Chapter 3: Coded Message Behind Enemy Lines
LJ and Lycan left the bathroom soon after the other men did. They stayed soundless through the unlit, dark, dirt filled room, and almost feeling like it was a metallic plated cave. Being swift as possible, they made it make to their campfire without anyone wondering where they went. In fact, no one paid any attention to them, which was expected from LJ and Lycan. Sitting around the campfire, they realized everyone was going to sleep and that they should probably do the same. But they didn't want to. There was much to figure out if they were to save the lives of Michael and Lincoln.
They were eventually forced to sleep though as Paul came around with a bucket of water to put out their campfire. With a voice of a commanding vice, he demanded them to sleep and to get ready for tomorrow. LJ felt like lashing out at him, but followed his orders and went inside his tent, where Lycan was already prepped inside. They're tent had to be larger than the others because of Lycan's bulky, muscular constitution. LJ shivered slightly as he sat inside with a faintly, lit lamp. He had to stay up all night to plan everything. In the meantime, he rummaged through his backpack, trying to find a blanket. When he did, he covered himself around with it. It was still cold. Then, out of nowhere, Lycan tossed him his blanket. LJ caught it with his hands. He realized that it was his only blanket.
"Aren't you freezing cold?" LJ asked, confused and wondering if he was oblivious to the cold. It felt like it was 20 degrees cold in there.
Lycan shook his head. "No." He couldn't feel the cold air coming in from outside into the tent. If it could snow in the tent, it would've happened. "It feels like it's warm in here. You were quivering under your blanket and I really don't need mine at the moment."
LJ couldn't understand if Lycan was sick or not. He thought of the possibilities of illnesses he could have, but came up short. Shafting off the thought of his friend being ill and trusting his judgment that he's alright, LJ contemplated on several tactics to forewarn his brother without any possibility of them being caught for not being in their tents during the night.
There was one way, but it was a long shot. Hoping he could get this to work, he let Lycan know of the plan, murmuring inaudibly for anyone outside the tent to hear. Obviously, Paul has people taking shifts on supervising them and everyone else.
Lycan perked up his head. "Are you sure this will work? Are you absolutely sure that Linc will catch onto this?"
LJ shrugged. It wasn't like him to gamble his chances, but when the time for it boiled down to where it really mattered, there was no time to figure out how to get this to work to ensure that no one wounded up getting hurt. "Linc and I understand each other more than you think."
Lycan trusted him, knowing LJ doesn't usually lie. He would've caught him almost immediately if he did. "Well, I hope you can hold on for that long." He grabbed LJ and schlepped him over his shoulders. He walked outside and passed one of Paul's men. Quickly running, he ran into the other bathroom, the one they were supposed to use, and shut the door.
"I'll get to work on this." He said, holding LJ's multicolored handkerchief. He grabbed a permanent marker out of his fanny pack hanging behind him. He ripped the colors of the handkerchief apart and then laid it on the floor, putting several marks that resembled dots in a line.
LJ observed him closely as he worked swiftly, but carefully. "Hey, make sure that the dots are numbered right." He tossed him a piece of paper that he always had in case he forgot what the order of the dots were supposed to look like. "If you misplace a dot, this won't work." Lycan nodded, and took the paper. He placed it to the left. LJ sat down, cross-legged, and shut his eyes.
*---*
They could've sworn that they were in the restroom for a couple of hours, but when they walked out, it was still dark. The two of them were up for about an hour at best, setting up for Lincoln and Michael's arrival and their warning. Exhausted by the travel and the late night work, Lycan and LJ went back into their tents for the night and slept.
Morning rose sooner than expected. When the lights flickered on, LJ ascended onto his feet and kicked Lycan in the abdomen. He woke up and grabbed the vibrant colored ribbon on the ground next to him. LJ looked him in the eyes and nodded. Lycan reciprocated with a nod of his own and the two of them walked into the daylight. The room was the same except for the tents and campfires all over the area.
When the two of them walked up the steps to what appeared ahead of them was a hallway, Paul approached them from behind out of nowhere.
"Where the hell do you two think you're going?" Paul asked roughly. There was no doubt he wanted to push his authority.
"We forgot something back at HQ and we need to go to the nearby market to see if they have one." LJ answered in kind. He glared at Paul. Knowing what he already knew, LJ grew weary of his antagonistic attitude towards him and his partner. "Is that a problem?" He irritably asked, nearly snarling. Lycan kept his cool, ready to pull LJ and Paul apart if they broke into a fight.
Paul snapped his head away from LJ's face. "Do what you want." LJ and Lycan started walking towards the door in front of them. "But!" They stopped in their places, a few feet from within the door. He snidely smiled. "If you aren't back within the next hour, you're going back to the academy for those eighteen grueling, painful years." He grimly added, still smiling sinisterly.
"Just shut up and go your own way, Paul." Lycan replied harshly. "We'll be back within the hour." He said without sparing a single look at Paul's face. The two of them walked through the doors and then across the wooden bridge to get to the market.
*---*
Getting across the wooden bridge was simple enough. There was nothing but bees flying around that LJ froze and let them drop down into the dark abyss below them. The bridge was a bit shaky and raggedy, but it supported them all the way to the other end of it. They walked through the dirt, rocky hallways to get to the market.
The place was pretty rundown when the two of them arrived at the market. The tarps had holes in them, there were drunken and drugged up fools lying on the ground, and it seemed like the whole place was just filled with thugs and those who were sent away. Lycan and LJ both knew that this would be where Michael would be sent if he failed the mission, which by fact to them meant that they did fail the mission, otherwise they wouldn't be sent all the way down here to kill them. It still made no sense to them, but that didn't matter to the both of them. What really mattered was how he really felt about his brother and his friend.
They walked through the center of the market, not straying so much as a few inches from the center of the rocky path laid out in front of them. There had to be someone or somewhere they could've left the ribbon out so that Lincoln or Michael would notice. Time was of pure and utmost concern as they've already squandered 25 minutes and they really didn't need any more problems when they got back.
Everyone was staring and gawking at the two of them as they walked by. They looked a little too… rich… in their case. Lycan could feel the cold, icy stares behind him and he shuddered slightly with each step. LJ was oblivious, but that was because he was looking for a spot or someone to leave the ribbon in someone's hands.
"How much longer is this going to take?" Lycan asked impatiently, feeling a bit worried about being down in the lowest sector of the whole world. They were down by at least another 100 meters. He detested having the amount of attention that he wouldn't normally get back at headquarters.
"I'm trying my best to see where we can leave that ribbon that you're apparently caressing nervously in your hands." LJ snarkly replied. He turned around to Lycan and started walking backwards. He could see that he was rubbing the ends of the ribbon nervously to calm himself down, but it wasn't working. "Will you stop rubbing your fingers on the ribbon?" He commanded. "You're going to rub off the permanent marker." Lycan stopped his hand movements. He mouthed sorry and LJ nodded.
They finally wandered to the other end of the market. Feeling disappointed that there was no safe place to leave the ribbon, LJ sighed then turned around. He felt defeated; not just for himself, but for his brother as well. They had about fifteen minutes to get back before Paul would go into his authorative mode and chastice them for not following orders. Lycan had left him to get something usable, and cheap for an alibi. He sat down on the raggedy, old chair next to him. It didn't occur to him that the place the chair was in front of was a tavern. He contemplated whether or not he'd go in there to get food for rations based on the condition of the tavern itself. It was distorted with holes in the roof, two broken windows blocked off by driftwood, and a dirty sign that read "Life of Meami". He also dredged up that the whole market was packed with rotten thugs that he and Lycan avoided as much as possible.
Figuring that he should stick according to plan, LJ also realized that they'll need a lot of food for rations. He didn't want to go in because Lincoln always taught him when he was growing up as a child to not go into suspicious places. LJ did go inside a tavern like that before. He didn't know where he was going. All he could remember was that Lincoln had picked him up in his arms and ran out. He had never seen his brother so unbelievably infuriated before. He tried to avoid making him mad again, but now, it was different. He was full of wisdom, had capable fighting ability, and he was 18. He knew he could take care of himself when the situation arised.
Once LJ had analyzed situations and supplied the solutions for each scenario, he walked inside. The area was just as he predicted; gruesome and rundown. But that was only the tables. The people who sat on them were the same, except some of them looked more professional like they were the mayors or wealthy leaders of the place. It didn't fool LJ though. He could tell that they were just as thrifty as the other men they were talking to.
Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, LJ slowly made his way to the counter. It wasn't long before the kind lady who was working had approached her. She had short, black hair, a white tanktop with a few red stains on them. She was about Lycan's height surprisingly. She was also pretty fit. "Hi there!" She greeted in a sweet voice. "What can I get for you today?" She smiled just as sweetly as she spoke. LJ was taken aback. He didn't expect to find someone nice down there and working in a place like the one he was in.
He finally realized his face must've looked stupid and surprised, he gulped to clear his throat. "Uh, what do you serve here that's good for long journeys?" LJ asked nervously. Crap! That sounded stupid! He revealed a goofy smile at his dismay.
She smiled sweetly again. "So you just need bread, fruit, veggies, and water?" The lady wasn't about to tease LJ for his gaffe. And she was right on the dot too.
LJ finally calmed down. "Yes." He said. "Also do you have canned food and could you can everything elde?" He asked more confidently.
She thought and hummed at the same time. "Sure! I think we can do that for you. And would canned chili with beans be alright for you? It's all we have left and we won't be having our new stock for another couple of hours. Unless you'll still be here for awhile...?"
LJ cutted her off there. "I really have to get out of here in less than ten minutes so could you get to work really fast?" He asked impatiently.
"It'll be done in five minutes." She reassured him. LJ nodded and then paid for the costs. He sat around, not bothering to look around at the people around him. After about five minutes, he received his order and stashed what he could in his bag. He knew Lycan would be back soon and then he would be able to pack the rest of the food in his bag.
LJ thanked the lady and began to make his way out. He was looking at the ground and paid no attention to what was in front of him. He crashed into a larger man. He had holes in his shirt and pants. He was shorter than Lycan, but still large. "Sorry." LJ said.
"I think it's going to take more than just a simple apology for me to forgive you for crashing into me." He said in a deep, terrifying voice. Just then, everyone else around him who were minding their own business stood up. It looked like the whole tavern was a gang. LJ looked back and the lady who was at the counter had disappeared. He was in a lot of trouble now.
A man slightly taller than LJ grabbed him up by the collar of his shirt. "How about sharin' some of that food you, little, rich, ranger punk?" He brusquely said.
Just when LJ was about to get a beatdown, something happened so fast that he couldn't tell what happened. The man who lifted LJ by his collar was kicked to the other end of the tavern. He was sent through the wall and there was a giant hole in the wall. Lycan was standing in front of him.
"You son of a...!" The large man started, but then was punched in the face. He fell to the floor and was knocked out.
"Anyone else?" Lycan asked coolly. Then everyone jumped both LJ and Lycan.
*---*
"You couldn't have waited for me?" Lycan asked angrily as he carried LJ over his shoulders.
"I thought it wouldn't be that bad." LJ replied shamefully.
Right after they were jumped and attacked by the rest of the men in the tavern, LJ's staff and hands started to glow blue with an aura. Chanting the words almost inaudible to hear and understand, he spun the staff over his head and then slammed the ground. Everyone he wanted to hit froze around him and Lycan. Following the ice spell, Lycan kicked everyone away in a tornado spin attack, causing all over them to slam through the walls. They didn't shatter into pieces, but the ice around them did, successively knocking all of them out. The tavern was destroyed as a result, but before that happened, Lycan grabbed the food and threw everything that LJ had left out into his pack.
Lycan snarled as he ran through the market. They had to get back to Paul in time. "I can't protect you if you're doing dangerous things on your own accord without me."
LJ wasn't having any of it. His best friend was acting like his brother. "Who said you had to protect me?" LJ snapped. "I don't need you to protect me all the time and I don't need you to act like my older brother or caretaker!"
"You don't understand!" Lycan snapped back. He wanted to stop running, but kept on going for both of their sakes.
"Then help me understand then! Why do you have to protect me?!" LJ asked heatedly.
Lycan couldn't find an answer in place of the one that was the truth. He made two promises that day to Lincoln when he talked to him while he was training. One was to protect LJ when he wasn't around and the other was to not let him know that he told him to do so. He said it was to make sure LJ was able to grow up without him knowing that he was always under protection. "I just have to alright! Just leave it at that!" He continued to run through the market.
They ran silently for a minute. There were two minutes left before Paul would send a search team to find them and he was about three-quarters of the way to the bridge.
"Wait, the ribbon." LJ recalled, speaking softly. "We didn't leave the ribbon somewhere."
"Don't worry. I took care of that." Lycan reassured him. "I wasn't gone that long for a reason, you know."
They started talking about anything but the protection argument. There was just too much negative energy brooded from it that they had to drop the argument until they were absolutely calm.
Lycan jumped over the trash bin that was on the ground and ran across the bridge to the other side. They made it with thirty seconds to spare.
*---*
With the combined knowledge from both Lincoln and Veronica, the team successfully avoided many of the dangerous conflicts in the tower-like shack. The only real fights that occurred were between them and overgrown, poisonous spiders. Each one was burned, cut down, or shot to death. Veronica had demonstrated her gun skills to the team to prove her worth even further. She was there for Sara, but now she was there for Lincoln to save his brother; little did they know that they were close by.
Veronica shuddered. The thought of having to fight spiders again freaked her out. Lincoln took immediate notice. "Our assassinator isn't afraid of spiders now, is she?" He half-heartedly joked. She turned around to glare at him. Lincoln put his hands up in the air.
"Will you two not fight for at least a couple of minutes?" Michael asked. He and Sara had to deal with their childish antics the whole entire way. Lincoln and Veronica were arguing about which way to go. Although they had to combine their efforts to get out, the two of them were fighting like two alpha wolves in a pack. They both sought the leadership.
Everyone was walking silently. They made it to the market.
"Finally!" Michael said happily. Sara smiled when Michael turned around to look at her.
"Yes, we made it out of there." She said in her graceful, singing voice. She then flapped her white wings to stretch them out, not realizing that Lincoln, Veronica, and mainly Michael were entrapped by her beauty. Sara suddenly blushed when she saw Michael's stare and what she felt what Michael was feeling. She was his and he was hers.
Lincoln shaked his head, snapping himself out of his stupor. "Let's find the tavern and get some food to eat." Lincoln suggested. He turned to Veronica to see if she had anything to argue against it. She nodded.
"Let's go get something to eat. I didn't think the mission would've been prolonged for more than a day. I need to preserve my rations." She said. "I know where the best tavern is in this dyspeptic place." Lincoln nodded in agreement. They were finally on the same page.
"Lead the way." Lincoln let her walk by her so the rest of them could follow. He knew that she was hard to deal with, but inside him, he liked that there was someone else besides LJ to argue intelligibly against. LJ rarely did argue with him to begin with.
As they started walking, a little girl with a puppy came behind them. She was staring at Sara's wings and then turned to look at Lincoln, almost appearing as if she was analyzing him. "Hello." Lincoln greeted her in a light, friendly voice. He kneeled down to her level. She had silky, brown hair, and was wearing a slightly dirty white, house gown.
She continued to stare at him. "Hi!" She said in her innocent, kid voice.
"Where's your mommy and daddy?" Lincoln asked.
"They're at home." She replied. "I like your wings." She said to Sara. She knelt down and gave the girl one of her white feathers.
"Go run along to your mommy and daddy now." Sara said in a sweet voice.
"Here." She gave a colorful ribbon to Lincoln. "Take this for the feather!" She then ran off with her puppy. "Thank you!" She yelled back.
Lincoln and Sara stood up. They smiled once at each other then turned to Veronica. "You're pretty good with kids." Veronica acknowledged.
"Took care of my younger brother." Lincoln told her. "We only had each other. Dad was ranked higher up. Mom died young." He sighed. "That's pretty much it. We never heard much from dad since he became regent. Just a few happy birthdays here and there." He looked up at the dark air above him. "Let's go eat."
Veronica nodded and lead the way to the tavern. They passed by several thugs whose gazes were captured in Sara's grace. It made Michael defensive so he held her hand. Sara smiled and then looked forward.
"Well this is just great." Veronica groaned. They had reached the tavern, only to find that it was destroyed and in rubble. "This was the only tavern that actually served decent food in a hellhole like this."
"Is there any other place?" Michael asked before Lincoln could make a comment. "We're not picky." He looked at Sara. "You're not picky, are you?"
"Nope." Sara replied. At least that's how she felt. She still couldn't remember her past; no memories of anything except for what she has seen now.
"Sadly, the rest of the taverns serve nothing but trash, literally speaking." Veronica sighed. "I wonder who destroyed the tavern?" She asked.
The same, large man who attacked LJ and Lycan came behind them. He was bruised pretty badly and his arm was casted. "Want to know what happened?"
Everyone turned around to look at him, waiting patiently for the answer.
"A kid in blue overalls and a man larger than him came by and destroyed the place. The kid was carrying a lot of food as well. I don't know what it was for, but I don't care. If those punks come back, I'm layin' a beat-down on 'em." He said while punching the air in front of him. "If you see them, beat them up for me." He walked past them, made a right into a small alley and disappeared.
Lincoln and Michael started to feel like they knew who the people were the man was talking about.
"You don't think…" Michael paused then thought on it again for a moment. "No. It couldn't be could it?"
Lincoln thought again and then remembered the ribbon the girl gave to him. He took it out. It had black dots like it would on a normal dice block. It was multi-colored. But there were only ten colors. The dots were erratic. Then, it finally clicked. "It was them." He held the ribbon to everyone.
"What does the ribbon have to do with anything?" Veronica asked. "That little girl just gave it to you for one of Sara's feathers."
"This ribbon here has several colors on it and dots like a dice block." He untied the ribbon. It was about thirty centimeters long. He pointed to the dots then pulled out a sheet of dots that had letters on them. It wasn't just dice dots, but there were dots relatively too close to each other, almost making a dash. It was Morse code. "There are ten different colors here." He pointed to each color in order. There was green, blue, red, yellow, orange, brown, black, purple, cyan, and teal. "Each color represents the order in which the words would appear in. LJ and I both said that it should go in order from light to dark."
"So basically, your brother is trying to tell you something." Veronica concluded.
"I think there's more to that." Sara added. "The man said there was food he was carrying, right?"
Lincoln nodded and then smiled. "You're right. Let me decipher this message to make sure you and Veronica are right, Sara." He turned to Michael. "Take half of the ribbon and decipher the words out for me."
He complied and they ripped the ribbon in half, taking extra precautions to make sure the dots were not ripped in half. It didn't take long for Lincoln to decipher his half. He looked only a few times to remember which part of the Morse code represented each letter. Michael finished his half shortly after he did. They then reorganized the sentence according to color by the ribbon from the lightest to the darkest.
The words they wrote down laid out in a sentence that they didn't anticipate: "Paul is waiting to ambush you. Be careful. LJ, Lycan."
Lincoln held the ribbon in his hand and thought of LJ, thanking him closely in his thoughts. His brother was somewhere within the vicinity of Paul and he felt relieved that he can tell his brother the truth and get him and Lycan to safety. All it took was to avoid the ambush. Or get through it.
"What do we do?" Sara asked.
"This seems to be the work of the Colonel." Veronica stated. "He either wants you, Sara, or he wants Lincoln and Michael dead."
"Or worse." Michael grimly added. "He wants Sara and the rest of us dead, but Paul is our friend." He was conceited. He always thought of Paul being the good man who would help bring him up from the bottom to the top, although that never really worked several times. "I think he'll understand if we explain the situation."
"Michael, the man will do anything to reach the top." Lincoln knew that Paul was a man who would only do whatever it took to reach fame and power. "I bet that the Colonel promised him a promotion to regent for killing us."
"Paul's our friend!" Michael yelled angrily. "How could you say that?" He believed Paul was a good guy inside. They have always worked together.
"Because I'm doing what is necessary to make sure we stay alive." Lincoln said calmly. "Look, all I'm saying is don't think Paul is going to listen to you for a second. The guy is waiting to ambush us and we're this far below headquarters. He's trying to kill us."
"He's right, Michael." Sara said irrefutably. "We need to make sure that we stay alive, including LJ and Lycan." She stood right beside Lincoln.
"Michael, who are you going to trust?" Veronica asked as she moved on Lincoln's side of the argument. "Your friend here, or your friend up ahead?" She waited for Michael to say something, but he didn't. There was nothing to say. "If what LJ and Lycan are trying to tell us is true, then we need to make sure we can defend them and ourselves." She stared him in the eyes. "I'm pretty damn sure you don't want Sara getting hurt."
Michael scoffed. It was unbelievable. He always trusted Paul and Lincoln, but now he didn't know who to trust. Veronica's question had him left thinking. But he knew for sure of one thing. He wanted to protect Sara. However, there was a side of him thinking that if he could talk to Paul and explain everything he and Lincoln learned over the past few hours that he would switch sides.
Lincoln broke straight into plan, getting formations, and every possible solution to staying safe. He put Sara behind them in a triangle formation. Veronica would cover Sara's right, Lincoln on her left, and Michael in center. Knowing that Lycan and LJ would fight their own style, he counted that he wouldn't have to worry much about them. LJ was just and every bit as smart as him.
They were ready. At least they hoped they were.