Modified- The Complete Manipulated Series

by Harper North

  We board to find two rows of black seats and more pictures of plant life hanging above the seats. The doors close and the vehicle hums as it takes off, the car zooming past brick walls and other lit but abandoned stations.

  Despite moving at an incredible speed, I don’t feel a single bump. Lacy and Talen sit with their heads in their hands due to the magnetic field, but I feel fine. Sky sits across from me beside his sister and mother, watching the tunnel zip past. I want to talk with Cia, but I don’t. My thoughts drift to possible cave-ins we could hit, but only empty tunnel sits in front of us.

  After only fifteen minutes, the yellow car slows at another station. Cho’s not here. Emma rises as soon as the door opens. “We might be able to relax a bit now.”

  Her words ease the tight tension in my shoulders as I get up. Maybe we finally have a break from the constant danger. Sky whispers something to his sister, and she and his mother smile, joining him in the line of people getting out of the car.

  “We need to be on our guard,” Elias says, drawing his weapon beside me.

  I sigh as reality hits again. Elias and I exit last to find everyone standing in the tunnel near a turnstile. The air smells of fresh water and something else I don’t recognize—something less musty.

  Sky, Cia, and their mom push through the turnstile and into a lit tunnel. Cia runs ahead as Sky calls after her. Her screams of delight and laughter echo back down the tunnel. A strange feeling rises in my chest, and I want to run after her to see what the deal is, but Elias shakes his head.

  “Not smart of her,” he says.

  “She’s a kid.”

  “You’ve got to see this!” Sky shouts from up ahead.

  “And he’s not,” I say. “They must have found something cool.”

  Lacy pushes back out of the turnstile and grabs my arm. “Fin. Now.”

  I leave Elias stewing about our lack of safety as she pulls me through the entrance to Elysian Beach. With my weapon still tucked away, I join our small crowd as another cavern opens before me, the biggest one I’ve ever seen. I pass a grill sitting on the concrete, tucked against a wall. Ashes coat the bottom. An army of powerful spotlights hang from the ceiling like an army of bright stars. Ahead, an expanse of water sparkles with light. Lacy pulls me down steps and onto white sand.

  Sunlight.

  Impossible. We’re underground.

  But this light doesn’t have that sick florescent flicker I’m used to seeing underground. It warms my skin but doesn’t burn it. Sand glitters as Cia falls into it and moves her arms and legs to the sides, making the shape of a bird. Sky laughs.

  Within seconds, our people scatter, surveying the enormous, round chamber and the green plants that grow along the beach.

  Plants?

  Trees of all sorts surround the beach, ranging from skinny types with brown fruit clusters on top to ones with needle-like leaves and others with broad, emerald ones that glow in the false sunlight.

  “The mirror system,” Emma murmurs beside me.

  “The what?” I ask.

  “A long time ago, scientists were working on a system of mirrors and tubes that could divert real sunlight underground,” she explains. “My grandfather knew of it, but never made use of the technology. It looks as if these builders tried to recreate the surface down here. The light system must have worked on its own from the beginning.”

  She’s right. The trees wouldn’t have grown down here otherwise. This is what the surface must have looked like pre-Flip.

  Emma says something else, but the green, gold, and blue holds my attention. There’s a wooden house just up a hill from where we stand. Many other small wooden houses stand scattered around the giant chamber, tucked into the trees.

  I catch Sky’s eyes as he glances at me. What do I say to him? This is the world he wanted with me.

  Emma taps me on the shoulder. “Let’s look around.”

  “Sure,” I say, swallowing. For a moment, no death hangs over our heads. For a little while, things might be okay again. “Sky, want to come with us?”

  He opens his mouth to answer, but before he can, the ground shakes beneath our feet. It’s not much, just enough to feel, as if the shock waves from a distant quake are undulating through the sand. A few seconds later, the feeling ends.

  A loud boom from somewhere out in the tunnels follows.

  Maybe it's miles away, or maybe not. Everyone freezes on the beach and turns in the direction of the transport tunnel.

  Cho and his troops are already up to no good.

  Either that, or the SNA has arrived underground and found them.

  Either way, it’s a sign that we haven’t won our place in the sun just yet.

  The End of Book Four

  BOOK FIVE: BURIED

  CHAPTER 1

  “FIN.”

  I can’t tear my eyes away. The water laps at the edge of the vast beach, each tiny wave sparkling with the light cast down from the gigantic mirrors hanging among the stalactites of the settlement’s rocky dome. It exceeds anything I’ve ever seen on the surface, even before the eruption at the Monster’s Nest made the surface too radioactive for human life. Again.

  I don’t deserve this place, this safety. I shouldn’t stand on this pristine beach or near the green trees that line it. And I certainly don’t deserve to live in any of these fully furnished houses or to walk the trails through the foliage, not after I trusted Cho. Not after I helped him destroy what was left of the world.

  “Fin?”

  I shouldn’t be breathing this fresh air or standing in this reflected sunlight. I kick at a strange brown ball that’s fallen off one of the trees. It rolls along the sand, landing next to a series of little valleys that might be old footprints. I half expect some weird creature to unfold itself from the ball’s hard, furry shell, but nothing happens. Maybe it’s fruit?

  “Fin!”

  I whirl. Elias is standing right behind me, with Emma and Reinhart hanging a few feet farther back. The expression on Elias’ face is infuriatingly disdainful—too much like the one Reinhart’s always wearing.

  “We need to secure the settlement,” he barks. “What are you doing?”

  I glance past them toward the concrete steps leading back up to the rail station. A few of the survivors, including Sky’s mother and his sister, Cia, are whispering in the entryway. Most of the others were too overwhelmed and retreated to the yellow Elysian Beach rail car that brought us here, but a few of the more adventurous sort, like Talen and Lacy, made a beeline for the houses we just assumed were empty. I guess that was pretty stupid of us.

  Elias snaps his fingers beside my ears. “Fin! Can you hear me talking to you?”

  I roll my eyes and push his hand away. “Excuse me for never having seen a real beach before.”

  Elias sighs. “This isn’t the time for sightseeing.” He glances down at my hip. “Why did you holster your weapon?”

  I cross my arms over my chest. “Because I wanted to see how long I could go without killing anyone?”

  Elias scowls. “Well, I want to see how long you can go without being killed.”

  I draw my pistol and point it at the sand. Just holding it throws me back to all the gunshots, the screaming, and the bloodshed. So much bloodshed.

  Drape’s battered face flashes into my mind.

  “Better.” Elias softens, almost like he can see the same image. “I can’t do this without you, Fin. So, no more amateur mistakes, okay?”

  His eyes tell me he’s trying to be friendly—maybe even weirdly flirty under the circumstances—but in his words, I hear only a harsh reprimand. This is my fault. I don’t deserve sunlight and sandy beaches. Only war.

  “Yes, sir,” I say stiffly.

  Something dark flickers across Elias’ features, then passes. “Right. So, let’s secure the settlement, then we can address the explosions—”

  “Explosions?” I echo. “Were there some I missed?”

  It sounds more sarcastic than I intended consi
dering it’s an honest question. I was pretty spaced out before Elias interrupted me.

  “Not yet,” Emma says. “But we can assume there will be. Cho is most likely collapsing possible escape routes or opening new tunnels. Either way—”

  “He could destabilize the entire region. I know.”

  Explosions and the unpredictable cave-ins that followed them were frequent in the mines, killing Dwellers left and right. Many were buried under rubble, their bodies never even recovered. Sometimes we could hear them screaming for hours before they finally ran out of air. The Leeches wouldn’t let us help them. They could always breed more of us.

  That’s probably what happened to my own parents, whoever they were. I searched the faces of every Dweller we freed and never caught another glimpse of my eyes or my chin or my nose. I’m the last of a line I know nothing about, and I didn’t come all this way to repeat history.

  “Of course,” Emma soothes. “Better than any of us.”

  “Your input is vital,” Elias says. “Right, Reinhart?”

  The former EHC Commander gives a non-committal grunt. I’m not sure why Elias is suddenly gunning hard for his attention, but I don’t care one way or another about Reinhart’s opinion—of me or anything.

  “Okay, okay, let’s get it over with.” I spread my arms, gesturing to all the empty homes. “Secure the settlement. Round up all the ghosts and ask them what they know.”

  Reinhart rolls his eyes and walks away. Elias’ mouth presses into a flat line.

  Emma touches his elbow. “She’s tired, Elias. We all are.”

  Shame roils inside me. I don’t deserve Emma’s excuses for me. She was safe once—a leader honored by a peaceful people. And then I led the EHC straight to her. Memories of the day they bombed that mountain flash through my mind. I shake them out of my head.

  “I’m fine. Where do I start?”

  Elias narrows his eyes at me like he’s trying to measure my mental fitness for any of the tasks at hand. Finally, he says, "Just find Lacy and Talen and meet us on the steps. Reinhart will give the orders from there.”

  I scoff. “That’s ridiculous. Either the settlement needs to be secured immediately, or it doesn’t. If we have time to listen to Reinhart turn a simple sweep into a full-blown military mission, I had time to enjoy the beach.”

  Elias growls and throws up his hands. “Just do it, Fin.”

  He stalks off, following Reinhart’s footprints. Emma gives me a sympathetic look, but I wave her off and march up the beach. I pass a colorful towel crumpled in the sand. That’s funny… it’s not something any of us would have had.

  I look back toward that furry brown ball and find it floating out on a wave. The old footprints have been erased. I turn toward the steps where everyone is gathering. There are a couple of picnic tables nearby, each one paired with a simple grill. I can almost smell the meat cooking—or maybe I actually smell recently cooked meat. With my enhanced vision, I spot a thin film of ash clinging to the grate of the grill nearest me.

  A chill runs down my spine. Maybe this place does need securing.

  I find Sky sitting under one of the trees, just as mesmerized as I was a few minutes ago. My chest tightens. This place is everything he’s ever wanted for his mother and sister, and everything he would have wished for us before I stupidly pushed him away.

  “Hey,” I say.

  He keeps his gaze on the water. “Hey.”

  “We have to patrol. Elias says so.”

  As soon as the words leave my mouth, I realize Elias didn’t tell me to find Sky, only Talen and Lacy. I know Sky’s not our best fighter, but he’s a good scout. Did Elias purposefully not mention him, or did he assume I would bring him?

  Sky pastes on a phony smile as he jumps up and brushes sand off his pants. “Got to keep Elias happy, don’t you?”

  I step forward, inches from his face, both of us blowing angry air from our noses. The space between our lips crackles with electricity, but I don’t think a kiss can fix this.

  “I’m not here to keep anyone happy. Just alive.”

  His lip curls like he’s going to say something cruel about my success rate so far, but his jaw tightens, and he holds it inside. He spins away from me and marches toward the gathering.

  I turn and nearly collide with two black-uniformed EHC ops emerging from the trees. I jump to the side, and they glare at me as they run by. Some things never change.

  I make my way over to the houses, calling for Lacy and Talen, but get no response. I start peeking through windows until, finally, I find them in a house made out of logs. They’re sound asleep on an old couch, shoulders brushing, heads tilted together. Jealousy shoots through me, and I’m not sure if it’s because I miss when things were good with Sky, or I just miss sleeping, but I bang my fist as loud as I can on the side of the house.

  They’re on their feet in a split second, weapons drawn and pointing. I throw my hands up in the air. Their shoulders sag in relief, but when they march out the front door, they’re both glaring.

  “That’s a good way to get your brain fried,” Lacy growls, and I remember these Auras’ guns would have been the least of my worries if they hadn’t seen me in time.

  “Blame Elias and Reinhart,” I tell her. “First, they said we needed to secure the settlement immediately, but now I think they’re planning some scouting mission.”

  Talen groans. “Why? Everything we need is right here. The sun, the sand, the couch…”

  Lacy gives him a playful punch on the arm. “Toughen up, soldier.”

  I turn away from them, keeping several feet ahead as I lead them back to the group waiting at the steps. I know it’s childish, but if I can’t joke around with the person I care about to ease my tension, I don’t want to see anybody else enjoying that privilege.

  We reach the steps just as one of the EHC ops I almost ran into is giving a report.

  “There’s a door hidden in the cave wall on top of that hill over there,” he says, pointing to the slope rising behind the houses. “We think it may be some type of storage facility.”

  “Good work.” Reinhart looks at the rest of us. “I want you, you…” he picks out the same two EHC ops, Emma and Elias, me and Sky, and finally Lacy and Talen, “… and my Auras.”

  Lacy bristles. Her worst fear is belonging to any Leech. Talen grasps her hand, somehow silencing her sharp tongue.

  “Lead the way, soldiers.” Reinhart stands aside so the two ops can go first.

  I let everyone else pass me and I fall in line beside Sky, wanting to explain myself, but he picks up the pace and shoots to the front, putting himself right behind Reinhart. He knows that’s the last place I’d want to be.

  The ops lead us into the trees they emerged from earlier. It turns out there’s a sandy trail winding through the forest. It circles up and around behind the houses until we’re standing on the hill, looking down over the roofs at the concrete steps where a few of those who stayed behind are still waiting. I think I can see Cia waving.

  The hill runs abruptly into the cavern’s rock wall, but the creators of this place tried to disguise it with climbing vines. I run my fingers over the delicate petals of an orange flower. I’ve never seen anything like it before.

  Elias clears his throat. “Fin. Pay attention, please.”

  He jerks his head at the steel door the EHC ops are standing on either side of. One has a clump of vines in his hands, and the other is pulling on the door handle. It rattles but doesn’t open. I shake my head and let go of the flower, leaving it trembling within the greenery.

  Focus, Fin. You’re losing your edge.

  I step forward, drawing my gun. “I’ll do the honors.”

  The EHC ops dive out of the way. Elias lifts his hand toward my wrist as if to stop me.

  “We don’t know what’s behind them,” he says.

  “We will soon.”

  I squeeze the trigger.

  A crack like thunder fills the cavern. From far behind us, people sho
ut, shocked by the sudden eruption of noise in this quiet, peaceful place. I feel guilty, but I can’t stop. Sparks fly with every bullet strike, until finally, on the fourth try, the door swings open.

  When I lower my weapon, everyone is frowning at me. I know, I know. I wasted ammo, and if there were anyone on the other side, we’ve lost the element of surprise. But what else were we going to do? Stand around and wish it into opening?

  I stride past all of them and kick the door out of my way. The corridor behind it is dark, untouched by the sunlight bouncing down from the mirrors.

  Elias appears at my side, clicking on a flashlight. He shines it into the corridor, revealing electric lights along the ceiling. There’s a large switch on the wall beside the door, and Elias pushes it up. The lights remain off. He tries pulling it back down—same result.

  “I thought we turned the power on,” he says.

  Emma shakes her head. “That dam must have existed solely for the train station. The settlements must rely on another source.”

  Elias’ shoulders slump. I think everyone’s do. But we press ahead.

  The tunnel, though made of stone, has no openings and no smooth wear from flowing water. Humans carved it. The floor slopes gently downward, and the farther we go, the colder and mustier the air gets. My throat starts to tickle. Finally, the slope turns into a steep stairway. We all pause before the first step as Elias shines his light into the gloom.

  “I’ll go check it out,” he says.

  “We’ve been duped before,” Reinhart replies. “We don’t know if this is some kind of trap.”

  Elias looks at me with a smirk. “We will soon.”

  He disappears down the stairs, leaving Reinhart muttering under his breath. He points at the rest of us. “Stay where you are.”

  A moment later, Elias shines his flashlight back up the stairs. “We’ve got food!”

  I don’t wait for Reinhart’s permission. I take the stairs two at a time until I’m standing beside Elias in a large, rectangular room surrounded by what must be hundreds of old metal shelves. They line the walls and form aisles in the center of the room. Elias pans his flashlight over them, revealing many empty shelves, but also many more half-filled with cans and some still completely stocked. Faded labels reveal everything from green beans to canned chicken.