The Final Showdown - The Moon Trilogy - Book 3

Chapter six:

Clarity was relieved to find that this safe-house was actually lit up. There was no need to search around for a light switch, and they were able to immediately start their inspection of the building with only the light from the huge windows set high up on the walls.

Of course, it was approaching twilight, so they turned on the huge industrial lights anyway, despite not particularly needing to. They might be searching long enough for it to come in handy.

Although it looked as if someone had been there recently, there was no sign of someone there at the moment.

All of the weaponry that might have proved for sure that it truly was a safe house was gone. There was no food. There was practically nothing.

Had they gotten the location wrong on accident? That seemed rather unlikely.

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, a sack of something loud and heavy was dropped on Scarlett, who instantly crumpled under the weight, and it was evident that she wasn't getting up again any time soon.

Clarity jumped forward, trying to reach both Johnny and Scarlett at the same time to get them out, but she wasn't even able to reach one before a rope came out of nowhere in the form of a lasso's loop, restraining her arms. She could easily teleport away, but not without leaving Johnny and Scarlett behind.

"Well, well, well. Lookie what we have here." A man said, stepping from behind a wide pillar. "A group of raiders tryin' to steal our loot." He had dark hair that fell down to partially cover his matching eyes that held a strangely evil glare. Several more figures melted out of the shadows behind him.

They all seemed to be dressed in rags; things that didn't fit quite right or were otherwise tattered and unfit for use.

"You don't understand, we're not here to steal your stuff." Clarity objected hastily. "We were looking for someone, and we thought that he might be here." She hoped that the man would believe her, but his face was impossible to read.

Johnny glanced at her, then down at Scarlett, then he put his hands in the air, though he wasn't bound like she was, or knocked out like Scarlett. It was a smart move. Trying to go up against such a large pack of obviously desperate people wasn't a wise call.

"I don't believe you." The man said after a long pause, then he flicked his head in their direction, prompting the people behind him to rush forward, holding bits of rope and chain, as well as locks and zip-ties—pretty much anything long enough to tie in a knot. They were making a terrible amount of noise as they whooped and hollered their way across the room.

Pretty soon, the three of them were tied up so tight that not even a miracle could break through every bit and piece of their bindings. The strongest of the scavenger people hefted them up in bruising grips and started carrying them away.

It wasn't more than a few minutes before they reached their destination, which was a plain, ordinary-looking room. The only thing that separated it from every other room in the building was the fact that it had a very large and very unbreakable lock.

They were shoved inside, and due to the fact that her arms weren't free, she broke her fall using mostly her face. A guard came with them into the room, armed with a very deadly-looking gun, and then the door was closed. Clarity didn't teleport or even move very much for fear that Johnny or Scarlett would get hurt.

"Now what?" she asked, rolling slightly so that her mouth wasn't smudged into the floor. She strained to see Johnny, who was also lying flat on the ground.

"I don't know, but even if I did, I wouldn't tell you, because we have company," Johnny said, his strained voice confirming that he wasn't in a very nice position. He grunted, and there was shuffling as he shifted positions.