Angels Mark (The Serena Wilcox Dystopian Trilogy Book 1)

Angels Mark Chapter 14

14

Bryce chuckled to himself. What an idiot Clyde was. He was as stupid as he was ugly. Not only did he not restrain Bryce, but he also didn’t think to strip him of his cell phone, which had been on the entire time. Bryce used it now to call his security detail. They could pick him up, no problem. There was a GPS tracker on the phone, which was a good thing since Bryce had no idea where he was, just some country road in the boonies, they all looked the same after a while. He swatted at a deer fly. The sooner he got back to the Windy City the better.

The sound of multiple cars speeding down a nearby gravel road caught his attention. Wow, that was fast. How did they find him already? They must have sent local law enforcement to pick him up. No matter, just as well. He needed a restroom and after that some water, and some food. A good night’s sleep sounded good too.

The cars reached him, three government-issue sedans total. It sure looked like secret service detail. But how did they reach him so fast? It had only been about five minutes. Four car doors opened simultaneously: one hulk of a man each from two of the vehicles, and two bureaucratic looking individuals, one male and one female, from the third vehicle.

“Hey guys, how did you get here so fast?” Bryce smiled full wattage, his social smile, not a trace of wolf. He was taken aback when no one responded. One of the beefy men yanked his right arm, another grabbed his left. They steered him toward the nearest sedan. “Hey! What’s going on?” Bryce protested. No one answered. “You’re taking me to the President? You are, right?”

“Yes, she’s waiting for you,” said the female bureaucrat.

“She?” Bryce hoped he had heard wrong.

“President Kinji. She’s waiting for you. Get in the car.”

The convoy, with Bryce pouting in the backseat of one of the sedans, made its way to its next pick-up, about four miles away. Their tires crunched on a long gravel road and then rolled to a stop. Doors opened and shut. The driver of the sedan carrying Bryce did not get out.

“Where are we?” asked Bryce.

The driver looked at Bryce through the mirror but said nothing.

“What is this place?” he tried again.

Still no answer.

“Hey! I know them! What is going on?” Bryce tapped on his window. “Open this up!”

The driver ignored Bryce. Bryce was forced to watch silently from his backseat point of view as four familiar figures were escorted to the other two vehicles. Clyde, his flesh wound bandaged and his arm in a sling, and Paul were led to the sedan behind the vehicle holding Bryce. Serena and Tom, stripped of his gun, which was bagged and tagged, were led to the sedan in front of him. Bryce couldn’t hear what they were saying. Completely baffled, he tried to puzzle out what was happening.

Serena spoke to the female bureaucrat, Nancy. “Our kids are still in the car.”

“No, they are already with us. They’re fine,” said Nancy.

“Where are they?” asked Tom.

“We’re right here,” called Carrie, leaning out the open door of the sleek government vehicle.

“Please get in,” said Nancy, gesturing to the generous seating space that her children occupied. Nonetheless, five people made the backseat uncomfortable. No one dared to complain though. After the Meadows were settled in, Nancy shut the door to the backseat, walked to the front passenger’s side door, and got in.

“You aren’t the police. FBI?” asked Tom.

“No. We are President Kinji’s detail,” said Nancy.