All Chapters of Eternal Cage: King of Ash: Chapter 81
- Chapter 90
107 chapters
Chapter Eighty one
Six months passed in the blink of an eye. Just like that.The cabin sat at the edge of a frozen lake in northern British Columbia, so far from anything that the nearest town was a three-hour snowmobile ride through trees that all looked the same. We'd found it through resistance contacts, a place so remote that even satellites had trouble spotting it through the canopy.Winter had settled in deep by the time we arrived. Snow up to the windows. Temperatures that made your breath freeze before it left your mouth. The kind of cold that got into your bones and stayed there.We'd spent the first month just surviving. Chopping wood. Melting snow for water. Learning how to live without stores or roads or any of the things normal people took for granted.The kids adapted faster than any of us.Maja took to the cold like she'd been born in it. She'd go outside in weather that would kill a normal person, build snow forts, make snow angels, come back in with cheeks red and eyes bright."She's par
Chapter Eighty two
We didn't sleep after that call.The cabin went from quiet to something else real fast. Caiman was already at the door looking through the crack at the trees. Borealis had his tablet out typing away trying to trace where the call came from. Elena stood in the middle of the room with her arms crossed just watching me.Kenji hadn't moved from the window. He still had Leo in his arms staring out at the dark."We need to move," Caiman said. "Now. Tonight."I shook my head. "Moving at night through those woods with the kids? We wouldn't make it a mile.""We can't stay here.""I know." I looked at Borealis. "What did you find?"He held up the tablet. "The call bounced through three relays. Satellites and corporate servers. They're not even trying to hide anymore.""Where did it come from?"He zoomed in on the map. "Washington D.C. A building owned by something called the Phoenix Group."Elena stepped closer. "Phoenix?""New name, same people?" Borealis scrolled through files. "They've been
Chapter Eighty three
We moved through the woods for three days before we found a place to stop.It was an old hunting cabin more beat down than the last one. The roof was half caved in and the windows were busted out. But it had walls and it had cover and right now that was enough for us.Caiman went in first. His big frame filled the doorway as he checked every corner. When he came back out he just nodded once and we moved the kids inside.Leo was asleep on Kenji's back. The kid had stopped asking where we were going. He just held on and closed his eyes and trusted that Kenji would keep him safe. Maja walked beside Elena with her small hand wrapped tight around Elena's fingers. Lars stayed close to me not touching but near enough that I could feel him there like a shadow.We got them settled in the back room. It was the one with the least broken windows. Elena spread out blankets she'd carried for two days. Maja lay down first and Lars curled up next to her. Leo didn't want to let go of Kenji's neck.Ken
Chapter Eighty four
The cabin we found after running from the cave was worse than the last one. The roof was leaking. The door didn't close properly. Wind came through the it like they weren't even there. But it was far enough from everything. The satellite trucks couldn't find us and for now that was a huge deal for us Borealis had been staring at his tablet for fourteen hours.I knew because I counted. I walked past him several times but his eyes didn't move. They were fixated on the screen. His face was serious. His fingers kept scrolling and scrolling.Kenji noticed. He came and stood next to me by the window.Kenji kept his voice low. "How long?""Fourteen hours. Maybe more."His jaw tightened. "He's going to burn out.""He's looking for something."Elena came out of the back room where the kids were sleeping. She walked over to Borealis and put her hand on his shoulder."Borealis."He didn't look up.She said his name again. Louder. Squeezed his shoulder.He flinched. Looked up. His eyes were red
Chapter Eighty five
We didn't sleep after that phone call.No one suggested it, and no one said we should. We were all sitting in the dark with the weight of twenty-four hours pressing down on us like a hand on our chests as the fire died and the wind tore at the walls.With his tablet plugged into a portable battery pack, Borealis was back at work. The speed of his fingers had reduced. Every few minutes, he would stop, rub his eyes, stare blankly, and then continue.Kenji sat on the floor with his back to the wall. He was not wiping his knife, even though he had it out. He was simply holding it, flipping it over in his hands, and watching the blade catch the scant light from the fire.As usual, Caiman was at the door. His eyes were fixed on the darkness outside, and the majority of the wind was blocked by his body.Borealis and Elena were seated at the table. She now had a tablet of her own that we had taken from the station before it blew. She was working with data, maps, and lines that connected citie
Chapter Eighty six
The truck stopped at dawn in the middle of nowhere. Trees and snow and a road that didn't go anywhere. Caiman turned the engine off and sat there with his hands on the wheel.Borealis was on his tablet again. Face gray. He hadn't slept. None of us had.Kenji was in the back with the kids. Leo curled against him half asleep. Maja looking out the window. Lars had his eyes closed but wasn't sleeping.Elena turned around from the front. Eyes red. Dark circles under them.She said "We can't keep driving. They're tracking us. They found the cabin. They found the cave. They'll find wherever we go next."I said "So what do we do?"She shook her head. "I don't know!"The truck went quiet. Just wind and Borealis's fingers on the screen.Then Leo talked.Eyes still closed. He said it quietly like he was talking in his sleep. "You don't hit all of them."Kenji looked down. "What?"Leo opened his eyes. Sat up slow. Rubbed his face. Looked at Kenji. Then me. Then Elena."The centers. You don't hit
Chapter Eighty seven
The bunker was cold when we got there. Dark too. Elena found it in the database. Old resistance place from before everything went bad. Built into the side of a mountain. One way in and one way out. The kids didn't complain. They never did.We had been there for the past three days and Kenji just came back from scouting. He walked in with snow on his shoulders while carrying Leo in his arms. Leo had run out to meet him at the door so Kenji picked him up. He did not say anything. He just held him. Leo's face was red from the cold but he was smiling.Elena was at the table with the maps. Borealis was on his tablet. Maja was sitting on the floor with Lars. They were drawing something with sticks on the concrete. I was by the door.Kenji put Leo down and walked over to the table.He said "The routes are good. We hit them in two days."Elena nodded. "Caiman checked in. His route is solid. Mine too."Kenji said "Then we do it."Leo walked over to Kenji and tugged his sleeve.He said "Uncle Ke
Chapter Eighty eight
The bunker was silent after the lights came back on.Evelyn Voss stood at the door with her gun pointed at Kenji's chest. She wasn't alone. Three figures were behind her in the dark. Same black gear. Same blank faces. Gen-2s. Her pets.Leo was pressed against Kenji's leg. Maja had her arms around Lars. Elena was between the kids and Voss. Borealis was frozen on his tablet. Caiman wasn't here. He was still out on his route.I counted the seconds in my head. Seven left. Six. Five.Kenji said "You shoot me, my people outside take you down before you get two steps."Voss smiled. "You don't have people outside. You have one man on a route in America, one woman in Europe, one boy who can't fight, one girl who's too scared to move and a scientist who's never fired a gun in his life."She looked at Borealis. Borealis didn't move.Four seconds.I stepped forward. "What do you really want?"She looked at me. "I told you. The children.""You could have taken them already. You didn't. You came
Chapter Eighty nine
The warehouse sat at the edge of Berlin. Gray building with no windows. One door for trucks and one door for people. Borealis had the schematics on his tablet. Four guards outside and eight inside. Cameras every twenty feet.Kenji killed the engine three blocks away. Rain was falling but not heavily.Leo was in the back seat. He was not supposed to be there. None of the kids were. But after Vienna, Leo refused to stay behind. He said he could help. He said he was tired of hiding. Kenji argued with him for an hour and then gave up.Elena turned around from the passenger seat. "Leo. You stay in the truck no matter what."Leo nodded. "I know.""If you hear anything you hide.""I know."Kenji looked at him in the rearview. "I mean it."Leo looked back. "I know Uncle Kenji."We got out. Rain was on my face and it was cold. Borealis had the charges in his backpack. Caiman was already at the fence cutting through the chain link.Kenji took point and I followed. Elena was behind me and Boreal
Chapter Ninety
The warehouse outside Warsaw was supposed to be empty. Borealis found it in the files Voss gave us. A holding facility where they kept executives sometimes. Safe rooms and escape routes. The kind of place where rich people wait when things go bad.Caiman parked the truck behind some old shipping containers. Rain again. It was always raining now.Kenji turned to Leo in the back seat. "You stay here. No matter what you hear."Leo looked at him and his mouth opened like he wanted to say something. Then he closed it. He just nodded. He stopped arguing after Berlin.We got out. Borealis had the schematics and Elena had the tranq gun and Caiman had the door.The place was small. One floor and six rooms and four guards. Borealis said the target was in room four. A man named Dietrich. Head of European distribution. Number seven on the Phoenix chain.Caiman took the first guard and did it quiet. Kenji took the second. I took the third. Elena took the fourth. Nobody made a sound.We moved to ro