Wind ripped through my bones as I leapt across the final alley.
Every window in the warehouse was dark, not a droid in sight. The squat stone building was surrounded by yards of barbed wire, at least ten feet high. Camera’s twisted and turned to survey the area, placed at least fifty feet apart. I cursed the N.S. and their warehouses, hording valuable supplies. Things the citizens needed to survive.
“-What do you think my name should be? Maybe wraith? Or- “
Johnnie crashed onto the roof beside me. I flinched as his chest scratched against the stone loudly. The bouncing boy rebounded, instantly jumping back to his feet. “-What about Reaper? Or Blade-“
I slammed my hand against his mouth, effectively shutting him up. He’d only been with me all of ten minutes and I already wanted to strangle him. He hadn’t once shut up since we left the Hotel. I raised a brow, trying my best to glare menacingly at him and spoke softly. “How about Loudmouth or Annoyance?” He deflated, slinking into his oversize clothes. “I thought I told you to lose the mask.”
I ripped the golden metal from his face and tossed it into the alley. For a second I thought he was going to dive after it. He glanced back and forth between me and the ledge of the roof like a lost puppy.
He trembled like a deer caught in headlights, as if I were seeing him naked. Guilt crept up my neck, slimy and deceiving. His eyes called out a need for me to explain myself for the first time in years, as if I had done something wrong. “Mask draws too much attention.”
Johnnie didn’t speak, he just nodded and crouched beside me. My blood boiled. Though I didn’t say it, I think I wanted him to be angry, expected him to yell, or give me a reason to leave him behind. I wanted him to react ferociously-like an Outlier.
Silence surrounded us as he studied the warehouse.
I studied his face. It was baby-like, soft and well moisturized, unlike my own. I expected to find freckles or red acne patterns, but his face was clear, as if chiseled from pure marble. Finally freed from the mask’s shadows, blue eyes searched the world, wide with wonder. He was handsome, in retrospect to his scrawny frame. I slowly felt my own confidence slipping away the longer I stared.
“We can’t go through the front,” He said.
I glanced the entrance over once again. Completely clear-no camera’s beyond the fence. “Why not?”
He picked up a small pebble and tossed it at the warehouse. The rock sailed past the fence, breezing by the camera’s unnoticed and plopped into the sand feet from his target. Instantly, the ground opened up and swallowed the stone-a false floor dropped down, another replacing it in seconds. It happened so fast I nearly missed it. The camera’s didn’t flinch, continuing their rotation, facing away from the entrance and open gate. A trap-meant to lure fugitives in.
“That’s new,” I whistled. As much as the N.S made my stomach churn, the assets available to them still made my skin crawl. “How are we supposed to get in?”
“Those planks drop you into containment cells, they then take you straight to either my Mothers private prison, or to Altro Prison, either way you’re not getting out,” Johnnie frowned, carefully analyzing the building.
I groaned, readjusting myself to pull the strain from my torso. The tightly wrapped bandages were amazing, holding my body together with the strength of three men. I was impressed with his skill, though I still had my doubts about his intentions. It was extremely convenient he just happened to know about the trap. “So there’s no way in?”
“We can get those batteries from droids if needed,” He shrugged. My stomach dropped. No, Phoenix was in there-so I needed to be in there. I couldn’t leave her behind.
I sucked in a deep breath. “I’m not here for the batteries.”
“But you said-“
“-I lied,” I seethed in warning, forcing him to lower his voice. “I don’t give a damn about those batteries, yes, they would be helpful to get but they aren’t my priority. I have to get Phoenix out of there.”
“Who’s Phoenix?” Johnnie’s body twisted, casting me in shadow.
“A friend,” I whispered. His face scrunched with confusion, but he didn’t question me further. “I need to get in that building. I don’t care what or who I have to kill to do it.”
“I’m sorry,” He whispered so low it was almost inaudible. “I don’t know the failsafe, that trap is new, they just started using them in the Upper Quarter a month ago.”
“Dammit.” I almost rammed my fist into his face out of pure spite. What was I supposed to do? How was I supposed to defy gravity? Last I checked, I couldn’t fly-
For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. The idea was so obscure, so utterly stupid-it was brilliant! I needed to do the impossible. Swiftly, a plan began to take shape. From around our feet, I gathered as many stone pebbles as I could, tossing them at the warehouse methodically. Each time, without fail, the trap doors would swallow the projectiles with a three-by-three mouth. I couldn’t suppress the smile tugging the corners of my lips.
“I have a plan,” I declared. Johnnie’s eyes followed me with expectation and . . . admiration? Somewhere in his misguided mind, he seemed to have decided to trust me-that was the worst thing he could do. “It’s not a very good one, but it’s something.”
“What do I have to do?” He asked, curiously following me as I leapt off the ledge, rolling to a stop in the sandy alley. I groaned, clutching my broken arm.
Doc’s makeshift splint had done a bang-up job keeping the bone set, I had nearly forgotten about it. My thoughts wondered back to the old copper-skinned man, then to Daisy and the boy-I thought she had called him Felix. I wondered if they got out of the house safe. Were they hurt? Had they managed to escape the city yet?
Johnnie crashed onto his feet, collapsing to his knees under the force of his fall. I made a mental note to have him placed in basic training once we got to base. If. . . we made it there.
My eye’s focused on a vacant sheet of metal propped against a house, it was thin, about four feet in length. It occurred to me that my plan might actually work. I turned onto Johnnie, who could barely manage to stand against a wall. “What you can do is tell me everything you know about that trap.”
ns 15.158.61.23da2
