The Pulse Series (Book 1): Pulse Read online

  I spent the next fifteen minutes awkwardly trying to wrap a bandage around my chest. There wasn't much you could do for broken ribs except keep pressure on them. Once I was done I pulled out a light tank top and carefully slipped it on over my underwear. It was cool though the night, but I hate the way blankets tangle around my body when I'm sleeping so I try to wear as little as possible. I pulled out the book I had been reading and closed the wardrobe door. I lay down on my mattress and allowed myself to relax for the first time since I'd left the house that day.

  Once I had settled down into be I noticed a small lump of pressure in my chest that was on the verge of being painful. I took a few deep breaths and coughed a few times, but the pressure was still there when I was done. Probably something to do with the fall. I decided to ignore it and hope it went away. It wasn't like I had the money to go to the hospital anyway, especially for something as vague as chest pains.

  As I sat reading my eyes began to get heavy, and soon I was dozing on my bed. A scream followed by a loud crack tore me from sleep. I jumped up and ran to the door, opening it and rushing out into the living room. I saw my mom on her back in the center of the room, the broken pieces of the table lying around her. She was giggling like a child.

  My mom turned to look at Chuck who was laughing from his position on the couch. "You were right. I guess it wouldn't hold my weight!"

  "For god's sake, mom, do you know how long it took me to get that thing in here?" I had spent hours pulling that thing down from where I had found it on the thirteenth floor. I don't know why I bothered trying to do anything that would make this place nicer. I should have learned by now that it was pointless.

  I felt eyes, and looked up to Chuck who was staring at me over his shoulder with his mouth open. I looked down at myself, remembering what I was wearing, and looked back up at Chuck with my cheeks filling red. He was shaking as he stared at me, and for a moment I wondered what was wrong with him, but then I realized what he was doing. I gagged and ran back to my room, slamming the door shut behind me and trying to ignore my mother's laughter. I locked the deadbolt and ran to my bed, throwing myself under the sheet as the tears came to my eyes.

  I looked up to the clock on the wall and saw that it was midnight. I turned and let the tears flow. It wouldn't be the first time I cried myself to sleep.

  THREE

  I threw a rock at the poster on the wall. The large block letters read 'Report suspicious activity'. Underneath the letters was an image of the ruins of the Washington monument. I shook my and looked away from the image and back down at the boy sitting next to me.

  Trey held out a brown paper bag. "Happy birthday."

  I frowned at him, then down at the box. After a few seconds my brain kicked in and my eyebrows went up. "It's the eighth?"

  Trey grinned. "Yep."

  I let out a breath. "Wow. I almost didn't notice." I shook my head and took the gift. "Thanks."

  He shook his head. "It's nothing."

  Trey had been my friend ever since the first day of high school, and was the only person I still saw on a regular basis since I dropped out. He was taller than me, but that wasn't hard, and was well built for a teenager. I guess I was too as we had a similar workout schedule of climbing and running, but the biological fact of his testosterone made his frame much thicker than mine. He kept his brown hair clipped close to his head.

  Trey nodded toward the bag. "Open it up."

  I opened the bag and pulled out a medium sized butterfly knife. My eyes lit up at the sight of the thing, and a small squeal might have escaped from my throat. I grinned up at Trey and punched him on the shoulder. "Where did you get this?"

  "Friend of a friend. Don't worry about it."

  I raised an eyebrow at him. "You didn't spend money on this, did you?"

  He snorted. "Please."

  I nodded my thanks and flipped the knife around a few times, careful not to catch my fingers in the blade, before sliding it into the back pocket of my jeans.

  We were standing out the back of an old abandoned warehouse, our usual meeting place. It was messy, and you could still hear the sounds of the city around us, but if you blocked your ears and stared up at the sky it kind of felt like you were out in the country somewhere. Not that I knew what the country was like first hand, mind you, but I had seen TV shows and got the gist of it.

  "You got anything new?"

  Trey's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. "Actually, yeah." I reached across my body to grab the passport I had in my pocket, and winced as a spike of pain ran down my side.

  Trey frowned. "What's wrong?"

  I shook my head. "It's nothing. Just took a bit of a fall."

  "Show me."

  I sighed, but relented. Trey was a pain in the ass about this kind of thing, and wouldn't let up until I gave in. I wasn't in the mood for taunting him today, so lifted the side of my shirt to show the bandages underneath.

  Trey sucked in a breath though his teeth. "Shit, Alex. That's bad. You should go to a hospital. Looks like your ribs are broken."

  I shook my head. "No point. Hospital can't do much for ribs."

  "They could give you something for the pain."

  I barked out laughter. "Yeah. That's what I can afford to spend money on. Pain meds."

  He grimaced, but nodded conceding the point. I lowered my shirt and pulled the passport from my pocket, handing it to him.

  He flicked the small book open and raised his eyes. "Australian. Nice. This will get you a couple hundred probably."

  "Can you pass it off to your uncle?"

  Trey nodded and slid the passport into his backpack. I felt a small pang as the prize disappeared from view, but shook it off. I could trust Trey. He was the only person I'd ever met who hadn't tried to take something from me.

  "So, what do you want to do for your sixteenth birthday?"

  I grinned up at him. "Oh you know me. The usual."

  ***

  I set my now heavier backpack down on the ground and sat watching the kids play in the park. Trey sat down next to me, his once empty pockets on his cargo pants full of stolen property.

  Being a solo pickpocket was a fine way to make a living, but having a partner made everything so simpler. Instead of waiting for and capturing the perfect opportunity you had the ability to create your own. We had been out for most of the day, and the sun was starting to head toward the horizon. We would only be able to sit here for half an hour before heading back to our corner of the city. It wasn't wise to be caught out after dark.

  As I lay there watching I became aware of the pain in my chest again. It had gotten worse through the night, but wasn't anything that caused me anything more than mild discomfort. The thought of pain in my chest caused me to remember something, and I glanced at Trey out of the corner of my eye. "How's your mom doing?"

  I saw him wince then quickly school his face into a nonchalant expression. "She's fine."

  I frowned, but didn't press the issue. His mom had gotten a cough a few months beforehand that had steadily gotten worse since. The last time I'd seen her, two weeks ago, there had been flecks of blood in the tissues she help up to her mouth. What I'd said about spending money on medicine was just as relevant for Trey. The medical system in this country had never been good, but ever since Washington fell, health insurance premiums had skyrocketed leaving even most middle-class people without the safety net.

  I looked over to the kids playing on the playground nearby to force myself to relax. Getting angry at the system was useless. People are greedy. They always have been and they always will be. Any way to manipulate a situation into profits can and will be exploited by those in a position to do so. Letting it get me down wouldn't help anything.

  After a few more minutes Trey stood and offered me a hand. I took it and rose, gathering up my things. After Trey made sure nothing had fallen out of his pockets the two of us started walking.

  In front of us there was a small mobile activity spot set up on the sidewalk. T
wo military police officers sat behind a table. Behind them was another of the posters I had seen earlier. Report suspicious activity.

  As we walked we passed one of the officers glared at us. I would have been offended, but it was hard to get to uppity about police mistrusting you when you had actually just committed crime. I set my eyes back on the path but the second officer stood up and held a hand out.

  "You guys got a few minutes?"

  I winced, but Trey turned to smile at him. "Certainly officer, but only a few. My sister and I need to get home before dark."

  The officer who was still sitting snorted. "Sister? You expect me to believe the two of you are related? You've got about two feet of difference in height between you, and she's got the reddest hair I've ever seen."

  "Now now, Jim, if they say they're brother and sister I'm going to believe them until it's proven otherwise." The man turned back to us with a smile. "My name's John. You kids seen anything unusual today?"

  Trey shook his head. "No, sir. Nothing out of the ordinary."

  "You sure about that? No people hanging around where they shouldn't be?"

  Jim snorted again. "John, they have probably been hanging around where they shouldn't be. Let them on their way."

  John frowned down at his partner, but smiled again when he looked up at us. "Okay, you kids best get home now, but you be sure to tell us if you see any suspicious activity."

  Trey nodded, and I gave the man a small smile. The two of us turned and walked away from the pair.

  Although not an unusual sight in the city, that had been the first time I had been stopped by the military police. They set up their little mobile stations around the place under the guise of being ready to take any reports from the ever watchful public. Most people I knew thought they were there to try and make anyone in the area think twice about committing any crime. It couldn't be a coincidence that they were usually only set up around the upper class areas. I had never seen one anywhere near where I live.

  "Why do you keep rubbing your chest?"

  I turned to look at Trey in confusion, but realized that I was indeed rubbing at my chest. I shrugged and looked forward again. "Something to do with my ribs, I think."

  "You okay?"

  I nodded. "I'll be fine in a few days."

  We walked in silence for a few more minutes before Trey spoke up again. "Medicine prices suck, huh?"

  I frowned at looked up at him. He looked a little too nonchalant. "Yeah. They sure do."

  We walked in silence for another few minutes while I waited from him to continue. Just when I thought he wasn't going to say any more he turned to me.

  "If medical care were cheaper you could get your ribs looked at."

  I nodded, but then shrugged. "It is what it is, though. No point thinking about it."

  Trey nodded, but his lips twisted. I wasn't sure he was going to come out with it, so I tried to poke.

  "Your mom could probably get some treatment too."

  Trey looked up at me and opened his mouth to reply, but no sound came out. He sighed and gave a nod of his head. "The military."

  I raised an eyebrow at him. "What about them?"

  "They have the equipment for this kind of thing. They have doctors."

  I shrugged. "Sure, but not here."

  "But if I joined…"

  I looked up at him in shock. "You're thinking of joining the military?"

  Trey started to shake his head, but then he shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know. Just seems like it's a pretty easy thing to do these days."

  I sighed. "You may be right, but you're forgetting one thing."

  "What's that?"

  I turned to look him in the eyes. "Freedom. If you join the military you have to do what they say, when they say it. You know the minimum term for enlisting is fifteen years. Can you give up the next fifteen years of your life?"

  Trey shrugged. "When the alternative is this? Living like dogs and treated worse. Where is the freedom in that?"

  I sighed and looked away. Trey had obviously been giving this some thought, and I didn't think I would be able to sway his mind with logic. I tried for a more emotional argument. "Could you say goodbye to your mother? How about your little sister?"

  Trey winced and I knew I had hit a sore spot. His mom had been relying on the money Trey brought home to feed the family. Without him there to not only provide for, but protect them…? Well, some things are better left not thought about.

  "Okay," Trey said, shaking his head. "It was a dumb idea anyway."

  I put a hand on his shoulder. "Look, I don't think trying to provide for your family is a bad thing. I just think that there are other ways to go about it."

  Trey snorted. "Yeah, petty crime. That's really bringing in the big bucks."

  I frowned at him. Trey was the positive one. This was out of character for him, which could only mean one thing. This whole conversation had been about something.

  I stopped dead and stared at him. "What is this about?"

  He stopped and looked at me in confusion. After a few seconds he dropped the act and gave me a half smile. "Never could slip anything past you."

  I raised my eyes and waited.

  "I have a proposition for you."

  I frowned as I ran through the implications. "You have something. Something big maybe. You knew I wouldn't like it though, so you tried to manipulate me into feeling sorry for you."

  Trey winced. "Manipulate is a strong word."

  "I call a tree a tree."

  "Look, it's not like—"

  I held up a hand. "Just spit it out. What's the proposition?"

  Trey looked like he wanted to argue some more, but thought better of it and gestured toward a nearby bench. I sat and, once he had done the same, waited from him to speak.

  "I recently came across some… knowledge."

  I raised my eyebrows. "Knowledge?"

  Trey nodded. "I learned of the location of a large sum of cash."

  I shrugged and pointed at a nearby bank. "There's cash right in there. Doesn't mean much to us out here."

  "This cash if off the grid. Not in a secure location like a bank. No police presence."

  I paused to consider that. Then considered who Trey knew. I turned back to him with my eyes wide. "This is Syndicate, isn't it?"

  Trey winced and held up a hand to run through the hair on the back of his head. "Look, I know what you're thinking. It's risky, but it's a good score. It's the kind of score that will change our lives. I can get my family medical care, and you can finally leave your mom's house. Hell you might even be able to leave the city." Trey sighed and looked me in the eyes. "This is the kind of thing we've been waiting for."

  The Syndicate were what passed for a drug ring since the military shut most of the old ones down. It was pretty much more of the same, but they had no headquarters and no single structure. They operated in cells like terrorist organizations to make sure that if any were caught they wouldn't be able to give away anyone else. They were bad news to be involved with, let alone steal from. These people had no qualms about putting a bullet in their own to stay hidden.

  I took a few minutes to think it through before deciding. I noticed I was rubbing my chest again. The pressure in my chest was edging into pain territory. I looked up at Trey. "You were right." He smiled down at me, but I shook my head. "I don't like this."

  Trey opened his mouth to respond, but I cut him off. "You think that you can get away with robbing the mafia? Are you brain dead? Even talking about this kind of thing is enough to catch you a ride to the bottom of a lake." I sighed and shook my head. "I get where you're coming from, Trey, I really do, but this isn't the way to go about it."

  "Then what is?"

  There was no venom in his voice. It was a simple question. I shook my head. "I don't know. But I can't. I'm sorry."

  Trey took a few seconds before he sighed and stood up, turning to offer me a hand. "I knew it was a long shot. No point in pushing the point, if you're really
that against it?"

  I nodded. "I am."

  He shook his head and smiled down at me. "Then that's that. Come on let's get you home. It's starting to get dark."

  I smiled and started walking with him. "Trey?"

  He turned to me an raised and eyebrow. "Yeah?"

  "Don't do it."

  Trey considered me for a few seconds, before turning away. "Sorry. I can't promise that."

  I sighed and nodded. There wasn't any point in saying anything else.

  The two of us walked the rest of the way home in silence.

  FOUR

  I woke to a banging noise.

  I frowned at the sound for a few moments, but when the fog of sleep lifted I realized someone was knocking on my door. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and stretched my arms. My lamp was off, but I could make out my room well enough with the dull glow coming through my window from the street below. A glace up to my clock revealed it was four in the morning.

  My chest was killing me. The pressure had gotten worse before I'd gone to sleep, and now it was starting to effect my breathing. I took a few shallow breaths to try to minimize the pain when the banging on my door started again.

  "Mom, I'm sleeping, go away." I rolled back over, turning my back to the door. The banging increased in volume so I dragged myself out of bed and walked over to the door. When she was in one of these moods I just had to talk to her. If I ignored it she would be banging at my door all night. I opened the lock and swung the door open, blinding myself with the light from the hallway. "Look, mom, I'm not in the mood tonight—"

  A hand reached through the doorway and pushed me hard on the chest. I stumbled back and lost my footing, falling to the floor.

  "What the heck, Mom, do you have to be such a psycho?"

  "Your Mom's passed out in the living room," Chuck's voice said as he stepped into my room, pulling the door closed behind him. I could make our his grin in the dull light coming in from the window. "You and me? We're all alone."

  My stomach felt like it had dropped out from beneath me, and for a moment I thought I was going to throw up. My vision blurred, but I focused my mind and waited for Chuck to move.