Chapter 6
Chapter
Six
As it turned out, Chuck’s secret way of getting through to the Wall was to drive straight down the main road, then slip the soldier guarding the lonely gate a wad of cash.
Crouched in the back of a windowless delivery van between a stack of fertilizer bags and a mound of rickety farm equipment, I didn’t see exactly how much he paid.
Judging by the relatively slim size of the billfold, though, it was clear Chuck hadn’t cut too deep into tonight’s profits.
Once we were on military property, we continued down the road for a couple more miles before making a sharp turn.
Felicity and I held on tight to the nylon straps hanging from the walls as the van travelled over bumpy terrain. It was all we could do to keep from being shot around like popcorn kernels.
“Sorry, ladies,” Chuck called out from behind the wheel. “I know it’s a rough ride, but it’ll only be for a couple of minutes. We’ll be there before you know it.”
“That’s okay,” Felicity told him. “It will be worth it to film on the exact spot where the story started.”
“Well, more or less,” Chuck replied, hedging his former boast.
“What does that mean?” I demanded.
“Just that there’s no one spot. Nobody really knows where that soldier took his last breath. The trail of blood stretched thirty yards. I can show you the dried splatter that still stains the tree stumps when we get there.”
Burning bile rose up in my throat at the thought. Dear God. That poor man.
Thankfully, Felicity wasn’t ghoulish enough to take him up on the offer. Making eye contact with me, she shook her head.
“That’s okay,” she said. “As long as you’re sure it’s the same area where Hannah Carter was kidnapped.”
“That’s our best guess,” Chuck said. “Witnesses say she left Deke’s Bar with Private Franklin that night, and nobody has seen her since. Nobody human, at least.”
“Ooh! I like that line.” Felicity beamed. “Do you mind if I steal it from you?”
“Might as well. Cause I ain’t going on camera.
The wife would kill me. And the troops around here wouldn’t be too happy about it either,” he stated before adding, “Oh, that reminds me. Once we get there, we’ve only got fifteen minutes before we need to be back in the van.
So whatever you came here to do, you’d better be quick about it. ”
“Fifteen minutes!” Felicity gasped. “You didn’t mention that before. Why so little time?”
Funny. To me, a quarter hour of felony trespassing sounded like an eternity.
“That’s the time between perimeter patrols,” Chuck answered matter-of-factly.
“But you just paid off the guard.”
“That was just to get us through the gate,” he said. “The patrolmen ain’t as tolerant of trespassers. They’re the ones who’ll have to shovel up the bodies if another alpha gets loose.”
A cold shiver of warning raced through my body at the reminder of what had happened before.
“Fifteen minutes will be more than enough time.” Any more than that, and I’d hijack the van and drive myself out. “But now that you bring it up, does anybody know how the alpha got over the Wall?”
“Sure,” Chuck said before hitting a bump large enough to lift both Felicity and me off the ground. “But just to set you straight, the ferus don’t go over the Wall. That thing is nearly fifty feet tall. Alphas might be fast and strong, but they’re not magic.”
“Then how did he escape the Wilds?”
“The ferus have got a whole network of tunnels running along the Wall,” he explained. “How did you think they move the goods the smugglers bring in and out of here?”
The truth was I hadn’t thought about it at all.
Since I’d stepped into this van, the only thought occupying my mind had been how quickly we could get back to the tavern.
“Can you show us one of these tunnels?” Felicity asked, pouring the charm on thick.
But for once, it didn’t work.
“No way.” Chuck shook his head firmly. “That’s a trade secret. If the government finds and fills those tunnels, my friends would go out of business.”
Clearly, we were all worried about different things.
“You mean the tunnels are still open?” I asked through a tightening throat.
“Yep.”
“So right now nothing is stopping another alpha from coming through tonight and wiping all three of us out?”
Chuck went eerily silent for a second before giving his head a good shake.
“Nah. Like I said, it’s been real quiet around here lately.” He didn’t sound a hundred percent convinced, though. “I imagine those other two must have done something real stupid to lure the ferus over to our side of the Wall. But you ladies aren’t planning anything stupid, are you?”
If you asked me, every decision I’d made this week had been downright idiotic.
“Of course not,” Felicity answered for us.
“Good,” Chuck said before finally stepping on the brakes, and the van mercifully came to a stop. He killed the engine and switched off the headlights before sliding out of the driver’s seat. A few seconds later, the van’s side door rolled open.
“Well, ladies, this is it,” he said with a smug smile. “You ready to see the Wall?”
Felicity didn’t have to be asked twice. Before he’d finished asking the question, she was already jumping out of the van and firing up all the recording apps on her phone.
But not me.
I was in no hurry to lay eyes on the towering concrete barrier between the civilized world and the Wilds. I didn’t need to. I’d already experienced what was on the other side…intimately.
But Felicity wasn’t about to let me hide out in my snug little corner of the van all night. The second she was done on the ground, she motioned for me to follow.
“Come on, Sophia.” Even the dark night couldn’t overshadow the excitement sparkling in her bright blue eyes. “Let’s do this.”
This? I didn’t even know what this was. Not really.
Neither one of us had any real media experience. Still, here we were, acting like we belonged in the big leagues of investigative journalism. But Felicity had always been the fake it ’til you make it type, and it wasn’t as if I’d come all this way just to let her run off on her own.
Felicity might be wild and free, but she’d needed a tether to reality to keep her from floating her way into serious trouble.
And everything about this situation screamed serious trouble.
“Fine,” I groaned. Still under the imaginary safety of the van’s roof, I stretched out my hand. “Give me the phone.”
“Here you go.”
I looked down and was surprised to see that on top of all the recording apps I’d given myself a crash course on during our ride up, Felicity had also loaded in a couple of social media livestreams.
My brows pulled together tight as I raised my head. “You want this to go out live?”
Felicity shrugged as if it were no big deal. “Josh thought it would be a good way to build buzz before the show officially drops. Give it a viral edge, you know?”
No, I didn’t know. And I somehow doubted Felicity did either. It felt like we were making everything up as we went along.
“All right,” Chuck said, folding his arms against his chest as he leaned against the molded metal wall of the van. “Just stay close so I can keep my eye on you.”
That wasn’t going to be a problem. I was in no mood to go exploring. Especially not once I stepped out into the cold night air.
The instant my feet landed on the ground, my jaw dropped open.
The Wall stretched up and out before me, a seemingly endless curtain of grey concrete. Everything about the structure was cold and brutal, from its overwhelming size to its prison-like design. It towered over the landscape, a monument to civilization’s ugly desire for control.
“You ready?” Felicity asked, dragging my attention back to the task at hand.
“Y-yeah,” I answered, my quivering thumb hovering over the Live button as I gave her the countdown. “In five…four…three…”
The last two beats I signaled silently with my fingers before gesturing toward her.
Instantly, Felicity straightened up, her wide smile lighting up the screen.
Heaven help us. We were actually doing this.
I let out a long, slow breath and concentrated on keeping my hand steady and Felicity’s face centered in the frame as she walked backwards along the Wall, telling the story of Hannah Carter’s abduction and Private Franklin’s death.
She spoke beautifully about the exhibition at the gallery and how the photographs inspired her to take the trip all the way up here.
After a few minutes, even I had to admit that she was good at this.
Really good.
Somehow, she struck that delicate balance that kept a listener engaged without resorting to sensationalism.
She was honest but not exploitative. Instead of showing the dried gore, she spoke of the scars of loss.
She talked about the feeling of unease that hung over the little town of Goldwood.
She was even honest about the fear running through all of us as we stood out in this dark, open field.
“My friend behind the camera was afraid to come out to the Wall, and I can’t blame her,” Felicity said without a hint of mockery. “I’m not sure if it’s the echoes of the violent acts that took place here, but there’s something in the air. Something dangerous.”
She was spot on.
And I wasn’t the only one who thought so.
Even though the livestream had only been running for a few minutes, people were already finding it. The viewer numbers climbed, jumping again and again as the counter refreshed every few seconds. Hearts and comments flooded the sides of the screen.
It was almost unbelievable.
For once, Felicity’s wild ideas had worked out.
Apparently, people really did eat stuff like this up. She might have made it big after all.
“And it’s because of that danger that we won’t be able to stay out here much longer,” she continued, turning away from the reflective grey background of the Wall and toward the darkness of the flat field.
Watching the screen to make sure that Felicity stayed in frame, a shiver ran up my spine.
I thought I’d spotted something moving behind her. But when I raised my head to look with my own eyes, there was nothing.
Just pitch-black night.
It was just my imagination. My own fears running away with me.
I returned my attention to the screen.
“Our guide has said we can only risk being out in the open like this for a few minutes, but if you liked what you’ve seen tonight, and you want to know more, make sure you subscribe to this channel so we can alert you when the first episodes of our podcast go live.”
Then I saw it again—bigger this time.
A distinct shadow, darker than the night and growing larger with each passing second.”
“Fe-Felicity,” I stuttered through trembling lips.
Maybe I wasn’t loud enough, or maybe she was just focused on her delivery, but she didn’t seem to hear me.
“And if you want to discover more about this project, head over to our website at—”
“Felicity!”
This time, everyone heard me—Felicity, Chuck, probably even the guard all the way back at the gate.
Felicity spun around just in time to see the unmistakable shadow emerging from the darkness.
Oh shit.
I could only watch in helpless horror as my worst fear came to life. An alpha stepped into the spotlight, radiating out from the top of the phone.
He was massive. Over seven feet tall with black hair, black eyes, and a vicious growl that made my blood run cold.
This wasn’t my dream alpha.
But whoever he was, he was mad as hell.
Recovering from the shock of seeing a ferus up close, Felicity stumbled backward. But before she had a chance to run, the thing reached out and caught her by the arm.
“No!” I shouted. “Let her go.”
The beast lifted its head, silencing me with a withering stare…but not for long.
“Please, don’t hurt her,” I continued to beg. “Whatever you want, we’ll give it to you, just don’t hurt her.”
“What I want?” the alpha sneered. His voice was just as deep as the one I was used to in my dreams, just colder, harder, and a thousand times more terrifying. “The only thing I want is for your kind to leave. Run away. Far away and stay there.”
“O-Okay,” I said, nodding my head emphatically. “No problem. We’ll go and never come back, I promise. Just give me back my friend, and—”
The alpha laughed—a dark sound that sent shivers straight through me.
“You dare give me orders, kirre?” he barked. “I should bite off your head for your arrogance. But instead, I think I’ll just take your little friend back with me as a snack.”
Oh God, no!
“Now go back to your cities and tell the rest of your kind that this is what will happen to anyone who comes too close to the Wilds.”
The alpha tightened his grasp on Felicity, holding her tight as she kicked and flailed against him. Before I could blink, he turned and disappeared back into the darkness.
This couldn’t be happening. An alpha couldn’t take Felicity. I wouldn’t allow it.
“Chuck!” I spun around, shouting. “Do something. Go after them.”
But the man was frozen solid in fear.
“Chuck!”
My shriek broke through just enough of the shock for him to shake his head. “Th-There’s no point.”
No point? Felicity’s life was in danger. Somebody had to do something.
And since apparently I was the only one who understood that, it looked like that someone had to be me.
Before another second ticked by, I raced past Chuck and headed straight for the driver’s seat of the van. Throwing open the door, I started tearing apart the inside of the cab.
“W-What are you doing?” the man sputtered behind me.
“Looking for a weapon,” I said matter-of-factly. “I know you have one.”
What kind of smuggler wouldn’t?
“You think you can go after an alpha? You think you can stop him? You can’t.” Chuck’s voice quivered with fear.
I knew he was trying to save my life. I just didn’t care.
I couldn’t care.
Not when Felicity’s life was on the line.
“Just tell me where the damn thing is before I rip you and this van apart,” I demanded with a blistering scream.
“Glove compartment,” he relented with a sigh.
The hinged door fell open with a thud, and the dark steel revolver inside rolled out.
I wrapped my fingers around the grip and lifted it up. The gun was heavy for its size and felt awkward in my hand.
“You ever used one of those before?” Chuck asked.
I shook my head.
“Shit,” he muttered under his breath.
“I just cock the hammer back and pull the trigger, right?”
“Damn it, girl. You’re going to get yourself killed.”
I took that as a yes.
“I need you to show me where that tunnel opening is.”
“No.” He shook his head firmly. “Absolutely not. I already told you that no one can—”
Click.
I slid the hammer back, clicking it into place with my thumb. Then I pointed the barrel just south of his chest.
“Sorry, buddy,” I told him. “This isn’t a negotiation. Now, you can either show me where that tunnel is with your balls attached or with them splattered across this field. Your choice.”