“We will.”
Ian and I said our goodbyes and slammed the car doors. The sound was muffled in the blowing wind. I pulled out my GPS as Mitch did a U-turn.
The two of us hefted our packs onto our backs. Inside of them were bolt cutters, snacks, water, a few old sleeping bags, an emergency blanket, headlamps, fire starters, and other supplies. Barely enough to keep us alive if we fell into an emergency situation, but it was the best we could scrounge up in the time we’d had.
The SUV’s taillights soon disappeared into the darkness. All that was left was nightime and falling snow.
I took a deep breath. “Let’s go.”
Ian and I set out across the dark prairie as snow fell all around. My heart rate increased as our friends began the slow and treacherous drive back to Mobridge. I hope they make it.
“Stay close.” Ian walked right at my side.
“Same to you.” I was glad to have him along. Even though I would have done this alone, I hadn’t wanted to. A part of me was frightened, but the other part knew I couldn’t wait any longer.
I needed to know what was happening to my friends. To Davin. And I needed to find Sara. It was the only way to truly know what was occurring on the reservation.
Our footsteps crunched into the snowy, frozen grass, as the wind whipped through the hills. We hiked in a steady fast pace toward the fence. There were only two inches of snow on the ground, so it was still easy walking.
“Do you really think we’ll get in?” Ian’s voice was muffled behind his scarf.
I shrugged. “Only one way to find out.”
12 – BREAK-IN
Steady exhales puffed through our scarfs as we hiked across the prairie. I felt thankful that Ian was in good shape. I’d set a fast, vigorous pace, and he easily kept up.
The wind howled around us. Snow flew everywhere. Our visibility was next to none. We hadn’t pulled the headlights out since we didn’t want any light indicating our presence. Not that the guards could see it through the storm, but still, we weren’t taking any chances.
“Do you know what kind of technology they have? Any ideas of how they keep the perimeter secured?” Ian’s voice rang through the wind.
“No. I have no idea.”
I’d been wondering that myself. We were only a half mile away from the fence and had no idea what to expect. For all we knew, the bolt cutters wouldn’t cut through the fence. Or they’d have dogs patrolling certain areas. Or worse, they’d have thermal-imaging technology, so it didn’t matter what we did – we wouldn’t be able to hide.
Since the Makanza Research and Response Agency was military, it was possible they’d have the latest high-tech equipment securing the perimeter. I only hoped they didn’t. The reservation wasn’t an actual prison. It was more to keep the public separated from the Kazzies, but if Kazzies had tried to escape or thrill seekers from the public had tried to break-in… Well, that could be bad news for us.
The only silver lining was that nothing had been reported on American News Network regarding break-ins at Reservation 1. Most people avoided the reservation, not the other way around. Fear still covered our country like an oil spill coating a beach. No matter how many times we’d tried to clean up that fear, traces of it still lingered.
“So if we get in–”
“You mean after we get in,” I corrected.
“Okay, after we get in, we’ll need to move quickly. I’m still concerned about reaching their houses. If they’re still locked inside at night, like they were when you first visited, it may be hard to speak to them.”
If I find Sara, doors and windows won’t matter.
But I couldn’t tell Ian that.
“We’ll find a way to break-in to their houses if need be.” I did my best to reassure him as I pictured Sara. Her blue skin, shiny straight blond hair, sparkling topaz eyes, and a lithe dancer-like build. She’d been like a sister to me. I’d loved her like one too. I still did. And while more than anything, I wanted to see Davin, the Kazzie I most needed to find was Sara.
If we established the mental link again, I’d have access to what was transpiring inside the reservation through her. I still kicked myself daily that I’d broken that connection on that horrible day.
Pain shot through me at the memory. The memory of the deal I’d made with Dr. Roberts. I’d promised to stay away if he promised to not drug the Kazzies.
It was such a stupid deal. I should have known that he’d find a way around it. I’d been so naïve. So foolish. I’d actually thought, while I’d been in Sioux Falls going about my daily work for the past few months, that Dr. Roberts had not been harming my friends. Instead, he’d cultivated his own agenda.
The only comfort I took was knowing the Kazzies hadn’t been abused the entire time. Sharon had seen and spoken to Davin up until a few weeks ago. It sounded like everything had been going all right initially or so Davin claimed.
My footstep faltered as a new thought struck me. I quickly righted myself and trudged up a hill, not slowing despite the steep incline.
Davin was an expert at keeping upsetting details from his mother. When they’d written letters to one another, before Dr. Roberts was appointed head of all research in Compound 26, Davin had made his life seem peaceful and fine. It was anything but. Even then, the Kazzies had been subjected to tests and experiments against their consent.
But Davin hadn’t wanted his mother knowing that.
I shivered, and it had nothing to do with the freezing wind. Is Davin doing that again? Feeding his mom a quaint picture so she won’t worry?
It was exactly the kind of thing Davin would do.
Once again, I wanted to kick myself. I should have never made that deal with Dr. Roberts. It’s all backfired. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!
“Meghan, what’s that?”
Ian’s question snapped me back to the present. He’d taken over the GPS navigating, and I’d been blindly following. I stopped at his side. He was staring into the distance.
“What do you see?” Through my goggles, the world was a dark sea.
“There.” He pointed. “Do you see it? A light over there.”
I followed his finger and squinted.
He was right. There was definitely illumination in the distance.
I huddled against his side and stared at the GPS before pointing at the screen. “It must be a watch tower. Look, we’re almost there.”
The dot that showed us on the screen was extremely close to the coordinates we’d plugged in for the reservation.
“I thought that might be a tower, but I didn’t know if I was seeing things.”
“You’re not.” I pulled my hat down tighter. “I see it too.”
“So if that’s a tower, that means the fence should be close. It looks to be about fifty feet on this map.”
Ian and I carefully continued walking. He kept an eye on the GPS while I searched through the snow for the fence.
It appeared suddenly.
“Stop!”
Ian halted at my side. Both of us looked up. The fence rose at least ten feet. It was only a dozen feet away. I could barely make out the barbed wire on top.
Cold wind blew against my skin when I pulled my scarf down to speak more clearly. Ian was already pulling his pack off to retrieve the bolt cutters.
“No sign of any guards.”
Ian nodded. “Let’s hope it stays that way and that this fence isn’t strong.” He opened the bolt cutters wide and moved closer to the fence.
We both hunched close to the ground as he wedged the cutters around a chain link. With a grunt, he forced it down.
It took a few attempts, but he was able to finally cut through.
“Crap. This is going to take forever.” My words barely carried through the howling wind. I looked in dismay at the single chain link that he’d cut.
“Best if we get to work then.” Ian again opened the cutters and set to work on the next one. He kept that up, struggling at times when the cutters didn�
�t want to break through the metal.
I felt useless watching him, but there was nothing I could do. We only had one bolt cutters.
When Ian started slowing down, I knew he was getting tired. We’d already been at the fence for twenty minutes. Neither of us liked that we’d been stationary for so long, but there wasn’t much we could do.
“Here, let me try. You take a break.” I took the cutters from his hands and pried it on the next link. It wasn’t easy. I had to push incredibly hard to make it cut. After three cuts, my fingers were cramping around the tool. “A few more and I think it will be big enough to pry open and slide through.”
Ian glanced around for what felt like the hundredth time.
Since no guards or dogs had come, it seemed our wish had come true: they’d grown complacent in the snowstorm.
I grunted and pried the cutters together as hard as I could. The last link snapped. “Okay, let’s pull it open.”
We both grabbed hold of the metal. A sharp corner nicked my glove.
“Dammit.” I surveyed the damage. Wind could be felt against my palm. That was dangerous with how cold it was.
Carefully finagling the fence, we were finally able to pry it open without compromising any more clothing.
I ducked down on my belly and wiggled through. We’d cut a hole approximately two feet tall by two feet wide. Plenty big for me. Ian was another story.
He had to hand me his bag and take off his coat before he attempted it. Even without the bulky jacket, it was still a squeeze to get his shoulders through. Not to mention he was damp with snow when he stood.
The wind continued to howl as we successfully entered Reservation 1. Ian slid his jacket and pack back on as soon as we both stood on the inside.
I couldn’t see his eyes in the night, but nervous energy oozed from him. I was sure the same came off me. We’re in!
“The town’s still three miles away. Let’s go.” I sent a quick text to Amy to let her know we were inside before leading the way. This time, I held the GPS.
Now that we were inside the reservation, my gaze kept darting around. I kept thinking I was hearing things in the distance. Shouting from guards. Labored breathing from dogs. Shots fired from a gun. With each mile that passed underneath our feet, I waited for guards to come. It seemed inevitable they would.
“This seems too easy.” Ian stepped closer to my side. We were only a quarter mile from town and hadn’t encountered anyone. “It makes me nervous.”
“I was just thinking the same thing. Where is everyone?”
We both glanced through the blinding snow. Of course, we couldn’t see a thing.
“Do you think the blizzard has really chased all of the guards inside?” Ian’s eyes were barely visible through his goggles.
“It’s possible, but it seems rather complacent on their part.”
“Maybe they’ve grown complacent. Maybe nothing’s ever happened, so they don’t think it will.”
“Let’s hope.” But the bad feeling stayed with me. If there was one thing I knew about Dr. Roberts – he wasn’t idle.
We continued hiking, crouching down at times when one of us mistakenly thought we saw something. So far, all of those concerns had turned out to be nothing.
“How far out are we?” Ian slowed and stared over my shoulder at the GPS.
“Two hundred yards. The houses are lined up in a grid off of main street. Stores, recreational facilities, and the buildings that keep this town functioning line the other side.”
“And you said the twins are kept in a house on the third street, block ten, house eight?”
“Yes, at least, that’s where they were a few months ago.” I still remembered that conversation with Sara. Sophie and I live in house eight on the third street, block ten. My one and only time inside the reservation had been when Dr. Roberts and I made our deal. I’d still had my connection with Sara then. She’d explained the layout to me.
Thank goodness she did. Otherwise, we’d be truly blind.
I couldn’t fathom what we’d do without that previous information. There were twelve hundred Kazzies in the reservation. The small houses the MRRA had built housed two Kazzies in each. That meant six hundred houses, and at ten houses a block, that was sixty blocks.
We could spend all night going from house to house and we still probably wouldn’t find my friends.
“I think I see something.” Ian crouched to the ground. He had to raise his voice since the wind howled. Six inches of snow now covered it. It was still easy enough to walk through, but once it reached a foot that would be another story. It could be slow-going to Cash’s barn.
“What do you see?”
“There. It looks like a light.”
I followed Ian’s finger. Sure enough, another light appeared through the storm. It was the wrong direction for a watch tower. “Do you think it’s the guards?”
Guards had regularly patrolled the streets the night I’d stayed here.
“Could be.” Ian tugged me. “Stay down. Let’s see if it passes.”
We waited in the snow, hunched together amidst the white powder. Both of us watched the light and listened. Only the wind reached my ears.
“It doesn’t appear to be moving.” Ian’s voice rumbled close to my ear. He’d moved closer. His jacket pressed against mine.
“No, let’s get closer and take a look.”
We both crept along the cold, snowy ground. My feet had grown damp. While the winter boots I wore were sturdy, apparently, they weren’t completely waterproof. Anxiety crept up my throat, like seaweed swirling up a swimmer’s ankles. Getting wet in this cold could cause hypothermia or frostbite.
We needed to move.
“Let’s pick up the pace. It’s going to be hard to sneak around the houses without being seen.” I moved farther ahead.
Ian kept close behind.
It didn’t take long to reach the light. I stood a little straighter but still kept my voice down. It didn’t stop my smile. “It’s a porch light. These are the houses!”
Ian and I stepped closer as the first tiny Kazzie house appeared in the night. It looked like the one I’d stayed in. Clapboard siding, a real chimney, and a few windows. Each house was identical in color, size, and shape. I’d heard the term cookie-cutter neighborhoods when I’d been growing up, and that’s exactly what the Kazzie neighborhood was.
“It must be the corner house on the last street.” Ian nudged my arm. “Let’s move closer to the front so we can get our bearings. And best to put the GPS away and conserve the battery. It’s not going to tell us anything useful in here.”
I zippered my phone back into my pocket. “Okay, let’s go.”
We crept around the house. I kept looking into the windows waiting to spot movement through the curtains. Nothing appeared. The only indication anyone lived here was the porch light.
Once we reached the front of the house, a few more houses appeared on the street. It wasn’t a complete whiteout, and since more porch lights and street lights were on, we could see more.
I inched closer to the house. “Nobody’s out. They must still keep them locked inside at night. Either that, or the storm’s keeping everyone in.”
The home’s number appeared. Ian nodded at it. “Street 5. Block twelve. Number ten. You’re right. These are the Kazzies’ houses, and this must be the corner house of the neighborhood. It doesn’t look like all of the houses are occupied.”
I scanned the neighborhood and understood what he meant. Most of the houses had lights on inside, but more than a few were completely dark. “Maybe they went to bed,” I said hopefully.
“It’s only eight o’clock.”
Ian’s response made anxiety climb higher up my throat. If the Kazzies who normally occupied these houses weren’t here, then they were somewhere else. And it didn’t take a genius to know that somewhere else was not a place anyone wanted to be.
I could only imagine the confined areas that Dr. Roberts had built since taking
over the reservation. But it’s not the Compound. He doesn’t have the mechanics nor resources like he did there. I could only hope no further experimentation was being done on the Kazzies.
“Let’s get going.” Ian nudged me. “We need to move up to the third street.”
I nodded back to the prairie. “It’s probably better to stay in the dark until we reach their street.”
“Good thinking.”
We hurried back to the dark open prairie and ran as fast as we could in our bulky attire through the growing snow. I’d spent enough time in my life running that I had a fairly good idea of how long it took to run a city block. When I guessed we’d gone two blocks, I stopped.
Ian halted behind me.
“Let’s go back into town and see where we’re at,” I said.
Ian followed as we once again approached the dim lights in the neighborhood. Sure enough, we were close to the third street when the street sign appeared.
“Okay, so the twins live on block ten, house eight, so that means we have to sneak two blocks into the neighborhood and they’ll be in the middle house since houses six through ten are on this side.”
“Let’s cut through the backyards to try and stay hidden.”
I nodded. “I was thinking the same thing. We’re going to want to avoid the streets as much as possible. If guards still patrol them regularly, like they did three months ago, the more we’re off the streets, the better.”
The street we approached was similar to the first one. Lights illuminated some of the houses in the falling snow. Most of the houses were lit up inside, but a few weren’t. While I knew that eight o’clock wasn’t a completely unreasonable bedtime, I also knew that most likely, those houses were empty.
Since the backs of all of the houses in the blocks faced each other, it wouldn’t be hard to spot us if any of the Kazzies looked out their windows. Even if one of them did, I wasn’t overly worried. It wasn’t the Kazzies we needed to hide from.
It was the guards.
As we slunk into the yard of the second house, the first bright spotlight from a patrol truck shone through the neighbor’s yard.
Section 12: Book #3 in The Makanza Series Page 12