by P. W. Child
As his body cooled, so did his anger—a little, at least. He stayed under until he could picture Cody's face without his hand balling itself involuntarily into a fist. Then he surfaced and made his way back to dry land, ready to go and find Purdue and make a plan to locate Nina and get the hell out of this place.
A sob from behind the sage brush caught his attention. Someone was sitting on the flat rock, trying not to be seen. He crept around the vegetation until he could see the person crying.
"Julia Rose?"
The young woman tried to abort her sobbing, but there was no concealing the distress on her face. "Oh, hey, Sam," she said with as much nonchalance as she could muster. "I was just, um, I."
She fell silent. Judging by the tension in her jaw, Sam was sure that she was biting the inside of her cheek to keep herself from bursting into tears. He was not sure what to do. Crying people were not his area of expertise. They stood in silence, Sam waiting for her to finish her sentence, Julia Rose battling to govern her emotions.
"Do you need me to, er . . . get anyone, or anything?" Sam floundered, hoping that he could help Julia Rose without provoking a flood of tears.
She shook her head vigorously. "What would be the point?" she asked.
"How do you mean?" Sam was nonplussed.
"There's no point," she said, avoiding eye contact and staring into the river. She picked up a handful of pebbles and began hurling them in powerfully, one by one. "I'll be fine. Just like always. Just give me time."
"Did someone do something to you?" he asked. First Nina, now Julia Rose, he thought. Is it just my bad luck today?
Again, Julia Rose shook her head and snuffled. "I told you, Sam, I'm fine. Just stupid is all."
"Hey." Sam crouched beside her on the rock. He desperately wanted to go and find Purdue, but the idea of leaving Julia Rose in this state made him feel a little nervous. Having helped her to get here, he now felt somewhat responsible for her. "Come on. You're not stupid. Tell me what's wrong."
She looked up at him, as if to confirm that he was serious. "It's totally stupid," she sighed. "I'm not even exaggerating. I . . . I was up at Sara's tent. I saw you going there and I followed you. I was going to listen, in case she told you anything she hasn't told me."
"And did she?"
Julia Rose laughed softly, a laugh that sounded half-desolate. "Yeah. Oh, yeah. And that's why it's stupid. I can't believe I listened to everything she said before. Dumbest thing I ever did. She's so full of shit, and I didn't even see it coming."
Sam attempted a comforting pat on the back. "Don't worry about it," he said. "Everyone gets taken in from time to time. I had the odd flicker of it myself! She's persuasive."
"I know," said Julia Rose, "but I usually know better than this. I was raised to have some street smarts. And I was so proud of myself for my objectivity! I was going to come here and uncover, I don't know . . . something. I was going to expose FireStorm as the new Scientology. Then what do you know, the minute I actually meet Sara, I develop some stupid girl crush on her and . . . I should have known better. There's no point in hero worshipping people. They'll always let you down."
As much as Sam wished that he could make the girl feel better, he was out of his depth. He tried to think of something comforting to say, but nothing came to mind—at least, nothing that wouldn't be a lie. Rather than spin a line, he decided to concentrate on the practical. In his experience, that usually helped more than awkward attempts at comfort. Neither helped as much as a dram, but in the absence of any available drink he chose the next best option. "How much did you hear"?
"Plenty. Enough to remind me that when someone looks that slick and so put together, they probably got where they are by sticking it to someone." She shoved the back of her hand across her face, roughly wiping away the tears. "But don't worry about it. I'll get over my disappointment, just like I always do. And then I'll write my article, and maybe it'll keep a few people from pouring more cash and adulation into Sara's lap. Maybe it won't. But I'll still have tried. Even if the only place I ever get to post it is my blog."
She smiled, and Sam found himself returning it. There was something about her pluck and wry humor that reminded him of himself. "Look," he said, "I've got to get back to the camp—but if you've been following Sara as closely as I think you have, there's something I might need your help with."
Purdue's long, thin fingers moved swiftly over the touch screen, swiping and tapping while Sam looked on and tried in vain to make sense of the endless strings of letters and numbers that flashed up. They were in the corridor where Sam had faced the three challenges, on the wrong side of a locked door.
"Is it going to take much longer?" Sam's impatience finally got the better of him. Purdue did not reply or look away from the screen but held up an admonishing finger while continuing to tap with his other hand. Sam turned to Julia Rose instead. "Are you sure there's another door in there?"
Julia Rose nodded emphatically. "I've never been through it, but I met Sara in here for a one-to-one session on the first day. Cody brought me in through this corridor, but she came in through a different door. You can hardly see it from inside—once it closes, it just kind of blends back into the walls."
Purdue gave a small gasp as the locking mechanism released and the door in front of them swung open. "There we are," he said, unfolding from his crouched position. "Hurry now. We have only a few moments before the system corrects itself and locks us out again."
Sam, Julia Rose, Purdue, and his bodyguard all stepped through into the round room. Once the corridor door was closed the walls looked completely solid, as if there were no exits at all. Purdue reached into the pocket of his black shorts and pulled out a roll of red electrical tape, then felt for the outline of the door and placed a few small pieces of tape along it so that they would not become confused by the featureless walls. Julia Rose reached out her hand, ready to feel for the cracks that would betray the presence of another door.
"Don't!" Purdue's voice rang out in the empty room. Julia Rose froze, her eyes wide and her hand suspended in the air. "Don't touch anything," Purdue said. "Every surface that you see in here is a touch screen. Don't activate it. This will have to be a visual search."
Painstakingly all four of them pored over every inch of wall, spaced out at intervals and working their way around in a circle. Sam felt his eyes beginning to ache as he searched. The walls appeared seamless. Could Julia Rose have been wrong?
"I have it!" Purdue called. He beckoned the other three. The fissure in the smooth wall was almost imperceptible, with no discernible way of prying the door open. Purdue looked it up and down appraisingly, then began to wrap electrical tape round the tips of his fingers. At first Sam thought it was simply an unconscious gesture, perhaps a nervous habit, but as Purdue began to swipe at the screens with his covered fingers, it dawned on him. He was concealing his fingerprints. The screens must be able to identify users by their prints, Sam thought. That's clever . . . extremely creepy, but definitely clever.
"That should do it," Purdue said as the screen displayed a "Verification Pending" message. "Fortunately they are using screens not dissimilar to my tablet. I believe I know whose work this is . . . If I'm correct I must congratulate her—and thank her for not blocking the access code. We will know in a moment whether she did or not. The system is set up to request three forms of identification. Fingerprints are the first. Easy enough to avoid by rendering them unreadable, but the second form is the iris scan, and the third is DNA, neither of which can be fudged without a little forethought. I have authorization to access most areas of the camp, but no doubt they will be alert to the possibility of my attempting to release Nina. Ah!"
The message on the screen changed, replaced by the words "Access Granted." The door slid open, but this time only three of them passed through. Kai stopped in the doorway and wedged his foot against the sliding panel, jamming the door open.
The corridor that lay in front of them was lined with the same
material as the circular room. With a few swift taps, Purdue was able to call up a map labeled "Solitary Reflection Units," which showed that there were four small rooms concealed behind the walls. Three were empty, but one contained a moving shape—a thermal image picked out in red, green, and yellow. Purdue tapped the figure and a panel opened up displaying her height and weight, the temperature within the cell, the time of her last meal, and the time at which she was next due to be offered water.
"Can you reprogram that?" Sam asked, pointing to the water timer. "Someone's meant to bring water in five minutes."
Purdue shook his head. "I could, but not without more time. We will have to do our best to get her out before anyone arrives." He stared intently at the screen, his fingers swooping and pecking as he tried a variety of override codes that might open the cell doors. Sam held his breath and counted the seconds as they passed.
Just as the cell door swung open, they heard Kai at the other end of the corridor. Someone had entered the circular room, and now he was speaking to them loudly enough for the rest of the group to hear. It was as much warning as they could have.
Sam made for the door to Nina's cell, but Purdue held him back. "Wait," he said. "We need to do this the right way, or we will trigger all sorts of alarms." He led Sam and Julia Rose to the cell door and stood outside. "Nina!" he called. "We are here to free you, but you must do exactly as I say. Come to the door, but do not step out."
Nina, looking small and fragile, did as she was told. It took some effort. Every cell in her body was screaming at her to run, to get herself on the other side of the door and not stop until she had open sky above her head.
Purdue reached out and took her hand. Her fingers closed gratefully around his. A yell came from the circular room as Kai prevented the acolytes from entering by the only means left to him. As the sound of the fight reached them, Purdue hauled Nina out of the cell . . . and threw Julia Rose in to take her place.
☼
Chapter Twenty-Four
"What the hell, Dave?" Nina yelled, as Purdue dragged her along the corridor toward the circular room. "You can't just—"
"It's you or her, Nina," Purdue said, with alarming composure. "They have no reason to be concerned about her. You, on the other hand . . . "
He trailed off, distracted for a moment by the sight of Kai battling the two acolytes. Despite their slight stature they were both strong, and they moved with the speed and grace of snakes. They circled and struck, circled and struck, landing simultaneous blows that were paired to inflict maximum pain in both kidneys, the solar plexus and sternum, the windpipe, and the back of the knees. Grunting in pain, Kai lunged at one then the other until he caught one, the young male.
The female acolyte leaped onto his back, clawing at his face, but it did nothing to loosen his grip on the male. He twisted the young man's arm in two different directions, resulting in a sickening crack and a gut-wrenching scream.
Recklessly, Purdue slammed his hand against the door panel. There was no time for disguising his prints or any other trickery. He snatched his glasses from his nose and stared at the panel, willing it to scan his retinas faster, and then replaced them as he opened his mouth for the cheek swab. The sample stick protruded from the wall on a tiny extendable arm, jabbing quickly at his mouth.
They spilled into the challenge corridor, dashed along it and up the stairs to the connection tent. It was still empty and the campsite was quiet as the sun reached its highest and hottest point, driving everyone to seek shelter. Carefully, the trio crept across the sand. Where the hell are we going to go? Sam wondered. He wanted to ask, but Purdue seemed to have a plan, so he followed.
It did not take him long to work out their destination. Sam had not yet explored the tall rock formation where Nina and Purdue had sheltered just a few nights before, but it was the only visible structure that might provide them with shade and concealment. He wiped the freely flowing sweat from his face as they plodded through the sand. The spiky, scrubby bushes grabbed at his legs and tore long, thin lines into them. Beside him, Nina stumbled. Sam and Purdue both grabbed her arms and propped her up, ushering her toward the shade.
"Henley?"
Half-hidden in the shade of the rocks, the girl raised her head to reveal a sulky, hurt face. "Yeah? What are you people doing here? This is my place."
"Just looking to get out of the sun, Henley," said Sam. "Are you ok?"
She gave a one-shouldered shrug. "I guess. This place sucks, is all. And you know what, you can tell my mom and dad. I don't care how much they love all this stuff. It's bullshit. I want to go home."
"Christ, you and me both," Nina sighed, collapsing beside her. "I wish I'd never come here." She turned her face toward the sky. It was too hot, even in the shade, and there was not even the slightest breeze to disturb the arid air. Nevertheless, it was the sweetest sensation she could imagine. Above her were miles of open sky, with not a wall in sight.
Despite wearing the lightest clothes he owned, a thin cotton T-shirt and pale beige shorts, Sam felt like he was melting. Beads of sweat trickled down the back of his neck, sticking his hair to his skin. The mental image of his waterskin, resting on top of his backpack back in the teepee, taunted him.
"Does anyone have any water?" Nina asked, as if reading his mind. "They gave me some when I was in the cell, but it had all that weird herbal stuff in it, so I left it alone."
"Good call," said Henley. "Mom says it's fine, but I think it's some kind of drug. She says it can't be drugs because it's just a plant. I told her that weed is just a plant too—I mean, she'd freak if she saw me with a joint but she's fine with me drinking that shit? So stupid. Besides, I don't think she ever saw some of the other shit they put in there." Her brow furrowed as she realized what else Nina had said. "Why were you in the cells?"
Sam and Nina exchanged a glance, noting that Henley did not seem even slightly surprised by the existence of the cells.
"I got on the wrong side of Cody," said Nina. "Although I don't think that's all there was to it. I think—no, Dave." She shook off the hand that Purdue laid on her arm. "I don't care if she runs to Jefferson. Or Sara. Or Cody. If any one of them tries to put me back in those cells, I'll claw their fucking eyes out this time."
"I'm not running to anybody," Henley said, twisting a lock of her dark blonde hair nervously between her fingers. "I don't trust anybody here."
Neither do I, Sam thought, trying hard not to watch Purdue suspiciously out of the corner of his eye. What is your game, Dave Purdue? First you seem to be in with these people, then you're not, then you throw Julia Rose in the cell, and now we're following you and hoping that you've got a plan to get us out of here. I don't trust you an inch, yet for some reason I keep following your lead.
"Not even your parents?" Purdue asked.
Henley looked uncomfortable. "No," she said. "I mean, yeah, kind of . . . I don't know. It's Mom and Dad. Of course, I trust them, but they're just being so weird right now. It's been like this ever since Dad got into all this FireStorm stuff, and now Mom's drinking the Kool-Aid too. I don't get it, so obviously there's something wrong with me." She shook back her hair in a gesture of practiced defiance. "Well, whatever. I don't even care. I'll be eighteen in a few months, and then I can do whatever I want. I don't have to put up with this crap anymore."
Beneath the teenage bravado, it was clear that Henley was hurting. Even Sam, who prided himself on being as emotionally stunted as a Scotsman could be, could tell how upset she was. Her hands were shaking slightly, and the hand that cupped her crooked elbow had its nails dug deep into the skin of her arm. Little deep pink crescent shapes speckled her tanned skin. A couple of the marks went so deep that they showed a thin line of red where she had broken through the epidermis.
A noise from the camp broke the stillness of the air. It was the sound of the gong in the connection tent, the one that Sam had only ever seen struck by the acolytes. If they were sounding the gong, Sam reasoned, it could only mean that th
ey had overpowered Kai and that he was either in a cell or dead. He won't be dead, Sam told himself, battling the growing feeling of horror in the pit of his stomach. There's no reason to think that he's dead. If they overpowered him, he'll be in a cell. That's all. It's not good, but it would make sense.
"Anyway," Henley suddenly remembered that she had been attempting to ask Nina a question. "You didn't tell me what you did to get put in a cell. What was it?"
Nina let out a long sigh. "I'm not sure if I should tell you, Henley. Not because you might tell—I'm sure you won't. But it's just . . . it gets gruesome. There's something that happened, and I don't know if I should tell you about it."
"It's the dead guy, isn't it?" Henley met Nina's eye with a steady gaze, facing down her shocked expression.
"Dead guy?" Sam spluttered, an icy finger of fear suddenly running down the back of his neck. "What?"
"Over near the cinder cone. I saw him too." Although she was fighting to keep her tone calm, Henley's voice had dropped to little more than a whisper. "He's really messed up, but I think it's that software guy who knew Sara."
"Hunter," Sam said, hanging on to the one thing he was sure about. "His name was Hunter."
He could see it all in his head, so clearly. The beast being chased and cornered, people claiming parts of the body, the strange juxtaposition between reality and the dream state. "What happened?"
"Hard to tell," said Nina. "I found him when I was trying to get away from Cody. I just walked downriver for a while, and then I could see the cinder cone so I wandered over there. Really, I was just waiting until there would be other people around the camp so it wouldn't be just him and me. Then I saw . . . oh, god, he was such a mess. I think—well, I thought that maybe a mountain lion had gone for him. I don't think I'd even have recognized him if it hadn't been for the black T-shirt. There are only two people here who wear black shirts in the desert, and I was really sure it wasn't Henley. Anyway, I—Sam?"