Shudder (Stitch Trilogy, Book 2)

by Samantha Durante

  Isaac shrugged. “I guess so. And everyone else we ever cared about – our parents, your brother, all of our friends and neighbors, even our government – wasn’t. They killed all of them. They killed everyone we knew.”

  Alessa couldn’t make sense of it. They’d killed everyone?

  They’d killed everyone.

  They’d killed everyone.

  Every nerve ending in her body tingled with rage as it finally sunk in for Alessa, and she fought the urge to cry and scream and hit something all at once.

  Paragon wasn’t just misguided – it was straight-up evil. She’d tried, so many times, to make excuses for her society, to find the good in whatever mistakes their elusive leaders had made. But this – this was just too much.

  There was no way to justify mass murder. There was no way to excuse the massacre of an entire planet full of people. There was no way to rationalize one man’s twisted desire to play God.

  They had to be stopped.

  It looked like Alessa would be going back to Raptor after all.

  36. RESOLVE

  Alessa knew now that theirs was a battle worth fighting – worth even dying for, if she had to.

  She owed it to her parents, to her brother, to Isaac’s family, and to everyone who had been unlucky enough not to get a stamp of approval from some stupid machine. Someone had to make the Engineers pay for what they’d done. And if that someone was the rebels, Alessa would play whatever part she could to ensure their success.

  She just hoped she wasn't being rash. Between her outrage over Isaac’s revelation, her concern over Janie’s weakened health, and her desire not to tear Isaac away from his family again, Alessa had to admit that it was easier to stay the course and follow along with the rebels’ plans.

  But in the back of her mind, she questioned if that wasn't why she should leave. Wasn’t the right path usually the harder one?

  She prayed she wouldn't regret this.

  Suddenly, a low rumbling rose from the cavernous depths of the train tunnel and the ground began to quiver under Alessa’s feet.

  Isaac smiled knowingly. “Looks like it’s time to go.”

  A faint violet light peeked out from the mouth of the passage – growing stronger with every second – and a booming rumble issued from whatever was coming up the tracks.

  Janie took Alessa’s hand. “You’re coming, right?”

  Alessa simply nodded, and understanding cascaded through Janie’s features. Alessa didn’t have to explain – she knew Janie wouldn’t say another word about Alessa’s wavering.

  The blue-violet glow grew brighter and brighter, and long twisting shadows stretched along the tracks in front of the platform. The rebels stood in awed silence, watching, waiting.

  And then in a triumphant burst, a massive train engine came roaring into the station and the rebels erupted in applause and cheers. The engine glowed periwinkle from within, light radiating through the gaps in the metal casing like a star. Carlos leaned out the conductor’s window while Sato sat astride the engine, spurring it on like a giant iron horse, a massive grin plastered on her face. Alessa caught a glimpse of Alicia running beside the train, laughing.

  Janie whooped and jumped with the others, her fist held high in the air.

  “So much for a stealthy escape, huh?” Alessa commented to Isaac.

  He smirked. “Don’t worry about it – Regina’s got it all covered. The train will bring us to the city, where an envoy of shuttles will be waiting to transport everyone to Raptor. There’s a diversion distracting Paragon’s army as we speak, so by the time they catch up, the train will be deserted and we’ll all be safely tucked away at Raptor.”

  Alessa closed her eyes and shook her head – she couldn’t believe she was actually going along with this, that she’d thrown caution to the wind and was back in this fight.

  But she couldn’t quite suppress the smile pulling at her lips, either. As she watched the train pull in to cheers and applause, she realized that Isaac had made this happen – that his mission this morning had made it possible for all of these people to escape. As usual, he’d managed to impress her.

  The train thundered to a stop in front of the platform and the rebels piled on, streaming into the dusty old freight cars lining the track. Within seconds, the platform was empty and they were on their way.

  Alessa and Isaac and Janie weaved their way through the crowded cars as the train plowed through the darkened tunnels. Bats and rodents scattered from their path, and the engine valiantly cleaved through any garbage or rubble that had collected on the tracks. Alessa couldn’t believe the track was still intact after all these years, but somehow, the train was running.

  When they reached the front of the train they ran into Sato, who had taken the opportunity at the platform to climb down from the engine and board the train with the rest of the passengers.

  Isaac shook her hand eagerly and shared his congratulations. “Wow. Just, wow.”

  “Sato,” Alessa praised. “This is incredible. How did you do this?”

  Sato laughed. Alessa had never seen her blush. She nodded her head toward Carlos and explained, “This one found this old hunk of junk in the basement of a transportation museum built on top of the old tracks. I just got it lubed up and retrofitted the engine to run off a power cell. It was nothing, really.”

  “Yeah, nothing,” Alicia laughed, running her hands around Sato’s waist and embracing her from behind. She cradled her face over Sato’s shoulder and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. “This is all because of you.”

  “Yeah, whatever.” Sato – ever reserved – brushed off Alicia’s well-deserved admiration, as Alessa and Isaac laughed. Sato could say whatever she wanted – the rebels owed her big time.

  “Less.” Janie pointed to a couple open seats on a box pushed against the side of the freight car. “Come sit with me.”

  Alessa left Isaac chatting with Sato and Alicia and Carlos and curled up next to her sister as the train finally emerged from the tunnel and into the open air beyond Paragon’s gates. A raucous cheer rose from the rebels, and Alessa and Janie clapped excitedly.

  “We’re on our way,” Alessa beamed.

  “Thanks to you and Isaac finding us somewhere to go,” Janie pointed out. “So, catch me up on what you two have been up to,” she prompted.

  Alessa walked Janie through everything she and Isaac had experienced on their journey outside the compound – camping in the woods, their run-ins with the creatures, the abandoned towns and city, Isaac’s close call with illness, finding the base, her doubts about Joe, and finally Michael’s theory that the strange things she kept feeling were actually a new extrasensory talent.

  “Okay, let me get this – he thinks you’re an ‘empath?’ And that this ability was somehow unlocked by the stitch?”

  “Yeah,” Alessa explained. “I can basically see and feel people’s final thoughts before death.”

  “But you said that it started while you were still in the woods, right? Like before you reached civilized areas? So exactly whose thoughts and feelings were you tuning into then?”

  This was the hardest part to explain. But then again, Janie had witnessed it at the prison, even if she didn’t realize. “You remember when we opened Nikhil’s cell? And I said I was afraid he might be dying?”

  Janie nodded, her brow furrowed in concentration.

  “Well, that was because I felt something when I unlocked the door. I sensed confusion and anxiety inside the room, and I assumed it was coming from Nikhil… but then, you saw what was in there.”

  “Yeah,” Janie affirmed. “So… you’re saying you felt these things from that monster?”

  Alessa nodded. “I think so…” She explained Michael’s hypothesis, that the beasts – whatever they were – were running on some sort of primal wavelength that happened to coincide with the human near-death frequency that Alessa seemed attuned to.

  “So you were getting readings or whatever from those creatures as they stalk
ed you in the woods?” A shiver ran down Janie’s arms. “That’s creepy.”

  Alessa snickered. “To say the least.”

  “Useful, though, I guess.”

  “Maybe,” Alessa shrugged. She looked down at her hands and found herself fiddling with her ring once again. That reminded her.

  “Oh, I never got a chance to tell you what I saw in Joe’s – in Sara’s – cell.”

  “I saw the names carved all over the walls – you couldn’t miss them. It was sweet, in a stalker-ish kind of way…” Janie smiled sheepishly.

  Alessa chuckled. “No, not just that. When I touched the writing, I got this flash.” She smiled, her eyes far off as she remembered the reassuring feelings that had washed over her in Joe’s cell. “I could see what Joe was thinking as he did it, as he wrote the names. He wanted me and Isaac to be happy – together – to take care of each other. I think he knew we’d end up finding each other, and he was okay with it. So… it made me feel better, about everything.”

  Janie squeezed Alessa’s hand. “Well, I could have told you that. Of course Joe would want you two to be happy. But I’m glad you got the closure you needed.” She patted Alessa’s hand. “Hot ring, by the way.”

  “Thanks,” Alessa smiled. “Present from Isaac,” she explained.

  Janie nodded approvingly. “I gotta hand it to him – the boy’s got taste.”

  Alessa laughed. “Actually, I haven’t told him about anything that happened in the prison yet. I should probably go fill him in.”

  “Of course,” Janie smiled, yawning, her head drooping back against the wall. “I won’t be going anywhere.” A second later her eyes were closed, and she seemed to be dozing peacefully.

  Alessa sought out Isaac to catch up on the details of their raids of the prison and medical center.

  He was surprised to hear about Alessa and Janie’s encounter with the creature in Nikhil’s cell. “That means those things are inside Paragon, too?”

  “I guess so,” Alessa confirmed.

  Isaac shook his head. “I would have bet anything they were a result of the virus. But how could that be if they’re inside the quarantine zone?”

  Alessa shrugged. “Who said the compound was ever really quarantined? If we’re all vaccinated, we wouldn’t notice if the virus was all over everything we touched, even within Paragon, right?”

  “That’s true…”

  When Alessa reached the part about what she’d experienced in Joe’s cell, Isaac was quietly nodding, a faint smile on his lips. He took a deep breath and absorbed what she had said for a moment before responding.

  “I – I can’t tell you how much that means to me, Less. I know you’ve been saying for years that Joe would be supportive of us, you know, being together. But if I’m honest, I don’t think I ever really believed it. I always had doubts.”

  He took her hands in his and smiled brightly. “But no more. Thank you for that.”

  He leaned in for a long, gentle kiss, and all of the day’s tensions melted out of Alessa’s body.

  She’d certainly had her own share of doubts lately – about Isaac and Joe, about Paragon and the rebels, about her own role in pretty much everything – but finally, she felt like she was right where she was supposed to be.

  She eyed her sister across the way – somehow napping serenely amidst the commotion of the train car – and basked in the warmth of Isaac’s body by her side, and the energy of the rebel fighters all around her. Despite her fears, she believed in what she was doing here, what they were all doing. They would avenge the wrongs that’d been done to them, and they would deliver Paragon’s people to the future they deserved.

  Alicia squeezed her way through the crush of bodies towards the front of the car and headed for Isaac and Alessa. “Guys – Regina’s calling a meeting. Could you round up Janie and meet us in the third car in fifteen minutes?”

  “Sure,” Isaac replied. “Be right there.”

  And so it began again. This time, Alessa was eager for the fight.

  37. BRIEFING

  The third car was packed to standing room only with all of the rebel leaders and 50 or so of their most talented agents, Isaac, Alessa, and Janie included. Isaac was eager to hear what Regina had to say, both about their plans for Raptor and the revelations he and Lizzie had heard from the Developer. But he hoped the meeting wouldn’t last too long – he still hadn’t had a chance to check on Josephine and her parents since they’d boarded.

  Regina called the meeting to order.

  “It’s great to see you all in one place,” she began. Lizzie stood by Regina’s side, and Isaac noticed with a chuckle that she’d changed out of the loose pilfered scrubs and into her usual fitted jumpsuit. She didn’t fill it out like she usually did – and she still looked exhausted and haggard – but not nearly so much as she had in that flimsy hospital gown. Isaac was glad to see that she looked more like herself.

  “I have to thank Isaac, first of all, for finding my daughter Lizzie this morning – this is one train I would have hated for her to miss.” She smiled as the rebels shouted a hearty, “Here, here!” in Isaac’s honor, and he was greeted with many sturdy pats on the back.

  Alessa grinned up at him with esteem, and Isaac’s heart skipped a beat – she never failed to have that effect on him.

  When the cheering subsided, Regina drew their attention once more. “Lizzie brings tidings from Paragon’s leaders, with whom she’s been held captive for the past several weeks. As you know, we’ve had some reports over the years of certain individuals within the Ruling Class who seemed to hold some authority, but they’ve proven elusive, and we’ve never been able to get close enough to learn who they are or what they’re working toward. Over the course of her captivity, Lizzie managed to finally extract this crucial information for our cause.” She turned to Lizzie and motioned toward the crowd. “If you wouldn’t mind.”

  Lizzie nodded and stepped forward. Her voice cracked as she began, but as she spoke, her words grew stronger. “Paragon has a message for us, one that they spent weeks carefully outlining to me so that I could deliver it to you all. But first, let me explain how I came to be their messenger.”

  She brushed a stray golden hair out of her face, taking a deep breath before she continued. “Our contact within the producers had reached out to me late in the fall, triggering the breakdown of my stitch while I was still on a drama. But when I stole away to meet him during Alessa and Isaac’s escape, we were caught.”

  She looked down for a moment, her face pained. “There was a mishap with the guards, and they accidentally killed him. I bought some time by leaking the little I knew of Alessa’s escape route,” she mouthed a quick but genuine “sorry” at Alessa, “but I feared the worst for myself. However, it turned out Paragon’s leaders – the Engineers, as they call themselves – had other plans for me.”

  A gaggle of quiet murmurs broke out amongst the rebels, but the whispers faded when Lizzie resumed her story.

  “They put me before the people of Paragon, and asked them to serve me justice. Would they forgive me for trying to escape – and potentially opening a breach for the virus – or would they see me punished? As it turned out, the people decided I deserved punishment, and took justice into their own hands…” She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “They stoned me.”

  A gasp spread over the crowd. “They wouldn’t!” someone yelled.

  Lizzie motioned at her own face. “I have the scars to prove it, unfortunately.” Lizzie surveyed the crowd. “Did none of you witness it? There had to be someone there… there were hundreds in the crowd.”

  No one spoke up.

  Isaac caught Janie nudging Alessa’s arm out of the corner of his eye. “No one saw? How is that possible?” Janie wondered.

  Alessa shrugged. Isaac leaned over and in a whisper added, “If I had witnessed Lizzie almost die and done nothing about it, I wouldn’t exactly want to volunteer that information to Regina, either…”

  “That�
�s a good point,” Alessa agreed.

  But Janie didn’t seem convinced. “I don’t know… something about this just feels off to me.”

  “Shh,” Alessa hushed. Lizzie was speaking again.

  “The Engineers put a stop to it before the mob killed me, at least – apparently they were as taken aback by that turn of events as I was. They kept me safe in the medical center and slowly nursed me back to health.

  “During my recovery, they spent hours explaining to me the history of Paragon, and their individual roles in bringing our society about. They admitted their mistakes – with the Ruling Class, the stitching, all the ways they tried to control us – and apologized –”

  The rebels grumbled under their breath.

  “– however little that might be worth.” Lizzie paused and looked around the room, obviously collecting her thoughts. “But the one thing that really struck me in all my conversations with the Engineers was that they truly seemed to have the best intentions. They saw the downward spiral our world was on, and when they had an opportunity to try to set things straight – to create a better future for all of us who’d survived – they took it. But they’re only human. They screwed up. And now they want our help to make it right.”

  Lizzie paused once more before revealing her final message. “They want to call a truce.”

  The assembly erupted with jeers and boos, angry fists pounding the air.

  Janie turned to Isaac and Alessa. “Do they really think there’s anything they could say that would convince this group to back down? How can they just expect everyone to forget what they did? ‘Oh, that’s okay.’” Janie snorted. “Fat chance.”

  “She didn’t even tell them about the virus yet,” Alessa added.

  Isaac shook his head. “There’s no way they’ll even consider a ceasefire if they know about that.”

  “But how can Regina keep something like that from everyone?” Alessa argued. “They have a right to know.”

  “Maybe so,” Isaac shrugged. “I’m sure she’ll tell them when the time is right.”