The Glass House: Chapter Thirteen
Jun. 8th, 2008 12:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wolfanficsTitle: The Glass House
Author: Sashataakheru
Beta: The wonderfulrana_narsilion <3
Fandom: The Chaser/AusComedy RPS
Starring: Adam Hills, Sepulchre (OC), Wil Anderson, Hamish Blake, Craig Reucassel, Tim Minchin, Julian Morrow, Chas Licciardello, Charles Firth, Chris Taylor, Andrew Hansen, Caleb (OC), Dr Rachel Hardy (OC), Antoinette Laurent (OC), Dr Samantha Reddings (OC), Dominic Knight, Shane Cubis, Gregor Stronach, Tim Brunero, Andy Lee
Pairings: Andrew/Chris; Adam/Hamish; Jules/Chas; Rachel/Antoinette(/Samantha); Adam/Seb; Adam/Wil; Craig/Caleb; Adam/Wil/Tim; Andrew/Craig, Wil/Chas; implied Tim/Craig
Word Count: 4,231
Chapter: 13/28 [Previous]
Warnings: language, smut, violence
Rating: FRAO
Disclaimer: I don’t know them, not associated with them, just a slashy fangirl admirer with a very active imagination.
Author’s Notes: FYI, fullwing = winged human capable of flight. Halfwing = fullwing/human halfbreed, usually unable to fly, sometimes have vestigial wings, but can be removed to pass as human and not as winged.
Summary: The fallout from the raid begins, and Wil and Hamish go to rescue the survivors, a task that will not be as easy as they hope it will be.
Chapter Thirteen
Caleb’s call had interrupted Julian in the middle of writing a draft script for the broadcast they wanted to do. Wil had gone off to eat, leaving Julian with notes of what they’d come up with together. The news made the broadcast unimportant. What mattered now was rescuing everyone they could from the shattered remains of the arena.
Julian got to work calling those who were still around to organise a rescue, wondering how he was going to deal with all the injured and arrested people. It occurred to him that Adam would be caught up in the raid and that he really didn’t know if he was even still alive. He paused at that thought. They couldn’t afford to lose their leader now. They had too much at stake. If he was dead, Julian wasn’t sure they could pull themselves out of their grief.
Julian’s activities woke Chassy, who was asleep in a corner, having decided he would rather sleep than help with the draft script. He looked up to see Julian looking frantic with worry.
“Jules, it’s 11pm. What the fuck’s going on?” Chas said, wandering over to Julian.
“The Glass House’s been raided. Hit with missiles and shit. No idea if they’re all alive, dead or imprisoned. All I know is that Craig’s been shot and is lying on top of one of the buildings around the arena. Caleb’s with him. We need to go get them at the very least and see if anyone else is still there to be rescued,” Julian said.
“That’s – damn, that’s terrible. Anything I can do?” Chas said.
“Go make sure the medics are ready and that we’ve got enough supplies to deal with them all. We leave no one behind if possible. This is going to be a long night. I’ll get Wil and Hamish to organise a rescue group,” Julian said.
“On it, Jules,” Chas said, leaving Julian to his panic.
The first thing Hamish heard of the raid was when Julian called. He’d stayed behind to catch up on some reading, though Adam had offered to take him with him to the arena that evening. Hamish declined, citing tiredness. Julian gave him one more reason he should be thankful he didn’t go.
“Hamish? Something’s up, we need to move fast. Are you up for a rescue?” Julian said, seemingly skipping details.
“What’s going on? You okay, Jules? Who needs rescuing?” Hamish said.
“Oh, sorry. The arena was raided, apparently. Craig got shot trying to escape. Caleb’s with him, said something about planes and missiles firing into the building. I don’t know how many have been arrested or killed. Is Wil around? I’d like you two to organise the first rescue group,” Julian said.
“Yeah, I think I saw him head to the showers. I’ll get him to give you a call. Anything I can do?” Hamish said, feeling remarkably proud of how not panicked he sounded having heard Julian’s news.
“Round up a group to scout the area and do a rescue. Craig and Caleb are stuck on top of one of the buildings nearby. Craig’s injured. If there’s any way we can get to them and get them back here, make it happen. I’ll send some others out to scout around for other casualties as we only know about Craig and Caleb at the moment,” Julian said.
“Okay, good idea. Any idea which building they’re on?” Hamish said.
“No idea, but it’ll be one of the ones near the arena. Get them to come from the east and scout the buildings. Craig’s got his phone with him, see if Wil can’t track them down with that,” Julian said.
“Alright. I’ll see what we can do,” Hamish said, hanging up and heading for the showers to find Wil.
Hamish found Wil just leaving the showers. He ran to him, trying not to look panicked, but wasn’t sure he was succeeding.
“Wil, the arena – Julian said it’s been raided. Planes and missiles and shit like that. Craig and Caleb are stuck on top of one of the buildings nearby. Craig’s been shot. Adam was at the arena too. No idea what’s happened to him, or anyone else,” Hamish said, his panic just starting to show.
“Fucking hell. How did they find out about that place? Alright. I’ll go see Jules and find out what’s happened. Go get one of the scout teams, fliers and drivers. We’ll need both. If there’s any chance they’re alright, we’re getting them out. Everyone’s armed, make sure of that,” Wil said.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be one of the drivers. I’m not leaving Adam there, if he’s still alive and not arrested,” Hamish said.
And with that, they parted, Wil heading deep into the warehouse to talk to Julian, Hamish heading into the main area to get a scout team together. Fifteen minutes later, they were off, heading through the chaotic city towards the arena in a bunch of old army trucks they’d stolen from an Army base a few years ago.
Everything happened so fast. Adam found himself grabbed and hauled into the back of the transporter before he could fight back, his weapons and armour stripped from him as he was handed to another pair of soldiers who delighted in locking him into a small cage. One of the soldiers leant into the cage, sneering at him. Adam sat there, head lowered, resisting the urge to fight them off and escape.
“Oh, look who we got. Invincible Adam. The one no one can catch. Looks like we outfoxed you this time, mutant,” one of the soldiers said.
Adam ignored him. He was far too angry to respond with any sort of coherency.
“What? Can’t speak now? Too embarrassed at being caught at last? We’ve got some special things waiting for you when we get back to base,” the soldier said, whacking Adam across the face hard.
“You’re not worth my breath, mutants,” Adam said with equal bitterness and scorn, still not looking at them.
“Don’t worry, you’ll get what’s coming to you, bitch, once we’ve had our own revenge,” the soldier said, stepping back out of the cage, slamming the cage door shut and locking it.
Adam glanced at them as they walked off, nothing but hatred firing its way through his body.
“They will not destroy me. They won’t do to me what they did to you, Seb,” Adam said quietly.
Tim was one of the lucky ones. With the few survivors, Tim had managed to escape the building just before the missiles struck. Tim had waited as long as he could for Adam, but they’d lost so many already. It was survival of the few or no one at all. Tim had to leave Adam behind. They’d flown to one of the surrounding buildings, looking for somewhere to hide for the moment so they could regroup and work out how injured they all were.
There were only six of them.
Six!
Out of a hundred people training in the arena, only six had managed to escape alive. Tim, and five others, a couple he knew better than the rest. Ninety four had either died or been arrested, Tim wasn’t sure how many had suffered each fate. Sure, they had outnumbered the soldiers attacking them, but they had planes and choppers, and far better weapons. No wonder so few had survived to escape.
“Hands up who’s dying,” Tim said once they had hidden themselves.
One of the men resting heavily on his mate looked like the worst injured. The low light wasn’t giving much away, but the blood soaking his left side looked serious.
“Matt here was lucky to get away. Looks pretty badly cut open. I didn’t know the cops used knives,” his mate said.
“Get him on his side. We have to try to bandage it,” Tim said.
Matt was lowered to the floor, lying on his not injured side, as Tim and his mate fussed over him, trying to bind the wound in a makeshift bandage as best they could before he bled to death. Then there was nothing to do but wait and hide and hope.
Adam remained in the cage as the plane flew back to the base. Adam had no idea which base they were going to, but it couldn’t have been too far away, from the length of the flight. When they landed, Adam and all the other winged humans arrested were taken to the base and locked in their cells. Adam was separated from the main group, he wasn’t surprised by this, and locked in his own cell, while the others were taken to larger cells and held in small groups.
It was a small cell Adam found himself in, nothing more than a cold metal box. There was a bed, though it didn’t look comfortable, a toilet, and that was it. He was surprised he was given them at all, considering he wasn’t even considered human. Adam found himself shoved up against a wall by the two soldiers escorting him, his hands roughly cuffed behind his back as his face was pressed hard against the metal wall. He felt someone grab his wings, pulling them in awkward ways.
“Stupid mutant. We’re gonna clip your wings like some pathetic pet budgie. You won’t be getting away from us now,” one of the soldiers said.
Adam tried to lash out at them, but he was clearly overpowered. Adam cringed as he felt them hacking at his feathers, leaving him with jagged edges and destroyed wings. There was no way he could fly now, seeing how badly they’d cut them. At least, not until the feathers grew back, and that would take months. He could feel the remnant feathers falling to the floor, how his wings felt lighter than they had been before. A small part of him wanted to cry, but he was more overcome with anger and hatred, still vainly struggling to get free.
When they finished with his wings, they felt it was necessary to give him a beating before injecting him with something. Adam lay there in pain, feeling his head spinning, rapidly losing consciousness. He never heard their passing insults as they left him alone in the cell, still cuffed, to wait for whatever they had planned for him.
The soldiers were met by their base commander, a former American general who escaped the former world power before its collapse to come to command the Australian forces, who’d come to inspect the prisoners. He’d heard rumours they had captured one of the big guys, and wanted to see for himself. He was one of the few who believed there was an organised rebellion, and had ordered the strike on the arena as an experiment to see if he could goad them out of their safe havens.
“And who have we got here boys?” the general said.
The soldiers turned and saluted their commander before the more senior of the two spoke.
“We got the so-called invincible one, Adam. Not so invincible now,” the soldier said with a smirk.
“Very good. Put up much of a fight?” the general said.
“No match for us, sir. He’s in there out cold. Cut his precious wings so he can’t fly,” the soldier said.
“Excellent. Leave him for me. I’ll be doing his interrogation personally. I have a few tricks up my sleeve I’ve saved just for him. The others are to be interrogated and executed. Don’t waste time with it. Get as many troops as possible involved. If they’re going to launch a rescue, they’ll do it soon, so make sure there’s no one left to rescue,” the general said.
“Yessir,” the two soldiers answered.
“Dismissed. Get moving,” the general said.
The two soldiers saluted again and left. The general opened the small window in the door to gaze at Adam lying unconscious inside. Satisfied, he left to prepare.
Wil had managed to pinpoint the building Craig and Caleb were on, and the trucks pulled up outside. It was lucky there was no one else about. Everyone piled out of the trucks, a group of about ten with equal numbers of winged humans and wingless humans. Wil was quick to get them organised.
“Two of you fly up and see how they’re doing. The rest of us will storm the building. If they’ve got lifts, it’ll be easier to get them down than try carrying them down with a couple of us, especially if Craig’s badly injured. I need one driver in each truck ready to get moving as soon as we have them back. Carl, you come with me. We’ll fly ahead and find them. The rest, get to work,” Wil said, grabbing one winged human by the arm as they both flew up the side of the building.
Wil and Carl landed on the rooftop, not seeing anyone there. It was dark, the sky lit up with the orange glow of fire from the building where The Glass House once stood. The building itself would probably still stand, but the arena had been destroyed. Who knew how many had died when the missiles hit? How many had been arrested? How few had escaped?
“They’re probably hiding, go round the other way. Try not to alert any of the cops that might still be around,” Wil said, setting off in the opposite direction to the one he told Carl to go.
It was Carl who found them, huddled behind a large metal box. Craig was lying on his stomach, looking pale and weak. Caleb was lying beside him, stroking his hair gently, trying to calm him. In spite of the makeshift bandage, Craig was still bleeding, as evidenced by the blood on the surrounding concrete.
“How’s he doing?” Carl said, kneeling beside them.
“Not good. It’s bleeding fast. I can’t make it stop. I think he’s unconscious. He’s not going to die, is he?” Caleb said, worry starting to show in his voice.
“He’d better not. I’ll go get Wil,” Carl said, not seeing the point in telling them to wait where they were. They weren’t going anywhere.
Wil set off, searching in every conceivable hiding spot until he found the small maintenance shed backed up against the large covered area that contained the building’s control systems. The door looked slightly ajar. There wasn’t really anywhere else to hide, so this would have to be the last place on this side. Pushing the door open, Wil found not Craig and Caleb, but Tim and the four other survivors, huddled around the body of Matt, the worst injured.
“Tim,” was all Wil found he could say.
Tim looked up and approached him, not sure whether to be upset or happy. Wil opened his arms to him as Tim fell into his embrace. Wil held him tight. Was this it? Was this all that had managed to escape the arena? Six people?
“They took Adam, I tried to save him, but we had to leave him behind. We’re all that’s left. The rest are dead, or about to be, if they’ve not already been executed,” Tim said.
Wil was proud of Tim’s composure. It can’t have been easy leaving everyone behind, especially Adam. Wil didn’t want to think about what they were doing to Adam. They had to get him out of there. But first, they had to get the injured back to the safe haven where they could be treated, though Wil wasn’t certain Matt would make it.
“It’ll be alright. Stay here while I go find Craig. Our boys should be here with stretchers and such soon. I’ll send them to you. Once they’re safe, then we can go after Adam,” Wil said.
And with that, Wil set off again, tracing back to where he started, running into Carl as he went.
“Craig’s back there, looks pretty weak,” Carl said.
“Tim and five others are back there. One of them’s badly injured. I’m not certain he’ll make it, but we have to try. I’ll go see Craig. Go and find out how long Hamish and the others are going to be. We need them here now. Tell them we’ve got two casualties here that will need assistance,” Wil said.
“I’m on it, boss,” Carl said, heading off in the direction Wil had come from.
Wil headed around to find Caleb crouched beside Craig. Craig really didn’t look good. He was curled up on his stomach, an alarmingly large pool of blood underneath him. Wil was at his side, grabbing his head, making sure he was still alive.
“Craig, mate? You still with us?” Wil said.
Craig didn’t respond, Wil thought that was probably because he couldn’t, but he saw Craig half-open his eyes, which was good enough for him.
“Excellent. We haven’t lost you yet. The boys will be here in a minute. We’ll get you home safe, alright? Don’t you go dying on me,” Wil said.
Craig opened and shut his eyes again. It was as much of an acknowledgement of his words that he could give.
“Caleb, what happened?” Wil said, turning his attention to the boy kneeling beside him.
“I don’t really know. We arrived late, the place was already under siege. Cops, choppers, planes everywhere. Fucking chaos. We saw them fighting with the soldiers, trying to escape. People were being hauled into the back of one of those transport ships. Those that were still alive anyway. Craig had landed on another building to watch, but this winged human, clearly one of the ones tamed by the cops, was there, trapping us. Craig flew us to safety, I think he killed the winged human, but they were shooting at us, and I felt the impact when Craig got hit, and we managed to make it here in once piece. They were firing missiles into the arena as we were leaving. The place was on fire. There was all this screaming and shit. I’ve never been so scared in my life,” Caleb said.
“At least you’re both safe and alive. Tim and five others made it to this building as well. I found them around the other side. One’s badly injured though. I don’t know how many others survived. It could take ages to search the area. As cold as it sounds, it’s safer to assume everyone is either dead or arrested. We get you guys back to the haven then we go after everyone else. You hurt at all?” Wil said.
“Nah, I’m fine. Bit shaken, but yeah. Is he going to be alright?” Caleb said.
“I hope so. As much as he’s an annoying little shit, I’d hate for him to die up here, and he does have his uses, you know,” Wil said.
“He just bought me from my pimp. I owe him my life. I don’t want him dying. Oh, God, please don’t let him die. I’ve got nowhere else to go. God, don’t you die on me, Craig,” Caleb said, the stress and fear finally breaking forth. Caleb was ashamed that he was crying, but the thought of losing Craig was not one he wanted to entertain.
“Come here, it’ll be alright. Just you wait. He’s not going to die,” Wil said, grabbing Caleb into a hug.
Caleb clutched onto him, desperately wanting to believe Wil’s words. He was a tough kid, had been through hell to survive, but his life had gained meaning when Craig turned up. He’d taken a liking to Caleb, and neither of them had expected to fall in love. Craig promised he would save up enough money to buy his freedom and take him away from all this crap. Caleb had been brought to tears at that. No one had ever wanted to sacrifice so much for him. See, Craig? I’m redeeming you somewhat. Don’t let me down. Is this really a good time to be conversing with me since I’m lying on the roof of some random building fucking bleeding to death? Oh, shush. You’ll live. You really think I’d let you die? Hey, I saw that! You’re going to kill me off in the battle, aren’t you? I don’t know yet. If you boys would actually tell me what’s happening, I might be able to work out who dies. Yeah, well, you can just shut up and write. My, you are moody tonight.
The general was sitting in his office, listening in for any news of the rebels. He leant back and smoked a cigar, rather relishing his marvellous idea. He had ambush plans in place to capture anyone who went back to the arena to rescue him. He was just waiting on news of their appearance to send them in to get them. He didn’t care if they were dead or alive. He wanted the glory of killing off the rebellion once and for all. It was that old American pride driving him and his men to chase after something the rest of his commanders weren’t so sure about. He had an instinct for these sort of things, and his instinct was telling him there was an organised rebellion.
The general turned to find one of his men, waiting to speak to him. The general straightened and leaned his elbows on his desk.
“Situation?”
“Sir, there are reports of rebels in the vicinity of the glass house. The men are waiting for your orders to attack,” the soldier said.
“How many?” the general said.
“No more than 20, sir. We’re not sure any more are coming. There are no reports of any further unusual activity around suspected rebel hideouts. That may be all there is, sir,” the soldier said.
“Tell the men to fire warning shots, but don’t kill or blow their brains out or use them as target practice. I just want to scare them now. Maybe if there’s more, they’ll go back and warn them. Oh, and give them this message,” the general said, taking out an envelope and handing it to the soldier. “Make sure the most senior ranking guy gets it.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll deliver this personally,” the soldier said.
“Good man. Dismissed,” the general said, sitting back as the soldier saluted and left.
With Craig and Matt carried back to trucks and driven back to the haven, the real work could begin. More had arrived to help with the rescue, and they were now shifting through the rubble of what was left of the arena, searching for survivors. Planes and choppers could still be heard in the distance, but they didn’t appear to be getting closer, so Wil felt they were probably safe for now.
“Don’t waste time, guys. I don’t want us here all night. Leave the dead. If there are any survivors, get them out of here. That’s our priority for now, okay?” Wil said, pushing away a small slab of concrete to see if there was anyone there.
“Wil! Someone over here! I got three injured!” Hamish called. He’d stayed back with Tim to search the rubble.
Wil made his way over to where Hamish was pulling aside glass, metal and concrete, trying to free the people below. A few more came to the call, helping to dig them out. Gradually, they were able to free them and assess how badly injured they were. One woman died soon after she was free, but the other two, one female fullwing and a human male, managed to stay alive, in spite of heavy bleeding, and crushed limbs. They were carefully rushed back to the trucks to be taken away and looked after.
The search continued until the gunfire began. They’d rescued a further eight people, and lost another seven. The rest were already dead. It wasn’t intense fire, but there were random shots all over the place, making them jumpy. That they weren’t aimed at any of them made them suspicious.
“Wil, I think we should get out of here!” Hamish called, dodging a bullet that hit near his feet.
“That’s probably a good idea. I think we’ve got everything we can from here,” Wil said.
Wil made his way over to Tim just as a soldier landed on the roof, having been winched down by a chopper. He stood there unarmed, holding an envelope out towards them.
“Okay, what the fuck do you want?” Wil said, cautious about trusting him.
“I’m just the messenger, sir. I was told to give you this,” the soldier said.
Wil took the letter, though remained deeply suspicious about it. He’d make sure to have it thoroughly checked out for anything dangerous before he opened it. He didn’t trust that it was just an innocuous letter.
The soldier disappeared and the gunfire continued, increasing their shots as they tried to run the rebels off the ruined arena.
“Okay, now I really think we should go. Come on, let’s go grab Hamish and get out of here,” Wil said, slipping the letter inside his jacket.
They ran over the rubble together, grabbing Hamish by the arms just as a hail of gunfire landed at their feet behind them. Wil and Tim quickly took off, heading for the trucks and safety. Hamish shut his eyes tightly, still not used to flying like this. Then it was a rush as they all bundled into the trucks and drove off into the night, trying to escape the gunfire that followed them.
Author: Sashataakheru
Beta: The wonderful
rana_narsilion <3Fandom: The Chaser/AusComedy RPS
Starring: Adam Hills, Sepulchre (OC), Wil Anderson, Hamish Blake, Craig Reucassel, Tim Minchin, Julian Morrow, Chas Licciardello, Charles Firth, Chris Taylor, Andrew Hansen, Caleb (OC), Dr Rachel Hardy (OC), Antoinette Laurent (OC), Dr Samantha Reddings (OC), Dominic Knight, Shane Cubis, Gregor Stronach, Tim Brunero, Andy Lee
Pairings: Andrew/Chris; Adam/Hamish; Jules/Chas; Rachel/Antoinette(/Samantha); Adam/Seb; Adam/Wil; Craig/Caleb; Adam/Wil/Tim; Andrew/Craig, Wil/Chas; implied Tim/Craig
Word Count: 4,231
Chapter: 13/28 [Previous]
Warnings: language, smut, violence
Rating: FRAO
Disclaimer: I don’t know them, not associated with them, just a slashy fangirl admirer with a very active imagination.
Author’s Notes: FYI, fullwing = winged human capable of flight. Halfwing = fullwing/human halfbreed, usually unable to fly, sometimes have vestigial wings, but can be removed to pass as human and not as winged.
Summary: The fallout from the raid begins, and Wil and Hamish go to rescue the survivors, a task that will not be as easy as they hope it will be.
Chapter Thirteen
Caleb’s call had interrupted Julian in the middle of writing a draft script for the broadcast they wanted to do. Wil had gone off to eat, leaving Julian with notes of what they’d come up with together. The news made the broadcast unimportant. What mattered now was rescuing everyone they could from the shattered remains of the arena.
Julian got to work calling those who were still around to organise a rescue, wondering how he was going to deal with all the injured and arrested people. It occurred to him that Adam would be caught up in the raid and that he really didn’t know if he was even still alive. He paused at that thought. They couldn’t afford to lose their leader now. They had too much at stake. If he was dead, Julian wasn’t sure they could pull themselves out of their grief.
Julian’s activities woke Chassy, who was asleep in a corner, having decided he would rather sleep than help with the draft script. He looked up to see Julian looking frantic with worry.
“Jules, it’s 11pm. What the fuck’s going on?” Chas said, wandering over to Julian.
“The Glass House’s been raided. Hit with missiles and shit. No idea if they’re all alive, dead or imprisoned. All I know is that Craig’s been shot and is lying on top of one of the buildings around the arena. Caleb’s with him. We need to go get them at the very least and see if anyone else is still there to be rescued,” Julian said.
“That’s – damn, that’s terrible. Anything I can do?” Chas said.
“Go make sure the medics are ready and that we’ve got enough supplies to deal with them all. We leave no one behind if possible. This is going to be a long night. I’ll get Wil and Hamish to organise a rescue group,” Julian said.
“On it, Jules,” Chas said, leaving Julian to his panic.
The first thing Hamish heard of the raid was when Julian called. He’d stayed behind to catch up on some reading, though Adam had offered to take him with him to the arena that evening. Hamish declined, citing tiredness. Julian gave him one more reason he should be thankful he didn’t go.
“Hamish? Something’s up, we need to move fast. Are you up for a rescue?” Julian said, seemingly skipping details.
“What’s going on? You okay, Jules? Who needs rescuing?” Hamish said.
“Oh, sorry. The arena was raided, apparently. Craig got shot trying to escape. Caleb’s with him, said something about planes and missiles firing into the building. I don’t know how many have been arrested or killed. Is Wil around? I’d like you two to organise the first rescue group,” Julian said.
“Yeah, I think I saw him head to the showers. I’ll get him to give you a call. Anything I can do?” Hamish said, feeling remarkably proud of how not panicked he sounded having heard Julian’s news.
“Round up a group to scout the area and do a rescue. Craig and Caleb are stuck on top of one of the buildings nearby. Craig’s injured. If there’s any way we can get to them and get them back here, make it happen. I’ll send some others out to scout around for other casualties as we only know about Craig and Caleb at the moment,” Julian said.
“Okay, good idea. Any idea which building they’re on?” Hamish said.
“No idea, but it’ll be one of the ones near the arena. Get them to come from the east and scout the buildings. Craig’s got his phone with him, see if Wil can’t track them down with that,” Julian said.
“Alright. I’ll see what we can do,” Hamish said, hanging up and heading for the showers to find Wil.
Hamish found Wil just leaving the showers. He ran to him, trying not to look panicked, but wasn’t sure he was succeeding.
“Wil, the arena – Julian said it’s been raided. Planes and missiles and shit like that. Craig and Caleb are stuck on top of one of the buildings nearby. Craig’s been shot. Adam was at the arena too. No idea what’s happened to him, or anyone else,” Hamish said, his panic just starting to show.
“Fucking hell. How did they find out about that place? Alright. I’ll go see Jules and find out what’s happened. Go get one of the scout teams, fliers and drivers. We’ll need both. If there’s any chance they’re alright, we’re getting them out. Everyone’s armed, make sure of that,” Wil said.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be one of the drivers. I’m not leaving Adam there, if he’s still alive and not arrested,” Hamish said.
And with that, they parted, Wil heading deep into the warehouse to talk to Julian, Hamish heading into the main area to get a scout team together. Fifteen minutes later, they were off, heading through the chaotic city towards the arena in a bunch of old army trucks they’d stolen from an Army base a few years ago.
Everything happened so fast. Adam found himself grabbed and hauled into the back of the transporter before he could fight back, his weapons and armour stripped from him as he was handed to another pair of soldiers who delighted in locking him into a small cage. One of the soldiers leant into the cage, sneering at him. Adam sat there, head lowered, resisting the urge to fight them off and escape.
“Oh, look who we got. Invincible Adam. The one no one can catch. Looks like we outfoxed you this time, mutant,” one of the soldiers said.
Adam ignored him. He was far too angry to respond with any sort of coherency.
“What? Can’t speak now? Too embarrassed at being caught at last? We’ve got some special things waiting for you when we get back to base,” the soldier said, whacking Adam across the face hard.
“You’re not worth my breath, mutants,” Adam said with equal bitterness and scorn, still not looking at them.
“Don’t worry, you’ll get what’s coming to you, bitch, once we’ve had our own revenge,” the soldier said, stepping back out of the cage, slamming the cage door shut and locking it.
Adam glanced at them as they walked off, nothing but hatred firing its way through his body.
“They will not destroy me. They won’t do to me what they did to you, Seb,” Adam said quietly.
Tim was one of the lucky ones. With the few survivors, Tim had managed to escape the building just before the missiles struck. Tim had waited as long as he could for Adam, but they’d lost so many already. It was survival of the few or no one at all. Tim had to leave Adam behind. They’d flown to one of the surrounding buildings, looking for somewhere to hide for the moment so they could regroup and work out how injured they all were.
There were only six of them.
Six!
Out of a hundred people training in the arena, only six had managed to escape alive. Tim, and five others, a couple he knew better than the rest. Ninety four had either died or been arrested, Tim wasn’t sure how many had suffered each fate. Sure, they had outnumbered the soldiers attacking them, but they had planes and choppers, and far better weapons. No wonder so few had survived to escape.
“Hands up who’s dying,” Tim said once they had hidden themselves.
One of the men resting heavily on his mate looked like the worst injured. The low light wasn’t giving much away, but the blood soaking his left side looked serious.
“Matt here was lucky to get away. Looks pretty badly cut open. I didn’t know the cops used knives,” his mate said.
“Get him on his side. We have to try to bandage it,” Tim said.
Matt was lowered to the floor, lying on his not injured side, as Tim and his mate fussed over him, trying to bind the wound in a makeshift bandage as best they could before he bled to death. Then there was nothing to do but wait and hide and hope.
Adam remained in the cage as the plane flew back to the base. Adam had no idea which base they were going to, but it couldn’t have been too far away, from the length of the flight. When they landed, Adam and all the other winged humans arrested were taken to the base and locked in their cells. Adam was separated from the main group, he wasn’t surprised by this, and locked in his own cell, while the others were taken to larger cells and held in small groups.
It was a small cell Adam found himself in, nothing more than a cold metal box. There was a bed, though it didn’t look comfortable, a toilet, and that was it. He was surprised he was given them at all, considering he wasn’t even considered human. Adam found himself shoved up against a wall by the two soldiers escorting him, his hands roughly cuffed behind his back as his face was pressed hard against the metal wall. He felt someone grab his wings, pulling them in awkward ways.
“Stupid mutant. We’re gonna clip your wings like some pathetic pet budgie. You won’t be getting away from us now,” one of the soldiers said.
Adam tried to lash out at them, but he was clearly overpowered. Adam cringed as he felt them hacking at his feathers, leaving him with jagged edges and destroyed wings. There was no way he could fly now, seeing how badly they’d cut them. At least, not until the feathers grew back, and that would take months. He could feel the remnant feathers falling to the floor, how his wings felt lighter than they had been before. A small part of him wanted to cry, but he was more overcome with anger and hatred, still vainly struggling to get free.
When they finished with his wings, they felt it was necessary to give him a beating before injecting him with something. Adam lay there in pain, feeling his head spinning, rapidly losing consciousness. He never heard their passing insults as they left him alone in the cell, still cuffed, to wait for whatever they had planned for him.
The soldiers were met by their base commander, a former American general who escaped the former world power before its collapse to come to command the Australian forces, who’d come to inspect the prisoners. He’d heard rumours they had captured one of the big guys, and wanted to see for himself. He was one of the few who believed there was an organised rebellion, and had ordered the strike on the arena as an experiment to see if he could goad them out of their safe havens.
“And who have we got here boys?” the general said.
The soldiers turned and saluted their commander before the more senior of the two spoke.
“We got the so-called invincible one, Adam. Not so invincible now,” the soldier said with a smirk.
“Very good. Put up much of a fight?” the general said.
“No match for us, sir. He’s in there out cold. Cut his precious wings so he can’t fly,” the soldier said.
“Excellent. Leave him for me. I’ll be doing his interrogation personally. I have a few tricks up my sleeve I’ve saved just for him. The others are to be interrogated and executed. Don’t waste time with it. Get as many troops as possible involved. If they’re going to launch a rescue, they’ll do it soon, so make sure there’s no one left to rescue,” the general said.
“Yessir,” the two soldiers answered.
“Dismissed. Get moving,” the general said.
The two soldiers saluted again and left. The general opened the small window in the door to gaze at Adam lying unconscious inside. Satisfied, he left to prepare.
Wil had managed to pinpoint the building Craig and Caleb were on, and the trucks pulled up outside. It was lucky there was no one else about. Everyone piled out of the trucks, a group of about ten with equal numbers of winged humans and wingless humans. Wil was quick to get them organised.
“Two of you fly up and see how they’re doing. The rest of us will storm the building. If they’ve got lifts, it’ll be easier to get them down than try carrying them down with a couple of us, especially if Craig’s badly injured. I need one driver in each truck ready to get moving as soon as we have them back. Carl, you come with me. We’ll fly ahead and find them. The rest, get to work,” Wil said, grabbing one winged human by the arm as they both flew up the side of the building.
Wil and Carl landed on the rooftop, not seeing anyone there. It was dark, the sky lit up with the orange glow of fire from the building where The Glass House once stood. The building itself would probably still stand, but the arena had been destroyed. Who knew how many had died when the missiles hit? How many had been arrested? How few had escaped?
“They’re probably hiding, go round the other way. Try not to alert any of the cops that might still be around,” Wil said, setting off in the opposite direction to the one he told Carl to go.
It was Carl who found them, huddled behind a large metal box. Craig was lying on his stomach, looking pale and weak. Caleb was lying beside him, stroking his hair gently, trying to calm him. In spite of the makeshift bandage, Craig was still bleeding, as evidenced by the blood on the surrounding concrete.
“How’s he doing?” Carl said, kneeling beside them.
“Not good. It’s bleeding fast. I can’t make it stop. I think he’s unconscious. He’s not going to die, is he?” Caleb said, worry starting to show in his voice.
“He’d better not. I’ll go get Wil,” Carl said, not seeing the point in telling them to wait where they were. They weren’t going anywhere.
Wil set off, searching in every conceivable hiding spot until he found the small maintenance shed backed up against the large covered area that contained the building’s control systems. The door looked slightly ajar. There wasn’t really anywhere else to hide, so this would have to be the last place on this side. Pushing the door open, Wil found not Craig and Caleb, but Tim and the four other survivors, huddled around the body of Matt, the worst injured.
“Tim,” was all Wil found he could say.
Tim looked up and approached him, not sure whether to be upset or happy. Wil opened his arms to him as Tim fell into his embrace. Wil held him tight. Was this it? Was this all that had managed to escape the arena? Six people?
“They took Adam, I tried to save him, but we had to leave him behind. We’re all that’s left. The rest are dead, or about to be, if they’ve not already been executed,” Tim said.
Wil was proud of Tim’s composure. It can’t have been easy leaving everyone behind, especially Adam. Wil didn’t want to think about what they were doing to Adam. They had to get him out of there. But first, they had to get the injured back to the safe haven where they could be treated, though Wil wasn’t certain Matt would make it.
“It’ll be alright. Stay here while I go find Craig. Our boys should be here with stretchers and such soon. I’ll send them to you. Once they’re safe, then we can go after Adam,” Wil said.
And with that, Wil set off again, tracing back to where he started, running into Carl as he went.
“Craig’s back there, looks pretty weak,” Carl said.
“Tim and five others are back there. One of them’s badly injured. I’m not certain he’ll make it, but we have to try. I’ll go see Craig. Go and find out how long Hamish and the others are going to be. We need them here now. Tell them we’ve got two casualties here that will need assistance,” Wil said.
“I’m on it, boss,” Carl said, heading off in the direction Wil had come from.
Wil headed around to find Caleb crouched beside Craig. Craig really didn’t look good. He was curled up on his stomach, an alarmingly large pool of blood underneath him. Wil was at his side, grabbing his head, making sure he was still alive.
“Craig, mate? You still with us?” Wil said.
Craig didn’t respond, Wil thought that was probably because he couldn’t, but he saw Craig half-open his eyes, which was good enough for him.
“Excellent. We haven’t lost you yet. The boys will be here in a minute. We’ll get you home safe, alright? Don’t you go dying on me,” Wil said.
Craig opened and shut his eyes again. It was as much of an acknowledgement of his words that he could give.
“Caleb, what happened?” Wil said, turning his attention to the boy kneeling beside him.
“I don’t really know. We arrived late, the place was already under siege. Cops, choppers, planes everywhere. Fucking chaos. We saw them fighting with the soldiers, trying to escape. People were being hauled into the back of one of those transport ships. Those that were still alive anyway. Craig had landed on another building to watch, but this winged human, clearly one of the ones tamed by the cops, was there, trapping us. Craig flew us to safety, I think he killed the winged human, but they were shooting at us, and I felt the impact when Craig got hit, and we managed to make it here in once piece. They were firing missiles into the arena as we were leaving. The place was on fire. There was all this screaming and shit. I’ve never been so scared in my life,” Caleb said.
“At least you’re both safe and alive. Tim and five others made it to this building as well. I found them around the other side. One’s badly injured though. I don’t know how many others survived. It could take ages to search the area. As cold as it sounds, it’s safer to assume everyone is either dead or arrested. We get you guys back to the haven then we go after everyone else. You hurt at all?” Wil said.
“Nah, I’m fine. Bit shaken, but yeah. Is he going to be alright?” Caleb said.
“I hope so. As much as he’s an annoying little shit, I’d hate for him to die up here, and he does have his uses, you know,” Wil said.
“He just bought me from my pimp. I owe him my life. I don’t want him dying. Oh, God, please don’t let him die. I’ve got nowhere else to go. God, don’t you die on me, Craig,” Caleb said, the stress and fear finally breaking forth. Caleb was ashamed that he was crying, but the thought of losing Craig was not one he wanted to entertain.
“Come here, it’ll be alright. Just you wait. He’s not going to die,” Wil said, grabbing Caleb into a hug.
Caleb clutched onto him, desperately wanting to believe Wil’s words. He was a tough kid, had been through hell to survive, but his life had gained meaning when Craig turned up. He’d taken a liking to Caleb, and neither of them had expected to fall in love. Craig promised he would save up enough money to buy his freedom and take him away from all this crap. Caleb had been brought to tears at that. No one had ever wanted to sacrifice so much for him. See, Craig? I’m redeeming you somewhat. Don’t let me down. Is this really a good time to be conversing with me since I’m lying on the roof of some random building fucking bleeding to death? Oh, shush. You’ll live. You really think I’d let you die? Hey, I saw that! You’re going to kill me off in the battle, aren’t you? I don’t know yet. If you boys would actually tell me what’s happening, I might be able to work out who dies. Yeah, well, you can just shut up and write. My, you are moody tonight.
The general was sitting in his office, listening in for any news of the rebels. He leant back and smoked a cigar, rather relishing his marvellous idea. He had ambush plans in place to capture anyone who went back to the arena to rescue him. He was just waiting on news of their appearance to send them in to get them. He didn’t care if they were dead or alive. He wanted the glory of killing off the rebellion once and for all. It was that old American pride driving him and his men to chase after something the rest of his commanders weren’t so sure about. He had an instinct for these sort of things, and his instinct was telling him there was an organised rebellion.
The general turned to find one of his men, waiting to speak to him. The general straightened and leaned his elbows on his desk.
“Situation?”
“Sir, there are reports of rebels in the vicinity of the glass house. The men are waiting for your orders to attack,” the soldier said.
“How many?” the general said.
“No more than 20, sir. We’re not sure any more are coming. There are no reports of any further unusual activity around suspected rebel hideouts. That may be all there is, sir,” the soldier said.
“Tell the men to fire warning shots, but don’t kill or blow their brains out or use them as target practice. I just want to scare them now. Maybe if there’s more, they’ll go back and warn them. Oh, and give them this message,” the general said, taking out an envelope and handing it to the soldier. “Make sure the most senior ranking guy gets it.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll deliver this personally,” the soldier said.
“Good man. Dismissed,” the general said, sitting back as the soldier saluted and left.
With Craig and Matt carried back to trucks and driven back to the haven, the real work could begin. More had arrived to help with the rescue, and they were now shifting through the rubble of what was left of the arena, searching for survivors. Planes and choppers could still be heard in the distance, but they didn’t appear to be getting closer, so Wil felt they were probably safe for now.
“Don’t waste time, guys. I don’t want us here all night. Leave the dead. If there are any survivors, get them out of here. That’s our priority for now, okay?” Wil said, pushing away a small slab of concrete to see if there was anyone there.
“Wil! Someone over here! I got three injured!” Hamish called. He’d stayed back with Tim to search the rubble.
Wil made his way over to where Hamish was pulling aside glass, metal and concrete, trying to free the people below. A few more came to the call, helping to dig them out. Gradually, they were able to free them and assess how badly injured they were. One woman died soon after she was free, but the other two, one female fullwing and a human male, managed to stay alive, in spite of heavy bleeding, and crushed limbs. They were carefully rushed back to the trucks to be taken away and looked after.
The search continued until the gunfire began. They’d rescued a further eight people, and lost another seven. The rest were already dead. It wasn’t intense fire, but there were random shots all over the place, making them jumpy. That they weren’t aimed at any of them made them suspicious.
“Wil, I think we should get out of here!” Hamish called, dodging a bullet that hit near his feet.
“That’s probably a good idea. I think we’ve got everything we can from here,” Wil said.
Wil made his way over to Tim just as a soldier landed on the roof, having been winched down by a chopper. He stood there unarmed, holding an envelope out towards them.
“Okay, what the fuck do you want?” Wil said, cautious about trusting him.
“I’m just the messenger, sir. I was told to give you this,” the soldier said.
Wil took the letter, though remained deeply suspicious about it. He’d make sure to have it thoroughly checked out for anything dangerous before he opened it. He didn’t trust that it was just an innocuous letter.
The soldier disappeared and the gunfire continued, increasing their shots as they tried to run the rebels off the ruined arena.
“Okay, now I really think we should go. Come on, let’s go grab Hamish and get out of here,” Wil said, slipping the letter inside his jacket.
They ran over the rubble together, grabbing Hamish by the arms just as a hail of gunfire landed at their feet behind them. Wil and Tim quickly took off, heading for the trucks and safety. Hamish shut his eyes tightly, still not used to flying like this. Then it was a rush as they all bundled into the trucks and drove off into the night, trying to escape the gunfire that followed them.