“I’m afraid your friend here is going to kill me.”
“He is no longer my friend. And how does that affect me? You’ve been trying to kill me for years.”
“I was merely adding to your strengths. It is a great possibility that there is a war coming between the Phoenix District and the Survivors now that Adam, or Christian as you now know him, has control of them. There are things within those walls that he desires very much and I need to be certain that you can defend us and what we’ve created.”
“If I don’t want to?”
“Oh, my dear Andromeda, tell me you don’t want to keep your children safe from harm. I’ll have a very hard time believing you.”
My gaze flicks to Adam, who is simply staring at me, his eyes dark and angry.
“You have your hand in every single candy dish, don’t you?” I ask Crane.
“I have to. I have plans for this new world.”
“What about the other Funding Entities? Are they involved?”
“No,” he gives a slight laugh. “I am done with the Funding Entities. It’s time for the Founding Entities to take charge.”
“And where do I come in?”
“Oh, Andromeda,” he says with laughter on his tongue. “That’s simple, you choose to protect me or your family.”
“I will never choose you. You know this. I will only protect my family.”
He smiles. “That’s what I was hoping to hear. Now close your eyes and go back to sleep.”
And even though I hate him and I never follow his orders, my body feels overwhelmed with fatigue. I close my eyes and find myself thrust into darkness.
--
I wake, stiff and sore and cold. There is a thin layer of snow covering the windshield of the truck. The sun seems to be just rising. I exhale and a fog of my breath floats in front of me. Focusing, I sit up straight. I am alone. There is no Adam, no Crane, just me and a parka lying in the seat where Adam sat last night.
That’s thoughtful.
I look around and orient myself. The truck is parked in the middle of the road on the main highway that leads straight into Phoenix. I know if I follow this I will run into the electrified fence that cuts across the highway, and then it’s another fifteen miles until I get to town.
I get out of the truck, my sneakers squishing into the thin layer of watery snow that covers the road. There are no other footprints or tire tracks. I begin to wonder if Adam and Crane were even in the truck with me last night or if it was a dream. Feeling the cool morning air, I take the parka, push my arms into it, then walk.
Perhaps this should be a walk of shame, or one of stupidity and regret. But instead it’s a walk of fury. Each step brings forth a memory and a sharp realization that I have trusted the wrong people-the wrong person. And Chuck was correct not so long ago when he turned to me and told me that I was stupid.
Seeing the chain-link fence in front of me, I pick up my pace to a near jog. I can hear its strange buzzing, even from the few hundred yards away that I am.
I can see one of the Volker standing stiff, watching me. His hand moves towards his pistol. I walk faster. He pulls the pistol from its holster and aims it at me.
“Stop,” I hear him yell at me.
I move faster. “I am Andromeda Somers!” I shout to him. “Phoenix District Sovereign.”
“Stop!” he yells at me.
But I walk closer to the fence. The buzzing gets louder. Too loud. It makes my head hurt and I feel something trickle from my nose. I reach up to wipe it away, finding a bit of blood.
“Back up,” the Volker yells to me.
“Let me in!” I yell to him. “I am Andromeda-”
“Back away from the fence,” he yells with urgency in his voice. I do and feel the buzzing sensation lessen in my head. “Show me your wrist,” he yells across the fence.
Without thinking I pull up my sleeve and thrust my arm into the air for him. He makes a face and looking up I see that the cloth is still wrapped over the mark. I pull on the cloth, and show the Volker the mark that Dr. Akiyama burned into my skin. “I am Andromeda-”
“I know who you are!” He shouts as he re-holsters his weapon. “Stay there.” He holds his hand out, signaling for me to stay where I am. Reaching for the radio on his shoulder, he speaks into it. When he is done, he turns back towards me. “I’m sorry about this, Mrs. Somers, have to shut down the fence to let you in here.” He points at the gate in the fence and I notice that there is no keypad like at the other entrances to the District. “No way to stop it at this entrance.” I nod at him. “It will be just a few minutes, stay there.”
I stay where I am, pacing, the sneakers leaving imprints on the snowy road. I pace and I wait. More Volker collect at the gate. They talk into their radios. They watch me and the road behind me. It feels strange being stuck on this side of the gate, wanting to be let in so badly.
After a few minutes I hear the fence begin to power down, the buzzing lessens. “About ten more minutes!” The Volker yells to me. I nod and continue my pacing. I stop and turn to the forest, hearing the heavy plops of the night snow falling off of the trees as the sun warms the air. I guess that by afternoon all of the snow will have melted. I hear the buzzing of the fence lessen again and then completely dissipate.
I walk towards the fence. The Volker shakes his head. “What?” I ask impatiently.
One of the other Volker speaks into his radio. “Someone has to bring the key.” He points at the lock on the gate.
The radio on his shoulder squawks to life. “Ten minutes out,” a voice says.
I continue my pacing, this time closer to the fence since I don’t have to fear its nose bleeding buzzing. Soon enough the Volker turn as an SUV speeds down the road towards us. The vehicle makes a hard stop, the tires skidding. People barrel out of the SUV, running towards the gate. I recognize Elvis, Sam, Alexander, and Ian.
“Andie!” I hear Sam’s voice.
“Sam told us what happened,” Elvis tells me as he pulls a ring of keys from his pocket and reaches for the now harmless fence. “How did you get free?”
“It’s a long story,” I tell him, looking at Ian. His face is a mixture of hope and worry. And I know that the entire time I was gone, he relived his worst fears.
Finally Elvis gets the gate unlocked and swings it open. I rush past them and throw my arms around Ian. Squeezing me to himself, he grips me so hard I can barely breathe. “I thought I lost you,” he whispers into my ear. I pull back and look into his brown eyes, gleaming with the threat of tears. I’ve never seen Ian cry. I press my lips to his. After a few moments I hear Elvis clear his throat loudly from behind us. I pull away from Ian and step back as his arms loosen from around me.
“What happened out there?” Elvis asks.
“The Survivors had me,” I start to tell him. “And-”
“Come here, boy,” I hear Sam’s voice. I look behind Elvis and see Sam standing at the gate I just ran through. “Come here,” he repeats. I move to the side to see who Sam is talking to. There is a Guardian outside the gates, standing in the road where I just was.
“Crane is gone,” Ian tells me.
“I know. Did you make the deal with the Survivors?” I ask.
Ian looks at Elvis. Elvis shakes his head. “We heard nothing from the Survivors. Crane wouldn’t allow a search and rescue team to find you. We confronted him during a Committee meeting, forced him out.”
“You just tossed him out into the wilderness?” I ask.
“We aren’t assassins,” Ian tells me. “What did you want us to do, kill him?”
“You could have imprisoned him or shot him in the head,” I say.
Sam gives up on coaxing the Guardian back inside the gates, and taking note of our conversation he walks towards us, “We weren’t going to kill him in cold blood,” he says.
“Why not?” I ask. “He would have done it to any one of us.”
“We’ll let the Survivors take care of him. They’re ruthless enough
.”
We all turn towards the road as the Guardian barks.
“Adam is still alive,” I tell them.
“What?” All three of them respond in unison.
“Adam is alive, he’s… his real name is Christian and he’s leading the Survivors. He brought me here. Last night and…” I touch my head remembering the strange conversation with Crane in the truck. “He had Crane with him and then they were gone this morning.”
Ian grabs my arm. “What did they do to you?” he asks.
The Guardian barks again. I turn, my memory feeling a bit foggy as I try and piece everything together.
“Why is that Guardian outside the fence?” I ask.
“Don’t know,” Sam shrugs off my question.
“What did they do to you?” Ian urges.
“I’m not sure…” I look at Elvis, Sam and then back to the Guardian. “Where are the children? Where’s Lina and Raven?”
“They’re at home,” Ian tells me.
“With who? Why didn’t you bring them?”
“We didn’t think it was good for them to see you like this. Or if there was a problem we didn’t want them stuck in the middle of it,” Sam says.
“Who are they with?” I ask again.
“Blithe. Who else would we leave them with?” Ian tells me.
A moment of panic flashes through me. “We have to go. Now!” I start towards the SUV.
“Why?” Ian grabs my arm. “What’s wrong?”
“Blithe is Adam’s sister. Adam, who is really Christian, who is leading the Survivors. Who was with Crane last night-” I pause, focusing on the quiet fence. “How long has the fence been off for?”
“Maybe thirty minutes,” Sam says.
From the look on Elvis’s face I can tell he understands what just clicked together in my head. “Lock it up,” Elvis instructs the Volker as he starts running towards the vehicle. He pulls a radio off of the dash and shouts something into it. Almost immediately the fence starts to hum. Everyone backs up.
I continue my run to the SUV. Elvis grabs my shoulder to stop me. “I’ll drive.” He opens the passenger door for me.
Sam, Alexander, and Ian get in on the other side as I buckle my seatbelt.
The ride is fast and tense.
“I’m sure they’re fine,” Ian says with a nervous tone.
“Tell me you knew nothing of this, Elvis?” I ask as he drives.
“I swear.” He glances at me in the rearview mirror. “I didn’t know. I would have never allowed this, Andie.”
“Alexander?” I ask.
He shakes his head.
Elvis speeds through the streets, careens through the country roads that lead to the Pasture. Sam jumps out to open the gate. Elvis speeds through the opening, leaving Sam to run behind us. He skids to a stop near the barn. There is a collection of Guardians standing in the courtyard.
Leaping out of the SUV, I run for the schoolhouse, my sneakers sliding on the snowy grass. The door is open. The desks empty. The coatrack clear of child-sized jackets.
“NO!” I scream at the empty schoolhouse, my insides filling with a gut-wrenching horrible feeling. I’ve felt this before, except now it’s twofold.
chapter twenty-four
“Why didn’t the Guardians stop them?” Sam asks as I leave the main room of the school house and step out onto the porch.
“Because they weren’t harming the children, just moving them. The Guardians protect all of us. Crane, Adam, and Blithe included,” I tell him.
“I can’t believe this,” Sam replies.
“Did any of the weapons make it back with you?” I ask Sam.
He shakes his head. “The only thing I brought back was Tim, and he’s not happy. Set him up in one of the Volker housing units until we figure out what to do with him.”
“I have to find my children.” I look around the courtyard, contemplating a plan. “You, Alexander, and Elvis need to stay here. You need to protect the Residents.”
“What about you?” he argues.
“I’m leaving.”
“I’m going with you,” Ian says with a curt tone.
I glance at him. Judging by how he looks right now I know that there is no arguing with him. He’s blaming himself for the children missing. I correct myself; they’re not missing, they’ve been kidnapped.
Suddenly everyone is moving. Sam runs off to the barn with Elvis and Alexander. Ian follows me to the house. I strip off the borrowed sweats as I walk through the house, for once not caring that Ian is following me. I search my room for warm clothes. Clothes that I think might be useful in this journey that I am about to go on. Heavy jeans, layered shirts. I find an old pair of boots in the closet. Next to the boots sits a backpack. I take it, throw in a fleece blanket and head for the kitchen. I take a loaf of bread from the freezer and fill two water bottles. Then I head for the front door with Ian on my heels, picking up the parka I discarded on the floor when I walked in the door. He holds it out for me.
“Are you going to change?” I ask him as I slip my arms into the parka and zip it.
He’s already wearing boots, jeans and a thick sweater. “I just need my coat.” He reaches for the peg that his winter coat is hanging on.
I press my hand to his arm. “I don’t blame you. I want you to know that.”
He nods, removing the coat from the peg and putting it on.
Slipping my arms into the backpack, I run down the porch steps, headed for the courtyard. We meet the others at the barn.
“What are you taking?” Elvis asks. “The train?”
“Won’t they be expecting the train?” I ask. “It wasn’t hard for them to sabotage our route before.”
“Where do you think he took them?” Sam asks.
“They had me in this small town called Romney, West Virginia. And Adam, or Christian, told them that he would be back there with Crane. But that was before I knew who he really is.”
“That’s two states away, we can’t walk that far. I doubt they did,” Ian speaks up.
“There’s the truck Adam left on the highway last night,” I tell them. “It has less than ten gallons of gas in the tank.”
“You could take one of the Volker SUVs,” Elvis suggests.
“Until we run out of gas. And then what?” I ask. “How do we make it home with a group of children and adults?”
“If Blithe even wants to come back,” Sam whispers.
“What’s that?” Elvis asks.
Sam shakes his head. “I can leave later with the train. Pick everyone up and bring them back.” Sam suggests.
“How would we know when they’re ready?” Elvis asks.
“We have a cell phone. One that Andie had before. She can call us,” Sam says.
Thank God for the last cell phone on earth.
“We have to call Crystal River,” I suggest. “They have satellites. Remember, Sam? They can search the roads leading away from here and see what type of vehicle they are traveling in and let us know.”
“I’ll get ahold of them,” Alexander offers. “Actually, if it’s all right with you, I think I’ll go now so I can get them looking before you leave.”
“I think that’s good,” I tell Alexander.
“Good luck,” he tells us as he rushes out of the barn.
Elvis opens the gun case. He removes a handgun and gives it to Ian. He hesitates before handing one to me.
“Give it to me, Elvis.”
“Just don’t want you to lose your head, Andie. I know how Crane likes to push your buttons.”
“Yeah.” I reach for the weapon and pull it from his hand. “This won’t be the first time I’ve pointed a gun at his head.”
“Make sure you’re pointing it at the right person,” he suggests.
“She’s not going to kill anyone,” Sam says as he loads bullets into extra magazines. “She’s just going to get the children. Andie would never actually shoot someone.”
I look at Elvis. He knows what I did in Wol
f Creek. I killed that imposter. I wonder if I could do it again. If Crane were standing in front of me, or Adam, could I pull that trigger again? I take the gun from Elvis and put it in my bag, along with the spare magazines from Sam.
“Here,” Sam holds out his hand. In it is the cell phone I left on the train. “It’s been charging since I found it. Full battery. I have the number so we can contact you.”
I shove the phone in my pocket. “Ready?” I ask Ian.
He nods.
We walk towards the SUVs. “Take the first one,” Sam tells us. “It has a double tank and I just filled it.”
Ian walks towards the driver’s seat. I pause before opening the door, feeling the cold stare from the collection of Guardians waiting in the courtyard. I whistle for them.
“What are you doing?” Ian asks me.
“I think they should come with us. Some of them at least.”
“Andie, those things are huge, we could only fit three of them in here if we are lucky.”
I open the back hatch of the SUV and motion to the group of dogs. Three jump in. A fourth paces as though it’s looking for room to fit. “You’re going to have to run,” I tell it, remembering how they ran after the Jeep in Hanford.
I get in the passenger side as Ian starts the vehicle.
--
We wait at the fence, the one I just walked through a few hours ago, the day still damp from the night’s snow and cold. Elvis radios the nuclear plant to have the electricity diverted. Ian and I both pace as we wait for the loud purring of the fence to dissipate. When it finally does, Elvis moves to unlock the gate, pulling it open far enough for the SUV to fit through.
“I’m glad to see you’re not going alone.” Sam motions behind the SUV where a collection of Guardians waits.
“What are they going to do?” Ian asks.
“They’ll follow us. Keep us safe,” I tell him.
Elvis hollers for us to pass.
“Andie,” Sam stops me. “Bring them back.”
“I will,” I tell him as I stand on my toes to hug him tightly. “I’ll bring Blithe too, if she wants.” I feel him nodding. “You two already had something, didn’t you?”
The Phoenix Project Series: Books 1-3: The Phoenix Project, The Reformation, and Revelation Page 80