My body stiffens as she says this and I slowly turn to Quinn. A part of me had already known she would volunteer, but I don’t like hearing it confirmed. ‘You don’t have to do this,’ I say, keeping my voice low.
She shakes her head and smiles. ‘I know that, but I want to.’
‘No others?’ I ask Rosa, who shakes her head.
‘People are scared of the talented and they are scared of leaving their home,’ she says. ‘After the recently failed attempt at a cure, they want assurances this cure will work before they take it. I have no doubt they will come around eventually, but it’s going to take some time.’
Aiden sighs and rubs his face tiredly beside her. ‘Two is better than none. We will make it work.’
Quinn turns to look at Aiden. ‘What do you need me to do?’ she asks, avoiding eye contact with me. She clearly saw the fear in my eyes; that I don’t want her to take this risk and get hurt.
‘I’ll need to test you both to ensure you’re not tainted already. If that comes back negative, I can administer the cure.’
‘That’s it?’ Adam asks, taking a step closer.
I glance at Sebastian. He looks just as unhappy as I am about Adam and Quinn being the test subjects. We’re hard pressed to argue with it though. Aiden has already told Rosa it’s safe. How can we get her to convince others to take the cure if we don’t believe it’s safe enough to use on our own family?
‘That’s it,’ Aiden confirms. ‘Quinn, I’ll take a blood sample from you first.’ He walks to the corner of the room, pulls his backpack off his back and begins to remove the equipment he needs to administer the cure.
His motions become cautious as he removes a metal cold box from the pack. He places it on the ground next to him with such care that I know it must contain the vials of the cure inside.
When he’s ready, he waves Quinn over and I glance at Sebastian to gauge his reaction. He’s watching his father closely as though he’s fearful of losing him again.
‘Ah,’ Quinn yelps, hissing in through her teeth as Aiden draws blood from her. He places the syringe carefully on the small metal tray he has on the ground beside him. He then looks up and waves Adam over for his turn. Adam moves slowly across the room and I worry about whether he is physically strong enough to do this. He’s stoic though as his blood is taken, barely flinching as Aiden places the needle into his arm.
‘The helicopter taking us back to Hope is in the hangar over the hospital. Do you know the place?’ Soren asks Rosa.
She nods. ‘Yes, all council members are aware of it.’
‘Is there another way to get to it that doesn’t use the lift in the hospital,’ he asks. ‘We need to find another route after the explosion yesterday.’
She seems uncertain. ‘There isn’t another way to get to the hangar, but there is another place I can take you to, where the helicopter could pick you up. Can you contact your pilot?’
‘Yes, we should be able get hold of him,’ Soren responds.
Rosa hesitates before continuing. ‘It’s dangerous though.’
Sebastian pulls his gaze from his father to look at her. ‘We don’t have much choice,’ he says.
‘I’ll show you the way then,’ she replies. Her voice is steady, but the uncertainty in her eyes makes me worried. Just how dangerous is her alternate route to the helicopter? I glance at Sebastian to see if he appears concerned, but his face still holds the same scowl he’s had on it since he realised his father was here to volunteer.
‘Done,’ Aiden says. I look over to where he is checking the blood samples he’s taken from Quinn and Adam under his microscope. He lifts his head away from the eyepiece, hesitating as he looks around the room at us. ‘We have two viable candidates.’
My stomach lurches at Aiden’s words. They’re not tainted. I glance at Quinn who is grinning. How can she actually be pleased about this? The cure has never been tested on humans before. She could end up like Aiden’s grandfather, or worse. I trust Aiden, but even he can’t be certain it will work.
Aiden turns to the cold box and slowly opens it to withdraw two vials of the cure. It’s clear in colour, though there’s a slight purple shimmer to the viscous liquid. I swallow tightly at the sight of it—such a small vial, holding so much hope.
Reaching out, I touch Quinn’s arm. ‘You don’t have to do this.’ My eyes plead with her to reconsider. She must realise how risky this is.
She gently shakes her head. ‘No. This is important and I want to help.’
‘What if something goes wrong?’
‘It won’t,’ she responds, sounding completely certain and almost a little too cheerful. She turns from me and crouches down beside Aiden, presenting her arm to him. ‘I’m ready when you are.’
He nods seriously and begins to draw the cure into the syringe in his hand. I can barely bring myself to look, and I’m not the only one. Sebastian’s skin has paled and I can tell he feels as worried as I do. There’s nothing we can do to stop them though.
‘They’ll be okay,’ Lara says, hobbling as she comes to stand beside me. ‘I can tell how certain Aiden feels. He wouldn’t do this to them if he didn’t know it was going to work.’
She brushes her arm against mine and I can feel her trying to soothe me with her talent, but I pull my arm away. I don’t want to be made to feel okay about this right now.
Aiden places the needle up against Quinn’s arm and I look away. I can’t watch him do it; not when I know this could end up hurting her. I grind my teeth together, hating every second of this and desperately hoping the cure will work.
I hear Aiden talking softly to Quinn after it’s over and getting Adam ready for his turn. Sebastian watches them cautiously and scrunches up his face in a grimace when Adam has his injection.
‘We should get moving,’ Aiden says. He’s already packing his tools away in his backpack when I look back.
I walk over to Quinn who is slowly standing. ‘You feeling okay?’
‘Completely fine,’ she responds.
I frown, unable to tell if she’s being honest with me or not. ‘You’ll let me know if you’re not feeling great, right?’
‘I swear, I’m fine!’
I still don’t like it, but I give her a small nod. ‘Do you need to get anything before we leave?’
‘No. I grabbed a few things before we came here.’
I catch Adam’s eye over her shoulder. ‘Is there anything you need Adam?’ I ask.
‘No,’ he responds, quietly. ‘I have everything I need right here.’ He gives Sebastian a quick glance before looking down at his feet. The reaction causes my heart to warm. Sebastian and Adam have always struggled to show their emotions to one another, but I’m hardly surprised to see how much Adam cares for his son.
‘You guys all ready?’ I ask the others, and grunts of agreement sound through the room.
Aiden’s gaze moves to Rosa. ‘Looks like we’re ready for you—lead the way.’
Rosa strides over to the door and we follow her into the dark corridor. We don’t move in the direction we’d taken to get here yesterday. Instead, she leads us deeper and deeper into the Old Wing.
There are no lights in the corridor and we have to use the lights from our cuffs to guide us as we follow Rosa. We’re all quiet as we walk, as though we’re scared of the sound of our own voices in the silent darkness.
I don’t like leaving the ARC knowing that Joseph has been sending men here. I worry about what will happen if he sends more recruiters. The only way to stop that, and protect everyone down here, is by removing Joseph from power. And, if I have anything to do with it, I will personally be the one to stop him.
Rosa reaches what looks like a dead end in the corridor, before moving around debris that covers a narrow passage beyond. I know the passage is there before I even start to follow her. I’ve been here before.
‘We’re going to the entrance,’ I whisper.
Sebastian glances at me. ‘How do you know that?’
‘I just do,’ I reply softly, not wanting to go into how I explored the Old Wing in hopes of finding him after he was taken.
I chew nervously on my lip as I enter the narrow passage behind Sebastian. I’ve been so much better with small spaces, but it’s a whole lot tighter and darker than I’m used to. I square my shoulders and push down the fear that once upon a time would have suffocated me. Sebastian reaches back behind him and grabs hold of my hand to give it a squeeze.
‘You okay?’ he asks.
‘Yeah, I’ll be fine,’ I respond, my voice rough. I let go of his hand and give myself a moment before pressing on through the dark and narrow tunnel.
The passageway begins to widen and there’s a soft light shinning into it in the distance. When we reach the end of the passage Sebastian stops ahead of me and there’s a look of wonder on his face as he stares at the cavern beyond.
‘Whoa!’ Quinn’s voice comes from behind me. She emerges from the passageway, supporting Lara as they walk out of the darkness. Even Luke and Hunter seem impressed as they appear behind the two girls.
The place is just as I remember it. Lamps light the massive, sprawling cavern we’re in and we can easily see the large stalagmites and stalactites that grow from the ceiling and floor. On the far wall I can see the huge boulders of rock and debris that cover the opening that was once the entrance to the ARC. Whoa indeed.
There had been officials when I’d been here last, but they are nowhere to be seen today. I can only assume that they were pulled from their regular post here in the cavern when the recruiters arrived in the ARC.
Rosa leads us into the cavern and along a boardwalk that cuts between the huge rock formations that erupt from the ground around us. When she reaches the far end of the cavern she slows and approaches a door that’s hidden away in a crevice in one of the walls.
She punches a code into the pin pad mounted to the wall and the door opens with a high-pitched ‘beep.’ Beyond the door is a small room with another identical door in the opposite wall. Heavy coats hang from one of the sidewalls, with a row of boots lined up below them. We all crowd into the room behind her and she nods at the coats.
‘You’ll all need to take one of these,’ she says.
Aiden reaches out to take one, but pauses with his hand hovering just over the collar. ‘Where exactly are we going?’ he asks.
Rosa nods at the closed door. ‘Beyond that door is the surface. You will be going to an airbase that lies just beyond the forest. It’s the only place the helicopter will be able to land.’
‘You can’t be serious…’ Quinn scoffs.
I push down a shudder myself. Surface temperatures are well below freezing over the ARC and the cold out there is lethal.
‘Surely there’s another way,’ Hunter adds. Luke nods in agreement beside him.
Rosa folds her arms over her chest. ‘I’m afraid there isn’t. The trek to the base should take you about an hour. It’s not far.’
‘Yeah, it sounds like a really easy trek for us,’ Quinn mutters, giving Lara an uneasy glance. ‘Since when can anyone leave this way anyway? I thought the entrance was completely closed over after impact.’
‘It was,’ Rosa replies. ‘They built these doors years later for easy access to the surface for experiments. Only, when people started getting sick from it we stopped venturing outside.’ She begins to pull the jackets from the wall and passes them to each of us. ‘This is as far as I come. Once outside you must follow the road that cuts through the forest. It will lead you to the base beyond.’
Aiden steps towards her and reaches out his hand to shake hers. ‘Thank you for your help, Rosa. I expect we’ll be back with a cure soon.’
Rosa grasps his hand tightly. ‘I should be thanking all of you. I look forward to seeing you again. Hopefully, it will be under better circumstances next time.’
She moves past us and back towards the door we entered through. ‘Good luck out there,’ she says, before closing the door behind her. It clangs loudly as it shuts and I fight to push down another shudder.
Quinn smirks at me as she turns to face the door leading to the surface. ‘I not only have to survive the cure, but now I’m expected to walk willingly into the apocalypse. It must be my lucky day.’
I shake my head at her and pull the coat on over my greys, before slipping on a pair of the large, heavy-duty boots. When I glance up I notice a hint of fear in Quinn’s eyes and realise her words are just bravado. Looking to the others, I can see similar looks of apprehension on their faces.
Rosa had said the way would be dangerous, she hadn’t told us it would be deadly.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
‘Hello?’ Gord’s voice comes in over Soren’s CommuCuff. His words are cutting in and out and it’s difficult to hear him clearly.
‘Gord, it’s Soren. Listen, we can’t get back to the hangar and need you to meet us at the airbase beyond the forest. Do you know where it is?’
His question is met with a moment’s silence before Gord’s voice sounds again. ‘What was that?’
‘Can you meet us at the airbase beyond the forest?’ Soren repeats.
‘You want me to meet you at the airbase? How are you going to get there?
‘We’re walking.’
‘What? You’re going to get yourselves killed!’
‘Well, we don’t have much choice. Can you do it? We should be there in an hour.’
‘I’ll be there,’ Gord answers firmly. ‘But I can’t let the helicopter idle in the cold for long. Don’t be late.’
‘We won’t be.’ Soren lowers the cuff from his face and his eyes drop to Lara’s ankle. ‘Is your ankle going to be up to this?’ he asks her. ‘It’s not too late if you want to stay here with Rosa.’
Lara shakes her head. ‘I’ll be fine. Promise.’
Soren turns to the rest of us. ‘Okay, everyone else ready?’
‘Yes,’ most of us answer, sounding extremely uncertain.
‘You’re kidding me, right?’ Quinn mutters, quietly.
It’s clear that none of us are truly prepared to face the frozen world outside, but we haven’t been left with much choice. We need to get back to Hope and this is the only way.
Soren pushes the door open and I brace myself, expecting to feel a rush of frigid air and flakes of snow to come billowing in through the door, but instead we are greeted with another tunnel. The way is wide and dark with a small rectangle of light shining in the far distance.
It’s much colder than it was in the ARC, and I pull the hood of my jacket over my head in an attempt to keep my ears warm as I enter it. Small pockets of frost puff from my mouth as I breathe and my nose feels like it’s become a frozen icicle clinging to my face.
There’s a gradual incline to the tunnel and as we move closer to the entrance I can make out a large bank of snow mounded at the mouth of it. The world beyond is misted white with heavy banks of fog rolling through the air. The sight immediately makes me shudder. I can’t believe we’re expected to go out there.
‘Rosa’s crazy,’ Quinn mutters beside me.
‘Not crazy enough to come with us,’ Hunter scoffs.
I brace myself as we reach the opening and prepare to leave the relative protection of the tunnel and step into the blizzard that rages outside. I clamber and fall as I try to make my way over the icy mound by the entrance.
Hunter has taken the lead and Sebastian moves with ease ahead of me, despite the wind and snow battering at his jacket. Once he’s past the snowdrift he waits with Hunter patiently for the rest of us to catch up. As I make my way out into the open I am almost knocked off my feet by the ferocious blizzard. Every step is a battle against the powerful, driving winds but I carefully drag myself over to where Hunter and Sebastian are waiting. The ground is solid and slippery beneath my feet, the wind having brushed away any fresh snow from the spot.
The forest quickly becomes dense with trees just past where the two boys stand and there’s no clear space where a helicopter could
land. The tree trunks are nothing like the trees of Hope. They are gnarled and crooked with branches that bend at unnatural angles and no leaves are anywhere to be seen. Blackened scars dot their trunks and thick icicles hang from their branches. They look like ancient chandeliers that have fallen from the sky and smashed into the frozen ground.
‘Any sign of the road Rosa told us about?’ Lara asks, stepping gingerly as she comes up beside me. Her face is pink from the cold and her lips are already turning a shade of blue. She’s not the only one. Quinn, Luke and Adam appear to be just as cold as they clamber out of the tunnel. We’ve only been out here a few minutes. How can we expect to travel for an hour like this?
While I can feel the cold, it doesn’t seem to bother me as much as I thought. I haven’t noticed the cold for a while, but today is a true testament to how little my body reacts to it. As I think about it, realisation hits me. It must be part of the talents Joseph gave me. I shake my head unable to focus on my anger towards him right now. We need to get out of this blizzard and into the helicopter as fast as we can.
‘It’s over that way,’ Aiden says, pointing off to the right. He has to raise his voice to be heard over the wind.
‘You sure about that?’ Quinn replies. ‘I thought it was that way.’ She points in the other direction. They scowl at one another as though readying themselves for a fight.
‘Actually, you’re both wrong, it’s directly ahead.’ Adam interrupts. ‘The road has been buried in snow.’ I look to where Adam is pointing. There seems to be a gap between the trees, but the ground below them is covered in a thick blanket of white snow. There’s no sign of any asphalt but, after years of constant winter, it must be buried meters below the surface.
‘Straight ahead it is,’ I say, before Aiden or Quinn can object. I start off in the direction Adam had pointed. I trust his memory of arriving at the ARC more than I do Aiden or Quinn, who had only been kids at the time, and we can’t stand here arguing all day.
The battering wind doesn’t seem to lessen as we enter the trees. It’s difficult to see more than fifty feet ahead, with the heavy snow falling in sheets onto the already thick blanket covering the surface. We are all silent as we try to conserve our energy.
Destined (The ARC Book 4) Page 21
