I didn’t know where to begin. For weeks I’d been mourning him, and he’d been alive the entire time.
“I’m so sorry. I should’ve stayed with you. I shouldn’t have left you behind.” I shook my head.
“Look at me.” He took a hold of my face and I met his stern gaze. “You did the right thing. If you’d stayed, things would’ve been a lot worse.”
“Worse? They shot you. I thought they’d killed you. Why aren’t you locked away? How did they heal you? I saw you die.” The questions tumbled out of my mouth at once.
He opened his white coat and lifted his shirt. His torso had a large patch of gauze taped to his ribs. He peeled it back gingerly to show me the fresh pink scar on his chest. I reached out to touch it, but he stuck the gauze back down and tucked his shirt back into his trousers.
“I told them Kaelee tricked me into helping you. And I panicked once I realised what was happening. I don’t think they bought it, but they let me come back to work.”
“You have no idea how lost I’ve been without you. I thought you were gone. But now I have you back.”
“Where were you? What are you doing here?”
An awkward silence filled the cramped space between us and his strange energy made my stomach churn. If I could’ve even fathomed this reunion in my wildest dreams, I wouldn’t have imagined it going this way. Cameron was shut off and cold, far from the loving person I knew him to be. Had the MMC got to him? Could I still trust him?
I thought over my answer carefully. “I’ve been with my friends hiding out. I couldn’t exactly go home. I thought you were dead.”
“Maybe it was better if I stayed dead. At least to you.”
A heaviness filled my chest and I clenched my jaw. “How can you say that? I’ve been a wreck without you. Now I find out you’re alive, and the one thing you’re worried about is why I’m here.”
“Why are you here?”
“What does it matter? I’m here, and you’re alive, even though I watched you die. What did they do to you, Cameron?”
“Do to me? What do you mean?”
“You’re acting strange. The Cameron I know would be happy to find me, happy to be with his girlfriend again.”
“We can’t be together, Amelia.” The abruptness of his words sent a heat through my veins.
“What do you mean? Because of the MMC?”
“No, because of us. It wasn’t working between us. It wasn’t ever going to work between us. The thing is, neither of us wanted to admit it.”
“Where is this coming from? How can you say it wasn’t working? I love you.”
“Do you? I know you want to, Amelia. I know you do. But this time away from you made me realise we don’t belong together. You chose the wrong guy.”
“I picked you. I chose you.”
“You keep saying you chose me, but did you? You chose me to be your safe place to fall, but you didn’t truly let go of Joe, did you? He was still a bigger part of your life than I could’ve ever been. You’re scared of what it means to be with him, and because of that, you chose me.”
“What do you mean, ‘scared’? Being with Joe didn’t scare me. I wanted you, the guy I’d been dreaming of for months. The guy I could rely on when things got too hard, who protected me and helped me in a pursuit which wasn’t his.”
“Are you listening to yourself? I was the safe option. I was the option who fitted your idea of who you should be with. Joe is passionate to the point of being scary sometimes, and he believes in the same things you do. I don’t. I don’t understand why you both feel the drive to keep fighting this losing battle, keep hurting yourselves and the people you love, and for what? Do you think you can end their greed? You’re scared how far they’ll go, but how far will you go?”
Where was this coming from? Had these thoughts been in his head before he rescued me? I’d loved him, mourned him, and now he was telling me we weren’t as special as I’d thought.
Taking a step back, I crossed my arms over my chest. “You’re right, I thought you were the safe option, but turns out you weren’t. You were the option who was happy to let me believe you were dead when you weren’t, happy for me to mourn your death and try to work out what this world would be like without you in it. You’re the one who’s too scared to stand up for the people you love.”
“The people you love. I only ever did this for you. It wasn’t for your friends, it was for you. I tried to find you, but you’d disappeared. What was I supposed to do?”
“Apparently keep working for the people who shot and almost killed you. The people who kidnapped and tortured both me and your boss.”
“I did it for you.”
A fierceness growled through my voice. “Oh great, so now you’re the good guy? You’re weak, Cameron. You said you loved me, but you constantly hid things from me as though I couldn’t handle the truth. When I tried to leave you out of things, you grew resentful, so I included you, and you didn’t like what we were doing. You chose this corporation out of fear instead of choosing me out of love, and you’re too afraid to admit it to yourself.”
“You’re right. I was afraid. I was afraid of losing you, to both this damned cause of yours and to Joe. The truth was, I never fully had you. Joe had a part of you I couldn’t reach because he was a Dreamer and I wasn’t. So yeah, I quit. After almost dying, I had the chance to take a hard look at my life. I made the decision for you, to let you have the chance to be with him, while being able to keep you safe and keep working on the antivirus.”
“It wasn’t your decision to make. That’s what you don’t understand.”
I look down at my watch to check the time, aware Joe would be getting worried. How long had I been down there?
Realising I had somewhere to go, Cameron pressed on with his questions. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
“Nothing. I’m scoping the place out. I’m leaving now. I have to meet someone.”
“Joe?”
“No, Cameron, it isn’t Joe,” I lied. “But I have to get out of here.” His obsession with Joe was driving me insane.
“Why? What are you and your friends planning now? Amelia, please don’t do anything stupid. There are so many innocent people here who have been manipulated as much as you have. Meet me tonight. At the rendezvous point where you met Joe when you escaped. Please hear me out. I’m working on something that might be able to help you.”
“How do I know you aren’t turning me over to them?”
The hurt in his eyes allowed me to believe he wasn’t on their side.
“I won’t be alone,” I said.
“Joe?”
“And Sarah, and Janine.”
“Of course.” Resentment filled his voice.
He opened the door and we both slid out of the closet. I looked into his eyes, the Cameron I loved no longer behind them. Pulling myself away, I left him standing in the hallway.
The walk back up to the ground floor was a blur. Cameron was alive, but he was different. It was though the bullet had killed any feeling he’d ever had for me. The love that used to radiate from his sky blue eyes had diminished. The mixture of emotions made my stomach swirl, and I did my best to ignore them. He didn’t love me anymore. Tears welled in my eyes, and I wiped at them angrily with the sleeves of my long jacket. Arriving at the door where I knew Joe would be awaiting my return, I stopped for a moment to collect my thoughts. This wasn’t the time to break down or freak out. Joe would understand why I couldn’t kill those innocent people. And now I knew Cameron was alive, I couldn’t kill him either. Drawing in a deep breath, I exhaled with my eyes closed and pressed the door open.
“Thank goodness you’re back. What took so long?” Joe’s jaw relaxed.
“Let’s get out of here,” I replied.
“Crap, yes. Quick, let’s go.” Panic sounded through his voice as he remembered the danger we should be in.
“I didn’t do it.” I confessed. “I couldn’t do it.” Tears formed in my eyes once again.
“What about the bomb?” he asked.
In my rush to get to Joe, I’d completely forgotten I had to go back and retrieve the bomb. I pulled the detonator from my pocket and held it out to Joe. “I’m sorry, I’ll explain everything when we’re out of here.”
Joe took the button from my hand and placed it in his own pocket. “Let’s get out of here then.”
The security was as intense on the way out as it‘d been on the way in. Knowing our ID’s had already allowed us entry and the fact I was no longer carrying the bomb, I was able to fall into a numb state and exit the facility. We waited until the next bus arrived and used it as a distraction as we ran off into the safety of the bushland beside the MMC’s facility without attracting any attention to ourselves.
The built-up energy, anxiety and sadness I felt from my visit to the facility pushed me to run through the bush, dodging trees and jumping over fallen branches. Once again, I wanted to be far away from the place which had caused me so much hurt and confusion. When my lungs burned, my legs began to ache, and the sweat from the long coat became too much, I slowed and slumped to the ground. I leant up against a tree and pulled off the white coat, dropping it in a ball beside me. Why did I keep doing this to myself? Keep stepping back into the twisted world of the MMC? Cameron was right, I could easily walk away and live my life. But there were so many Dreamers who’d died, so many Non-Dreamers who’d been controlled without knowing.
No, Cameron was wrong. I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t live with myself knowing I’d let them get away with everything they’d done and intended to do. He was right in regards to one thing, we didn’t belong together. The ups and downs in our relationship constantly had both of our heads spinning. I’d seen him as a place to fall when things got too tough, but maybe that was too much of a burden for him to bear?
“You okay?” Joe panted as he reached me, pulling his own jacket off and sitting against the tree beside me. “The others will understand why you couldn’t go through with it.”
“It isn’t that,” I said.
“Then what’s wrong?”
“It’s Cameron.”
“I knew it would be hard-“
“No, it isn’t that either.” How did you tell someone the person you’d been grieving was alive and well? All of your heartache and anger was for nothing?
“What is it then?”
“He’s alive.”
“He’s what?” Joe’s eyes widened.
“He’s alive. The MMC saved him, and he’s alive.”
“He’s alive?” Joe asked again.
“It’s why I didn’t get the bomb back. I mean, I was going to, and I saw his face and tried to convince myself I was seeing things. But he saw me too and chased me down…” The words poured out of my mouth, my mind reeling.
Joe’s eyes widened checking mine to make sure what he’d heard was the truth. “Wow, Cam’s alive. That’s great news, right? He must’ve been so happy to find you.” He shook his head in disbelief.
“Not quite.” I bit the inside of my lip. “He wants nothing to do with me anymore. He said we weren’t working.”
“Are you serious?”
I nodded, wiping at the tears rolling over my cheeks with the sleeve of the white coat.
“So, you found him and he broke up with you?”
“Yup. Maybe he’s right? It was so hard being together, a crazy rollercoaster I didn’t know how to stop. So he stopped it for us both.”
Joe pulled me into a tight squeeze, allowing another few tears to roll over my cheek to his shoulder.
“I can’t believe it, after everything you two went through. Are you sure you heard him right?”
“Yes, especially the part where he said the time away from me made him realise he isn’t the one for me.”
“The time away? The time where you were a mess because you thought he was dead? That self-centred, egotistical…”
A sob escaped my lips, opening the floodgates. I leaned forward onto my arms and cried, my body shuddering.
Joe calmed down, wrapping me in his arms. “At least you don’t have to see him again.”
“That part is up to you.” I sniffed.
Confusion spread over his face.
“He wants us to meet him tonight, at the rendezvous point from my escape.” I wiped at my face again.
“Where Sarah and Janine are? Why?”
“He says he has something important to tell us about the MMC. But it’s up to you.”
“No way. This is your call.”
“I think we should hear him out. He doesn’t want me anymore, but I know he wants to get rid of this virus. Can’t hurt, right?”
“This is so messed up. I’m so sorry he’s done this to you.” He took my hand and squeezed it.
“At least now I can focus on stopping the MMC.”
“Who does he think he is? Does he honestly think he can rise from the dead just to break your heart? You were risking your life because of him, and he throws what you guys had away?” Sarah paced back and forth beside the car waving her hands in the air.
“I’m sure he has his reasons,” said Janine.
“Yeah, I’m sure he does. He always has his reasons. Reasons for lying to Amelia and not telling us what was going on in the city. He’s done so much to help us but this? Amelia’s been falling apart and he’s been working for the MMC after everything they’ve done.”
“He’s not one of the bad guys,” I said.
“What?” said Sarah.
“I want to hate him, but how can I when he’s doing everything in his power to stop the MMC. He’s working for the company that nearly killed him so he can create a cure to the virus.”
“I’m so sorry. I hated seeing you so broken, and I’m scared he’s gone and broken you all over again.” Sarah put her arm around my shoulder.
“It’s okay. We’ll hear what he has to say, then we’ll be out of here and never have to deal with him again,” I replied.
Chapter Twelve
When I noticed a pair of headlights approaching, my stomach climbed up into my throat. The road had been quiet the entire afternoon and I recognised the black sedan as Cameron’s. The car slowed as it approached ours and pulled up behind it. As the door swung open and Cameron climbed out, Sarah came to my side, and Joe and Janine approached him.
“Back from the dead, hey mate? You’re looking pretty good for a guy who died.” Joe was happy for his anger towards Cameron to show.
Cameron looked awkward for a moment, before noticing Janine and ignoring Joe’s welcome. “Janine.” A smile spread across his face, his eyes catching my attention before I dropped my gaze to the tuft of spindly grass at my feet.
“I can’t tell you how good it is to see you.” She stepped forward and gave him a quick but firm hug. “I hear you have some news in regards to bringing down the MMC.”
Looking up, my eyes met Cameron’s again. Was it sadness or pity I could sense in them? Either way, it confused me. Maybe he felt bad for what he’d said, or felt sorry for me now he didn’t want me anymore? It wasn’t easy to forget someone when you’d given them so much of yourself. I found it hard to look away. His eyes brought back so many memories. But he mustn’t have been struggling as much as I was as he easily broke our eye contact to look towards Joe and Janine.
“I’ve been experimenting with ways to combine the vaccine and cure I gave to you when Amelia had the virus. I’ve found a way to chemically bond them together, and using a compression chamber, I was able to pressurise the combination. I used this to infect the Cambiar virus the MMC created, turning their own virus into the cure.”
Janine’s expression reflected his enthusiasm. Her eyes lit up as she spoke to the rest of us. “What he’s saying is, he’s used the cure he gave you to alter the Cambiar virus to make it the cure. When it’s released into the air, it will easily infect large groups of the public at once, while still giving us the chance to stay hidden. It’s brilliant.”
“
I thought we could start in the city. Things are bad there. So many people are sick and dying, and many people are already being controlled by the MMC,” said Cameron. “I’ve managed to create twenty cylinders so far, and I’m confident they’ll treat a wide area quickly and effectively.”
I fought the impulse inside me to run towards him and embrace him. I was proud of what he’d achieved. He was still fighting the MultiMind Corporation, but in his own way and on his own terms. He’d asked me to wait until he was ready, warned me to stop my fight until we’d thought everything through. I’d ignored him, telling myself I knew better, I was a Dreamer and he wasn’t. He’d decided he was better off without me. And now I had to deal with it.
“What do you need us to do?” asked Joe, crossing his arms across his chest.
“That’s the catch. I obviously can’t walk out of the facility with large canisters. They already have someone watching everything I do, and searching me each time I come and go. Lucky for me, the guard they’ve assigned to me is useless. He has no idea what I’m doing, assuming I’m doing my job. I’ve done most of this right under his nose.”
“And the catch is?” Sarah was growing impatient.
Her abruptness appeared to upset Cameron. “The catch is, I need to find a way to get it out. Tech thinks he can get them loaded onto a delivery truck marked as the virus, but it means…”
“You want us to steal it from the truck,” finished Joe.
“Exactly.”
“Great, so you create this stuff but we have to risk our lives to actually finish this off?” said Sarah.
“I know it’s a lot to ask,” said Cameron.
“Especially when you’ve been telling Amelia to stop risking her life this whole time,” argued Sarah.
“I’ll do it,” I interrupted her.
“But, Amelia...” pleaded Sarah.
“Look, I was ready to sacrifice my life to blow up an entire building. What it would’ve done is kill lots of innocent people, and the people who were already infected would’ve died or been controlled anyway. This way we can cure them, and find a way to stop the big guys at the top. The ones who’ve made this happen.”
Rise of the Dreamer Page 9