Project Integrate Series Boxed Set

by Campbell, Jamie

  “Got it, we’re going to be back late. Tell the others and make sure you get them in safely,” I replied.

  “Focus on keeping yourself safe. I’m going to kill you if anything happens to you, okay?”

  I smiled, despite the fear. “Okay, got it.” I hung up and turned back to Lochie. “Do you know where Harper’s Crossing is?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Head there. We need to go down Shawshank Road, it’s closed but it’s safe. There are several roads off there, we can use one of them to lose the SUV.”

  Lochie nodded and turned at the next corner to head in the direction we needed. The Agents did the same behind us. They followed us the entire way.

  By the time we reached Shawshank Road, they were in bumping distance to us. The wooden roadwork barriers were quickly approaching.

  “What do I do?” Lochie asked.

  “Go through them.”

  He stole a glance at me, making sure I wasn’t joking. I wished I was. We all braced for impact as the car hit the barrier. The wood split, sending pieces in all directions. Our passengers whimpered with the loud crack.

  The car skidded along the rough gravel. The tar of the road had been pulled up, leaving nothing but the dirt and rocks of the base. We lost speed, but so did the SUV.

  The sedan crunched along, Lochie had trouble keeping it straight as the tires screeched from side the side. We were all hanging on for our lives as we were thrown about.

  “Which road do we take?” Lochie’s voice was strained as he gripped the wheel.

  “Any, they’ll all lead us somewhere we can use to get back to town.”

  “Everyone hang on.”

  He didn’t need to tell us twice. We all gripped anything we could even tighter, waiting for the impact of the turn. Lochie missed the first road we passed and kept going.

  The second road went past too, and the third and fourth. We were going to run out of roads. “We can’t reach the end, it leads nowhere. You have to take one of them,” I warned.

  Lochie clenched his jaw tighter, the strain showing in the muscles. I wished there was something I could do to help him but it was all up to him.

  I glanced in the mirror, the black SUV still loomed there with us. If they were planning on running us off the road, I got the feeling they wouldn’t have much longer to wait.

  We passed the seventh road and at the very last minute, Lochie spun the wheel to the left as far as it would go. He pulled on the handbrake, forcing the turn. We were pushed to the side as the vehicle arced around. The tires squealed with the effort, the engine roaring like a wounded bull.

  We skidded for so long, I thought we were going to spin right around in a circle. One look at Lochie told me he was struggling to regain control. He gripped the steering wheel but it kept slipping, doing whatever it wanted to do regardless of his efforts. He took off the handbrake, trying to get some control back again.

  There were several large trees in the fields surrounding us. I wondered how long it would take us to smash into any of them. I had no doubts it would hurt and the impact could be deadly. I was under no illusions that we might not be able to walk away from the crash.

  CHAPTER 8

  “Come on, come on,” Lochie urged, muttering under his breath. The car started to slow down, my heart started to beat again. We didn’t have time to celebrate before he hit the accelerator. We had landed off the road in the dirt and grass, he had to maneuver back to the tar. At least the side road was covered, the road works hadn’t made it out there yet.

  My eyes kept flicking to the mirror, waiting to see the SUV. We barreled down the road but I didn’t see it again. Lochie had done it, he’d lost them. I didn’t believe it until we had put at least a few miles between us and several corners had been turned.

  Just to make sure, we wound our way back to the bunker. It took us an extra three hours to get there but we made it safely. We didn’t see the black SUV again.

  Lochie parked the car and I led them all down to the bunker hatch. We climbed down the ladder and joined the others. The satellites were all buzzing with activity as they settled the members in.

  I gave the four members a quick tour, leaving them in the hands of Roxie as she assigned them beds and showed them where the showers were.

  I found a quiet corner to speak with Lochie. “Are you okay? You were all kinds of awesome out there.”

  He nodded but the fear was still in his eyes. He would never admit to me how shaken he was by the pursuit, but he didn’t have to – I knew already.

  I wrapped him in my arms, snuggling into his chest. “I can’t thank you enough. I’m so sorry it has to be like this.”

  “You’re worth it, Jones.” It was starting to grate on me less the way he called me that. Maybe one day I wouldn’t even notice it. “Just promise me one day we’ll be able to have a normal date, like a picnic or something.”

  I smiled, that was definitely something I could do. Even if we did go to war, I would make sure it happened. “I promise.”

  “Good.” He reached down and pressed his lips to my forehead before releasing me. In the chaos of the bunker, it was impossible to pretend everything was okay and we could stay in each other’s arms forever. Especially when I was considering taking off to Trucon with Garrick.

  I took Lochie through to the meeting hall, expecting Krom would be waiting there. Garrick, Kyle, and two others were huddled together. The moment they saw us, Garrick hurried over and gave me a hug.

  “Thank God you made it back,” he whispered. “I’ve been so worried about you.”

  “We’ve been in worse,” I tried to smile. His eyes flicked to Lochie behind me, the change in his expression was hard to miss but he didn’t say anything. “Did everyone make it out?”

  Kyle took the question. “We are missing two but it’s not clear if they were missing before today or not. Several of the members don’t recall seeing them for a few days, at least.”

  “So all the vehicles made it back?” He nodded, relief flooded through me. The knowledge that we had managed to pull off the rescue was going to take some time to sink in.

  “Who is this?” Krom asked, his booming voice echoing around the near-empty room. He was looking at Lochie. “You are not one of us.”

  Lochie put his hand out for Krom to shake. “I’m Lochie Mercury, it’s nice to meet you.”

  Krom stared at his hand before finally taking it. I had the feeling I had to explain a little further. “Lochie is a human but he is my friend, he knows what’s going on, he’s not a threat at all. He majorly helped us today.”

  “We can trust him?” Krom asked me, ignoring the human in the room again.

  “We can,” I reassured him.

  “He’s human?”

  Much to Lochie’s credit, he didn’t seem to mind being spoken over. He just stood there, looking as gorgeous as he always did. “He’s really human, yes.”

  “He knows about us?”

  “Yes.”

  “He helped today?” I nodded. “Has he been checked for weapons?”

  I ignored the snarky grunt from Garrick at my side. “He doesn’t have any weapons, he’s not going to hurt us.”

  Krom seemed to accept that, going back to business. “There is a lot of work to be done, organize the members and then we will get ready for our next step. My colleagues back home have sent a message to the Department, I am certain they will not try to find us tonight.”

  With a shake of his head, Krom dismissed us.

  I hurried through the bunker, trying to help wherever I could. After only a few minutes, one of the satellites took Lochie away, needing a pair of strong hands to help her. I went through to the dormitories, going to each one in turn to make sure they were ready.

  As I moved about, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy. Krom might have been confident the Department wouldn’t come looking but I wasn’t so sure. All the microchips in everyone’s shoulders would be a nice big blip on their radar. I just prayed the bunker would
hide their signal, like it did with my phone.

  In the third dorm, a girl was sitting on her bunk bed, crying her eyes out alone. I sat beside her, placing my arm around her frail shoulders.

  “It’s okay,” I whispered. “You’re safe now. They aren’t going to hurt you anymore.”

  She leant against me, her wet tears dampening my t-shirt. “I can’t believe it.”

  “Believe what?”

  “That we’re out,” she sniffled. She pulled away to stare me in the eyes. I recognized her as Marigold, I’d spoken to her a few times in the complex. “I thought we were going to die in there.”

  “Me too.” I tried to smile but it didn’t quite work out. The memories of being in the complex were still too close to the surface not to hurt anymore.

  “I thought you were dead.”

  “You did?”

  Marigold nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes. “The guards told us you tried to escape so you were killed. They told us anyone that tried to leave would have the same treatment. We were terrified. Garrick is okay, too?”

  “He’s fine, he helped get you out today.” I looked into her sad eyes, they seemed to have aged a thousand years in six weeks. “I’m really sorry about what the Department did after we left. None of you deserved to be treated like that.”

  “What are our leaders going to do with us?”

  “I’m not entirely sure yet, but it’s not going to be bad. They love us, they only want the best.”

  Marigold flashed me a smile and I could see the hope in her face. I helped her down to the showers so she could wash away the dirt and grime. I left her there, going back to my routine of checking each of the rooms.

  The members moved about like zombies, still trying to comprehend what had happened. I quickly learned not to sneak up on any of them, they would flinch with the slightest of noises. Whatever had gone on in the complex had traumatized them. It was difficult to remember they had been normal teenagers before the complex. None of us would ever be the same again.

  I went to find Lochie, rescuing him from whatever satellite had him working his fingers to the bone. As I walked through the hallway, a strong hand dragged me into one of the smaller meeting rooms. The door closed behind me.

  Garrick still had a hold of my arm when he spoke. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  I had no idea what he was talking about. “I’m working, helping the other members. What do you think you’re doing?”

  “About Lochie. What are you doing bringing him here?”

  “First up, I didn’t bring him here,” I started. “He came here on his own accord. Secondly, he’s been helping all day. He lost the Department when they were chasing us. Thirdly, it’s none of your business.”

  My answer didn’t seem to please him, I knew it was a bit optimistic hoping it would. “Of course it’s my business. The last time you saw him, you came home with massive bruises on your shoulder that he put there. What are you doing even talking to him?”

  “Because he saved me that day, I could have been lynched if not for him. He’s forgiven me for lying to him about being an alien and we’re back together. I want him to be here.”

  “Well, I don’t.”

  “I didn’t expect you to.” I crossed my arms, refusing to apologize for Lochie’s presence. He had helped us today and I wasn’t going to kick him out. Even the thought of saying goodbye to Lochie now made me dread it deep inside.

  Garrick crossed his arms to mimic me, showing me he could be just as stubborn as I was. The joke was on him, I already knew how pigheaded he could be. I had spent three weeks holed up in a trailer with him.

  I sighed. “Garrick, we have bigger issues to deal with than Lochie being here. I’ll try to keep him out of your way if that makes it any better.”

  “He can’t stay here.”

  “He wasn’t planning to,” I replied. “He’s just helping.”

  “I don’t like this,” Garrick said gruffly.

  “You don’t say.” I rolled my eyes. “But promise me anyway you’ll behave. I don’t want to have to stand in between you both when you decide to have another punch up.”

  “I’m not promising anything.”

  I gave him my best puppy dog eyes, hoping it would soften him. Garrick stared at the chairs, the walls, anywhere rather than at me. I was getting to him, I could tell.

  His eyes finally made their way back to me. “Fine. But if he gets in my way, I’m not going to be nice about it. I will hurt him.”

  “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” I smiled, hoping to lighten the mood just a little. It didn’t work. Garrick cast a scathing look my way before flinging the door open and stomping out. He would be okay once he calmed down a bit, I was sure it was just the stress of the day getting to him. At least I hoped that was all it was.

  Garrick and I had skirted around the topic of the time we had kissed and he said he had feelings for me ever since the Originals had gone public. It was far easier pretending it never happened. It was only moments like when he did things like drag me into rooms and interrogate me about Lochie that reminded me of the issue.

  I left the meeting room and continued my search for Lochie, hoping I found him before Garrick stumbled across the poor guy. I stopped one of the satellites. “Have you seen Lochie?”

  “The human?”

  “Yeah.”

  “He’s in the laundry room,” he said before scuttling away. I wondered how Lochie felt being the minority race in the bunker. For a change, he was the odd one out.

  I made a beeline for the laundry, finding Lochie throwing piles of dirty clothes into the washing machine. I picked up a pile and dumped it into the drum.

  “Thank you for helping today,” I started, not even knowing where to begin thanking someone for risking their life like he did. “I really appreciate everything you’ve done. You didn’t have to hang around and help out.”

  He gave me the lopsided grin that made his cheek dimple. “No problem.” His nerves seemed to have calmed down which was a good sign he’d recovered from the rescue mission. Hopefully there wouldn’t be any long term effects.

  “Your driving has improved,” I teased. Lochie was normally one of the most careful drivers I knew.

  “I’m getting used to being chased by people.”

  “At least you didn’t have to dig the chip out of my shoulder this time.”

  He finished with the last piece of clothing. I dumped the washing powder into the machine and closed the lid. After turning a few dials, it rumbled to life.

  Before I could stop him, Lochie lifted me up to sit on the closed lid. He wasted no time in covering my mouth with his. I slid my arms around his neck, my hands getting tangled in his caramel hair. He pulled me closer against his body, so close I could feel his heart beating against my chest.

  I wrapped my legs around him, making sure he couldn’t go anywhere. His lips were so soft on mine but he pulled them back too soon. Lingering just over my mouth, he teased me, running his lips back and forth across mine.

  “Lochie, I love you,” I whispered.

  “I love you too.” His breath tickled my skin, I knew he was smiling without having to see it for myself. His lips collided with my own again. He kissed me deeply, passionately, like there was no tomorrow.

  We were breathless before too long but I still hadn’t got enough of him. I wished we were completely alone, somewhere nobody else was and wouldn’t be for a very long time.

  “Oh,” the voice came from the door. We jumped apart, I felt like I was two years old and being caught doing something I shouldn’t be doing by my mom. One of the satellites stood there, a load of washing in her arms.

  I slipped off the washing machine, instantly missing the warmth of Lochie’s body up against mine. “We were just doing the washing, that’s more?”

  She nodded, dropping the pile on the floor before hurrying out again. I couldn’t help it, I burst into laughter. Lochie did too, we stood there laughing like a pair o
f fools. All the stress of the day flooded out of me, leaving me giddy like only Lochie could.

  I had to gasp to regain my breath. “We should get another of these machines going.” I picked up the abandoned pile and moved to the next free machine.

  “Was that bad? That we got caught, I mean,” Lochie asked. His cheeks were a slight shade of pink. It was adorable.

  “The rules say we aren’t suppose to date anyone, but the project no longer exists. I guess it might take them a while to get used to seeing one of them with one of you.”

  “An alien and a human, is that so bad?”

  I stopped to take his hands in mind, looking into his eyes to make sure he knew I was being sincere. “Not bad, just different. They haven’t seen it before. With all the bad publicity, they didn’t think any human would want an alien anymore.”

  “When I see you, I don’t see an alien. I see Amery Jones, the girl who I’ve loved since fourth grade.”

  “When I see you, I see the guy who has been bugging me since kindergarten,” I joked, kind of. It brought a smile to his lips anyway before he planted another kiss on me.

  He held my hands in his, staring at my mark. “This triangle, that’s an alien thing, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You don’t cover it up anymore.”

  “I don’t have to, everyone knows what I am now. There’s no point in hiding it.”

  “Are you ever going to tell me what it means?” He asked, a gorgeous grin on his face. He had asked me what it meant once before, almost a year ago at summer camp. I couldn’t even imagine telling him then. Now, it was a possibility.

  “Maybe one day, if you play your cards right.” I reached up to give him another kiss. His lips were addictive.

  A forced cough came from the doorway and we moved apart. I got the feeling it would be very difficult to find anywhere private in the bunker from now on.

  CHAPTER 9

  The Department headquarters looked imposing and scary as it stood before us the next day. I had tried to get out of coming with them so I could spend more time with Lochie, but Krom wouldn’t let me. Apparently I was important to his plan or something. I still hadn’t figured out why he wanted me there.