Akasha 4 - Earth (17 page)

Arnold stood on his tiptoes. "It's
Alex."

The line ahead parted, as people began
diving into the tree line on either side of the trail.

"What the—?" I stopped,
mid-question, as soon as I saw Alex. He was flashing a signal with
his hands; the one signal I didn't want to see.
Enemy coming. Hide and stay down.

A flutter by my side and Arnold was
gone, disappearing into the trees on the side of the trail. I had
not thought he could move so quickly. I stayed put until Alex made
his way down the entire line to me.

The panicked look in his eyes said it
all, but he told me anyway, "Elementals. About 50."

He grabbed me at the waist, ushering
me into the tree line.

"One Less?" I whispered
back.

Just as the shadows enveloped us, we
heard boots on the trail. Alex had me out of view just in time. We
both crouched behind a thick bush. "There are so many. Oh my God –
Bee!"

I tried to jump up.

Alex gripped my shoulder, hard. "She’s
with Susan. I saw them hop off the trail on the other
side."

"The other side!" I
hissed. "Then why didn't
we
go that way?"

"I was just getting you off the
trail—"

I put my hand over his mouth. The
front of the column had just reached the trail in front of us, when
someone put their fist in the air and shouted, "We'll stop here.
Fifteen minute break."

Alex and I looked at each other, each
mouthing the word, "Shit."

Chapter
24

Fresh Scars

The long column of Elementals broke
rank. Most of them started to make their way into the tree line and
we heard a series of zippers echo throughout the forest.
Considering there were hundreds of people in the immediate area,
the silence was deafening.

Alex and I leaned further into the
bush in front of us. Already pitch black outside, the tree cover
made it even darker. I pulled my hands into the sleeves of my
jacket, and closed my mouth and eyes, eliminating the whitest parts
of my body. I prayed Bee was still asleep.

Footsteps approached the other side of
the bush. My heart jumped to my throat.

Please don't come around,
please don't come around.

He didn't. We heard a buckle, a
zipper, then a steady stream of liquid spray across the bush and
ground. Alex's hand stayed on my shoulder – my hand still covered
his mouth. We refused to move anything.

It was the longest pee in the history
of man. They must have just come across a freshwater source. I
slowly opened my eyes, and could just make out the silhouette of
legs in front of me. The stream inched toward the toes of my boot,
which were shoved so far under the bush they almost came out the
other side. The sound of his urine took a higher pitch when it
moved from dirt to my boot.

I whimpered, looking at
Alex. His grip on my shoulder tightened. His eyes bore into me. His
creased forehead all but told me,
If you
move, things much worse than a little pee on your boot will
happen.

Then I heard it. Bee cried
out.

Her whimper sounded strangely out of
place, almost otherworldly, even to me. A murmur of confused
whispers followed it.

The stream in front of us stopped. The
man turned and said to himself, "A baby?"

Alex and I shot to our feet. The man
on the other side of the bush whipped back around. His jaw met
Alex's fist, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

Bee was still crying, but her voice
was drifting further from us. Susan was on the run.

Short bursts of scuffles, scattered on
both sides of the trail, brought the forest to life. Some of my
people were running, some attacked. One Less responded more quickly
than I did.

"Got one!" I heard down the
way.

Someone responded, "Cuff 'em. Group
them together!"

With hands bound behind their backs,
people were dragged to the trail. I squinted my eyes in the dark;
we were losing. A small contingent of guards set themselves up
around their captives.

"Do something!" shouted
Alex.

I resisted the urge to
roll my eyes.
He
was the man of action. Besides, I was doing something. I was
finding Susan. I blocked out the noise around me, tuning into the
telltale frequency of plants. I had meant to explore finding
people’s frequencies with Margie – but her group had never caught
up.

Now was not the time for experiments,
but how else would I find Bee? I raised my pitch, disregarding the
plant life and searching for humans. I found heartbeats –
everywhere. Most were racing, beating frantically during the fight.
I chose one and delved into it, mentally dissecting the body down
to individual cells. They each vibrated at a certain frequency.
Brain cells were faster. Those in the stomach were
slower.

I looked closer. Each cell held its
own anomaly. An additional type of energy emanating. This was a
Fire. I moved to the next body – there were a lot of
Fires.

It barely registered that two men had
approached us. Alex intercepted them. They wrestled on the ground,
similar to what Susan and I had done over the radio earlier. I
hoped Alex had better moves than us.

He finally pulled out his knife,
finishing the fight with two clean cuts.

I went more quickly now, pinpointing
Waters. I found one, moving fast and away from me. A significantly
stronger signal accompanied her, which caught my attention.
Bee.

"Straight that way!" I caught Alex by
the arm, hoisting him off the ground. I pointed the way and he took
off running.

Two more men approached. I raised my
pitch to the frequency of air, sucking it toward me then shooting
out. I ducked to avoid my own gust, and the men flew back into the
trees. The gust continued toward Alex. I flattened it to give him a
push, increasing his speed and a better lift over
obstacles.

I moved forward, making it back to the
trail. The group of guards surrounding my people turned toward me,
each pointing something at me. Few had guns with ammunition these
days, but I wouldn't put it past them.

With one hand extended toward Alex,
still pushing him forward with air, I shot my other toward the
guards. Flames volleyed at the group, flying over my guys, who had
been forced to sit. The smell of burned hair and singed skin
permeated the air.

I left the trail, running again. I
kept trying to use my own air to propel me up and over – an arc
straight to Susan and Bee. It didn't work. Twice I was shot down by
branches I didn't see. The third was a hard knock to the head. The
fall took my breath away.

By the time I recovered, I was
completely disoriented. My head pounded, and my ribs ached with
each breath. I could set up a shield around Bee, if I could just
get close enough. I closed my eyes, seeking her out again. It was
easier this time.

She wasn't too far; maybe ten yards
away. Susan had stopped moving. And Bee wasn't crying. My stomach
dropped.

Are they okay?

My heart pounded in my chest as I
struggled to stand. Right away, I realized why they were quiet.
Three members of One Less stood in front of me. Two men, one woman,
all Fires. They had me back on the ground, face down, with my arms
behind my back before I had time to think. If only my head would
stop pounding.

Behind us, a twig snapped.

"What was that?" I felt a pair of
hands come off me while one turned to investigate.

Bee, no!

I struggled, attempting to get my legs
underneath me. "I'm one of you!" I shouted.

That caught their attention. I felt
Susan backing away slowly. She needed to get further. "I mean, I'm
with you. I'm part of One Less."

Someone tugged at my arm. "You're not
wearing the band."

I craned my neck to see a bright blue
piece of material wrapped around his bicep. Uniforms were hard to
come by, without direct shipments from factories in China and all.
"Got torn off while I was just scuffling with an Air. Got her good
though – her nose will never look the same," I laughed. It sounded
fake to my own ears.

I heard rustling a few feet from my
face. I looked up to see Alex peeking out from some foliage. I
shook my head, then motioned for him to go around. He nodded once.
The three behind me were oblivious to the entire
exchange.

The woman grabbed me at my collar and
yanked me to my feet. She was stronger than she looked. "Yeah?
Prove it." She had a British accent.

Damn – is there a secret
password? A code or sign or something?

Susan was far enough away now to move
more quickly. Alex was catching up. Bee would be okay. All I needed
to do was get rid of these guys. Air would do the trick again. As I
started to call for it, a searing pain shot through my head. Had it
not paralyzed me completely, I'd be on my knees throwing
up.

I let go, and the pain dissipated in
waves. My hands went to my temples.

"Well, prove it fast or it's into the
cuffs you go," said one of the men, waving a plastic zip-tie in
front of my face.

A new sensation of pins and needles
took me, as I realized magic would not get me out of this one.
"Okay, okay," I mumbled. "Just give me a second."

I dropped my backpack and turned away
from them. I pulled down on the neckline of my shirt, exposing my
right shoulder blade.

"I can't see it; it's too dark. Can
you see it?" one of them asked.

"No – wait, I have a flashlight."
Material rustled as hands searched pockets.

I looked over my shoulder. "No need to
waste batteries."

"Shush, you. We have to be
sure."

I sighed, keeping the shirt yanked
down on one side. It didn't matter, the more time we wasted, the
more time for the others to get away.

"Here it is."

Light flashed over my shoulder for a
brief second while they studied the scar Shawn had left with his
Athame.

"Ok, yeah. You're clear."

I pulled my shirt back down. "Oh,
goodie," I said, mustering as much sarcasm as I could.

"Come on, they're regrouping on the
trail." The three of them started walking opposite the direction of
Susan and Bee.

"You go ahead, I think I lost my…my…"
I had to think quick, some excuse to separate from them.

"Your what?" the woman
asked.

"I think my armband must be here,
somewhere. Don't want to be baring my shoulder every five seconds."
I managed to muster a nervous laugh.

There was a click, and a beam of light
darted around the ground at my feet.

"Nope," she said. "Here, I have an
extra one."

My hand went to the air to catch the
piece of blue material she tossed. I grimaced at the pain in my
ribs and managed to turn it into a smile. "Thanks, lady." I bent to
pick up my backpack.

"The name is Laura," she said. She put
her arm around my shoulder, leading me back to the path. "You must
be new here – that scar looks fairly fresh."

Chapter
25

Muscle Memory

For the next two hours, we walked the
way I had just come. Every step was one in the wrong direction. My
head still hurt, as did my ribs; all compounded by the fact that
the woman next to me with short brown hair, continued to talk my
ear off—mainly about the men around camp.

"…but then he started to bed down with
Sheila. Mike told me they went through several condoms a night.
Tent mates couldn't handle it so they moved out – one of them was
Jack and I offered room for him…"

In five quick minutes I had learned
enough to know that camp at One Less was sexually active as long as
two rules were obeyed; condoms and no rape. There was no way that
could be one of Shawn's; at least not under his direct control. My
ears had strained, trying to catch his voice among the quiet
chatter of fifty people, with no such luck. I relaxed a
little.

"…but he was a Water and believe me,
opposites do not attract. With them it's so gentle and soft and
they always want to talk after, and I'm like 'Bugger off – I need
my three hours of sleep 'cause I got sentry duty in the
morning'."

I smiled, nodding my head, and
regretting it instantly. My hand went to my temples
again.

"Hey, you okay?" Laura
asked.

I tripped over a rock.

She steadied me. "Be careful or you'll
be arse over elbow!"

"Thanks. I'm fine." I risked a
sideways glance.

She looked at me, expecting
more.

"It's just – you know
–
that
isn't my
thing."

"Ooooh, I get it." She removed her
hands from my arm.