Allie's War Season One by JC Andrijeski Read Free Book Online

is finished, we have such wondrous things to show you, my young friend! I myself regret not a single instant of my time with the Org. Neither did Revi’, whatever he might say now. He once was one of our most ardent soldiers. A true believer, through and through—”
    “Help!” I jerked my arms, bucking against him, trying to get away. I found myself aiming my words at the shadow standing behind Terian. “Help me, please! I’ll go with you! I’ll go with you! I’ll do whatever you want!”
    Terian whirled, looking behind him...but too late.
    Metal glinted as the shadow swung his arm.
    Then Terian was kneeling on the needle-strewn ground. He clutched his throat, making choking, gurgling sounds.
    He raised the gun, pointing it at the shadow, who knocked it sharply away.
    I only stood there, paralyzed, as the shadow forced Terian to the pine-carpeted ground. The taller man knelt on Terian’s chest, holding his forehead with pale fingers. I just stood there, watching, as he cut directly into Terian’s throat with the same sharp object, sawing through cartilage and flesh above a bucking, writhing body, finishing the job with a methodicalness that bordered on rote.
    A fountain of blood pulsed up, dark in the moonlight. It splattered his hands, face, neck and chest. Watching it, smelling it, brought bile to my throat in a thick rush.
    I was panting, breathing too much, my back against the tree. It felt like all the blood in my body now pooled in my feet.
    When he finished his task, the shadow straightened as if pulled vertical by steel cables.
    “We cannot stay here,” he said.
    I screamed. I must have screamed again. Before I could get too far into it, he threw himself forward in a crouch, clamping a sticky hand roughly over my mouth.
    “Sleep,” he commanded. “Sleep now.”
    The trees, the rain and the dead body disappeared.

5
    BARRIER

     
    I DIDN’T QUESTION the motion of the car at first.
    It was kind of soothing, even if I struggled finding a comfortable resting place for my arms. A bump in the road brought my eyes abruptly open. Sky through a dirty windshield showed the faint pink and gold of pre-dawn.
    The silhouette of a saint statue broke my view. It was glued to the dashboard above an old-fashioned FM radio with silver knobs.
    My eyes traveled left, meeting an angular profile framed by black hair matted to a pale neck. Almond-shaped eyes sat above high cheekbones, taking in the road. He had the beginnings of five o’clock shadow. Flecks of a familiar-looking brown stained his shirt, which bulged from a crude, homemade bandage on his shoulder.
    Feeling my stare, he turned. His eyes appeared cold even in the morning sun.
    I tried to raise a hand...
    And the motion of my arm was abruptly stopped.
    I stared down at the handcuffs for a full minute before the reality of them penetrated. It struck me that my wrists were bare apart from the metal rings. So were my ankles; the GPS was gone but my ankles were now bound with hard plastic, like those tie-binders they used on reality cop shows. Leaning back, I used my weight to try and budge the only object I thought I had some chance of influencing, namely the plastic armrest.
    When it stayed firmly affixed to the door, I looked up at him again, watching him stare at me. I translated his expression as disinterested puzzlement.
    He didn’t try to stop me as I continued to test my limits of motion. My whole body hurt; I was bruised, dirty and felt half-naked under the dog-smelling blanket, even though I was reasonably sure I still wore the same clothes I had at work. My throat hurt. I was insanely thirsty. My neck had crimped while I slept against the car door. I thought about my mom in a kind of blurred panic. I started to scream, but that got a reaction from him.
    “Be silent!”
    His words jarred me. I’d forgotten about the German accent.
    When I shut up, his eyes lowered, along with his voice.
    “Don’t make me knock you unconscious.” He shifted in his