The Strays

I didn’t go out to say goodbye as my friends left, instead I locked myself in my workshop, watching from my window as they disappeared under the cover of night.

I spent every day after that working tirelessly on project after project. Watching and observing the surrounding chaos, hoping to figure out what exactly it was The Elites were planning.

I’d just returned to my warehouse, a safe-house of sorts with spare parts and supplies, when I noticed something wasn’t right. Instinctively, I rushed up to my workshop, where the previously locked door was now wide open, all of my papers and work scattered across the floor instead of sitting in neat stacks on my workbench. I put down my supplies and picked up a wrench that was nearby, raising it defensively as I searched the room. I was so fixated on what was ahead of me that I forgot to pay attention to what might have been behind me. An error I would later regret as the intruder caught me off guard, pinning me to the wall, a knife to my throat. “Do I have your attention?”

I slowly nodded my head affirmatively.

“Good. I think it’s about time we had a bit of a chat about your old man.”

The masked stranger pushed me over to a metal chair, where he forced me to sit down before securing my wrists and ankles with a set of zip ties. My work bench, and my tools, were only a few short metres away, so I desperately tried to shift the chair closer, but the stranger caught me before I could succeed.

“Nice try, really it was, but I’ve got some questions to ask you and I can’t do that if you run away.” The young man in front of me cooed as he pulled me and the chair into the center of the room.

“Who sent you after me and how the fuck did you know I was here?”

“There’s a lot that I know about you, for example before your family died you were Caelyn, you faked your own death and moved to Alderton where you spent some years sleeping rough under the alias El. Something happened in Alderton after the virus hit and you fled, eventually joining the E.A.D. When they asked your name, you told them it was Indigo after your favourite colour, Indie for short, though they changed it to Liberty when you entered the field.”

I looked him over sceptically as I tried to figure out how I knew him and how he had learned so much about me. “If you know so much about me, then you’re aware of how I feel about people breaking into my place and tying me up. Now tell me who the hell you are, who sent you, and then leave before I break free and make it so you never walk out of here again.”

The intruder brushed past my work station, scanning the blueprints of my latest project that he’d scattered across my desk. “This is some pretty sophisticated work, especially for a nineteen-year-old in the midst of the apocalypse, but then again you are your parents’ daughter, aren’t you? The straight-A student, who’s twice as stubborn as her mum and as smart as both her parents combined.” Whoever this guy was, he was really starting to piss me off. “I’m sorry. Did I touch a nerve with that one?”

“I will fucking kill you!” I screamed, desperately trying to get myself free.

“Just tell me what I want to know and I’m gone. You’ll never have to see me again.”

“What exactly is it you want me to say?”

“All I want is your dad’s research. It wasn’t at your house, or his lab, so where is it?” The mysterious young man’s tone wasn’t intimidating or scary. It was simply monotonous, as though he were engaging in a business transaction.

I laughed at him. I couldn’t help myself. “I hope you’ve not made any plans, because if you don’t intend to leave until I’ve answered your questions, then you’ve got a long stay ahead of you. Best get comfy mate.”

The stranger rolled his eyes. “Everybody has a breaking point, Cae, even you and all those techniques Raz taught you will only prolong the inevitable.”

“You work for the E.A.D?”

“You’re not the one in control here. You don’t get to ask questions.”

“You broke into my place. That means I have every right to ask questions.”

The young man walked out of the room, vanishing for a brief few minutes to nip downstairs. It wasn’t long enough for me to get away, though, before he reappeared with a bucket and towel.

“I usually save the kinky stuff for the third date, minimum, so I think you’re rushing this a bit, and given that we only just met, you could at least buy me dinner first.”

I didn’t get a response as he tilted the chair at an angle, holding it in place with a taut rope.

“Last chance to tell me what I need to know before it gets physical.” He warned as he unfurled the towel.

“I will die before I give you anything.”

“Fine then, have it your way.” He sighed as he placed the towel over my head and poured on the water.

I gasped for breath as the water filled my lungs. The burning sensation was almost unbearable, but I couldn’t break. I had to fight this.

The stranger pulled the cloth from my face and I coughed up as much of the fluid as I could. “Are you ready to talk yet!?”

“Go fuck yourself bastard.”

He rolled his eyes, placing the towel back over my face.

This torture dragged on intermittently for hours, and after a while the stranger grew tired, stepping outside for a moment to gain his composure. I couldn’t figure him out. He seemed to hate what he was doing, yet he persevered with it anyway, and that loss of composure offered me the perfect opportunity to escape. The easiest part was getting my ankles loose. With the two front legs of the chair being raised from the floor, I was able to just slide them free. The difficult part came with freeing my wrists. The pain was rather intense as the zip ties cut into my flesh, but it wasn’t as difficult to endure as the torture of those past few hours. In fact, escapes like these were becoming alarmingly commonplace by that point.

Once my hands were free, I quietly slipped down from the chair, careful not to make any loud noises. I grabbed a rusted metal object from the floor before hiding behind the door.

Patiently, I waited for my assailant to return, pinning him to the wall as he entered, the chunk of metal acting as leverage against his throat. I took a step closer and felt something press against my lower abs. I looked down to see a blade pressing lightly against my shirt.

“Looks like a stalemate, sweetheart. Now what?” He looked at me with a calm grin as I contemplated my options.

“You answer two questions and drop the knife, then I’ll drop the rebar.”

The young man dropped the knife and raised his hands above his head, indicating his surrender. “Two questions, make ’em count.”

“Who are you, and why are you after my father’s work?” The stranger took off his mask and I could feel my anger building. “Ace. Of all the people in this miserable apocalypse. It had to be you! Did your sister send you here?”

“You already used up both your questions.” Ace stated pointedly.

I pressed more weight into the metal. “You only answered one of them, and you really shouldn’t have dropped the knife so quickly.”

“I thought I could trust you.”

“You attacked and tortured me. That’s not some fun, trust building exercise. It was sadistic.”

“For someone with your track record, you sure take shit personally.” He smiled.

“Being strapped to a chair and waterboarded for information feels pretty personal, especially when the guy doing it used to be a family friend. I can demonstrate it to you if you like.”

Ace pretended to think long and hard about my offer before answering. “I think I’ll just take your word for it.”

A loud crash from the floor below suddenly startled me, causing me to drop the metal bar. Judging by the pissed off expression Ace had, whoever was downstairs wasn’t with him.

We both backed away from the door cautiously as footsteps approached us. Just as we backed away, the door was aggressively flung open, and I felt a wave of relief wash over me. That is, until Ace grabbed me from behind, cutting off my air supply as he wrapped his bicep around my throat.

“You’re a deceitful prick and I hope you burn in hell.” I scolded, trying my hardest to get free as Ty stood in the doorway staring, confused by the transpiring events.

Once he’d returned to the land of the living, Ty approached us. Instinctively, Ace took a step backwards, his grip tightening.

“Let her go mate. I don’t need another reason to want you dead.” I hadn’t seen that much anger in Ty’s eyes since the day I made him and the others walk away.

“Leave. My business is with her, not you.” Ace retorted.

“I won’t tell you again.” Ty warned, pulling out a rather familiar bo staff.

Ace threw me aside, and I hit the floor. Hard. Which pissed me off even more. Ty swung at the younger lad, but I stepped into the line of fire, blocking the attack with upturned palms before taking back what was rightfully mine.

“Enough.” Both boys immediately froze. “Thanks for giving this back, though I’m not sure how you got it. With formalities out of the way, can somebody please explain to me what exactly is going on?”

Ty wandered over to the window as Ace took a seat on the chair I’d previously been tied to. I chose to pace the length of the room. It always helped me clear my head. “The first question belongs to you, Ace. Who sent you to find my father’s work?”

“Nobody sent me.” He sighed impatiently. “I went looking for it on my own after I found out Delilah and Ratchet were interested in it. With work like your father’s, brought to life by those two psychopaths, we’d be looking at another global catastrophe.”

“Since when did you care about other people?” Ty remarked sarcastically.

Ace flipped him the bird with a smug grin.

“Would you both cut it out!! Why did you come back to the city, Ty? It isn’t safe here, you know that.”

He looked at me uncomfortably, as though he didn’t know what to tell me.

“What is it? What’s going on? Is everyone else okay?”

“You haven’t heard?” He sighed.

“Heard what?”

Ty turned on a radio that I’d kept on my desk, but completely forgot to check whilst I was consumed by my work.

Delilah’s voice crackled through the static. “The following announcement is to declare a new enforcer initiative, in which we will be working with the ex-fugitive Liberty to eliminate the terrorist threats that have plagued our beloved city for so long. As always, our primary goal is to keep our community safe, a common goal that unites once opposing sides.”

I looked over at Ty. “What was that all about?”

“Be quiet, there’s more.” He hissed.

This time, it was Drew’s voice coming through the radio. My heart skipped a beat and my breath caught in my throat. “As a former member of the E.A.D. I know firsthand what these terrorists are capable of doing. While they claim they fight for the people, for you and for your good, the only people they serve are themselves. They use chaos and fear to disrupt the order that is being built within this city. It is our duty to protect that order. I urge you to report any suspicious people or behaviours and a full list with up-to-date photographs will be posted. This will give a clear indication of the cities most wanted. Any information leading to the arrest or capture of one of these individuals will be greatly rewarded, so stay vigilant. Together we can rebuild this society and make it so much better than the one that existed before.”

Ty switched off the radio. The look in his eyes was far from relieved, as I had expected him to be, given that our friend was still alive.

“What’s wrong? This is a positive thing. Drew is alive.”

“They’re playing that on loop, Indie. Every bounty hunter in the city is after you now, and you didn’t even know it. Also, I’m not sure if you got the part about Drew working for the enemy.” He sighed.

“Not to mention the fact he’s impersonating you and destroying everything Liberty stands for in the process.” Ace interrupted, earning him a scowl from Ty.

“How long has this been airing?”

“It’s been about four days since I heard it, but it might have aired before that broadcast.” Ty mumbled. At least now I could understand why he came back. He wanted to make sure I was okay.

I couldn’t focus on that, though. Something about the broadcast seemed off, particularly Drew’s part. It didn’t seem rehearsed or forced. The words were very much his own. I just couldn’t understand why this was happening.

“Is that broadcast still running?”

“Twenty-four hour loop. Why?” Ty was curious about what I was thinking.

I grabbed my notepad and pen before switching on the radio. I’d had a feeling there was a code hidden within Drew’s message. A way to reach out, but as I sat there listening, I realised what I thought had been static interfering with the broadcast was actually morse code. I made note of the sounds, then turned off the radio so I could focus as I decoded the hidden message and it wasn’t long before Ace was hovering over my shoulder alongside Ty, both bewildered by my suddenly erratic behaviour.

Ty placed his hand on my shoulder just as I finished writing, grounding me, bringing me back into the room and into the moment. “You’re starting to scare me, Indie. What is wrong with you?”

I handed him the sheet of paper.

“What is that?” Ace asked as he tried to peer over Ty’s shoulder.

“A message hidden within a message, meant for me to find.”

“How do you know it isn’t a trap? It’s not like he signed it, so Drew probably didn’t write it.” Ty rebutted.

“It could be a trap, but the place mentioned was a rendezvous between me and one other person. If I ever told him to go there, it meant things were serious. I thought he’d have forgotten by now, but apparently not.”

“Who?” Ty was obviously still worried about me.

“Leo. He’s the only person with the knowledge and skills to pull something like this off, and if what he wrote is true, it means he has a way out for himself.”

“I’m coming with you.” He insisted, not wanting to take no for an answer.

“You can’t. I need you here in case something goes wrong. At the end of the day, you’re the only other person in the city Leo can count on.”

Reluctantly, Ty agreed, but as I left, I felt a hand on my wrist. Only it wasn’t his, it was Ace’s. “I’m staying with you. Every asshole in the city will be trying to figure out where you’re hiding, so it won’t be safe for you to travel alone.”

“I don’t know you anymore. I don’t trust you, therefore I’m not letting you come with me and you aren’t staying here either. I want you went before I get back.”

“I’ve been following you since you first returned to the city, after your decision to join the E.A.D. You just never noticed. I’m coming with you, whether you agree to it or not.” He argued.

I hit him in the stomach with my bo staff, only winding him slightly to send a message. “I’m aware of your existence again now, and like you said, the whole city is looking for me. My paranoia and hypervigilance are in overdrive, so I’ll notice if somebody is tailing me and I will kill them for it. I don’t give a shit who they are.”

As I left, I realised I was forgetting something and quickly ran back to my workbench to grab it.

“What is that?” Ty asked as I placed the skateboard-like machine on the floor.

“An early prototype for a hoverboard I designed when I was younger. It’s faster than walking, lighter than my old motorbike and more durable than a standard skateboard.”

“Have you tested it before?” He sighed.

“Nope, I literally finished it earlier today, so I figured now is as good a time as any to test it out.”

I turned it on, and it buzzed to life, hovering just above the floor. I could raise it or lower it on the touch screen VDU that I had infused with the underside of the board. Cautiously, I stepped aboard, using the bench to support me. It held, and I saw the relief in Ty’s eyes. I grabbed my helmet from the other side of the room. “Safety first.” I smiled as I put it on before leaving.

I sped through the streets toward the science museum. The place Leo wanted to meet was an old coffee shop that wasn’t too far from there and he’d given me a set time as well as a date. I had two hours before I was due to meet him. This gave me enough time to take caution and to use the back roads. Sure it took longer, but it was the safest option I had, besides I couldn’t risk anybody following me to him, not if he’d risked so much to finally get away. I’d already lost him once, and it killed me inside, so I never planned on letting that happen again. We were family, and that meant I would do anything to protect him. I would even risk my own safety on the off chance I would get to somehow see him again, though I wouldn’t risk Ty’s.