Vigo's Lament: A Dystopian Thriller (Age of End Book 3) (7 page)

They watched her body wriggle and squirm. Her eyes rolled back, showing only the whites.

“How could you ever get used to something like this?” Charlotte said to herself. “It looks so painful.”

They stood over Izzy and let the seizure reach the end of its cycle. When her body finally came to a rest, her eyes rolled forward, and she lay still, panting.

“Are you okay, honey?” Charlotte asked.

Izzy opened her mouth, and a dribble of blood fell from her lips. “I think I bit my tongue.”

“Let me see.”

Izzy opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue. There was a small laceration at the tip, where her tooth had sliced through.

“It’s just a small cut. Did you hurt anything else?”

She shook her head and smiled.

“What do you call these things?” Alan asked. “They scare the hell out of me every time.”

She shrugged. “It’s just a seizure. I have them all the time. It’s no big deal.”

“No big deal?” Alan said. “It looked like a pretty big deal to me.”

“Daddy says I have them because I’m special. I’m not like other people.”

“What does he mean by that?” Alan said, frustrated.

“You clearly aren’t a parent,” Charlotte said. “He means that Izzy is the most precious thing in the world to him. He would do anything for her. He would give up anything, even his life.”

“And what does that have to do with the seizures?” Alan asked.

Charlotte shrugged. “I don’t know, but he was definitely trying to protect her. He kept her hidden from the public for, what, ten years?”

“Regardless,” Vince said turning to talk directly to Izzy, “what did your father do when you had these seizures? What should
we
do?”

“Nothing,” she answered. “He held my head like you do, but he didn’t do anything else. He just waits until they’re over.”

“Huh,” Alan said, dissatisfied. “Really? That’s it?”

“They tire me out, but they don’t hurt me.” She moved her tongue in her mouth. “I don’t usually bite my tongue, though.”

“Okay,” Vince said, decidedly more satisfied than Alan. “So next time, we know what to do. Hold your head and wait.”

Izzy and Charlotte nodded in agreement. Alan shrugged. “If you say so.”

Charlotte glanced out the window on the far side of the room. She saw the approaching wall. “We’re getting close. We should get ready. I have no idea who or what will be waiting for us on the docks. I’m hoping we can sneak in quietly, but we should be prepared, in case we encounter hostiles.”

“Hostiles?” Alan said, sarcastically stroking his chin. “Why would anyone be hostile towards us? Oh right, the psycho lunatic that killed Greene and tried to kill us. I forgot about that guy.”

They walked outside to see the wall in all of its glory. It was just as large as they remembered. The towering sight of the barrier had not lost its stunning effect.

Alan pointed to the Spire, which poked up in the distance. “The Spire’s all the way over there.”

“I steered us away from that area,” Charlotte said. “It’s too dangerous to go directly to the Spire. We don’t know what it’s like right now. We’re entering through a different gate.”

“Gate?” Alan asked. “There are gates? That would have been useful the first time around.”

“Yes, there are four gates. Three dispersed along the wall and one at the Spire.”

“That’s the one Barnabus was taking me to,” Alan said.

“Correct. Greene had all of his test subjects shipped to the Spire’s docks.”

“You mean prisoners,” Vince said.

“Right, prisoners. Sorry. Force of habit. Anyway, we’re not going there.” She pointed far to the left, where two large columns stood in place of the wall. “That’s where we’re going. Between those two pillars is the Western Gate. It’s usually operated by Greene’s men, but with Greene gone, there’s no way to know what we’re up against. That’s why we need to be careful. For all we know, Simon is posted in there, waiting for us.”

“He doesn’t know we’re coming,” Alan said. “And even if he did, he wouldn’t know which gate we’re at.”

Charlotte turned and pointed to the camera mounted above them. “There’s a good chance he knows.”

“He’s been watching us this whole time?” Alan shouted. “Why in the world didn’t we disable them?”

“We could have, but it wouldn’t matter. There are cameras all over, and this boat has a locator device. If Simon really wanted to, he could find us. But who knows? Maybe he didn’t bother looking.”

Alan scoffed. “That makes me feel better.”

Vince looked at the bag of guns sitting by the bed. “Whatever is waiting for us, Charlotte’s right. We need to be ready to protect ourselves. I know we’re far from the Spire, but if there are any Crowns in there, there’s no doubt they’ll try to kill us. Others may want us dead too.”

“Like who?” Alan asked.

“A lot of Greene’s people think we betrayed him. They think we’re working with Simon. You may be okay walking the streets,” He pointed to Alan and Charlotte. “They may not recognize you, but like Trevor said, my face was broadcast to the entire City. Everyone knows what I look like. In any case, we should all take precautions and cover our faces anyway.”

“Vince is right,” Charlotte said, walking to the beds. “We’ll cut up these sheets and wear them as scarves. Of course, no one knows about Izzy, so she doesn’t need one.”

Alan looked at Charlotte, with the sheets in her hands, and to Vince, with guns in his. “So let me get this straight. Our plan is to walk in there and hope that no one recognizes us, and if they do, we charge in, guns blazing.”

Vince and Charlotte nodded.

“Okay then,” Alan said, shrugging. “Let’s do it.”

Vince cut long strips from the sheets and Charlotte inspected their guns. Alan wandered to the pantry to stock up on food. They met at the front of the boat, just as it was pulling into the gate. The huge swinging doors were already wide open.

“Hmm,” Charlotte said, carefully studying the gate. “They usually keep these closed. Greene didn’t much care for outsiders. At least not the ones that weren’t test subjects.”

“Simon must have opened them,” Alan said. “He’s all about freedom after all, right? Just like the prisoners in the Spire. Free to stay or free to leave.”

“Live free forever,” Vince said, recalling the Rodin motto. It was the same motto Harry Hedcrown carried over when he first formed the Crowns.

“Live free forever,” Alan repeated. “As long as you agree with Simon. Otherwise, Live free until he shoots you in the head.”

The boat slid through the gate and into the docking area. The place was eerily quiet. Dozens of boats were docked against the wooden platforms, none of them occupied. Piles of cargo sat out, unattended. Not a soul was around. The only sound was that of their motor, growling along as they passed by other boats, searching for a vacant spot.

Charlotte steered towards the end of the dock, where there were plenty of spaces. She butted up against the platform and threw the rope around a nearby post. Once they were secure, she wrapped the self-made scarf around her face and hopped out. “I’ll check the area. Watch the girl while I’m gone.”

She jogged up and down each path, checking the windows of every boat. Vince and Alan stood on the deck, marveling at the size of the place. They knew the City was big, but the sight of so many boats was overwhelming. They were still both new to the technology of the City, motorized boats included.

Charlotte returned with her gun lowered. “The area is clear. We’re alone, for now.”

“So where to next?” Alan asked.

“Next, we go to the Spire,” Vince said. “To find Simon.”

“Right,” Alan nodded. “How far are we?”

Charlotte considered the question. “Let’s see. The Western Gate is the closest one to the Spire, other than the Spire gate of course. It’s about five miles away.

“Five miles?” Alan said shrugging. “I guess we walked in the snow plains for five days. What’s another five miles?”

“It is a long distance to go unseen,” Vince said. “Especially in a place this densely populated.”

Charlotte nodded. “So we stick to the shadows and move quickly. Stay away from the main streets. The tunnels are completely off limits. Everything underground is Crowns territory.”

“Isn’t everything Crown territory now?” Alan said.

She shrugged. “I guess, but it will be far worse underground. We have no reason to go down there anyway.”

“We need to look out for cameras too,” Vince added.

“That will be difficult,” Charlotte said. “Greene’s cameras are on almost every block.”

“We did it when we were with Simon. Otherwise, Greene would have seen us coming.”

Charlotte looked up at the camera mounted on their boat. “Maybe we don’t have to worry about them. That camera up there was staring us in the face for the whole trip, and there’s no one here waiting for us. If he was paying attention to the cameras, he would have sent someone. Maybe he missed Greene’s camera systems, or he just lost interest.”

“Okay,” Vince said. “So we won’t worry about the cameras, but keep an eye out for people and stay hidden if you see anyone. There’s no way to tell if they’re friendly or not, but we can’t afford to risk it. If anyone recognizes us, if they blow our cover, our trip suddenly becomes ten times as dangerous. Does everyone understand?”

They nodded.

Vince wrapped the scarf around his face and pulled his hood up. “Good, then let’s go.”

TWELVE

VINCE, CHARLOTTE, AND Alan briskly walked along the side of the road. Izzy sat upon Charlotte’s shoulders.

“You know the way, right?” Alan asked. He felt the need to whisper even though no one was in sight.

“Maybe,” Charlotte said.

“Maybe? You’re telling me we don’t know where we’re going?”

“We know the general direction. That should be enough.”

“Why in the world don’t you know the way? This is your home, isn’t it?”

“The Spire is my home. It
was
my home. The day I went on that mission with you was the first time I left the Spire in fifty years, maybe more. I’ve studied maps, but the City is massive. I only know the major roads. You know, the ones we’re trying to avoid.”

Alan threw his arms up. “Well, I’ve lost all hope. We’re going to get lost in this maze and end up on the opposite side of the City. Then again, that might not be such a bad thing. As far as I’m concerned, the further away from that thing, the better.”

Vince shook his head. “We must go back. Someone has to stop Simon. He’s too unpredictable to have such power.”

Alan dismissively waved his hand. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t worry. I was just joking. I’m looking forward to seeing the old labs. Ah, the memories.”

Voices came from around the corner, two people in deep conversation. The four of them dashed to the nearest wall and pressed their bodies flat against the cold concrete, hidden in shadow.

The two strangers stopped in the middle of the intersection, chatting away.

“What do you think those signs mean?” said the voice of a man.

A woman answered. “You mean the wanted signs?”

“Yeah, it doesn’t make sense. Why would a girl so young have a bounty on her head?”

“She’s important to someone. Or at least Simon seems to think so.”

“Simon is a weird guy. Do you think it’s for, you know…”

“No. He’s a crazy son of a bitch, but he’s not like that. Knowing him, he’ll probably hand her a gun and tell her to shoot some poor labbie.”

“You think there are still some around? Labbies I mean.”

“I’m sure of it. He must be holding them captive.”

“Why wouldn’t he just kill them?” the man asked.

“If he kills them, he loses his leverage. His power.”

“Leverage for what? Greene’s dead. He’s already won.”

“I don’t know,” the woman answered. “Maybe he knows someone’s coming.”

“Or maybe he’s just a sick bastard.”

“That is also very likely.” She paused for a moment. “You know what, you’re probably right. Why does he ever do anything? Because he’s one sick bastard.”

“I can get on board with that.”

“Oh, we’re late.”

“Let’s get going then. Don’t want to miss the ceremony. It’s important. We need to honor the ones we’ve lost.

“Do you know where we’re going?”

“Yeah, this way.”

The strangers moved down the street, away from the four of them pressed against the wall. “What was that about?” Alan asked.

“Wanted posters of a girl?” Charlotte said. “Could it be Izzy? Could he somehow know Greene’s secret?”

Vince looked up at another camera, staring at them from up high. “You said there are cameras everywhere. He must have seen her on the monitors.”

“Even if that’s true, the cameras don’t have microphones. The only way he could hear us is through a portable microphone. There’s no way he knows she’s his daughter. To him, she’s just a random girl who decided to tag along.”

“Well he wants her for some reason,” Alan said. “Where do you think those two are going? They mentioned a ceremony?”

“They said it was to honor the ones they’ve lost,” Vince said.

“We should go,” Charlotte said.

Vince and Alan both glanced at her as if they had misheard what she said.

“Are you crazy?” Alan asked. “I thought we were trying to
avoid
people. That ceremony is guaranteed to be swarming with people. People who think we’re traitors. As far as they know, we’re the reason all of those people are dead in the first place.”

“Which is true, I suppose,” Vince added. “My plan was to rescue you and take down Greene, but I put other people’s lives in danger without realizing it.”

“They were going to break through anyway,” Charlotte said. “Your arrival may have sped up the process, but Simon was determined, and Greene wasn’t equipped to handle his methods. They broke through the first wall before your group even showed up.”

“That won’t make any difference to these people,” Alan said. “Directly or indirectly, those people died because of us. It’s a slap in the face to show up to their funeral.”

“Remember,” Charlotte said, “the Spire was my home. I knew a lot of people who died that day. Some of them were close friends. I know the ceremony will be crowded. I know there will be some risk, but it’s very small. We can stay in the back and keep our faces covered. I promise, no one will recognize us.” She sighed. “You got your chance to mourn, now it’s my turn.”