In The Shadows of the Cavern of Death (Shadows of Death Book 1) (19 page)

Voices could be clearly heard from the other room, the words stopping us from making our escape. “Things are now moving faster and more messy than we had anticipated. The escapees from the caverns have caused more problems than I dreamed possible,” a male voice said.

“How does this concern me, Henil?” a female voice amusedly drawled.

“Well, President Bethel seems to not have finished killing those he believes responsible for this mistake. So if we don’t want to find ourselves on the chopping block, we’d better find a way to be useful in fixing this mess,” the man Henil growled.

“How can I be blamed?” she hissed.

“Oh, my dear, you above anyone should know how easily it is done, but I’m sure that it won’t come to that if you work with me,” he smoothly said.

“What do you require of me Henil?” she pushed out.

“I’ll require some of your best trained slaves. You know, the ones that have been broken to the point that they will do anything you wish. The ones that report all their masters secrets and business to you.” Chuckling, he said, “My dear I know that your beauty fools those fools, but did you think that I didn’t know your game? You live well beyond your means, my dear, so I would assume that your little blackmail and secret selling enterprise has been extremely profitable for you.”

“What do you need them for? What’s your plan?” she asked, not bothering to deny his charges.

“The plan, my dear, is to release them into the wild and allow that fool rebel force to capture them. We need to find their base of operations and destroy it.”

“Agreed that it must be destroyed, but how will we find them? I’m sure that they’ll be checked before being allowed entrance and even those fools would watch closely,” she told him.

“I’m aware of that, it’s why they’ll be implanted with trackers that are able to turn on and off once we are in range.”

“Even if we destroyed the main rebel base, how does this help us? The people there now see us as a threat, we wouldn’t be able to continue with the original plan to slowly take over their government and them,” she mused.

“Yes, that is no longer an option for us. It is why in ten days we are preparing for a large strike. Our soldiers, disguised as ordinary citizens, are already being sent to the Stone City and outer provinces as guests of their government. The fools have even allowed our military access within their borders to search for our lying traitor.” Chuckling darkly, he went on, “We won’t even have to move more troops from the city, everything we need will already be there––they’ll have no idea what is happening until it’s finished. Their government and its official have been so easy to manipulate, their greed not letting them see what’s in front of them.”

A scraping noise had us pulling back from the door and racing to the outside quickly, checking to make sure that we wouldn’t be seen leaving. Once out, we tried to move naturally, so we wouldn’t draw attention, and rejoined the auction attendants. Making our way in farther, we went in search of the others. Passing groups bidding on slaves, we finally found them watching stonily the sale of a child. You could tell that they wanted to do something, but some harshly whispered words from Michael had them turning their backs and following us. No words were said as we took the transport back to our quarters. As the door clicked behind us and the lock was thrown firmly in place, he turned to Samuel and Tara with suspicion clear in his eyes before masking it.

“What time are we schedule to leave tomorrow?” he asked Samuel.

“Our transport is scheduled for six a.m. departure.”

Nodding his head, he went to the food laid out on the table by the servants who had been here earlier.

“What did you find out?” his second-in-command asked, clearly confused by our silence.

“We managed to get into the main house and find some vid disc we won’t know there value of until we’re back at camp and are able to access them,” he replied in a tone that said he was through discussing it. Keeping my face blank when they turned to look at me, I joined Michael, picking at the fruits on the table. After everyone was seated, Michael began to speak again. “I don’t want anyone leaving the unit. Tara, Misty, and I will go to Tehenis late in the night and collect anything he might have found, but other than that, I don’t want to jeopardize our chance of getting out of this hellhole tomorrow. Now I want everyone to get as much rest as they can, we’ll be driving in shifts, there will be no breaks if it can be helped. I have no intention of ending up like those people at the auction.” Murmurs of agreement passed through the room as thoughts of what they had seen played through our heads. Death was better than the fate those poor beings were being forced to suffer.

Silently, the rest of our day passed into night, the day’s events casting a morbid feeling through all present. Michael and his second-in-command were to the side, speaking in whispered words as he passed my satchel to him. They would take our bags and we would meet them at the transport after we finished with Tehenis. Turning my gaze to the direction of Tara and Samuel, I discreetly watched them out of the corner of my eye. Were they waiting for a chance to betray us or were they truly just looking to help free our people? We really knew nothing of them and I know that was the reason Michael wanted us to keep quiet about what we had seen and heard. As I stared on, the image of a golden-haired child at the auction flashed into my mind. Her little broken spirit that to me showed clearly in her desolate eyes and blank face sent a piercing pain into my ice-incased heart. It was that image that had me picking up a large tote when we left, hoping that I wasn’t making a mistake that would cost any of us our lives.

The streets were just as alive as they were the other night though with a different type of people than those who roamed during the day. Tehenis met us at the door as if he had been watching, quickly shutting it behind us, gathering Tara into his arms. We had one hour before we were to depart, so he quickly showed us what he had been able to gather. Vid discs of the city’s defenses and information on the population and infrastructure were given to us. It was more than we could have hoped for. Quietly we spoke as Michael passed him communications codes so that we could coordinate with him, knowing that us coming back to the city would be a risk if they found out what we had stolen. Time passed quickly and we needed to leave; going outside, we gave Tara and her husband a moment alone. When she joined us, you could tell that she was barely holding herself together. We hadn’t walked a few steps when I told them that I had left my tote behind. Telling them to go ahead, I rushed back and got it, rejoining them fifteen minutes later. Ignoring their looks that spoke without words––asking what took me so long––I repositioned my bag across my back, holding the strap tightly in my grip and silently followed.

We joined the others just as they were about to enter the transport pick-up station. We waited as the man who ran the facility came forward and scanned Michael’s tag. Looking down, he spoke into a device in his ear and a few moments later a vehicle was being brought around. No one spoke as we loaded our bags and ourselves in. Following Tara’s directions, we maneuvered through the city reaching the final gate. I think we all held our breaths as the final scan was made when the large gates opened and we were able to cross the bridge and begin our journey back to the free world. No one released that breath until the trees surrounded us, as if welcoming us home.

Chapter 19

We would be home tonight. Passing more and more patrols that had seemed to grow exponential since we left, I worried that there may not be enough of us to fight. In less than an hour we would reach a different entrance to the bunker, one that would allow us to drive the vehicle right in. A diversion had been planned to draw any lingering troops in that area away. Stopping on the deserted stretch of road, we got out and went about disabling the vehicle’s tracking system. Taking advantage of everyone leaving the vehicle, I went and checked my bag making sure that everything was still good. The sound of sudden silence had me pulling out my knife and moving into the shadows.

“You two watch them while I go and see what they’re carrying. Maybe next time they’ll think twice before not sharing some extra rations,” a voice laughed harshly right before its owner stepped in.

Remaining completely still I blended into the wall as I watched the soldier approach, going toward the supplies we were carrying. Rifling through, he pulled a bottle of alcohol that must have been placed in there for the officers. Taking a large swig, he smiled as he looked around, poking at things until he came to our bags. Unzipping my bag, he gave a little yelp as a pair of large frightened eyes stared back at him. It was the last sound that he’d ever make. Stepping forward, I wrapped my arm around him, covering his mouth with my hand before using my knife to cut his throat. Through it all I held the pair of eyes staring at me from the bag, willing her not to scream. Taking his weight with my body, I lowered him to the floor before stepping forward to re-zip the bag.

“Mason, keep the gun on them while I go see what’s taking Peterson so long,” a voice huffed as it came closer to the vehicle. Moving to the door, I pressed my body all the way back, waiting until he stepped in and was clear of the sight of the door before shoving my knife deep in his throat. Ripping it free, I watched as he gurgled for a moment before he was dead. Taking a look at the door, I could see that the last soldier’s back was to me. Stepping from the vehicle, I approached him from behind, shoving my knife into the base of his head before he had a chance to turn. Stepping forward, Michael took the gun from his now limp grip before he fell to the ground.

Pulling my knife free, I heard the sound of an explosion in the distance. Racing to the vehicle, we threw the bodies out to the side of the road, unable to take the time to hide them. I could feel the others looking at me, but I ignored them, closing my eyes. A large bump had me reopening them, as I realized more time than I thought had passed––instead of the forest, thick concrete surrounded us, we were home. I hadn’t bothered to really learn the names of my companions, so when one growled, “Why the hell did you do that? You should have just let them take the supplies. You could have ruined everything.” I just looked at him, uncaring, before I stood. The sounds of footsteps of whoever was outside approaching could be heard in the loud chamber. Walking back to my large tote, I carefully took it down, placing it on the floor before unzipping it and letting out the little girl who had been hidden within. Though she was clinging to me, I stood with her in my arms and walked her over to an immobile Tara. Placing the little girl on her lap, I pried her fingers from my neck and placed them around Tara’s. “This is your mother,” I told her, before gathering my bags and walking by my stunned unit out the door.

Standing under the running water of the shower, I watched the red pool at my feet before going down the drain. The blood of my enemies washed clean from my body and soul. Stepping from the shower, I wrapped myself into a robe, going out of the small room. Michael sat in a chair watching me. Ignoring him, I went to the bed and sitting down, I rested my back to the wall and pulled my feet up, closing my eyes.

“Why?” he asked, breaking the silence.

Without opening my eyes, I said, “The father will be freer to help us now without concern for the child’s fate if he is discovered.”

“Why didn’t you tell us that you had the child after we were away? You had to know we wouldn’t have sent her back.” He sighed.

Opening my eyes I tilted my head to look at him. “It was safer if no one knew. If we were stopped, someone might have appeared nervous. We were hiding enough secrets without adding that burden to the others.”

“Why did you take her?” he asked, and I knew why he was asking.

With a humorless smile, I said, “I already told you. My plans haven’t changed––I’m still planning to kill her mother.” Seeing that he wouldn’t let this go, I said, “If her father is killed, then she has no one. The government takes the children that have no one and they become soldiers or what you saw at the auction. At least here she will be given to another family to be raised. They didn’t have to help and it’s not just their lives at risk if they’re caught, so I took the child to repay our debt to them.” Standing, I went to the closet, pulling out some clothing. “Give me a moment to dress and I’ll go with you to speak to the council. We don’t have much time,” I said, ending the subject. We had much more important issues to deal with than one child, so why did I risk all our lives to save hers?

Stepping into the large hall, it felt empty as it only held the council members and our military leaders. A private session was held to disclose what we had learned. “In five days’ time, the city plans to attack and take us over,” Michael said to the stunned audience. It had taken us longer to get back due to an issue with the vehicle. “They have been quietly setting up their soldiers in all the towns as regular visiting citizens, the invasion force is here and just waiting for the moment to strike.”

“General Petro, where are we at with the training of our forces?” Samson said, taking Michael’s warning to heart.

“We’ve had them training around the clock in shifts,” he said, hardening his face. “I didn’t know if it will be enough if they are going against hardened soldiers that have been trained for years.”