Underground (12 page)

‘I'll – kill – you!' he grunted, hands shifting to her neck. ‘I'll – kill – you!'

A buzzing, crackling sound filled the room.

The lights started dimming on and off, like they'd done before.

‘The pen!' Kara spluttered. ‘Jordan – please –!'

Peter took one hand back from Kara's neck and mashed it down into her face, clawing at her eyes and mouth. She screamed again, twisting under him.

‘
What pen?
' said Jordan frantically.

‘The silver thing!' I shouted. ‘The sedative! Where is it?'

‘No!' Peter yelled. ‘Don't –
don't you dare!'

Dad wrapped his arms around Peter's middle. Peter struggled and shouted, but Dad had a better grip this time. He dragged Peter upright, away from Kara. She stared up at him, chest heaving. Blood oozed from the claw marks on her face.

‘Behind you!' said Jordan. ‘The bench!'

I turned and grabbed it.

The lights dimmed again. There was a clatter of metal and the other bed suddenly flew across the room, away from Peter and Dad. It crashed into the wall and fell on its side.

‘Luke – quickly!' said Dad, barely holding him.

‘NO!' Peter flung a kick at my stomach.

I ducked out of the way and aimed the pen at his thigh. Peter wrenched his body around to look at me. ‘If you do this – If you –'

‘I'm sorry,' I said.

I drove the needle down into his leg.

‘You
bastard!'
he screamed, convulsing like he was being electrocuted. ‘
You stupid – freaking –!'

‘Peter, please,' said Jordan. ‘We're not – We're on your side here.'

‘She wants us
dead!'
said Peter. He was still fighting, but I could tell that the sedative was getting to work.

Jordan took another step toward him, as close as she could get without being kicked.

‘I know,' she said, in a voice like she was saying goodbye to a dying person. ‘I know she does. But it's under control now, okay? Just – just try to be calm.'

Peter's legs gave way and he sank down in Dad's arms. He gazed up at Jordan, a mess of hurt and fear.

I watched his eyes drift shut. My stomach felt like it was turning in on itself.

Dad hoisted Peter off the ground and laid him down on the bed. ‘This is the kid we came down here to rescue?'

‘He's
sick
,' I said, lowering Soren's head down onto the pillow. ‘He's not – Something's happened to him.'

Kara got up, bringing a hand to her bloodied jaw, making sure everything was still where it was supposed to be.

‘How long will he be out for?' asked Jordan. She was at the end of Peter's bed, picking up one of the papers he'd sent flying when he went to maul Kara.

Kara's eyes narrowed. ‘Why?'

‘Answer the question,' said Jordan.

Kara waited just long enough to let us think she wasn't going to answer. ‘Half an hour at most. The pens carry a single dose, and you already delivered most of
that
to my son. Peter only got whatever was left.'

‘Good.' Jordan sat up on Peter's bed, eyes running down the page in her hand. ‘What's the time?'

Dad checked his watch. ‘Just after eleven.'

‘Okay,' said Jordan, mostly to herself. ‘Okay, this can work.'

I cringed.
What now?

‘All right, Overseer,' said Jordan, looking up, ‘let me explain the situation to you. In less than an hour, Calvin's new security system is going online all over Phoenix. We need a new place to stay, which means you just got yourselves some new houseguests.'

I watched for Kara's response. She stayed silent, but it looked like an effort.

‘We also need you to get over thinking that all of this is our fault,' Jordan went on. ‘Because I can't afford to be sleeping with one eye open every night. So we're going to need to take Peter up to the surface and get him to show us –'

‘No,'
said Kara. ‘How can you even
think
of taking him up there? He's completely unstable!'

And as much as I hated to admit it, I kind of agreed with her.

‘Jordan –' I began.

‘We don't have a choice!' said Jordan. ‘Unless you know where he's got all our Tabitha stuff.'

‘All our Tabitha stuff' was the recording Bill had given us of Shackleton and Calvin discussing the end of the world, and a DVD of two Phoenix construction workers getting dismembered in a testing facility. Both had ended up somewhere in Peter's house.

Jordan was right. Peter would've made sure those recordings were well hidden. Taking him with us was the only way to make sure we found them in time.

‘What about the security officers?' I said. ‘They'll still be at the house until –'

‘Yeah, but look at this,' said Jordan, handing me the page in her hand.

It was a blurry, zoomed-in, black and white image that looked like it had been captured from one of the original surveillance cameras in the security centre. It showed a big grid with
BURKE
,
HUNTER
, and
WEIR
at the top, and a bunch of guards' names underneath, all designated either
INTERIOR
or
EXTERIOR.
A duty roster for all the officers guarding our houses.

Jordan pointed to the bottom of the
WEIR
column.

01/07 – 4 p.m. to 12 a.m.

COOK (INTERIOR)

MILLER (EXTERIOR)

Officer Miller. The guard who'd jumped on Calvin back at the crater, to give us a chance to get away. If we could get to him before the other guard saw us …

I sighed, handing back the paper.

‘Great,' said Jordan, apparently taking that as an agreement. She hopped down from the bed. ‘Well, I guess we'd better get going, then.'

I looked down at Peter's unconscious body. ‘But –'

‘The cameras go on at midnight,' said Jordan, ignoring the explosive look on Kara's face. She turned to me. ‘So are you going to carry him, or are you going to make me do it?'

Chapter 16

T
UESDAY
, J
UNE
30
44
DAYS

‘I don't get it,' I said, trudging through the dark bush yet again, Peter's dead weight crushing into my shoulder. ‘Why is Miller even on that roster? Calvin knows he can't trust him.'

‘Calvin probably doesn't have a choice,' said Jordan. ‘
He
might have decided to start killing everyone who gets in his way, but that doesn't mean Shackleton has. It would look pretty suss if Calvin just pulled Miller off duty for no reason. And I get the feeling Calvin's guys are pretty thin on the ground. For now, at least.'

We were almost there. It had been a nightmare getting Peter up those stairs but, once we were above ground, it was only a short walk to the edge of town.

Dad had stayed behind to keep an eye on Kara. I didn't like leaving him down there, but I knew it made sense. Besides, if he could dodge Shackleton's hitmen and sneak into Phoenix without getting killed, surely he could handle a middle-aged woman and her unconscious son. Unless one of them turned out to have some crazy superpower or whatever.

I used my mouth to pull back the sleeve from my free hand, and nudged the backlight button on Dad's watch with my nose.

11.18 p.m. Forty minutes to go.

I stepped sideways to avoid a rock and almost smashed into a tree as Peter suddenly started kicking his legs.

‘Wha–?' he grunted. ‘Who –
Hey!
Put me down! Let go of me, you freaking –!'

‘Shh!'
said Jordan, grabbing his face with both hands.
‘Quiet!'

I let him down before he knocked us both over. He straightened up and grabbed me by the front of my jumper. ‘What the crap do you reckon you're –?'

‘Peter!' said Jordan. ‘Shut.
Up
.'

‘Jordan …' He spun around and pulled her into a hug.

She pushed him away. ‘Yeah. Not now. Listen, we're on our way to your parents' house. We need to get the Tabitha DVD to show Kara and Soren.'

‘No,' said Peter, threatening to flare up again. ‘Why? What are you doing, working with them?'

‘We're not working with –'

‘Yeah? Then why did
he
stick me with that bloody needle?' He jabbed a finger in my direction.

‘Why do you think?' I said, even less sympathetic now that he was threatening to bash me.

‘She sent Mike in to kidnap me! He abducted me from a freaking hospital bed!'

‘And that means you get to beat her to a pulp, does it?' Jordan demanded.

Peter gave her one of those looks that said he was only backing down because it was her. ‘I – I didn't plan that. I don't know what happened.'

‘Look,' said Jordan. ‘I'm sorry we left you and I'm sorry we didn't come back sooner. But things have changed. We can't go home anymore. We need to show Kara and Soren what's really going on up here because down
there
is the only safe place we've got left.'

Peter took a minute to let all that sink in. I watched him, bracing myself in case he decided to blow up again.

‘But – hang on. If we can't go home, then why are we walking back to my –?' He gave up, shoulders slumping. ‘Whatever. Let's go.'

A couple of minutes later, we were peering out at Peter's house. Jordan had filled him in on the rest of what was going on, but that didn't stop him swearing under his breath when he saw the security officer standing in the shadows of his front porch.

‘Is it Miller?' I asked, leaning forward through the bushes.

‘Better be,' said Jordan. She jumped up and dashed across the bike path.

‘At least
some
things don't change,' Peter muttered, as he and I scrambled after her.

The guard on the porch stiffened as we approached.

He drew his gun.

My mind screamed, but my legs just kept hammering forward. Up to the house.

The guard jumped down the steps to meet us, weapon raised.

‘Officer Miller!' Jordan breathed.

Miller reeled back.

‘Get
out!'
he hissed, glancing back at the house. ‘Go! If anyone sees –'

‘Yeah, yeah, we know,' said Jordan. ‘But we have to get in there. We need you to get the other guard away. Just for a few minutes.'

‘No. I can't.'

‘Please!'
I checked the windows. Lights all off, but Officer Cook could be staring down from any of them. ‘Please, this is really important.'

‘He'll kill me,' said Miller. ‘If Calvin finds out …'

‘He
won't,
' said Jordan. ‘He'll never know.'

Miller lowered his gun. His collar shifted and I glimpsed the edge of a bandage marking the place where one of the other guards had shot him.

His face twisted uncomfortably.

‘All right,' he said. ‘Hurry up and get hidden.'

‘Thanks,' Jordan whispered as he raced inside.

‘Over here!' said Peter, leading us around the side of the house. I ducked down in the grass, chest still thundering like there was something trapped inside it.

I glanced up at the windowsill above our heads. What if Officer Cook had already seen us? I pictured him right there, right above us, slowly taking aim to splatter us against the side of the house.

The screen door crashed open and I stifled a shout.

‘Quiet!' hissed Miller from back around the corner. ‘You want to wake his parents?'

‘Where is he?' said Cook. He strode into view, halfway up the front path.

‘That way,' said Miller, right behind him. ‘He ran when he saw me.'

‘He
ran?
I thought he was –' And then they were out of earshot. The two guards bolted through the gate and up the street.

Jordan slipped around to the front of the house.

‘This doesn't mean you're not insane,' said Peter, slinking behind her. ‘Just because that worked …'

‘Shh!' said Jordan.

I followed them in through the open door, checking the time again. 11.29 p.m. Half an hour.

Peter led the way upstairs. He reached his bedroom door, ignored it, and darted left. Heading for his parents' room.

My stomach turned. ‘Peter …'

The door opened just as he reached it.

Peter's dad rolled out in his wheelchair, teeth gritted. He was dressed in boxers and an old T-shirt, looking even more drawn and dishevelled than the last time I'd seen him. Between losing his legs and losing his son, it was like the last month had aged him about ten years.

‘Dad!' said Peter, diving down to hug him.

‘Wha–
Pete!'
he said. ‘Jess, get out here!'

‘Mr Weir,'
I hissed, putting a finger to my lips.

Peter's dad looked up, eyes darkening again. ‘Where are the guards?'