Jason shook his head. “I don’t think I can. I could maybe slump on it.”
“I’ll help you,” Mia said.
“You’ll help me slump?”
She made a face at him.
Bryn gripped the portable light, backed off, ran forward and jumped. She lost her balance, but instead of falling, she quickly twisted around on one foot, like a gymnast on a balance beam, and leaned her backside against the wall. Jason rested his right buttock on the rail and Mia helped him lift his leg up. Then Bryn held out her hand and helped Mia climb up next to her. The pipe tilted a bit, so Bryn started rocking her torso back and forth. Mia joined in.
“I think it’s working,” Bryn said just before she experienced a disorienting fall backwards as the pipe began to roll in earnest. They laughed and shouted, but stopped as the pipe continued to roll and it became obvious they were about to get tossed around. The ‘wall’ Bryn had been leaning against soon became the floor. She tried to gain her footing, but only managed two stumbling steps before falling. Before she knew it, she was tumbling around like wet laundry in a clothes dryer. When the metal flooring came full circle, she slammed face-first into it. Then with a crunching sound, the pipe hit something that stopped its momentum. Unfortunately, instead of staying put, it began to roll in the opposite direction.
Bryn caught a glimpse of Mia scrambling for one of the mats and thought, that’s a good idea. She didn’t have time to think anything else as the pipe spun her around some more. It rolled full circle twice and then the bottom-heavy flooring asserted its influence and, after rocking a bit, the pipe settled down.
Bryn had somehow kept hold of the light throughout. She got to her feet and aimed it at Jason and Mia, who lay together in a tangle. Mia quite selflessly had wrapped the mat around Jason’s head and torso.
“You guys alright?” Bryn asked.
Jason’s muffled voice came from somewhere underneath Mia. “Is the door open?”
Chapter Fifty-four
Above the city, it was a clear, cold day. The westerly winds sent the smoke from multiple fires trailing out over Long Island and The Sound. Lo wore a set of headphones and kept up a steady stream of chatter with other pilots of small aircraft. Scott sat in the co-pilot’s seat and stared out towards the ocean, oblivious to the scenic beauty of it. The interior of the helicopter had been well maintained and would seat a total of seven people. He hoped those seats would be full on the way back.
By the time they reached the airspace above the marina where Maddy’s yacht was berthed, it was midmorning. Lo had brought them to a much lower altitude, but he couldn’t tell from above whether any of the larger vessels in the marina were Maddy’s. It was logical to assume she would leave via the yacht, and it would have been nice if he could determine whether she had already done so.
Then, several blocks away he spotted the top of a large, distinctly shaped black vehicle headed towards the Marina. He tapped Lo on the arm and pointed. “That’s Maddy’s Hummer!”
Lo slowed, dropped altitude and maneuvered the helicopter above the road. When the Hummer rounded the corner, they faced it head on. Boardman had grabbed one of the new high-powered rifles and slid the door partially open.
The Hummer stopped abruptly and sat in the middle of the road for several minutes.
“What are they doing?” Boardman asked.
“Probably discussing their options,” Scott replied.
Finally, the Hummer made a wide turn on the narrow road, driving up and over someone’s front lawn before speeding back the way they’d come.
“Woo!” Boardman shouted over the noise of the rotors. “That’s right! Run from the big, bad helicopter!”
Staying above the telephone poles in the old neighborhood, Lo followed the Hummer back to a huge slab of concrete - the roof of the underground mall that was Edgemere. Scott noted the absence of the sheets of solar fabric that had been strung up between the rusty rebar poles the day before. They were definitely leaving if they’d removed their power source. He also noticed an area to the north of the slab that had been cleared of underbrush. The ground had about a dozen rectangular, evenly spaced mounds that resembled recently dug graves.
Maddy’s driver - a man Scott would very much like to meet - swerved the Hummer off the road and headed down the slope towards the drainpipe entrance. He came to a stop and immediately the rear doors on either side opened and two men got out. From the huge shoulders on one of them, Scott knew it was Dillo. He expected them to pull out the big guns and begin shooting, but they merely ran into the drainpipe.
Then the passenger door opened and Maddy herself stepped out. She shut the door and walked away from the Hummer with her empty hands spread wide. The wind from the rotors blew her white-blond hair around her head wildly. Behind her, a smaller figure appeared.
Padme.
Chapter Fifty-five
Bryn shined the light on the door. It wasn’t open, but it hung crookedly and had been forced inward. She got up, put her foot against it and shoved. The pipe rocked again.
“Is it loose?” Mia asked.
“Yeah. Can you guys provide counter balance?”
Mia stood and said, “Ready.” Jason took a bit longer to rally. He crawled to the opposite side of the pipe and said, “This is the best I can do.”
Five minutes later, the door went crashing down to the ground. Bryn went out first, slowly, so Mia and Jason could stabilize the pipe against rocking. It was a frightening experience climbing over the lip. If her weight made the pipe roll again, she’d be crushed for sure.
As soon as she hit the ground, she noticed that the glowing lines and curves of the bioluminescent tubes lighting Edgemere had changed. Maddy had kept her word and broken them open. Green slime oozed down the walls and puddled everywhere. It smelled terrible.
There was no one left to smell it, however. No one but the prisoners in the dungeon. None of them felt sick, so Bryn suspected the threat of dying from methane had been dramatic posturing on Maddy’s part. They probably would have died from dehydration first.
She avoided stepping in the ooze as much as possible as she searched for heavy items to use as blocks to keep the pipe from rolling again. Once Jason and Mia got out, they headed straight for the main entrance. The mushrooms that had lined that pipe were gone, of course. Even the shelves had been dismantled and removed. They had only gotten a few steps when the distinctive whup-whup-whup of a helicopter, amplified by the pipe into disorienting surround-sound, came from outside.
Bryn’s first thought was that they were going to be rescued, but then, at the far end of the pipe, a dark vehicle suddenly appeared in a cloud of dust, blocking the light of day. Bryn exchanged an alarmed look with Jason and by unspoken agreement, they turned and went back inside, pushing a protesting Mia ahead of them. They’d just gotten themselves hidden behind a stack of abandoned crates when Dillo and one of Maddy’s soldiers entered Edgemere and headed straight for the dungeon.
Jason whispered, “As soon as they get close enough to see we’re not in there, we run for the exit. Understood?”
Bryn nodded. Running was their only option, even if more soldiers were right outside. She thought about Scott, how he’d been shot in the back. Tears started in her eyes. Was that going to be her end, too, as she ran for her life? She peered out from behind the crate, watching as Dillo and the soldier got further away. Her hands closed into fists as she summoned the last vestiges of her nearly exhausted willpower.
Not if I can help it.
Chapter Fifty-six
Scott turned to Lo, “Can you set us down?”
She nodded, and looked around for a suitable spot. Once they were on the ground, Scott said, “Let me see what Maddy has in mind. Cover me.”
Cautiously, he got out and walked towards Maddy and Padme, at least a hundred feet away. He’d seen Dillo and the other soldier go into the drainpipe and suspected they had a bead on him, so he kept his hands where they could see them. He got maybe halfway when Pad
me suddenly broke away from Maddy and bolted in his direction. He turned to Boardman and Lo, both poised to shoot from inside the helicopter, and waved that it was okay.
“Scott!” Padme cried, flinging herself into his arms. He grimaced in pain, but held her as she babbled, “I thought you were dead. She showed me your bulletproof vest. How did you survive? How are you here?”
He didn’t answer her questions. Now was not the time. He did ask by rote, “Are you okay?” But he’d never been worried about her safety. He’d known all along Maddy wouldn’t hurt her. She was too valuable.
Unbidden, the image of the grave-like mounds came into his mind. She’s not dead, he told himself.
Padme grabbed his hand and tugged on it, facing in the direction of the helicopter. “Run!”
“What?” He shook his head. “No. I need to talk to Maddy.”
“No, you don’t. Trust me. It’s a trap!”
He pulled his hand free. “I have to.”
Padme stamped her foot in the dirt and burst out with a wordless shriek of fury. “You’re doing exactly what she wants you to!”
He had no doubt that was true, but it was a chance he would have to take. He walked away, deaf to Padme’s continued words of warning and condemnation. When he got close enough to hear her, Maddy said, “Cougar. I’m glad to see you’re alive.”
“I’m sure you are. Attempted murder looks better on a rap sheet than actual murder any day.”
She laughed. “Contrary to what you might think, I had no intention of killing you. My men had orders not to harm you, but to otherwise do whatever necessary to rescue Padme.”
“Rescue? Seriously, that’s your story?” He glanced over his shoulder. Padme was standing several feet behind him, looking crestfallen.
“Yes. Rescue. From Fournier or anyone else who wanted to use her,” Maddy said, tilting her head and giving him a sober look. “She’s very fragile after all she’s been through.”
“That we can agree on. But don’t bother trying to convince me you had noble motives for ‘rescuing’ her. Now where’s Bryn?”
She ignored his question. “From what Padme tells me, you were planning on running away together before you were shot. Her instinct was to blame me for your death, and I accepted responsibility for it. I told her I would somehow make up for it. Take care of her. Give her back her freedom.”
It was obvious Maddy’s words weren’t directed at him. Padme was listening.
“Her freedom? In exchange for?” Scott asked.
“This is real life, Cougar. Everything comes with a price. She knows that. When we saw you in that helicopter, very much alive, she was...quite upset...thought I’d lied to her, but I honestly thought you’d been killed. So did she, having witnessed it. So I told her we’d come back here and she could go to you.” Maddy paused. “You had your chance to take her just now, but chose not to. Why?”
Through gritted teeth, he snarled, “Where’s...Bryn?”
“Bryn. For a man who’s supposed to be in love with another woman, you have an uncommon concern for her. Perhaps Padme’s trust in you was misplaced. A handsome, dangerous man, trained in the art of deception. Hard to resist, even for someone as smart as she is.”
Maddy seemed determined to provoke him into confirming he’d duped Padme, but she had to know he would never admit it. No, she was up to something else. He looked over at the entrance pipe to Edgemere. He’d assumed Dillo and the other soldier had gone inside to find better coverage than the Hummer offered them. All along he’d figured they were lying in wait for Maddy’s signal. Now he realized they’d gone to get the one thing that would force his hand and turn Padme against him.
Just as he put two and two together, Bryn appeared in the opening.
Chapter Fifty-seven
As it turned out, they decided to run for it before Dillo realized they’d broken out of the dungeon. That way, if they managed to sneak out, they might get a head start on any pursuit attempt. Bryn and Mia supported Jason from either side as they quietly advanced on the exit. Jason stumbled over the lip, sending a muffled thump echoing through the pipe. Bryn threw a quick look over her shoulder, but Dillo and the other man hadn’t been alerted. Inside the pipe, Jason’s labored breathing sounded as loud as thunder. She found herself holding her own breath in an attempt to make up for it. Just before they reached the end, she stepped into the sunshine slanting into the pipe, squinting in the brightness. As they’d suspected, there were people just outside. She blinked and tried to focus. Were her eyes were playing tricks on her, or was that a ghost standing with Maddy and Padme on the far side of the Hummer?
She sucked in a quick breath and whispered, “Scott,” as a tumult of emotions overwhelmed her. Confusion, disbelief, joy.
He had a black patch over one eye, but she was certain he looked right at her before deliberately shifting his gaze back to Maddy and Padme, whose backs were to the entrance. She didn’t let his apparent snub sting. Her intuition said this was his way of telling her not to call out to him.
Off in the distance, a black helicopter waited, its rotors still slowly spinning. It had to be how Scott got here. “Let’s circle around to the helicopter,” she whispered.
Jason only grunted. He was leaning very heavily on her now. She’d had to keep her head tilted away from him to avoid poking him with her quills, and her neck and shoulder were beginning to cramp up. It would be a challenge to get him past Maddy without alerting her, but they had to try.
She and Mia had just eased him past the lip of the pipe onto the sandy dirt when Dillo’s voice came from behind. “That’s far enough!”
Rumbling footfalls told her he and the other soldier were running through the pipe. Maddy spun around. Their escape was officially foiled.
“Leave me,” Jason said. “Run.”
Bryn swallowed back a sob. “There’s no point. They’ll just shoot us.”
He surprised her by rousing himself enough to pull away and stand on his own. With one hand on her back and one on Mia’s, he shoved them forward. “Go!”
Bryn took one hesitant step as he turned to face Dillo, but Mia said, “No,” and went back to put her arms around his waist. A quick glance told Bryn Scott hadn’t moved. She wondered briefly about that; what was he waiting for? But Dillo and the soldier had appeared in the entrance, both holding guns.
With no warning, two shots rang out, so close together they were almost simultaneous. The soldier dropped like a stone. The same ray of sunshine that had blinded her earlier highlighted a puff of fine, red mist that sprayed up from Dillo’s shoulder, He, too, fell back. Shocked, Bryn spared a glance at the helicopter and for the first time noticed the gunmen.
She took a moment to close her eyes in relief. The cavalry had arrived. Then she took up her former position at Jason’s side, urging him to run. It seemed as if they were going to get away, but after only a few faltering steps his legs collapsed and she and Mia couldn’t prevent him from falling.
Mia dropped to her knees and barked, “Help me turn him over!”
Between them, they rolled him onto his back. He was wheezing now; his lips tinged with blue.
“If we don’t get him to a hospital right now,” Mia said, “he’s going to die.”
Chapter Fifty-eight
A few seconds after Mia spoke, Dillo’s voice followed. “I’m not out of the game yet, Your Majesty,” he called. “I’ve got her in my sights. Just give the word.”
Maddy sighed heavily. “Well, Cougar, it would seem we are at an impasse. Meanwhile, Dragila is apparently running out of time. We can turn this into a bloodbath if you like: your people kill me, Dillo kills Bryn. Messy. Or you can tell Padme the truth and we go our separate ways.”
Scott ground his teeth together. Maddy had gone to a tremendous amount of trouble to gain Padme’s complete loyalty, even risking her own safety. Her plans for the nanoneuron program must be grandiose indeed.
She’d couched it in terms of his having options, but there was only on
e logical course to take. Before he could respond, however, Padme spoke.
“You don’t have to say it. I don’t want you to say it.” She looked up at him, eyes mournful. “I already know...I think I’ve always known who you would choose.”
Part of him would never forgive her for the things she’d done, but for now, compassion won out. “I’m sorry. I wish things had been different.”
She smiled tremulously at Maddy. “Things will be different.”
Maddy smiled back. “That’s my girl.” Then she shouted, “Stand down, Dillo!”
“Understood,” he shouted back.
“Get your people to the helicopter.” Maddy was all business now. “I’ll wait right here until you’re gone. I trust you won’t shoot me out of spite?”
“Scott would never do such a thing,” Padme said. “That’s why I love him.”
Chapter Fifty-nine
Mia’s face was pinched with worry until she found the helicopter’s medical kit. It was a large, soft-sided, zippered blue bag, and she muttered to herself as she dug through it, finally saying, “Ah-ha!” and pulling out a small green oxygen cylinder. She attached a clear plastic facemask to it and gently placed it over Jason’s mouth and nose.
“Is that better?” she asked.
He took a few shallow breaths and nodded, but Bryn had the feeling he was just trying to calm her down. He was clearly in a tremendous amount of pain.
Mia turned to the pilot and asked curtly, “Where’s the nearest hospital?”
“Course already laid, ETA three minutes,” the slim woman replied. “But only official medical aircraft are allowed to land on the roof. I’ll see if I can get emergency permission to put us down nearby and have an ambulance meet us.”
“You do that,” Mia said. She dug around in the medical kit some more. This time, she found a bottle of water, uncapped it and removed the oxygen mask to hold the bottle to Jason’s lips.
Xenofreak Nation, Book Two: Mad Eye Page 22