White Shadows

Chapter 22 - A Cry For Help In A World Gone Mad

***LUCA***

"How the hell did I get involved in this?" Gideon mutters to himself as he paces the warehouse floor.

"Not by choice, that's for damn sure," Russell says. "Not entirely, anyway."

"You're at perfect liberty to return home whenever you like," Jasmine says, glowering at Gideon, "but we can't guarantee you'll have a home to return to for much longer!"

I clear my throat and hold out the phone I borrowed from Russell. He takes it back, then I turn my back on hi and return to the others, who are still huddled near the broken door.

Mattia peers around the corner. I follow her lead, seeing the mushroom cloud from the ultralight bomb still smoking a few miles west of us. There's no more heat or shock wave, but the light continues to shine behind the smoke.

"There better not be any radiation from that shit," she says.

"I don't think so," Kensi says as she sidles on up to us. "I've heard of these ultralight things before. No radiation - it just relies on big-bada-boom overload to kill people."

"So..." I muse, moving back around the corner and sitting next to the girls. "Where do we go from here?"

"Wherever your friend Alex is," Mattia says. "I'm thinking we should combine all our forces."

"He must be back in the Prime 'Verse," I say, thinking back to the short conversation we had. "He knew about the bomb. He must've seen it too, wherever he is."

"Weren't they supposed to be up at Tahoe or something?" asks Kensi. "They must've come through that portal thing too, then."

"If only we had a computer to GPS-track Annie's phone with," I say. "Unless...wait, does she have an iPhone or Galaxy or whatever?"

"I don't think so," Mattia says. "I think she and Russell use burn phones. Off-brand models."

"Doesn't that just mean it's harder to track 'em?" I ask. "But not impossible?"

"Maybe," she says. "I think. I dunno."

Russell crosses the floor and returns to us. "Annie, you're back on," he says, holding his phone out like we're in a business room making a conference call. "Where are you guys?"

"Uh...Miralo, I think," she says. "Lucky us, we found our way to Alex and Gabe's aunt and uncle."

"Yeah," Park butts in, "'cept Alex's uncle kinda shot him. And Juliet. And Annie."

"What the fuck?" I whisper. It had to be an accident, right?

"Miralo..." Gideon mutters. "That's a little ways east of where we are. We could probably get to you guys in an hour or so, maybe?"

"Try an hour and a half if you don't get stuck in traffic," jokes Alex.

"Which there might be a lot of right now," I say.

In the background on the other end, I hear a string of staccato popping noises, which can only be from a gun. Coming after said noises is a loud whoop of laughter. I'm thinking that's the twins' uncle. His aim better have improved, that's all I'm saying.

"Are the scrivs still coming?" I ask, feeling stupid for doing so.

"Duh," says Gabe. "So if you guys wanna come join us, be prepared to get into a fight."

"Where exactly are you guys?" Russell asks.

Two voices - one of which, I think, is Alex's, with the other being a woman's voice I don't recognize - talk for a second. Then I hear the woman give an address.