“Hold her still. Carton is coming.” My head was forced back as they pulled my hair. In front of me, I watched on in horror at Diesel being beaten up by five others standing over the top of him. His face disappeared beneath the blood as one guard delivered the final punch, sending Diesel unconscious to the ground.
“Diesel!” I screamed and attempted to stand. “Stop it! You’re going to kill him!” They kicked at the back of my knees, sending me back down to the ground. A group of men approached from behind.
“Hold up, cadet, I want to see her for myself.” I was wrenched upwards by my hair into a stand. An older man leading the group gripped my chin, forcing me to look into his tired, pale shallowed face.
“So, this is the mutant?” He twisted my chin left and right, his face close enough that the stench from his morning coffee blew up my nose.
“What the hell do you want?” I lurched at him but was pulled back.
“Feisty. We’re going to have to put a muzzle on this one.”
“Try and I’ll have you spitting out teeth.” From the ground, Diesel groaned and rolled over. My heart raced at the sight of him. “You’re making a big mistake, asshole. Let us go!”
“Not before we test these infamous contacts, shall we?” The man they called Carton pulled out a phone from his pocket and held it against my face. I slammed my eyes shut but he pulled them open forcibly with his fingers, just enough to catch a second of my iris. The familiar flash of red hit my eyes before the phone signalled out.
“Identification invalid.”
I hid my surprise as Carton turned to bark over his shoulder. “Vance, get over here. They don’t work!”
Wait. Did he say Vance?
“They were probably damaged but we can fix them,” From the pack, Vance stepped forward and pulled at the collar of his fresh, clean jacket. He was unmarked, walking in the same uniform the rest of the men were in. “We also have the blue prints; it’s just a matter of replicating them. They do work, sir. I’ve witnessed it myself. She was able to break into Anton Lawyers and get past the security system without any complications.”
My eyes widened. I stared at Vance waiting for some sort of explanation or at least an apologetic shrug but he didn’t so much as glance at me. He kept his betraying blue eyes set on Carton’s pale, gawked face.
Rage climbed my throat. “Vance? What the hell is going on?”
Vance shushed me with a raised hand. “We need the guy alive; he can fix the contacts and make them work.”
Carton pocketed the phone and stepped back. “For his sake, they better.” He then addressed the others over his shoulder, “take these two inside but make sure they’re separated. The boy has until the end of the week to make a new pair of contacts that work. If he doesn’t, kill him and feed him to the birds.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO:
Being forced to live in a cell had started to have a homely feeling. I had grown accustomed to the shadows of the bars across the floor and how the sunlight could only squeeze into the room for an hour each day. I sat on the ground with my back against the frame of the bed, picking at the dirt under my nails. I was bored and I was pissed. No, scratch that, I was livid. On the night of my capture, I had a long visit with the head researcher, a man they called Walter, who took photographs of my retinas. His thick, round glasses kept sliding down his hooked nose and his hair was teased with anxious sweat. I could smell the fear on him even from my room down the hall.
Two days since our capture and I hadn’t heard a word about Diesel. All I got from passing gossip was that he had woken up from his beating but nothing more. I was in a standard single-person room, with a comfortable bed and a chair and table in the corner. It was a nice change from my cell at Alpha or the cold wooden floor of the convenience store. But a cell is still a cell.
It was midday when there was a knock on my door and one of the men standing guard let himself in. “You have a visitor.”
I flipped him off and turned away. Behind there were some muffled words exchanged before the door closed.
A female voice spoke up. “So… you look well rested.”
My hands clenched into fists. “You have a lot of nerve coming in here.”
Frankie stepped forward. “This was always the plan, Nadia. You really think we were going to let you walk into the murderous den of the Mad Dogs? They wouldn’t have shown you mercy; they would’ve only seen you as a scrap of meat to throw around.” She sighed as though exhausted. “I’ll tell you exactly how that would’ve worked out. They’ll see you can bypass the securities systems, plant a bomb in your stomach and send you screaming into the Elite’s district just so you’ll blow up a few buildings. With us, you can actually make a difference. We saved you.”
I spun to face her. “You’re so full of shit.”
“We saved him too. Diesel would’ve died if it wasn’t for Vance and me. We don’t take too kindly to men of the Mad Dogs, and Diesel is covered in their feral scent.”
I scoffed sarcastically, “So what? You expect me to be thankful?”
Frankie eased further into my room and took a seat on the spare chair. She was well groomed in new untorn clothes, the darkened patches that had smeared through her hair had been washed out and her face clear of dirt.
She didn’t seem apologetic nor did she cower away from my glare. “I can understand you don’t trust us right now, but believe me, Nadia, as someone who has once crossed paths as a friend with the Mad Dogs, this is better. I’ve met people like Diesel plenty of times before. All of them turn to betrayal. Every. Single. One. Diesel is no different. If we really did reach the Mad Dogs, it would be mine and Vance’s heads on a platter and you strapped to a cutting board.”
“Screw you! You lied to me!”
“Just listen to reason. You know I’m right.”
I rolled my eyes. “Forget it. I’ll never help you.”
“I understand you’re mad, but you have to listen to me. Diesel has done an incredible job with the contacts, but you can be more than just some master key into the city. You can be the one who brings down the corrupted system and give back to those who need it most. There’s a new drug they’ve released out to the public. They’re calling it the—”
“The XCELL, right?” I said over her as Frankie promptly nodded. “Yeah, I know of it. So what?”
Frankie pulled the tablet out from her backpack and placed it onto the counter. I stood to look over her shoulder as she turned the screen toward me. On the electronic front were scrolls of names and numbers and collected data too raw for me to understand.
She pointed at an ingredient on the left column. “The XCELL isn’t a drug to suppress memories; it’s a toxin that destroys a persons’ ambition. Over time, it eats away at the frontal lobe of the brain, removing their personality and sedating their emotions. Eventually, they lose the ability to think for themselves. They become mindless husks. Soon their memories will dull and their emotions sedated into that of a machine.”
My grip on the back of the chair tightened. “No way, you’re talking about large scale mind control. With this power, the Elite can enslave the world.”
“And they’re able to get away with it because of these three people. The first is Elite McKinnon, the founder of the research into the D400 and new XCELL drug. I believe you’ve already met his first in command, Doctor Fitzgerald at Alpha. Though he is not an Elite it’s my guess he was hoping to tap into your biological make up to see if your blood carries an antidote or blocking agent.”
I gulped. “Does it?”
Frankie lingered for a moment on her answer. “Apparently, he had tested it on some inmates, and their readings came back negative from any change. His tests were non-conclusive so his theory can’t be proven.”
A part of me sighed with uplifting relief. If I’m not the cure, that means I’m not going to be the test subject. “And the other two?”
“Elite Sebastian Keel, head of security and robotics. The one in charge of the Sweepers, E
nforcers and nearly all of the surveillance operations running worldwide. He is the muscle providing the Elite’s safety and undisrupted control. Lastly, the big man with his fingers in every bank, money pot and small-town cash register, Elite T. Swoon. He’s the man funding it all and the one who gets the biggest slice of cake.”
I pushed away from the chair and rubbed at my forehead. “Let’s just say that I go along with your plan, what do you think I can do to stop them? You’re talking about the most powerful people in the world. The same people who have had generations and generations of rebellion attempts against them and still stand today in power.”
“We have a plan.” Frankie turned the screen off and tucked it back into her bag. “But we can talk about that while we walk, you look like you could use some fresh air.”
“Are you sure I’m allowed out?” I asked spitefully.
“You’re not a prisoner if you don’t want to be. Come on. It’ll be fine.”
Frankie took me out into the hallway and led the way to the exit and into town. The quiet streets felt too large with the small band of people occupying them. The others gave us discerning looks, but otherwise left Frankie and me alone. I walked with my hands bunched into fists, feeling the familiar prick of a trained gun following me.
“So,” I started as I read the small print on the back of her uniformed jacket, “You work for the I.O.S?”
“Intelligence Operation Specialists. I wasn’t lying about what we do; we gather important Intel and make sure we know what’s going on in both the Elite’s world and the lower classes. We’re an independent agency, detached from the Elite. The reason why I choose to work with the I.O.S is because we’re more about justice and about the people. It’s so easy to forget that the struggle is real, that life can still be precious even if it is for eternity.”
She slowed as we stopped by a small food stall set up by the gutter. There was a man behind the cart handing out bowls of soup. She took one and offered me the other. I sniffed it, smelling the sweet tang of pumpkin. My stomach growled and my mouth immediately flooded with salvia. It had gone slightly cold out in the open air, but it was still heavenly.
“Why didn’t you just tell me this from the start?” I asked between spoonfuls.
“We didn’t know if we could trust you, especially since you were paired with a Mad Dog activist like Diesel. I wish I could’ve said something sooner, but I wasn’t sure how you’d react. I couldn’t risk you running, or worse, telling Diesel and having him slit our throats as we slept.”
“How is Diesel?”
“He’s okay. Improving. Stubborn, as I guessed he would be, but he doesn’t fight us.”
“Can I see him?”
“Sure, I’ll take you there now.” She signalled with her head and we walked and ate at the same time. “But, just so you know, once he’s no longer useful, he can’t stay. We’ll drop him off a few towns over, somewhere he won’t be able to track us. We’ll likely move towns too, in case he feels like coming back with his Mad Dog gang to ‘claim what’s his’.”
“Pfft! I’m guessing you’re referring to me?” I asked with a snort. “What will happen to me then?”
“After the XCELL is destroyed, you can have a spot here with us. We look after our own here. Nowadays, the meaning of family has been shredded down to only mean shared DNA, but here, we care and protect each other.” She spun around to face me. “You saved my life, when Diesel was going to blast a hole through my head; you put yourself in way of his fire. The cruelty of this world hasn’t squashed out your kindness for others. That’s a rare find.”
“I’m not always kind,” I corrected.
Frankie shrugged. “You were kind to me when you didn’t have to be. Many would mistake mercy for weakness, but they don’t understand what true strength is.”
“Does that mean the I.O.S would want me to join them?”
Frankie nodded, biting into her smile. “Unless you want to return to your prostitute and drug addicted city?”
I smirked. It wasn’t that bad of an idea sticking around with the I.O.S. My future, or lack thereof, had been something I’d always been wary of. To find decent shelter was hard enough, but to get food, supplies and water was a daily fight. Most people starved or died out on the streets, even from the most common of illnesses.
I hadn’t thought of what I would do once Roman and Lisa kicked me out. A part of me knew my life out on the streets meant the worst. I would have to sell my body. I’d have to steal, kill and blackmail, living the rest of my years with a blade in my hand. I had almost accepted that type of existence as the norm, but maybe that wasn’t something I had to do. Same with Annie, maybe I could go get her, bring her here where she could have a proper job and a stable future. And not have to resort to becoming a womb for rent pumping out babies.
I didn’t answer straight away and found myself looking down into the empty bowl. “You never did tell me what you wanted me to do.”
“It’s both simple and complicated.” Frankie sighed. “The simple answer, we need to take control over the Sweepers and Enforcers. Take down Elite Keel and his heavy army, but to take down Elite Keel, we need to hack into his private system and plant a virus, terminating all of the machines in the capital where they live. Once that’s done, we strike Elite McKinnon, but he is a bit of hermit, making tracking him down difficult. We need access to his lab to take the D400 formula and destroy the XCELL. Once we have the formula, we can supply and distribute it fairly among the rest of the population. Lastly, Elite Swoon has enough money and power to buy himself out of any prison cell. We need him gone. Do you remember that Deadener gun we showed you?” I promptly nodded. “There’s only a select few of them in the world. They belong to an exclusive mafia group known as the Blue Dons; with their help, we can eliminate Elite Swoon for good. The Blue Dons have an engineered system set up that keeps the bodies alive but immobile. Thus, delaying reincarnation indefinitely.”
“Like a cryotube?”
“Yeah, exactly like a cryotube. We keep him off the charts long enough that he can’t use his bribes to keep him and his corrupted friends out of the slammer.”
Frankie slowed as we approached the town’s old high school. It had been boarded up and barred with barbed wire, steel-bar windows and heavy padlocks. Through the second floor window, there was a black scope sticking out from an automatic turret. We walked up the steps to the front door where Frankie looked into the camera for her retinas to be scanned. Once it dinged, she opened the door and led me in. Vance was standing post. Seeing us, he swung his gun out of view behind his back.
“Frankie, what took you so long?” He slowed as he saw me approach. “I see Nadia is getting the tour. Morning,” he greeted awkwardly. I scrunched my face up, unsure how I was meant to feel about the twins.
“Sorry, we got caught up chatting. I’m taking her to visit Diesel.”
“In that case, I can take her the rest of the way. Carton is looking for you.”
Frankie nodded and gently tapped me on the back. “We’ll chat later, Nadia. And go easy on Vance, okay? Remember, we’re your friends.” She hugged her brother briefly goodbye before taking her leave.
We stood in silence for an awkward couple of minutes. Every muscle in my face was tight and my eyes were half lidded in a bored stare. Vance brimmed his lips shut, his steel blue hues radiant underneath the messy side brushed fringe. He inhaled a short breath as though to speak, but decided against it. I turned my back and looked out across the corridor.
“Where’s Diesel?”
“He’s close by, but first I want to get something off my chest.”
I turned back sharply. “If you’re going to apologise—”
“I’m not apologising,” he said as though the idea was ridiculous. “This was the best move for you, for all of us, Diesel included. His absurd plans to carry you into the pack of the Mad Dogs would never have worked. What I wanted to say is thank you.”
I crossed my arms and perked my eyebro
w, interested. “For what?”
“You saved Frankie. This… is tough for me to say, and I don’t like to talk to others about this stuff but with you, you seem different. You risked your life for Frankie, and I really appreciate that.”
I let the muscles in my face loosen. “Okay? You’re welcome?”
“No.” He shook his head. “You don’t understand.”
He stalled on his words and looked down anxiously to his feet. “Umm… You and Frankie? What’s the deal, really? I know you said you’re soul mates, but there’s more to it. Isn’t there?”
Vance’s natural pinkish face brightened. “You could say that.” I crossed my arms for him to continue and he let out a trembling sigh. “You don’t know what it’s like to be reborn again and again, to live in this cruel, crumbling world and know there’s no escaping it. Frankie is the one thing I can look forward to with each cycle. But, sometimes, when we die and are reincarnated, I’m not always able to find her. That’s why I can’t bear seeing her go. I can’t help but think, will I find her again? I know you don’t have reincarnated memories so this will sound bizarre to you, but, in every life time, in every version of me that has lived, I’ve lived for Frankie. I’ve lived for her when she called herself Vanessa or Danielle or Jessie; I’ve lived for her when she was older than me, younger than me or on the different side of the world from me. If I spent my entire life searching for her, only to find her on the day of my death, I would still die happy. The fact you saved her is why I am indebted to you. It’s why I am thankful.”
“I get it,” I snapped before I could stop myself. I clenched my jaw and let out an irritated sigh. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just you’re lucky to have that in your life. Guess I’m a little envious.”
Vance’s face relaxed in his smile and I found myself weakly smiling back. “I know I’m lucky, not everyone can find their soul mate like us.” He quietly cleared his throat and stood. “Enough about this. I’ll take you to Diesel.”
Soulless (The Immortal Gene Trilogy Book 1) Page 16