Selection (Book 2 of P.O.E. chronicles)

Secret Origin of Tom Triole Part 8

"Are you Abigail Beckett?" he asked, holding his hands up to show that he meant no harm. I stiffened. How could he possibly knew who she was?

"How do you know m name?" Abigail spoke from behind me. The guy's, and his team's, face brightened.

"So you are Abigail Beckett?" their leader asked. The girl with the crossbow looked excited as well and I couldn't help but wondered why.

"Hi, my name is Trevor," the leader introduced himself and reached forward to shake my hand. I frowned at him but shook it nonetheless. "We are under the Ganesh Family."

He looked expectantly at us. I had no idea who the Ganesh Family were and frankly, I didn't care. After an awkward pause, the guy who recognised Abigail stepped forward and introduced himself.

"This really isn't the best place to talk. We should head back to the Yunan Citybase," this guy, Patrick, said. Abigail looked towards me then Bowen. This was our goal: to find a group of mercenary and find our way to a Citybase. But the circumstances under which this was happening wasn't part of the plan.

Hence, I nodded at Abigail. They seemed to like her, so it might be wise to let her do the talking. No objections were made and soon, we found ourselves tailing this strange group towards what I hoped was a Citybase and not certain death.

Abigail had a smile on her face as she passed me and I frowned at her. There was nothing to be happy about. She caught my eyes and gave me an even bigger smile and heat rushed to my cheek. Oh no.

Immediately turning aside, I hoped she didn't see me blush. I silently reprimanded myself, I needed to keep my emotion under check.

Aside from a short warning for us to act natural on arrival, we walked in silent. I ran over the possibilities of what awaited us inside the Citybase, none of which seemed particularly favourable. Given that each Citybase housed almost a million people at least, it shouldn't be hard to slip away if we want to. The only trouble was that we would stand out if we were indeed in a Citybase in former China.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't realise we were close to the Wall until it was looming right above us, a solid metal structure that gleamed in the sunlight in flawless perfection. I gulped. The Walls of the Citybase looked impenetrable; how on Earth could Legres ever break through?

Trevor took a step forward and started running his hands along the wall. With a triumphant groan, he pressed hard on a particular patch and the entire wall started unraveling in our very eyes, shifting into an entrance out of nowhere.

"Close your mouth," the girl with the crossbow whispered to Abigail. Trevor ducked slightly and stepped through the doorway, and the rest of us followed.

As soon as I entered, I could see the two guards on the far side. There was also two windows that showed a bustling street outside, but before them, there was another gate.

"Name," one of the guards asked in boredom. It was clear that they weren't taking their jobs seriously. Were these the people that guarded the Citybases so careless towards mercenaries? This was disappointing.

"Trevor Hale," Trevor answered and the guard checked on his device mechanically before waving us through. My hands were shaking from nerves. We could easily be detained and the separated. I won't have that. Just as I thought we'd lucked out, the guard opened his mouth.

"How come you've such a large group?" He eyed us with less boredom and more alertness than before, but after Trevor gives him a reasonable answer, he waved us through.

Yunan Citybase was something else.

I always thought Paris Citybase was crowded, particularly since I lived in the most densely populated neighborhood, however, Yunan Citybase was easily twice as busy.