“Where are the others?” Charlie took baby steps past the guard and into the room.
“In other rooms.”
“When will we get out of here?”
“I told you. When you’re cleared.”
Pudgy locked the door, leaving Charlie and Javier alone to figure out what to do.
****
Liz paced by the door to their cell—or dorm room, as the guard had called it. Nice spin. Dorms offer the freedom to come and go.
“Why don’t you get some sleep while you can?” Sam asked from the top bunk.
Keeping her eyes on the door, Liz trudged to the bottom bunk and sat. Should have left when I had the chance.
Sam’s face appeared over the edge of her bed. “You’re not gonna rest, are you?”
“How can I?” Liz crossed her arms. “We’re being held like prisoners here. And they separated us from the others. How will we get out?”
“They said they’d let us out in the morning.”
Liz huffed.
“Look . . .” With a jump off the top bunk that only someone young could perform, Sam landed on the floor next to Liz and sat with her. “If they don’t let us out, we’ll figure out a way to break out. We have escape plans ready to go.”
“How is that possible?”
“Well . . .” Sam lowered her voice and leaned close. “I probably shouldn’t have said that. But imprisonment is a risk that accompanies going against these huge powers, you know? The plan my dad used to break you guys out back in Phoenix was one we came up with in case only some of us are captured.”
“But that only works if not everyone is captured.”
“They probably can’t capture us all at once.”
Liz gestured to the room. “They did here. I need to move around.” She stood and returned to the door, peering through the small window and into the hall.
A guard was a few doors down, facing away from them. Another uniformed officer joined him and started a conversation.
“Hey!” Liz banged on the door.
“What are you doing?”
“We won’t get out of here if we don’t make some noise.” She banged again. “Is this not in the list of escape plans?”
****
Javier lay back on his mattress, resting his hand on his forehead. “Do you know where the others are?”
“No.” The bed frame shook as Charlie settled on the bottom bunk.
Swallowing, Javier rolled onto his side. “I think you were the last one they questioned. Did they say anything about when we can leave?”
“I’m not sure they’ll let us.”
“Why would they keep us here?”
“Because they can. They might see a use for us.”
Javier leaned over the edge of the bed. “What kind of use?”
Charlie shrugged. “Who knows. The world doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
“So we may have to break out.” Javier rolled back onto his back and analyzed the patterns in the ceiling tile. “If we’re together, we can assume the others are paired up. That’s . . . three rooms.”
“Any idea which rooms they’re in?”
“Jonah and Mattson are a couple of doors down. They locked us up at the same time. I don’t know where the women are.” A lump formed in Javier’s throat—he hated knowing Sam was here somewhere but not being able to get to her. “They may bring us together for meals. That could be our best chance.”
A repetitive, banging sound came from down the hall, followed by silence. A few seconds later, it happened again.
Javier hopped down and peered through the window. The hall’s guard was twisted around, watching another guard walking away.
“What’s going on?” Charlie asked.
“Beats me. Someone’s unhappy.” Javier climbed back onto his mattress. “So, I say we wait until morning, when we’re all together. We can scope out the grounds that way and maybe connect with the others. If we’re lucky, they’ll decide we aren’t a risk and just let us go.”
“What if they bring food to us instead of taking us to a mess hall? They do that with higher-risk prisoners in the system.”
Javier leaned over the bed again. “We’re not prisoners.”
Charlie made eye contact. “You sure about that?”
****
Liz banged on the door again, and this time, the new guard approached her room.
His face was familiar—the dark eyebrows, strong jaw, even the scar on his cheek. His eyes met hers.
“Oh my God.” Liz fell backwards and against the bunk.
“What?” Sam rushed over and looked out the window.
The intercom speaker crackled. “What’s all the fuss about?”
His voice! Liz’s chest tightened. She brought her hand to it. Her heart raced, and sweat beaded on her forehead. This can’t be.
“What’s wrong?” Sam crouched, staring into her eyes. “Liz!”
The door unlocked and opened. Liz leaned around Sam, trying to believe what she saw.
He stepped next to Sam, looking Liz over. “Ma’am, do you need medical assistance?”
Her mouth went dry. Her eyes fixated on his, those familiar hazel eyes. What if he didn’t recognize her? Ten years, thirty fewer pounds, and shorter hair would be enough of a difference. He might recognize her voice, but it took a minute before she could utter his name. “Kyle?”
His head tilted, and he backed away. “Uh . . .” He ran a hand through his hair. “I think you have me mistaken for someone else.” He left the room, locking the door behind him.
Liz leapt to her feet and stared out the window. He was almost running for the stairs.
“You know him?” Sam asked.
“Yeah.” Her voice shook. “That was my husband.”
Chapter Eighteen
Javier scanned the cafeteria as soon as he and Charlie stepped inside. Mattson and Jonah, with trays of food in front of them, sat at a round table. Where the dorm had felt like a prison, this felt more like an office lunch room. The three guards watching over them and a handful of other “guests” stood by the walls, appearing disinterested in anything going on. One flipped through a small stack of papers.
Sam and Liz were nowhere in sight. Javier’s stomach knotted.
Charlie had headed for the line, and Javier rushed to catch up. “I wonder where the women are.”
Shrugging, Charlie grabbed a sectioned plastic tray. “Maybe they haven’t been let out yet.”
Javier took a tray and as he held it up for a cook to plop oatmeal onto it, he kept his eyes on the door. “Why would the guards not let them out?”
He and Charlie were taking seats before Sam arrived by herself.
Javier hurried over and wrapped his arms around her.
She smiled despite the fatigue in her eyes. “I missed you too.”
“Keep it moving,” a guard near the door said.
Javier scowled. “Where’s Liz?” He walked with her to the line.
“She said she had a headache and asked to go to the medical room.” Her eyes drifted to the guards, and she leaned close to Javier. “Something really weird happened last night. A guard came to our room. Liz said he was her husband.”
“What?” Javier thought back to his earlier conversations with Liz. “She told me he died in the war.”
“She thought he did. But apparently, he’s here.”
“That can’t be right. Why wouldn’t he come for her?”
Sam held up her tray for the cook. “Maybe he couldn’t.”
“Did he look like a prisoner to you?”
“No.”
Javier drummed his fingers on his leg. “Could she have been mistaken?”
“I suppose, but she kinda freaked out when she saw him. She sounded certain to me.”
What did this mean? If Liz’s husband was not only alive but working for . . . wherever they were, why would he let her think he was dead? Javier couldn’t imagine abandoning someone he loved like that. “I’ll meet you back at t
he table. Maybe she’ll show up before we’re done eating.”
As Javier returned to his seat, Charlie stood. “I’m gonna find a restroom. I’ll be right back.”
****
Liz waited for the door to the exam room to click shut and the nurse’s clicking footsteps to move down the hall before she hopped off the exam table. She’d been expecting something resembling a nurse’s office in a school when she asked for medical attention, but this was closer to a real doctor’s office—or how a doctor’s office looked thirty years ago.
She gingerly wrapped her fingers around the door handle and pulled it down. It wasn’t locked. Holding her breath, she eased the door open an inch and peered into the hallway.
A doctor entered the neighboring room, shutting the door behind him.
Liz opened the door wider and stuck out her head. If she was caught, she would say she needed to find a bathroom.
The hall was empty.
Her mind raced as she walked through the winding corridors, unsure if she was heading farther into the medical offices or towards the exit. Wandering until she found Kyle seemed hopeless. Dozens, if not hundreds, of guards worked here—lived here, in the complex. No vehicles had left since Liz and the others had arrived, and the only vehicle that had arrived was a food delivery truck.
She didn’t care how poor the odds were that she’d find her husband. She needed answers. He had to have recognized her, or he wouldn’t have run off like that.
Aside from being thinner, he’d looked exactly how she remembered—he hadn’t aged at all. Maybe the people here had access to the longevity drug.
Did that mean he was working for LifeFarm now?
A burst of adrenaline hit her as she recognized the path to the lobby. A man dressed like a janitor was heading the opposite direction. Liz stood straight and walked deliberately, as if she knew exactly where she was going.
The janitor looked her up and down and offered a slight nod in greeting.
She smiled and quickened her pace as soon as she was past him. She didn’t have long before the staff realized she’d run off.
****
“You’re the agent, aren’t you?”
Charlie held his breath, preparing to lie to the woman who had crept up behind him. These people paid more attention than he predicted—he’d only been out of the cafeteria for five minutes before this guard tracked him down.
He turned around, facing an older lady with a scowl so thick she could have passed for his mother. “I’m sorry?”
“We track intel here, you know. We know about a federal agent matching your description who escaped from a county jail in Arizona after impeding an arrest.”
Charlie clasped his hands together behind his back. She hadn’t said anything about the bandage. “Sorry. I restock inventory at a grocery store in California. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“May I see your hand?” She held out hers.
“What for?”
“Please.”
“Catherine!” A male guard at the end of the hall headed for them. “All hands on deck. We have a runner.”
Oh crap. Charlie covered the bandage on his hand for good measure.
“I know, sir. I found him.” Catherine pointed.
“Not him. The older woman that came in last night. She was in the medical wing and took off.” A layer of sweat glistened on his forehead. He pointed at Charlie. “She was with you.”
“Uh . . .” Charlie clenched his fist behind his back. Dammit, Liz. “Maybe. What’s she look like?”
“Don’t play dumb. You’re coming with me.” The man grabbed Charlie’s arm and pulled him down the hall.
“Captain, wait,” Catherine yelled.
“Head towards the dorm,” the captain hollered back as he hurried around a corner. “This guy and I will take the perimeter.” He glanced behind them and slowed while putting a finger over his lips.
After a few seconds, he relaxed. “Okay, she’s not following. Look . . .” He stepped forward, standing inches from Charlie’s face. “The woman you came in with last night, what’s her name?”
Charlie stepped away, bumping into the wall. “Seems like you know already.”
“Just say it. Please.”
“All right.” What the hell. “Her name is Liz.”
“God.” He ran a hand through his hair. “And you haven’t seen her at all today?”
“No. I haven’t seen her since you guys split us up last night. Anyway, why does it matter? She’s not gonna leave without someone noticing.”
“We can’t have people sneaking around. She was agitated when I was doing final checks last night. If she gets caught in the wrong area . . .” He cleared his throat. “Well, it wouldn’t be good for her.”
“Why do you care?”
He pulled Charlie’s arm again, leading him towards an elevator. “You have to help me locate her before anyone else does.”
****
Liz waited for a phone call to distract the woman at the desk before heading for the front door. No sign of Kyle in this building. Two down, at least a dozen to go.
She froze as soon as she was out the door. A large formation of marching soldiers was heading towards her.
“Not military, my ass,” Liz muttered to herself as she snuck around the side of the building. She pressed herself against the wall, listening for the troops to pass at the command of a Sergeant barking orders.
Once they were heading away from her, she crept across the front of the building again, heading for the next in line. It looked like an office building or maybe another dorm. As she put her hand on the door handle, a familiar voice from far behind her made her stop.
“Liz!”
Keeping her hand on the door, she glanced back. Charlie and a guard—Kyle!—were running across the courtyard.
She ran a few steps towards them before Charlie yelled something else at her. “Go inside!”
The intensity of his order sent a burst of adrenaline through her. She hurried back, opened the door, and darted inside. The man behind the desk looked up then grabbed a phone.
“Wait!” Liz ran to him with her hand out. “It’s okay.”
“I’m under orders, Ma’am.”
The door opened again, and Kyle and Charlie rushed over to her. Kyle lunged over the desk and grabbed the phone from the man’s hand.
“I’ve got this.” Kyle dropped the receiver into the cradle.
“But Sir . . .”
“I said I’ve got it, Private.”
The man nodded. “Sir.”
Kyle tilted his head towards the door. “I’ll take you back.”
“Back where?” She swallowed. Was she really talking to him?
“Come on.”
Once out the door, Kyle placed himself between Liz and Charlie. “I’m taking you back to the dorm for now. No one will question it.”
“Wait, hold on.” Liz kept up with Kyle’s hurried pace. “Have you been here since . . .” Her memory flashed back to the phone call with the cold army representative on the other end, who flatly stated her husband was dead. Then came images from his memorial service, with only pictures and his service medals to fill his would-be resting place, while their young son sat beside her, watching in stony silence.
She ran ahead, facing him. “They told me you died in an explosion. And this whole time you’ve been hiding?”
“You two know each other?” Charlie asked.
“I can explain, but not here. Let’s go to my office.” Kyle led them inside and to the top floor.
“Do you two need to catch up? I can go back to the cafeteria.” Charlie hooked a thumb down the hall.
“No, you can’t. You’ll be scooped up for walking alone. They don’t know where you are, and I’d like to keep it that way.” Kyle unlocked the door, held it open for his visitors, and once inside, closed and locked it. He gestured to chairs facing a large desk. “Have a seat.”
By now, Liz’s cheeks were hot and tears bu
rned her eyes. While Charlie took a seat, she stayed frozen in place by the door.
Though he’d taken his place in the leather desk chair, Kyle hopped up again, and upon reaching her, took her hands. “Liz, I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”
“How can you be alive?” Her voice shook. “Why didn’t you come back to us?”
“I couldn’t.” He rubbed his neck then held a hand out to the empty chair. “Please. Let me explain.”
Blinking through the tears filling her eyes, she lowered herself to the edge of the chair.
Kyle settled in his place and clasped his hands on the desk, focusing on Charlie. “Liz and I were married.” He swallowed then moved his attention to Liz. “I’ve lived here the past ten years. I was injured in the explosion—severe burns covered most of my legs. They flew me back to the states and set us up here—me and the other injured soldiers. As we recovered, we learned this place wasn’t what we thought.”
Charlie ran his fingers over the bandage on his hand. “What does that mean?”
With his eyes on Liz, Kyle tilted his head towards Charlie. “Any idea what his position is on LifeFarm? I figured it’s safe to assume you’re against them.”
Liz huffed and wiped her face with an open hand. “Yeah, you can say that. Well . . . he did try to kill us for fighting LifeFarm.”
“Now hold on.” Charlie held his hand up. “It’s been a very educational few days.”
“Who cut out your chip?” Kyle asked.
“Javier did. He was the one I was supposed to neutralize. Do you think I’d let him cut me up if I hadn’t had a change of heart?”
“I think guys like you do whatever you can to save your own ass.”
Charlie pressed his lips and fell back into his chair. “I offered to leave, and you told me to stay. If you don’t trust me, fine. But walk me back to the cafeteria so I can eat.”
“No. Stop.” Liz faced Kyle again. “Tell us what you want to tell us. I don’t see how whatever side he’s on matters now. He’s in the same position we are.”
Kyle nodded. “All right. This isn’t a military installation, though it is modeled after one. It’s run by LifeFarm.”
“What?” Liz sat up straighter. “You work for LifeFarm? That would have been good to know before you made sure we were against them.”
The Seventh Seed Page 15
