Rage Within (12 page)

“Really, I’m okay,” he repeated, but Clementine still refused to let go.

“We have to run,” she said. “Can you do it?”

Michael nodded.

Raj paused and glanced down at the unconscious Ryder on the floor. More gunshots echoed through the halls. The majority of the people had made it outside the exhibition room and their screams were distant as they rushed for the museum’s exits.

“You are cool, right?” Raj asked. “I didn’t just waste my booze on that guy for nothing, right? Holy crap, I can’t believe I clocked him like that.”

Michael stepped forward, trying to keep his knees from buckling. “Yeah, we’re cool. We had nothing to do with this. How could we?”

“I hate to admit it, but I think it is kind of your fault,” Raj said. “Mine too. Too much of a coincidence. They must have followed us from the library.”

“You think?”

Raj nodded. “I’ll take full blame. I should have known better. Not too sure what to do now.”

“You can come stay with us,” Clementine said. “And anyone else we can round up. We’ve got a safe house.”

“If we get out alive, babes,” Raj said. “I guess you’re following me again.”

He turned and headed into the darkness of the hall.

Michael twisted his body around in Clementine’s hands until he was facing her. “Hey,” he said, and when she looked into his eyes, he leaned down and covered her lips with his. Time stopped for a brief moment.

“What was that for?” she said when he pulled away. Her eyes shone brightly under the generator lights.

“Because you’re beautiful.”

“You just discovered this now?”

Her fingers wrapped around his.

“Let’s get out of here,” she said. “Plenty of time for that later.”

He smiled and hobbled after her.

NOTHING

There is nothing more thrilling than the hunt.

Nothing.

Not even the kill.

I am Nothing.

I live for the moment of breathtaking anticipation when I pinpoint my prey.

Stalking it.

Waiting for the right moment to jump.

I crave the surprise on their face, the dulling of the corneas as I bring my weapon down and slash their throat. The feeling of life as it leaves their body. I can feel it. It’s both suffocating and invigorating. The air grows heavy as the mind starts to shut down. They greedily suck in that final breath. Then it’s over in the blink of an eye. If they have a soul, I am the one who devours it.

It doesn’t matter who they are. I will take them and I will consume them.

This is why we were drawn to each other. We both wanted the hunt. The reasons were different, but none of that mattered. We didn’t even particularly like or trust each other. We were too much alike in that way.

But we still bonded.

We wanted the kill. We could taste it on our tongues. The sweet, sticky flavor of revenge. There would always be the desire to right the deaths for which we felt responsible. We weren’t that different, although he’d have been shocked if he knew it. He would have blamed me for turning him. Twisting his thoughts and making them my own.

I had nothing to do with it.

At least when I was hunting with him, I was still normal. Well, as normal as I could be.

Secrets.

We had them. They were different, but at the same time, I wouldn’t have been surprised to hear they were the same.

Something made me stronger when I was part of a team, able to push the darkness deep down inside of me. I could control it.

But it was always hard.

I didn’t want it.

I lied to myself, refused to listen to the voices when they called. Tried to block them out. I needed to be strong enough to keep my own mind.

But they called to me.

When they grew too powerful, I’d get away.

Run. Run away.

Hide.

When they passed and I returned to normal, the guilt would eat me up.

And believe me, there was guilt. Lots of it. I lived each moment as if a thousand pounds of molten lava crushed my chest. You may not think I felt pity for my victims by the way I talk, but I did. I felt sorry for each and every one I harmed. I remembered them all in secret. All that weight on my soul took its toll.

Scratch that. I don’t have a soul. It’s gone. I lost it a long time ago.

And when I closed my eyes I saw their faces etched on my corneas. Staring down at me. Accusing. Hating. Wishing me the same death. Demanding to take back what I’d stolen from them. They’d eventually find me and drag me down. After a while I stopped looking in mirrors. I didn’t want to see what they saw.

They all haunted me.

Even when I killed my own kind.

MASON

They’d moved across town in the dark, sticking to the shadows, constantly searching for signs of life. They had their plan and it required careful movement. They’d been doing this for a few weeks now. Most nights after Aries said good night to Daniel, Mason would step out of the shadows and sit down next to the guy he didn’t like. It wasn’t a personal thing that kept him coming back. No, it went deeper.

The Baggers had noticed. They had to tread more carefully as the days went on. It would be bad for them to fall into a trap. But as they made their way across the Granville Bridge, nothing waited for them.

From a short distance away, the Burrard Bridge was a pile of rubble. The earthquake had claimed a good chunk of it. With the salty wind pushing his hair back off his forehead, Mason stared out at the space where the gigantic structure once stood. There was nothing there now except a cracked skeleton of metal truss and a solitary masonry pier.

Nothing left in a dead city.

The streets were hushed.

Mason didn’t believe it for a second. It was too calm.

“Why aren’t there more of them?” he asked. They leaned against the concrete, peering out across the bridge and toward the darkness beneath them. There was no electricity and it was hard to tell if the ground was empty. There were too many shadows to hide in. Too many abandoned cars and overgrown bushes. Plenty of places for psycho nutbars to crawl out of. From a distance he could see the sky lit up where the Plaza of Nations stood hidden. A soft glow seeped above the now empty condos that were once considered the most luxurious places to live. At least the ones that were still standing. Several of the buildings had collapsed into themselves. All of those indoor pools, hot tubs, and fitness rooms gone in the blink of an eye.

The Plaza of Nations was the place the white vans advertised as a safe haven. It was the only area in the downtown core that had electricity. Either they had powerful generators or someone had figured out how to turn on the juice for that section only. They were making the most of it. Sanctuary. All a person had to do, no matter how terrified or timid, was walk up to the gate and they’d welcome you in with open arms. No one would be harmed. It was supposed to be that simple. Mason didn’t believe it for a second.

A single spotlight flashed straight up into the night sky. It cut across the bay and both boys ducked as it grew closer.

Daniel shrugged. “Guards? Maybe one or two. Do you really think they expect someone to come down and try and break up the joint? Only idiots are going to go willingly to the plaza. No one in their right mind is going to try and attack it.”

“They know we’re out here.”

Daniel snorted. “We’re not a big enough threat. Sure, we’ve taken a few of them down. But there’s thousands more. I doubt we’ve even registered on their radar.”

Last night they’d found a nest of Baggers down on Moberly Road. They’d quickly scouted the area, mapping it, planning how best to come back and destroy them. Then it had been a bit of a shock when dozens of the white vans arrived on the scene. Mason and Daniel realized they’d been discovered and had barely managed to get away.

The day before they’d killed four of them.

It wouldn’t bring back the people the Baggers had murdered, but at least it would keep them from claiming more. Daniel had become Mason’s partner in crime. It was the only thing so far that made him cool.

Something had happened several weeks ago when Daniel first handed him the knife and they let Aries and the others run off to safety. It was the first time he’d actually felt in control since he’d gotten the fateful news that his mother was in the hospital just before everything broke loose. Before the darkness he’d fought so hard to ignore had taken control. The Baggers hadn’t killed her directly, but they were still responsible. And he would make them pay.

Tonight they had a different plan. A nicer one. It was Daniel’s idea and a good one.

The spotlight passed them by. Mason half expected to hear gunshots. Bullets tearing through his flesh as he tried to run between the shadows. He had these fantasies whenever he got too exposed. The Granville Bridge held no hiding spots. If the Baggers were to attack, their only way out would be to jump.

Of course, Mason knew he’d never do that. He’d fight instead. Even if it was hopeless. He’d just make sure to take as many of those monsters down with him as he could. It wouldn’t bring Chickadee back. But the thought still made him smile.

Nothing happened. They reached the end of the Granville
Bridge without great difficulty and set off through the darker parts of Yaletown. It was hard work. Most of the streets had been destroyed in the earthquake and several of the fallen buildings made it impossible to move in a straight line.

The stink of garbage was overwhelming. There were a lot of restaurants in the area and it smelled like every single one of them must have been overspilling with rancid food. Mason could see rats, too. Several of them moved in and out of the darkest corners as they searched for whatever it is rats search for.

“Even the cats stay away from those suckers,” Mason said when a particularly oversized white rat ran out in front of them with something dead clamped between its jaws. It glared at them with beady pink eyes before disappearing into a pile of rubbish.

“Cats are smarter than that,” Daniel replied. “They’ll stick to the mice and birds. Majority of them are probably feral by now. At least the ones that managed to get out of their human prisons. Must be cat heaven these days. No people. Lots of rodents. Cockroaches too. I used to live in a place over on Broadway that was infested with those little beasts. I used to have to shake my clothing out in the morning before I got dressed. Did you know you can freeze them and they’ll still come back to life?”

Mason had never seen a cockroach, but he nodded anyway.

“Come on,” Daniel said, kicking at a pile of bricks, the remains of what was probably once a trendy clothing store. “We’re not going to get around this way. We should go back to Pacific. It’ll be more open and that’s probably where they’re going to be standing guard, but I guess we don’t have much of a choice, do we?”

Pacific Boulevard was better. There were still a lot of
buildings standing, silent skyscrapers blocking out the moonlight. Most of the windows had broken in the earthquakes, but there wasn’t any shattered glass on the concrete. The Baggers had obviously already started cleaning this area up. Easier for all those poor unlucky souls to just walk on in. And Daniel and Mason were taking full advantage of it. But the landscape was more open and it didn’t take long before they spotted the Baggers doing their patrol. They crouched down behind some cars and watched.

“Just a few guards, huh?” Mason said.

Daniel smirked. “I only see two.”

“You failed to mention the weapons.”

Daniel shrugged. “Stop focusing on the negative, Tourist Boy. It’ll just give you wrinkles. What are those anyway? It’s too damn dark out here. Are those machine guns?”

Mason peered into the darkness where, a hundred feet away, a Bagger crossed the street, turned, and started walking back toward the plaza. Held firmly in his arms was a long dark shadow that did look like an automatic weapon.

“Where the hell did they find that?” Mason whispered. Up until now, the Baggers they’d attacked seemed limited in the brains and sanity department. The ones from two nights ago probably couldn’t have held a cucumber properly, let alone a gun. Things were definitely changing with the Baggers these days. They were getting much more organized.

This was going to be a bit of a challenge.

“Probably raided the police stations,” Daniel said. “Would make sense. I’m sure there are a few rabid Bagger cops out there. That would explain why we haven’t been able to find anything. They beat us to the punch. You want to back off?” Daniel went on, but Mason could tell he didn’t mean it. No, Daniel wanted the chase as much as he did.

“We should get a little closer,” Mason said. “I doubt we can take anyone out tonight. But maybe we can get a better idea of what’s going on. Would be good to see inside that complex. I’d like to know how many people they’re holding hostage.”

“Little recon,” Daniel said. “I’m game.”

They jumped up from behind the car and scuttled forward in the dark. Sticking to the shadows wasn’t that difficult. They stayed far enough behind the patrolling Baggers so that any noise they made wouldn’t be heard. When the giant spotlight swung in their direction, they took cover behind abandoned cars or oversized bushes. It was slow moving; after about an hour they’d traveled only two blocks. But they were that much closer.

The area was brighter now. The glow from the plaza was seeping out onto the streets. The security was still slim, but there was always the possibility that Baggers were on guard in the buildings above. Mason spent so much time looking into the shadows of the condo windows that he didn’t notice the danger right in front of him. Luckily Daniel was paying attention. He grabbed Mason and yanked him sideways and behind an abandoned vehicle before Mason’s brain even registered the threat.

Daniel opened the door to the SUV as quietly as possible. “Get in,” he whispered.

They crawled into the cab while one of the Baggers backtracked toward them. Whoever owned the SUV had obviously never cleaned it. There were dozens of empty water and Gatorade bottles, crumpled bags of rancid-smelling takeout, and a lot of construction equipment. The interior smelled of old socks and sour food. Mason wrinkled his nose in disgust.