Waterproof (21 page)

“Relax,” Riley spoke over my shoulder and into my ear.

“That’s what I’m working on,” Erik continued. “My father figured out how to harvest it, but I’m trying to synthesize the proteins.  Once I figure out the science, then we should only need one injection a week to sustain the production in our bodies.” His faced beamed with pride that I couldn’t understand because my thoughts were elsewhere.

“With hundreds of thousands of people, you must need a lot of blood
,” I whispered. Erik and Riley exchanged a look that sent my stomach into a spiral. “And you collect a lot of deserters…” my voice faded when I put it all together. I felt like I was going to puke. “Do you have a bathroom?” I said, throwing my hand over my mouth.

Riley darted over to me, but Erik got to my side first. “I’ll take her,” he said and Riley reluctantly agreed.

As we moved out of earshot, Erik squeezed my arm. “Riley’s doing the right thing.”

“What?” I asked, the bile settling back to where it belonged.

“He believes in the science and I think you’re just what he needs.” Erik chuckled.

“I don’t understand.”

We pushed past the staring lab coats, through the room, and out a set of doors. “He’s been pretty heartbroken this last year. It’s nice to see him take an interest in someone again.”

I stopped, forcing him still. “I’m not…I…” I couldn’t even form a sentence.

Erik threw his arms over my shoulder and gave me a hug. “Riley loved a deserter just like you once. He’s got a thing for the strong, unavailable women.”

The sickness came back with a vengeance.

Seeing my face, Erik ushered me through the hallway. “Here’s the bathroom. I’ll wait outside. Are you going to be okay, ah-”

I slammed my elbow into his gut and when he doubled over in pain, I kicked him in the face with my knee. He dropped to the floor, groaning and crying. I bent forward and stripped his lab coat from his body.

“I’m sorry, Erik. But I can’t stay here. Not like this. I can’t let you hurt Zach.” I whispered into his ear as he continued to roll around in pain.

“Why?” he mumbled.

“I’m sorry,” I said again, then punched him in the side of the head hard enough to knock him out.

Slipping the lab coat over my body, I search
ed for the badge and any keys he may have had. Much to my annoyance, I didn’t find anything else. Knowing I’d have only a few minutes before Riley would notice something was wrong, I ran down the hallway in a panic. I had no idea how I would get out of here, but I had to put some distance between me and the mad scientists.

And time wasn’t on my side.

TWENTY ONE

Zach

Arguing with Jackson felt
like banging my head against a wall until I had no face left. We’d been friends for years, fought together, and genuinely got along well, but it was very difficult to argue with someone as stubborn as Jackson.

“We need to
be patient,” Jackson said for the millionth time. Once Todd left us on patrol duty, we started formulating a plan. Only we’d quickly reached an impasse.

“Vee
, Max, and Sasha might not have much time left! You saw what they’re doing to them. Hooking them up to machines to harvest blood while keeping them sustained. It’s awful and I can’t let that happen to our friends.”

“Keep your voice down,” he snapped. “You don’t know
who might be listening.”

We both glanced up at the camera
by the doors, figuring Dean was probably having a good time watching us. “He can’t hear us.” At least I didn’t think he could. “We need to get that database.”

“We will, but we can’t do it tonight.”

“I
am
doing it tonight,” I replied back. “I just need your help distracting the others so I can try and find the list. We know what day they were brought in, so we can at least narrow it down.” I looked up at the ceiling full of blood coffins, my new term for the black boxes, and felt a sudden sense of urgency. “Please,” I whispered.

“And just how do you plan on doing it?” Jackson asked, finally calming down a bit.

I sighed and ran one hand over my face, the other reaching toward my belt. The weight of the sword felt as heavy as my heart. I didn’t have a good plan for accessing the database. I looked at my weapon again. “We kill them?”

“And you think killing them will solve our problems?”

“Okay, maybe we hold them hostage and force them to tell us where our friends are.” I rolled my shoulders, trying to release the tension so I could focus. “Yeah, that might work.”

Jackson paced back and forth underneath a row of blood coffins.
They swayed back and forth like debris hanging from trees, while the clicks and hisses of machinery droned on in the background. I couldn’t control my shudder. What if Vee was in one of them right now?

“Jackson?” I asked, wondering if he was still thinking.

“Dean would probably know how to get in the system the quickest,” he finally said. “But I don’t think he’ll cooperate with us.” Jackson walked back over toward me but kept his eyes on the electrical panel where Sam the Sadist had picked a random victim. “What about Todd?”

“What about him?” I asked.

“He seems to be somewhat normal. Do you think you can appeal to his humanity?”

I huffed. “What humanity? I don’t think any of these government mouthpieces have
feelings of their own.”

The coffin closest to me began to rattle. I looked up to see a red light blinking above the top, where all of the tubes flowed into the prison. After a few seconds, the light turned off and the shaking subsided.
At least in the box.

“Let’s get out of here,” I said. We walked over to the monstrous steel doors and looked up at the cameras. Several seconds passed before they opened with a hiss and we stepped back into the hall. Into the world we thought couldn’t get any worse until we saw the duds.

“What about Sam?” I continued. “I certainly wouldn’t mind forcing him to help us. He deserves to be tortured.”

Jackson smiled, but before he could answer, we
heard feet running down the other part of the hallway. I stopped talking and prepared to unhook my sword at the same time Jackson pulled out his girly pistol.

We
froze, ready to fight whatever was coming after us. The thumping of someone on the run reminded me too much of our life outside the city gates. This person knew how to move. As the steps got closer, my heart hammered harder in my chest. Had our cover been blown?

A person in a white lab coat slid around the corner, swearing when she slammed into the opposing wall.

“Fuck!” she mumbled, rubbing her shoulder and looking around in a panic. When our eyes met, I almost stopped breathing.

“Vee?”

“Zach!” Without hesitating, Vee ran toward me. And although she was only twenty feet away, it seemed like an eternity before I felt her in my arms. “Oh my God, Zach. You’re here. You came,” she sucked in a breath and grabbed my face between her hands. Tears glimmered in her eyes as she smiled at me. “I thought you were dead. I thought they shot you. And then Sasha told me you were here and …” She couldn’t finish through her sobs.

I kissed her on the lips then pulled her in for another hug.
Her hair, her scent, her warmth. I would never forget how real she was and I vowed to never let her go again. “I’m so glad you’re alive,” I whispered into her ear. Her body trembled against mine like a welcoming blanket. She felt so good.

Pushing against me, she leaned back far enough to reach my lips. Her kiss filled a void I hadn’t realized I needed.
Seeing her, feeling her here with me now…I knew I couldn’t live without her by my side.

I deepened the kiss and between the hands roaming and moans escaping us both, we totally forgot about Jackson.

“Hi Vee,” he said, clearing his throat for emphasis.

I felt her chuckle underneath my lips, but she didn’t pull away too far. “Hi Jackson,” she whispered, eyes only leaving mine for the briefest moment.

Drawing her back against me, I nestled into her neck. She smelled so good, I couldn’t let her go. I couldn’t get enough. Vee was alive, and healthy, and…

“What are you wearing?” I asked, really noticing her wardrobe for the first time. “Please don’t tell me you’re working in the lab.” Fear
snaked through me with all of the thoughts racing around in my mind.

She shook her head and rested it against my shoulder. “No, I escaped.” Suddenly panicked, she looked up at me and Jackson and the doors behind us. She started to make her way to them. “We have to get out of here.
Now!”

“Vee, no.
We can’t,” Jackson said. “Not that way.”

Vee reached over and squeezed Jackson’s hand. “You don’t understand. They’re using us as lab rats! They’re taking our blood and searching for genes and…” She threw her hands down in frustration. “And they’re breeding a society of perfect humans who are better suited
at surviving in our world as it is now. We don’t mean anything to them! Just a means to an end.” Her voice shook and I noticed the tears again. “They’ll use all of us. Even Hunter.”

In two steps I was close enough to wrap my arms around her again. She sobbed in a way I’d never seen her cry before. As though the weight of the world
finally lifted from her shoulders, she stopped trying to be strong. I held her for what seemed like an eternity before she recovered and spoke again.

“Why can’t we go in there?” she asked Jackson.

He shook his head. “You don’t want to see what’s in there.” Straightening his shoulders he glanced up at the cameras. “I’d bet my life that we’re being watched right now.”

Vee tensed under my arms
but I squeezed her harder. “I’m sure we are, but at least there’s no sound.” I rubbed my hand through Vee’s long, dark hair. “You have to pretend you belong.”

“We can’t take her with us,” Jackson snapped, then looked over at Vee. “Sorry, but we can’t. We have to figure something else out.” He motioned toward the cameras again. I knew he was right, but I didn’t want to let her go.

“It might be too late,” Vee whispered just before I heard a shout.

A large
mercenary man ran around the corner, breathing hard and face crumpled in confusion. When he spotted Vee, his eyes lit up.

“Vivienne, why did you do that?”

She pushed me behind her and threw back her shoulders. “I can’t go back there, Riley. What he’s doing is atrocious. No one has the right to play God like that!”

“Riley?” I asked, moving up to stand side by side with Vee. I heard Jackson shift into place
next to me. “You know him?” I’m not sure what emotion skittered through me, but anger certainly encompassed most of it. “Did he do this to you?” I grabbed her bandaged hand and lifted it to waist level.

“Who are you?” Riley cut in, stepping too close for comfort. One more move and I’d take him out just for knowing
Vee’s name.

Vee ignored both of us. “Riley,
it’s wrong. Please! You have to know that in your heart.”

Why was Vee talking to this guy about his feelings? And why did he keep looking at her like that?

He reached out his hand and beckoned toward Vee. “Please, come with me and I’ll explain. I’ll talk to Erik. He won’t say anything…” his voice trailed off in thought.

I stepped forward and knocked his hand away. “She’s not going anywhere with you.”

“I am in charge here and you have no say in the matter. So just back the fuck off and let me handle this.” Riley puffed out his chest and stood way too close. He had me by a few inches, but I’d been fighting for my life a long time.

I punched him in the jaw.

He didn’t react fast enough to avoid the blow, but he did manage to swing at me before I noticed. His fist landed hard in my gut and knocked my breath away. Pain surged through my internal organs as I struggled to breathe.

Jackson wasted no time
either, but instead of jumping to my aid, he ripped the lab coat off Vee and flung it up onto the camera. As he did this, I got ready to throw another punch. Riley spit blood on the ground and then looked at me with a menacing glint in his eye. Rolling his head, he shuffled into a boxer’s stance.

“I’ll give
you one chance to walk away. I’m your superior and there will be consequences if this goes any further.”

“Zach?” Jackson asked, wondering how we should handle this situation.

Without taking my eyes off Riley, I asked Vee, “You know him?”

“He’s a mercenary,” she replied, trying to step in front of me again.

“I’m more than that,” Riley whispered. The look in his eyes sent fury to my fists. He liked Vee. Not that I could blame him, but it certainly wasn’t all right with me.

“He’s the General’s stepson,” she added.

That got our attention.

“Zach?” Jackson asked again.

I looked from Vee to Riley and back to Vee again. “What does he know?” I asked Vee.

“Everything, I’m sure.” She continued looking at Riley while I held my fists at the ready. “Riley,” she pleaded, “please
don’t do this.”

“Do what?” he asked in confusion. But the moment Vee grabbed my
arm, I saw the realization slap him in the face with a vengeance. “You
know
them? They were with your group!” He glared at Jackson and me.

Vee didn’t have time to say anything before Riley reacted. He swung out so fast
I almost tripped over my feet, the smack of his fist against my cheek echoing through the hall. This time Jackson did join in and he shoved Riley back hard enough to slam against the wall. Vee leaned over my back, pulling my hand away from my face to check my wound.

“Get your hands off me,” Riley growled. He pushed Jackson far enough away to reach behind his
own back. A second later his gun was drawn and pointing back and forth at the both of us. “You’re deserters?” We didn’t say anything. “But how’d you…”

“Put the gun down, Riley,” Vee said more calmly than I would have expected.

“They can’t be here. I have to take them in,” Riley replied with a coolness equal to that of a robot. He stepped closer to the both of us.

Vee suddenly pushed me down at the same time she pulled the sword away from my hip and positioned herself between us and Riley.

“Put the gun down,” she said again.

T
his time, Riley reacted to her threat. “Vivienne, don’t. Just get out of the way so I can take them in and then we’ll talk about what Erik said.”

Vee flicked her sword in warning. I stood there, just waiting to see how this would play out. As much as I wanted to jump in and be the hero, I knew in my gut that Vee was better suited for handling this particular mercenary.

“Move,” Riley commanded of her but a second later the gun fell to the ground and he grabbed his wrist. “What the…”

Vee jumped forward to pick up the gun, passing it behind her
and to me when she stood. “I told you to drop it.” The tip of her sword sparkled with fresh blood. She’d cut him so quick he didn’t have time to notice. When Riley stepped forward again, she positioned the tip of her sword in the crook of his neck. “Don’t.”

He raised his hands. “Vivienne, why are you doing this?”

“It’s not okay for them to be using humans as lab rats. Especially since the lab rats are the deserters who refuse to report to your stupid draft.”

“It’s all voluntary
, Vivienne.” He sighed and shook his wrist like he only had a kink in it and not a cut from Vee’s weapon. “I told you that already.”