Chương 50: 49-The Great Escape

"I knew you would not like it," Jenna said as the three Losers waded through the filth-covered sewer tunnel. The floor was filled with a dark, syrupy liquid of unknown origin (and thank God for that). Jenna had shifted her stats: -1 No sense of smell was a must in this situation. Billy was in Lawman form—his helmet was sure to have some kind of filter. Bob had improvised a TasteCraft perk. She was sure the filthy sludge smelled to him like Chanel 5, or filet mignon, or whatever he had chosen as a substitute.

She had used Spirit Expansion one hour ago, fusing her soul with Milwaukee. The sewer system became part of her—she could feel it like meridians across her body. It was child's play to find the closest access point and the exit that would take them undetected to the Answer's holding camps. Fighting the Answer was like facing a savant kid—he knew nothing about the world, and would fall for easy tricks, but they would work only once.

They wandered among smelly, dank tunnels for nearly twenty minutes, illuminated by the dim light cast by one of Bob's minor enchanted items. Finally, Jenna found the manhole she was looking for.

"This is the one," she said.

"The camp where the Feds are being held captive is just one hundred feet east."

"Shouldn't we start with the kids?" asked Billy, using telepathy—he was in his Lawman form.

"Not a good idea, Billy. The Feds are almost four hundred people. There is a chance they will detect a rift when we open it. If they set some dimensional barrier, there is no way we can rescue them all. The kids are only twelve people. We can run away with a dozen people, even without a celestial gate, but not with four hundred."

"I know you are right, Jenna. I do not have to like it, though."

"Let me do this. Lawman works wonders for infiltration," he said as he gently opened the manhole cover. He shared his visual input with the other two Losers. A small group of four guards, armed with spears, stood watch at the entrance to the Federation compound.

"Are they Zealots?" asked Bob.

"This could prove difficult if they are."

"No," answered Jenna.

"They are Sinners. I can feel the system in them."

"I'll be fast," said Billy as he disappeared into the shadows. -Unseen Passage x4: Once every thirty seconds, Lawman can stealthily teleport to any target within sight, provided that both ends are covered in shadows. He can take others with him. Jenna watched him reappear just behind the four guards. Lawman was rank 70 and an expert in unarmed combat. He struck with such speed and efficiency that all guards were knocked out before the first body hit the floor.

"Now!" she hissed at Bob. They ran out of the sewers and joined Billy, trying to draw as little attention as possible. Lawman was checking the unconscious guards, looking for the key.

"No time for that now," muttered Jenna as she enhanced her body. She pushed once, breaking the heavy armored door out of its frame. A ghastly sight greeted the Losers. Nearly four hundred men and women were tied to one another. There was a heavy scent of sweat and human waste in the air. The prisoners looked unfed, dirty, and dehydrated.

"Let's untie them," shouted Jenna, ignoring the fact that the people they were helping had tried to kill them one day ago. The Losers summoned their elven daggers and used them to unbind the prisoners. Jenna enhanced her speed, cutting prisoners free so fast that she became a blur. She recognized one familiar face—Sergeant White, the Reclaimer they had met in Stanton.

"We are going to open a rift," she told him.

"Tell your people to get their shit together and cross it. Have your most able-bodied soldiers help those who can't walk." White stiffened as he recognized her, then he took hold of himself and started barking orders. Good. He was disciplined enough to be helpful. Jenna gave them five minutes to get organized and then approached Bob.

"Ready to open the gate?"

"Where do you want to send them, Jenna?" he asked. Jenna realized she had not really considered that.

"The obvious answer would be Belona, with the rest of the refugees. But these people are soldiers, and we are in a war. They were told they were fighting to protect humanity. I think many of them will switch to our side if we give them the chance. If they don't, Belona will be waiting for them. I will warn Morton to be ready for them. They are in no fighting condition, most of them can't even walk, so there will be no funny business."

"Babylon, then," agreed Bob, as Jenna input the dimensional coordinates to the Babylon Train Station in his mind and filled his mind with power. The rift manifested in mid-air.

"Come on, go through it," Jenna commanded as the Feds started crossing it, some walking, others helping the ones who could not. Many had to be carried in arms by their friends. The whole group was through in less than five minutes.

"Okay," Jenna said, "now we go to the other compound and…" Suddenly, the rift snapped shut.

"Bob, did you do that?" she asked.

"No, Jenna. They have erected a dimensional blockade. They know we are here, and they have blocked teleportation as our means of escape." Dawn crawled backward on the floor, trying to put some distance between her and the three Zealots who had entered through the mirror. They were three males in their early twenties. They all wore those archaic clothes the Answer favored and had creepy smiles.

"Foolish woman, it is an honor to be reclaimed by Mary Beth," the tallest one, who seemed to be the leader, said.

"You will help purify the Sinners, cleansing the system from their bodies. There is no higher calling." This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Dawn felt her back press against the wall—she had run out of room to escape. The leader's hand gripped her wrist like a steel vise. She weakly tried to break free, but her strength was only human. There was no way she could succeed. The leader pulled her to her feet. The mirror's magic was still working, no longer a mirror, but a gate.

Her captor pulled her towards it. She screamed. Suddenly, the door was torn from its hinges as a heroic figure, armed with a spear, burst through it. She was a beautiful, tall elven warrior, her whole body crisscrossed with blazing runes. Elariana.

"I knew you would come for her," she said coldly. Then, she attacked.

"Stop her," the leader shouted as his two subordinates intercepted her. He dragged Dawn behind him. Dawn almost wept. Even if Elariana won her fight, there was no way she could stop this monster from taking her with him. The first Zealot growled as his body noticeably grew, his skin becoming metallic, and a huge morning star appeared in his right hand. Two wounds spontaneously opened on the palms of the second Zealot. Two flexible whips made of blood manifested.

The Zealot made a downward strike against Elariana with his right whip. The Elven queen barely moved, dodging it by one inch. The whip hit the wall, tearing through it as if it were made of cobwebs. The Zealot tried a second, horizontal swing with his left whip, but Elariana slid under it. The metallic Zealot tried to crush her with his weapon—Elariana grabbed his arm, using his own strength against him, and threw him against the wall with such a mighty impact that the metal warrior crashed through it.

The leader ignored the fight, walking calmly towards the mirror, Dawn helplessly following him as her feet slid over the ground. The whip Zealot tried to hit Elariana for a third time, this time using a diagonal slash. Her fighting maneuvers had cornered her against the wall—she literally had no room to dodge the attack. The runes on her left forearm glowed briefly as her hand ran to intercept the blood whip.

The Zealot could only gasp in surprise as his invincible whip coiled around Elariana's hand without harming it. Then Elariana pulled—all the Zealot's blood ran from his body, under the power of that dreadful strength. It hit the wall, painting it red. The Zealot looked at it stupidly, unable to believe that all that liquid had been inside his body two seconds ago. Then he died. The metallic Zealot screamed in anger, charging at the elven queen, confident that no weapon could pierce his skin.

It proved to be a fatal mistake, as Elariana's spear entered through his wide-open mouth, avoiding the enchanted skin and plunging deep into his brain. But it was already too late. Dawn was almost through the mirror. She screamed in desperation. If they took her, she would never be seen again. She flailed hopelessly against the much stronger Zealot. Two days ago, she had been a titan, an invincible being of might and magic. Now she was only a scared young woman. A teacher. An Alpha.

Suddenly, inspiration struck her. She grasped her attacker's wrist and used the only power available to her. She activated him—she taught him the system. Her attacker screamed in horror, no longer a Zealot, but a Sinner. He fell to the floor, convulsing. The mirror exploded into pieces. The Zealot's chest burst open as a small, slimy horror was ejected from it. It looked like a scaly human fetus with multiple tentacles. It fell to the floor, thrashing and wailing in horrible agony. Then it went still.

It could not survive outside a human.

"By the Morrigan's flaming spear," Elariana muttered as she studied the thing.

"It is an Essential. A Boss. It lives inside a human host. A living human host that emits Essence. That is why Billy could not detect them." The Losers hurried into the other compound. Unlike the Federation one, it was not guarded. The door was not even locked. When they entered, they understood why—the occupants were all kids—twelve minors, most of them around ten years old. The eldest was a fourteen-year-old girl holding a terrified eight-year-old, who looked at them with the scared eyes of a trapped gazelle.

The older girl looked at them calmly.

"You have come for us?" she asked.

"Good."

"What is your name?" Jenna asked the elder girl, who looked to be the leader.

"Alice, like my mother," the girl said, and then winced in pain. Jenna knew then that her mother was no longer around.

"Can you make them follow us, Alice?" Jenna asked her.

"I think I can," Alice answered doubtfully.

"Good, then we are getting out of here." They hurried outside, only to be greeted by the sight of the Answer troops circling them.

"Can you fly us out of here, Billy?" Jenna asked him.

"No. Not large enough for this group, but I can drive you." With a dreadful roar, the Executioner pulled up in front of the group, summoned out of Essence by Lawman's powers. Vehicle of the Law x 6: Once per hour, Lawman can summon a personalized vehicle, containing up to six ranks in different abilities, at least one focused on movement. The current vehicle must be dispelled for the cooldown to begin. Billy pushed a button on the command deck, and a row of child-sized seats surged from the floor of the vehicle.

"I am afraid safety belts are a must for this kind of ride," he said through the Blood Link. With a roar, the machine jumped into motion. The nearest Answer members jumped out of its path, clearing a way as it sped through the night. A wall of stone suddenly erupted from the earth, blocking their path. The Executioner was moving at a speed too fast to stop, and a line of buildings blocked their way on both sides. Billy pushed another button, and suddenly, gravity was where Lawman needed it to be.

The Executioner climbed up one row of buildings and kept running along their facades, its transmission absorbing the motion as the vehicle's tires bumped against their open windows.

"A pity the children are missing this," Jenna told Bob, who was sitting at her side in the cabin.

"Yes, a pity," answered a very, very pale Bob. Once they crossed over the barrier, the vehicle jumped back to the street with all the grace of a sleek, mechanical cat. A powerful nitro boost propelled the vehicle through Milwaukee. We can make it, after all, thought Jenna as she saw the familiar sight of the Circle's compound nearing them." DAMN IT!" swore Billy, forgetting to use the Blood Link. Jenna could clearly see a rift hanging in mid-air. All the Circlers and the Vigilantes had already crossed into Babylon.

Dignity was waiting on the other side, holding it open for them. A line of Zealots waited for them, holding the path closed. They were all kids. The Answer learned fast.

"Billy, open the hatch," Jenna ordered, as she and Bob took off their safety belts. They both stood up. They had a clear line of fire. But they were still kids.

"Here we go, Gandalf. You know what to do," she told Bob as she enhanced his mind. Water Hose (Watercrafting 3): Creates a powerful blast of water that lasts ten seconds and scales with Mind. A powerful stream of water struck the kids, mighty enough to clear them out of the way but not to harm their enhanced bodies. The Executioner flew through the rift. It snapped shut seconds later, cutting off any chance of retaliation by the Answer.

The vehicle braked hard, skidding sideways to a stop inches from Babylon's inner circle. Its doors opened, releasing the children. Jenna could clearly hear Charlie Vaughn's voice inside the Blood Link, urging Bob to drop a one-liner. Come on, man. Not even now? This is the perfect moment. When are you going to drop one? Bob threw up.