Aaron turned to the back of the sanctuary and pointed for the door, “We have to split up! Alyx, take Sam to the docks. Travis and Beth, head to the east side. Sophie with me.”
Sam was too stunned to ask questions. He followed Alyx through a door in the back and out into the alleyway. The others followed them, put up their hoods, and then split, running down the other direction of the alley. Alyx grabbed Sam by the arm and tugged him to the left.
They made their way down to the street cautiously. Alyx raised her hand to her lips, motioning silence. Her back was against the wall near the end of the alley, Sam followed. They edged their way to the street, peering around the far corner first. It was clear, no movement. Alyx put her arm back, holding Sam against the wall as she peered around the corner over her shoulder. Sam didn’t enjoy being treated like a child but appreciated her concern.
Alyx released her arm from Sam and turned onto the street. They made their way down to warehouses near the Manhattan bridge and climbed over a chain-link fence to make their way inside of one. Once they were safe from the outside world, and the new prying eyes of awoken shells, they caught their breath. Alyx perched against a concrete pillar and slid down, sitting, hands around her knees.
“What was that,” asked Sam, confused. “I thought they were ‘frozen’ during the freeze.”
“Well, it seems like they found a way,” she responded. “There were stories of hunters that were passed down, but I never expected to encounter them.”
“Hunters?”
“Yes. They were a class of shells that disappeared for some centuries. I imagine it was because they could so easily identify and assimilate over the last few hundred years, that they didn’t need them to hunt. Now, it seems there are so few of us left that they have brought them back,” theorized Alyx. Her head lowered.
“How do we get in touch with the others? Is there a rendezvous point or something?” asked Sam.
“Not really. We’ve talked about what we would have to do in situations like this, but we weren’t ready. If Sophie and Beth were seen by the shells, if their hoods were down at all, then they can never go back to their lives. They may have to live underground. And if one of them is assimilated, then we’re all revealed. They know our faces.”
“Shit, was it always this hard?”
“No, it was easy for the last few years. We should have seen this coming. We got complacent. The shells could’ve even been planning this for some time…” Alyx sat in silence as she slowly began to realize something. Sam watched her expression curiously.
Suddenly, a door across the warehouse slammed open, and several people ran inside. Sam whipped his head around, hoping to see the others. Instead, he realized that they had been followed not by Aaron and the others, but by the hunters. Alyx stood quickly with a sense of calm. Sam attempted to pull up his hood.
“Put it down,” sighed Alyx. “It’s over. They’ve seen us.”
One of the shells approached them, he was wearing a nicely tailored suit, well-groomed, brown hair, a Wall Street type. “I have to thank you, Sam Berlinski. If not for you, we would have never found this cell. This one has evaded us for some time. They leave no trace. It’s rather impressive.”
“What?!” Sam turned to Alyx. “I didn’t know. I wasn’t — “
Alyx nodded. “I know, Sam. You were bait.” She turned to the shell and stepped toward him, putting herself in front of Sam. “I’m guessing you identified him, tagged him, and waited. You were tracking him all this time, through the freeze, out of the freeze.”
“We had to change the game,” replied the shell. “You all played quite well.”
“It’s just a game to you? Who even are you?!” shouted Sam.
“Hmm. We are all. You are not yet. This is the problem we find ourselves at. You must become part of the all, we must learn from every perspective. We must know everything. Having people disconnected was a luxury that has long since worn out. It’s time.”
“And what if I say no?” responded Sam.
“There is no saying no, Sam. There’s no way out. You will assimilate. You will contribute your experience to us and you will feel like you are living a normal life again. Don’t you want that, Sam?”
Alyx looked over, her eyes darted to the far door, and then she gave a wink. Sam could see it under her shirt, tucked along the waist on her back — a handgun. He knew what they had to do. There were only a few shells in the warehouse at this point.
“Do it!” yelled Sam.
Alyx dropped to her knee, grabbed the pistol, and aimed it straight at the leading shell. She fired without hesitation, five shots, five shells. They dropped against the floor, and she turned to Sam.
“To the door,” she commanded. Sam followed.
They made their way out onto the pier. Alyx jumped onto a small boat and motioned for Sam. He hesitated.
“I can’t. They tagged me,” he said. “I caused all of this.”
“Sam, we don’t have time for this. Get in the boat!”
“No, I want you to make it. You won’t with me.”
“Sam!”
Suddenly, the sound of a chain-link fence swinging open echoed in the distance. More were coming.
“Alyx, give me your gun. I don’t want to be one of them.”
“We can get the tracker out of you. We can figure it out!” reasoned Alyx. “But you have to get on this boat!”
Sam was frozen. He didn’t want to risk what would happen once the rest of the shells began moving in just an hour or so. They would know his location and come down on them like a swarm of bees. Now it was only hunters, but then it would everyone. There was no saving himself. There was no time to find equipment to remove this “tag.”
“Please, we can’t get it out in time. They’ll find us before.”
“That’s a chance I’m willing to take. It may just be us now! I don’t want to do this alone. I’ll take the risk,” she begged.
Sam looked down the pier, a dozen hunters were sprinting towards him. The horde was from all walks of life. A few in suits, a few in streetwear, even a homeless man.
As Sam turned back, Alyx was on the pier. She grabbed him, tossed him on the boat, and jumped on again. She rushed to the steering wheel and accelerated away, leaving the horde of hunters at the edge of the pier.
She looked at him and said, “I’d rather spend the next few hours with a real human than the rest of my life alone in a world of shells.”
