Children of the After: The Complete Series: A Young Adult Postapocalyptic Action and Adventure series (41 page)

Unable to hear the prisoners, Sam knew they couldn’t hear her, so instead of shouting she looked to the small girl and mouthed just three words to her.

“I’ll be back.”

Turning her head back the way she had come, Sam blinked back to the intersection. Grasping the side of the vent, she pried with her fingers until she could slide them beyond its face, and bracing one booted foot up against the wall she yanked with all her might as the cover tore free of its moorings and fell to the floor with a clatter. Whether it was her emotions or the exertion of removing the vent, Sam wasn’t sure, but she found herself panting as she reached within the duct and wrapped her arms about Will to pull him free without so much as a greeting.

After hugging him tight and setting him down, Sam released Will and reached back into the duct to assist Tammy with the last few feet of the climb. As soon as Tammy was free, Jack appeared and he too joined them in the corridor. Though Sam hadn’t seen any signs of danger, she couldn’t contain her need to hurry back and free all of the prisoners she had found.

“What is it?” Jack asked, obviously noting that something was wrong.

“Prisoners,” Sam replied, realizing that she was still crying.

“You’re sure? Where?” Jack asked.

“All three ways. Some like Tammy, and humans too.”

“You’re certain?”

Sam nodded.

“Can we get them out?”

“We have to,” Sam replied.

* * * * *

It wasn’t like Sam to cry. Not lately, anyway. She was tough, and Will knew that it had to be serious. Rushing down the hallway with Tammy at his side, he followed both Jack and Sam towards what appeared to be a turn in the hall ahead. Rounding the corner, he nearly ran into Jack who had come to an abrupt stop. Stepping past his brother he could see hundreds of pairs of eyes looking back at him. It was creepy in a way, and he got that uneasy feeling in his stomach, just like he had last year at the Christmas presentation at school when looking out at all of the parents in the auditorium. Swallowing back his fear, he turned to his older siblings in an effort to hear what it was they were saying above the pounding in his chest.

“There has to be a way to get them out. A door on the cells we can pry, a control panel, something,” Jack suggested.

“Nothing we can see from here. Let’s look,” suggested Sam.

“Should we split up?” Tammy questioned.

“Why don’t we just ask them how to get them out?” Will asked.

“They can’t hear us,” Sam answered. “The glass is soundproof.”

Ignoring his sister’s answer, Will walked past his companions, nearing the first cell where all eyes within fell upon him. It didn’t matter if they could hear them, they weren’t human, though Will supposed Tammy could talk to them. These were her people. Will liked their shiny metallic eyes.

Pointing to all of the people within the cell, Will then pointed outside the cell before holding up his hands and shrugging. It was like sign language but apparently better. It seemed to be universal, as everyone in the cell began pointing in the same direction towards the back of the room. There was their answer. Turning around, Will was met by the grinning faces of all three of his companions.

“You, little man…” Jack began before Will interrupted.

“I know. I’m a genius.”

All four turned and ran back in the direction the prisoners had pointed, weaving between cells in a beeline. Will, with his shorter legs, fell behind a bit, but with near absolute silence in the room there was no way to mistake the sounds of footfalls ahead.

Rounding what had to have been the hundredth transparent cell, Will slid to a stop. Perhaps a dozen yards ahead the wall they sought loomed, but between them and it stood something they had not yet encountered. A mass of gleaming metal, a thing Will could only label as a robot blocked the way, raising one large arm adorned with what he assumed was a weapon of some sort. Shorter and further back than his siblings, Will didn’t think the mechanical man had seen him yet as it began to advance first towards Jack.

Backing up slowly, Will skirted around the cell behind him. If the thing was there, it had to be guarding something. What would there be to guard, other than the controls to open the cells? Tiptoeing around the cell, he peered through it, between the legs of its inhabitants to watch as the robot closed in on Jack, who now began to back away from the thing. It was moving away from the wall. Perfect.

Taking it as his cue, Will turned and ran the rest of the way around the cell, not even pausing to look to see if the robot had spied him. Sprinting to the wall as fast as his little legs could carry him, he easily located the panel on it that appeared to be a modified LED TV with wires sticking out all over the place. Upon the flickering screen were tons of blue squares. Cautiously Will reached up and touched one of the boxes, watching as it blinked from blue to red. Screams and yells erupted from somewhere behind him. He’d opened a cell!

Tapping all over the screen, Will began opening the cells all over the room one after another until all boxes glowed red. The sound was deafening as bodies surged all about. Turning, Will spied both Jack and Sam before they were lost in the crowd, the alien robot upon them.

* * * * *

Tammy backed away from the towering mechanical being. She’d seen them before, just before arriving on Earth. These were the creations of their invaders, those who had kidnapped entire races. Standing all of eight foot tall, the things were humanoid in construction, though were not living. With a metallic outer shell, jointed in several places, the machines could be brought down. She had witnessed broken ones being hauled off for repair. She knew that beneath the exterior were mechanical bits that could break, rendering them immobile. The trick was getting to them.

Moving forward in Jack’s direction, the mechanical monstrosity closed the distance with each step, but now there were thousands of her race milling all about, keeping their distance from their slaver. Jack was running out of room to retreat. Not that running would do them any good now. Likely the robot had already sent a signal for help and reinforcements would be on their way.

As if to affirm her suspicions, a blasting alarm sounded as once again flashing lights filled the room. As if not noticing, however, Jack stood focused, the room behind him having run out. He’d backed himself up to one of the now empty cells. Those of her kind that had been milling about looking for a path to retreat, seemed to close in now, as if willing to fight but awaiting an opening. They obviously had a greater fear of the mechanical being than Jack did.

Watching as the bot stopped to look down upon Jack, Tammy witnessed as a blue light erupted from its chest, creating a line across Jack’s face that quickly traveled down to the base of his torso. After completing its apparent scan, the robot leveled its weapon arm at Jack’s head and did the unthinkable.

“Human,” it began in an almost human tone. “Surrender for questioning.”

Tammy was astonished. She’d never heard one speak, never fathomed it could, but here, it had proven beyond a simple defensive machine. Even so, Jack’s expression changed to one of determination and he threw up his hands; Tammy watched as the robot was flung from its mechanical feet, to land upon its back with a metallic clang that shook the floor. That was all it took. In less than a second, those who had just been freed were upon the machination, pulling and prying, stomping and kicking. In mere moments a cheer of victory went up from the center of the crowd as the machine’s weapon arm was tossed into the air. Just seconds later the mass of bodies that had concealed the robot broke up to reveal a pile of dismembered parts. Tammy could hardly believe that such weak and sick-looking people could be capable of such feats. She was proud of her people for standing up for themselves. Still the alarms split the air and flashes of light disoriented her. They needed to move.

“Tammy, c’mon,” she heard Jack shout, and turned to locate the source of his voice.

Looking about the crowd, she located her three friends and witnessed as Sam vanished.

“Where’s she going?” Tammy asked.

“Down the next hall. She can just blink in, open the cells, and let those in them do the rest. We’ll head down the last hall and meet her there.”

It was a good plan. A safer plan. She rejoined her friends, and they made their way through the crowd with thousands of eyes upon them. Like they were celebrities or other people of note, the crowd began parting for them at the same time that hands reached out to touch them as if they were holy. Then Tammy realized. All of these people were people of her faith. They had witnessed Jack’s ability and watched as Sam vanished. They knew. The Star Children had come to save them. Grinning with the knowledge that they had given hope to people whose spirits were broken, Tammy smiled at them as she passed, and reached out to touch those who offered their hands. It was little Will who took it a step further.

“Come with us,” he demanded. “We’re going to free our own people now.”

Tammy knew they didn’t understand the boy’s words, but with his ability it really didn’t matter. As if of one mind, they all turned and began to follow in the wake of those who had set them free. Will had gathered them an army in mere seconds. They might succeed after all.

Sam blinked and blinked again until she reached the second slave room filled with humanoids that were unknown to her. She knew already that at the back of the cells would be a robot guard, but even knowing that didn’t slow her down. Blinking to the center of the room, she turned to look between the glass cells and ported again.

Gathering her wits, she knew that beyond the next few cages would be yet another robot, its sole purpose to keep her away. As of yet she had no idea what it was capable of, and hoped she wouldn’t find out. She blinked.

Opening her eyes, she looked at the chest of the immense robot just inches from her face.
Oops
. A blast of blue light across her face forced her to close her eyes just as steel fingers clamped around her throat.

“You have been deemed a threat,” the robot proclaimed in the same voice as the previous.

Sam’s vision swam as her breath caught in her throat. She could feel her pulse beneath the pressure of the robot’s mechanical fingers and knew without a doubt that within seconds she would black out. Already her vision began to swim and a thrumming sound began in her ears. She had to act.

Closing her eyes, Sam tried her best to ignore the panic and fear that threatened to drown her. Focusing herself in the darkness, she concentrated on the rhythmic sounds of the alarms blasting throughout the huge prison, and blinked out of the mechanical guard’s grasp.

Standing atop the cell nearest the robot, she blinked again to reappear just behind it. Reaching up, she began pressing the blue boxes on the screen, hearing as those contained in cells behind her were set free. A metal hand clamped on her shoulder. She blinked. Turning to look back the way she had come, she watched as the metallic man swiveled in her direction and raised its weapon arm, emitting a pulse of blue light straight out of science fiction. Panicking, Sam blinked away, returning to the screen now behind the robot once more. Again she began selecting boxes.

Hearing the whirr of mechanical parts and the heavy clangs of metal feet upon the floor, Sam knew her time was up as she turned to look upon the robot yet again. For the second time it leveled its weapon on her and again she blinked, but this time she did not run away from the guard. Instead, she blinked into the air above the thing and brought her weight down beneath her, upon its head. As it was made of metal, her landing did little damage beyond a black scuff down the side of its face, but the added weight seemed to make the thing top-heavy. Leaning heavily forward, the robot tried to adjust for the added weight, but then Sam was forced to reposition lest she fall from the machine’s shoulders. Again the robot tried to adjust, leaning back, causing Sam to slide further as both began to fall, Sam beneath the immense robot. But then she was gone, vanished into thin air.

Landing on her feet at the control screen once more, she continued to click boxes as those freed by her swarmed over the robot just as Tammy’s people had done in the previous room. Finishing her task, she turned in time to see these foreign people hefting the ruined mechanical being over their heads, carrying it away in a crowd as sparks and thick fluid rained down upon them from the broken machination.
Two down, one to go.
Sam blinked out of the room.

Reaching the intersection where the three corridors created a tee, she found herself in a crowd of Tammy’s people. Like her, they moved towards the room where the humans were confined. She assumed that her brothers and Tammy were up ahead, but didn’t immediately blink to their aid. Instead she recalled the silent promise she had made to return to the small girl in the glass cage just ahead. Something about the small girl had called to her and she wanted to know what it was very much.

Joining the crowd, Sam walked at a hurried pace towards the giant room ahead where the humans were being held. As she reached the room, shouts and cries arose from somewhere unseen as human words began to rise above the din. Humans were being freed. Looking above the heads of those around her, Sam spotted the upper corner of the glass cage the girl was confined in, and focused her power.

Opening her eyes once more, she blinked down to the floor below to look through the glass to the girl within the cage. She remained, as before, standing tall, this time with a strange smirk on her face. Samantha hadn’t a clue what the small girl was thinking, but was curious beyond belief to find out. This in mind, she was forced to turn away as her attention was pulled towards a great cheer that erupted from somewhere across the room. Turning, she got to witness as the glass cells began to open, one wall of each one dropping down into the floor, as humans began to flood out of their confines. Spinning on her heel, Sam watched as the girl patiently waited for all those locked within her cell to depart before making her way casually to the exit. Sam walked around the cage as best she was able through the growing crowd to meet the girl, and in turn the girl circumvented the glass walls to do the same.

They met somewhere in the middle, though with the tumultuous shouting and roaring sirens, their words were lost to each other’s ears. Unexpectedly, the small girl with beaming eyes reached out and took Sam’s hand as if she were concerned about being separated. Sam looked down to the girl with a nod of approval and began weaving through the thick mass of malnourished bodies in the direction she imagined her siblings would be.

* * * * *

His second victim had went down much quicker than the first, and for that Jack was thankful. Those that Will had recruited were more than ready to bring the fight to their captors, if only Jack had a direction to point them. They needed information, but it was simply too loud to shout above the crowd and the sirens to ask the newly freed people for guidance. Tammy had said that she was to be their guide, but she knew just as little as the rest of them about this place. City of Angels or not, the ins and outs were still a mystery.

Looking to both, Tammy and Will, Jack took the lead, waving to them to follow, and began making his way back in the direction they had come. They needed to find Sam and come up with a plan. Perhaps she had found a way off of this floor of the structure or something that would show them where to go.

Looking about, Jack noted his surroundings and those that filled it. They were a ragtag bunch, mostly skin and bones, but their energy was amazing. It was no wonder that Tammy’s people had survived for so long on a dying world and then in captivity. He couldn’t help but wonder if humans would have been able to survive the same. Looking about the room, now a mix of three races, he also wondered what would become of them in the days and weeks and months to come. Everything was different now.

It was perhaps ten or fifteen minutes when Jack spotted Sam one aisle over with a small girl in tow. Changing direction in order to intercept her, he looked back to be certain both Will and Tammy were still with him.

“Sam,” Jack shouted, rounding the last cell that stood between them.

Though she didn’t reply, Jack watched as Samantha’s head swiveled around and a smile parted her face in recognition. Making his way to his sister’s side, Jack waited for Will and Tammy to join them before making his intentions known.

“We need to keep moving. I haven’t seen any exits off of this floor. We might have to go back to the ventilation.”

“Let’s find someplace where we don’t have to shout,” Sam added.

“Quiet, please,” Will shouted as those immediately surrounding them fell to silence. “I said, quiet please,” he shouted again as more of the room silenced their cheers and shouts. “Quiet, quiet, quiet, quiet,” he repeated again and again until at last the only sound permeating the room was the rhythmic shrieks of the alarms.

“Thank you, Will,” Tammy said with a grin.

“You’re welcome,” the boy replied with a mischievous smile of his own.

“We should get out of here,” Tammy suggested.

“I’m with you, Tammy. They have to know we’re here by now. We need to get moving,” Jack agreed. “Have any of you seen a way off of this floor?”

“I have.”

Jack looked down to the small girl who still held hands with Sam, having forgotten her presence. Looking up to his sister, she simply shrugged her shoulders with an awkward grin and turned back to the small girl.

“Who are you?” Jack asked.

“I’m Cadence. Cadence Dakota.”

“You know how to get out of here?” Jack asked.

“I know a lot more than that,” Cadence smiled.

“Like what?” Sam asked, leaning in.

“Like that there are more than forty floors just like this one, all filled with prisoners. Some of them are monkeys and others are bugs, but they are all prisoners just like we were.”

“Can you get us to them?” Jack asked, thinking to free them all.

“I can, but they would probably expect you to go to the other slaves next,” Cadence said with a knowing look.

Jack nodded. The kid was right. He had to think. They needed to shut this place down, destroy whoever was in charge, and make them pay for what they had done. Then they could free all the slaves.

“How do you know so much?” Jack asked the small girl.

“I escaped once, and was free for six days. I’ve been all over this place. It’s huge.”

“Can you tell us how to shut it down? How to destroy it? Who is building it? What it’s for?” Jack questioned.

The small girl seemed to think on his questions a moment before she pieced together a reply.

“I don’t know who is building it, or what it does, but I think I know where they are. There are these elevator-like things that run up and down the whole thing. Down here everything is pretty basic, but the higher you go the more… different things look. Like we’re in the basement and all the cool stuff is upstairs. If you want to shut it down, I think you need to go up. There is a floor where all the wires and tubes lead and I think it is like the brain or heart of this whole thing. Like a reactor or something.”

“Have you been there? Can you take us there?” Jack asked. The girl’s description sounded promising. Glancing up momentarily, he witnessed as hundreds of pairs of eyes stared at them intently. The freed slaves were listening in as well.

“I’ve only seen it from the elevator thingy. There were too many guards so I had to keep moving.”

Made sense. If it was important they would be guarding it. Jack wanted to have a look for himself.

“What else?” he asked.

“Above that floor, not much further, is the top floor. I haven’t been on it, but saw it for a moment from below. It wasn’t completed then. I think whoever is running the show here is up there. Slaves weren’t allowed up there, the robots were doing all the work.”

Jack pondered all he had heard for a moment before looking to his siblings and Tammy. They all stared at him in return, awaiting his command. It seemed pretty obvious what they needed to do. If they wanted to shut this place down, they needed to investigate this reactor thing. From there they could move onto making those responsible pay for their actions. Jack’s mind was made up.

“Show us where this elevator thing is,” Jack said, thrusting his shoulders back.

“Wait,” Sam interrupted. “Why were you so calm when you saw me?” Sam asked the girl.

“I read a lot. Well, I used to. The aliens never win. I knew when I saw you that things were about to change,” Cadence admitted with a smile.

“Lead the way,” Jack said, as the small girl began tugging Sam’s hand back towards the intersection in the corridors.

* * * * *

Will followed Jack down the hall with Tammy right on his heels. Ahead, Sam followed the girl, Cadence, who Will guessed was probably a grade or two above him. Ahead of them it was as if the seas were parting, as human and alien alike moved aside for them to pass. Behind them, again the sea was mended as the gap closed and those they passed turned to follow.

It didn’t take long for them to reach the end of the corridor and when they did, Will watched the girl approach the metallic wall. Touching a portion above her head, Will was surprised as an entire panel of the wall slid out and to the side, revealing what could only be described as a cylinder of light. Pulsing yellow and then green, the light seemed almost to be alive and Will wondered if this was perhaps some kind of trap. Who better to use as bait than a defenseless little girl? It seemed the perfect plan for a super villain. Whether it was or not, the situation was a reminder that Will needed to focus on being a hero, and think like all the greats did.

“This one goes up,” the girl said, her large eyes looking into Jack’s face. “The one over there goes down,” she said, turning and pointing just a few feet away. “At each floor, a ball of light will appear. You can either step off, or touch the light to continue moving upward.”

Will watched Jack and Sam nod, and hoped that it wasn’t a trap. It was obvious that she wasn’t planning on coming with them, though he couldn’t blame her. If he had been a prisoner here, he wouldn’t want to stick around either. Nodding his understanding as well, Will stepped forward as all three, Jack, Samantha, and Tammy, began moving towards the would-be elevator, but paused before entering with them.

“What is it, Will?” Sam asked.

“We need a distraction.”

“Huh?” Sam said, one eyebrow rising.

“If we’re going up to fight the bad guys and break their stuff, then we need them and their guards distracted.”