The Strays

Chapter Eight

"Cae? Quit messing about. We need to get back." Ty's words echoed through the tunnel. "I'm not kidding. I get that you're annoyed, but now really isn't the right time to throw a bitch fit." As he exited the tunnel, he looked around. I wasn't anywhere in sight. He scanned the area. While canvassing the immediate vicinity, he noticed something rather strange, a graffiti tag that wasn't there before.

"What's going on? Where's the girl?" Colt called to his friend as he appeared from the tunnel, but Ty didn't take notice. He was too absorbed in trying to work out the meaning behind the tag. Colt tapped him on the shoulder. "Didn't you hear me? I was calling you. Where's Indie?" He looked over to see what Ty was so fixated on. "Fuck. This is bad news."

Ty's head whipped around and he slammed Colt, head first, into the wall. "What do you know, asshole?" 

The boy coughed, gasping for air as Ty tightened his grip. Colt tapped the wall desperately, and the older boy let go. Air rushed into his lungs and he choked slightly on the intake. Once he had his breath back, he explained himself. "That is the mark of Trojans, Wraith, to be exact. I made his acquaintance when Rocky grabbed me. I was passing through his territory. The Scavengers and Trojans have a pact, an alliance, but it's completely off the records. Nobody outside of this sector knows about it."

Ty walked away, toward the direction of the fresh tyre tracks that he'd noticed. Colt grabbed his arm, but he ripped it away. "I'm going to get her. I came along because I was supposed to stop something like this happening, except I lost sight of that when I was dumb enough to let you make me doubt her. If we go back alone, Leo, Stitch and Linc won't forgive me."

"It's what he wants, us trying to save her. If he didn't, he would've killed her and left the body for us to find. Indie is safe, she’s bait. They took her alive for a reason. That's a positive thing, I know because that’s how Wraith works. The moment we chase after her, all bets are off, which is why we need to regroup and form a strategy of our own. The only thing you can do for her is get reinforcements." Colt explained.

Ty knew the kid was right and sighed, doubling back toward the tunnel. "Fine, we'll head back and get some support, but I'm not giving up on her. Indie may be a pain in the arse and, if you tell anyone I said this next part, you're dead, but she's a lot like family to me. That means we're getting her back. Now tell me everything you know about Wraith and his crew."

The boys both made it back to The Paragon in one piece, Linc and Leo both relieved to see Ty, Drew not so much.

"Where the fuck is Indie? You were supposed to be looking out for her!" He snapped.

"I know, I get it.. We fucked up big time." 

"What went wrong? You've been missing for over a week." Drew demanded.

"Our Scavenger source stabbed us in the back. We got caught, almost ended up meeting Delilah and her Enforcers, but because of Indie, we escaped. On our way back, I scouted ahead with Colt. She was missing when I tried to go back for her." 

Drew jumped on him, pinning him to the floor as Leo and Linc tried to tear them apart. "What do you mean by gone, asshole? What happened to her?"

Colt stepped in, helping Ty to his feet. "Wraith has your friend. We came back to work on a plan to rescue her, but we can't do that if everyone kills each other first."

Drew was quiet as he looked at the person everyone had been searching for. 

"Why is he looking at me like that?" Colt wondered.

"I’m trying to work out what is so special about you that Caelyn would risk her life to get to you before Delilah, who apparently wants you just as bad."