Finding Sage (The Rogue Book 1) (5 page)

They crawled for several hundred feet.  For a while they could hear the panic of soldiers running back and forth through the halls beneath them.  After several minutes, the sounds became more distant and eventually faded away.  Silas breathed slowly, managing his pain by slowly pulling himself along with his arms.  He reached the end of the vent and they could see outside.  There was a grass field for about one hundred yards leading up to a brick wall which was about seven feet tall.  Silas told Eli what he saw and Eli made a suggestion.

“Let me out first.”

“What are you going to do?” Silas asked.

“Just trust me.”

There were guards along all of the walls patrolling, but they were circling the building.  Eli climbed over Silas and waited for the guards to pass.  Once they did, he kicked the ventilation cover off and slid out onto the ground; it was only a four foot drop.  He pulled the girl under his left arm, threw Silas over his right shoulder, and ran as fast as he could for the fence.  It worked at first, but then the guards saw him and started shooting.

“This was your ingenious plan?!” Silas yelled.

“Shut up, we’re almost there!”

Silas squinted his eyes and ground his teeth as Eli leapt as high as he could.  He met the wall at his waist and the girl and Silas tumbled over the wall.  Silas met the ground on his side, resulting in a tremendously painful landing.  The girl landed on top of him, which cushioned her fall but caused more pain for Silas.  Eli climbed the rest of the way over the wall and dropped to his feet.  His back was facing Silas momentarily and he could see bullet holes in Eli’s shirt.  Bullet holes and blood, but no open wounds.

“How—”

“Hey, this ain’t the time for twenty questions, bro.  Let’s keep moving.”

They spotted a camouflage four-wheeler that had been left running just outside the gate.  Eli carried the other two and set them on the back.

“Hold on.”

Eli ripped back on the throttle and they drove away from the prison as fast as the vehicle would take them.  They drove through a forest, dodging trees and bushes for about a half  hour until they came to a large lily field, where Eli stopped the vehicle to catch his breath.

Silas did nothing but breathe for several seconds.  He had gone from being tortured to killing a man to rescuing a young girl to escaping his imprisonment.  He was now a fugitive and they knew he was a rogue, so he would probably be wanted dead as opposed to alive, which meant running from soldiers even more than before. 

Taking a look at his surroundings, he saw a forest behind them and more trees on the other side of the lily field, which was about three hundred yards away.  The wild flowers carried a scent with the wind that reached Silas’ nose and he inhaled with contentment.  He was just beginning to truly enjoy the hint of freedom that he now tasted when Eli interrupted his solace. 

“Walk, man; we ain’t free birds yet.”

Silas stepped out of the four wheeler and tried to stand on his own power, but was still unable.  Eli caught him before he fell and put Silas’ arm around him, supporting him as he walked.

“Why can’t we use that?” Silas asked, referring to the four wheeler.

“Don’t you think they’ll recognize their own wheels, bro?  We gotta get away from the thing,” Eli responded.

Before beginning a conversation with his mysterious savior, however, Silas found yet again a tender part of him behind the mask of rigor.  In the midst of his escape, he had almost forgotten about the girl he and Eli had rescued.  He looked down at her and saw fear and reluctance in her eyes, though she looked at her newfound world with disbelief and wonder. 

“What is your name?”

The girl, with an ashamed look on her face, admitted, “I don’t have one.”

“You don’t have a name?” Silas asked.

“My parents never had a chance to name me,” she said.

Silas wondered how she knew that, but decided now wasn’t the time to ask.  Not when he didn’t have anything to call the girl.

“You could name yourself,” Eli suggested.

“I don’t know what I’d pick,” she said.

Silas looked around him and thought of a name.

“How about Lilly?” he suggested.

He half-expected the girl to smile or chuckle or show some sort of reaction.  All she did was nod.

They continued their walk.  Silas was still weak, and although he could feel his legs becoming more familiar with use, he still needed Eli’s strength to be able to walk.  He was cautiously optimistic.  The man appeared to be a friend, and he had not had a true friend for a very long time.  Eli began to explain himself.

“As you know, my name is Eli.  I’ve been lookin’ for you for a very long time, bro.”

“Why?”

“Cause you’re a rogue, dude.  You’re a radically powerful rogue.”

That was not the answer that Silas was hoping for.  His hopes immediately disappeared and were replaced by comfortable skepticism, his go-to fallback and survival instinct.  He considered ignoring Eli’s statement, but as they sat down on the edge of the clearing, he decided to pursue the topic further.

“So if you want me because of my abilities, what makes you different than them?” he asked.

“Well I just saved you from torture, for one,” Eli said.  “I save people like you.  I’ve been doing it for a very long time, too.”

“Why?  Because you like being surrounded by rogues with a life debt to you?”

“Oh come on, Silas.  This life ain’t a feel-good story filled with unicorns and lollipops.  Everyone wants power.  What makes the difference between good and evil is whatcha do with it.”

“Speaking of power, how do you know my name?” Silas asked.

“Intel,” Eli replied.

“That isn’t good enough.”

“Look, we can’t just blunder in and take whoever we run across.  So we have to look into situations a little bit.  When you were arrested, I did a little bit of detective work, that’s all.”

“And you just happened to come in right before that soldier was going to blow my brains out?”

“No,” Eli admitted.  “I didn’t plan that.”

“So it was just a coincidence?”

“I never said that.”

“Then what?!” Silas yelled in frustration.

“Let’s just say that as powerful as you are, there’s someone more powerful that I trust.”

“And he sends you into high-security prisons?”

“Yeah—well, not explicitly.”

“What?”

“I don’t know what he’s doing.  I just do what I can,” Eli said.

“Which is saving rogues?”

“Well…yeah.”

“And then what?  Breed an army of them and plan a mass takeover?  That’ll sure warm up the world to us.  Step back and take a look.  I just killed a man.  I’m dangerous.  I always have been and I always will be.  You’re wasting your time.  All of us are nothing but time bombs waiting to explode.  I may hate our government with every breath I breathe, but everyone fears us for a reason.” 

Eli frowned, reluctantly accepting where Silas was in his reasoning.  They stopped shortly in the woods with the field of lilies behind them. 

“We’ll stop here for the night,” Eli said.  “Nightfall is close.”

“Won’t they come looking for us?” Silas asked.

“I don’t gotta sleep,” Eli says.  “I’ll let you guys know if they come looking for us.”

Silas looked with wonder upon this mysterious man.  For years he had believed that no one, not even a rogue, could be as strange as him, yet he had found one that was even stranger.

The three of them cuddled together for warmth since they had no bedding.  Silas drifted off to an uncomfortable sleep, contemplating on the continuing misery of his life.

In the following days, Eli wanted to get moving, but Silas’ weakness was an obstacle to them. He continued to try a few steps here and there, determined to regain his strength.  Over time, he could slowly feel strength coming back to his legs.  In a week he had the ability to walk on his own power, although he could do so only for a few minutes at a time.  Three days into the second week, he regained enough strength to confidently walk on his own power. 

The next night, Silas planned to break free of his companions.  Once nightfall had come and Lilly and Eli were sleeping, he rose and started to leave when he heard a voice behind him.

“What are you doing?” asked Lilly.  Her sweet and innocent voice rang through Silas’ ears and he felt a pang of guilt in his stomach, having no answer to give her. 

“I don’t know.”             

She looked at him with her longing sapphire eyes, silently begging him to stay.  She looked to him for guidance.  But it was guidance that he was in no position to give.

“Nothing has purpose anymore.  I’m fighting just to survive.  I don’t even know if it’s worth it anymore.”

“But you can’t give up!” she insisted.

“Why not?”

“Because I’m counting on you!”

He looked into her beautiful blue eyes and felt compassion for her, for her naivete. 

“I can’t give you what you need.”

“Not if you leave you can’t.”

Eli stood nearby, looking at Silas with grave disapproval.  For a few moments the only sound was the crickets in the forest. 

“Listen bro, I know that you’re feelin’ all down on your luck and all, but I gotta place for people like you.  People that realize the truth and feel hopeless.  Maybe I can help ya out.”

Silas shook his head. 

Eli’s bug-sized green eyes grew wide and bright with frustration.

“You’re really giving up?  What are you going to do, wander around until you die?  You have to live with a purpose of some kind! What better than destroying the evil that threatens us?”

“Do you want me to say the obvious here?”

“Yes!  Tell me what I’m missing!” Eli insisted.

Silas stood up, his anger growing.

“You only want me because you think that through me, you have the path to power.  You kill without guilt and acquire power so you can challenge those who have power.  Your motives speak for you, and I want no part in it.”

Eli was taken aback, not knowing how to react to this outright rejection.  He was expecting that having a common enemy would unite him and his reluctant recruit.  He was wrong.

“Lilly?” Eli asked.

“I . . . I want to go with him.”

Eli sighed regretfully, turned around, and walked back into the forest.  Silas looked down at Lilly, partially glad that she chose to come with him and partially worried that she would slow him down.  Still, he had not refused to take her.  Normally he would have.  Why didn’t he? 

From the other side of the beautiful lily field, a shady and hooded figure watched them depart, lying on the ground to avoid being seen.  He watched with binoculars as the company of three parted ways.  He watched the mysterious rescuer walk into the woods.  Once he had disappeared from view, the rogue and his young companion went into the forest themselves.  Upon witnessing their curious conversation, the agent pulled out his com.

“Yeah, it’s me.  He’s heading East, back to Indiana.  The other two are heading West.”

9.

Terre Haute, Indiana.  Never before had two adventurers witnessed such a forsaken town.  Ruins of burned homes were left rotting.  Broken glass and dead men and women’s bones littered the road.  It was a lot to take in, even for people who had seen as much as Alice and Rodge.

Rodge walked Alice’s motorcycle, which had run out of gas, while Alice walked next to him.  They stopped to look at the destruction that had occurred.  Alice’s long, jet-black hair swayed with the wind while she looked with pity on the town. 

“What happened here?” she asked aloud.

Rodge simply shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

“This is sickening,” Alice remarked.  “How can someone allow a people to be destroyed like this?”

Rodge remained silent.

A cold chill went down her spine as Alice stood frozen in horror.  All of these homes destroyed.  All of these people dead. This is what the government had been reduced to in order to gain control.  This should never happen.

“Alice?  Shouldn’t we get moving?”

“Yeah.”

Rodge gave the bike one last push and watched it fall to the ground.

“What are you doing?” Alice asked.

“There’s obviously no gas station around here.  If we’re going to get to Alaska anytime this decade, we need to leave it.  It’s only going to slow us down.” 

It was getting dark, so the two of them decided to stay for the night.  They decided on one of the abandoned houses as their place of rest.  The house was a two-story structure, wooden and falling apart.  They stuck to the bottom floor, not trusting the stability of the building’s foundation. 

The night passed uneventfully, but Alice remained completely still and awake.  Several thoughts were swimming through her head.  Among them were doubts about what she was after.  She was chasing utopia, but what she saw tonight had shaken her up.  It was the first raw look at what had happened to this continent, and probably the rest of the world.  People left to die slowly and painfully.  Buildings burned until nothing was left but ashes.  What happened to this place?  Was it going to be like this everywhere?  If she continued to look for her perfect refuge, was that selfish of her?  It was to this last question that Alice somehow managed to slip into an uncomfortable slumber. 

Alice woke to the feeling of something nudging her on the back of the neck.  She instantly threw her pillow to knock her assailant off balance, simultaneously pulling out her gun.  She looked for an assassin or soldier to be recovering from an unexpected diversion. 

To her surprise, a young boy was sitting on the floor, gazing at her curiously.  He was about ten years old, with long white-blonde hair that hid his eyes and went past his shoulders.  He wore baggy jeans and a cut-off t-shirt that looked like they had been worn for several days, and held a rifle limply to his side.  With his head cocked to the side, he continued to look at Alice curiously, apparently not concerned by her drawn gun.  Alice lowered her gun, surprised by the boy. 

“Rodge?” Alice called.

“Yeah?”

“We have a visitor.”

“Oh, I know.”

Alice paused for a moment.

“What?!”

“Yeah, he looked hungry so I gave him some bread and he hung around.  He’s been here for about an hour or so.”

“AND YOU LET HIM CARRY A GUN AND POINT IT AT ME?!”

Rodge shrugged.  “I figured if he tried to shoot you, then you’d kick his sorry butt.”

“I COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!!!”

“Calm your jets,” Rodge replied casually.

“SO NOW YOU’RE MISTER CALM?”

“It’s empty okay?!  For Pete’s sake . . .”

“Empty?” Alice repeated.

“Yeah.  I don’t let kids wave around loaded guns.  Have a
little
faith in me.”

Alice took a deep breath and sat down.  Living with Rodge constantly frustrated her.  He repeatedly challenged her patience in a variety of ways.  He was overly-sensitive, paranoid, and oblivious.  But he was also the only friend she had.  She decided she had best not alienate him. 

She looked at the child.

“What’s your name?”

He said nothing.

“Do you live around here?”

Still, he said nothing.  Instead, he turned and began to walk away.  Alice slowly walked toward him.

“Alice, what are you doing?”

She turned to Rodge, and then to the boy, who had stopped as if to say, “Are you going to come?”

She beckoned to Rodge.  “I think he wants us to follow him.”

“Two seconds ago you were yelling at me for giving the kid an empty gun and now you want to follow him through a town we don’t know?”

She thought about it for a second.

“Yeah, that sounds about right.”

“I don’t know . . .”

“Well I tell you what, I am following him.  You can do what you want.”

Rodge hung his head in resignation and followed both of them.  The mysterious boy walked through the abandoned town, past several buildings and houses.  The boy turned to his right off the road and they were looking into a flat, barren land as far as they could see.  Rodge was confused but also suspicious.  The boy did not turn around, but lifted his hands lightly.  For a brief moment he looked like a miniature conductor without the formal apparel.  As this mysterious child moved his hands in complex and fluid motions, the air started to ripple, like water when a stone is thrown into it.  Before their eyes, the landscape slowly morphed into a large corn field.  The wind blew across the field, and the green stalks blew with uniform direction.  In this corn field there was a path.  The path resembled one made from repeated use.  It was wide enough so that it could not have been done by a small boy.  The logical conclusion was that this boy was leading them to more people.  Perhaps his family, or whatever kind of group this child was a part of. 

Rodge grabbed Alice’s arm as she started to follow him through the path.

“This is a really bad idea.”

“Rodge, what are you afraid of?”

“What am I afraid of?  We are wanted, Alice.  Every secret society helping the feds has rogues at their disposal.  He could be one of them.”

“He’s just a kid!”

“He can change the appearance of things.  Who’s to say he can’t change his own appearance?”

Alice considered this possibility for a moment. Several years ago a rogue melted the statue of liberty.  Only last year she had heard of a girl who trapped a bully in an eternal nightmare within her own mind.  Virtually anything was possible.  There was no regard for others, ethics, or morals to most rogues.  It was about survival.  You would think that all rogues would be eager to help each other, but that wasn’t the case.  Most of them were selfish and some even cooperated with the soldiers.  There were even rumors that some of the captured rogues were turned into killing machines to help the soldiers.  It was hard to trust anything or anyone, but Alice hadn’t been running as long as others, so she wasn’t as cautious.

Despite the obvious danger, something just felt right about it to Alice.  Her logic was telling her to stay, but her instincts were telling her to follow him. In a snap decision, she decided to follow the boy.

She yanked her arm from Rodge’s grasp and followed the child, not willing to even give his suggestion the dignity of a response.  Rodge paused for a moment.  He was angry at Alice’s continued ignorant and repellent nature in rejecting his advice.  He was trying to keep them alive and she continually treated him without respect.  However, despite what he considered to be her idiocy and immaturity, he still wanted to protect her.  It was his duty.  He couldn’t let her die, and if he stood there and abandoned her, she would.  Maybe not right here, right now, but she would perish.  Her lack of judgment was significant enough that he needed to be there to protect her, even if she resented him for it.  So he followed.

              The path led to a small clearing where several children were gathered around a small fire.  Standing among them was one adult.  When he turned around, Alice and Rodge were slightly taken aback by his appearance.  He wore a red wool cap, had a scruffy brown beard, and a huge pair of bright green eyes. 

              “Whoa man, where’d you guys come from?” he asked.

              Alice and Rodge both stood in silence, having no idea what to think of the man.  He had a slight slur to his words and was sheltering children around a fire in the middle of a cornfield. 

              “Who are you?” asked Alice.

              The strange man smiled.

              “The name’s Eli.  Who are you?”

              Alice’s heart leapt as she heard the name. 
Eli!  Could this be him?

“My name is Alice and this is Rodge.”  Alice hesitated before giving more information.  “We’re looking for Sage.”

              Eli smiled.

              “Then you’re in luck.  He’s my friend.”