Rebellion (Zero Series) (11 page)

“Sorry I had to cut
your shower short, but some people need to use it too,” he said removing his
finger from the pipe.

I stood just
outside of the door as Jet emerged from the bathroom and said, “That’s alright.
We were done anyway.”

Frost blushed when
he realized that I wasn’t alone in the shower. “I uh… sorry. I didn’t know that…uh…,”
he stuttered.

“It’s fine. I need
to get some work done tonight,” she said. She kissed me on the cheek and walked
away. I stood staring at Frost, slightly annoyed. He mouthed “I’m sorry” at me
and went into the bathroom. I went to the kitchen and opened a can of beans for
my dinner. I slipped in an earpiece to start scanning the airwaves for any sign
of the spikers or Armageddon. The night passed with no mention of either. I was
about to go off to bed when Jet stopped me in the doorway of the bedroom. She
held up a black medical gun and placed it on my bicep. She pulled the trigger
and it drew a tissue sample from my arm and dispensed it into a glass
microscope slide which she removed from the gun.

“Now you can go to
bed,” she said. She leaned up and kissed me before going back to the workbench.
I went into the bedroom and plopped down on the bed. I lay down and stared at
the ceiling. I thought of the city and my life before this all started. I
wondered where Hades was keeping the prisoners and Armageddon. My thoughts
raced for hours. I couldn’t get a moment of peace. I lay, slipping into near
insanity as my fatigue reached an unbearable level. I couldn’t take it anymore.
I got up and made my way into the main room. Jet was staring into a microscope
still. She heard me enter and looked over. Her eyes were red and tired looking.

“I thought you were
asleep,” she said.

“I can’t fall
asleep. I am incredibly tired but my thoughts are racing,” I said.

“I have some pills
I found in the medical stores here. They are made from a blend of herbs that
help you fall asleep easier and it is organic so you won’t get addicted to it,”
she said.

“I really need
something to help me. I am losing my mind,” I said.

“They are over in
the cabinet over the sink,” she said. I opened the cabinet and found the small
bottle. I opened it and took one of the small blue pills.

“Did you find
anything unusual in the tissue sample?” I asked sitting down at the table.

“Your cells look
enhanced somehow. They have been enlarged and stimulated by the amplifiers,”
she replied.

“Is it permanent?”
I asked.

“It is possible. I
want you to avoid wearing them for a couple of days and then I’ll take another
sample to check for sure,” she said rubbing her forehead.

“Are you alright?”
I asked.

“Yeah I’m fine. I
am exhausted but we have so much to do,” she replied.

“I know we have a
lot of pressing matters at hand but we won’t be able to get anything done if we
are run ragged. We need to take time to rest and stay sharp,” I said.

“I keep trying to lie
down to get to sleep but every time I do, I think of another thing that I need
to get done,” she said. She rubbed her temples with her fingers. The whole
situation was hard on all of us already and it was shaping up to be a bigger
challenge than we could handle.

“Come on,” I said
standing up, “Let’s go to bed.”

We stood up and
made our way to bed. We laid down and started to drift off. The bed was
surprisingly soft for being so old. The rebels must have figured that if they
were going to have to live in a cavern, they should at least live comfortably.
I felt the pill starting to take over. Drowsiness washed over me as I fell into
a comfortable sleep. The night passed with no dreams of chaos or destruction.

Have you ever
noticed that no matter how long you sleep, it always only feels like an
instant? It always felt like the blink of an eye when I was in Sanctum. Maybe
it was the air in there. Even though the sleep seemed short, it was peaceful
that night. I was jolted awake by a voice in my ear yelling my name.

“Zero! Zero are you
there?!” yelled Pan’s voice through my earpiece. I had forgotten to take it out
before I went to bed. I was so tired that I fell asleep in my clothes and above
the covers.

“Pan? What is it?”
I said groggily.

“You four need to
get to the city as soon as possible,” he said.

“Why, what’s going
on?” I asked.

“Hades gave an
order early this morning for his army to start destroying the slums today,” he
replied.

I jumped to my feet
and ran to grab my boots. “I will get everyone up and we will be there as soon
as possible,” I yelled. I ran to Jet and shook her awake.

“What is it?” she
asked confusedly.

“We have to go!
Kraken is about to destroy the slums!” I yelled.

“What?” she said.

“You need to get
Frost and Flare ready. I will go ahead to the city. You guys make your way to
the greenhouse by the main square. That’s where Vine’s base is,” I said running
out before she could protest. I ran through the main room to the exit. I took
off into the wastes and took flight. I didn’t even think about it before I
tried. I wasn’t wearing the amplifiers but I still was able to focus my powers
into flight. I flew furiously towards the city. I approached the city and
noticed a group of soldiers in the city square. I landed and slammed my fist
into the pavement. A shockwave emanated and sent the guards flying. I stood up
straight and looked over at one of the bodies and noticed it fading. Suddenly,
all of the bodies lit up and disappeared until one person was standing behind
me. I turned and saw one of Hades high ranking officials behind me. I
recognized him as one of the members of the Trifecta. They were a group of
three extremely dangerous spikers that worked for Kraken. The leader was a woman
named Synapse. She had an abnormal control over her mind and could control
people as well as move objects telepathically. She had brown hair that she kept
in a braid. She was slender and swift. She had piercing green eyes and pale
skin. Her next in command was Golem. He was a large man who could change his
skin into stone. He was the muscle of the group. He was very muscular and had a
black flat top. His skin was tan and rugged. The man who I was facing was named
Prism. He had blonde hair that was spiky and stood straight up. He was average
height and build and had gray, almost colorless eyes. He was sort of generic
looking. His spike was the ability to make copies of himself. Their group was
very deadly and executed many of Hades most brutal orders and commands.

I stood facing
Prism in the square. “What’s going on here?” I asked.

“The end of your
pathetic rebellion,” he said as a large stony object hit me in the back of the
head. I hit the ground and lost consciousness. I had been tricked. I should
have listened to Jet and waited for them to come with me. I had rushed off
again and got myself into trouble. I had no idea what awaited me when I woke
up, but I was on my own with this one.

My hands were bound
above me. I was leaning against a vertical metal table against a wall. My shirt
was gone as well as my boots. I was strapped to a table in only my pants as I
came to. I looked around the room but my vision was still blurry. How did I get
here? The last thing I remembered was seeing Prism in the square until I was
struck by something. It must have been Golem waiting to ambush me. I started to
regain my vision as the minutes crawled by. I started gaining the ability to
discern shapes. I noticed a series of computers and lab supplies around me. I
tried to move my legs but they were locked into a high tech metal shackle that
was operated by a computer pad. I groaned as I tried to free my hands. A voice
from the other end of the room said, “Ah good. You are awake.”

A man in a white
coat walked in front of me and pulled up a chair. He was bald and had a gray
goatee. He wore glasses that sat on his large pointed nose. His eyes were beady
and his lips were pursed continually. “Where am I?” I asked.

“You are in The
Pit, a Kraken research lab,” he hissed.

“Who are you?” I
asked. My questions were pointless. I was only stalling so I could try to
figure out a plan.

“I am Bunsen, head
scientist for Kraken. I have been sent down here to do research on your gene
spike,” he replied. He pulled out a small scanner and began running it over my
body.

“You monsters
cannot destroy the slums !” I yelled.

“There is no plan
to destroy the slums,” he said while looking at his scanner.

“My ally told me
there was,” I said.

“Pan never reached
out to you. We learned that you were listening in on our transmissions. We
detected an irregularity in our wavelengths and I was able to cut in and listen
on your feed. Hades enacted a plan to draw you out. We used a voice module to
copy Pan’s voice,” he said.

“Why did you tell
me all of that?” I asked.

“It doesn’t matter
that you know. There is no way that you can escape this laboratory. Someone in
our organization would have to have the proper shackle codes and defy us to let
you out. To be honest, we were hoping to draw out your allies as well. Hades
will have to settle for you only,” he replied.

“If you know so
much about me then you know I can just bust straight out of here,” I said. I
tried to focus on my power but something was blocking my thoughts.

“Of course we
thought of that. We placed a neural inhibitor on your head that blocks your
thoughts and prevents your gene spike,” he said writing on a clipboard.

“It doesn’t matter
if I am in here. The Insurgency will fight,” I said.

“I am sure they
will. I am also positive that they will fail,” he said walking over to a table
of instruments. He picked up a small metal device with prongs that lit up when
he touched it. He approached me and said, “This will be very painful.”

He touched the
prongs to my torso and the pain was incredible. It seared against my skin as he
pressed harder and harder. I eventually blacked out from the pain.

Days went by in The
Pit. Days of endless experimentation and torture ensued as I passed in and out
of consciousness continuously. I was force fed stale bread and given water
through an IV. I didn’t know how much longer I could hold out. I thought about
Jet, Flare and Frost all the time. Mainly Jet and how I would never see her
again.

On the third
morning, the elevator opened and a familiar face emerged. It was Flint, Jet’s father. He approached me and looked over me. He looked to Bunsen and said,
“Give me a minute alone with this scum.”

Bunsen nodded and
entered the elevator. Once the doors had shut, Flint looked at me and said, “I
thought you were dead.”

“Almost there sir,”
I said. My mouth was so dry and my mind was worn down.

“You can’t die yet.
Jet came to find me once you went missing,” he said. “You have to lead the
rebellion. Since you disappeared, things have gone crazy in the streets. The
rebels have started attacking Kraken guards and trying to gain ground in this
battle.”

“I’m happy to hear
that but I don’t think I’ll be seeing the free world again,” I said.

“You will. I am
working on a plan to get you out. A few other Kraken employees don’t really
agree with their policies and have agreed to help me,” said Flint.

“Won’t they come
after you if you help me?” I asked.

“We are working on
it. I have the beginning of a plan but you need to hold out for a few more
days,” he replied.

“I’m not sure I
can,” I said.

“You have to. For
this city. For Jet more importantly,” he said. He grabbed a canteen from the
workbench and helped me take a drink. The elevator began to whir back down. “I
have to go. Hold out,” he whispered.

The elevator door
opened and Bunsen emerged. A large figure came out behind him. Hades stood only
feet away from me. Flint slipped into the elevator and escaped to another
floor. Hades pulled out a cigar and lit it with a golden lighter. He puffed on
it for a minute before approaching me and blowing smoke in my face.

“How does it feel?”
he asked.

“How does what
feel?” I asked back.

“Knowing that there
is nothing you can do now to help your friends,” he replied.

“How does it feel
to be a major pain in the ass?” I asked snidely.

He chuckled and
pulled the cigar out of his mouth. “Defiant to the end. I’ll get straight to
the point. I know you know about Armageddon and what he will be when he is
completed,” he said. He began to pace. “My problem is this. I need your spike
to add to him but Bunsen here says that we cannot extract your spike as we did
with the other spikers. He says that your genes are expanded somehow and bonded
to your body and have morphed. So what is it you have done to yourself?” he
asked.

“Go to hell,” I said.

“Have it your way,”
he said. He turned to Bunsen and said, “Turn the intensity up on your
experiments until he talks.”

“Absolutely sir,”
replied Bunsen.

Hades exited the
room via the elevator. Just before the door closed, Hades stopped it from
closing and said, “Zero. I will find out what I need to know one way or
another.”

Bunsen typed away
at a keyboard activating two mechanical arms. Each arm had a syringe one the
end that plunged into my shoulders. The pain was too much for me to handle. I
blacked out from the pain.

Flint
visited me as
often as he could. He convinced Bunsen to let him see me frequently because he
wanted to break me personally. He made up some story about me and how I had
tried to kill Ruby and rob them. Luckily Bunsen bought the story. Bunsen would
leave the lab and Flint would fill me in on the plan and give me drinks of
water. Flint was a kind man who cared deeply for his family. He was about six
feet tall and had graying hair. He was built like an average man and had a calm
and friendly demeanor. He was always very welcoming when I would come see Jet
and entrusted me to watch out for her.

On the fourth day
of being in the lab, Flint came in as he normally did. When he entered, he
looked at Bunsen and said, “Pike in Weapons Engineering said he needs your help
for a few hours.”

“I am supposed to
continue to work on this traitor,” he hissed.

“I have the order
from the top for you to help. They are developing a new weapon and need you
there to oversee the engineering,” replied Flint.

“Fine but you have
to stay here and stand guard then. I shall not leave him unattended,” he said.

“I will watch him.
You better get there before they reprimand you,” Flint said pulling up a chair.
Bunsen gathered his things in a hurry and shoved them into a briefcase. He
scurried to the elevator and ascended to the upper levels.

“How are you
holding up?” Flint asked.

“I’m trying my
best. Each day that I refuse to talk, the experiments get more painful. Look at
my stomach,” I said. Flint looked at my stomach and shuddered. I had endured a
machine that Bunsen called the grinder. It was a clear rod that lit up when he
applied pressure to the handle. He pressed me for information and when I
refused, he laid the grinder on my stomach. The device created a
thermo-electric current that tore my skin and seared the wound shut and sent an
electric current through the tender area for maximum pain. Flint could barely
look at the horrific red wound on my stomach.

“This is terrible.
I am truly sorry. We are working as quickly as we can but the program that we
are writing to mimic Bunsen’s security clearance is taking longer than
expected. Kraken has a lot of safeguards in their programs. I am waiting for
the transfer to come through on my datapad. It could come through at any
moment. I got Bunsen reassigned for a few hours so I could buy some time,” he
said.

“I can hang on a
little longer. Just make sure that your program is foolproof. We can’t risk us
all getting killed,” I said.

“Your life is the
only one that matters now,” he said.

“That is not true.
You have Ruby and Jet to take care of,” I retorted.

“Actually I don’t,”
he said somberly.

“What do you mean?”
I asked.

“Ruby passed on
last night,” he said tearing up.

“Oh no. What
happened?” I asked.

“Her body just gave
out. I don’t know why but I gave her the daily medicine dose and she dozed off
as normal. When I woke up, she was gone,” he replied.

“I am so sorry.
Have you told Jet?” I asked.

“Jet has been stopping
in to the house to check on our progress on freeing you. She stopped in just
after I discovered that Ruby was gone. It has been tough on her without you and
now the loss of her mother is…” he said getting choked up before he could
finish.

“I don’t know what
to say,” I said quietly.
He wiped his eyes and sat up straight. “Jet truly loves you, you know. I will
get you out of here,” he said.

“Hopefully it is
soon. Can you do something for me?” I asked.

“What is it?” he
asked back.

“They have been
continually injecting something into me on top of the interrogation and my body
feels strange. Every time he injects me, he scribbles something into a black
file folder. Can you read it and tell me what they have been doing to me?” I
asked.

“Yeah let me find
it,” he said. He stood up and walked over to the workbench. He rifled through
the pile of books and folders until he found the correct file. He opened it and
started reading Bunsen’s notes.

“What does it say?”
I asked after a moment.

“It says that he
has been injecting a chemical solution that he has engineered to alter genes
but it doesn’t seem to be working on you. What is it that you did to yourself?”
he asked.

“We found plans
from the old rebellion for something called a spike amplifier. It magnifies the
wearer’s power and we recently discovered that it has lasting effects on the
genes. My spike is still amplified even without the gauntlets on,” I replied.

“That’s
interesting,” he said setting the file down. He began to look at the other
files on the workbench.

“Have you heard any
chatter about Armageddon?” I asked.

“What is
Armageddon?” he asked.

“It probably is
good that you don’t know. That means they haven’t unleashed him yet. He is a
man who they are funneling forty gene spikes into,” I replied.

Flint
picked up a file
and said, “This file is labeled Armageddon.”

“What does it say
inside?” I asked.

He opened it and
started to scan the pages. “The latest entry says that they have hit a snag in
the process. Armageddon’s body is rejecting all of the spikes. His body is
breaking down for some reason. They have been synthesizing a gene spike that
heals the body of any disease or injury. They have the test batches in this lab
somewhere. They believe that the most recent batch will help him,” he said.

“Does it say where
they are keeping him?” I asked.

“All it says is
that he is being kept at location 49,” he replied.

“I have no idea
what that means,” I said. He shrugged and sat down in a nearby chair. He
continued to read the case notes on Armageddon as the time passed. After about
an hour, Flint’s datapad chimed and lit up.

“It’s time. The
program is finished,” he said. He linked his datapad to my shackles and
activated the program to free me. After a few seconds, the locks whirred and
popped open. I fell to my knees and subsequently flat to the ground. My arms
had been suspended above me for days. This made them weak and numb.

“I am so weak,” I
said. I reached up and removed my neural inhibitor from my head. I felt some of
my strength return but I was still so weak.
“I have an idea but it is risky,” Flint said kneeling down next to me.

“I’ll try anything
at this point,” I said.