by Vera Quinn
“Hey, Greyson, your old man’s looking for you,” Jeffrey called out as he walked into the common room after dinner. “He looks pissed. What’d you do? Forget to take out the trash?”
Adrenaline flooded Caley as her eyes found Greyson’s and she saw her own near panic reflected in them. Dr. Enver was never angry at Greyson. The fact that he was not only upset, but that it was bad enough for one of the others to notice could only mean one thing.
He knew Greyson had been getting into his safe. He might even have figured out that copies were being made. Whether or not he knew about Caley’s role, however, was still up in the air. The details didn’t matter though. Now that he knew, their time was up. They had to go. Now.
Greyson nodded once and Caley’s heart gave an unsteady thump. She was all-in.
“We need to talk,” she said as she stood. “All of us. Jeffrey, can we use your room?”
He looked confused but shrugged. “Sure. Now?”
“Now.”
They’d been told that their rooms weren’t being monitored, but she wasn’t so sure she believed it anymore. Still, it was their best chance.
Less than five minutes later, Caley and Greyson joined the others in Jeffrey’s room, and they brought their packs with them. There was no going back.
“We don’t have much time,” Caley said, “so I’m going to make this quick and simple. Jerome’s dead and Dr. Enver lied. Jerome wasn’t sick, but he thought he was. Dr. Enver used him as a control for our group.”
All of them knew enough about medical trials to grasp what Caley was saying without her needing to explain.
“Based on some notes of my father’s and the fact that there have been members of the military around here, Caley and I believe that my dad’s doing more than just trying to help cure diseases.” Greyson’s expression was grim. “If our tests come back clear, that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re done here. We can’t trust him.”
“He’s your dad,” Eloise said bluntly. “How do we know we can trust you?”
“We don’t have time to argue about this,” Caley said. “Greyson and I have been collecting food, money, medical supplies, and anything else we might need. Our time’s up though. If Dr. Enver is looking for Greyson, it means he knows, and I don’t think he’s going to give the rest of us the benefit of the doubt when it comes to what we know. If the military are really running things, they’ll probably want us silenced.”
Jeffrey cursed. “We can just walk out, right? We’re not locked in here.”
Caley nodded. “Which is why we have to go now. If Dr. Enver thinks we’re going to run, he may put the building into lockdown. Right now, we have to get past security and off the grounds without being seen. In an hour, we might not be able to open any of the doors.”
Waiting for them to make their decision was one of the longest few moments of her life, but the moment she saw the determination in their eyes, she knew they were all going. Now it was time to make a plan, and a quick one.
“What do we do?” Raya asked.
“Take only what you can grab and carry,” Caley said. “And not like lug around for ten minutes carry. We have to be able to move fast. Greyson and I have some supplies. Not as much as we’d hoped, but there’s nothing we can do about it now. Meet back here in five minutes and don’t let anyone stop you.”
“What do we do if someone tries?” Samuel asked.
Greyson’s expression was grim. “Scream bloody murder and we’ll all come running.”
As the others went to get their things, Caley turned to Greyson, her worry written on her face. “Do you think we’re going to have to fight?”
“I hope not.” He put his arm around her and pulled her against his side.
No one spoke as Jeffrey stuffed clothes into a bag, all of them all too aware of every second ticking by. Caley wished she could stand in the doorway and watch down the hall until everyone was back, but they had to keep the door closed if there was even a chance that it could keep Dr. Enver from figuring out where she and Greyson were.
The first time the door opened, she and Greyson both stiffened, but it was just Eloise. Her cheeks were flushed, but the determined set to her jaw told them she wasn’t going to back out.
“It’s quiet out there,” she said, “but I don’t trust it.”
That observation did nothing to settle Caley’s nerves and they continued to tighten with each passing moment. By the time Samuel and Raya returned, she felt like she was going to throw up. She needed to calm down, otherwise all of them weren’t going to make it out of here alive.
As soon as the thought formed, a peculiar sort of calm settled over her. Her senses sharpened and her head cleared in just seconds. She’d been the captain of her gymnastics squad, a natural leader her coach had always said. While the circumstances weren’t even close to being similar, she knew she could lead again.
“Greyson, what’s the safest way out of here?” she asked. “We need to be fast, but we also need to avoid running into anyone else.”
“Through the empty wing,” he answered immediately. “You know the door with the ‘emergency exit only’ sign in the common area? It’s through there.”
“Won’t that set off an alarm?” Eloise asked.
Greyson held up a key. “Not with this.”
Caley’s eyebrows went up. “When did you steal that?”
“Yesterday,” he said. “I thought we might need a backup escape route.”
“All right,” she said. “You lead the way and we’ll follow.”
Despite the thudding of her heart as she followed Greyson into the hall, her anxiety hadn’t returned. She slowly turned her head from side to side as they went, eyes and ears straining for anything that could threaten them. When they reached the common room, she felt the relief from the people behind her, but she didn’t let herself relax. She would stay on high alert until they were safely away from here.
They were still a few steps from the door when the sound of voices reached her ears.
“…I don’t know why he wants her too, but I know better than to argue with the boss.”
A second voice added, “Well, if I had President Mondale breathing down my neck, I’d be cranky too.”
If they’d needed confirmation that Dr. Enver wasn’t being completely forthcoming about who exactly was running things, hearing the president’s name was enough. Any last trace of doubt fled, and Caley prayed that they’d get into the empty wing before those two voices made their way to the common room.
The door opened without issue and the group snuck into the dark corridor. When the door clicked shut behind them, Caley had a moment where she felt relatively safe. Then they turned a corner and found themselves at a second door. Before anyone could panic, Greyson used the same key to open this door. Only, instead of being greeted by the musty smell of disuse and a barely visible corridor, they found themselves looking down an all-too-familiar looking hallway.
Tile floors gleamed and florescent lights buzzed overhead. A total of six doors lined the hall, three on either side, and two of them were open. In the doorway of one room were two teenagers who looked to be about Caley’s age, but they had the sort of hardened look she’d seen too often on the faces of kids who’d moved from foster care to the juvenile justice system.
“Who’re you?” the tough-looking redhead asked. She crossed her arms and glared. “Where’d you come from?”
Greyson took a step forward. “We’re here getting treatment for a bunch of different stuff. We thought this wing was empty.”
The stocky, dark-skinned young man next to her snorted a laugh. “Naw. This is just where they put the freaks.”
“Freaks?” Eloise practically whispered the word.
“I have anger issues.” He grinned. “This one’s a compulsive liar.”
The redhead rolled her eyes. “Cut it out, Riah. Ignore him.”
“Look, we don’t have a lot of time.” Caley stepped up beside Greyson. “Are they experimenting
on you guys? Shots. Sensory deprivation tanks.”
“Try electroshock therapy.” A tall, leggy young woman appeared in the other doorway. Her accent sounded like she came from Ghana, like one of the family law lawyers Caley had met years ago.
“If they’re telling you it’s to make you better, they’re not telling the whole truth,” Greyson blurted out. “They killed one of our friends. Told him he was sick and pumped him full of the same stuff they gave us, but instead of making him better, it killed him.”
“We’re not sick,” the African girl said. “Not until they make us sick anyway. They like to give us shots, wait to see what happens, then give us another shot. I’ve been here the longest and it’s been two weeks. I’ve seen fifteen like me leave in body bags.”
Someone behind Caley swore.
The young woman took a step into the hallway. “I’m Olivia, by the way.”
“Caley.” She glanced behind her, but the others appeared to be willing for her to take the lead. “Look, we’re getting out of here, and you’re welcome to come with us.”
The redhead spoke up this time. “Can’t. Doors are locked.”
“Not for long.” Greyson fished a ring of keys from his pocket. “You in?”
Both the redhead and the guy looked to Olivia who thought for only a few seconds before nodding her agreement. “Wake up Beck and Kyla.”
“What about Charlie?” the guy asked.
Olivia shook her head. “They came and got him an hour ago.”
The redhead cursed colorfully but moved to do what Olivia had said. By the time Greyson had taken the others down to the far door, Olivia’s four friends had joined her. They fell in step behind Caley, each one carrying a small bag and what looked to be various forms of homemade weapons.
“I’m hoping we don’t have to use them,” Olivia said quietly when she saw where Caley’s eyes had gone.
“Me too.”
Later, Caley couldn’t remember how long it took them to get through the empty medical rooms without being seen by security, only that she’d been able to warn the others more than once before they could be caught.
When they finally reached another ‘emergency exit,’ she prayed that this time, it would lead them outside. The burst of cold but fresh air reached her first and she almost shouted her relief that they were finally outside. It was darker than she’d anticipated, only a few lights focused on the gravel driveway that led to a gate.
“Not home free yet,” Greyson whispered. “There’s a hole in the fence this way.”
“How do you know?” Jeffrey asked as Greyson started walking again.
“Because I put it there yesterday morning,” he said. “It’s not far.”
And it wasn’t, but each step felt like a mile. Caley kept waiting for someone to shout at them to halt, but the cry never came. Instead, they reached the fence and Greyson pulled one side of the hole to allow everyone through. Only after Caley crossed over did he follow. For what felt like an hour, they traveled in silence, each crack of a branch or distant rumble of a car sending adrenaline rushing through their veins.
When Greyson finally called them to a stop, they plopped to the ground to catch their breath.
“All right,” Olivia said. “We’re out. Where are we going?”
Caley looked at Greyson who shrugged. Since he didn’t seem to have an answer, she came up with one. “Wherever we want. Become new people and have new lives. We put this place behind us and never look back.”
PRESENT DAY
Halia set the file down on the desk with a sigh. She should have known that there wouldn’t be much of anything on paper. This was just her mom’s bio and a few random facts about how sick she’d been. It didn’t answer the questions all of them needed to have answered.
She opened the top drawer of the desk out of habit more than anything else and found a handful of pens and pencils. Those went into her bag, as did the paperclips and extra staples. She left the tape. It was flaking, which meant it’d be too brittle to use.
The left-hand drawer was empty, as was the one underneath it. The bottom drawer, however, was locked.
The remaining unlocked drawers were all empty, which meant Halia’s only options were to try to pick the lock or leave without opening the drawer. She was already unbending a paperclip when she smacked her knee on the inside of the desk.
She closed her eyes, less against the pain and more against the ripple under her skin. Something about those spider things had kept everything…quiet. Now, she had to work on control. Again.
When she was finally certain she was okay, she opened her eyes and the glint of something metallic caught her attention.
A key was taped to the inside of the desk’s leg.
She pulled it free and unlocked the bottom drawer. Inside were the last things Halia wanted to see. Her parents had called them flash drives, but no one had used anything like them in more than a decade.
Well, almost no one.
“Suzvely apaki khlurd,” Halia muttered as she stuffed the tech into her bag.
Flash drives were essentially useless since no new tech had been made and no old tech had been maintained after the bombs. Plus, electricity was virtually nonexistent. What little was available, people preferred to use it for things like medical emergencies, that sort of thing.
Except Halia knew someone who not only had a couple generators he’d converted to run on some biofuel so he could power a whole mess of tech, but he had the know-how to use things that were pretty much obsolete. She just really didn’t want to talk to him.
But she had to. There weren’t any other options.
She was going home.
Lulu’s Broken Melody
Ember Phoenix
Chapter One
Lulu
All I ever wanted to do was write and sing my songs, then one day I caught my big break. It was one Friday night when I was twenty years old and performing at an open mic night at a local bar as I always did. It was my regular Friday and Saturday night place to perform my songs.
After I finished my song, I was approached by a gentleman. “Hi, my name’s Barry Flash, record producer with Flash Records. I’ve been here the last three weeks consistently and you are by far the best performance every weekend,” he said as he reached to shake my hand.
Astonished by his statement, I returned his handshake. “Hi, I’m Luella Drake, but my friends call me Lulu and thank you. I’m flattered.”
“I’d love to sign you to my label. Do you have a manager?”
“No, do I need one?”
“Not necessarily, but I can help you with all that.”
“Do you write your own music?”
“ Yea, I’ve always written and performed my own songs.”
“And are they all country or do you sing pop too?
“Oh no, only country. A country girl, born and raised.”
“Fantastic, well I like your style. Let’s get together for lunch on Monday and work out all the details. Girl, you’re gonna be a star.”
“Really?”
“Yes, ma’am, really. Come down to my office Monday, we’ll have lunch catered while we hash out all the legal paperwork. You’re welcome to bring your lawyer, mine will be present for any questions or changes you have.” He handed me a business card.
I took the card. “Oh my God, thank you. Thank you so much. I’ll see you Monday!”
And the rest is history. It’s been ten years since that amazing night, and every performance since then has been absolutely the best time of my life. It’s not just the performing, it’s my dream come true. The energy the fans provide is invigorating.
But here lately, I haven’t quite been feeling too good. I think I’m coming down with something. I hope it’s just a simple cold and nothing too bad, but it’s been affecting my voice. My throat has been killing me lately.
“Here, drink this hot tea with honey. It’ll help your throat. Also, put this scarf on too,” Donna, my manager says as she’s
handing me a cup of tea and one of my favorite soft, fluffy, black infinity scarves.
“What would I do without you, Donna? You’ve been not only my manager over the years but have become like a second mother to me. Thank you for everything you do.”
“You’d be lost without me, that’s for sure. All I want is what’s best for you. This cold has me a little worried. I’m going to make you a doctor’s appointment in Dallas for when we get there the day after tomorrow.”
“Ugh, I hate the doctors. Can’t we just keep using the hot tea?”
“No, this can affect your voice and you still have three stops left on this tour, love. Please just humor me and go. Best-case scenario, it’s the flu and they give you some antibiotics.”
“Okay, fine. But I’m not gonna like it.”
“Don’t pout, you don’t have to like it. I just want you to get better.” She kisses my cheek and leaves my hotel room.
I drink the tea as she asked, while wearing my scarf and strumming my guitar. I must’ve fallen asleep, because next thing I remember is awaking to a knock at the door.
“Lulu, you ready? You’ve got to go over for sound check and lighting check,” I hear from a muffled voice through the door.
Oh shit. How could I oversleep? This never happens. I never sleep this long.
Getting up, I jump in the shower and quickly wash my hair and body before jumping out and throwing on a pair of leggings and a tank top after drying off. Grabbing my phone, I slip on my Adidas slides and head out the door.
Standing outside my door, Jeff, my personal security guard and friend, waits. Where I go, he goes, no matter what. At first, I was totally against it, but as my name grew in the industry, so did the attention. So for my own protection, it became a necessity. I hired Jeffery Ganes, a retired Green Beret.
“Good afternoon, Jeff. Sorry, I fell asleep and overslept. This cold is seriously kicking my ass.” I greet him.
“Afternoon, Lulu. You never have to apologize to me. I just know that Donna’s a stickler for keeping you on schedule. I already called and let her know we were on our way,” he replies as he escorts me down to my waiting car.