Fury Rising (11 page)

“What do you mean?”

Raj went back to studying his shoes. “Really dumb. There was this dog. I couldn’t help myself. Real friendly like. Poor pooch came right up to me and licked my hand. These big brown eyes. Looking at me like I was her bloody savior and knew I was the only one willing to help. There was a pet shop a few blocks back. I went to go get her a bit of food. She followed me without any fear. And that’s where they found me. Knee deep in kibble. At least they didn’t catch her. That would have been even more depressing.”

“You got caught because of a dog?”

Raj nodded. “Like I said, stupid. But come on, anyone would have done the same thing. She was a really friendly dog. If we get out of here, I need to go back and get her.”

Mason couldn’t say a word. You simply couldn’t fault someone for wanting to help an animal. On the other side of camp, they’d found a mother cat with kittens. Pretty much everyone, including Mason, had given up bits of their food over the past several weeks to make sure that the mother didn’t starve. A dog. Mason hadn’t seen one in ages. The ones that had survived had most likely gone feral by now. Finding one that wanted to interact with humans, Mason would have done exactly the same thing.

First things first. Mason needed to keep Raj on track. “You said you’re supposed to be on the outside of the gate?”

Raj nodded. “I came to break you out. That kinda backfired on me. Wish I had a Plan B. Never dawned on any of us that I’d get rounded up. Shot, yes. Dying in the street. Yep. But not caught. At least not so quickly.”

“You’re lucky they didn’t kill you.”

“I nearly crapped myself on stage. Especially when they grabbed that lady beside me. Is that what they do every time?”

“Pretty much.”

“But you’re right. I’m alive. Good. I can work with this. Just a small setback. How difficult can it be? Just a fence. A few Baggers. I honestly don’t understand why you’re still here. Why anyone is here. How hard can it be?”

Mason found himself grabbing Raj by the arms and shaking him. Anger bubbled up inside him. “I told Aries no. I’m not doing this. Why the hell won’t you people listen to me? Do you have any idea how lucky you are? If they’d gotten the slightest hint of who you are, they would have shot you dead. And then they’d kill me too.”

“Relax.” Raj shook himself free. “No one knew. I’m invisible that way. That’s why I chose to come. They don’t know me.”

“You were at the last jail break. They could have recognized you.”

“It was dark. I’m dark. I blend in.”

“This isn’t a joke.”

“I’m not laughing, mate.” Raj ran his fingers through his hair. “Look. They asked me a bunch of questions. Took me to a compound where they keep all the people before bringing them here. They wanted to know my past history. Where I’d been hiding. What I did for a living. I told them I’d been shacked up in White Rock in a house with about twenty family members. I said I was out scrounging for food. I told them I worked as a cab driver. I mean, come on, I’m Indian. They bought every lousy stereotype. Bunch of racist idiots.”

“You all need to stop underestimating these monsters. Leon knows a hell of a lot more than any of us. He knows how to get the right information. Like Colin. Did you plan on that too? He’s inside the building right now. Is that his job? To distract Leon while you apparently free me?”

“What? Colin? He’s here?” Raj backed up against the fence.

“You didn’t know?”

“No way. The last I saw him, he was sitting on a tree stump whinging about the lack of, well, whatever the hell he was lacking at that particular moment.” Raj shook his head. “He’s not part of anything.”

Mason peered around the wall, half expecting to see a group of Baggers heading straight towards him. But the Plaza grounds were empty. Most of the people had settled down into doing their daily chores. A group of people worked in the garden. Smoke drifted up from the cooking area. Mason spotted Chaplin hanging around the dinner tents, his favorite spot for the middle of the afternoon. He chatted animatedly with his usual group of friends.

Nothing looked out of the ordinary so far.

“If he’s not supposed to be here, then we’re in a lot of trouble,” Mason finally said.

“I knew it,” Raj said. “I told Aries that bloke was bad news. We all said it. But I never thought he’d rat her out like that. Steal off into the middle of the night with the entire battery stash, but not this.”

Mason glanced around the wall again. The casino doors were still closed. If Colin told Leon everything, it would still take time to organize a raid. But how long did they have? Not long.

“Okay,” Mason said. “We will have to wait until nightfall to get you back out. I’ll talk to Chaplin. There’s got to be something we can do. You’re going to go straight back to Aries and evacuate. As fast as you can. Leon will be right on your heels.”

“You’re coming with me,” Raj said.

“No,” Mason said. “I told Aries I’m staying here. I haven’t changed my mind about that.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” Raj said. “Well, okay, meant to tell you. Planned on it. That little girl. Casey. As we speak, Clementine and Michael are heading to Surrey to pick her up. We know where she is. That was the plan. To break both of you out at the same time.”

Mason paused. “You found Casey? She’s okay?”

He didn’t think he’d ever hear news again that might fill him with hope. He’d given up on it. But when Raj mentioned Casey’s name, Mason’s stomach headed straight up into his throat. For months he’d thought about her, wondered if she was still alive, and if Leon hadn’t just killed her.

“It took us a while, but yeah,” Raj said. “Her and a bunch of other kids. We’re getting them all out. So you’ve got to come along. Come on, mate, don’t let me go back there empty handed.”

“But the others,” Mason said.

“What? These people here? Do you honestly think Leon’s going to kill them all over you? No offense, mate, but you’re not that bloody important. And besides, if Colin’s inside singing away, I doubt Leon will give a rat’s arse if you suddenly disappear. He’s got a new source.”

Raj was partly right. With Colin upstairs, Mason knew that Leon would be more interested in the information he could get from the backstabbing idiot. But Aries wasn’t the only reason Mason continued to stay alive. Leon wanted to see Mason break. He wanted Mason to fall apart and let his emotions take over and embrace the darkness inside. And the one thing Mason was determined to do was never give Leon that satisfaction. He’d cling to his sanity, no matter what the cost.

Which meant Mason had a decision to make. And time was running out.

“Okay,” Mason said. “I need to formulate a plan. I’ll talk to Chaplin and see what I can do. Dinnertime works best. We’ll sneak out while everyone is distracted.”

              “I might be able to help with that,” Raj said and he patted his jacket pocket.

              “How?”

Raj opened his jacket enough so that Mason could see the small bulge tucked away in the pocket. “Aries managed to get a bit of info off a Bagger a few weeks ago that led us to a compound. We found all sorts of interesting stuff.”

Mason looked at the small grey package. “Holy crap. Is that what I think that is?”

“Yep. It goes kaboom, mate.”

“How the hell did you get explosives?” Mason lowered his voice although there was no one around to hear them.

“I told you. Aries got some good information. We found a whole house packed with the stuff. We think the Baggers raided the road engineers. They use this stuff to blast mountains and build roads. We got rid of most of it. But I kept a bit.”

“And you want to use that here?”

“Gonna be honest. Probably not a great idea. I haven’t tested it or anything, but I’m pretty sure there’s enough here to possibly flatten an entire building.”

“So a last resort then,” Mason said.

“Brilliant,” Raj said. “It’s good to have you back again.”

“Don’t celebrate yet,” Mason said. “By the end of today, we might both be dead.”

                                                        *              *              *

By late afternoon, Mason still hadn’t come up with a single idea. Sitting on the side of the stage, he tried to ignore the bloodstain a few feet away, a reminder of everything he hated about the Baggers. In the distance, he could spot Raj, hanging by the food tents, surrounded by a group of middle-aged women who seemed enthralled by his English accent. They’d agreed to stay apart and both try and come up with a plan, but Raj seemed to have trouble finding time to himself. People were fascinated by him. With no more tourism in the world, finding someone who spoke with an English accent was a big thing. It was a major difference from Mason’s early days in the Plaza when no one even glanced in his direction. Of course many of the prisoners thought Mason had been secretly working for Leon. It had taken him a long time to convince them otherwise and he still often got the cold shoulder from some of the others.

Getting over the fence wasn’t as simple as it sounded. Even if they could find a way to climb without being noticed, they’d have to deal with the rows of barbed wire at the top. The whole contraption rattled and shook, the noise alone would send the Baggers straight towards them if they tried. They couldn’t cut through it either. Raj had lost his bolt cutters when the Baggers grabbed him and there wasn’t anything in the camp that they could use. Earlier Chaplin asked around and came up empty handed.

That left the gate. If they could get enough people to raise a distraction, they might be able to slip away announced. But that would only work if the entrance was unlocked or if they could get some keys.

Come on, Dowell, you can do this.

But no matter how much he tried, Mason couldn’t concentrate. He couldn’t stop thinking about how he hadn’t seen Leon all day. Every time he looked over at the casino doors, he wondered if Colin was still inside and what other information he was giving to the Baggers.

What if Leon had already left? They could already be there, outside the perimeter of wherever Aries and the others were hiding. Waiting until dark to attack? No, he couldn’t think that way. He had to believe that Aries was still safe.

But she wouldn’t be for long.

He didn’t even notice Karen standing there until she tapped him on the knee. He jerked back in surprise, his heart pounding in his temples.

“So yeah,” she said. “There’s someone over at the fence. Says he wants to speak to you.”

“What?”

Karen sighed loudly. “A guy. By the fence. Says he wants to speak to you. Kinda ballsy. He just wandered right up there.” She turned and pointed.

“Who is it?” Mason looked over. Sure enough, a figure waited over in the shadows by the edge of the casino. Mason instinctively glanced back at the Baggers guarding the gate. Two men. Neither of them seemed to have noticed. They were too busy sharing a cigarette and ogling one of the prisoners who had removed her shirt to have a sponge bath.

Mason frowned. Here he’d been racking his brain all day and apparently all it took to distract the guards was a half-naked girl with a wet cloth. Why hadn’t he thought about that first? It could have saved him a lot of time.

But that would have to wait. Who the hell wanted to talk to him? It couldn’t be Aries or the others. They wouldn’t do something as brazen as just walk right up. This had to be someone with a death threat. He turned to question Karen more, only to discover she’d headed over to where Raj was apparently telling the joke of the century. The women surrounding him laughed loudly. Man, girls really did love those English accents. Mason pushed himself off the stage and walked over to the fence, squinting to try and make out the figure on his knees with a pair of bolt cutters in his hands.

“Hey tourist boy.”

“I should have known it would be you.”

Daniel grinned. “Did you miss me?”

“Get out of here.” Mason bent down on his knees. “Did you really think I’d want to talk to you? Are you asking for a death wish? If they see you…”

“They’ll welcome me in with open arms,” Daniel finished for him. “I haven’t forgotten. I’m here for other reasons. I have to get you out.” He snapped a piece of the metal and gave the fence a tug. “Help me out here.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“Cut the crap,” Daniel said, his grin fading fast. “I assume you know what I am. Aries told you. I don’t care.”

“You’re one of them.”

“So? You trusted me before. I had plenty of opportunity to kill you, but I never did. I’m not one of them. Not like that. I’m something different. Nothing’s changed. We still need each other.”

“Speak for yourself,” Mason said. He glanced back over at the gate but the Baggers still hadn’t noticed. At least some luck was on his side. “Seriously, if they see you, they’re going to kill you.”

“Not likely,” Daniel said. He dropped the bolt cutters and stood up. Giving Mason a grin, he pulled the rifle around and took aim at the gate. When he pulled the trigger, a small popping noise sounded and the Bagger on duty dropped. Daniel aimed again, shooting the second Bagger before he even knew what was happening.

“Neat huh?” Daniel showed him the gun. “Hand made silencer. Truly an amazing thing. And no one’s the wiser. Do you feel better now?”

Mason looked around, but life inside the camp continued. Not a single person had noticed both Baggers go down.

“Now help me get through this damned fence.” Daniel picked up the bolt cutters and clipped a few more metal links. “Come on. We’re burning daylight here.”

Mason raised an eyebrow.

“Look,” Daniel said. “You and I have our differences. There’s no denying that, tourist boy. But we do have the same mutual interests and that’s keeping certain people alive. Me being a Bagger hasn’t changed that. Remember what I told you? There are some things you can’t take back.”

“They take you further into the darkness.”

Daniel nodded. “I can’t change what I am. It’s beyond my control. But I’m managing the best I can. I’m lucky. I’m not quite like them. I have a certain amount of control. My old self still exists. I’m one of a kind.”