by Chanda Hahn
Terrified about being spotted, she began to toss leaves, branches, and dirt over the spot the morphling uncovered, then ducked down, praying that she wasn’t discovered, that Hook hadn’t seen her.
Chapter 30
Hook wasn’t thrilled that Helix had made it to the island before his crew did. Helix was waiting on the dock, his hands tucked into his expensive suit pockets. A look of indifference covered his face. It angered Hook even more when Helix made a show of checking his watch and looking bored.
How dare the man insult him like that? Hook had broken down and moved the entire operation plus the Dusters onto a ship and got them to the island an hour before his designated arrival, and the man had the gall to act like Hook was late and had inconvenienced him.
He hid his contempt behind a fake smile, but chose to take his time unloading his cargo. Even when he came down the gangplank with his soldiers, directing the transportation of the various pods, he didn’t acknowledge the CEO until after he saw the girl safely loaded into the back of the army surplus truck and watched his soldiers drive her down the beach to the underground garage. He knew that in a few minutes, she would be loaded onto a freight elevator and then taken into their compound and hooked up under the city for the launch.
“Hook.” Helix was now tapping his foot to show his impatience.
Hook’s jaw clenched uncomfortably, but he nodded and turned again, going over the manifest and giving instructions to Hans, who had been in charge of overseeing the lost boys during transit.
“Are they still under?” he asked Hans.
“Yes, sir.” Hans checked his tablet, pulling up the vitals of one of them, and showed Hook the screen. “They’re all still stable and thriving.”
“We’ve got all that we need for now. Helix wants the best for tonight, so begin final preparations. Have Candace prep them in the locker room.”
“Understood.” Hans nodded and typed a code into his tablet. He waved to a second and third surplus truck, and they slowly drove down the ramp and headed to the underground garage. On the long truck bed were eight to ten pods, with an unconscious person floating in stasis inside each pod.
Hook whistled and his Red Skulls began to march the Dusters and recruits down the ramp next. He finally decided now was a good time to give his attention to President Helix, who looked like he was ready to pop. His face had turned three shades of red, and the vein in his forehead was bulging. It was hard for Hook to hide just how much inconveniencing the president tickled him.
“Hook!” Helix barked again.
In an imitation of a very Southern drawl, Hook put his hands in his pockets and slowly gave his full attention. “Yes, Helix,” he replied.
“Are we ready?” He checked his watch again.
“What do you think I’ve been doing?” Hook was careful to keep his temper in check. Years of work were coming down to this, tonight’s test launch. And he wasn’t ready to blow the deal and money because he couldn’t hold his tongue. “I just did the impossible, moved everything up by weeks so you could launch tonight. No one else would have gotten you the results like I have.”
“And I appreciate it. I do. But I need to see for myself that it’s ready. I want a tour before the buyers arrive in a few hours.”
“I’ve sent you the schematics so you can walk through the tour yourself.”
“That’s not what I’m paying you for. I want to hear it from your own lips so that I can judge for myself whether you are lying or holding something back.” Helix licked his lips. “Because that would be a shame, if I found out that you lied to me.”
Hook exhaled, a growl of displeasure rumbling out. “As you wish,” he snapped and marched down the beach, not slowing his step. President Helix had to run a few steps to keep pace with him.
Out of the corner of his eye, Hook spotted the soldiers running down the beach, each of them greeting him with a salute as they ran past.
“Captain.”
“Cap.”
Each one addressing him and ignoring the president of the company next to him. Hook couldn’t help but smile until, amongst all the greetings, Hook swore he heard another name slip out.
“Cap’n.”
“Captain.”
“Codfish.”
Hook’s neck swung around and he studied the backs of the retreating boys, surveying each of them, wondering who it was that dared to call him a codfish. They were paces away and disappearing around the bend. His fingers itched for the knife at his belt. He wanted to slit the gullet of the one who dared to insult him. Even as the soldiers moved farther away, he unbuckled the strap around the base of the knife.
Not a single head turned back to look at him. No one stood out among the group. He couldn’t be sure he could get the right boy, and killing him now would disrupt the boys and work against the timeline he had put in place.
Sighing, he snapped the strap. Then he continued striding toward the garage with a renewed vigor, chuckling, as Helix was now huffing to keep up with him.
They entered the garage, and once inside, Hook pointed out the red button on the wall on their right. “The garage, the only entrance, is underwater most of the day except for low tide. This button seals up the entrance so that it is hidden below the waterline. Even at low tide, it is camouflaged and barely discernible from the rock face. In fact, other than the old facility wing, most of the island has been dug out and modified to your plans. The arena, the viewing areas, and the holding cells are all part of the new addition.”
As they spoke, Hook led the president through the underground tunnels. Emergency lights were strung along the walls, keeping the tunnels well lit. Signs warning of high voltage and electrical shock hazard were posted every ten feet, the danger emphasized by the persistent hum of electricity.
“Is this . . . ?” President Helix pointed to the cables inside the tunnels running along the walls and up into the ceiling.
“What’s holding the morphlings captive? Yes,” Hook answered.
“And the girl is still controlling them?”
“Not so much controlling them, but creating them. Her nightmares are so terrible that they become a reality in the shape of the morphlings.”
“Incredible,” Helix muttered. “I knew as soon as I heard about her gift that she’d be the future of my company. What about the others? You mentioned two other originals you were picking up. One that is immortal and another that can see the future? A girl, I believe.”
Hook clenched his hand tightly around the door handle and took a deep breath. “I acquired the boy who doesn’t die. He’s been incorporated into our program. Although, there have been a few glitches with jump-starting his memory. The girl, we have not been as lucky.”
“Pity,” Helix said condescendingly. Hook wanted to curl his hands around his neck, but instead pushed open the handle on the door and went up three flights of stairs, then stopped on a landing. He reached into a breaker box and flipped lights on in the compound.
“What are you doing?” Helix asked.
“Bringing the city to life. You don’t want to see it in the dark. Plus, it disperses the morphlings.” He turned to another Y-shaped lever with a green light above it. “And this stops the electrical current around the door.” Hook pulled the lever down and seconds later, the light above the switch turned red. “Now it’s safe to enter the building.”
Hook felt a trickle of sweat drip down his neck as he waited an extra two or three seconds to touch the handle. In the early days, he had watched one of his soldiers disarm the door and then touch it too soon, frying himself on the spot. A darkened imprint in the shape of a hand was still visible on the handle.
Helix didn’t have Hook’s common sense and pushed open the door, saving Hook from having to do the deed himself. He was almost sad when President Helix wasn’t promptly electrocuted.
They took an elevator up to the ground floor of an office building designed as a smaller version of Wonderland Games. Couches, chairs, and large TV screens lined
the wall, and on each screen was displayed the same digital countdown timer with only hours to go until it reached zero.
As soon as they came to the ground floor of the main building, Helix’s cell phone rang. “Finally,” he said, opening his phone. “Yes, you’re on your way? Good. Bring your checkbook—heck, bring your wife’s as well. You are going to love what we got.”
Hook exited the elevator and walked through the lobby to the front door. It looked like a normal door, but it was reinforced glass. In fact, the whole central building was designed to withstand fire, earthquakes, storms, and pretty much anything someone could throw at it. They learned after last time, when their research had gone up in flames so fast. Unlike the other buildings in their city, this one was made to stand. The others were just very expensive models with real-life special effects. They spared no expense.
Hook hit the code, and the door opened. Both men walked into the street, and he grinned.
“This is . . . a perfect reconstruction of Hollow City from your game,” Hook boomed with undisguised pride, spreading his arms wide. “But I call this one Hollow Dome.” He pointed up at the dome ceiling.
“Nice. Nice.” Helix said looking around in awe, before making another call.
It looked perfect. Hook wrinkled his nose. Well, almost perfect.
The only thing they couldn’t quite replicate was the smell of the outdoors. Instead, the city had a faint musky odor, but that was virtually unavoidable given the unconventional location of the city. They had dug out the rocky island and built this city deep underground, with the glass-reinforced dome only visible from inside the basin, and even that was carefully camouflaged, invisible to any plane, or helicopter. The satellite dishes were a bit harder to hide, but they did their best. They had spent ten years building the underground sanctuary. Seven years in research and development and the last two spent culling, training, and recruiting those for the program. They were ready.
Hook had pulled off a masterpiece. But Helix, focused solely on the money to be made, seemed disturbingly oblivious to how truly amazing this place really was. There was a school, a hospital, a park, and a library. Even the new car lots had the latest models available. The cafés had actual working soda machines, fryers, and were stocked with food. The landscape, grass, trees, and bushes were real, all watered with automated sprinkler systems and timed rainfalls, and of course, there were real working sewers. It was a perfect fully developed community. The only thing it lacked was souls.
Hook stared at the listless flagpole and made a mental note to check on the wind machine, to ensure it would move. They had turned it off when the birds kept getting in through the turbines and were being killed by the morphlings. Now that the birds couldn’t find a way in, the city was only populated with the unliving. The morphlings that hadn’t been destroyed by the lost boys, were still alive and now held here. Waiting. Watching. Hunting.
Even with the lights on, and the city fully armed, Hook was always wary.
Hook pointed to the mural painted on the side of the grocery store with the words, Welcome to Hollow Dome in decorative font above a silhouette of the city.
The president’s request that the fake city be designed after his most popular video game stuck in his craw, even more so when the man barely gave the grand reveal a nod. He was still too preoccupied with whoever was on the other line with him.
Hook’s hand was inching back toward the knife in his belt again when he saw the shadow move from behind a parked Mini Cooper. He saw it, was prepared for it, but decided to see how far the morphling was willing to go.
The morphling slunk back into the shadows and moved along the wall to cross the street. Being as they were, trapped in the city and surrounded by electricity, they were blocked from escaping. The longer they were trapped here, the more they solidified into something more corporal, affected not just by lights and electricity, but by actual weapons.
This morphling looked about as solid as any living thing, its shape having taken on the form of a gigantic rabid raccoon, and Hook stepped to the side, leaving the president completely open and vulnerable.
The morphling rushed Helix, letting out a high-pitched squeal. Helix, seeing the approaching monster for the first time, screamed aloud and dropped his phone. Hook quickly stepped in front of Helix and pulled out his Glock, emptying it into the morphling. With physical weapons, creatures didn’t explode outward into goo, but instead would turn to ash. Yet another example of how they were changing.
“I’m always impressed by these creatures,” Helix said in awe.
“Impressed enough to give me more shares in the company?” Hook’s slow smile was pure evil.
President Helix loosened his tie around his neck and wiped the perspiration from his brow. “It’s true I’m impressed, but I can’t give you any more shares. You still need funding, though, and I’m willing to make you an offer you can’t refuse.” He explained the details of his offer and Hook whistled at the amount.
Helix held out his hand, and Hook’s firm grip made him wince.
Once the deal was done, Helix searched for his phone, making sure it wasn’t damaged, and then began to send out a group text.
Distracted, Helix paused his texting and looked up. A black mass had moved out of the shadows and crawled up the faux wall, in pursuit of something. Helix eyed the morphling warily, but kept talking. “Maybe we should talk again inside and go over our launch plans. Our guests will be arriving any minute.”
Hook was pleased with the way this meeting went. He clapped Helix roughly on the back and guided him toward the building. He knew the mega-billionaire would be writing him even more checks before nightfall.
He dangled the carrot and now just had to wait.
A high-pitch morphling scream echoed in the arena, and Hook looked up and saw a morphling scratching furiously at the film on the underside of the dome. Why would it be attracted to the ceiling? There’s nothing—
The scrim began to peel away, and he could see daylight streaming from outside, and movement. Something or someone was outside the dome. He saw the trickle of light, and then it went dark as dirt and branches covered it.
Who?
His soldiers wouldn’t dare come near his Hollow City dome. He ushered Helix inside and locked the door, activating the electric lock. He pulled out his radio and called for the Red Skulls to grab a few Dusters and search the island for the intruder. Morphlings didn’t react that way to animals. Yes, they hunted down humans and killed them, but they never went that crazy unless they found someone with the PX gene.
He cursed under his breath. He would bet his entire operation that there was someone from Neverwood out there. One of Barrie’s brats. The timing could not be any more inconvenient.
Well, he’d just have to hunt them down and put them in the simulation. “You want to play, do you?” Hook muttered as he gazed up at the retreating shadow of their intruder as it ran across the outside of the hollow dome. Helix was back on his phone and didn’t hear him. “Well, that can be arranged.”
Chapter 31
Peter had only meant to be gone a few minutes, but in his search of the island, he’d found the small inlet as well as the freighter ship, docked and already in the midst of unloading. He hovered over the top of the closest palm tree as he tried to scope out the lay of the land.
Had Curly found the lost boys? Were they free, or had he been caught? Peter shook his head at that thought. No one could catch Curly. He could take care of himself. He wasn’t invincible, but he could talk himself out of any situation.
An engine roared to life, and he saw a truck drive down the ramp with a few of the pods on it. He recognized Onyx’s unconscious form inside one of the pods, and a couple of the other boys, Craft, Torque, Rash and Nibs. He bit his lip and watched the truck drive down the beach and into an underground garage. That seemed to be the only way inside, as he couldn’t see any other opening or door.
Another truck followed the first, and Peter’s heart brok
e over the decision he was about to make. He had to go after the boys and leave Wendy to fend for herself. If he didn’t, they might never break into this mountain fortress.
“Sorry, Wendy,” Peter mumbled and punched his fist into his thigh. He took a deep breath, then shot off to the far left of the ship, out of view of the trucks driving into the garage, and came up around the back side of the ship, alighting on the deck just as the Dusters began to march up from below deck. He didn’t see Curly, but he fell into line behind Wu Zan and Leroy as they marched down the ramp.
Peter stiffened when he saw Hook on the beach with a companion. All the feelings of resentment and contempt came rushing back, but then he realized Hook still thought he was a brain-dead dimwit. Peter quickly suppressed his grin when they ran past the captain. The other soldiers were saluting and greeting him with a formal address.
“Cap’n,” Leroy said.
“Captain,” Wu Zan said stiffly.
Peter couldn’t help the cough that came out, and he muttered, “Codfish.”
He heard the unmistakable sound of Wu Zan snort, but no one turned around or acknowledged Peter’s comeback. They wouldn’t dare. Peter’s grin spread from ear to ear as they ran down the beach and into the underground garage. The boys slowed and Peter followed suit as he took in what he was seeing. There was so much more than just a garage built into the cliff. This was the headquarters, built deep underground.
A grinding echoed through the cavernous garage, and Peter glanced back over his shoulder. Hook had followed them inside and was closing up the door. The lower ramp cranked up, creating a halo of light around the door until it met with the top, sealing them inside in pitch black. They stopped marching. His mouth went dry. Then the darkness was diminished as lights clicked on and down the tunnels.
