by Josiah Upton
But I can’t. Not yet.
I rise and pace a few feet away. “He didn’t have to give us food. He doesn’t even have to give us these reward rooms, or any other priveleges that come with Brains Club membership. Everyone else in the world hates us, and wants us dead. But from Schutzhorne’s video, he made it seem like Hybrids were the key to the future of Humanity. For most of a century, we were the monsters, and now we’re suddenly the heroes.” I come to stop at the Betty doll, poking her rubber forehead. She wobbles back and forth. “I think we’re getting used, and in the end, we’re as disposable as this doll. No matter what they say, they don’t care about us.”
“They probably don’t,” she says, getting up from the bed. “But the alternative to working for them is staying locked up here. Either way, they’re in control. And they always have been.”
“Then why don’t they just come out and say it?” I ask. “Why pretend we’re worth anything to them, other than a tool? They can just tell us what to do, and we do it. Or it’s a bullet in our brains.”
“Humans are… strange,” Alice says. She stands next to me, inspecting Neddy, running her fingers over his face. “They don’t know what they want. And when they do, they have to think of clever ways to get it, to hide their intentions. We aren’t like that. We know exactly what we want, and we take it.” I hear her breathe deeply. I smell her flesh as I inhale with her. She places her hand on my lower back. “I know what I want.”
I turn quickly, and she recoils her arm, folding it with her other across her chest. She laughs awkwardly. “I talk about how confident Hybrids are, but I don’t even know what I’m doing. I’ve… I’ve never done this before, Zaul. But I want to. With you.”
She turns to me, lowering her defensive arms. The dark blood in my blue veins starts flowing, pounding through my head like a beast beating on a cave wall. The Hybrid woman that stands before me said it herself, with her own two lips. There is no confusion about it, no mixed signals. She wants me.
Alice takes one more step closer, paring down the gap that separates me from the final release of my restraint, and apparently hers as well. Is it taking as much control for her to hold back as for me? Is her Prisoner screaming and thrashing just as wildly?
“We don’t know each other,” I say abruptly. I don’t step backward, but I lean slightly away. There’s something inside, something still wanting to make absolute sure of my surrender to this moment. Once the line is crossed, there’s no going back.
Maybe this was a mistake.
“I can’t just do… this. Not with just anyone. Not even when my body screams for me to. I’ve spent years training myself not to give in. I’m not like the others”
“I know you’re not. That’s why I picked you.” She looks down. “And you know me as much as anyone in here can. I’ve said more to you in the last ten minutes than to the rest of the Club for the entire month.” She smiles timidly. “I don’t open up easily.”
“Why not?” I ask.
“I used to know someone,” she says, walking over to the table in the corner, and hoisting herself up to sit on the edge. “Before I came to this facility. Someone like your Genny.” Alice notices my surprised expression, and adds, “I heard you and Benjamin Rigg talking about her during the maze.”
Hearing Genny’s name reminds me of her betrayal, and the harsh reality that she never loved me. It’s what brought me to this room. I don’t want to think about her, let alone talk about her. I come to stand by Alice at the table. “What happened?”
“It’s a long story,” she answers. “But they’re dead because of me. And so are my parents, and many others. Anyone attached to me gets hurt. That’s why I read all the time. It’s an excuse to shut myself away, to put up a wall. I wasn’t ready to open up again, until you saved me in the maze.”
“Wait,” I say, concerned. And a little angry. “Is that why you invited me here? To reward me for helping you? You already said thank you in the library, you didn’t need to…”
“No, Zaul,” she interrupts, shaking her head. “That’s not what it’s about. When I saw you jump off the tower, it reminded me of what was missing from my life: Risk. Taking a chance. I know the kind of person you are, because it’s how I am. You look at the situation, you weigh the positives and the negatives, and determine the outcome. But when the time came to act, you didn’t hesitate, because waiting an extra second wasn’t an option.”
“I’ve taken plenty of risks,” I say, thinking of all the things I’ve done since Gibbs let me out of the basement. I made drug deals with someone like Caesar, even though he would have killed me if he figured out what I was. I got in the Jeep with Gordon, even though my Prisoner screamed at me to eat him. I stayed in that office to turn Jensen in, when I could have just walked away.
I surrendered myself to the clutches of containment for Genny, even though she didn’t love me.
“They didn’t always work out.”
“But didn’t you feel alive?” Alice asks, leaning closer to me. My heart starts to beat. I lean away. “Didn’t those choices make you feel more like a human, and less like a walking corpse?”
“They did,” I answer, though it seems to come automatically. I’m not paying much attention to the words that I say, they’re just spilling out. I’m losing myself, feeling my body drawn closer to hers. My ears detect that faint yet annoying alarm noise, still sounding off from outside the room. It feels like a warning. I ignore it. My Lust is taking over and I’m running out of motives to resist it. And I’m also running out of time. The clock on the wall reads 18:02.
“You gave me a reason to look up from my book,” she says. “And to risk for something I wanted, the consequences be damned. I decided to stop waiting for someone or something to give me permission to live again. I don’t regret it.”
My nose draws deep, and her scent fills me. It’s intoxicating. Her gaze is intense, the lips of her mouth hanging half open as she breathes hot breath. I can’t read her mind, but I can read her body. This is my last chance to resist this. But right now it seems my prisoner is driving things forward.
Alice notices I’ve given up on putting distance between us. She closes the gap further, sliding her hand on the table so it’s right next to my waist. Her thumb grazes it, our skin separated only by my uniform. “Tomorrow, what risk will you regret not taking today?” she asks.
There is no tomorrow. There is only today. There is only now.
My fingers grasp the smooth skin on the back of Alice’s skull, and pull her into me. Our foreheads meet with a gentle crack, and we lock eyes for only a second, breathing heavily, before her mouth finds mine. I greedily devour our kiss, using my lips, teeth and tongue to explore this unfamiliar meal.
Alice picks me up off the floor, as if I were a small sack of pig entrails, and slams me onto the table. She kisses me again, with such force that I feel like my head will bend a dent in the table. Her fingers grasp the collar of my uniform, slowly but forcefully ripping it open. My hands search for the cloth of hers.
This is it. This is happening. Years and years of denying my Lust, swallowing chemicals and trying to pretend it doesn’t exist, but now it finally gets its day. It gets everything it’s ever wanted, as this shy Hybrid releases the same animal nature that pulls my hand inside the ripped opening of her uniform, seizing skin and flesh and opportunity. I feel an uncontrollable fire within. We are the same, we don’t need to hold back. I can’t hurt her. I barely know her, but that doesn’t matter. This isn’t about love. Love died the moment Genny threw me away. She took what she wanted, and now I’m just returning the favor. I force Genny from my mind, and focus on the beautiful body that climbs on top of me.
But before we can even start, our collars activate. She falls off the table as I stay on it, convulsing with electricity. What cruelty has brought me to this?
Chapter 44
Genny
The sirens continue to sound off as we quickly shuffle through the hallways, the red lights
glowing and fading in a slow strobe. Every moment my attention is on Caesar, looking for my opportunity to give him the same bloody end he gave my dad. But his focus is unwavering, fueled by his determination to kill Schutzhorne. His gun is steadily trained on my back, and his eyes fixed straight ahead. He won’t be caught unawares.
I can understand his resolve. He just witnessed his father’s brutal demise by one of the creatures he’s spent his whole life hating, and though I’m not sure how, Schutzhorne was the one to set that ball in motion. I believed him when he said he didn’t actually want to kill my dad. But he still did it, right in front of me. He has to die. And then what? I haven’t thought that far ahead. If I don’t get my chance before he rounds up these Brains Club members, then I’ll be seeing Zaul soon. We can figure it out together from there.
We come to a door labeled HFHRE. Officer Krecker swipes his card to open the door, revealing a modest library, with five Hybrids calmly seated in the middle, and a few officers standing guard. Seems fitting for something called the Brains Club. The Hybrids look to me, puzzled, and sniff the air to figure out exactly what I am. But their attention is taken by Caesar when he pushes past me. They give a look of both horror and hatred. Apparently this vile man isn’t easily forgotten to them.
The officers inside the library reach for their rifles, but Caesar and Krecker already have theirs at the ready, followed by the small team of loyal containment officers that file into the room. “Easy, now,” Caesar says. “You don’t want to lose your life over a handful of Uggers.”
“Ortega,” one of them says. “I thought you were in the Lock.”
“No,” another says. “He got out. But I heard you were dead.”
“Sorry to disappoint, boys,” Caesar says. “I’m alive and free. But I’m also in charge. That prick Schutzhorne pulled the strings and got a Perma-Lock to kill your boss. My dad. And he plans to take over this Facility. So you’ve only got two options: join up with me to take him down, or say good night.”
He waves his rifle in the air. The officers look between each other, apprehensive, then nod. Caesar’s men start rounding up the Hybrids. One of the females, wearing a uniform labeled 1731, has been staring at me this whole time, with no shred of subtlety. “What are you?”
“That’s Ice Princess,” Caesar answers. I’m really starting to hate that nickname. He comes to stand behind 1731, using his gun to make her stand up from the chair. “She’s a special kind of Ugger. Me and her go way back.” He nudges the female forward, herding her into a line with the others. “And that’s also the last time you’re going to open your mouth today. All of you. No talking, no eating…”
He leans forward, bringing his mouth next to her ear. It wouldn’t take much for her to turn and bite off his nose. Surely he knows this, he just doesn’t care. He’s insane. “And no slutting. Your Lustful days are over, you Ugger whore. Sex is for humans, not monsters. Oh, you think I didn’t know what that pervert Tran was letting you freaks get away with?”
1731 grimaces, and rolls her eyes. “Then you’re going to hate what’s going on in the Rec...”
A gunshot rings out, and 1731 screams as dark fluid flies from her chest. Two of the larger males, labeled 1298 and 1299, growl and charge toward Caesar. They make it three steps before they’re on the ground, convulsing from electroshock. “What did I tell you?!” Caesar screams. “Huh? KEEP. YOUR. MOUTH. SHUT.”
He kicks 1731 with each word, harder and harder. Something rises up in me, a Rage that makes me want to kill him more than I did before. He doesn’t deserve to exist.
Caesar picks 1731 up by her shoulder, throws her towards the door, and barks at all the others to follow. Through her pain, she sneers at me when she passes by. What she said just before getting shot registers with me, in response to Caesar’s bitter remarks about Hybrid sexuality. Then you’re going to hate what’s going on in the Rec...
Shortly before he died, Robert mentioned Zaul and someone named Alice were in the Rec. My body trembles in fear of the possibilities.
Further down the hall, we arrive at the Rec. My heart starts beating as the images of what I might find Zaul doing fill my mind. Is this karma, for that stupid kiss I shared with Dalton? And did I really expect him to stay ‘faithful’ to me, a human he thought he’d never see again? If he actually has an opportunity for pleasure and companionship inside this horrible place, I should be happy for him.
But I’m not. All I feel is pain.
Krecker opens the door, to a space a little larger than my old school’s cafeteria. Zaul is nowhere to be found. Instead there is a man in a white lab coat, surrounded by more men dressed like him. They have been waiting for us, because they’re already aiming at Caesar and his officers when the doors open. One of the men shoots, and a brief firefight ensues. An officer on our end falls, but no Hybrids are harmed, and the rest of the casualties are at the feet of the man in the lab coat.
Now completely alone, he lets a shrill scream escape, and holds up his hands. “Don’t shoot!”
“Where’s 1822 and 1760?” Krecker asks. When the man doesn’t respond, Krecker fires a warning shot over his head. “Answer me, Tran!”
Tran doesn’t speak, but using his quaking hand he points to the middle of three doors on the far wall of the Rec. Caesar scowls, spits on the floor, and snatches the electronic pad from Tran’s other hand. Over Caesar’s shoulder I see him quickly swipe through menus on the screen, before pulling up an option that reads Libido Restraint Alleviation Therapy Video Feed. I really wish he wouldn’t press it. But he does anyway.
What I feared to see the most is exactly what I get. A female Hybrid is on top of a table, straddling the boy that I thought I loved, smiling as she rubs her hands across his bare chest. This isn’t forced upon him; it’s abundantly clear he’s just as eager as she is. There’s a look of ecstasy on his face, and his hands are all over her body. Peeling off her clothing. I’ve lost him completely.
My insides fall to pieces, and I feel like I might throw up.
Caesar takes a brief moment to look back at me, an evil smirk on his face, savoring the pain that racks my soul. Then he presses a red button on the screen labeled Subdue, and their passionate encounter is interrupted by a shock from their collars. While Zaul and his lover writhe in pain, a vindictive pleasure fills me. But it’s short-lived, when ten seconds pass and Caesar doesn’t quit.
“What are you doing?!” I ask. “That’s enough! Stop it!”
“Hell, I thought you’d enjoy this,” he says. “Payback, for what he’s done to you.”
I leer at him, wanting to take that pad and force it down his throat until it rips open the sides of his esophagus. The pain of what I just witnessed pales in comparison to losing my father forever. “The only thing I’m going to enjoy, is ripping you apart, piece by piece.” I gesture to the other Hybrids behind me. “And then, I’m going to let them eat you.”
“Is that so, Ice Princess?” Caesar says with a smirk, and presses the red button again. Zaul and Alice’s body stop shaking. “You know, I didn’t want to kill your father, it just had to be done. But when the time comes to do you and all your freaky cousins in, I’m going to take great pleasure in every single moment.”
“Then what’s stopping you?” I ask, taunting him. I’m just begging he’ll give me an excuse to lash out and destroy him. Even if it ends up killing me. It would be worthy of my death.
“You and the Brains Club are just a small piece of the disgusting, unnatural pie. There’s plenty more Sludge in this Facility that needs purging. It’s been a long time coming. And since you’re the most recent addition to the family, I’m going to save you for last. Also, I need your sorry asses to get to Schutzhorne.” He looks to Krecker. “We need to get moving.”
Caesar hits a button for the middle door to open, and a handful of officers rush in to grab Zaul and Alice.
“Make sure they’re dressed when they come out. I don’t want to see that sick shit,” he says, handing the pad to Krec
ker, then turning to Tran. He nudges one of the dead bodies with his foot. “You and your little assistants here seemed pretty prepared when we came through the door.”
“Well, the Facility had gone into lock-down,” Tran says, now a little calmer, but still whiter than a ghost. “We had to be prepared for anything.”
Caesar puts the barrel of his gun to Tran’s head. The doctor closes his eyes and whimpers. “Either you didn’t know, or maybe you just forgot,” Caesar says through gritted teeth. “But I was part of the team that swapped Benjamin Rigg’s Mortetine, the night before he ate his brother.”
Zaul and Alice (now completely dressed, but with portions of their naked bodies still visible through rips in their uniforms) are escorted out of the door and towards us. When Zaul sees me, he looks shocked, and opens his mouth to speak. But I can’t bear to look at him, or that girl he was about to give himself to completely. I turn my attention back to Caesar and Tran.
“Thomas Rigg’s murder was a set up?” I ask. “Why?”
“The AD wanted to end the Welfare Guardianship program, and the best way to do that was dismantle the credibility of its leading advocate, the Rigg Foundation. It worked. After news came out of what Rigg did, politicians in New York quickly agreed that the best move was to shut it down. I was on board as well, but Schutzhorne sweetened the deal, and promised me the Containment Director position after my father passed. In exchange, I helped replace Rigg’s Mortetine with Tran’s Rage candy. One of his many errands that I now regret.”
“Rage candy?” I ask.
Caesar pulls out a small pill from his uniform pocket, holding it up in the light. This must be what he retrieved from Rigg’s cell. “Tran developed a new pill that looks, tastes and smells just like Mortetine, except instead of suppressing Hybrid urges, it increases them. The funny thing is, I don’t remember that new formula giving Uggers the strength to withstand multiple bullet holes…” Caesar slowly looks to Tran, gripping his rifle tighter. “…while they tear into your father right before your very eyes.”
