by Ike Hamill
They all turned at the sound of a scream from the room where Carter had been taken.
“Go check on that,” Ryan said to Luca. She ran to the task.
A second later, Horatio staggered from the room and made his way to the door to the outside. He didn’t turn or ask for permission—he simply walked out.
After a minute, Patton ran to give Ryan a report.
“Carter tore off his wrap. It was pretty bad. We got it back on, but Horatio was pretty bothered by it all.”
“He’ll be fine,” Ryan said. “Go outside and get him back in here. We’ll need him in five minutes. What is Carter’s status?”
“Luca gave him a sedative so he wouldn’t pull the second wrap off until it takes hold. She said he’ll be out for at least ten minutes.”
Ryan nodded. “We can make that work. Go get Horatio.”
Patton headed for the door.
“Luca!” Ryan called. She ran back to his side.
Ryan huddled together Luca, Alexandra, and Oliver. “Change of plans. We’re going to do phase three with the four of us. I’ll go first. We’ll go in pairs after that.”
Luca and Alexandra glanced at each other. They looked back to Ryan.
“Speak,” he said.
“We understood that we would be testing the process on someone who is… expendable,” Luca said. “You should be in the last group.”
Ryan shook his head. “We’re all expendable here. I’ve laid out the steps of the process, so my job is done.”
Luca nodded. Alexandra and Oliver moved to their positions.
“Let’s run this fast. I’m going to be out of commission for a bit after the process. Luca, you’re in charge of restarting. By the time I’m back up, I want to see at least one pair through. Got it?”
“Yes,” Luca said.
Chapter 27
{Assault}
MADELYN CHECKED HER WATCH. The clouds above were turning purple in the fading light. She heard the rip of a bow saw cutting through bark. It was one of the oak trees. She could tell by the light cough the blade made as it dragged back against the cut.
“They’re early,” Elijah said.
“I told you, they’re dependable, but impulsive,” she said.
Elijah wasn’t listening. He turned away from the building and was looking back through the woods.
“Someone is coming,” he said.
Madelyn began to turn and then saw the basement door of the building swinging open. Everything was happening at once.
“Did you hear that?” Elijah asked. He whipped back around towards the building. She thought she knew what he was going to say. She was wrong. “Someone screamed.”
“When?” she asked.
“And that’s Jacob,” Elijah said.
Madelyn looked up and saw that Elijah had turned back towards the woods. She saw something moving there, but the shape was too far away to be sure.
“Horatio,” he said. Now he was looking at the building.
Madelyn turned again. He was right. The old man shuffled through the door. He swayed as the door shut behind him. Horatio turned his face towards the sky and then dropped to his knees. On the far side of the building, the first tree began to crack. Madelyn heard the familiar whoosh of branches as it started to fall. She hoped that it was on target.
On the ground next to the door, Horatio tried to push himself up to his feet. The door opened again and the blond man—Patton—came out. He started for Horatio but then turned at the sound of the falling tree. He spun for the door again and then paused. Even from her distance, Madelyn could see that the young man was perplexed.
“Stay here,” Elijah said. “Convince Jacob to get away from here.”
Elijah was off. He moved to the right to stay out of the line of sight of Patton and Horatio. Madelyn stood and got ready to follow him. But Jacob was coming fast and he didn’t know the plan. She turned and ran to close the distance to Jacob, hoping that her harvester friends would keep up their work long enough to provide her cover.
# # # # #
“You followed us?” Madelyn asked Jacob.
He nodded and pointed. “Harper is around to the east.”
“Listen,” Madelyn said, “we don’t know exactly what’s going on in there, and we don’t know what Ryan is capable of. You two hold back. If we don’t come out, spread the word that he’s up to no good. Got it?”
“Sure,” Jacob said.
She looked at him for a second. She didn’t believe him, but she couldn’t exactly force him to do what she wanted.
“Please hold back,” she said. Madelyn ran to catch Elijah.
Patton was much faster than Horatio, but they were both moving in the same direction. They were going to the corner of the building to investigate the noise from the falling trees. Logan and the others were doing a good job of cutting. As soon as one tree crashed to the ground, another began to creak and groan.
The building seemed to shake when each one came down. Madelyn covered the open area to join Elijah at the side of the building. Elijah slipped down, pressed his ear to the door and then glanced at the notice. He chose to ignore the sign that said there was a Q-battery breach. Elijah pulled open the door, glanced, and then slipped inside. Madelyn followed.
They were at the bottom of a stairwell. A doorway led to the open floor. People were moving equipment around in there. Madelyn recognized Ryan. She ducked behind the doorframe as he glanced in their direction.
Elijah moved in to whisper, “We can’t stay here. Horatio and Patton will be back. Let’s go up and around.” He pointed to the stairs.
Madelyn chanced a glimpse around the corner. There was another stairwell on the other side of the space. Elijah might be right—it could be a better place to spy from. She nodded. The stairs were littered with debris. Elijah led the way.
# # # # #
Elijah pointed down to the dusty floor. She knew that Elijah was a better tracker than she was, but it didn’t take a skilled eye to see what had happened. She saw wide footprints straddling something that had been dragged across the floor.
Elijah moved fast on light feet. He reached the corner and then waved to Madelyn to advance.
They saw the monitors. As far as Madelyn was concerned, their mission had just gotten a million times easier. They could watch exactly what Ryan was doing from the safety of the floor above him. Someone had already done the hard work of setting up all the cameras they would need.
She heard the sound as Elijah pointed.
Moving a little farther around the corner, she saw what he was pointing at.
There were people there—four of them—and they were being held captive. One woman was unconscious, and the other was turning away from what was happening next to her.
There was a lot of blood between the two young men. It looked like one was eating the other.
Elijah glanced at Madelyn and then ran for them.
She held her ground. Whatever instinct Elijah had that made him run towards trouble was not something that Madelyn shared. Her brain refused to activate her legs until she could figure out precisely what was going on. And deciphering this scene could take a while.
The four people were all bound to chairs. Elijah slid the two young men apart. They were joined by blood with one’s hand in the other’s mouth. When they separated, it sounded like a big wet teenage kiss.
“Caleb?” Elijah asked. “What happened?”
Madelyn’s curiosity was beginning to win. Her legs carried her forward. The young woman who had turned away opened her eyes and found Madelyn.
She began to plead in quiet whispers. Her eyes cut to her right where the young man was smeared with bright blood. “Please. Please cut me loose. Please. There’s something wrong with them.”
Madelyn stood and blinked. She reached around to the knife that was sheathed at her back. When she pulled it out, the girl’s eyes went wide and then she flinched away. Madelyn gave her head a tiny shake as she advanced.
“Mac?” Elijah asked. She looked over. He was focused on the bloody hand of the young man—Caleb—in front of him. Caleb was looking at his own hand.
Madelyn narrowed her eyes. There was something wrong with Caleb’s hand, something beyond the obvious injury. She had other things to worry about. She moved behind the young woman and tried to position her knife so that it would cut through the plastic ties without slicing the woman’s flesh. It would have been a lot easier if the young woman trusted her. She was thrashing in her chair and kept jerking away from Madelyn’s cold blade.
“I’m not sure we should let these guys go,” Elijah said. “There’s something weird with Caleb.”
Caleb didn’t wait to see if Madelyn agreed or not. Just as Madelyn found the right place to cut the plastic tie on the woman’s wrist, Caleb threw himself forward.
Elijah was quick, but Caleb still reached him. His bloody hand grabbed Elijah’s shirt and pulled him down as Caleb fell back to his chair. The young man was still attached to his chair by one wrist and both ankles. Elijah was tangled with Caleb and the furniture as they crashed down. The chair tipped to the side. Elijah and Caleb hit the floor.
Madelyn ran to Elijah’s aid.
Elijah had already pulled himself free, but Caleb had what he wanted. Caleb had snatched Elijah’s knife and he made a quick cut to free his other hand. As Elijah stood back up, Caleb had both of his hands free. He twisted on the floor to reach his ankles. The chair flopped with him and got in his way.
Madelyn circled and looked for an opportunity to take back the knife. When she got too close, the knife flashed out and came dangerously close to her ankle. Caleb found the angle and cut himself free from the chair. Madelyn backed up another step when she saw how fast the young man jumped to his feet. He held the knife out as he pivoted between Elijah and Madelyn.
Elijah held up bare hands.
Madelyn led with her own knife.
“You’re hurt, Caleb,” Elijah said. “Give me back the knife and we’ll get you help.”
Caleb moved fast. He slipped behind the other young man—the one with blood smeared on his face.
“Hey,” Madelyn said. She feinted with her knife, not sure what Caleb intended to do to the kid.
They heard the snap of plastic and then the bloody kid’s hands were free. Caleb moved to cut free his ankles.
“Elijah?” Madelyn asked.
He shook his head. “He’s too fast. Hang back.”
“There’s about to be two of them and two of us. Get your gun out of your pack.”
“I didn’t bring one,” Elijah said.
Madelyn flipped her knife and tossed the handle towards Elijah, hoping that he would catch it. She slipped her own pack off as Caleb cut the final tie and freed the other kid. She was still reaching for her gun when they ran.
“Elijah!” she said.
“Let them go,” he said. They ran to the opposite stairway and disappeared through the door.
Madelyn turned back to the young woman. Terrified, she was holding herself perfectly still to stay out of the action.
“What about these two?” Madelyn asked.
“I think they’re okay. They don’t look crazy like the other ones,” Elijah said.
Madelyn took a step closer to the young woman, acutely aware that she had freed one of the girl’s wrists. She didn’t want a repeat of what had just happened to Elijah. Just in case, she motioned and Elijah gave her back the knife.
“What’s your name?” Madelyn asked.
The girl’s voice was weak. She was barely able to manage more than a whisper.
“Amelia,” she said.
“Who is holding you here, Amelia?” Elijah asked.
She shook her head. Tears flew down her face. “I don’t know. I was unconscious. Can you cut me free?”
“Sure,” Madelyn said. She glanced at Elijah to be sure that he agreed with the idea. The girl had stopped thrashing, so it only took a second to release her.
She didn’t run for the stairs or try for Madelyn’s knife. Amelia ran to the monitors. She swayed as she walked and dragged her left foot with each stride. Her left arm hung at her side. Madelyn took all this in while the girl crossed the room.
On the screens, the drama of the knife fight hadn’t registered. The people down there were still moving equipment and setting things up.
“We have to go there and tell him it’s not safe,” Amelia said. She looked at Elijah and then Madelyn. “My cousin, Carter, was injured. I saw it on the screen. We can’t let Ryan continue.”
“I’m not sure he would listen,” Elijah said. “He’s likely the one who left you bound to that chair.”
“Ryan?” she asked. “Why would he do that? We were doing all this research for him.” Her eyes darted around as a new thought crossed her mind. She tried to stand up straight and she tipped a little. Elijah steadied her with a hand. “Niren changed. During that last experiment, something attacked him and it changed him.”
“Changed him how?”
“He was saying crazy thing about how it fixed his cells, so Brook and I went off to have a sample of his skin tested,” Amelia said. She swayed again and Madelyn slid one of the chairs beneath her before she could fall down.
The young woman looked like she was either realizing or remembering something very disturbing.
“Amelia, what does that experiment do? What is Ryan doing?” Madelyn asked.
“We thought we were finding a way to disconnect the Hunters, but we weren’t. If he knows… What he’s doing is the Regeneration Option,” Amelia said, pointing at the screen.
Madelyn turned and spat.
On the monitors, Ryan was taking a seat next to a machine that looked like a giant cage. His workers manned other stations around him.
Madelyn grabbed her pack. She removed two guns—one for each hand—and checked the clips.
“Mac, hold on,” Elijah said. “Whatever he’s done, he deserves to endure a trial.”
“Guilty,” Madelyn said, pointing at the screen. “I’m looking at it.”
She headed for the stairs.
Elijah turned to Amelia. “I’ll be right back to help you with her,” he said, pointing to Brook. He ran after Madelyn.
Chapter 28
{Outside}
“THERE,” PATTON SAID, POINTING as another tree fell.
“I don’t see them,” Horatio said. The old man glanced off to the south.
“I’ll go run them off. You go back inside,” Patton said.
Horatio nodded. He watched the young man sprint across the open area to the tree line. Another tree fell.
Horatio slipped back around the corner of the building and used the structure to block his escape from Patton’s view. He was almost to the trees on the far side when he heard the call.
“Hey!” Patton yelled.
Horatio kept moving, but he was no match for Patton’s speed.
The young man grabbed him by the arm.
“What are you doing?” Patton asked.
Horatio looked him in the eyes. “This is too much. He has gone too far. Carter nearly lost his hand and he may still lose his mind. There’s only so much damage a person can do to themselves before it starts affecting their brain.”
“We have a commitment to each other,” Patton said. He pulled at Horatio’s wrist. “You made a promise to all of us. This only happens if we stick together.”
Horatio looked away.
“Come on,” Patton said. “We’re going back.”
Horatio tried to hold his ground at first. The persistent tugs from Patton got his feet moving eventually.
# # # # #
“There,” Harper said. “Does that change your mind?”
They were crouched down, watching the building through the foliage.
“She asked us to stay out here. If she and Elijah don’t come out, we have to go spread the word,” Jacob said.
“Patton just abducted Horatio. He forced him to go back inside there. We can’t
just sit here and do nothing,” Harper said.
“You’re right. We’ll go tell people right now.”
“We don’t know who we can trust. And you know how people are. They would want to convene meetings and talk about justice. Horatio and your aunt might need us right now. We can’t sit out here or run away to go try to drum up a committee,” Harper said.
“What do you want to do?”
“We make a run at that door and see what happens,” she said.
“That’s crazy. We have to come up with some kind of strategy,” Jacob said.
“You do that. I’m going to use the element of surprise.”
She stood and ran for the side of the building. Jacob had to follow.
Chapter 29
{Confrontation}
MADELYN CAME THROUGH THE door with her guns up. Her right hand ranged around, moving between the subordinates. Her left hand held steady on Ryan, who was the only one seated.
“Shut it down,” Madelyn said.
Everyone stayed frozen.
“I said shut it down, you filthy Optioners. This is over,” Madelyn said. She took a step forward, committing herself to the room.
“We can’t,” Ryan said. “This equipment is primed. There’s no backing out now.”
“Or what?” Madelyn asked.
“This place will go up like a bomb,” Ryan said. He glanced to a woman who was at the controls of a complicated-looking device. She stood behind it like it was a podium. “Tell her,” Ryan said.
The woman turned to Madelyn. She wasn’t as good of a liar as her boss. “We can’t lose the containment now. If we did, it would cause a chain reaction. There’s no telling how big the explosion would be.”
“I guess we’ll find out together,” Madelyn said. She lowered her aim and fired right into the heart of the panel. The effect was immediate. The woman fell backwards as the panel erupted in blue fire. It crackled and sputtered.
