“We stick to the mission,” said Heath, shooting a warning glare at Juniper. The last thing they needed was to incite a riot once inside.
“Can you get us out?” asked the woman next to Lincoln. Her bony hand caught hold of his.
Lincoln looked over at Heath, indecision in his eyes.
Heath gave a small shake of his head. It was too risky trying to save anyone. Hell, trying to get two prisoners out was risky enough.
“We’ll do what we can.” Lincoln patted the back of the woman’s hand and then let go, but she grabbed hold of him again.
“You’re a good boy,” said the woman.
Annie leaned over to Heath until her mouth was by his ear. “We should help them, too.”
“You would risk helping these people over your father?”
“No! But maybe we’ll have time to help them, as well.”
“There’s four of us,” said Heath. “We can only do so much.” Despite the odds, a part of him did want to go into the base and bring it down. He loathed knowing the State were running illegal prisons. Who knew what nightmares were being conducted on the inside? As the truck rumbled ever closer, he realized he was about to find out. His stomach clenched, knowing the kinds of cruelty the State meted out to people who didn’t follow their rules.
Fifteen minutes later, the truck slowed. Heath’s grip tightened around the weapon he’d stolen from the guard. There was no turning back now. He heard the driver talking, and then the sound of gates swinging open, before the truck continued inside the base.
He pulled aside the cloth and could just barely make out the distant gleam of Arlo’s bike as he followed them.
The truck stopped. Heath jumped out and Lincoln followed him. They adopted the posture of soldiers, something that came naturally to them, and waited by the rear gate until the driver climbed out of the cab.
“Get the prisoners signed in,” said the driver, not even glancing their way. “I’ll take the truck around the front and then debrief the boss.”
Heath nodded and turned away, keeping his head down so the driver wouldn’t notice the sudden change of crew.
Annie and Juniper climbed out, their hoods up to conceal their faces. The rest of the prisoners clambered out of the truck. The gray-haired woman stopped by Lincoln and patted his hand. “You’ll do the right thing. And thank you.”
Heath saw Lincoln grimace before they herded the prisoners closer to the back of the main building.
Around them were high, gray walls, topped by security guards and coils of vicious-looking barbed wire. The gate they’d come through had already closed behind them. The ground beneath Heath’s feet was dirty sand. Ahead of them, were a set of thick, double doors leading into the base.
Another truck was in front of theirs. Guards were offloading prisoners. Heath nodded at Lincoln. They copied what the other guards were doing, lining the prisoners into a single row, and marching them toward the double doors.
Heath let out a sigh of relief as he saw where they headed. It was exactly where they needed to go. Prisoners had their inductions in a room not far from the laboratories. It wouldn’t be difficult to get to the labs and find Dmitri and Malachi.
The prisoners on their truck followed the others without complaint. As the double doors slid shut behind Heath, chilled air ran over him. White walls and bleach-scented floors filled Heath’s senses as they passed doors with keypad locks.
The group in front stopped, so Heath and Lincoln hung back and waited, as the guard leading them unlocked a door. He yanked two of the prisoners to one side before ushering the rest through.
“Are you going to testing?” he asked Heath as he drew near. “Got these two ready to go. Looks like they’re perfect candidates.” He jabbed a finger at the visible scales on one of the woman’s arms.
Heath nodded. “I’ve got two of my own to take there.”
The guard’s pale-blue eyes narrowed. “You new to the team? I haven’t seen you in the base before.”
“It’s the first week on the job,” said Heath. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lincoln stiffen and his hands flex around his weapon.
“Heard they were recruiting ever since that last explosion at Base Five,” said the guard. “You don’t get any problems like that here. Everyone is too smart to stay out of the Black Zone. Wish I could do the same. I put in my transfer papers two months ago and have heard nothing since.”
“Testing is that way?” Heath pointed along the corridor toward the labs.
“That’s right.” The guard smiled. “You really are new here. Hey, listen—save me the trip and take mine with you. I ate something dodgy in that last town. My guts are churning.”
“Stay clear of the rat burgers,” said Heath.
“It was probably dragon.” The guard grinned. “I’ll grab the reports from you later.”
“No problem.” Heath waited until the other guard had left before ushering the rest of his prisoners into the room, keeping Juniper and Annie back.
“Don’t forget about us,” said the gray-haired woman, her strong gaze on Lincoln.
Lincoln nodded. “I never forget a pretty face.”
She shook her head and entered the room, the door sliding shut behind her.
“She’ll be haunting my dreams.” Lincoln scraped a hand down his face, a weary expression aging him under the harsh overhead lights.
Heath gritted his teeth, knowing how true that was. So many people had been injured and mistreated by the State. It was getting harder and harder to stay impartial and not care about every single one of those people. He had to harden himself. Caring got people killed.
The two women from the other group stared at him, fear and suspicion in their eyes.
“Keep your heads down,” said Heath, focusing back on Annie and Juniper. “We’re almost there.”
The woman with the dragon scales on her arm glared at Heath. “We will not be experimented on.”
“No, you won’t,” said Juniper. “We’re getting out of here.”
Heath glared at her. “All of you, keep your heads down, and stop talking.”
“You heard him,” said Annie. She pulled Juniper to her side.
They hurried along the corridor in silence, Heath and Lincoln keeping a lookout for other guards. But they were alone. They reached the doors at the end of the corridor, without any interference.
“This must be the testing labs,” said Lincoln.
Heath knelt and examined the keypad securing the door. It would take a few minutes to bypass the control. “We’ll soon find out.”
“I hate to think what they’re testing inside,” said Lincoln, as he kept watch.
“Whatever it is, they’re testing it on us,” said Juniper. “Picking off anyone who has any trace of dragon and figuring out how to kill them. We can’t leave anyone behind when we go.”
“You’re getting people out?” whispered one of the other prisoners, a skinny, wide-eyed girl, with long, green hair. “Take us with you.”
“Stop talking,” ordered Heath, casting a swift glance along the corridor. They’d be discovered any second, if he couldn’t get the door unlocked.
The lab door opened. Heath jumped back, his weapon raised, as a man stepped out, letting the door close behind him.
Annie let out a shocked cry. “Dad!”
ANNIE STAGGERED BACKWARD, stunned by the haggard appearance of her father. He had a dark bruise on one cheek and a fresh wound on his forehead. Gray stubble covered his hollow cheeks and chin.
She moved to embrace him, shock bringing tears to her eyes.
Heath held her back. “Not here, it’s too obvious. You’ll be seen.”
Annie blinked away the tears and nodded. He was right, but it took every ounce of common sense not to fling herself into her father’s arms and sob with relief at finding him alive.
Dmitri stared, open-mouthed, at Annie. “Is it really you?”
Annie nodded. “It is.”
Dmitri looked over his s
houlder before pulling the door closed behind him. “Have the State brought you in for questioning?”
“Nothing like that,” said Annie. “I’m here because of you. We’re going to get you out.”
Dimitri shook his head. “No, it’s not safe here. You must leave.”
“Not without you,” said Annie.
“We need to get somewhere we won’t be noticed,” said Heath. “We can have this conversation then.”
“How many guards are inside that room?” Lincoln asked Dmitri.
Dmitri shook his head again, a fearful look in his eyes. “You don’t want to see inside here.”
“How many guards?” repeated Lincoln, a little more firmly.
“Only two,” said Dmitri. “We rarely cause problems. Sometimes new inmates can be a handful. We were expecting more today.”
“And we were with them,” said Annie. “It’s how we got in.”
“We’ll take out the guards,” said Heath. “We can talk in your lab.”
“You shouldn’t.” Dimitri’s blue-gloved hands fluttered against his chest. “More will come. They always do.”
“We won’t be here when they arrive,” said Heath.
Annie took hold of her dad’s hand. “They know what they’re doing. And we will get you out of here.”
Dmitri keyed in the code to unlock the door. “Be careful. They hit first and ask questions later.”
Lincoln grunted and adjusted his grip on his weapon. Heath gave him a nod before opening the door. The two entered the room with Dmitri, and left the door ajar.
Annie watched through a crack in the door, her heart racing, as Lincoln and Heath walked toward the guards. Both guards had their weapons lowered and seemed unconcerned when the new guards approached.
They talked for a few seconds, before Lincoln smashed the butt of his gun into the head of one guard. Heath wrapped his arm around the other’s neck, squeezing until he slumped forward.
“Let’s go.” Annie ushered the others inside. The scent of bleach stung her nose, not quite masking the lingering odor of fresh blood.
Lincoln shot out a camera in the corner of the room. “We might be lucky and they didn’t spot us.”
“Either way, we need to move fast,” said Heath.
Annie scanned their surroundings. The room was brightly lit, with workstations in the center of the space, most available surfaces scattered with beakers and test tubes, and examination tables lining the walls.
Annie’s teeth clenched when she spotted four people strapped to tables, tubes draining fluid from them. Or was fluid being given to them? She couldn’t be sure. It didn’t really matter. It was wrong, regardless.
The stench of blood overpowered the bleach as she moved through the room. She clutched her dad’s hand tighter, not letting him get away from her. What horrors must he have seen? Whatever they’d forced him to do, Annie would make sure he forgot all about it once they were out of here.
Heath looked at Dmitri. “Do you know somebody called Malachi? He might be one of your... test subjects?”
Dmitri’s gaze went to the people on the tables. “I don’t do this out of choice.”
“Dad’s not here because he wants to be,” growled Annie, glaring at Heath.
“That’s not important,” said Heath. “But we’re looking for this guy.” He pulled the picture of Malachi from his pocket and passed it to Dmitri.
Dmitri held the picture between shaking fingers. “He looks familiar. But he’s not here now.”
“Where is he?” asked Juniper, who’d been prowling along the tables, checking the people strapped to them and releasing their bindings.
Dmitri turned to her and his eyes lit up. “You are of dragon descent.”
“So what?” asked Juniper. “Don’t think you can strap me to a table like this lot.”
“No. I would never do that,” said Dmitri. “But I can see from the color of your eyes. You have abilities?”
“Not now,” said Heath.
“Take a look at the picture again,” said Annie to her father. “Where did they take Malachi? We need him before we can leave.”
“What about us?” asked the prisoner with long green hair who’d been waiting by the door with her companion. “You can’t leave us here, not now that you’ve seen what will happen.”
“You can come, too,” said Juniper. “Just make sure you keep up.”
Despite seeing Heath shake his head, Annie was as convinced as Juniper that they needed to rescue everyone. Whatever the State were doing here, there was no way it ended well.
“The test subject you seek is in isolation,” said Dmitri, as he handed the picture to Annie. “I can show you where that is. He might not be in any state to walk though.”
Juniper growled low in her throat.
“We’ll still get him out,” said Annie. “And we’ll fix all of this.”
The group hurried to the door. As Annie pulled it open an alarm rang, making her jump back into the room. She ducked her head into the corridor, before slamming the door shut, hot terror racing through her. “We’ve got company.”
Chapter 14
“Shit! We must have been seen before I took out the camera,” said Lincoln.
“Is there a back way out of here?” Heath asked Dmitri.
He nodded and beckoned for them to follow him. “This way. We can go along the supply tunnel. It leads past isolation, so we can still collect your friend.”
Heath placed his hand on Annie’s back as they sped along, determined to keep her by his side. Now that the militia knew they were in the base, it would make it impossible to get out without a fight. People would get injured. And he had to avoid that, needed to get Annie out of this nightmare before she was dragged even farther in.
“Follow me.” Dmitri led them along a dimly lit corridor and then stopped by a metal door. “We keep all isolated patients in here.”
“Why do you have them isolated?” asked Juniper.
“Some are unstable following their treatment.” Dmitri keyed in a code and pulled the door open.
“What do you do to make them unstable?” spat out Juniper.
“It’s not his fault,” muttered Heath. “Find someone to blame for this later.”
Dmitri flashed Juniper an apologetic look. “We are working to bring out their dragon abilities.” He led them along another corridor, the air growing colder by the second.
“You’re trying to make humans more dragon?” asked Heath, his sharp gaze scanning the area as they moved.
“It’s what the State want,” said Dmitri. “To learn about their enemy.”
“So we’ll be easier to destroy,” said Juniper.
“I fear so,” said Dmitri. “The patients are in here.” He gestured to a wall of white curtains pulled around two rows of beds.
“You start down this side.” Heath gestured to Lincoln, who nodded and yanked aside the curtains, revealing sick, haggard faces.
Heath growled as he discovered a woman with her brain exposed, electrodes poking into the soft tissue. He checked her pulse, but she was dead. The lines of pain etched on her face showed him she had not gone peacefully. He gently placed her cold hands onto her stomach and pulled the sheet over her face. The State would pay for these sick experiments.
“He’s here!” Juniper rushed to the side of a bed and tapped the cheek of a pale, dark-haired man. “Malachi. It’s Juniper.”
The man’s eyes flickered open. “No more tests.”
“I’m not here to test you, we’re getting you out.” Juniper pulled the covers off Malachi and her hand flew to her mouth.
Heath hurried over and grimaced. Malachi’s bare chest was covered in puncture marks, several of which were leaking blood. He also had a ragged wound on his stomach as if he’d been opened and stitched together with little care.
“What did they do to you?” Juniper ran a hand over his clammy forehead.
“Tests, that’s all they keep telling me,” said Malachi, struggling up
on his elbows, his glazed gaze bouncing over everyone.
“Think you can walk?” asked Heath.
“I could fly, if only they’d stitch on a pair of dragon wings.” Malachi groaned and attempted to shift himself upright. “They’ve done just about everything else.”
“Not anymore,” said Juniper. “Let’s get you out of here.”
“We’re running out of time,” said Heath, suddenly filled with worry, as he saw how weak Malachi was.
“It’s fine,” said Juniper, her focus on Malachi. “We won’t hold you up.”
“Lincoln, carry him,” said Heath.
Lincoln shouldered his gun without a word, grabbed hold of Malachi’s arms and hoisted him up, trying as best he could not to disturb his wounds.
Malachi groaned and his head slumped against Lincoln’s shoulder as he fell into unconsciousness.
“Be careful with him,” said Juniper. “Clarissa will roast you alive if you kill him while trying to get out of here.”
“She should be grateful we’re trying at all,” said Heath.
“What about the others?” Annie looked around at the beds lined against the walls.
Heath’s stomach churned. He couldn’t leave them. “How are the repairs going on Hive One’s copter?”
“All good,” said Lincoln. “You want an extraction?”
Heath nodded. “We take out the guards and get a team in to extract patients.”
“You can do that?” asked Annie.
Heath scrubbed his hand over his face. “We can. We’ll use the Hive operatives.”
“They’ve got the two copters,” said Lincoln.
“Send the order,” said Heath. Danni would rip him a new one if this went wrong, but he wouldn’t sleep, knowing they’d left people behind.
“This place is going down,” growled Lincoln, as he turned away and activated his comm.
“Show us the way out,” said Heath to Dmitri.
Dmitri nodded and led them along a maze of corridors. Heath hoped the old man wasn’t taking them down a dead-end or into a trap. He’d seemed more than a little confused when they’d met, but Heath couldn’t blame him for that. Dmitri had been at the mercy of the State and forced to perform twisted experiments. It could have tipped him over the edge. Heath shot him a worried look. If Dmitri was damaged, it would destroy Annie.
Heath (Ember Quest Book 1) Page 14