Broken Ties (Broken Nature Book 2)

by David Meyer

  Tabitha gave Kayden a long, cold look.

  “How many times do we have to tell you that we’re not infected?” BeBo said. “Virdo made the whole thing up. He even admitted it.”

  Mike started forward.

  “Wait.” Virdo, sporting a bruised jaw, hobbled out of the Skyscraper. He gave Tabitha and the others a sad, tired look. “You need to listen to them.”

  “Ahh, another host.” Pam studied his visage. “Where are the others?”

  “There are no hosts.” He exhaled. “I made up the virus to protect Cormella.”

  Danny rolled his eyes. “Would you listen to this guy?”

  Tabitha, for her part, appeared to be doing just that. “Explain,” she said.

  “Cormella came to me after the end of Protocol Forty-Eight. She told me Kayden was to blame for everything. She was so convincing. I … I believed her.” A wistful look crossed his visage. “She came up with the satellite dish design. She gave it to me, told me we could use it to search for life. She wanted it kept secret, though. She was afraid it might draw too much attention. So, I opened up a private line to Natica. I met a couple of kids and convinced them to build the dish for us.”

  No one said anything as he paused. Virdo took that as a cue to continue. “Kay here caught wind of our discussions. So, I manipulated all of you, got you to kick her off of the Steering Committee. But she and her friends kept poking around. They got to my computer, started messing around with the dish’s software. Cormella freaked out. She said we had to isolate them, get them out of the way. She came up with the idea of pretending they were infected.”

  “That’s quite a story.” Tabitha spoke in such a way that it was difficult to tell if she was being truthful or sarcastic.

  “But she betrayed me. She betrayed all of us.” Virdo made a face. “She used the dish to leave Luminosity. I don’t know where she went. But I do know that she left this virus behind as a little going-away-present.”

  Another crunch rang out. The ground quaked. A fierce crosswind shot through the colonnade.

  “He’s lying,” Pam said.

  “No doubt about it,” Danny added.

  They both glanced at Tabitha. She, in turn, stared directly into Virdo’s eyes.

  “I agree,” she said at last.

  He looked panic-stricken. “But—”

  “My previous orders still stand.” She widened her gaze, encompassing her mob of followers. “Take them to the dome. Let the virus delete itself!”

  Chapter 60

  The mob closed ranks. Their hands became like claws as they pressed forward.

  Kayden swung from side to side, searching for a friendly face. But all she saw was anger and fear.

  She glanced down, saw the laptop clutched in her fingertips. Lifting it up, she started to type on the screen.

  But before she could produce another miracle, Danny snatched it away from her. Gripping it with both hands, he swung it like a club. The edge struck her noggin and knocked her for a loop.

  Dazed, she stumbled into somebody’s arms. Those arms shoved her and she fell. Her nose banged against the marble. Blood seeped out of her nostrils and dripped onto the platform.

  Virdo hustled forward. He and BeBo positioned themselves above her, punching at anyone who got too close.

  “Got any ideas?” BeBo whispered.

  She tried to think, but her head felt like it was stuck in gravy. Dimly, she heard voices coming from outside of the mob.

  “What’s going on?” someone asked.

  “It’s Kayden and her friends,” came the reply.

  “They caused this,” a third person added. “They infected the dome, infected everything.”

  “Get them!” a fourth person yelled

  “Kill them!” was the fifth person’s response.

  Someone socked Virdo in the jaw. He reeled and fell sideways, crumpling across her legs. Meanwhile, multiple sets of hands reached out, punching and pawing at BeBo.

  She tried to shout, to scream. But all she managed was a soft, wobbly, “Help …”

  “Glad to.” The masculine voice, loud but muffled, confused Kayden’s ears. The air buzzed. A blast of sparks and smoke filled the colonnade.

  Tabitha stiffened up, her lips curling in awkward displeasure. Then she keeled over.

  Wide-eyed, the mob took a giant step back. Picking her head off of the marble, Kayden looked toward the speaker. Her heart leapt in her chest.

  Jarven and Valhalya, their faces obscured with cloth, stood with their backs to the glass door. Each of them carried a long, thin object, which sparked gently from one end.

  Those are peacekeeper batons, Kayden realized. But how’d they get them?

  “Wow, that looks like it hurt.” Jarven looked at Tabitha, then glanced at the mob. “Anyone else want a taste?”

  Chapter 61

  For a couple of seconds, all was still.

  Then Pam stepped backward.

  “What are you doing?” Danny whirled to face her. “We’ve got to stop them, feed them to the dome.”

  She tried to meet his gaze, but failed.

  “Well, I’m not scared.” Leaving the rest of the mob behind, Mike came forward. “No host is going to—”

  Valhalya thrust her baton into his belly.

  Sparks erupted and smoke wafted into the air. Mike stiffened up just as Tabitha had done. His face took on a bloated, uncomfortable appearance. Then he collapsed in a heap.

  Pam took another step backward. This time, the mob followed suit.

  “Wait,” Danny said. “Don’t—”

  BeBo punched him in the stomach. Racked with pain, he doubled over. He managed to gasp out a breath before BeBo finished him off with an uppercut.

  Grinning, BeBo rubbed his knuckles. “I’ve been itching to do that all day.”

  Kayden wiped her bloody nose, then scrambled across the marble. She picked up her laptop from where Danny had dropped it, then ran back to her friends.

  A loud crunch rang out. The resulting quake knocked everyone over.

  Danny rose up off the concrete, working his jaw. At first, he looked dazed. But one look at Kayden was enough to ignite his hatred. “Stop them,” he screamed.

  His words jolted a few people into action. Carefully, they stepped forward.

  Kayden and her friends climbed to their feet. Jarven tossed his baton to BeBo. Reaching down, he picked up Virdo by the waist. Then he hoisted the man over his shoulder.

  As a set of stiff crosswinds passed through the colonnade, he led the group to the opaque glass door.

  “Where to?” he called out.

  Kayden darted ahead of him, taking the lead. “The communications room.”

  Jarven frowned. “But we’ll be trapped.”

  Glancing backward, she caught a glimpse of the mob. She wanted to help them, to get them to safety. But she knew it was impossible. They hated her, wanted to delete her. And nothing was going to change that.

  “Not if I can help it,” she replied.

  Chapter 62

  BeBo studied the sparking baton as he stepped off of the last stair. “Where’d you get these from?”

  “Near the dome,” Valhalya replied.

  Kayden kept up a steady, fast pace. “You mean they were just lying around?”

  “Not exactly.” Jarven adjusted Virdo’s unconscious form, shifting it to his other shoulder. “The dome caught hold of some peacekeepers, swallowed them up, bit by bit. Pretty grotesque, really.”

  “Near the end, they dropped their batons,” Valhalya added. “So, we helped ourselves.”

  “The virus is deleting peacekeepers now?” BeBo grunted softly. “That can’t be good.”

  “You’re dead, Kay.” Danny’s scream shot through the maze of stairs and hallways. “Do you hear me? Dead.”

  Kayden ran up the stairwell marked, Protocols Forty through Forty-Nine. The steps grew increasingly small and cramped and soon, her feet started to ache.

  Stowing the laptop under her ar
mpit, she gripped the railings, shifting the majority of her weight to her arms. Then she ascended the steps as they spiraled through the ceiling.

  The stairwell ended on the next floor and gratefully, she stepped into the connecting hallway. Valhalya was next, her face red and blotchy from all of all the exertion. Then BeBo arrived, cursing loudly about his sore feet.

  “Help,” Jarven said.

  BeBo handed his sparking baton to Kayden and returned to the stairwell. He returned, walking backward, with Virdo’s legs tucked under his arms.

  He and Jarven carried Virdo into the hallway. As Jarven stretched his back, Virdo stirred. Valhalya helped him up. Eyes wide, he looked around.

  Kayden returned the baton to BeBo, then headed down the short hallway. Doors, ten in total, lined either side. The big blue screens that were embedded within them continued to buzz with electricity. White lettering on the screens still announced the particular protocol associated with each room.

  She stopped in front of a door, the one that had been dedicated to Protocol Forty-Eight. As per usual, its black screen failed to emit any kind of electricity.

  Shoving the door open, she entered the room. Her shoes clicked as they passed onto the tiled floor. The ceiling fixtures nearly blinded her with their powerful lights.

  Shielding her gaze, she studied the silver machinery lining the walls. Utterly clean, it continued to emit colorful blinks and soft beeps.

  She shifted her gaze to the large screen. It was hooked up to a variety of machines, all of which appeared to be operational. That was a good sign. It indicated the room’s coding was still intact.

  Months earlier, she’d come here to stop Protocol Forty-Eight. Mere hours ago, she’d returned, hoping to stop Cormella. Now, she was back, with the lives of her friends resting upon her shoulders.

  Looking around, Jarven did a quick check of the door. “There’s no lock,” he observed. “How are we supposed to keep them out?”

  “I don’t know.” Kayden sat down cross-legged on the floor. Producing her laptop, she accessed the network. “Figure it out.”

  BeBo, Jarven, and Virdo put their heads together and began to run down some ideas.

  Meanwhile, Valhalya appeared at Kayden’s side. “Need anything?” she asked.

  “Actually, yes.” She waved her hand at the screen. “Get a hold of Titus.”

  “How do I do that?”

  She exhaled.

  “You’re right,” Valhalya said quickly. “I’ll figure it out.” Twisting around, she surveyed the equipment connected to the screen. Then she began twisting dials and flicking switches.

  Jarven hiked to a blinking, beeping machine. Detaching it from the wall outlet, he started to drag it across the floor. Virdo and BeBo pitched in to help. Afterward, they detached three other machines from their outlets and maneuvered them across the room. Carefully, they positioned two machines against the door. Then they hefted the other two machines on top of the first ones.

  The knob rattled. Something slammed against the door. The piled machines held fast, however, and the door stayed shut.

  “I figured you’d come here,” Danny called out. “Guess I was right.”

  The pounding on the door intensified. BeBo positioned himself against the machines, trying to hold them in place. “Hurry up,” he said. “This won’t hold forever.”

  Jarven scurried to the wall. Reaching a fifth machine, he yanked the cord out of the outlet. He picked up one side and Virdo got the other one. Together, they carried it to the door.

  Valhalya continued to work the dials and switches. But the best she could manage was static.

  Meanwhile, Kayden accessed the schematics she’d downloaded at the Computer Science Department. They were quite extensive, due to Miot’s enormous size.

  After a brief search, she found the specific blueprint for Natica’s communications room. Returning to the network, she accessed the folder for Protocol Forty-Eight. Typing fast, she divided it off from the rest of the Skyscraper. Then she set about adding extra code to its exterior, creating an invisible buffer of sorts.

  “How much longer?” BeBo shouted.

  “I don’t know,” she replied, typing even faster.

  “Well, hurry up.”

  She glanced at the door. Heavy machines were piled in front of it. Jarven and Virdo were busy dragging another machine across the floor. Meanwhile, BeBo leaned his back against the pile, straining to keep it in place.

  Something heavy slammed into the door. It cracked open, shifting inward an inch or two.

  A hand reached through the opening. BeBo saw it coming and jabbed his sparking baton at the fingers.

  Flesh sizzled as Danny shrieked. The hand retracted back into the hallway as a puff of smoke drifted toward the ceiling.

  Leaving their machine behind, Virdo and Jarven hustled to the door. With BeBo’s help, they forced it shut, then barricaded it once again.

  “I’ve tried everything,” Valhalya shouted. “All I’m getting is static.”

  Standing up, Kayden hurried toward her. She took one look at the controls and saw they were all wrong. “This is Cormella’s doing. She must’ve adjusted the settings in order to connect with that girl’s laptop.”

  “Can you fix them?”

  “I think so.” She fiddled with the controls, returning them to the proper positions. Then she activated a call.

  But nobody picked up.

  She frowned. That was odd. Titus wasn’t always there, of course. But usually, someone was around to answer calls.

  The heavy object slammed into the door yet again. The door cracked open for a second time, shoving the piled machinery a couple of inches. The three men put their weight against the pile and tried to push it back into place.

  Kayden tried to call Titus again. Again, nobody answered the call. Where are you? she wondered.

  “What if he doesn’t pick up?” Valhalya asked.

  “Then we’re finished.” She exhaled. “Right now, Titus is the only one that can save us.”

  Chapter 63

  Dargon faced the wall, a satisfied smile upon his face. “It won’t be long now.”

  Titus followed the man’s gaze. He couldn’t see Cormella. But he could hear her. He could hear her vibrating grains, the strange sound of her footsteps.

  “Amazing, isn’t she?” Dargon said.

  “More like terrifying.”

  “We’ll both be dead soon.” He arched an eyebrow at Titus. “I have a favor to ask.”

  He frowned. “You’ve got a lot of nerve.”

  “Oh, I think you’ll find it agreeable.” He paused. “Fight me.”

  “What’s the point? You said it yourself. We’ll both be dead soon.”

  “Don’t you want to know which one of us is the better fighter?”

  “Not really.” He dug his blade into the sand and gave it a sharp flick. Auburn grains went skyward, flooding his brother’s eyes.

  Dargon cried out. Ducking away, he rubbed his eyes, trying to clear them. Meanwhile, he swung his sword in blind fashion.

  But Titus didn’t attack him. Instead, he thought hard, recalling Natica’s previous scrape with sandswarms.

  Sheathing his blade, he cupped his hands around his mouth. “Head for the compound,” he screamed.

  A rush of wind swallowed up much of his shout. But a few people situated around the lower half of the ramp heard it. Twisting around, they darted toward the compound.

  He climbed onto the ramp, then ran up it. Ahead, he saw lots of Naticans, lots of the Banished. Many were dead or dying. The remainder stared dully at each other, transfixed by terror.

  “The compound,” he yelled at anyone who would listen. “Go to Miot Compound.”

  The Naticans who heard him got the message. Swiftly, they galloped down the ramp.

  He kept going, warning everyone he passed.

  Then someone grabbed his shoulder.

  Glancing back, he saw Stanner. “Let me go, Private. I have to warn the others.
”

  “It’s too late for them, Sir.”

  The sky overhead remained clear. But west of the fort, it was gone, completely cloaked by auburn sand. Cormella, he knew, was close to the wall. Soon, very soon, she’d climb right over it.

  “Run,” he screamed as loud as he could.

  But nobody else heard him.

  He focused his attention on the fort’s interior. Private Burke stood there, not far from the wall, stared at the approaching storm.

  The storm thickened as it stretched over Natica. It grew darker and darker, eventually blotting out Titus’ view of the moon and stars. He took a step backward, ready to make a run for it.

  And then she appeared.

  Cormella stood on top of the wall, directly above the busted signal-blocker. Fingers curled into fists, she aimed her gaze at all of Natica. A satisfied smile settled upon her sandy lips.

  She hovered there for a few moments, surrounded by a storm of her own making. Then she lowered her head. The layers of sand shifted with the movement, but not all at the same time. The result was that her face looked weirdly blurry for a moment before firming up again.

  Titus swallowed back some bile.

  Her gaze reached Titus and she lingered on his visage for a few seconds. He could’ve sworn he saw a spark of excitement in her eyes.

  She turned around. Hands and feet pressed to the wall, she scampered down the concrete. She moved at high-speed and before long, she stepped off onto the sand. Her gaze went to Burke. Her eyes glinted in the dim light.

  “Run,” Titus yelled.

  The shout jarred Burke and a look of sheer fright filled his visage. Backing up, he tried to retreat.

  Cormella cocked her head, licked her lips. Then she zoomed after him. She moved incredibly fast, her gold feet lightly striking the ground.

  She overtook him in no time. Reaching out her arms, she seemed to grab his body, yanking him backward, embracing him in a tight hug. Some gold particulate flooded from her form, forming a thick, impenetrable cloud of airborne debris.

  The debris swirled about, looking very much like a mini-sandswarm. It spun and whirled in a fairly tight area. Then it started to gain speed.