Jaded Warriors book 2 (Jade Series)

Chapter 31

Chapter 31


         I stared absently out the window from the back seat of the black SUV as we drove through the empty streets of Little Creek. The only vehicles on the road were the dozen or so jeeps on patrol. I glanced briefly at Olivia through the rear view mirror and watched as her eyes stayed focused on the road. She looked up quickly and caught me staring then gave me a smile. I looked away then turned back towards the window.  Before me as we left town, a sea of empty fields of grey snow, grey skies and cottony grey clouds, shaded from the windows tinted so dark it seemed like it was nearing nightfall.


         “Where are you taking me?” I asked, suddenly a little anxious.  I talked to Raύl before we left and he assured me, after talking with Prescott that this was the best for me, for now. I wasn’t sure why he had a change in heart, but Prescott must have been pretty convincing.


         “A home in the city,” she said, I didn’t turn to see if she looked at me or not but I know surprise registered on my face. “We have control of over half of the city, it’s a gated community. No one can get in or out without passing security.”


         My brows shifted upward in surprise. “Does Gage know where I’ll be?”


         “Kane knows… it will be tough to get that information to Gage,” she said, my chest tightened around the mass of my frozen heart as it stilled inside me, another conformation of the dangerous operation he faced. “Jade…” I glanced up to see her watching me with concern through the mirror. “Everything will be okay… you don’t have to worry.”


         “The last time I was forced to live behind bars… it didn’t really work out for me,” I said, with restless sarcasm in my tone as I fumbled with the hem of my shirt.


         “I know, I know… I was there too remember,” Olivia said, as her eyes shifted between me and the road. “Jade, what’s wrong… do you think I would put you in danger?”


         “No, I’m sorry… I know you were there,” I said, unsure where my wariness stemmed from. Whatever the reason, being forced to live in a safe house until further notice, or knowing Gage would be sleeping under the same sky, in the same city, but in the most dangerous part, inside enemy lines, I didn’t like it. I slid down into the contours of the leather seat and closed my eyes as I let out a deep sigh. “Let me know when we get there.”


***


I glanced around the spacious entryway as I wondered what would come next. Olivia stood by me, the buzzing silence between us, uncomfortable as neither of us had anything to say. This home was definitely in a ritzy part of the city, or at least, ritzy at one time. Nobody had money anymore, just what they held onto from our previous life before the virus.


On the drive in, I woke as we approached a gate with a guard that stood in front of it. Narrow, black iron spears, at least fifteen feet high stretched for miles along a road at the base of the mountainside and protected against intruders which slightly calmed my unease. Now as I waited for the person of the house to come, all I wanted to do was find a room to hide in.


I heard footsteps click against the tile floor as a tall slender woman dressed casually stunning in white capris and a silky royal blue blouse with silver spiked heels approached us from down the widened hallway. She was beautiful with her dark chocolate eyes under fanned eyelashes and equally rich flowing hair but she wore a welcoming smile with perfect white teeth that looked rehearsed, maybe she hosted a few too many dinner parties in the past or something. “Hello, Jade,” she said, then gave me a quick hug. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.”


“Thank you,” I smiled back, a little perplexed as she released me, unsure of her overfriendly nature and how she come to know about me. I glanced at Olivia.


“Jade, this is Sonja Rogerson,” she paused for a moment as she watched me. The name sounded familiar. “Charles Rogerson’s wife… this is their home.”


“Oh,” I said, with a raise of my eyebrows. This explained how she knew me.


Olivia smiled warmly. “You will be staying with them.”


“Okay,” I hesitated, surprise leaked into my voice.


“Come with me,” Sonja said, as she tugged at my hand. I flinched slightly with a sudden ache. She looked twice at the brace with surprise then glanced back at me with a smile. “You must be tired after everything you’ve been through… it’s a lot to take in all at once, I’ll show you to your room.”


“Thank you,” I said. I looked down at my hand still in hers to see the reflection of tiny flickering lights, each one kissed with the colors of the rainbow. I glanced up to see fluted sunlight that shimmered through a window above the doorway and lit the four tier chandelier that sparkled like diamonds above me from the vaulted ceiling. “And thank you for letting me stay in your beautiful home.”


My steps muffled against the plush carpet as I followed her up a large winding staircase to the third floor as Olivia followed behind me. She led us to a room and opened the door.


“The third floor?” I asked as I entered, unsure why it made me uncomfortable, except I lived on the third floor in the compound as well.


“You have the best view from up here, darling… look out the window,” she said, as she walked to the window and pulled open the drapes. “But you are welcome to go anywhere you want to inside the house.”


“What about outside?” I asked, suddenly smothered as I stood next to Sonja and looked down at the gardens below. Probably absolutely beautiful in the summertime, but right now, dead and brown from winter with patches of crusty snow.


Her enthusiasm deflated instantly as she looked to Olivia for help. Sonja absently stroked a strand of my hair and pushed it behind my shoulder, maybe in an attempt to comfort me. “You can’t go outside right now… I’m sorry… it won’t be for long,” Olivia said.


“Okay,” I said, with a deep sigh as I glanced at her and got a sympathetic smile in return. Trapped in a room, unable to go outside, again.


“I’m going now, do you think you’ll be okay?” Olivia said, then pulled me into a hug. The scent of her fragrant perfume mingled with the smell of her hairspray wafted in the air around us. “Sonja and the guards know where to find me and how to get ahold of me if you need anything. I won’t come by often, but I will at times, okay?”


“I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me,” I said, and flashed her a smile that seemed to calm her worries then she released me and disappeared back down the hallway as she led herself out. 


I scanned over the room as I sat on the cushion covered window seat. A spacious room with a king sized bed and walk in closet, of course, I didn’t really have many clothes, just the few in my bag that I rushed to pack that weren’t really even mine. Megan had given them to me after mine were lost in the fire, and a few shirts of Gage’s that he gave me for a night shirt, that I swore, still carried his intoxicating smell.


“Like I said, you can go anywhere in the house. We have a swimming pool in the basement and a gym just down the hall here if you feel like exercise, it’s pretty effective as a distraction of just about everything. There is a library on the first floor just off the main sitting room. I’m sorry you can’t go out to the yard… but, you can go out on the rooftop,” she said, an instant smile grew on her perfectly molded lips shaded with the right amount of gloss. “I’ll show you after you get settled… Dinner is at five every night. Occasionally we have guests for a night, but usually it’s just me, the guards and the maids.”


“You have maids?” I asked, stunned.


“Yes, only two. They start cleaning the rooms just after breakfast… breakfast is at eight, I hope it isn’t too early for you,” she said.


“No, I can get up by eight,” I said, I giggled lightly as I glanced at her with a jesting smile at her strict routine, only to see, she was completely serious. My smile quickly faded.


“The other maids left to be with their families. They stayed because they had nowhere to go, they didn’t have any family left after…” Her voice trailed off, “my door is always open, if someone needs a place to stay. I’m glad you’re here, Jade,” she said, then with a smile and moisture in her eyes she excused herself and left.


I turned towards the window and looked out as far as I could see through the moisture covered glass. The once open sky with cottony clouds turned an ominous grey as textured clouds grew turbulent with the charge of a storm. A mixture of light rain and snow already started to fall and added a darkened sheen to the swirling stamped concrete below.


The neighborhood sat high up the mountain and overlooked the whole valley. The community wasn’t the only thing gated, a wrought iron, black gate, similar to the other one surrounded the yard, ready to lock out the world if needed be. I pressed my forehead against the window pane as I stared out with a bird’s eye view and found myself wondering where Gage was.


Sonja seemed nice enough and I appreciated her hospitality, but I felt myself sinking quickly into the gloom I fought to get away from. I always seemed to end up here, another room, another jail cell, another tomb, isolated from the world and I felt trapped once again.


***


“Can I come in?” Sonja asked. She knocked lightly as she stood in the doorway, waiting for my invite to enter, surrounded by greyish blue hues of dusk as daylight leaked away and nightfall encroached.


“Sure,” I smiled, then turned back towards the window. The snow fell in thick heavy flakes and covered the ground with at least three more inches to add to the already accumulated foot we’d received over the last few days. I sat, mesmerized, as I let the swirling white numb my mind.


“You missed dinner, again,” she said, “for the third night in a row.”


“I’m eating,” I said, guilty for avoiding her dinner schedule and sneaking down later in the evening to raid the cupboards.


“I know you’re eating… I would have come up earlier if I didn’t think you had anything to eat,” she said, as she walked over to me, two cups of steaming hot chocolate on a tray in her hands. She set it on the Victorian style bedside table and handed me a cup. “A quick fix for winter blues.”


“I like the snow,” I quickly added, as I took the cup and sipped cautiously. Not wanting to give winter the blame for my melancholy mood.


“I do too.” She slid into the window seat across from me and added with a smile, “then… a quick fix for wartime blues.” Her smile looked forged with a hint of sadness in her eyes as she studied mine and I wondered where her glum stemmed from.


“I’ll accept that,” I said with a grin, then looked back towards the window and she joined me as we looked beyond our faint reflections into the swirling white outside. I noticed her clothes through the reflection and gave her a sideways glance through the corner of my eye. She wore a comfy pair of cream colored sweats rolled at her calf with coral drawstring and stripe with a sweatshirt that matched. She looked as close to designer as you could get, her outfit probably from Nordstrom’s. I never stepped foot in Nordstrom’s.


“Have you checked out your closet?” She asked.


“No,” I said, her question completely unexpected.


“Really?” She looked at me stunned, then grinned. “Why not? You weren’t even tempted?”


“Tempted,” I smiled, “but it’s not mine, I didn’t know I could.”


Her gloomy mood shifted with new energy as she stood and walked to the double closet doors. I followed her as she flung them open, a gusty breeze brushed her hair back off her shoulders. “It’s not for you to just use… you can have whatever you want, it’s just sitting there, going out of style.”


I looked at her confused and she laughed as she flipped on the light. The yellow glow of the recessed can lights brightened the room immensely as the shiny wheat colored walls with glossy, white paint on the crown and woodwork added a hint of royal glow. I couldn’t remember the last time I saw such beautiful closet, and every room in her home, just as beautiful.


“Your lights work,” I said, more in a statement than a question, but she answered just the same.


“Yeah, is that why you’re sitting in the dark?”


“I didn’t think to try them and I couldn’t find a lantern,” I said. She pulled me into the walk-in closet that was about the size of the room I grew up in at home. I scanned the rows of clothes, lined perfectly and arranged by color with shirts, skirts, dresses and pants all in sections of their own. Some with the tags still in place. “Wow.”


  “My daughter was about your size so… everything should fit.”


“You have a daughter?”


“Yeah,” she paused, with a sigh as she continued to stare at the clothes. “She moved to New York for school just before the virus hit. I haven’t heard from her since then.”


“I’m sorry,” I said, as I glanced at her, suddenly aware of where her underlying sadness came from. I knew the day all too well, we all did.


“So… anyways, feel free to have what you need, you can take them home when you go.”


Thank you.”


“Come with me,” she said, then waited for me to respond.


“Okay,” I said, then she walked to the door and followed her down the hall to a sitting room. It opened up with a wall full of windows and a spacious patio outside, swallowed up by the room with glass walls that surrounded it. She pushed open the door with her free hand as she still held her cup of hot chocolate. The steam thickened into a white cloud as she walked outside.


“You can come out here,” she said, as she walked around a recessed swimming pool covered for winter, to the cement half wall and leaned over to see the ground below. Her arms sank in the foot deep snow as she swiped a clearing and pushed it over the edge.  “No one can see you from up here.”


I looked around as the heavy snowflakes accumulated on my eyelashes and in my hair. I smiled, amazed and I started to feel guilty with the comfort of my surroundings, warm and safe, when Gage probably experienced the opposite.


“Sorry I’ve missed dinner,” I said, as I glanced at her, white flakes collected in her dark hair. “I’ll come down tomorrow.”


“Don’t worry about it, I can only imagine how life must be for you… on your own at sixteen,” she said.


“I have Gage… and my brother, my sister Emery lives with an aunt,” I said, “I’m not on my own.”


“Do you see any of them here right now?” She asked. “You know… I miss Charles terribly, I see him, maybe once a month and when he comes home I enjoy every minute with him, but I’m not sitting around as life passes by, waiting for him to come home.”


“Do you think that’s what I’m doing?”


“You don’t come down to dinner, you haven’t been to the library and you still sit in the same spot most of the day… I don’t know you well enough to determine why, maybe you’re sorting things out, planning your next move.”


“I don’t plan anything, my life gets planned for me,” I said, then turned and looked out over the snow covered landscape.


“I know,” she said, “I’m sorry for that but while you’re here, you can make the best of it.”


“Doing what?”


“Replace it with something else. Anything except loneliness, okay… I don’t need to tell you that it will eat you away to nothing if you let it… you are too bright and too strong to let confinement bring you down,” she said, a spark in her eyes, revealing she knew all too well what confinement was all about. I thought about her huge home, and only her to live in it with the exception of two maids and a few guards.


“Okay,” I smiled, then took a sip of my drink, now lukewarm but still chocolate, still good.


***


         I woke in a perplexed state, disoriented to where I was to a strange, distant smacking sound. A golden stream of light filtered in through the doorway from the hall carving out a wedge of black in the dark, unfamiliar room. The clock on the bedside table read six fifteen and I glanced at my backpack on the floor next to it. I rubbed my eyes as the memories of the last week flooded into my mind.


         I stretched under the sheets and reached my hand out and flipped on the lamp then unzipped the front pocket of my bag and pulled out Gage’s letter. I opened it slowly, the creases of the paper already deep by my opening it several times. I placed my thumb over his print, almost twice the size of mine. I read over his words again, familiar and comforting, almost chorused as I knew what came next after each sentence.


Be careful who you trust and be safe, remember what we practiced. Hope you’re ready to spar with me when I get back. I’m looking forward to it and I’m smiling just thinking about it…


I smiled as I finished and refolded it again for the tenth time and placed it back in my bag. Ridiculous! I thought as I chided myself. I wasn’t sitting around waiting for him to come home, was I? I would read his letter every day if I wanted, and I would be ready, stronger when he got home. I swung the covers off me and jumped from bed. My feet padded quietly across the carpet as I walked into the hallway, deciding I wouldn’t dwell on what I didn’t have.


         I followed the rhythmic sounds, synchronized into beats of three, and peered around the doorway to see Sonja, dressed in spandex and sparing gloves as she punched, then kicked a heavy boxing bag that hung from the ceiling at the far end of the room. I scanned the room filled with different weight sets and exercise equipment as I walked inside. Full length mirrors lined every wall with the exception of the back wall of the room. Windows stretched from the ceiling almost to the floor with the vast blackness of night, the only view since the sun hadn’t rose yet.


Sonja looked my way through the mirror and stopped her routine as she turned around and reached for a towel, draped over the weight bar. She glanced at me and smiled as she dabbed her forehead, her skin rosy and glistening from sweat and an intense workout.


“Good morning,” she said, slightly labored as her chest caved with each breath. “How did you sleep?”


“Good…” I smiled back, then caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My eyes puffy and my hair tousled from sleep.


Even with her hair pulled up into a messy ponytail and the absence of make-up, she looked beautiful, even in the morning. Her tank top and spandex revealed a toned, fit body with angles and curves that left me feeling completely underdeveloped and I crossed my arms over the front of me to hide my unease of my girlish figure.


She must have noticed because her smile faded into an endearing glance as she walked towards me and pushed my hair off my face. “If you want, there’s shelves full of workout videos behind that mirror in the far corner and the television,” she paused as she pointed towards a life sized flat screen, “or, you can use the bike… or the treadmill… you need to let your wrist heal first before you go to the weights. You can use them now, just not anything that puts pressure on your wrist.” 


“Okay… the T.V. works?” I asked, as she walked over to the mirror and pushed it open to reveal rows of DVDs.


“Yeah,” she paused, then took a hasty breath and sighed as her breathing recovered from her workout. With a quick scan, she glanced around the room, “we run off solar power here… if you go look through your closet, I bet you’ll find something more suitable to wear… I’ll teach you how to use the punching bag, it works great to release pent up frustrations.”


My smile instantly grew with awakened energy. I felt like I’d just been given free rein to all the stores in the mall and a membership to Gold’s Gym. I moped long enough. I scanned the room before me with a smirk. I would be more than ready to spar with Gage when he returned.


***


         I felt refreshed after my workouts with Sonja and something else I hadn’t felt for a long time, starving, my appetite had returned. I felt amazed by what ten days of exercise and eating healthy could do. I changed with each new day, my energy boosted, my muscles toned and I liked how I looked, with the exception of the splint on my arm. The pain was gone and I couldn’t wait to take it off.


I walked into the kitchen after my shower and stopped, stunned in the doorway. Dozens of boxes littered the floor with white packages labeled hamburger and stew meat. Every inch of countertop space available in her designer kitchen was filled with cartons of eggs, five gallon buckets labeled flour and jars labeled sugar. I stepped carefully as I made my way through the maze towards the open pantry as Sonja peered around the doorway from inside.


         “Hey there, Jade,” she said, as she heaved a twenty pound burlap sack of potatoes out of the pantry then reached for another. “I just barely cooked some eggs and there is bread in the breadbox if you want something to eat.”


         “Thank you,” I said, as I placed a slice in the toaster and looked in the fridge for butter. I wasn’t sure where she got it, but there was a pitcher of orange juice on the shelf so I poured me a drink and set the pitcher on the counter next to my plate. I couldn’t remember the last time I drank orange juice. That was one of the first things we ran out of after the virus hit.


         After I fixed my plate I sat at the table and watched her. She spoke in hushed tones to the maid who helped her with the boxes. I turned an ear closer to make out what she said. “Get this stuff ready to move tonight.”


         “Will do,” she said, then picked up the broom and started to sweep crumbled dirt that dropped from the bag of potatoes.


         “Where did you get orange juice?” I asked as I took a bite of my egg sandwich and chased it with the sweetest orange juice I’d ever tasted.


         “I have a greenhouse with a lime tree, two lemon trees and four orange trees… among other things that grow year round,” she said.


         “Oh…” I said, “And where did all this food come from?”


         “The meat, eggs and flour came from your farm. We traded for the potatoes and sugar.”


         The back door that led to the garage creaked open as heavy laden boots tromped on the tile floor. I heard a familiar voice. “This is the last of it,” Charles Rogerson said as he stepped into the kitchen. A smile instantly lit his face as he saw me. “Jade… it’s good to see you. How’s that wrist?”


         “It doesn’t hurt… I think I can take the brace off in another week. Dr. Ashton said three weeks.”


         “Glad to hear that,” he paused as he set the box on the counter and motioned for the maid, then scooped his arm around Sonja’s waist and pulled her in for a kiss. My cheeks flushed with embarrassment as I suddenly felt like a third wheel, then I tried to make a full swallow out of the last remaining drops of orange juice in my glass, suddenly I wished I hadn’t drank it so fast. I poured another glass and took a sip.


         “Was there something you wanted me to look at?” Charles said as he pulled his lips from hers, only briefly. I nearly choked on my drink. They needed to find a room and there were plenty upstairs. “Yeah,” Sonja laughed in between kisses, “the faucet in the bathroom is leaking. Jade-”


         “I’ll be downstairs in the library,” I interrupted, then grabbed my glass and plate and headed out of the kitchen before another word was said. Their chuckles echoed in the hallway and taunted me as I skipped down the stairs two at a time and not too soon found the library and shut myself inside. 


            


***


         I heard the front door shut and under the glow of the front porch light, I watched Sonja walk down the front drive dressed in black with a backpack slung over her shoulder.  I expected her to head to the garage, but I watched her, in a rushed pace reach the gate and stop as she proceeded to punch in a code. The porch light shut off instantly, but I saw her under the dim glow of the solar powered street lamp.


I heard a loud clang, then the hum of the motorized gate as it slowly started to open. I glanced at my watch, seven thirty five, the night seemed much later. Before I gave my actions much thought, I grabbed my jacket and ran down the stairs. I flung it around my shoulders while I skipped down the stairs, two at a time. The house grew quiet with a buzzing silence as I paused with my hand on the doorknob, unsure if I should continue.


My insides trembled with jitters as I walked outside into the unknown and pulled the door closed quietly behind me. I watched her disappear into the dark shadows as she avoided the light and headed east towards the mountains. The dull hum of the motor drew my attention and I glanced over then sprinted to the gate and squeezed past just before it clanked shut. Locked behind me, I had no choice but to move forward, I couldn’t get back in.


I scanned the road for signs of life or imminent danger and saw neither, then I distantly followed her in the recessed shadows of shrubs and trees and an occasional brick or iron fence line that bordered the perimeter of each property. Each home I passed, well lit by solar powered street lamps and as extravagant as hers that gave you a false impression someone was home. Most homes inside, dark and eerily empty, the owner’s most likely dead. Occasionally, one lit with a single light and I wondered if someone lived inside.


I pulled my jacket closer around me but I barely felt the cold as my body warmed from the thrill. The frosty air bit at my insides as my breathing increased and billowed in curls into the cold night. I walked fast and jogged at times to keep her in my sights as my booted feet sank in muffled puffs into the fresh, powdery snow.


I drew in a quick breath and held it as I stopped short, rooted to the ground as I pressed up against a brick wall scabbed with ice and powdery snow. Chilly dampness seeped into my clothes and my chest grew tight as she paused to look around then turned my direction.


“Jade,” she said, then sighed as she rested her hands on her hips. I stepped forward with self-depreciating discouragement as she asked. “What are you doing?”


“What are you doing?” I returned the question in a bold attempt to avoid acknowledging my stupid act of following her down the street. She didn’t answer as her expression became unreadable, refusing to divulge any details. I sighed. “I am bored out of my mind and can’t sleep… can’t I come with you?”


“You know you aren’t supposed to leave the house,” she said, the words sounded almost bitter as she forced them from her mouth. By the lukewarm conviction in her eyes, I knew even she had a hard time with my so to speak sentencing.


“Would you stay inside?”


“You have a bounty on your head, Jade,” she said, as she avoided my question, her eyes sympathetic with troubled resignation. “Do you understand what that means?”


“Yes, but will they know who I am?”


“I doubt it, not where I’m going. But that’s beside the point, I don’t think you should risk it… It’s not safe to be out here alone.” 


“Which is why I should go with you,” I pleaded with sustained vigor as I used her reasoning against her with my straightforward logic. “I’m going…So you won’t be alone… and, consider this planning my next move.”


Her shoulders slumped with my stolid obstinacy and her stern stare softened into a weak smile as my last comment. “Come on,” she sighed with defeat as she waved me forward, then she continued with her steady pace until we reached an iron door. She punched in another code and it swung open, leaving the safety of the fortressed neighborhood behind us.


We followed along a path through the thickening darkness at the edge of the northeast bench of the mountains that wound through the trees amongst the city streets. My anxiety peaked as my senses heightened and I scanned the dark underbrush along the trail. She hurried along in silence, unfazed by our eerie surroundings, the only sounds heard were our breaths as I kept her pace and the soft crunch of snow underfoot.


The trees came to an end alongside of a road, she paused as she glanced both ways, her eyes restless yet vigilant as we crouched behind bushes with bare, leafless branches overgrown in sharp, awkward angles. My heart hammered in my chest as I heard the rumble of a motor cut through the silence as a jeep approached. Sonja reached for my arm, an unnecessary silent gesture to remind me to remain hidden as we waited for it to pass by.


“Whose territory are we in,” I asked.


“Ours, but not for long.”


Once convinced the road was clear she pulled the hat of her black coat over her head and we crossed the street. I looked back briefly to where we came from, the fresh snow, leaving evidence of our entrance into the city streets, then I turned and followed suit as I hid under the shadows of the hood of my jacket.


“I debated on staying back tonight,” she said, as she broke the still silence with a whisper. “I just couldn’t put it off any longer.”


I gasped suddenly and my breath stilled in my chest, disturbed by the city building off in the distance, towering with ominous gloom with the secrets of torture and death locked inside the basement and the three story building hidden behind it. Abandoned cars littered the streets in front of it, an eerie reminder of fleeing the jail but I forced the intrusive thoughts into the back of my mind. 


“Where are we going?” I asked. The shadows seemed to grow more dismal and murky with each block we passed, the further south we moved, and the closer we came to Militia territory and an increase of our soldiers holding the line. Once an elite part of town with expensive restaurants, fancy shops and wealthy patrons turned overnight into vacant buildings, one after the other. Most of the store front windows that still housed glass, blackened by dark paint to prevent onlookers from seeing inside.


“A food and housing shelter…close to the station,” she said calmly, a lack of alarm in her voice, desensitized by the ever constant threat of violence she’d become accustomed to.


“You mean the front line?”


As I waited for her answer, I noticed trash and debris stacked around corners and dark alleyways along with transients who took shelter in recessed doorways. Empty soup cans lay in a mess while a stray dog licked at the meager dried up insides, he looked up, his eyes wild and defensive then growled at me as we walked by.


We passed a fifty gallon drum with holes punched in the sides, blackened with an internal orange glow of fire like a jack-o-lantern on Halloween. Its heat briefly felt as it radiated past homeless beggars, their plea’s gone unheard as Sonja grabbed my arm and pulled me closer to her.


“Yeah,” she finally said, then paused as she gave me a sideways glance. The moonlight shone perfectly, illuminating her face, her perfectly tweezed brows arched as she eyed me. “The front line.”


“Oh,” I said, a little stunned as we slowed our pace. Her observant cautiousness focused on me.


“Are you sure you want to come,” she asked, her eyes searched mine. “Because it’s too late to turn back… I have a deadline I have to meet.”


“No, I’m okay,” I said quickly, my mind alert with buzzing energy and suppressed excitement at the thought of what lie ahead. The concern in her eyes disappeared as new determination surfaced in its wake.


“It’s more like ground zero than the front line,” she added as we picked up the pace. “The lines are grey and there is no loyalty to either side. Don’t make eye contact and let me do the talking… nothing but a division of ordinary people who haven’t picked a side.”


“Why not?” I asked, as we crossed a vast clearing. I paused with vague melancholy to look around. The city square, once full of people bustling about surrounded by the park with large maples and lush green grass, abandoned and empty and covered in white fluffy snow. The leafless trees, dead from winter with a lacework of black branches, harsh against the snow stood out in a threatening manner that reminded me of the Militia. A shutter moved through me as a slight breeze brushed back my hair, a flurry of already fallen snow circled around me in crystalline whispers that shimmered in the pale moonlight that glowed through the clouds. Sonja stopped and looked back at me.


“Come on… we’re almost there.” 


I followed along past the park, then we turned down the drive of an underground parking garage. Inky darkness curled around us like thick, black, early morning fog. My eyes adjusted slowly and I reached for Sonja’s arm as she led us down the ramp. Apparently, she’d been here before as she walked unrestrained. “Can’t they see we need to come together?”


“They don’t trust anyone… Prescott and what’s left of the government, Morrison and his Militia, they’re all corrupt in their eyes… I really don’t blame them, we live in a world of forgotten souls. You fend for yourself, and you just might survive,” she said.


Her words hit hard as I thought of those closest to me. Kane trusted no one, aside from the obvious few and I knew Gage felt the same. But yet, they still joined a side and fought for the rights of complete strangers as well as our own. 


I heard the jingle of keys as we stopped next to a vehicle and waited with terrified impatience as I scanned the darkness, half expecting to see a pair of glowing eyes as my fears got the better of me. I jumped across the seat as she opened the door, the dome light blindingly bright and I had to shield my eyes.


“Is it okay to be out driving on the roads?” I asked, she turned the key. The starter cranked repeatedly then finally turned over, I sighed a breath of relief, thankful it started.


“You won’t see very many, mostly patrol jeeps… as long as we are out by curfew we won’t be questioned,” she said, the headlights flashed on like two spotlights and shined with white brightness against a dingy grey cement wall with a stripe of faded green paint.


“Who’s patrol jeeps?”


“It depends, the closer we get to the station… we’ll probably see Militia,” she said, then shifted the truck into reverse as we backed slowly, then the truck moved forward as it lurched into motion.


“What time is curfew?”


“Ten,” she said. We turned left into the snow covered road. We drove through eight city blocks, each one as dismal as the last, and the same desperate scene as we saw on our walk in. Homeless in doorways of abandoned buildings with metal garbage cans their only source of heat, store fronts vandalized and trashed beyond comprehension with makeshift bedding of cardboard boxes and an occasional blanket or grey striped mattress tucked inside. Hunger and poverty at it’s worse in the middle of a once thriving city.


We passed a truck with guns and rocket launchers sprouting out the sides from the arms of the Militia who wielded them. I glanced at Sonja, her expression unfazed by their presence as I realized we were in Militia territory. The truck jarred with muffled thuds as we crossed over tracks then turned left again just before the overpass, the hazy demarcation between sides. We drove parallel along the barren freeway, graffiti marred each round, cement pillar as we neared the heart of the city.  An emptiness stirred uncomfortable in my gut followed by a gnawing ache at the conditions people were forced to live under.


We pulled into an alleyway smashed in between two buildings and stopped at the metal gate. Two men, sporting guns stepped aside and one stepped towards Sonja’s window as she rolled it down. His steely eyes, untrusting and weighted with moody silence bore into me like daggers. I masked my fear with stoic callousness as he looked coldly at Sonja.


“Who’s this?” He asked, his voice deep and penetrating.


“Nobody,” she said, with equal coldness, “she’s just a kid who’s helping me, I have a lot of stops tonight.”


He glanced at the other guard then waved us through. The gate opened. We pulled inside. My heart pounded with fierceness in my chest. The high brick walls of the buildings, too much like a prison as the gate closed behind us.