The Beyond: Dystopian Survival Fiction (The Breeder Files Book 4)

by Eliza Green

  Jacob shrugged lightly, then nodded at Thomas.

  Thomas pulled one piece of paper out of the bunch he held and slapped it up against the wall. It was a rough sketch.

  Of where?

  ‘The library,’ Thomas said as if answering her silent question. ‘We only have the layout details the Copies know about. It appears from Carissa’s downloads that they added the extra tunnel we just used plus a hidden room beneath the library.’

  Vanessa stood at the entrance to the hidden corridor. How long she’d been there, Anya didn’t know.

  Vanessa moved over to Thomas, frowning at the page. ‘The room below ground was off grid for a while. But they definitely knew about it before we escaped the city.’

  ‘Could there be any additional rooms hidden in the library?’ asked Dom.

  Vanessa shook her head. ‘If there were, I would have found them. I spent hours in that place daily.’

  ‘And we’re certain this Janet person didn’t hide the diary in plain sight?’ asked Charlie.

  Anya didn’t think so. To do so would risk discovery. A diary would need to be hidden well. If the Collective had been aware of its existence, she was sure it would have mentioned it during its interrogation practices on the seventh floor in Arcis.

  Anya looked at Thomas. ‘What else did you get?’

  He set two new pages next to each other on the wall. He nodded at the left page. ‘The medical facility, which includes the tunnel we just used. Beneath that, Jacob’s workshop and’—he nodded to the page on the right—‘the Learning Centre. I have more, but only one set of hands.’

  He jerked his head towards the papers nestled in the crook of his arm.

  Anya took the other sheets from him. She pinned the Copy accommodation block and the school to the wall.

  ‘We should rule out any areas the humans didn’t have access to,’ she said.

  ‘Carissa?’ asked Vanessa. ‘What places were off limits?’

  The girl didn’t think about it for long. ‘The Learning Centre, the Copy accommodation, the school.’

  ‘So we check the areas where the humans had freedom?’ said Anya.

  Vanessa blew out a breath. ‘That’s still a lot of area to cover.’

  ‘Then, we split up.’ The sooner they started, the sooner they would find Janet’s diary. ‘Some of us should search the regular accommodation, some the library. Anywhere else?’

  Her knowledge of this city was limited.

  ‘What about the Business District?’ asked Carissa, her eyes rounded. ‘We didn’t venture there often.’

  Jacob looked at Dom. ‘It’s a possibility.’

  ‘And we could check the storage room there for food,’ added Charlie.

  Dom nodded. To Thomas, he said, ‘Do you have schematics of the Business District?’

  Thomas rifled through the last few pages and shook his head. ‘It wasn’t available as a download.’

  Vanessa said, ‘The Business District has a limited number of shops and everything is above ground. It wouldn’t take much to check if any of the shops has secret tunnels.’

  Dom nodded, his gaze flicking to his Copy guard. ‘We check it out. And he comes with us in case we can’t get in anywhere.’

  Ω

  Anya stood outside the medical facility with Dom, Vanessa, Jacob, Charlie and Carissa. Sheila, Jerome and Imogen joined them. Last out were a dozen armed soldiers who were escorting the Copy prisoner. The remaining rebel soldiers stayed behind to protect June, her baby and the teenage rescues.

  Anya shivered at having Dom’s former guard near. If he wasn’t glaring at Dom, he was smirking at him. He gave her the creeps, but she could only imagine what Dom must be feeling, what emotions his presence evoked. If Dom was bothered by it, he wasn’t showing it. His shoulders were back, his face void of emotion. His eyes were actively scanning the area—the way he used to do in Arcis.

  ‘I think we should stick together and search one area thoroughly before moving on,’ said Charlie.

  ‘Agreed,’ Dom said. ‘I don’t want to dilute our firepower.’

  They were in Zone C: the midway point between Zone A and the Learning Centre, and Zone E and the Business District. Anya had only seen the city layout once from the higher vantage point of the train tracks, where the hovering train currently lay idle.

  She gripped her gun tighter, not liking how quiet this place was. Would she have felt better if the place was swarming with Copies? Maybe.

  They set off on foot and entered Zone D. Vanessa waved them past a large accommodation block that was three stories high. ‘This is where we used to live, but the apartments were studio in design and basic. I can’t think of anywhere safe Janet might have hidden the diary. I think we should try the Business District first. We had more freedoms there.’

  Anya walked behind Vanessa, who took the lead with Charlie. Dom followed close behind the pair. They were basing their search on a discussion Anya had overheard her parents having. She worried her intel might be wrong, that they were wasting their time searching this city for a set of coordinates that might not even be here or, worse, might be worthless.

  Sheila walked beside her. Similar to Dom, her gaze combed every inch of this place. Like Anya, Sheila hadn’t seen much of the city either.

  ‘It’s bigger than I thought,’ she said. Her gaze settled on the accommodation block.

  ‘I don’t like being here,’ said Anya.

  ‘Why? Because it’s empty?’

  ‘Yeah. But also because this place feels wrong.’

  Sheila snorted. ‘That’s because it was—is—a city for Copies. We were just the entertainment. Like in Arcis.’

  Anya swept her gun around, checking for spotters or orbs that might be following them. There was no sign of Jacob’s reprogrammed orb. She wondered if it had abandoned their group.

  ‘Except Arcis wasn’t pretending to be something else,’ said Anya. ‘It was a training facility. It never sold itself as anything more than that.’

  Sheila glanced at her. ‘And what do you think this place is supposed to be?’

  She shrugged and looked around. ‘I don’t like how it mimics a human city. I mean, the Copies, they’re not real, but they live as though they are.’

  Jerome glanced back at her. She bit her lip at her insensitivity. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean you, Jerome.’

  The dark-skinned, young man dropped back to walk beside her. ‘You did, and it’s okay.’

  ‘No, it’s not. I meant the Copies without humanity. Those who follow the Collective’s orders aren’t real.’

  Carissa glanced back at her next, and she shut her mouth.

  Jerome said, ‘I’m still not used to the idea that I came from here. And what about your Breeder? Wasn’t he born here?’

  Yeah, Alex had been created in this city.

  She blushed. ‘Forget I said anything. I don’t know what I’m talking about.’

  Jerome chuckled. ‘Believe it or not, I get it. The Copies in Arcis, they freaked me out when I saw them on the ninth floor, frozen. I had no idea I was a newborn—one step removed from them.’

  Anya nudged him with her elbow. ‘You’re more than that, Jerome. You were created here, but you lived among humans. That makes you more human than the Copies.’

  Ahead, Carissa’s shoulders stiffened. She elbowed Jacob and whispered something to him.

  Jacob looked back. ‘Carissa wants to know if she is included in your real-not-real summation.’

  Detecting anger in the old man’s voice, Anya blushed harder. ‘No, I mean, I’m not sure. Carissa has helped us. That makes her different, that’s all.’

  Sheila snorted with laughter.

  Anya ignored her. She blew out a relieved breath when Carissa’s tense shoulders softened slightly. Maybe she should think before she opened her mouth. None of them were perfect. They’d all had strange starts in life.

  Dom glanced back and grinned at her. Yeah, she knew she was being an idiot. She just wanted to get out of h
ere. Find the Beyond... and then what? She had no idea what awaited them. But it had to be better than this.

  They passed by a white pillar taller than them. A tag station. Carissa glanced at it, then at her wrist.

  ‘Do you think the coordinates are really here?’ Jerome asked.

  ‘It’s the last place to look, according to my parents.’ She sighed. ‘But honestly, I don’t know.’

  Sheila said to Jerome, ‘What happened when the Copies brought you back here? What happened to Julius?’

  Jerome watched the ground as he walked. ‘No idea. They separated us for a few hours and interrogated us. Just one Copy asking questions. Nothing major. They brought us back together briefly before they dumped us in separate rooms, no food or water.’ He looked at Anya. ‘Then you showed up.’

  ‘Did they hurt you?’

  Jerome shook his head. ‘Nah, just questions, like I said. But everything was rushed, like the fight in the flatlands beyond the camp rattled them. The barrier was down when we arrived here. They must have fled the city soon after, expecting retaliation from the rebels.’

  ‘I’m sorry we didn’t come sooner.’

  Jerome smiled. ‘I’m just glad you came at all.’

  Sheila patted him on the arm. ‘We don’t leave our team behind.’

  They approached a courtyard before the start of the Business District that Anya remembered from their attempt to escape. A standoff had happened between them and the Copy guards. Now, the area was empty. That bothered Anya more than seeing a line of armed Copies ready to return them to their rooms. She kept looking up, expecting to see a line of spotters. Her neck hurt from twisting it so much.

  Their group entered the plaza area with half a dozen shops on either side. Everything was closed up. She wondered what had happened to the people.

  ‘We should search the city after for survivors,’ she said.

  Dom turned to her. ‘Good idea. Although, it’s likely they escaped when the barrier came down.’

  The first shop they came across was a clothing store. A garish, yellow dress hung in the window. She noticed Dom startle at the sight of it.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Anya asked.

  Dom blinked. ‘Nothing. It’s just, I’ve seen it before.’

  ‘Where?’

  His lips pinched and she didn’t need him to elaborate. Anya’s Copy had worn a similar outfit when she’d tried to seduce him. She hadn’t seen the attempts or the dress, but the newborn Canya had kindly replayed most of the details for her.

  ‘Oh,’ was all she said.

  Dom pushed against the door. It was unlocked. A bell overhead rattled.

  He turned back to the others. ‘Split into groups of three and check the shops in this row. Carissa, show Charlie where the food storage unit is. Use the prisoner to access any locked spaces. We’ll meet in ten and sweep another area.’

  Dom, Vanessa and Anya entered the small shop.

  Vanessa looked around the space. ‘Your newborn came here to buy her dress.’

  ‘So I heard.’

  ‘She wanted to emulate you, but also become someone else. It was an odd experience to watch her go through puberty in the space of a week.’

  Anya lowered her gun with a shiver. ‘Maybe we should check this place and get out.’

  Knowing her newborn had been here made her want to leave.

  Vanessa started her checks behind the counter, pulling out boxes and emptying them on the floor. There weren’t many to search, just three. From what Anya saw, they only contained a few pieces of paper.

  ‘They were well organised,’ said Anya.

  ‘Not so much organised as there wasn’t much paperwork. The goods came from looted towns and were dropped off at the shops. The patrons paid with credits on their tags. Paperwork existed to give humans a sense of normality.’

  ‘Did you ever shop here?’ Anya asked.

  Vanessa nodded. ‘The towns had some good stuff.’

  She finished up her search behind the counter. Anya walked over to the rails of clothing set against one wall and pulled them out. She knocked on the panels, listening out for the sound of hollow walls. Nothing. Dom slipped into an area at the back of the shop. She followed him into what looked like a changing room. It had a full-length mirror. She stood in front of it and winced at the sight before her.

  The hair that Charlie had lovingly cut into feathered layers a few days ago was pulled back off her face. Strands hung messily around her face, which was streaked with dirt. She scrubbed at the skin using her knuckle.

  ‘Do you think Canya tried on her dress in here?’

  Dom surprised her with a kiss on her cheek. ‘I don’t care. She could have worn the sexiest, red dress ever designed and I wouldn’t have noticed her.’

  With a sigh, Anya gave up on cleaning her face. She was only spreading the dirt around. ‘I could do with a shower and a clean pair of clothes right now.’

  She glanced at her combats and black T-shirt. She looked like the soldier she had always been and less like the frightened girl who’d turned up at camp.

  Dom grinned at her in the mirror. ‘I love you in this look. It’s so... badass.’

  Anya’s lips quirked from the compliment. ‘Yeah, I suppose I am.’

  But her smile faded when she remembered why they were there.

  ‘When we get out of here,’ said Dom, ‘I’m taking you on a real date.’

  Her heart pounded faster. ‘With flowers and chocolates?’

  ‘Yeah, and a big glass of wine.’

  ‘I’ve never tasted wine before.’

  She had, once, with Alex. During their forced seduction of each other. But that time didn’t count as special.

  Dom smiled. ‘Neither have I.’

  He knocked on the panels in the changing room. The walls sounded solid enough.

  Vanessa poked her head in. ‘Anything?’

  Dom shook his head. They returned to the plaza where the other groups of three had gathered.

  ‘Anything?’ he asked.

  Charlie said, ‘The food storage unit is empty.’

  Others reported back that their search had turned up no false walls or nooks.

  ‘Okay, we continue our search of the other shops.’

  ‘And if we don’t find anything?’ asked Charlie.

  ‘Then we search this entire city from top to bottom.’

  13

  Dom

  Dom checked the last shop in the plaza with Anya. They found no hidden doors, no loose floorboards and no secret rooms in any of them.

  They lingered in the shop filled with knick knacks—soaps, hairbrushes and mirrors—from their towns.

  ‘There’s nothing here,’ he said sighing.

  ‘We haven’t checked the rest of the city.’

  He laughed. ‘The rest of the city is huge.’

  This was becoming an impossible task. Maybe Charlie and Vanessa’s idea to return to the camp was a good one. It made his skin crawl to be here.

  ‘If we all split up, we can get it done faster,’ Anya said.

  That’s what worried him—splitting up. He’d led Max’s old team into this city without giving much thought to what they’d do when they got there. So far they’d wandered around, armed with a few maps Thomas had sketched from Carissa’s memory banks.

  He dragged a hand down his face. ‘I’m a failure.’

  Anya grabbed his arm. The move startled him and he stared at her.

  ‘No, you’re not. Never say that.’

  She let go, her gaze darting away to places they’d both checked.

  Despite her confidence in him, Dom couldn’t let the feeling go. ‘Max wouldn’t have charged in here without a plan. Vanessa and Charlie told me we should take a small group for June, and wait until the injured were strong enough to travel.’

  ‘If you’d done that, we wouldn’t have survived the ambush by the replicated Copies. And June might have died. Plus, Copies might have blocked off the camp, leaving us with dwindling sup
plies of food.’

  There was no evidence of food here either, but they’d had no choice but to return to Praesidium. Finding the Beyond was just not as easy as he’d hoped it would be.

  Anya was staring at him, as though willing him to believe in himself. He wished he had her confidence.

  ‘It was a stupid plan, Anya. June is safe. Maybe we should head back to the camp.’

  ‘No, it wasn’t. We have to find the Beyond. There is no other plan.’

  He worried Jason’s death was making her reckless. ‘We could go back to the camp and use the comms to round up more rebels in different towns.’

  ‘And how long is that going to take?’ She shook her head. ‘We’re here now. We keep looking.’

  Dom released a hard breath. ‘Okay, where to next?’

  She frowned at the ground. ‘We work logically until we arrive at the centre of this city.’

  The Learning Centre. Where the Collective supposedly lived. What were the chances the coordinates would be found there? If they were there, how had the Collective not found them?

  Anya walked out of the shop towards the waiting team. Dom followed her out, gauging everyone’s mood. After two hours, they were all flagging. That didn’t surprise him.

  He nodded to Charlie, who shook his head. ‘The shops are all clear.’

  ‘Clear on our end,’ said Vanessa. ‘It’s possible we’re chasing our tails here. Maybe we should leave the city and regroup.’

  He didn’t want to give up yet. ‘If Anya says the coordinates are here, then we keep looking.’

  Vanessa stepped forward, her expression stern. She pulled Dom aside. ‘I think we should discuss this in the library.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘To work out our next move.’

  ‘Our next move is we keep looking.’

  Vanessa eyed him. ‘Dom, we can’t just hit every place. Let’s stop in the library for a minute. Charlie needs to catch his breath.’

  His gaze went to the oldest member of his team. Charlie was standing tall but he could see from his face that two hours on his feet was taking its toll. He couldn’t believe he’d been so insensitive. He looked at Jacob next, who also looked fit to drop.