Rebellion (Zero Series) (14 page)

“I
don’t know. I didn’t know he had this,” she replied.

I
slipped the armor on and clicked the two clips on the left side to fasten it.
There was a hood on it which he had evidently had installed for me. I put the
hood up and pulled the black mask over my mouth. “Don’t forget the leg pieces,”
Jet said handing them to me.

I
grabbed them and put them on over my pants. Once I had fastened the belt, I
stood still waiting for something to happen. “Is this it?” I asked.

“I
guess so. Maybe he meant it camouflages you at night,” she said, “Oh, your belt
buckle is crooked.”

She
reached out and twisted the circular belt buckle clockwise. The look on her
face turned to one of surprise. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Hold
up your hand,” she said. I lifted my arm up and was shocked to see nothing
there. The armor had completely hidden me. Somehow I had turned invisible and
blended in with the surrounding environment. I twisted the buckle back and
became visible. “I guess that’s what it meant,” she said.

“This
is going to be helpful. I thought we were going to try to sneak around
normally,” I said.

“I
want you to be extra careful. Even with this, you aren’t invincible. I’ve heard
horror stories about Tartarus. Nobody comes back,” she said.

“I
will. We have too much riding on this mission for us to be careless. I have to
come back to you. We are going to turn this city around,” I said as
reassuringly as possible.

I
kissed her on the forehead and gathered up the rest of the gear we had prepared
earlier that day for the mission. I proceeded into the main room to see Vine
waiting in his own specialized armor. It had slots on the top and bottom of the
wrists to allow him to grow his plants in whip or sword form without ruining
the structure of the armor.

“Are
you ready?” he asked me.

“As
ready as I’ll ever be,” I said.

The
group walked silently to the exit. Synapse and Vine exited the bunker but
before I could follow, a hand grabbed me. I looked back and saw Flint holding my arm. “Zero, listen carefully. You have to come back alive. If you aren’t
able to free the spikers, you have to escape. The rebellion needs you. More
importantly, Jet needs you. After losing Ruby, she can’t lose you too,” he
said.

“Without
the spikers, we won’t be able to defeat Armageddon,” I said.

“Without
you it won’t matter if they unleash Armageddon or not. You inspire people. You
have a natural knack to lead. You are the rallying point in this movement.
Please, if you don’t do this for me, then do it for Jet,” he said.

“I
will be back,” I replied.

“One
more thing. Do not linger there too long. You may run across something you
aren’t prepared for. Get in and get out as quickly as you can,” he said.

I
nodded and held my hand out to shake his but instead of shaking, he reached up
and hugged me. He released me and gave me an approving nod. I joined Vine and
Synapse as we set off through the city. We passed by building after building.
The city was falling apart quickly. Kraken’s normal patrols had stopped since
they were trying to preserve their forces. Darkness blanketed the city and
provided excellent cover for us to move undetected. “It’s amazing isn’t it?”
Vine asked.

“What’s
amazing?” Synapse said.

“This
city. I never thought that the people would get behind a movement after the last
rebellion was obliterated,” he said.

“It
is quite resilient. When I was a Kraken agent, we found resistance from many of
the people we were sent to shake down or take in. I knew it was only a matter
of time before someone was able to spark rebellion in this city,” Synapse said.

“Why
did you continue working for Kraken? Why didn’t you try to start a rebellion?”
I asked.

“It
was all about earning money. I have been looking out for number one since I was
a kid. I align with who is in power. When I see an obvious shift in power
coming I seek self preservation,” she answered.

“What
kind of life is that? Don’t you feel like you are missing something by not
believing in something?” Vine asked.

“I
believe in keeping myself safe and wealthy. It doesn’t matter who is in power.
I only need myself to be happy, not friends,” she said.

“That’s
a bummer,” I said.

“It
doesn’t matter. You don’t get the luxury of having friends when you’re born a
spiker,” she said.

“You
were a birther too?” Vine asked.

“Unfortunately.
I often wonder what my life would have been like if I hadn’t been born with a
spike,” she said.

“We
wouldn’t have met probably,” Vine said obviously trying to flirt with her. The
look of disgust on her face was cutting and powerful. She sped up her pace and
was walking a few feet in front of us. I reached up and patted Vine’s shoulder.

“Nice
try man,” I said.

“I
don’t get it. I have tried everything. She must really not like me,” he
replied.

“Maybe
she has allergies,” I joked. Vine made a sarcastic laughing expression at me
and then scoffed. We walked in silence after that. After a forty five minute
trek, Synapse held her hand up to stop us.

“We’re
at the tunnel,” she said pointing to a large, grimy pond. On the left bank of
the water was a metal pipe that was about ten feet in circumference. We started
to move toward the tunnel when I heard a noise from the nearby shore. It was
the sound of radio chatter. Two Kraken agents strolled out of the shadows
toward the pipe and I grabbed Vine and Synapse. I pulled them down behind a
nearby bush and whispered, “Quiet.”

I
peeked up over the bush and saw the two men entering the sewer pipe. They had
bags of tools and night vision goggles. “Maintenance workers,” I whispered.

“What
do we do?” Vine asked.

“We
need to just wait. If those guys don’t return to Tartarus then it will be
obvious that someone is trying to break in,” Synapse said.

“Let’s
just wait here,” Vine said putting his hands up. He closed his eyes and made
the bush grow. It became a dome that covered us and allowed us to still observe
the tunnel entrance.

“This
is going to be a while. Their maintenance protocol is very thorough. Zero and I
can take the first watch. You should get some sleep Vine. You will need to be
at your best. Your spike is integral to the plan,” Synapse said. He nodded and
made a small, soft bush grow out of the ground. He laid his head on it as a
pillow and dozed off. Synapse and I sat for around two hours before either of
us said anything.

“I do
miss having friends,” Synapse finally said.

“Why
don’t you? You obviously didn’t like Prism and Golem but surely you had to have
other friends at some point,” I said.

“Prism
and Golem were assigned to my team by Kraken. I would not have chosen either of
those dillweeds. Both were selfish and headstrong. Neither wanted to listen to
my commands,” she said staring out towards the sky. “I haven’t had a true
friend since Sky.”

“Who
is Sky?” I asked.

“Sky
was my girlfriend and my best friend,” she replied still staring out.

“What
happened to her?” I asked tentatively.

“About
ten years ago, we were both twenty one and loving life. We lived up north in
the mountains and worked in a small village of about two hundred people. We
were so happy together and she made me feel whole. She was so beautiful. Her
hair was a pure blonde and her eyes were the most vibrant blue you had ever
seen. One day while I was out picking up groceries, I heard an explosion coming
from the direction of our cabin. I ran back up the hill through the snow to
find our cabin, along with five other cabins, burning to the ground. There was
a man in a metal suit of some kind standing near our cabin. I tried to attack
him with my spike but he activated some sort of jetpack and flew off. I still
have no idea why he destroyed our cabins. I searched the wreckage of the cabins
but I never found Sky. I can’t imagine the horror of her final moments. After
that I came to this country and joined Kraken. I started out with the intention
of using their resources to locate the man who ruined my life and who killed
Sky,” she said with tears starting to form in her eyes.

“Wow.
I had no idea,” I said.

“Over
time I was unable to locate him and as the years passed, I felt the
hopelessness grow. I started dulling the pain with vices. I had more money than
I knew what to do with so I indulged in shady things to lose myself,” she said.

“Once
we take Kraken down, I will help you find the man in the metal suit myself.
We’ll find him and make him pay for what he did,” I said.

“Why
would you help me?” she asked.

“I
know what it’s like to lose people close to me. I want to help bring closure
and peace to people who have experienced the same thing,” I replied.

She
smiled and wiped the tears away from her eyes. “You are a good man. Jet is
lucky,” she said.

“No I
am. I don’t deserve her,” I said.

“If
what I heard about you being in the Pit is true, then you deserve her and a
peaceful life. Not many people who leave the Pit can come to grips with
reality. Their torture methods are pretty heinous,” she said.

“I
just want to bring Kraken down so we can all live quiet lives,” I said.

She
out her hair up in a bun and said, “Wake Vine up. It’s time.”

I
looked out of the bush and saw the two maintenance men leaving the area I
tapped Vine’s shoulder and he slowly woke up. He came into a sitting position
and asked, “Is it time?”

I
nodded and he made the dome bush recede to its normal size. “Okay. You two go
into the tunnel and follow it until you reach the grate that opens to the
barracks lockers. I will make my way down there. It could take a little longer
than I planned since I haven’t checked in with Kraken in days. I’m going to
rough myself and my clothes up and say I was unconscious and taken prisoner,”
she said.

“Alright.
Be careful in there. We will meet you at the grate,” I said. She set off
towards Tartarus and I looked at Vine.

“You
ready?” I asked.

“As
I’ll ever be,” he said. I pulled my hood up and he grew vines around his mouth.
We waded through the murky pond and into the sewage tunnel. We trekked through
the grime for miles when we came upon a gap. The grime was running off in a
waterfall fashion and about ten feet away was the continuation of the path. It
looked as if there was a bridge but it had fallen.

“I
wonder if those maintenance guys did this by accident,” Vine said.

“I
don’t know. We need to cross the gap though,” I said.

“I
got this,” Vine said holding his hands out. He dropped a couple of seeds and
large plants emerged from them creating a walkway across the gap. He crossed
over them carefully and I began to follow. Halfway across, I felt eyes on us. I
turned my head back and saw a figure standing at the edge of the walkway where
Vine had dropped the seeds. The figure was made completely of water and seemed
to merge with the sewage that was flowing along the path. He had a face but no
defined features. It was almost blurred out and unformed from being made of
water. I saw him reach down and smash the seeds. Without thinking, I put my
arms out to the sides and shot a force blast in each direction. I pushed Vine
onto the other pathway and blew the water man away. It was too late for me
though. Once he smashed the seeds, the walkway disappeared and I plummeted. I
smashed into the hard ground and was knocked unconscious. I was awoken by vines
wrapping around my arms and shoulders. They slowly lifted me up to the walkway
where I drifted out of consciousness again.

I bolted
awake and found myself sitting on the ground and leaning against a wall. Vine
was sitting nearby manipulating some seeds. “Good you’re awake. How do you
feel?” he asked.

“I
think I’m okay. How long was I out?” I asked.

“Half
an hour tops,” he said, “When I pulled you up from the pipe, you had a couple
fractures in your wrist and left hand. I knew I just had to wait for your
accelerated healing to kick in.”

“Thanks.
Did he come back?” I asked.

“Who?”
Vine asked.

“The
water guy,” I replied.

Vine
looked at me in confusion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

“When
I fell, there was a man made of water who crushed the seeds to destroy the
walkway. I shot a force blast at him too before I fell but I didn’t know if
he’d be back,” I said.

“Oh
I’m back,” a raspy voice said from the darkness behind us. We both turned
quickly to see the water man standing near us. His features were still undefined
except for a watery mouth that had very long sharp teeth in it.

“Who
are you?” Vine asked.

“Melt.
I patrol the water for Kraken to make sure no one is trying to sneak in. Looks
like I found some sneaky rats,” he said. He started to vibrate and he changed
from the form of a man to the form of a dragon. He still was clear as he was
when he was in man form but his size grew and he moved much more swiftly. I
shot force blasts at him and he split himself into large globs of water around
where my blasts went. He reformed into the shape of a large cobra and slithered
toward us. He moved swiftly and seamlessly around the tunnel. Vine and I ran
towards him and attempted to hit him. Our blows weren’t affecting him due to
his watery composition. I began shooting force pulses to knock him back.