I dropped onto the catwalk next to her. I knew where we were—inside the Program, I’d used this route to escape the MegaCom chamber after Sarah locked me and Derrick inside it. Well, a simulation of this route, anyway. It could get spacey differentiating what was real and what had been virtual.
Sarah was standing next to me, silently tapping her lips.
“You okay?” I asked.
“I’m thinking.”
“About?”
“Toby’s plan. Why is he bothering with the front entrance at all? If this space is secure, he should be working to open the back door. That’s a much easier way into the lab complex since it avoids the water. But I don’t hear anything from down the tunnel.”
“Maybe he’s not aiming for it,” I said delicately. “I know you think the MegaCom is his ultimate goal, but it could be the alcoves. What would he really want from a computer?”
Sarah was quiet for a moment. “No. No, I’m sure I have it right. Remember, it’s not just Toby—he didn’t pop back up until these other kids entered the game. But I can’t figure out what they’re driving at.”
I opened my mouth, but she waved me off. “Forget it. I should be glad at how things are working out. We’re in first, and that’s all that matters. Come on.” She started down the catwalk.
“Okay then,” I muttered.
Twenty yards down, we reached a ladder I hadn’t used before. Sarah rapped it with a fist. “This one leads to the lab.”
She began climbing smoothly. The ladder disappeared into a narrow opening in the ceiling. At the top, I paused below her as Sarah tapped another LED panel and a second hatch whooshed open. We pulled ourselves up through the floor of the regeneration chamber. Blazing white lights flickered to life around us.
“Did these bulbs last the whole Program?” I asked. I’d spent almost no time underground after emerging into fresh air six months ago. I hated the silo. Once freed from its claustrophobic clutches, like many, I’d rarely reentered the place. I had to remind myself that Sarah had made this level her home.
Sarah shook her head. “We replaced everything in the complex during the first few weeks. Cleaned the crap out of it, too—it was disgusting. But the core systems survived.” Her voice grew quiet. “Devin mopped this entire chamber one weekend. I didn’t even ask him.”
I was impressed. When we’d exited the cloning pods, a million years of grime had coated the walls and floors, making the whole complex feel like an unlivable horror show. But Sarah had envisioned an underground apartment building. She and her sycophants had clearly accomplished wonders. The lab looked almost as pristine as it had inside the Program.
“Let’s get to the security hub,” Sarah suggested, heading for the door. “We can check any camera feeds that are still up and assess the damage.”
“Sounds like a plan,” I said. Then I scolded myself for sounding like a dork. I followed Sarah into the hallway running the length of the wing. A pair of swinging doors at the far end led to the living quarters. I pushed through them, unprepared for the changes that awaited.
Where previously the walls had been industrial gray, they were now a cheery sky blue. Hand-sewn curtains adorned fake windows painted at regular intervals, surrounding murals of sunshine and rolling fields. The carpets had been cleaned and freshly vacuumed. Sleeping cells now had the feel of individual dorm rooms. I’d assumed Sarah’s crew had been living like garrisoned soldiers down here, but they’d truly made the place comfortable.
“Are you hungry?” Sarah asked. “There was food rehydrating when we fled the tremors. It should still be fine.”
She led me into the kitchen.
Toby was sitting at the lone table, eating a bowl of cereal.
“Hey, girls.” He calmly wiped his mouth with a napkin. “How’d you sneak in here?”
I leapt backward, slamming into someone’s chest. I spun to find Mike Nolan blocking the doorway with Chris smiling at his side. Both held pistols. I recoiled, adrenaline dumping into my bloodstream. We were trapped.
For her part, Sarah didn’t move. “How’d you get in?”
“I asked you first.” Toby rose and put his dish in the sink. Then he turned and leaned back against the counter, one hand rising to stroke his shaved head. “But no big deal. We got our own secret way, too. I know some things about this place even you don’t, Sarah. How about that for a change?”
I heard Sarah mutter a curse. She hated getting outsmarted, and by Toby? Unthinkable.
Toby grinned. “I keep running into you these days. Must be fate.”
Sarah’s lip curled in distaste. “I can’t be that unlucky. What do you want, Toby? Why are you trying to take the silo from everyone else?”
Toby shrugged. “I need it. For stuff.”
Sarah’s face turned red. “Did you blow up the roof, Toby? Did you kill five of your own classmates?”
Toby frowned in what looked like genuine regret. “No one was supposed to be out there when the charges went off. I can’t know everything. I just needed to close all the doors but my own. My spy turned out to be kinda crappy on intel.”
Sarah lurched forward a step, but I grabbed her arm. The word spy was strobing in my mind like a Times Square billboard, but I had more pressing concerns. “Who are the strangers outside?” I asked. “Where’d they come from? Why are they attacking us?”
“All good questions,” he replied, mock-serious. “But I’m not going to answer them, because I can’t see why I should. You understand.”
“Toby, please.” I did my best to sound conciliatory. “We’ve had our differences, but no one kicked you guys out of the village. If you truly didn’t mean to hurt anyone, we can talk about what happens next civilly. But we have to know where you found other people still alive. It goes against everything we were told.”
Toby’s smirk faltered. “You have no idea what’s out there, Melinda. Everything we thought we knew is wrong.” He smacked his hands together, the grin sliding back into place. “Thankfully, I know how to adapt. I made a deal.”
I glanced at the Nolans. They remained smugly silent. This was clearly Toby’s song and dance.
“What kind of deal? Toby, stop screwing around. Tell us what’s going on!”
He clicked his tongue. “Actually, I’m going to lock you two up instead. My new friends want the situation contained, and I do my best to please. Gotta hold up my end of the bargain.”
He nodded to the twins. Mike wrapped a hand around my forearm. Chris reached for Sarah, but she whirled and slapped him across the face. He rolled his eyes and laughed.
“Now, now.” Toby pulled a gun from the back of his jeans. “This doesn’t have to be unpleasant. I’ll let you pick which room you want to bunk in.”
Sarah tensed, then abruptly relaxed. She spun and shouldered between the chuckling twins. I was marched after her as she stormed to the last door in the row. The room beyond was slightly larger than the others—probably her old unit. I followed her inside and we both sat on the bed.
I didn’t know what to do. I needed time to think, even if it was spent imprisoned with Sarah.
Toby stood in the doorway, casually resting an elbow against its frame. “I’ll want to know how you got in here, but that can wait. I have some business to get done. Rounding up strays is hard work.”
“Why are you doing this?” I spat, unable to keep the hurt from my voice. “How could you choose outsiders over your own classmates?”
For the first time, Toby looked legitimately surprised. “Seriously? You’ve been against me from the moment we entered the Program. Hell, Min—you hated me even before then. But that’s all trivia now. Bottom line: These guys can give me what I want. So they get what they want.”
“You’re after the MegaCom,” Sarah said, holding Toby’s gaze. “Why?”
He smiled darkly. “You’re the smart one, Sarah. I’m
surprised you can’t guess.”
She shook her head. “Whatever’s on the hard drives can’t help you much. There are no other working computers. Data is useless, unless your friends are after something.”
Toby cackled. “I love knowing more than you. And who said anything about data?”
Sarah’s face blanked. She chewed her bottom lip.
“Then what do you want?” I asked.
The light of obsession kindled in Toby’s eyes. “I wanna go home, Min.”
I blinked. “Toby, we are home. This is our valley. The MegaCom can’t turn back time.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” Toby drummed his stomach with both hands. “I don’t wanna go back to high school or anything like that. That life was worse than this one. No, I’ve got a better plan. I want back inside the infinite.”
Sarah gasped. I’d never heard her make that sound before.
“My boys and I are going back into the Program,” Toby said. “It’s all been worked out. You can keep these needy, fragile bodies, and the struggle to feed them and stay alive. You think it’s going to get easier? Wait a year, then five. Me? I’ll take the simulation. I miss being a god.”
I stared at him, unable to form a coherent sentence. “Toby, that’s . . . that’s . . .”
“Keep the real world, Min.” He gave me a lopsided grin. I could hear other people moving in the hallway behind him. How many enemies were down here? “Keep your rules, and your morality, and all that crap. It ain’t for me.” He breathed a contented sigh. “In a few days’ time I’ll be back in virtual Fire Lake. Immortal and untouchable. So just sit back and stay out of my way, because I’ll sacrifice every last one of you to get there if I have to. Bye, now.”
Toby stepped back and closed the door, trapping us inside.
14
NOAH
I held my breath.
Low voices carried from just over the rise. Right where Tack said they’d be.
The forest was foggy and wet. I glanced at Ethan lying beside me, saw a vein pumping in his neck as he listened intently. I couldn’t make out individuals, but the tones weren’t right. Even at a murmur they didn’t sound like people I knew. I’d spent enough time with everyone to be able to tell.
“You ready?” Ethan whispered.
I rubbed a hand across my face. Nodded. The sun was setting behind us, so the light would be in their eyes. Ethan counted down three fingers, then we army-crawled to the lip of the hill. Below us a deep gorge stretched roughly a dozen yards wide. Beyond it was a flat-bottomed dell in the shadow of an enormous rock formation rising from the woods.
We’d reached the location circled in red on Tack’s map.
The camp was directly across from where we hid. I counted eight people around a crackling fire. Recognized none of them.
My heart began thudding in my chest. I couldn’t argue with my own eyes.
Strangers. People who hadn’t grown up in Fire Lake. Hadn’t spent a million years inside a simulation with me. Unknown teenagers, chatting casually, as if their existence wasn’t unthinkable.
I’m gonna be sick.
I licked my lips. Felt something clamp onto my forearm. Ethan was gripping my wrist but not looking at me. Instead, he pointed to the far side of the circle.
Bile rose in my throat a second time.
A gagged figure was hunched over away from the others. Legs tied. Arms wrenched behind their back. It took a moment of squinting for me to recognize Liesel’s plump frame. My eyes slid to her right, and I spotted three more prisoners.
I caught Ethan’s eyes and mouthed four names: Liesel. Neb. Benny. Emma. Then I raised my palms, mimed looking around. Where are the others?
Ethan’s jaw formed a rigid line. He shook his head.
He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder and we slunk back from the threshold. Then we rose and hustled to where Tack was standing lookout at the bottom of the hill. He’d found the camp first while scouting ahead, and his report had proved dead-on, but I’d insisted on seeing things for myself. It’s not that I didn’t trust Tack. I needed to see.
“Satisfied?” Tack whispered.
“Yes.” Blood pounded in my ears. Viewing other living people had been so thunderous, I could barely stay upright, but I put it away for later. My focus had to be on our friends. Then I went cold all over, remembering the count.
“We only saw four,” I said. “Where are the others?”
Ethan spat on a pile of soggy leaves. “Corbin, Kayla, Isaiah, and Darren are missing. They better be okay.”
“They could’ve split them up,” Tack said. “Maybe there’s another camp.”
“God I hope so,” I breathed.
Tack grunted. Though not a part of the farming experiment, he’d been living with Corbin’s group for months. But if he was distressed by what we’d seen, he was keeping it hidden. I wasn’t surprised. Tack had never worn emotions on his sleeve.
“This is as far as I’ve ever gone,” he said. “I’ve been planning to rope across that gap, but the last time I came looking for a spot, I found the gloves and jacket I showed you and freaked. By the time I got back, the Outpost had been raided.”
Ethan ran knuckles across his cheek. “So what now? Hit them when they sleep?”
“We still don’t know if they’re armed,” I said. “Or where they’re going. Tack’s right—they could have a second camp around the corner with a dozen more people.”
Ethan sneered at me. “Great. Spineless Noah Livingston returns. What’s your plan then, huh? Sit back while they drag Benny into the jungle?”
“Of course not,” I snapped, growing angry myself. “I’m just saying we need more information. We don’t know who they are, what they want, or where they’re going. I prefer to fight with some idea of what I’m up against.”
Ethan’s expression promised a nasty reply, but Tack held up a hand for silence. Surprisingly, it worked. “I agree with Noah,” he said.
Ethan scowled. “Oh, for—”
“It’s common sense to investigate an enemy before you attack,” Tack interrupted smoothly. “And in this case, there’s an easy way to do it.”
A shiver traveled my spine. I’d caught Tack’s drift, even if Ethan hadn’t.
“Please enlighten me, Rambo.” Ethan made air quotes. “How do we ‘investigate’ the bastards without taking them on?”
Tack flashed a toothy smile, but with a cutting edge. “We grab one and make him talk.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, then snapped them back open. Our friends were tied up down there. Others were missing. The monsters who had attacked them might come for Fire Lake Island next.
“You have a plan?” I asked.
Tack nodded. Ethan gave me an unreadable look, but remained silent.
“These jerk-offs think they’re untouchable over there,” Tack said. “They built a huge fire and aren’t even trying to be quiet.” He pointed down the gorge to a low ridge. “I know a place where I think we can get across. We’ll strike tonight, in the dark, and drag one of those punks back here with us.”
“But how will we lure someone away from the group?” Ethan asked.
I snorted as the last piece fell into place.
“Nature calls for everyone, right?” I smiled darkly. “Some dude’s about to have the worst pee break of his life.”
* * *
• • •
Ethan and I crouched behind a pair of giant oak trees. Him on the left, me on the right. Tack was up closer to their camp—full night had fallen, and he’d snuck right to the edge of the firelight, ready to signal when a target was headed our way. It was our job to grab the victim before he could call out, then drag him from sight.
Easier said than done.
My palms were damp. I wiped them on my jeans. The sun had set less than an hour ago, but I was already antsy.
Kidnapping wasn’t one of the many horrors I had personal experience with. In the Program, you typically shot first. Weirdly, this felt like a bigger violation.
We’d crossed the gorge as quietly as possible, on a line Tack set with an honest-to-God lasso throw. My heart nearly stopped watching him shimmy across the gap, the hooked stump shifting precariously beneath his weight. But he’d made it safely and secured a better anchorage, adding a second line we could walk on. Ethan and I followed with relative ease.
Step one, complete.
We’d left the lines fixed in case we needed a speedy getaway, although I didn’t see how we could force a prisoner across against his will. Our plan was to hide once we snatched someone rather than outrun any pursuit. I was praying we could avoid being chased altogether.
Tack had crawled close and watched two strangers use the same route to relieve themselves, so we’d cautiously worked around the perimeter and laid our ambush along that trail. Now we waited.
Step two, complete.
Tack would wink a flashlight at us when someone came down the path. Ethan would bag the sap’s head and choke off his air supply while I stabbed him with a syringe from Tack’s medical kit. Headlock and sedative should prevent any shouts for help as we hauled our mark away.
At least, that was the plan.
The ways it could go wrong were too numerous to contemplate.
Tack had plotted an escape route cutting deeper into the woods. We hoped the strangers would assume we’d bolt for the gorge. Instead, we’d hide on this side of the gap and lie low until morning. Maybe there’d even be a chance to free our friends. If not, we’d extract answers from our prisoner and figure out what to do next.
We all three agreed we weren’t going back without our classmates. Whatever it took. I didn’t want to think too hard about what that might mean, but that didn’t make it less true. If people had to bleed in order to free my friends, so be it. They hit first. I could hit back harder.
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