Hadrian's Colony: Chapter Fourteen, Part One

 Notes: So, who thought the escape would go well? No one? Ding-ding, we have many winners!

Title: Hadrian's Colony: Chapter Fourteen, Part One

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Chapter Fourteen, Part One

 

 

Photo by Thomas Tucker

The alarm was a surprise, but in retrospect, it shouldn’t have been. Kieron gave himself three seconds to close his eyes, sigh, and hope that Blobby was okay before getting to his feet.

“All right, planning time is over, we’ve got to leave now.” The array of supplies they’d put together on the table wasn’t inspiring—all the rations Carlisle kept in her room, which were enough for the two of them to eat normally for three days or to stretch to ten, plus spare clothes, a small med-kit, and two makeshift tazers made from the kettle and the heating element in the shower that would only last for a few charges. It was all they were going to have time for, though.

“What the fuck is happening?” Carlisle demanded, the whites of her eyes visible as she listened in shock. “I thought you were trying to be covert! This is the general alarm, the halls are going to be filled with people heading to their ready stations—”

“Perfect.” Kieron picked up Carlisle’s spare jacket and shrugged it on. The fit was tight around his shoulders, but there was nothing he could do for that. At least the attached hood was sized for rainstorms—after he pulled it forward, you could barely see his face. “Now’s our best chance to get out of here.” He’d been inside this compound for less than a day and that was far too long already. “You go prep a vehicle for us, and I’ll join you as soon as I get my bot.”

Carlisle was silent for a long moment, then threw up her hands before she began packing everything left on the table into a rucksack. “I don’t even have to ask you about leaving the damn thing behind.”

Kieron would rather lose a limb. “Nope. Will you be able to talk your way into the motor pool?”

She nodded. “I haven’t been stripped of my access codes yet, and once I get through the door I can fly anything in there, coded to me or not.” She smirked when Kieron raised an eyebrow. “You’re not the only one with contingency plans.”

“Good. I’ll see you in…” He mentally reviewed the schematics of the place. “Fifteen minutes. If I’m not there in twenty, leave without me.”

“I’ll have to,” she warned him. “Working with you is signing my own death warrant. Once your DNA test comes back—”

“I know. Prioritize your own safety.” And Kieron would prioritize his.

Carlisle paused like she wanted to say something else for a moment. Her shoulders twitched and her eyelids lowered, then she shook her head like she was clearing it. “Walk briskly but don’t run.”

“Got it.”

“If you have to incapacitate anyone, do it in a room, not the hallway.”

“Go already.”

Carlisle shouldered the rucksack, turned to open the door, and stepped out into the hallway. The alarm blared even louder out there, but she moved forward and was out of sight in less than a second. Kieron waited one, two, ten seconds for her to get a decent head start, then made sure the hood was over his face, tucked his makeshift stun gun someplace he could easily access it, and made his way into the hall.

He went right, then took the next left. Blobby had been in the underground storage compartment near the middle of the compound, so that was where he headed…obliquely. He tapped on the little piece of Blobby he held the whole time as he moved, rhythmically, trying his best to mimic old-fashioned Lidar waves. Blobby picked up what he was doing fast enough, and sent a bump back.

Bump…bump…bump…Kieron took another left and after only ten paces the pulse got softer, so he turned on his heel and retraced his steps. Sure enough, it got stronger again, then stronger yet when he went further down the hallway and took the next left. Several groups of people passed him, all of them armed and in camouflage, and Kieron did his best to look purposeful as he moved around. No one had challenged him yet; they were all too concerned with their own personal missions, which was lucky. It was a luck he couldn’t count on lasting.

The next corner he turned, Blobby beating a rapid pulse in his pocket, Kieron’s luck abruptly ran out. The sound of the alarm obscured his hearing, and he ran right into the person racing down the corridor, a medical scanner clutched tightly in their hand. Being broader than them, he managed to stay on his feet while they stumbled and almost fell.

“Shit, sorry, I—” The familiar voice cut off abruptly, and Kieron realized he was looking straight at Doubles. And Doubles knew exactly who he was looking at, too. “Oh, shiiiiii—”

Kieron didn’t wait. He lunged forward and grabbed the man’s nearest arm, then used it to spin him around until his back hit the closest door and he tumbled through it. A cursory glance might not indicate something was wrong—just a trip—and Kieron followed him in quickly to finish the altercation before it could get worse.

“Hey, man, don’t—” Kieron hit him twice to bend him over, got an arm around his neck, and put the man out in less than thirty seconds. It was almost like Doubles had been leaning in to getting choked unconscious, which…was smart of him, honestly. He’d been on Kieron’s bad side too many times already, and his subconscious seemed to know that.

His girlfriend, on the other hand, knew nothing of the sort. “Son of a bitch!” Alissa screamed as she appeared in the door, her weapon already rising to her shoulder. Kieron dodged behind the nearest piece of furniture—an old, broad metal desk—and breathed a sigh of relief when dozens of tiny flechette rounds cut into the  wall behind him. He could deal with flechette rounds—pulse rifle blasts would be another matter. He waited for the second barrel to fire, then reached for the chair behind him while he stood and flung it in her direction.

It hit Alissa square in the chest and knocked her back into the hall. Kieron’s satisfaction quickly turned to dismay as her exit was followed by the entrance of two more people.

Kieron didn’t wait. He couldn’t give them time to pull their weapons. The first one reeled back when Kieron elbowed him in the solar plexus, but the second had time to set up a punch of his own before Kieron could square up with him. He shrugged his shoulder so it took the impact instead of his head but was still nearly driven off his feet. Shit, someone here had combat mods, then. And if one did, the odds were others had them too.

He dropped and dove for the man’s legs, taking him down while fending off the arms that reached out to try and choke him. The landing was hard enough to distract the soldier, and Kieron braced one leg firmly on the ground before driving the foot of the other hard into the man’s groin. The guy didn’t even have air to scream with after that, and Kieron dropped him and turned back to the other attacker, who was facing up again. He stepped forward and—

The brief crackle of a stun weapon was all he had time to hear before the impact took him to the floor, every muscle spasming. Luckily, his fall dislodged the prongs, but he was still shaking as he turned his head to look at Doubles, who was on his back, stun gun raised and a satisfied look on his face. “You’re fucked now,” he grunted, and when three more people plus Alissa entered the room…shit.

Kieron did his best to block the blows as they came in. He needed to get to his feet, but no one seemed interested in making the space for that—or for apprehending or even shooting him. It seemed like they wanted to simply beat him to death.

No, I can’t die here. Get up, Kieron, get up! He lashed out with everything he had, driving two of them back, but finally Alissa wised up and raised her gun, pointing it right at Kieron’s head. He went for his stunner in a probably futile attempt to take her out before she could make her shot.

Suddenly the air lit up with a web of electricity. The energy bounced from person to person, leaving several of their heads smoking as they all collapsed to the floor like their bones had dissolved. Kieron blinked the blood out of his eyes and finally registered the little gray creature that was rolling across the floor to him, shedding inert parts as it went.

“Blobby,” he croaked. Blobby had saved him. Exactly how, he didn’t know, but he wasn’t going to let it go to waste. Blobby bumped his shoulder gently, and Kieron took a deep breath and got to his feet. He picked up Blobby and settled him on his shoulder like an oversized epaulet, then glanced at the chrono in the room.

Shit, he was at fifteen minutes already and they were on to him. He’d never make it to Carlisle in time. He needed to get some leverage.

Well, at least he knew where to find it. Kieron shook off the pain from his injuries as best he could, pulled his hood forward, and exited the room—but not before he turned around and kicked Doubles right in the face.

Should have stayed out of it, asshole.