He let go of Hazel and stepped to the side, holding the door open for the others. He listened to each step, trying to count the number of people who passed by him. When he got to five, a certain smell caught his nose and he felt himself gripping the door tight enough for the wood to make a cracking noise.
He then reached out in front of him and grabbed the man, shoving him up against the wall. “You!” John screamed out. “You’re the man who wrecked my house! You’re the one who was after my daughter!”
“How’d you know it was me?” the man said.
John could sense the smile on the man’s face. It was something about the way he said his words. The voice matched the man who had been there days before.
“I smelled you the moment you stepped foot in my house. Hazel, who is this man? What does he want?” His right hand traveled from the man’s shirt toward his throat. If he wanted to, John could choke the life out of him. He had the strength. He didn’t need sight to kill a man.
He could feel Hazel next to him as she rested a hand on his forearm. “Dad,” she said gently. “We have a lot to talk about.”
“How many of your friends are there?”
“Seven,” she said.
“I hope they’re all as lovely as this man,” John said through his teeth.
“Gus didn’t hurt me,” Hazel said.
“Gus,” John repeated. “Gus.” John’s grip eased though it went against everything in him.
“Gus didn’t come here on his own,” another man’s voice said.
“Then who brought him?”
“I did. My name is Nolan Ragsdale.”
Hazel sat next to her father in the living room. He was still red in the face, though he hadn’t said anything since Nolan introduced himself. Nolan and Gus sat on the couch near them while Phil, Brooks, and Cal entertained themselves with Gizmo in the kitchen. Des stood in the corner of the room, waiting for Hazel to introduce him.
“A lot has happened,” Hazel said. “In just a short time.”
“Are you their hostage?” John asked sharply.
“No,” Nolan said.
“She can answer.”
“No,” Hazel said. “I’m not a hostage.”
“What did they want with you?”
“They wanted to stop the robotics program,” she said. “The robots prove the biggest threat against the Outlanders.”
“That or the nuke,” Nolan said under his breath.
“Nuke,” John said with a grimace. “We’re in the presence of vipers, Hazel, don’t let them spit their venom in your eyes. They’ll make you as blind as your old man.”
“I’ve seen proof,” Hazel said.
Her dad didn’t say anything in response.
“And the proof is with us,” she continued. She looked at Des and motioned for him to stand next to her.
The sound of his metal feet against the floor were unmistakable to her father. “You brought one of your projects with you.”
“His name is Des.”
“Des,” John said, nodding.
“Pleased to meet you,” Des said.
“You picked a pleasant voice, too. Better than Esroy’s, I think.”
“That wasn’t me,” Hazel said. “I wrote the programming. But he’s more than that.”
“So, what’s this about proof? Proof of what?”
Hazel looked at Nolan who nodded at her. She turned back to her father and took a deep breath. “I know you can’t see the images, but you will be able to hear their voices. I’ve got something for you to hear.”
They spent the better part of an hour going through various clips of people talking. John couldn’t make heads or tails of who was who, but he relied on his daughter’s judgment. If she said the images were of former president Clarence Godfrey and current president Robert Morris then he trusted her. The voices certainly sounded the same, though he wondered out loud if this proof had been edited is some way. Hazel assured him that it wasn’t.
John didn’t know what to think when they were finished. Nolan Ragsdale, the Nolan Ragsdale, said there were hours and hours of this stuff, all stored within Des’ memory. Not everything made complete sense to John, but he knew they couldn’t explain it all. It was a waste of their time to do so, and he didn’t feel he needed all the answers. But one question loomed within his mind that wouldn’t go away.
“Why did you come to me? If they are out looking for you, don’t you think they are going to look for you here?”
“Eventually,” Hazel said, “but not immediately.”
“We’re waiting for the go-ahead from my people on the outside,” Nolan said. “They’re looking for a moment we might break through the wall. Could be any minute. Could be tomorrow morning.”
“Outlanders are going to attack the wall?” John asked.
“Just a gate to get us through,” Hazel said.
“Hazel, you can’t be serious. You’re not going out there.” He wasn’t sure if he’d phrased it as a question or a plea.
“I’ve got no other choice, Dad. I’m a wanted person here. I’m a traitor. I’m helping an assassin!”
John winced at the thought. He never thought he nor Hazel would be caught up in something like this. But he didn’t see an alternative to their plan. As was too common, he felt completely helpless.
“What do you plan to do with this proof?” John asked, turning his head toward Nolan.
He waited a long moment for the man to answer. He was sure the assassin was looking at his friend, Gus, trying to determine if it was all right to talk about it. Maybe he was staring at a spot in front of him, wondering why he had to answer to an old blind man.
“The Outlanders are divided,” Nolan finally said. “A growing number of people don’t side with us like they used to. Some of them want to survive without fighting.”
“Good for them,” John said.
“Good for no one,” Gus came back. “They are cowards. They don’t know what’s at stake!”
“They are just trying to do what is right,” Nolan said. “Only, we won’t survive if we don’t fight. Mainland is the only course of survival for us. If we don’t become part of your city, we will be gone in a few short years. Now I need to show them how Mainland aims to expedite the process and get rid of us in a matter of months rather than years.”
“Why not broadcast it here first?” Des asked.
“We don’t have that kind of access,” Nolan said.
“You’re saying you’ve got people on the inside of the military compound, but no one within the broadcast tower?” Hazel asked.
“That’s what I’m saying. The only person I have with connections to the broadcast tower is Gus here. And, well, he’s here. But it’s not about getting support from the Mainlanders first. Our people have to be ready and willing to embrace what’s coming.”
John listened to Nolan thoughtfully. The man’s words seemed slow and determined as though there was a lot more to what he was saying than he wanted to reveal. John was sure this was the case. He couldn’t blame Nolan for feeling closed off. John felt more at ease with the man than he should have. The comfort unnerved him.
“So what then?” John asked.
“If the people want to fight, then we broadcast the proof here.”
“Make the Mainlanders tear themselves apart,” John said. “Sounds like the Outlander thing to do.”
“You’ve heard the proof, John,” Gus said. “You know the Outlanders deserve a chance.”
“The same chance they gave my wife and daughter?” He felt his blood boiling. He knew his face was red. It was all he could do to keep himself in his chair and not make a fool of himself as he stammered toward the door to storm out.
“We aren’t the men who killed them,” Nolan said. “Bad things happen on both sides.”
“Well, Hazel and I are the victims of Outlander barbarism,” John said.
“So, what do you want, John?” Gus asked. “You want to kick us out?”
John shoo
k his head, thinking of Hazel. Could he really be so cold? These men didn’t kill them. His daughter was among them. She had lost her family as well yet she believed these men. He’d lost his daughter, Lillian, and his wife. He feared that he was so close to losing Hazel forever too. This wasn’t a time to oppose her.
The room was mostly silent for a long time as John brooded over what they had told him. The noise had even died out in the kitchen as the other men seemed content to listen. He was sure he had heard Gizmo buzz into the living room at some point.
“I need some air,” John finally said. He felt Hazel grab his arm to help him up, but he waved her off. He knew his way to the back door. He wasn’t entirely sure where Des stood, but he called out to the robot anyway. “Des. Come with me.”
Des turned toward John, feeling strange that Hazel’s father wanted him to follow. He glanced at Hazel and she looked as confused as he felt. He moved in behind John and followed him out the door, unsure of whether he should speak first or just wait.
Des closed the door behind them. The night air was cool and quiet and there was no sound of vehicles in the distance though he knew the silence in the streets didn’t mean Bracken wasn’t out there looking for them.
“Hazel made you, Des,” John said as he stooped over the ledge of the porch. It seemed like he was staring out into the yard, though his eyes were dead. “You know that, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then you know your primary objective is to protect her, right?”
“Of course. She has saved my life already. I will protect her the best way I know how.”
“I just want it to be clear that it doesn’t matter what others say. It doesn’t matter what you think in the moment. Hazel is everything. Without her, you are nothing. Without her, you don’t exist.”
Des stared at John, not really knowing what to think. “If you’re afraid that I won’t protect your daughter then your fears are misplaced.”
“No. I fear that you will become friends with the Outlanders. And that you’ll let your guard down.”
“I won’t.”
“Good,” John said. “I just want to be clear. If the Outlanders aren’t doing what they say they’re doing, if they are lying and using Hazel for their own twisted purposes, I want you to do what you were built to do.”
“What’s that?”
“Destroy the Outlanders.”
30
Hours went by and Des remained on the back porch alone in the darkness. He scanned the streets with his night vision just in case Bracken sent soldiers on foot. Des felt nervous and John was sure the Mainlanders would come looking for them at the house. Most of the others were dozing in the living room and kitchen. Nolan sat on the couch, staring at the radio on the table in front of him, desperately hoping for a word. Gus quietly picked up trash and items, doing his best to put them in the correct place or position.
Des thought of what John had told him and he couldn’t help but wonder about Nolan’s intentions. Yet, Des was trying hard not to think about the information uploaded to his memory. He needed to stay aware of what was happening around them. He almost wished Hazel hadn’t volunteered him to carry the information in his stored memory, but he understood why. It was insurance. She knew Des would never let anything happen to her, and Nolan and the other Outlanders would do nothing to her so long as Des kept the information with him. However, the moment that information was completely in Nolan’s hands, there was no telling what he might do. He had seemed somewhat nice to Hazel in the sense that he’d never tried to hurt or kill her, but it could have been an act to get her to trust him. Des knew the Outlander reputation which made the robot less than trusting. He would watch Nolan and the others with a careful eye, though he never expected to become allies. Des couldn’t help but think that he and Hazel were now caught somewhere in the middle. The Mainlanders would never welcome them back, and if the Outlanders planned to kill them, then they were enemies too. If the two of them were able to escape, what would become of them? They couldn’t very well join the Outlanders if they tried to kill her. They could never be trusted. He wondered if Hazel had signed her own death warrant by taking Nolan’s side. Des could survive the wastelands that stretched beyond the reach of the Outlanders. The aftermath of nuclear destruction would do nothing to his metal body. But Hazel would die. Not to mention, even if she could survive the harsh radioactive air, there would be no food. No water. Befriending the Outlanders was her only option, and that fact made Des feel worried and sad at the same time.
Des found himself in the living room an hour later; the sun was about to rise and the radio crackled to life. Nolan snatched it up quickly and held it close to his ear.
“You guys there?”
“This is Nolan.”
Everyone gathered around the couch, staring at the radio in anticipation.
“We’ve been watching the perimeter all night,” the voice on the other end said. “In twenty minutes there will be another guard change at gate three. That’s our time to attack and your time to get through.”
“Gate three,” John said. “That’s not far from here.”
“How long of a drive?” Nolan asked.
“Ten minutes at the most.”
Nolan nodded and brought the radio to his mouth. “Copy that. We’re on our way.”
Des felt a sudden jolt of uneasiness that seemed too familiar to him. His eyes met with Hazel’s and she smiled at him. It was a nervous smile; one that showed she was unsure of herself and the decisions she had made.
“We need the same teams in the vehicles,” Nolan said as he stood from the couch. “You three bring up the rear and we will take the front.”
“Where’s my daughter riding?”
“In the back of the front truck,” Nolan answered.
John shook his head. “Will the robot be in the back with her?”
“I won’t leave her side,” Des said.
“See that you don’t.”
The group piled out of the room and made their way toward the back door. Hazel and Des were the last ones out and Hazel stopped momentarily, hesitant to leave through the door. She looked at her father with big tears in her eyes.
“If they come here, you know nothing,” she said.
“The last time you were here, we were trying to figure out who trashed my house,” he said, shaking his head. “Now I’m sending you off into the Outland. I feel sick, Hazel.”
“I know all this is weird,” she said. “I grew up hating the Outlanders and for good reason.”
“I know. I know. I’ve never had love for either side, but now I have even less of a love for the Mainland.”
“You can come with us,” she said.
This time John laughed. “Everything I know is right here. I’m already going to have to try and place everything where I think it goes. Gus trashed my house once and he may have made a worse mess when he tried to clean up.”
“I don’t want them to hurt you.”
“Don’t worry about me,” he said. “Worry about yourself. You keep that robot close to you.”
Hazel looked up at Des. “We will stay close.”
“She will be safe.”
Father and daughter hugged again then Hazel was out the door with Des following. When Des looked back at John, he saw a hurting old man who wished for nothing more than to see his daughter with his own eyes again. He wondered what went through his mind as the engines rumbled to life and they were off toward gate number three. He wondered what it meant for a father to let his daughter go to the enemy he had detested his entire life.
Des watched Hazel wipe a tear from her eye as the early morning sun broke the horizon. What did humans do in this situation? He wanted to tell her that everything would be all right, even though he wasn’t sure that was the truth. In this moment, was the truth more important than making her feel better? He opened his mouth to speak, but his words of comfort were stifled by curses from Gus.
“I think they’ve spotted us,�
�� he said. “Look in the sky. I think your friend is coming to meet us!”
Des looked in every direction before he spotted the fiery streak through the air. “It’s Esroy,” he said. He zoomed closer on the flying subject to find an intense look of determination on his face. “He must have been scanning the ground for movement.”
“He won’t try to kill me,” Hazel said.
“You don’t know that,” Des answered. “He’s not afraid of anything. That includes losing you.”
“Whether he’s afraid of losing you or not,” Nolan said, “he can kill the rest of us and stop us from making it across the border.”
“I don’t understand,” Hazel said. “He knows the truth.”
“Esroy two knows the truth,” Des said, nodding toward Hazel’s pocket.
“No, Esroy knows I wouldn’t side with the Outlanders unless I was sure.”
Des didn’t want to break the news to her. He didn’t want to have to tell her about the conversation he’d had with Esroy only the day before. But he had to.
“He resents you,” Des said. “He told me. He’s angry that you never gave him a body. Only now does he feel free.”
Nolan shook his head. “Don’t you see why you shouldn’t be playing around with stuff like this?”
Hazel stared at the floor, wordless. Des turned back around looking for Esroy in the sky, but he didn’t see him. He felt a bit of panic having lost the other robot, but he sat calmly, waiting. But when Esroy crashed into the roof of the truck following them, Des jumped in reaction. The truck swerved back and forth as Phil tried to shake Esroy off, but the robot clung to the frame with a vicious grip. With his right arm, he began pulling the roof off, peeling it back like a tin can lid.
“I’ve got to stop him,” Des said.
Nolan turned his head sharply toward Des. “You’re staying put. What you’ve got stored inside your head is the only reason I’m here.”
“Once he realizes he’s got the wrong truck, he’ll blow them to pieces.”
Nolan pointed a finger at him. “Stay in the truck!”
Prototype D (Prototype D Series Book 1) Page 24
