Rise: Populations Crumble, Book 2 Read online

  “It’s a him?” he asks, giving the tiny bird a stroke on his soft head.

  “Yep, they aren’t usually this fat unless they’re males.”

  He thinks about it for a minute. “How about Pepper?”

  “Pepper’s perfect.” She smiles before gently putting Pepper back in with his abundant siblings.

  It’s with genuine sadness, and a whole pie, that we board the shuttle back to the resort. I give Marie a hug, her embrace reminding me of my last hug with mom, the few months away feeling like an eternity.

  “Y’all are welcome back any time. But next time, we’ll put you to work.” She shakes a finger at us with mock sternness.

  “I would love that! I need to see that hydroponics setup again, and my parents would be thrilled if I learned enough to set something similar up back home. We don’t have much going on in the way of fish in our area, so that would be huge for us.”

  “Well, it’s a date then.” She lays my collar flat and pats me on the shoulder in a mothering gesture which causes my heart to squeeze again. “If there are more girls like you in this program, maybe it won’t be so bad for Drake after all.” Her eyes are sad at the thought.

  I take her hands in mine. “I have met some lovely women in this program. There are a few bad apples in any bunch, but for the most part, we all want a family, and a normal life.”

  She looks relieved at that.

  We all settle back into the bus’s love seats, except Martinez who goes to change in the back. Todd whistles a peppy tune as we bump back down the driveway, and I stare longingly at the lovely pastures slipping away from us.

  “Don’t worry, Sadie, we’ll come back. Maybe we can convince the director to let us stay a few days. Drake mentioned that they have a guest house,” Patrick says, rubbing my shoulders in a comforting gesture.

  The idea sounds lovely, but even this home-away-from-home is a placeholder for what I really want. Soon, hopefully. It’s not forever.

  Patrick’s pocket buzzes, and he withdraws his mini-tablet. I’d left mine in our room. “Your presence is requested in the guest house at your earliest convenience,” he reads off. “Huh, wonder what that’s about?” he says, tipping it towards me so I can see the swirling script.

  “No clue. Maybe we can squeeze in a nap before we get back and find out.” I lean my head on his shoulder, and stare out the window at the wild tree line sliding past. The ruins of an overgrown house are the last thing I see as my eyes close, the sound of Peter’s rhythmic snores from a few rows up lulling me to sleep as well.

  Hit The Fan

  The loud squealing of tires wakes me from my sleep, coupled with the terrifying feeling of falling and hurtling forward. I jolt and reach out with my arms to stop my descent. A long moment passes as I try to work out our location. The last thing I remember is falling asleep, watching the sunset out the window over the ruins of old houses sliding by. In the chaotic moment I awaken, not much time seems to have passed based on the still-growing dark. However, the sounds and sights surrounding me are starkly different.

  In addition to the grating screech of the shuttle’s tires on pavement, Peter’s shouts echo in my ringing ears, over what sounds like helicopter blades ahead of us on the road. Time seems to slow as the bus shimmies side to side, and in a detached way I notice that for the first time ever, Todd does not seem happy as he stands with both feet on the brake pedal, trying to stop the shuttle. My eyes dart to the front windshield and see a bevy of black vehicles blocking the road—and Todd is trying to avoid a collision. He tries to turn, but a few shoot past us before we’ve even cleared the blacktop, driving down the shoulder toward the rear of the shuttle, and he has to stop to avoid smacking one. The chopper sound is growing steadily louder, so I try to look out the window to see what's up there. Patrick grabs me and snatches me back from the glass.

  “Stay down, Sadie. We don't know who’s out there.” The shuttle shakes as it comes to a final stop, and Patrick shoves me to the floorboards, crouching over the top of me. Patrick and Peter are yelling something, but the ringing in my ears still has not subsided enough for me to comprehend what about. Are we being kidnapped? Is this another attempt by the people who bombed the resort? Peter's voice finally breaks through the buzzing and I hear him barking commands at Martinez through his wrist comm.

  “We've got at least six hostiles, I repeat, six hostiles on ground crew and they've got aerial backup. I repeat, they have wings. I need a full guard rolling out stat. The crown jewels are in imminent danger!” Peter’s voice is strained as the shuttle bus rocks from side to side and a boom sounds.

  “Sadie, do not move from this spot, do you understand me?” Patrick’s voice is low and deadly calm.

  “Yes, I won’t move.” I try to keep my voice steady, but I fail miserably. He squeezes my shoulder, and darts across the aisle while crouching low to avoid being a target through the windows. I curl into the fetal position on the ground, and watch as Peter hands him a pistol from under the loveseat, and Patrick is back hovering over me a moment later.

  “It’s going to be okay, Sadie, we have to hold tight until backup gets here from the resort.” The shuttle rocks again, and the boom is louder this time. “They want us alive—they aren’t going to try to kill us. We just have to hang in there.” He rests his palm in the middle of my back, steadying me when it feels like the whole shuttle might tip over from the repercussion.

  “Are you sure about that? It seems to me like they’re trying to blow us up!” I shout over the racket.

  “Yes, I’m sure. The grenades are stopping short. They’re trying to flush us out so they can grab us. They don’t know how many of us are armed. It’s actually a good thing that they’re not rushing in here, it gives our backup time to get here.”

  Peter has edged up to the window and is peering out to take measure of our enemies. He swears under his breath, and that’s when I know we’re in deep trouble. Peter never swears.

  “Patrick, take Sadie down the aisle and to the emergency exit by the left rear bathroom. On my signal, you pop the hatch and you head to the woods. Take shelter, and don’t come out no matter what you hear.”

  “Peter, I am not going anywhere without you.” I can hear the shrillness rising in my own voice as panic claws at my throat.

  “Patrick, do you understand? You are not to leave whatever shelter you find and you are not to let her out of arm’s length at any time, copy?” Peter ignores my objection, and I feel like I can’t breathe at the insinuation.

  Patrick’s response is low and hard. “Copy.”

  Peter ignores us now. “Martinez, I count 12 head up front, plus aerial support. What’s your rear count?”

  There is a short pause and then Martinez shouts from the rear, “Seven rear.”

  “Peter, we’re not going to make it past that many people by ourselves. We’re not leaving you, Peter. I won’t do it.”

  Patrick grips me by the upper arms and hauls me to a sitting position. “Sadie, you don’t argue with the commanding officer in combat.”

  “He is not my commanding officer, he is my brother and I WILL NOT LEAVE HIM!” I scream right in his face, but he never gets a chance to respond, because Peter’s shout cuts him off.

  “TAKE COVER!”

  Patrick throws himself on top of me, and rolls us against the foot of a love seat right before the loudest explosion yet causes the entire shuttle to lurch up and over onto its side in a massive jolting impact. The motion tosses us all like rag dolls through the shuttle and we slam into the windows, now flush against the grassy shoulder of the road. Shattered glass lands in my hair, and a hissing sound of some sort is the first thing to register after the impact.

  I landed on top of Patrick, so I push up on my elbows and try to climb off of him quickly, but my limbs are leaden. Finally I get off of him, and he lurches to a sitting position.

  “Sadie, are you okay?” I can barely hear him, but I nod. He has a gash on his cheek that is bleeding steadily, but otherw
ise he looks okay.

  Peter’s voice reaches us from the front of the shuttle. “Todd is out. Everyone else report!”

  “We’re bruised but in one piece.” Patrick answers for us, and from the back of the shuttle, silence is Martinez’s only answer.

  Oh God, they don’t care if they take us alive. We’re not getting out of this.

  Glass crunches under Peter’s black boots as he hauls an unconscious Todd on his shoulders to where we’re crouched mid-shuttle. He lays him at our feet, oblivious to the crushed glass. “Stay here, I’ll get Martinez.” He bounds to the back of the shuttle and hauls himself up the bathroom wall and settles in a crouch before dropping into the bathroom out of sight.

  My gaze lands on the unconscious Todd, and I’m relieved to see that he’s breathing. Blood is coming out of a cut on his temple, and the ear underneath. I’m not a doctor, but that can’t be a good thing. Patrick, still in a crouch, has crossed the shattered windows to the roof emergency hatch to test the handle.

  His first effort doesn’t work, but with a grunt he manages to wrench it open. My relief at the apparent exit is snatched away by the smell of burnt rubber and acrid black smoke that pours into the open hatch.

  “Peter, you’ve got to get out here! Something’s on fire!” I shout. His head and shoulders appear out of the door frame, and he quickly scrambles out. Martinez doesn’t follow. “Where’s Martinez?” I ask, watching over his shoulder, but the other man doesn’t emerge.

  His only response is a sharp shake of the head.

  Lord help us all. He died to protect us, and Todd’s unconscious.

  “What’s on fire?” He’s all business, despite his fallen comrade.

  “The shuttle. We’re going to have to run for it.” Patrick’s expression is grim.

  “Okay, you’ve got Sadie, I’ve got Todd. The good news is the explosion put us closer to the tree line. The bad news is, they’ve had time to move closer while we’ve been regrouping. It’s now or never.” He turns to me, and snatches me into an unyielding hug. “I love you, baby sister. Don’t ever forget it.” He releases me and in one motion shoves me backwards into Patrick’s waiting arms. He then moves to the hatch, and peers around the corner cautiously.

  “Okay, I’m going to lay down cover fire. When you clear the tree line, you can return the favor and then you run like a tsunami is coming after you. You hear me? You do not stop. You do not turn around, and you do not, for any reason, look back. Sadie, I mean it. Do. Not. Stop. Running.”

  “Peter, you have to come with us.” His mouth is set in a line, and he doesn’t respond, just gets into position with his gun. The black metal gleams in the flickering light of the growing fire at the front of the shuttle. The smoke has grown thicker inside, and my lungs burn in disapproval.

  “Peter, I mean it, I won’t go without you!”

  Patrick hauls me into position, so we’ve got a clear shot at the opening when Peter signals.

  “Peter, I’m serious. Peter, look at me!”

  He spares a quick glance at me, before training his eyes back on whatever he’s watching outside. “Sadie, I’ll be right behind you. My job is to guard you, and I intend to do just that. But you have to run as fast as you can, or they’ll catch us all.”

  I let out a relieved breath. All in one motion, Peter shoves the hatch as wide as it will go and starts spraying bullets in a wide arc at targets we can’t see. “Move! Move! Move!”

  Patrick’s grip on my hand might have bruised it if I wasn’t gripping his just as hard in return when we bolt out the hatch at a full sprint. My heart pounds, and the tree line still seems too far away for us to make it with all of the gunfire piercing the night around us. I trip over a hole in the ground, twisting my ankle in the process. Patrick barely slows, just enough to keep me on my feet and keeps his eyes trained forward. We’re barely ten yards from the trees when a black aircraft appears above us, the sound of chopping blades our only warning before dust and dirt fly into our eyes from the wind.

  It’s not a helicopter as I’d originally thought, but some sort of large cargo airship. The gunfire ceases, or I can’t hear it any more, as the deafening sound of the airship hovers directly above us. My lungs burn as we push even harder, but the buffeting wind slows us. A spotlight floods us with blinding light, and my steps falter again as the ground in front of us seems to wash out in an instant. My free hand flies to my eyes, trying to gain visibility, but it’s futile.

  Before I even realize what’s happening, a sound like 12 giant zippers being undone at once surrounds us, and a platoon of black-masked men land on all sides.

  “Sadie, look out!” I hear Peter’s hoarse scream and look back to see him directly outside the circle of assailants, Todd nowhere to be found.

  He’s grappling with two of them and holding his own, and I turn to run back to him when Patrick’s hand is wrenched painfully from mine. The force spins me around, and arms like steel bands wrap around me from behind. “No, no!” I scream, as I look down and see that it’s not Patrick who has me, but one of the attackers. I kick and thrash with all my might, but the man’s grip is like iron, and he doesn’t flinch when my boots connect with his shins.

  My frantic eyes land on Patrick, with two men holding his arms, while a third snatches a bag over his head. “Patrick!” The useless scream is torn from my lips, and I see him jerk in response. One of the arms caging me comes up to slap a hand over my mouth.

  Realizing this might be my only chance, I bite down on his hand until the coppery tang of blood hits my tongue, and the hand is snatched away. With all my might, I kick backwards towards the man’s groin, and his arm drops away. I sprint towards Patrick, my only thought to free him so we can get out of here. Aiming for the closest man, I throw all of my weight at him right where he’s clutching Patrick’s arm. Surprise works in our favor, because he’s knocked clear of Patrick and we land in a tangle on the ground. I try to roll away, but he grabs my braid and snatches my head back. The searing pain in my scalp loses importance when he follows up with a meaty arm around my throat.

  A bare trickle of air is making it to my starving lungs, and blackness starts to edge out the floodlights in my vision. Patrick once again has three men on him, and Peter is fighting three also, with one downed at his feet. He gets in a blow with the butt of his pistol and downs a second, but there are just too many. The men holding Patrick succeed in pinning his arms, and one of them uncaps a syringe with his teeth and plunges it deep into his neck. He stiffens with a jerk, and the last thing I see before blacking out is him crumpling backwards into his assailant’s arms.

  Taking Flight

  I wake with a start, adrenalin still pumping from being captured by our kidnappers. My heart is beating wildly as I bolt upright, and am hit with a pounding headache right behind my eyes. Cradling my throbbing head with my hands, I scan my surroundings warily. I’m in a dark-paneled room with a closed door, sitting on a large bed which takes up almost all of the space, and to my utter shock Patrick is laid out next to me, unmoving. I crawl over to him with as much speed as my throbbing head will allow, and give him a gentle shake. He doesn’t stir, so I feel for a pulse in his wrist. It’s there, steady and even. A shaky breath escapes me, and I’m relieved that they’ve at least left us together and he seems to be stable, if still knocked out.

  Another surprise, we’re not restrained in any way. Although, we’re probably locked in, so no need to restrain us. I scoot to the edge of the bed, and stand in the tight space between the bed and the wall. Gingerly making my way around—my whole body screaming from the abuse it’s been through between the crash and abduction—I pause next to the door and listen, holding my breath. Muffled voices come through, and a low humming sound I can’t place.

  I reach over and gently twist the knob, which opens with a soft click. For a moment, I stare at it in shock. What is going on here? Steeling my nerves, I ease to the crack and peer out, expecting to see someone standing guard, but it’s an empty hallway. Voic
es travel more clearly down it, now that I’ve cracked the door. I’m torn between exploring the area, or staying with Patrick. I straighten my shoulders, take a deep breath, and ease out into the hall. I pause for a moment, expecting an ambush that doesn’t materialize.

  The hallway is dark, with the dark metal walls gleaming in the faint light from the other end. Nylon netting hangs every few feet down the walls, and the floor is made of some sort of closely-packed grating. A few short inches below my feet, I can see pipes and wiring running in a tangle.

  The voices are all localized to the other end of the short hallway, so I walk down it as quietly as I can. Light pours into the dim space from an open door. They are making no attempt at subtlety, here. What is with these people?

  I flatten my back to the wall and breathe shallowly as I listen to an unfamiliar woman’s voice, and one of the dangling nets tickles my cheek.

  “. . . your team operating with minimal casualties, given the odds stacked against this mission. It was tight, but we got there in time to pull it off. In the end, that’s all that matters.”

  Anger rolls over me in a hot wave, but I force myself to focus. You can be angry once you’re safe.

  “Now, Mav tells me we’re only about 20 minutes out, so we’ll need to keep a tight perimeter at all times until our precious cargo is out of our hands. We’re not out of the woods yet, and we need to stay sharp.”

  Twenty minutes out, from what? Are we still— My thought is cut off by a sudden dropping sensation of the ground beneath me, which causes me to stumble forward abruptly. I catch myself on the netting, but there’s no doubt they heard me. Chairs scrape backwards, and I scramble back a few steps, but they’re faster than I can move on my still-shaky knees. A black-clad woman with shining blonde hair appears in the doorway. Her garb is identical to our abductors; only her mask is missing.

  “Sadie, fantastic. You should join us,” she says, then spins on her heel and disappears back into the room.

  I stand there, slack-jawed in my shock. That’s it? You should join us? What in the ever loving heck is happening here?