Insolation

by Bradlyn Wilson

  But there she sat in this lab room pretending she cared.

  So she got up and went to a weather simulator. She watched a miniature tornado swirl around in the tube that sat in the middle of the room. She pushed a dial up that made it climb from a class three to a class five. For fun she dropped some houses and cars into the simulator, with the press of a button they appeared out of thin air. She watched as the tornado flung the plastic houses against the tube. They shattered into pieces as they hit the glass then they dissipated into a pile of pixels. Hadley pressed a button so it started to rain, lightning streaked across the tube.

  She didn’t hear Kane come into the room until he was standing right in front of her, staring at her through the tornado and pouring rain. She jumped and pressed stop on the simulator. She took a step back and looked at him.

  “Bored of our research already?” He smiled.

  “No, it’s just that, it doesn’t seem productive does it? With them out there we will never implement any of it. And it’s not like we can stop the storm.” She shrugged frustrated.

  He smiled. “You’re different you know.”

  “Different from what?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

  He searched for the words, “Than when you got here I mean.”

  “Oh?” She could tell he wanted to say more but couldn’t find the words.

  Hadley walked over to him. He took a step back and leaned against a table with his hand holding him up. Hadley gently put her hand on his. He didn’t pull away.

  “You really want what’s best for everyone in the world,” he stated quietly.

  Hadley bit her bottom lip, warmth growing in her stomach. She couldn’t help but think of her dream again, the one she couldn’t seem to shake. It felt so real.

  “You are different from the person I met when I first got here too. You don’t scare me anymore,” Hadley said softly as she got closer. She took shallow breaths because she was shaking. She looked up through her eyelashes at him. He was even more handsome up close.

  His free hand went to Hadley’s waist. He pulled her towards him so their hips were touching. They stood there for a second, making sure they both knew what was happening, before he brought his lips to hers. They were breathing the same air. Then he kissed her. She moved her hand to the back of his head. It was electric and dizzying.

  He picked her up and leaned her onto the counter. She felt his weight on top of her, grasping at every inch. He kissed her neck as he ran his hand down her side to her hip. His hand moved to the clasp on her jeans. Unconsciously she twitched, a picture of Paxton in her mind.

  “Is everything okay?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she said pushing his hand back to her waist. She kissed him and he smiled.

  “Should we wait?” he whispered in her ear before he kissed her again. She just shook her head and wrapped her legs around his waist and they were lost.

  Father figure my ass!

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  2447

  Hadley was sitting wrapped in Paxton’s arm. They were both shaking. She could feel the tears running down her face and his. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him. She could feel by his trembling he was as upset as she was.

  They were sitting in a dark room that was under construction. They were hiding against a framed wall under a painter’s tarp. They were on the top floor of a building rising hundreds of meters into the air.

  A nuclear cloud appeared perfectly framed through the window behind them. Hadley watched in slow motion as the cloud erupted in the air. The surrounding areas blasted out of the way, as though in slow motion.

  “What have we started?” She heard Paxton whisper.

  She still couldn’t bring herself to answer she knew it was her fault. She took a small box out of her pocket and started to carve holes into it.

  Then her coinet erupted with a call. Kane was calling. She immediately pressed ignore.

  Then an unknown number appeared.

  “Maybe it’s Saul.” Paxton said glancing at her coinet.

  “Maybe,” Hadley said.

  She picked up the phone with a, “Hello.”

  “Hadley, is that you?”

  “Yes?”

  “Are you safe?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “You weren’t in the blast radius?”

  “No, but I can see it from here.”

  “Are you downtown?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you headed to the safe house?”

  “We needed to get rid of a GOV tail, but Pax and I are headed there soon.”

  Hadley glanced at Paxton with a meek smile. He placed his hand on her arm.

  “Please be careful, we don’t want anything to happen to…”

  Hadley cut him off, “I know how important this is Saul. I’m not going to mess it up like everything else.”

  “I don’t think that.”

  “You said it last night.”

  “I was just worried.”

  “Don’t be. In a few months this will all be over and you won’t have to see me again.”

  “You know that’s not what I want.”

  “Don’t you?”

  Hadley hung up; she didn’t want to hear his excuses or reasons for constantly putting her down.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  All of them were back in the gym for final physical assessments. Hadley could feel that her body had become harder over the last few weeks. She was in peak physical shape, she didn’t even know how, but they were taking supplements every day and she had built muscle like crazy.

  Hadley was able to move faster, stronger and more precisely, knowing her opponents move before them. But she still didn’t know what would happen to if she didn’t pass. She knew what she needed to do though. Her muscles still hurt from their adventure a few nights prior and she had been so busy with prepping for this assessment that she hadn’t been able to look at the content of the vault.

  It frightened her to look at everything, she felt like everything was unravelling, and she had just made a decision about her movement forward.

  She looked around at their group and they looked like a synchronized army. Jinni came up beside her. “You ready for this?” She asked nudging Hadley in the side. Her hair was dyed pink today and she was laughing. Hadley looked at her knowing Jinni had nothing to worry about today. She was always the best.

  Hemmer walked in without Kane. “I will be running the assessments today. Remember, you passing this is crucial. We need to be able to trust your bodies to survive out there. Also if I deem you unfit to continue your involvement will be terminated. Those are the facts.”

  Hadley’s heart dropped into her stomach, she felt like she was sinking into the floor. Hemmer had had it out for her since day one, and the fact he was here without Kane was bad news. He had threatened to kill her already.

  Pax gave Hadley a sideways glance. She had a lump in her throat.

  Hemmer pulled out his tablet. He opened it with a flash and started at the top. “First up we have Hadley, against Jeremiah.”

  Jinni looked at Hadley in disbelief, actually everyone did. Hadley was just stunned. She just stood there staring at Hemmer for a moment before Vanya gave her a slight nudge. She couldn’t think as she stepped up on the raised platform. Everyone had confused faces, except Jeremiah.

  Jeremiah smirked at her, a devilish grin. Kane always put them with even opponents, though that wasn’t the case in the real world. It worked better in a controlled environment where you didn’t have the option to run.

  Jeremiah could beat Hadley with his hands tied behind his back. Hadley put her hands up preparing herself. She flexed her arms and bent her knees. She tried to feel the world around her. She set herself in a balanced and poised position.

  “All right, and you may begin,” Hemmer said with a smirk.

  Jeremiah raised his eyebrows and lurched towards Hadley. He punched sharply with his left arm and she narrowly dodged his hand. He jab-jabbed and s
he managed to avoid him with fast footwork. But he was beginning to understand her tactic.

  “You can’t just keep running from me forever.”

  “Watch me,” Hadley countered.

  He punched right but she was ready for it. He had put all his weight into it and she took his footing out with her heel. But he grabbed her wrist as he fell. She somersaulted, landing on her back. She twisted onto her stomach and attempted to push herself up but Jeremiah was quicker. He pushed her back down and grabbed her hair. He pulled her neck back sharply.

  “Told you.”

  “Fuck you Jeremiah.”

  Hadley squirmed under him but he was bigger and stronger than her. She heard the crunch before she felt it as he smashed her face against the ground. She saw the ground twice more as her face hit the pavement.

  Just as he was about to do it again, Hadley brought her elbow up sharply into his face. He receded for a moment, and that was all she needed to get back to her feet.

  She could taste the blood in her mouth but wasn’t about to give up.

  “You always go for the nose, don’t you?” Jeremiah almost laughed as she started to get up.

  “Mostly,” Hadley said as she ran towards him, she jumped, wrapping her legs around his neck. She spun, placing her hands neatly onto the ground and flipped him onto his back.

  Like a ninja, she was on top of him and brought her fist neatly into the side of his jaw. One of his teeth cracked, her pushed her off and just as he was about to bring his fist into her face someone yelled.

  “Enough!”

  Hadley stared up at the ceiling for a moment unable to lift her head but when she did she saw Kane. He was shaking his head in the doorway. He was livid. His eyes were shooting daggers at Hemmer.

  “I will remind you Hemmer that I am in charge of this portion of the SPaDI project,” Kane said calmly.

  “I will remind you I am in charge of you,” Hemmer said laughing. Kane stared at him as he took a step forward with fire in his eyes. He was scary when he was angry. Hemmer laughed at him and handed over the tablet. “Kane, I saw what I needed to anyway.”

  “Thank you,” Kane said as Hemmer left the room, “Get off of her Jeremiah, I’m glad you can show off your brute force on someone a fraction of your size. Hadley you need to work harder, not everyone will be Jinni’s size. Frickin’ ridiculous.”

  Jeremiah got off her back. He marched away. She pushed herself up and walked off the platform.

  Embarrassment was the only thing she felt. There was a trail of red drops on the floor as Hadley wandered back to find a first aid kit, her nose was bleeding profusely.

  She grabbed the match size box and inserted a smaller beetle into her nose. It went at it, fixing everything with a click and a crunch. Then it sauntered onto her cheek with a ding. She grabbed it off and it turned red in her hand. She placed it back in the box and grabbed a towel off the shelf. She wiped the blood off.

  “Ok next up, Jinni and Vanya,” Kane shouted. Everyone was quiet again.

  Hadley couldn’t decide whether she should stay or leave. She turned back around to watch the fight. The two girls smiled at each other and started to fight. It looked choreographed. They were both so good. They moved faster and faster until finally Vanya had Jinni on the ground. There were cheers from the group.

  The fights went on; Hadley barely paid attention to who was fighting who. She didn’t want to see what her face looked like now. She knew it was becoming more and more a disfigured mess. She just stared at the ground, looking at the brown flecks through the tiles.

  The fights finally ended. She felt like she had stood frozen in place all day.

  “You are all good to go, expedition teams will be announced tomorrow,” Kane yelled.

  Hadley waited behind everyone as they clattered loudly out the door. Paxton even caught her eye but she looked away. Soon Kane and she were the only people left in the room. She looked up at him with anger. Kane looked at her, unmoving, uncaring.

  “You could have died; you are being a stupid little girl!” Kane half shouted at her across the gym.

  Hadley didn’t know what she expected him to say, but it wasn’t that. He walked up to her and grabbed her waist. He kissed her hard, it wasn’t passionate it was out of need. For the first time she was scared of him.

  She turned her head and pushed him off, “I could have taken Jeremiah! I don’t need you to save me! He wouldn’t have killed me. It was just a test.”

  “You don’t know what Jeremiah is capable of. You don’t know what anyone is capable of given the right circumstances.”

  “Kane, you’re always right aren’t you?”

  “You always need saving Hadley. You always have. You can act big and tough, but you are just you. That’s just a small insignificant girl who is intelligent beyond her years. You belong in a lab inputing data, not out in the real world. That’s all.”

  “You fucking asshole! I don’t need you or anyone else. I’m strong enough on my own.”

  He came at her again. She stepped away, he grabbed at her, catching the edge of her shirt, ripping it.

  “Stop it!” she practically screamed. He didn’t even blink. He started to undo the buttons on her jacket and exposed her sports bra. He pulled her in sternly and started to kiss her neck. She pushed away.

  She could feel his fingers grasping at her hips. His fingers moved south. Then he saw it, the chain had come out of her ripped top and was gleaming in the florescent lights. He stopped. He stared for a moment then he grabbed the chain and pulled the end up to his face. He looked at the ring dangling from the end. He let go of her completely, as if burnt.

  “Where did you get this?” he whispered a look of panic on his face

  “Nowhere. I just found it on the ground,” she said nervously through gritted teeth. He stood up staring dumbfounded at her. He backed up slowly.

  “Who else knows you have that?” he hissed.

  “No one, just me,” she said pulling the halves of her shirt together and standing up. She slowly backed away from him putting some space between them.

  Without another word he walked out of the training center. He took one glance back and was gone. She fell onto her knees, sat down and cried.

  Then she composed herself.

  What does he think I know? She thought. Then she ran. Faster than she ever thought she could back to her room to see the contents of the safety deposit box.

  Chapter Thirty

  The first thing she saw was a picture of her and Paxton wearing red RFE t-shirts. This was the photo she had seen when she had first opened the safety deposit box. She couldn’t understand how it could be real; it had to be photo-shopped.

  She studied the logo and noticed it was the same one that was spotted throughout the city. The circle with the V’s. Hadley had seen it the first day she had woken up.

  Next there was a poster with her face on it reading VOTE FOR FREE EARTH. Then there was a piece of paper with another address 90 Hummingbird Court. This time there was a coin stuck to it.

  The last piece of paper she pulled out was a handwritten note: Hadley, you need to remember, you need to follow the clues. Remember, you have done it before. Don’t ever forget who we are against. It was her handwriting. She just stared at it. Follow the clues? She thought.

  She pushed herself up and with the papers in one hand she walked to Pax’s room. He never locked the door and she went straight in. She crossed her legs beside Pax’s torso and nudged him with her free hand.

  “What is it?” he said groggily rolling over to face her. But he kept his eyes closed.

  “Wake up!” she whispered nudging him again. She poked him in the side and he twitched.

  “It’s the middle of the night Hadley,” he said absolutely annoyed, still without opening his eyes.

  “Come on!” she said shaking him.

  “Come back to sleep,” he said burying his face in the pillow. He waved his arm to dismiss her.

  Hadley let out a frustrate
d sigh putting her hands in the air. She set the papers down beside her and pushed herself onto his back straddling him.

  “Wake up,” she whispered seductively into his ear laying her torso flat on his back. He turned over to face her with his eyes wide open. Their hips were touching and she could feel his excitement growing.

  “I’m awake,” he half exclaimed

  “Good! Come see this,” she said pushing off him and regaining her sitting position beside him. She gathered all the papers in her hands and waited for him to sit up.

  He gave a huff, “you’ve got to be kidding!”

  He got into a sitting position adjusting his crotch uncomfortably and sat face to face with Hadley. He gave her a stern look. She rolled her eyes and laughed.

  “Finally.”

  “It’s a good thing you’re cute or I wouldn’t put up with this—” he garbled.

  Hadley thrust everything from the deposit box into his hands.

  He studied it for a few minutes. They let the silence wash over them. Hadley didn’t have a clue where to start or what to say. Pax’s face turned down, deep in thought. He just sat staring at the picture of the two of us in RFE t-shirts.

  “What do you think it all means? Do you think we were actually RFE?” Paxton said looking at Hadley concernedly.

  “We can’t have been— look at what they’ve done.”

  “What Hemmer has said they’ve done,” he pointed out. It wasn’t like Pax to say anything bad about Hemmer or Kane or the GOVs.

  “All I know is that I need the truth. The whole truth.”

  “And nothing but the truth,” he teased in a deeply serious voice. “How do you know it’s not a trap?”

  “I don’t,” she said with a shrug, “but I have to find out. If it is a trap it was very well planned. They hid the first clue in my tomb. So if they are going to kill me at least they’ve worked for it. But I have this feeling in my gut—”

  “So when do we go?” Paxton smiled.

  “Let’s give it a few days Pax. Let everything cool off and let Hemmer think that we are following the rules.” As she said it she could feel the excitement. She was smiling from ear to ear.