“Two hundred…” Nole couldn’t fathom a number so large.

“And fifty,” Taro finished. “Two hundred and fifty. Dang, what did you do?”

Throwing him a dirty look, Nole read through the list a few more times, grateful that neither Caden nor Suri were on the list. It would have been a stretch for them to be included, but if he was worth a quarter of a million dollars, he assumed anything was possible. Distracted by the upsetting information, Nole hadn’t realized who else was missing from the list.

Olivia, on the other hand, picked up on this immediately. “Valerie, they totally missed you.” Nole reread the list, and she was right. Valerie’s name was absent. His eyes flicked up at the fourteen-year-old, her wide-eyed stare mimicking that of a deer in the headlights.

“Yeah what’s that about?” Taro demanded, snatching the paper from Nole. “And why am I worth less than Liv? So much for my rep.”

“Taro,” Olivia sighed, shaking her head.

As questions swirled and confusion ran rampant, Nole let the information sink in. His hearing became muffled, as if forcibly drowning out the others. Taro had asked the right question – what had Nole done to deserve such a bounty? He tried to come up with an explanation, but all he could blame it on was his role in revealing Caswell and Ryker’s plans a few months earlier. Even with that though, Taro had had an equal, if not greater role during Nova’s Nightmare, but his bounty was only worth a fraction of Nole’s.

His ears keenly pricked up at the mention of his name before Tom’s hand clapped his shoulder abruptly.

“Nole, mind shedding some light here?” Nole’s eyes drifted from Tom’s gloved hands all the way to his square jaw, thin lips, and sharp eyes. For the first time since meeting him, Nole realized just how old Tom was. Judging by the crow’s feet around his eyes and lines on his forehead, he could tell the Chief of Enforcer’s was much older than he acted, and no stranger to stress either.

The rest of the Runners grew silent in anticipation of Nole’s response. He couldn’t fathom what they expected him to say.

“I…” Nole’s eyes trailed back to Tom’s hand on his shoulder. Part of him wondered if the Para tattoo was still there. “I really don’t know.”

With that, Tom retracted his hand, but his gaze lingered. “I was afraid of that.”

"Wait, this is a joke, right?” Taro interjected. “There’s no way any of this is legit. How could these guys get that kind of money anyway?”

There was a brief pause, as if Tom didn’t want to disclose any information. After persistent staring from his audience though, he answered. “The Quads, Pents, and Hexes have disbanded.”

Clenching his jaw, Nole remembered the words of the former Hex they ran into: “The Hexes are thinking of disbanding, but we don’t know why.” He suddenly knew why, and so did Olivia.

“The three gangs formed the Polys,” she deduced.

Tom nodded. “Most definitely there was an original core to the Polys. The residual members of the Quads and Pents that got away a few months ago had nowhere to go, so they found a home with the Polys. The Hexes only disbanded recently, and it seems they too have joined the Polys.”

“So what, the Quads, Pents, and Hexes put their money together?”

“How is this possible?” Valerie asked to no one in particular. Her face showed that she was the most distraught of any of them, and she wasn’t even wanted on the list.

Tom seemed prepared to explain further, but Olivia cut him off. “Oh no.” Twisting her strawberry blonde hair, her hazel eyes fell to the floor. “Zane.”

Valerie whipped her head toward Olivia at the mention of his name.

“Crap,” Taro added. While Nole had no idea what they were talking about, he knew it wasn’t good if it concerned their unpredictable and absentee fellow Runner. “He’s been missing for three days. Do you think they-”

Tom’s radio filled the air with buzzing before Taro could finish. A voice shouted for the Chief to pick up, and seconds later, the same voice erupted into an agonizing scream.

“Hello?” Tom shoved the radio to his face. “Hello?” He tried to hide it in his voice, but Tom’s face showed a fear that was completely out of character for him. “Pick up!” he demanded. For a few excruciating seconds, only static came through, but someone finally responded.

“Chief Hendricks?” Despite the static, Nole could tell that the person on the other end of the radio wasn’t the same as who had been speaking earlier. And neither did Tom.

“Who is this?” Tom ordered, obviously trying to remain calm.

There was another few seconds of silence before the voice replied. “We are the Polys, and we will bring safety and justice to Nova.” They all winced as an ear-splitting screech came through the receiver before it inevitably became silent.

With unusual calm, Tom turned the dial to another frequency and spoke slowly into the radio. “Is anyone there?” No one responded. “Copy, is anyone there?” Nole glanced at Valerie, who met him with a mix of nervousness and discomfort in her pale blue eyes.

It took a few minutes for Tom to give up on getting an answer through the radio. Without saying a word, he marched to the window and brushed aside the maroon curtains to reveal the blindingly white outdoors. Nole let his eyes adjust to the brightness before gazing through the window as well. If Tom was looking for something, Nole didn’t know what it was. Despite the announcement on the television and the panic relayed over Tom’s radio, everything seemed calm.

“Listen to me. All of you,” Tom began, his voice firm and devoid of the humor that usually accompanied it. “None of you are to leave this complex.”

“What about Zane?” Valerie asked, her voice filled with worry. “Is he really missing?”

“Betty sure chose a good time for a vacation,” Tom said, his eyes fixed to the window. “As soon as I get ahold of the situation, finding Zane will be my first priority.” His broad shoulders turned and he revealed a face with closed eyes and a broad smile. “Let me handle it, okay?”

As much as Tom tried to diffuse the situation, Nole realized just how serious things had gotten. Although he knew little about Tom, he could only compare his current expression to the expression he showed Ryker when he found Taro shot in the Enforcers Station. Nole knew if that smile meant anything, it was that things were very, very bad.

Reluctantly, Valerie nodded and Tom briskly walked toward the main hallway. “I suggest the rest of you stay away from the tenants as well. No unfamiliar faces in or out of this building, and no going off alone. I’ll send a few Enforcers here to guard you guys as soon as I get to the station.”

“No worries, Tom,” Taro answered. “We can handle ourselves.”

The Chief of Enforcers lingered by the doorway to button up his coat and put on his hat. Before leaving, he turned to face the four of them. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

As he turned the corner, he seemed to hesitate at something in the hallway. Seconds later, Caden emerged into the lobby, looking over his shoulder in apparent confusion at Tom’s behavior. Ruffling his hair with one hand, he stared at the four blank faces in front of him.

“What’d I miss?”

***

The unmistakable sound of patrol cars grew louder and louder, making sleep impossible for Zane. According to the thermometer on the wall of the outlet store’s backroom, it was eleven degrees, the coldest day yet. He formed a fist with his hands and released his fingers in three-second bouts. The rigidity he felt in his body told him his circulation wasn’t at its peak, but all he could do was shake it off and move on.

The newspapers below his makeshift bed rustled beneath his boots. Patting his empty pockets, he searched for the page he was looking for; the page he’d been carrying for the last three days.

“Ah, you’re awake,” an old man greeted. He wore a button-up shirt and apron. “You couldn’t sleep with all that ruckus either, eh?” Zane ignored the man as he tightened the laces of his boots and sifted through the folds of paper. “You don’t intend to head out in this cold, do you?”

“I have something to do,” Zane said curtly, resuming his search.

“Listen to me young man, if you’d spent the night out there you would’ve surely died from the cold. It won’t burden me one bit if you need another day here.” When Zane didn’t answer, the man let out a sigh. “Is this what you’re looking for?”

Turning around, Zane found the man holding out the missing page. Without a word, he accepted it from his host’s outstretched hand. “Looks like official Enforcer business. You’re not an undercover Enforcer, are ya?” A long, labored laugh escaped the man and his whole body shook.

When Zane didn’t answer, the man cleared his throat. “Ah, well, you’re welcome to stay here again if need be. If you’ve got business to attend to, far be it from me to prevent you from doing your job.” He gave Zane a wink and a wide smile, revealing two missing teeth.

Tucking the page in his pocket, Zane walked by the man and exited the store. When a wall of frigid air met him, he zipped up the collar of his coat so that it obscured half of his face. With each step, he dug his boots deeper into the snow-covered ground. There was no one in sight, which didn’t surprise him. He inhaled a long breath and removed the page from his pocket, reading the description to himself.

Five feet, eight inches. Brown hair. Blue eyes. From: Lower West End, Nova City. This would have been enough to get Zane’s attention, but when he also noticed the incriminating name on the file folder at the Enforcers Station three days earlier, he immediately set out on his search. He folded the stolen form and shoved it into his coat pocket as another strong gust ripped through him. The wind sent a few scattered papers by and one smacked against his leg.

Peeling the paper off of himself, he gripped the edges with his gloved fingers and read what appeared to be a wanted flier. When his eyes scrolled across the name that was in big bold letters, he assumed it was an extremely old sign from months prior. On it, read: WANTED ALIVE: NOLE VALE. There was an image of him below his name, and then a price. Two hundred and fifty thousand, Zane read in his head. Disinterested, he released his grip on the paper and sent it flying with the wind as he resumed his trek through the snow.