After a long pause, he finally nodded. "I will."
She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Will you help me kill him?"
"I don't know that I can do that," Gary looked like he was going to be sick.
"You have a problem with killing someone?"
"It's not that."
"Then what is it?"
"My boss. If I move against Moreno, I will have to answer to him."
"Can't you convince him of what's going on and why it's important?"
"I don't know."
"OK, so let's say you piss your boss off. Do you really care at this point? When, potentially, the whole world is at stake?"
"It's not that simple. I'm at the mercy of the Boss just like you are. If I defy him, he will hurt my family."
"You can't get them to safety?"
"My wife and daughter? Maybe I can get them out of town before he finds us. But he has Jason."
"So, Jason is..."
"My son."
"Oh, I wondered about that. Why does he call you Gary and not Dad?"
"I didn't raise him."
He didn't offer more explanation and Sydney got the feeling he didn't want to give more, so she let it drop. "Why does your boss care about Moreno so much?"
"Money," Gary said simply. "Boss knows Moreno is a crazy bastard, but he supplies our organization with a lot of product. He's our main supplier. He makes millions a year for us."
"And he doesn't believe the stuff Moreno has been telling him?"
"Hell no. Would you?"
"Good point."
"Basically, he doesn't care what kind of crazy shit Moreno is into. As long as he's happy, he's making Boss lots and lots of money. And it's my job to keep him happy."
"Shit. Well, what are we going to do then?" Their mutual silence said it all.
Xander
The sound of the front door opening and closing below finally got Xander out of bed. He needed to distract himself, and maybe ET and Zak had news for them. Shay came out of her room at the same time and they both slumped down the stairs.
“Hey!” Zak called to them.
In the living room, ET was sitting bags on the table and practically smiling. He looked significantly better in jeans and a tee-shirt that fit him.
“You look nice!” Shay told him and helped unload ET’s arms.
“Any news?” Xander asked, cutting to the point.
“Yes,” ET’s tiny smile faded.
“What?”
Zak answered. “We called the police station and they said no arrests had been made. So we pretended like we were there and saw someone getting arrested. I acted like a witness. They put me on hold a long time and it sounded like they transferred me a bunch. Then a new guy came on. He started asking a lot of questions. Really suspicious questions. Not like ‘I think you did it’ type of questions. More like, ‘I need to know what you know’ questions.”
“Who do you think it was?” Xander could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up.
“Maybe the guys who blew up Moreno’s compound?” ET offered.
“I think,” Zak sighed. “That if someone was arrested, they are covering it up.”
“Why?” Xander clenched his fists.
“To hide that they were hosting an alien,” Shay offered sadly.
"I just don't get it," ET huffed.
"A cover up," Xander tipped his chair onto two legs.
"Why would they cover this up?" Zak grunted.
"To stop the public from panicking?" ET offered.
"Probably. The question is though—what are they doing with the people they have supposedly not arrested," Shay wondered out loud.
Xander felt his stomach sink. It was exactly what Sydney, and the rest of them, had feared. If the government was taking people who were hosts and then denying it, there was a better than good chance they were being tested or experimented on. "What the hell do we do?"
Zak leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table. "I want to know if we are even on the right track. We don't have any proof that arrests are actually happening. It's possible they are being reported wrong?
"Entirely possible," Shay agreed.
No one had anything to say for a while. ET continued to type at his computer. Shay played with her hair. Zak rested his head on his hands and stared off into space. Xander turned his coffee cup in circles watching the liquid slosh. He felt the weight of everything bearing down on him. The Colombian, the aliens, the US government's involvement. The forces against them kept stacking up. But, Xander thought, if we can get enough public interest maybe something can go our way.
"Mierda!" ET barked loud enough to make everyone else jump.
"What?" he asked the kid, dreading the answer.
"I don't understand this," he groaned.
"What?" Xander asked again.
"All of my posts are gone."
"What posts?" Shay's voice went high with worry, she knew what posts he meant but hoped she was wrong.
"All of the posts I made on the blogs. And some of the whole blogs are gone."
"Are you shitting me?" Xander stood up with enough force his chair bumped the breakfast counter behind them.
"No," ET's anger had abated and now he just sounded whiny and frustrated.
"How?" Xander balled up his fists.
"How do you think?" Shay turned to him. "The same way the arrests aren't happening."
Zak groaned and dropped his head onto the table. "This is such bullshit."
Xander wanted to punch something. Or someone. "What the hell do we do now?"
"What if we go to the media itself? Send what we have to a news station or something?"
"Like they are going to believe us?" Zak tossed his hands in the air.
Everyone knew Zak was right. Hopelessness pressed them into silence. "What the hell are we supposed to do now?" Anger burned in Xander stomach and caused a sour taste in his mouth.
"I don't know," Shay muttered.
A rasping sound caught Xander's attention and he nearly laughed when he realized Zak was firing up a bowl. Smoking weed while trying to solve the world invasion should have been a terrible idea, but considering they were all feeling desperate, confused, and downright despondent, it ended up being the best idea. Xander sat back down in time to hit the bowl. He blew out a long stream of spicy smoke and passed it to Shay.
By the time his head was heavy from the pot, Xander was calmer and more prepared to brainstorm. "What if we send the stuff we have to the media anyway? It's better than nothing..."
"We need to start worrying about them tracing us," Zak pointed out.
Xander glanced at ET. The kid was clearly stoned out of his mind. "Are you OK?" he chuckled.
"Yeah," ET muttered, but continued to stare at the table blankly.
"What if one of us pretends to be a berserker and gets arrested? Then we would know what was going on. They would realize that we are clear and not do whatever they are doing to the rest," Shay said in a wondering voice.
"Absolutely not," Xander put his hand flat on the table and leaned towards his sister. "Way too many things could go wrong with that. And even if it works, the person is still getting arrested. And I have a record. Zak, apparently has a record. And ET is an illegal. That leaves you. And there is no chance in hell I am letting you go through with this."
Shay didn't argue because she knew he was right. "Then what do you suggest we do?"
"Kill the berserkers?" he shrugged, half-heartedly.
Everyone stared at him for a moment. "Do you really think you can just randomly go around killing people?" Shay raised a brow at him. "Even if they are infected, even if you could bring yourself to do it, you would end up getting caught and charged with murder. Or taken by men in black."
"Well, it's not any worse than your idea was," he pouted. None of them mentioned that he had already killed one berserker. He remembered the wild look in Pan’s eye when he had attacked them, juxtaposed with the blank stare that came over
him after Xander shot him in the face. He shuddered and felt sick to his stomach.
"Maybe he's onto something though," Zak lifted his head from the table.
"What?" Shay glared at him.
"I mean, not, like, kill them. But maybe we can capture them."
"And do what?" Shay clearly thought he was too high.
"If we hatched one, then we can prove they exist. If we have an alien, we can take pictures and video. Send that out."
"They would just think we faked it," ET muttered, finally joining the conversation.
"But if they study the film, can't they tell it wasn't tampered with?" Zak asked him.
"Maybe. Probably."
Everyone stared at Zak skeptically. "What other options do we have?" he asked. "Anyone got a better idea?" Of course no one did. He waited for them to process his idea.
"If we do this," Shay said finally. "Where are we going to keep the berserkers?"
"I don't think keeping any here would be a good idea," Xander shook his head.
"No," Zak agreed.
"Our places are probably being watched," Shay pointed out.
"We have to assume your apartment is too."
"Right," Shay nodded.
"I think I have an idea," Zak said after a long pause.
"What?"
"I know someone."
Xander couldn't help but laugh. "Of course you do."
Chapter Thirty-Three
The next morning, Sydney woke up to the sound of her closet door being opened. Gary slipped inside and pulled up the chair he had left in the corner. “Here,” he hadn’t turned on the light so she had no idea what he was holding out for her.
“What is it?” she asked, afraid to reach out and grab it.
“A phone charger.”
“Oh!” excitement bloomed in her chest at the prospect of talking to her friends again. She didn’t know why Gary left the light off, but she reached out and took the cord from him waving her hand in the air until she found his.
“Listen,” he began in a conspiratorial voice. “I have a plan.”
Her excitement turned into a painful thump in her chest. “OK.” She tried to work up enough spit to swallow, but it didn’t work.
“Charge your phone. And keep your knife on you.”
“OK.”
“Javier brought back two more…berserkers last night.”
“Who?”
“The smaller of Moreno’s goons.”
“Oh.”
“He wants you to…he calls it “take” them.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah.”
“What’s your plan?”
“I’m going to see if I can get him to test your control over the other two.”
“Is the blonde awake?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s she doing?”
“Nothing. Just like the jogger.”
“And if I can control the two of them at the same time?” Sydney was sick to her stomach with both dread and nerves.
“Then you will need use them to help you get the hell out of here.”
“What?” How?”
“Use them to attack Moreno and his men.”
“What about you?”
“You’ll need to take me out first.”
“Wait! What?” She had only meant what would he be doing during all of this.
“It’s the only way for you to get out of here and hide the fact that I’m helping you.”
“What exactly are you helping with? It sounds like I’m doing all the work?” Sydney couldn’t help it, her voice was rising and getting shrill.
“Sssh! I’m giving you your phone. And I’m going to let you knock me out. And I’m not going to kill your friends after you get out of here.”
He has a point. But that didn’t stop her from giving him a glare that he probably couldn’t see in the dark. “What do I do once I get out of here?”
“Get to your friends. Hide somewhere.”
“Then what?”
“The fuck if I know. Do you whatever you need to do to stop this.”
“And you are just going to what? Wait?”
“I’ll keep Moreno and my men off your back. If Moreno makes it through this. But, if I were you, I would make sure he doesn’t make it through. And, I’ll do my best to get you weapons.”
“If Moreno and his men die?”
“Then I might be able to convince Boss to leave you alone. But I doubt it.”
“Why?”
“He is known for his love of revenge. He will want to make sure that you pay for costing him money. Plus, he seems to think that, even though Moreno is crazy, you are still worth money to someone. That’s his only way of making sense of everything.”
“Son of bitch…” Sydney put her head in her hands. Frying pan or fire? “Why can’t you just help me kill Moreno then let me knock you out.”
“Cameras.”
“What?”
“This is Boss’ building. He has cameras all over it.”
“Then why doesn’t he believe what the hell is going on?”
“Think about it. The rumor is people are going berserk with some kind of fever or rabies virus. The images don’t really contradict that.”
“This is ridiculous. Is that why you don’t have the lights on?”
“Yeah. The hallway is dark right now too. Unless someone is looking really hard it will be almost impossible to tell anyone is in here.”
“What about all the time you’ve spent in here already?”
Gary shook his head. “If Boss goes back that far on the cameras…I’ll let him think we were…” he trailed off but didn’t have to finish.
She nodded even though the implication that Gary would rape her was both absurd and disturbing. Sydney wanted to come up with another, safer, plan. After several moments of racking her brain she couldn’t think of an alternative. “OK. When is this supposed to go down?”
“Moreno will be up in a couple of hours. He’ll send for you then. If we can’t avoid it, you’ll have to scratch the two new ones. Then you’ll test your abilities on the jogger and the blonde. We’ll have to play it by ear a little. Either it will happen then, or we’ll have to do it later. Most likely it will have to be later. We’ll be on camera and if I don’t try to stop you, Boss will know what I’m doing.”
It took several moments before Sydney was able to respond. “OK,” she croaked.
Gary left her alone in the dark closet and she wished she could sleep more. She fumbled along the wall until she found the outlet and plugged her phone in. A few moments later the phone had enough charge to power up. According to the display it was four-thirty. Now she really wished she could sleep again. She knew that Xander was probably asleep, but she needed to tell him about their plan. He needed to be ready to come pick her up.
As the phone rang, her anxiety eased a little. Xander always made her feel better. The sound of his sleep-fogged voice lifted her heart enough to make her smile a little.
“Syd?!”
“Hi,” she sighed.
“What’s wrong? Are you OK?”
“Yeah.”
Xander relaxed a little. “What’s been going on?”
It took almost thirty minutes for Sydney to tell him all that had happened. When she was done, Xander stayed quiet and after a moment she though they were disconnected. “Xander?”
“I’m here.”
“Say something.”
“I’m just trying to process everything.”
“Me too.”
“I don’t like this plan.”
She smiled wider. “I didn’t think you would.”
“Why can’t this Gary take care of Moreno himself?”
“I told you.”
“I don’t like it.”
“I don’t either. But we don’t have a lot of options.”
“Can you trust him?”
“I think so.”
“You think so?”
“Yes. I can trus
t him.” Sydney hoped she was right. “I just need you guys to be ready to come get me. I don’t have any real idea when this will go down”
Xander grumbled but agreed. “We’ll be ready.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
By the time Gary came back for Sydney, she had been pacing her closet for an hour. When he opened the door and turned on the light she could only imagine the look on her face. It must have been terrified because he narrowed his eyes at her. “Moreno wants to see you. You ready?”
She knew it wasn’t an actual question. Gary was telling her to be ready. “Yeah, I’m ready,” she assured him. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “Let’s do this.”
Syd followed Gary out of the closet and to the bathroom. He gave her a few minutes to freshen up before taking her by the arm, more gently than usual, and guiding her towards the elevator. Back on the fifth floor that Moreno, she found Moreno waiting for her outside the windowed room. “Good morning!” he crowed as they approached.
A grunt was the best response she could muster for him. Trying to be discreet, she searched the ceiling for cameras and found one in the corner. She had never bothered to look before—but there it was. She had to assume that Boss didn’t watch the cameras all the time. Why would he? Unless he had a reason. Well, he is going to get a reason today, her nerves churned in her stomach. So many things could go wrong. But what have you got left to lose?
“What am I doing today?” Syd asked, playing dumb.
“We have two more for you.”
“Great,” she tried not to sound disappointed and dejected as she felt. She must have been successful, or Moreno didn’t care, because he continued, no less excited.
“Javier found them last night. Go! Go do your magic!”
Sydney studied him for a moment. She wanted to keep pretending she didn’t know what she was doing. But, if she did, it would only prolong the inevitable. The longer she stalled, the longer it would be before she had a chance to escape. Her heart pounded in her throat.
“OK.”
Moreno giggled and clapped his hands. “Wonderful. Go do it.”
“It would be a lot easier if someone would hold them down.” She motioned towards the windowed room where two women glared at them. Both of them had dark hair but one had light eyes and the other dark. Both of them looked like they had been through hell. They were covered in bruises and scrapes. “What did you do to them?”
Show No Fear Page 19