Free Z 2134 by Sean Platt, David W. Wright

the
storage room, footsteps clopping on the floor above them as he scanned the darkness.
He turned over his shoulder and called, “Not yet,” then added, “Get the ID
scans started. I’ll be out in a minute.”
    The next three minutes rang with the
scanners’ light shrill as data chips were read and those still in the basement
were cleared to leave, one by one.
    “Everyone is free to go but you three,”
The Watcher farthest from them said.
    Ana listened to the footsteps climbing
the stairs. She wondered which three were held behind.
    “No,” a woman said. “We didn’t do
anything.”
    “Please, let them go,” Duncan said. “I’ll
stay and answer any questions you have.”
    “Please, Mr.
Watcher,” the voice of the young girl, Iris, pleaded.
    Oh God, they’re holding the little girl
behind! Why?
    Ana felt Liam tighten his grip around her
mouth as the footsteps of the closest Watcher stopped right over the false
floorboard. Her heart stopped in her chest, waiting for the officer to
recognize the difference in sound from one part of the floor to the other
before ripping it open and flashing his helmet’s lights down on them.
    They were about to be arrested. She’d
done nothing wrong, yet was now hiding under the floor with a known fugitive.
    They would take her in for sure. Then
what? With a bigger what for Adam.
    The silence was killing her as The
Watcher stood in place for an eternity.
    He’s toying with us. He knows we’re here.
He’s got to. Why else is he just standing in a dark room?
    Then The Watcher walked out of the
storage room, leaving the door wide open behind him.
    Ana let out a deep breath, and her heart
seemed to start toward its normal beat.
    The Watcher joined his partner in the
room for a moment and then went up the stairs.
    Ana couldn’t see anyone from the angle
she was at. But she could hear every movement and word.
    The first sound she heard was the
familiar sound of the shock stick charging with a loud hum. While the shock
sticks delivered a painful surge on contact, they could also fire a lethal
blast that could tear through a person’s body, killing in an instant.
    Then she heard The Watcher’s voice
crackle through his helmet’s speaker, “I’ll ask you once,” he said. “Where’s
Liam?” After a moment’s pause, he added, “You’ll be sorry if you lie.”
    Apparently Thou Shalt Not Lie didn’t
apply to protecting your flock.
    Duncan said, “I don’t know.”
    Without warning, The Watcher fired a
blast of energy that thundered through the basement, followed by Duncan’s and
Iris’s screams.
    “Why?” Duncan screamed, his voice torn by
anguish.
    The only voice Ana couldn’t hear crying
was the woman, whom The Watcher must’ve murdered.
    Tears began to stream down Ana’s face,
and she felt her whole body shaking.
    She couldn’t believe what was happening.
And there was nothing she could do to stop it.
    “Tell us,” The Watcher said, with zero
emotion in his warble.
    “I swear, I don’t know,” Duncan said.
“I’ve seen him, lots. He comes in here, but I haven’t seen him today.”
    The second Watcher returned from
upstairs, saying, “We have three independent confirmations. The boy was down
here before we arrived.”
    The other Watcher asked, “Is that true?”
    Duncan said, “No, sir.”
    “I’m going to ask you one more time. If
you lie, I shoot the child.”
    Iris screamed, and suddenly the sound of
tiny footsteps raced across the floor above Ana.
    Iris ran into the storage room, just
above them, crying as she ran.
    Ana pulled away from Liam, shoving him
back, and reached up for the floorboard, to get to the girl before The Watcher.
    Ana looked up, seeing the girl’s eyes
look down at the floor. She saw them hiding, knew they were there. She cried
out something, but her cry was cut short by the blast of the shock stick, which
reverberated through the room.
    The girl, or what was left of her, hit
the ground with a sickening thud, and blood