Wasteland (Flight) Read online

  “I’m not going to hurt you. I just need you to relax,” he says. His voice is deep and soothing, and his whisper sends chills down my spine. I have no choice; my weapons are on the ground, and I have no way to get them. I’ve already run every possible strategy through my mind. I stop struggling.

  “I’m going to let you go, but I need you to stay calm and not follow me. I’ll be leaving and taking the rest of them with me. There is no need for bloodshed today,” he states.

  No need for bloodshed today. Was this a ploy? A joke to try to get the best of me? But no, he’s already had a hundred chances to kill me, and he hasn’t. Why?

  He removes his hand from my mouth first, and when I don’t make a sound he takes his arms off of me. I have to take a deep breath to replenish the air that was squeezed out of me. I whip around to face him; and I can’t help but be caught still.

  Dark ebony wings sprout from his back and curl around him. His hair is messy and his skin is pale, even in the low light. His bright blue eyes are calm, peaceful. He is nothing like any Harpy I’ve seen before. Before, they’ve always been feral, evil creatures; monsters. But not this one. This one stares at me as if he’s trying to study me out of curiosity.

  Suddenly, I’m aware of our close proximity and I stumble backward. At this he spreads out his wings and lifts himself off into the indigo Holo-sky. But I cannot forget his eyes. I cannot forget that pure, beautiful stare.

  I’ve just let a Harpy get away without a fight. Me, Piper Madden. An Ace Harpy Hunter. And deep down I know I can’t tell anybody about this.

  He’s going to have to be my own little secret.

  2

  Light shines on me, and I groan as shocks of pain spread behind my eyes. I realize I’m lying in the corner of the cell, curled up into a ball. My hair is knotted and dirty, and almost all of the red dye has now faded. I squint toward the light, seeing only a dark figure smudging its bright rays.

  As my eyes adjust, so does the outline of Rupert Elder. His suit is ebony and spotless, and gold earrings capture his ears. He’s alone, and shuts the cell door behind him, leaving us in momentary darkness before the cell’s faint lighting flickers on.

  He stares down at me, an arrogant grin across his lips. He has me exactly where he needs me; weak and pumped full of whatever he’s had his techs administering into my system. My arms are covered with tract marks and bruises from the large needles. I hate what he has reduced me to, but I am losing my will to keep moving.

  Just remember him. Think of how he is fighting for you. Fight for him.

  “Piper Madden,” Rupert drawls. He crouches down to my level and runs his fingers across my cheek. I shudder involuntarily. His hands are cold as ice, and his breath stinks of stale cigar smoke. His many rings glint in the fluorescent light.

  “What do you want from me?” I gasp. My voice is sparse; my mouth is dry. I can’t even scream as he lifts me from my armpits and drags me up onto the bench where I usually sleep. He drops me on the far corner and then seats himself, swiping his pants as if he were infected just from touching me.

  “I just wanted to show you some of the new initiatives the Hunter program has begun,” he says, his voice shallow and cheerful. He pulls a small tablet from his pocket, presses a button, and it lights up. It’s a portable vid-screen, I realize. Must be new technology. I can’t help but wonder how many citizens now own one, the Corp monitoring their every move, their every transaction.

  Rupert slides his thumb along the screen, then presses down. A video pops up onto the screen, and he holds it in front of me for me to watch.

  At first I just hear voices; the usual sounds of rush hour in Central, but then the video comes into focus, and the voices turn to chants and vicious shouting. The video was taken at one of the town squares. The area has been cordoned off, and in the middle of the intersection, there were two people chained to large metal posts.

  But then the camera zooms, and I realize that the figures are not people; they’re Harpies. Their wings have been pinned around the posts, and their eyes are listless, broken. One of them looks to be a child. Tears spring to my eyes, pulling from the last dredges of hydration I have left. The young one is a little girl, looking up to the fake sky in search of some kind of rescue. A rescue I know never came.

  The chanting grows louder; the people of Central throw bits of rubble at them. Then Rupert appears. In the video he is dressed as he is now, only with a microphone set clipped onto one of his jeweled ears.

  “My dear people of Central. In front of you I have brought the enemy. The ones who wish to kill and eat your children. The ones who threaten your lives every day. But we will not let them frighten us. We will show them how strong we are, that we can bring them down. Who is the superior race?” he shouts.

  “Humans!” the crowd launches back. My teeth are clenching, but I can’t take my eyes away.

  “Let us prove to the Harpies that Elder Corporation has the control of this world. We will rise and take over the planet, just as we were meant to!” he growls. The crowd grows rowdier.

  Two Hunters march into the square in full Hunter dress regalia; stiff jackets with the Elder crest. They wear helmets, so I cannot tell who they are, but they look young. New. Malleable. Both are carrying large guns. They stand before the Harpies, who do not protest, who are not vicious or feral, but who tremble with fear.

  Then there is fire. Everywhere, flames as the Hunters discharge their weapons. The flames are tinged red, diluted with augmented Hunter blood. After a few moments the Hunters back away, and once the fire subsides, all that is left of the two Harpies is ash.

  My stomach turns, and I fight the urge to gag.

  “You’re sick,” I spit at Rupert. He raises his eyebrows.

  “Oh, really? I was under the impression that you were the one who was sick; your mind, torn apart by anguish and a disgusting affair with a monster. I am a savior to these people, Piper. I protect them. All I’m doing is giving them proof that they are safe,” he says.

  And there is nothing that I can even say, because I know that is what the people believe. Everyone believes Elder Corp. What other choice do they have? To them, life is perfect here. They may live underground, but they want for nothing. They have their holo-sky and their Pure Air generators and lab-grown food, and now, they have Harpy executions, to remind them that the only reason they live in this utopia is Elder Corporation.

  “Why don’t you just kill me?” I say finally. Rupert furrows his brows for a moment, and then bursts out laughing, his chuckle ringing hollow from the cell walls.

  “I would never kill you, Miss Madden. You are far too valuable, don’t you see?” he replies.

  I don’t see. What use am I to him trapped and broken?

  “What have you done to me?” Fear pervades my voice as I say this, as I look over the bruises from so many needles. He’s been experimenting on me, I know this. But what is his plan? What does he expect me to become?

  “You will see, soon enough. Now get up. Your muscles have been wasting away. You look like you’re on your last legs from radiation poisoning. I thought you were stronger than that,” he commands.

  I try to stand, but my body is slow to obey me, and my muscles are weak. Rupert stands up and reaches his arms over, forcing me off the bench and onto the ground. My face lands first; blood drips from my nose.

  “Now stand, Hunter.”

  I try my hardest not to groan as I push myself up. Blood flows from my nostrils over my lips and off my chin. I grit my teeth, the metallic taste of my own blood filling my mouth. Once I’m upright, Rupert pushes me into the cell wall, and I slide down to the floor, the blow causing me to lose my wind.

  “Again.”

  I refuse to let him beat me. I can hear Asher’s voice in my mind, telling me to be strong, telling me not to break, because I’m better than that.

  I stand up, faster this time. I clench my muscles, expecting another blow, but instead Rupert just grins. If I could right now, I’d pu
nch that stupid smile from his mouth.

  “You never fail to disappoint, Piper. You shouldn’t even be able to breathe from the amount of drugs in your system. I couldn’t be more proud,” he says.

  I glare at him.

  “What are you doing to me?” I say again, fiercer this time.

  He walks slowly toward me, menacing and somehow comforting at the same time. He lifts his hand to my face, and I turn away, but he strokes my cheek softly, lovingly.

  “I’m making you stronger. It might seem like hell now, but when the procedure is over, you’ll be the best Hunter the world has ever seen,” he whispers. His breath on me is toxic.

  “After all of this, why me? I’m not a Hunter anymore,” I say. He steps back, only the hint of a smile left on his face.

  “I’ve never lost faith in you. You have always been… like a daughter to me,” he says.

  He gathers his things, and I keep my body pressed against the wall. Before he leaves, he turns back to me.

  “I want you to work on your strength, every day. The stronger you get, the closer you will be toward gaining your freedom.”

  The word echoes from his lips and reverberates throughout my body. Freedom. Is there such a thing?

  He leaves, closing the door behind me. Soon my next meal will come; I’ve lost count of what time it is, so every meal is the same. Then Evan will come and administer the drugs, and my world will reset.

  But what Rupert said doesn’t leave me. I can almost taste fresh air on my tongue; real fresh air, damp and drizzling from the sky.

  And even though my body aches and my face is bloody, I start to work it, to gain back the strength I have lost. If it means freedom, I would do anything. But in the back of my mind, I know that this freedom will come with a steep price, and I need to be ready to pay it, or flee.

  “We have a big problem,” Rupert muttered. Smoke pooled and spilled from his mouth and nostrils, and I tried my best, as always, not to cough. I was in his office, standing in front of his desk, flanked by David and Rassler.

  Rupert Elder’s office is overly huge, and sparsely decorated with the best elements of the Corp’s technology. There isn’t a sheet of paper in sight; Rupert does everything digitally. Still, right now he holds a letter in his hands, looking like he wants to crumple it up and toss it aside.

  Our report from the last mission didn’t go over well. How the hell did the best Hunters in Central not only let Harpies get away, but without even making contact with them? My heart flutters inside as I think about the Harpy I saw, about his curious eyes and his shiny black wings. I’m worried my lie is going to creep out onto my face.

  But Rupert doesn’t seem to be concerned with our failure anymore; now his focus is fully tuned to the paper in his hand.

  “What’s going on?” David asks finally, breaking the silence. Rupert slams the paper onto his desk and butts his cigar out on it.

  “H002 is missing,” he says. Nobody speaks. All I can hear is the thumping of my heart.

  “How can the inherent be missing?” I ask. H002 is the codename for the heir to the Harpy throne; the governing family who handle all of the Harpies’ affairs. Even if ruthless, they take tradition seriously. If the heir is missing, it could be mean so many things, the least of which is chaos in their own structure.

  We all frown. This is definitely a big problem.

  “According to this report, one of our moles has left the city due to all of the chaos. He writes that H002 is missing, and that trouble among the Family is growing,” Rupert reads aloud.

  “Was he kidnapped?” David says. Rupert shrugs, his mouth set into the permanent frown that warns us all to stay clear of him. Only this time, we can’t.

  “No one on our side was authorized to do anything so extreme, and the Temple has already made a statement that they have nothing to do with it, so it’s anybody’s guess. Perhaps a rebel Harpy faction did it; perhaps he left of his own accord.”

  “Why would he leave? H002 has the most power of any Harpy we know of,” Rassler interrupts.

  “But he isn’t well-liked by a majority of other Harpies. We’ve already seen this during some of their holidays. They don’t think he’s strong enough,” David explains.

  But I don’t think that makes any sense. After all, H002 is rumored to carry great strength, just as his father did before his own disappearance. This wasn’t a power struggle, at least not in that sense.

  “He’s not for war. That’s what the Harpies dislike about him. But that doesn’t seem like a legitimate reason for him to disappear. Regardless of his politics, Harpies have always held a hierarchy of power,” I say.

  The group nods, and Rupert seems lost in thought.

  “What about the siblings?” Rassler suggests. Rupert nods; his eyes still far away.

  “The brother. H004. He took on Ciar’s vicious nature. It’s very possible that he is trying to take over power,” Rupert ponders aloud.

  “And if that happens, we’re going to be knee-deep in the biggest war since the Devastation,” David finishes.

  Silence covers the room at the word; Devastation. The war that had changed the world forever, forcing Humans underground and setting the chain in motion for Harpies to evolve into the beasts they now were. A war against the Harpies would mean thousands of lives lost, no matter how prepared we were.

  “So what do we do?” Rassler asks finally. His voice is gruff and impatient. Rupert ponders for a moment, tapping his fingers on his desk.

  “Listen to me. You three are of my best. We need to move ahead quietly from here. We don’t want to spark any fear in the rest of the team, or in the general populace, agreed?” He eyes each of us until we nod. “I’m putting together a task force. We need to be hyper-vigilant. We need to be scouting the outer walls constantly for any sign of intrusion, and we need to work on intel to confirm exactly what is happening in the Harpy Capital,” he says.

  The outer walls. No one scouts that far; it’s too risky with all of the radiation leaking down from outside. Those areas have become a complete wasteland.

  “I don’t mean to downplay any of us as workers, but I think we need more than three Hunters to do this job right,” David voices.

  Rupert nods. “You’re right, Madden. As much as the three of you are the top of the top, we need more manpower on this. The taskforce is going to include some programmers from the other headquarters, as well as some other Hunters to handle the areas just before the Wasteland.”

  “And what about that ring of land? There should be at least four of us,” David continues.

  Instead of answering, Rupert taps on his intercom.

  “Charlene, please send her in,” he says to the speaker. The door to the office opens, and we all turn to see a tall, thin Hunter with long dark dreadlocks and piercing blue eyes. She walks over to us cautiously but confidently.

  “I hope you’ve all met Essa,” Rupert says. Jessa. Her face looks so familiar. I know that I’ve seen her around the Corp before, but there’s something else about her that I can’t quite put my finger on.

  “It is my honor to be a part of this team,” she says, standing at attention and saluting Rupert. Rassler looks at Rupert, incredulous.

  “You’re giving us a rookie?” he asks. The girl’s bravado deteriorates, but she tries her best to keep her posture straight.

  “I think that Essa will be a good addition to your team,” Rupert replies simply.

  “With all due respect, I’m not a rookie. I’ve been working my ass off for a long time,” Essa snips. The quiet demeanor that followed her into the room has dissipated, and I can’t help but smirk. Serves Rassler right.

  “Actually Rassler, Essa’s scores range just a bit higher than your own,” Rupert adds.

  Rassler growls and stomps to the back of the room. He’s always had a ridiculous temper. Now Rupert’s just egging him on.

  “We all know Virtual Reality scores are just numbers. How do I know I can rely on her?”

  “Y
ou’ll have to trust her,” I interrupt. “Just like she’ll have to trust the rest of us. Come on, Rass. We need more talent, you know that. The number of Hunters being born is falling each year.”

  He harrumphs, but doesn’t return to the desk. Essa is visibly shaking, but keeps her focus straight ahead.

  “Welcome to the team, Essa. Don’t mind him; he’s just being an asshole,” David says to her. He flashes her a grin, and I can’t help but roll my eyes. Of course he’s going to be friendly-flirty to the next pretty girl he sees.

  “All joking aside, we need to start training and scouting. There will be very little free time for you until we can rest assured that peace will remain intact. Piper, I want you to start training with Essa, to show her some advanced techniques,” Rupert continues. I nod. David looks disappointed that it isn’t him.

  “Rassler and David, I want you two to interview some of our contacts, to see if they’re telling the same stories about what happened in the Harpy city. I’ll have a few other teams doing routine scouts along the borders.”

  It all sounded good to me, except for the creeping fears that I would see that Harpy again, and the fact that I let him go would get out. What would I do then?

  To my surprise, Rupert dismisses David and Rassler, and asks me and Essa to stay. David eyes me, confused, as he leaves the room. I straighten my back, waiting for whatever Rupert has to say that he doesn’t want the other two to know.

  “There’s another reason I brought Essa onto this team, Piper,” he begins. I raise my eyebrows expectantly, trying hard not to seem too impatient. “I have a special task for you, and I don’t think David or Rassler are going to be your best partners for this. You’ll have to be quiet, stealthy, and completely in control.”

  “What’s the mission?” I ask. Rupert looks down, and it’s almost as if he’s smiling just a little.

  “You and Essa will be charged with finding H002 and bringing him to me, alive.”

  I stared at him for a moment. The girl beside me was wide-eyed and speechless.