Trackers - Battle For Novu

CHAPTER 4

The large room had walls filled with flat-screened shiny computer monitors. The wires were entangled and ran from ceiling to floor. The opposite space had cases and large bags full of equipment and what looked like weaponry. As we started to walk through, she went to the computer decorated wall where a large figure sat in focus on the many monitors.

“This is Milo.”, she said, then walked away from him again.

I tried to introduce myself but his eyes were fixed on the wall. He was a seven-foot tall guy with pale skin and green eyes. He had the sides of his head shaven but long ash-blonde dread locks growing in the middle like a Mohawk, that tied in a ponytail and ended in-between his shoulder blades. Tattoos covered nearly every part of his skin and piercings weighed down his ears. His high-cheekbones, shaped eyebrows and well defined jaw made him quite pretty to look at despite the intimidating black attire.

I turned around and galloped after the girl to a room with sofas and a few more computers. She slid her back-pack off her back and threw it down beside the sofa, then threw herself on the sofa.

“You can sleep wherever you want.”, she offered, removing her gloves and running her black-painted nails through her damp hair.

“What makes this place safer than any other house?”, I questioned.
“Well, we are underground.”, she remarked.

“I can’t believe I just left them there..”

“Oh shit, I have to go somewhere real quick. There’s something I need to do.”, she disclosed before rushing out.

“But…wait…you can’t just leave me here.”

She was already gone from the sofa and running down the hallway, unable to hear my ranting. She was so fast and I was so scared that I just froze.

I sat sweaty and dirty on the brown couch, worrying about Jackie and Fredd. I didn’t know this girl, this place or the time but I was extremely tired…my breathing became slower and the adrenalin from my survival of the explosions decreased.

With a head full of stress and heart full of fear, I started drifting into slumber while trying to keep an eye open. The area was so quiet but I could still hear shrieks in the distance. I couldn’t understand what was going on. The lockdowns were warnings that we had to keep off the streets as Law Enforcement from the Clans raided the area. Why would they blow up their own police stations, their own city...?

I woke up dizzy, with a red face and tangled curls, trying to remember what brought me here. Then I saw her sitting across from me.

“Well someone got a little too comfortable.”, she joked without a change in her blunt expression.

Two other boys entered the room and stared in confusion. One of them had lightly-toasted colour skin and was shirtless with only a pair of sweat pants. He had deep-brown eyes and a soft content smile. His sculpted muscles made my heart race and throat cringe. 
The other had a prosthetic leg and cherry red head of hair with an elated look on his face. He was sickly-thin and had broad, round shoulders. He wore a t-shirt with the logo from a popular local band called ‘JAX’ and long black skinny pants with black sneakers.

“You’re late.”, said the muscled man. “The attack was bigger than we thought and I got caught in the crowd.”, she answered.

“You brought fresh meat?”, smirked the shirtless person.

“Ew. She’s stayed for the night. I met her in the flats trying to escape. Your name was…?”, she looked to me.

“Shilo.”, I murmured.

“Last name?”, she raised her brow.
“…Dovelin.”

“Dovelin, the one with the big head is McKinnon and the skinny one is Grover.”

“My name is Dev McKinnon.”, he moved closer to shake my hand.

“I’m Felix Grover.”, said the red-head with a smile from ear-to-ear (which was the scariest thing about him).

“You’re scaring her you potato.”, yawned the girl shooing them away.

“I CANNOT believe you actually made a friend.”, sneered Dev.

“She’s just here till the mess is over. I’m going back today.”, she argued. I turned to look at her and was stunned at her appealing face yet dark demeanour. Everything about her was near perfect; from the dark eyes resting on her high-cheekbones to the pouted pink lips and smooth flesh. I noticed four piercings in each ear and one tribal tattoo starting on her wrist and ending in the corner of her thumb and forefinger. She had a thin string of tiny red beads around her right wrist with another mauve leather-braided wrist band accompanying it.
“Do you have your ID Card?”, she enquired.

“Yeah, it’s in my bag.”, I scurried through my things and handed it to her.

“You’re only sixteen?”, she jumped, squeezing a frown between her perfect brows.

“Well yeah…how old are you? You don’t look much older than sixteen…wait what’s your name? This is the second time we’ve met but…”

“It’s 'Q'. And don’t let my small stature fool you kid, I’m 19.”, she confessed.

“Your name is…'Q'?”, I nervously croaked. “Yeah, what’s wrong with it?”, she threateningly asked.

“Nothing, it’s just different…”, I contested, trying to excuse my statement.

“You guys live here? Alone?”, I investigated.

“With Mrs Heck. She’s something of a mother to us…”

We heard the sirens again, signalling the end of the lockdown.

“I have to go find mom…”, I whispered to my chest and soared off the sofa.

“Hold on”, said Dev, reaching out his arm to block my way.

“You can’t trust these sirens anymore.”, he continued.
“What do you mean?”

“You think that attack was an accident? We don’t know who it was but we know it wasn’t the Novu. They wouldn’t blow up their own station”, he pressed.
“Who are you people anyway? Why do you know these things?”, I frantically blurted out.

“Just sit down kid, you’re making me nervous.”, gestured Dev.

The giant pallid Milo walked in and past the scene of our confrontation, to a cooler and grabbed a green can of energy drink. We stopped quarrelling and turned our heads; watching him as he drank it all without stopping for air. He acted unaware that anyone was occupying the room; ignoring us as he stomped his grungy boots and bent his tall shoulders over, walking back out of the room.

He took three steps backward , re-entering the room, and stood motionless with a perplexed look on his face. “Q, where there always five of us…?”, he asked with his deep and husky voice, squinting his light green eyes.
“We’re not.”, she reassured. “This is Dovelin. She’s from the Queens flats.”

“Oh, that’s what I came in to tell you.”, he remembered, slouching his shoulders and putting his hands in the front pockets of his black pants. “That place is toast.”

“What do you mean?!”, I yelled.

“Err…you wanna, like, take a look instead? I’m not good with words.”, he shrugged, leading the way to the computer monitors.

“This is last night’s footage.”, he clicked a few fast buttons and showed us a video of the tragic incident. The many screens all displayed the same taped images of pandemonium. I saw the market square burn and the familiar arcade raided by men armed with weapons. Why was the world I knew so well, suddenly so unfamiliar?
Our homes were raided and people were running with cape-like flames on their backs. My eyes twisted the colours of everything around me until all I could see, was the colour red. I felt tears welling up in my sockets and stinging the nerves of my eyeballs.

I felt my body burn as if flames were igniting in each of my capillaries and flushing through my arteries. The sight of decapitated bodies caused one gag to choke my oesophagus; boiling the acid in my stomach. I clasped both my hands over my mouth, crunching my abdomen muscles tightly.

“Turn it off!”, yelled Felix.

“Take her to the bathroom…”, ordered Q, as she clicked play to continue watching the footage with Milo.

“See their uniforms?”, she asked. “Yeah…navy blue like every other officer.”, observed Milo.

Q froze the image and zoomed in to one of the officers. “That emblem; I’ve seen it before.”, she fussed.
The sounds of my groaning in the bathroom echoed through the hall-way, distracting them from the screen.

I heard thumping steps making their way to the bathroom. She stopped in the door-way, leaning herself against the wall. “You still want to go back?”, asked Q.

“You don’t think they survived do you?”, I cringed.

I wiped my lips off with my sleeve and stood up. “I have no choice; I don’t even know you people. I have no where else to go...” I started tearing up and thought about mom and my brother, Mr Kumar and even Charlie...that stupid dog...everything is gone. We didn't have much but...we were so close to each other. Mom did the best she could to keep us safe and I refuse to believe she's gone. Mom and Fredd are out there and I will find them.

Q crossed her arms and raised her chin. “We’re misfits, hackers, mentalists. Basically rebels, we do whatever we want. You see what happened last night Dovelin? This is…a revolution.”

I shook my head in confusion, “What do mean?”

“We’re sick of this oppression in Novu. There’s a reason they’re keeping us here and letting no-one else in! This situation is greater than you or I or even the flats. Novu is a prison…and I don’t know about you…but I want out.”

Novu...have we really been trapped in a prison? A massive bird cage? I was born a prisoner..? What does she mean revolution?

These thoughts fill my mind and thoughts of my family, my childhood..I feel myself drifting until...I drop to the ground.