Chapter 18

Shadow tightens the straps holding Atlas's wrists to the chair. He winces as it pinches him too hard.

She plays the video again, "This is you?"

"Yes. You want to go after Harvey and May or not?!"

"They are long gone by now Atlas. I don't buy it, you snuck in to our ranks with May to fool us, so you could take Harvey."

"Harvey isn't capable of that power! I am."

"So it's a coincidence?"

Atlas shakes his head, "I'm sure it's not. May played me. She must have seen two outcomes, either she kills Toni, or I show up, save her and take May in. They obviously knew about Harvey."

Shadow scoffs, "You are a real piece of work Atlas."

"I don't have to sit here Shadow, I could have escaped?"

"But you didn't, 'out of the goodness of your heart'?"

Atlas sighs, "If I can convince you, I'll try, if I can't, just do whatever you are going to do."

Shadow snorts, "Glad we are on the same page."

She raides her hand and decks him in the cheek. He groans and tilts his head till it pops. He winces and looks at her.

"Good hit."

She hits him again, this time in the side of the head. "The longer you wait to talk, the more I get to enjoy beating you."

".....How do I prove it to you? Ugh. Jeez you hit harder with your left hook."

"You can't. You screwed up. Just give in you little prick."

"Look at the videos closer moron, it's me."

She hits him again, Atlas looks to the floor and spits the red, salty tasting liquid to the ground.

He grunts and sighs, Shadow narrows her eyes and studies him. Toni opens the door and waits for Shadow to turn and look at her.

"I need a word."

Shadow looks at Atlas and back. "Can't it wait?"

"Not really."

Ashe looks through the glass at him. "What did she see?"

"I don't know. Kitty you should be lying down."

"I'm fine."

"Kitty, you have two broken ribs."

"They also tried blowing up the whole block I was in. They don't know about me. THAT has to be coincidence."

"K, fine but still, you're injured. You need to be careful."

"I'm okay."

Toni and Shadow stand outside the door, "What are you talking about?" Shadow whispers,

"It's just a hunch, it's in the same place, it looks like it curls like yours."

"How certain?"

"Maybe 50%"

Shadow sighs, "Lock the door over there, no one knows but us three."

Toni nods and starts to the door by Neo and Ashe and locks the door.

"Uh, Toni?"

"Shadow's orders, no one knows about this but us."

"What about Thomas?"

"He's busy with preparing for the arrival." Toni says,

Ashe and Neo look at her with worried looks, but they slowly look at Shadow and Atlas again.

Shadow, without a word, grabs the collar of his shirt and pulls it down, revealing the brand on his shoulder. Shadow stares at it for a moment and looks into his eyes.

"Where did you receive this?"

Atlas frowns, "When I was a boy, they kidnapped me when I was young, they tortured me, this was one of the brands they gave me."

"When? Specifically?"

Atlas stares at her, is she one of them?

"Farsy Fort, when I was 11, or 12 I can't remember."

Shadow grabs his throat and squeezes, "Don't. You. Dare. Mess with me. Swear on your miserable, stupid life that what you say is true."

He coughs and nods, "I swear Shadow...on my...life. I can't breathe."

She let's go and watches him cough hard over and over. Shadow looks at the oneway glass and back to Atlas. She takes off her shemagh scarf and drops it onto the ground. She lowers her hood and pulls at the collar of her shirt and reveals half of the brand for Atlas to see.

Atlas's eyes widen. "....I thought I was the only one who survived."

Shadow nods, "Me too."

"H-how long were you..."

"3 years. Now you tell me."

"6."

She raises her hood and puts on her Shemagh again and releases Atlas's wrists. Pain pounds into his hands.

"Thank you Shadow."

"So, the video? What happened?"

"I guess they wanted a prize. The men were killed, I tried to defend some of the women and the other kids as best I could. They only let ME live."

"I'm sorry Atlas."

"I'm sorry too. We're getting Harvey back. You can do whatever you want, to May."

Shadow snorts, "She's going to learn what fear is. We all need to go. They discovered us, Thomas is going to meet the arrival, I'll tell you about it on the way, but we sent some people to catch up to him."

Atlas stands and smiles at her. They turn and hurry out of the interrogation room and then observation room with them all.

"Ashe?! Holy crap are you okay?!"

She swats the air, "I'm fine. I'm glad you're still on our side. Heh."

"Ashe, I will not say this again, get your fricken butt to a transport vehicle and stay there!"

"What? No! I'm helping!"

Shadow grunts loudly, "Neo, get her on one and stay with her. Toni and Atlas come with me."

Neo and Ashe find Tinker and Turner and explain what happened, Toni, Atlas and Shadow spend the next three and a half hours with just about everyone else, packing up and loading up lines of trucks.

"I hope Thomas and Harvey are okay." Toni mutters,

"I'm sure Thomas is fine, we'll get Harvey back." Shadow says,

Atlas slaps the tail of the truck twice, letting the driver know they are ready. Within minutes the trucks are finished and pull out into the tunnels leading away from the mountain.

"All this work and it's completely my fault." Atlas says,

A few others in the truck look out and watch as they leave the city. "You did what you thought was right. What's done is done." Toni says,

Atlas turns to shadow, "Okay, what was that suit they were wearing?"

"They are called guardians. It's their class. Elite soldiers and their suits are practically weightless, made of Hexiorum, lightest metal in the world, pretty durable too. The suit allows them to hit harder, see farther and run faster. Machines of death, much like the hosts."

Atlas looks down at his hands and back up at Shadow. "Do you know the number of them?"

She shakes her head, "They aren't that populated, maybe a few hundred, but with their skill and power, that's like a thousand."

"Great. Great. So, we are screwed?"

Shadow looks at the knife in her hands. "I don't think so, but no matter what happens. I'm separating May's head from her shoulders."

"Fair enough, give me Travis."

Atlas activates his suit and pulls one of his throwing knives and offers the point to her. Shadow stares at him long enough to make it awkward, finally she shakes her head and taps the blade of her knife against his, giving a cheers.

"You are definitely Harvey's friend. How did you become friends so fast?"

Atlas sheaths his knife and looks at the two, other soldiers next to them, have now tuned in.

"Harvey's my brother."

The silence is broken almost as quickly as it comes. "What?!" a soldier shouts,

They talk over each other but shadow and Toni ignore them. "Wait, serious? Why didn't you tell us?"

"It wasn't relevant at the time, you didn't ask."

"So wait. Harvey's story then?"

"Mom told him to run, I was already gone holding the Agency guys off as best I could. I'm not sure about the syndicate member that found Harvey."

"Holy crap."

Soldiers mutter amongst themselves, Toni sits on Atlas's lap so she can pull him into a tight hug.

The soldiers in the back chuckle, but Shadow silences them.

"I'm sorry Atlas...We will get Harvey back."

Atlas hugs her back tight. "You're the best Toni."

She sits back down and smiles at him, he smiles back.

"So, where to now?" Atlas asks,

"We have another hideout farther from the state. Thomas will meet up with us in a few days."