Chapter Twenty-Two
Caleb
"Hey! Hey, you!" The rough discordance of a shout pried my eyes open. "Get the hell up!" My vision swam for a moment before focusing on the stubbly chin of a guard who I'd heard called Elias. He glared down at me, his proximity much too close for comfort.
"Hurry!" he shouted, grabbing the neckline of my t-shirt and hauling me to my feet. "We don't have all day." He snapped a pair of handcuffs over my wrists, securing them behind my back.
I glanced around quickly. We were still inside the plane, in the main seating compartment. It must have landed while I was asleep, because I no longer felt the weightless quality of being in the air. The door leading out of the small aircraft was open, with a ridged metal ramp extending from the body.
"Are you deaf?" Elias snarled into my ear. "I said we're going." He grabbed my arm and dragged me after him so suddenly that I couldn't help but stumble on my way down the ramp.
Trai was waiting outside, looking pensive as a wiry, younger guard gripped his shoulder. He too was restrained by handcuffs. I wondered, at first, why he was so submissive; Trai had taken martial arts since we were really young, and he could kick some serious butt. The guy holding him didn't seem like he'd be much of a problem. But then I looked up, just to his left, and saw a serious figure in a pinstriped suit, his arms crossed and dark glasses shielding his eyes.
Oh.
The Superior flicked his wrist as a signal to follow, and I was presently shoved forward, across what appeared to be a large hangar, though several gray vans similar to the ones we had ridden in before also occupied the space.
We approached an open doorway and the guard yanked me through it roughly. I stumbled into a narrow hallway, simultaneously stubbing my toe on the ground.
"I have feet, you know," I snapped automatically. "I don't need your help to walk." An angry growl escape the Elias' lips, and he shoved me violently into the wall. I grunted as air rushed out of my lungs, filling my chest with pain.
"Watch yourself," he warned. I gritted my teeth but refused show any signs of giving in, despite the fiery stabs lancing through my torso. The guard, who gripped my arms tightly behind my back, didn't seem to be exerting much pressure. Yet it felt like there was an iron weight crushing my ribs against the wall.
"Let him go, Elias," said the Superior, sounding bored. Though the side of my face was pressed against the wall, I saw the man smirk as we made brief eye contact. "I think he understands."
I understood, all right. With that small act of violence, I understood the nature of the Superiors and their underlings on a whole new level. And in those brief seconds that I was pinned against the wall, I realized that if I were to ever escape the situation in one piece, resisting with force would not be an option.
Grunting, Elias pulled me from the wall and shoved me forward again. We had trailed behind the others but quickly caught up, falling into step with Trai and his guard. The two of us shared a solemn, fear-tinged glance.
At the end of the hallway the Superior stopped suddenly. "Here," he acknowledged, gesturing to an elevator in front of him. With the palm of his hand, he slammed the button, and after a moment, the doors slid aside. On our way up, I realized that the elevator was an old one. It didn't have the same speed as the ones back in Seattle; our ascent felt painfully slow, especially with Elias breathing down my neck.
After an eternity, the elevator car finally came to a halt. I heard gears shuddering above us, but the doors did not open. The Superior turned to us, tilting his glasses down to expose a fierce glare.
"Keep your eyes on the ground and don't talk to anyone," he ordered. Trai opened his mouth to protest, but the Superior held up a hand. "It's really in your best interests to obey me." With one eyebrow raised, he fixed his glasses, nodded, and pushed a button on the wall. The doors slid open slowly, and I gasped.
○●○●○●○
I was standing on a bright green field and staring out at a large, immaculate city. In front of me spanned several well-kept lawns, intersected at intervals by tree-lined streets. Huge white buildings ran parallel to the grassy buildings, varying in structure from classical and columned to abstract and boxy. They made a sort-of pathway, lining my view as it swept lawns and focused on a stately building at the end of the stretch.
I recognized it, of course; it was the Capitol Building, whose front steps were the site of many of the Superiors' speeches and announcements. It was gigantic and white, with columns lining its front and windows dotting its surface. An intricate dome with a single spire rose from its center. I'd seen it on TV many times. But in real life, it was so much more imposing. So much more intimidating.
But while that was all impressive, none of it truly took my breath away. It wasn't until a moment later, when I turned to look up at the towering white pillar from which we had just emerged, that I found myself completely thunderstruck.
Above us, rather than the sky, was a giant dome. It spanned across the entire city, a hundred feet above my head, and disappeared somewhere behind the Capitol building. Its surface was frosted and blurry, but was still clear enough to see smudges of the blue sky. Rows of golden bands held it upright, and they glittered in the light from above.
It was, for lack of a better word, absolutely insane.
A sharp knock on the back of the head jolted me out of my reverie. I whirled around to glare at Elias, who raised an eyebrow.
"The man said to keep your head down," he snarled. "Follow the damned directions." Then he grabbed my shoulder and pushed me forward after Trai, his guard, and the Superior.
We hurried down a curving pathway, away from the pointed monument and the now-closed elevator doors. Though I kept my head down to avoid any more grief from Elias, my eyes hungrily took in my surroundings.
The tree-lined streets were paved with diamond-shaped white stones, and the concrete sidewalks literally sparkled. Yellow taxis, remnants of a time when some people didn't drive, patrolled the streets, stopping occasionally to pick up or let off passengers.
Dozens of men and women in business attire, some carrying briefcases or talking on cellphones, strode through the streets with purpose, the quickness of their steps suggesting that they were in a hurry. Every single one of them wore tinted shades. Besides their similar dress code, though, I noticed one other significant detail. Each and every person was built like a supermodel. The females had hourglass figures and the males had muscles that any guy would kill to have. They were Superiors. All of them. I didn't see a single normal person, save for our guards.
So this was the Capitol.
The Superior leading us stopped at the street and waved to a taxi. As I watched the vehicle glide toward us, I made eye contact with a Superior woman who was walking past. She paused, disgust clouding her expression, and though only half of her face was visible behind the dark glasses, the wrinkle in her nose and the way her upper lip curled up in a sneer were obvious signs of her disapproval.
It was disconcerting; I averted my eyes.
After that, it seemed like everyone was looking at us with poorly hidden expressions of repulsion. Their eyes roved over us with distaste and they moved away, giving us a wide berth as we approached the taxi cab, if we had some kind of disease. I felt anger sizzle through my veins.
Elias practically lifted me into the yellow car, and Trai was pushed in from the other side. Then the guards stepped back and slammed the doors. I certainly hadn't enjoyed Elias' company, but there was something stabilizing about his presence. Now it would just be me, Trai, and the Superior.
I shuddered.
A moment later, the Superior opened the passenger side and climbed inside. He murmured a few words to the driver, a plain woman who I could instantly tell was not a Superior, then turned back to us, smirking.
"If you try anything, you'll deeply regret it," he warned us smoothly. I sneered at the back of his head as he turned back around, but said nothing.
Trai and I glanced at each other as the taxi pulled back and began to drive. I expected it to turn right, toward the Capitol Building, but instead it drove straight down the street. According to the street sign, we were on 15th Street, driving past yet another white building out of Trai's side, and a cluster of trees out of mine.
The further we went, the less people we encountered. By the time we turned the corner three intersections later, the streets were practically unpopulated. The driver turned onto a curved driveway, and a moment later, I was greeted with our destination.
We rolled up in front of an stately building constructed of white stone, as all the structures in the Capitol seemed to be. Two levels of windows were spaced in two rows along its front, which was flat except for a small protrusion in its center with a pointed roof that was held up by four columns. It wasn't nearly as ostentatious as the Capitol Building, but it was elegant in its own right.
As soon as the taxi came to a full stop, both of the back doors were thrown open, and Trai and I were hauled out by two new guards. The Superior emerged a moment later, staring up at the building for a moment before motioning to the guards to bring us forward.
We ascended a small set of stairs and passed underneath a simple black chandelier. Trepidation grew in my stomach with each step. Just as I was thinking that it would be better to just attempt to run before they could get me inside, the Superior halted abruptly. Trai's guard, who wasn't paying attention, barreled into him, pulling Trai down as well. My friend stumbled and face-planted into a bush, his limbs tangled up in each other. In any other situation, I would've been laughing at him, but at that moment, I was too scared.
"Up!" the guard barked. He grabbed Trai by the hair and yanked him to his feet. To his credit, Trai didn't let a bit of pain into his face, and simply blew grass out of his mouth, his expression defiant. The wad of it flew forward and landed right in the middle of the Superior's shoe.
It was dead silent for a split second. Then the Superior turned around very, very slowly, his face expressionless.
Silently, he pulled back his arm. It all happened so quickly that I only managed to croak out half a warning before the man swung. His fist connected with a loud pop, and Trai's head was flung sideways with the impact. Holding my breath, I watched my friend stumble backwards a few steps, then catch himself against one of the pillars and regain his footing.
The left side of his upper lip was split open, and a line of blood trickled from it. He didn't seem to notice it, though, as he glared at the Superior with hate-filled eyes. His hands, though secured in cuffs behind him, clenched into tight fists. I think we all expected Trai to fight back, but he just spat loudly, creating a red spot on the ground at his feet, and stalked up toward the front door without waiting for his guard.
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A/N: So, on the side is a picture of the building that Caleb and Trai have found themselves at... AKA, the White House. In the external link is a really super cool map of Washington D.C. that helped me a lot in editing this chapter. If anyone bothers to click on it, you can see where Trai and Caleb emerged into the Capitol (at the Washington monument) and kind of get a gist of the city better.
Vote, fan, comment, and all that jazz ;).