“What took you so long?”

  Hunter walked over to the stranger and shook his hand. “We ran into a minor issue.”

  “You always do.” The man removed the hood, a wide smile across his face. It was Thad. “Well, that was a wild time, huh?”

  Ella stepped forward. “Wild isn’t quite what I would call it.”

  “Good point. Now let’s look at this thing before the Hawker tracks you down.”

  “Hawkers are the least of our problems.” Hunter pulled a key that hung from a chain around his neck and unlocked the door. When they were inside, he locked the door and slid the four deadbolts in place.

  Ella’s eyebrows raised. “A little paranoid, aren’t you?”

  Thad patted Hunter’s shoulder. “I like her.”

  “Of course you do.” Hunter slid out a barstool and patted it. “Take a seat.”

  Ella slipped onto the seat and leaned forward, resting her chin on the back of her hands, as Hunter pulled three bottles from the fridge, opened one and sat it on the bar top next to Ella. She looked up at him, took a sniff of the liquid, and made a gagging sound. “What is that?”

  Hunter and Thad shared a quick glance, “It’s beer.”

  “Well, it smells like pee.”

  “She’s not wrong.” Thad placed his bag on a nearby table, removed his laptop, gauze and a large bandage, and a leather pouch rolled up and tied tightly. He tugged on the strings and flattened the pouch, pulling out a scalpel and a pair of tweezers. “Can you grab that lamp and slide it over here, Hunter?”

  “Sure.” Hunter followed his friend’s request and clicked on the light.

  “Okay, Ella, do you know where they implanted the tracker?”

  “Right shoulder blade.”

  “I really hate to ask you this, but can you raise your shirt up in the back so I can look?”

  Ella shivered. “Can you pull my collar down instead?”

  “Sure, if it will make you more comfortable.”

  She nodded.

  Thad pulled her collar down until a bright pink scar appeared, just left of Ella’s shoulder blade. The strange thing was, it wasn’t the only marking on her back. Surrounding the area of bare skin were other marks and carvings, like someone had used her back as an ancient rock tablet. Thad could see what looked like a ring, three waves stacked on top of one another, a flame, and a primitive lightning bolt. He leaned to the side and directed Hunter’s view with his eyes. Hunter shook his head.

  “Can you remove it?”

  “I can, but there’s no anesthetic.”

  “What’s anesthetic?”

  “It numbs pain.”

  “Oh.” Ella gritted her teeth. “There’s no problem. I’m used to pain.”

  Thad picked up the scalpel. “Well, here goes nothing.”

  “Wait.” Ella yelped, making Thad jump. She put the bottle to her lips and took a long drag. “I’m ready.”

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “Don’t…do…that…again.” Thad steadied his hand.

  He needed his full focus to remove the metallic implant inside of her. One wrong move and it would automatically dig deeper into the person’s body. Too much rough tampering and it would just blow up. An ultimate, if I can’t have you, no one can, move by deranged Hawkers. A gruesome scene flashed in his head, seeing Ella’s head and shoulders blown off, splattered all over Hunter’s off-white walls. He gulped and shook the thought from his mind.

  “You okay?” Hunter asked, peering over his friend.

  Thad nodded and pressed the scalpel across the fresh wound. Ella didn’t move. It wasn’t long before Thad saw the metallic, insect-like creature. He grabbed the long, slender tweezers and gently gripped the first hook that had attached itself to the muscle. Thad gently pulled the hook away and signed in relief. It didn’t know he was there yet. Only five more to go. A bead of sweat formed on Thad’s forehead.

  “Hey, Hunter. Can you hand me a towel?”

  Hunter moved silently to the kitchen, pulled out a clean dish towel from a drawer, and handed it to his friend. Thad leaned back a moment and used the towel to wipe the sweat off his brow before focusing once more on the task at hand. Hunter sat down on the ripped sofa in the corner of the room, feeling the one disjointed spring poke at his back, and watched his friend work in awe. He held out his right hand, his only actual hand, and watched it tremble. If only he had known Thad earlier. Things might be different. The echo of the tree crack and scream flashed across his memory once more. He squeezed his fist tightly and took another long pull of beer from his bottle. A few moments later, Thad sat back, popped his neck, and held his tweezers up over his left shoulder. The metal creature dangled lifelessly by one leg from the tool. A dull, red light flashed from its pill shaped body.

  “What should we do with this thing?”

  Hunter stepped forward and held out his left hand. “Is it dangerous?”

  Thad dropped the creature onto Hunter’s palm. “Yes, and no. It’s active, so it can still be tracked. It pings their network every few seconds with your location. But unless it’s injected into tissue, there’s no concern about…” Thad brought his hands together then quickly pulled them apart, while flicking his fingers and made an explosion sound with his mouth.

  Ella spun around in the chair, eyes wide. “What?!”

  “Nothing. Never mind.”

  “You mean to tell me that thing could have exploded?”

  Thad cringed, “What? No.” He lied, “Now turn back around before you rip the cut even more. I still need to stitch you up.”

  Ella whispered something under her breath and turned back around. Hunter gave Thad a light smack to the back of his head.

  Thad glanced over his shoulder and mouthed, “Sorry” before grabbing his suture kit and began closing the wound. Hunter took the tracker back to the couch and studied it, turning it over and over in his hand. His eyes fell on a spool of thin, insulated wire on his workbench, then to a small device with a blinking red light. A slow smile spread across his face. He knew time wasn’t on their side, but he couldn’t resist.

  This might actually work.

  He stood and made his way to his workbench, picking up a soldering iron and a small component from a drawer.

  Thad watched his friend out of the corner of his eyes and chuckled, “Oh no.”

  He snipped the last bit of thread from the hooked needle and sprayed the wound with liquid skin.

  Ella adjusted her shirt and turned around. “What?”

  Thad pointed to Hunter, “That.”

  “Okay?”

  “When he acts like that, trouble is soon to follow.”

  “I heard that.” Hunter turned around, holding a small black box and twine in his hands. “I’ll be right back.”

  Ella stepped forward. “What are we supposed to do until you get back?”

  “They’re still out there tracking this thing. I’m going to buy us some time.”

  “And from the look on your face, it looks like you’re planning something fun as well.”

  Hunter winked at Thad. “There’s time for both. Now, in the meantime...”

  Hunter folded back the corner blue area rug in the center of the room, and lifted the hatch hidden in the floor, “get in.”

  Ella hugged herself and backed away from the opening, her breath catching in her throat.

  Dark. Confined. The air thick with the smell of mildew and something else... something metallic.

  A wave of nausea washed over her. She couldn't breathe. It was happening again. She just couldn't. “I’m not going in there.”

  “Listen, they could burst through that door at any moment. Then we’d all be done for. It’s bigger than it looks, and Thad will be with you the whole time.”

  “You don’t understand. I just can’t.”

  Thad held out his hand to Ella, and she took it with her own. “I get it. Fear can do crazy things to us. I can’t imagine what you’ve been through, but he’s right. You’ve made it this far for a reason. You can do this.”

  Ella nodded and followed Thad down the stairs. Hunter pointed towards the wall on their right. “There’s a light switch. The door locks from the inside. Anything you could need is down there. Don’t unlock the door until I give you the knock.”

  Thad nodded. He flipped the switch, and the room filled with iridescent light. There was a small cot against one wall, a bookshelf filled with books, and a small refrigerator. Under the stairs, behind a curtain, was a toilet and a pedestal sink. Thad clicked his tongue, “Cozy.”

  “See. I told you it wasn’t too bad down there. Ella, are you alright?”

  She looked at him, fear in her eyes, the first genuine fear he had seen from her. “Yes. Just please be careful and come back.”

  “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

  “It’s true. I’ve tried to get rid of that lug head for years now.” Thad nudged Ella.

  “What can I say? I tend to grow on people.”

  “Like mold on an old sandwich.”

  The three laughed for a moment before Hunter closed the hatch as his eye caught Ella’s. Some of the fear had faded.

  “Good luck.”

  A warm smile spread across his face. “Thanks. You too.”

  He closed the hatch.