Chills and excitement coiled together and rolled around in my stomach. Rollins must have been the one who took it from me back when the helicopters picked us up. Yes. He had been the one with the wand. My hate for him reached new levels. I had to figure out how to get it back.
We reached the top of the steps and went through another metal, keypad-secured door into a large bowling alley. Where were we? Rollins led us down a long hallway past some closed doors, and out a door into black and charred grounds. The sky had turned dark, and gray storm clouds made it look and feel like a scene from a horror movie.
“Welcome to Camp David, the President’s vacation compound. It looked better before the general had everything burned to block the aliens. Like that did any good.” Rollins hurried us across the ash toward a gray, wooden-looking garage.
Adam glanced around. “Shouldn’t there be guards?”
The burnt grounds were eerily quiet. No noise whatsoever. The scent of smoke hung in the air. A cold breeze played with my hair, making me shiver. The sensation of being watched slithered over my skin. We needed to find cover.
Rollins paused for less than a second and gave a quick scan of the area. “Not anymore.”
Against the dark sky and torched ground, Dr. Morgenstern’s white jacket stuck out like a target. Dr. Collins had removed his at some point.
A thumping noise broke the hushed silence. We all looked up. A black helicopter with a white Z on the side and a small picture of an anchor hanging off the end of the letter landed in the open space to our right. The blades swirled ash into the air. The thumping pounded in my chest.
“Let’s go,” Dr. Morgenstern mouthed and raced to the chopper.
The rest of us ran behind her.
A tingling started in my head and worked its way down my nerves. I glanced over my shoulder. Adam gave me a questioning look.
“What?” Rollins pulled the rifle into his hands.
Screeching from the Bug, audible over the helicopter’s noise, made Dr. Collins almost drop the jar.
Dr. Morgenstern yelled something that looked like “now” and yanked me by the arm, pulling me into the helicopter next to her in the three forward facing seats. Dr. Collins pushed ahead of Adam to secure the spot next to Dr. Morgenstern and closest to the window. The Bug slammed against the jar and the metallic squeal pierced my eardrums as if it was a nail being hammered into my brain.
“Go. Now!” Dr. Morgenstern yelled at the pilot.
The pilot turned to stare at the doctor. “Ma’am? The others?”
“I don’t care about them. Leave now or else!” She aimed her gun at him.
He turned back to the controls, pushed buttons, and flipped levers.
The Bug got louder. So did the chopper’s engines.
Jones dragged Adam into the helicopter and pushed him onto one of the two seats across from the doctors and me. Rollins jumped in right as the chopper lifted from the ground.
“Thanks for waiting.” Rollins narrowed his eyes at Dr. Morgenstern and clung to the handle by the open door.
The doctors focused on something out the other window. I glanced over and saw them.
At least ten Raspers. Some wearing dark suits and armed with guns.
Rollins sighted his rifle and fired. Jones left his seat and fired at the Raspers too.
Thwonk. Thwonk.
“We’re taking fire.” Rollins and Jones pulled back, but kept shooting out the open door.
“Shut the damn door.” Dr. Morgenstern tried for bossy and bitchy, but her words came across shaky and scared.
This was my chance. I twisted open the paperclip I had snagged from the table and jammed it into the handcuff lock. Almost had it. Almost… The helicopter jerked and the paperclip fell from my grasp.
The small piece of metal, the small piece of hope, hit the floor of the chopper.
I bent over and tried to feel for it. Where? There. When my finger touched the clip, the helicopter jerked again and it slid out of reach. I dropped to the floor pretending the jolt had knocked from the seat. I leaned and grabbed the clip.
“Get in your seat.” Rollins yanked me by the arm and shoved me.
“Leave her alone,” Adam yelled.
“Shut the hell up.” Jones slammed the rifle butt toward Adam.
Adam reacted a millisecond too late and the weapon slammed into his skull. He slumped back into his seat.
“Adam.” I reached for him.
“Sit down and shut up.” Jones hollered.
Dr. Morgenstern grabbed my elbow and pulled me back into the seat.
I leaned back and stared at Adam’s lifeless body. I searched for the rise and fall of his chest. Didn’t see it.
More bullets hit the side of the chopper. Jones shifted and stood in front of Adam.
“Get us out of here!” Dr. Morgenstern screamed.
I slid the clip back into the lock. I never thought I’d use the trick Mom had used to win Dad’s heart. She had claimed it sometimes paid to bend the rules. I almost smiled at the memory.
I got my hands free and pocketed the paperclip.
Rollins pulled back to reload. I jumped into the seat next to Adam to give him room. I touched Adam’s wrist, feeling for his pulse. It took a second, but I caught a weak thumping.
I needed my gun. Needed to save Adam. Needed to get away from the crazy doctors.
I glanced from them, to the Raspers, to the distance to the ground. Ten feet. Twenty. Twenty-five. It was now or never.
I scooted to the edge of the seat.
It was time.
With everything I had, I lunged at Jones.
I slammed into him so hard, he fell to the floor of the chopper, blocking the doctors.
Using my extra speed, I grabbed Adam and dragged him to the door.
Took a deep breath.
And jumped.
28
I swore I heard Dr. Morgenstern scream, but the helicopter kept rising.
Adam and I fell through the air. Water slammed into my body. I lost my grip on Adam. Spun around. Lost which way was up. The cold from the water pulled me deeper. I forced myself to swim. Air. I needed air. I kicked harder and harder, broke the surface, and gasped for air.
Adam. I had to find him. I sucked in as much air as I could and dove under the surface. I reached out.
Nothing. Empty water.
I needed to go back up for more air. Then I collided with something solid. I grasped hold and used my extra strength to swim to the surface.
I pulled Adam’s lifeless form on top of me and held him with my right arm under his chin, clutching his shoulder.
I kicked and pulled forward with my left arm. The shoreline seemed so far away. I pushed myself harder. The cold from the water made my teeth chatter and my muscles scream.
A little farther. Kick. Pull. Kick.
My feet touched bottom. I shifted so I was standing in the shoulder-depth water. I dragged Adam until I reached land. I pulled him out of the water and dropped to my knees next to him.
“Adam.” I checked his neck. No pulse. “No. No. No. You can’t be dead. Come on!” I pounded on his chest. “Damn you! You can’t leave me. Not now. Not after everything we’ve been through.” I pounded again.
No response.
I tilted his head back and to the side. Pushed hard on his chest. He coughed and groaned.
He was alive. I rocked back on my heels.
Adam sputtered and sat up and rubbed the side of his head where Jones had hit him. His handcuffs clanked together. I checked my pocket. I’d lost the paper clip and couldn’t free him.
“What happened?” His voice was scratchy. He glanced around. “Where are we? Why am I wet?”
I pushed strands of his hair from his forehead. “We—”
Water splashed. I whipped around. Rollins broke the surface.
Shit.
I glanced up. The chopper was long gone.
Then I remembered the Raspers. I jumped to my feet and yanked Adam with me. “We
gotta go.”
Rollins crawled onto the land. He coughed and hung his head. I had one chance.
I let go of Adam and ran to Rollins, and yanked my gun from his back before he noticed I was there. I hoped wet guns still fired.
Rollins struggled to stand and spit out a mouthful of water. “Damn doctor bitch pushed me out of the chopper right after you jumped. I knew I shouldn’t have trusted her lying ass. How did you know you’d hit the lake?”
“I didn’t.” I let the words hang in the air. I hadn’t aimed for water. Hell, I didn’t even know there was a lake. I’d just thought my enhanced abilities would give us a better chance for surviving than if we stayed in the chopper with the doctors.
Rollins stared at me. “Well, hell.”
The familiar feeling of extra eyes watching me crept across the back of my neck. I broke eye contact with Rollins. Spun around, searching for the Raspers.
“Val.” Adam’s voice cut across my nerves. I turned. The Raspers came out of the surrounding trees.
“Shit.” Rollins grabbed a gun from his ankle holster. “Some of them were Secret Service.”
The Raspers swarmed forward. Adam raced to my side. Rollins stepped closer to me.
We were outnumbered. Out of options.
Rollins fired and dropped one Rasper. They aimed their guns at us. Didn’t fire back. Rollins took out another one.
I aimed the gun, but didn’t pull the trigger. Dizziness made me sway. I blinked and focused on a dark suited Rasper.
Buzzing zinged through my head.
The thought that had been out of reach before finally became clear. Shivers darted across my skin.
I tapped Rollins on the shoulder. “Stop shooting.”
He fired again.
“Stop.”
He turned and the look in his eyes was beyond fear.
“Trust me. Stop shooting.”
If I was wrong, we were all going to die. Hell, Rollins might be dead either way. He was right handed.
“Guys, stand behind me.” I held the Glock loosely in my left hand.
I turned, faced the Raspers, and held up my right hand. “Stop.”
“Val? What are you doing?” Adam’s voice went high and squeaky.
Rollins shook his head at me. “That’s not a good idea.” He aimed his gun at the closest Rasper.
The Raspers all stopped and cocked their heads to the side.
“What’s happening?” Rollins’s gun shook in his hand.
Adam glanced between the Raspers and me. “Val?”
The buzzing increased.
Two Raspers with guns stood about ten feet from Rollins. His eyes were wide and a tendon on his neck throbbed. He was going to start shooting as if he was a one-man army. I needed to do this.
I took a deep breath. “Back away. All of you.”
The Raspers all turned to focus on me. And at the same time, they all took a step back.
“What’s happening?” Adam shifted closer to me.
My heartbeat launched into hyper-speed. The buzzing grew louder. A band of pressure tightened across my chest. This was it. My only chance. If I was wrong, we were dead.
“I need to send a message to whoever is in charge.” My voice was full of authority and power I didn’t possess.
Adam’s body went rigid. He gave me a quick glance before staring at the Raspers.
A Rasper, dressed in a dark suit and holding a gun, stepped forward. The rest stood still and focused on me. I walked toward him and stopped when I was about a foot away from him. His yellow and cracked skin highlighted all the lines across his face.
I took a deep breath to center myself, but sucked in the sulfury scent of rotten eggs spewing from his mouth.
“I will not join your collective. If your leader wants to talk to me, she needs to come to me. I don’t follow her orders. Do you understand my message?”
The suited Rasper nodded his head. “I do.” His voice rattled with each word.
“You will not harm me, or these two men. Leave here and go tell her. All of you. Leave.” I waved my gun at the group in a dismissive gesture.
The Rasper leaned forward and licked the air. He cocked his head and a look of confusion flickered across his face. He turned to face the others. They shifted to the left and right, leaving a path in front of him clear. He walked between the two groups.
The buzzing grew louder and louder. A loud zapping noise replaced the buzzing.
All the Raspers turned in perfect synchronicity and followed the Rasper who spoke to me. Within seconds they had run from the area.
The noises stopped. My heart rate slowed and the weight pressing on my lungs released.
Rollins’s mouth hung open.
Adam turned to me with an expression of shock. Slowly his face relaxed and his shoulders rounded. “You told them what to do. And they listened.”
“What just happened?” Rollins relaxed his grip on his gun.
“I still have no clue why their ‘queen’ wants me, but I realized she must have ordered them not to kill me. Remember the one on top of the car who let go?” I searched Adam’s face.
“Yeah. But—”
“And all the other ones. They weren’t trying to kill me. They wanted me to go with them.”
“If that’s the case, I’ll bet your message is going to piss off whoever’s in charge.” Rollins holstered his gun.
“I know. We don’t have much time. And who knows if they’ll listen to me again.” I caught Rollins’s gaze. “Which way is the camp? We need get back to the bunker and free Megan.”
“She’s not there.” Rollins ran a hand across his bald head.
“What? Where is she?”
“General DeCarlo sent her to another bunker up north. He left orders for her to be executed if you two didn’t help him. And before she pushed me out, Dr. Morgenstern ordered Zigotgen to recover your body.”
My mouth went dry. “What’s Megan’s timeline?”
“I’m not sure.”
My dad had always drilled into me that family came first. Megan had started out as my enemy. Then became my competition. She slowly became my friend. But after shooting the Rasper, freeing us from the cells, and risking her life for ours, I knew what she was. Megan was family. I faced Rollins. “We have to find her. Will you help us?”
Adam frowned and rubbed the bruised spot on his head. “Val, are you sure you want to trust him?”
“You heard him, Dr. Morgenstern pushed him out of the helicopter. He wants his revenge. The Raspers won’t stop. And it looks like Zigotgen is hunting us too. We’ll need him to find Megan.”
“Honey, you told the aliens what to do and they listened. You’re my new best friend. I’ll go wherever you want. Here.” He dug in his pocket and tossed keys at me.
I caught them and unlocked Adam’s handcuffs.
“I need to figure out where we are. Stay here. I need to recon the area.” Rollins walked away from the lake.
Adam stepped closer to me. So close.
“Val, we can get out of here. Run away somewhere.” He clasped my hand and brought it to his chest. “We can leave him.”
His heartbeat thumped hard and fast. I couldn’t breathe. It was as if a knife stabbed me in the windpipe. I couldn’t think. I wanted to fall into him and say yes to what he suggested, but Megan’s face flashed before my eyes.
I glanced up at him and almost lost myself. “We can’t. Megan. She’s our family. Our responsibility. We can’t fail her.”
Adam ran his index finger down my cheek. “I know. It’s just that…I didn’t find you by accident. It was like I followed a beacon and it led me to you.” He slid his fingers into my hair.
A shiver raced from the roots of my hair to my toes.
He leaned down and pulled me closer to him. Heat radiated off his body and wrapped around me. When his lips found mine, I forgot how to breathe. He slid his tongue across mine. My heartbeat pounded in my ears.
I forgot all about the Bugs, the Rasper
s, the doctors. About anything but his lips and the tingling sensation sizzling across my mouth.
Adam pulled back. “Val, trusting Rollins goes against your rules.”
I laughed. “You know, I gave up on my rules the day I shot you.” I glanced down at my arm and pushed my sleeve back. The words had faded to a gray outline.
He leaned down and brushed my his lips over mine. Another tingle shot through my body. I couldn’t believe he was kissing me. Again. I didn’t want the feeling to end.
He grabbed my hand. “Then we do this together.”
“Together. And we can make new rules for a new beginning.”
Adam squeezed my hand.
I squeezed back. My insides twisted and plunged as if I was falling into a dark abyss. Two kids and one soldier were going to fight a war against aliens, the military, and possibly more freak doctors at Zigotgen.
We had no hope of winning.
But first, we had to find Megan.
I tucked the Glock into my waistband. “Okay, let’s do this. New Rule Number One, always fight for your family. It doesn’t matter how much the world collapses, family is why we love, family is why we live, family is forever. Let’s go get ours back together.”
Also by Kathleen Groger
Rasper Series:
The Colony
Seam Stalkers Series:
The Shattered Seam
Silencing The Seam
Acknowledgments
I first want to thank you, dear reader, for reading the beginning of Val’s journey.
Writing is hard work. Sometimes, lonely, hard work. Writers spend hours in their heads with only their pets and keyboards to talk to. But creating a book takes teamwork. I want to thank my team for helping me create this book.
I want to send a huge thank you to Kendall Grey. You were the first person, outside of my family, to read one of my manuscripts. Thank you for being kind and encouraging me back then when my story obviously needed so much help. Rock on, woman!
To my Readerlicious ladies: Brinda Berry, Kelly Crawley, Christina Delay, Susan McCauley, Abbie Roads, Jennifer Savalli, Carol Michell Storey, N.K. Whitaker, Jenn Windrow, and Sandy Wright. You are my friends and my go-to for daily advice and my sounding board. Thank you for being there for me.
The Colony Page 28