by Lucy Rains
“They won’t expect it. Not with the fire. ” Alex answered, beginning to walk towards the end of the hallway. “Better chances!”
We ducked low as we ran, trying to keep our heads clear of the smoke. Gavin threw open a door and began running down a set of stairs. As we took the stairs with quick feet the emotions from outside were faint, but coming closer.
“We’re running out of time!” I yelled over the alarm.
“We ran out of time 10 minutes ago!” Alex yelled.
I let out my own curses. We had been too slow, not enough time to do what we needed, and me finding Chloe had slowed us down.
We reached the bottom of the stairs and Gavin paused before a wide metal door that had black lettering on the outside.
AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY
Gavin looked around at us quickly, his eyes settling on me. “Hold your breath! Don’t stop, don’t think, just move.” He started to turn but stopped, looking at me again, “And don’t look in the cells.”
I nodded my understanding, wiping at the moisture in the corner of my eyes. The sound of the alarm was making my head ache and my ears ring. My heightened hearing couldn’t handle the sound for much longer.
Facing forward, I bit back the dread that was pooling in my chest. This was the only option, I told myself.
As Gavin waved a key card over the panel to the right, he wrapped his shirt around his hand and pushed down on the door handle. I sucked in one last drag of tainted oxygen and crouched low.
The room was filled with so much smoke, very little could be seen. The heat of the fire was like a slap in the face and sweat immediately broke out under my arms and on my neck.
Cold hard concrete, cell doors lining both sides of the room, a large male body dressed in a security uniform lay unmoving on the floor.
Gavin crouched low and darted past the cells, Kyson followed, Pierce pushed me next. A glass window in a door shattered somewhere in the room, glass hitting the floor. My body hunched forward at the waist, speed walking forward. I nearly slipped on a pool of crimson liquid that had seeped out from a cell door. My chest tightening with urge to gasp as I lost my left footing, my hands catching myself on the floor. Hands gripped my hips and held me steady while I came up and pushed forward. Peering through the little windows of the cell doors, I could see flames licking up the walls within, filling the rooms with light. I turned back forward before my eyes became more curious and I was tempted to stall.
We turned a corner to the right and visibility lessened, no red alarm lights to light the way. The urge to breathe was not intense yet, but I knew would be soon. My heart beat hard in my chest, my muscles in my neck tightening. A trail of sweat slid down from my neck to my chest.
I couldn’t see what Gavin was doing in front of me, but heard the swipe of the key card and heard another door open. Anxiety pulled at my lungs as I heard footsteps moving and hands from behind pushed me forward.
When we entered what I guessed was the basement, the intense blaze of heat disappeared and a door slammed closed behind me. The air in the room was not as tainted with smoke and I gasped a breath of air. The air was light, more natural then the oxygen from the upper level. I could taste earth on the tip of my tongue. There must be more openings to outside air from this room.
Indeed I found a few windows, covered with bars on the outside. The oxygen was not completely free of smoke, but it was easier to breathe. I tried to refrain from drawing in deep breaths of air to avoid coughing fits. My head was beginning to swim and I craved a deep clean breath.
Boxes, mechanical equipment, stretcher beds, various sized objects were scattered around the room, and piled on floor to ceiling wall shelving. Everything glowed red in the alarm lights.
No time to look around, my head snapped forward to the sound of voices coming from outside. I looked across the room, and saw the door that I knew would offer our escape.
“They’re out there,” I said quietly.
When I looked to Pierce his mouth turned down and his jaw clicked.
“What do we do now?” I asked.
“Let’s hide,” Kyson suggested, speaking quickly. “Split up, someone take Jade. Wait for them to come in and head upstairs. We duck out after they pass.”
“There will be others outside,” Alex said.
“But not as many,” Kyson responded. “They're going to send in as many people inside as they can.”
Shouting became louder and the door handle moved.
“Now!” Kyson whispered urgently.
My hand was grabbed and pulled to my left, Pierce moving us between bed sized boxes, and crates full of folded linens. He crouched low and pulled me to the ground just as the outside door flew open with a loud metallic bang. My knees hit the cold cement with a crack and I hissed in pain.
With no sympathy offered, Pierce pushed my shoulders low and held me there in case I was tempted to bring my head up and look around. My heart skipped a beat when the sound of boots pounding on the floor thundered past our hiding positions and a male voice began giving orders.
“Masks on! Weapons ready! Shoot to injure, not to kill!”
More sounds of footsteps, low male murmurs. The sounds of shuffling fabric and elastic snapping. Though we weren’t surrounded by heat and flames, sweat continued to pool under my clothing. My palms were slick on the cold ground and my heart beat like hummingbird wings, I struggled to keep my breathing low and controlled.
“Almost,” Pierce thought to me, feeling my anxiety. I swallowed and my eyes widened as cough built in my throat.
I heard Pierce shift and I cleared my throat, trying to fight the building irritation of smoke in my lungs.
“Let’s get ready to move,” Pierce channeled. I came up to a crouch, and flinched back down when I saw the three men standing in the doorway.
“We can’t!” I mentally yelled.
“We have to.” He looked me in the eye. “Draw on your energy. We need you to help us get out of here.”
I shook my head, but Pierce interrupted my mental complaint.
This is why we waited for you. Why we waited until you were with us before coming here. Think of the safe in the clean room, think of Chloe’s door. We need your help.
His words sank in, the memory of past conversations coming back to me. They were stronger with me.
A cough burst from my mouth and I clamped my jaw shut. Pierce froze, his eyes holding mine as we waited for a reaction to the noise.
Running footsteps, my eyes going wide as I realized what was coming.
“Now Jade!” Pierce said.
Without thinking, I jumped to a stand and threw my hands forward, releasing a wide jolt of energy that pushed all three men backwards into a high stack of crates full of water bottles. Instead of dropping my hands, I kept pushed energy out, holding them to the ground, knowing the guys needed a few extra seconds to react.
Rather then firing off any bullets, Kyson and Gavin made quick work of twisting necks and kicking heads to silence the men from calling out.
“Rogers? Price?” A voice rang out from outside.
“Let’s move!” Gavin barked.
The guys jumped up, guns held at chest height and began moving towards the open door and into the night air. When a dark figure jumped in front of the doorway I threw up my energy and shoved him backwards, catching him off guard before he could pull out a weapon. Alex shot him in the chest and kicked his weapon away.
Sounds from behind us alerted us to approaching threats. I turned to see another tall figure running towards us, weapon raised. I threw my hand at him like I was throwing a baseball, a shot of energy coming from my hand and hitting him in the chest. Kyson turned and shot him as he fell.
“Jade!” Pierce spoke quickly, “Come help break down their offenses with your energy.”
Adrenaline pumped in my arms, my eyes looking from side to side. I put up both hands and let my energy flow before I could even see what was in front of me, forcing back any oncoming threat.
When my eyes locked on several figures, I crouched low to avoid any possible gunfire and quickly moved my energy between the figures, my hands moving in all directions in front of me. The guys spread wide to both sides of me as we stepped out and into the open night air, the sounds of sirens blaring in the distance. I could see their raised weapons in my peripheral vision, their arms moving to aim at various targets, as they let off rounds of bullets into our approaching threats.
A slice of pain ripped through my right hip and I grunted in surprise. I spun to my right and saw another person approaching, a red laser light beaming from his weapon held close to his face, the red laser falling on my chest. I turned both hands towards him and with gritted teeth, threw out a bolt of energy so hard he slammed backwards into the tree he had just come out from behind. I took three running steps forward, stepped up onto the tree to gain height, and threw a kick into the side of his skull. When he fell to the ground I pulled up his head by his hair and slammed my right fist into his cheek, feeling bones crunch against my own. The man lay unmoving.
I turned back towards the guys, their eyes darting from me to the man on the ground, concerned lines on their foreheads.Their guns still in their hands, but no longer pointing outward.
I pushed a hand into my side to put pressure on the ache. “So much for hiding my ability,” I moaned.
“She’s hit,” Alex growled.
“She’ll be fine,” Pierce said, bending down to a prone still figure on the ground and reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a set of keys, “Let’s go.”
Kyson wrapped a thick hand around my upper arm, “It's not deep,” he said, “it will heal up within minutes.”
The burn of my grazed skin was already beginning to taper off, my hand coming away dry from my side. I nodded and moved to catch up with Pierce.
We kept close to the building as we came around to the front. Black SUVS, sedans, and a couple motorcycles filled the parking lot. Surprisingly, there was no one lingering outside, no one standing guard. They were probably still swarming through the lab and seeing the damage in the rooms inside.
Oncoming sirens became louder, the wails filling the night air. Pierce held up the key fob and pushed a button. A black sedan in the far corner of the parking lot flashed its yellow parking lights, signaling our destination.
“Fastest speed,” Pierce prepped, and then took off at a sprint that blurred his body in my vision. Alex followed next, and then Kyson.
I took a deep breath and pushed off the grassy lawn, engaging my quads and calves in a way I never had before. Pushing my body to a new level of speed to catch up with Pierce and the others. My heart hammered, my hands balled into fists. My mouth opened to allow for more oxygen. Trees flew by, the fountain, my feet hit pavement, throwing off my balance at such a high rate of speed that I almost toppled forward. I adjusted and then reached the car within seconds. Gavin landed beside me a second later.
The car was unlocked and we all piled inside, Kyson in front with Pierce, the rest of us in the back like normal.
Pierce turned on the car and began driving forward. The sound of sirens came to a new level as a fire truck, lights flashing, metal shining in the street lamps, pulled up in front of the building, blocking the exit of the parking lot.
“Shit!” Pierce bellowed. He threw the car into reverse and backed up the lot, turning the steering fiercely. The car turned towards an empty parking spot that faced our desired street of exiting the lab down the private lane. There was a sidewalk and grassy area in between.
“Do you think the car will make it over the curb?” I asked.
Pierce answered by revving the engine, his eyes locked in front of him. As he began to move forward, fireman began jumping out of the truck, while a few figures in black came out of the front door of the fertility lab.
“It better,” Gavin muttered, “Or we’ll be on foot.”
“Now Pierce,” Kyson said urgently, also looking over his shoulder at the people moving around outside.
Pierce didn’t need any encouragement. He pushed on the gas, heading straight towards the sidewalk curb, throwing me backwards in my seat. I put a hand on Alex’s thigh to steady myself and squeezed in anticipation.
The car gave a loud clang of resentment as it hit the paved sidewalk and bounced up on to the sidewalk. The sound of scrapping metal rang out and I knew we were drawing unwanted attention. As the back tires came up and over the curb, we drove over the soft grass. I turned to see all heads facing us and moving into action. Men talking into radios, pulling out guns, running towards vehicles. There was an urgency in their movements and I knew we only had a minimal head start.
My head turned back forward when the car pulled over the curb and back onto the street, Pierce gunning the engine away from the lab.
CHAPTER 40
We drove the stolen sedan to the truck and then switched vehicles. It was obvious, with all of the car’s digital displays, modern tech and gadgets, it would be tracked. Pierce angled the car in the middle of the narrow road to block oncoming traffic in either direction, and then threw the keys into the thicket of trees. Alex ripped open the truck door, urging me inside. We buckled up quickly, the engine roaring to life as Pierce turned the key. He pulled forward, made a wide turn and exited the facility property.
All five of us drank through more water bottles than I could count. One after another, replenishing and clearing our lungs. I twisted in my confined seating arrangement to look over the wound on my hip. My black pants were torn, but the flesh underneath was clean and clear. Dried blood speckled over my fingertips from when I had felt the wound earlier and I rubbed vigorously at my pants to get rid of it.
The stench of sweat soaked bodies filled the car, making my belly full of water start to turn.
“Can we open some windows?” I begged.
Alex and Kyson appeased me by cracking their windows slightly and I tilted my nose up at the fresh air, filling my lungs with the brisk night breeze.
“I need the address, Alex.” Pierce said from the front, while holding his phone up and tapping on the map application.
I turned to Alex, “Address?”
Alex pulled out a form and held it under his phone light, reading the address to Pierce. He then folded it up and tucked it away. “Your mother’s office,” he explained.
I blinked, “You mean you found it?”
He lowered his water bottle he had been drinking out of. “She had a file in her office with invoices. I searched through them until I found the bill for another office. Sure enough she had been paying cash for a month to month lease on a unit outside of town.”
I shook my head, “But why? Why would my mother need a seperate office when she had all sorts of alarms and security on the lab?”
“Because she’s hiding something,” said Kyson. “Even Charles said so.”
My face scrunched in confusion, what sort of information would she need to keep in a different place, away from the other doctors? What more secrets could there be?
I looked at my phone, 1:35 in the morning and I felt like I could go for a 20 mile run. Our night was far from over. The adrenaline still ran through my veins and I let out a heavy breath. Pierce drove at a steady pace, not too fast, keeping to side streets and avoiding main roads.
A somber taste filled my mind, hating what we had done to escape. What had been required of us to survive, the lives we had to take. We should have been out of there sooner.
Chloe’s face flashed in my mind, her frail body, her anger. I doubted myself and what we had done. What I had chosen for her. Her pleas ran through my mind and I closed my eyes to fight the internal noise. But was she even human?
The fact that I had was not in shock at seeing her head shot open and bleeding disturbed me more than what we had actually done. A few weeks ago I would have wanted to curl into a ball and sob at the sight. Now, it turned my stomach but the action had not thrown me into a panic. It was accepted. Another task.
“Why did Chloe lo
ok like that?” I asked timidly, not sure if I wanted the answers.
Gavin let out a heavy sigh and rubbed a hand over his forehead. Pierce made eye contact with me through the rearview mirror for the first time since we had left the lab.
“She actually looked better than the first two,” Alex said with a twisted mouth, a bad taste on his tongue.
“We don’t know why,” Kyson answered. “The females don’t seem to mature or develop. The males do better, but only for a short time.”
I thought back to the security video feed I had seen of the male test subjects in their cells. “They didn’t look too bad,” I commented. “Nor did the one Matteo killed.”
“They are trying to use our DNA,” Kyson continued, “At first it was only our sperm and a donor egg. But then they moved on to using your eggs, in a surrogate body. Trying to recreate what we are.”
“But the females especially are deformed,” Alex said.
“We don’t know how long the males would have made it. The oldest one was 18, and was beginning to sleep more, eat less, wheeze when winded. They were never as strong as us even in their healthiest point.” Kyson rolled up his window and leaned on his elbow. “The one Matteo killed was 16 and had performed the best on their tests and research. That had to of been a heavy blow losing him.”
My hand went to my stomach, “My eggs?” I croaked. “But...when….”
“During your early years at the lab,” Gavin answered before I could finish forming my sentence.
They took my eggs? A wave of violation ran through me, turning to anger. My hands rubbed at my arms and I shuddered.
“But that means….Chloe was my…?” My mouth hung open and words escaped me.
“Don’t think of it like that, Jade.” Pierce commanded from the front.
My stomach twisted and my throat tightened. My mind filled with questions faster than I could voice them.
Gavin sensed my distress, pulling one of my hands to his chest and used his other hand to make my face turn towards him. The sensation of his chest vibrations pouring into me brought me back to a sense of calm and my throat loosened. Our bodies bounced in rhythm with the truck and our faces came closer to together.
