Chloe took off running down the street towards the apartment at a full sprint. "Please be alright, please be alright." She burst into the main room, absorbing the tears streaming down Ashley's heartbroken face. "No," Chloe whispered, shaking her head.
She rushed to the door of Angie and Darren's bedroom and let out a sickening wail. "No," she whimpered. "No." Michael stood off in the corner, arms crossed over his chest, head bowed. Angie was crouched in the center of the room over Darren's lifeless body.
"How? How?" Chloe stammered.
"Bullet to the head, through the window," Angie choked out. "I knew something bad was going to happen."
"This is my fault," Chloe sobbed. "I lead them right to him!"
Angie shook her head in disagreement. She leaned down and gently placed her lips on his, a tear falling gently down onto his cheek. "I'll love you forever." Chloe burst into a fresh round of tears, embracing Ashley tightly.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust…"
Chloe wrapped an arm around Angie, who leaned her head against Chloe's shoulder with a shaky breath.
Silently, Ashley and Michael dropped roses onto Darren's mahogany coffin. Chloe gave Angie a final squeeze before placing her rose on top of the other two. She slowly ran a hand down the length of the coffin. "Bye."
Angie stepped forward, choking back tears. "Well," she paused, and then laughed tightly, "what am I supposed to say? I love you. I miss you. How can I live without you?" She gently pursed her lips. "We're going to get them Darren. We're not going to stop fighting for freedom. Your death will be avenged." Angie laid her rose on his coffin. "I love you." With one final glance, Angie walked into her family's waiting arms.
6 months later
"Hey Ash," Chloe let herself in with a swipe of a room key and threw her body down on the hotel bed.
"How was work?" Ashley exited the bathroom clothed in a bathrobe and running her fingers through her damp hair.
Chloe lifted her head up long enough to give her a look of disbelief.
Ashley gave her a wry grin. "Why do I bother asking?"
"I really don't know," Chloe rolled off the bed and trudged over to their desk to get her laptop and plugged it in. She pulled up a chair and the two mutants silently waited for the computer to load. A ding signified a new email message.
"From Angie?" Ashley asked flatly.
Chloe nodded and clicked on the message.
"Any news?"
Chloe let a short laugh and shook her head. "It's a birthday card?"
Ashley frowned in confusion. "What?"
"Today's my 19th birthday," Chloe informed her. "What kind of hell do we live in that I forget my own birthday?"
Angie pushed back from the desk and placed her spectacles on the table. The past six months had been a blur. Soon after Darren's death, Ashley and Chloe had separated from Michael and Angie for their safety. They hadn't seen each other since. The only communication they had was daily emails.
Angie and Michael had set up a home base of sorts. Everything the group needed to find Morgenstein's army was hooked up inside of a dingy little apartment they had been calling home. Ashley and Chloe were motel hopping, never staying in more than one place for over two weeks, picking up shifts as waitresses to make some money.
Angie habitually flipped on the television and started a pot of coffee, knowing that Michael would need some fuel for the long night of work ahead. She couldn't help but feel that every day that passed them by without finding the hiding place for Morgenstein's army of mutants the less of a chance they had of finding them at all.
Frantic pounding echoed throughout the room as someone ran down the hallway outside. Angie heard the lock click open and Michael flew inside in a giddy sort of haze.
For the first time in a really long time, a goofy, amused grin spread over Angie's face. She could feel that something was different. New, exciting. Angie hadn't been around anyone who had projected such emotions in a long time.
"What happened?" Angie asked in expectation.
"I found them," Michael beamed, shaking his head a little in disbelief.
"Seriously?" Angie gasped, uttering the question, but knowing the answer.
The two embraced in a relieved hug and then the real questions began.
"How? Where? Did you tell Chlo and Ashley? When are we going?"
Michael laughed, a foreign sound to Angie's ears. "Slow down! Deep breaths Ang. Okay. Firstly, I found out purely by luck, searching and hacking just like we've been doing for the past few years. The headquarters is actually near the Great Wall of China, hidden in the mountains. I haven't told Chloe or Ashley, and we are headed out at the crack of dawn tomorrow."
"Wow," Angie couldn't help but smile. "Just, wow. I can't believe this."
An uncomfortable silence sat in the air as the plane bounced through the sky.
"Coach sucks," Chloe whined, shifting restlessly in her seat.
"The plane would have turbulence no matter where we were sitting," Michael rolled his eyes.
Chloe's face twisted into an expression of extreme displeasure. "But at least I wouldn't be sitting next to him." She gestured towards the seat beside her, whose occupant was dead asleep and drooling with his head on the feral's shoulder.
Michael signed wearily, "Man, I missed you Chloe."
"Aw, I missed you too Mike," Chloe grinned cheekily. "How much longer?"
"A few hours," Ashley replied, glancing towards her.
Chloe groaned, and accidentally jostled her friend.
"This is going to be a long flight," Michael sighed.
"Okay," Michael looked around the table at the three young women sitting across from him. "Have we done everything we need to?"
"I think so," Angie nodded. "Supplies, deactivating the trackers…"
"We're good, let's go," Chloe's mouth was set in a grim line of determination.
They were ready for battle.
Perfection. That's the only way Chloe could describe how this mission was going.
Angie had effectively distracted the guards so Michael could sneak in to disable the cameras. Chloe and Ashley had penetrated the outer limits of the building and were now racing towards the lower level. Chloe took steps two at a time until she reached the bottom.
A sickeningly familiar stench filled her nose, and a deep aching tightened across her chest. Even though it was a different location, Chloe knew this place all too well. She crept stealthily down the dank, dimly lit hall towards the cells. Bodies were strewn across the floor; Angie's doing no doubt. The closer she became, the louder the pitiful wails of the captive mutants became.
"Shh," Chloe's voice echoed through he huge underground stone archways. "I've come to free you." Chloe quickly approached the first cell and glanced inside at the occupant. A frail girl peered back at her with large green eyes. "Hey sweetie. How many are there of you?"
"About 50," the girl whispered, hope filling her face.
"All of them as young as you?" Chloe asked.
The girl nodded.
"Okay, let's get you guys out of here," Chloe smiled weakly. "Where are those three?" she muttered, placing her hands on the bars of the child's cage. She let out a grunt of effort as she pulled the bars apart so the girl could escape. "Do you know where the keys are?"
The girl nodded again.
"Great," Chloe sighed. "I'm Chloe, I'm a feral. What's your name?"
"Bianca, I'm an electrical elemental," the girl replied.
"Okay, let's get everyone out of here! You get the keys, and start at one end. I'll meet you in the middle." Chloe raced off in one direction after she made sure Bianca was off in the other.
Chloe pulled apart bar after bar as she raced down the rows of cells. Finally, all the kids were out and the group ran towards the exit. As they reached higher levels the piercing wail of a siren filled the air. "Come on! Hurry up guys," Chloe encouraged. She led them through the twists and turns of Morgenstein's building. With a final push of the heavy external doors, they were free.
"Chloe, where do we go?" Bianca tugged the feral's hand.
Chloe looked over the landscape desperately. Michael was supposed to be there with an escape vehicle. "Where is he?"
Three days later and nothing. Chloe decided that they couldn't stay in the mountains outside Morgenstein's facility any longer. The kids were getting hungry and as much as Chloe hated leaving her teammates behind, it was unsafe to be there.
So they walked down the hills of the mountains, Chloe figuring that there had to be a tourist attraction to stop at nearby, because it was the Great Wall, after all. AS luck would have it, after a full seven hours of straight walking, the group found themselves on the outskirts of Beijing.
"None of you happen to speak Mandarin, huh?" Chloe looked out over the sea of sad eyes. "No? I figured as much. Okay Bi, you are in charge. Stay here. I will be back within a day. Got it?"
The elemental child nodded and relayed the message to the rest of the kids. Chloe walked the last few miles to the city. She strolled into a nightclub, sat down at the bar and pulled a slip of paper from her back pocket.
Michael's voice sounded in her head. If something goes wrong, just call this number.
She fingered the torn paper in her hands for a few moments before taking a deep breath. "What the hell am I getting myself into?"
Please review! Ali