CHAPTER TWENTY
Dax
Seawater spews out of my mouth as waves hurl me against the pebbly beach. I try to lift myself but another wave crashes on top of me, filling every orifice with salt and spinning my world upside down. I manage to crawl forward although the tide is trying to pull me back. Eventually, spitting sand and seaweed, I make it up the shore and away from the water. I try to remember what happened. The sea was rougher than we’d expected, a big wave came and knocked us, and I’d lost my grip and fallen. Had we all fallen? I stand up, shaking myself off. Where are the others? I scan about, panicking. Did they fall off the life pod as well? They must have; no one could have survived that wave. But where are they? I spin around. There’s just the sea. The shore is deserted. And behind me a dense jungle creeps forward. Panic rises up.
“Trinity! Hayden!” I call out. But there’s no one here. Then I see it. A shape covered in seaweed, half submerged. My dream comes flooding back to me as I dash toward it, dread filling me. “Trinity!” I yell, but as I reach it I see it’s just a lump of driftwood. “Hayden!” I call. “Anyone here?”
I lift my watch and tap it, but the thing’s dead. The salt water must have drowned its circuits. I don’t know what to do. There’s no one here. What happened to the other escape pods? Where did they land? Was there anyone sane enough to control them? I look toward the jungle and notice a giant black column of smoke rising up. What’s going on? At first I think it’s someone’s campfire, but there’s a weird smell to it. And that must be one giant campfire to send up so much smoke. I hesitate, but smoke must mean people. I head toward it. There’s nothing else I can do.
The heat from the jungle hits me as soon as I enter, taking away all memory of the fresh sea air. Mosquitoes buzz around my ears and start drinking my blood. There are too many to swat away. The jungle feels very wrong, but I don’t know why. Maybe it’s just the dense undergrowth and unexpected noises from all directions. Is that a snake or a vine? I shrink away. Is this Cader Sanction, then? I remember the plan. Should I go on alone and try to find Otis, or should I find the others? They could have drowned at sea. I remember my dream again. Maybe that was a warning. Maybe everyone I love is dead.
I shake my head. I can’t think like that. I have to push on, whatever’s happened. We have to rescue Skylier and Ayah, and the other Grounders. I have to believe they’re all still alive. If I reach the source of the smoke, I might be able to find people, and then from them I’ll find out if this is really Cader Sanction.
Suddenly I hear the sound of marching. Hundreds of feet crashing rhythmically through the undergrowth. I’m gripped by panic. I have to hide. They’re coming from behind me, so I duck into some bushes and hope they don’t come my way. A squad of soldiers could be a good thing or a very bad thing, but I’d rather find out before I decide whether to show myself to them. The feet stomp closer, and then the first soldiers appear out of the trees. I hold my breath. They’re all dressed in bright white. Purenet soldiers.
What on earth are Purenet soldiers doing here? As they approach, I can see they’re carrying huge black crates. I can see shapes in them. They’re thrashing about—wild animals, perhaps? My heart stops. No, those are people. People caged up and crazy. Tortured…
“Halt!” someone yells. My heart beats fast because they’ve stopped right in front of me. I’m terrified someone is going to spot me. Please don’t look my way. Please don’t. I realize how inadequate my hiding place is.
This heat is horrible. The sooner we get out of here, the better. Block! Xander’s voice appears loud and clear in my mind.
How did he get here? What’s going on? I hope against hope he hasn’t already picked up my stray thoughts. Sometimes I worry he can hear me even when I’ve blocked him. I realize I’m holding my breath. Then I see him marching out to the front of the soldiers. He’s talking into his watch, issuing commands. If he had been badly injured by Hayden’s gunshot, it doesn’t show. There isn’t a scratch on him. He looks healthy and smug. No doubt pumped with Purenet drugs keeping him on his feet.
“Report. What’s the situation with the Chancellor of Cader?” he barks. I strain to hear the answer, but he’s just too far away. He pauses, and I can see him smile. “Good,” he says. “His plane too? Bring him to me.”
What on earth is going on? He spins round abruptly and I think he’s going to spot me. I shouldn’t be here. I have to get away. They’ll find me. Part of me wants to stay and find out what’s going on, but it’s too much of a risk if Xander picks up any of my thoughts. I can’t take a whole army on my own. The squad looks like it’s staying put. Xander storms about, issuing commands. I use the opportunity to slip backwards out of the bush and back toward the denser jungle.
I need to get as far away from here as I can. I can’t go back to the beach—I’d be too exposed. But the column of smoke… something makes me feel uneasy about that, but it’s the only direction I know where there might be a chance of finding people. Once I’m out of earshot of the Purenet soldiers, I break into a run. I pound through the jungle, trying not to think about all the creatures that might be watching me. Suddenly I’m flying through the air, tripping on something large hidden in the undergrowth. I cry out inadvertently and the sound is echoed back to me by the jungle creatures. I land on my face with a thud. Mud tickles my nose, and I spit out a mouthful of bugs. I want to retch. I turn gingerly to see what I’ve tripped on and nearly throw up. My feet rest on what looks like a charred corpse. The uniform is too blackened to see who it belongs to, but it’s not Purenet.
I clamber to my feet, realizing in horror that it’s not the only body. There’s a deafening hum as all the jungle’s insects swarm to feast. I run to the next body a little bit ahead of me. They lie like a trail, and then I see where they’ve come from. A bit farther ahead, through a break in the trees, I can see the giant smoldering remains of a plane hanging precariously in the canopy. Some of the bodies littered about look like they were thrown out in the crash, but as I get closer to one, I see gunshot wounds. This plane was brought down deliberately. And now Xander’s conversation makes more sense.
I gag again. The bodies can’t have been lying out for long, but in this heat they’re already starting to go bad and the black swarms of bugs all over them make me want to vomit. I stagger away and empty a stomachful of what seems to be mostly seawater into the bushes. Then I look at the plane. There’ll be food in there, and maybe weapons. Possibly even survivors. I take a step forward, but freeze. Something lets out a low, menacing growl. The hairs on the back of my neck prick up. Very slowly I turn around and see a giant black cat poised, ready to pounce. A jaguar, I find myself thinking. It stares at me and licks its lips, smelling my fear.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Skylier
I step through the door hesitantly, and immediately see my mother and Callie strapped to large, reclining medical chairs.
“Mother!” I run forward, but stop suddenly as I see the room is lined with guards. And in the middle of the guards is the Chancellor.
“Well, well, well,” says the Chancellor with a sinister smile, folding his arms, face still betraying a frailty from the effort of recovering from the stabbing. He stoops a little, leaning on a stick. But his gaze is steely. “We were starting to wonder when you were going to get here.”
All the guns in the room are pointed at me, but I don’t care. I’m seeing red.
“Get out of my way,” I yell, and charge toward the chairs.
All I can think of is ripping out the tubes that snake around their arms and plug into their spines. I don’t care what the Chancellor or his guards do to me, I just have to stop whatever it is they’re pumping into my loved ones' poor limp bodies to poison them. As I reach them, I realize no one has moved to stop me, and that the Chancellor is laughing.
“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you,” he says, and my anger feels like fire about to burst out of my mouth.
“Don’t you dare speak to me like that!”
I cry. “You can’t tell me what to do. You can’t tell anyone what to do. You’re the most pathetic creature that ever crawled on this earth.”
To my horror, I feel tears bubble in my eyes, the sobs ready to spring forth. I swallow. I won’t lose face in front of this man. He’s still laughing. It sounds forced.
“Unplug them and they’ll die,” he says simply. “Those drugs are the only thing keeping them alive.”
I stop in my tracks. Is he lying?
“Why don’t you just give up now while you’ve still got a chance of living?” the Chancellor says quietly. The guards keep their guns trained on me, not showing any sign of emotion. “We both know how this goes. You’re going to give me your gun, and then you’re going to come quietly, because if you don’t, your family will die immediately. But we also both know that there’s a good chance you’re all going to be killed soon anyway.”
My hatred for him boils and boils. How dare he play these games with us?
Rian! I call out in my mind. If you can hear me, get out of here! It’s all a trap! Just run! There’s no response.
“Adohnes is dead,” the Chancellor continues. “Your brother will be captured.”
Rian! I call again, but he doesn’t reply. Despair begins to sink in, growing in the pit of my stomach.
“Give up. Even Dax has been caught.”
“Liar!” I burst out. “All lies! You can’t touch them, any of them! Dax is too clever for someone like you. I’d know if he’d been captured.”
“Oh, yes, because you have such a strong link,” says the Chancellor. “He didn’t care about you for most of his life. What makes you think you’re so close now? He was never going to come back for you.”
“You’re just trying to distract me,” I snarl. “I don’t believe a word you say.”
Mother and Callie are out cold. They’re covered in scars from where they’ve been tested on. I feel sick. It’s because of me. It’s all my fault they’re here. I mustn’t listen to the Chancellor. I have to take the risk, because if I don’t, then none of us have any chance at all. And if I die… well, I deserve it. I find myself lifting my gun and squeezing the trigger. It’s pointed at a guard across the room. Then I run forward, firing continuously, not knowing what I’m hitting or if I’m hitting anything at all. I just know I have to get to those chairs. I don’t care about the consequences; I’m ending this now. I hear a scream reverberating around the room and realize it’s coming from me. I’m practically at the table, but then my whole body seizes and my muscles burst into flames of agony. I yell out, my veins fizzing, and then black out.
There’s a metallic taste in my mouth as I come round, slowly opening my eyes. My head feels woozy, and the world outside swims in front of me as I struggle to focus. I try to sit up, but can’t move. My body is strapped down. I feel panicky. Where am I? What’s happened? Was I electrocuted?
Rian? I call out in my mind, but there’s no response.
The room slowly shifts into focus and I can see a giant black box in front of me. A cage or a crate of some kind. Its door is open, and it yawns menacingly at me. I must be hallucinating. A black shape appears in front of my eyes, and I realize someone is standing in front of me. I blink and manage to focus.
“Do you like it?” It’s the Chancellor. I feel numb, emotionless. He’s pointing at the box. “That’s going to be your home very soon.” I don’t know what he’s talking about. I try to shut him out. “But first I need to run some tests.”
“Where’s Rian? Where’s my father?” I manage to croak.
“But I’m your father, aren’t I?” the Chancellor says smoothly. “And therein lies the foundation of my experiment. Your family—my family—there’s something in your genes. Something… inhuman. I need to find the secret to your telepathy.”
“Where. Is. My. Father,” I snarl.
“He’s dead,” the Chancellor replies matter-of-factly. “He’s of no use to us. He’s not your real father, like I said. The secret is in your mother’s line. After all, your precious siblings Callie and Rian have the same telepathic powers my own children have. Don’t look so shocked. The young girl is very obliging under torture.”
I feel sick. Callie. My dear, sweet Callie.
Rian! I try again, sounding pathetic even in my own head. Rian, please respond! Tell me you’re OK!
I’m dimly aware of someone else entering the room. Or maybe they were there all along.
Dax! I try. Are you out there? Please! Then, in desperation, Xander! Callie! Mother! Someone!
I realize I’m struggling violently under the straps. Someone’s holding my arm. I spit at them, and try to shake it away, but they hold me firm.
“Now, now, do try and keep your dignity. You are my flesh and blood, after all,” the Chancellor says sternly.
I open my mouth and give a full blast of my lungs, releasing my pain and anguish until my throat is hoarse. I feel a pinch in my arm.
“This won’t hurt a bit,” says a voice.
Author's Note
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Bonus
I wanted to share with an author Norma Hinkens, I though you may enjoy reading.
IMMUREMENT
By Norma Hinkens.
Book description.
The Sweepers are coming. They hunt the young. Earth's end is her beginning.
Sixteen-year-old Derry and her brother live in perpetual fear of capture. They survive underground on a scorched earth overrun by gangs, clones, and mysterious hoverships. When her brother goes missing, Derry’s only hope of finding him is to strike a deal with a group of cutthroat subversives. Desperate to save her brother, she leads a daring raid to uncover the secrets behind the Sweepers’ hoverships, but she soon finds out the world she knows is a lie.
Keeping her brother alive may require trusting her enemy and opening her heart to something she never thought possible.
Immurement is the first book in The Undergrounders Series, a sci-fi dystopian thriller trilogy. If you like captivating apocalyptic tales, gritty complex heroines, and twists you won’t see coming, then you’ll love this fast-paced, end-of-the-world adventure!
CHAPTER ONE
The sun’s always two fingerbreadths or higher above the Sawtooth peaks when the Sweepers come. Never at night. I swipe a strand of long hair from my eyes and throw a nervous glance at the horizon. The scrawny cow I’m guarding has all but given up flipping its tail at the droning swarms itching for a carcass. Time to leave it to its fate.
I reach for my hunting pack, and freeze. A muffled crackling sound—too heavy for a rabbit, too light to be the cow keeling over. I hold my breath as I grab my gun and motion to my collie, Tucker, to drop beside me. My heart clatters like a wooden rollercoaster as I pan the charred hillside, my trigger finger tight on the safety. Dead trees poke up like broomsticks all around me. There’s nowhere to hide, but I’m troubled by the feeling I’m being watched. I skim the canyon again, my vision blurring in the blinding sun. A flicker of movement to my left. I suck in my breath. For one elasticized moment, I think they’ve come for me.
“Ba-boom!” My eighteen-year-old brother, Owen, presses a finger to my temple and flops his lanky frame down beside me. He slides his pack from his shoulders and rakes a hand through his wavy, black hair. “You just died, Derry Connolly.” His lips curl with satisfaction as he reaches over and scratches Tucker’s he
ad.
I take a few uneven breaths, my heartbeat stair-stepping back down from the wild ride it took me on. Ordinarily, I revel in our game of stealth, but this time Owen has unnerved me. Just last week the Sweepers extracted a kid from the camp five miles north of here.
“You zoned out again.” Owen throws me the disapproving look he’s perfected since Ma died, the one where he flattens his brows and squares his jaw in perfect alignment.
I shrug. “It’s not exactly riveting stuff watching zombie horseflies sucking on the last of our steak.” I study the stitching on his pack, reluctant to meet his gaze. Everyone’s on edge since the last sweep, and I swore I’d stay alert if I took a shift up top.
“This isn’t a game, Derry. I was on you before you even flinched. I swear, you turn sixteen and you become some ditzy girl I don’t even know. It’ll get you killed.” Owen knuckles me in the shoulder to get my attention. “Hey! Are you listening to me? They can dart you from five hundred feet and you’ll never know what hit you. Like Sam.”
Captured Memories (The Sanction Series Book 4) Page 11