I set Jessica away from me and scrutinized her before looking into her eyes. “Did he hurt you? Did that sick bastard touch you?”
She shook her head. “No. I’m fine.”
The General looked offended. “You wound me, Tracker. I would never hurt your woman. She might be carrying your child, you know.”
My stomach churning, I glared at him. “You need to let her go now. I’m here. I’ll do whatever you want. But only if you let her go.”
The General clapped his hands. “Perfect! You can visit her later. Come on, I’ve got something to show you.”
I resisted as he tried to urge me from the room. “If you want me to cooperate, then let her go. Now.”
Our gazes locked. He sighed. “Fine.”
The door opened behind him and several soldiers entered the room, guns at the ready.
“Escort the lady from the premises,” Waters said. “Tracker wants me to let her go, so I’m letting her go.” There was a cold gleam in his eye that made my heart pound with wariness. What was he planning? How far would she get before he snatched her back?
Two guards grabbed Jessica and dragged her out of the room. She reached back, her fingers grazing my arm, her gaze filled with worry as they led her away. Would it be the last time I felt her touch?
The rest of the guards—four of them—surrounded me.
“Come now, Tracker,” The General said. “It’s time to show you why I wanted you back. There’s something you have to see.”
“What about Jessica?” I persisted. “What are you going to do with her?”
The guards shoved me from the room and out into the corridor. I didn’t resist. I couldn’t. Not until I knew Jessica was safe. I spied her down the corridor, just disappearing around the corner with the soldiers. They were heading toward the exit. Maybe Waters really was setting her free. But I doubted he’d let her go far.
“I’m setting her free, just like you wanted. But don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on her. Can’t let anything bad happen to the woman who might be carrying my grandson, now could I?”
As demented as Waters was, he was obsessed with creating the perfect soldier. That had been his motive from the start. As long as he believed Jessica might be pregnant, he wouldn’t hurt her. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t kidnap her, lock her up, hold her captive, and use her to force me to obey. And if she was pregnant…
I prayed she wasn’t. For her sake. And the child’s. And for my own sanity. The very thought of what The General might do to my son filled me with a sick dread.
I prayed that they actually would set her free, and that she snuck away and disappeared.
Jessica was tough. I had no doubt she would find her way back to the mansion. Hopefully, the other dregs would spot her and make sure she made it safely back to my apartment.
Go Jessica. Run, run, run!
In the meantime, I’d try not to think about the fact that I was back in this prison. The place of my nightmares. I had no idea what The General planned to do with me. He’d said he had something new to show me. I couldn’t even imagine what that might be.
Something sharp pierced my arm. I pulled my gaze back to The General, who was lifting a syringe away from me. I glared at him as dizziness began swirling in my head. The bastard had drugged me.
“Nothing personal, Tracker. It’s just to ensure your complete cooperation.”
“Bastard,” I hissed. My arms grew heavy. My legs trembled. My head spun. Then I pitched forward, the soldiers catching me.
“Bring him to the lab,” The General said as my eyelids drifted closed.
No. Not the lab. I hate that fucking place.
They carried me down the hallway. Unable to move, unable to feel, I couldn’t fight off the drug. All I could do was mentally brace myself for the worst.
And hope I came out of this alive.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Jessica
The facility was built similar to a maze, with many turns and winding corridors, and doors upon doors. Everywhere you looked, there was another door. I imagined it had been built this way to make it confusing, hard to find your way around. Difficult to escape. It was no wonder the dregs had chosen that underground maze to hide out in. They’d lived in a maze-like place for most of their lives. Navigating it probably came easily to them after living in this horrible place.
If it weren’t for my excellent memory, I wouldn’t have realized The General had lied to Tracker about freeing me. The soldiers dragged me past the turn that went toward the exit, and instead pulled me down a different hallway, one to the right.
Back toward my cell.
Oh, hell no!
The General didn’t want me dead, so if I escaped, they wouldn’t kill me.
I was going to escape.
The two soldiers turned down the hallway, steering me down another corridor, this one leading to the cells. I was not going back there!
They paused in front of my cell. The man on my left released my arm so he could open my cell.
Now!
I jerked free of the other soldier’s hold and spun around, racing back down the corridor.
Around the corner I sped, nearly skidding into the wall. Another turn. I passed a group of soldiers who’d just come out of a room, narrowing missing them as I ran past. They turned and stared after me, reaching for their weapons.
“Stop her! But don’t shoot her. She might be pregnant.”
I came to the final hallway and careened around the corner, my lungs ready to burst, and somehow managed to not slip and fall in my race for freedom.
Faster I ran, my heart in my throat, picking up even more speed as the sound of many footsteps thundered behind me. I willed myself to become an Olympic sprinter. To move faster. And faster still.
And there it was. The entryway. The exit.
Freedom.
The young woman at the front desk gasped, her mouth falling open as I sprinted past her.
The soldiers were gaining on me. The sounds of their breaths were close, threatening, terrifying. But I was small, and determined, and right now, I was an Olympian.
I slammed into the door, pressing the long-bar handle across the front, and the door swung open.
I sucked in a lungful of night air and kept going, not daring to stop for an instant.
Trees. Run for the trees!
I continued on, running blindly into the trees, thankful for the darkness that helped conceal my whereabouts.
An arm came out of nowhere, wrapping around my waist and yanking me back behind a large tree. Before I could scream, another hand covered my mouth and a familiar voice whispered, “Shh! It’s me, Nate.”
Relief swept through me and I went limp, sagging back against him. Nate released me and I spun around to face him. He’d painted his face with green, black and brown paint, and was dressed in camouflage garb, blending into the trees around him.
The other dregs were here. That meant they were here to save Tracker. They had to be.
Nate and I cautiously peered around the tree trunk.
The soldiers stood in front of the building, scanning the trees, obviously looking for me. One of them spoke into a two-way radio. Finally, they turned and went back inside. Apparently The General had told them to back off.
I stared at the closed door for a moment. Tracker was still in there. I had to get him out.
“Where’s Tracker?” Nate’s steady green gaze narrowed on my face. “Did you see him? Do you know why The General wants him?”
I nodded. “Yes, I saw him. He was okay. The General said something about a new drug. The man’s a lunatic. Did you know he’s Tracker’s father?”
Nate’s eyes widened. “Fuck, no.”
“And yours,” I added softly. “Luke’s, Noah’s, Logan’s, Ryan’s and Tony’s. He’s your father. I’m sorry.”
“Jesus.” Nate turned away from me for a moment, swallowing hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. He was visibly shaken by this information. Ma
ybe I shouldn’t have told him that.
How would I feel if someone told me a monster was my father? Like crap.
My heart ached for Nate and all the dregs.
I waited, giving Nate time to deal with the shocking news. Finally, he seemed to gather himself and turned back to me. “If The General’s got a new drug, that means he wants to experiment with it on Tracker.” Something flashed in his eyes that I couldn’t quite decipher.
“We have to get him out of there,” I whispered. “I can’t leave him with that freak.”
Nate sighed. “Let us handle it. Come on. Let’s get you out of here.”
I shook my head. “I’m not leaving Tracker. I want to help.”
Nate scowled. “This isn’t the time to be stubborn, woman.” He glared at me. “It’s too dangerous here. And you make Tracker weak. If you’re here, it gives The General control over him.”
He was right. I couldn’t have Tracker worrying about me when he needed to worry about freeing himself. But I refused to abandon him.
“I’m not leaving him. I’m going to help free him in any way I can.” I lowered my voice, then admitted, “I love him.”
Nate turned away from me, muttering something under his breath. At last, he turned back to me. “Fine, but stay the hell out of our way, okay? And whatever you do, don’t let The General catch you again. He’ll just use you to make Tracker obey.” His gaze narrowed on me. “Wait a second. Why didn’t he kill you? That’s not like him. Normally he would kill you as soon as Tracker surrendered.”
I hesitated, then decided to tell him the truth. “The General knows I might be pregnant with Tracker’s child.”
Nate snorted and shook his head. “Of course. The perfect soldier. Sick bastard.”
He knew what I was talking about?
“What else did The General tell you?” he asked.
I told Nate what The General had told me about my father being one of his soldiers, about The General believing Tracker and I could create the soldier of the future.
Nate ran a hand through his short dark hair. “This is more twisted than I thought. We’ve got to take The General down once and for all. That son-of-a-bitch has to be stopped.”
Since I was in perfect agreement, I didn’t argue with that.
“So what do we do now?” I gazed up at him expectantly. I was ready.
Nate scowled, his eyes turning hard. “I contact the others and let them know you’re free. Then we plan our rescue mission and go in after him.”
CHAPTER FORTY
Tracker
When I woke, I was strapped to a hospital bed in the lab, one of those mechanical kinds with levers that moved it up or down. The bed had been shifted into an upright position so that I was sitting up. An IV line was taped to the top of my right hand, which ran to a bag attached to a pole next to the bed. It was filled with a clear liquid, but that could mean just about anything from a saline solution to something far more deadly, such as an experimental drug that might fuck me up. The General had pumped me full of numerous experimental drugs over the years. Some had messed with my DNA, my organs, my blood and bones and other tissues. Others had messed with my mind. A few had almost killed me. I would never forget the agony, the tortuous pain that seized my body for weeks on end as the experimental drugs raced through my veins. I had no idea how I’d survived what The General had subjected me to. But here I was. His lab rat once again.
I wasn’t sure why he’d chosen me over everyone else. He’d said I was his favorite soldier. And apparently I was his son. But so were most of the others. So why me?
“Ah, you’re awake. Good.”
I glanced up as Waters came forward and paused beside the bed. Grogginess spun in my head, along with a queasiness I suspected was from whatever they were pumping into my veins through the IV.
“Why me?” I asked. “Why not one of the others?”
“Because you’re stronger than the others. You withstood more of the treatments with less side effects than the others. And this new drug is supposed to regrow bone tissue. You hear that? Bone tissue! That means if it works, then your leg will heal back up and you’ll be able to run again. Isn’t that exciting! You’ll be able to return to active duty.”
A drug that could regrow bone tissue? That would certainly be good for the medical industry, but horrible for me. I had no desire to ever return to active duty. Since I was the only dreg with metal holding my leg together, it made sense why Waters would want to try the drug out on me.
“And if it doesn’t work?” I asked. “Then what? You slaughter me?”
The General looked affronted. “Certainly not. You’re more valuable to me alive now. You’ll continue to enjoy your retirement, except you will be forced to live out your days here and become part of the breeding program.”
I let out a snort. “Breeding program? You sound like a cattle rancher. And I’m not fucking any of your whores, so you can forget about it. I already told you I won’t do that.”
A thoughtful expression spread across his face. “I wasn’t talking about the whores. I was talking about Jessica. I know you desire her. I know you fucked her. Jacob said all the dregs heard you two going at it right before he kidnapped her.”
Jacob. That son-of-a-bitch! I was going to kill that traitor.
“Doesn’t mean I’ll do it again.” I would never touch Jess again if it kept her safe, kept her away from this bastard.
The General chuckled softly. “That girl’s in love with you. Anyone can see that. If I lock you two in a room together, eventually you’ll give in to your desire. Eventually, you will create a child.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “You’re assuming she’s fertile and that I don’t fire blanks. What if one or the other of us is sterile? All that shit you pumped into me over the years may have turned me infertile.”
The General turned away, obviously unfazed. “We’ll worry about that when the time comes. For now, let’s see how you handle the new drug.” He headed for the door. “These first few days are going to be the toughest. Try not to fight it too much. Just let yourself relax and let the drug do what it’s supposed to do. In a few weeks, we should know whether or not it’s working.”
A few weeks? Fuck that. I had to be out of here before then. I had to escape soon. I had to stop the IV from pumping any more drugs into my system.
I yanked and pulled at the straps securing my arms to the rails on the side of the bed, to no avail. There was no way I was freeing myself from this bed without assistance.
The heart monitor sped up, beep beep beep.
An awful pain slammed into my skull. I hissed and closed my eyes, willing the pain to go away.
“Oh, just so you know, Jessica escaped,” The General said from the doorway. “I told my soldiers to let her go. For now. They’ll find her eventually. I’m hoping she’ll lead them right to your hideout. Then I can exterminate the rest of the dregs.”
I opened my eyes and glared at him. If Jess had escaped, then the other dregs should have found her by now. They would keep her safe. They would know better than to lead anyone to the hideout in the woods.
“That’ll never happen,” I said between gasps of pain. “You’ll never learn where we’re staying. The dregs will take you out before you harm any more people.”
Waters tsked. “Come on, give me some credit. I may be old, but I’m not dumb. I know your hideout was somewhere close to where Jacob brought Jessica to me. He was on foot, so he couldn’t have traveled far. Even now, I have men searching for your hideout. We will find it. And when we do, everyone who is living there will be exterminated.”
With that, he went out and closed the door behind him.
Shit. Jessica’s sister was alone underneath the mansion with no one to protect her. If The General’s soldiers came for her, they would kill her. And Jessica would never forgive me.
I had to get out of here. I had to find a way to communicate with the other dregs and warn them that Eliza was in danger.
<
br /> Then I had to send Jess and her sister away. Far away from me and the other dregs. A place where Jess and her sister would be safe.
My home in Idaho.
I hadn’t been there since I’d bought the place nearly a year ago. It was hidden back in the trees, a spacious log cabin near a lake I’d purchased with the intent of returning to and living out the rest of my days once it was safe to do so. I’d paid cash for it, using a name The Company would never link to me. The county property records listed the owner as Bear Man LLC, a fictitious entity.
If I could get out of here somehow, I would send Jess and her sister to Idaho. And then I’d finish this war with The General. I probably wouldn’t win, but as long as Jess was safe, that was all that mattered.
But first I had to get out of here.
Which seemed improbable.
Highly unlikely.
But where there was a will, there was a way.
Always.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Tracker
I writhed in agony, drifting in and out of consciousness as the drug wreaked havoc on my body. When the pain became too much to bear, I let myself slip into that place where I no longer felt, and let the dreams take hold…
“Hey Tracker, you ready to face the big day?” Gordon’s words floated down from his bunk above me in the small cell. Our prison.
“Yeah,” I murmured, though I wasn’t ready at all.
Years of conditioning and brainwashing had screwed with our minds, forcing us to always obey every command. Even so, I’d always harbored a secret desire to rebel. To kill all these bastards and escape. To be free. I had never shared my rebellious thoughts with anyone for fear it would get me killed.
Tomorrow, we would be discharged. Then executed.
It was the way it was done. We were injured. Of no use to The Company anymore. And we were too dangerous to be released into society. So we had to die. It was something that had been ingrained in our heads since the beginning of our recruitment.
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