Xole and the Groundhogs marched through the center of Zone 2, attracting the gazes of the civilians. Making their way to the subway station, everyone quickly moved to the sides to let them by. Looking ahead, Xole saw a subway train covered in rust and moss waiting for them. The conductor behind the nearby both nodded at them, the doors of the train opening and everyone piling inside. The inside was missing some seats and lights, but it allowed for some extra space, which was good in their case.

  “All board!” the conductor said. With a loud, ‘whoosh’ the train left the station, rocking from left to right as it picked up speed on the old creaking tracks.

  “This things stable right?” Xole asked.

  “Pssht! Obviously!” Snap said, “These tracks were gonna be the city’s first underground transit, but go abandoned after the Big One in ’52. Besides that, these tracks ain’t going nowhere anytime soon. Heck, even if they were banged up we got some folks back at Haven who can fix ‘em right up!”

  “Not to mention it can hold da big guy, Ha, ha!” Salamander laughed motioning to Abbas.

  “Cool,” Xole said. He looked out the window to the multitude of tracks flying past their side, “So this is how you guys travel around the city?”

  “You catch on quick,” Trix said with a giggle, “but you’re right. We have dozens of rendezvous points spread throughout the city where this and another train work to pick up us or supplies.”

  “There’s also a special one,” Spit-Take said, “used specifically in case one of our little Network buddies wanna pay us a visit.”

  “Really?” Xole’s eyes widened, “That means this whole railways spans throughout the whole country!”

  “Not quite,” Abbas said. “But that’s an explanation for another time. Sit back and enjoy the ride for now, it shouldn’t take too, too long.”

  “Snap,” Patchwork said, “You have the supplies?”

  The younger man patted himself down, his face dropped. He opened his bag and poked his head in. He pulled his distressed face out, “Patch, I’m sorry…”

  The doctor’s body jolted, “You WHAT—”

  “Hahaha! Just kidding!” he laughed, pulling out large coils of extension cords and wires. He looked over to Salamander, “I got the lead now!”

  “Nah, nah, dat don’t count!” he waved his hand, cigar hanging from the corner of his mouth. “We all know Patch scares too easy! Ya better off scarin’ a bird!”

  “So that means your wins to his don’t count either then.”

  “Dat’s different!”

  Patchwork got up and moved to another car as the two laughed. Trix moved over to Xole. “Thanks for cheering Snap up by the way.”

  “Really,” he replied, “it wasn’t that big—”

  “No, it was.” She said. She looked over to the laughing younger man. “Being born here, he’s never had anyone around his age to call a friend.”

  “He grew up here?”

  She nodded. “One night, Salamander and I found him in a park wandering aimlessly with this sheet of paper in his hands. Said his parents told him to hold onto it.”

  “What was that? A map?”

  “It was a certification of sale.”

  “…What?”

  “Can you believe it? It’s as if his parents gave it to him as a trophy for being a good piece of meat!” The woman let out a breath. “Anyways, rather than return him to the orphanage we brought him down here for the next twelve years.”

  Xole stole a glance from Snap. “Is that common? Selling kids off for cash?”

  “Unfortunately. Orphanages, police stations, any sort of ‘public service’ will be happy to take them off your hands if they have sufficient potential.” She looked to Xole and smiled. “Thankfully, they didn’t know Snap was a late bloomer with a beautiful Talent. Their loss.”

  “Yeah,” Xole nodded, though he gripped the seat, “People like them deserve worse, way worse.”

  She sighed and leaned back. “Anyways, how do you feel? This is your first night out as an unofficial Groundhog!”

  “Unofficial?” he said. “So this is like, my orientation?”

  “Mm-hmm,” she nodded.

  “Well,” Xole thought a moment, “To be honest I’m pretty nervous. I mean what if I get shot?”

  “Well don’t get hit then.” Spit-take said.

  “That’s it?!”

  Trix smiled, “We’ll walk you through the process. Just remember though, a lot of people are relying on you tonight.”

  Xole saw her steal a glance at Abbas, and then quickly back to him, “But no pressure! I think you’ll do just fine.”

  “Just try ta keep up.” Salamander said, resting his head back. “We ain’t take kindly ta frauds, ya hear?”

  Xole watched the man take a long puff, exhaling into the celling. He waved the smoke away, “Have people tried to join you guys with…you know bad intentions?”

  Salamander eyed him, then, looked up again. Spit-Take shook his head.

  “No, it was always more of a security issue.” He said. He looked over to Abbas who continued to stare ahead. He then looked back at Xole, “Last time we had someone sitting where you are, he took advantage of us. Of Abbas of all people…”

  Xole waited for the man to continue but he didn’t. He saw everyone else had gone quiet. Even Snap was tinkering with is cables off to the side. He could feel the unease in the room, but he had to know.

  “And then what?” Xole asked, “What did he do?”

  “He stole.” Abbas said. “We opened our doors, then our arms, to a stranger. And he took right from our pockets.”

  Xole paused. He smiled. “Well let’s hope I’m a little worse at stealing then the other guy, heh, heh.”

  The only response he got back was the train’s rocking, even that seemed to grow more silent. Frozen on spot, Xole could only blink.

  ‘I knew I was never good at jokes but this is just painful.’ He thought.

  The train lurched forward, creaking and squeaking until it came to a slow but rickety stop. The sight of the reversed crescent moon came into view. Abbas stood up, “This is our stop.” He pointed his cane at Xole, “Young one, to the front with us.”

  “O-oh, yeah,” Xole agreed, quickly shuffling to the front, exiting the train right behind Abbas. Just as soon as they stepped out however, Xole quickly saw a group of figures coming into view. He pointed his quivering finger in their direction.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “H-hey guys.” He said, “Are those guys…friendly?”

  Abbas and Spit-Take took point, the shorter man squinting at the group. The groundhogs watched, Xole watched, then, Spit-take waved his hand.

  “Hey Sunshine, you and the boys take ‘em in around the other side!”

  “What” Xole said, getting a better look at the group coming into light. He saw a woman in a raincoat with two gar haired men at her sides leading around a dozen homeless people into the tunnel. One of the men in a dark brown coat smiled and gestured the group to the side of the train while the other two went over to the Groundhogs.

  “Abbas, Spit-Take,” the woman said. “We’ve secured the van’s occupants.”

  “Great!” Spit-Take said, “But where our boys?”

  ‘Mr. Holdover and Shakar!’ Xole thought, ‘Did they run off? No, they wouldn’t do that to the Groundhogs…would they?’

  From the corner of his eye he saw a homeless man with messy hair and stained flannel shirt attempt to walk past him. Xole caught his arm, “Hey buddy,” he said, “You’re going on the train.” He pointed, “That way, okay? You need to be escorted?”

  Mr. Holdover slowly looked down at him, noticeable dark circles under his eyes. “Do you?” he said.

  “AHH—I-I mean Mr. Holdover your back!” he said taking a few steps back, laughing nervously. “So I’m guessing Shakar’s—”

  “Right here!” he said strolling past him wearing similar attire and a sweat hat, “Excuse me, Xole.”

  “You’re excused…” he muttered.

  “Hey!” Mr. Holdover said marching over to Spit-Take and the others. The ski capped man waved back.

  “Hey yourself.”

  “Don’t give me that! We were on track to getting to the bottom of this whole investigation and you decided to just YANK us right out!”

  “Look,” Spit-take said, “You were gonna be taken out of state, and we made plans but we didn’t plan that far.”

  Mr. Holdover took a few breathes and shook his head, “Well now what?”

  “Well since you did technically fail—”

  “Don’t start…”

  “We’ll just have to extend our agreement.” Spit-take finished. “No biggie.”

  Mr. Holdover chocked a laugh, quickly nodding his head, “Oh, oh it’s a biggie all right! It’s your fault this happened!” he jabbed a finger at Abbas, “And what about our agreement? We’re still getting our compensation from this, right?”

  “Well,” Abbas said, mimicking Spit-takes tone, “You did technically fail…”

  “HELL NO!” he boomed, storming toward him, “You fat-ass, greedy motherfucker—!”

  “But,” he continued, throwing a glance to the other Groundhogs behind him, “we were on an errand tonight. If you can help us with that, then I can double our agreement.”

  Mr. Holdover squinted, “Make it triple.”

  Abbas nodded, “Three by the night’s end it is.”

  Mr. Holdover aimed two fingers two his eyes, then Abbas’s. Shakar watched the exchange in horror.

  “Mr. Holdover,” he said, “What did you do?”

  “It’s called hustling.” he replied. “One day I’ll get you up to speed.”

  “Can we get our clothes back first?” he said impatiently, “The odor from these hand-me-downs is making me rather light headed.”

  “Get used to it.” Mr. Holdover said. “We’re not done until we get what we came here for. A wise man once said, ‘sometimes you gotta go all the way’.”

  ‘Now he’s just spewing basic information!’ Shakar thought. ‘This was a prime opportunity to find that hidden room. However, thanks to this meathead it looks like I’ll have to put that on hold for now. No worries, no worries, there’s always an opportunity in every setback.’

  Abbas looked over at the coated woman and the two gray haired men, “Johnny, Sunshine, Sammy, you two see these folks back to Haven and ensure Prime Hill is secure.”

  “Yes sir!” the three nodded and boarded the train. Spit-take tapped the window of the driver, swirling his finger around to which the conductor nodded and backed the subway up, and disappearing back into the tunnel.

  Abbas looked back to the group, “The rest of us, we know our assignment. Mr. Holdover, Shakar, I shall inform you on the way.”

  Xole looked around at the group. Despite everyone being there, he couldn’t help but feel jittery.

  ‘It’s just me.’ He told himself, ‘Remember, these guys need me, there willing to help me…’ he looked behind him to Mr. Holdover and Shakar, then forward to the Groundhogs. He then moved ahead with the group, led by Abbas.

  “The night is young,” he said. “Let us see its age.”

  ...

  The Head Precinct was undergoing a lively night. Constant phone ringing occupied the rows of Blue Collard cubicles while workers ran back and forth between them, talking over each other for information. Other officers were coming in and out constantly. Anastasia watched alongside officer Bennis.

  “This place is rather active tonight,” She said, “Did you find any more leads?”

  “No,” the cop answered, “But we did get another batch of suspects in who need to be checked. Not to mention this is the first night we’ve had in a while to strike back and really shake down these homeless.” He smirked, “That and our special prison transfer from this very precinct later tonight. But y’know, that’s a six star precinct for you.”

  “Pathetic,” she scoffed. “Just have the addict ready to move in an hour.”

  The cop grimaced but before he could say anything a Blue Collared worker with neatly parted brown hair at their front waved them down. “Chief, uh, Miss Rosa, you need to see this!”

  The two went over to the man’s computer and he pointed to the corner of the screen. “We’ve just received a call for backup from car 235. He says his unit ran into some Talented causing trouble on the highway.”

  Bennis leaned in, “That’s the van that dropped off a few guys here,” he said, “The one headed out of state!”

  Anastasia stared at the screen, “You mean the same van you approved for deployment despite the incident beforehand in which one of your men was stabbed by a homeless man with a reverse anesthetic?”

  “There were unknown complications!”

  “How can you be so giddy about your upcoming prison transfer when you couldn’t even handle this one?” the woman asked.

  “This one’s a high priority!” Bennis snapped, “You and I both know who’s on board!”

  She stared at him.

  Bennis hunched his shoulders, directing his attention back at the Blue Collar. “If that’s all, then I’ll request an immediate pickup from the Western Precinct. We’ll round those folks up that way”

  “Sir, that’s not all,” The man said, “This was from four hours ago.”

  Anastasia squinted. “Four hours?”

  “I-it’s not on purpose!” The Blue Collar put his hands up. “The core communication was cut and the emergency one doesn’t activate until several hours of inactivity has passed. I swear that’s the truth!”

  “Relax, Martin,” Bennis said, “You’re not being interrogated.”

  “Not yet,” Anastasia said, eyeing him. She folded her arms. “Do we have an idea of the escapees? Any with notable criminal records?”

  “Well many came from that shelter so I can assume so,” the Collared man known as Martin replied, typing away. He pulled up a multitude of screens and pointed to the top. “This here is inside footage from the shelter’s entrance. As we can see, here’s everyone going outside and if you can direct your attention into the twelve vans under—”

  “Stop right there,” Anastasia said, “Play the front entrance footage again.”

  Complying with the woman, he let the footage run until she put her finger on the screen.

  “Stop,” She said.

  Martin quickly paused the screen. He and Bennis got a better look at the fuzzy footage. Two men, one’s skin darker than the others, in flannel shirts walked out in cuffs, the darker skinned man wearing a strange hat.

  “I can’t believe it,” Martin said.

  “You know these two?” Bennis asked.

  “No, but who would wear a kufi with a flannel? That’s just awful!”

  “These two…” Anastasia growled. Bennis could see her nails digging into the desk.

  “But there’s even more!” the desk worker said, “The bank also had a—”

  Anastasia grabbed the man by his collar, pulling him close and pointing to the two on screen, “Location. Now.”

  “Fourth exit at the west most ramp from the downtown metro area, you can’t miss it!” he squeaked. He held out a few sheets of paper in his shaky hand. “I’ll even give you a printout in case you forget—”

  Snatching the sheet, the woman turned tail and made her way out of the room. Bennis quickly followed, “Hey, where you going? We still have a prisoner transfer in an hour!”

  “Leave it to my unit,” She said.

  Bennis’s head shot to Andre and Jacklyn, who both lay asleep on the couch. “They’re useless!” he cried.

  “I know.” She went outside and hopped on her bike. “Keep bothering me and it will take longer for me to get back. Understood, officer Bennis?”

  The police chief didn’t even know what happened but he agreed. She sped away just as Martin ran out with another sheet of paper. “Miss Rosa, wait!” he called.

  Bennis turned back to him, “Hey, why aren’t you own your post?” he demanded.

  “Oh, sorry chief!” the man said. “But it was the bank. I’ve just received word it was the Emperial city bank that was broken into, sir. Evidence shows signs of excessive force were used for entry.”

  Bennis looked over the printout. He threw the sheet to the ground in anger and stomped his foot. “Damn it! That stupid woman!”

  “Shh!” the desk worker said. “She might hear you!”

  “Ah, shoot me!” the frustrated man retorted storming back inside. Officer Strongarm was coming from the opposite way.

  “Bennis!” he said. “My friend you look like you slept on the couch last night!”

  “Spare me, please,” The cop said. “We’ve got two incidents taking place in the city including a potential bank heist and our ‘boss’ just left to handle a couple of randoms! All before the multi-prisoner transfer which is supposed to be in—” he checked his watch. “—fifty minutes! So yes I am a little disgruntled at the moment!”

  “A bank heist!” the mustached cop exclaimed. “Well certainly not on my watch!” he put his hands on the other man’s shoulders. “Bennis, do we not have six stars to our name?”

  “Soon to be seven,” he nodded.

  “Then, you make sure that transfer goes through. I’ll deal with our gold diggers in the vault!”

  “S-Strongarm I…” the cop began, “I don’t know what to say.”

  “You don’t need to say anything! I’ll have my unit on the road in the next sixty seconds!”

  “But your unit…isn’t it a little excessive for something like this? It’s still a somewhat private corporation and we don’t need all that collateral.”

  Strongarm laughed, leaving. “If I remember, I’ll tell the boys to go easy.”