by Angel Lawson
“Get the hell out of here,” Jane says as the remaining Eaters move in our direction.
“I don’t know where I’m going!” Finn cries, holding his hands up.
“Back to the road, back on track. We need to get to that bunker now.”
The boy slams his foot on the gas and we fly forward with a spastic lurch. I clutch the back of the seat with one hand and another is still wrapped tight in my sister’s. Finn careens down the field back to the tree line and I take a breath, feeling the familiar surge of adrenaline as it courses through my veins. As the Eaters’ howls are left behind, I stare at the blood and dirt stains on my hands and I know in this moment this is what I’m born to do.
I’m here to fight.
21
The four wheeler hits every bump and divot in the road. Along the way, Jane recaps what happened before we found them. She, Finn, and Mary Ellen were under orders and protection of one of Erwin’s Mutts to go to the bunker. Seems she got the same story I did. We’re a distraction. He needs us out of the way. Chloe is too focused on our history.
“We were attacked by two Eaters near the road,” she says in my ear. I watch her finger rub over a bloody stain on her pants.
“Near the cars?” She nods and I say, “We saw them.”
“They came out of nowhere. The guard told us to run—so we did. He stayed back to fight.” She gives me a searching look. I shake my head and she sighs. “Yeah, I figured he was dead.”
I want to ask who shot him but the four-wheeler approaches a small overpass. Jude tucks the vehicle beneath the shady bridge.
The bunker is different from the others. Nothing more than a submerged space built under the bridge. There’s a thick, gray metal door that even Jane has to bend over to get through, but the road above and the concrete and earth surrounding us makes this a safe location.
It’s perfect, really. Too perfect.
I grab Jude by the arm. “Do you think this is a trap?”
He looks at the rusty door. “This? Maybe. That clusterbang back there? Probably.”
“Why do you say that?”
“We run into a barn full of fresh-made Eaters? Way out here?” He leans close. “Someone assassinated that Mutt. No way he went down without a fight. Finn said it wasn’t them.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” I argue, but nothing does. Including the fact the bunker door swings open and a man with a frightening bandana wrapped around his face holding a massive gun stands in the opening.
I feel my forehead furrow. “Paul?”
“What are you doing here?” he asks, tugging down the skeleton mask.
Jude steps forward. “Erwin sent us.”
My friend frowns and glances behind him. “I’m not sure that’s a great idea.”
“Why not?” I ask.
“If I let you in, will you promise not to freak out?”
“Dude we just survived a massive Eater attack. They’re probably following us and we’re here on orders. Let us in the bunker.”
He sighs and gestures for us to come inside. I lead the group and Paul grabs my arm before I slip inside. “Seriously. Don’t freak out.”
I brush him off, annoyed by the day, and step into the dark, cool, earthy smelling bunker. It’s nothing more than a room with a low ceiling. I jump when I realize someone is in the room already.
I bark out a laugh when I see his face but less out of humor and more out of sheer exhaustion. “Seriously?”
“For the record,” Cole says, “This wasn’t my idea.”
It takes an hour before I’m willing to speak. To anyone. Jude tries and he’s met with a string of curses that send him scurrying as far away as he can go, which isn’t far in the tiny bunker.
We’re squashed in the room. Finn and Mary Ellen are tucked in a chair together. Jude cleans his gun and Jane scans her notebook. Paul and Cole sit quietly in two chairs pressed against the wall. Cole isn’t bound but he’s made no move to do anything. His face looks less tense than I’ve seen it in months. Some of his visible wounds have healed. He does glance in my direction occasionally but I give him nothing in return. Instead I connect the dots around the room. How we know one another. What we have in common.
Why did Erwin send us here?
I sit up and look at Paul. He catches my eye and I wave him over to my little corner of the room. After a quick word with Cole he moves to sit next to me on the floor, near the door.
Before I can speak he says, “I’ve been out here with Cole since we rescued the two of you from Chloe’s headquarters. You asked us to save him too, but he was in bad shape and there was no way I was taking him back to the town. We couldn’t risk placing a bomb in there after all the hard work we’d done to get everyone ready.”
“So what’s his status? Because you know he’s a liar and a manipulator.”
“I’m aware of his flaws. I’m also aware that you two had a twisted game going on while you were held captive.”
“Apocalypse Fight Club.” I roll my eyes. “It was a blast.”
“It also sounds like, when it came down to it, you protected one another.”
My eyes sting at the comment. “I wasn’t going to let Chloe win.”
He smiles and beneath the hardened features and too dark, Mutt eyes, I see my friend. “Cole’s still in there. Sure he’s changed—haven’t we all? But that guy you knew, and I think loved? He’s still there, too.”
“I can’t trust him,” I admit.
“There are few people you can these days. That’s a personal decision we each have to make. If you want the truth and are willing to hear it, I’ve been working on deprogramming him. Chloe managed to get in his head, twisting his fears and paranoia on level ten. There’s no reason he can’t be like me or the other Mutts working with Erwin. You don’t think I’m a bad guy, do you?”
I sigh. “No.”
“Give him a chance. Just like anyone else in here. We’ve all been scarred one way or the other by Chloe’s regime.”
Again I glance around the room. That’s the connector. Everyone in this room, including Cole, is someone I trust, particularly if I’m going up against Chloe. They’re really the only people I trust. We’ve been through it together. Each of us have had direct interaction with Chloe.
I grip Paul’s arm and ask, “Do you know why we’re all here?”
“Erwin thought you were a liability.”
“Did he think you were a liability in the fight, too? Because you’re one of the strongest men he has. You trained those Mutts. What are you doing here?”
“Someone had to keep an eye on him.” He nods at Cole who is watching us intently, no doubt trying to use his super hearing to eavesdrop.
I shake my head. “That doesn’t make sense. There’s no way he’d leave a skilled leader out of the action. Not today. Look around the room. Tell me what you see.”
His eyes scan the room, stopping on each person. “Besides you—her original foe, there’s Jude, who abandoned his position as a Fighter in Jane’s army.” He moves on. “Jane, who she overthrew. Finn and Mary Ellen, who were captives at her headquarters, and Cole, who betrayed her.”
I look at Paul. “And then there’s you.”
“Me?”
“You never were supposed to live. If we hadn’t found you that day we never would have had the upper hand on the Hybrids. There would be no Mutts. I mean, even now Jane has the next injections ready for us to—”
“To what?” he asks, forehead creased.
“Listen, Erwin didn’t send us out here because we’re a liability. He sent us out here so we would be alone—isolated. Jude and I are pretty sure that Eater attack earlier was a set up. Maybe for her or maybe for us. I don’t know, but Chloe will find us easily now. Which is exactly what he wanted.” I take a deep breath and realize the whole room is watching us now, tuned into our conversation. “Jane has created a new injection. The EVI-3.”
Jude speaks first. Well, not so much speaking as a string of curses that en
ds with him declaring, “No way. No more monkeying with science.”
“This one is different,” I say but that argument sounds exceedingly lame even to me. “Jane, tell them.”
“It’s a temporary transition, giving the person Mutt-like qualities for a short period of time. Enhanced speed, strength, and thinking skills.”
“Enough to get through a battle and come out alive,” I point out. “Then everything should go back to normal.”
“Should,” Jude says. “So you don’t know for sure.”
Jane answers for me. “It’s experimental.”
He rubs his hands over his face and groans before asking me, “How does Wyatt feel about this?”
I hold his gaze. “Wyatt isn’t here.”
“I’ll take it,” Mary Ellen says suddenly. “I want to fight.”
“Mary,” Finn says, clutching at her arm. “That’s crazy.”
“No, what’s crazy is sitting here like ducks waiting to get taken out one at a time. I didn’t survive the last year and a half to go down in some kind of set-up.” She holds her shoulders back and Finn stares at her with a look of awe.
“So you’re doing this?” Paul asks me.
“Yes.”
“And then what?”
I glance around the room. “We leave this underground hole and kick Chloe’s ass.”
“The good news is that you won’t have to wait long,” Cole says. He’s been silent this whole time, watching our exchange with little interest.
I roll my eyes and ask, “Why do you say that?”
“Because they’re almost here.”
There’s no logical way for Cole to know this but Paul moves to the heavy metal door and presses his ear against it. Again, bizarre, but he makes a face and says, “If you’re taking that shot you better do it now.”
Jane and I make eye contact. I nod, I’m in—I have been since we came up with this plan. She reaches for her bag on the floor and extracts a small case.
“I have enough injections for everyone,” she says, holding up a vial of amber fluid. “But only if you want. There’s no pressure.”
I fight a laugh. No pressure. Sure. Two armies of super soldiers are coming our way and we’re the odd people out. Yeah, no pressure, at all.
I step forward and Jane tells me to sit in the chair Jude had occupied before he hopped up to freak out about the EVI-3. I roll up my sleeve and look away from the needle. I glance at Cole. He’s watching me closely and I realize something’s not right.
“Wait.” I pull my arm away and Jane frowns in confusion. I hold Cole’s eye. “You do it.”
His eyebrows lift in surprise but he’s not. No. This was our thing. This is how we fell into this crazy situation. Together. One shot at a time. He stands, stretching his legs in the cramped quarters. Jane looks at us both with confusion but hands the needle to Cole.
He sits across from me and I pull up my sleeve. I watch as he expertly adjusts the level of the fluid. He rests the needle on the table to tear open the sanitizer pack. He cleans the spot on my arm, eyes flicking up to mine. They’re no longer blue and I miss him more than ever in this moment. His friendship and his loyalty. I miss fighting with him instead of against him.
“I’m ready when you are, Lab Guy.”
The familiar curve of a smile tugs at his mouth and it’s the last thing I see before he plunges the injection in my arm. I wince, never getting used to that type of pain.
“How long does it take?” I rub my arm.
Jane has another vial ready and Mary Ellen is the first to step up. Jude still looks hesitant but less angry than before. Jane nods at Cole. “Ask him.”
“It’s hard to say, but it comes on pretty quick.” I move to stand but Cole grabs me by the arm. “Good luck, Alex. I hope this works for you.”
“Thank you—” I start to reply but I’m knocked off kilter by an enormous explosion outside the bunker. Strong and near enough to feel underground.
22
Jane inoculates everyone in the room, including herself and Jude. It’s a no-brainer at this point, and as cement shakes loose from the ceiling I know we’ve got to get out of the bunker.
“How do we want to do this? Just go out the door?” I ask, strapping weapons to my legs, ankle, and waist. I tug on my jacket, pockets filled with ammo Paul had stashed onsite. Finn secures a knife to Mary Ellen’s leg. She rubs the spot where she got the shot.
“There’s another exit.” Paul tugs his bandana over his mouth, the eerie skull teeth stretch wide across his face. I search the room for another door. With a long knife he points up and we all look at the ceiling. A circular hole is cut above us, the disk made of metal.
Jude leans over. “Is that a manhole?”
“Nuclear grade, but yeah.” Paul moves the chair right underneath. He points to a heavy metal tool on the table. “Hand that to me, will you? It’s the key to unlock the grate. We’ll come up on the bridge and hopefully get a better vantage point.”
Cole assists Paul and even in the smallest movements I notice a difference. The anger and rage has melted—maybe not completely—but his shoulders aren’t tense and tugged up under his ears.
“Okay,” I look at the rest of the crew. It may be the faint light of the lantern but the eyes of my friends look a shade darker. “Let’s get out there and end this.”
Paul and Cole shift the grate aside and chunks of dirt and sand shower over their heads. The shift in sound is immediate. Voices, gunshots and explosions carry down into our hole. The sky above is a cloudy and Paul jumps up easily, lifting himself out into the late, gray afternoon. The last thing I see is his frightening skull face.
Jude follows, then Mary Ellen and Finn, both looking agile.
Jane stops and to my surprise gives me a hard, spontaneous hug. “Love you, sis,” she says, her arms like a vice.
“Love you too. See you later, okay?”
“Okay.”
A hand appears in the hole and she grasps it, vanishing into the air.
When it’s my turn Cole says, “Need a boost?”
I feel the adrenaline, spiky and strong, coursing through my veins. I flex my fingers and toes and although it seems crazy, my arms feel leaner, stronger. I shake my head. “I think I’ve got it.”
He grabs my arm. “I’m sorry for everything. I never should have left that day. I should have trusted you—trusted the team.”
Emotion flares in my body. A mixture of anger, love, and sadness. I have no doubt the injection is working because the feeling is so intense. I pick one to focus on and touch Cole’s cheek. “It’s not too late. We know better than anyone Chloe has to be stopped. I think we can do it together.”
Another shell drops and the rapid fire of an automatic weapon ruptures the sky above us. The battle is already in full swing and I don’t wait for Cole to respond. I bend my knees and leap for the lip of the hole. I have zero fear I’ll miss or stumble and I don’t, quickly climbing out and immediately tense for action.
I’m ready but not.
No. Not for this.
The landscape around us is on fire. Two approaching armies from each side. The bridge, right in the middle. Hybrids, Mutts and Eaters rumble across the highway below. It’s a surreal sight, like something out of a horror flick. Everyone here is genetically enhanced. Movements are faster, almost blurred with speed. Howls clashing with grunts merge with the cries of death. I tighten my hand around the handle of my hatchet and process the scene, faster and more calculated than ever before.
Paul disappeared before I surfaced but I see the band of skull-faced Mutts skirmishing below. I’m sure he’s already joined in the fight. He’s never been one to hang back for strategy. I look around. Cole is gone too.
Freaking Mutts.
Vehicles roll in the masses firing guns and larger, explosive devices. The sides seem evenly matched. Two tanks face off as they bear down the middle of the road. Doing anything but running is suicide.
“If we run she’ll keep coming
.” Jude anticipates my thoughts. His eyes are a deep, disturbing black. From the weird look he’s giving me, mine must look the same.
“Erwin said we were a distraction…well, let’s fulfill his prophecy.”
I scan the area, looking for the best tool to get their attention. We’re all out of fire and rockets. I do spot a row of rocks and grab one—it’s more like a boulder—and hoist it over the side. They’re large pieces of granite used to shore up the foundation of the bridge and with enhanced strength, easy to dislodge.
The others follow my move, dropping stone after stone over the edge. They crash onto the first unsuspecting Hybrids below, smashing skulls. But it gets their attention and soon, the soldiers rush up the hills and it’s time to fight.
There’s little time to react, the first Hybrids reach the bridge in seconds. I flex my fingers and jump into the fight.
At first it’s like a rugby scrum, everyone fighting for the same space. But the changes in my body cause an escalation I couldn’t have predicted. My punches are deadly. One Hybrid’s head snaps back, broken from the impact of my fist to his forehead. Another’s arm dislocates when I toss him over my shoulder. The earth quakes when he hits the ground. I stare at my hands for one brief moment of awe.
This. Is. Awesome.
My glee is short-lived as a hybrid kicks my feet out from under me, forcing me on my back. I’m not stronger than they are but I am equal. I roll to the right and then the left, but feet, bodies, and limbs surround me. I take the nearest arm, severed from its body, and use it like a bat against the evil-eyed bastard trying to take my life.
This manages to surprise him, and I stick my knife in his gut. He falls but I’m crushed by too many people to get out of the way. I poise my feet above me, prepared to kick him out of the way, but his body stops mid-air, clutched by two hands at the shoulders. Blood spills onto my chest from his wound, his jaw gapes wide. I take the opportunity to get on my feet. The dead Hybrid is tossed to the side and I come face to face with a man. A hazel-eyed ninja covered in blood and bruises.
