AfterLife (28 page)

“I’m Xander,” Chloe’s companion said. He also looked like a
college kid; his dark hair was long and parted down the middle and the bangs on
either sides of his face swooped back to cover his ears. He habitually ran his
hand over the top of his head to pull his hair back out of his face.

Wes looked over the four AfterLife members. He was sure they
had each been selected for a reason. Caleb was a military strategist, so there
must be something about Chloe and Xander he felt would be useful in rescuing
his brother. Important enough to bring them from Madison. Simon’s ability would
have to be his strength, but Charlie’s was a little less obvious. Wes wondered
which of the Ancestors felt they would be the best candidates for this mission.

“So none of you have met before?” Wes looked around at the
small group assembled at the table.

“Nope,” Charlie said, “but that’s not unusual. AfterLife is
a pretty widespread organization, so we don’t always have a chance to meet
everyone.”

“Ah, here’s someone I do know,” Meri interrupted. She was
looking toward the door at a couple who had just entered the diner.

The couple must have recognized Meri because once they saw
her they headed directly for the booth. “Meri!” the couple said almost
simultaneously as they approached.

Meri motioned for Wes to scoot out of the booth so she could
slip past him and stand up to greet the newcomers. “How are you guys? I haven’t
seen either of you in a while.” She hugged each of them and then slipped back
into her place at the table. Wes also sat back down after making room for the
late arrivals. “Wes, this is Jose and this is Amanda. Jordan and I worked with
them on a project last year. They’re good people.”

“Thank you, Meri,” Jose said.

The rest of the group introduced themselves. It was odd, Wes
thought, that none of this select group really knew one another. Well, at least
Meri knew two of them. That was a little reassuring. Hopefully they would be
able to pull together to save his brother.

Jose was Mexican American and taller than Wes. Amanda was
also tall and had a soft round face and blond hair. Wes didn’t know if they
were actually a couple, but they definitely gave the illusion they were. Amanda
hung on Jose’s arm as if she would fall over without his support.

Once introductions were complete, Meri took the lead in organizing
the evening. “I’m sure you all know the basics, and Oscar has sent you the
outline of what we’re planning to do tonight.” There were nods from everyone at
the table as she spoke. “The individual we are attempting to rescue is Wes’s
brother, and although we don’t know why, his liberation is more important than
any other antemort rescue mission we’ve done recently. The Atumra want him, and
we need to make sure he doesn’t remain in their custody.”

There were only a few matters to discuss since the entire
plan was sent earlier that day from the Hub to each of them. Meri confirmed
minor details and answered a few questions before they all felt ready to leave
the diner. Once outside, they split up into their separate pairs. The plan was
to approach the Atumra headquarters from different sides, watching for any
signs of trouble before meeting up in the back alley. Each individual wore a
communication device that allowed him or her to be in constant contact while
also letting Oscar participate from the Hub. Wes was certain the Ancestors were
also listening.

The streets were fairly quiet. Wes walked along the sidewalk
with Meri at his side. They were approaching the Atumra headquarters from the
north, which took them through a residential neighborhood. They could hear
short conversations from the four other pairs through their earpieces. Wes and
Meri remained silent while observing the passing landscape of aged stone
buildings with sporadically lit windows that spilled down light on the frozen
pavement at their feet.

“We’re arriving at the location,” Xander’s voice came over
the earpiece.

“So are we,” Charlie said, answering for Simon and himself.
“We’ll be entering the side street from the south.”

“We still have a couple of blocks to go,” Amanda’s voice
chimed in. “We took the subway one stop too many. Sorry guys.”

Meri pulled on Wes’s arm. He looked down at her and she
pointed her nose ahead of them. Their destination sat on the next block. Its
windows were mostly dark, a deceptively good sign.

They met up with the other AfterLife members in the side
street at the back of the building. It was poorly lit and the pavement was
riddled with potholes. Their soft steps echoed off the surrounding buildings.
The stainless steel door Jezebel had described to Wes was right where she’d
said it would be. The team gathered near the door and Wes took the lead as they
approached.

Just as he reached for the handle, Meri grabbed Wes’s arm
and looked up at him. He looked down at her questioningly. Their eyes met and
she synced with him instantly. They stood facing each other in the nothingness.

“This is a trap Wes, I know it,” she said, “and I want you
to come out of this. The only way to do that is to be prepared. We’re going to
be heavily outnumbered. There are more people than we can handle on our own. To
be honest, I don’t think we can trust Charlie and Simon. I’m not sure about
Xander and Chloe. When they get you, which I know they will, you need to go
along with it. That’s the only way your brother will survive. Act like you
didn’t know it was a trap. Pretend you’re completely surprised by the turn of
events. Play their game; it’s the only way to win this one.”

The sync broke instantly and they were again in the alley in
front of the stainless steel door. The sync must have lasted less than a second
since the others didn’t seem to notice anything had happened. Wes gave Meri a
slight nod acknowledging what she’d said and she pulled her hand off his arm.
He turned the doorknob and the door clicked open. It was unlocked. Jez had done
her job.

The door opened into a medium-sized loading dock that was
scattered with crates and stacked with boxes. The room was lit by a small
incandescent bulb next to the door opposite the one they were passing through.
There was no sign of anyone. This was too easy. Meri was right, it was
definitely a trap. They stepped inside and Simon quietly closed the door behind
them.

Charlie pulled out his phone and looked at the screen.
“According to the blueprints Ops sent us, there’s a hallway on the other side
of that door. Midway down the hallway is a stairwell that will take us to the
lower levels. That’s probably where your brother is being held.”

Wes and Meri looked at one another and Meri raised an
eyebrow and gave a half smile. Wes knew she was telling him “It’s up to you.”
She was right. Even if they didn’t trust Charlie, it was the only way to get
closer to where his brother was being held. Wes nodded to Charlie and followed
him through the door into a hallway that ran perpendicular to the main lobby of
the building. The rest of the group did likewise, with the exception of Xander
who remained behind to watch the door. He would also notify the others if they
needed to use another exit. As they traveled down the hallway, Wes got a
glimpse into a lobby that was lit by soft light.

The floors were polished gray marble and the walls were
paneled with wood. There was a grand staircase and an atrium that opened up to
the three floors above the main one. Opposite the main entrance was a desk
where a doorman would stand, but tonight the desk was empty. The group paused
temporarily when they heard some muffled voices coming from one of the upper
floors. Charlie, phone in hand, pointed down the hall and they quietly
proceeded past the lobby to the stairwell. Jose and Amanda motioned that they
would remain in the corridor that intersected with the lobby to stand watch and
keep the exit clear should they need to get out in a hurry.

“I think we came on a good night,” Charlie whispered as they
made their way down the quiet staircase. “We may get in and out of here without
any trouble.” Wes wondered if the comment was intended to reassure him as he
led him into a trap, or if Charlie was just naïve and didn’t really see the
trap they were in already.

They descended three levels below street level before
Charlie, still consulting the plans on his phone, led them out of the stairwell
and down another long, unlit hallway with doors on either side. The hallway was
about 8 feet wide. This made for easy movement of equipment for whatever was
done in these chambers hidden by earth and rock. From Emily’s stories, it
couldn’t be anything good. Bright light from an open doorway ahead spilled into
the corridor halfway down the length of the otherwise dimly lit hall. The group
cautiously approached and stopped where the light from the doorway made a line
on the floor, separating it from the hall. Wes leaned forward slightly to look
inside, his head crossing the line from hidden shadow to revealing light. In
the middle of the room he saw Lyall strapped to a table.

He quickly pulled his head back into the darkness. Meri held
his arm to keep him from running into the room. His quick glance had also
revealed there was a man sitting on a chair reading a book. He was older with
gray hair, but Wes knew one should never underestimate a Mortui by his
appearance. He might appear to be no threat to their rescue when in fact he was
the most lethal person in the entire building. For all Wes knew, the man in the
room could be Seth himself.

They looked at Charlie, who was in the lead, to see if he
had any directions as to what the next step should be, but they didn’t have
time to execute anything. As they looked at one another, a door opened behind
them. The fluorescent lights in the ceiling flickered on, and the now
brilliantly lit hallway revealed a dozen Atumra soldiers.

Wes leapt toward the room where his brother was, but Simon
pulled him back and restrained his arms behind him. Meri was right, he wasn’t
to be trusted. Shouting a warning about Simon and Charlie to the others, Wes
tried to pull away, but Simon was stronger. At the same time, Meri pulled out
her EDDIE and began firing darts at the soldiers. Some of them retreated behind
open doors. They hadn’t come equipped with EDDIEs of their own. Wes didn’t know
if this was because they weren’t standard issue or if they didn’t think they’d
need them. With Charlie and Simon now identified as traitors, there was only
him, Meri, and Chloe to fight them.

“They’re behind us too!” Chloe screamed. Wes could hear her
firing her EDDIE as well. One of them must have hit Charlie; Wes could hear him
grunting on the floor. Through their earpieces they could hear that Xander,
Jose, and Amanda were also under attack at their respective locations.

Simon pushed Wes up against the wall, pressing his face onto
the painted concrete. Five soldiers were on the floor, one of them Charlie. The
rest of them retreated back into the doorways that lined the hallway. From
where he was held, Wes watched as Chloe stepped quickly up to Charlie and
shoved one of her heels into his left eye. Charlie screamed. She withdrew her
heel and shoved it into his other eye. If they made it out of here without
being severed, Wes knew without a doubt he could trust Chloe.

More soldiers ran toward her and she continued firing darts
at them. Some needed more than one to stop them. Wes could hear Meri doing the
same from the opposite side. Then suddenly the grip on him loosened as Simon
fell to the floor in spasms. Meri had shot him with a dart. There was a slight
pause in the firing as the soldiers pulled back, but the floor was littered
with Mortuis. Some of them fought to get up or pull out the dart that
restricted their movement. Wes glanced into the room that contained his
brother. Lyall remained motionless on the table, with the gray-haired man
standing over him watching the events in the hallway. He needed to get his
brother out of that room.

“I hate this part,” Meri said, moving her head back and
forth to see the corridor in both directions.

“Why?” Wes pulled out his own EDDIE and prepared to fire. It
was a stalemate. No new soldiers emerged from the doorways; the ones that were
shot lay piled on the floor of the hallway in both directions.

“Because,” Meri said, lifting her chin to motion down one
end of the hallway, “the darts eventually lose their charge.” The fallen
soldiers were beginning to pull themselves off the floor in the order in which
they’d been shot. Meri and Chloe shot them again. “Eventually, we’ll run out of
darts. They’re not firing on us because they know we’ll eventually exhaust our
ammunition. Why waste darts on us? In a way, they’re starving us out.” She
looked up at Wes and smiled, revealing her teeth. “It’s okay though. We still
have friends on the way. Then the hunters will become the hunted.”

Wes stepped into the room and pointed his EDDIE at the
gray-haired man. “Disconnect him from the IV,” Wes said, motioning between the
man and his brother.

“I’m sorry Wes, but it isn’t time yet.” The man stepped back
from the table and placed his hands in the front pockets of the doctor’s coat
he was wearing. “He needs to stay connected for now.”

“I will remove your eyes myself,” Wes yelled at the man and
shot a dart at him. The man fell to the floor, his legs buckling under him, and
he began twitching on the white tile.

“Wes!” Meri’s voice came from the hallway. “We need you out
here. I’ve got to reload.”

Stepping back into the hallway, he could see the situation
was rapidly disintegrating. More soldiers were inching their way from the doorways
toward them. Wes started firing his darts at them while Meri reloaded, and then
the two of them took over for Chloe as she reloaded. Only a few minutes passed
before their EDDIEs were once more out of darts. Hurriedly, Wes began to pull
the spare darts out of his pocket to reload.

“Don’t,” Meri said as she pulled them from his hand and
shoved them back into his coat. “You may need those later. We want them to
think we’re out,” Meri said, lifting herself up on her toes so she could say it
closer to Wes’s ears. “Now the fun starts.” She winked at him.