“Yes, we will stay here,” Reese chimes in. I look over at her, the side of her face, the intentional avoidance. I don’t look away, though. I wait for her to acknowledge me. I wait for nearly a minute before she looks over with a flat, emotionless look.
“We should go help them,” I tell Reese.
“I’m staying here,” she replies, her voice still monotone, firm.
I take her arm, squeezing my hand tightly around her bicep. “Look at me.” She doesn’t.
“Don’t bother,” Mom says.
Rage simmers in my gut, quickly boiling into pure fury. I grab Mom’s arm, flinging her around to look at me just as I’m assaulted by a patrol. An arm wraps around my neck, and my hands are pulled tightly behind my back. “You know I’m always doing what’s best for you, Sinon.”
“What did you do to her?” I growl, fighting the patrol off of me.
“Who? Your lovely Juliet?” she asks, turning around to face me.
“She isn’t a Juliet,” I seethe, I want so badly to punch my own mother in the jaw and I wouldn’t feel bad about it for even a second. “I shouldn't be surprised by anything that comes out of your mouth at this point. You continuously keep proving to me and this entire bunker how fucking stupid you are. You want to control the remaining population with no leadership, truth, answers, intelligence, or appropriate motivation, so instead you continue to spew out information that you wouldn’t be able to prove if your life depended on it.” The thin smile across her lips pulls into a longer line, spreading from ear to ear. This infuriates me. “You would, however, be willing to risk someone else’s life, whether it be your own flesh and blood or a complete stranger. Isn’t that right?”
“Reese Daniels is patient zero. She is the carrier and creator of the Juliet toxin.”
“Again, with the lies. You already said it was a terrorist attack, so why don’t you choose your fibs a little more wisely,” I spit back at her.
“And I am the terrorist, dear. A sleeper—a blonde, attractive, middle-aged woman, posing as nothing but a middle-class, stay-at-home mother with only the dream of being a well-known research scientist. Our country was headed for complete destruction if something didn’t change. Jackson Crownwell, the brave man who heads up Operation Juliet, has paved the way for our country to improve, but to start this process, we needed a way to clean up the pollution—so to speak. And now, we’re almost there—we are close to completion of Phase One, and you will live in a clean world filled with upstanding Americans who have one goal in mind—perfection, wealth, and structure. We have mitigated the weak-minded individuals, weeding out the poor and useless, leaving us with the rich, the government officials, and politicians. What more could we ask for?”
“You are fucking sick!” I spew. My head hurts as I try to digest everything. My own mother has taken part in the demolition of our country.
“That’s quite enough,” she says to me. “When did it become okay to talk to me this way?”
“When you became a dictator and a murderer.”
“Sinon,” she sighs. With a disapproving shake of her head, she turns back around and continues walking. “I am none of what you accuse me of. I am responsible for creating the rebirth of what this country was intended to be. You should be proud to be a part of it.”
“I’m disgusted with you, your beliefs and what you have done. How do you live with yourself?”
“Easily,” she laughs. “I’m what all Americans will strive to be, a leader who was brave enough to create what we all wish our country to be.”
“You’re not a leader. You are a follower. Of Jackson Crownwell. No one is going to look up to you. They will hate you for destroying their lives, their communities, their families, what they knew to be normal, You ruined the country they loved, what took centuries to build, and what has always felt comfortable and right. For millions, you took away their lives and their future. Some day, you’ll want to hide behind Jackson Crownwell, rather than stand in front of him, but until then, I just feel sorry for you.” I feel sorry for myself. How could I not see any of this? How could this woman possibly be my mother? At least now I know why she originally left me in Chipley to rot. She truly is a monster.
We arrive at her office door and she places her hand on the doorknob. “I would take the time you have now to spend it with your darling girlfriend because I’m afraid she doesn’t have much longer.” I don’t know what she means by that or what she plans to do, but I will kill her before she hurts Reese any more than she already has. “Men, you are dismissed.” One by one the patrols depart in the opposite direction, leaving Reese and me with Mom. This just makes my job easier for when I snap, and she should have considered that before releasing her bodyguards.
Mom opens her door a touch and I kick it out of her hand, grabbing her arm as I shove her inside. Reese follows silently behind us, probably not thinking twice about what I’m doing considering her brain appears to be on mute. I push Mom up against the farthest wall and cup my hand over her mouth, pulling my pistol out with my other hand. Her eyes grow wide as I press the barrel up to the side of her head. How could she not consider this possible outcome? You push anyone far enough and they will crack, even your own son.
Her focus is no longer on my face, though, it is set behind me. “Sin,” Dad’s voice sounds from behind me. “Put the weapon down, son.” I keep my hands locked in place as I turn my head. JJ is in the other corner, holding Reese against the wall the same way I’m holding Mom, a pistol pressed to her head and all. Then there’s Dad, standing neutral between us all.
“Well, look at this—a fucking family reunion. Are you in on this, too?” I ask him.
He laughs that same laugh that has always made me want to rip his head off. The laugh that tells the world he has a secret that no one will ever know about. “Your mother and I met while working for Jackson Crownwell, Sin. Three years before you were born, we accepted our positions with him. JJ did, as well. Although, like in any office job, sometimes you lose your slutty wife to another co-worker.” He looks back and forth between Mom and JJ.
JJ laughs at this remark. “Come on, man, we’re all good now. I thought we moved past this.”
“Shut it, JJ,” Dad says. “Look, my point is, I hate him,” he points to JJ, “and I hate the fuck out of her,” he points to Mom. “But, son, you know I love you, and for you, your mother and I have stuck with our agreement with Jackson Crownwell.”
“Snatcher,” JJ laughs. “I still love that name.” He sighs before continuing with whatever he was about to say. “Come on now, you know we don’t have the option of backing away from this shit.”
“Sure we do,” Dad says.
“Shut up!” I shout at them. I wish I had three weapons, one to kill each of them simultaneously. “So now that we’ve determined you’re all sick sons of bitches and that you were brilliant enough to take down a country without remorse, we can all sit here like one big happy family and watch the country deconstruct a little bit more before you stick your toes in the water?”
JJ and Dad laugh in unison, which infuriates me enough to cock the pistol in my hand. However, JJ does the same to Reese. “Undo whatever the hell you did to her and I’ll lower my weapon.”
“She was a sacrifice we needed to make,” Dad says. “Once the Juliet toxin has infected a human brain, it’s permanent. From what our research shows, Reese has already exceeded her life expectancy.”
“Why her?” my voice breaks. “Why fucking her?” Why take away the one being in this world who hasn’t lied to me, who has cared for me. Why?
“Laura Daniels is why...Reese’s mother,” Dad begins. “You see, her husband, Paul, Reese’s dad, was a man with a mouth that would eventually get him killed. He worked for Jackson Crownwell years ago. When he was asked to join our group, he gracefully rejected the offer but then ran off with the information and leaked it to some officials, officials who fortunately worked for Crownwell. At that point, Paul was taken care of, if you get my drift.
” Dad thinks this is funny as he makes a joke about killing Reese’s dad. “After that, Laura and Reese fled from Washington, making themselves look incredibly guilty, knowledgeable if you will. Because of this, and the tracks that needed to be covered, Crownwell offered Laura a job she couldn’t turn down, made quite the deal with her—a deal enveloped in a little white lie of course.” Dad backs away a couple of feet and leans back against Mom’s desk, making himself more comfortable. “When Laura was told the country was about to become obsolete, Crownwell offered her daughter shelter, with the stipulation that Laura stay back and care for those who survived, including Crownwell. He needed a nurse in case things got out of control. Laura didn’t realize she was offering Crownwell what he needed the most, a guinea pig to prove his testing. That was when I was told to take Reese to Chipley. Her mother sent her with me, then sent along her belongings that are being safely stored in our house out in Chipley.” Dad looks over at Reese and offers her a quick wave, but she doesn’t blink. “Anyway, that is when your mother put her great knowledge of science to work, creating our very first Juliet. Our life’s accomplishments were finally coming to fruition and we would someday have a country we could live in and be proud of. You should be thanking your little girlfriend over there.”
My hand is too weak to hold the pistol up any longer. Assuming the lies I have encountered is one thing, being told I have only lived in a world of lies and deceit makes me realize I only had one reason for existence in this world. Naming me Sinon after the Greek God traitor wasn’t an unintentional naming as I had always hoped. They brought me into this world with one goal in mind. And I’ll be damned if they didn’t name this fucking toxin Juliet, for a reason. Everything was premeditated, all the way down to creating a situation where I fall for the girl and the girl dies, leaving me alone with no other option rather than to join my parents. Mom’s hand is on my back and Dad steps in toward me with his hand outreached. They think I’m going to wrap my arms around both of them, thanking them for destroying my life, her life, and her family’s life, along with seventy percent of this population. No. Just, no.
“We love you, Sinon. This was for you all along,” Mom says into my ear.
“Son, it’s true. My marriage with your mother may not have worked out, but one thing we will always have in common is our love for you and the fight we have endured to make sure you live a life we want you to have.”
I control the laughter bubbling in my stomach because everything they are saying is a sick joke. I only have one question to ask myself right now. Can I do this? Can I take over and fix everything they have ruined?
All I can do is try.
“I have a question for you,” I say “Why the name Juliet? Why not create an epidemic that would wipe everyone out, instead of creating war for the same outcome.”
“Dear, you know how I love my classic literature. I believe every great ending needs an epic story first, and this has been one hell of a story, don’t you agree?”
I lift my pistol and cock it. “This is definitely one hell of an ending, Mom.” I shoot the pistol once. Cock it, and shoot. Cock it. And shoot.
My family is dead. I should feel pain, grief, or at least remorse, but instead, I feel free. Free from the lies, from the sins, from the abandonment, I feel as though I am my own savior, and that creates the only ending I have ever deserved.
41
Chapter Sixteen
SIN
Patrols swarm the office, but they all stop short when they take in the scene. “Your bosses are dead,” I tell them matter-of-factly, void of emotion. “If you want any hope of living a normal life again, join forces with me,” I say, sounding drunk, drugged, deranged.
“You’re our goddamn hero, man,” Locke says. “They destroyed this country and we had no choice but to follow or end up out there with the Juliets.”
“I need to know everything you all know. And I need to know how to help Reese.”
“I was a Biological Chemical Warfare specialist,” Locke says. “I can try to help her, but I’m not sure anything can be undone.” He steps out in front of the group and removes his biohazard suit, revealing a man who couldn’t be much older than me. “We can all take these off now. The toxin doesn’t spread the way we were told it did. Reese, our Juliet—patient zero, was, in fact, the guinea pig. The solvent between the chemicals your mother mixed into Reese’s bloodstream created a toxin that could only be transported by the combination of two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen, in turn providing the perfect carrying source of fresh-water to infect more than three-quarters of the population. Filtration systems couldn’t even detect the toxin since your mother made it appear almost identical to H2O.”
All of the patrols are staring at Locke in silence. “We thought you were a dumbass,” one of them says.
“Nah, it’s the quiet ones who are the geniuses,” another says.
They all begin removing their biohazard suits. They all look similar, military builds with shaved heads.
“We were all Marines,” another one says. “Well, except him,” they point to a tall blonde guy. “He’s a Navy medic.”
“I have to be honest,” Locke says. “I’m not sure I know how to help her but I will do what I can.”
“I can help, too,” the medic says. “We’ll at least see what we can do to prolong her life.”
“Reese was injected with a mind-numbing agent when you both arrived here with the Chipley troops. It should wear off within an hour. When she’s fully coherent, we’ll examine her so we have a better idea of whether or not we can help. The toxin in her bloodstream is a little different than the Juliets’ outside of this bunker, so it’s difficult to know exactly how to help without taking a closer look.” The barrage of information they are all offering up is making my head spin, but I’ve picked up on the key points—they want to help Reese and the state she is in right now is only temporary. I want to shake her until she snaps out of it, but I know better than to rouse her from whatever subconscious place she might be in. She’s a Juliet and I had no idea. She doesn’t act like some of those mongrels we came across, so I’m still not a hundred percent convinced it is true.
Looking back...there were moments, though, moments that could prove some truth. Yesterday, when I woke Reese up, she didn’t know who I was. She also experienced hallucinations and the desire to eat flesh. Although, I have encountered the same symptoms on occasion.
“Do the people of Chipley have the same toxin in their bloodstream?” I need to know if their answers differ from Mom’s.
“No, the hormones in the food were chemically mimicking the Juliet Toxin so the Chipley residents could combat those who were actually infected.”
“Why cause a war when she could have infected all of the prisoners of Chipley in the first place?” I ask, wondering if there was actual logic behind her plan or just plain madness.
“Her plan failed,” Locke says. “Her intention was for every Juliet to self-destruct. The only smart thing she did was have a backup plan involving prisoners who could be used as disposable combatants if her plan disintegrated. Things went badly, leaving a significant number of Juliet victims alive but deranged;, hence her Plan B. People shouldn’t play with science unless they are one hundred percent confident in the results.” In other words, Mom is a fucking moron. I could have told everyone that.
“As soon as the prisoners eat normal, and non-chemically treated food, they will be okay. However, your mother’s idea was to execute each one of the prisoners of Chipley once the Juliets were all dead...including Reese.”
“What’s going on?” Reese asks in a hazy, hoarse voice. I run to her side, peeling her off the ground where she fell from JJ’s grip. I let her look around before I answer her. She takes in the scene and the lines on her forehead instantly deepen as her eyes gloss over. “What happened?”
“I killed them all,” I say flatly. She grips her hands around my arms and buries her face in my chest as her entire body convulses in so
bs against mine. “Reese, we need to talk.”
One of the men grabs a chair from behind him, lifts it over his head and places it down in front of me. I help Reese sit as she looks at each one of the men behind me. “Who are you?” she asks. She probably doesn’t recognize any them without their biohazard suits on. How would she know what they actually look like?
“They’re good guys,” I tell her. “They’re going to help us.”
“Help us?” she asks.
“Reese, you don’t remember what happened when you were first brought to Chipley, right?”
She shakes her head before whispering, “No.”
“You were my mom’s pincushion. She used you to create the Juliet toxin. It’s quite a long story, but—“
“These people all died because of me?” is all she can ask. She put two and two together much quicker than I would have.
“This is not your fault, not even a little bit. I’ll catch you up on the details later, but right now, a couple of these men are going to see if they can help you,” I tell her.
“I’m a Juliet?” The look on her face makes my heart hurt. The thoughts in her head must be fuzzy, even without the drugs, just trying to comprehend what this means, what her future holds, whether or not we would even want her to survive.
“You are the Juliet,” the medic says to Reese before turning around and addressing the rest of us. “We should do this now. Prolonging this won’t give us the answers we need.”
“Lead the way,” I tell him.
“We’re going to keep an eye on the happenings in Coldhall,” one of the other Marines says. “We’ll catch up with you in a bit.”
I scoop Reese up in my arms, holding her tightly as we follow the medic and Locke down the hall and into what looks like a lab. As we close ourselves into this large space, I lower Reese down, leaving her standing, frozen, in the center of the room. She peers in every direction, her eyes open wide, allowing all of us to understand the fear she must be feeling right now.
Locked In: No Way Out Series - Book One Page 26