The Pulse Series (Book 1): Pulse (4 page)

I threw myself down the hallway, down the stairs, and then out of the building's front doors. The moment the cold air hit my body was the same moment the reality began to sink in. I had nowhere to go, and it was the middle of the night. Nighttime wasn't a safe time to be alone in the city, especially in the area I was in right now. Police patrols seldom came through here, and even if they did I wouldn't have wanted the police involved anyway. They would force me to go back.

I started to walk although I'd not yet decided where I was headed. I just needed to move. I had made it not fifty feet when a group of men rounded the corner and started walking toward me. Instinct kicked in and I slipped into a nearby alleyway and, after making sure it was deserted, hid behind a large trash can. The men walked past, clearly drunk, talking loudly of their exploits of the night.

As I sat waiting for the men to pass I felt a shiver slide into my body that had nothing to do with the cold. My body spasmed in revulsion and I had to squeeze my eyes shut hard to prevent them from leaking. Chuck's face flashed behind my eyelids. I took a deep breath and forced my eyes open again. Now was not the time or the place for this.

I pushed thoughts of Chuck from my mind, but it was soon replaced with the aftermath. I sat rubbing at my chest where the, for lack of a better word, explosion happened. It wasn't sore now, but I could still feel the small pressure. I still had no idea what had happened, but somehow it had frozen Chuck in place and let me escape. Confusion still flooded me when I realized where I needed to go.

Trey.

He was the only one who I could trust enough with something like this. I needed to talk with him about what had happened, and also about what I was going to do now. I had nothing to help me survive except a day's worth of food, some extra clothes, and the knife he had given me. But Trey had a plan. Trey had a way out of this situation. It had seemed risky at the time, but now it didn't look like there was another option. I needed cash and I needed it fast, and his plan was the only way to make that happen.

I listened for a few minutes to be sure I was alone. Once ready I picked myself up off the ground and began to make my way to Trey's house.

FIVE

I knocked on the window to Trey's bedroom and waited. About thirty seconds passed before I decided to try again, but just as I was about to knock the blinds were pulled back. Trey stood wearing nothing but his boxer shorts and holding a baseball bat over his head. A bubble of laughter escaped from my throat and I had to slap my hand on my mouth to prevent any more from coming through.

He sighed in relief when he saw was it was me, and then looked down at what he was wearing, turned bright red, and quickly pulled the blinds closed again.

A minute later a fully clothed Trey reappeared. He slid open his window and reached through to give me a hand, but I winced away from his touch. A hurt look crossed his face, but he backed up and gave me room to climb in.

He frowned at me. "You look like hell. What's up?"

I opened my mouth, but no sound escaped.

Trey shook his head and pointed to the bed. "Here, sit down. I'll go get you some water."

I sat down and waited as Trey left the room. When he reappeared I realized how thirsty I was and gulped the water down. Trey sat down on the bed next to me and waited. I took a few deep breaths, collected my thoughts into something cohesive, and then told him everything.

"That son of a bitch."

I shrugged and tried to ignore the chill running through my body. "It's my own fault. I shouldn't have opened the door. Stupid mistake."

Trey stood up, his fists clenched into tight balls. "Don't you dare blame yourself for this. This was Chuck's fault. Not yours."

It felt like I had been punched in the stomach. I knew what he was saying was true, but I wasn't ready to think about it in too much detail yet. I looked up at him and tried to give a reassuring smile. "Thanks, but I don't really feel like talking about it right now."

Trey looked like he wanted to say something else, but instead just nodded and sat back down. After a few seconds he cleared his throat. I looked up at him to see a confused frown on his face.

I tilted my head to the side. "What's up?"

Trey sighed and shook his head. "So he just… froze?"

I shrugged and looked down at the floor. "I don't know what happened. All I can tell you is it shouldn't have been possible. The way he floated there. It was as if…"

Trey nudged me. "As if?"

I gave a sigh. "As if physics stopped working."

Trey sat still. I sneaked a glance sideways, and he looked deep in thought. I couldn't stand it any longer and walked to his window, looking out into the street. Down on the ground was a bus stop with another military sign. 'Report suspicious activity'. Was this what they were talking about? I spun on my heels to stare at Trey. At my movement he looked up and tilted his head to the side.

I swallowed. "You're not going to report me, are you?"

Trey looked confused for a moment, and then understanding washed over his face, followed by a frown. "I wouldn't do that to you."

I gave a nod and sat back down next to him.

We sat in silence for a few minutes until Trey turned to me. "What's the plan now then? You going to report Chuck to the police?"

I shook my head. "Nah. He didn't really do anything, so there isn't any evidence. Even if they believed me it wouldn't matter. I'm never going back there again."

Trey frowned at me. "Your mom?"

My jaw tightened. "Is dead to me."

He took a deep breath, but didn't press the issue.

I cleared my throat. "So about that job."

Trey's eyes flicked up to mine. "You've reconsidered?"

I shrugged. "Don't see that I have much of a choice."

He shook his head. "Look, Alex, you've been through a lot. Perhaps we should take a few days and-"

"I don't have that kind of time and you know it. I don't have anywhere to go, and before you offer I don't need to be a burden to anyone here. I want to do this job. Today if possible."

Trey gave me a hard look. "You sure you're ready for it?"

I nodded.

A grin split across his face and he jumped up from his bed. He strode over to his cupboard and pulled out a sketchbook he had hidden at the bottom of a drawer. He sat back down next to me and opened the book displaying a series of drawings.

"These are the plans of the building. What I could get my hands on anyway."

I frowned. Building plans had been one of the first things that the military had removed from the public the moment they took over in the wake of the bombing of D.C. "How did you get those?"

Trey winced. "They aren't official if that's what you mean. They are pieced together from the word of a friend. See how most of the areas are blank? Those are rooms he hasn't been in."

"And you can trust this friend why?"

"He was a mule for the Syndicate."

I nodded. Mules were people, usually young teenagers, hired by the Syndicate to deliver drugs around the city. Kids were the easiest to influence and bribe, and would also get lighter penalties than anyone over the age of sixteen. Also they were easier to dispose of.

I paused, realizing the wording Trey had used. "Was?"

Trey sighed. "He's dead. Turned up with a bullet in the back of his head. Police say it's gang related."

I winced. "I'm sorry."

Trey shook his head. "Don't worry about it. He knew what he was getting into."

I waited a few moments before continuing. "So why did he give you this information?"

Trey gave me a small smile. "Precisely for this reason. If anything ever happened to him, there was someone on the outside that knew about them. Someone who could screw them."

I laughed. "Well we certainly plan to do that."

He nodded and pointed and the paper again. Fifteen minutes later he had taken me through his plan.

I shook my head. "There are too many risks with the entrance. We don't know how many lookouts or guards they might have. We can't go in through the front."

"I know, but there isn't any other option."

I pointed. "What about that?"

Try frowned in confusion. "The window? How would we get there. I'm pretty sure someone would notice us climbing up the side of the building."

I nodded. "Probably, but they would be a lot less likely to notice us coming down from above."

Trey's eyebrows raised. "You want to come in from the roof?"

I shrugged. "Either that or the adjacent building, and I don't know about you but I'd rather climb down a wall than swing out over a four lane road."

Trey nodded. "I think that can work. I know where we can get some rope too." At my skeptical look he added, "I meant the roof, not the swing."

We planned for another hour, going over everything we would need to prepare. Once we had completed our preparation Trey stood and pointed toward his bed. "First thing I need you to do is get some sleep. There is only an hour until daylight, and we will need as much rest as possible before attempting this. I'll take the floor."

I grimaced. This would be the first night I'd spent outside of my locked room let alone in someone else's bed. I didn't like the idea of how open this place was.

I shook my head. "Let's just get this over with. It's going to take us a couple of hours to get where we need to go anyway, not to mention the supplies we will need."

Trey frowned at me, but nodded. "Okay, whatever you want."

I sighed and tried to hide my relief. I just didn't feel safe sleeping in the same room as someone else at the moment. We did a little more planning while we waited for the sun to rise, and once the city bustle had started again we decided to leave.

"You ready for this?" Trey asked.

"Now or never."

"There is no going back after this."

I took a deep breath to steady myself. "Let's go."

SIX

My hands shook. No. This wasn't right. This couldn't be right. This changed everything. No. Please no.

Trey stepped around the crate and whispered through his balaclava. "What's the hold up?"

I bit my cheek and remembered that I couldn't scream. There were almost certainly guards outside, and it would only take the slightest sound to get us caught.

I looked up at Trey. "It's heroin."

He tilted his head to the side. "What?"

I glared at him and whispered through gritted teeth. "The crates aren't full of cash, Trey. It's fucking heroin."

We had spent all of the last day from a rooftop nearby watching this building to see the comings and goings. It had been simple to work out the hourly schedule of pickups and drop offs, and had scaled our way down the side of the building and in through the window. We had fifteen minutes before the next scheduled pickup was set to arrive.

"Have you checked any more of the crates?"

I shook my head and pointed him toward one while I took another. The large steel latches held the lids on tight, so it was hard to open them up without making a lot of noise. I had to wrap some fabric bunched up from the end of my sleeve around the mechanism to deaden the sound as much as possible. A few minutes later I lifted the lid on my crate, shortly after Trey had just completed opening his own.

Both of them were full of drugs.

Trey looked up at me with a grimace. "How much time do we have left?"

I checked my watch. "Nine minutes."

"We have to get out of here. Now."

My hands shook. "So all of this was for nothing?"

Trey shook his head and turned back toward his crate. "I didn't say that." He reached in and started pulling out bricks of heroin and stuffing them into his backpack.

"Are you crazy?"

He looked up at me and shrugged. "We came this far. I'm not leaving empty handed. This is as good as cash if you know the right people."

"Trying to sling drugs outside of the Syndicate is crazy. We might as well jump out this window we're going to end up just as dead. Not only that but we're stealing from them. They won't let this go."

Trey put the last of four bricks into his bag and zipped it up. "This is what I'm doing. You can do whatever you like, but we have to get out of here now."

I shook my head. This was suicide, but I didn't see any other option. I needed money, and here is was, right in front of me. All we had to do was get far enough out of the city to sell it and we would be fine. I pulled off my backpack and filled it.

"Okay let's go."

As we both walked toward the window Trey bumped the lid that was balanced on the edge of the open crate. It was only a small bump, a few inches at most, but it was enough to push it past its tipping point. I watched, mouth open in a stunned silence, as the lid flipped over and onto the floor with a large smash.

"The fuck was that?" said a voice from behind the door. Keys started rattling and soon we heard them enter the lock in the door.

"Alex!"

I turned to see Trey standing outside the window holding onto the rope. I rushed over to join him as he started sliding down toward the ground. I had just managed to grab a hold on the rope and way halfway out of the window when the door to the room banged open. I looked up to see two large men holding guns. Their eyes swept the room, taking in the open crates. Their eyes settled on me in the window. One of them raised their gun, a silenced pistol, and aimed it at my head. I let go.

Six feet lower to the ground I grabbed the rope again. The rope burned through my hands, but I held tight as my descent slowed and started climbing down as fast as I could. Trey was almost at the ground, but I was still four stories up. As I climbed down I heard a noise above me, forcing me to look up. Leaning out of the window was one of the men, and he had his gun aimed right at my head.

A dull shot rang out and I threw myself to the side. I knew I didn't have time to climb all the way to the bottom, and a quick glance below showed me an exit. Trey was already on the ground, so I didn't have to worry about his counterweight messing me up. I kicked out against the wall and started running parallel to the ground. After three large steps I let go of the rope, aiming myself for the full dumpster at the edge of the alleyway. Another muffled shot sounded above me, but I didn't have time to think about it as I sailed through the air.