Freak of Nature

by Julia Crane

  “Quess!” she blurted out.

  “I’ll tell her you’re safe, but you have to go. Now.” Lucas picked up the rucksack and handed it to her. “Don’t kill anyone getting out. The guards are just doing their job. They all respect you. I think some have even grown to like you.”

  “No collateral damage. I’ll get out without loss of life.” She nodded and slung the bag over her shoulders.

  Lucas peeked out the door first and motioned for her to follow. They hurried down the empty hallway. At the back door, Lucas came to an abrupt stop. “I have to go back to the lab so I’m seen.”

  “I’ll never be able to repay you for giving me my freedom back. I will find you again,” Kaitlyn told him, her heart pounding.

  Lucas’s eyes glistened under the fluorescent lights. “Goodbye, Kate. I’ll never forget you.”

  Pushing the metal door open, Lucas hurried to the right, and Kaitlyn silently took off to the left, blending into the night. Her night vision kicked in, and her eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness. She had to admit the technology came in handy. At first, it had taken her a bit to get used to, but now it felt no different than her day sight. It was an advantage the guards did not have, at least not automatically like she did. They would have to go to the supply closet and pick up night vision goggles, buying her more time.

  Kaitlyn knew the location of all the guards, and she also knew that at any minute they would be alerted that she had escaped. She had to act fast.

  She flitted across the campus, aiming for the far reaches of the compound. It only took five minutes before she heard crashing in the bushes behind her. The erratic bouncing of flashlight beams danced around her, followed by excited yelling. Lucas must have sounded the alarm.

  A bullet whizzed past her ear. She heard it thump as it hit the grass. They’d spotted her! It took all of her self-control not to turn around and break the guard’s neck. Lucas had told her no death. She ran in a zigzag pattern—typical of her training. It was hard to hit a moving target. Let alone at her speed.

  Vectoring in through her location sensors, Kaitlyn found the nearest wall almost four hundred meters away. So close. She increased her speed, legs and arms pumping, breaths equal and strong. Just a little further, and she would be free.

  Don’t think. Just move. Let your body do what it was made to do.

  The high fence loomed before her. Skidding to a stop, she tossed her bag over. One quick glance behind her, and she scaled the fence. Once she was close to the barbwire she jumped over, her arms flailing as she fell towards the ground. She hit the ground, bending her knees and tucking in her elbows to absorb the impact.

  With one last glance behind her, Kaitlyn shrugged her rucksack on. Her heart constricted and an aching pain filled her chest. So that was what pain felt like, she thought sadly.

  Move, Kaitlyn scolded herself and took off in a full sprint, disappearing into the night as if she’d never existed.

  Chapter Twenty

  Kaitlyn crashed through the woods, the cracking branches beneath her feet filling the dark silence. The green-tinted night forest spread around her as far as she could see. She had been on the run for thirteen minutes and eleven seconds. Scanning the forest she could see the body heat of several startled animals. There wasn’t a human form in sight. If they were chasing her, they weren’t close—at least, not yet.

  Faster.

  She had to get out of the woods and into civilization; a town. There had to be a town near here, somewhere. They would be combing the woods for her for days, but she didn’t plan on being there that long.

  Recalling the phone Lucas had given her, Kaitlyn came to a halt, swung the bag off her shoulder and dropped it to the ground. She unzipped the side pocket and slid out the smooth, thin phone. When she pressed the round button on the bottom, the screen came to life.

  A small square on the screen said ‘Maps.’ Not knowing what else to do, she tapped it. She was surprised when it opened to a map. She had spent extensive time with Frank learning to read the terrain and navigate maps. It didn’t take her long to realize the pulsing dot was her location. When she moved forward, the dot moved with her. Genius.

  There was a major highway approximately fifteen miles due north. She stuffed the phone back in the bag and took off in that direction. The undergrowth was getting thicker, and the hills steeper. Reaching up, she grasped hold of a branch to help pull her forward, and then another until she made it to the top. She broke free of the thick shrubs and trees and found herself standing on the edge of a cliff over a stream.

  A wave of dizziness washed over her, and she stumbled back, losing her footing. Had they caused her to malfunction remotely? Closing her eyes, she tried to steady herself, to wait for the dizziness to pass.

  But instead, like a tidal wave, her memories came crashing back.

  It was too much. She wanted to grab the sides of her head and scream, but as images flashed through her mind and emotions spun her around, she breathed deeply and pulled herself back up the slope. She had to keep moving.

  Memories of a young girl streamed through her mind. A young, dark-haired girl stood outside in a raincoat and yellow boots waiting for the bus. She turned and smiled at a woman with dark hair, pale skin, and bright blue eyes. It hit Kaitlyn that the woman was probably her mother and the girl Kaitlyn herself. The next flash was her, slightly older, sitting cross-legged under a Christmas tree. A tall slim man with curly blond hair and grey eyes handed her a wrapped box. The girl squealed when she opened up the box and found ice skates. She threw her arms around the man. “Daddy!”

  Daddy. The man was her father. He was wearing a red sweater with a snow man on it. His jaw was chiseled and his eyes were the same color as her own.

  Keep moving. The influx of memories weakened her. She wanted to drop to the ground, curl into a ball, and wait for it to stop, but her pursuers could be gaining on her. Lucas had given her a chance, and she wasn’t going to let him down.

  She seemed happy as a child. She laughed and smiled a lot. Athletic; she raced horses, played soccer, practiced karate, surfed, and later, rock climbed.

  Kaitlyn ran faster in the shadows of the trees, pushing herself. Keep moving.

  And then she was a teenager. School and parties. Boyfriends, dances, and kisses. She gasped when she saw Evan for the first time. His blond hair was shorter, but his green eyes sparkled just like in her dreams. They walked arm in arm through a park, so natural and happy together. He turned and kissed her. Kaitlyn couldn’t help but wonder if his kisses made her feel the way Lucas’s had.

  She almost tripped over a large root when the next image flashed in front of her vision. Okay, so she definitely wasn’t a virgin. One mystery solved, as Quess would say. Just seeing the images of her and Evan naked and entwined together on a twin bed made her temperature start to climb, but her sensors quickly regulated her body.

  More memories crashed through, like watching home movies. Kaitlyn’s breath caught in her throat when the memories started to dim and she was walking by herself. She finally understood the meaning of hairs standing up on the back of one’s neck. She tensed, and came to an abrupt stop.

  She was about to see something really bad, she could feel it. It was as if she were back in her old body and feeling what she had felt at the time.

  In her mind, she watched herself cross Washington Blvd, the main street of her town. She’d done it a thousand times over her lifetime. She paused at the center line, waiting for a car to pass. A truck: Mr. Freeman from the bakery smiled and waved from the drivers seat. She hurried across the street and turned down Lance Drive, a side street that would get her home faster. It was a moonless night, and the streetlights gave off an eerie glow. That’s when she heard it: a woman screaming, begging for someone to stop.

  In her memory, Kaitlyn froze, then jumped to action. Whipping out a cell phone, she dialed nine-one-one and in a hushed voice told the operator a woman was being attacked. She gave the street, and clicked off the line. Kai
tlyn ran up the hill in the direction of the screams which had softened into muffled whimpers.

  She spun around, searching. It took her a few moments to realize the sounds were coming from behind a large dumpster. Kaitlyn gasped when she saw a man on top of a woman, her clothes were ripped and face bloody. The man was too intent on the woman to notice Kaitlyn approaching.

  She glanced around, searching for something to use as a weapon. A metal pole was sticking out of the dumpster, so she pulled it out, trying to be quiet. Kaitlyn grasped the pole like a baseball bat and swung as hard as she could at the man’s back.

  “What the hell?” he screamed slumped forward grabbing his back.

  “Help me,” the woman said, mascara running down her cheeks. “Please.”

  “Get off her, you asshole.” Kaitlyn’s hands shook as she held the metal weapon.

  The guy ignored her and kept slamming himself into the defenseless woman as if having Kaitlyn watching turned him on even more.

  “Get off her!” She drew back again and smashed him on the head.

  That caught his attention. He jerked up, stumbling away from the prone woman. “Bitch.” Blood trickled down the side of his face. He pulled his jeans up, but left himself hanging out.

  Kaitlyn spared a look at the woman; she was frozen in fear.

  The man turned and faced Kaitlyn, completely exposing himself. He grabbed himself, and yelled, “You want some of this?”

  Kaitlyn refused to look down. She swung, but the man blocked it and grabbed the pole from her. Kaitlyn took off in a sprint, but he was faster.

  He tackled her to the ground and pushed his pants down. His naked body pressed to hers. Her face was shoved into the pavement. “You like it rough? I’ll give you rough.”

  He roughly rolled her around and climbed on top of her.

  “No!” Kaitlyn screamed, shoving a hand in his face.

  He grabbed her arms and pinned her down, then punched her in the face. “Not so tough now, are you?”

  He paused as sirens wailed outside the alley.

  “I called the cops, jackass,” Kaitlyn spat.

  He jumped to his feet, pulled up his jeans and kicked her several times in the side. Searing pain shot through Kaitlyn, sending black spots across her vision. He jerked her to her feet, and she lashed out, scratching his face.

  The man howled. “You stupid bitch!”

  He shoved her hard, throwing her to the ground. Her head slammed against the sidewalk. Everything started to fade, and the last thing she saw was a bright white light.

  The next thing in Kaitlyn’s memories was her eyes fluttering open and seeing Lucas’s exhausted eyes staring at her by her hospital bed.

  So that was how she had died.

  “She’s awake!” he yelled.

  Nurses and doctors. Then several flashes of Lucas reading to her, helping her walk, and brushing her hair. He really was with her the whole time…

  Kaitlyn shook her head as the memories came to an end, and she could hear movement. She didn’t know how long she’d been stopped, but at least she was hidden in the shadows.

  Shaken to the core by the return of her memories, she shook her head, trying to regain momentum. She needed to keep moving or they would close in on her soon.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Lucas looked up from his computer, as if he had been concentrating on something important, when Harrington stormed into the room. The man’s face was dark red, a vein pulsed on his forehead, and he had balled his hands into fists. The door slammed behind him. “How the hell did this happen?”

  “It was always a risk,” Lucas said evenly, carefully composing his face into a calm expression. “Why else would we have armed guards and have kept her under lock and key if we didn’t see this as a possibility? You give someone that much technology…” Lucas leaned back in his chair and frowned, rubbing his temples. “She must have felt threatened. She is programmed to react to threats. We should be glad she ran instead of killing everyone in the room.”

  That silenced Harrington. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked out the window, his eyes distant, lost in his own thoughts. “Dammit!” he burst out. “We need to get her back. Why isn’t her GPS working? What the hell is the use of all this technology if it’s not even going to work? You realize it would be the end for all of us if the media got ahold of this story.”

  “We were aware of that potential when we signed on for the job with the extensive nondisclosure forms you made us sign.” Lucas leaned forward and tapped on the keyboard. “I’m not sure what’s going on. Look at this—the signal shows her still in her room.”

  Harrington came around the desk and looked over his shoulder. “Could she be back?”

  Lucas didn’t answer.

  “Do you think she was smart enough to reprogram the system to throw us off? Could she have had access to the programs?”

  Lucas pushed his seat back and stood up. “You know, I bet that is exactly what happened. I never thought of that. She certainly has enough knowledge stored in her database.”

  “We made her too well,” Harrington mused, bitterly.

  “It could just be a glitch. As you know, computers are not fail proof.” Or maybe I helped her escape, Lucas thought wryly.

  Ever since he had sounded the alarm, Lucas had been a nervous wreck. In order to keep suspicion off himself, he had to be the one to notify the guards about her escape. After seeing her off into the night, he sounded the alarm.

  He had to hide a smile. For Kaitlyn, getting off the compound would have only taken minutes.

  Hopefully he had done enough to keep him in the clear.

  According to the initial reports, she’d managed to evade the security team so far. At one point, they were on her trail, but lost her. Not even for a second did he doubt her ability to evade capture. He was more worried what would happen once she tried to blend in with civilians.

  Harrington paced the room. The burly man looked like he was about to blow a fuse. “I am supposed to renegotiate the terms of the hand off with the secretary of defense. Tomorrow. How in the hell am I going to explain we’ve lost the package?”

  Lucas knew Harrington would find away. He always did.

  “You could call and tell them you have to push back the negotiations due to a conflicting schedule,” Lucas suggested.

  Harrington swiveled and stared at Lucas like he’d lost his mind. “Son, we are talking about the United States Government. They wait for no one.”

  “Well, then tell them you are having second thoughts and need more time. This is, after all, a huge commitment for IFICS.”

  The usually calm and collected Harrington growled with frustration and angrily swiped the pen holder across the desk. It clattered to the ground, pens rolling across the white tile floor. “It looks like I don’t have a choice.”

  Lucas ignored the outburst and went back to his computer. Harrington left the room without another word. Of course, he didn’t bother to pick up his mess.

  By now, Lucas thought, Kate had access to her memories. He wondered how she handled seeing the traumatic experience that landed her in the hands of IFICS. If only they had more time together before she left, he could have helped her through it.

  She was all alone.

  God, he wished he could be there for her. No one should have to remember what she went through. He should have told her the police had caught the bastard thanks to the DNA they had pulled from under Kaitlyn’s nails. If he ever saw her again, he would make sure she knew she saved other women from being attacked. Not that it would give back the life she lost that night. But her old life was over. She wouldn’t have lived on like she had without Lucas and IFICS.

  Professor Adams burst through the door, his hangdog face exhausted. He crossed the room, his loafers silent on the tiles, and settled at the desk across from Lucas. Leaning forward on his elbows, he caught Lucas’s eye. “Do you know something about her escape?”

  Lucas’s hand stopped mid-air befor
e he hit the next key stroke. “I can’t believe you just asked me that.”

  The professor sighed and threw his hands up in the air. “I’ve gone over it a thousand times, Lucas. There is no way she could have gotten out without help.” His face hardened and his eyes narrowed at Lucas. “I talked to the guards, and they said you’ve been spending time with her after work.”

  “Of course I didn’t help her,” Lucas said angrily, his heart pounding. “I think you know how important this job is to me. I’ve given everything to this company.” He was surprised at how easily the lies rolled off his tongue.

  Professor Adams pushed his glasses back up his nose, shaking his head sadly. “I’ve seen the way you look at her, Lucas. She seems to have gotten to Quess, too. If you know anything that can help us get her back, you need to tell me. It’s not safe out there for her. She needs to be in a controlled environment.”

  “It’s not exactly safe in here for her, either!” Lucas couldn’t stop the words from coming, and once they were out, he gritted his teeth.

  “What are you saying, Lucas?”

  Lucas’s gaze automatically flicked to the security camera in the corner of the ceiling, pointed directly at him. “Look, okay. Yes, she got to me,” Lucas said, “and yes I liked her. But I didn’t help her escape. If I knew where she was, I would tell you. I honestly have no idea. She could be anywhere. She is programmed to be evasive and avoid capture, after all.” It was mostly the truth, though Lucas would have said anything to protect her.

  The professor waited a beat and remarked, “We could shut her down.”

  Lucas’s heart slammed against his chest. Adams wouldn’t seriously do that. He couldn’t. “If we shut her down, she’ll die.”

  “But she wouldn’t be a danger to anyone. If news of a cyborg came out, and that she—a lethal, tactical machine—was loose in the general population, that would be it. We would all be done. Sent to jail. I’m too old for prison. Don’t for a second think that we wouldn’t be the fall guys for this debacle. The Department of Defense would point at us and cover their asses.”