Chapter 229 B4. 19.2 – Not According to Plan

Amber Deen Leska

Amber Deen Leska looked up at Erind, who wore a bearded man’s appearance. “What kind of helicopter?”

“Uh, I don’t know the kinds of helicopters,” Erind replied. “Like, it’s huge. It’s not those small circular choppers the media uses when following police car chases, or whatever those are called.”

Deen wanted to giggle hearing a large man with Erind’s way of talking. What wasn’t a laughing matter was the significant progress of Erind’s seeding, bringing Deen more worries. Erind’s appearance had mostly returned to normal after taking the pill from the Professor, but this new power remained. Not a good sign.

Deen knew not to voice her concerns. It’d just lead to another argument that might cause Erind to drift away from her. Deen had to handle this delicately.

What if Erind consumed all the remaining pills they had? But if she did that, they’d have nothing for the future. Erind’s seeding wouldn’t be stopped by five pills. They also had to wager a couple of pills that Cecilia could replicate them. But if Erind’s theory about Cecilia’s pills causing the new wave of Adumbrae attacks was true, maybe they should have a different plan.

“I don’t think it’s a rescue helicopter or something that fights wildfires,” Erind continued. “Those should be brightly colored, right? Orange. This one’s black.”

“The BID,” Deen said. “It has to be. Is the helicopter still overhead?”

“It went somewhere to the left,” said Erind. “I can’t see it now.  No drones either.”

Deen sighed. “Our bad luck. The BID is also looking for the PCM commune.”

“Or they might have already found it,” said Cecilia.

“And are now hunting for stragglers,” Erind added.

“What do we do?” Cecilia asked, turning to Deen.

Is she testing my powers? Deen had said to hide as they passed through the police checkpoint. Did Cecilia suspect that Deen foresaw it was the correct move? Too strenuous. Any rational person would think to hide in that scenario. If Cecilia realizes that Deen lied about the extent of her powers, what could she do about it?

“Continue onward,” Deen said. “My alarm bells are ringing, but not troublingly loud. This is what I meant about my power’s weakness.”

“I think we can escape if the BID starts chasing us,” Erind said.

“Don’t forget about me when you escape,” Cecilia said. “You have your powers. I have nothing. I’m just a regular human.”

“Somehow, I don’t believe that,” said Erind. “A regular human doesn’t drink Adumbrae shake.”

Deen joined in ribbing Cecilia. “You have your intellect, don’t you, Cecilia? Can’t you use—”

“Using my intellect, I would’ve returned to Barstow and continued my experiments,” Cecilia interjected. “But I’m not in charge, am I?”

“I’ll just continue this way, Deen?” Erind asked.

Deen tilted her head to listen. The truck was so loud that it might’ve drowned Gabe’s voice. But there were no instructions. “Yes. I believe we’re fine. I’ll alert you when we’re not.”

“Like, things are getting dangerous with the BID around,” Erind said. “I thought you’d have called off this mission by now.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Deen asked, glaring up at Erind. “I care for our safety. But I don’t retreat at the first sign of danger.”

“I didn’t mean that…”

“We have to check what happened to the commune,” Deen said with clenched teeth, suppressing her annoyance.

Was she giving off the impression of a coward? Or did she come off as too much of a naysayer? “We’re not going to run into the arms of BID agents. If it proves too dangerous, we’ll retreat.”

Deen felt the truck slow down again. She heard the frustrated honks of nearby cars. She jumped when Erind also honked. “Erind!”

“Sorry, sorry! I-I just wanted to try it. Just blending in, you know?”

Deen glared at Erind for a moment. She wiped the frown off her face, not wanting to be labeled as permanently grumpy. It was easy to get angry when stressed. “What’s going on? More checkpoints?”

“You got that right,” Erind said. “We’re also near the truck trail. I can’t see it well from here, but it looks like it’s closed off by the police. They’re turning vehicles away. That’s why the traffic’s heavy.”

“The BID’s attack on the commune must’ve started not too long ago,” Cecilia said. “The police wouldn’t erect the checkpoints early and risk alerting the commune.”

“You’re right,” Deen said. “The traffic would also be much worse. We probably wouldn’t have gotten this close to the truck trail.”

“We’re past the truck trail,” said Erind. “And past another checkpoint. I’ve really lucked out choosing this truck. I thought we’d have issues because it’s not a quarry truck. Turns out, this driver is kind of well known around these parts. A guy friendly with the cops.”

“Good job, Erind,” Deen said, intentionally complimenting her. She didn’t want Erind to think that negativity was all she could offer.

Erind shrugged. “Not too sure about that ‘good job’. It’s good luck. Another lucky bit is that I don’t need to drive this truck over rough road. I just know we’d flip over. But this leads to the question, where am I driving to?”

“Find a spot where you can park this truck,” Deen said. “It doesn’t need to be completely hidden. We’ll go down and trek through the woods.”

“Are you serious?” Erind asked. “No way we’d find the commune.”

“If we find it, we’ll also find the BID,” said Cecilia. “As your prisoner, I don’t have a vote. But if you cared for my opinion, I’d say we leave this place. Or you can leave me here while you risk your lives over there.”

“Our target isn’t the commune,” Deen said. “We’ll see if we come across any fleeing PCM members.”

“And capture them?” Erind asked.

“And capture them,” Deen confirmed. It didn’t need to be mentioned torture might be involved. “If we don’t find anyone, we’ll leave.” How’s that for being brave? She subverted Erind’s expectations.

[Exchange places with Cecilia.]

Deen allowed herself only a raised brow before following Gabe. “Cecilia, let’s switch. I’ll go on that side.”

“What? Why?” It was Cecilia’s turn to raise her brow.

Deen climbed onto the seat. She bent down so she wouldn’t be seen from the outside. “Do what I say. Move over here.”

Cecilia transferred to the space Deen had just vacated, and Deen moved into Cecilia’s spot. Gabe next told Deen to prepare for a sudden stop. Deen wanted to question Gabe, but knew she wouldn’t get any response. She held back Cecilia as Erind suddenly braked.

“Whoa! A guy just ran out on the street!” Erind exclaimed. “I almost ran—wait. He’s coming here. Is that blood on him?”

“A PCM member,” Deen hissed. “Where is—?” Loud banging on the passenger’s side door interrupted Deen.

“Another prisoner falling to your lap,” Cecilia muttered. “I’ll no longer be lonely.”

“Open up!” came the shout from outside. “I have a gun!”

“I could just drive away…” Erind said, glancing at Deen.

Is that a dare? Deen opened the door. The first thing she saw was the gun held by a trembling arm.

[Crush wrist. Prevent shooting. Pull him to stop shouting.]

Deen grabbed the PCM member's wrist so hard she broke the bones. She felt flesh turned to paste in her grip. The PCM member dropped the gun as he began to yell. But it was cut short because Deen yanked him sideways, into the truck. The PCM member’s chest hit the side of the seat, knocking the wind out of him.

“Drive!” Deen barked.

“Got it,” Erind replied.

Deen pulled the PCM member onto the seat. Then, she climbed up to the seat next to the PCM member and pulled the door shut. The PCM member whimpered and coughed while clutching his injured arm.

“Can you not shower me with spit and blood?” Cecili shielded her face while doing her best to fit amongst the legs of Deen and the PCM member. “Also, here’s the gun he dropped.”

“Thank you,” said Deen, taking the gun. “Cecilia, do you have something that can ease this man’s pain? We can’t talk to him in this state.”

Cecilia searched her pockets. “I’ve left most of my syringes in the rented car, but I do have this.” She held up a tiny tube with a needle tip before jamming it into the PCM member’s knee. “Synthetic opioid with adrenaline. My own concoction.”

“Why do you have that?” Erind asked.

“For my own use, of course,” said Cecilia. “You girls have no need for this, and the needle couldn’t penetrate your skin. In case of injury, I don’t want to fall behind.”

“We’re not going to leave you,” said Erind. “Deen may not like you very much, but she won’t abandon a comrade.”

Cecilia chuckled. “I’m a comrade now, am I?”   

Deen ignored the comment. She shook the PCM member. “What’s your name?” She didn’t care about the man’s name; she was checking if he was fit to answer questions.

“Wha-what?” The man looked left and right, then down, at Cecilia. “Ah! Who are you?”

Deen pushed the man down, out of view from the window, and pointed the gun at his head. “Are you a member of the PCM?”

“I-I don’t—” The man vigorously shook his head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

“Big Marcy sent us to aid your commune. We arrived too late.” Deen took a page from Erind’s storytelling skills. Tricking this man into thinking they were allies was better than threatening him. Lowering the gun, she added, “Stay down there. You don’t want the cops to see you, don’t you?”

“Big Marcy?” The man, face full of confusion, tried to sit up. Then he glanced at the gun and stopped at a leaning position. Cecilia waved at him from their legs.  

“I’m an Adumbrae. The proof is there.” Deen gestured at the man’s squeezed arm. Cecilia’s drug was so powerful the man acted as if his flesh and bones hadn’t been crimped. “I’m sorry for it. But you should be more careful when brandishing a gun.”

“I thought Big Marcy’s angry at us?” the man quickly asked, his eyes darting in agitation.

“Auron managed to strike a deal with Big Marcy,” Erind said. “We don’t know the details. We’re just following orders. Looks like we failed in evacuating the commune in time.”

“I-I don’t believe you!” He hugged his injured arm. “Auron will never consort with evil!”

“Consort?” Erind snorted with a smile. Deen didn’t know what her best friend found funny about it.

“Whether you believe it or not, we’re here to save you,” said Deen. “I’ve heard Auron asked Big Marcy for help against Euphonia.” In her peripheral vision, Deen noticed Erind flash her a frown. What was wrong with her story? She needed to gain this man’s trust. She mentioned Euphonia, who presumably had killed other PCM members.

“It’s not consorting with evil,” Erind said, deepening her voice. “Auron wanted to save your lives. Us? We’re not interested in whatever happens to you guys. We’re just following orders,” she added nonchalantly.

“Where are the others?” Deen asked. “We need to save—”

“Don’t go back there!” The man pushed himself up again, tentatively peeking over the dashboard. “Drive! Drive away!”

“That’s what I’m doing, man.” Erind changed how she talked. She never tacked on ‘man’ to her sentences. “How many of you did the BID capture?”

The man frantically shook his head. “I don’t know. The BID—they didn’t arrest us. Once someone turned, BID agents started to attack. They killed us! I managed to escape, shielded by others.”

“What do you mean by ‘turned’?” Deen asked.

“Turned into an Adumbrae!” the man exclaimed. He suddenly sat straight up and waved his arms, including the limp one.

Deen didn’t push him down again, stunned at his revelation. She knew what caused this. She met Erind’s eyes before looking down at Cecilia, who was scratching her chin while regarding the man with a curious stare.  

“I saw it with my own eyes,” continued the man. “Spikes burst out of Garry’s back. They extended into these giant spider legs. Horrible! Poor Garry. He became what he feared and despised the most.”

“Okay, I’m just going to ignore that comment about Adumbrae,” Erind said. “Don’t you guys have humans with tacked-on monster parts? Euphonia’s creations?”

“They remain human!” the PCM member insisted, his eyes burning with conviction. “They wield biological augments, no different from the machines. Their brains are untainted.”

Deen tried to suggest, “Perhaps Garry’s sudden mutation was caused—?”

“Garry didn’t have bio-augs,” said the man. “His body is as normal as can be. This is the fault of that wretched traitor Cecilia.”

Deen, Erind, and Cecilia traded looks.

“Isn’t Cecilia the scientist Auron hired?” Erind asked the PCM member.

“That’s right! I don’t know the specifics, but everyone says she did something that angered Euphonia and pinned it on us. It’s not the worst that she did. She made these pills that would supposedly prevent seeding. All of us took them! But when supplies ran out, people started to get seeded!”

“Doesn’t that prove the pills’ efficacy?” Cecilia wondered in an innocent tone. “They didn’t become Adumbrae when they were taking them.”

Deen wanted to throw Cecilia out of the truck and leave her for the BID to find. Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option. She wanted to kick Cecilia instead, but might not control her superstrength and kill her.

Cecilia deserved to be killed for her atrocities! How many people have she condemned to become an Adumbrae because of her pills?

I’ll postpone judgement, Deen thought. They needed Cecilia’s help in many things. However, Deen’s misgivings about having Cecilia replicate the Professor’s pills were also grounded.

“We’re not idiots!” The man’s movements became even more jittery, as if he was shocked every few seconds. “We’ve observed those who turned. It was Cecilia’s fault! Served her right that Red Hood ate her.”

Cecilia’s head snapped up. “What did you say?”