by Eliza Green
THE REBELS
1.5, The Breeder Files
Eliza Green
Contents
DOM - 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
WARREN - 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Books by Eliza Green
About the Author
DOM - 1
One, two, three, four.
Five steps from Charlie’s front door to the street.
One hundred from there to the end of the street.
Three hundred from the end of the street to the first factory.
Only two hundred to the scanner positioned high on the wire that extended the width of the street. Its beam was broad and quick.
Dom Pavesi had tried weaving through the back of the factory out of its path, but no matter what route he took, it always caught him out.
He’d last tried to evade the scanner on his way back from the running track behind the small bungalows in West Essention that once belonged to a former town called Annavale. Before Essention subsumed the town, Annavale was the only safe haven in the Northern region—an area that Praesidium controlled.
Dom counted more footsteps, logged different routes to get places that the scanner didn’t cover. He marked them as possible escape options if their plan to infiltrate Arcis, the facility at the heart of Essention, was ever discovered. His lack of stupor, thanks to the antidote to Compliance, kept his thoughts clear. He passed by those not so lucky whose dilated eyes and dead expressions revealed their drugged state. Without the antidote, he, Max, Charlie and Sheila wouldn’t have noticed the difference. Compliance pulled you under, made you agreeable to every request made, no matter how dangerous. It terrified him to see how easy it had been for Essention to control the people it was supposed to protect.
Dom boarded the Monorail for the east of the urbano, the location of his and Sheila’s assigned accommodation. He stood by the door and touched his wrist just above the joint, where the doctors in Essention’s hospital had placed the chip on his arrival. The incision performed without anaesthetic hadn’t bothered him at the time. He’d been too busy vomiting from the radiation poisoning in Foxrush, where he and Sheila had lived on the outside, to care what they did to him.
That was when people from the city of Praesidium came for them, when he and Sheila had hit their lowest point, when they would accept any help offered. The poison in his body had stripped him of all self control. He couldn’t stand up. He couldn’t make decisions. When they’d brought them both to Essention, a place built by the city, Dom had been soaked in sweat and dry-heaving into a bucket.
Then, within hours, the doctors had reversed the effects of ionising radiation, almost as if they knew what to expect. Why had they waited so long to help? Why had he and Sheila, and others in Foxrush endured two weeks of violent illness?
To to have the nausea nullified so fast and his gratitude for the city’s intervention turned his stomach for a different reason. He hated pretending for these imposters. But if he was to find out what happened to his mother, he and Sheila had no choice but to fake it. Four months before the radiation sickness, his mother had been lured to Essention with promise of work. She never came home.
The train carrying only a handful of people that late evening slowed for the next station. Dom gripped the handrail to prepare for the instant stop. A sudden jolt forced him into the bar, which he used to steady himself. The doors opened and he stepped off the train to an empty platform. The first thing he’d discovered during his first week was the lack of curfew. No police presence either. It appeared Compliance was enough to make everyone obey and not ask questions. He too had been a compliant soldier waiting for the controllers of Essention to tell him what to do. Then Charlie gave him the antidote that lifted the veil from his eyes.
The second lesson he learned was leaving the urbano would kill him; Charlie had told him the chip in his wrist was linked to not only his location but his heart.
After a month in Arcis’ education programme, Dom prepared for his first chance to venture further into the place Praesidium had built. And with his first rotation coming up he would get that chance. Sheila had arrived in Essention the same time as him but had been too sick to join Arcis at the time. One of the boys on the ground floor, Ash, who’d been passed over for rotation, had said new recruits didn’t join until after the process. Out with the old, in with the new. Ash could be a friend or an enemy, depending on which day Dom caught him.
He descended the stairs from the Monorail platform to street level.
Exactly fifteen steps.
Seventy-eight steps from street to home.
His and Sheila’s temporary prison in East Essention was a single unit located on the top floor of a row of grey accommodation blocks on a generic street. He approached his block with three doors to the front, set on different levels. An old man passed him, smiled, grazed his fingers against his forehead in greeting. It was a lazy, half-hearted attempt at a greeting. But that was how Compliance affected people’s behaviour. Dom reciprocated with a similar greeting. He saw more than they did, but he had to pretend.
Fifteen steps from the street outside his apartment block to the first door.
Thirty more steps above that to his front door.
Music assaulted him as soon as he opened it. He cursed. They were supposed to be blending in.
He slammed the door closed. ‘Sheila!’
He let his backpack slip from his shoulders to the floor as he marched through the rooms. He found her in her bedroom, lying on the bed, eyes closed. She smiled as her head bobbed along to the beat.
‘Sheila!’
Her eyes flicked open. She flashed him a wide grin as she patted the area beside her. ‘Come on, Dom. You’re too tense about everything. Join me.’
He strode over to the music player and speaker set by the bed she had brought from Foxrush. He hit a switch on the side and the music disappeared.
‘We’re supposed to be blending in, Sheila. Not making a racket. What if Essention sends someone to check?’
Sheila sat up. ‘What happened to the impulsive imp I knew and loved from Foxrush? The one who would take a stray dog home and feed it, then let it run wild around the house. Remember when you did that? Your mum was livid. The smell!’ She gagged. ‘Or the one who used to break into Mrs Lewis’ house when she was out so he could play her piano. Man, those were good times.’
Dom stared down at her.
‘What happened to him, Dom? You’re like Mr Control in here. It’s like you’ve become my parent all of a sudden.’
‘Have you forgotten why we’re here, Sheila? Or are you more interested in acting like a stupid kid?’
She pulled Dom down onto the bed and sat cross-legged, facing him. ‘I remember, Dom. But I’ve been in this apartment for a week now and I have literally nothing to do. I’m so bored. If I was on Compliance, then maybe I wouldn’t care as much. There’s not even a drop of alcohol in this... this freaking prison.’
Earlier, Dom might have scolded Sheila for speaking so freely, but he’d had a full three weeks before her release from the hospital to comb the place for bugs and cameras. Max believed the units and houses weren’t being monitored because of Compliance.
‘I know you’ve been bored around here, bu
t I expect my only child to look after herself and not get into trouble.’ He scrubbed her scalp with his knuckles.
Sheila jerked her head away. ‘There’s the teasing sonovabitch I became friends with.’ She leaned forward and hugged him. ‘Welcome home, loser.’
Dom smiled. He picked her up off the bed and set her on her feet. ‘I missed not having you around. It’s been pretty shit around here. Lonely and shit for three weeks.’
‘Well, what can we do about it?’ Her finger grazed the side of her music player. She lifted a brow at him.
Dom rolled his eyes and sighed. ‘Okay, but quieter please. We don’t need anyone checking on us.’
‘Yes, boss.’ She turned on the music and lowered the volume.
He liked the music. It gave a sense of normality to the place.
‘You hungry?’ he said, walking from the room.
Sheila snagged his wrist and turned him back to face her. ‘Hungry for you, lover.’
She pulled him to her chest and he couldn’t help but grin at her. ‘You want something, Sheila?’
She traced her finger down the side of his face. ‘How about you show me some of your moves?’
Dom’s lips twitched. ‘You sure?’
‘Yeah, give it to me.’
He pushed her away and twirled her once before gathering her to his chest. He dipped her low, drawing a little whoop, then brought her back up. They moved a little slower. ‘Like that?’
‘Yeah. Just like old times. You know that drove Mia wild when you did it with me.’
Mia was a girl they both knew from Foxrush. Dom had a brief fling with her before coming to Essention.
‘I don’t really notice what others are doing when I’m dancing with my girl.’
Sheila pouted. ‘Dom, you say the sweetest things.’
He jerked away. ‘Now I know you’re definitely on Compliance. You’re being too nice.’
‘I’m just remembering one night, one close night between you and Mia. That’s all.’ She paused, her finger on her lips. ‘Wait... Wasn’t there another girl? Kaylie?’
Dom tugged the band out of his hair and let his dreadlocks spill around his olive-skinned face. ‘You make it sound like I was hopping around everyone.’
‘All the girls wished you were. They told me.’
He cocked a brow.
‘Okay, maybe not to my face. But I know girls better than you do. Trust me when I say this, Dom Juan. You weren’t short of a few admirers in Foxrush.’
Dom didn’t like where this conversation was headed. He turned to leave. ‘Come on. I’ll make you something to eat.’
Sheila followed. ‘You miss your girls at home?’
‘I’m sure they’re doing fine without me.’
Mia and Kaylie had joined the rebels and worked out of a compound hidden in a mountain range. It was a safe haven, unknown to Praesidium. Truth was, he hadn’t thought much about either of them, not since his mother disappeared. ‘Besides, I’ve got my hands full with you.’
‘Yeah, I guess you do.’ She looked around. ‘Although I’m sure they’d scratch my eyes out if they learned what we get up to all alone in this house.’
‘What? Dancing?’
Sheila leaned against the door jamb. ‘Among other things, lover.’ She winked.
Dom shook his head. Sheila loved to flirt, to be dramatic. She was also funny, sharp-tongued and one of the bravest girls he had ever known. But it would never be like that between them.
‘I think it’s time you got out of this place,’ said Dom. ‘Looking forward to starting in Arcis tomorrow?’
Sheila shook her head and laughed. ‘Hell, no. It sounds terribly boring. But it beats waiting here for my man to come home to me every night.’
2
Dom
In the busy atrium, there was a nervous vibe in the air. Or maybe it was just Dom feeling nervous. He needed to rotate, to get off the ground floor. All the signs pointed to it happening soon. Ash said the supervisor wolves rarely hung around unless they were under direct orders.
Dom wheeled his bucket of dirty water over to one of the cleaning vestibules.
One, two, three. Ten steps from his section to the vestibule.
He tipped his water down the chute and stored his bucket away.
A noise caught his attention. He turned to see the four wolves hassling one of the boys whose face had turned bright red in their presence.
The atrium had three solid walls and a glass wall, the latter which faced North Essention and the water purification pipes. One of the solid walls had a door and a shutter that concealed the wolves’ living area. A door in the second solid wall where the garbage chutes were led out to the lobby.
Exactly thirty-one steps from where he stood to the exit.
Three mounted cameras were perched halfway up the third solid wall above the cleaning vestibules. The cameras were attached to steel girders. None of the participants seemed to have noticed them. Except for Dom. He knew the precise location of the blind spots, in particular one that gave him a good view of the first floor.
The sound of metal on tile set Dom’s teeth on edge. The wolves approached and roamed around the workers. Dom stood taller and more alert in their presence. He hated the things. He couldn’t figure them out—except that they were clean freaks—or what their orders were. One younger wolf was more brazen than the elders and served as a welcome distraction. His antics gave Dom more time to catalogue distances to and from key areas.
One, two, three... Eight paw-lengths from the shutter to where the wolves often gathered in front of the cleaning sections. Seventeen steps for Dom.
The lead wolf growled and glared at the teenagers with his almost orange eyes. The participants lined up, including Dom. He studied the wolves’ feet, wondering how fast they could move on the slippery, white-tiled floor if he were to attack one. He had no plans to, he just wondered.
Rotation was guaranteed, Max had said. Arcis needed the teens to progress through their fake programme for something other than education. Neither Max nor Charlie knew what the programme was really for. But what they did know was anyone who had entered Arcis previously never came out. Max had lost his wife to this place; Dom had lost his mother.
So rotation was a given. That didn’t bother Dom. What made his heart thump and his hands sweat was the thought of venturing deeper into a place with no way out. As soon as rotation happened, Sheila should be in the next group to join Arcis. Dom would study the first-floor layout and discuss it and strategy with her later.
Dom stood in a spot near his section and waited for his name to be called. He counted twenty-three other participants on the ground floor. He knew none of them except for Ash, who was more vocal than the rest. Dom had helped him to clean up when a body fell from one of the floors above. Dom hadn’t bothered to connect with any of the others. He kept to himself and preferred it that way.
The wolf/machine hybrid spoke in harsh tones. ‘Participants. Rotation is imminent. The following people have made it to the next floor.’
Dom waited with his hands clasped behind his back. Six names were called. None were his.
‘Please follow me to the elevator.’
He stared at the wolves, too shocked to count their footsteps to see if they differed from the last time. Three boys whooped loudly and three girls gave a little screech. They chatted as they followed one of the wolves out of the room.
‘Everyone else, back to work.’ The pack returned to the dark cave behind the shutter.
Dom’s breath caught in his throat. His chest tightened. He didn’t like variables. How had he missed rotation? What had he done differently from the others? Why had he been passed over? He pulled on a fistful of dreadlocks and swore under his breath.
Shit, shit!
The other participants returned to their duties without a word of complaint. Sometimes he wished he were on Compliance, to be stuck in its dreamy haze, to be carefree like they were. The antidote made him hyper aware of the inc
onsistency and unfairness of what had just happened, and it killed him. He’d put on the same act, to appear like everyone else. So why hadn’t he been picked?
Dom glanced up at the cameras and pulled himself together fast. Max and Charlie would be livid when they heard about this.
Two girls loitered at one of the cleaning vestibules as they discussed rotation.
‘I can’t believe I didn’t make it. I was so sure I would.’
The other girl giggled. ‘God, now I’m dying to know what’s on the first floor.’ She turned and noticed Dom standing there, waiting for her to move from the vestibule.
‘Excuse me,’ he said to her.
She smiled and touched her hair. ‘Sure.’
The girls did that a lot. Smiled, fixed their hair when he approached, acted friendly to each other, to him. Maybe that’s why he hadn’t been rotated; he was closed off to the idea of making fake friends in this fake place.
How did any of that matter when his mother was lost somewhere, waiting for him to find her?
Dom pulled out a bucket and mop and thanked the girl. A blush stained her cheeks and her gaze dropped to the floor. The girls reminded him of Mia and Kaylie back home. He walked away and started on his section.
The door to the lobby opened and the wolf who had left with the rotated six returned with twelve new people.
The replacements.
He sighed with relief when he saw Sheila in their group. She stared at him.
The wolf returned to the open cave and the shutter squealed as it closed. All the new participants stood waiting for instructions except Sheila, who walked over to Dom and punched him in the arm.
‘Jesus, Dom! I didn’t expect to see you here. What the hell happened?’
He shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Only six people were rotated.’
Sheila glanced around the room. The boys stared at her. Her beauty—perfect skin, tanned, long golden-brown hair—could be as potent as Compliance at times.
‘We’ll talk about that later,’ said Sheila, smiling at a group of boys who blushed and looked away. ‘How about you show me what crappy work I’ve got to look forward to?’
Sheila had always been better at acting than Dom. Her presence reminded him of his promise to Max and Charlie: pretend to be on Compliance. He fixed his expression until he was sure he no longer looked angry.
