There was no point in taking her compliments personally. Katie flirted with all the troopers, throwing her line out until she caught one of us. There were several stories floating around about her. I think she had a three-week affair with Dwyer once.
“Thanks, Katie,” I said, flashing her another smile before turning on my heels to leave. The last place I wanted to be was in the admin building when my roommate could be spilling his guts about me just a few feet away.
I wanted to be as far away from there as possible.
My stomach was something I could focus on. I needed food and I needed it now. My next stop was the mess hall as I stood in line with the others, clutching my tray like it was the most important thing in the world.
I took the maximum portions – which still only covered half my plate – and found a table at the side of the hall. It was empty, save for a corporal and sergeant talking at the end. They didn’t look up when I sat down.
Like always, the food was a brown mixture of something completely unrecognizable. It had a sludge-like texture and tasted somewhat like beef. It could have been anything, really. My appetite was all but gone anyway, replaced with dread and worry.
The mess hall was quieter than I expected it to be. Either everyone had already retreated back to their rooms or there were a lot of missions in play in Aria. It could have been either option. Our superiors had been working us hard lately, making the hours longer and longer every day.
The conversation from the end of the table drifted my way, key words sparking my interest. The corporal was talking about a mission in the Middle district – the same area where Joseph lived.
Wren was supposed to be in that district.
Had they seen her? Been tipped off that she was there?
Had she made it at all?
I subtly shuffled a little closer, cocking my head so I could hear better. If I didn’t get answers to my questions soon, I was going to be driven insane with worry.
If anything happened to Wren…
More than anything, I wished I could stop thinking about her. I wished every decision I made didn’t involve her in some way. She had wormed her way into my head and there was no way I could get her out again.
If I hadn’t found her in that raid…
If I hadn’t let her go just as easily…
If I hadn’t seen the fear and innocence in her eyes…
Everything would be different now.
Everything.
From what I could gather from the conversation between my comrades, they were about to go on a mission in the Middle district and it was happening tonight.
As tired as my bones were, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity like that. I purposefully shuffled closer now, making my intentions of speaking with them clear. “Excuse me, Sergeant.”
They both turned to look at me, not entirely pleased with the interruption.
I continued on anyway. “I couldn’t help but overhear that you’re going on a mission tonight. Do you need any more men?”
Sergeant Henry looked me up and down, probably trying to remember my name. It wasn’t like we’d worked together for the past four years or anything.
“Don’t you have something better to do, Corporal?” he asked, speaking much more loudly than he needed to. It attracted the attention of a few men at the surrounding tables.
More attention that I didn’t need.
Couldn’t afford.
“No, sir,” I replied. “I’d like to help if you need another body.”
He squared his jaw and squinted while thinking it over. He was probably trying to work out what my angle was, what I would get out of volunteering for the mission. Troopers rarely put up their hand for a night mission. Especially when they’d spent all day on their feet patrolling.
“Fine,” he sighed. “We leave in an hour.”
I nodded. “Thank you, sir.”
With an hour to kill, I could easily fill the time. I cleared my tray and then headed for the showers. It had been a long day in my uniform and I was desperate to change it. Feeling clean was a luxury I often didn’t get.
The hot water was resplendent on my sore muscles. I let the water flow over my body, cascading down in a luxurious waterfall. I could have remained in there all night, letting the water knead and massage my aching limbs.
But the water cut out after one and a half minutes, that was all the time we were allocated for a shower. Wouldn’t want to waste precious resources on a trooper.
I pulled on a fresh uniform, getting tired of the white clothes we wore day in and day out. The only good thing about the uniform was that it resisted stains like spattered blood. You could beat up a guy and your uniform would remain pristine.
That’s why they chose the fabric.
And refused to change it.
Just as the hour was over, I turned up at the meeting point and hopped into the truck. At least I went unnoticed as I joined the others. Nobody questioned my presence.
We sat in silence in the darkness, the streetlights regularly illuminating the cabin with an orange glow as we passed underneath.
The area started looking familiar as we neared the Middle district. I didn’t let on to the fact I’d been there quite a bit in the past few months. I set my gaze into a stare and looked straight ahead.
When the truck came to a halt, Sergeant Henry stood up to address us. “We’re understaffed tonight so we’ll work in single units. Fan out into your allocated streets and do a thorough patrol. Meet back here in three hours and report anything suspicious over the communicator. Questions?” He looked around, daring anyone to question him. Nobody did, we all knew better. “Good. Get out there and do your job.”
We filed out and individually headed for our areas. I pretended to go to mine, even made it to the first street. From there it was only a matter of diverting across four blocks and I was standing outside Joseph’s house.
The trooper assigned to this street hadn’t yet made it. I knocked quickly and lifted my visor so I wouldn’t scare the old man.
A curtain ruffled next to the door before it opened. “You’d better have a good reason for being here.” Joseph greeted me with his usual brand of grumpiness.
“I do. Can I come in or are you going to leave me out here all night to get caught?” I arched an eyebrow in question. He rolled his eyes and shuffled out of the way.
The door wasn’t even fully closed before his lecture started. “Do you realize how reckless it is coming here dressed like that? If one of my neighbors sees you here, they are going to ask questions. Questions I don’t have a suitable answer for.”
“I know but this couldn’t wait—”
“And it won’t happen again,” he finished for me. I nodded and he let out the breath he was holding. “Tell me what it is before the rest of your group break down my door and come bursting in here.”
He waited expectantly. I guessed we weren’t going to move from the foyer. I’d obviously lost that privilege by turning up unannounced and uninvited.
That would change when he heard my news.
“I’ve been offered a position in the President’s Personal Guard and I accepted. I’m going to have direct access to Stone after I’m transferred,” I said proudly. Then I waited for the exclamations of triumph, the happiness, anything that would confirm I had made the right decision.
Anything.
Joseph cradled his chin in silent contemplation. While I stood there, dying of impatience. What was there to consider? We could get closer to Stone than we ever had before. I would have unprecedented access of the kind we’d never had.
This job was a game changer.
Why couldn’t he see that?
My lips clamped together as I fought not to break the silence. I would not be the one to fill it, the leader of the Resistance had to do that himself.
I just wished he wasn’t taking so goddamn long.
Finally, he lifted his chin while his hand continued to stroke at the light dusting of hair tha
t had a chance of forming a beard one day. “This is a good move, Reece. Well done.”
“Thank you.” I tried not to make my relief so evident as I relaxed my body. “I’m not sure when the transfer will happen but it won’t be too much longer. Can you alter my mission to give me new directives?”
Joseph nodded. “We will discuss it and let you know. For now, when you do transfer, keep your eyes and ears open. I want to know exactly what you have access to and the people you can interact with.”
“I can do that.”
“Good. I expect nothing less of you.”
With the confirmation I needed being received, we could move on to the other, more pressing, issue I needed to discuss. Time was quickly getting away and I didn’t have much to spare.
“Did a girl turn up here today?” I asked.
“I was wondering when you would get to that.” His elderly eyes drilled into me, completely unreadable. “Yes, the girl knocked on my door today just like you did. Can I expect any more Defective Clones to turn up on my front stoop unannounced?”
“No, just her. Was she okay?”
“She was unharmed.” Did he have to be so calm about everything? I desperately needed these answers, these details, and he was dragging it out painfully.
“Is she here? Can I talk to her?” There was too much desperation in my voice, I was giving too much away. I needed to reel it back a thousand percent.
Joseph shook his head. “She is not here but she is somewhere safe. You do realize what would have happened if someone saw her here, don’t you?” He pulled his finger across his neck, sticking out his tongue.
Little did he realize that if President Stone’s clone was found here decapitation would be considered too good for us. A slower, more painful death was much more appropriate.
“She was in trouble,” I started. “She had to go somewhere and I was on a mission when I found her. Your address was the only place I could think to send her. Where is she now?”
“I’m not telling you that information.”
My brows wrinkled with confusion. “Why not? I’m not going to hurt her, I just need to know she’s okay.”
“She is somewhere safe and that is all you need to know.”
“Joseph—” He closed his eyes slowly and it was all I needed to silence the words on my lips.
“You will not have anything further to do with the girl. She is far too dangerous and valuable. You do your job and I will do mine.”
My fingers clenched into a fist before I forced them to relax again. They curled once more unbidden. “I need to know she’s alright. I want to talk with her.”
“You don’t trust me?”
“It’s not a matter of trust, Joseph, you know that. She’s bound to be scared and she knows me, I can calm her down.” That was largely a lie but I would say anything to get to Wren. If I didn’t see her with my own eyes I couldn’t believe she was safe.
Defectives were lost too many times in Aria.
I was not going to lose Wren.
“Please just tell me where she is,” I pleaded. My instincts were telling me to beat the answers out of him. It took every inch of my restraint to remain calm and use only my words.
Unfortunately, my words weren’t very effective.
The obstinate old man crossed his arms, placing a physical barrier between us. “I can’t do that, Trooper.”
“Yes, you can. What are you so worried about? I’m not going to turn her in. I wouldn’t do that.”
“Then why do you need to know where she is so terribly bad?” His lips pursed, challenging me to tell him the secret I had been denying even myself.
It was going to stay secret for longer.
Even I wasn’t ready to hear the absolute truth behind my reasons.
“I need to know she’s safe,” I replied through gritted teeth. I’d seen the Resistance leader angry before, I’d seen him stand up to some of the most intimidating people I’d ever seen, but I had never seen him so determined to keep something from me.
“She is safe, you have my word.”
His word meant nothing to me.
I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
“Just tell me.”
He wasn’t going to. It was clear in every inch of his stance that he was going to deny me Wren’s whereabouts. Without thinking about it, I closed the gap between us and rushed at him. My hand balled into a fist as I thrust it toward his head while I used the other to grab at his collar.
Joseph flinched in my grip.
“I’ll tell, fine. Just stop,” he said with a slight rising of his voice. My fist came to a halt just a breath away from connecting with his cheekbone.
I kept his collar bunched in my hand, refusing to concede anything further until I got the address. “Well? Where is she?”
“839 Bridgeport Road.”
“What’s there?”
“It’s a safe house, owned by members of the Resistance.”
My hand relaxed as I let him go. Joseph took a step away from me, giving me a look that should have reduced me down to cinders. I ran a hand through my hair, trying to control myself again. It was rare for me to lose it like that.
But I did get the address.
And I would find Wren.
“May luck be with you,” Joseph said to my turning back.
“May luck be with you,” I muttered in reply.
Chapter 15: Wren
The walls were getting closer, I was certain they were moving in on me. The space underneath the house above was crawling inwards until I wouldn’t have any room left.
I would suffocate.
I would die.
And I would do it all before I could save Rocky and get him away from the troopers.
My legs curled up to my chest as I sat on the bed in the basement. It felt like I’d been staring at the walls for an eternity. I had to be at least a hundred years old while waiting for the time to tick, tick, tick by.
I was wrong, death wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to me. Being locked in the basement for the rest of my life was. I had made a grave mistake trusting Joseph. It definitely wasn’t the first error I’d ever made, it was only the latest. It might also be my last.
The door to my cell clicked open, followed by a dull thud that echoed off the walls as the sound danced around me. I scrambled off the bed and ran up the stairs, my gimp foot only stumbling once.
A tray of food was placed on the top step. The door was closed again, locked solid. They didn’t even say hello.
I picked up the tray and sat on the bottom of the stairs, balancing it on my lap. The scent of a bowl of soup with a few slices of bread wafted into my nostrils. It had been a long time since I’d had a hot meal and nothing that smelt this good before.
Even though my stomach was grumbling to be filled I ate slowly. I took great care in breaking my bread into tiny pieces and then dipping them into the soup. It made my taste buds sing with happiness.
If it was my last meal I would die with a very satisfied stomach.
On the last mouthful, as I wiped up the tiniest traces of the soup with the only piece of bread remaining, I began to notice the room was starting to spin. My head felt too light to remain attached to my body. It felt like it was going to float upwards like a balloon and pop on the ceiling.
My eyes were so heavy they drooped closed, begging to be shut so the world would go away. My limbs were little more than dead weights, hanging from my body and dragging me downwards.
Just placing the tray on the floor took far more energy than I had. I stumbled against the wall, needing to clutch onto the smooth, cold surface just to stay upright.
It was too hard staying awake. I needed to lie down and sleep more than I needed to breathe. At that moment there was nothing in the world more important than getting to the bed and going to sleep.
Each step was a challenge and took all my attention to place one foot in front of the other. When I finally reached the bed it felt like I’d
walked across the city.
There had to have been something in my food. Whoever was holding me there had slipped something in to knock me out. It couldn’t be anything else. Being this tired so quickly was nothing natural.
I flopped onto the bed, barely caring how I landed. The relief was instant as I was finally able to close my eyes.
Sleep pulled me under instantly.
There were no dreams to escape to.
No nightmares to plague me.
Just darkness.
An abyss.
There was no way to tell how long I was out for. Time was irrelevant in the basement where nothing changed. There were no windows, no clocks, no way to tell whether it was night or day.
When I opened my eyes again I was completely disorientated. My body still felt heavy as I blinked out of my stupor and stared at the ceiling. There were spider webs in the corner. Which meant there were spiders somewhere too.
It took all my strength to sit up on the bed, testing my muscles. Everything felt stiff and sore, like I had been out for a lot longer than I realized.
A fresh set of clothes were neatly folded on the end of the bed – a pair of jeans and a black long-sleeved top made out of soft fabric. They smelled like soap and cleanliness – the complete opposite of my stench.
My feet held me up when I tried to stand – just. My gimp foot was even weaker than normal, making my limp more pronounced. My defect would be painfully obvious now if anyone was to see me walking.
I headed for the tiny bathroom and flicked on the light. The bare fluorescent tube was far too bright in the small space. I washed my hands in the sink before catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror.
Terrible was a polite word to use to describe my appearance.
My long dark brown hair was a mess, sticking out in all different directions except downwards. My face was encrusted with a layer of dirt that was only broken up by my dried tears that created a cracked pattern across my cheeks. My lips were chapped with chasms, no matter how many times I licked them to restore some semblance of moisture.
Two Beating Hearts Page 15
