by Jodie Kobe
“Hey,” I whisper, but realize I won't be able to wake him up that way. I shake his shoulders again. “Rian, wake up.” Again, he doesn't stir.
I decide to move on to Fox. Before I crouch down by him, I push his face with my shoe. “Psst.” He doesn't move. I step on his chest, light enough not to crush his lungs. His eyes twitch but do not open. “Wake up.”
I tap his shoulder and that seems to do the trick. His faces scrunches up. He grunts. “Huh?”
“Kent let us go. We're back in the alley,” I tell him.
His eyes finally snap open and he sits up, rubbing his head. “Back in the alley? Why were we...?”
He doesn't seem awake enough to realize what's going on right now.
“Our weapons are gone, and so are the suits,” I add.
That's what makes him snap out of his state. He gasps and his eyes fly wide open. He pats himself, first his new outfit, then his face.
“What the hell happened?” he asks, jumping to his feet. He looks around the alley, probably looking for the weapons we're missing. Then he looks down at himself and pulls at the collar of his shirt. “Hell, this stinks!”
I hold in my snicker. That's what I thought when I first got the same outfit. But I say, “We have to wake up the others.”
Fox blinks at me, then glances at the others sleeping forms. He rubs his hands together. “All right. Better get these birds up.”
I want to scoff at the choice word Fox used to call the group, but I keep silent, watching as he moves to wake Addison first. He grabs her arm and shakes it. As if by some miracle, her eyes open.
“Get up.” Fox moves on to the others, waking them faster than I could have. Soon we're all on our feet. The person who looks the most lost is Jarrod.
“I gotta get back to the hideout,” he starts to say. “The others have to know about—”
I hold up a hand. “Don't. Someone might be watching you right now. As soon as you enter that hideout, Kent will have his guards invade it. It's best to stay out here.”
Jarrod eyes become slits on his face. “Stay out here? Are you crazy? I'd rather not.”
I shake my head. “You don't really have a choice. Unless you want to give away the location of the hideout.”
What I'm wondering is how Kent has not found the hideout yet. Hasn't he heard enough in his years to be able to pin-point the location of the hideout right on his map?
Fox points a finger in Jarrod's face. “You're either telling the truth about your relationship with this hideout, or you're not. There's no evidence of anything, so I'm not going to believe you. You're staying with us. I think you are associated with Kent and not with what you say.”
“All right, enough.” Rian cuts in. “Absolutely not one person here seems to care that we were just shoved into some basement.”
Fox glances at Rian, but turns to examine his new but worn out outfit. “That's because I didn't stay awake in there long enough to care.”
Rian looks at him. “But you remember waking up in a strange room, didn't you?”
Fox nods, and Addison adds in her answer. “I did too, but I don't think I was of much help.”
So they weren't questioned as much as I was. Rian must have stayed awake throughout my whole questioning. Maybe he was awake to see Laurey, Addison and Fox wake up too. There's one reason I think they let him stay awake. Because they thought he's the leader of the hideout. I can't imagine their disappointment after learning he isn't at all part of it.
But they know Caleb.
“That son of a gun took our weapons and uniforms,” Fox says. “That's just great. Who else has a stinky shirt?”
No one replies.
I didn't have any sort of “special” suit on, so thankfully, my clothes weren't taken away. Jarrod still has his original gray shirt and pants. It's the others who are struggling. But Laurey, who's been staying quiet most of this time, has not complained yet.
“So what are we going to do now?” Addison's asks. “We have nothing. No knowledge of where anything crucial is located.”
Fox grins and looks out toward the exit of the alley, where we see a couple of people passing. So everyone's waking up now. Soon enough, the town will be crowded.
“There is actually,” Fox says. “And I think it might be the quickest, most stupidest plan I've ever come up with.”
CHAPTER 19
V I V I A N
We all trail behind Fox.
He walks slowly through the packed streets, so we have no problem keeping up.
“Dark blue uniform? Right, Vivian?” Fox looks at me briefly as I nod.
He means the guard's uniform. And since I've stayed here longer than the group has, I'm expected to know how these guards look like. And I do know. How could I forget?
“Just ask someone already. It's not that hard,” Addison says. She's been the tense one, always keeping close to the walls in case she needs to find an alley or corner to hide herself in.
“You're right. It's not.” Fox stops where he is, right in front of a man with graying hair. He taps him on the shoulder. “Excuse me, sir. But can you point me in the direction of the police station?”
The man looks at Fox. He raises both of his eyebrows as his eyes notice the group of five behind Fox.
“And why do you six young fellas want to know where the police station is?” the man asks.
Fox shrugs. “We're touring the place.” I want to cringe at his terrible answer, which doesn't sound at all believable to me.
“Touring the place, huh?” the old man says slowly. But he doesn't ask any more questions, only points to his right. “Down this street. Take a right on Carl Avenue, then...” He shakes his head. “That's all I can recall. I'd need to see the street to find it. I'm sure other fellas are willing to help you.”
Fox pats the man's shoulder. “Appreciate your help.” Then we leave the man by himself.
“Down this street,” Fox repeats, pointing ahead of us. “Then take a right on Carl. Hopefully someone else knows the rest.”
We keep walking, looking out for any sign telling us Carl Avenue is ahead.
Rian falls into step by my side, getting my attention by bumping his elbow into my arm. I look up at him.
“You weren't hurt back there?” he asks me. He's talking about the time in the basement with Kent and Denham. He doesn't know this isn't my first time talking to them.
I shake my head to answer his question. “No. Were you?”
“No.”
We have somehow slowed down to let the others pass us, but yet we're not too far behind them.
I look down at my right hand and examine the black tattoo around my fingers. Why this noticeable of a tattoo? Why not a smaller, less formidable one?
Rian smiles as he looks at his surroundings. “It's crazy, you know, how it's so different out here. Sure it's more hostile, but it's incredible how everyone's getting along.”
I laugh lightly but know why he thinks this isn't a safe environment. Because of Kent and his guards. They're tracking us down.
I know it's my fault. If Rian and the others hadn't come here, Kent would not have known they existed. He would never have caught Rian, who was (at that time) thought of as the hideout leader.
Why can't I just get away from everyone and keep them out of danger?
“Rian,” I say. “Do you know who Denham Carnez is?”
His eyebrows furrow. “Denham Carnez? No, the first time I met him was when I woke up in that basement. Why?”
I hope he's telling the truth, but if he's not, I don't blame him. I have secrets of my own. “He,” I say, looking down at my right hand again, “has...the same tattoo we have.”
Rian keeps walking but looks down at the ground. “I know. I saw that too.”
“What do you think it means?” Denham can't possibly be from the white facility. But what if he is? How did he get here?
“I don't know.”
“I think...I think Denham used to live in that building. He knows who Jack Welds is. He knows where I came from,” I say, teeth gritted. “We have to find Denham. We have to figure out who he is.”
“He won't tell you.” But this time this isn't Rian talking. It's Fox.
Everyone looks at him.
My gaze is fixed on the back of his head as I wait for him to continue.
He doesn't turn to look at any of us, only keeps walking. But I can hear his words. “What I mean is don't expect him to share anything with you. He's not on your side.”
A pause. I dare ask, “Do you know who Denham is, Fox?”
Fox slows down until he's no longer in the lead, but in the middle of the circle the five of us have created. He sighs. “I've lived in the underground complex longer than you have, and I am the second one to receive a machine for a heart.”
I take a moment in his pause to realize that he said second. I've always thought he was the first, because Rian told me Fox was the first.
Fox continues. “The engineers underground worked to create a machine powerful enough, if put inside a human, would be able to generate enough power to keep a human being alive out in the contaminated air. No one wanted to live underground for the rest of their life, so a solution had to be made. So a mechanical device was created and installed in the chest of a man, right where his heart should be. He was brought back to life, but wasn't a pure human anymore. More like a cyborg. Everyone thought the project was a success. A man with a robot heart, can you believe that? But two weeks later, the man fell dead just in the halls of the underground edifice. He was tossed out. Just like you, Vivian.”
Fox takes a breath. “The project was canceled, but five years later, was continued again. That's how I'm standing here with you all. Still alive. The second one with the mechanical device for a heart. The man who received the first was Denham Carnez.”
Silence.
The information had all been inside Fox's head, while we sat around, oblivious?
“No way,” I gasp. “B-but why is...Denham here? He's supposed to be dead.”
Fox shrugs. “You're supposed to be dead, too. But why aren't you?”
He's right. What's wrong with the device I have inside me? Why am I alive right now?
“That's why Jack sent us to get you. You're much more vital than you think, Vivian. He's needs you as evidence to continue his research. We need to bring Denham back too. He's a project everyone thought was dead. He can't just get up and walk like that.”
“He's a commander,” I say. “He's not going to cooperate.”
Fox lifts his shoulders again. “That's what I'm afraid of.”
“So what, are we going to have to knock him out and drag him back?” Addison asks. “How will we be able to knock him out without putting him in a two-year coma?”
Fox quickens his pace, and all of us follow him. “We drug him, although I'm not sure where we'll find the certain drug.”
Jarrod perks up. “Our hideout has many of them. I'm sure—”
“You're not going back,” Fox snaps, “to your hideout. I may not know it well, but if this Kent dude is a threat to us, I will not let him become a threat to others.”
“He's already one,” Jarrod points out, but Fox does not comment. He only taps someone else on the shoulder and repeats the same words he asked the old man a while back.
“Can you point me in the direction of the police station?”
It's a woman he asks. She turns around to face him and sees the group of us behind him. And just like that man, she looks amused. But she's more willing to help us. She directs a finger behind her, toward the place we're headed.
“The police station's that way. Turn right on Carl. Turn left on the first street you see. You should be able to spot it around there. I would suggest hailing a car.”
I almost laugh. We have no money, so no one here can pay for anything. Maybe we're going to have to dig through the trash just like I did with Sabine and her group a couple nights ago.
Fox nods. “Thanks.”
After we pass the woman, Fox asks us, “Anybody want to start running? Or will that make us too suspicious?”
I shrug, but no one's looking at me.
“We should just stick to walking,” Jarrod says. “Save our energy.”
How is Jarrod going to help us now? He can't enter the hideout anymore. Are we just going to keep him a prisoner? Is he an ally? The enemy? He could be the one watching me for Kent for all we know.
“I agree,” Laurey says softly, her head moving up and down.
“Well,” Fox says, “it'd be better to get there faster.”
“So you want to run?” Addison inquires, pulling on her oversized sweatshirt. “In these things?” She rolls her sleeves up. “I just realized I don't have anything underneath this thing. This Kent guy isn't very considerate.”
“He's considerate enough,” Fox adds in over his shoulder. “At least we're wearing something.” He starts jogging, but returns back to his walk when he realizes it won't do any good.
We eventually find Carl Avenue, and when we make a right turn, the next turn we were told to take is not far ahead.
Another view of buildings is revealed. It takes me a couple of extra seconds to realize the reason they look familiar is because I've been here before. With Denham.
“This must be it,” I tell the others. “The police station.”
The building looks the newest out of all of them. There are plenty of open windows built in its walls, but they're too far for anyone to see what's through them. Even though the building looks welcoming, I know it's not at all. Denham or Kent could be standing there, just through those walls.
I point to the building to make sure the others know which one I'm talking about. All I get in response is a nod from Fox. The others just gaze at it.
“So...” Fox clears his throat. “We just storm in?”
“Not sure,” “I don't know,” and “Why?” are the answers I hear. I don't even bother figuring out who they all belong to.
“Well, you know what they say.” Fox grins. “It's now or never.”
He's strangely happy for someone who's at a risk of getting shot down. Everyone else has a frown on their face.
“What if,” Addison starts, “we wait while you throw your own life away?”
Fox looks down at her. “So you're really letting me go, huh?”
Addison shrugs. “Yeah, I guess.”
“What are you expecting from this anyway?” I ask. Now we're questioning this, but not when Fox introduced this plan to us. “Answers?”
Fox's smile drops. “I'm expecting answers, yes. We need Denham, and we need our suits. Because I don't know about you, but I would rather not have to take a risk and walk out there and die just because we didn't have the appropriate protection on.”
“But how about Vivian?” Rian reminds us. It's something I haven't thought about, and I'm sure the others haven't either. “How about Denham?”
“If Vivian is alive now,” Fox says, “that means she'll live when we get back.”
I don't quite like his idea. The temperature in the gray field was low. I'd rather not walk around half-naked again.
But if that's the only way, I know I'm going to have to pull myself together and go. But what's startling to me is if I never would have left, we would never have found this town and its people. If I would have stayed outside, someone would have noticed me—dead probably. Maybe this town would have continued to live peacefully, while its other twin—the white facility—lived the same way.
We're going to have to share this information with Jack Welds. But how will they be able to solve whatever we have started? Are they going to send out another group of people to investigate?
“And Denham,” Fox adds, scratching his head. “I...don't know how he got here.” He looks toward the police station again. “Anyone willing to come along?”
It seems
like he doesn't want to go by himself.
“I'm coming with you.” It's me who says this, and I don't know why I suddenly have the courage to blurt it out.
Rian nods and holds up a hand. “I'm sticking with you too.”
I glance at Addison to see her cross her arms. She exchanges looks between Jarrod, but says nothing.
Laurey speaks up, nodding. “I have no special abilities to be able to do anything outside the station for you guys. I think I'm coming with you.”
Addison has not yet said anything. Jarrod hasn't either, but I don't know what we can do with him. We still don't know who's side he's on.
“So, Add,” Fox says. “You're staying out here?”
Slowly, Addison nods. “I'm not a coward. I just feel like you should have someone on the outside to help you guys out.”
I turn to Jarrod, but know the idea I have is stupid. The team at the hideout barely knows me, so I doubt they'd be willing to risk their life to get us out if anything does happen to us.
“Jarrod?” I ask him, trying to get his attention. He's looking away, and it takes him several seconds to finally realize that someone's talking to him.
“Yeah?”
Everyone turns to our conversation, and surprisingly no one interrupts it.
“Sabine really sent you to look after me?” I ask him. Just as soon as I mention the girl's name, I see the group's brows furrow. Her name has been mentioned before, but no one had questioned it aloud. Neither are they doing it now.
Jarrod nods and raises his hands in fake-surrender. “I understand that you don't believe me, and I completely agree, but that is the truth.”
“All right, then,” I say, starting on my idea. “There is a chance we'll get into trouble along the way, and I don't know how much risk your leader is willing to put his people in, but what if...what if—”
“A few of our guys help bust you out?” Jarrod finishes.
I feel my eyebrows raise. “Yeah, exactly that.” I don't think I would have let the words out that easily.
Jarrod nods and directs his thumb behind him. “If anything happens, we can try. But to tell you the truth, I'm not sure we'll be able to know you're in trouble.”
That is what I'm worrying about. But he's going to have to enter the hideout. What if Kent tracks him down and finds it that way?
As soon as we enter the building, there's no going back. Because what if Denham is inside, and as soon as he spots us, we'll get grabbed and thrown into prison? Maybe it's not such a great idea that we're sending three people. Either Rian or I need to stay here with Addison.
