Tested

by Stalder, Janelle

  The other line rang and rang until it clicked off. Missy growled in frustration, her heart racing uncontrollably in her chest. She needed help to get Tyler out of the institute, and something told her time was running out. Trying again, she hit the pre-programmed number and sat on the edge of the bed as the other line rang.

  A loud rumbling from outside had her pulling the phone away from her ear to stare at the open window in the main living room. It grew louder, as though something large was coming her way. Confused, Missy got up and went over to look outside at the desolate streets below. A heavy shadow darkened the already gloomy area. Looking up, her mouth fell open at the sight waiting there.

  Planes. Lots of them. The kind that brought back horrible memories from the beginning of the war. Missy knew exactly what they held inside them, and it left nothing but terror in her body. Her head shook in disbelief and confusion. She couldn’t understand this. What was Ludwig Tennebris up to now?

  As she stood frozen, her eyes trained on the fleet now flying above the eastern ghetto, the bottoms of them opened up just as she knew they would, and from them came more destruction. More death. More devastation.

  The first bomb hit, exploding on contact, shattering a building that was already almost reduced to rubble, but would most assuredly be now. Then one after another the planes dropped their weapons of destruction. The ground shook as the eastern ghetto suffered another attack at the hands of the New World leader.

  Heat from the fires was already reaching her. Move! Her brain urged her. Snapping back to attention, Missy quickly tucked the phone into her back pocket and raced for the door. Going out into the streets probably wasn’t the smartest thing, but really at this point there was nowhere safe. She’d just have to take her chances. That, and she needed to get to Tyler. If the NWO was bombing this side of the city again, that meant the institute could be in just as much danger as the rest of the city. All those patients were locked in rooms and would be left to die if the building was hit. There was no way she was going to leave Tyler to such a fate.

  Time had definitely run out, even more so than she had feared.

  “Get up!”

  A sharp pain ratcheted up his side from where the owner of that command had just kicked him. His ribs screamed from the attack as his eyes blinked a number of times in an attempt to focus on his surroundings. Tyler found himself lying on the floor of his room, his mind struggling to catch up with what just had happened.

  The technician threw a bundle of clothes on his stomach unceremoniously. “Put that on and be ready to move when we tell you,” he all but barked at him.

  Rising slowly, Tyler sat up, his head swimming slightly at the movement. His mouth was dry and cottony, a dull throbbing now starting just behind his eyes. The dart that had struck him lay next to his leg, reminding him of how he’d come to be on the floor. Looking around quickly, a mistake he recognized instantly as his head screamed, Tyler took note that Missy was no longer there with him.

  “Where is she?” he said, his voice hoarse. How long had he been out? How long had they been apart? Had they hurt her?

  “Don’t worry,” the technician answered in a bored voice, “she’s safe and sound. Now get dressed.”

  Tyler looked down at the dark clothing he’d been given. “What is this for?”

  “The attack on the NWO headquarters has been pushed up. We need you ready to move at a moment’s notice. You’ll be leading the group in the attack.”

  Right. How could he forget? He thought dryly. Now that he was thinking clearly, he realized just how suspicious it was that Douglas would put him in charge of an attack. Tyler might not have known the General in his drugged state, but there was no way Douglas hadn’t known him. So what was the rebel leader up to? A suicide mission of sorts? It was the only explanation that made sense. He had to be setting Tyler up.

  “Where will the rest of you be?” he asked, knowing the group they had put together when they’d had their little meeting had been only about ten men, if that. Certainly not enough to accomplish a successful attack on a building like the New World Order’s headquarters. It was definitely a suicide mission.

  “We’ll be attacking as well, don’t you worry. Just focus on what you have to do and don’t ask questions.” And with that dismissal, the man turned and exited, leaving Tyler still sitting in the middle of the room.

  What the General had planned, he didn’t know, but one thing he was sure about was that no one expected him to actually return from this mission they’d given him. If he didn’t know any better, he’d guess he was a distraction for something else. The group of ten he was being given had to be expendables. It was how the General worked – all for the good of the resistance. Men were simple tools to achieve a greater purpose in the end. He just wished he knew what exactly he was being sacrificed for. If Pete or Trent were around they’d be able to help him sort through this. Hopefully Missy would be at Bridge’s apartment by now and had gotten a hold of the others.

  Getting up slowly, Tyler began to dress in the clothing that had been given to him. He had no plans to actually lead the attack as per their instructions, but he’d take advantage of the new, darker clothing. Dressed all in black, Tyler was just sitting down to pull on a pair of heavy boots that had been left for him when he felt a faint tremble in the ground.

  He froze, his eyes going to the door, his ears straining to hear anything. His first thought was that there had to be a large group of people heading his way if he could feel their movements in the ground beneath him, but he could hear nothing from the hall outside. There were no footsteps, no talking or the normal sound of a mass of people.

  The ground shook again, this time more noticeably than before. His hearing picked up a distant sound that had him instantly standing. Focusing, he waited for only half a minute before it came again. The tremble beneath his feet was even stronger now, as was the sound that could not be mistaken for anything but what it was. They were bombing outside. Tyler would know that sound as well as he’d know the sound of his own voice. When you’ve lived through large scale bomb raids, you never forget the sound or the feeling it leaves within you – ever.

  Another came, quicker now than the last, this one causing the entire building to shake. Tyler cursed out loud. Had the building been hit? He waited, his body tense with anxiety, as another hit came, this time leaving no doubt in his mind that the building in which he was trapped had most definitely been hit.

  The walls now shook along with the floor, the sound almost deafening to his oversensitive ears. Tyler ran to the door, pulling at the handle with all of the strength he could muster. It was useless, the heavy metal unrelenting beneath his attempts. His forehead hit the hard, cold surface as he leaned forward, squeezing his eyes shut. Think, he ordered himself. There had to be a way to get out.

  Another hit shook the building. Tyler stiffened, still leaning against the door, his lungs expanding as he inhaled deeply through his nose. He straightened, his eyes trained on the barrier standing between himself and freedom. He breathed in again, his heart sinking as the cold realization sank in. Somewhere, the building was burning, and from the scent of it, it was spreading quickly.

  The streets were in utter chaos. People ran frantically about as the city lit up in flames, the bombs continuing to rain down on the already destroyed city. Missy pushed her way through the crowds of people who were running in the opposite direction, away from the fires now lighting the sky.

  Heavy smoke filled the air, burning her eyes and lungs as she pushed herself as fast as she could. The screaming of both children and adults filled the air, something Missy had prayed never to hear again. The only thing she could do, the only way she could keep moving forward, was to block it all out. Her dreams would be filled with the sounds of panic, but while she was awake she would push forward and not crumple beneath the horror of it all.

  The institute came into view as she rounded the corner and she found herself skidding to a stop. Her heart literally fro
ze at what she saw. The entire northern side of the building was now completely black, the structure nothing but its bare bones. Flames were spreading along the entire structure, engulfing it in the bright orange and red hues of destruction.

  Missy had no idea how many people worked there, or how many innocent people they had locked up for their cruel experiments, but what she did know was that anyone who had been in that section was no longer alive. Perhaps the employees had made it out, if the initial explosion hadn’t killed them. The innocent locked away wouldn’t have been rescued though. Their lives would have been expendable, a last priority in an emergency situation like this.

  Her eyes flew to the other side of the building where Tyler’s room was and she knew if she didn’t hurry, his fate would be the same as theirs. The sensible part of her brain screamed at her not to even attempt to enter the building, burning as it was. Not only could Tyler die in there, but it was quite possible she would too if she entered and couldn’t get them both out in time. Could she really just stand outside and watch it happen? No. No, she couldn’t. It could mean her own demise, but at least she would go down knowing she’d done all she could to try and save someone who had become so important to her. If there was even a slight possibility that she could get Tyler out from there, she would. Or she’d die trying.

  Taking off again, Missy ran toward the building that now appeared completely deserted even from out in the streets. No sign of life seemed to come from the blackened windows. No people ran from the doors, or moved just beyond the glass. The area was eerily quiet, as though even the wind had died around the intense blaze.

  Goose bumps rose along her arms the closer she got to the building. Death was here. It saturated the area like a tangible force. It seemed to suck at her, causing her breathing to become increasingly more difficult. Common sense told her it was most likely the smoke that made it harder to breathe deeply, but the more fantastical part of her honestly felt as though it was the presence of death and destruction that caused it. It was the lost souls that would now fill the destroyed halls of a place that had already been condemned before its fiery death.

  Fear slithered up her spine, unwanted now when she needed to be brave more than ever. Forcing herself to rise above it, Missy stepped up to the front doors that she’d just left a short time ago and entered the building. Pulling her shirt over the lower part of her face, she made her way through the empty halls toward the man she was willing to risk it all for.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  The smoke was growing nearer. It invaded his senses, clogged his nose. The sound of the building breaking beneath the blaze was evident to his ears as he paced the tiny room. This would be the end of him, he realized. The men and women who had worked here were long gone, not one stopping to release those they’d captured and experimented on.

  Tyler shuddered at the memory of the screams that had come from rooms already taken by the fire. The sheer horror of it as they screamed for help, their cries dying out as they choked on the smoke alone, soon perishing to their torturous deaths – it would haunt him forever, he thought. Soon the same fate would come for him.

  Slamming his fist against the wall, he let out an enraged scream. How had things gotten so out of control? From the moment he’d been picked up and shoved in the back of the white van, things had just continued to go to hell.

  His thoughts went to the one person who’d occupied them for weeks now. The clearest image he had after starting the treatments was the moment they’d brought Missy into the room. His entire body had come alive, urging him to claim what was his. It had been purely instinctual, a need he could not explain.

  That need to have her still pulsed through his veins. For whatever reason, Missy had pushed past the walls he’d erected and embedded herself in his every thought. Now he would never see her again. That fact would normally have been upsetting had his situation not be as it was. This was the last place he’d want Missy. Knowing she was out and hopefully in a safer place than he gave him some sense of relief amidst his dread.

  He let his head hang, his thoughts a blur of past memories and regrets for all the things still left undone in his life. So lost in the whirlwind of his mind that it took him a moment to pick out the sound that was now approaching. Hurried footsteps came down the hall in his direction. Tyler stood, focusing on the sound, wondering if perhaps his mind was playing tricks on him. There couldn’t be anyone left. Unless one of the other patients had figured out a way to open the locked doors and was now escaping.

  It didn’t make sense to head in this direction, however. The hallway where his room was didn’t lead to any exits that he knew of. Still, the sound seemed to be heading his way. Tyler couldn’t believe it when those steps stopped just outside his door. He could hear the person’s breathing, laboured from both running and the saturated, smoky air. He waited anxiously as they keyed in the code on the other side before the lock slid open.

  His moment of relief was short lived when he saw who it was that had come to his rescue.

  “Missy?” he gasped.

  She smiled weakly, her face streaked with dirt and tear stains. “Sorry I’m late,” she said, her voice rough from the rancid air.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” Her eyes widened at his reaction, but really what did she expect? His heart was racing at the thought that now she was inside a crumbling coffin. He gripped her arm, harder than he would normally have. “You could have been injured, or worse!”

  He watched as her jaw set, her eyes taking on a stubborn gleam. “I wasn’t just going to leave you to die in here, locked inside some sort of cage. The entire ghetto is burning, Tyler. The NWO is bombing the whole eastern ghetto. Half of the building is already in ruins. You would have never survived.”

  Jesus. She’d come back just to save him. How was he supposed to accept that? Running a hand down his face, he took a step away from her in the hope that he could calm himself. No one had ever, ever, put themselves at such a risk for his sake. As much as it elated him, it infuriated him also.

  “We need to leave now,” she urged, walking back to the open door. “The fire is spreading quickly. Soon there won’t be a way out if we don’t hurry.”

  Tyler nodded, gathering his wits back around him. They didn’t have time for him to dwell on what could have happened to her just by coming back here. She’d risked everything to save him, now it was his job to make sure they got out of there alive. “Right,” he agreed, “let’s move.”

  Missy turned to leave when he reached out again to grip her arm, pulling her to him so that her body crashed into his. His other arm wrapped around her waist, gathering her even closer as his mouth descended on hers. She gasped, giving him the opportunity to sweep in and devour her like he’d wanted to from the moment he saw her. Her hands held on to his biceps as she kissed him back just as fervently as he kissed her.

  When he pulled back they were both breathing quickly. A dazed look filled her eyes, something that would normally have made him happy, except that they didn’t have time to focus on that just now. It wasn’t the time for this, but he couldn’t help kissing her at least once before they left this room, knowing that at least for now they were both safe and alive – together.

  Taking a deep breath, he grabbed her hand in his and led the way out into the hall. They needed to find a way out, and from the sounds in the distance, he didn’t think there were too many options left.

  They’d been running, what felt like aimlessly, down hallway after hallway. Tyler’s kiss was still tingling on her lips when at one point he stopped and removed his shirt, tearing it in two so they could wrap the fabric around their noses and mouths. Now not only did she have to stare at his bare back and chest, which were works of art all on their own, but she had his scent in her nose, invading every breath she took.

  Figures that at a time when her life was literally in immediate peril, her thoughts would only involve her and Tyler, and nothing else. Shaking her head at her own stupidity, she c
ontinued to follow as closely as she could, her hand tucked securely in his. There was something extremely comforting in knowing they were linked and together, even with a fire blazing toward them.

  The more halls they ran down, however, the more she began to question if he even knew where he was going. They were like mice trapped in a maze and it was starting to make her panic. The entire time she’d raced to his room, she’d been so intent on her goal, her brain hadn’t really focused on just how much danger she was putting herself in. Now that they were together, and she could literally hear the building falling apart, she realized just how epically stupid this was.

  Tyler pushed open one of the heavy doors, leading them into a narrow staircase. They hurried down, Missy practically falling down behind him in her haste. Catching her around her waist, his arm was like a steel band, securing her tightly against his side.

  “You okay?” he asked, pulling the fabric away from his face.

  Missy nodded as she tried to catch her balance. “Sorry,” she apologized.

  “Don’t apologize to me, lass. Having you tucked against me is no burden.” He smiled crookedly causing her to smile in return, despite their current circumstances. He sobered quickly. “We need to keep moving.” She nodded, readying to step back, but then Tyler drew her even closer, placing a firm kiss against her temple. He held there for a moment before letting her go, grabbing her hand again as they continued down the stairs. A feeling of warmth bloomed in her chest, her thoughts scrambled as she moved as quickly as she could.

  “Where –” she gasped, trying to catch her breath. “Where are we going?”

  “Lower,” he replied simply. “If we need to make a quick exit through one of the windows, we’ll be a lot safer doing it from a lower storey. The last thing we need is to break our legs trying to get away.”