The room steeped in the stillness. Not a thing moved. The soldiers held their aim on me with steady, unwavering hands. It felt like minutes had passed before I realized that they may be trying to say something to me and I couldn’t see their mouths.
I had witnessed soldiers like these ones before. There was a pattern emerging, if twice was enough to establish it. A Tree springs to life. Chaos reigns. And then a response squad would appear, seemingly unshaken by the sight of Shapers, prepared for whatever strange threats they faced. A H.E.S.P. team. Mac’s team. Or one like it.
Not good. They were too far from the root of the problem and I couldn’t afford to be stopped for questioning, or be incapacitated like the Ring members on the floor. And I looked very much like a threat right now, clad in ghostly white bone, but I feared that if I removed it they would hit me with a tranquilizer dart instantly.
I raised my hands at a sloth’s pace and spoke, “I’m deaf, so if you’re saying anything, I can’t hear you. This is going to be difficult to believe, but we’re on the same side.” I was painfully aware that without the usual feedback, I likely wasn’t modulating my voice properly. “Is Mac… Mackenzie North with you? He’s a friend of mine.”
None of the soldiers moved, except the one in front of me who took one hand off his gun to make some kind of hand sign.
I swallowed. “I don’t understand sign language. But I know you’re here to help Sillwood. Please. I know where the Tree is. I could take you to it.”
To my relief the soldier lowered his gun. Then he took something from his belt and tossed it towards me. When it landed on the ground a few paces in front of me, my relief vanished. It was a handful of zip ties and what looked to be a blindfold. The soldiers pointed at the zip ties and then at his wrists, legs, and finally his head.
I glacially shook my head. “I can’t.” Panic hitched my voice as I scrambled to think of a solution to this standoff. “I don’t know how to convince you, but I have someone I need to help. I can’t do that if you take me in.”
Even I knew that I didn’t sound convincing. The soldier pointed forcibly at the restraints and then retrained his gun on me. My heart was beating out of my chest. Another pulse washed across the restaurant, bringing Nell’s desperation with it.
I have no choice.
A painting hung on the wall close to me. Some paint splashes and strokes that had no meaning to me. I lunged for it and tore it off the wall. Holding it in front of me as a shield, I moved to the stairs.
Pops reverberated in the dark and bullets ripped through the painting, hammering into me. Small clouds of bone dust scattered into the air as the projectiles smashed into my armour. My knees hit the floor as the impacts tore the strength from my legs.
I gasped, blinking tears from my eyes. They aren’t using tranquilizers. The gunfire paused for a moment. The eviscerated painting drooped down and rested on my shoulder. The soldiers moved in unison, approaching cautiously.
It’s only pain. I forced myself to move. Pitching to the side, I tumbled down the staircase once more, somehow finding my feet underneath me as I rolled. Not wasting time, I swung myself around the landing and leapt down to the second floor.
This room was more well-lit, as a large circular window was open to the pedestrian street. A quick glance over my body didn’t reveal any bleeding. Small black balls had buried into my armour, leaving spiderweb cracks and craters where they had landed. Some form of non-lethal ammunition.
A thud shook the staircase. I whirled to see a soldier crouched on the landing above me. I sprung towards the open window. The wooden floor in front of me exploded, splinters flung into the air by gunfire. I altered course, diving underneath the nearest table. Thunks vibrated above my head as the rubber bullets failed to breach the thick tabletop.
The soldier’s military boots appeared in view, thudding against the floor. They must have vaulted the railing. I stood and pushed the table with my shoulder, throwing it onto its side just in time as more bullets hammered a staccato into the wood. Then I was moving, weaving and rolling between the tables. The window was no longer an option, they were covering it too well. So I headed to the swinging door of the kitchen.
I knocked the kitchen door wide open with my shoulder. The dark interior was briefly revealed. A soldier stood inside with their gun half-raised in front of me, the light reflecting off of their tinted visor before the door swung shut. I swung wildly, knocking their gun sights down. To my surprise, instead of trying to retrain the weapon on me, the soldier let it swing from their shoulder strap. With trained precision they grasped my shoulder and a bone that protruded near my waist. I hesitated, not wanting to stab the soldier and in that moment I lost my footing. The soldier pivoted with practiced ease, using their hip as leverage they tossed me over their shoulder. I spun and crashed into the sink, knocking pans to the floor.
The door swung open again and from my collapsed position I briefly caught a glimpse of the soldier exiting the room, but not before tossing a small metal canister onto the kitchen tiles.
I had seen enough movies to recognize it. There was no time to try and find an exit. The only obvious one would lead me into a hail of gunfire. They were forcing me to choose between two bad options.
Hugging my knees to my chest, I Shaped as fast as I could. Using my armour as a base, I coiled more and more antlers around my body, wrapping myself up in a cocoon of tightly knit weave.
The flashbang went off and I felt a concussive force rock my cocoon, rolling me away. The light was visible even through my defenses, painfully bright. The sound was loud, but my hearing loss meant that it didn’t hurt to hear. My cocoon hit the back wall and I hastily began absorbing the layers.
The kitchen was illuminated by the small wisps of flame left by the flashbang igniting the grease on the floor. This allowed me to see my escape route. A small shuttered window high above my head. I leapt atop the counter and ripped the shutters off of the window. I steadied myself on the nearby fridge and kicked the window, smashing it open.
Then I slipped through, pitching headfirst towards the alleyway that was a story below. I tucked and turned midair so that I could land on my feet.
My attention shot back up to the window, half-expecting to see the tenacious soldiers coming after me. But there was no movement.
Exiting the alleyway with caution, I spotted Richard and managed to get his attention. He joined me and I ignored his questioning look as I hastily moved onwards to put some distance between us and the H.E.S.P. squad. The sun was beginning to set. Soon it would lower past the Sill and the city would be plunged into darkness, making each one of its problems worse.
I hoped there would be a city left when it rose again. If I couldn’t do something, if the H.E.S.P. forces weren’t enough, perhaps only the Sill would remain in the morning.