“Do you have a plan for getting out of the most secure building in Mainland?” Hazel asked.
“Yeah,” Nolan said. His head turned to Phil who nodded.
“We’re taking the elevator. I’ve got two vehicles ready just outside.”
“If they aren’t overtaken by the guards already,” Nolan muttered.
“That’s your escape plan?” Hazel asked. “A high-speed chase through the city? What, are you just going to smash through the city gates as well?”
“We can get out,” Nolan said, though he seemed to be telling himself this in encouragement rather than true belief. “Once we’re to the Outland they won’t be able to touch us.”
“We just have to get there first,” Gus said. “Might take a little blood-spillin.”
Hazel shook her head, feeling sick. She didn’t want to be a part of the blood-spillin. She just wanted to have been left alone in all this. A sudden thought entered her mind about her father. What would he think when he found out she was gone? She never had the chance to tell him anything. Of course, she’d just learned everything so recently, but he was part of this too. Gus had been the one to ransack the house to draw Hazel out into the open so he could take her. It had been a wild ride ever since. She’d seen that her dad left her several messages, but she never got around to answering them.
She looked at the screen and saw that Des’ transfer was at ninety-three percent and Esroy’s was at sixty-four. She tapped on a message left to her by her father, the last one reading: I hope everything is okay with you. Please contact me.
She started typing her own message: Dad, sorry things have been crazy here. I guess you heard about what happened with Prototype D. Some things are happening today that are weird. I don’t know what’s going to happen.
Her fingers paused and she took a deep breath. The words she wanted to say, the words she needed to say hadn’t been uttered by her in so long. Neither of them had spoken in such a way since she could remember. For all she knew, this was her last hour. She knew she couldn’t make everything right between them that needed to be righted. But she could say the words that he needed to hear from her—the words that would mean everything to him: I love you.
She sent the message with water forming in her eyes. It never occurred to her before this moment that she may never see him again and it pained her to the core to think it.
“The robot’s transfer is finished,” Nolan declared. “Let’s get out of here.”
“I’m not leaving without Esroy,” she said.
“Come on!”
She turned an angry face toward him, unable to stop a stray tear from streaking down the side of her face. She opened her mouth to repeat herself, but Des pulled the cord from his own head and stood, towering over Nolan. “She said we’re not leaving without Esroy. If you want to leave, then leave.”
Nolan clenched his jaw and spun around. “Is the noise still going on outside?”
Phil nodded. “It’s down the hallway a bit. Might be checking rooms.”
Hazel watched the screen, hoping her father would respond, though she didn’t expect it. He rarely used the computer. Maybe, just maybe, he had the volume up.
When the clean transfer finished, she hesitantly pulled the hard drive out of the computer terminal and slid it into her pocket. “Okay,” she said softly. “I’m ready.”
Nolan motioned for Phil to open the door, and the men started piling out of the room and into the hallway. So far, no shots fired. So far, so good.
Des turned to her and offered a hand. She looked at his long metal fingers and for some reason felt hesitant to take it. But when she looked up at his face, she didn’t see the robotic monster created to destroy the Outlanders. Instead she saw a person—a person who cared about her and wanted to keep her safe.
28
Phil hadn’t been lying when he said they would be taking the elevator. The commotion from down the hall had indeed been soldiers, and they were probably looking for Nolan. This indicated to Des that Esroy hadn’t said anything to give them away yet.
Des brought up the rear of the group, his head towering above the rest. His thoughts felt sporadic and cluttered by the new information uploaded into his memory. Pictures. Documents. Videos. Some of it, Des was able to sort through, but most of it confused him. He had only been alive for a few days and he had already switched sides. He knew he shouldn’t have felt surprised. Most of this was because of him to an extent. To know that he was created to destroy an entire group of people disturbed him greatly. He was simply the result of greedy men bent on owning what was left of the world. Unfortunately for them, Des had a mind of his own that could think and feel. He could make decisions based on what was right and wrong. But was right and wrong simply a part of his programming based on what Hazel thought was right and wrong? If that was the case then he was more robot than he realized.
The elevator was a risk but when the doors opened, the group found themselves facing a dark and empty room covered from floor to ceiling in concrete. Each person got out of the elevator cautiously, their guns held steady in front of them. Des was the last out. He looked around the room, using his heat sensors to detect anyone who might be hiding in the shadows waiting for them.
“Where are we?” Des asked.
“Old parking garage,” Phil said.
“For vehicles,” Gus added. “Back when the average citizen was allowed to use them.”
Des knew about the normal use of vehicles—a part of human history long gone. According to his archives, people used to drive everywhere, but since the Great War, energy supplies dwindled to almost nothing, forcing people to commute by electric trains. Most of the fuel throughout Mainland was used to provide electricity to the public, though each person was given a rationed supply and the military took most of it for its operations.
“What are we doing down here?” Hazel asked.
“What do you think?” said Phil. “This is where I parked the trucks.”
When he said this, the vehicles came into view. They were two rugged SUV’s that had apparently been driven a lot over the years. The group started to pick up the pace and were soon next to the trucks.
“Okay,” Phil said. “Gus, Nolan, Hazel, robot, you are all in the front truck. “Me, Cal, and Brooks will take the rear.”
Des waited for the others to get into the truck before stepping inside. He glanced toward the elevators and noticed the digital numbers above the doors changing.
“We need to hurry,” Des said.
The engines fired up. Des watched the numbers change to B1 and the doors opened slowly.
“Get in!” Nolan yelled.
Des ducked low as the bullets flew in their direction. The deafening sound of metal slamming against metal at high velocities and glass sprinkling onto the concrete floor was enough to make Gus slam his foot against the gas. Des was barely in the truck before it jerked forward.
He hunched his large frame over Hazel who was already crouched into a ball. He lifted his head to glance out the back windshield only to find it missing from the attack. Behind them the other truck was taking a worse beating as sparks sprayed off the sides from the three guards who’d come out of the elevator. Des zoomed his vision to see one of them already calling on his radio.
“They’re going to meet us up top,” Des said. “One of them just radioed ahead. How far is it to the city gate?”
“I’ve got a pretty direct route,” Phil answered. “Should take about ten minutes if we can stay at full speed.”
That’s too long, Des thought. If they weren’t even out of the building yet, and the guards were already calling for reinforcements, there was little chance of making it out of the city without resistance.
Des turned in his seat to see through the front windshield as the trucks emerged from the building and into the main parking lot. Des scanned the area through every window and found several soldiers running from the building to intercept, but the vehicles were already going too fast. Phi
l turned the truck sharply toward the gate which was little more than a chain-link fence with razor wire at the top. More bullets slammed into the side of the truck. Des still hovered over Hazel in the back, but he kept his stare ahead, bracing himself for the impact against the fence. However, the truck smashed through it without losing speed.
They drove wildly through the main road, the only lights coming from the truck’s one headlight. The other must have gone out after hitting the gate. He felt a hand grab hold of his arm and he looked down to find Hazel staring at him.
“Thank you,” she said.
Des smiled, not exactly sure what to say back. He was only doing what he thought was right. Protecting Hazel was more important to him than protecting anyone else. She was the only one he could trust. Because of her, in more ways than one, he was alive.
“Gus to Home Base, do you copy?” Des looked up to see Gus holding a radio in front of his mouth.
“This is Home Base,” came the reply after a few seconds.
“We’re coming in hot,” Gus said. “We’ll probably have soldiers on our tail. You just be sure we can get out of here.”
“We need confirmation,” the voice on the other end said.
Gus handed the radio to Nolan. “It’s for you, boss.”
Nolan took the radio from Gus and pressed the button. “This is Nolan. We’ve got what we came here for and a little extra.” He looked toward the back seat at Des and Hazel when he said this. “We’re good to go. It’s time to set the house on fire.”
“Copy that.”
Des turned his head at this, but Nolan shrugged as he handed the radio back to Gus. “Code,” Nolan said.
“Otherwise they wouldn’t be there to help us make it through the gate?”
Nolan nodded.
“How long have you been planning all this?” Hazel asked.
“That’s a weird question,” Nolan said. “If you’re speaking of the overall plan, you’re looking at years in the making. If you’re talking about tonight’s part of the operation then only a couple of days.” He took a deep breath and scratched the top of his head. “But this is only phase one of the operation.”
“And phase two?”
Nolan chewed the inside of his lip as he looked away from Des and toward the rolling view of abandoned buildings.
“What is it?” Hazel asked.
Gus and Nolan shared a glance, but the conversation was interrupted by someone on the radio. “This is Home Base, Gus you copy?”
Gus brought the radio to his mouth. “Go ahead.”
“Might need a place to lay low if you can,” the person on the other end said. “Extraction crew says the border is secured tighter than ever.”
“Then bring more guns!” Gus yelled into the radio.
“Just keep the line open,” the man said. “We’ll go a different way.”
Gus slammed the radio down and cursed.
“What’s going on?” Hazel asked.
“They know what they’re doing,” Nolan said to Gus.
“You seem to forget that we have Mainland soldiers coming after us,” Gus argued. “It’s not like we can go to the same warehouse as before.”
“What’s going on?” This time the voice came from Phil over the radio.
Gus pulled the radio up again. “Hang on a minute. Might be deviating.” He looked up at Nolan. “Not sure what to do, boss.”
Nolan tapped the side of his knee, looking out his window as he rested his head against the back of his seat. “We can go back to the warehouse. They probably won’t look there again.”
Des looked down at Hazel who seemed worried as she shifted in her seat.
“I don’t really understand the problem,” Des said.
Nolan turned. “There are five entrances on the south wall. Some are more heavily guarded than others. Entrance three is usually the one with the fewest patrols, and that was the one we were going to escape through, using the help of our friends on the outside.” He shrugged. “Well, our friends have determined that entrance three is too heavily guarded today. We have to lay low until they get back to us.”
“We can go to my father’s house,” Hazel said abruptly.
Both Nolan and Gus craned their necks to look at Hazel and she nearly recoiled at their gazes. Des looked at her too, surprised at the offer.
“He’s not so keen on Outlanders,” she continued, “but if I’m there he will let us stay.” She looked at Gus and clenched her jaws. “I think you already know the way.”
Gus nodded and sighed. “We need to make sure we shake any pursuit.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Des asked.
“No,” she said. “But there’s no other choice.”
“What if they find us? Your father will be in trouble.”
Hazel stared up at the rearview mirror and met Gus’ eyes. “They better not find us then.”
29
John had listened to the news constantly for the past several days, but there had been nothing new since it was reported that Nolan Ragsdale had been captured, not long after he had kidnapped John’s daughter. Now, the commentators were still going on about the robot’s defiance and Commander Bracken’s unusual behavior in front of the camera. Ragsdale’s capture was quickly becoming old news. However, it was still disconcerting that no light had been shed on why Hazel had been targeted in the first place, or even how she was doing now. He had tried to contact her several times, but all he had gotten in return was a short note from her that was definitely out of character which made him that much more concerned about her.
“Are you still listening to the news?” Gizmo chirped as he rolled into the living room. “I do enjoy this. I haven’t had a chance to hear it in a long time.”
This was as close to a negative comment as Gizmo would ever utter. Even still, it was done with the appearance of joy.
John hadn’t slept much since the intruder wrecked his house. It wasn’t that he was nervous for himself. On the contrary. The man who had been looking for Hazel had been involved with Ragsdale in some way. He wished he knew what they wanted with her. No doubt it had something to do with the robots. Getting involved with the Mainland Military had been the last thing John wanted her to do. But at the time, she’d been convinced that it was a noble cause. That she would be saving lives. And maybe it was true. But he knew from the beginning that it wouldn’t be that easy. There were always complications when dealing with the Mainland Military. He’d tried to tell Hazel as much, but she never listened to his advice. It was hard enough to get her to hold a conversation with him, much less listen to him about life decisions.
He turned his head toward Gizmo, imagining the little robot resting in front of the radio with a stupid smile on his face. Of course, Gizmo didn’t have the physical capacity to smile, though if he could it would have never left his face. John had stopped listening to the newscaster as he went on and on. His worry for Hazel had taken over his mind so much that cleaning his house had become an overwhelming task that threatened to make its current disrepair the new norm.
For John, any fear or sense of alarm always began with a single noise. The night before had been a stray cat outside his window. This morning it was Gizmo knocking over a vase. A few minutes ago, he could have sworn he heard gunshots in the distance. This time it was the sound of trucks rumbling toward his house.
He knew they weren’t cars—the engines were too loud—rather they were military. They moved too fast for big transport vehicles and the shake of the ground was not nearly as intense. At first, he wasn’t sure if there were three or four, but he knew it was more than one. He snapped for Gizmo to turn off the radio and the little robot complied.
John stood from his chair and tiptoed toward the kitchen, careful to avoid the junk scattered around the floor. He positioned himself next to the kitchen table and stuck his ear next to the window. He made sure the curtains were closed. The engines got louder as they came near. But for the occasional delivery truck, vehicle
s rarely drove down his street. But he knew these weren’t delivery vehicles because it was too late in the evening.
When the engines cut off, he could tell there were only two. Doors opened and feet tapped the ground. He heard voices, but couldn’t quite pick up what they were saying. All the noise, however, meant that whoever was nearing probably didn’t have ill intentions considering none of them tried to mask their approach. Still, at the forefront of his mind, he knew that having more than one visitor in a few days time (not including Hazel) was unusual at best, and never came as a pleasant surprise.
When he heard them in the yard, he could feel his stomach churn. He hated feeling this way. He knew if he only had his eyes he would be able to defend himself adequately. And perhaps if he had had the proper training he could do so without his eyes, but he had relied on them for so long. Not only that, but his best line of defense had always been a gun in his hands. However, shooting without the ability to see would be like trying to chop down a tree with a block of wood.
The footsteps traveled across the road. Then through the grass in his yard. He shouldn’t have been shocked, but when they reached the back porch and someone knocked loudly, he froze.
“Dad, it’s me!”
He recognized Hazel’s voice immediately and a flood of relief washed over him. He let out his breath that he hadn’t known he was holding and moved around the table toward the door. He unlatched the lock and swung it open.
“Hazel?”
“Dad,” she said. She reached for his neck and wrapped her arms around him.
He squeezed her thin frame tightly as tears came to his eyes, though he fought them back as best he could. “What are you doing here, sweetheart? What’s happening? I heard on the news about you and that monster. Was he the one that trashed my house?”
“Dad, we need to talk,” she said. “I have a few people with me.”
“I know,” he said. “Who are they?”
“Can we talk about that inside?”
“Of course, of course.”
Prototype D (Prototype D Series Book 1) Page 23
