United, page 22
part #4 of Protectorate Series
“Okay,” Theo said with all eyes on him. Even Jake was looking to him for orders. “We move forward through the buildings. They won’t come inside and split up their troops. Still, be on high alert just in case. We need to run fast and hard and get to the edge of this neighborhood before they can completely mobilize.”
“Get through the neighborhood. We do what we must to get DJ through the Creams quarters and to the capitol building, got it?”
Everyone nodded in approval.
“Just keep heading west if we get too spread out. Don’t wait for me or for orders. When you get to the edge, engage the enemy and make an opening for DJ. My unit, you stay with him at all costs and you get him through, you too, Jake,” Theo added for good measure.
The sounds were getting closer and everyone was getting antsy. We had our orders and now it was time to execute them. I suppose for a normal human, running at breakneck speed right before a battle wasn’t so much of a good idea. But I knew for someone like me, like us, it was going to get the adrenaline pumping and only prime the beast inside.
“Don’t forget to hold on to your thought. It’s your point of focus in the haze. Remember your enemy and forget your comrades,” I finished.
Over the training weeks, we had learned to key tactics: keep your deepest love in your mind to pull you back out, and hyper-focus on the enemy alone to prevent friendly attacks.
The running started and I wanted so badly to join the rest. I seriously felt like a caged monster just chomping at the bit for blood. Theo insisted we hold back with his unit, Jake, and DJ. The goal, after all, was that all four of us made it back into the Capitol.
“It’s kind of ironic,” Jake said after a second passed. “Last time the four of us were together here we were running in the opposite direction, doing everything we could to get out, and now…”
“Do you ever wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t escaped? If you had stayed. Do you think you could have really made it better without all of this?” Jake asked not to any one of us in particular.
I could see his face had paled a bit and I guessed the reality of it all had just truly hit him.
“No point in wishing and thinking about what could have been. This is our now. That’s all that matters,” Theo said in true pep talk fashion. I was guessing it wasn’t the first time he had to talk a team member down from the precipice of panic.
Jake cleared his throat and did his best to blink away his fear before nodding that he was good now. It was the signal I guess we were all waiting for, that assurance that we were good, that we were going to make it, and no matter what happened we wouldn’t fail our task.
Running was freeing to me. The beast was stretching his legs. Already I had to hyperfocus on who my enemy was. He had no preference and would have happily taken the others running and darting through the buildings alongside me. I hoped against all hope that the others kept their own willpower up.
We reached the edge of the neighborhood and skidded to a stop about one building before the open road and stretch of sparse mansions and parks that lay beyond it. We couldn’t have been that far behind the other Naturals, but the battle was well underway.
It was utter chaos. Super Soldiers were still dropping from the sky as transport after transport off-loaded only to be replaced by another. It was like a wave of black descending on our small group.
It was pure hand-to-hand combat. The Super Soldiers like our own were given no weapons. Whether it was out of fear of turning on their own—as I had with our fighters—or simply because they didn’t think we would have troops able to contend, I wasn’t entirely sure.
I felt Theo grab my arm and hold on to me. My beast was itching to move forward to kill and destroy. Perhaps he sensed it.
“Wait,” he said sternly. “We need to find the weak point to push forward.”
I could see little more than red and the taste of blood inside my own mouth. I half heard the conversation going on next to me between Theo, Jake, and Ruby. It was whether we should find a pocket and push forward and break through the line of Soldiers or rally the whole of the troops in one direction.
“They are swarming around us,” Jake said in urgency. “They are going to swallow us before anyone gets out. We need to break free, to get past the Soldiers.”
Vaguely I recognized the truth to his statement. Though the transports were dropping in a crescent around the neighborhood, they were converging on us along the west street. It was a giant mouth about to swallow us all whole. I knew Jake’s words were right. I had no emotion for the ones fighting in front of me, giving their lives as they battled hand-to-hand. All I saw was a path to feed my own blood lust.
“We fight there,” I managed to get out through gritted teeth.
It took all my effort to focus my mind on only breaking through the line, not killing in a rapid frenzy of blood like every other heightened human being around me. I could feel the pressure on my arm tightening to keep me back.
“Theo, it’s the only way. We need to break through,” I heard Jake say.
“You four stay in the unit’s circle,” Ruby said, stepping forward. We will keep you safe and moving forward.
She unholstered her gun and the others did the same.
“No, I’m with you,” I said matter-of-factly to her. If I didn’t have an enemy to fight soon, I was liable to lose control and attack one of my own.
I looked to Theo, willing myself to absorb my thoughts to keep me from going all the way. While I did so, he released his grip and took a step back as the unit circled the three men inside. Up until this point the beast had been free but still held in check. Now I was ready to let go and give him all the blood he wanted.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
I CAN’T EVEN explain the rush I got ripping out the throat of another. I lost myself in passion. At one point I was pretty sure I grabbed the Soldier in front of Ruby as we pressed forward. Picking him up high into the air, I flung him at the mass running towards us.
They were like me, so they only paused for a second. Still, by the time they had kicked their comrade to the side or stepped on him to get to us, I had already moved on to my next target. I completely forgot about the knife in my belt to aid me in my destruction. In a way, I think the beast saw it as cheating.
Instead of using my inhuman strength and speed, I ripped and clawed. With free reign, the beast was singing praises as the blood splashed our face. He had never been so exhilarated to fight because for once these foes were our equals. I had feared to turn on my own or the others doing the same, but now I knew that wasn’t a possibility. These Soldiers were the match my monster had craved. They actually challenged me, got some blows of their own in, and made me work for the kill I thirsted after.
All too soon we were through the hoard and on the other side. Still, we were running forward while Soldiers chased us. I turned to go back to the fight. I couldn’t walk, let alone run away from it.
There was a moment of struggle, Theo grabbed me around the waist and was pulling me back. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t fend him off until I realized someone had hit me with a stun baton.
The beast was not going to lose his grip. The back of Theo’s unit was still fighting while they struggled to pull me in the opposite direction. I could hear voices screaming at me telling me to move forward, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to go back. I wanted that bloodbath behind me.
“Hit her again!”
“No, don’t! Give her a second!”
“We can’t wait here. Either pick her up or leave her behind!”
“She is coming with us!”
It was hard to distinguish one voice from the other. I vaguely knew that I should recognize who they were from, but the beast didn’t really care.
“Yes, leave me,” I heard roar from inside me.
I had managed to gain back some of the strength after the shock. I was pulling my way back to the fighting where the back end of Theo’s unit was struggling, dying.
I felt another hard shock, this one much stronger than the last. It knocked me and my captor to the ground. If I could have felt pain, I was sure that would have really hurt.
I looked over at my captor and realized it was Theo. It was like I was remembering him, my thoughts, my love for him, for the first time since letting go. He was cursing and convulsing on the ground. I had got the brunt of the shock but it had still found its way to course through him too. Seeing the pain on his face woke me to reality.
“Sorry, princess,” Ruby’s voice said, standing over me. “You're taking too long to make up your mind and we need to move.”
I looked over at DJ and Jake. In Jake’s hand was his own taser. He must have been the one to hit me first. I guessed on a much lower setting. Ruby hadn’t held back one bit and, for once in my life, I was grateful for it. There was a very real chance that I had just been lost to the beast.
“Okay,” I said, coming to stand as my muscles remembered how to work much faster than Theo’s. “Let’s keep moving.”
I grabbed one of his arms and, wrapping it around myself, pulled him up. I was still working on my high and had plenty of adrenaline and strength coursing through my body.
My vision may have cleared from the bloodlust, but the beast was still very much present in his neat little cage ready to pop out at a moment’s notice. I used his presence to stretch my abilities while keeping control as I had done a few times before.
We were all about to turn to leave when a shot rang out. There was nothing unusual about the sound, I had heard it enough from Theo’s unit as we had battled our way through. It was the look on Ruby’s eyes directly in line with my own that caused me to hesitated for just a moment.
She only hesitated for a second before falling to the ground. With her out of my line of sight, I realized one of the Super Soldiers had gotten a hold of a pistol and had aimed it directly at her.
The shot had been slightly high, maybe because he knew that her torso was protected. It had landed just at the top of her left shoulder, slicing through her neck in the process. Though it could have been considered a graze, it was a very serious one. Immediately Jake came down to her side and clamped pressure down on the wound.
“It’s okay,” he said in a slightly frantic tone. “You’re going to be okay. We just need a bandage and some pressure.”
I could tell there was little of our protective circle left and more and more of the Super Soldiers were taking notice of us—we were in the freaking open, after all— and coming our way.
“There’s no time. Just give me your gun and get out of here,” Ruby said through struggled breath.
I could tell it was taking all her effort just to stay awake. Ignoring her, Jake grabbed a quick clot packet and a bandage out of his cargo pocket. We all had basic first aid on us, but it wasn’t going to be nearly enough. In the fifteen seconds of time that had passed, she had already lost a huge amount of blood.
He poured the quick clot powder and clapped down again on the wound, this time covering it with the bandage. I think it was the first time ever I heard Ruby cry out in pain.
“There, now I’m good. I’ll hold them off a little longer. Get out of here,” she said, pushing away Jake’s hand and clamping her own over the already-soaking bandage.
“Ruby…”
“No! We all knew the stakes. Move forward! No matter who gets left behind! You get to that lab and you make sure the job is done!” She practically was yelling as best as she could.
“She’s right,” Theo said softly. “Here, take this,” he said, reaching into one of his own cargo pockets and pulling out a small hand grenade. “I thought if I needed it…well, I wanted to take out as many with me as I could,” he finished, handing it over.
Ruby smiled and took the gift with appreciation. I didn’t think there was a better way that she picture herself going out in.
“I want you to know,” she said as she struggled to stand. “I am proud I joined your unit. We all are. None of us,” she motioned to the few still fighting to keep the Soldiers at a distance. “We wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.”
She lifted her chin a little higher. I could see her dig deep into a well of aggression and power I knew was beyond human strength in her condition.
“Fall back,” she yelled to the ones still fighting.
At a full out sprint, she released her grip on her wound and ran straight for the Soldiers. The others fell back at her words, running towards us, exchanging places with her. I barely registered the sound of clicking as she activated the device.
We turned and ran towards the capitol, our bloodied men having just left the fight pushing us forward. We didn’t need the momentum, however; none of us wanted to look back. The sound of her cry cut short by the explosion was more of a memory than I care to have.
The rest of the way to the capitol was in a sprint. No one spoke, and no one got in our way. I guessed they really had moved all their forces to the eastern wall. From time to time as I ran I caught glances of people through windows, fear plastered on their faces. All were hunkering down inside the safety of their homes or the homes of their employer. To them, we were the enemy.
They didn’t stop us though, just watched as we, bloodied and torn, ran past them to our ultimate goal. I would like to think they didn’t stop us because they on some level realized we were there to liberate them.
I had never entered the Capitol building from ground level. It wasn’t much unlike the pattern of the other Assembly halls I had visited. Most shocking of all was the fact that the doors were wide open and void of any protection.
We all hesitated in that doorway for a few minutes. For one thing, we needed to catch our breath, but for another, we also feared a trap.
“Where would…Reynolds be?” Jake asked between gasps of breaths, looking up at the massive building that reached higher than any other.
“Panic room…” DJ huffed. “But lab first…bottom floor I’m sure. Presidential elevator.”
We took a few steps into the large and spacious room. It was a little ridiculous how beautiful it was, still completely pristine and untouched. In the corner, a man in servant’s clothes cowered, hands raised. None of us paid him much attention, however.
Theo turned to the men and women he had left. It didn’t escape my notice that there were only four of them of the twelve we started with. He pushed over a waist-high marble column that a glass vase with flowers sat perched on top of.
The whole thing shattered to the floor in a loud, echoing crash. The servant yelped but the rest of us could do little more than heave and try to regain our breath. DJ was pulling at a stitch in his side.
Behind the column on the wall was a keypad. Theo pushed in some numbers. A spring released, opening a side panel. Inside was a massive bar. DJ, understanding his motive, turned and shut the two main doors we had just entered through. Theo slid in the bar and locked it into place. Outside of flying in like I had done my first day at the Capitol, there would be no way in our out.
“You four stay here. Guard this Elevator. No one gets past you from this way. Any civilians you direct to the back of the building where the kitchen is,” he said, pointing down the hall to the right of the golden elevator used solely for the President. “If you see Reynolds, you detain only, understand?”
The four of them nodded in agreement. We all wanted Reynolds’s blood. We all had friends and colleagues who had fallen because he was too stubborn to give in even when he had clearly lost. I couldn’t even imagine the willpower it would take for these four not to enact their revenge on the man should they come upon him.
Now it was just the four of us that remained as we made our way to the golden elevator. It took a few minutes for DJ to pry open the panel and insert the key, but finally the doors opened to us.
Inside, with the bottom floor of the deep shaft punched, we stood in silence. This was the moment we had all been waiting for. I looked over at Jake. His face was unreadable. I still didn’t know if his plan of attack was going to be the same as ours.
CHAPTER THIRTY
THE DOORS OPENED onto an entire floor void of any separating walls. Tables, lab equipment, computers, and what looked like cells filled it to capacity underneath the glare of synthetic light.
It was all empty, however. Chairs were turned over in the haste to exit, examination tables still had IV’s next to them dripping liquid onto the floor. I had no idea what horrible torture had occurred here and I didn’t want to.
“It will all be on a closed server, like my fortress was,” DJ was saying in a rush as he turned over the nearest computer and attempted to bring it to life.
It had clearly been broken in the haste to leave. Throwing it aside, he went to the next nearest one.
“Nothing will be able to take out of the lab. See that magnetic strip on the molding of the elevator? Anything electronic that passes it will be immediately destroyed. My own design,” he added with a scoff.
“What about your key?” Jake asked with concerned. “You need it to get into the network right? Was it just destroyed or whatever?”
“No,” DJ said with resolve. “I made these keys, too. The case protects it.”
We all gave a sigh of relief as DJ got the third computer to finally boot up. Clearly, they had been purposefully destroying them on their way out. Luckily they had missed the one.
We waited in silence while DJ did his work on the computer. First, he inserted the key and while talking to himself began the process of accessing the server mainframe to completely erase it all at once.
I noticed in the background a gentle mechanical hum of a machine working. It was an unfamiliar sound so it took me a second to pinpoint what it was exactly. I was about to tell the others what I heard. Clearly a printer. Maybe you couldn’t sneak out information on a tablet past DJ’s magic metal strips, but paper would be a different story.
