“Can do a lot more.”
“Exactly.” Gerry paused. “It’s ah…also worth mentioning that the initial mortality rate of your group was larger than previous groups. People that died usually did so during testing, not after the initial dose.”
“Um…that actually matches up with what I heard Gardiner talking about during my last testing,” I shifted uncomfortably. “He mentioned something about the latest version of the vaccine? That sounds like they’re tinkering with each round, looking for a certain result.”
“What? To kill half of us?” Mark spoke up from over his cards.
“Don’t bother,” Diego said.
“Huh?”
“There’s no way you’re gonna win against what I’m holding here.”
“Then why are you even telling me? Just play the damn game.”
“Maybe I just like messing with you.”
There was something about the sound of those glass doors opening that stuck with you. Even from across the Big Room, the second I heard them, I felt all the hairs on my arms stand up. Something similar must have happened to my podmates, because they all grew silent. I looked up to see three Black Hats emerge with matching scowls.
I hugged my left arm to my chest. It’s true that they never looked happy to be at work, but the increase in activity at the lab was clearly impacting them. Unless they were challenged, the worse we got out of them before was annoyed, but now…they looked pissed.
And they were headed our way.
“Diego del Toro, it’s time for testing,” the lead one said.
It was the younger black man Diego had punched in the stomach the first time he had been taken in for testing. Based on his expression, I assumed that he wasn’t over the slight.
Annoyance flickered across Diego’s face.
“Give me a second, I’m winning,” he said, his attention glued on the card game he had barely been paying attention to moments before.
“Excuse me?” the Black Hat asked.
“Diego,” I whispered. “Don’t.”
“Seems to me like a man has limits,” Diego said. “This is the fourth time you guys have pulled me in this week. Half the time you don’t do anything new. What’s the—”
And then the lead guard pulled out a gun from his belt. Not a taser, but an actual firearm. He pressed it into Diego’s forehead, and my podmate froze.
“Diego del Toro,” the Black Hat repeated, taking time to emphasize every word. “It’s. Time. For. Testing.”
For a second—and it was only a second, really—Diego looked up and made eye contact with me. And he looked, well…tired. Like after everything they had done to him over the past few weeks, that maybe shooting him in the head would be a blessing. It would certainly be less painful.
But instead, he sighed, placed down the cards in front of him, and pushed himself up until he was in a standing position. He raised his hands and placed them behind his head.
“Book me, officers,” he said.
The lead Black Hat snorted in disgust and nodded that he should move toward the doors. I watched as my podmate was led away. For a second, I felt relief that it wasn’t me who was being pulled in, but someone—anyone—else. This was swiftly replaced by shame for feeling that for even a second, mixed with frustration. That there was nothing I could do. How could I be so strong in the lab and so helpless out here?
I watched as the doors swung shut behind Diego and let a sigh of disappointment. My companions remained silent until Mark reached forward and looked at Diego’s cards. He let out a sigh.
“Fucker was bluffing,” he said.
And then I saw it. Light, glistening from between the two glass doors. For a few seconds, I couldn’t move.
That wasn’t possible.
I murmured something like “give me a second,” then stood up. I crossed the room, halfway between a walk and a run, thinking my eyes must be tricking me. As stressed and overworked as the Black Hats were, they wouldn’t have just left the door open.
Only, they had. I drew close and discovered that it had gotten caught on something, a pencil that had probably been in one of the White Masks’ pockets, fallen at just the right moment, and kicked between the doors.
I placed two of my long, thin fingers in the gap and pushed it aside.
And was tempted to immediately shut it again.
Because halfway up the stairs stood Gardiner and Dr. Hale.
“The results are clear,” Dr. Hale was saying. “Our latest round was too volatile.”
“Which I kind of understand, but what does this have to do with my men?” Gardiner said. “I’m telling you. You can’t work them like this—”
“I was getting to that, Mr. Gardiner,” Dr. Hale replied coolly. “At this point in the game, we are trying to get as much data as we can from the remaining subjects while my associates in the lab work on the next vaccine.”
“So, we’ll have fresh ones coming in again? I don’t see how that will be much of a break.”
“It is. I’ve been given permission for a full purge. In two weeks, we will gas the remaining participants and start from scratch. Between those two events, you and your men will have a full week off, at least.”
“And why do I have a feeling that your next words are going to be ‘and you’re gonna need it.’”
From behind me, someone let out a whoop of laughter and both Dr. Hale and Gardiner jerked their heads in my direction. Heart pounding, I jumped away from the doors, flattening myself against the walls.
“Is that still open?” I heard Dr. Hale say, her voice muffled.
This was followed by footsteps heading in my direction, I hurried away from the doors and to the tables where Bixby and Justin sat, having what was probably considered a private conversation. I grabbed an empty chair and sat down.
“What’s the—” Bixby asked.
Her question was followed by a snapping sound as the door leading to the lab area was sealed off. She turned toward it, eyes wide.
“Was that…” she asked. “Was that open?”
I didn’t say anything, but apparently the expression on my face was enough. I watched as Justin’s mouth hung agape.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Bixby asked, throwing up her hands. “We could have made a move. Or—”
She raised her voice as she spoke, grabbing Gerry and Karen’s attention from across the room. They began to make their way toward us as Bixby continued to rail against me.
“I know that you didn’t like my plan, but Christ! Even you should have been able to see the opportunity right in front of—”
“What’s going on, Bixby?” Karen asked, spitting out the woman’s name as if it were a curse.
“Going on? I’ll tell you what’s going on!” Bixby jumped to her feet.
“Dawn?” Justin asked with a frown. “What’s wrong? Did you hear something?”
I swallowed and nodded.
And then I told them that we had two weeks to live.
20
Alex
Hitting your head can do weird things to you. I should know. I’d been a dumb kid, rebellious teen, and reckless young adult, all resulting in a handful of decisions that probably should have left me dead.
Getting onto that elevator was one of those decisions.
I don’t remember hitting the ground, but when I opened my eyes to discover the aftermath, it was easy to figure things out. The elevator lay at the bottom of the shaft at an odd angle. The lamp at the top flickered, the flashlight at my side doing a better job to light the place. Unfortunately, what it revealed wasn’t encouraging. While my armor and my gym bag had given me some protection, Connor was still out, but at least he appeared to be breathing.
“Crap.” I reached up to touch my head.
“It’s a good thing you agreed to put on that armor.”
The familiar voice was enough to make me freeze. I turned in the other direction and saw Dawn sitting at the bottom of the elevator in the same outfit I had
left her in that morning. She smiled slightly, and I let out a groan.
“Well,” I said. “Given that you’re hours away in a Forger safe house, I’m going to assume that this little chat is nothing but—”
“A hallucination?” She smiled sadly. “I was kinda hoping it would take you longer than that to figure it out.”
“Heh, me too,” I said, pushing myself up to a sitting position. “Guess I must have hit my head.”
“Um…yeah, you have a habit of doing that. They say that’s bad for you.”
“It’s why Mom never let me play football and was never all that comfortable about the boxing thing.” I shook my head. “I don’t know how you could have stood being in here for over a month.”
“I didn’t have much of a choice.”
“I know, but, Christ! Even just after a few hours I’m about to go stir crazy. Makes me wish I could find some way to go back in time and erase all of this.”
“You’ll have to ask Connor if he knows anyone with that powerset. Of course, if we did that, I would have never gotten my powers. Never would have met you. Wouldn’t you say that it’s been worth it in the long run?”
I let out a sigh. “I dunno, Dawn. I’m beginning to think that these powers? They’re more trouble than they’re worth. It makes you keep things from the people you love. Connor’s are killing him. And I don’t know what the hell mine are doing to me.”
“What do you mean?” She tipped her head to the right.
“Shouldn’t you know all this if you’re in my head?”
“Probably. But it seems like you need to talk about it.”
I nodded. “When I found that guy…that Gardiner? I completely lost my temper, was inches away from beating the shit out of him. And yeah, I’m not proud of that, but that wasn’t new.” I paused, frowning. “No, it’s what happened afterward that threw me off.”
I reached out for the wall, next to me, and rested my hands against it.
“I shook the room, Dawn. Like…earthquake shook. That’s not what I do. I find weaknesses, exploit them. Use my strength to create new ones. I don’t make earthquakes.”
Dawn nodded in response.
“And that scares the shit out of me,” I continued. “Because while you’ve done great things with your powers, if anything the last few months have taught that I’m better without mine. Better because of you. Dawn, in these past three months, I haven’t lost my temper once. I’ve stopped trying to control my sisters’ lives. That tiny spat we had about your family? With any of my previous girlfriends, that would have left me storming out of the room in a huff. But instead, we just talked it out. Being with you has made me a happier person. You’ve made me a better person.”
“Alex…what you’re saying is sweet, but you know it’s not entirely true.”
“Are you seriously trying to say that being with you hasn’t made me happy?”
“Ah…no.” She laughed. “What I’m saying is that you’re not a better person because of me. You’re a better person because of you. No one forced you to do anything. You were the one that decided to give up on being Faultline. You were the one who decided to put your frustrations about Alan aside and work with him today. You were the one who decided not to hurt that man.”
“By thinking about you—”
“I’m not your conscience, Alex.” Dawn’s voice was sharp. “I’m your girlfriend. And I agree that good relationships…they make you want to be a better version of yourself. The same goes for me. But you’re the one that ends up making the decisions about what you want to do, not me. Don’t shortchange yourself.”
“That’s unusually decisive for you,” I said. “Maybe it would have been more appropriate to imagine you as Hikari.”
“I’m serious, Alex!” She reached out and placed a hand on my shoulder. For a delirious half second, I found myself wishing I had left the helmet off so she could look into my eyes and not a tinted visor.
Of course, had I done that, my head may have ended up smashed on the elevator floor.
“You’re a good person, Alex,” Dawn said. “Always have been. And sure, you’re working your way to even better, but you can’t put all of that on me. These new powers…they’re going to be challenging. But we’ll figure this out, okay?”
“Okay,” I said, feeling my chest tighten. “Dawn, I—”
“Save it,” she said, putting a finger on my lips. “Tell the real one, not me. For now, you’re gonna have to wake up.”
“Huh?”
“Um…they’re not just gonna leave you alone, you know?”
I cracked open my eyes to find myself, as expected, at the bottom of an elevator shaft, surrounded by an unconscious archer and one less-imaginary girlfriend. Hell, SynergyCorp operatives were probably right around the corner. I winced. Switching Dawn, even a fake version of her, for those fuckers didn’t seem like that nice of a tradeoff.
“Alex?”
I turned my head (dammit, ow!) at the sound of Alan’s voice. Not the Takahashi I was looking for, but he’d do. I watched as he ran toward the elevator, eyes sliding between me and Connor.
“Good,” he said with a nod. “You’re up.”
“How long have I been out?”
“More time than I am technically comfortable with.”
“Is Connor—”
“Am I what?” I heard the big archer say, voice gruff. “Fuck…what did I break this time?”
“The hard drive.” I jerked my hand to my bag, which now lay beneath me. A sharp zipping sound filled the air. I pulled out a small piece of metal, decidedly more dented than the last time I had seen it.
“Is it supposed to make that noise?” I said, shaking it. “It sounds like something’s broken in there.”
Alan visibly paled. “We’ll have to check that later. And it’s probably best to keep it down. Our pursuers said that they were going around, but some of them might still be up there.”
“Going around what? The mountain?”
“It appears that they didn’t want to leave our fates…unsettled,” Alan replied. “Given what we have witnessed down here.”
“Sometimes, I really wish that bad guys would act more the way they do in the movies, you know? Give me a second.”
He attempted to move to his feet, only to stumble. Letting out a hiss, he reached out and leaned against the wall for support.
“Ankle,” he said. “The right one.”
“Is it—” I began.
“Feels more like a sprain. Still, not good.”
“Unfortunately, you’re going to have to move,” Alan said. “While you both were out, I found the way to the exit, but we don’t have the luxury of an abundance of time.”
“Shit,” Connor swore, looking none too pleased.
Not that I could blame him. Moving fast on an injured ankle wasn’t exactly comfortable. I offered him an arm, and the archer half leaned on me as we made our way forward, with Alan leading the way, warning us off puddles and slick rocks. The darkness was no challenge for him. As for me, away from the lights of the elevator, I could barely see my nose in front of my face.
Eventually, he led us to a wooden door that he carefully pushed aside and then shut firmly again.
“We took too long,” he said. “They’re already here.”
Connor let out a sigh. “Mountainside. Isn’t that convenient. Could you help me to the exit?”
I nodded and did so. Connor pushed the door open, and I saw what Alan had seen. A large group of operatives were beginning to make their way up the mountain. And despite the distance, I could make out the weapons strapped to their sides.
“Twenty-five,” Connor said, taking out his bow. “That might be doable.”
“With your condition?” I said, pushing the bow aside.
“Hence the might.”
“Condition?” Alan asked.
“Shit, man,” I said. “I’d have thought if anyone was used to working with a team, it would be you.”
“You have
an idea?” Connor asked.
“Pretty simple.” I secured my helmet on. “You get shooting, and I’ll get pissed.”
“Think you’re up for that?”
“Yeah,” I said. “That’s part of the problem.”
I was almost into position by the time Connor sent his first arrow flying.
He had let them get closer than I had thought, but I didn’t know what kind of range those light arrows had. Also, Connor was injured and probably didn’t want to risk missing any of his shots.
Not that there appeared to be anything wrong with his aim.
Or his speed.
The first two guys were taken down in quick succession, their bodies jerking up and back as if they had been hit with real projectiles. The operatives closest to them looked to their fallen comrades and then turned back to the mountain, weapons raised.
As the sound of gunfire filled the air, I gritted my teeth and turned away, trusting that Connor, no matter how much of a blockhead he may seem, had been doing this for years. He would know how to take cover.
And I had a job to do.
Up and over to the right was a crop of rocks just ready to fall. I approached them to the side, letting them provide me with what was probably insufficient cover for my armor-clad, muscular frame. But Connor, with his arrows of light, was a damn good distraction.
But not for long, I thought, thinking back on all the damage I had seen underneath.
I rested my hands on the rocks beneath me.
It was easy to reach for the rage here. Sure, like Dawn, I could get upset at the fact that SynergyCorp had killed so many people. But upset was different than angry. For that, it had to be personal. Probably a sign that I was still a pretty selfish guy. But right now, I didn’t have time to linger over my own bullshit.
I had to create an avalanche.
Balling my hands into fists, I reached down to the well of emotions I had been holding at bay for the last several hours. That giant ball of frustration, of anger. All I needed to do was reach out and brush up against it for the fault lines to become clear.
Silver and Gold (Red and Black Book 3) Page 21