The Pursuit (The Permutation Archives Book 2)

by Kindra Sowder

  “Thank you.” My voice was slightly hoarse, but I was certain that would disappear once I drank something, preferably warm. A cup of black coffee sloshed around in a clean white mug next to a pile of eggs, toast, two strips of bacon, and assorted fruits and, to be honest, this was the kind of breakfast I preferred by a long shot. Definitely no steak and eggs here. The only thing to do now was to lift my arm and pick it up, take a sip and put it back down. I imagined doing so, my arm shattering into a million tiny pieces as I lifted it to my lips. My stomach rolled.

  His smile fell then, seeing that I definitely wasn’t alright even though I was trying to be for him.

  “You’ve got to eat something, Mila.” He came around to the other side of the bed and sat down beside me, taking my hand in his and giving it a squeeze in an attempt to tell me silently everything would be okay. I wasn’t so sure anymore.

  I cleared my throat and said, “Will anything ever be okay again?” When I looked up at him, his green eyes were glossy with tears that threatened to spill over.

  And then he nodded, swallowing them back hard. “One day, but it’ll take time. But yeah,” he paused and placed his warm hand on my cheek, “one day it’ll all be okay again. That I can promise you. Now, how about some coffee? I wasn’t sure how you took it, so I just left it black.”

  I grinned back at him as best as I could. “Coffee sounds good.”

  He dropped his hand and wrapped it around the one that he was already holding as I picked up the mug and brought it to my lips, testing its temperature before deciding scalding would be best. The taste was slightly bitter, but pleasant even though I could barely taste it at all. I felt numb except for Ryder’s hands on my skin as his thumb rubbed my knuckles.

  “Whenever you’re ready, we need to get dressed and head to the armory. They have weapons there they can give us as well as supplies and rations. They even washed our military uniforms if you want to put those back on.”

  I nodded as I took another much longer swallow of the coffee. It burned my tongue and stung on the way down my throat and before I knew it, I had drunk it all and wanted more. Instead, I set the mug down on the tray and made an attempt at a piece of toast, and it was like my stomach woke up like a carnivorous animal. My crying spree and complete outpouring had drained me completely, and my body needed the replenishment even if I really didn’t want it. Which I didn’t. The urge to eat until the entire tray was empty of its contents was overwhelming and after at least five minutes everything was gone except for one lone piece of cantaloupe. I barely tasted any of it. My belly began to ache, the days without proper nutrition causing my stomach to spasm as if it hadn’t seen food in weeks.

  “Please take that away from me,” I said as I pushed the tray toward Ryder with the last lonely piece of cantaloupe on it. “I can’t stand to eat another bite.”

  Without hesitation, he plucked the piece of orange melon from the tray and popped it into his mouth, chewing quickly as he watched me studying the lines of his jaw as it moved. When he had gotten up he had showered, his hair still slightly damp, but he hadn’t shaved. There was still a five o’clock shadow along his jaw that made him look even older than the half moons of purple under his eyes did. I reached up to him and stroked the thick, bristly hairs, feeling each one glide underneath my fingertips.

  “Did you sleep?” At this point, I was concerned about his health more than anything. He looked utterly exhausted as he sat there next to me, still stroking my knuckles with his thumb as if to keep himself awake with the slight movement.

  He shook his head and shrugged. “Not really. I was up most of the night just watching you sleep.”

  I blushed, the thought of him just lying there watching me causing all of the blood in my body to rush to my cheeks. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. You were tossing and turning and the only time you’d stop was if I wrapped my arms around you. I think you were having nightmares all night.”

  “I honestly don’t remember. All I know is that I’m ready to leave this place. It reminds me too much of the compound. It’s too,” I struggled to find the word for a moment and motioned with my hands, “too medical. I just…”

  “I know,” Ryder interjected. “Go ahead and get dressed and we can work on getting us out of here. They have everything ready to go once we are, and they are willing to give us quite a lot to get us to Kiawah Island too.”

  “Alright, I’ll get dressed then.”

  I stood and moved to the cabinet beside the bed and when I pulled the doors open, there sat the all black uniform I had been wearing. The pants and shirt and other unmentionables folded neatly on the middle shelf waiting for me while my boots were cleaned and polished on the bottom shelf.

  “Well, they’re efficient,” I said with a half-hearted chuckle. “Like damn robots.”

  Ryder didn’t answer, his silence speaking volumes. I threw on my clothes and laced up my boots as quickly and efficiently as I could, and pulled my hair up into a ponytail with the hair ties that were also located within the cabinet. My body felt sluggish like lead weights were attempting to hold me down in one place. I fought against the fatigue and the depression. I knew what I had to do, and the first step after this was leaving King’s Forge to make our way to Kiawah Island where we would find the headquarters of the Fallen Paradigm. Then, I would do whatever it took to take King and his superhuman army down because I held the power within me to do so.

  I stood up and, without a single word uttered, Ryder rose and stalked to the door with me close on his heels. After a series of left and right turns and an elevator ride up at least twenty levels, or what felt like twenty, the doors opened, and my jaw dropped and nearly hit the floor. I knew this was technically a forge for military weapons, but I had no clue they also manufactured anything our armed forces would need like the Humvees we drove, at least ten of them lined up and ready to go to wherever they were needed. This one room was massive, holding everything you could think of. One half was lined with shelves containing all manner of weapons like guns and shocking rods, the center lined with the large vehicles, and something I didn’t think I’d see. Two of the sleek, reliable planes like the one we had been in recently and like I had been in once before that stood, perfect and shining in the bright fluorescent lights of what I could best describe as an armory.

  My breath left me in a whoosh with shock. “Wow.”

  Ryder laughed beside me and, when I turned to him with wide eyes, he laughed again, taking my hand in his and pulled me out of the elevator. The floor was composed of poured and polished concrete, the walls around us a dark and unassuming gray. The first true pop of color I had seen in the place beside people’s clothes.

  “What do you think?” he asked as we approached the back of the first Humvee in the line of them.

  “Um, well, I’m not sure yet,” I practically stammered, stumbling over the words like I was a child that had been taken to a new toy store and found anything in there she could’ve ever wanted. “It’s a lot to process.”

  “We do hope that you find something to your liking, Mila,” a new voice said from behind us. It was thick and rough like he constantly had a frog in his throat, but something was comforting about it.

  We both turned to find a rather large man with dark skin all in black approaching us, his deep brown eyes like dark chocolate as the lights reflected in them. If I had to venture a guess, I would say that he was at least six feet, five inches tall. Tops. I had to crane my neck to stare at him and even with Ryder’s even six-foot frame I didn’t have to strain this badly.

  “Jameson, you bastard. How come this is the first time I’m seeing you since we got here?” Ryder nearly shouted as he bounded toward the man with my hand still wrapped around his, pulling me as he gave the man a half-embrace and tugging me along with it. I did my best to keep myself on my feet, but ended up stumbling since Ryder refused to let go
of me.

  Jameson took a step back from the quick embrace and said, “You know the Paradigm. Always working. Always busy. And you don’t get a break.”

  “That’s too true.” Ryder was practically beaming as he spoke to the man. He then turned to me and jerked his head toward Jameson. “Your mom brought this idiot and myself in at the same time. We’ve been friends ever since.”

  “Hey, now who are you calling the idiot? It’s definitely not me.” Jameson placed his hand on his chest, a mocking expression of hurt on his face and I couldn’t help but smile.

  “In all seriousness, Jameson is a great guy.”

  “And you grabbed a good one too, Mila.” Jameson slapped Ryder playfully on the shoulder, the sound of skin on fabric barely heard in my right ear.

  “Where are Ajax, Julius, and Caius?” I asked as I looked around the massive space.

  When I looked back at Jameson his shoulders were shaking as he was attempting to hold in laughter, his cheeks turning a shade of pink on top of the dark tone of his skin. I was guessing he had heard about me punching Caius. And my next guess was that Caius was afraid of me just enough to make sure other people knew they shouldn’t mess with me. Even though I was sure, everyone already knew that by now. My power was unique. Something that had never been seen before and that was why King was after me. He would get me to use my power for his ultimate purpose, or he would take it for himself. There was no other outcome as far as Emerson King was concerned. And the only outcome I saw was his failure.

  “You’re not going to hit him again, are you? Because I may be good, but I can’t take you in a fight.”

  Ryder’s eyes widened, and I groaned. I should’ve been more careful when it came to my anger, and this was proof of that fact. I had been out of control, distrustful, and all in all downright enraged when Caius had told me he left us there to fend for ourselves. But I still looked up to the man, and he had helped us within the compound, giving us the information we more than likely weren’t privy to, but he felt we needed regardless. Could I actually hate him forever because of one mistake? The simple answer was no. I couldn’t.

  I raised my hand with two fingers up in the air just like the Boy Scouts long before the raising of the wall. “I won’t be doing that again. Scout’s Honor.” I dropped my hand to my side as Jameson studied me and then shrugged while turning to lead us toward the two planes.

  “I would’ve paid to see it, to be honest. He needed someone to slap him around a little bit.”

  I covered my mouth with my hand to stifle the burst of laughter that threatened to spill out of me, Ryder letting out a short and clipped chuckle as we began to follow Jameson. When we rounded the back of a Humvee, I could see the rest of our team. They were standing in the middle of the space between the two massive planes, talking animatedly about what I had no idea. Jameson whistled, high pitched and echoing, causing my left ear to ring again slightly. It had barely recovered from the missile explosion in the forest that killed Liam, but the right ear was still useless. And I was aware that I should’ve had Doctor Devi look at it, but I was ready to be alone. Well, as alone as I could be with Ryder by my side. Caius was the first to turn, and his cheeks turned pink when he saw me, anxiety creeping over him in an obvious wave of facial expressions and body language. As we approached them, I saw the pained look on Ajax’s face as he hobbled to turn around to face us, and Julius was grinning from ear to ear. Within a few steps I was standing in front of Caius, and he refused to look me in the eye. I dropped Ryder’s hand and nudged him.

  “Hey,” was all I said at first and when he didn’t answer I took a deep breath and started up again. “I’m sorry. Not that it’s an excuse for what I did to you, but I’m overwhelmed and scared. So, I hope you can forgive me.” I put my hand out toward in, hoping he would take it as the other men around us watched in rapt fascination. And I was certain Jameson was hoping I’d hit him again so he would get a chance to see it. “Truce?”

  Everyone held their breath like the air had been sucked out of the room, waiting for Caius to decide if he would forgive me for my behavior or condemn me. To be completely honest, I didn’t expect anything from him, but I was hopeful. With a nod, his blond hair brushing his shoulders, he reached out and took my hand, pulling me into his chest in a hug. He squeezed me hard, almost to the point where I couldn’t breathe, but I held the contact. His hand rubbed my back when he began to speak, like a father with his daughter, comforting her when everything seemed to be wrong with the world.

  “I was never mad at you. I deserved it. I did desert you guys, and I feel awful about it.” He pulled back and held me at arm’s length to look me in the eye. “And I won’t leave you again. Not willingly.”

  “Have we had any contact with them?”

  “Not even as much as a whisper,” Ajax replied, his voice gruff and forlorn.

  I turned to Ajax and frowned, wondering where they were and if they were alright. I knew I couldn’t help being taken off after being shot with a dark full of Paralisix, but I felt responsible for anything that happened in that forest. I felt responsible for all of this and I wasn’t sure why. This wasn’t my doing. None of it was. It was all Emerson King and his need for control and power, the narcissist he was peeking through on every possible occasion.

  Jameson clapped his hands together to break the silence, rubbing them together. “Alright, we can’t take a plane without setting off all kinds of alarms so we will be driving it until we hit the coast.”

  “Wait,” Julius said as he raised a hand to interject. “What do you mean we?”

  “I mean, I am coming with you. Horatia isn’t here, and I know she’d send someone from the Forge along with you guys. We will drive it to the coast, and then a ferry will take us to the island since there is no bridge.”

  “And why isn’t there a bridge?” I asked, cynicism working its way into my tone. I hadn’t even heard of Kiawah Island until just before now and there were so many safeguards King had in place none of us had ever heard of. Secret government roads, no civilian travel outside or in between the main cities. It was all becoming too much.

  “The bridge was destroyed a long time ago because the island was outside the Wall. They decided they couldn’t take any chances,” Ajax explained as I listened in complete and utter shock.

  Julius shrugged. “I guess that makes sense, but why do they keep this from all of us? And how will we even get past the Wall? Aren’t there guards and all that? You know, government surveillance?”

  “Yup, but we at the Paradigm are very crafty. We are sneaky, and that’s one reason King hates us so much,” Ryder said as he winked.

  “Besides the obvious?” I asked jokingly.

  Ryder nodded and looked thoughtful, “Besides the obvious.”

  “I’m even surprised he hasn’t figured out that the Paradigm is hiding here, but somehow we’ve managed to skate by for the last five years undetected,” Caius said as he ran his hand through his blond mop.

  “Or they have and are waiting for the right time to act,” Jameson pointed out.

  The silence. The silence that threatened to drown us all as we stood there and looked back and forth from person to person, waiting for someone to say something that would soothe our fears.

  “Follow me guys, and I’ll show you how this is going to go down,” Jameson finally said as he waved at us to follow him.

  I sighed, the stress building up inside of me and causing the power to swirl with a radiating heat just within my belly. I crossed my arms over my stomach and followed without a word, the others close behind.

  We made our way toward the front of the line of Humvees, the first one completely parked in front of two massive bay doors and decked out in equipment I hadn’t even known existed. There were large lights on the top of the Humvee, something that wasn’t on the other two we had used to leave the compou
nd as well as fog-lights on the front. And this was definitely a military grade combat vehicle. The massive gun bolted down in the back was a huge indicator and all the other gadgets bolted on over it and within that I could see? Well, I didn’t have the slightest idea what any of it was. I was sincerely hoping that someone would teach me about all of it, but there was no time for that now, so I kept going and watched as Jameson leaned against the hood and crossed his arms over his chest.

  “This baby is outfitted with some of the best technology that the Forge has, but also has some Paradigm tech too.” He was practically beaming as he talked about it, pride showing in his posture and his facial expression. Like this specially outfitted Humvee was his baby. His pride and joy. “There is one thing in here I especially love.” He turned away and walked to a table to the left of the Humvee, picking up something that looked like a wrist communicator that you sometimes saw with King’s men. He walked back over to us, stopping in front of me and holding it out so I could examine it. With a skeptic’s eye, I stared at him with an eyebrow raised.

  “And what is this?”

  “Basically? A way for us to channel a holographic image. Since no two people look alike, except the obvious, we had to figure out a way to get our people through the government checkpoints on the road to the coast. We will assign each of you a government identity. Something obscure of course so there won’t be any questions. You’ll get one of these and wear it. Now, there is a bar hidden within the ceiling of the inside of the vehicle that works together with the communicator, which still serves its original purpose, by the way. And when it reaches a government checkpoint it activates the hologram to make you look like the person you are impersonating. I do suggest you don’t speak unless you have to, though. The voice stuff is still a little sketchy, but we’re working on borrowed time here. We do have some other stuff inside of the vehicle that I can give you all a quick run-through on before we go.”