by SM Olivier
I laughed with no humor. “You only hear the half of it,” I said enigmatically.
The mountain shook once more, and I felt myself falling. I wasn’t prepared for it, and I should have been holding onto the railing.
I was snatched back and up before I face planted into the ground. “Thanks,” I laughed self-deprecatingly. “I did warn you that I am a magnet of upheaval. Catastrophe follows me wherever I go.”
I was surprised that he didn’t let me go as he hoisted his duffel bag over one shoulder and slipped his arm around my waist. “Who exactly are we looking for?” he asked wryly as I opened the door to the next level.
“My past, like me, is slightly dysfunctional,” I explained. “Remember when I said that we could only have one or two children if we weren’t deemed sterile? My mom and Mr. Moore− you’ll meet him later− were also products of Hazel’s experiments. They were capable of having more than two children. My connections and I have custody of three of my five siblings. That doesn’t include Ella.” When he looked mystified and went to open his mouth, I quickly added, “Long story. Another time. Kade is the oldest of my younger brothers.”
I rounded the corner and held my hand up to my mouth. The walls and ceilings had collapsed in. “The training room is down that way,” I stated as I pointed to the rubble. “My brother is down there!”
I ran forward and began removing as much debris as I could.
“Blake!” I heard Rachel’s brother Herman call me from behind.
Herman had been one of Horatio’s lab rats and had been used in the most heinous way. They had forced him to produce semen and blood samples on a daily basis. He was just getting to a point where he wasn’t as skittish and had started to come out of his shell. He had put on some weight, cut his long hair, and shaved. He was actually pretty attractive now.
“We should be heading downstairs,” he informed me.
“I know, but Kade and the other children were still in the training room doing martial arts,” I stated as I continued to pull at the rubble.
“Are you sure?” Herman asked as he began to help Lincoln and I lift pieces away.
“Chow doesn’t start for another fifteen minutes,” I stated as I glanced down at my watch. “Knowing the older teens, they would have stayed into the training room until then.”
Kade has proven to be a positive role model the last couple of weeks, and his new-found enthusiasm for martial arts had spread among some of his peers. Training ended over a half an hour ago, but they liked to stay back and continue practicing until dinner time.
“Are you guys creating your own child army?” Lincoln stated with a frown.
“Hardly,” I scoffed perturbed by his assumptions. “This facility wasn’t originally designed to entertain children. They had a handful of children but not many. As their numbers grew, boredom set in and they started acting out. We decided to keep their little behinds busy. In one of our missions, Horatio sent out some children− well, eleven to sixteen-year-olds− they were horribly brainwashed and reconditioned to believe in his cause. We were only able to reconnect a handful of them back with their families. The others were sold or had no families.
“We have been rehabilitating them, and the ones that don’t seem as troubled or in danger of regressing have been slowly added to our routine here. They have school from eight until two unless they’re in high school, plus planned activities every day.
“When the time is right—if the time is right—Pops has a whole list of foster families available to take them in. The only issue is we’re really leery of doing so because we’re protected in here.”
He let out an incredulous laugh at the irony. When he stopped me from falling, I thought maybe he was a decent guy but now he was detestable once more.
I glared at him. “This is the first time we have been under attack. What I was trying to say is that legislation in Congress−”
He interrupted me with a grave look. “I read up on that. I thought you had been making it all up. How is something that big so easily kept under wraps? Why isn’t it on the news outlets? They seriously want everyone to produce blood samples, and if we carry the gifted DNA, they want us to register and possibly place us in detainment camps? Unbelievable!”
“Believe it. They want to keep us away from the public eye. Pretend like we don’t exist so they can prevent any hysteria. We are acquainted with the senator of New Jersey,” I stated. Lincoln scoffed once more. “I’m not a fan either, but he found the loophole. Paul created this company with us in mind, essentially. The new law will have anyone residing in this facility exempted from testing. They can’t force us to get tested.”
“Blake,” Troy and Leo came running up to us. “We should all be downstairs,” Troy said in concern.
I sighed. “I agree with Jaxson. We were ill prepared for this. Is there any accountability being done right now? Kade is in the training room. I have to—” The mountain shook once more. “So, help me I will end him,” I yelled in frustration as I glared up at the ceiling. “I have to get Kade,” I finished after my mini-meltdown concerning Horatio.
“Leo, can you run back down to the basement?” Troy asked. “We need everyone accounted for. Hopefully, this is the only place caved in. Can you also send Sam, Sierra, and Gavin back up here if you see them?”
At Leo’s questioning look, Troy said. “Ask Pops, he’ll tell you who they are.”
“I think you need to tell Leo,” I muttered softly to Troy as he kneeled beside me after Leo left.
Troy sighed, knowing what I was talking about.
“He’s stuck in here with us now, for goodness knows how long,” I added. “He’s going to see some freaky unexplainable things. You trust him enough to run your company, you should trust him with your secret.”
“I’ll tell him when he returns. I’ll let him see Gavin, Sierra, and Sam in action,” Troy said reluctantly.
We had moved a considerable amount of debris when I finally saw Kade with a small group of people on the other side. “Kade,” I said with relief. “Are you alright?” I yelled through the eight-foot or so of debris that separated us.
“Blake! I’m good,” he said happily as he began moving the debris aside. It was evident that he had been trying to tunnel out as well. “But we have some people injured over here. Henderson got knocked out, one of the girls looks like she may have fractured her arm, and a few other people have some abrasions that should be looked at.”
“How many people are over there?” I asked.
“Twenty-four,” he stated without hesitation. “I already did the sweep of the area, and everyone’s gathered in the training room. It seems to be the most structurally sound.”
“Good job, I’m proud of you,” I enthused. “Listen, Gavin, Sierra, and Sam are on their way back up. I need you to step back and return to the training room. They’re going to remove the rest of the debris so we can evacuate to the bottom floor.”
“Is it Horatio?” Kade asked grimly as he hesitantly looked at the others around him.
“We think so, but don’t worry about it. Pops and Paul are working on a game plan,” I said wiping my brow. I was hot and sweaty. I was thankful that I never changed out of my tank top and martial arts pants.
Kade nodded as I heard Micah on the other side. “Kade!” he cried out in relief. “You’re okay?”
“Yes,” Kade said. I could hear the smile in his voice. “Did they send you in here to check on us?”
“No,” Micah scoffed. “Pops told me to stay put−” he began.
Kade must have warned him without words because he let out a squeak. “Hi Blake,” he called tentatively.
“Hey Micah,” I said in fond indulgence. “I wish you would have listened to Pops. Why don’t you come over here and we can find you something else to do?”
Micah showed up seconds later, looking guilty. “I−” he began.
I shook my head as I looked over at Lincoln. Lincoln looked astonished. “Lincoln this is my middle
brother, Micah. He can teleport… as you noticed.” I then looked at Micah. “Why don’t you go back down, and…if you were to pop into every room you can think of, I would never know. Be really careful, Micah, and if you feel a slight shake, return to Will immediately.”
I didn’t want to outright tell him to disobey Will, but he had the right idea. He could transport from room to room with little danger to himself.
He zapped back out as Troy and Leo returned with Gavin, Sierra, and Sam. I wasn’t surprised to see them followed by Jaxson, Remy, Noah, Drake, and Jace.
“What the…” Leo stopped short, looking around in confusion.
“There’s something I’ve meant to tell you,” Troy said with a wry grin.
“Did anyone else see that tall red-headed boy?” Leo rubbed his eyes in perplexity.
“You’re going to see a whole lot more, so brace yourself,” Jaxson said with a wicked grin. “It’s times like this I miss mine,” he sighed dramatically.
“Kade,” I called out, “Can you please get everyone back to the training room? I’ll see you soon!”
“Copy!” Kade responded back.
“Give them a minute,” Gavin stated. “Your man’s not going to faint, is he, Troy?”
“Why do I feel like I’m under the microscope?” Leo asked, shifting uncomfortably.
“There’s a reason I used to ask Jace to work for me on our more… testier clients,” Troy patiently explained.
“Man, those were the easy days,” Leo sighed. “Everyone was in such a good mood. No one was high strung and testy.”
“Because I used my gift,” Jace explained to him. “I can feel other people’s feelings and push feelings onto them.”
Leo looked around. “Is this a hidden camera show? Am I being recorded.”
“No.” Troy shook his head with a smile. “I’m just warning you that you may see something that you’re going to find hard to believe.” He nodded at Sam, Sierra, and Gavin.
Sierra took Gavin’s hand. Gavin and Sam started to move their hands like they were pushing something apart and the debris flew to both sides of the hall, leaving a clear walking path.
“What in the−” Leo started, then he started to laugh. “You guys really had me going for a minute. Is this a new movie Lincoln’s working on?”
Lincoln smiled and shook his head. “Nah, man. They’re gifted.”
“What?” Leo spluttered.
Micah decided to pop in at that moment. “There are people stuck in the kitchen, apartment 112, 117, and in−,” he blushed a deep red. “And in the girl’s locker room.”
“Micah,” Remy said sharply.
He turned with his guilty look once more. “I couldn’t sit by idly. I can help!”
“How many people?” I asked him as I gave Remy a shrug.
“Nine,” Micah answered after a few seconds.
“Then we’re missing thirty-six more,” Jace stated.
“Kade has twenty-four with him,” I informed them as I started to make my way to the martial arts gym.
“Terrance, Marcel, Yaris, and Spencer are on the hunt for people, too. They were headed to the top floor. Micah, can you tell them and continue looking?” Jace asked.
“Sure can!” Micah said excitedly as he transported back out.
“This is for real isn’t it?” Leo asked in a stunned whisper.
________
It took several hours to account for everyone. Luckily, we hadn’t suffered any losses. We had quite a few people critically and minorly injured, and the hospital staff and healers were busy at work.
I had never fully explored the bottom of the mountain beyond the simulation arena and greenhouses. I hadn’t realized that they had a contingency plan on top of contingency plan. They had initially built this facility to house any person deemed essential in case of a natural or man-made disaster. Several years ago, the government decided that they didn’t like the location any longer.
Paul had stepped in and asked to use the facility. They only removed the ammunition and weapons that had been stored here. The rest had been left behind. The bottom cavernous level of the mountain facility had a lot of duplicate accommodations as the upper floors with the addition of an extra kitchen and dining area, rooms filled with bunk beds, locker rooms with showers, and a room that was easily four thousand square feet that housed floor to ceiling racking with skids full of MRE’s. It was enough to feed a group our size for years.
After my brief exploring, I headed towards the war room.
Noah and Lincoln were in the hospital wing. Noah was using his medical training he received in school, and Lincoln volunteered to be his assistant. The hospital wing down here reminded me of the movie Pearl Harbor or the show Mash. All the hospital beds were lined up in two neat rows on opposite sides of the room. It had already been stocked with all the emergency equipment they needed.
Drake and Jaxson had been helping the kitchen staff bring down anything they could into the kitchen down here. It was a daunting task considering how much we had up there. We didn’t know if this siege was going to last a day or a week, and we really didn’t want to live on MRE’s if we didn’t have to.
Jace, Remy, and Troy were holed up in the war room with Will, Paul, Kirk, and Terrance. They were helping them to figure out how to best attack the mini army Horatio had stationed outside. They hadn’t taken out all our outside cameras, so we were able to see that it was definitely gifted people out there.
“What next?” I asked as I stumbled into the room that they had the techies and war room set up.
“You need to take a shower, eat, and then rest,” Will scrutinized me closely.
I was dead on my feet and starving, but I felt like there was still so much to do. I didn’t think I could rest while others were still hard at work. I hadn’t seen the guys for over an hour now.
“Come on, Blake,” Dawn gently cajoled as she stood up from one of the computers. “We already secured us a bunk room, so we can stay together.”
I reluctantly nodded, knowing I wasn’t going to win this round. I followed her out of the room and through the dining room. “Eat first?” she asked.
I waved at the kids. Hazel, Megan, Beth, and Cora were playing Uno with them at one of the tables. It was past their bedtimes, but I knew that they wouldn’t be able to go to sleep anytime soon. Ella refused to let me go for at least half an hour when she first saw me. Alex was just as shaken but was too busy trying to look tough, so I made sure to cuddle him, too. Micah, Kade, and Patrick were doing a great job watching the younger ones and minding the kids whose parents were busy assessing the damages, helping, and planning our next steps.
“Shower first,” I said as she led me down the hall to where the bunkrooms and locker rooms were located. “You don’t have to stay with me,” I told her as I entered the room she indicated.
“I was asked to,” she said impishly. “Plus, I’m starving! Drake promised me real food if I meet him in the kitchens with you. He already warned me I would not be fed if you weren’t with me.”
I looked at the bunk room. It was set up exactly as I thought summer camp would look like. There were enough bunk beds in here for at least forty people, and wall lockers lined all the walls. It looked like someone had already pushed some of the bunks together to create larger beds. I noticed my bag in the far corner immediately. I walked over to it and wondered what was packed for me.
I pulled out my white boy-shorts, a white tank top, a powder blue, off-the-shoulder sweatshirt, and thick knitted, powder blue knee-high socks. I looked over and noticed Lincoln’s bag was thrown on the bunk bed across from mine. I stared at it for a moment. I guess I hadn’t thought about where he would sleep. Did well-known actors sleep on a bunk bed in something akin to a bunker?
“So, Lincoln?” Dawn asked.
“So, what?” I asked stifling a yawn. “Is their shampoo and stuff in there?” I asked as I looked through my bag and didn’t see anything.
“Noah said he put your sh
ower caddy in the wall locker,” Dawn explained. “Is he as dreamy as he is on screen?”
I groaned as I grabbed my hair products. “We don’t click,” I admitted quietly. “He rubs me the wrong way and goes out of his way to be snarky with me.”
She looked at me in surprise. “No way! He seems so…nice, and he’s been working so hard since we got attacked.”
I grabbed a towel from the stack next to the door before I headed towards the locker rooms. “I’m not saying anything against his character. I just don’t think he’s…great boyfriend material.” I stated.
I walked down the hall into the locker room and noticed how pristine and unused it looked. I deposited my clothing on a bench and walked over to the showers, turning it on. I pulled my hair out of my sock bun and rubbed my fingers along my scalp. It felt amazing not to have it constricted any longer. I hadn’t realized I had a throbbing in my head and scalp until my hair was down. I removed my boots before I stripped my clothes off and grimaced at the blood stains, dust, and dirt that was coating it.
“If you would have met Remy, Troy, and Noah before they left to find you, you would have thought the same thing of them,” Dawn insisted. “You know, like seeing them in their natural habitat. You wouldn’t have thought they were boyfriend material either. Jaxson was on the same path, too.”
“What snack did Drake promise us?” I asked hoping to change the subject. I tested the water before I realized it was at a perfect temperature.
Dawn gave me a knowing look before I stepped into the shower. “I’m just saying you should give him a chance. I know several girls including Jemmy who would gladly take your place.”
I moaned in pure bliss as the hot water hit me. Then her words slowly sunk in. I pulled back the curtain to peer at her. “Is that where Jemmy’s at right now?” I asked in disgust.
I just realized I hadn’t seen her since I helped the last person get settled into the hospital ward.
Dawn bit her lip and nodded. “Along with Adams and a few other girls. They decided that they were needed the most in the hospital wing.”