Free Tremor: If your world was falling apart, how far would you go to save it? (The Tremor Cycle) by Ryan Mark Page B

same people who’ve taken your mother.’ The man ran a hand through his black hair, a white streak in his fringe shining in the thin daylight that penetrated the alley.
    ‘Why were you after me last night, then?’ asked William, scowl fading. If this man was telling the truth then maybe he could help them. Maybe he knew more than they did. He wasn’t going to let his guard down though; it could be a clever trick and they could end up falling straight into his hands.
    ‘I tried, I called out just as you left, but you carried on running. I guessed it might’ve been your mother who’d fallen victim, but when you didn’t listen I assumed you could’ve been involved with the abduction, and I had to find you. I’ve been tracking the people behind this since my wife was taken two weeks ago. I’ve always been one step behind them, arriving moments too late, but this time I found you and thought you might be able to help me.’
    ‘I was in a state last night. Nothing was really clear,’ replied William, still uncertain. ‘I thought you were going to kill me, so I ran. I needed to help my mum, so I couldn’t risk confronting you.’
    ‘How do we know you’re telling the truth and won’t hand us in to the Peace Force for trespassing?’ asked Althea, rubbing her lower back. ‘For all we know you could be one of them.’
    The man dipped his hand into an inside pocket then withdrew a piece of paper. ‘That’s my wife’s population certificate,’ he said, passing it over. ‘Please, read it.’
    William smoothed out the paper. ‘Marian Everward, she worked as a nurse for Terrafall.’ He read down the document. The name Ichabod Everward appeared in the spouse section. He looked back at the man.
    The man pulled out his passport and opened it, keeping his gaze steady. ‘Look, my name is Ichabod Everward. She’s my wife.’ William took a closer look and sure enough there was a picture of the man with the name Ichabod Everward written next to it. If the man was lying he was doing an exceptionally good job of it.
    ‘It’s a great story, and I’ll give you a clap for that evidence, but why should we trust you? Tell me what you’ve found out so far,’ said Althea, one eyebrow raised. William knew what Althea was thinking: get as much information as possible and then run if it got messy.
    The man nodded. ‘I’ve been looking into this for some time, and know that the majority of the abductees were involved with Terrafall in some way. I tried to raid the archives a few days ago and only managed to get my wife’s population certificate. It was shortly after this that Terrafall locked the place up, and increased the guard. Since stealing that population certificate I’ve been on the Peace Force’s most wanted list,’ said Ichabod. ‘However, I do have something that might help us both.’
    William thought for a second. Was he actually telling the truth? If he and Althea revealed too much, what could he do to them? He summed it up in his head: not a lot, probably. Besides, they didn’t really have much to lose, did they?
    ‘The files we looked at all had a link to Terrafall,’ William told him. ‘But people it says are abducted sometimes reappear, dead.’
    The tall man gasped at this information. ‘Are they all dead?’
    Althea shook her head sadly. ‘There was nothing on the population certificates that suggested they were dead or alive, just that they’d been abducted. So we can’t be completely sure if they’re all dead, but we know two for definite… my parents…’ It came out in jittery breaths.
    ‘And from what I heard last night, the Peace Force have been finding abductees dead around Kentvale too,’ added William, rubbing Althea’s back.
    ‘Anything else?’
    ‘Um, the power plant is Terrafall’s base in Kentvale so we’re going there next. You never know, there might be clues on where people have been taken and who’s behind it,’ explained William, passing back the paper.
    The man