The next building over was an upscale gym. That seemed an unlikely place to commit cyber-crimes, so she skipped it.
The third building was a restaurant on the ground floor with lofts on the two floors above it. All of the patrons had crowded the sidewalk in front of the place and were watching crews work the scene. Liz located the hostess in the back of the crowd, asking if any lone teenagers had come through and if there was a way to access the lofts. The hostess said she didn’t know in both cases.
How would she find this kid?
Liz recalled Kyle’s video message—maybe there was something there that would help. Closing her eyes, she racked her memory for any leads. The lighting had been fluorescent and overhead. Kyle had sat in front of a dated tile wall, the kind that might be in a locker room.
She headed back to the gym and talked the front desk attendant into letting her inside to use the restroom. If Mattson was in the men’s locker room, she’d have to sneak in and out quickly or ask another guy to help.
She walked past an area filled with mostly-unused cardio machines. The would-be athletes were camped out by the window, watching the chaos at LifeFarm unfold. As she walked past the small café, she saw Mattson resting his head on a closed laptop, taking a nap.
Sighing, she approached him. She placed her hand on his forehead, reminding her of the times she’d checked Travis for illness when he was a kid. Mattson’s skin was hot, and he didn’t stir at her touch.
She put her hands on his shoulders and gently shook. “Mattson.”
He moaned but didn’t open his eyes.
Oh no. “Hey. Come on, wake up.”
Nothing.
How would she get him out of here and find medical attention? Was the hospital a safe bet? She didn’t even know where the hospitals around here were.
The paramedic who’d checked her out seemed friendly enough. Maybe the big city hospitals were in better shape than the rural ones she was used to. In any case, it could be Mattson’s only chance to get better.
But first, she had to get him out of the gym.
“Mattson, wake up. We need to get you outside.” She shook his shoulder harder, and he fell to the side, landing on the floor in a heap.
****
Javier needed to get above the crowd, where Sam and Jonah could see him. There was no way he’d find them this way. He headed for the front steps of the Capitol Building again. Cops and building security had pushed everyone into the courtyard and were working on getting them to back off further. Other officers had stationed themselves on the surrounding sidewalks, keeping anyone from leaving the grounds. Across the street, news trucks had raised satellite dishes. A few mobile lighting units attached to trucks provided the illumination that the EMP-fried permanent fixtures couldn’t.
One of the guards stood alone on the steps and used a megaphone to direct the mob. “Stay on the grass. You can’t leave.” Some in the crowd weeded themselves out and headed down the street. No one stopped them.
“That’s it. I’ll be right back. Wait here,” Javier said to Damien before he casually approached the guard—if he appeared to be a threat, there would be no way the guard would let him borrow the megaphone. He crept up on the guard’s side. “Sir?”
Keeping the megaphone by his lips, the guard stared at Javier.
“Can I borrow that for a minute? I’ve lost someone.”
“What’s the name?”
“Sam. But can I do it? She’ll recognize my voice.”
The guard looked Javier up and down then held the megaphone to Javier’s mouth. “I’ll hold it.”
“Um. Okay.” Javier’s words blasted through the device, surprising him. He concentrated on projecting his voice. “Samantha Ward. If you’re out there come to the front steps.”
No movement came from the crowd, though they did quiet a bit.
“Sam.” Prepared this time, Javier let his voice ring out. “Sam, we’re looking for you.”
Looking around the megaphone, Javier took in the thousands of faces. He held his breath, his wish that she would appear growing more desperate by the second. Come on. Where are you?
Instead of Sam stepping forward, another woman did—the one who’d let him use her phone. She had it in her hand.
A voice crackled through a speaker attached to the guard’s shoulder. “Contain all civilians in the courtyard. I repeat, contain all civilians. Do you copy?”
What did that mean?
“Okay, I need you down there with the others.” The guard pulled the megaphone back and spoke into it. “Everyone stay on the grass. You may not leave. If you try to go, you will be detained.”
As Javier went down the stairs, cops, some of them armed, came from all sides and surrounded the crowd. They formed a human wall between the people and the street.
Javier examined the cop wall for any gaps while clenching his fist. How would they get out of here now?
The woman with the phone met him in the front of the crowd. Fresh tears appeared in her eyes. “She gave it back. Holleran. She let me keep the video.” She held up the phone and smiled in spite of her crying. “I already put it on YouTube. You wouldn’t believe the comments it has already.” After wiping her cheeks with her wrist, she wrapped her arms around Javier, surprising him. “Thank you. You made Jade’s life matter.”
A lump formed in his throat. He hadn’t given much thought to how their plan would affect individuals—it was more big-picture than that. Get LifeFarm to release their grip. Make legislators answer to the people. Create the vaccine. All for the good of humanity.
But it was also for individuals like Jade’s mom, now embracing him in front of the Capitol Building.
She released him. “Can I ask you a question?”
Javier nodded while scrutinizing the faces in the crowd. Sam’s continued absence weighed on him.
“Why did you come here? Why do this? You know LifeFarm is dangerous. No one else cared enough or had the courage to confront them. So why you? Why now?”
A man shouted at the edge of the crowd, something about not being animals and they can’t keep anyone trapped. The cops stood their ground, as if no one had said anything.
Javier tried to focus on Jade’s mom. She’d been through more than he could imagine and deserved an answer—just like Liz did. “I think . . . freedom isn’t given up all at once. It happens piece by piece, in the name of safety or health or convenience, until one day there’s nothing left to give up.” He quickly glanced behind her—there! Sam was a few rows back, standing next to Damien. Javier released a long breath as an urge to run to her raced through him.
“Is that what happened? We had nothing left?” Jade’s mom asked, bringing his attention back to her.
“We weren’t there yet, but we were close.” More yells came from the edges of the crowd—they currently had no freedom, a fitting picture of what LifeFarm had reduced average Americans to over the years. “Our livelihood largely depends on those in power. And how they decide we should live depends on their bottom line.”
Jade’s mom chuckled sarcastically. “Boy, I know about that.” She took a shaking breath. “They used naïve people like my daughter to build their empire.”
“Exactly.” Javier nodded. “Our lives become bargaining chips, and eventually we can’t fight because we’ve sacrificed our ability to do so based on false promises. And that’s why we did it. We had enough freedom left that we still could.”
He looked at Sam. Her gaze was full of admiration. Love.
“Do you know who all these people are?” Jade’s mom raised her voice over the increasing noise in the crowd.
“Everyone have a seat!” The cop’s words through the megaphone were loud enough to echo off the building across the street.
The crowd quieted but stood in place.
“Sit down or we’ll have to force you to sit down.”
“Or you could let us leave!” a man yelled.
Cheers followed.
The cop with the mega
phone nodded to another officer, who tased the yelling man. A woman jumped on the cop. A guard tased her. Those surrounding the two gasped but sat on the grass. Judging from the noises in the back, similar actions were being taken by other cops.
Javier held his breath and checked for any possible escape. Seeing none, he settled on the grass next to Jade’s mom but kept an eye on Sam and Damien. Jonah was still nowhere in sight. Javier hugged his knees, trying to appear calm. The cops and guards were greatly outnumbered. It was only a matter of time before those from the Seeds took control. He watched those around him—some were whispering to each other and eyeing the guards walking the perimeter.
Yells from the rioters on the surrounding streets reached him. Several cops left their posts and headed to the sidewalk, breaking into a run a second later. The riots must have been a bigger threat.
Javier eyed the remaining guards. They were watching their own run down the street.
Crouching, Javier slinked away, heading for the side of the building currently ignored by the guards. Sam, Damien, Jade’s mom, and a few others followed him.
He peeked around the corner when they reached the far side of the building. The guards had returned to their posts but were searching the area around the group.
One looked his way. Javier fell back against the wall then ran for the back corner, whispering to the others. “Come on!”
****
As soon as Javier and Damien were out of sight, Charlie retrieved the extra key fob from the magnetic box Jonah had hidden under the door frame, in case he or Damien were arrested and the others needed to take the car and escape. After brushing the broken glass off the driver’s seat, he settled behind the wheel.
He buried the nagging guilt in his gut. There was no way to know how long it would take them to find Sam and Jonah or if the cops would let them leave. Charlie was the only one in a position that guaranteed a quick exit, and he had to get to New York. To Mattson. With no phones, he had no way to know if his nephew was near the explosion.
Mattson could be dead. Charlie couldn’t tolerate not knowing, and getting stuck here wasn’t an option.
He pushed the ignition.
Charlie slammed the SUV into drive and pulled onto the street, narrowly missing a rioter swinging a golf club over his head. He crouched, peering through the section of windshield not completely shattered. It would be hell driving all the way to New York like this.
He headed down Constitution Avenue for several blocks before turning onto a residential street, but it was blocked by rioters. He turned around. A few rioters ran in front of him, but they were nowhere near as densely packed. He could get the car through.
Creeping down the street, he slipped the car into neutral and revved the engine to get the rioters to move. It worked the first few times. When he approached an intersection, rioters from surrounding streets, some holding burning pieces of wood, joined the group. They were now a mob—an angry one. They yelled and shook their weapons, apparently in response to one of them shouting orders. They blocked the street completely, though they hadn’t seemed to notice his presence.
Charlie drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. He could go back to the main road. Or he could squeeze onto the sidewalk to get around them.
He went for the second choice. After hopping the curb, he drove with short, brick walls on one side and occasional trees on the other. The larger trees scraped the doors as he passed.
When he was near the end of the street, the mob moved in front of his car, then right for it.
Holding his breath, Charlie cranked the wheel to the right and gunned the accelerator, but the mob rushed him before he could clear the sidewalk.
He opened the door as the mob descended, keeping him trapped inside.
As most of the rioters took their anger out on the car, pounding the metal and breaking what remained of the windows, two opened the driver’s door and pulled Charlie out, dragging him across the pavement by his arms.
“Shit! Let me go!” Charlie winced when the ground made contact with his hip wound.
A booted foot rushed for his face, and his vision flashed. Something—his nose?—crunched. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth.
A kick to the ribs knocked his wind out. He pulled in a painful breath, wincing as his body took more blows. They’re going to kill me.
Beyond his attackers, rioters cheered and whooped, sounding like a pack of wolves. The two beating Charlie left him, focusing on whatever made their faces glow orange in the darkness.
Breathing through the agony in his chest, Charlie rolled onto his side.
Jonah’s SUV was engulfed in flames.
****
Liz ran around the backside of the ambulance. Paramedics were loading someone on a gurney into it—Kyle.
“Oh my God!” Liz pushed her way into the vehicle, ignoring the protests of a paramedic. “What happened?”
Kyle craned his neck up. “The security guards tried to take us out a rear entrance. We didn’t get out before the blast.”
She ran her shaking hands over his head and chest. There were no obvious injuries. “Where are you hurt?”
“My legs.” He put his wrist on his forehead and closed his eyes. “They were crushed.”
Her heart raced, but she remembered why she’d run out here. “Um . . .” She eyed the paramedic who’d yelled at her for climbing into the ambulance. “There’s a young man in that gym over there. He has an infected wound and won’t wake up.”
Kyle lifted himself onto his elbows. “Mattson? He was groggy but awake when I left him.”
“He isn’t now.”
Kyle focused on the paramedic. “Take me out of here. Get the kid. He needs help more than I do.”
“Sir, we can’t do that.” The paramedic glared at Liz. “You need to get out. Now.”
“No.” Kyle started to sit up. “I’m not letting you take me before the kid.”
“Sir!”
Kyle flopped off the gurney, landing on Liz’s lap and pulling off the sheet the paramedics had used to cover him. He yelled in agony before directing Liz. “Get me out of this thing.”
“I . . .” How could she do this?
“Okay, stop.” The paramedic got behind Kyle. “Get his legs.”
Liz lifted, and together they put him back on the gurney.
“We’ll call another unit,” the paramedic said.
“Not good enough! Get the kid! If you can’t take us both, take him and I’ll catch the next one.” Kyle fell back on the thin mattress.
The paramedic scowled, then looked at Liz. “Where was the kid?”
Liz told them, and they left her and Kyle alone in the ambulance. A few minutes later, they returned carrying an unconscious Mattson. One had him by his armpits and the other by his legs. They told Liz to get out of the unit.
Laying Mattson on the ambulance floor, they closed the doors and with the siren wailing, drove off, leaving her alone on the street and watching them disappear.
Except she wasn’t alone. The Grays were still there, mingling on the street or heading to the cars.
The LifeFarm people were gone. Maybe that meant Travis got out. If he didn’t, the crews would find him eventually. If Kyle survived the blast, maybe Travis did too.
Liz peered down the road the ambulance had taken, then to the search crews digging in the building’s rubble. Unable to decide where to go, she stayed frozen in place.
****
“Dammit, Charlie!” Jonah yelled as he stood on the spot where his SUV had been.
With clenched fists, Javier looked up and down the street. If he knew which way Charlie had gone, he’d chase him down and kick the crap out of him. How could he leave them all here?
“There are rioters everywhere,” Damien said. “I don’t think he’ll get very far.”
“But why leave us?” Javier stormed into the street. “What the hell was he thinking?”
“Maybe he decided to help his agent buddies. It doesn’t m
atter.” Jonah sat on the curb. “We’ll have to figure out another way out of here.”
Javier paced. Wailing sirens came from one direction while shouts from rioters came from another. Smoke billowed over rooftops on a few side streets. “What about Robert? Can’t we ride back with him?”
“Nope.” Jonah picked up a small rock and tossed it across the street. “We arrive in small groups and leave in small groups. That way, if the cops catch some of us they won’t likely catch all of us.”
Crap. A knot formed in Javier’s stomach. “Damien, if you think Charlie wouldn’t get very far, how were we going to get out of the city?”
“He probably doesn’t know the layout of the city. We do. We can figure out how to get around the rioters. It was a possibility we planned for.”
“Okay.” Javier jogged back to the curb. “So when you planned the alternate routes, you weighed options that you decided wouldn’t work, right?”
Damien nodded. “So?”
“So, we can find Charlie if we take the obvious routes you ruled out and hope he was blocked by rioters.” And not attacked. “If he was rushing to get away he wouldn’t have thought of the complications you did.”
“All right.” Damien pointed to a residential area. “Most of the rioting will start—started—on those streets and in the heart of downtown, where many people already are. Our plan was to use residential side streets, until we figured that out. We decided to take main roads that are farther away from larger buildings.”
“Aren’t they worried about cops?” Javier asked.
“No. The authorities are completely overwhelmed. They’re arresting the ones that look violent and maybe using gas grenades, but their only real option is to let the riots burn out.”
“And that’s our only option now, unless we find a car,” Jonah added from his spot on the curb.
“Well, I’m not going to sit here waiting around.” Javier headed for the neighborhood.
Sam caught up and took his hand. A minute later, Jonah and Damien followed.
The Seventh Seed Page 22