Page 9 of Expose Me

“There are more of these there.” He held up the weird pronged weapon.

Without answering, I held up a finger and closed my eyes. The ribbons in my mind shot out and beelined for the alleyway from last night. I knew what I was seeking, had held an identical one moments earlier, and I had its location, so it was easy to summon the weapons. There were seven of them. He tucked most of them into his pockets, and I held on to two.

How many of these had he taken last night? I’d seen the effects of just one moments earlier. No wonder I’d practically had to carry the slight woman into my building.

“What are these called?” I asked.

He frowned slightly, searching for a good translation in his mind. “Zaps,” he said dismissively, clearly irritated that I’d even asked as his eyes searched the street behind me. “We should hurry.”

Right. Time to evade unwelcome company.

I ran out to the main street, Zey keeping close. It was busier here, cars driving past, people going about their business. I turned left and slowed down so we didn’t draw unnecessary attention. If we could cover two blocks and got lucky with the timing, we just might be able to lose them.

Apparently, Melbourne used to be the most livable city in the world. But who the hell knew what that even meant? It was well before I was born, long before the portal in Portland opened and changed the world forever. Now, like most other cities, Melbourne had its safe zones—the one’s under House rule—and its not-so-safe zones—No Man’s Land. The center of the city was a secure pocket where many worked and lived and functioned much like they would’ve when it was “the most livable city in the world.” But anything south of the river was decrepit, abandoned, and unpoliced.

Maybe one quarter of the extensive tramlines that used to connect the city and surrounding areas was still functional. If we could make it to the end of the second block, we’d hit one of the last remaining tramlines, and it would take us to the very edge of Spirit and Sapphire territory—just on the other side of the bridge. With any luck, we’d bump into someone I knew from the few weeks I’d spent here for work, and they could arrange backup.

Screams erupted behind us, and any hope of slipping away without being noticed went out the window.

“Time to run!” I said as I took off, Zey keeping pace. We were only a block away now. More screams and curses came from behind us, and I took a quick glance to assess the situation.

If I weren’t running for my life, I would’ve laughed until I cried.

Four of Zey’s buddies were chasing after us, two of them in their pitch-black, faceless forms and two who had taken human form. I just caught the other two starting to shift, their skin doing that weird rippling thing, before I turned forward again.

I could see what they were trying to do, and it was a good effort, but it just wasn’t having the effect I’m sure they were hoping for. Seeing them in their true forms would’ve been startling and frightening for most people. If I were them, I would’ve used my skills to blend in too. The problem was that wherever they were from, clothing didn’t seem to be a thing.

So, there we were, being chased by a group of totally naked people, boobs, genitals and other dangly bits flapping about everywhere.

A five-pronged projectile flew through the air, so close to my head that it made my hair flick up.

Cursing under my breath, I stopped, turned, and flipped an unoccupied table onto its side. The few people who had been dining alfresco at the cafe were already running away in a panic by the time Zey and I crouched down behind our table.

Athunkresounded against the solid wood surface, which vibrated with the impact of one of those murder-forks.

Zey shot up, threw his own prong at our pursuers, and ducked back down. They were definitely aiming for him. I was just collateral in this situation. The next time he darted up to throw a weapon, I used this to our advantage. Leaning to the side, I yanked out the two projectiles that were lodged into the tabletop.

Zey’s first throw had missed, but this one connected, hitting a middle-aged man right in his beer belly. I threw both my newly acquired weapons. One missed but the other hit the gangly young blond man, who was trying to help beer belly get to safety, right in his skinny butt cheek. They both fell down in a heap of naked, weirdly rippling flesh.

Two down. Two to go. They were closing in fast, mere feet between them and our flimsy shield. And they had more ammo than us.

A distinct dinging in the distance alerted me to an approaching tram.

In the same moment, several Spirit and Sapphire guards came running towards us. They hesitated, clearly confused by the random group of naked people and the scene they’d walked into.

“Stop them!” I barked at the guards, but they still looked uncertain. “I’m a House official from headquarters in Sydney. They are intruders in our territory. Detain them now!”

Unfortunately, I’d never met any of the guards I was shouting orders at. Even more unfortunately, Zey threw another zap, and it knocked one of his buddies on his ass. Apparently, being clothed while throwing weapons at naked people made you appear like a bigger threat, because the guards chose to come for us.

“Ah, shit!” I spat as the tram came into view, pulling to a stop at the end of the street. There was no one at the stop. The entire area had cleared out, and that tram would be pulling away in a matter of seconds once people realized the chaos that was unfolding.

The guards started shouting to drop our weapons and get down on the ground. The two remaining naked pains in my ass kept throwing projectiles at us. Some of the guards turned their attention to them, realizing the situation was not what they thought.

Zey darted up and threw his last weapon. It connected, but so did the other guy’s—er—woman’s. An elderly woman with white hair down to her waist—right around where her tits ended.

I yanked the zap out of Zey’s arm and shoved him in the direction of the tram.

“Go! Don’t get off until you’re across the river!” I shouted. He ran.

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