Brainrush 04 - Everlast 01: Everlast (13 page)

The question seemed to hang in the air. When Timmy’s jaw
dropped open, I knew the answer had just hit him in the head.

“Oh, crap,” he said.

W
E WAITED UNTIL NIGHTFALL
, each of us taking a
turn keeping a lookout. It was dark and sticky by the time we were all up and
ready to go. Insects swarmed around our faces. Several had already bitten me,
though for some reason they didn’t seem to like my sister. I guess boy’s blood
tastes better to them.

Sarafina and I lay on our bellies on the ridge overlooking
the farm. We used binoculars to watch Ahmed and Timmy as they shuffled through
the shadows from one tree to another. They hesitated behind the last row of
shrubs before the dirt road. The ground had been cleared beyond that. The truck
was parked about thirty feet in front of them. The cargo bed was empty; the
four bear cages had been moved beside the others near the end of the long
building. Light spilled from the wide doorway and I aimed the binoculars at the
cage with Mama Bear. She shifted uneasily, her gaze fixed inside the structure,
an occasional whine from within capturing her attention. The couple wearing
coveralls had left the building an hour ago, returning to the big house. The
people working the fields had been picked up by an old bus and most of the
guards had retired to the barracks area. Smoke drifted from their chimneys and
I could smell food. It made my stomach grumble. A few guards were still on
patrol.

Timmy darted across the road toward the truck and I swung
the glasses back around to watch. Ahmed covered him with his pistol, then
followed a moment later and the two of them huddled in the truck’s shadow.

“Say a prayer,” Sarafina whispered.

I’d already said ten. My muscles twitched. Our part of the
plan was simple—as soon as they started the truck’s motor, we were going to run
down the opposite side of the ridge and meet them at the first bend in the
road. But the last thing we wanted was a high-speed chase, so they had to
disable the other vehicles first. That’s the part that scared me the most.

Timmy crept to the driver’s door while Ahmed kept watch from
behind the truck. I followed his gaze through the binoculars and spotted the
guard who patrolled this side of the farm. He was a good ways off and still
hadn’t turned around for his return trip. They’d timed their approach based on
his routine. Timmy opened the door and climbed inside the cab. His silhouette
was highlighted by a lamp attached to the outside of the building. He pulled
down the visor and then twisted and turned in the seat. Then he ducked out of
sight as if looking in the footwell. Finally, he crawled out of the cab and
crouched beside Ahmed. Timmy’s hands danced in the air and it looked like they
were having an angry conversation.

“Oh, no,” Sarafina said. “He couldn’t find the keys.”

Sticking to the shadows, Ahmed and Timmy rushed to the
second truck, and this time both of them checked the cab. A few moments later
they were scrambling toward the cars parked at the other end of the building.
There were two older cars and a big SUV.

“Please, please, please,” Sarafina whispered.

We knew the keys might not be there, but we had a simple
contingency plan in that case.

Abort.

I followed their movements as they split up, Timmy checking
the first car while Ahmed checked the second. I focused on my brother as he
searched the car. His movements appeared urgent but controlled, and I felt a
swell of pride at his courage. But he slid out of the car empty-handed and I
could imagine his frustration. As he scurried to the last vehicle—the SUV—it
was like I was right there with him, desperately hoping we’d find a set of
keys, hearts pounding, grateful for the shadows that covered our movements.
Timmy was already there, crouching by the open driver door, his hands sweeping
the interior. Then he pulled himself out of the car and shook his head,
motioning in our direction. Ahmed’s head dropped. He nodded, and the two of
them crept to the rear of the SUV to make sure the coast was clear for their
dash back. I panned the binoculars and saw the guard had started his return
trip. He was still far enough away that the darkness should hide their escape,
but only if they hurried.

When I swept the binoculars back, Ahmed and Timmy took off
running.

A squelch from a walkie-talkie drew my attention to the near
side of the building, where a second guard rushed into the entrance. A moment
later two sharp bursts sounded from an alarm horn and the floodlights came on.

The entire area surrounding the structures was suddenly
bathed in light. Ahmed and Timmy were in plain sight, and for an instant it
seemed as if they’d been frozen in place.

“No!” Sarafina said.

Ahmed dropped to all fours and scrambled back to the
temporary cover of the SUV. Timmy was right on his heels. With nowhere else to
hide, they rolled under the vehicle and buried themselves in its shadows. I
held my breath as the barracks door swung open and guards streamed out with
assault rifles. They split into pairs and jogged in different directions, each
pair positioning themselves at strategic spots around the area.

The guard who’d set off the alarm ran out of the long
building and joined his comrades. The scene reminded me of online clan wars in
my video game, where one side established defensive positions as they waited
for the other team to show up. But the men’s movements lacked the urgency I
would have expected, and I had a growing hope that the alarm had nothing to do
with my brother and Timmy. When I saw four of the guards station themselves in
the parking area with their backs to the SUV, I breathed a little easier.

A stocky man wearing Western clothes exited the pagoda and
stood with his hands on his hips. I focused the lens and saw he was an older
Chinese man with a droopy mustache and long goatee. He surveyed the area, and
from the way the guards seemed to stiffen when he appeared, I guessed he was
the boss. The couple in coveralls I’d seen earlier appeared behind him, and the
three of them strode to the parking area.

 Even though our position was outside the range of the
floodlights, we flattened ourselves and edged back until only the tops of our
heads peeked over the ridge.

“What are we going to do?” my sister muttered, more to herself
than to me. She knew I didn’t have any answers. So we watched. And waited.

Two guards had positioned themselves near the far end of the
road. One of them raised a walkie-talkie to his lips, and the guards in the
parking area brought their weapons to the ready position. The guards positioned
behind the structures also brought their guns to bear, sliding behind cover.
Headlights popped into view and a big car and a van turned onto the far end of
the road, pulling to a stop when the two lead guards held their hands up. One
stood guard while the other conversed with the driver. The tinted windows
rolled down and the guard gave a cursory look inside. Then the side door of the
van slid open. The guard peeked inside. Satisfied, he spoke into the
walkie-talkie and waved them through.

My stomach went queasy when the two vehicles parked next to
the SUV that Ahmed and Timmy were hiding beneath. Six armed men exited and took
up defensive positions around the van, and I could imagine my brother’s heart
in his throat as he watched their boots walk past. The men were dressed in
fatigues and moved like a military squad. Once they were in place, a
white-haired man in an officer’s uniform stepped out of the car and strode to
the back of the van, where the boss man and the couple greeted him with short
bows. They exchanged a few words and the officer motioned for his guards to
open the rear door of the van. The guard reached inside, brought out three
duffels, and set them on the ground. The couple examined the contents and
nodded to the boss man. An order was issued and a forklift appeared around the
far corner of the long building. It carried a pallet stacked four feet high
with plastic-wrapped bricks. All of the farm guards left their hidden positions
to accompany it. From the way they held their weapons, I could tell they were
ready for trouble. The military guys tensed as well.

“Opium,” Sarafina whispered. “They’re selling it.”

We watched as both sides squared off while the drugs were
loaded into the van. I felt a spark of hope that everything would soon return
to normal and Ahmed and Timmy could escape and we could get far away from this
place. Five minutes later, the van doors closed, tentative bows were exchanged,
and the new arrivals climbed back into their vehicles and sped away, leaving
clouds of dust. The farm guards shouldered their weapons.

My sister blew out several short huffs and I could tell she
was trying to hold back tears of relief. I had to lower the binoculars to wipe
my own eyes. But when I looked through the lens again, a chill raced up my
spine.

“
O
H, NO!” I SAID
. I watched one of the
remaining guards open the trunk of the SUV and begin placing the duffels of
money inside. Another guard held the rear passenger door open for the boss man,
who seemed to be giving instructions to the couple. If the SUV moved, my
brother and Timmy were dead.

“We have to do something,” Sarafina said, her voice shaking.
She lowered her binoculars and glanced desperately at the scene, as if pleading
for a solution to present itself. 

I lowered my glasses and pushed down a surge of panic so my
mind could process it all. The men below were all bunched up around the car,
and it reminded me of the kind of challenges I’d faced in video games.
In the
game
Fallout
, the main character is able to throw objects to attract
attention.
“We need a distraction,” I said.

Sarafina frowned and then pulled the binoculars back to her
eyes. She swept them from the SUV to the near end of the building and back
again. Finally, she stuffed the lenses in her pack and said, “Stick close
behind me, and when I tell you, we’re going to have to run as fast as we can.”
Her chin quivered but her eyes were filled with resolve.

It wasn’t until I went to put my binoculars away that I
realized I was holding the softball-sized case housing the mini in my other
hand. I must have pulled it out of the pack when I panicked. That I’d done so
unconsciously scared the heck out of me.

I could have killed us all...

I put it away and tightened the straps on my backpack. My
heart was thudding so hard I thought it might burst.

“You ready?”

I nodded.

She pushed to a crouch and moved quickly down the path Ahmed
and Timmy had taken down the hill. I stuck to her heels. She hesitated when we
reached the trees along the edge of the road. We were directly across from the
front entrance of the building, less than thirty steps from the bear cages. A
couple of the bears lifted their heads and looked in our direction. One of them
was Mama Bear, and I sent a silent prayer she’d remain calm. She lowered her
head but her eyes seemed glued on me.

“We’re going to run into the building,” Sarafina said,
taking a deep breath. “Then we’re going to set off the alarm and turn off the
floodlights. Then we run back up the hill.”

It was a smart plan. Ahmed and Timmy should be able to make
it to the tree line in the confusion, and then we could all get away from here.

Sarafina hesitated. “Uh...maybe you should stay here.”

My scowl told her no.

“Yeah, I figured,” she said, grabbing my hand. “Let’s go!”

My sister was on the track team at school. She ran so fast,
it felt like my feet wanted to leave the ground as she pulled me with her. Mama
Bear rose to her feet and chuffed as we sped past the cages and stopped inside
the building.

The sight that greeted us tore my stomach to shreds, and the
stench nearly sent me into convulsions.

“Dio mio
,
”
Sarafina said, taking shelter in
her native language.

My brain soaked in the sight in an instant. Long rows of
wire cages lined short shelves on either side of the building, and the prone
bears inside looked over at us with pleading eyes, unable to move because the
cages were barely larger than the bears themselves. Their faces were scarred
from rubbing against the rusty wires, their claws broken, teeth missing.
Gutters of dirty water flowed beneath the cages to remove pee and waste but
remnants remained. The odor mingled with the smell of rotting flesh.

And fear.

“We have to free them,” Sarafina said.

But I knew we couldn’t. They’d been here too long; they
probably couldn’t even walk. When she reached for the latch on one of the cages
I stopped her, and she stared at me with tear-filled eyes.

“It’s too late,” I said, shaking my head.

There was a bench with hypodermic needles, tubes, medical
equipment, and jars of black liquid. The swollen abdomens and implanted metal
probes on the animals told me that something was being taken from their
insides. A pallet in the center of the space was stacked with the carcasses of
several bears that had apparently been killed to make room for the new batch
outside. I thought of Mama Bear being stuffed into the tiny cage and I felt a
swell of rage like I’d never experienced before. These animals were being
tortured, and it made me want to punish the people responsible.

One of the bears let out a soft whine that tugged at me.
Several others joined in, and suddenly the building echoed with their pitiful
cries. The noise whipped us into action. I wiped my eyes, buried my anger, and
we ran to the alarm panel. Sarafina pulled on the Plexiglas enclosure
protecting it. It wouldn’t budge, secured by an electronic touch pad. Our plan
wasn’t going to work. There was movement at the opposite end of the building,
and we ducked to one side as the woman and two guards entered the doorway.

“Look!” I whispered, pointing to an electrical panel not far
from where we huddled. It was higher than I could reach, but Sarafina crept
toward it and yanked on the lever.

The interior of the building went dark.

The woman shouted an order as she and the guards exited the
far side of the building and disappeared around the corner. They needed to
check the electrical panel that we were huddled under, so I imagined a guard
running along the well-lit exterior of the building in order to enter from this
end.

“Come on,” Sarafina said, taking my hand. We ran in a crouch
toward the caged bears clustered outside, huddling between two of them. All
seven of the bears shifted to face us. A few low growls made my insides
vibrate, but something about the way Mama Bear looked at me set me at ease. I
opened my mind, and she blinked as we made the connection. It was different
than the links I’d made with my family, or with others like Mississippi Mike,
where I could sometimes hear their thoughts. With Mama Bear it was more of a
transfer of emotions. I sensed her fear but also her trust. So I tested our bond,
first embracing her with my thoughts, sending feelings of family and safety and
caring for her cubs. Then I asked her to lie down. Her nose wriggled as if she
was sniffing my scent, and then she slowly lowered herself to the floor of her
cage.

It worked!

It gave me an idea, but it frightened me. We could get hurt.
Or worse. But what choice did I have? The area was lit by floodlights, and
though we were well hidden among the cages, I was afraid that as soon as the
guard turned the corner, he’d notice the bears all staring at us. How could I
get them to ignore us?

If we sit down and close our eyes, would the bears turn
away?

I knew it was a stupid thought the moment it came out, and
it reminded me of the time I put a bucket over my head during a game of hide-and-seek.
If I can’t see you, you can’t see me, right?
Blah!
 

The mewling sounds in the building died away, and that’s
when I heard the SUV’s engine start up. Sarafina stiffened beside me. If the
car pulled away, my brother and Timmy would be discovered.

I stopped thinking and reached for the latch on Mama Bear’s
cage.

Sarafina’s sharp intake of breath didn’t stop me. “Stay
behind me,” I whispered, pulling out the hooks that held the side panel in
place. She shuffled over. Her breath was on my neck.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

I ignored her, sliding open the cage door, my focus entirely
on Mama Bear. She crouched less than five feet away, her shoulders bunched, her
black eyes locked on mine. The other bears quieted.

Safe.

She blinked. I inched backward. Sarafina moved with me.

Come.

Mama Bear slunk out of her cage and stopped in front of me,
her snout wriggling a few inches from my face. She huffed and I felt her warm
breath on my cheeks. I moved to one side and pulled Sarafina beside me. Her body
was shaking.

Family.

Mama Bear’s gaze took us both in, and the rolls of muscles
under her furry shoulders relaxed. I felt a projection of warmth from her mind.
It reminded me of Mom.

Follow.

She padded beside us as I moved to the next cage, expanding
my mind to embrace all six remaining bears, urging them to follow her lead.
Mama Bear woofed, and as each of the other bears became present in my mind, I
had the sense they had long since established a group bond of their own, formed
as they’d shared the fear imposed by their imprisonment and the anguish of
others like them inside the building. I opened the next cage, and the male bear
hurried out so fast that for a moment I thought he was coming for me. Instead,
he brushed past and turned a quick circle behind me, and I felt his joy at
being free. I moved quickly to another cage and Sarafina unlatched the one past
that. Within a few moments, all the bears milled eagerly around us. I sensed each
of their connections individually and the purity of their emotions felt good.

The squelch of a radio drew our attention toward the
building, just as a guard trotted around the corner. He skidded to a stop at
the sight of us, his eyes huge as his hands scrambled to unclip the radio on
his belt. Backing away, he raised it to his lips and shouted in Chinese. Then
he turned and ran around the corner.

The bears’ thoughts combined to form a single thought:

Danger!

I felt their combined urge to run up the hill toward the
safety of the darkness. But I threw the force of my will behind my thoughts as
I ran after the man.

Protect.

Mama Bear was immediately beside me. The other bears
followed.

“Are you crazy?” Sarafina said, quickly catching up. “What
are you doing?”

“Creating a distraction.” I charged as fast as I could
around the corner, knowing we’d only have one chance for this to work. The
floodlights were still glaring. We ran past the first truck, and as soon as I
spotted the running guard, I let out a loud, angry scream. The bears picked up
on my emotion, their roars fueling my own, and we became a marauding band of
man and beast assaulting an enemy tribe.