I barely looked like a clone, let alone a human.
The shower in the corner of the room was inviting. I didn’t want to change into the clothes while I was so dirty and they were so clean. I could take a shower, it wasn’t like I had anything else to do.
Stripping off my filthy rags, I stepped into the luxury of the shower. Hot water cascaded over my body, washing away the layers I’d built up over the weeks. It had been a long time since I’d taken a shower, even longer since I’d had a hot one.
Someone had been considerate enough to leave a bar of soap on the holder. I inhaled its fresh scent, reveling in the smell of clean. Defectives didn’t get luxury items like soap, I wouldn’t even know what it was if I didn’t steal it occasionally from the houses we robbed.
I scrubbed at my skin until I was raw and pink.
It didn’t remove the fact I was a hunted Defective.
When I was finished I changed into the clothes left for me. They were my size. Someone either had a keen eye or they’d checked the tags on my clothes while I was drugged.
Drugged.
The fact they had left me clothes and allowed me to take a beautiful shower was not going to make me forget I was still their prisoner. Or that they had drugged me into oblivion.
They needed to be told of my displeasure.
And that was putting it mildly.
I hurried up the steps to the top and knocked on the door as loudly as I could. Then I waited. I didn’t know if they had left me completely alone or if they would answer my call, but I wasn’t going to give up.
Knocking again, I placed my ear against the door and listened. My heartbeat was loud but I was certain I could hear footsteps over the steady rhythm.
The lock on the door clicked and then the wooden barrier between me and the outside world opened.
Rosalind stood in the frame, making sure I wasn’t going to rush past her and escape. “You found the clothes I left for you,” she said happily.
“I did. I also got the drugs you put in my food,” I replied. She wasn’t going to dazzle me with kindness. I could see right through her act, down to the woman who was keeping me hostage.
She laughed, waving away my comments like they didn’t matter. Like they were nothing. “There were no drugs in your food. It was homemade, my grandmother’s recipe. I hope you enjoyed it.”
“You put sleeping pills in the soup.”
The woman looked at me seriously, almost with sympathy. “I know you might be used to people being unkind to you, maybe doing things like drugging you, but we’re not all like that. I just gave you a meal because I thought you might be hungry, that’s all.”
She ended with a smile.
One that showed all her teeth.
She was lying.
“I don’t believe you,” I started. “As soon as I ate it I couldn’t stay awake. There were drugs in that soup. How long was I asleep? Do you have cameras down here? Did you watch me?”
“Wren, I promise you we didn’t do anything.” She was laughing again, amusement making her eyes squint. I didn’t like her. “We want to protect you, there’s nothing we would do to hurt you. Don’t be so silly.”
She was starting to make me question myself and what happened. Perhaps I was just tired?
“You’ve been through a lot,” Rosalind said soothingly. “I can understand how your… situation could make you quite tense. You were on the run for a long time and now you’re safe. You have to believe that, but there will be an adjustment period.”
I found myself nodding because I had been running my entire life and it did feel like a very long time. Perhaps in my fatigue I had dreamed up being drugged just because my world needed danger to be normal.
Maybe I’d misjudged them.
But Rosalind’s kind words didn’t change the fact they were keeping me in the basement under lock and key.
“I need to go find my friend,” I stated bluntly, to ensure it wasn’t a request but a statement of fact. If they were so kind, they would let me go and trust that I would return when I was ready.
“It’s not safe for you out there. President Stone has increased her search for you, there are troopers crawling over the city after what happened yesterday.”
“It doesn’t matter, I need to find him.”
“The best thing you can do is lie low for a few days until all the drama has settled down. Then you can go out and we can all help find your friend.”
“I don’t have a few days. He was taken yesterday and every moment counts. They could be cutting him up right now for all I know,” I protested. Why did nobody understand how important it was to find Rocky and rescue him?
Reece had understood.
I could see the urgency in his eyes when I told him the story. He knew what every second meant.
But he wasn’t here and probably would never be.
Rosalind’s bright blue eyes sized me up, taking in everything I was verbally throwing at her. “We have people on it. It’s okay, Wren, you don’t have to do everything alone anymore. We’re here to help.”
“You really have people looking for Rocky?”
She nodded. “Your job is to stay safe here and our job is to find him. It’s all been taken care of, honey.”
My job was to stay safe?
They would find Rocky for me?
It seemed too good to be true. I could go down to my room and enjoy having at least one meal a day and a hot shower whenever I needed it. It was far more than I’d ever dreamed of having.
Definitely too good to be true.
Because I’d never told her about Rocky before.
I was finished with words. Before she could stop me, I rushed to get around her. She was fast, quickly sidestepping to block my path before I could make any progress.
Damn my defective foot.
I was instantly at a disadvantage in any fight but this one was for Rocky. I put all my weight behind moving forward so I could push around her.
Rosalind was stronger than her slight frame implied. No matter how many times I shoved her, she shoved me right back again. “Let me go! I’m not your prisoner and I want to leave.”
“It’s too dangerous, Wren. I can’t let you do that.”
“It’s not up to you! Let me go!” I screamed the words at her, throwing them invisibly through the air where my hands couldn’t reach.
They hit her and fell to the floor like she was wearing a shield. I kicked and struggled against her, hurting her in a way I would probably regret later on but I needed to be leaving now.
I didn’t see the needle in her hand until it was too late.
She stabbed it into my thigh and emptied the contents.
Just like with the soup, I dropped in no time and everything went black.
I was aware of somebody moving me. I could feel their arms around me, their hands gripping me tightly. I was too weak to do anything about it. They could have done anything to me and I wouldn’t be in a position to fight back.
And then there was nothing but the dark abyss again.
My body was made out of lead, sculptured together to form limbs and a head. As heavy as the earth itself. While my mass of muscles and bones weighed me down, my head was as light as a baby ant. At times I wondered whether it was still connected or whether it had floated away entirely.
At times the darkness subsided enough that I could open my eyes. They would blink, scratching as badly as sandpaper as they moved. I could rub them, but my hands were connected to my heavy arms that refused to budge.
I would only see the ceiling of the basement when I did manage to open my eyes. It was never long before I was pulled into the black waves of fatigue that washed over me again.
In and out.
Out and in.
It was impossible to keep track of time when I couldn’t even tell if I was still alive or not. Perhaps Rosalind had killed me and this was the afterlife. Clones didn’t have souls, we were created in a lab. We couldn’t expect to have a life after our bodies died,
could we? While humans went to Heaven, we just died.
Was I dead?
I could still feel the bed underneath me, the clothes against my skin. If I was gone, surely I wouldn’t be able to still feel? Perhaps I was still alive, just being kept in a perpetual state of comatose by the Resistance.
My brain was too tired to figure it out.
My consciousness ebbed and flowed, at times remaining just on the brink to remind me there was nothing I could do about my current state.
Just enough to tease me.
I knew I needed to find a way to get up, to fight back, otherwise I would stay like this forever. Joseph and his group would play with me until they found a use for me and then I would be pulled back and called to duty.
Or disposed of when I was too dangerous to keep.
A part of my mind screamed at me to do something but the rest of me argued it was too difficult. Pulling myself out of the depths of fatigue was impossible. Better just to lay back and let it all happen.
Sleep, Wren.
Just sleep.
Voices drifted around me at one point. I couldn’t tell if they were real or part of my memories stirred awake to replay in my drugged state. I couldn’t focus enough to listen to them, my brain was too scrambled to actually understand what they were saying.
They grew louder.
Were they yelling?
Were they near?
If I could scream out, would they come for me? Would they help me, or would they hurt me? It was rare for people to help me. I wasn’t something worthy of assistance. I was a creation, a commodity to be traded.
An abomination.
I fell back into the silence and darkness unbidden. It felt like I was tumbling through space and time. Down, down, down like it could go on forever. Like nothing existed anymore.
Perhaps I would become a star, to twinkle in the black cloak of night high above the world.
It was nicer up there than on the ground.
I could be free.
All I’d ever wanted was freedom.
That was a lie.
Sometimes I’d dared to want more. I’d dared to want somebody to love me. But that wasn’t something clones did, especially Defective Clones. I was entitled to nothing. Absolutely nothing and was reminded of that fact every single day.
The blackness was welcome.
The next time I drifted back to my body it was because of voices again. A man was arguing with a woman, their voices so different there could be no mistaking their genders.
I was moving. Someone was touching me, an arm around my back and another under my knees. They lifted me up, cradling me against their chest.
It took all my energy to open my eyes. Even then it was merely a slit wide enough to see only what was right in front of me. The human swam in my vision, surrounded by an aura that caused him to glow.
Reece.
The trooper had me in his arms and was carrying me somewhere. I couldn’t argue, I couldn’t even fully open my eyes. If Trooper Reece wanted to take me somewhere then I had no choice except to go with him.
I tried to speak and ask him where he was taking me. It came out as nothing but an embarrassing slur. Reece didn’t respond, just continued on his mission with a clenched jaw and even tighter muscles.
Rosalind loomed in front of him. I think she was trying to stop him but he wasn’t listening to her. He shoved her out of the way and pulled the door open. Sunshine beckoned us out, so much brighter than the darkness I was accustomed to.
Why was he taking me away?
Was now the time he turned me over to President Stone? Would he claim his reward and be interviewed for the newspaper? He wouldn’t have to be a trooper anymore if he did. He could retire and live comfortably, even with my blood on his hands.
I wished my mouth would work. Even more, I wished my body would wake up so I could move. I was used to being powerless but at least I normally had movement. Now, I had nothing.
But Reece wouldn’t hurt me. Deep in my heart I knew he was helping me. There were too many opportunities he could have taken to end my life before now.
He was saving me.
Again.
I let myself be swallowed up in the darkness, knowing I was safe now.
Chapter 16: Reece
I was going to kill Joseph. When I saw what condition they were holding Wren in, I almost pulled out the gun nestled in the small of my back and shot them all.
They had her in a basement, hidden away underneath a house while they lived upstairs like nothing was happening. Rosalind said they’d fed her, given her a change of clothes, even let her clean up in the bathroom. They said they were treating her well.
Except for the drugs they were administering on a regular basis to keep her under control.
This was all my fault.
I shouldn’t have told her to seek refuge with Joseph. I should have known he would only find a way to use Wren to further his own cause. As much as he talked about liberating the Defective Clones and giving them rights, he didn’t even blink when it came to using one himself.
What was one when it came to saving many?
I didn’t share his beliefs.
Especially when it came to Wren.
When I caught a glimpse of her, passed out and whimpering on the bed in her prison cell, I saw red. The anger burst to the surface and all I could think about was getting her out.
Once again, I’d acted without thinking. I picked her up and stormed out of the safe house, just begging for someone to try to stop me so I could smack them around. I wanted to hurt someone for this, I wanted someone to pay for hurting her.
Technically I was supposed to be still on the trooper base so I was travelling on foot. At least I wasn’t in my white uniform so I didn’t stand out as much as I could have. In my plain black T-shirt and jeans I could blend in.
If I wasn’t carrying an unconscious girl, anyway.
I hurried along the back streets, doing my best to keep Wren’s face hidden just in case someone looked too hard. If they did, it wouldn’t be too difficult to tell who she was. Wren was all cleaned up, looking more like Stone than I had ever seen before.
It was a twenty minute walk to get where I was going. I only made the decision to go there when I was halfway along. The troopers had warehouses all over Aria, some used more than others. We stored weapons, food, and other supplies in the large buildings. Their locations were kept secret, known only to troopers ranked above cadets.
I carried Wren to the supply warehouse on Marcia Street. It was one of the lesser used stores, mainly holding ammunition. It wasn’t exactly the safest place to be but it would do for now.
Sliding one of the windows open, I shouldered the girl while reaching around to turn the handle of the door. Because the general public didn’t know about the places, the security systems were severely lacking. Everybody knew it but nobody ever bothered to do anything about it. Our budget was tight enough as it was.
Wren gave a soft moan when I repositioned her in my arms, cradling her again. Rosalind wouldn’t tell me how much sedative she’d given her, she could have been knocked out for a week for all I knew.
I still wanted to punch her face in.
Climbing the stairs to the second level, I took Wren into the very back room. It was full of paperwork left discarded by a trooper who had decided it wasn’t in his job description to do filing. There were boxes everywhere, overloaded with paper and other office debris.
I gently placed Wren on the floor, grateful for the soft carpeting. She laid out, her eyes still closed. She was definitely out for the count. I needed to get back to base but I couldn’t leave her in this state, she was completely vulnerable. If anyone else stumbled across her they would have a field day getting her to Stone.
I sat on the floor and leaned against the wall, reaching out to close the door as I did. However long it took for her to wake, I would be there, waiting.
She looked so peaceful when asleep. There was nothing decl
aring her a Defective Clone, nothing to separate her sweet, innocent face from others in the street. It wasn’t fair that her fate was so cruelly laid out for her the moment she was created.
The whole clone system was wrong. I’d known that for a very long time but it took every one of my twenty years to do something about it.
I’d never met a Defective like Wren before. There was something about her, something that radiated out from deep within. She had fire, spirit, she wanted to live, and I knew she would do anything she could to make sure that happened.
Clones were not supposed to think like that. They were created for their Maker, designed to serve one purpose and one purpose only. Once their Maker needed organs, they were to lay down their lives and submit.
Wren wouldn’t submit to anyone. I knew it from the way she held her chin up, the way her eyes burned with purpose, and the way she was tender with her thoughts.
Nobody was going to kill the girl. I would do everything in my power, and perhaps even beyond, to make sure of it.
She finally stirred awake while I was watching her. My eyes averted quickly, embarrassed about being caught staring. She blinked a few times before testing each of her limbs in turn. She seemed surprised she had the ability to move.
“I’ve been assured you were only sedated, they didn’t do anything else to you,” I offered, trying to give her some form of comfort.
Her big blue eyes focused on me, zeroing in as if only just realizing I was there. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she managed to form words. “Where am I?”
“In a warehouse. Don’t worry, you’re safe here.”
She tried to sit up but her elbow gave away, causing her to tumble. I was across the room in an instant, helping her to prop up against the wall so she could at least sit. Her body felt tiny and frail under my hands.
“How long have I been out?” she asked.
“The Resistance had you for three days. I’m not sure how long you’ve been drugged for.”
She winced. “They put something in my soup a few hours after I arrived.”
Three days.
They kept her in a drug haze for three fucking days.
“Thank you,” she said, offering a small smile.
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