Rise of the Dreamer

by L. J. Higgins

  “No way, this was my idea. I’m going to plant that … that thing, and you’re going to wait on the first floor for me to come back. Laina was upset as it was, imagine going back and telling her I stayed behind while you ran towards danger.”

  “This has nothing to do with Laina. This has to do with me knowing you’re safe.” He took a step closer to me.

  “I will be safe. I’ll do exactly as we planned, and you’ll make sure I get out. I know you will.” I took a hold of his hands and looked up into his earthy eyes. “Please Joe, I want to do this.”

  He shook his hands free of mine. “You’re driving me insane. My mind and heart are telling me to stop you, but Dawn’s voice keeps echoing in my head, reminding me to let you make your own decisions. What are you doing to me?”

  ‘Thank you, Dawn,’ I said in my head. Even though she wasn’t with us in person, she was still on my side.

  “If it makes you feel better, Amelia has to be the one to go to floor three anyway. She has the female’s ID and Joe has the male’s, which only gets to the first floor,” said Janine.

  “Looks like you win,” groaned Joe.

  “You better eat your spaghetti. You’ll need your energy,” said Janine, breaking the silence forming between us.

  She was right. My head already felt light from the anxiety, and adrenalin beginning to pump through my veins. I did my best to eat half a can of spaghetti and drink some water. After we’d eaten and packed up, we stood in a circle, going over our plan. Joe squatted down, rummaging through his backpack. He pulled out a pair of white pants and a white coat.

  “These are for you. We’ll turn around while you pull them on.”

  They spun around with their backs to me while I changed, and Joe continued speaking.

  “Once you’re dressed, I have your ID to clip onto your coat pocket. The bus will arrive in half an hour so we’ll walk you closer, and you and I will try to blend in with the crowd and make our way through the security checkpoint. I’ll walk with you down to the next floor and will wait for you to return, keeping a lookout.”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t come with me. Does Laina know you’re going in there with me?” They turned around to find me in my new white costume.

  “Can’t say it suits you,” joked Joe.

  “Too much white, it drains the colour from your face,” agreed Sarah.

  “I’m serious. Why should two of us risk our lives? Does Laina know?” I insisted.

  “No, she doesn’t know the whole plan and she doesn’t need to. We’ll be in and out and home, so when I tell her, she’ll have no reason to be upset.” He smiled, proud of his solution.

  “Yeah, not with you,” I protested.

  “I, for one, feel better knowing Joe will be in there with you,” said Sarah. “I’d go with you, but he’s the faster runner.” Her eyes pleaded with me to stick with our plan.

  “Okay, you can come, but any sign of trouble and you get out.”

  “Yeah, sure. Now let’s get going so we don’t miss our bus.” Joe slung the bag holding the bomb over his shoulder and began striding through the bush.

  When we reached the bus stop, the sun was already beating down on us, and sweat made my coat stick to my skin. As we drew closer to the edge of the bush, the ten-foot-high chain-link fence came into view, as did the gate. But the building itself was still hidden by the thick brush and grass around us.

  “This is as far as you go. Sorry, ladies,” said Joe.

  “I love you,” I said to Sarah, pulling her into a tight hug. “And tell Rose and Ethan, and Harper. Oh, and my parents.”

  “You can tell them yourself when we get back and you have single-handedly destroyed the MMC,” she replied, her trembling voice defying her. “Look after her.” Sarah looked to Joe, who nodded.

  “Always,” he said, “Now get as far away as you can. Start making your way back towards the car. We want you to be ready when we get there.”

  One last tight squeeze and a smile in Janine’s direction, and they took off into the bushland until we couldn’t see them anymore.

  “Are you okay?” asked Joe.

  “Never been better,” I replied.

  “You don’t have to do this you know. We can go back and tell them it fell through or it didn’t go to plan.”

  “No, I promised everyone I could do this. I want to do this. It’s just I keep remembering people I didn’t say goodbye to. Like my mum and dad.”

  “There’s no need. I’m not leaving this place without you.”

  “That’s the thing that’s scaring me the most,” I confess.

  We were interrupted by the arrival of a large white bus.

  “Here it is. Follow me.” Joe snapped straight into business mode and I crouched down as he did and followed him as he scooted across the ground and hid behind the bus.

  We waited until the bus rumbled to a start again, sending a plume of grey smoke towards us from its exhaust, and rushed around its side to join the crowd of workers walking towards the gate. For the first time, I realised there were going to be real people in the building. It wasn’t only going to be the MultiMind Corporation, the faceless organization I’d grown to hate. There were going to be real people, with real lives, and real families. My nightmare of the explosion resurfaced, their frightened faces and the screaming. Today they weren’t going to be heading home to their wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, and children. And it would be my fault. As though sensing my doubt, Joe grabbed my hand, squeezed it, and let it fall to my side again as he stood in front of me, forming a line to be scanned into the facility.

  Looking ahead, the building was in clear view now we waited at the gates. Its shiny exterior reflected the world around it, much like the building the MMC had occupied in the city. This one, however, stood no more than two stories high. It didn’t look as big from where we were, as though it was merely an insignificant research station. But I knew it delved deep into the earth, at least six floors that I knew of. I had to make it down three of them.

  It didn’t take long for everyone to file through, the machine on the walls of the gate beeping and sliding the metal fence across as each person scanned their ID and were approved. As Joe’s turn approached, his shoulders lifted as he took a drawn in breath and stepped forward. My own breath hitched in my throat. The seconds it took to register his identification felt like minutes. The beep sounded, and the gate slid across, allowing me to exhale. He turned to give me a sneaky smile before continuing to follow the group towards the facility.

  “Come on, we’ll be late.” An impatient, heavyset man grumbled behind me.

  I was grateful for his impatience as it gave me the push to step forward towards the gate and hold my breath once again as I waited to find out if Janine’s friend had come through with the ID’s.

  A beep sounded, and the gate slid open. I exhaled with relief, my head light for a moment. Quickening my pace to catch up with Joe, I resisted the urge to jump into the air and fist-pump. I knew getting in was only our first hurdle. I still had to get three levels underground and plant a bomb. I had to both arm it and outrun its blast. My chest tightened as I reached Joe and rubbed my shoulder against his.

  He turned and gave me a ‘we did it’ smile as we reached the reflective grey exterior of the MMC’s facility. Each employee showed their ID to an officer who scanned it, checked the computer, and pressed the button to open the sliding door. Janine hadn’t mentioned this security point, and my palms began to sweat. I hoped I somewhat resembled Rachel Warner, the name written across my identification tag clipped to my jacket’s chest pocket.

  Joe’s face grew stern as he approached the security guard. He appeared as uncertain and nervous as I was. But with a quick scan and a nod, he disappeared behind the metal door, leaving me on my own to deal with whatever was going to happen next. As I stepped forward, I pulled my hand up into the sleeve of my jacket, crossing my fingers. It was silly. I knew it was. But if someone had told me spinning in a circle three times on on
e leg would’ve gotten me into the facility safe, I would’ve tried that too.

  The door slid open, bringing back my attention, and I realised I’d worried myself through the entire situation. As I stepped through the doorway, the fluorescent lighting inside forced me to squint and the door slid closed again behind me. When my eyes had adjusted, Joe was nowhere in sight, so I continued down the corridor until I came to a T-junction.

  The memory of booted footsteps rung in my ears, as did the sound of ricocheting bullets.

  “You okay?” Joe stood in front of me, trying to make eye contact.

  His dark brown eyes brought me back to reality. I hadn’t thought about what it would be like to be back there, back where Cameron had died. Realising Joe was still staring at me, I nodded.

  “Are you going to be able to do this?”

  I hated the way he doubted me. “Of course. Sorry, it’s a bit overwhelming being here again. I’ll be fine, as long as you get me to the stairwell.” I pushed his shoulder to spin him and coax him down the left hand hallway.

  We continued straight, the white walls and fluorescent lighting just as confusing and disorienting as they’d been when we’d escaped. Except that the halls of the ground floor were much busier than in any MMC building I’d been in before. I assumed they didn’t have to do much hiding of their work when they were in the middle of the outback.

  Joe stopped at the door to the stairwell and pushed it open, letting me inside. Once the door was closed, he turned towards me. “You know what you have to do. I won’t leave this spot until you’re back here.”

  “I do, but I don’t like the idea of you waiting for too long. Why don’t we use your watch as a timer? If I haven’t come back in fifteen minutes, you leave without me. That way, I’ll know you’re safe.” I knew he wouldn’t listen to my request, but I had to try.

  “I’ll give you twenty,” he replied. “You’ll want this.” He took the laptop bag from over his shoulder and slid it over mine.

  I nodded, unsure what to say next. Should I say goodbye? I’ll miss you? I hope everything works out with Laina? Instead, I stood still and quiet, staring into his dark eyes.

  “You better get going,” he said.

  I threw myself against his chest, wrapping my arms around him, squeezing him tight. I didn’t want to let him go. He returned the gesture, and we held each other for a moment until I absorbed enough courage to let go. I stood back, pulling my jacket straight and nodding. He nodded back at me, and I turned and walked down the concrete stairwell before my emotions caught up with me.

  Each level was much the same. I had to scan through the doorway on each one, cut through the length of the building, scan my ID again, and walk down another flight of concrete stairs. Each level I descended, the quieter it seemed to be, which made me more at ease somehow. I didn’t think it would be as easy on my conscience to plant a bomb where hundreds of people stood. But I also knew if Thomas was right, none of the people in the building were going to make it out alive. My body shuddered involuntarily at the thought, and I attempted to push it to the back of my mind. If I survived, I was going to have to live with what I’d done for the rest of my life. I told myself it was a small sacrifice to make if it meant people would no longer be murdered or manipulated by the MMC. But I wasn’t sure I was convincing myself.

  As I scanned through the last doorway leading out into level three below ground, the weight in my chest grew heavier and my limbs felt numb and tingly. ‘You can do this, you can do this,’ was my mantra as I strode the length of the building, turning when I came to the third left turn per Janine’s instructions. If Janine hadn’t decided to oppose the MMC, she might’ve been working that day. She may’ve been one of the people who were going to die. But I wouldn’t have known she was even there, and I wasn’t sure if I would’ve cared either. But she’d shown me people could change. All you needed to do was show them the truth and all they needed to do was be willing to see it.

  Rounding a right corner, I headed towards the last doorway on the left before the dead-end. Janine said it would seem as though I was on the furthest side of the building, but in fact I would be in the middle. Another way to confuse those who tried to escape in a hurry. I wondered if she’d had a hand in designing these buildings which messed with people’s sense of direction. If I made it out alive, I’d have to ask her.

  As Janine promised, the door slid across when scanned to reveal a janitor’s closet. I stepped inside, letting the door close behind me, and made my way to the back of the closet lined with shelving. Sliding the bag off my arm that’d been causing sweat to build up along my side, I placed it on the ground, sliding it underneath a shelf, and unzipped the front pocket to remove the detonator. I placed the detonator into the deep pocket of my jacket and unzipped the bag to look at the contraption inside. It consisted of tape and tubes and other items. I couldn’t imagine what each of them did. Following my instructions, I pressed the rubber button on top until it beeped and zipped the bag back up.

  I’d done it. I’d planted the bomb. Now I simply had to detonate it and make it out alive. Too easy. If it was so easy, why was my stomach churning wilder than before? With the sudden urge to be as far away from the bomb as possible, I stepped towards the door way. The door swung open on its own, hitting me hard in the chest. The impact pushed the air from my lungs and forced me a few steps back. A man stepped through the open doorway.

  “Sorry, just grabbing some tubes. I didn’t realise someone was in here.” It was the heavyset man who’d been lined up behind me before I’d entered.

  “It’s okay, I’m finished.” Unable to make eye contact, I leapt through the doorway and quickened my pace heading back down the hallway and turning left.

  I hoped the man wouldn’t discover the bomb, and that he wouldn’t be in that small room when it went off. Or maybe it was better if he was in there? Distracting my mind, I began to wonder how long I’d been, and hoped Joe would still be waiting at the ground floor exit for me. A group of five people approached as I made a beeline towards my next turn. I turned my gaze to the ground, afraid to look into the eyes of the people I was going to murder. One of them accidently rammed his shoulder into mine. The force spun me off my feet and I felt myself land hard on the floor, the detonator jabbing into my leg with the impact.

  “I’m so sorry, ma’am. Are you okay?” A tall, thin man asked, holding out his hand to help me up.

  Despite making extra effort to avert my gaze, I looked up into his rich brown eyes and felt tears well in mine.

  “I’m fine, thank you,” I replied scrambling to my feet.

  What was I doing? These were real people. How could I hate the MMC for killing Dreamers when I was prepared to do exactly what I was angry at them for? Murdering people. My hand dove into the pocket of my pants, feeling over the detonator to make sure the cover was still over the button. I hadn’t accidentally detonated it. To my relief, it was still safe, and so were the people around me.

  “I’m sorry,” said the man.

  “So am I,” I replied.

  He smiled before turning to continue down the hallway.

  As he left, I leant up against the wall and took a few quick breaths to compose myself. I had to go back and get the bomb. I couldn’t go through with exploding the building, not with all of those people inside it. There had to be another way to do this.

  That’s when I heard it. It was a murmur when it caught my attention, forcing me to concentrate more blocking my other senses. But the second time I heard his voice, the lump in my chest forced its way into my throat and I took a tentative step forward.

  Chapter Eleven

  The door in front of me slid open, making me jump. A young lady walked through it, her dark hair tied back into a tight bun. She smiled at me as though apologising for giving me a fright. But I looked straight past her into the room she’d walked out from. There he stood, his blonde hair styled neatly to the side, his piercing blue eyes staring back into mine. He, too, stopped
in his tracks, dropping his words mid-sentence. And the door slid closed.

  I shook my head and blinked my eyes. It had to be someone else. No way was it him. My heart urged me to stay, to wait for one last look to confirm it wasn’t him. But my head argued I needed to get out, and it won. I picked up my pace as I proceeded down the hallway. My shoulder rammed the corner as I turned down another hallway, my thoughts far from where they should be.

  As I rounded the next corner, the sound of running footsteps sounded behind me before I felt hands on my shoulders, pushing me towards the wall. I squeezed my eyes closed as I was spun around and pinned to its cool surface.

  “Amelia, open your eyes,” his calm voice brought me back.

  I shook my head. This couldn’t be real. I must’ve hit my head when I’d fallen, and now I was dreaming. I peeled my eyes open, and blinked them twice to make sure they weren’t betraying me. In front of me stood Cameron. Alive.

  “You’re alive?” I whispered.

  “Come with me,” he instructed, grabbing me by the wrist and dragging me into a storage room before locking the door behind him.

  I stared at him, unable to process what was happening. Cameron was alive, standing right in front of me.

  “Where have you been?” he asked.

  “You’re alive.”

  He took my hand. “Yes, Amelia, it’s me. I’m alive. Where have you been?”

  The abruptness in his tone made me take my hand back. “But how?”

  “Where have you been? What’re you doing back here?”

  I stood gasping like a fish out of water, unable to process anything he was saying. My emotions wavered between screaming with joy and crying with relief. The confusion formed a lump in my throat.

  “Amelia?”

  “How are you alive?”

  He sighed. “I woke up in the MMC medical ward, and the doctors had brought me back. I was released from hospital this morning. Now, where have you been? Tech tried finding you for me, but you’d disappeared off the face of the planet. I called your mum, but she said she hadn’t heard from any of you in months. Where have you been?”