Reborn (The Cartographer Book 2) (30 page)

“You're probably right. That is why I need your help.” Sam replied somberly. “Don't get me wrong, I respect Corvus and his decisions until recently. We have been through a lot together.”

“We were through a lot together,” I muttered bitterly.

Sam sulked. “I know, Nathan.”

“Why come to me?” I asked. “I can't control the decisions he makes.”

“True,” he agreed. “But you have influence with the Insurgents. I need your help bringing them to our side.”

I shook my head. “I have already had this discussion with Janero. There is no way they would join forces with a murdering scumbag like Shai.”

Sam dropped his face into the palms of his hands. “I know, Nathan.” For a long time he remained in that position, breathing heavily through his fingers. Finally after several moments passed he looked up. “When we were kids I loved you like a brother.”

I looked down and kicked at a dust ball the size of a cotton ball. “I know, Sam.”

His face hardened and he sucked on the cigarette. “Now I am coming to you as a brother. The Consortium has been rotting from the inside for a long time. You know that,” he pleaded. “Corvus needs everyone he can get to accomplish that. As it currently stands he can't win.”

“So what?” I looked up. His face changed to a mask of shock and confusion. “Who cares if he loses? The Insurgents are determined to defeat the Consortium. We will do it without the assistance of murderers and thieves. If you really want to help then get me out of here.”

Sam stood. The look of disappointment on his face cut me like a knife, but I remained resolute. “I'm sorry you feel that way. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the Insurgents will not win either. The only way the Consortium can be defeated is by combining our forces.” He turned and tossed the cigarette into the vacu-toilet before heading to the door.

“Sam,” I called.

His hand rested on the door handle. Without turning he responded. “Yes?”

I stood but when I did my wrist started to throb, reminding me that my hand was still missed. “Join us, Sam. Forget Corvus. Take me back to the Insurgents, we will defeat the Consortium together.”

He did not respond and instead opened the door. The two guards stood across from the wolf in a twisted parody of a Mexican standoff as they eyeballed each other. Sam stepped into the hall and turned around with sadness in his eyes. “I can't do that, Nathan.” He closed the door without another word.

Two days passed before anyone else came to visit. Fortunately I had enough food and water left over from Janero's initial offering. I passed the time by counting the stones in the ceiling and thinking about the welfare of my friends. Occasionally I heard people pass my door on their way to other areas of the church, but their muffled voices were unidentifiable. As the time passed I began to refer to the church as a prison. It wasn't until my third day of confinement that Janero finally returned.

“I'm saddened by your decision,” he mourned.

I held up my stump. “If you knew what I have been through, you wouldn't be so sad.”

He looked at the disfigurement and nodded slowly. “You are probably right. Corvus and I agree that it would be unwise to release you.” He lowered himself on the couch and studied me.

“Why is that?” I asked.

“We feel you might be inclined to reveal to your friends what you have seen,” he explained. “Sam told me everything. He had explained our current strategic position and strength to you. I can't release you with that information.”

Sam betrayed me
. I was speechless.

“I'm judging by your silence that you are reevaluating your position?” Janero inquired.

“No,” I replied softly.

He stood up, clearly disappointed. “I'm sorry to hear that. I'm afraid we will have to reevaluate your situation.” He surveyed the room. “Normally these accommodations are reserved for people who are essential personnel.”

“So I am no longer convenient for you?” I growled. “What are you going to do, throw me to the mutants?”

Janero's demeanor grew
colder
. “We are not quite the savages you make us out to be.” He turned and opened the door. “I choose to deal with…
problems
…swiftly.” He stepped into the hall and the door slammed shut.

Break Out

When I first heard the commotion outside my door, I thought it was part of the dream I was having. I dreamt I was back on Earth before everything went to hell. I was in my house, enjoying a nice bowl of Hamburger Helper (don't knock it until you try it) and watching an episode of Family Guy when the commotion began. I originally thought it came from my parent's bedroom upstairs but then I was jarred from the dream. The noise was actually coming from outside my door. It sounded like the two guards outside were involved in a scuffle.

“What the hell?” I muttered. Soft thuds were quickly replaced by loud crashes. As soon the sounds started, they ceased. A long silence followed and I sat up briskly, straining to hear. The only noise coming from the room was the droning buzz of the overhead lights.

The door handle turned and I froze. With everything I had been through during the past 24 hours my mind pictured a ten foot tall mutant stepping through the door, coming to munch on my bones. Someone stepped through the doorway but it wasn't a mutant gorilla or flying monkey-shark-dragon thing. It was Thirty-Five. His eyes found me cowering on my bed. I noticed that they were green. In his hand he clutched the head of one of my robot guards.

He dropped it and uttered a single word. Although it had been only one word I heard the difference. It was less mechanical but sounded forced, as if it was coming from another source. It was one word which jolted me into action.

“
Run
.”

I didn't bother to ask questions. I sprang from the bed, rushed past him and into the hallway. In my haste I nearly tripped over the decimated remains of the two guards. They had been pummeled into piles of unrecognizable slag. I hesitated and wondered how one of their own could take out two armed guards with such ferocity. I didn't get the chance to ponder the question for too long when the booming voice of Thirty-Five resonated from inside the room. “
GO
!”

I did as commanded. I ran out the door, through the hallway, past the main chamber and out the front door. Outside the starless sky blanketed everything in darkness with the exception of Manny's taxi which remained outside with its lights on. When I hopped into the back seat I heard the shouts coming from inside the building as Janero's guards searched for me. I ducked down in the back seat and heard Manny's voice.

“Where to, kid?”

I peered over the seat. “Anywhere but here,” I shouted.

Manny turned around. “Sorry pal I need a point of reference. Anywhere but here means everywhere with the exception of here.”

I frantically surveyed my surroundings, expecting robot guards to come pouring out of the building at any moment. I needed to think fast. “Take me to the landing zone.”

Manny scrunched his face in confusion. “The landing zone?”

“Yes!” My voice became more frenzied by the minute. “Wherever the hell you picked me up from.”

A smile crossed Manny's face. “Ah, you mean the airport!”

I smacked my forehead on the seat cushion as Manny threw the vehicle in drive. In the dust cloud we left behind I saw four of Janero's guards burst out the door. They pointed their fingers at the cab but before they could fire, Janero ran out behind them with a robe wrapped around him. Even in the dark I could his face reflected in the church light. His face was a mix of anger and disappointment. He shouted something and they put their hands down. I turned around and slumped in the seat. I contemplated my next move and realized I had no next move. Where the hell would I go on a barren planet filled with nightmarish monsters?

About halfway down the road the vehicle came to a stop. When the holographic image of Manny vanished I realized that the vehicle died. Everything in the vehicle went out, leaving me surrounded by darkness.

“What the hell?” Frantic, I turned and looked out the back window. There was no sign of Janero or his robots. I drew a deep breath and tried to figure out my next move. The taxi stopped about 30 yards from the train station and I remembered Janero's warning.
Terrible things live beyond the tunnel.
I was unarmed, short one hand and alone. My current predicament did not exactly fill me with hope. I jumped in the front seat but the console was devoid of any type controls. Although there was a steering wheel there was no accelerator, brake, or light switch. The entire car had been controlled by Manny.

“Damn it!” I banged my left fist on the steering wheel but it was my right wrist that throbbed in response.
Where the hell am I supposed to go
? A little more information from Thirty-Five would have been useful but he was gone. I started to think the entire situation was some sort of trap. After all, it was one of Janero's personal robots who freed me. Was Shai behind this? I was aware of the “games” he liked to play.

I heard the clank of metal against pavement and saw Janero's robots in the distance, approaching fast. They were about a hundred yards away. I did the only thing I thought of at that moment. I left the cab and ran for the train station. Once I was inside the station I realized the folly of my actions. The darkness was only kept at bay by a single emergency floodlight outside. As I continued further into the station, the gloom eventually took over and I ran around like a headless chicken. I heard Janero's robots as they closed in. I changed direction and ran toward the tunnel. I took the stairs two at a time. By the time I reached the bottom it was so dark I practically fell down the final stair. I was blanketed in murky blackness. Even though there was oxygen down there I found it difficult to breathe. The air tasted old and stale, as if I just strolled into an old basement. I heard my pursuers muffled footsteps upstairs. I fumbled in the darkness for a light switch but felt nothing but cold steel walls. I fell back against the wall in resignation.

“Maybe this wasn't such a good idea,” I muttered to myself.

I heard the robots scurrying around at the top of the stairs. Flashlight beams rolled over the floor at the bottom of the stairs only twenty feet away. “
Do you have him
?” Janero asked. The beams grew larger as the robots descended the stairs.

“
No sir, he escaped from the vehicle
,” one of them replied. “
We are currently pursuing into the tunnels
.”

“
No damn it
!” Janero's agitated voice boomed over the communicator. “
Get him before he reaches the end of the tunnel. He's dead if we don't stop him
.”

The end of the tunnel?
I asked myself. I can't even find my hand in front of my face down here. I definitely had no urge to find out what lurked beyond the tunnel but the robots were coming. I slid along the wall, deeper into the tunnel. I froze when I heard a noise up ahead. It sounded like someone dropped a roll of quarters on the ground. I held my breath and listened. After a moment of silence I continued, but thought my lungs would explode. Only then did I realize I was holding my breath anxiously. I took one step forward and another sound from inside the tunnel caused me to freeze. This time it sounded like someone kicked an aluminum can against the wall. I strained my eyes in the hopes that I would see any sign of the source, but my eyes couldn't grow accustomed to such enveloping darkness. There would be no way I could continue through the tunnel without some source of light. I was trapped between the known threat of Janero and the unknown threat lurking in the gloom.

I stopped and tried to measure my options when two globes of blue suddenly pierced the dark. They began as no bigger than a pen tip but increased in size as they approached. The unknown threat was coming toward me! I turned and looked behind me and saw that the robots had reached the bottom stair. The first robot turned and held out his hand, palm open, as a white beam of light pierced the darkness.

The known or the unknown
? I struggled with the path I should take. The blue light was almost upon me. It was larger than a quarter now and bright enough to illuminate the area around it. Behind the light I saw another larger blue light as big as a softball. Suddenly I was covered in white light as Janero's robots trained their lights on me.

“
We found him!
” one of them shouted.

Their lights shone past me, illuminating the blue orbs in front of me. They revealed a person donned in silver and black armor with a helmet to match. The softball size blue orb was actually a light in the center of its helmet. The quarter size light encircled the barrel of the pistol currently pointed at my face.

“Get down!” the newcomer growled.

Without hesitation I fell to the floor. Sparks fell on me as the weapon roared to life. I placed my arms over my head and buried my face in the ground. I stayed that way until silence filled the tunnel.

“Oh, get up off the ground,” a mousy voice squeaked. “Do you humans always lie down on the job?”