The Seventh Seed

by Allison Maruska

  “It’s okay. I only work for them because I’m forced to. Before they treated my injuries, they told me I could either live here and train their own recruits, or . . .” He sighed. “They’d make sure what they told you came true.”

  Liz’s jaw dropped, and as she sat back in her chair, her ability to speak returned. “Recruits for what? What are you training them for?”

  “For an eventual takeover of world governments. First ours, then others.”

  “But they already control our government,” Charlie said.

  “The legislative branch, yes. But there are still rogue police forces, the judicial branch, and the executive branch, depending on who’s in office. They don’t yet have as much control as most people think. Aside from Congress, it’s just agriculture, the FDA, and the pharmaceutical industry.”

  “Oh, is that all?” Liz laughed sarcastically. “If they control the FDA and pharma, why is the virus still a problem? Javier almost had a vaccine. A conglomeration like that should do better.”

  “The virus was a fluke, from what I understand. The carrier insects can’t be killed because the bugs are resistant to all insecticides. LifeFarm has been working on a vaccine. But since they’re the reason the virus can’t be stopped, they have to play politics with it. Make it look like they’re the saviors even as they’re the culprits.”

  “Wait. Robert told us they had a vaccine,” Charlie said.

  Kyle shook his head. “Mixed reports have come out, but I know they don’t have one. We’re fortunate that this facility is removed enough for us to stay clear of the virus. That’s why we’re keeping you for now, to make sure you aren’t sick and that you didn’t bring in any stowaway mosquitoes.”

  Liz imagined the dead guinea pig tucked away in the cooler back in the car. It could wind up saving everyone after all.

  “How long are you keeping us here?” Charlie asked.

  Kyle pursed his lips. “I don’t know. Could be a week. Or a month. Or longer.”

  Liz leaned forward. “We’re not the first people to stumble onto this place, right?”

  Kyle shook his head.

  “How long did the others stay.”

  “Varying amounts of time. But some were recruited.”

  Charlie stood. “Recruited like you were, you mean?”

  Kyle put out his hand. “Please, sit. There’s more to explain.”

  Charlie crossed his arms and glared down his nose at Kyle.

  “Okay.” Kyle leaned back and clasped his hands in front of him. “I have been training their recruits, but not in the way they think. After I had them convinced I was one-hundred-percent behind LifeFarm, I volunteered to take the ‘gray’ recruits, as LifeFarm called them. Those who weren’t entirely sold on the idea of global domination. It was pretty easy to convince them to form a secret resistance force.”

  Charlie lowered himself back into his seat. “You’re shitting me.”

  “Not today.”

  “This place isn’t that big. You can’t have very many.”

  “This isn’t the only place they are. Once the recruits are trained, they’re stationed across the country and around the world in various capacities.”

  “What capacities?” Liz asked.

  “Some cops, university personnel, even business folks. They blend. When the time comes to fight LifeFarm, I’ll send an alert and everyone will come together here. It’s tricky because my gray recruits are mixed in with the others.”

  “The real ones.”

  “Right.”

  Liz reclined in the chair. “Is it a good idea for them to come here, if LifeFarm owns the place?”

  “Don’t worry about that.”

  Remembering what Robert said about the Seeds, Liz smiled. “There are more than you think.”

  As she finished her sentence, the phone on his desk rang. He picked it up, and after a few silent seconds, he said, “I understand.” He hung up. “Something happened in the cafeteria. I have to report there, but I need to take you back to your rooms first.”

  “What happened?” Charlie asked.

  “Not sure. I’d let you come along, but I can’t let you be seen with me. I have to make them think I’m on their side as long as possible. The private in the admin building saw us together, so it has to be this way.”

  Liz stood. “Are our people involved?”

  “I don’t know. Come on.” Kyle pushed past them and opened the door, leading them down one floor to the dorm rooms. After locking Charlie in his room, he walked with Liz down the hall to hers. He held the door for her and lingered there.

  He stared into her eyes, apparently frozen in place.

  The lump returned to her throat. “Don’t you have to go?”

  “How’s Travis?”

  His voice saying their son’s name sent her emotions rushing to the surface again. She choked them back. “He, uh . . .” She sniffed. “LifeFarm recruited him from his college campus.”

  Shaking his head, he stared at the floor. “Shit.” He cleared his throat and connected with her eyes again. “Do you know where he is?”

  “No.”

  “When did you last talk to him?”

  “Years ago.” She hurried to her bunk, assuming—hoping—he would leave.

  He settled beside her.

  “I thought you had to go to the cafeteria.”

  “I do. But I need to ask you something first.”

  She tilted her head.

  “Did you . . . I mean, after you thought I died, was there anyone . . .” He coughed. “It’s just, I always thought I’d be able to go back to you eventually. And the years started to tick away, but I—”

  “There was no one else, Kyle.”

  A smile took over his face but disappeared just as quickly. “Sorry. I didn’t, um . . .” His eyes reddened, and he stared at the wall, forcing her to focus on the chiseled profile she’d forgotten. “I didn’t think I’d see you again. And having you pop up here, it’s like . . .”

  He reached for her hand but paused midway.

  She waited a second, and when she decided he was paralyzed by indecision, reached for him.

  Their fingers weaved together, as if nothing had changed in a decade.

  Without another word, he sighed, gave her hand a gentle squeeze, and left her room.

  The lock clicked behind him.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The guard pressed his elbow into Javier’s back, pinning him to the table. “Boy, you better start making sense.”

  “I don’t know anything else, okay? Get off me.” Javier strained beneath the weight, wishing he hadn’t been smashed into his food, but this asshole wouldn’t budge. Flipping his head around, he could barely see the tall guard keeping Mattson, Jonah, and Sam at bay with a big gun. The third one, the one who’d been flipping through papers, hadn’t returned since saying he had to make a call.

  “Come on, man.” Jonah took a step but backed off when the guard held up the gun. “You don’t need to pin him like that. Where’s he gonna go?”

  “Beats me. A kid that can escape across the country and find us has a few tricks up his sleeve. Nobody’s moving until the captain gets here.”

  Javier took a shallow breath, the only kind the pressure would allow.

  “Okay, everyone just stop.” Sam held up both hands, one for each guard. “He’ll cooperate. Right, Javier?”

  He nodded as well as he could with his head stuck against the table top.

  “We’ve been here since last night,” she said. “If he was gonna try something, he would have done it by now.”

  “We have a procedure, young lady.”

  Despite his precarious position, Javier almost laughed at her scowl.

  The pressure increased. “Anyone under warrant goes to the feds.”

  “It’s a bullshit warrant,” Javier mumbled.

  “Yeah, I heard you. And it’s warrants. Plural. As soon as your cop friend and the woman get back, you’ll have company.”

  Javie
r’s shallow breaths weren’t enough. To keep from thinking about the growing pain in his chest and head, he tried to deduce how the guards figured out who he was. All he could figure was something on those papers tipped them off.

  After an eternity, a loud male voice burst through Javier’s waning consciousness. “Get off him, soldier!”

  The weight lifted, and through coughs, Javier took wheezing breaths as he rolled onto his back.

  The captain shoved the guard’s shoulder. “You should have taken him to an interrogation room.”

  “Sir.” He stood straight, looking beyond the man. “I was following protocol. We’re to hold suspected criminals until a superior determines what to do with them.”

  “Not literally, you moron.” The captain rubbed the back of his neck then focused on Javier. “Come with me.” He addressed the others. “All of you.”

  Sam helped Javier sit up and slide off on the table, wiping cold oatmeal off his shirt with a napkin. The groups left the cafeteria, forcing him and Sam to catch up.

  The captain darted through the halls. Javier pulled more air into his aching chest. “Where are we going?” he asked between coughs.

  No answer.

  They ended up in the neighboring building, where they rushed past a woman sitting at a desk in a lobby, and into a stairwell.

  As the men started the climb, Sam stopped on the landing. “Hold on. Tell us where you’re taking us. You were the one who came to our room last night, right?”

  He stopped, and the other men followed suit, forming a slanted line on the steps. “Yes. I can’t explain here.”

  He resumed the climb. As Javier regained his breath, he pulled Sam’s arm from around his shoulders and took her hand. “He’s the one from last night?”

  She nodded.

  “Liz’s husband?”

  “Shhh.”

  The captain left the stairwell on the second floor and took them to a conference room. Once inside, he shut the door. “My name is Kyle. Please, take a seat.” He held his arm out to the table.

  “Are we having a meeting?” Jonah asked.

  “Of sorts.”

  “Hold on,” Jonah said, keeping his place by the door. “We’ve been patient enough. You guys need to let us go.”

  Kyle crossed his arms. “Liz said something about people in a resistance. What did she mean?”

  Javier’s stomach sank. She told him?

  “What?” Jonah inched towards an empty chair next to Javier. “When did you talk to Liz?”

  “Let’s cut the crap, okay?” Kyle sat in the chair at the head of the table. “This is a clean room. No mics or wires of any kind. Liz is my wife. Or she was, before the Eurasian War, when the army declared me dead.” He went on to tell them about training a resistance of his own. “Before I get you out, I want to know what she was talking about.”

  “Where is she? And Charlie?” Sam asked.

  “Back in their rooms. Look.” He stood. “I’m an authority figure here. My superiors trust me, but it won’t stay that way if I keep having to drag you guys around the complex. I’ll take you all back to the rooms when we’re done here, and as soon as I can, I’ll figure out how to get you back to your car.”

  “If you’re an authority figure, can’t you just let us go?” Javier asked.

  Kyle shook his head. “Not if we want to coordinate an attack on LifeFarm. That’s why I need to know what other resistance Liz was talking about.”

  “Just a second,” Mattson said. “If you’re Liz’s husband, why do you look younger?”

  “Good genes, I guess.”

  Jonah laughed. “That’s my line.”

  “I’m sorry?” Kyle furrowed his brow.

  “Let me guess.” Jonah leaned into the table. “You’re getting some kind of supplement here. Something . . . .white and powdery?”

  Kyle sat, keeping his eyes on Jonah. “What do you know about that?”

  “I’m almost fifty. I’ve been taking it since she was born.” He pointed to Sam.

  “Fifty.” Kyle’s eyes narrowed. “I wouldn’t have guessed more than thirty.”

  “Exactly. The stuff slows aging.”

  “Really.” Kyle sat back, apparently lost in thought.

  “You didn’t know?” Javier asked. “What did you think it was?”

  “A vitamin. They said it’s the same stuff the executives and Congressmen take. Keeps us energetic.”

  Jonah laughed. “Well, they aren’t wrong.” He sat back in his chair and explained the full effects of the drug.

  Javier and the others looked at each other, waiting for Kyle to speak again. When he didn’t, Javier stood. “I think this is a good time to get back to our car. I have something in there that we can use to fight the virus.” He had a moment of déjà vu, remembering saying something similar about the bees back in Hayes. Hopefully, whatever virologist helped him next time wouldn’t get killed.

  Kyle shook his head. “Not yet. The easiest thing would be to wait for you all to be cleared. Then you’ll be free to go.”

  “Not me, though,” Javier said. “I have warrants, remember? Liz and Charlie do, too.”

  “Right.” Kyle pursed his lips. “I’ll figure something out. Back to the rooms for now.”

  As everyone filed out of the room, Javier pulled Kyle aside. “I have an idea. But I need your help.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Javier shook his legs on the top bunk as the last minutes of daylight shone through their small window. He hadn’t been this excited about anything since the supposed luncheon back in California, the one that ultimately led to him in a wrecked car in Colorado. Hopefully, this anticipation would have a more positive outcome.

  All he had to do now was wait until Kyle showed up with a cooler containing a dead guinea pig.

  A tap came from the cell door, followed by the click of it unlocking.

  Javier jumped off his bed, meeting Kyle at the door.

  Kyle held up the cooler. “I made up an excuse for the guards who saw me get it. They won’t be checking on us.” He handed off the cooler and Jonah’s key fob.

  “What did you tell them?” After pocketing the fob, Javier peeked inside the cooler—the dry ice was doing its job, but it was almost gone. If they didn’t get out tonight, the animal would rot before Javier could do anything with it.

  “That you’re a diabetic and you sent me to get your insulin.”

  “Good one.”

  Charlie sat up. “Do Liz and the others know about this? We can’t all exactly make a run for it if they’re asleep. And you know the guards could shoot you.”

  “They won’t do that. I’ll order them not to,” Kyle said.

  “They’ll just obey? With Javier threatening you?”

  “Yeah, they will.”

  Charlie pursed his lips. “All right, then.”

  “Did you bring the syringe?” Javier asked.

  “Yeah. But . . .” He fished something wrapped in a tissue out of his pocket. “I had to get it from the hazardous sharps container. Otherwise I’d have to make up a story about needing to go to the medical room, and I don’t want anyone questioning my health or ability to make decisions.”

  “Would they?” Javier took the syringe and unrolled it from the tissue.

  “I don’t know. We’ll only get one chance at this. If we blow it, we’re all getting arrested.”

  “I can’t threaten you with an empty syringe, though.”

  “Right.” Kyle bit his lip. “Back in a minute.” He left without closing the door.

  Javier laughed and shut the door.

  Before long, Kyle reappeared with a bottle of cranberry juice. “Will this work?”

  “It’ll have to.” Javier handed the cooler over to Charlie, opened the bottle, stuck in the syringe, and drew some of the red liquid. “It’s not like a viral serum exists for them to compare it to.” After wiping the drips away with the tissue, he calmed himself with a long breath. “Ready when you are.”

  The cor
ner of Kyle’s mouth curled up, and with a head tilt towards the open door, yelled, “Hey! Put that away!”

  That was Javier’s cue. As loud as he could, he yelled for the benefit of the other guards. “Get those goddamn doors open! Now!” He grabbed Kyle’s arm and poked his neck with the needle, dimpling the skin. A bit of juice leaked out, giving the appearance of blood. Good.

  Charlie stationed himself on Kyle’s other side. “You still have your sidearm.”

  “Good point.” Kyle pulled his weapon from the holster and stuck it in the back of his pants, pulling his shirt over it. “We’ll keep it out of play, all right? Javier, get behind me or they’ll have an easy shot.”

  Ignoring his pounding heart, Javier sneaked behind Kyle, using him as a shield and keeping the needle against his skin.

  Charlie hustled back to their room’s doorway.

  As they inched into the hall, an armed guard appeared from the stairwell. He pointed his weapon at Javier. “Put that down, son.”

  Kyle held up his hand, keeping his neck craned as if avoiding the needle. “Private, do not shoot me.”

  The guard peered down the gun barrel. “What is that? And how did you get it?”

  “He told me it was insulin in the cooler!” Kyle made a show of attempting to pull away, giving up after a second. “I didn’t want the kid to die.”

  “What is it?” The guard didn’t lower his gun.

  “It’s the virus.” Javier offered what felt like an evil grin. “I’m working on a vaccine of my own. If you guys don’t let me out, my research will be ruined.”

  “We can’t do that.” The guard crept forward.

  “Get back!” Javier tightened his grip on Kyle’s arm. “I’ll infect him!”

  “Do what he says, Private!” Kyle barked.

  “Okay!” The guard held up his hands but kept a grip on the weapon.

  “Holster it.”

  The guard moved the weapon towards his side but snapped it into arming position again. A bang echoed through the hall the same moment a bullet breezed past Javier’s leg.

  Javier’s pulse ramped up. This isn’t going to work. His hand shook as he held the needle in place.