Fear of God (Trials of Strength Book 1) (15 page)

‘
Hello,
Lucas!’ her familiar voice almost sang.

‘
You’re the
one from the calls,’ I whispered.

Her smile only
brightened, and she nodded.

‘
You know what
to do?’ my father asked her.

‘
Yes,’ she
nodded. ‘Don’t worry boss. I got it.’

Richard nodded, and with
one final look at me, crossed the room and left. The woman went
over to the desk, and the guard who had fetched her followed with a
tray in his hand and set it down. She rummaged with its contents
and finally brought up what looked like a small sword. A scream
choked in my throat, and I started to pull at the cuffs.

‘
My name is
Bonnie,’ she said. ‘Bonnie Clyde.’

‘
Obviously not
your real name then,’ I gasped.

Bonnie laughed and turned
back to me. My two guards placed their hands back on my shoulders,
and Bonnie advanced. There was no question about what she was going
to do, the blade shone brightly under the lights, and I wanted to
beg for my life. I didn’t though, and I wouldn’t give this stranger
the satisfaction. My only regret was I hadn’t been able to wring my
father’s throat before I died.

Bonnie stopped in front
of me and raised the weapon. The blade sliced the air as she
brought it down like lightning.

The
Rescue

I closed my eyes tight
and waited for the inevitable pain. Instead I heard a strangled
cry, and two grunts. I opened my eyes to blood pooling around my
feet, and two bodies lying to either side. I looked up at Bonnie
and her bright smile was gone, her face was stern and serious.
Before I could ask anything, she moved behind me and unlocked my
cuffs, freeing me from the chair. I bolted up and distanced myself
from her, but she only sighed.

‘
We do not
have time for this,’ she said. ‘We have to go, now.’

‘
Why?’ I
asked.

‘
Lucas,
sunshine, I just saved your life and now I’m getting you out of
here,’ she chided, ‘so, how about less of the questions, and some
more gratitude huh?’

She had a point. Bonnie
crossed the distance between us and grabbed my arm to get me
moving. We travelled down the stairs I’d been dragged up, and down
an array of tunnels.

‘
Bonnie,’ I
said, jogging to keep up. ‘What’s happening?’

‘
I’m not sure
I can explain it as well as your father could, but even if I could,
I don’t know much more than you do,’ she replied.

‘
Who are you?’
I asked bewildered.

‘
The new head
of outside security, only now instead keeping people out, I keep
them in,’ she smiled. ‘Well, that’s not my only reason for being
here, but again, that’s none of your business.’

I was struck
by how in a few seconds Bonnie had changed. Her voice had levelled,
and became less flashy and more serious. I wanted to ask her about
the rescue, but I guessed she’d just wave it off. It wasn’t hard to
guess the answer though, she obviously didn’t work
only
for my father, and
the way she acted around him was just that, an act.

We travelled for around
ten minutes before she stopped below a ladder and turned. I
wondered where we were, but the tunnels were the perfect maze, and
I’d never seen any other openings other than the ones Chris had led
us to.

‘
You’ve got a
big task ahead of you,’ Bonnie said. ‘But you’re not gonna be able
to do it alone. I know where your little friends are, so I’ll go
get Chris, but you should get up there now.’

She pointed up to the
opening.

‘
What’s up
there?’ I asked.

‘
Lovely,
Anna,’ she replied.

A chill ran up my spine
and Anna backing into darkness flooded my mind. I must have shown
the conflict on my face because Bonnie interrupted it.

‘
Hear her side
of the story before you do anything,’ she muttered. ‘Trust me.
Right now she needs you.’

She handed me the
sword-like weapon, and I nodded and started up the ladder. Bonnie
turned to go.

‘
Wait,’ I
said. ‘Where is she?’

Bonnie looked round and
smiled, ‘Look for the crane.’

With that, she was gone.
I shook as I climbed, wanting to turn and run and hide. I pushed
aside the round metal cover, and stepped back into the warehouse my
father had taken me to. I headed quickly to the door and walked
into the dawn. I caught sight of the rusted crane, but there was no
sign of Anna, and I bristled for a trap. Instead pleas hit my ears,
and I looked up to see a tiny figure on the horizon, high up in the
air. Anna had been tied to the crane.

I had to fight down the
urge to scream up to her, she was already drawing enough attention
and if I didn’t move fast, the place would be swarming with those
monsters. I sprinted to the base of the crane and stared at the
ladders dubiously. Before I had time to judge whether the rusted
metal would hold me, Anna let out another cry and a pain stabbed
through my heart. I had to move.

The rust flaked under my
hands, but I made it to the first level without trouble. I moved to
the next ladder and continued up. Anna’s screams had stopped, so I
assumed she saw me climbing. I made it, level to level until I was
at the control cabin. Then it got tricky, screams filled the
air.

I looked down towards
town and almost collapsed. The height was unsettling, and tiny
shapes were making their way towards us, lots of them.

‘
Dammit,’ I
whispered into the wind.

I slid through the bars,
trying to keep my balance as I made my way the long trail towards
Anna. The rusted bars creaked under my feet and threatened to send
me hurtling to my death.

‘
Lucas!’ Anna
screamed. There were tears in her eyes, and her wrists were bound
to the metal on either side of her.

‘
It’s
alright,’ I called back. ‘I’m coming!’

The monster screamed a
few feet behind me, and I almost slipped. I had made it halfway
across, and in that time, the creatures had scaled the towering
crane and caught up. I turned and drew Bonnie’s weapon from the
loops for my belt. I didn’t have time to think. I thrust the
glinting metal forward and sunk the blade deep in the gut of a
screaming woman. It unbalanced her, and she fell through the gap in
front, screeching until she hit the ground.

I never looked, just
turned and raced to Anna. I put the bloody blade back in the loops
and focused on my feet.

‘
I can do
this,’ I whispered, terrified. ‘I can do this.’

I was a few feet away
from my goal when another caught up.

‘
Lucas!’ Anna
shouted.

I turned, but not in
time. The man’s leg caught mine and I slipped between the bars. My
arms flailed and caught the slice of metal I’d stood on for dear
life as my lower body dangled in the air. Anna screamed, I
screamed. I tried to swing, place my feet on the bar in front, but
the man stood there snarling. I swung more, gripping tightly to the
rust and forced my legs forward. I kicked at the creature’s feet,
and he slipped and fell forward, almost dragging me with
him.

I groaned, my body ached
as I wrapped my legs around the bar vacated by the man. I pushed
myself back up, and reached Anna. I used the bloody weapon to cut
her restraints and she grabbed my arm. I turned to look at the way
I’d come. Four creatures stumbled as they raced towards
us.

The crane gave a bone
shattering shudder, and the sound of twisting metal filled the air.
I looked down towards the sound. Men and women threw themselves at
the base, rushing towards us. But whatever strength they possessed
was too much, the mob had pushed the broken bars to their limits
and the crane snapped at the base.

‘
Lucas?’ Anna
cried.

I didn’t reply, I
couldn’t reply. I couldn’t breathe, or think, or function. The
crane swayed violently, and we gripped the bars in a white knuckle
hold. It swayed again, and with an almighty cracking sound, the
crane blasted from its foundations.

Oh
god.

‘
Hold on!’ I
screamed.

The crane rocked then
swung, moving left as it dipped for the ground. An office complex
came rushing up and I thought of something close to
suicide.

‘
Anna!’ I
shouted. ‘When I tell you to, jump!’

‘
What?’ she
cried.

The building was coming
fast. We were going to crash straight into it.

‘
JUMP!’ I
yelled.

We let go of the bars and
threw ourselves forward. Time suspended as we flew through the air,
my heart hit my throat and we hit the glass. We smashed into the
building. The crane groaned as it continued to travel down and
collided with the floor below us. The sound was unbearable as
concrete and glass alike were destroyed. I only had a second to
breathe when the crane passed under us, ripping the supports of our
floor away.

Anna screamed as we slid,
a chair smacked me on the head as it fell of the side of the
building. We were five floors up, and hitting the ground wouldn’t
end well. I grabbed Anna’s hand as the floor gave way, and latched
onto the ledge of a doorframe. It was too much though, my bones
burned and my fingers were slipping. After everything we would
still die.

I lost my grip, and a set
of hands caught mine.

The
Exile

Chris groaned under the
strain, but another set of hands grabbed us. These had violet nail
polish, and Bonnie and Chris hauled us up onto solid ground. They
panted from the task, and Anna and I almost collapsed. At first I
couldn’t believe our luck, that we had survived something like
that, when heavy footsteps filled the air.

They were
coming.

‘
We have to
move,’ Bonnie said, already on her feet.

Chris stood, dragging
Anna and I to our feet. We sprinted through the building and made
our way to the ground floor. Chris handed me a gun, and I took it
without hesitation. We made it as two creatures came bursting
through the front doors. We aimed and fired. My first shot took the
monster down, and Chris landed a perfect headshot on the
other.

‘
Move!’ Bonnie
screamed.

We took the front doors
and gunfire filled the air, but it wasn’t us. Unseen shooters were
holding our attackers at bay as we made it to the nightmare
warehouse, diving back into the darkness of the tunnels.

‘
Looks like
they really are keeping those things from coming down here,’ Chris
panted.

I nodded. I turned to
make sure we all made it, when I saw that Bonnie was gone. We made
our way back to the group, and as we entered the room, anarchy
broke loose. Paul advanced on us with a gun and at his side stood
Grace with another, beaming. Jane lay on the ground, her hands tied
and her mouth stuffed with fabric. She stared wide-eyed at us, and
on impulse I brought my gun up at Paul. Chris was ahead of me, and
already had his trained on Grace.

‘
What the
hell, Paul?’ Chris growled.

It was Grace who replied,
‘Heathens!! Spawn of the devil, working from inside our stomachs to
kill us!’

‘
Translation?’
I said.

‘
You’re
with
them!
’ Paul
fumed. ‘I knew it, little Lucas with his Dad in charge, Anna the
traitorous bitch and the old man that works for them!’

Chris’s face was red with
anger, and his finger was on the trigger. I couldn’t believe what
was happening, after everything that had already
happened.

‘
Paul, listen
to me,’ I said, lowering my gun, ‘we do
not
work for them. We’re here for the
same reason you are, working together for the same goal we’ve
always had. To survive and escape!’

‘
Liars!’ he
screamed as he used his free hand to wipe the glittering sweat from
his face. ‘You’re here to kill us! To make us pawns in your sick
game! Well, uh uh, not anymore. This is my group now. I’ll get them
out safely.’

‘
That purple
bitch came for Chris,’ Grace laughed. ‘She is evil. She told us
enough.’

Dammit
Bonnie.

I felt myself questioning
whose side Bonnie was really on when the answer was obvious, her
own.

‘
Are you on
something?’ Chris squinted at Paul.

I thought he was kidding,
but another look at Paul and it did appear he was more than just
rattled. He bounced on his feet, swung the gun dangerously and was
sweating profusely. I couldn’t see his eyes, but Chris
could.

‘
What?’ Paul
gasped.

Chris looked at me and
shook his head. I understood, Grace had sunk her claws in, and Paul
was already leaning over the edge of insanity. We weren’t going to
be able to talk them down, and the group lined up behind them,
ready to help their new leaders take out a new threat. Chris
lowered his gun and pointed at Jane.