Wanted

by Ho, Jo

  Feeling a calm she didn’t know she possessed, Elora watched the clock and started counting the strokes of the needle. When she reached nine, Forbes was out for the count.

  CHAPTER 132

  CHASE

  I watched Sully like a hawk.

  His hands moved quickly and surely. They didn’t show the doubt he had felt just minutes ago when I had to cheer him on, but he was having obvious trouble standing. He kept stopping, kept shifting his weight. The whole thing was mesmerizing, yet terrifying. He moved the flaps of Bandit’s skull, repositioning them, ready to close him up when there came a pounding on the door.

  Gideon shot towards it, gun held in his hands, aimed in case the people outside somehow got through. He looked to Sully for guidance, but Sully kept his focus on Bandit. I grabbed a metal clamp in my hands and went to wait beside Gideon. I figured I could get at least one good hit with the thing before I went down. I was hoping I would get someone’s soft head with it. I was getting really good at that.

  “Let me in, I need to save Alpha,” came a frantic female voice from the other side of the door. Sully was so surprised, he stopped working.

  “Who’s there?” he called out.

  “Dr. Robins,” came the reply. “Forbes forced me away before I could finish closing him up, but he needs my help or he’ll die!” she called. Sully and I looked at each other. Her voice sounded desperate enough, she seemed sincere, but what if it was a trick? In the end, I went with what my gut was telling me.

  “It’s true,” I said. “She wanted to help him, but Forbes wouldn’t let her.”

  Sully listened to my words and made a snap decision. “Open the door carefully. If anyone other than the doc comes in, Gideon, you shoot.”

  “Got it,” Gideon said grimly. I took hold of the metal stand and pulled it away. Grabbing the door handle, I cranked it open a tiny notch. The doc’s fearful face filled the gap.

  “Hurry, let me in before the guards know what I’ve done,” she said. I opened the door, steeling myself for something to go wrong. Beside me, I saw Gideon’s whole body tense as he also prepared to fight, but the Doc darted inside and quickly shoved the door back closed. I jammed the rod beneath the handle again, locking us in.

  The doc took in Sully’s actions with horror. “Get away from him, you don’t know what you’re doing!” she cried.

  Sully’s voice was calm but firm. Professional. “I’m a vet, but I could do with your help. This is more than I’m used to.” Reassured by his manner, the Doc rushed over, pulled on a pair of gloves and proceeded to help. Safe for now, I made my way back to Gideon’s side. He looked at me, frowning, as if he were struggling to find the right words to say to me.

  “You think Bandit will be OK?” he finally asked.

  I could feel the tears welling in my eyes again and fought to keep them down.

  “He has to be.”

  CHAPTER 133

  SULLY

  I couldn’t begin to describe the relief I had felt when the good doctor stormed inside. Craniology wasn’t my area of specialty, and though I didn’t want Chase to know, the entire time I was working on Bandit, my heart wasn’t just in my throat, but dancing a fandango.

  With Dr. Robins on the scene, I was able to take a backseat and assist with the closing. It was a marvel really, the way her fingers stitched so quickly yet neatly. The needle darted in, then out, with seemingly no effort at all. From the moment she took over, things went so fast, it wasn’t long before we were done. The second she made the final cut of the stitches, Chase hustled over, fists gripped tightly by her side. Poor kid was hanging by a thread.

  “Is he OK?” She had obviously been waiting this whole time just to ask.

  Robins answered. “We won’t know until he wakes up.”

  I had already rinsed my hands and was now wiping them on my jeans. “We need to get out of here pronto, before Forbes comes back.”

  “I bought you some time, but he’ll be discovered soon,” Dr. Robins said. Off my questioning look she explained, “I shot him up with ketamine. He’ll be down for a while, though the guards might check up on him.”

  Remembering how the SWAT team had first arrived at his clinic with tranquilizers armed with that very drug, I felt a faint sense of justice. Good, let’s see how he likes it. Chase shot a grateful look at her.

  “Thank you,” she said simply, but with meaning.

  The Doctor flushed with something like shame, hanging her head low. “I’m so sorry about all this. Alpha was always special. I should’ve stopped Forbes sooner, but he’d made threats to my family...”

  Seeing how distressed she was, I reached out and squeezed her shoulder, offering what little comfort I could. “When push came to shove, you helped. That’s what counts.”

  She straightened up, resolved. “In the basement there’s a network of corridors. They’re only ever used by my team. You can sneak out that way,” she said.

  Chase frowned. “Won’t the guards know about them too?”

  Robins shook her head. “No. My team are the only ones. We… use them to sneak in dogs for testing.” As soon as she said the words, her eyes filled with tears. I was torn. On one hand, I wanted to alleviate her guilt. On the other, well, she had been torturing those poor animals for years. As if she knew what I was thinking, Robins straightened up suddenly. Probably realizing her feelings weren’t important when there was so much more at stake.

  “You’ll show us the way out?” Gideon asked.

  Robins looked at us. “Yes, but I need you to do something for me first.”

  I looked at her, suddenly apprehensive. “What?”

  “I need you to help me free all the other dogs.”

  CHAPTER 134

  CHASE

  My first instinct was to run.

  Bandit was stable, and I knew the guards and Forbes would soon be hunting us down. It was on the tip of my tongue to say no, when an image of thousands of Bandits trapped in cages flashed across my mind. I looked down at his unconscious face, at the ugly vivid scar on his head, which only minutes ago had been opened because of the experiments they conduct here. And I knew without a doubt, they had to be saved.

  Every last one of them.

  “Sully… you take care of Bandit. I’ll go with her and help the dogs.” If Sully were surprised by my decision, he didn’t show it. Instead, a look of pride came over his face. Then Gideon spoke.

  “Me too. They’re not keeping another one in those cages.” He sounded real mad. The Doc smiled at us, grateful, then looked at Sully.

  “Follow me, hurry,” she said, already darting away. Sully grabbed hold of the gurney Bandit lay on, steering it after her. Gideon and I took up the rear. We hurried through winding corridors as the Doc led us to the west side of the building. I knew it was west, as the sun was beginning to set, casting a golden hue all around us. I kept an eye out for those cameras that had caught me out before, but the Doc knew her way and avoided anything that would alert them to our presence. Finally, we arrived outside a door marked “Genesis.” Sully and Gideon looked grim.

  “We’re here,” Sully said. It was clear by the expressions on their faces that they must have already been through here on the way to save Bandit. The Doc came to the same conclusion I think, as she didn’t bother to ask how he knew. She opened the door, then propped it open with a chair.

  “Any sign of them, you shout and we’ll go,” she said.

  Sully nodded. “Just be quick.” To my and Sully’s surprise, Gideon handed him his gun. Sully didn’t make a big deal of it, but he knew this was a big move on Gideon’s part; it wasn’t that long ago that Sully was Public Enemy Number One. Gideon must’ve known that Sully hadn’t forgotten his early treatment of him, as his cheeks were starting to flush with embarrassment.

  In typical Sully fashion however, he simply said, “Thanks.”

  I snuck Bandit one last look then followed Gideon into Genesis… and was immediately, painfully, struck by how many trapped dogs there wer
e. I saw the tablets attached to each cage, but there wasn’t time for me to explore. Gideon and the Doc were already sprinting to the far end of the room. I guess we were starting there first.

  I reached a cage where a tiny Pomeranian was trembling. It ran to the back of the cage, obviously terrified of human contact. I had to grit my teeth to stop the wave of rage building in me. The cage had a simple bolt on it. No lock. I drew the bolt back and flung open the door. The dog whimpered, staring at me with fear-filled eyes, trying desperately to back herself further into the cage.

  “It’s OK pup, I’m here to save you,” I said. It still wouldn’t leave, not used to being offered freedom. I reached my hand in, meaning to take her by the scruff of her neck, but something amazing happened. As my hand came near her nose, she sniffed and suddenly, she licked my hand as the fear vanished. At first, I couldn’t understand it, but then I realized what it was - she could smell Bandit on it! She could smell a happy dog and knew I couldn’t be bad! I called out to her again.

  “Come, heel.” Hearing the encouragement in my voice, the dog ran out of the cage. Triumphant, I started on the next cage, where a giant Doberman sat. This time when I went to persuade him to leave, I had assistance. The Pomeranian barked short, clipped barks at him. He pricked up his ears, listening, then came out without any urging from me. I was amazed, but had no time to marvel in this display of communication, having already made my way to the next cage. From the corner of my eye, I could see Gideon and the Doc frantically doing the same.

  “It’s taking too long,” Sully called suddenly from the hallway. I could hear the frustration in his voice. It must have been awful, him standing there watching us but not able to help. Abruptly, he wheeled the gurney into the room — but only just past the door, in case he needed to leave quickly — and limped into the room with us. By now there were some thirty dogs running loose as Sully started flinging open the cages. It was total chaos.

  I was breathless, my lungs taking a pounding from the franticness of it all. My fingers were starting to feel sore where they were being rubbed by the metal of the locks, but I soldiered on — thinking of the dogs, yes, but if I were honest, mostly of Bandit. The longer we took in here, the more danger he was in. We had to do this quickly so we could get out of there.

  We worked fast as a team. In no time at all, I glanced up to see we already had most of the cages opened. There were dogs EVERYWHERE, but noticeably, after their initial communication, they were now silent. It was like they knew we needed to be quiet. I wondered if any of these dogs were as intelligent as Bandit, but then I remembered they couldn’t be, otherwise Forbes would have cut their heads open too.

  That one thought gave me a second wind. I worked faster.

  As we were reaching the finish line, alarms suddenly peeled overhead. The Doc called out, panicked.

  “They found Forbes! Hurry!” she yelled.

  Instinctively, I started running for Bandit while the others continued freeing the last of the dogs. Grabbing the gurney, I started steering him back into the hallway, but suddenly guards appeared, blocking my path!

  “SULLY!” I screamed.

  CHAPTER 135

  CHASE

  The guards rushed towards me. All eight of them.

  The others looked over and froze, across the room from me. Sully had the gun, but he couldn’t take out all of them at once, and stupidly, I was so panicked, I couldn’t think straight. There was nothing I could do to stop them.

  Then something miraculous happened.

  The freed dogs bounded over, forming a barrier between the guards, Bandit, and me. Baring their teeth, the dogs — who were previously so scared, they wouldn’t leave their cages — now turned into vicious animals. Snarling, saliva dripped from their jaws as they growled at the guards warningly. The guards stopped dead in their tracks. Though each had a weapon, there were far too many dogs for them to take on. They were at a complete standstill.

  Not so, us. “Chase, this way!” The good doc called. I spun the gurney around and sprinted for her. She was standing by another door, Gideon beside her. Sully rushed up to greet me and took over the handling of the gurney. Together we ran for the door the Doc now held open. Seeing us escaping however, one of the guards took aim at us.

  SSSSSSssnap.

  A bullet shot towards me, whistling through the air, narrowly missing the top of my head to impale itself into the wall, which exploded behind me. Before I had time to react, the dogs flew at the guards. Round after round of panicked shots were fired. A dog whined, then fell down, blood pouring from a gaping wound, but was immediately replaced by another dog, now savagely attacking the guard who had killed his fellow canine. It was carnage. I wanted to help, but there was nothing much I could do.

  But then I saw the gas canisters. They were dotted around the room, used for some horrible purpose or another.

  I pointed at them. Sully caught my gesture. It didn’t take him any time to know what I was thinking. He nodded.

  “Gideon,” he called out. “Take over Bandit!”

  Gideon shot him a questioning look but ran to replace Sully all the same. We split up to gather as many of the canisters as we could. Sully pointed to a point in the center of the room and dumped his canisters there. I followed suit as Sully threw the labcoat he was still wearing on top of the mound.

  By now, the dogs had torn their way through several of the guards. Only two were still standing, still fighting, but it was a losing battle. The second from last guard was suddenly overcome by dogs, disappearing beneath them. Seeing this, the last guard turned abruptly and ran away. I took a grim comfort in this small victory.

  “Dogs!” I called out, “Well done. This way!” I urged them through the door, where Gideon and the Doc were waiting on the other side.

  Sully found a bottle of isopropyl alchohol which he poured onto the material. I remembered from chem class that isopropyl alchohol was flammable and could be used as an accelerant.

  Holding the bottle, he ran through the room, making his way to the fire alarm, where he smashed the safety glass and pulled the lever. I was momentarily confused by his actions. Why was he warning them what we were about to do? As if he heard my unasked question, he explained. “They don’t all deserve to die…”

  As alarms shrieked overhead, I saw them now. Hundreds of people. Labcoats and cleaners and office staff, all racing for safety.

  Sully removed a lighter from his pocket and spoke fast.

  “When I light this thing, we may have only seconds before it blows,” he said. “The three of you need to leave now to get a head start. I’ll catch up with you.”

  I shook my head at him. “But Sully, you can’t.”

  “I’m the fastest runner, Chase. Go, I’ll be fine,” he said. His expression was soft, but I could see resignation there too. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew the odds weren’t good.

  “No, you’re not. Not with that leg.” I pointed to his gunshot wound, which he had obviously forgotten about. He blinked at me, uncomprehending. “You can barely walk without help, much less run.”

  Sully opened his mouth, but couldn’t come up with a logical argument. I spoke quickly, before he could stop me. “You have to stay alive. Bandit still needs your help. And Zeb needs Gideon. And the dogs need the doc. I’m the only one who’s dispensable.” Even as I said the words, a gnawing hole opened up in my stomach when I realized to truth of them.

  But Sully took me by the shoulders suddenly. “No, you’re not Chase! Don’t you ever say that again!” As if to prove how much he meant it, he crushed me to his chest. I could feel another sob rise up in my throat and had to pull myself away before I gave in to it completely.

  “Guys… we need to move!” came Gideon’s panicked voice. He looked equally unhappy by this new plan, but there wasn’t any other choice. It made no sense for us all to risk our lives. Reluctantly, Sully handed me the lighter.

  “You don’t stop for anyone, understand? Once you light this, you run li
ke the wind,” Sully commanded. “I mean it, Chase. I’ve lost enough family this year, I’m not losing another one.”

  I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Sully dropped a kiss on the top of my head and tore himself away. I swore there were tears in his eyes.

  Then, despite the fact that my heart felt like it was being broken in two, I watched as they all left me behind.

  CHAPTER 136

  SULLY

  The Doc took us down into a basement, where rusty pipes lined a maze of corridors.

  The place was dark and dingy, lit only by aged lamps spaced at three-foot intervals. All the money Forbes spent didn’t reach down here it seemed. We hurried after the Doc, running for what seemed like days but was probably only seconds. I couldn’t stop seeing Chase in my head.

  We shouldn’t have left her!

  The thought screamed in my mind until my ears pounded. There was a crushing tightness in my chest that had been there since the second I’d had to force myself to leave Chase. She’d looked so lost, so small, standing there.

  It was a ridiculous plan. Why did they ever think it would work?! A few times, I turned to go back, but as if sensing my turmoil, Gideon had grabbed me by the arm and dragged me away.

  I lost all sense of time. I shuffled after the others with only the pain in my leg keeping me grounded. After what seemed an eternity in the darkness, I saw a dim opening of light up ahead. We burst through into the fresh air with renewed rigor, where I was struck by how dark it had gotten. The tip of the sun was barely visible on the horizon, the encroaching night approaching fast.

  We had made it.

  But, no time to celebrate. We ran with the dogs to a safe distance away and waited. Why hadn’t Chase set the thing off yet? What if something had gone wrong? What if that last guard had brought more thugs back with him? What if Chase was lying dead and I would never see her again…