Meilin and the Challenger

by Masters, Cate

  Nothing. She had no excuse. Ten sisters remained imprisoned by zombies, or worse.

  The click of the door nearly caused her to jump out of her skin. Her father’s slow, deliberate steps implied his control despite being upset. When he rested his palms on the table top and leaned toward her, she had no doubt about the depth of his emotion.

  “What happened?” Though spoken slowly, the words still packed a punch.

  Only Will’s mouth moved. “The zombies set a trap, sir.”

  “The zombies set a trap?” The obvious sarcasm in his deadpan tone stung.

  “Father, they organized an ambush. I wouldn’t have believed it, either, but it’s the only explanation. They hit Will and me from behind.”

  “It’s true, Father,” Zoe said.

  He glared, but his tone remained even. “How did they know where you’d be?”

  She sent an uneasy glance to Zoe, who said, “We were there the night before.”

  He turned to Will. “And you as well. Correct?”

  “Yes, sir. I’m sorry for not telling—”

  “Shut up.” To Meilin, he asked, “Why?”

  Struggling to keep her voice from trembling, she clutched the chair arms. “We’ve been working a long time on systems to help you, Father.”

  “Without my knowledge? Or my approval?” Heavy lids conveyed his disappointment.

  “Most of the projects are finished,” Zoe blurted, “but untested. We wanted to make sure everything would work before approaching you.”

  Though she felt an utter failure, Meilin promised, “I’ll find them. I will not fail you, Father.”

  “No, you won’t.” He straightened. “The three of you will join forces to bring my other daughters home. No one rests until you do.”

  Like Zoe, she nodded her agreement.

  “Meilin, Zoe, you’ll share with us every piece of information, equipment, or insight you and your sisters have developed.”

  As they already should have, Meilin reminded herself. “Yes, Father. Most of it’s in the lab.”

  “You cleared the game room for a laboratory?”

  She couldn’t quite tell if he sounded pleased, or irritated. “Yes, a few years ago.”

  “Excellent. Take us there.” He strode to the door.

  Apparently, he meant now. Zoe took the lead, and Meilin followed as she led them through the maze of corridors they knew as home. Dory entered the stair well at the second floor, and Meilin barely hid her surprise when her father told Dory to join them. Though the sisters loved her, none had revealed their work to Dory, and Meilin worried about it now. The experiments could save City, or, if stolen, destroy it.

  “Dory.” Her father gestured at Will. “You remember Will McGregor.”

  “Yes. Good to see you.”

  Still alive, she’d implied. Most of the others vanished the first night. Will had that much in his favor.

  When Zoe entered the lab, Meilin saw it with fresh eyes. The countless hours she’d labored here had become a blur, one failed experiment after another. But all had contributed to their eventual success, she now realized. It had all been worth it.

  Zoe powered the computer out of sleep mode. “I’ll spare you the infinite details. Basically, we’ve all developed components to two main projects – a zombie tracking system, and a central alert system that would notify city residents of an attack.”

  “Separately,” Meilin added, “a few of us worked on individual experiments.”

  Father studied the lab, taking it all in. “Such as?”

  Meilin didn’t want to reveal her project too soon. “Dharma and Lakshme formulated a spray to mask our human scent. It allows us the element of surprise in zombie encounters.”

  “And you never thought to share this with anyone?” Dory’s genuine surprise added to Meilin’s guilt.

  “They only finalized it last week,” Zoe hastened to explain, “and field tested it last night.” She glanced at Meilin. “Meilin developed special binoculars to detect zombie movements at night.”

  “Is that so?” her father asked.

  He hated when anyone boasted, so Meilin kept the pride from her tone. “The reverse of thermal binoculars, they highlight movement of bodies without heat.”

  “May I see them?” The eagerness and curiosity in his tone conveyed his trust in her abilities.

  “They’re in the truck.”

  He knit his brows. “What truck?”

  “The one we use to haul supplies to the site.” Meilin winced. “To lure the zombies.”

  “You set yourselves up as bait?” Incredulous, he nearly shouted the last word.

  Dory stepped beside him. “Without telling anyone?”

  The foolishness of their scheme became apparent, too late. “We had to.”

  “Otherwise, someone else might have gotten hurt,” Zoe said, “and it would have been our fault.”

  “What if you had been hurt?” Father asked.

  Meilin shrugged. “You always said to take responsibility, Father. These experiments were ours. We couldn’t risk anyone else’s life.”

  He shook his head. “I need a drink.” He strode to the refrigerator in the corner of the lab. Instead of water, he held up a small bottle of champagne. “Alcohol? Is it for one of the experiments?”

  “Several.” Zoe stifled a smile. “We’ve achieved some great breakthroughs, Father.”

  “After such intense work,” Meilin added, “we had to celebrate.”

  “Rightly so.” Dory beamed at them. “Congratulations. You’ve accomplished incredible achievements, girls.”

  “We all did.” Meilin stared at the floor.

  “I am amazed,” Father said. “And so proud.”

  Meilin steeled her jaw. All her sisters deserved praise, and needed to hear Father speak with such pride. They would hear it. She would make certain.

  Chapter Four

  “Genius.” Will stared at the computer, but couldn’t believe it. “All of it.”

  “Thanks.” Sarcasm tainted Zoe’s response.

  “How did you come up with this stuff?” Why had no one thought of them before? A zombie tracking program – brilliant. Likewise the alert network.

  “You mean, how did twelve females manage to develop complicated systems all on our own?” Zoe’s breathy tone left no doubt as to her low regard for his compliment.

  He sent her a smirk. “Come on. Seriously.”

  “Give him a break, Zoe.” Meilin leaned against the computer desk.

  All sweetness, Zoe smiled. “I’d love to. Would you prefer your arm, or your leg? Maybe your jaw?”

  “Save your anger for the zombies.” He scanned through the program. “Have you tested the tracking system yet?”

  “No. We were about to, but…” Meilin glanced away.

  “Zombie hell broke loose. I hear you.”

  Through narrowed eyes, Zoe glared at him. “Strange timing, wasn’t it? I mean, everything was going fine until you showed up.”

  “What are you saying, Zoe?” He had a good idea, but wanted to hear her accuse him out loud.

  Her blue eyes blazed. “Did you have something to do with my sisters’ kidnapping?”

  “Me? You think I plotted with the zombies? Sure, that’s why I volunteered to hunt them. Makes perfect sense.”

  Zoe folded her arms over her chest. “It makes a great cover. No one would suspect you. Not right away, at least.” Her tone was casual enough, but her body spoke a different language altogether. It accused, and threatened, him.

  He spun the chair to face Zoe. “I could say the same about you. Why did the zombies choose to leave you behind?”

  Meilin snorted. “Because she’s too caustic for them. They decay at a faster rate with Zoe around.”

  Zoe faked a laugh, not very convincingly. “Why not ask Meilin the same thing? They left her behind, too.”

  “Nah, Meilin doesn’t have it in her. She has a pure soul.” Mentally slapping himself, he managed to stop his mouth from g
aping. What the hell made him say that?

  “Besides, I hid her under the truck with me.” He cleared his throat. “Let’s get back to business, shall we?”

  Zoe sneered, “Your business is to rob my father of his hard-earned money. Why should we help?”

  “You mean, other than the fact he ordered you to? Hmm. Maybe because you built this stuff specifically for the purpose of doing exactly that.”

  “He’s right, Zoe. Your disapproval of Will is irrelevant. Our sisters need us, so stop screwing around.”

  With a deadened look, Zoe paced. “I’m already working on it.”

  Didn’t surprise him. “Care to share your theories?”

  “I already gave you one,” Zoe snapped. “Why don’t you share yours?”

  He sighed. It was going to be a long rescue. “Let’s review what we know. The zombies determined that you’d return to the site of your little outdoor dance club, and planned a kidnapping.” Something occurred to him that hadn’t previously. “Would they recognize you and your sisters?”

  Meilin shrugged. “I doubt it.”

  “Why would they?” Zoe challenged.

  “Give me a little latitude. I’m thinking out loud here. Is it possible someone in the zombie community knows who you are, and targeted you?”

  The sisters exchanged a glance indicating they hadn’t considered it before, but it might be conceivable.

  Mmm. Talk about your red flags. “Venturing one step further, has anyone of prominence disappeared recently? Say, about six months ago? That’s the time frame your father gave.”

  The sisters’ glances now conveyed a message of holy shit.

  “Who?” he prompted.

  Meilin stared at Zoe. “Nevin.”

  “No,” Zoe said, but her expression said, oh no.

  “It fits the time frame.” Meilin sounded convinced.

  “Nevin who?” he asked.

  “Duquesne.” Meilin shook her head, as if in denial. “My father’s advisor.”

  “His best friend,” Zoe stressed. “He’d never plot against Father.”

  “Not the Nevin we knew,” Meilin said softly. “But that Nevin’s gone.”

  “If the zombies turned him. They have to increase their ranks every so often, or the colony would perish. Sounds like this Nevin retained his Type A personality, and has taken over.”

  Zoe’s mouth formed a thin line. “I don’t buy it.”

  “Again, hear me out. If this scenario proves true, and I’m not saying it will, but in case it does, how much risk does it put your father in? Did Nevin have access to any sensitive information?”

  Meilin paled. “All of it.”

  Zoe’s brow furrowed. “Oh God, the boundary. Nevin developed the electric fence to zap zombies who tried to attack. He knows how it works.”

  “And how to turn it off.”

  Oh, shit. Deep, deep shit. “We have to warn your father. Now.”

  ***

  Meilin’s chest hurt. Not from running – she was in top physical condition. The stress, though, began to multiply like a nasty fungus. “Father? May we come in?” Jiggling the knob did no good, so she banged on his door. Locked? Since childhood, they’d always burst into his private chambers unannounced, the same way any resident could walk in his office under his open door policy.

  The force of the door opening swept her hair forward.

  “Is something wrong?” Her father belted his robe.

  There is now. Behind him, Dory tightened her robe as well. Meilin averted her eyes. “This is a bad time…”

  He stepped aside and waved them in. “Nonsense. Come in. What’s going on?”

  Zoe plowed ahead, and Will followed with a sheepish look.

  Might as well go in, too. Meilin stood behind the wing chair Zoe perched on, across from the sofa where her father and Dory occupied seats at either end. Maybe they expected her to squeeze in between? Not likely.

  While Zoe rattled on about the new theory, Meilin strained to focus on her father. She could feel Dory’s probing gaze, waiting for her acknowledgment, her approval. Did she approve? She and her sisters had wished for it. Now it was real, and Meilin had no idea how to react.

  “Nevin?” Her father’s face blanked.

  Of course, the shock overwhelmed him.

  “Are you sure?” he asked.

  “No,” Will said, “but it’s the most logical explanation so far.”

  Her father glanced at each in turn, his hurt plain.

  “Sir,” Will went on. “The safest thing is to assume it’s true, and take every possible precaution.”

  “Against what?”

  “Anything you might consider a threat.”

  Zoe propped her elbows against the chair arms. “He knows everything about City and its boundary, Father.”

  “Including how to disable it,” Will added.

  “Nevin would never do such a thing.” Her father stood to pace.

  “Not the man we loved.” Meilin hated to torture her father so. “But he’s gone, if not dead in body, then in mind.”

  Dory caught his hand as he passed. “Please consider this carefully. It could prevent a disaster.”

  At seeing them touch, the tender look they exchanged, Meilin tensed. What’s wrong with me? She loved Dory. Why shouldn’t her father?

  “She’s right.” Meilin hated how strained her words sounded.

  Her father’s gaze sharpened. Shit, he knew how upset she was. He always read her too easily.

  “What do you suggest?” Father asked.

  Will didn’t hesitate. “Were any secondary protection systems developed? Hopefully that Nevin had no knowledge of?”

  He eased onto the sofa, his intense expression a giveaway of his thought process. “Yes. Not nearly as comprehensive, as I recall. I need to dig out the files to refresh my memory.”

  “We should do it now, sir.”

  Father nodded. “Give me a moment to change.”

  Thick silence blanketed the room after he left. Meilin still couldn’t meet Dory’s gaze. Zoe apparently had no problem, and made no attempt to hide her glare. Finally, Dory excused herself.

  Zoe crossed her legs, foot rocking. “Well, that wasn’t too awkward.”

  At least Meilin could breathe normally again, but she didn’t look forward to the next time she ran into Dory.

  Will gave a sad smile. Of course he sensed the tension between them, above the pressing danger of an impending zombie attack. Strange for a man to pick up on the nuances of it. Father was adept at it, but she knew no one else like him. Until now.

  Thank goodness for Will. If he hadn’t come along when he had, she’d never have made the connection between Nevin’s disappearance and the rise of the zombie king.

  Father returned, and she stiffened at his hard glance between her and Will. She must have been gazing all moony-eyed at him. Like he and Dory had earlier. Which meant, on top of everything else, she’d become a hypocrite.

  Falling in line behind her father, Will fell back and bumped shoulders with her. “Everything okay?”

  The warmth his touch sent through her only unnerved her more. “Oh yeah. Perfect, in fact. My sisters have been kidnapped, zombies are evolving into scheming villains, our civilization’s about to tumble down into zombie hell… couldn’t be better.”

  “If you want to talk…”

  “No thanks.” She’d never been one to spill out her soul to anyone who asked. Dharma and Lakshme, sometimes she took into her confidence, or Dory, when she needed a voice of experience.

  “Anytime you feel like it.”

  “Really, no.” She hardly knew Will, yet his invitation tempted her. She’d love to share her worries with him, but he had enough of his own. She affected a stoic expression. “We need to catch up to the others.”

  “Right.” Stone-faced, he strode ahead.

  Damn. Pretty soon she’d alienate everyone she cared for. “Will?”

  He whirled around. “Yes?”

  Her smile
felt lopsided. “Thanks.”

  “Like I said, anytime.”

  How could one word fill her with such hope? False hope – any time but this one, it might be possible. Before she could even think about such things, she had to get her sisters back safe, make sure the city was safe, and once and for all, rid their world of the damn zombies before they destroyed not only the city, but any chance of happiness.

  ***

  “Oh, hell. This is it?” Will’s grip on the desk loosened as he scanned the computer screen. We’re doomed.

  Mr. King’s glance held alarm. “I know it’s crude, but it’s proven effective in the past.”

  He tried not to wince. “How far in the past?”

  “Before the electric fence.”

  Right. Before the zombies evolved into a higher intelligence. They’d easily pass through this low-tech system – industrial spotlights to temporarily blind and confuse them, followed by a secondary wave of gunfire and bombing, if the residents closest to the attack responded in time. Otherwise, zombies would roam City streets.

  Will blew out a long breath. “We have to think of a way to bolster it. Assign regular patrols, and most important, guard the central control for the electric fence. Once they take the security system down, we’re in trouble.”

  Zoe scowled. “We don’t know for certain what they’re planning.”

  Meilin shot back, “We can’t afford to chance it. We should implement the alert system our sisters developed.”

  The look on Zoe’s face implied she’d lost her mind. “It’s in beta stage.”

  “What better time,” Meilin said, “to launch it? Ciara, Juliette and Mireille already entered every known cell phone number into it. It’s ready.”

  “And it’s under the zombies’ radar,” Will added. “They won’t realize the people have been alerted.”

  “So we keep the element of surprise.” Meilin turned to her father. “We have to do this, Daddy.”

  “Daddy?” Zoe sneered. “Oh, please.”

  Mr. King held up a hand. “Enough bickering. Conduct an initial test of the alert system, but inform people it’s only that, a test. I don’t want to set off a city-wide panic.”