by Kevin George
And now an obligation to keep this woman safe, to keep Irving safe, and to keep safe the other person inside the—
The thought no sooner echoed in his mind than the woman turned toward the vehicle as the final prisoner was dragged out.
“I swear, if anybody hurts my son. . .”
Her warning hung heavy in the air, but the guards seemed to pay her no mind. A guard shoved the final prisoner to the hangar floor, his face nearly smashing against the concrete. Chad stepped forward to offer a hand of help when the final prisoner looked up. His face was crusted with dirt, but not so much that it hid the scars streaking down half of his head. Invisible hands squeezed at Chad’s lungs, making it impossible to take a deep breath.
He turned to the woman and immediately recalled a memory from his youth that he hadn’t known was still in his mind, a memory from a more innocent time in his life, long before he’d realized how powerless his parents and The Second had been compared to the Jonas family of One. Chad didn’t know what to be more surprised about: the fact that Prince Oliver now stood before him, or the fact that Queen Liv did, too. Once shock wore off, he gripped the gun’s handle more tightly. Part of him wanted to shoot Oliver on the spot; another part of him wanted to grab him by the shirt, shove him against the vehicle and demand to know what happened to Emma and everyone else.
Chad didn’t realize how long he stared at Oliver until noticing the rest of the guards standing quiet and still, all eyes now on him. Even Irving watched him intently and took a step forward, his eyes narrowing.
“Doesn’t seem like much of a leader to me,” the old Tunneler said. “Why don’t you take off that mask so we can—”
Chad cleared his throat. “Take them to the cells,” he said gruffly.
The guards surged forward, inundating the trio of prisoners. Liv struggled to remain close to her son, even as the two were pulled apart. The sight couldn’t help but remind Chad of his own mother, not that he could’ve imagined a scenario where Bronwen Upton cared about someone other than herself. As the prisoners were led toward the staircase, Chad found himself following the group, hoping this would be his best opportunity to travel through The Mountain while blending in with a crowd. But he didn’t make it to the first step when the sound of clanking metal echoed from the back of the hangar.
Chad hesitated but refused to glance toward the noise, hoping the others hadn’t heard. But when the clanging happened again and the guards around him stopped, he knew there’d be no denying it. In an instant, his mind filled with the awful thought of the other guard still being alive and ready to expose Chad as an imposter.
“It’s nothing, probably the wind,” Chad growled to the guards behind him, trying to sound nonchalant as he looked toward the shadows. He waved the guards toward the stairs, gesturing up at the others escorting Prince Oliver, Irving and Queen Liv. “Go with them and I’ll check it out.”
A few guards began to follow the command and head up the stairs, but another metallic noise—this time, more of a whining, twisting sound—made it impossible for them to go further. Chad sighed as he raised the gun and headed back into the darkness, worried he’d have to shoot not just the injured guard, but any guards coming to see what had happened. He refused to turn back and see who was behind him—he didn’t want to give them any reason to question his strength—but he couldn’t ignore several sets of footsteps following him. Chad walked quickly, cutting around corners of tarped vehicles, hoping to reach—and eliminate—his target before the others spotted him.
When he reached the vehicle beneath which he’d stashed the guard’s body, he found the tarp didn’t appear to be disturbed. He squatted and started to lift the tarp when a voice behind him made him stop.
“Something hiding under there?”
Chad squeezed the gun tighter and turned his head, spotting a single guard behind him. Chad stood quickly and shook his head. As the guard stepped closer, Chad wondered if he could shoot the man and somehow make an excuse for what had happened. . .
But then the noise started again, far back in the shadows, coming from the same place from which Chad himself had emerged. Hope filled his chest. He rushed toward the tunnel entrance, suddenly understanding that the clanging was caused by the same metal he’d worked tirelessly to remove. He didn’t know who could be coming or what would be done with them, but the thought of finding any potential allies made his situation seem slightly less daunting.
Chad saw an old man first, followed closely by a young man, both of them wearing matching white coats. Together, they pushed through another bent grate covering the tunnel opening, clearing the way for another person to be led through, this one with his hands tied behind his back and a bag over his head. Moments later, two more teenaged boys emerged, both wearing similar white lab coats, followed lastly by a girl. Chad couldn’t see them clearly in the dark, but he saw enough to realize that he didn’t know who they were and that they were possibly some sort of family.
Tunnelers? Chad wondered, though something seemed strange about their matching coats. He reminded himself that their bagged prisoner was probably the bigger concern.
“Don’t move another inch,” Chad growled. The family hesitated, their eyes squinting to see in the dark. When the young man began to inch forward, the older man put up an arm to stop him. “Are you from the City Below?”
“Not exactly,” the older man said, “though some of our ancestors ended up there long ago. We’re scientists, descending from a family of scientists that—”
“Don’t believe them,” the other guard said. “First, it’s the vehicles showing up, and then whatever’s in the sky. Now it’s these moles? You might be right about a large-scale invasion, Moretti.”
The young man snickered, shaking his head without fear as the rest of his family remained cowering in the shadows.
“Yes, as you can see, my old man of a father—”
“Watch it, Billy, I’m not that old,” the father scientist quipped.
“—and my intimidating siblings are clearly huge threats,” said the young man, Billy, his voice oozing with condescension. When a pair of guards stomped toward him with their weapons raised, the young man held up his hands and shook his head. “Whoa. Let’s calm down, fellas. I don’t know who’s in charge here, but I promise we’re smarter than any scientists you might have. The Mountain obviously has problems and we’re here to solve them.”
“We obviously have problems?” asked another guard that showed up.
The older scientist grabbed his son’s arm and pulled him back. “We aren’t exactly from the City Below, but our family has always worked with Jonas kings in other capacities. Our ancestors hailed from the same lineage and—”
“That’s all I need to hear,” Chad snapped. “The Jonas kings are not to be trusted.”
Billy stepped around his father, even as the older man tried to hold him back. Ignoring several more guns being aimed at him, Billy stared at Chad, his brow furrowing. Chad didn’t know who any of these intruders were, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that Billy knew something about him.
“You know about the Jonas kings? Even though you’re from here?”
Chad stared back at him, his cheeks flushing within the mask. He felt the eyes of several guards turning on him, and he could imagine their suspicion. The people of the City Below didn’t know about The Mountain—at least the people he knew—and he assumed those at The Mountain were just as clueless about those from the City Below. His mind drew a blank about how to explain this, but he exhaled deeply, pushing out any panic building within him. Instead, he thought about the guard he’d killed, he thought about every word he’d overheard him speaking.
He wouldn’t have cared whether he sounded right or wrong, Chad thought, recalling the guard’s argument with his superior.
“We don’t answer questions from intruders,” Chad growled. He raised his own weapon but kept his finger away from the trigger. “Or would you like this to answer it for you?”
<
br /> “Please, none of this is necessary,” the older man said. “We’ve come in good faith, to help with whatever needs you might have.” He reached back to their own bagged prisoner, who nearly tripped at the sudden movement. The prisoner grunted incoherently, obviously gagged within the bag. “I don’t know how much of One Corp.’s history has been suppressed here, but we’ve brought someone with a famous name that—”
“Enough!” Chad snapped, afraid he’d be forced to deal with more questions than he wanted. “If any of them speak again, shoot them.” He looked from the young scientist to the older one, silently willing both—as well as the three younger siblings—to keep their mouths shut. Luckily, they did. Chad turned to the nearest guards. “Take them away.”
The guards swarmed, three men to each family member, none of whom resisted as they were led toward the stairs.
“Should we put them with the other invaders?”
Chad shook his head. If the scientists worked for the Jonas kings as they’d claimed, Chad had every reason to believe they might know Oliver or Queen Liv. The farther apart he kept the two groups, the better off he’d be.
“If this group and the other invaders really do know each other, better to keep them apart so they can’t plan any type of escape,” he growled.
“Aren’t you listening to us?” Billy called out. “We’re scientists, and aren’t part of—”
Chad nodded to a guard, who clubbed Billy in the back, dropping him to his knees.
“The only place to put them is the highest level, into the holding room with the older host mothers,” the guard said.
Chad didn’t know what the guard meant by ‘host mothers,’ but he noticed frowns being exchanged by other guards. Chad nodded.
“Put them in there for now,” he said. “I’ll talk to the. . . the Board. . . later about what’ll ultimately happen to them.”
The guards surged up the steps, pushing the family as they went. Chad followed, hoping this would be his chance to blend into the group and explore The Mountain. But he no sooner climbed a single step than the guard in front of him stopped and pointed toward the hangar’s open door. Chad froze, afraid of who else might be showing up. A glance back showed only blowing snows and the great white expanse beyond.
“Don’t you want to close that?” the guard asked.
“Of course,” Chad growled. “I was going to. . . I mean, I wasn’t going up the stairs right now, just making sure my orders were followed.”
The guard raised an eyebrow but nodded and hurried to catch up to the group. Chad watched the scientist family fade into the distance above and felt a stab of guilt for ordering them to be imprisoned. For all he knew, they might’ve been useful to him, or at least had information about what happened in the city. But when he spotted their prisoner, and realized he himself had reached the hangar shortly before them, Chad wondered if the odd family would’ve captured and bagged him had they caught him.
And maybe they would’ve stopped me from helping Sally, he thought, steeling his nerves against any guilt, though he did wish he could’ve done something to help the poor soul with the bag strapped over his head. . .
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Emma kept her eyes closed for most of the flight, only stealing occasional glances at the seemingly infinite white world below. Though she was clad in thick layers of clothing found in the ISU—including a parka with a hood pulled tightly over her head and a helmet blocking all wind from hitting her face—the cold somehow found a way to seep into her body. Light snowfall engulfed them during the trip, but Love found spots of clear sky and the winds had reduced to an occasional gust. Love kept muttering about beautiful flying conditions, though his grip remained tight around Emma’s waist, making her breathing uncomfortable and labored.
Better than what would happen if he loosened his grip, Emma told herself over and over. Though Love seemed focused on reaching The Mountain, he landed every so often to give Emma a chance to stretch and catch her breath. They’d even spent nearly an hour walking across the Nothingness, though they’d covered very little distance.
“There,” Love said suddenly, just as Emma felt herself nodding off in his grasp.
In an instant, she was snapped awake and knew what there meant before opening her eyes. In the distance, the empty landscape was interrupted by the shadow of a massive form that seemed to rise out of the ground. With every flap of Love’s wings, they sped closer to The Mountain, which took shape as it stretched all the way up to the clouds. If Emma could’ve gasped, she would have. The Mountain was larger than anything she’d ever seen, larger than anything she could’ve imagined. One in the City Below had always seemed so massive, but she could tell right away it would be nothing compared to The Mountain.
They were minutes away, but time slowed enough to let every panicked thought—every dire possibility—enter Emma’s mind. The Mountain loomed as potential disaster, and she had to fight the urge to wriggle out of Love’s grasp.
He told you it would be safe, she told herself, glancing up at Love. He told you he’d stay with you the entire time. . . keep you safe the entire time. She didn’t know why she believed him, but she did. Still, her stomach felt no better as they approached The Mountain and flew higher into the clouds.
“My entrance to The Mountain is up here,” Love called out over the sound of rushing wind. “Trust me, we don’t want to deal with the guard at the ground entrance, not that the two up here. . .”
Love’s voice lowered to an incomprehensible mumble. Emma saw the shadow of anger fall across his eyes, but there was no time to get the full story, not that she was certain she wanted it. With a final thunderous flap, they soared through low-hanging clouds and approached a ledge and small opening. Emma held her breath, afraid Love was flying too quickly, when he suddenly tilted their bodies straight up, spread his wings wide and caught the air to slow them. The crowd gathered at the ledge backed up in unison, allowing Love and Emma to touch down. Emma stumbled as soon as her feet hit, but Love kept his balance and held onto her tightly, only letting go once she steadied herself.
Emma removed her helmet and took a deep breath before looking up. Upon their approach, she’d spotted people waiting, but when she looked up now, she was surprised to see several dozen men staring at them. A few stared at them in awe; even more appeared to be confused. Either way, they surged forward, at least until Love stepped in front of Emma and spread his wings wide.
“Where are Kap and Moretti?” Love asked.
One particular guard pushed her way through the group. Several others glared and nearly snapped at her until realizing who she was. The guard was red-faced and breathing heavily, but she stopped well short of Love and bowed her head slightly.
“They’re both dead, or at least presumed dead,” the guard said. “They left The Mountain months ago on the trail of outsiders, but they haven’t been seen since. My name is Walda Lamb. I was made leader of the guards when you were gone. Let me be the first to say how relieved we are to have you back. Your absence was longer than expected and—”
“You have no idea what I’ve been through,” Love snapped, his words followed by an uncontrolled squawk of frustration.
Walda and the guards backed away. Love’s head flitted from side to side, where he saw unexpected nods of understanding. He’d spent so much of his life dealing with Kap and Moretti—not to mention the Board—that he forgot how many humans in The Mountain were forced into jobs they didn’t want.
And forced to watch so many of their women used for experiments. . . women like my mother. . .
Love looked back to Emma, who leaned against the wall a few feet from The Mountain’s ledge, her eyes staring forward with a mixture of fear and curiosity. He’d made a vow to her, and that vow felt more important than ever. He’d expected to be forced into protecting Emma, but the guards remained at a respectful distance. It was a pleasant surprise to hear that Moretti and Kap were gone, but he couldn’t help feeling regret for not killing them—an
d avenging his mother—himself.
“Everything I endured was worth it to bring the Descendant home,” he said, gesturing Emma forward.
Emma shuffled a few feet but stopped behind him. Walda also stepped forward, craning her neck to see around Love.
“A woman?” she asked with a smile.
Love nodded. “A woman whose blood is as strong as any man’s, a woman whose blood will lead The Mountain back to prominence.”
“And will finally allow Him to return,” a voice called out among the guards.
Others echoed that sentiment, their fervor growing with each second. Walda nodded enthusiastically and came forward, reaching a hand toward Emma. Love spread his wings to block her and backed up, causing Emma to take a step closer to the ledge. The guards’ excitement faded, plunging the hallway into silence. Love suddenly realized a sound was missing.
“Why don’t I hear anything? The children? The hosts?” he asked.
“They aren’t in the rooms like they used to be,” Walda said.
“The last of the freaks was born and dealt with,” another guard called out, eliciting several chuckles.
The feathers on Love’s neck stood on end and his squawk was filled with equal parts anger and sadness. Walda’s head snapped in the guards’ direction. They quieted immediately. When she turned back to Love and Emma, Walda’s brow was furrowed, the corners of her eyes creased in concern. She still moved forward slowly, carefully, waving for the two incomers to join them.
“Please, the Aviary implant experiments were finally put on hold after you left with proof of the Descendant’s whereabouts,” Walda told Love. “The hosts. . . the women chosen for the experiments. . . have finally been freed of that. . . duty.”
Love closed his eyes and listened, determined to hear a single cry from a host or Aviary child, determined to prove the guards wrong. He heard nothing. He should’ve felt relieved about the end of the experiments—about the end of so many innocent children being thrown off the ledge—but his heart filled with sadness as he thought of the Comm Building and his Swarm. The Swarm was his family, and he missed them so much it made his heart ache. To know his family would never grow. . . that he would never save other children and bring them to live with others like them. . .