‘I think it’s time to call a break,’ she said. ‘We’ve had a good few hours discussion, I say we get some rest and reconvene for training in a few hours.’
‘Sounds good to me,’ Lawson said, sounding equally tired. The people in attendance began to pack up and some gave jovial goodbyes to Evie as they left and as they did Evie found her heart settle a little as she left the room with Sinclair. Sinclair was different from the others, she hadn’t hammered Evie for answers and had simply accepted her for what she was. She wanted to help, wanted to advise and be an ally and Evie could only thank her for that.
‘You did some good work in there,’ Sinclair told her. ‘It can’t have been easy.’
They began to walk towards the sleeping quarters. ‘In some ways it feels like its someone else’s life I’m describing,’ Evie said. ‘It was my world for so long, and now I’ve finally had a chance to step aside and look at it from a fresh perspective.’
‘And what are you seeing?’ Sinclair asked.
Evie considered her answer for a moment. ‘That it’s sad that a country that was once so great, fell to someone who wanted nothing more than their own power. We shouldn’t have had to live like that or come into the world the way that we did. But it’s our history and we have to own it, but we don’t have to let it define us,’
‘Or let the term ‘Genic’ define you,’ Sinclair said. ‘You may have abilities that we don’t, can do incredible things that we could only dream of, but that shouldn’t ostracise you from society, you’ve shown that you’re not here to hurt us.’
‘You have to be one of the first people who’ve seen us as a positive part of this world,’ Evie said.
They arrived at their quarters and Evie was ready to fall into the bed when she saw an envelope had been left in the metallic folder outside her door. ‘Was I supposed to be expecting mail?’ She asked.
‘We would have been informed if you were,’ Sinclair said, looking as confused as Evie and as she took the envelope and opened the door to her room. She sat down on the bed and pulled out the sheets of paper as Sinclair watched. Evie saw she was holding a report from Volt. One that she had seen on numerous occasions in her lab, several she had filled out herself.
‘It looks like it was printed here,’ Sinclair said. ‘It must have been from one of the mail clerks. It’s not bad news is it?’
A lump caught in Evie’s throat, ‘They’re saying my old place of work was attacked last night. My old colleagues were sla…slaughtered and killed by a group of humans, and riots have now broken out across New York,’ tears had caught her voice and she couldn’t stop them from rolling down her cheeks. ‘It says, if I go back to the city, I’ll be killed too.’
Sinclair sat on the bed and put her arm around Evie who allowed herself to fall into the embrace as exhaustion and grief tore through her. After a moment she pulled away and tried to pull herself together. ‘Are you going to be okay?’ Sinclair asked.
Evie nodded, but suddenly everything and everyone she knew was distant from her and she didn’t know how to grasp onto something that wasn’t there. ‘I wish I could contact Kit,’ she said. ‘Or my brother, I don’t even know where he is, or if he’s still alive,’ she said. ‘For so long you learn to hold onto the people who become your family because when things like this happen, that’s when you need them the most, but all of mine are so far away it’s like they don’t even exist.’
Sinclair took Evie’s hand and Evie met her eyes. It was like she was connected to her mother again, after so many years of being without a parent, she had grown used to the feeling of not having one. She shook the thought away, she couldn’t view Sinclair that way, they were colleagues and no one could replace her mother, no one should replace her.
‘Let me see if I can find anything on your brother for you,’ Sinclair said. ‘We have some access to America and some of my contacts may be able to get some information.’
Before she could stop herself Evie hugged her. ‘Thank you,’ she said and pulled away when her face burned red. ‘Sorry,’ she said.
‘Don’t be,’ Sinclair said. ‘It looks to me like it’s been a long time since you’ve had someone in your corner.’
‘I’ve got Kit, and Rook and the others,’ Evie said. ‘But it’s nice having someone in my own circle again, after Cara I didn’t think that would be possible.’
Sinclair gave her a sympathetic smile and got to her feet. ‘Get some rest,’ she said. ‘You’ve got a full on day training tomorrow, and those men and women won’t go easy on you. I’ll see what information I can find.’
Evie smiled at her tiredly. ‘Thank you,’ she said and as Sinclair bade her goodnight, Evie changed and slipped into bed. She read the report again and again, wondering who had sent it to her, how they had found where she was and what life was going to be like after all of this ended.
Sleep didn’t come easy that night, Evie tossed and turned as nightmares flowed through her consciousness. She could see Jack, she could sense his presence like he was right there with her. Then the fires came, the city surrounding them was burning to the ground and Jack was on fire, being turned into ash right in front of her and there was nothing she could do to stop it. The world around her was on fire, death was a moments breath away and it was all she could do to keep breathing and stay alive. Heat was tearing through her skin, burning through her blood and begging for release. She woke with a start and found her room was alight in bright orange flames. She leapt out of bed and tried to open the door but the metal handle scorched her hand. Her throat became scratchy and she began to cough as she banged on the door.
‘Help!’ She called. The flames were growing closer, the heat buried itself deep inside her skin and the energy felt like it was going to burst out of her. ‘Help!’ She called again and heard a voice on the other side of the door. She saw the handle shaking as she struggled to breathe properly, she coughed again and her head became light as she fell to her knees. The door opened and a pair of hands pulled her forward and she saw a group of people storm forward and heard the fire canisters let off. She saw Sinclair kneel in front of her.
‘Are you okay?’ She asked. ‘What happened?’
‘I don’t know,’ Evie coughed, her throat was tight, air struggled to break through.
Sinclair helped her to her feet. ‘Come with me,’ she said.
As Evie followed her, it was as though her head were in a million pieces and she couldn’t put the thoughts together properly. Sinclair had taken her somewhere and sat her down on the edge of a bed. She handed her a cold, plastic cup of water and as Evie took it she saw her hands shake. ‘I don’t know what happened,’ she said quietly as she took a sip of the water, then gulped it as it soothed her throat that tugged and pulled uncomfortably as she tried to swallow.
‘Has anything like that happened before?’ Sinclair asked.
‘Have I almost burned anything down?’ Evie asked, hearing the harshness in her tone. She softened. ‘No, not really.’
Sinclair sat next to her, Evie noted the tentativeness as she did so. ‘I want to understand how your powers work,’ she said. ‘I believe they’re here for good, I experienced as much when we were in the room before, but like everything, there’s light and dark, and I think that’s what I’m seeing in you.’
Evie looked down at her lap, not wanting to meet Sinclair’s eyes. ‘I’ve always believed what’s inside of me is evil,’ she said. ‘We were raised to think that it was, for years I had to hide what I could do, my parents were terrified of what would happen if the authorities found out. They gave me drugs, let scientists experiment on me and I still don’t know the full extent of what they did to me. That’s why when I was a scientist I wanted to understand the genome and how it could be manipulated and how it could change human DNA.’
‘Did you uncover anything?’ Sinclair asked.
Evie didn’t want to answer but started coughing and Sinclair placed a hand on her back. Evie’s head began to throb and she rested her for
ehead on her hand but Sinclair motioned for her to lie back on the bed. ‘You need to rest,’ she said.
‘Last time I tried, my nightmares set my room on fire,’ Evie said.
‘I’ll stay with you,’ Sinclair said. ‘I’ll make sure nothing happens.’
Evie gave her a tired smile. ‘Were you able to find out anything about Jack?’ She asked.
‘Not yet,’ Sinclair told her. ‘But I’ve started making enquiries.’
Evie rolled onto her side. ‘I wish he was here,’ she said. ‘I wish Kit was here,’ she grimaced at how needy she must be sounding but the idea of being strong right now was too much for her.
Sinclair squeezed her hand. ‘We all wish for those who can’t be here,’
Evie looked at her for a moment but was too exhausted to talk anymore. ‘Thank you,’ she managed. ‘For everything you’re doing. It’s hard to find people to trust in this world.’
Sinclair smiled sadly. ‘I can’t argue with that unfortunately,’ she said. ‘You get some rest. We’ll talk later.’
Evie watched as she went and sat down on a chair in a corner and opened her laptop and began working. She didn’t know if she could trust Sinclair, and wondered what her motives were, but she was so tired of questioning everyone and having to work out who was on her side, she just wanted to accept someone could be on her side without an ulterior motive. She gazed up at the ceiling above her and found herself thinking about what had happened and the fears her parents had always had when she was younger. About her powers being different, about how she was different and as she finally drifted asleep, she tried to work out what it could all mean.
Chapter Fourteen
Kit had never been more grateful to see tarmac than when the plane finally came to land on the deserted airstrip at Little Rock. As the plane sped across the tarmac to a halt, she held onto the seat in front of her as the cabin shook, certain she was going to be sick again. When the plane eventually pulled to a stop she sat back in her seat, sweat was dripping down her back and her throat was dry but they were safe, they had made it back in one piece.
The pilot's voice came over the speaker. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve just completed the first return international flight in nearly a hundred years, welcome home.’
There was an applause and Kit took a moment to dwell in what had happened. Despite her own illness, they had just completed what had previously been inconceivable. International travel had been outlawed so long ago that people had begun to forget there were countries outside of America, let alone think about visiting them. Kit wished she could have spent longer in London, got to know the city more, the people, understand the differences and see how they viewed the world. She had grown tired of the same rhetoric spewed by Galen’s government years ago, and visiting London had given her hope that there was a chance the story could be changed. And then she thought of Evie, wondered what she was doing, who she was with and if she was okay.
Evans came over to her. ‘Tell me we can get the hell out of here?’ She asked.
He smiled at her. ‘We have to go through a few checks but we can get out of this thing,’ he said as Kit got to her feet. ‘It might be a historic day, but not one that I want to go through again any time soon.’
Kit grabbed her bag and headed for the plane door, the blazing sun blinded her for a moment, but when she blinked the world back into focus her heart leapt. On the tarmac was Lil and Rook waiting for her. She hurried down the stairs, dropped her bag as she went and flung herself into their arms and hugged them so tightly she began to cry and didn’t want to let them go.
‘It’s okay,’ Lil said. ‘You’re home, you’re safe.’
Kit pulled back and Lil wiped her tears away and gave her a smile. ‘God I missed you two,’
‘Where’s Evie?’ Rook asked looking over to the plane, expecting to see her. Kit’s cheeks burned and she took a moment before she could meet Rook’s eyes.
‘She stayed behind,’ she said quietly.
A mixture of fear and terror flooded Rook’s face and Kit hugged her again. ‘It’s okay,’ she assured her. ‘Evie’s safe, she’s doing what she needs to and we’ll be back together soon.’
‘You should be together now,’ Rook said pulling back from her.
‘Hey,’ Lil said, always quick to try and diffuse an argument. ‘Let's get this one sorted then she can catch us up and we can tell her the news.’
‘What news?’ Kit asked as Evans joined them.
It was Lil’s turn to shift awkwardly on her feet and was hesitant in her answer. ‘A lot’s happened since you’ve been away,’ she said.
‘We need to get inside and get those checks done,’ Evans interjected.
Kit didn’t care about any checks, she wanted to know what was going on, what they weren’t telling her. But she could see they were as exhausted as she was and just as scared, so she didn’t push them. ‘Fine,’ she sighed. ‘But we need to debrief.’
‘Agreed,’ said Lil. ‘But first, let me take that and you get sorted,’ she said, taking Kit’s bag from Evans who had picked it up from the runway.
Kit nodded and followed Evans and the others to the building. Rook and Lil were beside her, and the chasm of information they needed to share seemed to place a distance between them but Kit was glad to be home and grateful they were with her.
They entered the old airport to a small gathering of guards. They were dressed in dark navy uniforms and were carrying assault rifles.
‘Are they ours?’ Kit asked.
‘Standard military wear for FSA members out here,’ Evans told her. ‘When the faction broke down to a state level, they were all given their own identity to help us know where we were all based.’
Kit looked at the men, who were stoned faced and glared at her in a way that reminded her of the guards in Volt. ‘Well if they’re on our side they don’t look that friendly.’
‘Just follow my lead,’ Evans said and he walked over to them. ‘Gentlemen,’ he said. They straightened and gave a military salute. ‘At ease,’ Evans said.
‘Impressive,’ Kit muttered, looking at Lil and Rook.
‘Permission to speak sir?’ One of the soldiers to the right of them asked.
‘Permission granted,’ Evans said.
‘Sir, we would like to welcome you back to America,’ the soldier said. ‘If you can accompany me, I will take you to the testing zone.’
‘Testing zone?’ Kit asked, the hairs on the back of her neck suddenly was stood on end as memories of her childhood came flooding back unannounced and unwelcome. She pushed them away, she didn’t have time to take an unpleasant trip down memory lane.
‘We need to check for contaminants before we can let you back into America,’ the soldier said.
‘But they’re in America,’ Lil noted.
‘This is like a holding area,’ Evans told her. ‘It’s no-man’s land until we get through security.’
‘Weird,’ Lil said.
‘Come with me please,’ the soldier said.
Kit sensed it wasn’t an offer and they had no choice but to follow. ‘We’ll be back soon,’ she said to Lil and Rook.
The soldier turned to them. ‘They need to come too,’ he said. ‘They had contact with you and could be contaminated.’
Lil rolled her eyes. ‘Seriously?’ She asked.
‘Everyone else is getting processed,’ Rook whispered. ‘The quicker it’s done the quicker we can go.’
Kit could see that Lil was irked but she begrudgingly followed them. They walked out of the main airport entrance and down a corridor of offices. A knot began to grow in Kit’s stomach as deja vu seemed to creep into her consciousness.
She had been down a corridor like this before when she was younger. In the depths of Volt, a scientist had taken her to a lab and she had been there for nearly a week before she had been allowed to return to the bunkers. She could remember seeing military men in the lab, how they watched her as she was tested on, how they did nothing to prote
ct her from the men who violated her. Her breath began to catch in her throat and she took Lil’s hand, who glanced at her. Unspoken words between friends were often the most powerful and Lil had a way of knowing what Kit was thinking and she squeezed her hand tightly as if to say everything will be all right.
‘Will this take long?’ Evans asked. ‘My friends aren’t comfortable being around doctors and I don’t want to prolong this for them if it isn’t necessary.’
‘It shouldn’t take long sir,’ the guard said, making Kit’s racing heart slow a little. He finally brought them to a stop by two doors. ‘Ladies, through here, sir, you’re through there.’
Evans looked at Kit. ‘Stay calm,’ he said. ‘It’ll be over before you know it.’
Kit nodded and steeled herself, ready for what was to come. She entered the cold doctor's room and saw a nurse waiting for them. ‘Just over here please,’ she said, her voice soft, welcoming. ‘No need to be scared,’ she said.
Kit wasn’t about to let her guard down but as she looked at the woman she sensed some familiarity. The woman had greying hair, wrinkles outlined her forehead and her fingers were nimble as they worked on the needles in front of her.
‘What are they for?’ Kit asked.
‘These are just anti-infection drugs,’ she said. ‘Designed to fight off any foreign bugs you may have picked up on your trip.’
Panic began to take over. ‘You’re not using those on us,’ Kit said, standing in front of Lil and Rook, as though she were trying to shield them.
‘We’re under orders ma’am,’ the nurse said.
‘Orders from whom?’ Kit demanded.
The nurse faltered and Kit saw her name tag. Volstov. The name came flooding back to her. She was a teenager, alone in an exam room, there was a young nurse there tending to her when the doctors had finished. She was cleaning her wounds and the blood. She never said much but she never stopped the men either. Her name tag had read the same.
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