Carbon (The Watcher Series Book 2)

by AJ Eversley

Some of the men had gathered around, startled by the noise.

  “Everything okay?” one asked as I passed by.

  I didn’t respond.

  ~

  Max lasted two days without saying a word to me. The door barely made a sound whenever he closed it. And although I was pretty sure this was a show of pettiness on his part, he didn’t piss me off once and I was glad for it.

  Truth be told, I went a little harder on him than I should have. Being stuck in a metal ship under the ocean had me on edge. And if it had been anyone else, I probably would’ve apologized within the hour. But it wasn’t anyone else. He was the one guy who could annoy me with only a single word; the one guy I was stuck in a room with for over three weeks now.

  “You can speak, you know,” I said to a silent Max. He lay on his bed, flipping a coin up and down.

  “Oh, her holiness deems me worthy to speak now, does she?” His voice dripped with sarcasm, but the tension between us lifted a little.

  “I didn’t…I shouldn’t have…” I couldn’t find the words.

  “It’s fine. Don’t sweat it. It’s who you are.” He sat up with a shrug and flipped the coin in his hand once more.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I questioned.

  “I barely know you, Sawyer, but one thing I’m sure of is you’re a bit of a hothead. And you tend to make decisions before thinking them through. You’re always just a tad too serious.”

  My body stiffened, wondering if I was that transparent.

  “I tease you so you feel something other than the pain and depression every once in a while, even if you direct your anger at me for doing so. You need to lighten the hell up,” Max stated.

  “I need to lighten up?” I narrowed my eyes.

  “Yes, you do,” he said smoothly as his leaned in closer, challenging me to look away.

  I didn’t.

  “You need to move on if you want to win this war. Sitting around moping and feeling depressed is only going to move you further away from your goal. And when you get upset that fast, you make stupid decisions. Decisions that could get people killed because you’re not thinking.”

  “Oh, so you think you’ve got me all figured out, hey?” My temper rose as venom spilled from every word I spoke. My intended good-willed conversation was out the window. “How the hell would you know?”

  “I know because I’ve been there. I’ve been you. And if you don’t do something about this, it will be your friends and the people you care about who suffer, not just you.” His words hit me deep like a punch to the gut. He stood up to leave as he flipped the coin at me, careful to open the door quietly. “And seeing as you detest me so much, I’ve got nothing to worry about. I’ll be just fine.” He made a point of emphasis with every word before he softly closed the door.

  There was a lump in my throat that I had trouble swallowing down. So many people had been hurt, and I’d put them all in danger. Many of them didn’t make it. Kenzie, my parents. Even Kyle who had been my mentor and my friend sacrificed his own life so I could help save the rest of humanity. Every one of them trusted me to protect them, and I failed them all.

  I’d spent my entire life chasing Carbons, not to become one but to terminate them. And now, I’d become the very enemy I had sought to destroy.

  My new identity was no longer the hero, no longer the image of safety and protection that Watchers stood for. Now I was the Carbon; I was the enemy.

  Chapter 5

  One minute I was sleeping soundly, and then the next I was bucked right off my bed and onto the cold metal floor. Red lights flashed, and sirens pierced my eardrums.

  “What happened?” Max’s voice sounded next to me in the darkness. His hand reached for my wrist to pull me up. The ship stuttered before it went still. Whatever had happened, that wasn’t a good sign.

  “I don’t know.” My eyebrows drew together before I pulled my hand from his lingering grip. I collected myself and ran up to the control room, not caring that I wasn’t wearing anything but my nightwear.

  We walked into chaos. The crew ran in circles, tapping at screens blinking the same red warning.

  “What happened?” I shouted over the blaring alarm, plugging my ears from the sound.

  “We hit sum’in, Miss,” one of the guys managed to say between breaths, yelling over the alarms.

  “Where’s Captain Lankey?” I asked.

  “Down in the engine room. Bottom level.”

  We sprinted out of the room, and I yelled a quick command for Chevy to stay. He appeared as worried as I was.

  Down the stairs, we raced as fast as we could, passing terrified men who were running in the opposite direction. When we reached the bottom, ice-cold water met my bare feet, causing a hiss to escape my throat.

  That wasn’t a good sign.

  Voices sounded from the corridor behind me, and I followed them to where Lankey and his Chief Engineer stood. Water was pouring out of a closed door to an adjacent room behind them.

  “What did we hit?” I asked. Max caught up to me seconds later.

  “We’re not sure. Either struck sum’in at the bottom of the ocean, or sum’in hit us. Our radar didn’t pick up anything.” Lankey looked worried for the first time since I’d met him. His usual calm demeanor was shaken, and it unsettled me.

  “Well, we can fix it, right? There’s got to be something we can do?” Max asked.

  Lankey looked to his Chief Engineer and then back to Max. “We were hit near the rear of the ship, one of the last quadrants. Three bays have already filled, and if a fourth does, I’m afraid there’s no going back.”

  “Why don’t we just surface?”

  “Too far down. We’d never make it,” Lankey lamented.

  Max ran his hand through his hair while he paced.

  I stood there dumbfounded. I didn’t have any idea how to fix the problem.

  “What about the main drain pump? There’s got to be one on this ship. It can pump out the water so it doesn’t keep filling, right?” Max’s eyes lit up with enthusiasm, but the look on the two men’s faces spoke louder than words. They glanced to the adjacent room already filling with water.

  “There is a main pump that is trying to work, but a seal on the shaft was broken during the impact. The pump can’t keep up without the seal being closed,” the engineer responded.

  “Where’s the seal?” I already knew the answer before I asked.

  Both men’s gaze fell on the adjacent room.

  “Damn it,” I mumbled.

  “We have escape pods ready to get e’ryone ta’ safety. Only we be quite away from the United Isles still and be exposed at the surface. If Coleman were ta’ spot us…” Lankey didn’t have to finish his sentence. It was a huge risk, and not one I wanted to take.

  Max pushed his way past the two men and looked through the window into the room already knee-deep with water. “That’s the seal we need fixed?” Max pointed to a long metal pipe with a crack in the seam where two bolts had popped off during the impact.

  “Yes, that’s the one.”

  “And if the seal is closed, we can start the main pump? We can drain out the water?”

  The engineer looked suspiciously between Max and Lankey, “Yes, once the pipe is sealed, this button will turn green and the pump will activate,” he pointed to a panel just outside of the door where a button blinked a cautionary orange, “but the water flowing out of it is much more powerful than it looks. It would take a lot of strength to close up that pipe.”

  “I can do it.” Max stole the words right from my mouth before I even had a chance to speak.

  “What? No, you can’t do it. You won’t be able to close it. I’ll do it,” I protested, but Max wasn’t listening.

  He already had taken off his shirt, tossed it aside, and rummaged through a toolbox at his feet, grabbing what he needed.

  “Max! Are you listening to me?” I shouted.

  “What is this tool, Sawyer?” He lifted something long with a metal claw at t
he end and a few twisty nobs at the top. “And what about this one?” He held up another to my slack-jawed expression.

  I didn’t know. And I knew we were running out of time.

  “Exactly.” He nodded to the engineer who looked to Lankey for approval.

  “We can only open this door once. By the time it reaches the glass, it be too far gone, and we won’t be able to open it ‘til the main pump pulls out enough water. Ya’ understand that, aye, son?” Lankey said.

  “Yes.” Max nodded.

  Chapter 6

  “No! This is stupid. You can talk me through what to do, or I can come with you?” I tried to pull Max away, but he shrugged me off.

  “Sawyer, this whole mission…this whole damn trip is for you. If you think for one second I’m going to let you go in there, then you’re more stubborn than I thought.”

  The look on his face shut me up.

  “Listen,” Max said, “just push this button the minute it turns green. Okay? Push the damn button, or get the hell out of here.” Max pointed to the button outside of the door that was still blinking orange. With a slight nod from Max, Lankey opened the door with his key card.

  Water came rushing out and tossed me onto my back since I’d been too busy trying to stop Max to prepare myself. Before I scrambled to my feet, Max was on the other side of the door, and it was sealed behind him.

  I swore under my breath as I ran over to the window.

  Max leaned over the pipe while water poured out of it and onto his face. He pushed the long steel rod through the empty hole in the pipe and threaded the bolt onto the other end. With a tool gripping the rod and the bolt in place, he began twisting the bolt as hard as he could. The muscles on his back rippled with effort as he wrenched on the bolt, pulling the seam tighter.

  The water was already up to his chest, and he’d lose sight of the pipe if he didn’t hurry. I could no longer see the bolt, but as Max lifted his hands free, I knew the first rod was in place. He pulled the second rod out and spat out the bolt he had tucked safely in his mouth. Taking a deep breath, he dove under the water.

  I couldn’t see him until he emerged at the surface. He wrenched hard on the second bolt, trying to secure it into place.

  The water was almost past the window of the door, and Lankey and the Chief Engineer were fretting.

  “Go make sure the pods are ready. Just in case,” I told them.

  “What ‘bout you, Miss?” Lankey asked.

  “I can run fast,” I assured them. And with a sharp nod, they left. I prayed I didn’t have to use my speed and that Max would succeed.

  The window was submerged in water and I could barely make out what he was doing but saw his head still bobbing above water as he caught his breath before diving down.

  “Hurry, Max,” I mumbled to myself.

  The water had almost reached the top of the room, and when Max surfaced, he took one last breath before he dove down. He pulled at the bolt, but the water was still coming. It poured over the seam of the door and streamed onto my head, filing my mouth with saltwater. I searched for Max through the window, but it was all a blur.

  “Max! Max!” I banged my fist so hard my knuckles began to bleed.

  This couldn’t be happening. He had to make it. My chest tightened as I struggled to figure out what I could do.

  I reached for the handle, knowing I might be strong enough to rip the door open, but my hand paused on the knob. It’d jeopardize the rest of the people on this ship who needed to get out if the water didn’t stop pouring into the ship. My hands shook. My mind told me to leave, but my heart wouldn’t let me. The door bellowed and expanded. It could explode any minute, taking me with it.

  Somewhere inside of me, in a place I tried to ignore, I knew Max couldn’t possibly hold his breath that long. There was no way he’d succeed, but I couldn’t make myself move. I couldn’t leave. He had to live.

  I had almost turned.

  I had almost given up when I saw it.

  The button blinked green, and I slammed my hand down on it, activating the pump. Turbines sound through the bellows of the ship, and after only a second, the water stopped pouring out. The levels receded in the room.

  A cheer sounded from my lips, and I ran to the window, but my heart sank the minute I looked through. Max’s body was motionless, bobbing in the water.

  My fist pounded on the door and I called out his name, but his limp body didn’t stir. The door was still locked and wouldn’t budge. Damn it. Why didn’t I ask one of them for their key card?

  I was forced to watch through the window as his body floated down with the water, swaying until it hit the ground where the water was almost all gone. There was a click, and the door unlocked, indicating it was safe to enter. I nearly pulled it off its hinges, ran in and grabbed Max.

  “Max,” I whispered, moving the hair from his face. His skin was pale white, and his lips a deep shade of blue. His body was freezing. I tried shaking him and yelling at him, but he didn’t stir.

  My hands pounded on his chest as panic rolled through me. He had sacrificed his life for me, even when I’d treated him so badly. Even when I was the embodiment of the thing he despised. I leaned down and tried to breathe life into him. His chest rose with the breath, but his lips were so cold. He didn’t stir. I prayed for one last miracle and pushed harder on his chest. Just when I went to lean in again, his body convulsed, and he coughed up water. I rolled him onto his side as he spat out water and yesterday’s dinner before his lungs filled up with air in one long gasp.

  “You did it,” I said when his eyes focused on me.

  He looked at me for a long time, lingering on the hint of a smile that spread across my face, before he spoke. “Like you had any doubt?” He smirked before he closed his eyes again and rested his head against my chest.

  By the time help arrived, a little color had returned to Max’s face. Lankey clasped my shoulder as he informed me the water was being pumped out enough that we could continue our journey even with the damage.

  The healers took Max up to the infirmary, and I followed close behind, but the small infirmary left no room for me to stay, so I moved out of the way to give them space to work.

  Reluctantly, I shuffled to my room where Chevy was more than happy to see me.

  There was no chance I’d get any sleep tonight, even if I tried, so I sat up on the edge of the bed looking over to Max’s empty cot. What would I have done if I’d lost him?

  ~

  Hours later, I heard the turn of the doorknob and sprung up to find Max walking in. He looked a little pale still, but his lips were no longer blue, and his bloodshot eyes had more sparkle.

  “Worried about me, were you?” Max smirked.

  “Actually, I was wondering what the appropriate wait time was before I gave your bed to Chevy.” I nudged the sleeping dog at my feet.

  Max chuckled, “Sorry, Mutt. You’re not getting this bed anytime soon.”

  Chevy yawned a rebuttal as the dog rolled over onto his other side.

  Silence lingered between us as I looked him up and down, watching his chest rise and fall with each breath he took until I finally said, “Thank you.”

  Max stared at me for a moment too long. His face was unreadable. “What? You think I did that for you? I just didn’t want to be stuck in a tiny pod for weeks waiting to be rescued.”

  I squinted my eyes at him with suspicion. “I’m sure you would have hated the tiny space…but really, thank you.”

  Max let out a soft chuckle and a little nod before he laid down and fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. His soft breath was the only sound I heard as if nothing had happened and he hadn’t saved a ship full of people.

  As if he hadn’t just risked his life, for a Carbon.

  Chapter 7

  As the days passed, Max was becoming more tolerable—likeable even, though he had his moments and still teased me. But I still wondered what would’ve happened if he hadn’t succeeded. I hadn’t found t
he nerve to ask him. And since that night, he hadn’t said a word about what he’d done.

  We were only a week away from the United Isles, and I longed to get off the ship, especially after what had happened. The past week had been a lot more comfortable at least.

  My eyes flickered to Max where he lay on his bed across from me. The question repeated over and over again. What if he had died?

  “Sawyer, if you’re going to keep mentally undressing me like that, I’m going to be forced to do the same to you,” Max teased with a little grin. I stuck up a choice finger in his direction, and he let out a low chuckle.

  I couldn’t help the heat that rose to my cheeks from that little grin, but I was determined not to let him get to me. “Why didn’t you just let me do it?” I asked as I looked away from him, playing with my knife.

  Max sighed and reluctantly sat up to face me. “Because you’re not the only one who can make sacrifices, and I can be just as stubborn as you—”

  I smirked. He threw a glare at me.

  “—but in the end,” Max said, “I just want to see us win. I want to see Coleman get what he deserves. And it seems you’re our best shot at that ever happening.”

  My chest tightened. “You could’ve died.”

  “Everyone’s got to die sometime. Whenever the stars will it, our time will be up,” he explained.

  “Don’t do that. Don’t act like what you did was no big deal.”

  “But it was no big deal! I did what anyone else would’ve done in the same situation. You were more than willing to jump in there yourself.”

  “Not everyone—”

  “Sawyer, stop,” Max cut me off. “Don’t make this about you. This isn’t about me trying to save you. It’s about me trying to save what’s left of our people—of humanity.”

  There was a slight tension in my chest as I realized one major problem—I was no longer apart of ‘our people.’ I was no longer human.

  “Okay, got it. Consider it dropped.”