Dispersion

  “I haven’t forgotten my promise to Matt,” I whisper.

  What would Matt think of us being here? We’re safe from the danger of the Letum, though I suspect the politics of the compound aren’t going to stay contained forever.

  “Eli, why did you run off so quickly?” Leah asks as she sits down next to me. She places a plate of food in front of me.

  Jess’s nose crinkles and she leans farther away. I shoot her a worried glance, but Leah keeps talking and grabs my attention.

  “They let me take a plate for you, because, well, they know who I am.”

  I chuckle. “Jess, have you met Leah yet?

  “No, she hasn’t,” Leah answers for her and puts her hand out for Jess to shake. “I’m Leah, by the way. Eli and I work together.”

  Jess watches Leah as she gets closer to playfully grab Josie’s tiny feet.

  “Jess.”

  Leah leans in close, her easy comfort with me obvious to anyone half paying attention—and Jess is doing much more than that. I can feel her eyes on every motion between us right now.

  I cough nervously and shift to my right a bit, trying to put distance between Leah and me. Unfortunately, she’s oblivious to my desire and rests her hand casually on my arm.

  “Well, it was nice to meet you.” Jess gestures toward Josie. “I can take her back now, Elliot. I should probably try to find Allison. Since it’s one of her off days and I don’t need to watch Josie for her, I picked up an extra shift this afternoon.”

  “I don’t mind waiting for Allison to come back. I have plenty of time,” I say.

  “Well, okay,” Jess says as she takes her plate and starts to walk away.

  “Wait, Jess,” I call out, not sure what I’m going to say.

  She freezes and turns back around to face me. Away from the stresses of captivity and being stuck in close proximity to Dominic, her face has filled out as she’s put back on the weight she’d lost.

  “Yes?”

  “It was nice to see you.” I try to find the right words to articulate what I want to say without making her uncomfortable. “You look good.”

  Her eyes dart toward Josie in my arms. “You do too, Elliot,” she says so quietly, her voice almost doesn’t carry over the noise of everyone else talking in the large room.

  She tucks some of her escaping hair behind her ear, her guard fully up, and walks away from me.

  “I hope I didn’t interrupt anything,” Leah says, bringing my attention back to our table.

  I awkwardly grab a bite of the crushed beef and say, “Of course not.” Although, I wish Jess and I could be alone again—even if it’s surrounded by most of the compound eating lunch.

  “She left pretty quickly after I sat down.”

  I don’t think it was because Leah sat down. She always leaves whenever I get close. She’s apparently doing just fine without me.

  When I don’t say anything, Leah continues. “The two of you obviously have a history—more than you’ve let on. Why haven’t you spoken much about her before?” She plays with the food on her plate.

  I shrug, not wanting to talk about it. Luckily, Allison spares me from having to answer.

  “Elliot, have you seen Jess? She’s watching Josie…” She trails off as she spots her daughter in my arms.

  “Safe and sound,” I announce, happy to have avoided Leah’s question.

  “Thanks for that,” Allison reaches down and takes Josie. She smiles as she spots her friend down the table. “How’s it going, Catherine?”

  Sitting at the other end of the table, among a large group of middle-aged men, Catherine holds Jeremiah. “Hey, Allison. Still on for tonight?”

  “I wouldn’t miss it,” Allison says. “Josie and I will be over after dinner.”

  Catherine puts Jeremiah’s hand up as if he’s waving. “We’ll see you then.”

  Allison returns her attention to us, still smiling. “And how are you doing, Leah? Keeping an eye on Elliot for me, I hope?”

  Leah laughs good-naturedly. “Of course! Though I think he’s watching out for me too. At least, I like to believe that.” She playfully pokes my side.

  Allison raises an eyebrow. “We need to get together one night—the two of us. It’ll be nice to get to know you better. We haven’t had that chance yet.”

  “That sounds lovely.” Leah beams.

  I’m glad Allison is reaching out, regardless of her motives. It would be good for her to make more friends, especially with someone as great as Leah.

  “What took you so long?” I ask.

  Allison sits down where Jess was. “I ran into Dominic.”

  This time, I’m the one raising my eyebrows. I didn’t know the two of them were in contact. “What does he want?”

  “He was checking in on how everything was going…with everyone.” She eyes me nervously, gauging how I’m going to react.

  Why would she entertain anything he has to say? That’s the benefit of staying in a large compound; it’s a lot easier to put some space between each of us.

  “If he wants to know anything about my life, he can ask me himself,” I say.

  Allison glances at Leah’s confused expression before returning her attention toward me. “He wasn’t asking about you, Elliot,” she whispers.

  He certainly doesn’t deserve to know anything about Jess’s life either. I want to say as much, but Leah doesn’t need to get involved in any of this drama.

  “So…” Leah begins, trying to break the tension. “Josie’s such a perfect blessing. She’s precious.”

  Allison offers her a tight smile at her compliment.

  Leah looks up at Allison, unfiltered excitement in her expression. “Can I hold her?”

  Allison’s eyes widen and she bites her lips. She takes a deep breath and nods. She walks back around the table to set her in Leah’s arms.

  “Make sure to support her neck,” I say. Leah’s motions aren’t as confident as I would have liked for her to be holding Josie. To be fair, she hasn’t had the practice that the three of us had.

  “Don’t worry, I have her,” Leah says and she smiles down. “She looks a lot like you, Allison.”

  Allison chuckles as she sits back down. “You think so? I think she looks more like her father.”

  I stare down at Leah’s arms. Josie’s still a balance between them. She has the same small nose as Allison and Matt’s wide mouth. It’s an interesting combination.

  “The two of you have the same chin.” Leah smiles warmly at Allison. “If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to her father?”

  Allison lets out a deep breath. “He got infected and turned.”

  Leah’s shoulders slump. “I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine how hard that must’ve been for you when he was bitten.”

  I instantly tense up at the change in conversation. Before I can stop her, Allison, out of habit, responds, “He wasn’t bitten.”

  Leah holds Josie farther out from her body.

  “What are you saying?” Leah asks, looking at Josie in horror.

  Allison tries to backtrack. “No, I’m sorry, I misspoke.”

  When she speaks again, Leah’s voice is raised, carrying over the normal chatter of the group closest to us. “Was her father genetically mutated?”

  The group of five men eating next to us, including Nathan and Adam who work in security with Dominic, fall silent. Leah continues to stare at Josie in horror.

  I hold my hands out. “Leah, hand me Josie.”

  “No, of course not,” Allison says, though the panic in her voice betrays her.

  “Dear Lord,” Leah exclaims. She holds Josie out as far from her body as possible.

  “Please stop talking. Everyone is—” I start.

  “Who was genetically mutated?” Nathan’s stern voice rings out, making sure everyone in the room is aware of the situation.

  Next to him, Adam shifts so his body is covering Catherine and their son.

  The group nearest to us steps closer, preventing
Allison from moving. She eyes the table separating her and her daughter with dread.

  I repeat my request louder. “Leah, give me Josie.”

  Bordering on hysterical, Leah stares at me in horror.

  “She said the baby’s father was mutated!” Nathan replies.

  “No, that’s not what I said,” Allison says.

  “The baby could turn into one of the monsters,” Catherine, forgetting her relationship with Allison, calls out, waking up Josie, who lets out a long, healthy wail.

  Allison flinches in reaction to her daughter’s cries, but there’s nothing she can do. There’s a physical barrier between the two of them.

  “Leah, look at me,” I say, urgently enough to finally get her attention through all the screams of protest spreading through the Mess Hall. She breaks her eyes away and stares at me, no reason in her expression. “Hand Josie to me.”

  “But—” she begins.

  My heart races in my chest. The energy in the room is turning against us. I must get Josie into my arms now to protect her.

  “Trust me. Hand her to me.”

  Josie is now fully utilizing all of her lung capabilities to let everyone know she’s unhappy with the amount of noise.

  Reluctantly, still holding Josie out as far from her body as possible, Leah gives her to me.

  I breathe a sigh of relief even though this is only beginning.

  With all the shouts of fear in the large room, I can only read Allison’s lips as she mouths, “Leave.”

  Even though I promised to look after Allison, I take a step backward toward the exit of the room. Josie is in much more danger.

  I turn around, taking one last glance at Allison, and take two steps before I spot Jonah blocking my exit. I exhale loudly.

  We’re trapped.

  “She’s a ticking time bomb!” Another hysterical person calls out.

  I look around in desperation, hoping for some inspiration on how to diffuse this situation.

  Leah’s eyes shift between Josie and me, an even deeper fear etched on her face.

  She was afraid when Allison slipped that Matt was Planned, but that was an unrealized fear. With this new terror, she can sense the vibe that’s spreading through the room, more contagious than any infection.

  Leah puts her hands out in front of her and mouths, “I’m so sorry,” and backs up into the crowd.

  “Everyone be quiet,” Silas’s voice echoes throughout the Mess Hall. He silences all the raw panic but doesn’t take it away. It’s still present in the body language of everyone here, in the way Nathan clenches his hand and stares murderously at Josie in my arms.

  I instinctively take steps away from him to return to the table where we were innocently eating our lunch. Allison’s fresh tears are spilling down her face. She’s still trapped on her side of the table, unable to get to her daughter.

  Silas’s arms are crossed in disapproval. “Allison, did you lie when you entered our compound? Are you Planned?”

  “No, I’m Unplanned—like you and everyone else here,” she responds.

  “Was your baby’s father Planned?”

  Allison opens her mouth to speak and closes it again. Her silence is answer enough.

  “Jonah, seize the child.”

  “Out of my way,” Jonah calls out as he pushes his way toward me.

  I don’t know what to do, but I know one thing: he’s not getting this child from me willingly.

  Sharing the same chain of thought, Allison takes advantage of the distraction and climbs over the table, knocking my food onto the floor.

  “Let me hold my daughter,” she whispers.

  Happy to have both of my arms free for the inevitable physical confrontation that’s about to ensue, I hand her off.

  “Stay close,” I whisper back.

  “Stand down,” Silas instructs. “The baby is a danger to all of us. We can’t accept that risk.”

  Jonah has reached us and holds one arm out to take Josie, while the other rests on the holster for his gun. I shake my head. We’re not giving her up.

  “The baby is not a danger to anyone,” another familiar voice rings out.

  Dominic pushes his way past a startled Silas and steps in front of me, blocking Jonah from reaching Allison. While Dominic joining us is certainly helpful, we’re still severely outnumbered. It doesn’t matter how strong he is; even he can’t fight everyone at the same time.

  “It does not matter if a baby’s parent is Planned as long as the other is Unplanned,” he says loud enough to ensure everyone in the hall hears him. “And if you think I am going to let you take her, you are going to regret that decision quickly.”

  Dominic stands to his full height, all six foot four of him, and easily towers over Jonah, who is a small man—in more ways than one. Even though Jonah hasn’t witnessed how dangerous Dominic can be—as I have—his eyes dart toward Silas.

  “How c-can you be so positive?” Jonah asks, his tone overly sharp, though the stutter gives his nerves away.

  I hold my breath in hesitation as to what he’s about to say. He can’t explain he was a genetic engineer or he’ll doom himself. He can either admit who he is and hope they listen or walk away and protect himself.

  He turns his head to make eye contact with Allison. Dominic lets out a deep breath and squares his shoulders again.

  “Because I was a genetic engineer at Potentia and studied the infection extensively. That being said—”

  Silas’s emotionless voice cuts him off. “You lied to us. They would never have let an Unplanned work in their precious laboratory.”

  “Yes, I am Planned,” Dominic admits.

  The entire room explodes in shouts of protest. I can’t make out a single word; it’s deafening.

  Silas speaks to Jonah. “Seize him. Go find the other one, too. Bring them all to my office and keep them under guard.”

  Eyeing his chances with the crowd or in a calmer environment, Dominic motions for Allison and me to follow Jonah. I walk out of the room first, with Allison and Josie behind me, Dominic bringing up the rear.

  What did we get ourselves into?

  Chapter Eighteen

  We file into Silas’s dark office. The only light is coming from the tall window behind his desk. For someone claiming to have an open-door policy, we’re only here when something goes wrong.

  “I’m going to go find the other.” Jonah pauses before leaving the room. “Joseph and two armed guards are at the door. If you try to exit the room, you will be shot without hesitation.”

  Jonah closes us in the room to await our fate.

  “Shh…it’s okay,” Allison coos to Josie.

  Her attempt to calm the crying baby sets me even more on edge. Doesn’t she understand the danger we’re in?

  “What do we do?” I ask Dominic.

  He scans the room, avoiding eye contact.

  “I had to expose us all, or they were going to kill Josie. There was no other option,” he mutters, running his hand through his light hair. His gaze shifts toward Allison.

  That’s more startling than anything else that has happened today so far. Why did Dominic sacrifice his own self-preservation? This doesn’t add up.

  “What do we do?” I repeat myself.

  Josie finally settles down and lets herself be comforted.

  Dominic glances one last time across the room. “We could break the window and try to get out before the guards outside the room hear us.”

  Though the window is high, we could use his desk chair to help us get through it. The desk could be moved to block the door. We may have enough time to escape. It might work, but where would we go? We’d have to figure that out, but that could happen later.

  My body tenses in expectation of what we need to do. Then, I freeze, realizing the plan won’t work.

  “We can’t leave Jess,” I say.

  “No, we can’t,” Allison says now that she’s able to contribute to the conversation.

  I open my mouth, prepared
to argue against whatever greater-good rebuttal Dominic is going to claim.

  Dominic looks away from Allison and agrees. “No, we can’t.”

  I exhale the breath I was holding. I tilt my head as I examine his anxious expression. What is his game right now?

  For the third time, I ask, “What do we do?”

  Dominic turns to me in anger. “What do you want me to say? I’m not your savior. I’m not responsible for you. What do you want from me?”

  My eyes widen at the sharp tone of his voice. “The only reason we’re in here is because of you. So figure it out.”

  He opens his mouth, preparing to respond.

  “Dominic,” Allison’s voice rings through the room, and its effect is instantaneous.

  My brother takes a deep breath to steady himself. A forced calm resonates through his expression.

  “I need to prove that we are more valuable to them alive than dead. That is our only chance. Let me do the talking,” he says in no more than a whisper.

  There’s no other option. I have to trust Dominic to get us out of this mess—even if I don’t understand his motive.

  We enter a contrived silence as each of us calculates the odds of survival. While Allison and I should be safe, Josie and Dominic are in severe danger. Even though Jess has never explicitly stated whether she’s Planned or not, she looks like she is and that could be cause enough. I never thought I would be thankful for my lesser physical attributes.

  Dominic’s strong jawline is clenched in anticipation. Maybe they’ll get rid of him so I don’t eventually have to. I shake my head to expel my thoughts about him. It’s too complicated to get into right now.

  The door squeaks open, and Jess’s alarmed face stares into mine. Jonah and Silas follow closely behind her. Jess stands to the left of Allison, so Allison is between the two of us, with Dominic on my right.

  “Should I come in?” the first guard asks.

  Silas studies our body language. “If you hear any noise, come in immediately. I don’t imagine we’re going to have a problem. Are we, Dominic?”

  Even though he only addressed Dominic, both of us shake our heads.

  Confident in his motions, Silas turns on the light, causing all of us to blink as we adjust from our accustomed darkness, and takes a seat at his desk. Jonah stands close behind, his hand hovering around his gun holster. No matter how calm Silas seems, Jonah contrasts him and keeps me tense.