The Hive (Rasper Book 2)

by Kathleen Groger

  “This wouldn’t have been so difficult if you had just cooperated,” Kalis said in a low voice, then left my vision.

  I was exposed. I tried to talk and managed to slur, “Whad gimme?”

  “A muscle relaxer. You should sleep soon. I’m going to take some blood from you.” Dr. Collins leaned over me.

  “N…” was the last thing I remembered.

  I awoke with a white sheet over me. I tried to move my arms, but my wrists were still bound to the anti-fallout bars of the bed. I struggled to sit up a little. The plastic ties dug deeper into my skin, the excruciating pain keeping me in place.

  “Adam?” I turned my head to the next bed. It was empty. I checked the other side. Empty too. Shit.

  “Is anyone there?” Maybe the lab had a voice that could, what, untie me? The muscle relaxer must have relaxed my brain too.

  “I am here.” Carter glided out of the corner to my left.

  “Hey, Carter. Can you cut these restraints off, please?” I used an almost little girl pleading voice knowing it would most likely have no effect on a machine.

  “I’m instructed to alert those in charge when you awake.” Carter sort of frowned like he was sorry, but robots weren’t capable of emotion. Probably something in his programming.

  Great. Kalis would probably show up and lock me in some cell like they had done at Site R. When the door opened with barely a sound, it wasn’t Kalis or any of his team. It wasn’t the director, Dr. Morgenstern, or Dr. Collins.

  “Rollins?”

  He walked over to Carter and gave the robot a fist bump, then Carter left the room, the door closing behind him.

  “How are you doing?” He cut off the restraints with his knife.

  I sat up and rubbed my wrists. “Better now. Thanks. What did they do to me?” I had bandages over cotton balls on both inner elbows.

  “Blood tests.” Rollins’s look sort of reminded me of a look my dad used to give me when I was sick. “Does your neck hurt?”

  “My neck?” I rotated it around. “Not really, why?” A cold chill rolled through my veins, making me shiver like a bucket of ice water was just dumped on me.

  “You’re freezing. Here take my jacket.” He removed his black zip-up coat.

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  He pushed it at me. “I insist. Take it. Keep it. You need it more than I do.” He gave me a deep stare.

  I took the jacket and was a little surprised at its weight.

  “Thanks.” I slipped it on. It was too big for me. I pulled up the sleeves so my hands were out. Maybe it was his warmth still lingering in the jacket or the fact I finally had on something besides a tank top, but it definitely warmed me up. I stuck my hand in the left pocket, and it brushed against the cool metal of a gun. I gave Rollins a questioning look that he didn’t acknowledge. Why had he given me the gun?

  “Come on. I’m supposed to take you back to the residential wing you’re assigned to.” Rollins half-smiled. “Sorry, those are my orders.”

  “It’s okay. I understand. After whatever Dr. Collins injected me with, I’m feeling a little more cooperative.” I got out of the bed, wobbled at bit.

  “Steady.” Rollins grabbed me by the elbow, keeping me upright. “Give it a second, and you’ll be back to normal.”

  He was right. It took about a minute until I was good to go. He nodded at me, then we left.

  Rollins deposited me in the wing I shared with Adam and Taylor. After I slipped on another hoodie under Rollins’s jacket, I knocked on the guys’ doors. Neither of them were there. I prowled the halls, my hand caressing the gun. It felt like my Glock, but I couldn’t be sure until I looked it, and I didn’t dare since there could be cameras anywhere. I might have to duck into Taylor’s secret tunnel to find out. Regardless of whether it was my dad’s Glock or not, its weight and presence made me feel empowered. In control.

  Now what? I went to the library, scanning the shelves. Lots of choices, but I was too wound up to read. I wanted to explore the facility. Make an escape plan. Do something. Anything.

  As I continued to pace the hallways, the color of the walls kept getting darker. When I first came back, they had been bright white. They then went through the colors of the rainbow to the point it was almost a purplish-black bruise in color, yet somehow the ability to see remained clear. I had no idea how long I spent burning calories and making the lighting somehow match my mood, but the door finally opened.

  “Val.” Adam came inside, unescorted. He reached out to hug me. I stepped out of reach. “What’s wrong?”

  “What’s wrong? What’s wrong is that we don’t seem to be on the same page anymore.” I crossed my arms over my chest.

  He tilted his head, gave me quizzical look that reminded me of my beagle, Barney. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean since coming here you’ve been different. Ever since you reunited with your uncle, you don’t seem aligned with our goal anymore. We’re supposed to be finding Megan and getting our family back together.”

  “Uncle Darren is my family too.” His words, while spoken in a whisper, slapped me across the face one syllable at a time.

  Maybe I was being a bitch. If my parents were here, I’d want to be with them. Then again, there would be fights because I would want answers as to why they sold me to be an experiment. “I get that, yet do you see what’s happening here? They’re using us. Have been for almost all our lives.”

  I perched on the arm of one of the leather chairs while Adam sank into the other.

  He ran his fingers through his hair, making it stick up just a bit. “I know. It sucks, but he’ll take care of us.”

  “I don’t want to be taken care of. I want to find Megan. Wipe out the Raspers. Start living again.” I tugged on my ponytail until my neck popped and cracked.

  Adam leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, hands clasped together. “I don’t know if we can do that alone. I think we need help.”

  “I agree. But not from anyone here. Not from Zigotgen.”

  “Why not?”

  I told him about the history of the Seed Plot Project. About how I thought my mom was the original carrier. His face changed expression like tree leaves change with the four seasons. When I was done, he leaned back.

  “So, you’re telling me Taylor hacked into a computer that just happened to have this story on it? I mean he could have typed it up himself. Where is this computer anyway? And where is Taylor?” Adam glanced around like he expected Taylor to pop out like Carter had a knack for doing.

  “I don’t know where he is. In fact, you haven’t told me where you’ve been. I woke up in the damn lab alone.” I thrust my hands in the jacket pockets and ran my fingers over the gun to calm myself down.

  Adam squinted. “Where did you get the jacket? It wasn’t on my clothes menu.”

  I shook my head, my ponytail swinging back and forth. “When I woke up and you were gone, Carter notified them I was awake. Rollins removed my restraints. I was freezing. The assholes cut off my sweatshirt leaving me in the ice-cold room with just a tank top.” I tried not to sound like a total bitch, but the anger I felt at his small betrayal had me wound up and fuming. “He gave me his jacket, then locked me back in here. Alone.”

  I was not going to tell him about the present Rollins left me. It was none of Adam’s business. And he was making it hard to keep trusting him. I took a deep breath. Also, it didn’t sneak past me that he had asked about the jacket and didn’t answer where he was.

  “Sorry. They only took our blood. I think it’s better if we cooperate right now.”

  I stood. “Would you say the same thing if your uncle wasn’t alive? Here and in charge?”

  “Yes.” He sighed. “Maybe. I don’t know. Val, I’m so confused. I never thought Uncle Darren would be alive. I didn’t even know who he worked for. I thought he worked for a pharmaceutical company.”

  “Wait, you didn’t know he was in charge?”

  “I swear I didn’t. Dad talked
to him a lot. We didn’t get together that often. Maybe a Christmas here and there. He never married and was always working.”

  I rubbed the back of my neck. It ached from all the tension. “What did he say to you?”

  “Besides the whole ‘it’s good to have family’ thing, he talked about the important work they’re doing here. He said they’re close to perfecting a chlorine suit that would allow people to walk near Raspers without being attacked.”

  I sat back down. “A chlorine suit might actually work against them. Is that what the one guy had on yesterday?”

  “Yes. They’ve been sending groups out to test the effectiveness. I think it might be where Taylor is now.”

  “He’s testing a suit? They’d probably never let me try one.”

  Adam sort-of smiled, sort-of frowned, the actions at war across his face. “Because they would think you’d take off. See, this is why I’m thinking we cooperate. Build their trust in us. Let them think we want to help, and when the time is right we go.”

  I debated his plan. I sure didn’t like it, but it might be the only way. “Okay. I’ll try.”

  Adam leaned forward so much he was barely on the chair. He took my hands in his. “There’s something else I need to tell you.”

  15

  My senses prickled at the intensity of his tone. “What?”

  “Uncle Darren took me to his office after the dinner.” He paused.

  I didn’t say anything.

  “He opened this bottle of whiskey, then went on and on about how it had been aged and its superior taste. He gave me a swallow, but I obviously didn’t experience what he did. It burned like I was drinking hand sanitizer.” He shook his head. “Anyway, he told stories of when I was a kid and—”

  He must have noticed the get-to-the-point expression on my face.

  “Okay, so he’s telling his stories and shows me a picture on his tablet of my dad as a kid. Then someone came in telling him there was a matter that needed dealt with ‘immediately’.”

  I leaned forward. “What was the problem?”

  “The problem isn’t what’s important. While I waited, I wanted to see if he had any other pictures. I hit the home button on the tablet and got his main menu. There was something about a study called Mind Control Protocol. I was only able to read a few sentences before he came back, but it was about controlling people.”

  I let out a big breath of air. “Did it say people, or were they referencing Raspers?”

  Adam looked up like he was trying to see the answer on his forehead. “You know, I’m not sure. It said them.”

  “It would make sense that they’re trying to control the Raspers. It might be possible by tapping into their hive-mind system.”

  “Makes sense. Besides, it’s not like there are a ton of people left to worry about controlling.” He rubbed his palms together and stood.

  “I would like to see that information. Might give us a way to take the bastards down.” I stood too.

  “I doubt we can just grab his tablet without him noticing. I only had thirty seconds to look.”

  “I might know of another way to find the information.”

  “How?”

  “Taylor could hack into the computer again. He said Zigotgen has its own data cloud. What time is it?”

  Adam shrugged. “Don’t know. Probably early evening. Dinnertime. You missed lunch before.”

  We both heard the main door give a whisper as it opened. We walked out of the library, and like he had been listening to us, Carter glided in. “Please accompany me if you wish to have dinner.”

  It made me wonder if he was able to hear us. It would make sense. The whole damn place was probably wired for audio. Why wouldn’t the robots receive real-time listening capabilities?

  Taylor didn’t show up for dinner. Afterwards, Adam and I were allowed to work out in the facility gym. I would have preferred to target shoot, but the workout helped center my focus. As we were leaving the gym, Carter met us and told Adam his uncle needed to see him. Carter led me back to the residential wing.

  In my room, I tried to ignore the bad feeling I had about Adam getting close to his uncle. I scanned the clothes menu. I had to figure out how to carry the gun without wearing Rollins’s jacket. I clicked workout clothes and spotted what I could use. A workout belt, smaller than a fanny pack, that could be worn under regular pants or over stretch pants. It had a zipper to keep essentials safe, but what essentials were needed in Zigotgen were beyond me. No one had a phone anymore. The gun would be a tight fit and not easy to pull out, but it was my best option.

  I ordered it, then hit the shower. As I lathered up in the space capsule, a thought about the Rasper in the water hit me. I hurried to finish and almost ran back to my room to dress.

  “Asher?”

  “Yes?”

  “You know how you showed me the outside?” I licked my lips.

  “Yes. Would you like for me to display the outside?”

  “Yes, but I was wondering, since you said it wasn’t the current time, can you show me a certain time in the past?” I hoped she’d say yes.

  “Yes. What time would you like to see?”

  “Last night about nine p.m.”

  The wall glowed, then showed me a view of the lake. A few Raspers dotted the edge.

  “Can you widen the view?”

  The scene widened to the point I saw a large group of Raspers. Last night it had only looked like twenty or so. The scene played out, and once the guy fell in, when all the Raspers turned, I spotted them turning to a certain Rasper. He stood apart from the rest. He was dressed casually, had graying hair and a trim goatee. He nodded, then the rest turned as one and left.

  I had suspected there might be something like a local head Rasper. Last night they’d seemed to be following a direction from someone close by.

  If I could talk to him, he might be able to tell me where the queen was hiding. But to talk to him, I had to get out of here.

  So first things first. Find info on Megan, then get the hell out of here. I opened the closet and pulled out the belt I’d ordered. The gun barely fit, but it worked. I wore the belt under my cargo pants with the zipper on my right side so I could access it easily. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and was ready to go.

  A soft knock startled me. I opened the door to see Taylor leaning against the wall.

  He had dark circles under his eyes that made him look like he hadn’t slept in days.

  “Hey, are you feeling okay? Come in.” I left the door open and gestured for him to sit on the end of my bed.

  Taylor rubbed his hands down his face. “Yeah. Today—”

  I held my finger to my lips. “Asher, can you play some rock music?”

  Asher didn’t respond, but the guitar and drums of some band filled the room. Good enough.

  “Did you get to test one of the chlorine suits?” I took his typical position of leaning against the wall.

  Taylor frowned, his eyebrows pinching together. “I wish. They would never let me try one. Where did you get that idea from?”

  Had Adam lied to me, or had he been mistaken? I didn’t like second-guessing everything anyone said or did. I rubbed my right forearm. Maybe I should have paid more attention to rule number one: trust no one. “Then what were you doing?”

  Taylor swung his legs back and forth like a little kid. “More damn tests.”

  “But Adam—”

  “Yeah, I’m here.” Adam breezed into my room’s doorframe fresh from the shower. The scent of pine filled the air.

  “I gotta do something. Who wants to explore?” Taylor stood.

  “I’m in. How do we get out?” Adam stuffed his hands in his pockets.

  “I think I can work around the door locks as long as it’s past the sweep time.” Taylor checked a battery-operated watch I hadn’t noticed on his wrist before. “We should be clear.”

  The guys walked to the door. Taylor glanced back over his shoulder. “Val, you coming?”

/>   “Absolutely. I’m not staying here.” After I told Asher to stop playing the music, I shut the door.

  We went to the door that kept us locked in from the rest of the facility.

  “I only get three tries before setting off an alarm. Here’s hoping my memory is good.” Taylor swept his finger in patterns in the door’s swirling design, and like magic, it opened. “Walk with your back flat to the wall and stick to the left side. The cameras can’t pick us up there.”

  He pushed up against the wall and demonstrated an awkward penguin side-shuffle. Adam and I followed along. Once inside the circular room, Taylor stopped, counted the doors, then picked the fourth one on the right. Again, he worked his magic on the door. It opened to reveal a tunnel that sloped down.

  Taylor turned to us. “There aren’t any cameras or microphones in this section. It’s multi-leveled. I’ve only managed to explore the first two levels. Each section spins independently of the others while the ramps stay put.”

  “What did you find?” I rubbed my hand across the gun.

  We walked down the ramp. “The first level is all storage. Paperwork, old office chairs, etcetera. The second level is storage as well, but a different kind. You have to see it to experience it.”

  The first metal door we came to had one slash on it. When we reached the second door, which had two slashes gouged into it in an almost clawlike manner, Taylor drew more designs. The door opened inward, revealing a warehouse-type space.

  I walked in.

  The head of a man with sallow skin and no eyes sat on a spike.

  “Raspers,” I squeaked, almost drew the gun, and jumped back, slamming into Adam.

  He steadied me by the waist. He must have felt the gun because when he let me go, he gave me a questioning look. I shook my head. Focused on what had spooked me into seeing Raspers. The face looked real, but there was no way it could be.

  “What is this?” Adam breathed, stepping around me into the vast space.

  “This is the robot spare parts and failed prototype room.” Taylor waved his hand. “Over here are the heads. There, the bodies. The arms. The lower robotic components.”