The Outskirts: Thé Crystal Keepers (Jace x OC)

The Crystal Keepers: 6

Joe immediately tried the door to the compartment. It was locked. He jiggled the handle roughly, but it only moved a little, and the door had no give. The compartment was silent as Joe slid back into his seat.
He looked ill, his face oddly blank. "Okay," he said softly. "Okay. Okay."
Cole banged his fist against the window. It made no sound. The vault door at a bank might have shown a similar indifference to a punch.
"We're not getting out through the window,"
Cole said.
"No," Joe agreed. "It would take serious tools."
His eyes darted, but I wasn't sure he was seeing much. "They must have flagged my ID after all, but let me board. That kind of patience isn't how City Patrol normally works. I should have gone with my gut. The woman at the ID counter seemed a little flustered at first. We've made one stop in the city so far. I bet a bunch of patrolmen got on. Now they're taking me off."
"What can we do?" Mira asked.
Joe clutched the sides of his head. "A private compartment was a terrible idea. We're stuck here until they come for us." The monorail began to slow. "I should have spaced us throughout the train,"
Joe lamented. "We should have sat near exits."
"Would have, could have, should have," Jace said impatiently. "What do we do?"
Out the window, the view of the city was replaced by the inside of a building. Signs on the wall declared it CANAL STATION. People milled on the platform. The monorail slowed even more.
My mind raced. What could we do? We had no time! We were trapped.
"We let the welcoming committee take us," Joe said hurriedly. "They'll be ready for trouble. It's the wrong time to resist. I'll comply. They'll focus on me. Come quietly, but move slowly. Stray as far from me as you can. After we're off the monorail, I'll make a run for it. Scatter. Don't stay together. Don't use your ID cards. They're all tied to me now. Jace, keep my travel bag if you can. All of you make your way to Axis. Leaf Street, near Hanover Station. Across from Zenith Park. Crystal Keepers."
The monorail had eased to a stop. The compartment door opened. Two heavily built patrolmen filled the doorway.
"What's the problem?" Joe asked politely.
"Joe MacFarland, you're under arrest," one of the patrolmen said.
"May I ask the charges?" Joe asked.
The patrolman grunted. "Not now. Come with us."
"I'm not sure what I've done wrong, but I'm all yours," Joe said.
"The false ID is a start," the patrolman said, glancing around the compartment. "Who are the kids?"
"Relatives of a friend," Joe said.
"You're the only adult present?" the patrolman asked.
"That's right," Joe said.
"We'll have to bring all of you to HQ," the patrolman said. "Step out into the hall. Joe first." He backed away from the doorway, allowing room to exit. After a quick glance at me and the others, Joe rose and passed into the hall.
The patrolman who had been speaking leaned back into the compartment, all business. "You kids stay with us."
"Why do we have to come?" Jace complained.
"Let's cut the chitchat," the patrolman said.
"You're with a wanted criminal. Hurry up." The patrolman backed out the door. I waited while Jace grabbed the travel bag and exited, then watched Mira and Dalton exit as well.
What would it mean to go to HQ? It would get ugly fast if anybody figured out Mira's identity.
What if the Hunter caught wind of it?
I took my time leaving the compartment. We had to try to get away. Maybe by going slow, I could create some space between me and the patrolmen.
Out in the central aisle, Joe stood with his wrists bound in front of him and a patrolman on either side. With his wrists tied and so many patrolmen around, would be even be a chance to run or make a distraction?
Once I exited the compartment, the lead patrolman gave a nod, and the procession started down the aisle toward the exit. I only had one patrolman behind me, so I tried to dawdle, crouching to tie my shoe, but the patrolman stayed with me.
Accompanied by patrolmen, Joe stepped off the monorail. Other patrolmen followed.
The soothing female voice spoke again over the loud-speakers. "You may now exit the train for Canal Station. Thank you for your cooperation." Passengers began to rise from their seats and move into the aisle, forcing the patrolman ahead of me to pause. I flattened myself against the seats at one side of the aisle to allow an older woman to pass. I stayed there, hoping the patrolman behind me might pass me as well, but the patrolman nudged me to continue.
I stepped down from the train onto a bustling platform. Some people were boarding the train, others getting off. Looking compliant, Joe stood some distance away with four patrolmen. Jace, Mira, and Dalton were moving in Joe's general direction, while also doing a decent job of spreading out.
Joe briefly met eyes with me. Then he bolted, racing down the platform toward the front of the monorail. All of the patrolmen reacted.
Most reached for their trapguns, then seemed to think twice about using them on the crowded platform.
Though caught flat-footed, the patrolmen who had stood with Joe took off in pursuit, weapons in hand. Joe turned and raised his bound hands. In them he held a silver tube that I remembered from Skyport. Joe had pointed it at the legionnaires when he joined the fight to help Mira escape.
Nothing had happened.
This time it worked.
A narrow it of white material fountained from the end of the tube, staying in a focused stream until it hit the patrolman nearest to Joe and expanded into a dense cloud of foam.
The foam only sprayed for a few seconds, but Joe managed to heavily cover two patrolmen and lightly got a third.
The rich lather made me think of shaving cream, but as the men coated by the substance slowed down, it became clear that the foam was rapidly hardening. One patrolman tipped over, trapped in a pillowy cocoon, his arms encased in front of his chest, his legs stuck together above the knees.
The foamy husk helped break his fall. Another patrolman froze up while wiping the lather off his face. Only his upper body was covered, but he ended up with one hand stuck over his eye, and the other against his neck. A third patrolman had his hand bound to his weapon and his elbow to his side by a large, creamy glob.
Joe kept running, brushing by others in the crowd. As people saw him coming and made room for him, he were toward them rather than accepting the open space. I realized that Joe was using the crowd to deny the patrolmen a clear shot.
I also abruptly realized that I was unsupervised.
People were still going in and out of the monorail through the door I had just exited.
The patrolman who had accompanied me was running after Joe, just like all the others. Taking my ticket from my pocket, I turned and boarded the train, No conductor monitored the door.
After stepping aboard with my head down, I turned away from the private compartments where I had ridden with my friends. I didn't want to walk by the same people who had watched the patrolmen march me off the monorail.
Moving down the aisle, I raised my head and tried to appear casual. Anxiety boiled inside of me. I expected a patrolman to call out to me at any moment. I walked through two cars before choosing an empty seat in a vacant row with a view of the platform. I wasn't sure if the seat required a certain ticket, but I figured I could act really polite and move if somebody called me on it.
Peering out the window, I found it mostly looked like business as usual on the platform, though a few people had paused to stare toward the front of the monorail, necks craning, presumably watching the chase. Joe had been sprinting while I walked, so unless he got caught right after I stopped watching, he was probably a good distance down the platform. I couldn't see him from my seat and didn't want to make a show of looking.
Could Joe still be running? Did he have any chance of getting away? There had been a lot of patrolmen present, but if the crowd interfered enough, maybe it was possible. The distraction had sure worked. I hoped Dalton, Cole, Jace, and Mira had also taken advantage of the opportunity.
"May I sit here?" asked someone.
I looked up to see Cole smirking at me. I yanked him into the seat next to me. "What are you doing here?" I hissed.
"I saw you get back on the train, so I followed you." He said.
"We were supposed to split up!" I said.
Cole just shrugged. A group of patrol came down the isle and we both shut up. They walked right past us, not even glancing in our direction.
I silently willed the train to move forward. I didn't think any patrolmen had seen me return to the monorail, but I couldn't be sure. With the patrolmen chasing Joe, how much would they care that the kids who were with him had scattered? Would they bother to search the area?
The nearest exit door slid closed, and the monorail glided forward.
The soothing woman came on over the loud-speaker. "Sorry for the delay. Next stop,
Rockford Station."
As the monorail picked up speed, I watched out the window, hoping for a glimpse of Joe, trusting the tinting to hide his face from any patrolmen outside the train. Toward the end of the platform, I saw a group of patrolmen gathered around a pair of people pinned to the ground by a ropy mass of gray webbing. Due to the increasing speed of the monorail and the presence of the surrounding patrolmen, I only caught a quick glimpse of the people bencath the webs. But I knew one of them had to be Joe.
The train passed beyond the station, and once again I could see the sights of the city. But my gaze dropped to my lap. I felt guilty for escaping while Joe paid the price. I knew Joe wanted us to run, but I still felt miserable. Why couldn't Joe have gotten away? What would the patrolmen do to him?
I stewed about our other friends. I assured myself
they must have escaped. We couldn't be the only ones who had made it. Joe had led the patrolmen on a good chase. He had made it a long way down the platform. Dalton, Jace, and Mira should be long gone.
From my current seat, I could see no patrolmen aboard the monorail. If we could make it past Rockford Station to the next stop, we could get off as planned and make our way to Axis. The others who got away would go there too. Then maybe they could contact the Unseen and figure out how to help Joe.
Or maybe none of the others had escaped.
Maybe Mira would be discovered. Maybe me and Cole had just seen the last of our friends.
Maybe we were alone.