen through, probably an Arvy, leaving me an opportunity for escape. Hopefully, whatever fell through wasn’t still there.
I quickly crawled across the floor, barely making it to the counter as the first one entered.
“Check the back,” the same gruff voice said. “I’ll clear the front.”
“Yes, sir.”
I took off my backpack and dropped it down the hole. There was no way I’d be able to fit through with it on. As the soldier’s footsteps pounded behind my counter, I attempted to lower myself, barely squeezing through. As it reached my chest, my shirt caught on one of the boards, making it crack.
The room fell silent and still. He must have heard it.
A broken piece of wood lay a yard away. I stretched my arm to reach it, but it was inches from my grasp.
“Dammit, you stupid piece of crap. Come to me!” I screamed in my mind.
The piece of wood slid right into my hand.
What in the hell? I stared at the object in my fingers. Had I moved that thing with my mind? Was that even possible?
The soldier walked closer, so I tossed the wood across the room. It ricocheted off the wall and thumped outside. As he hurried toward the sound, I forced myself down the hole, scratching my back and left arm in the process. I hoped it wasn’t on some rusted nail.
Landing on the ground about three feet under, I lay flat on my belly. The building was sitting on wooden stilts, allowing me to see everything going on outside. Doing a three-sixty scan, I realized the area around me was empty. On knees and elbows, I grabbed my bag and crawled toward the backside of the building, away from the soldiers.
Gunfire blasted directly above, making me lay prostrate. Dust fell from cracks in the wooden floor, as something heavy dropped onto the beams. A piercing scream ensued, followed by more gunfire and a few more thuds.
“I got three of ‘em,” a voice cheered.
Warm liquid dripped onto my back, making me gag. It was freaking Arvy blood.
I quickly crawled forward, stopping behind one of the stilts, a few feet from the edge of the building. There was no place for me to be safe. From the size of the chopper, I assumed it carried ten soldiers. That was a lot, considering they all had weapons and were kill-happy.
Just outside the building, facing the outside of town, were remnants of a rock wall. As I studied the wall, I could see part of it had crumbled, creating an opening, and thereby a way of escape. I needed to get there without being seen.
As I looked beyond the remains of the wall, I spied a small grove of dead trees huddled together. It could have been a park or a garden at one time, but right now, it looked like a decent hiding place.
Checking to make sure the coast was clear, I was about to make my move.
“Arvies!” A soldier yelled. “We’ve got a bunch over here!”
Soldiers ran in my direction. I froze, hoping no one would look under the building. Soon five soldiers were bustling a few feet in front of me.
Glass shattered as one of them broke a window. Shards fell, littering the ground. Then a body dropped to the floor. The Arvy's milky eyes stared straight at me, making my skin crawl. Black blood oozed from a bullet hole right in the center of its forehead. Shortly after, two more pale bodies dropped on top of it.
“Drag those bodies ‘round front and pile ‘em up,” the gruff voice instructed.
“I’m not touching those things,” one of the soldiers replied.
“Drag the damn bodies, Stevens, or you’ll end up at the top of the pile,” the voice snapped back.
The soldier remained silent and bent down to grab one of the arms. My breath seized when his baby-blue eyes spotted mine. He was shocked and didn’t look away.
“Don’t say a word,” I spoke to him in my mind.
His eyes went blank, and he stood there hunched over, staring at me. He couldn’t have been any older than twenty-two, with a nice physique and short blond hair.
Adrenaline pulsed through my veins; he awaited my next order.
Take the Arvy to the front, then walk to the far end of the town to help the others. Don’t tell anyone you saw me.”
Like a mindless robot, he slowly stood upright and followed my orders. His fingers tightened around the Arvy’s pale wrists, and he dragged the corpse to the front.
Holy crap.
My gift seemed stronger than before. There was no strain to get him to obey.
The down-side to this action was that it caused the Arvies in town to immediately sense my gift, and their chants of death and revenge suffused my mind.
I was still learning to dull the effects they had on me. But I felt I was more in control of the gift now than any previous encounters, and I banked on it to get me out of here.
A few buildings down, additional growls resounded. A couple of soldiers ran toward them and began unloading their weapons. The constant pained screams from the Arvies triggered something inside of me; a deep ache in my core. Beads of sweat formed and dripped from my brow. I must have been experiencing the pain and grief of the ones still alive. Their rage toward the soldiers killing their fellow mutants was all consuming.
At the opposite end of the town, more gunfire exploded as the soldiers continued their hunt, finding and killing the mutants. I needed to get out from under this building. I tried to use my power, ordering the soldiers standing in front of me to move away, but it didn’t have any effect.
So, it was necessary for me to have direct eye contact for the mind-control part of my gift to work. The few times I’d had my eyes closed, the results were catastrop
hic, but that was different. That’s when Venge took over, and I was powerless to control her. People and creatures died when that happened, falling victim to her uncontrollable wrath.
I didn’t want to kill the soldiers if I could avoid it. They were doing their duty and fulfilling orders given to them. Then again, if it ever came down to me being captured and taken back to the bunker, I would do whatever it took to survive. Even if it meant releasing Venge as an act of self-preservation.
I finally came up with a plan. In my mind it was a good plan, and probably the stupidest one I could think of. But it was the only option I could see for escape.
The plan was to crawl out from under the building and pretend to give myself up. If I could make eye contact with the soldiers and order them away from me, I could get free.
Just as I was building up enough guts to crawl out from under the building, I heard someone yell, “Bring the Readers.”
Readers? What the hell was going on? Was Dr. Simon there?
“Do they think we’re not able to do our job?”
“They believe the girl is here. Sarge saw footsteps leading from the desert to this town, and hasn’t found any leaving. The Readers said she should be traveling alone.”
“What if she passed through days ago? That windstorm could have covered her tracks.”
“The tracks that led in were fresh.”
“I still don’t know why we had to bring the freaks along. We’ll find her if she’s here.”
“They can supposedly communicate with each other using their minds.” His voice was cynical.
“What if they don’t find her?”
“They have to. If they don’t, they’ll suffer our same fate. That girl is supposedly the key to our survival.”
“What the hell is so special about her?”
“They said she can kill a person by looking at them.”
“No shit?”
“Yeah. She was the one who massacred the previous leaders during a demonstration.” There was a slight pause. “I think that’s pretty badass.”
“Badass? She sounds like a freak.”
“She might be, but I heard she’s hot.”
“Hot or not, I’m staying far away from that bitch.”
“You’re such a pussy, Jimenez.”
“Screw you. I’m here to survive.”
I could feel my temper rising, hearing them talk about me. And the bastard had called me a freak. Asshole. He had no idea what I could do to him—without him even knowing.
Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm myself. The thoughts running through my mind were heinous, and I couldn’t let Venge control my temper. She wanted to be set free, and the only thing holding her back was maintaining calm.
I’d been branded. They all saw me as a murderer, but I only did it to save a life. A precious, irreplaceable life that was connected to mine. Finn. A life they were too willing to throw away.
The bastards.
They were the monsters for allowing such an event to happen. Did they think that by injecting the serum into me I’d become their property? Hell no. I wasn’t going to be their next lab experiment, locked up in some fancy cell disguised as a bedroom. I was never free. It was all an illusion. I was merely a rat in a maze.
And then the assholes had the nerve to try and use my friends against me. Trying to put pressure on me, by saying their lives were dependent on my cooperation. Damn them!
The anger stirring in my mind was nearly driving me insane. I wondered if I should try to speak telepathically with Dr. Simon, or if contact was a horrible idea. If I didn’t make contact, they would never know I was in the town or alive.
I had to wait for another twenty minutes before the soldiers moved out of sight. Their voices could be heard in the distance, and in no time, the smell of smoke permeated the air. They were burning down the town.
The last thing I wanted was to be burned alive. Taking a deep breath, I ran for the wall, jumped over the crumbled debris, and made it to the other side. As I looked back, I noticed my footprints—a dead giveaway to my location. And there was nothing around me I could use to cover them.
Ducking low behind the rock wall, I thought I’d test out my newfound gift. If I could make a stick move with my mind, why not sand?
I concentrated on my footprints, envisioning them filling up with sand. As soon as the thought entered my mind, the entire area quaked. It looked as if there were a large stick under the ground sweeping from left to right, making the sand smooth.
I blinked, unsure of what I was witnessing. My prints were gone, erased as if I’d never been there.
My mind was blown.
If that was possible, what else was I capable of? What exactly had they put in the serum, and how long would it last? Would there be any side effects? Who was I kidding, the effects would probably be horrendous.
Questions continued to hammer my mind, all of which had no answers.
I wondered if the other Readers could move things with their minds. This new gift was a definite advantage, in particular on this journey. I had to learn how far I could take it. Although something told me I’d be finding out the answer for myself soon enough.
THICK, BLACK SMOKE BILLOWED AND curled like a dark fury, permeating the sky above.
I slowly crawled along the outside wall, coming across piles of crumbled debris. One spot had actually created a hollow, large enough to fit my body inside.
Before crawling in, I made sure my footsteps were erased, and there was no trace I’d come this way. My new gift made me feel almost invincible.
Crawling into the space, it was tight, and I immediately felt claustrophobic. Shoved in as far as I could go, I used my new gift to stack rocks quietly over the opening; ensuring no one was able to see me. I could hear the soldiers on the other side of the wall. Most of them had loud, boisterous voices.
“Hey, see those trees over there? Don’t you think it looks like a place someone would hide?” Whoever spoke sounded like he was standing directly above me.
“Why don’t you check?” another replied.
I heard sounds of a struggle, then the rocks above me shifted, dust fell through the cracks.
Oh God. I could hear my heart beating loudly in my ears.
“All clear,” he yelled, his voice directly above me. “There aren’t any footprints anyway.”
“Sarge, this town doesn’t seem to have many supplies in it. It looks like it’s already been ransacked,” another said.
It had to have been Billy and his crew. With their vehicle, they could have made the drive in less than an hour, scavenged, and left. How easy life would be with a vehicle and fuel.
“I found something!” Another soldier in the distance called. “I think it's alcohol.”
“Where?” The one near me yelled back.
“Hidden under the floorboards. There are about thirty more where this came from.”
“Bring that bottle here,” the leader ordered. I waited for the solder to deliver the alcohol.
Rocks shifted again, and then I heard his feet hit the ground.
That was close.
“What is it?” someone else asked.
The leader must have taken a sip because he coughed hard. “This damn stuff will melt the flesh off your bones. It’s moonshine.”
“Moonshine?”
“Good ol’ homemade alcohol, son.”
“How ‘bout you spread some around, Sarge?”
“Not until we finish burning the town and find the girl. Get the Readers.”
“Yes, sir.”
As the day drew on, my breath was getting heavy. The heat of the sweltering sun made my hiding place feel like a coffin heading into cremation. The rocks surrounding me were getting hotter and hotter, as the sun rose higher. The air in the chamber area felt stale, causing my lungs to work overtime. It was hell on earth. Attempting to stem my oncoming panic attack, I removed some of the larger stones near my feet to let some air in. But even the outside air was hot and t
ainted with smoke.
I couldn’t stand it any longer. I was being roasted alive.
I kicked down the opening and slid out, straight into the direct heat of the sun, not caring if anyone was above me or not. Bending over and taking deep breaths of the smoke-laced air, I finally felt relief flooding my nerves.
The soldiers had moved away from the wall, but I could still hear their voices.
I needed to find shelter, something that didn’t feel like the inside of an oven, yet would protect me from getting burned and blistered.
“We need to find that girl as soon as possible. They said you could make contact with her. So, where is she?” the sergeant asked.
“We don’t know.” My breath caught in my throat. It was Dr. Simon. He was there. “We haven’t been able to make contact with her.”
“He’s right. We have to be within a certain range to make contact with other Readers,” Chase replied. He was here too.
I wondered if Chloe was still at the bunker recovering. The last I saw of her, she’d been in a pretty bad condition.
“Well, I suggest the three of you push your limits,” the Sergeant responded. “Someone is in this town, and I have a gut feeling it’s her. I found footprints leading in from the west and none exiting. The footprints were small, making me assume it’s a female.”
Three of them? Was Chloe the third?
“It could have been anyone who passed through,” Chase noted. “There are survivors everywhere, leaving their hives and searching for food. Or, it could have been one of the Arvies.”
“You’re here for one reason and one reason alone. To help us find her. We know she couldn’t have gone too far. Our only mission is to find that girl and bring her back. In this, we cannot fail. Every one of our lives depends on it.”
“Are you saying they’ll kill you for not being able to find her?” Dr. Simon asked.
“No,” the Sergeant responded, “but they’ve threatened to exile us, like the Intransigents.”
“Why would they exile soldiers? That would be a stupid move on their part.”
“Over the past few months, they’ve received hundreds of survivors entering the bunker. That’s a bunch more mouths they’ll have trouble feeding. They wouldn’t bat an eye if they lost a few dozen, especially not if it could be used as a warning to keep everyone in their place. Right now, they’ve got every able-bodied male in training. They’ve made it clear that if we fail, we will be replaced.”