by Abby Tyson
"I'll scream," she said, raising her voice to prove her point.
"Shh!" hissed Hazel. "You would risk getting caught for some vermin?"
"They're not vermin," snapped Savi. "I bet I'd earn some serious points in Omar's book if I turned you in for trying to kidnap me. And now that I know I don't have a live bomb in my leg, I won't be afraid of trying to find a way out."
They had nearly reached the parking lot. The guard stopped to hide behind a shed, with Hazel's black and white van only twenty feet away.
"As soon as we enter the trailer," Savi continued, pointing at the guard, "you knock out Omar, then one of you bring the van over, load up the coywolves, and we're out of here."
"We don't have time," Hazel said, anxiously eyeing the road.
"The longer you argue about it, the less we have," said Savi. She knew perfectly well that Hazel and the guard could gag her and force her to leave, but for some reason Hazel seemed unwilling to upset Savi, and she wasn't about to let that advantage pass by unutilized.
"If we leave without the coywolves," she said, "I'll never forget it. I'll never forgive your cowardice and selfishness, or your unwillingness to --"
"Alright, alright," said Hazel, her sharp face lined with worry. "Can you do it?" she asked the guard. He nodded, and Hazel said, "Okay. Let's get you in the van, and then we'll go back for the coywolves."
"No way," said Savi. "I'm not getting in without them."
"I swear that we'll do our best to retrieve them," said Hazel, starting towards the van.
"No," Savi said, almost shouting. "That's not good enough."
Hazel stared down at her, then nodded to the guard. The next moment they were running toward the lab trailer.
"Why are you doing this?" Savi asked. "Why are you helping me?"
"You don't know who you are yet," said Hazel, panting a little. "It's my duty to help you learn."
Not much of an answer, thought Savi. But if Hazel refused to put explosives in Savi's leg, she had to be better than Omar, right?
They stopped outside the trailer. In the seconds that it took for the guard to put his hand on the doorknob, Savi second-guessed her obstinance. Would they have been better off just leaving? Maybe she could have called Marley and told him where Ren and Lila were, then he and the coywolves could have rescued them in the morning. What if the other guards came back too soon?
The guard's hand was on the door. There was no going back now. But when the door opened, it wasn't the guard's doing.
In the doorway, a stunted silhouette against the bright lights of the lab, stood Omar.
Chapter Twenty-Three
"How did you know I wanted her?" asked Omar, looking down on the three faces below him.
Savi's heart stopped. Her brain went blank. They were lost.
"You're too predictable," said Hazel.
The smile in her voice made Savi's head jerk up. She stared openmouthed at Hazel, amazed at how quickly she had recovered and switched character. Even more shocking was that Omar believed it.
"I suppose I am," he said in his squeaky voice. "Bring her in." He turned and walked back into the trailer.
The guard was about to go in after him when the phone rang. Hazel put her hand on the guard's arm and gave a slight shake of her head. Stepping aside, he let her go in first, then pulled Savi up the stairs.
This trailer was the main laboratory for the facility, and was triple the size of the medical ward. Reeking of vinegar, the entire space was a sterile white, with two large lab tables running down the center. There had originally been three, but the third table, the one closest to the door, had been pushed against the wall, making space for the two caged coywolves.
Ren and Lila were awake, their backs pressed against the wire cages. Savi may have only seen Ren's coywolf once, but she could tell immediately which of the animals was him. Ren was light in color, almost entirely tan with flecks and a few small stripes of white. The other animal had to be Lila, with charcoal gray fur, a large patch of tan on her neck, and two striking circles of tan around her eyes.
Savi looked back at Ren. That's what Marley is right now.
Even though she'd seen his coywolf form, it apparently hadn't truly sunk in that her boyfriend was an animal at night. Only seeing him during the day made it easy to forget. Now, being so close, seeing the terror in Ren's wild eyes and smelling the unmistakable scent of urine in the air, the idea of being romantically involved with someone who became this creature every night was almost repulsive.
Omar picked up the ringing cell phone from the table that was against the wall. Glancing at the caller ID, he silenced it and put it back down.
"Guess who?" he said to Hazel, with a choked sort of giggle. He opened a refrigerator beside Savi and retrieved a vial of clear liquid. Before he closed the door, Savi saw a bag full of blood with a label that read, "C. Claudie - Sep. 10."
That was the day her mom arrived at the Den. She had said that they made her donate blood -- was this the same sample? How did it end up here?
"You're not going to answer it?" Hazel asked.
"He can wait," Omar said. The lilt in his voice and the spark in his eyes made it clear he was deriving great pleasure from this small act of rebellion. He lifted the vial of clear liquid up to Savi as if he were toasting a drink. "Your contribution from this afternoon," he said, and placed the vial in a holder on the table.
"Believe it or not," he said, carefully uncapping the vial, "when Lavender was here we didn't know blood was a purification trigger, since she hollowed by touch alone." He picked up a syringe and extracted some of the fluid. "She said she couldn't explain how the hollowing worked, but I find that hard to believe."
The phone started ringing again.
"Oh, alright, you senile old hypocrite" Omar growled, though grinning.
Savi tugged on the guard's pant leg, urging him to act before Omar could pick up the phone. He looked questioningly at Hazel, but she shook her head, continuing to watch the doctor intently.
With the syringe still in hand, Omar picked up the phone and leaned back against the table.
"Ezra," he said, grimacing as he said the name. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
Savi didn't understand why they hadn't already taken Omar out. They were wasting time. If Hazel really wanted to get her out of there, why were they just waiting around? Was this all some sort of test? Was Omar going to reveal that Hazel had, in fact, implanted her with explosives, and this whole rescue attempt was to evaluate Savi's loyalty?
"That's very gracious of you," said Omar. His eyes locked hungrily on Savi. "Yes, we've already begun some very interesting experiments, and we anticipate continuing in that vein."
At Ezra's response, Omar's mouth turned up in a sneering smile, and his eyes shifted from Savi to the coywolves.
"I expected nothing less from you." His condescension sounded almost funny when spoken in his childish voice. "And while someone on my team has obviously fallen for your madness, they've only given you half of the information. The dirty little secret you've managed to keep hidden all these years is in a cage, pissing on the floor of my lab."
From her lowered vantage point, Savi couldn't tell exactly which coywolf Omar was looking at.
"Your absurd treasure hunt is over," he continued. His words sounded too smooth, almost rehearsed. Savi pictured him working all night in the lab, practicing this speech. "The chamber can't ignore me now. With the perfection of my vaccine, the Zuun will at last achieve its noble mission, succeeding where your foolish, futile program has failed. Science always triumphs over dogma."
Vaccine? Was that what they were doing with Savi's blood?
As the person on the line spoke, Omar's satisfied grin froze. "That's a lie," he hissed. Glancing over the three of them, he spun around, walking across the lab to continue his conversation in whispers.
"I thought we had to go," Savi whispered.
There was a hint of a smile on Hazel's lips as she turned her eyes on Savi, but
it was gone in a blink. Omar had said something about a mole on his team. Could it be Hazel? Is that what this was all about?
"No one will ever believe it," Omar cried, forgetting he was trying to keep his conversation secret. "Even if they do, my record is my own and speaks for itself."
Savi looked back at the coywolves, once again wondering if she should have just left with Hazel in the first place.
"This is scientific research," Omar protested, his voice breaking in rage. "Failures are as important as successes."
He continued to argue with the unseen and unheard Ezra. Savi tried to make sense of his half of the conversation, but it was all too vague.
"-- Your ignorant apostles have even less to show for your millennia of efforts."
"-- We're on the cusp of a breakthrough. My team is the only one competent enough to see this to fruition."
Eventually it became clear that Omar was losing the battle. His words were increasingly frantic, and his jabs more personal. Savi looked back up at Hazel, whose smirk was now evident.
"Xiang?" Omar laughed derisively. "Xiang is an imbecile. He's even more in the dark ages than you are."
"-- She stays! I cannot go backward. I must continue on the vaccine."
He walked back towards them, the phone to his ear and his lips sticking out in a wet pout.
"Yes," he said through clenched teeth and ended the call. Hunching over with his back to them, he slammed his fist on the table.
"What happened?" Hazel's voice was grim, betraying none of the mirth she had shown moments before.
Omar pounded his fist again before saying, "The coywolves are going to him." He whirled around, pointing at Savi. "But she's staying here!" he cried, sounding almost as whiny as Nissa. "I don't care what he says. I'll fight him all the way to the chamber if I have to."
Savi couldn't wait for Hazel any longer. If Omar -- the person who ordered explosives implanted in her knee -- described this Ezra as living in the dark ages, she hated to think what would happen to Ren and Lila in his care.
"Now," she said.
Hazel glared down at her.
"Do it now," she repeated.
Omar looked back and forth between them, though he still seemed distracted. "Good idea," he said. He picked up the syringe he had prepped before the call. "The coywolves are here -- no need to halt our experiments."
"No!" Savi cried. "Now! Or this ends!"
Finally Omar picked up on the message Savi was sending. His eyes narrowed. "What ends?"
The guard stepped toward him. Omar snatched his phone from the table and held it up. "One more step and she loses her leg."
As he said it, he noticed Hazel unconcernedly rifling through a cupboard. He looked back at the guard, then Savi, suspicion creeping into his eyes. "Let's see," he muttered, and entered a code into his phone. His gaze turned to Savi's leg, and a shock of panic ran through her as she realized he must have just tried to activate the bomb. When nothing happened, he dropped the phone on the table behind him.
Hazel had pulled out a tranquilizer gun and was loading a dart into it.
"You didn't activate it," he said, his shoulders drooping.
"I didn't even implant it," she said, aiming the gun at him.
"You're on the wrong side of hist--" His words stuck in his throat, caught by the dart that now protruded from his neck like a large, angry wasp.
"Hold him until he's down," Hazel said to the guard. Omar was already starting to crumple to the floor as the guard caught him and lay him down gently.
"What are you doing?" asked Savi as Hazel loaded another dart gun.
Tranquilizing Ren was Hazel's only reply.
"Hey!" Savi objected.
Hazel whirled around on her. "You have already jeopardized your rescue multiple times tonight," she snapped, her voice low but harsh.
"You're the one standing around wasting time," said Savi. "We should have knocked him out as soon as he opened the door."
"I had to see it for myself," she said, casting a mean smile down at Omar. He was still awake, the blazing fury in his eyes slowly clouding over. Turning back to Savi, Hazel said, "The coywolves will be easier to handle if they're down." Then she rushed to stand behind Savi and started wheeling her out. "Dart the other one, then bring them out," Hazel called back to the guard.
Keeping the two front wheels of the chair up in the air, Hazel quickly pushed Savi back across the lot. As they reached Hazel's van, a crash sounded from back in the lab.
"What was that?" asked Savi, straining unsuccessfully to look around the van.
"The guards must be back. Come on." Hazel opened the passenger's side door of the van and started helping Savi out of the wheelchair.
"What about Ren and Lila?"
"It's too late," said Hazel. "It's too late for us too, no doubt. Get up!"
Savi stood and tried putting her leg down, but the jolt of pain made her lift it right back up. Hopping on one leg, she started searching for the best handholds to pull herself up into the van. She had made it onto the step when a voice from the shadows startled them both.
"So this is your secret."
Savi and Hazel turned to see three guards standing behind them. All three wore black, and the man in the middle wore a black bandana around his neck.
"You can't stop it," Hazel said, dropping Savi's arm and stepping between her and the guards. "You know who holds the real power in this organization, and it's not him." She pointed to the lab. The door hung open, and shadows moved inside.
"Choose your side," Hazel demanded.
The guard in the bandana, the one who had spoken before, said, "How much am I worth to your side?"
"If you get us out of here, double," replied Hazel.
Immediately he whirled around and knocked out the guard to his left. The third guard jumped back, but didn't run.
"Do what you want," the man in the bandana said to the remaining guard, "but don't get in the way."
"Will I get double too?" asked the third guard, a woman.
"If you get us out," Hazel reiterated, turning back to Savi.
"Only if you get the coywolves," Savi said, pushing back against Hazel's attempts to help her into the van.
The guard who had helped get Savi out of her trailer came running up, wheeling the cage with Ren's unconscious coywolf behind him. When he saw the two guards in black, he stopped and pulled out his gun.
"They're on board," said Hazel. Then she turned to the guards. "Load that into the back." Addressing Savi, she said, "Get in the goddamn van!"
But still Savi wouldn't go. "Where's the other one?" she asked. "Where's Lila?"
"Omar's men jumped me, and its cage got knocked over," the guard said. "It ran out."
Savi wasn't sure she believed him, but at least they had Ren. As she turned to get in, she saw the keys dangling from the ignition. The sight of them gave her an idea, and she climbed onto the seat as quickly as she could.
"Go with her," the guard in the bandana ordered.
As the female guard started to get in after her, Savi steeled herself and used her good leg to kick the guard in the face. She fell back out, and Savi slammed the door closed and locked it. Quickly she slid across the seat and locked the driver's side door seconds before Hazel reached it.
"No!" Hazel screamed, banging on the door. "I can show you who you are!"
Ignoring her enigmatic words, Savi started the van. Grateful that her right leg was whole, she shifted into drive and sped away.
A bang in the back made Savi jump. The rear doors had swung down, and Ren's cage was dangerously close to falling out. Savi shrieked in frustration. If she stopped, they would undoubtedly catch up to her. But if she didn't...
When she looked back toward the road she slammed on the brakes, barely avoiding a collision with a Hummer that had been driving with its headlights off. All four doors of the Hummer swung open and a swarm of people jumped out, surrounding the van within seconds. A woman with a long ponytail dressed in military
garb hopped deftly onto the step outside Savi's door and tapped lightly on the glass. In the mirrors, Savi could see the new team defending the van against the Zuun guards. Another tap on the window returned Savi's attention to the smiling woman.
"Ms. Savannah Claudie, I presume?"
I know that voice.
The last of the Zuun guards was on the ground. Savi didn't see Hazel anywhere. One of the members of the new team hopped into the back of the van and lowered Ren's cage to one of his colleagues. The rest of them stood in front, guns aimed at her. Savi wanted to scream as she realized she was trapped once again.
"Your mother has been tremendously worried about you," said the woman, her voice oddly smooth and sweet in the midst of the tense situation. "I told her we would bring you home safe and sound."
"Home?" A spark of hope flickered at the word. Was her mom back home already?
The woman flashed Savi an apologetic smile. "Your temporary home, anyhow."
With a paralyzing wave of fear, it dawned on Savi who this woman was. Had Berto found out that they wanted to rescue Karis? Did he send them after her because of it? Was her mom okay?
"Ms. Perez?" she asked slowly.
"Call me Second," she said, stepping back onto the road. "Mr. Almeida is looking forward to meeting you."
Chapter Twenty-Four
Eyes closed, Marley stood in the clearing, listening to the sounds around him: traffic racing on the highway, birds singing to each other in the trees, dogs barking in the distance. It was what he didn't hear, however, what he hadn't heard for nearly two days, that consumed him.
The morning after he and Ren found Kofi and the coywolves, Marley had woken up alone, deep in a forest that took him half the day to find his way out of. After stealing some clothes from a laundry line and hitching his way back to the shopping center, he found Nissa and Glenn alone in the van. She told him about how Ren had met them as planned and brought her to meet Kofi, Lila, and another coywolf, and then gone back to keep an eye on Savi. Shortly after Ren left, a team dressed in black had raided the clover hideout. Kofi was tranquilized immediately, and Lila was darted as she tried to carry his body out. The third coywolf had escaped with Nissa, but accused her of leading the humans to them. Only after they got back to the van and found Savi and Ren missing and Glenn out cold, did he believe Nissa innocent.