EVO Nation Series Trilogy Box Set

by K. J. Chapman

  He glares at me, warning me to zip it. “You have taken that out of context.” He rubs sweat from his forehead.

  “But didn’t you say I was the most beautiful creature you had ever seen?”

  The soldiers don’t know how to react. Do they feign disinterest? Do they offer Towley an out?

  “I- I... Now, you are just lying!” He grips the top of my arm, digging his fingers in painfully.

  “I think you’re in love with me, and the thought of it disgusts me to my core.”

  Towley coughs, spluttering over his words. “I do not love you.” He laughs nervously, eyeing the soldiers. Anders and I share a cautious look that is not missed by Towley. “What was that?” He pulls me closer. His eyes darting from Anders to me. “Answer me, marine.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Sir.”

  “You looked at her.”

  “I am judging the prisoner’s reactions, Sir.”

  Towley’s face is full of thunder. “Bullshit! Do you have something to say?” Towley pulls his gun, aiming it at Anders.

  He’s going to shoot; his face has contorted, and his finger finds the trigger. I feel like I move in slow motion. I shout Anders’ name, rush Towley, and barge his outstretched arm. A shot blasts through the air, and Anders cries out, clutching at his thigh. Angry soldier instinctively aims at Towley.

  “If you know what is good for you, York, you will lower your weapon and look the other way.” Towley aims at Anders once again.

  York steps in front of Anders. “What are you doing, Sir?”

  “So be it,” says Towley.

  He pulls the trigger again, only, this time, I’m quicker. I throw my shackled arms over his head, pulling back with all my might. Towley staggers into me, grasping at my arms. The bullet embeds into the wall inches above Young soldier’s head.

  “Get him help!” I scream at York. He hesitates, his eyes meeting mine. “All three of you need to get the hell away from here.” I struggle to hold Towley against my chest. “Go! Now!”

  York grabs Anders legs, and Young soldier lifts under his arms.

  “Thank you,” York says, before rushing from the room.

  I fight with Towley, keeping as strong of a hold on him as I can to give Anders, York, and Young soldier a head start. He pushes back until I fall under his weight. My back slams the wooden floor and I cry out, but I don’t release my grip. Towley’s full weight is on top of me, clutching at the shackles restricting his air supply. He throws his head back, connecting with my nose, causing my eyes to water and flare with spots. He uses it to his advantage, wrenching my hands in the air and sliding out from my grip.

  He staggers to his feet, rubbing at his throat and growling in anger. His foot connects with my stomach and bile rushes to my throat. “Stupid bitch,” he snarls, grabbing my scruff and lifting my torso from the floor. His fist meets my already bloody face. My eye swells instantly, and I spit blood from my mouth. He beats me again and again; my head lolls as I verge on unconsciousness. He kicks my ribs over and over, and I feel the physical crack of bone, but am helpless to stop it.

  Flopping into a chair with a thud, he starts to shout orders into his watch. “Look what you made me do!” he screams at me. “You stupid, stupid girl.”

  Soldiers burst into the room, and one man wrenches me to my feet, holding me out in front of him like I am contagious. I can’t breathe. The air isn’t getting in. A wheezing noise emits from my throat followed by puke all over the soldier’s boots.

  “York, Anders, and Hadley made an attempt on my life. The prisoner has swayed them, somehow. I want them found!” he screams. “Anders is injured, so they can’t have gotten far. She must be accompanied at all times.” He rubs at his throat. “She is stronger than she looks.”

  I start to laugh. I’m concussed for sure; I can see two Towley’s glaring at me. “You may take my ability out of the equation, but do not underestimate what’s left behind.”

  “God, damn it. I can’t parade her on stage looking like that. Keep her in here until I say otherwise,” Towley orders the men, and then he storms from the room.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  “Anders always was a loose cannon, but I’d have never thought it of York,” one soldier whispers. They all mutter their agreements, looking about the room in confusion. “Did you put the cameras in every room, Jenner?”

  “Yeah.” The man who must be Jenner points to the small, unobtrusive camera attached to the door frame. He fiddles with his watch and is quiet for a moment. “Shit,” he says, looking at me. I can barely focus on him, and all I can taste is the metal tang of blood.

  They gather around Jenner, watching what I assume to be Towley shooting Anders.

  “She saved them,” says another voice. “What is going on?”

  “Nothing that concerns us. They were obviously in cahoots with the freak. EVO sympathisers make me sick,” says another voice. “Give her to me.”

  “This isn’t right. Anders didn’t even open his mouth, but Towley shot him.”

  “Towley is psychopathic and in love with an EVO,” I say. A laugh accompanies it, and a second boot meets my face.

  “Do not listen to the freak,” the EVO hater says.

  Another soldier strides into the room. His eyes rest on me for a moment before looking to the others with what I can only describe as pure fury. He introduces himself, and then shoots them with silent, tranquiliser darts. He ducks behind a table until they stop firing and fall unconscious.

  “Are they out cold?” he shouts to me.

  I glance at the sleeping bodies. “Yeah,” I wheeze.

  The man emerges from behind the table, his appearance contorting before my eyes. The tall, slim soldier is replaced with a muscular, brooding Rio. I would cry if my eye would let me.

  “Hey, Cub. My name is Rio and I shall be your hero for today,” he jokes, that cheeky grin of his illuminating his face. “Is that a smile? I can’t tell.”

  “I may look like Quasimodo, but inside I’m swooning.” I force a laugh, but it soon turns into a wheezing cough.

  “I don’t doubt,” he says, and then his face turns a little serious. “Sorry, we couldn’t get here sooner, Babe.”

  “Fashionably late, right?” Just talking takes my breath away. “Wheeler and Cooper?” I ask.

  “We’ve got them. They were left back at the facility with little security. Piece of cake.” He kisses my forehead, and then presses his finger to his ear to talk. “Furthest door on the left. The conservatory,” Rio says.

  There a popping noise accompanied by a rush of wind as the door whooshes open. The blur I know to be Brick comes to a stop in front of me.

  “And this is my sidekick, Little John,” Rio says.

  Brick’s face is the most serious I have seen it. “Come on, Little Cub. Let’s get you out of here.” He lifts me, and I scream in pain. It’s okay for me to cry now. He lifts my scrubs a little and gestures for Rio to have a look. “That bastard,” he says, blowing deeply out of his nose.

  Brick picks me up like a father would lift a child, wrapping my legs around his waist, so I can rest on his shoulder, and offering relief for my back. “Why is she breathing like that?”

  “Collapsed lung I’m guessing,” Rio says, rubbing my shoulder.

  “Have you found her? How is she?” comes Adam’s voice through their ear pieces. His voice is loud, and both Rio and Brick swear under their breath.

  Rio looks to me with a small smile. “Well, she’s alive.”

  “What does that mean? How is she, Rio?”

  He brushes his hair out of his face. “She’s in a nasty way. I don’t know what else to say to you, Bruv. Get Ingrid to the check point- now.”

  “Just bring her back to me... please,” Adam says, softly.

  “Hold on as tight as you can, Cub. We’re going for a sprint,” says Brick.

  I bury into his neck, and he holds across my backside and the nape of my neck. There’s a familiar thunder clap noise a
nd we’re moving. My scrubs stick tight to my dressings, and Brick’s hands hold me firmly to him. A burst of light and cool air let me know that we’re outside. Colours shoot passed us in a sickening blur, and then I feel like I’m flying. The weightlessness is amazing, but I realise Brick’s grip has gone from my body. I’m hurtling through the air at speed and the ground is gaining.

  Then I stop, hovering about three feet from the ground. I’m not sure if I’m doing it, if I instinctively used my telekinesis, but no, I’d be dead with the stupid scrambler in my head.

  I’m in an orb. It is practically invisible save a rippling effect like heat rising from a hot road. I float in a starfish pose, turning three hundred and sixty degrees in a slow spin. The grass gives way to clear sky, to hedgerows, and back to grass. Brick is in a similar orb, fighting the hold on him. I wish I could. I wish I had fight in me, but I can barely breathe.

  “What is this?” Brick asks me. His voice sounds distant inside his orb.

  I cough against the pressure in my chest. “I don’t know. Where are we?”

  He glances around. “About three miles from the rally and a mile from our check point.”

  A van drives through a gap in the fence. I recognise the van as those used by the E.N.C, and Bo stands through the sunroof with her hands outstretched.

  “They’re E.N.C,” I tell Brick. He groans, fighting a little harder to free himself.

  Bo jumps out of the van and strides toward us. “Hey, Teddie. Shit, what happened to you?”

  I try to take another deep breath, but can only manage raspy gulps. The pain in my chest is almost unbearable. “What are you doing, Bo?”

  “You know her?” Brick calls. I ignore him.

  Another van rumbles into the field. At least seven E.N.C members get out with guns and balaclavas.

  “We need to borrow you for a bit,” Bo says, lowering her hands. The orbs float to the ground, popping like bubbles, and sprawling us at her feet. “We’ll bring her back,” she says to Brick.

  “She needs a doctor. You’re not taking her anywhere.” He moves to sprint. The tale tell stance and jutting of his muscles is a giveaway.

  Bo pre-empts him, cocooning him in an orb once again. “You don’t really have a say, Runner.”

  “Why are you doing this?” I ask her. I cough and my ribs are agony. “I thought we were friends.”

  She smiles. “I don’t do friends, you know that. I won’t harm you, Teddie, but I need you just for a little.”

  Voices sound from Brick’s ear piece. Bo nods to one of the E.N.C men, and the sound is increased as if my magic… or technokinesis.

  “Where are you?” Adam shouts.

  “They’re a bit busy at the moment. I’ll get them to call you back,” says Bo.

  “Bo?” asks Cooper.

  “Oh, hey, Coop. I’m just borrowing our mate for a bit.”

  “Like fuck you are,” Adam snaps.

  I can hear a scuffle, and then Cooper’s back. “What the hell, Bo?”

  “You know our girl is good with me, Cooper.”

  “She’s not your girl,” shouts Adam from the background.

  “She’s hurt, Adam,” Brick shouts.

  “I’ll have someone keep an eye on her health,” adds Bo. “We’re just going to show the Norms a few truths first.”

  “This is Grayson James. With whom am I talking?”

  Bo laughs. “Syndicate dude. I’m Bo Keating.”

  “What is it that you plan to do with Teddie? It is courtesy that you divulge this information to us, considering you are commandeering our friend, our ill friend.”

  “Wow, has anyone ever told you that you sound like a total twat? We’re going to screw Towley where it hurts, seeing as Syndicate can’t find its dick. Is Kesh with you? Tell him to watch this space.” She nods to her guy again, and the connection ends.

  Bo reaches into the orb that holds Brick and clips a cuff on his wrist, then orders two men to stay at his side. He body slams the ground, the air leaving his lungs with a hiss. The two men restrain him instantly.

  “We’re doing this for the bigger picture, Runner.” She stares at him for longer than necessary, and then pulls a balaclava over her face.

  Brick’s mouth opens, yet he says nothing. If anything, he looks confused. He’s not the only one.

  Bo turns her attention to me. “You want them to pay, don’t you?”

  My head is woozy. “I want the guilty people to pay.”

  “That’s all we want too.” She crouches beside me. “These guys will keep you safe from the Norms, I promise you. Vin here will be your own personal security.”

  Vin is one of the tallest men I have ever seen, not particularly broad, but a giant none the less. He crouches beside Bo. “Nice to meet you,” he says, taking my hand and kissing it. Blue eyes peer through the balaclava at me. “I’m going to lift you. I know this may hurt a little, but I’ll be as gentle as I can.”

  Vin doesn’t scream E.N.C. He is a gentle man, or so it seems. Who knows what the guy is capable of? Perhaps, I don’t want to know. He lifts me in a cradle. I don’t notice the pain in my back; it’s my chest that burns like the fires of hell.

  “Where does it hurt,” he says, as I scrunch myself against his chest.

  “Everywhere.” I cough and wheeze, and find myself gripping his shirt to brace against the agony. “Please, don’t take me back there.”

  “We’ve got it covered. Our boss knows what he’s doing,” Vin assures me.

  “He? I thought Bo was your boss.”

  “Bo’s not our boss,” he says, half laughing.

  ***

  We park up on the cliffs a little way out from the rally. Vin explained that the armed patrols had a one-mile radius from the hotel and are relying heavily on the drones for up to a five-mile stretch.

  “And how do you plan on getting closer? I barely made it,” Brick says.

  “How did you avoid the drones?” I ask Brick, groaning from the effort.

  “It seems that your mate, Kesh, has seen to them,” Bo states. “He saved my man here a job.”

  The group huddles. Brick is forced into the centre with Vin and myself. They start to walk through the field within the perimeter. A woman walks up front, her body rigid, her arms outstretched. She appears to be deep in concentration.

  “Keep quiet,” whispers Bo. “She can hide us from sight, but not from sound.”

  Brick seems a little amused. “Do you reckon you can walk straight up to the door step.”

  Vin snorts. “Nah, we’re heading right up to the stage, mate.”

  “And then, what?” I ask.

  “Quiet,” Bo hisses, ignoring my question.

  We move as a group, the female member up front, walking rigid and focussed. Vin glances at me occasionally, lowering his head to my chest every so often.

  “I’m still alive,” I say. It’s easier to not move, to not even open my eyes.

  “There are bodies moving this way at speed,” says one man.

  Bo calls a halt, and I strain against Vin’s grip to get a better look. Two figures rush through an open gate, carrying something between them. They make a beeline right for us; oblivious to our presence.

  It’s Anders, York, and Hadley. “They’re good,” I croak. “Don’t hurt them.”

  Bo taps the woman on her shoulder. She must drop the illusion, invisibility, or whatever the hell she was doing, because York jumps out of his skin and swears loudly.

  He drops Anders’ legs, whipping out his gun. Hadley all but crawls up his own ass.

  Anders wiggles out of Hadley’s grip, landing on his back, but laughing to himself. “You took your damn time, Bo,” he calls.

  “I didn’t think you’d get yourself shot up,” she says, nodding for two men to retrieve him. “What the hell happened?”

  Anders holds up his hands and shrugs. “Towley has lost the plot. He is treading the line.”

  York and Hadley still stand on alert. Both as confused as I am.
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br />   “Do you have it?” Bo asks Anders. He hands her the USB from his pocket. “You make a shit soldier.”

  “You’re not a marine?” York asks.

  “Not even a Norm, mate,” Anders says, grimacing in pain. “I’m an Influencer.”

  York trains his gun on him. “You’ve been making us do what you want.”

  “No. The decision was yours. I just tipped you over the edge. Gregor was the easiest of all.”

  “How the hell did you get past checks?” Hadley has finally found his voice.

  “I’m chipped with a Non-EVO chip.”

  “We all are,” says Bo.

  Anders sees me and hangs his head. “Did he do that because you helped me?” I merely shrug. “Thank you, Theyda. Seriously, thank you.”

  “I don’t know what to do with this information,” York snaps. He paces back and forth, his gun still trained on us.

  “You just have to shut up and get the hell out of here,” Bo says. “Go on, get lost.” She makes a move toward them, and they both sprint away, not daring to look back. “Anders, you remain here and call in to base. The rest of you, let’s pick up the pace,” she orders, and we start to move once again.

  The sounds from the rally carry on the sea wind. It’s just over the next cliff, and I grip to Vin a little tighter.

  “We will keep you safe,” he says in answer to my fear. I choose not to laugh in his face. No one is safe. Why do they not realise this? “You are one of the important ones, Teddie. You will be kept safe.”

  A patrol of vehicles races through the field ahead of us, but the gang continue on. The woman holding the invisibility illusion is sweating now, but she has a confidence about her, and I thank God that she does.

  We walk within metres of the soldiers scouting the area. Just a cough and we could be discovered. As soon as I think it, I want to cough. I bury my face in Vin’s chest to muffle my wheezing.

  As soon as we are out of ear shot, the group starts to jog. I brace against the jostling of Vin’s body. Within minutes, we’re looking down at the rally. Every member of Bo’s gang is seething with rage at the sight below us.