Kings and Crowns: A Dystopian Thriller (Age of End Book 2) (12 page)

Greene grinned. “Everything you say is true. The people
do
look up to you. They would certainly be upset if you died. It looks like I’ve dug myself a hole, haven’t I? But that’s why I have insurance.” He flipped a switch to turn on the monitors.

Vince looked up at the glowing screens. What he saw made his stomach turn. It was Snow Peak. Troops marched along the road. People lined up in a row, on their knees, with their hands tied behind their backs. He saw Ella’s mom, Alan’s wife, Martha, Horace, and even Carl. “You can’t.”

“I have no choice. You’ve forced my hand. I was going to give you a chance. I knew you were here to kill me, but I thought I could change your mind. Maybe you would finally understand what I’m trying to achieve with the tests. I’m only trying to help. I was hoping you would see that I’m not such a bad guy after all.” He looked to Saul. “But your little outburst makes it abundantly clear that that will never happen.” He tapped the glass monitor with his finger. “I can’t kill
you
, but I
can
kill them. I know you two don’t have too many people you care about, at least, not anymore.” He pointed to Vince. “But you seem to be quite fond of your little group from Snow Peak. I think Saul’s starting to warm up to them too. So I’ve taken their loved ones as collateral.”

“You’re sick,” Saul said with disgust.

“That may be true. I suppose it doesn’t matter. Either way, you’ll cooperate. If you don’t, every single one of them dies. If you disobey me, they’re dead. If you resist me in any way, they’re dead. And if you decide to kill me, if I can’t check in with my troops each morning, all of your friends are dead. Do you understand me?”

They both stared with disbelief and lowered their heads. “So what now?” Vince asked.

“We continue as planned. Nothing changes. You will rally the people and help us fight Simon.”

“And after that?”

“After that, I will let you free. You will leave the City and never come back.”

“What about our friends?”

“The same goes for them. I will pull my troops from Snow Peak and they will all be safe and sound.”

“I guess we have no option,” Vince said. He looked sternly at Saul. “We will cooperate, right Saul?”

Saul answered with a look of disdain. He wanted to scream, to tell Greene he was crazy, but he knew he couldn’t. He had never been to Snow Peak, had never met these people, but he saw Vince cared about them, and that was enough to keep him restrained. “Right, we will do what you say. We will follow your orders.”

“Good.” He leaned in and held a sharp glare. “I’m not messing around. One mistake and people die. Do you understand?”

They nodded.

A grin stretched back across Greene’s face. “I knew you would. You are both very smart. That’s why we chose you as subjects in the first place.”

He checked the time on his watch. “Return to your rooms. I’ll send for Charlotte and tell her to meet you there. We will have another meeting. The second wall has fallen. That has never happened before. The people will want to hear me speak.” He looked at Saul. “No more outbursts. That will only confuse them. From now on, the only words that leave your mouth are in my favor. Simon is quick. We must plan our next move now soon.” He opened the door and let them out. “Expect to hear from me in an hour.”

As they walked down the hall to their room, Vince turned to Saul. “I think it’s best we don’t tell the others.”

“Why? They should know. It’s their home that’s at stake.”

“We need them to be sharp. Knowing that Greene is holding Snow Peak hostage will bring out strong emotions. It will cloud their judgment.”

“And you still plan on killing Greene.”

Vince nodded. “They won’t agree if they know what’s at stake.”

“With good reason. How are you going to kill Greene without killing everyone in Snow Peak? You heard what he said. If his troops don’t hear back from him, their orders are to kill.”

“I don’t know how,” Vince said, “but we’ll do it.”

TWENTY-TWO

WHEN THEY GOT back to the room, Rupert, Alan, and Ella were sitting on their beds. “How did it go on the wall?” Ella asked. “We could see the explosions from up here. We were worried.”

“They broke through the second wall,” Vince said.

“What?” Alan asked, surprised. “How? Those walls are massive.”

“That crazy bastard used kids. He strapped bombs to them and sent them to their death,” Saul said.

Alan stood from his bed. “Jeez, this guy is nuts.”

Ella covered her mouth. “Oh my god,” she said. “Well, that’s why we agreed to stop him, right? Crazy people are dangerous with that kind of power.”

“He didn’t earn the power either,” Rupert said. “The only reason he’s in charge is because he’s got Hedcrown blood in him. This rebellion needs to happen, but he shouldn’t be the one leading it.”

“Unfortunately, he is,” Vince said. “If he’s willing to use kids as bombers, there’s no telling what he’ll do next.”

“Right, the next thing you know we’ll be fighting off puppies.”

“This is no time to joke, Alan.” Vince walked over and stood beside them. “A lot of children died today.”

Alan lowered his head in respect. “You’re right. I apologize.”

“How did things go up here?” Saul asked.

“Not too well,” Rupert said. “I managed to sneak into the medical sector, but I didn’t find anything. Fred wasn’t there. I don’t know where she is. I think their hiding something. If they’re lying about Fred, who knows what else they’ve been lying about.”

Alan put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry buddy. We’ll find Fred. She’s tough as nails, that bird.”

Rupert nodded.

“So what next? Greene must be uneasy with the second wall down. He might even be distracted enough for us to turn on him. Take him down while he’s busy fighting Simon.”

“No,” Vince said. “We must stick to the plan. Focus on Simon first. Once he’s taken care of, we can turn our attention to Greene. They both need to go, there’s no question about that. But we need Greene’s resources to deal with Simon. Once Greene trusts us, we can stab him in the back.”

Saul snickered to himself. Greene would never trust them, but he played along anyway. “That’s right, he has already given us more responsibilities. With a little more time, he’ll accept us as his own.”

“Tomorrow, Greene’s troops arrive,” Vince said. “The people we met on the wall today were not dangerous. They will not be a problem when we make our move. It’s his troops I’m worried about. They’re trained. When they arrive, I will observe them to see how they behave. I will gauge their level of training. We need to know how much trouble they’ll give us.”

Rupert nodded. “So you’ll be down there with the troops. We’ll stay up here and keep looking around.”

“Correct.”

“Greene knows what we’re doing. He caught me in the medical sector. He’ll be watching us closely. We need to be careful.”

“Two walls have fallen. That should keep him occupied. Fortunately for us, he can’t have his eyes on everything.”

Alan glanced up at the cameras. “But he
can
have his eyes on a whole heck of a lot.”

The door swung open, and Charlotte walked in. “I see you all found your way back to the room. It must be difficult learning the layout of this building.”

“It is,” Alan said. “I got lost more than I like to admit.”

“It happens to all of us that are new to the Spire. You’re doing quite well. You’ve only been here a couple days. Some people take weeks to learn their way around.”

“I wouldn’t say we’ve learned our way around. We’ve just been…lucky.”

“It’s quite easy actually, once you’ve learned our system. Everything is color coded. I’m sure you’ve seen the maps on our walls. They’re located at every turn, and they’re interactive. Just touch where you want to go and it will get you there. It’s very user-friendly.”

“Yes, we saw those,” Ella said. “We didn’t know what they were or how to read them.”

“You’ll learn in time, but until then, Greene is calling a meeting in an hour. He wants to address the wall. I assume they’ve kept you up to date on the current events.”

“Yes. The second wall has fallen.”

“It has, and it has never happened before. The first wall has two gaps now. We are more vulnerable than we’ve ever been. I’m sure Greene wants to calm the people.”

“And come up with a plan,” Alan said. “He seems like a man who always has a plan. And if his plan doesn’t work out, he moves right on to the next one.”

“He likes to be prepared,” Charlotte said. “That’s why he has cameras everywhere. It’s impossible to keep up with him. He’s always one step ahead of you.”

“I can respect a man with a plan,” Vince said.

Saul shook his head as if to say,
You respect him?

Vince acknowledged that Greene was not a man to respect. He was a man to fear. In front of the others, especially Charlotte, he wanted to keep up the act. “I like to be prepared myself, though it isn’t always easy.”

“Greene makes it look easy,” Charlotte said. “He always has a plan.”

As she repeated this sentence, the tone of her voice shifted. She knew why they were here, that they intended to kill Greene. Greene knew as well. Was invading Snow Peak his plan, or was there more? How much did Charlotte know? With these questions floating around, one thing was for sure. Dealing with a man so meticulous, they needed to tread lightly.

TWENTY-THREE

GREENE’S MEETING WAS not as big as the conference. He held it in the briefing room, with only a few Spire employees. On the wall behind him was a pinned up banner with the City logo. His suit was freshly cleaned, his hair was combed back, and a touch of makeup brightened his face. He grinned at the camera near the back of the room, and then at his workers. “As you all know, this will be recorded and broadcast across the City. News has spread of the second wall falling. People are looking for answers and that’s exactly what I’ll give them. Now, let’s begin.” He cleared his throat and signaled to the camera.

“Good evening, citizens. Victor Greene here, broadcasting from the Spire. As most of you know, today has been very eventful. It is a day that saddens my heart, but also gives me hope. Today marks the first time in the history of the Spire that the second wall has fallen. Simon’s attacks are strong and frequent, but don’t let that scare you. The Spire is a great place with even greater people. We will band together and stop him from spreading his fear and terrorizing the innocent. We cannot let a man get away with sacrificing innocent children to further his cause. That is unacceptable. We will rise up out of the ruins of the wall and build it back up even stronger, because that’s how we deal with terrorists. We don’t negotiate. We don’t surrender, we fight. We fight until we no longer can. As long as Simon is out there, we will fight for the people of the City.” He leaned towards the camera. “Simon, if you’re watching, and I know you are, be afraid.”

The camera cut and the chatter in the room grew. Greene nodded his head, satisfied with the broadcast, and took a seat at the head of the table. The man to his right held out his hand. “I must say, sir, that was an excellent speech. People were uneasy after the attacks, but you have just put them all at ease.” A hum of agreement filled the room.

Greene grasped his hand with a firm grip. “Thank you, Marco.” He turned to the others. “Thank you all for your support. With your continued enthusiasm, I know we can get through these tense times. I have devised a plan, and if you follow my orders, I know we will succeed.”

They leaned forward, eager to hear his plan. Even Vince and Saul found themselves curious.

“Up until this point, we have been defensive, waiting for Simon to attack. If we keep this up, our last wall will fall, and I’m afraid the Spire will as well. Instead, we must take the offensive. I have many agents working undercover. We know exactly where his camps are. That’s a good starting point, but we’re not going to run in guns blazing. We already have men inside, so a stealthier approach is the way to go. With their help, we can infiltrate his main base.”

He held up a map. “From recently acquired information, it looks like their main base is here. That is where Simon will be. Our mission is to take him out. Anything less will be a failure.” He lowered the map. “Simon is not the subtle type. He makes big, explosive moves. If he tries something, we’ll know.” He looked to Vince and Saul. “These two, guided by Charlotte, will infiltrate the base. I have handpicked one of my best soldiers to go along with you. He will arrive tomorrow, along with the other troops. All others will stay here and guard the walls. We are taking the offensive, but we can’t be careless. We must defend the walls well, especially the weak spots.”

Vince and Saul shared a glance. Greene was handing them a lot of responsibility. He had confidence that they would comply, that he had scared them into obedience. That was partly true, but they were stronger than that. They still intend to kill him, but for now, they would play along.

Greene looked at them. “The two of you have seen his base before. It’s where you first met Simon. You should recognize it. That’s why I’m putting you in charge. The element of surprise is key, so stay hidden. Once you’re inside you will meet an inside man. He will help you find your way around. People won’t recognize you as long as your face is hidden. If things go smoothly, you’ll reach Simon unnoticed. Get close to him, and take him out with this.” He revealed a small capsule and placed it on the table. “This is a strong toxin. It is very deadly. Ingesting only a small amount can kill you. It has a delayed effect, so you’ll have plenty time to get out.

“It’s important that you’re the ones to kill him. The Heroes of the Spire striking down Simon. A symbolic triumph for all of us, and a devastating blow for the Crowns. I will provide you with earpieces, and watch from the Spire. I will give you direction if needed. If you have any questions, you will have a microphone strapped to your shirt. Use it sparingly. You don’t want to draw attention to yourselves.”

He paused, running through the plan in his head. “I believe that’s everything. You will meet the troops tomorrow. I assure you they’re the top of the top, and extremely loyal. They follow orders without hesitation and I expect you to do the same. After you meet them, you will have a short period to rest. Then at sundown, you deploy. The dark will keep you hidden, but once you’re below ground, the tunnels are well lit. Keep your faces concealed and act normal. Blend in as one of them.”