She shook her head. “They are supposed to have a neurological implant that stimulates part of their brain, making them go to sleep within seconds.”
“How do we know they still have it?” I turned a circle as I took in the slaughter around us. “They could have taken it out once they put two and two together.”
To my surprise, Jaxx looked at me with an expression of disbelief. “They are smart, but brain surgery?”
“You got any better ideas why it didn’t work?” I snarked back.
“Ladies, I hate to interrupt your argument, but our plan worked,” O’Malley said as he stood slowly and dusted off his palms on his pants.
“What? But you haven’t started…” I turned to follow his gaze and a chill traveled down my spine. “Oh, no.”
Daxel stood in the doorway, head tilted as he watched us. He remained in animal form, which somehow seemed less grotesque now that I’d seen him change his body into a mockery of a human’s. Radia stood shoulder to shoulder with him, her small, beady eyes tracking us as we moved.
“Now what?” I asked.
Gunfire caused me to jerk, and I swung around to watch Jaxx popping shots off randomly at them as she raced for the furthest reaches of the pen. I knew she meant to distract them. To lead them away so O’Malley and I could make a break for it. My heart lurched as a scream of protest fell from my lips.
“No!” I took off after her, thinking only of protecting her. Daxel snarled as he and Radia pursued her as well, and we played a deadly game of who could get to her first.
Radia shouldered into Jaxx’s hip, knocking her to the ground in an effective move. As Daxel’s muscles tightened and coiled in preparation to spring onto her prone form, I flung myself forward, draping my body over hers. My eyes screwed shut as I waited for the impending pain of teeth and claws tearing through my spine.
Nothing. No searing sting of rending flesh or hot flash of split skin raced through my senses. Slowly, hesitantly, I raised my head to find Daxel inches away, teeth bared. His gaze flicked from me to Jasmyne with an eagerness that made my blood run cold. The desire to kill her rode off him in waves, but still he hesitated.
“No,” I said as I kept an arm across her.
“Sennnseee,” he growled.
Vengeance killing. He knew Jaxx murdered his packmate. My stomach flip-flopped as I tried desperately to find a way out of this mess with all of us intact and alive.
“Sensee tried to kill me. Jaxx saved me,” I responded, hoping he could understand me.
At my words, he shifted, his body language portraying his confusion. “No.” He growled.
“Yes,” I insisted. “Sensee killed the man, then tried to kill me.”
Radia whimpered as she took a step back and Daxel whipped his head back to regard her. The grumble bark he issued at her sent her groveling on the ground. As I watched their conversation, understanding dawned on me.
As they bickered, I urged Jasmyne slowly to her feet. I knew they remained aware of us, but it didn’t seem to matter to them right this minute. We edged around until we stood near O’Malley once more.
“What’s going on?” Wulph asked, keeping his voice low.
“Daxel was supposed to be calling the shots, and Radia knew Sensee planned to attack me. He’s not a happy boy,” I said.
“But why you? You’ve done nothing but try to protect these creatures?” O’Malley asked as he bent down and gingerly picked up Jaxx’s gun from where it fell when she hit the ground.
I glanced up at his face, uncertain if he’d understand. “Because Sensee was jealous.”
Before I could say more, the alpha’s eyes met mine, his lips pulled back, baring his teeth. I knew he’d made a decision, and it wouldn’t be one I liked. I opened my mouth to argue, plead—something. Anything to prevent more bloodshed.
Radia jerked and let out a small yelp as a gunshot reverberated through the air and a wound blossomed on her shoulder. When I turned to Jaxx to object, no gun sat in her hands. Instead, O’Malley stood a few feet away, backing up.
“Better go,” he said. “And please close the door on your way out.”
“Wulph!” I started to lunge toward him, but Jaxx grabbed my arm and began tugging me toward the door.
When we reached the door, I turned to see Wulph disappear under the two dark masses of the geds. His scream, short and clipped, portrayed his pain as they shredded him. I heard the retort of two more gunshots emanate before I focused on helping Jasmyne haul the heavy steel doors into place and manually engage the lock.
Tears streaming down my face, I snatched Jaxx’s walkie talkie from her belt and spoke. “Teams, evac to the cafeteria immediately. Geds are temporarily contained. Go, go, go!”
Chapter Twenty-Five
I dragged myself back to the cafeteria, steps unhurried as I tried not to think about them ripping and tearing Wulph apart like Sensee did to Lee. A hollowness echoed in my chest at his sacrifice. Until now, I’d passingly known the dead or didn’t like them enough to feel beyond a basic compassion for those that died. But Wulph, within the few days we’d shared, quickly became a friend.
“Why did he do it?” I asked Jaxx when she held the door to the cafeteria open for me. “We might have been able to leave. Maybe I could have talked Daxel down…”
She shook her head, and a sadness permeated her eyes. “No. Daxel did not want to stop. Wulph saw that and took my place as bait. He was brave. Let’s save others to honor him.”
Bile rose in my throat at the knowledge I’d have to break it to Lily. I didn’t know how serious the two of them were, but she needed to know he died selflessly. For what little comfort that might give her.
Haunted eyes watched us as we entered the room. The scientists and workers milled around, their earlier energy gone. They appeared shell-shocked, and many of them carried an arm held close and angled across their chest or walked with a pronounced limp. The blood spattered across clothing attested to their brushes with Radia and Daxel, and more and more it became evident the geds only toyed with them earlier, like a sadistic cat with a field mouse.
Lily stood at the entrance to the stairwell, ushering people in and presumably down to the bunkers. We’d told the rest of our group to come down in fifteen minutes after we left Evans’ suite so she could open the hallway to the bunkers. Destry helped Mal attend to wounds and I noticed a couple more people in lab coats walking around, examining some obviously hurt people.
“Aren’t we a mess?” I said quietly.
Jaxx squeezed my hand before walking away to join up with Kat and David. I didn’t know if David could sign as I’d never met him before, but I knew Kat signed a little. Enough to get basic points across. If they needed me to interpret, they’d come get me. Otherwise…
I walked over to Lily who met me with a grim smile before her eyes swept the room. “Where’s Wulph?”
“He…” Tears choked my words into silence.
She paused and a barely perceptible tremor made her hands shake as she swallowed. “I…I see. Trust that idiot to throw himself into the middle of things.” Her hand darted up as she dashed a tear before returning her attention to the others around us. “Go down the stairs, and you’ll be in room one. Make yourself comfortable and try to remain calm.”
Lily repeated the process with a half dozen people before changing them over to room five. When she hit room eight, only myself, the security team, and she remained.
“I’d like to split security among the rooms,” she told Jaxx. “Just in case the geds…”
She didn’t finish the sentence, and I really didn’t want her to. We knew they could open doors, but I’d told myself the lock that needed a key would deter them enough we’d be safe. As she spoke, I realized they had the strength to possibly tear the doors down, unless Wulphgang badly damaged Radia with the gun.
Somehow, I couldn’t find myself pegging too much on that hope.
We filed down the stairs, and David tested the door to be sure it locked behind
us. I had no idea if we’d accounted for every person on the island, but it had to be enough right now. If anyone remained out, unfound and hiding, I hoped they continued to stay safe in whatever hole they’d curled up in. Surely, Carborton would send a true military cleanup crew to the island along with the rescue ship. I couldn’t imagine he didn’t have a backup plan for this.
Once more, we barricaded ourselves into the first room. I wondered if they all had offices, or if only this one did. Jaxx stayed with us while David went to room three and Kat to room five. It seemed like poor chances, especially now that Jaxx didn’t have a gun.
As if thinking the same thought, I saw her motion at Lily, then make a gun with her hand before pointing at her empty holster. Miss Preston frowned for a moment before nodding.
“Yes, there should be a gun in here somewhere. Let me remember…”
While my girlfriend betrayed no emotion, relief filled me at Lily’s words. I watched the woman search the desk before pulling out a small, flat plastic briefcase. Lily handed it to Jasmyne before turning to the phone with a sigh.
“Guess I better see how far away our rescue is. It’s going to be a long night.”
Mal and Destry sat against the far wall on a metal bunkbed that screwed into the wall speaking quietly. Save for the five of us, no one else shared the room with us. I knew the other rooms contained about ten to fifteen people each, but I couldn’t imagine that many crammed in this room.
“Hey, should we have brought some of the other survivors in here?” I asked.
Lily shook her head. “This one contains the generator for all the rooms, plus extra supplies. We couldn’t fit more than another person or two in here. The other rooms will be a little tight, but there’s enough space for appropriate supplies in crates and beds if they rotate a little.”
I eyed the three bunks in here, realizing we’d have to rotate sleeping too. If any of us could calm down enough to sleep to begin with.
We waited in silence as Lily dialed the call. Once more, she placed it on speaker phone. It rang. And rang. By the eighth ring, I began to fidget as nerves jangled in my stomach in time to the brrrr of the phone.
Finally, a woman answered the line. “CGC. Mister Carborton’s office. How can I help you?”
“Mel, it’s Lily. I need to speak with Roger.”
A hesitation filled the line. Finally, the woman responded in a hushed tone, “Lily, the board is meeting right now. Most of them are voting to leave you all there. Saying it’s bad press if anyone speaks out, and it’s going to break the bank to pay all the fees associated with the workers who survive. I…I think they’re going to wait and let you die.”
Lily’s face turned pale. “He can’t do that! Roger said he was sending a ship to save us.”
“Yeah, and he’s pressing for it. But right now. Shit!” The woman’s voice changed to a higher, cheerier pitch. “But at the moment, Mister Carborton is busy in a meeting. If you’d like to call back in an hour, you can try to catch him before he leaves the office for the day. Thanks!”
With that, the line clicked as the woman hung up.
We stared at each other in open horror in a silence so complete you could hear a pin drop. Jaxx tugged on my sleeve and began signing as she looked pointedly at Lily.
“She wants to know if you can contact any ships directly from here? Or maybe the local government? She says she doesn’t have faith the board sees us as anything but expendable at this point, and it’s up to us to schedule a ride out.”
Lily dropped into a metal chair with a defeated sigh. “No. The line is secured and it can only call out to the main office. We don’t have a radio in here. That’s in the main office but won’t work with the power down. If we could get the main generator running again, we could try to call out and see if any ships respond. But, unless the geds are permanently trapped, it’s a suicide mission. I think we should wait for the board. I know most of the men and women personally, and I believe they are good people, albeit a bit greedy.”
“Did they know about the Ged Project and the intention to kill the handlers?” Mal asked from his seat on the bunk.
“I’d imagine they had to have,” Lily responded. “A plan that big with those kinds of ties needed board approval and support.”
“Then I highly doubt they’ll lose much sleep over condemning us to die to protect their pockets and asses.” Mal stood and walked over. He looked drawn and tired as he placed a hand on Lily’s shoulder. “I know you want to have faith in the very company you represent, but mine’s rather shaky at this point. I’d say if we have even a smidgen of a chance at saving ourselves, we should take it.”
“I’ll go,” Destry said, breaking his silence. “Far as I can tell, I’m the only maintenance personnel left. I’ll see about getting the main generator up and running. We used it only a few days ago and it worked fine, so it should be as easy as flipping a switch.”
Jaxx checked her new weapon over before loading it and placing it in her holster. She gestured at Destry and herself.
“We’re going with you,” I said. When she shot me a dirty look, I jutted my jaw at her in defiance. “He went with me when I was trying to find you.”
At this, her shoulders relaxed and she nodded before signing.
“Jasmyne says she wants the whole team on this. The geds are too volatile and she wants as many guns as possible with us. She asked if you could sneak to the main office to get the signal out as soon as the lights come on?”
Lily nodded as her eyes flashed with determination. “You bet your ass I can.”
With a deep breath, I turned to face the door that led into the eerily dark hallway beyond, steeling myself for the horrors we faced once more. “Let’s get this party started, I guess.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
The beam of Destry’s flashlight arced across the dusk-kissed ground like a beacon. Every whisper of wind across the leaves made my heart skip a beat and I found myself casting my own light in a constant sweep, searching for eyeshine. At first, Jaxx didn’t want flashlights, but as the darkness puddled around us, even she admitted we couldn’t find shit in the dark without night vision goggles. Those, unfortunately, weren’t in the cards for us.
Summoning all our inner strength, we did check the exterior pen, only to find deep gashes in the door where Radia pried it open to let Daxel out. Or at least, that’s what we assumed. Didn’t seem to be any other reason for the ged to go back and open the door of a pen she’d obviously escaped from. Yet, our investigation neither revealed them nor provoked them.
“We’ll use the main doorway and the stairwell to get down to the generator bay,” Destry whispered as we turned and headed to the building that housed the interior ged pens.
“Who the fuck thought it was a good idea to put the generator in the same area you keep intelligent, malicious animals?” Kat asked as she walked beside him.
From behind them, I couldn’t see his expression, but his voice conveyed his own irritation at the design flaw. “Carborton wanted the generator lines to all be underground to avoid exposure to weather. Since that building mostly sits underground anyway, he decided it created the perfect housing. We tried to convince him to design a bunker-style housing unit specifically for the generator, but all he saw was the cost of another building. Thus, this.”
“Brilliant.” Kat shook her head before quieting down and refocusing on her job.
As I watched her honey-brown ponytail swing as she scanned side to side, I mused over the day we met. Jasmyne took her on as an apprentice years ago when she entered the field of security, bright-eyed and full of herself. She remained roughly a decade younger than us, but that only seemed to solidify her faith that Jaxx’s word remained law. I’d never met a smarter, more loyal smart-ass in my life, and I often took comfort in knowing someone like Kat had Jasmyne’s back.
David, however, I didn’t know well. He seemed capable. His height certainly gave him an advantage, and he responded during this time of crisis with
a sense of dignity I found myself fighting to maintain. I decided that, with these two people and Jaxx at my back, we held a semi-decent chance of surviving this nightmare.
We reached the building without incident and Kat went in first to do a quick sweep. A minute or two later—though it felt like an eternity as I stood there, scratching nervously at my healing bite wound—she popped the door open and motioned us in. We filed into the empty hallway and once more let Destry and Kat take the lead.
When we entered the control room, I stared through the glass, down in the cells below. Darkness and shadows lived there, too thick for a flashlight to penetrate from up here. The feeling of looking into a bottomless abyss made my stomach swirl, and I envisioned all sorts of nightmarish creatures moving in the inky recesses.
“Poole, you coming?” Kat asked as she held the door open for the stairwell that I walked down with Xander once upon a lifetime ago.
I blinked, pulling myself back into this terrible reality and nodded. In silence, I followed behind David who followed behind Destry. Jaxx took up the rear while Kat kept lead. We spilled out into the docking area, and Destry made his way to the generator with confidence. I thanked our lucky stars that at least one maintenance worker survived. I sure as hell didn’t know shit about how to start a generator.
As he cussed and banged on a few things, I wandered across the room toward the ged pens. A sound caught my attention. Soft whimpering. Little cries that barely filtered through the noise Destry made.
“Hey, I think there’s someone here,” I said, turning toward the group as the generator fired up with a loud whirring of its motor.
Jaxx looked at me as the lights came on, bringing her hands up and shaking them side to side to sign, “What?”
“I think there’s a survivor in here,” I yelled back as I returned to following the sound.
It originated from the room they’d kept Radia housed in, and the door stood open. The lights, dimmer than I remembered, revealed motion in the corner, where someone lay huddled in the far corner of the room. I could barely hear the crying anymore over the generator.
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