Nolan’s jaws clenched together tightly. “If we don’t do this, thousands more will die out there beyond the wall. I know it’s hard for you to think of them as people, as actual people, but they are, and they’re dying. Not only are Mainlanders doing nothing to help them, but they’re planning to destroy them for good.”
She heard the words coming from him, but it was hard for her to believe him. For all these years, the Outlanders were the enemies. People told children scary stories about them. They were the monsters under the bed. They were the crazy people that wanted to destroy the world. They were the ones first responsible for the nuclear attacks of the Great War.
They were the ones who killed Hazel’s family and left her father blind for the rest of his life.
“I know you hold a personal hatred for the Outlanders,” he said. “You of all people have a right to. But I didn’t kill your family. Those people out there starving didn’t kill your family. It was a couple of men that did it—a couple of men that would have never been allowed to be a part of us if we had known who they were.”
“And how many more of those men exist within the Outlanders?” Hazel asked.
“How many of those men exist within the Mainlanders?” Nolan came back. “A lot more if we’re considering the statistics.”
Hazel didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t just agree to it. This man was a wanted assassin! For the last year he had been the symbol of terror and murder. The news had painted Nolan Ragsdale as a man to fear, yet sitting here, Hazel no longer feared him. A part of her, albeit a small part, believed what he had to say. And if it wasn’t true belief, then it was at least interesting and certainly a different take on any view she had had before. But that wasn’t enough to risk everything she had worked for by letting him into the military compound. Such a thought was absurd. She would never do it.
Both of them turned their heads sharply when they heard a rattling noise from the other room. At first, they thought it was Gus, but when Nolan called out his name and got no answer, they both stood. Nolan held up a finger as he took two short steps toward the door.
The sound of movement came from the other side of the doorway and Nolan froze. For a brief second he looked back at Hazel who gave him a blank stare. A loud crash sounded at the doorway and before Nolan could turn around, he was already on the floor.
Hazel jumped to her feet when she saw Des on top of him, his hands gripping the man’s shirt tightly enough to pop the seams in the arms.
“I’m sending you a scan of his face,” Des said loudly. He seemed to be talking to someone else.
“Des, you got my message!”
He looked up at Hazel. “Loud and clear. Esroy and I weren’t sure what happened to you.” He turned his head slightly, his eyes staring into Nolan’s. When he looked up at Hazel again, his mouth hung open. “Esroy just confirmed that this man is Nolan Ragsdale, a wanted assassin. The authorities are already en route.”
Hazel’s first reaction was to tell Des to call them off, but she thought better of it. Nolan was a convincing speaker, but she didn’t trust him. For all she knew, he was trying to use her to get into the mainframe and steal secrets that would provide an advantage to the Outlanders. She couldn’t take that risk.
“You should let me go,” Nolan said to Des. “You don’t understand what you’re doing.”
“I understand that you’re a murderer and a kidnapper,” Des said. “You’ve harmed Hazel and for that you will see justice.”
Hazel could see the anger in Des’ face—something she hadn’t been ready for. It was actually scary to see his brows furrowed and his mouth pointed downward into a frown.
“This is the start,” Nolan said as his face softened and his eyes became brighter. “You’re Hazel’s Soul Project. Esroy.”
“I’m not Esroy. My name is Des.”
“Des?”
A loud popping noise from the other side of the room cut into their words and sparks flew from Des’ shoulder. Hazel ducked to the ground as Des let go of Nolan and turned to face his attacker. Gus stood in the doorway letting off shot after shot, each one hitting Des with enough force to make him stagger as he walked but not enough to stop him in his tracks. Des lunged for Gus and took the rifle from his hands. In a second he had the hot barrel in his hands and swung the gun into the wall as hard as he could, splintering the stock into pieces. Gus’s mouth hung open in shock as he stared at Des. Des towered over him, daring him to throw a punch or kick, but Gus knew he was no match for the robot. He spun quickly to run in the opposite direction but Des flung the barrel of the gun into the back of Gus’s head. He landed on the floor with a loud thud.
As Hazel watched this unfold, she wondered why Nolan wasn’t trying to get away too, but he just stood in the same spot watching with her.
Des spun around quickly and ran to Nolan, grabbed him by the shirt again and shoved him against a wall.
“Take it easy, I’m not running,” Nolan said.
“Why?” Des asked.
Hazel could hear sirens in the distance, closing in on them. Nolan stared at her, knowing he was defeated, knowing he was going into custody. “You know what I’ve told you is true. You know what you have to do.”
Hazel didn’t know. How could she know? The only experiences she’d ever had with Outlanders were horrible. They had left terrible scars in her life—wounds that would never completely heal.
“Search the mainframe,” he said. “Esroy can help you get in, I know it. The file I need is encrypted and hidden. No one in Mainland knows it’s there but you and me. It has all the information we need.”
“I don’t believe you,” Hazel said.
“It doesn’t matter if you believe me,” Nolan came back. “You won’t be able to find the evidence on your own. You need me.”
“The authorities are coming,” she said.
“Let them come. Look in the mainframe. You’ll see documents referring to Project Retaliation. There’s nothing within your grasp to allow you access to see its true nature, but if you see any mention of it, that’s it. That’s the nuclear bomb, the robots, their whole plan.”
“And what am I supposed to do if I actually start to believe you?” She didn’t want to believe him. Even if it was the truth, part of her felt like the Outlanders would deserve it.
“Talk to Phil,” he said.
“What are you talking about?” Des asked.
“Phil?” Hazel said.
“I told you before, I’ve got friends here. I’ll be fine. I just need to know if and when you’re on board with me.”
“What are you talking about?” Des repeated. “He’s an assassin, Hazel.”
“I’ll explain it later, Des,” Hazel said.
The sirens were all around them. Hazel jumped when someone crashed through the door in the hallway. Loud stomps stormed in their direction. Everything felt like such a blur as the police swept through the room. There was a lot of screaming and yelling. Her hands went into the air as instructed and at some point she found herself on her knees as if she was the kidnapper.
She watched Des drop Nolan to the floor. Officers pointed their guns at the robot and she suddenly feared for him. Sure, he could take a bullet, but if he didn’t run now, wouldn’t he be decommissioned? She also realized that this could be the end for her career too. Des was supposed to be dead. But he was here. She was here. What would Bracken do?
Des stood in the corner of the room, watched by a couple of officers. At some point, Hazel was instructed to stand and was even offered a chair, but she didn’t respond to anyone. She just watched Des and wondered. His eyes met hers. Those blue, robotic eyes were so full of life. He had been worried about her. He knew she was in trouble, he sought her out. He was the kind of soldier Mainland needed—one with passion, one with a healthy amount of fear.
She heard the lead officer swear and say something about the news being outside taking pictures. Apparently someone had let it slip over the radio that the call was in response
to a kidnapping, the kidnapper being none other than Nolan Ragsdale. The officer shrugged and told the others to make sure they got a good picture of his head on the way out.
They led Nolan by the wrists and he was quickly surrounded by five officers. His partner in crime was barely conscious as they led him out too.
“Now, we can go out a back way, if you’d like,” the officer said. “Avoid the pictures.”
Hazel shook her head, trying to get out of the daze she felt. She finally looked into the lead officer’s eyes. “What?”
“I can have a car pulled around back if you want,” he said. He then nodded toward the exit Nolan had taken. “I didn’t give that scumbag the luxury. I’m actually kind of glad they’re taking pictures of him. He looks terrible.”
Hazel was about to agree to this when a thought struck her. Her eyebrows shot up and she reached out, grabbing the officer’s arm. “The robot. Des. He’s the hero here. If it wasn’t for him I’d be dead already.” She knew the part about death might be stretching the truth, but if Des was going to survive Bracken’s wrath she had to play it up.
She let go of the officer and rushed to Des. “Des, come with me.” She grabbed the robot’s metal hand and pulled him toward the room exit, ignoring the officers who told her to wait.
“Where are we going?” Des asked.
“To announce you to the city,” she said.
If there were cameras, then they would be broadcasting. If they were broadcasting, people were watching. If it was about the capture of the infamous Nolan Ragsdale, then people would want to know who caught him.
“I don’t understand,” Des said, but Hazel didn’t listen to him. They were at the end of the hallway and she shoved open the door. Heads snapped in her direction.
“Everyone!” Hazel shouted. She stepped to the side and held her palms to the sky as if she was offering the robot to the world on a platter. “This is the robot who captured Nolan Ragsdale!”
Not even a robot as well-built as Des could have escaped the flashing lights of praise.
17
Eight Years Ago
Hazel didn’t know when she fell asleep. The sun had gone down and everyone was still on the roof, gazing at the battle miles away. The sirens had long turned off, but the booms in the distance were still there. Even this late at night, the battle wasn’t over. The night gave a better light show than in the day, though the details of the fight got muddy. At least, for most people it did. By now, Hazel’s father would have his night vision scope out, taking in every gory detail. He would never let Lillian or Hazel look through it in times like these. Hazel’s mom, Eliza, didn’t think it was appropriate for her daughters to see men blown in half, or bodies ripped to shreds, even if the green tint made everything seem less real.
Hazel hardly slept through the night. At some point she’d heard Lillian go to bed. She occasionally heard Gizmo throw out a happy sentence or two, but mostly the house was silent but for the quakes of death rattling the windows, keeping her awake.
She stared at the yellow envelope on her bedside table, thinking again of tearing it open and reading the news about her acceptance or rejection to the university, but she thought better of it again. She wouldn’t be able to sleep if she knew she was going. She wouldn’t be able to sleep if she knew she wasn’t going either. Now, she wasn’t sure she would be able to sleep the rest of the night without knowing.
She threw off her blankets and sat on the edge of her bed, realizing for the first time that she hadn’t taken off the clothes she had been wearing during the day. She stood, put on her jacket, slipped the envelope into the inside pocket, and walked toward the door and opened it slowly. She winced when it squeaked because she didn’t want to wake her sister or mother. She tiptoed through the upper floor, thankful that Gizmo was resting in his charging bay. Her mother’s door was opened just a crack so she didn’t have to worry about any noise it might make on her way to the roof.
Curtains blew inward from the open window on the other side of the room and Hazel found her way to the roof, quickly and quietly. Her father sat alone on the edge, both hands holding the scope up to his eye. He moved it only a little whenever there was a loud explosion that caught his attention.
“Dad,” Hazel said softly.
“What are you still doing up?” he asked.
“Couldn’t sleep.”
“Yeah, I didn’t expect you would with all this racket.”
“How are we doing?” She moved in next to him and let her feet dangle off the side of the house. He wrapped a warm arm around her and held her close. His hand came close to touching the envelope in her jacket, and part of her wished he would feel it and ask about it. Maybe he would even encourage her to open it, just the two of them.
“It’s a struggle,” he said. “Always is. Outlanders never make it easy.”
“But it is easy, right?”
“It’s never easy.”
“But we always win.”
“Doesn’t mean it’s easy. It just mean’s we’re better. Stronger.”
“They don’t usually come on this strong.”
He shook his head. “No, they don’t. It worries me a little.”
“Why?” She didn’t like the sound of her father being worried. He was never worried about anything.
“Oh, just that they brought so many. They must be getting really desperate out there.”
“How bad is it?”
He took a deep breath and brought the scope to his eye using only one hand. “It’s rough. You don’t go to the Outland and come back the same person.”
“Were you so different before you fought out there?”
“I don’t guess I changed much, but my perspective did.”
“How so?”
“Just that they are people who want to survive this world. Kind of like us.”
“Didn’t they make the world the way it is?”
“That’s what they tell us. That’s what we know.” His arm left her and he used both hands to hold up the scope again. He either never felt the envelope or didn’t pay it any mind. “There really isn’t a question about it. Although, these particular Outlanders aren’t the ones who made the world the way it is. They are the children…the grandchildren of those people. When you’re out there fighting them, when you see the women and the children and the lives that they lead, you start to wonder why there is a fight at all.”
Part of Hazel wanted to see it. Outland was known for its desolation and deadly people, but she envied anyone that had gotten to leave Mainland for any stretch of time. If anything, Hazel felt it might make her appreciate her home more than she already did. It wasn’t that she wanted to visit Outland and stay there, but like her father said, it was all about perspective. She wanted to see things from a different lens. She wanted a better reason to hate the Outlanders than just because she was told she should hate them.
“Don’t they fight because they are dying? Because they are running out of resources?”
Her father nodded. “What you say is true. But that doesn’t mean we can just let them have what they want. To invite them in would introduce chaos to our world here. You can’t forget that they are savages, Hazel.”
Savages. Hazel wondered what they did on a daily basis to constitute them as savages. Sure, they might have caused all this, but like her father said, they were still people.
“Your mother wouldn’t like this, so keep your mouth shut about it, but take a look to the southwest there.” He held the scope out with both hands for Hazel to take it.
When she picked it up, it was heavier than she thought it would be. She used both hands to hold it to her eye.
Her father pointed. “Just over the wall. You see that?”
There were flashes of light followed by men running with war vehicles close behind. Bodies were spread across the ground, most of them lifeless and unmoving. Some people tried to crawl away from the action. There was one man crawling who had lost both of his legs, a look of fear m
ixed with determination in his face. The sight made her feel sick to her stomach. But then she saw something even worse—the thing her father was trying to show her. It was a group of Outlanders beating a Mainland soldier to death. The man had his arms up in the air, but the enemy gave him no mercy. One man hit him in the ribs while another stabbed him through the shoulder. The man recoiled but not before someone else went up to him and jabbed him in the face with a rod.
Hazel winced and tried to look away from the scope, but something kept her eye glued to the scene unfolding before her. She was about to watch the man die when a bright explosion filled her vision, turning the green to white. She closed her eyes tightly, hoping to avoid the temporary blindness she knew she would experience, though it was probably too late. The sound of the explosion followed quickly and it seemed louder than all the others she had heard throughout the night.
“What was that? What do you see?”
She raised the scope to her other eye and found the thick cloud of smoke billowing from the wall. “I think they got the wall.”
“What? Let me see.”
Her father snatched the scope from her and she rubbed at her eyes. What did it mean if the Outlanders had broken through the wall? As far as she knew, such a thing had never happened before.
Her head snapped to attention when she heard her father curse under his breath. “What is it?”
“There’s a hole in the wall,” he said.
There was another bright light followed by an even louder boom than the last one. Then another. And another. Her father stood to his feet, his hands visibly shaking now.
“There’s more,” he said. “They’re coming through fast.”
“What should we do?” Hazel found herself standing next to him, though she didn’t remember moving.
“They have to sound the alarm again,” he said. “People need to be ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“Invasion.”
Invasion.
The word stuck with Hazel as she and her family hunkered down in the living room. The sirens had sounded a few minutes before and the streets were filled with military vehicles and people shouting out orders over loudspeakers.
Prototype D (Prototype D Series Book 1) Page 14
