Modified- The Complete Manipulated Series

by Harper North

  My eyes burn when I think about making Sky feel the way everyone’s been making me feel today: useless, incompetent, like a detriment to my team. But just because I’ve got a higher mod than him, it doesn’t make Sky any of those things.

  “Sky, I don’t—”

  He shakes his head, cutting me off. “No. You had the right idea. Because in case you haven’t noticed, there is never going to be a time when one of us isn’t in danger. We’re always one second away from dying, so let’s save ourselves the trouble of believing otherwise. I’ll fight beside you for as long as I’m alive, but that’s it. That’s all we get. Your friend Cho made sure of that.”

  “Sky!” My voice reverberates through the house, and I hear Cia groan in the other room. I lower it to a whisper. “What I did was stupid.” Admitting it makes me want to melt into the floor. “I shouldn’t have blown off your suspicions. You have to know I would do anything to take it back.”

  He eyes me with sadness, which is much worse than anger. “It’s not just that. You and Elias—”

  “We don’t have anything. I swear. Elias can’t offer me what you do.”

  “Well, my offer has been revoked.” He pours the beans into a bowl, plunges a spoon into it and thrusts the dish at me. “Here. Eat before we go.”

  With shaking hands, I push the bowl back at him, and it slips from my fingers, dropping to the floor with a clank. Beans slosh everywhere, making a huge soupy mess, just like Sky and me.

  “Have that yourself,” I say, storming out the front door.

  Leaving the door open behind me, I trudge across the sand toward the lake. The light reflecting off the mirrors is pale now. The sun must be setting on the surface—or an ash plume has thickened over our location. Sky is right. The war will never stop.

  Though my stomach rumbles, I decide I can deal with it for a while. It’s not as if I haven’t dealt with hunger before. Back in the mines, I worked on an empty stomach all the time. I’ll live.

  I’ll perform my function.

  I spot Elias and Reinhart sitting on the concrete steps with a few of the other survivors. I recognize Maria, one of the former Dwellers we trained after she was modified, and one of the EHC ops who helped to fight Cho and his Naturals in the cave. The other two people are liberated EHC prisoners, now in plain clothes. What an odd group we are.

  Pulling my chin up, I swallow all the negative feelings Sky stirred up and plant my feet in front of Elias and Reinhart. I fold my arms across my chest. “When do we set out?”

  “In forty-five minutes.” Elias peers up at me like he’s trying to figure out if I’m an asset again. He must like what he sees, because he breaks into a grin. “Glad to have you back, Fin.”

  “Glad to be back.” I tip my head at him. “Thanks for ordering me to sleep.”

  He pats the step next to him. “Can I order you to sit?”

  “Only because I was going to anyway.”

  He chuckles. “We’ve been trying to figure out the best route. Could use your input.”

  Reinhart snorts. Elias rolls his eyes, but there’s something almost affectionate about it that grates on my already raw nerves. Elias isn’t a Dweller. He’s Noble class, same as Reinhart. Not a filthy rat like Lacy and me and… Drape. He may have sympathized with our plight, but, even now, he can’t understand what it was like to live down there. He doesn’t have to hate someone like Reinhart the way I do.

  But I plunk myself down beside him because I’m ready to bury myself in work.

  I created this world. War is the only way to live in it.

  CHAPTER 3

  “ALL RIGHT, EVERYONE. We risk taking the rail car back to the station,” Elias announces as we line up at the entrance to Elysian Beach.

  This is what we decided. Me and him and his pal Reinhart. Walking would take days, and that’s worse than getting on a rail car Cho and his people could disable at any time. By the time we got to Sunlight Gardens, they would control everything. Plus, if the bright yellow rail car is back where it should be, that significantly lowers the chances of Cho discovering where those unfit for fighting are hiding.

  I fall in line behind Talen and Lacy as we all board the rail car. Lacy looks over her shoulder, and I swear she’s blushing when she lowers her voice and asks, “Did you find a place to sleep?”

  I raise my eyebrows. “The question is, did you?”

  She bites her lip and looks straight ahead. Then she whispers, “Eventually.”

  I give her a playful shove. Talen’s ears have gone bright red, and he looks like he’s trying to make his sizable frame disappear into the ground. As Auras, they have the best chance of surviving this ordeal, the best chance of living long lives that may one day have room for more than explosions and death. So, I push down my jealousy and resolve to be happy for them in whatever time I have left.

  “How’re the senses?” I ask, following them onto the train and down the aisle

  “Back to normal, now that there’s some electricity to go by,” Lacy tells me, picking a window seat.

  I sit down in the seat behind them and glance out the window. There’s Sky, last in line, hugging his mother and sister good-bye. He shouldn’t be here. Most of us don’t have anyone left who needs us, but Sky does. I want to block the doorway and stop him from boarding, but I know it would just make him angry. Instead, I sit quietly while he hops on board and takes a seat near the front. A quick head count tells me there’s twenty-four of us, and a quick calculation tells me that’s a good number to go up against Cho and his Naturals—if he hasn’t gathered more of them by now.

  Reinhart leans out the door and shouts commands to a few people still in the tunnel. A guy with only one arm throws a few switches and the car hums as it lurches onto the track and back toward the rail station. Everyone’s silent as it accelerates faster and faster down the tunnel, sweeping us away from the Beach.

  “The tunnel lights still work,” Elias says, settling in next to me.

  I cringe as his body heat mixes with mine. “Let’s hope it stays that way.”

  After an eternity, the yellow rail car slides to a stop, and its humming lowers in pitch. I recognize the platform that leads to the small power station. Rising at Reinhart’s hand wave, we file out of the rail car and onto the platform. Elias stands beside me and eyes the tracks, which still hold the bright, happy rail cars meant for other settlements. The one that goes to Sunlight Gardens is still gone. Cho and his Naturals haven’t come back here yet. There’s one small relief.

  I peer into the dark tunnel the tracks disappear into. “No lights in this one.”

  Elias frowns. “They must be activated by the movement of the car.”

  As if on cue, the tunnel we just came out of fades to black, dimming the whole station a fraction.

  I shrug. “We knew it wouldn’t be easy.”

  “Lacy, Talen,” Elias barks. “Can the two of you repeat what you did in the caves?”

  “The lights might be off, but there’s electricity in the tracks, so those fields drown out any magnetic fields from the rocks,” Talen says. He jumps over the railing and walks toward the dark tunnel, grasping the railing of the service walkway. “Stay on the catwalk. Keep one shoulder on the cave wall because this railing doesn’t last long. Fall onto the tracks, and you’re fried.”

  Reinhart glares at the rest of us. “No flashlights unless we know we’re clear. We can’t alert Cho that we’re coming. I’m confident there are no drop-offs in the tunnel if Cho and his soldiers made it to Sunlight Gardens. Emma says its several miles off.” His last sentence sounds like a challenge.

  We trudge into the wide tunnel behind Talen and Lacy, keeping our shoulders pressed tight against the wall. Rats skitter out of our way; I’d recognize the sound of their tiny running feet anywhere. We take a sharp corner, and the light from the station disappears. No one speaks, but somehow their panic screams anyway.

  We stop for a break after three hours of walking, and only then do we dare turn on our flashli
ghts, though we point them at the ceiling as we sit and pull out our rations. Dizziness sweeps over me, reminding me I was stupid and didn’t eat. Downing a can of cold beans from my pack, I listen to the faint hum of the tracks feet below.

  Death.

  “We won’t have anywhere to go if we’re attacked,” Elias says.

  He’s been sitting near me the whole break, and I haven’t noticed. “Unless there are other tunnels,” I reply, focusing on the dark beyond our circle of light. A faint breeze blows against us from ahead, and—

  I peel myself from the wall, sitting up straight. “I heard something.”

  Elias draws his weapon. “What?”

  “Whispers. From ahead.”

  Lacy rises beside me and peers into the dark. “I don’t sense anything.”

  “Well, the wind can carry sounds,” I say. The last thing I want to do is look paranoid in front of Reinhart. Or anyone, for that matter.

  Reinhart steps into the light. “Stay sharp. We set out immediately. Do not discard your trash here. We can’t leave evidence behind.”

  We start walking again, and as we do, the breeze gets stronger. The whispering doesn’t come back. We come to a spot where the tracks go over a five-foot-wide hole in the concrete floor. Emma steps to the edge of the walkway and shines her flashlight down into it.

  “Turn that off,” Reinhart orders, as if remembering that we need to stay cloaked.

  She does. Once my eyes adjust again, I spot faint light ahead. I pause for a second to catch my breath. We’re close to the Sunlight Gardens. To Cho.

  “Fin, move,” Sky says from behind me.

  I bite my lip as we march toward the faint gray glow at the end of the tunnel. About fifteen more minutes pass as the light goes from gray to a pale yellow—like sunshine.

  Reinhart holds up a hand. “Lacy and Talen, go forward. The entrance will be guarded. Take out any Naturals.”

  Lacy and Talen hug the wall and creep ahead. Lacy pockets a handheld radio she must have found in storage. I squint but can’t make out any details ahead other than that the tunnel curves.

  I draw my weapon, matching Elias’ motions while the silence drags out.

  Lacy and Talen vanish from sight as they round the curve.

  Seconds tick by.

  Eventually, a man screams in agony, the sound echoing through the tunnel, taking on an unearthly tone. Then a gunshot goes off. And another. And another.

  “Stand down,” Reinhart orders, but his words bounce right off me. I break into a run.

  “Fin!” Elias reaches for my arm, but I dodge, veering dangerously close to the edge of the walkway.

  Others follow, ignoring Reinhart. Leaving friends to die isn’t an option. Pistol raised, I bolt around the curve as another man screams. The sound cuts off with a thud.

  I burst out of the tunnel, raising my gun at one of the Naturals. He stands on the platform beside the blue rail car, aiming his weapon into the station office where Lacy and Talen must have retreated. He wears his green jacket tied around his waist, showing he’s one of Cho’s people. Two bodies lie on the platform, and a trail of blood goes into one of two doorways.

  I fire.

  The Natural jolts as the bullet rips through his arm, splattering blood on the side of the rail car. Grasping his injury, he still manages to raise his gun at me, but another shot from behind strikes him in the stomach. Maria steps forward with a grimace as the Natural slumps against the rail car, leaving a red streak over the image of trees and flowers.

  Footfalls approach from behind. “Secure the station!”

  Elias bolts in front of me and steps over the bodies while the dying Natural struggles to take gurgling breaths. My emotions go numb as my senses sharpen, taking in every detail. The blood trail doesn’t belong to any of the Naturals.

  “Fin, stand aside,” Reinhart orders from behind me.

  “Lacy!” I bolt into the station office, weapon ready, and point it at computers and office chairs, even the maps on the walls.

  In the very back, under a burned-out fluorescent light, crouch Lacy and Talen. Talen grasps his leg. I smell the faint tang of iron. Lacy is hyperventilating, pressing both hands to Talen’s thigh.

  “Fin! Get someone over here!” she shouts.

  My stomach turns. Talen has been shot.

  Reinhart shoves me aside as he charges into the room. He curses as he inspects the damage.

  Talen looks up from his leg as a fresh bout of blood bubbles up around Lacy’s hands. “He got me, but I got him better.”

  A chill rushes through me. If I hadn’t disobeyed, the remaining guard could have killed Lacy and Talen while they were distracted.

  I have no time to feel a rush of satisfaction. Looking around the room, I seize a cloth bag hanging off the back of the chair and a letter opener from a cup. Dropping my gun, I cut at the fabric, working until I make a long strip.

  “Good thinking, Fin,” Lacy says, holding back tears.

  “I’ll be fine,” Talen says.

  “Stop being such a tough guy,” she scolds him. “We’ll wrap you up, and then we’ll get on our way.”

  Emma and Elias burst into the room.

  “Platform’s secure. No more guards,” Elias says. Then his eyes drift to me as I rip the strip off the bag. “Fin, what—”

  “Talen!” I shout, running over to the corner where he lies.

  The room turns to chaos and moving bodies as I kneel.

  Lacy’s brown eyes lock on me, full and dilated. “You had better tie it tight, Fin, or I’m going to kill you.”

  “I’ll hold his leg,” Elias says, coming up beside me.

  I stretch out the makeshift bandage. Screwing this up means Talen dies. Talen can’t die. Talen can’t do that to Lacy. I can’t let that happen.

  “I’ll tie it around the back, and we’ll stop the bleeding. Okay?” I say to Talen.

  Talen eyes the bloody wound. “Okay.”

  Lacy takes a breath and removes her hand from his leg. More blood leaks out, and though the flow is slowing, it’s still a mess. Elias shoves in beside me, taking Lacy’s place, and lifts Talen’s leg. Talen hisses in pain while I stretch the strip under his thigh and wrap it tightly. Blood stains the white cloth as I pull it as taut as I can, tying it under his thigh.

  “We didn’t get the bullet out,” Lacy says.

  “It’s better off left in there for now.” Emma hovers over us, a hand over her mouth. “Picking around for it might rupture an artery. We only have primitive medical technology down here.”

  “Remember that rubbing alcohol?” Elias asks Reinhart.

  “Something’s not right,” Sky says from the doorway. “Why were there only three guards?”

  Now that the makeshift bandage is tight and stopping most of the bleeding, I get up and face Sky. “We need to check the bodies.”

  He falls in step beside me as we exit the office. On the platform, the three bodies wait. I reach into green pockets and produce nothing. Sky leans over the guard who fell against the rail car.

  This guy’s still breathing, grasping at a stomach wound. The front of his white tank top is stained crimson. I run over to him as he turns his gaze up at Sky and me.

  Pointing my gun at him, I ask, “Is this a trap?”

  “Impures,” he gasps. “You won’t get into Sunlight Gardens. Never. It’s only for the pure.”

  “Would you shut up with your cult crap?” I should pull the trigger and put him out of his misery, but the crazed look in this man’s eyes tells me there’s more we need to know.

  He takes a gurgling breath and manages a creepy smile.

  “I don’t like that,” Sky mutters.

  I back away as the man’s eyes go blank. His grin remains, giving him a face straight out of nightmares.

  “Check him,” Sky says.

  I feel his pockets first, finding nothing, but then notice a faint bulge under his tank top. I pull it away from his chest. A black square hugs the skin above his heart. Wire
s leading from the square are lodged into his flesh.

  “A heart monitor?” Sky asks.

  The device lets out a soft, drawn-out beep.

  “Guys!” I shout, running back into the office. “We’ve got to leave. Now. I think reinforcements are coming.”

  Reinhart pushes past me and marches over to another doorway—an arch with stairs descending into Sunlight Gardens. He takes one glance down the steps into the settlement beyond and pales. I follow.

  Green grass spreads out below in another well-lit chamber, along with hedgerows in need of grooming, but there’s no time to enjoy the view. Three columns of Naturals, all armed with automatic weapons, run toward us in a strange, bouncing rhythm.

  I count a dozen… two dozen… maybe four. We’re outnumbered and outgunned. Even Lacy and Talen won’t be able to take all of them down before they reach us.

  Heart beating out of my chest, I bolt back into the office and shout the order before Reinhart does. “Retreat! Or we die!”

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAOS REIGNS INSIDE the station office. At some point, the rest of our fighters slipped inside, and now there’s barely room to breathe or think as Dwellers and EHC ops work together to pull furniture away from the walls.

  “Way ahead of you, Fin,” Lacy grunts as she and Elias lift Talen onto his one good leg, pulling his arms over their shoulders.

  Reinhart and Sky skid into the room behind me, slamming the door shut. Reinhart leans against the frame as though he could single-handedly hold back the horde. “We’re not going that way.”

  Emma turns from the map she’s been studying and points to the biggest computer in the room, a monitor attached to dozens of snake-like wires. “There’s a service shaft under the control panel that leads to the Main Power Station. If we can barricade the door, we might buy ourselves enough time.”

  One of the EHC ops wrenches the metal panel away from the floor and drops inside. Others scramble after him, immediately clogging the entrance. I climb onto a desk they abandoned in the middle of the room, then leap to the side of the hole, weapon drawn on an EHC op and a Dweller scuffling over who goes first.