Chapter Twenty-Two

Zella Mills - Costaluna

Dr. Calloway stood above her; his silhouette blurred through her tear-filled eyes. He wielded an aura of deliberate cruelty. Every muscle in his body thrummed with stark intention as his eyes, cold and impassive, locked onto her vulnerable form below.

His lips, a taut line of disapproval, betrayed no regret, only a sterile form of love interwoven with methodical torture. Dr. Calloway, the man she knew as a foster father, sought something deeper than obedience through his infliction of pain. He foresaw a future, veiled in danger, and through each calculated strike, he sculpted her into something formidable, something that could withstand far more than the transient agony of a physical blow.

“Zella,” he called, eyes locked on.

“Yeah,” she replied.

“Zella,” he called again.

“Yes.”

“Zella!” This time it was another voice calling her name.

“K-Khloe?” Zella said, now aware of her own straining voice. Her eyes opened again, this time for real. She shook the memory of her father from her mind. In reality, it was Khloe hunched over her.

“Am I okay?” Uncle Edson asked somewhere behind Khloe. A familiar shh! Followed.

“Zella, are you alright?” Khloe asked, offering her hand for support. “You’re insane!”

“I’m good,” she grunted. She knew it was a lie the moment she took Khloe’s hand. Agony lanced through her side, turning each breath into a pained, shallow gasp.

“Slowly,” Khloe said. “Don’t worry, Z. Joe is on his way. He has an armored truck with a turret on it.”

“Joe?” Zella asked, now shifting her weight to her knees. “How?”

“I’ve been texting him since we were in the Errant. Letting him know our every move. He was making his way to us since we found out about the strike.”

“That’s great,” Zella said, still groggy. She held her breath and used Khloe for support, climbing back onto her feet. She looked down at the wrecked drone beside her.

“You’re a lunatic for taking a dive like that, Z,” Khloe said. “I know you did it to save us, so thanks.” Khloe’s fingers searched her skin, looking for where she was bleeding. Marco passed her a first aid kit. The branding was the same as the ones they’d seen in the pharmacy.

“I’ll be fine. I think,” Zella said. “How did Joe get a truck in the city?”

“So, here’s the thing, Z,” Khloe said. “Joe encountered Tay on the outskirts. Tay rescued many, it seems. The troops have arrived in the city already, and they brought those armored vehicles with them to shoot down drones. Joe told Tay he was looking for us and Tay arranged for him to drive one of the trucks to find us. Tay must have pull with the troops.”

“Neat,” Zella said.

“One more thing,” Khloe said, tending to Zella’s cuts as she spoke. The alcohol wipes caused Zella to twitch. She closed her eyes and bit her lip, following Khloe’s words.

“Chi contacted us over the earpiece while you were out. She found the hub. It’s a stationary drone hovering above the city. She’s cloning its data as we speak. When she’s done collecting its data, we can destroy it to end the attack. Once we get in the vehicle with Joe, we’ll head there and help shoot it down with the turret. If the troops haven’t done so already.”

“Y’all really got it figured out,” Zella said. “Was I out long?”

“Ten minutes, give or take. I heard the drone crash, but didn’t realize you’d thrown yourself out the window to destroy it.”

“She went like this,” Marco said. He jumped forward, pretending to have a shotgun in his hands. He flexed his fingers as if pulling a trigger. “Pow! - You two are the coolest ladies I ever met.”

“What happened to me?” asked Uncle Edson.

“¡Tío, para!” Marco snapped.

They heard debris crunching beneath tires and an engine downshifting in preparation to stop. Khloe peered around the corner of the care home while Zella limped behind her. A gunmetal armored truck pulled up at the building’s entrance. Never had Zella been so happy to see Joe Halili as he stepped out of the vehicle and trailed towards them.

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“You hurt?” He asked, approaching Khloe with a concerned look.

“I’m fine,” Khloe replied, hugging Halili. “Zella’s hurt. I need to finish patching her up.”

“Zella!” Joe exclaimed, offering her his hand.

“Nah, I’m fine,” Zella said, straightening up. “Help Uncle Edson and Marco into the truck.”

“What happened to me?”

Joe obliged, greeting Uncle Edson and taking him by the arm. Uncle Edson hit Joe with his typical line of questioning, sending Marco into another explanation about his uncle’s condition. “Reminds me of when my grandpa got dementia,” Joe said. “A few of you will have to sit in the back. But there’s enough room in this truck. The turret is controlled either manually or by the remote controls in the passenger seat. Khloe can-”

“I’m taking the turret,” Zella demanded.

Joe turned to face her. “Seriously, Z, I know you’re tough, but you look hurt. Maybe you can take the passenger seat if Khloe agrees.”

“Screw the passenger seat,” Zella said. “I’m taking full control.” With a determined limp, she climbed up onto the turret, grunting at the spikes of pain jabbing through her.

Joe looked up at her and shook his head. Khloe rolled her eyes as she walked around to the passenger door. “Zella is gonna be Zella,” said Khloe. “The turret’s all hers.”

*

From the back of a turret, Zella observed the slow movement of the drones. She penetrated their exterior before they could even return fire, inflicting severe damage. The higher the drones ascended into the sky, the easier it became to hit the amber core on their underside, bringing them plummeting down within seconds. They were yet to reach the hub. The root of this problem.

“How far are you from the Town Hall?” Chi asked over comms.

“Joe says we’re about three minutes out,” Khloe responded.

“Tell him to slow down a bit,” Zella said. “I need time to reload this thing. So glad it came with a crate.”

“That works,” Chi replied. “The data is ninety-eight percent downloaded. I got Tay to scream at some troopers for almost blowing the hub of the sky before I could get everything. The download is taking forever since I can’t get closer to that thing.”

As soon as Zella felt the truck slow down, she restored the ammo. “Lookout for drones while I do this,” she told Khloe.

“I’ll let you know once I hit a hundred percent. Out!” Chi said.

*

Ten minutes later, the truck approached the town hall. Joe had taken a detour, opting to get to a side of the plaza that would give Zella the best shot at the hub.

The hub, an exquisite marvel of mechanized espionage, loomed menacingly above the town hall. Unlike its militaristic drone subordinates, the hub bore no semblance of a weapon but rather appeared as a formidable, levitating vault. Its large, chrome-plated form, reminiscent of an opulent money box from antiquated times, hovered above the once proud, now vulnerable teal and white town hall building.

“Chi, what’s the deal with this thing?” Zella asked over comms. “Why isn’t it moving? With troops swarming in, shouldn’t it be trying to make a run for it?”

“I hit it with a clamp projectile. Think of it as an EMP that only affects movement.” Chi replied. “Didn’t want it running off while I snatched its data. The troops have shot down most of the attack drones guarding it. It’s a sitting duck now.”

“Good,” said Zella, tightening her grip. “I’m taking it down.”

“Go for it. I got everything.”

Zella gritted her teeth, unleashing a torrent of bullets into the hub’s exterior. Sparks cascaded in ephemeral waterfalls from the point of impact, a light show that taunted her futile efforts. The turret rattled and roared beneath her, spewing ammunition with violent fervor, yet the hub remained unperturbed. “Shit!”

“Thing’s armored pretty good,” Khloe said over comms.

“Zella, get up here. I’ve got something for you,” Chi said.

“Where?”

“I’m on top of the amber cafe building. It’s across the plaza from where you’re parked. Look for a ladder on the side of the building.”

Zella was prepared to hop off and walk across the plaza until she felt the truck reversing. Khloe had heard the conversation over comms and likely asked Joe to get Zella to the cafe.

Ordinarily, reaching the other side of the plaza would force Joe to navigate a meticulous route—reversing, turning, and executing two left turns on the surrounding road. But with Costaluna now a ghost town, he propelled the vehicle across the plaza, evading benches, statues, and trees in his unbridled path. When the truck parked up by the cafe, Zella threw herself off the turret, fueled by adrenaline. She found the ladder up the alleyway and climbed it. It was a smaller building in contrast to the town hall.

Chi was sitting by an airshaft, her back against the ledge and her legs stretched out to accommodate her laptop. A mounted wall light illuminated the area. Beside her, a bazooka lay nonchalantly against the building's ornate ledge, a contrast to the delicate terracotta tiles. “I was going to blow it up myself if the turret didn’t work,” Chi said, eying her. “But I’ve never shot one of these things. I was a lil’ nervous about it. I can tell you love your toys. Wanna take the last shot before we pack up?”

“My pleasure,” Zella said. She took a moment to observe the shoulder-fired bazooka. The model was designed as an anti-drone defense weapon, but it would do just as much damage to any ground or air vehicle. She felt sharp pain as she knelt by the edge of the building. Hearing her discomfort, Chi helped her shoulder the weapon.

“Stand clear,” Zella said. She lined up the hub through the scope and took in a deep breath. She pressed the trigger, immediately feeling it shudder over her, causing more pain to pulse through her.

The rocket met its mark. Blasting the hub to smithereens. Zella dropped the bazooka and stood herself up, using the ledge for support. She gazed down at the truck parked below. Joe’s arm poked through the window.

Chi took her side, gazing up at the fireworks. “I didn’t expect us to be working together this soon, Zella. But I’m glad our paths crossed today.”

Zella’s brain was tired. She could think of nothing significant to say. “Nice to meet you, too,” she said, watching the remnants of the hub turn to smoke.

-Mere Immortal is written by Gary Swift. If you see this on another website under another name, then someone has plagiarised it. Visit mereimmortal.com for official chapters. Subscribe to the Substack paid tier to support the creation of this project.

-This version of Mere Immortal is written in US English.