Water Shaper (World Aflame) (19 page)

Wilkes ran a hand over his short, coarse hair. “You asked before why I was in London, that you thought it was about family. You were right. I was stationed in
Kent, but my wife had a job here in London. She and our son lived in a flat near the Thames.”

Xander frowned, glad that the Leftenant couldn’t see his sour expression. He remembered clearly how ruined the city was near the river but didn’t have the heart to tell the British officer.

“I…” Wilkes paused and shook his head. “When I heard that London had been attacked, I abandoned my post. I jumped in my car and raced up the M20. I knew that I had men looking to me for leadership, but I didn’t much care at that point. I didn’t even pack a bag; I just left them all.” He looked up at Xander with sorrowful eyes. “I’m a deserter.”

“You did it for your family,” Xander said. “Your men would have understood.”

“No, they wouldn’t. The army’s a funny thing. They don’t often care about extenuating circumstances when you desert your post at a time of war.”

Xander looked to Jessica, who nodded to him. He turned his attention back to Wilkes.

“I’m not good at asking for help,” Wilkes said. “I guess what I’m saying is…”

“I can get you to the Thames,” Xander interrupted, saving the man from his uncomfortable request. “I can fly, like you saw when I first landed in London and we ran into each other. I can fly you
there, and we can get your family.”

Sean frowned, which Wilkes noticed.

“When he said that you brought the Fire Warriors to us during our fight,” Wilkes said, “it was because you used your powers, wasn’t it?”

Xander swallowed hard as the wave of guilt swelled again. “Yes.”

“Then no.”

Xander shook his head and leaned against a rack of clothing. “It would be quick. We’ll fly in and be out of there before the Fire Warriors could catch up to us.”

Wilkes looked up at him before climbing back to his feet. He faced Xander, but it wasn’t with malice. “When I was out there on the street, I fought something I’d never seen before. He had massive, flaming wings and threw balls of flame ten times stronger than that rubbish the other ones were playing with. If I didn’t know that these Fire Warriors weren’t devils, I would have sworn this man was a fallen angel.”

Xander looked at Jessica knowingly. What he felt earlier had to be connected to the Fire Warrior Wilkes fought.

“If that thing is still out there and you go flying about, wouldn’t that draw him to us?” Wilkes asked.

Xander nodded.

“Then no. Even if we could outrun him now, by the time we found my family, we’d be bringing that thing down on them. I won’t put them in any more danger than they already are. We’re going to get to them, but we’re going to do it my way.”

“What’s your way?” Sean asked from behind everyone.

Wilkes looked over his shoulder. “We’re going to take the Underground. There’s an Underground station about two blocks down the road from where we are. There’s another Underground station exit near my flat. We should be able to stay off the streets all the way there.”

“Don’t you think there’ll be Fire Warriors there?” Xander asked.

“Maybe. Probably not. They seem pretty intent on burning down the city and probably haven’t put much thought to the railways. At least, I hope they haven’t. And if they have, I’ve still got a few magazines left, and we still have the fat man’s quite dangerous cricket bat.”

Sean blushed but smiled at the ribbing.

“So what do we do first?” Xander asked.

Wilkes looked around the store. “We’ll need some supplies before we go. Then I say we wait until
nighttime before we make our move for the Bond Street station.”

Xander looked at the other two college students, who nodded their approval.

“All right,” he said. “We’re with you.”

As dusk settled over the city, Leftenant Wilkes hefted a heavy hiking bag full of supplies over his shoulder and led the way out of the department store. He stepped gingerly, limiting the amount of crunching his army-issue boots made on the broken glass on the sidewalk.

He looked left and right down Oxford Street, but it was an exercise in futility. Visibility was practically nonexistent during the day because of the smoke. Couple the smoke with the gloom of a moonless night, and he could barely see the ruined car parked on the curb in front of him.

Exasperated, he motioned for the other three to follow.

Xander led the group out of the window. Their footsteps weren’t as tempered, and the sound of breaking glass echoed around the silent neighborhood. Xander cringed and gently brushed aside some of the larger pieces so Jessica and Sean wouldn’t make the same mistake he did.

He didn’t bother looking around the street. He knew his eyesight was bad enough that he wouldn’t see a Fire Warrior if he was standing on top of a nearby car proudly waving a flag over his head. Instead, he concentrated on the sensation in his gut; the one that grew in intensity every time someone used elemental powers nearby.

Xander practically braced himself in anticipation, remembering the anguish he felt when the crazy Fire Warrior hybrid used his powers. While it was a telltale sign that they were going to be in danger, it didn’t make the kick in his gut any less painful.

Luckily, he felt nothing as they hurried across the street.

The group rushed down the far side of the road, ducking behind cars whenever possible and sprinting across the open areas when it wasn’t. Long before they reached the intersection of James Street, Xander could taste the sulfur still hanging in the air. The taste was pungent and strong, even after hours had passed since Wilkes’ gunfight. The smell in the air was reminiscent not of the number of fights Xander had with the Fire Warriors since discovering his power, but reminded him directly of his first exposure to a Fire Warrior: when Sammy tried to kill him in the abandoned house in White Halls. Her blasts had carried the pungent smell of sulfur and brimstone.

Sean shoved him from behind as he reminisced, forcing him to sprint to the side of an overturned double-decker bus. The bus was ruined but offered great protection as they passed toward the open intersection between James and Oxford Streets.

Wilkes held up his hand, indicating for the group to stop. The officer inched to the far edge of the bus and peered around the corner. The smashed car onto which the winged Fire Warrior had landed was nearby, and the wall behind it was riddled with bullet holes. He turned back to the rest of the group and nodded while pointing to the far side of the street.

The Brit led the rush across the
road. Xander kept expecting a roar of flames to chase them through the open intersection, but it never came. As he dropped to a crouch behind a car on the far side, Xander took a moment and looked back across the intersection. He saw the scorch marks on the wall and admired the still-smoking husks of the cars that were decimated by the Fire Warrior’s tirade. Xander also saw the same bullet holes marring the wall and silently wished Wilkes would have hit the warrior instead of clearly just nearly missing.

Jessica tapped him on the shoulder. As Xander turned, he realized the other two were already sprinting ahead, rushing toward an entrance a few storefronts ahead of where they stood.

Aside from the white, metal cage that protruded from above the entryway, Xander wouldn’t have guessed that they were approaching an Underground entrance. He wasn’t familiar with the red circle and blue bar, which designated the railway. It wasn’t until he was underneath the metal awning that he saw “Bond Street Station”.

Wilkes was already at the glass doors, pulling one open. Unlike the storefronts, the recessed Underground doorways
still seemed to be intact. Wilkes held the door as they all rushed inside and the officer scanned the road once more before letting it close quietly behind him.

Inside the train station was silent like a tomb. A few pamphlets and Underground maps were strewn across the floor. Xander half expected a breeze to blow across the room and a tumbleweed to go rolling past. He reached down and picked up one of the maps, figuring it would be a handy tool as they explored the rest of the city.

The turnstiles were ahead but were barely visible. There was hardly any light to filter through the glass doors, and even the emergency lights seemed to have failed.

Xander felt his skin crawl as he looked
at the ominous darkness beyond the turnstiles. The inky blackness seemed to swallow any attempt of his to see into its depths. It was like the world ended just beyond the metal gates, devoured by the nothingness on the far side. He had never been afraid of the dark before, as well as he could remember. Of course, he had never believed in monsters before either. Now he lived in a world where he knew monsters existed, and the thought that they could be hiding in the darkness before him was all too real of a threat.

Wilkes slung his camping bag from his shoulder and unclipped the top flap. He shoved his arm into the bag and rummaged around for something.

“It looks like all the power went out here too,” Xander said, staring at the threatening darkness. “Emergency power failed too, from the looks of it.”

“Give me a moment,” Wilkes said. “I’ve got a torch in here somewhere.”

Sean furrowed his brow. “Like a stick and fire?”

The Leftenant pulled a flashlight from the bag and turned it on, shining the bright light in Sean’s eyes. “No, not quite.”

Sean shook his head and tried to blink away the bright blue spots dancing in his vision. “I feel like we’re having the same conversation but speaking completely different languages.”

“Don’t worry, Sean,” Jessica chided. “I took some English in college. I should be able to translate for you.”

The Brit laughed quietly as he started repacking his bag. Sean stepped beside him and looked into the bag, curious about what the officer had retrieved from the store.

Sitting on top of his bag was a
shimmering silver, foil blanket.

“What’s that?” he asked.

Wilkes paused and looked at the object. “It’s a flame retardant blanket. You’re supposed to crawl under it if you’re caught in a forest fire.”

Sean smiled. “Are you planning on getting caught in a lot of forest fires in the middle of London?”

Wilkes smiled right back. “With the craziness that you blokes have shown me, I’m planning for bloody well everything now, aren’t I?”

The flashlight forced the darkness to retreat and revealed a frozen escalator leading deeper into the subway system. Wilkes stepped to the edge of the stairwell and shined his light to the tunnel below.

“See anything?” Xander asked.

Wilkes shook his head. “No, but that doesn’t mean they’re not down there.”

He handed Xander the flashlight and shouldered his rifle. “Stay right behind me and keep the light straight ahead.”

The group went down the stairs cautiously, Xander sweeping the platform ahead with the light as more of it was revealed during their descent. By the time they reached the bottom of the escalator, the glow of the flashlight filled the tunnel.

It quickly branched off with colored markings on the walls. Xander reached up and touched the gray line marking on its surface. Ahead, he could see the red line pointing in the opposite direction.

“Which way?” Xander asked.

Wilkes scratched his chin. A salt and pepper beard had started growing in the couple days since they’d met, making the man look far older than he had originally.

“We take the red line. We can follow it down to the black, which will take us under the Thames and close to the flat.”

Xander pulled out the tube map and searched for the red line. The map was helpful but was still a maze of multicolored subway lines. He remembered riding the subway once during a trip to Washington DC and recalled it being far less complex. His eyes finally fell on the red line, and he traced it to its intersection with the black and down a couple stops until it crossed the Thames.

“London Bridge?” he asked.

Wilkes nodded, pointing at the tube station just across the river. “Our flat is walking distance from there.”

Xander looked up sadly toward Jessica. He knew how much she had wanted to see the sights of London and had to assume this wasn’t the way she wanted to visit the famous London Bridge.