Chapter 4: The Journey Begins

The Blades of the House of Drax (They told me to call them Draxians) led me away from the area, taking me to where the outskirts of the city met the Desert. 

We went to a spot where the deserted suburbs met the remains of the wall that once surrounded Carlton. In the shadow of the wall was parked an armoured car. My jaw dropped at the sight of it. 

It was large, with a giant electric turret mounted on top of it. The fact that the police only ever bothered to patrol the Upper class Sector these days meant that they would have easily been able to keep it here without being noticed. 

There were half a dozen Blades wearing the same grey clothing waiting near the car. They all stood up as we approached. A few of them glanced towards me, but they mostly kept their eyes on the man who had spoken to me earlier. 

A good looking seventeen or eighteen year old girl with auburn hair spoke up. 

"Squad leader Perez!" She said loudly. 

"We have taken down the Hunter pursuit vehicles and helped the two Blades who were running from them. They have agreed to join us and are waiting in the armoured car as we speak." 

The man who had spoken to me earlier, who must have been Squad Leader Perez smiled at that and said "Good job, Cara. You and your team have once again performed excellently. This is..." He paused, looking at me expectantly. 

"Ronavan Andreas Calor. But you can call me Ron." I supplied. 

"Ron. He is a new recruit for our cause. He has several talents which mark him out as an extraordinary individual." At that, the other Blades nodded, looking at me with more interest now. I stood uncomfortably, all the Draxians looking at me curiously. I was relieved when Cara spoke up to break the silence. 

"Um...Sir?" She started uncertainly. 

Perez looked at her and replied "Yes?" 

She continued "We have a problem. We've taken more loot than we expected, and will only have room in the car for six people, max. And that's with people carrying stuff on their laps! If you wish, sir, we could jettison some of it to accommodate everyone..." 

The commander immediately replied "No, Cara! We have worked hard to get those from the Hunters, and we're not losing them!" 

Cara looked uncertain and then replied "Then perhaps I and two members of my team take the new recruits on the train to Mala, and then take the help of our friends there to get to the Base?" 

Perez immediately replied "No, Cara, your team is tired. You have undertaken four continuous missions without rest. You and your team will take the car. I and the twins," he said, gesturing to the two Blades who had shot down the Hunters, "will personally escort our new recruits to Base. Now, show me the two new recruits that you got." 

Cara nodded and pressed a button on the back of the car, causing it to open upwards. There were two bedraggled figures that appeared to be sleeping in it, surrounded by boxes , but I couldn't recognize them as their faces were facing the other side. 

Cara clapped her hands and they both awoke with a jolt, shaking themselves awake. For my part, I gaped at them as they got down from the car and blinked as they got used to the light. I now recognized them to be the two Blades whom I knew best (Apart from Frank and Bert). 

I admit, I got a little emotional right then, as I rushed towards them, whom I now knew to be Harry and Mark, and enveloped them in a huge embrace. From their faces, they were shocked to see me. 

Mark looked amazed while Harry called 'Geroff!" but they still looked happy to see me. 

Then, I regained my composure, and drew back, patting them on their shoulders before saying "Nice to see you alive and well, boys!" 

Mark gave a small smile before saying. "You too, old buddy. Too bad about the others..." 

Immediately the happiness I had felt vanished in the shadow of recent events. Suddenly all the events of the past few hours came crashing down on me; from the loss of my friends, to Bert's sacrifice, to the chase through Carlton and finally to that last stand in that dark alley. That, coupled with the fact that I had not had any food or water since the evening of the day before, or had a full night's sleep, caused me to break down. 

I suddenly felt all the sorrow of losing my friends, which I had pushed to the back of my mind while I had had to focus to survive. 

Suddenly, without warning, tears started to roll down my cheeks. Then I slumped against the side of the armoured car and slid to the ground. I then started to cry. 

I cried for my home, for the others of Bert's bunch who hadn't made it, who had been like family to me and especially for Bert himself who had been like an elder brother to me. I had just gone through exactly what had happened five years ago, and that I had desperately hoped wouldn't happen again. 

I continued crying, and through my tear stained eyes, I saw that Harry was also crying. Even the ever-calm Mark had tears rolling down his cheeks. We had lost everything, and Mark's statement had brought that home to us.

 I started to calm down, and my tears flowed more slowly. Suddenly, a hand nudged my shoulder. I looked up and saw Cara, offering me a cloth. While the other Draxians looked at us as if they were amused, probably thinking that we were a bunch of wimps, Cara actually had a look of compassion in her eyes. 

I took the cloth and dried my eyes. I smiled sadly at Cara and said simply "Thank you." 

She smiled back and said "Any time. We keep those cloths for cleaning wounds, but I thought that you might need one." 

"I did." I replied. 

Mark had already got himself together, but Harry was still a little teary-eyed.I passed him the cloth and he wiped his eyes with the back of it. Then Perez cleared his throat, getting our attention, and he spoke "Boys, I am deeply sorry for your loss, but we have to get moving. Please change your clothes from this selection here," and he pointed to a pile of clothes in the car "and then we'll head to the train station."

We all took turns changing our clothes on the other side of the wall where no one could see us, including squad leader Perez and the twins. Afterwards, we walked to the northern part of Upper class sector, which was where the train was. 

On the way, I realized that the twins looked almost exactly alike, with pale skin, blonde hair, and cold blue eyes. It was surprising that I hadn't noticed it before.  They both looked like they were in their early twenties.

I also asked Perez a couple of questions, the first of which was why they and us had changed into normal coloured wear, and not the grey apparel of Drax, to which he replied that they tried to keep a low profile in towns and cities, as the Hunters were on the lookout for those dressed in House colours. They had only been in grey as they had been working with Cara and her team, so that they would recognize each other immediately. 

I then asked why, if the car was full, we couldn't wait for it to go and come back. He answered me by saying that, due the recent coup of Bert's bunch, the Hunters were bound to, within the next couple of days, force the city's citizens to undergo the Blade blood test. He then proceeded to explain that if we underwent it, we would be arrested and taken to laboratories where gleeful scientists would conduct torturous experiments on us (that were illegal to perform on humans) for a long while before we died slow and agonizingly painful deaths. That shut me up. 

We finally reached the train station. Although it was in rich class sector, there was a huge crowd waiting to get tickets, as Carlton was a large and important city. We had to wait for two hours in the ticket queue in the hot first room of the station, and then on top of that, we had to wait another hour and a half for the train to arrive. Luckily, trains were one of the few things that were kept in good condition in western USA. 

When the train arrived, it was speeding towards us, immaculately smooth and polished. As it reached the station, it slowed down and finally came to a stop. The doors opened with a hiss and everyone filed in. 

That is, everyone except me. You see, I had been born in Carlton, and had never in my life ever left the city limits. This was a big step to me. I hadn't realized how much this city meant to me before then. 

This city was my home, and had been for the last fourteen years. I knew this city like the back of my hand, and now I was about to embark on a journey to a place of which I knew nothing. I started to think that, just maybe, I could stay here, and perhaps find some way to avoid the Blade test. 

Harry called out from a window a little ahead and shouted "Come on, Ron! Get on!"

I still stood, staring at the doors. One way led to where I knew, and where I was comfortable. The other led to danger, adventure and places unknown, where anything could happen. Finally, as the doors started to close, I leaped aboard. I had never been one to take the comfy option, and I wasn't starting now. Not to mention that the last members of my family were on board the train. The desert sped by as the train, and me along with it, zoomed towards unknown lands, and what would hopefully become my new home.