Waterproof (22 page)

“Then how do you explain what’s in there?” Jackson asked, head jerking toward the doorway behind us.

Riley raised his eyebrows. “You mean the storage facility?”

Jackson and I looked at each other in confusion. “No,” I said, “we mean where they keep the duds.”

Riley laughed. Actually laughed like a maniacal clown. “They’re still telling those stories to the newbies, huh?”

“It’s not a story,” I said.

Jackson, following my train of thought, removed the coat form the camera and turned toward us. “Act normal,” he said. Vee lowered her sword.

With a flick of his middle finger, he saluted Dean t
hrough the camera. And for no logical reason, Dean responded to the insult by opening the door.

We stepped inside and introduced our mercenary friend to the real truth.

TWENTY TWO

Vivienne

Coffins.
They looked like coffins.

Zach didn’t let go of my hand the entire time we stood in silence and watched Riley
struggle with some internal conflict. I didn’t care what Riley was dealing with, as long as I felt Zach’s warmth through my skin.

But it was hard not to notice the thousands of black boxes hanging from the ceilings.

“No, it can’t be. He promised!” Riley shouted loud enough for the sound to reverberate between the coffins. He stared at an electrical panel mounted in the wall, obviously fighting against the blatant truth surrounding us now.

For the briefest of moments, I let myself focus on Zach. Thinking he was dead only to find out he risked everything to come inside the city gates
, gave me a sense of love I never knew I could feel. And he looked good. Powerful and deadly in his soldier uniform and bruise beginning to show on his cheek. I knew I loved him with every part of my soul.

We had to get through this together.

“How long do they keep them in here?” Jackson asked Riley.

Riley shook his head without making eye contact. “I don’t know. In the preliminary experiments they could keep them alive for almost a year.”

“A year?” Zach asked, squeezing my hand even harder.

“What are they doing, Riley?” I asked.

He sighed and turned to face me. “They’re harvesting the genes.” He spoke so softly, we barely heard his confession. “They aren’t even attempting to synthesize it,” his disbelief evident in his the way he hunched over himself.

“All of these people have the gene?” I asked.

“It’s not as uncommon as you think. Almost everyone has it, just not in the quantities that make it a precious commodity.” He walked over to an area that looked like a prepping station for the coffin boxes. Gazing up into the vast rows of humans being used like a test tube, he shook his head. “He promised me.”

I let go of Zach’s hand and
stood beside Riley. “Who promised you?”

“My stepdad.
He promised me and my mom that these experiments were over. It was the only reason I agreed to come back here.”

“So, you left this place because of what they were doing?” Zach asked, moving next to my side and grabbing my hand again.

Riley smiled. “Yeah. And I managed to drive right on out of here with a water supply truck.”

The three of us looked at each other. Could that have been the water truck that nearly got us killed?

“You know, I get it,” Riley continued. “I get the appeal of living on the run and being free of all the rules. But I really thought this was the answer.” I gave him a look and he clarified. “Well, not
this
,” he waved his hand around. “But the science behind what Erik’s trying to accomplish. It’s just the next step in human evolution. The survival of the fittest and all that.”

“This is not evolution,” Zach spat. “I don’t even know what to call this.”

“The world is not the same as it was before the wars,” Riley continued. “But humans are survivors and we always figure out a way to make it through.”

“You’ve helped
us before,” I said. Riley raised his eyebrows in confusion. “Not us. But deserters like us. You left this place, gave them water, and even saved a few.” I figured he must have been the one to bring that water truck to the deserters and I knew my hunch was right by the startled look on his face. Everyone’s reaction to Riley befriending another female deserter began to make sense. He’d fallen for one before. “What happened to her?”

He swallowed hard then dropped his head
. “He killed her. Right in front of me.”

“The General?”
I asked. Zach and Jackson just looked confused.

Riley nodded. “But I don’t want to talk about that.”

“So what do we do now?” Jackson asked.

“Will you help us, Riley?” I spoke softly, not knowing how far we could push his loyalties.

He kicked a metal clamp bolted to the floor and swore when his toe crunched against the inanimate object. Suddenly, he moved in front of me, hands squeezing my shoulders. “There has to be another way. I’ll talk to Erik. I’ll talk to my stepdad.” He bent forward so that his face was close enough for me to feel his breath. “If I get him to stop, will you stay here with me?”

Zach’s grip tightened hard enough to send pain through my hand. But I realized again how much I loved him when he didn’t hit Riley
and instead let me deal with the mercenary.

“No, Riley. I won’t.” I made a point of looking directly into his eyes. “I don’t belong here. None of us do. Now, will you help us?”

The pain was evident in his face, but even more so in the way he pushed his hands away from me. “I can’t do this right now,” he whispered.

“Riley, we don’t have much time.”

“Are you going to turn us in?” Jackson asked. I noticed his hand reaching behind for his gun. So did Riley.

“Keep the gun holstered
, deserter,” he said. “I just need to think for a little bit.” Walking over to the exit, he looked up in the camera. The doors opened and he stepped through. We jumped forward to follow him before the door shut again. Once outside, he stopped and turned around so quickly I ran into his shoulder.

“I need to take you with me,” he said, then looked at Zach and Jackson. “You
two go back to your guard duty and I’ll find you later.”

“I’m not leaving her,” Zach said, hand still clasp
ed tightly in mine.

Riley puffed up again. “You have to. She’s a worker, not a soldier. They’ll arrest you both the second they see you together.”

“No.”

“Zach,” Jackson stepped forward. “It makes sense. We still need to find Max and I don’t think Riley will hurt her.”

“Max was unconscious when they brought us in,” I said then turned to Riley. “That’s my friend I was asking about. Where would they have taken him?”

Riley’s eyes shifted
quickly to the doors behind us before he could stop himself and my knees almost gave out. Zach and Jackson saw his reaction too.

“No,” I begged. “We have to save him. Sasha needs him.”

“Sasha?” Riley asked, but Zach cut in.

“We’ll find Max.
Where will you take her?” he asked Riley.

“Back to her job.”

“To the factory?” Zach yelled in disgust.

“No, to my bottle washing station,” I clarified and smiled at Zach. “I’ll be okay,” I assured him.

“I don’t want to leave you, Vee.” He rested his hand against my cheek and I closed my eyes.

“We’ll be together again soon. I promise.” I lifted my head to reach his lips and felt his warm breath a second before he kissed me. I didn’t care that we weren’t alone. I didn’t care that Riley made some kind of noise behind me
and Jackson shifted uncomfortably in the corner. Zach was mine and we would make it through no matter what happened.

“We have to go,” Riley said, crushing my heart for a second. But I tried to hang on to the knowledge that Zach was alive and well and we might just make it out of here in one piece.
“You two go back to your rounds and I’ll come find you later.”

Riley grabbed my arm and pulled me down the hallway. We walked briskly past the windows surrounding the lab, through another set of doors, and finally out into the bright sunlight.

“We’re not taking the tunnels?” I asked.

“No.”

“Are you going to help us?”

“I don’t know.” He sighed and then swung his arms down to his sides. “Why does it always have to be like this?”

I stayed silent, hoping he’d elaborate.

“He refuses to listen to anyone and insists on doing things his own way.” Riley paced back and forth between the two brick walls
defining the alley where we stood. “Erik could synthesize it, you know. They’re doing it in California already.”

Synthesizing the nutrient
efficiency gene? I wanted to ask, but decided to remain quiet.

“Damn him!” Riley swung his hand out and smacked the wall. It looked like he decided not to punch at the last second, but it still sounded like it hurt. “Come on, let’s go.”

I stumbled along beside him as he dragged me forward. Every instinct inside told me to fight, but I knew that might ruin our chances of escape. And we needed Riley to make this happen.

We hustled through the
part of the city where soldiers walked by in formation and red brick buildings lined the roads. Every once in a while, I’d get a glimpse of shining windows in the distance where the rest of the residents lived. Did they know what was going on? Were they a part of the breeding colony? Did they approve?

“I’ll need a
day or two,” Riley said out of the blue. “Maybe more.”

I nodded and looked up at him. “So you’re going to help us?”

“You really want to leave this place?”

“Yes.”

“But once you’re done serving your sentence, you can work with me. You’re a better fighter than most of the soldiers I have to deal with.” He stopped walking and stepped in front of me. “You don’t have to be a part of the research. I’ll make sure of that.”

I shook my head. “Riley, I can’t stay here.
I won’t be a mercenary.”

“You’d rather live as a deserter than stay here where you have water, food, and other things?”

I suspected he was referring to himself and I felt uncomfortable with his growing obsession of me. But then I remembered that we needed him. Besides, he wasn’t as evil and repulsive as some other mercenaries. At least I tried to tell myself that so I didn’t ruin our chance of getting away.

“Yes. That’s my home out there. I don’t belong here.”

He straightened up and let out a sigh. “Then I’m going with you.”

I immediately wanted to scream at him. No, he couldn’t be with us. He wasn’t one of us. But instead I said, “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Didn’t yo
u try that once already?” I attempted to smile, but he didn’t notice.

“It’s the only way we’re all getting out of here. You need me.”

I didn’t like the way that sounded, so I just nodded.

“I’ll find you tomorrow, okay? And try not to hurt yourself in the meantime.” He smirked and gazed at my bandaged hand, dimples shining through the turmoil on his face.

I tried to make my smile look sincere. Riley was just brainwashed and confused. He didn’t want to hurt other humans. He was going to save us. That made him more important to me than any other soldier, right?

As he walked me back to the prisoner living quarters, my pace picked up. I couldn’t wait to tell Hunter and Sasha and Trevor. I didn’t think I would tell them everything I saw today, but
I’d definitely tell them our time was limited and we’d be scrounging in the forest again in no time at all.

In two more nights, we would be free.

TWENTY THREE

Zach

Two days
felt like an eternity. It’d been almost forty-eight hours since we saw Vee and met Riley and learned the truth about Oasis One. I tried to pass the time thinking about how we could rescue everyone without getting caught and laying out several backup plans in case we did.

When Jackson and I
arrived for our dud duty, things finally started going our way. In a twist of fate rarely observed in our lives, an ideal opportunity presented itself. Jackson pulled open the door to the control room, only to find Todd and Sam darting through the other side.

“Easy there
, big guy,” Sam said as he pushed his way past Jackson. “What’s the rush?”

Ignoring him, I asked Todd, “Where are you going? I thought we had the first round.”

Todd shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Sam wants to torment Paula and apparently she’s only in the lab for another hour.”

“Paula?” Jackson asked.

“You know,” Sam pretended to hump the air, “the hot babe in a lab coat.”

I felt really bad for Paula. “Is Dean in?” I asked.

“No, actually, he’s sick or something. There’re only four of us for the next couple of hours,” Todd said. “You guys need to run the computer and shit.”

Jackson and I looked at each other, trying not to let our good fortune show. “Okay, no problem,” I said and shut the door behind us.

Immediately, Jackson sat down in front of the large monitors and waited for Sam and Todd to reach the end of the hallway. Sam looked up at the camera and made another obscene gesture with his hands. “What a dick,” Jackson groaned. With a single key stroke, he opened the door and we watched them move further away from us.

“Okay, now’s our chance to find Max.
If Riley comes to us tonight, we need to have him ready to escape,” I said, rolling a chair next to Jackson and pulling the keyboard closer to me.

“What if he’s not there?”

The thought had crossed my mind numerous times yet I refused to give up. “Max is strong. He’ll be there.” I clicked on the arrow keys and navigated one of the screens through a series of folders.

“Do you even know what you’re doing?” Jackson asked.

“Yes.”

“Really?”

I sighed. “I’m not computer illiterate. I don’t think that much has changed in five years.”

Scrolling through the files, I tried to find one that contained the list of duds. As I searched, Jackson continued reaching over me to open doors for Sam and Todd. E
ventually, I elbowed him away and that’s when something caught my eye.

“What’s this?” I said to myself. Opening a folder named “Plans”
, I found a map. Several maps, actually.

Jackson pushed against me, squinting to see the screen. “Is that what I think it is?”

I nodded. “Looks like it. All of the building layouts, the city plan, the…what’s that? Oh, the Plaza?”

Jackson sucked in a breath but then tried to hide it by clearing his throat. “We don’t need to see that.”

I guess the comments about him being Plaza worthy had gotten to him. I wasn’t sure why exactly. According to this plan, the Plaza looked like a nice place to live. Several buildings, a park in the center with a fountain, and a large privacy fence surrounding it. No, not sketchy at all.

“Where are the prisoners kept?” Jackson asked.

I scrolled through the images until I found the one we were looking for. “Here, I think,” I pointed to the screen. “And it looks like all of these buildings are connected by tunnels.” I tried to make my brain think in three dimensions as I visualized the route to get from here to Vee.

“This might be
the bottle washing area,” Jackson said. He focused on a small subsection of the large factory.

“It looks like it’s in the basement,” I said.

“Several floors down, actually.”

“That’s weird.”
I shivered while I thought about why the government might want the workers underground. Maybe to get them used to their blood coffins?

The door to the control room slammed open with a loud crack and I
jumped so much I knocked the keyboard off the table. Jackson’s chair squealed when he pushed away from me.

“Where’s Dean?” Riley asked. He stood in the doorway, darkened by the hallway light behind him and casting a shadow that reached our feet.

“Sick,” I said, clearing my voice and pissed that he snuck up on us.

Riley stepped in
to the room before I could clear the computer screen. “Find what you were looking for?” His tone irked me like long nails on a chalkboard. Arrogant and pretentious. All mercenaries were the same.

Unfortunately, I had to be nice to this one. “We’re trying to find our friend.”

“Max?” Riley asked. Surprised he remembered his name, I nodded and he moved forward. “Here, let me.”

Riley shoved me a little harder than necessary
and picked the keyboard up off the floor. In literally three key strokes, he had the database pulled up. Jackson huffed and I glared at my friend. I would’ve found it eventually.

Without asking us
anything about Max, Riley jotted down a number on a piece of paper. “This should be him.”

I snatched it out of his hand. “How do you know?”

He stared at me with the kind of smirk I wanted to slap off his face. “I just do.” Standing to his full height, he crossed his arms and looked down at us. Both Jackson and I were tall, but his height was impressive. “How did you get in?”

Neither of us spoke at first
, probably because we knew what he meant. Was he changing his mind? “In dead mercenary uniforms,” I said.

He didn’t flinch. “Why?”

“What do you mean why? We had to save our friends.”

“They
’re not in danger,” Riley replied quickly.

“Really?
That’s not what’s going on down that hallway.” I lifted the piece of paper with Max’s identification number on it. “You’re telling me Max isn’t in danger?”

Riley didn’t respond.

“You assholes shot Carrie,” Jackson said. I whipped around to face him, surprised I heard him swear.

“People die in war,”
Riley snapped. “If she would’ve reported to the draft I bet she’d still be alive today, wouldn’t she?”

Jackson jumped up so fast, I couldn’t react. In less than two seconds, he held Riley by the throat, pushed up against the wall and shaking with rage. Surprised to see him get the upper hand over the giant mercenary,
I slowly walked to them.

“Jackson?” I asked. “As much as I’d like to see you strangle him, we need him. Think of Vee and Hunter and everyone else. We’re not getting out of here without him.”

Riley struggled against Jackson’s grip. “We’ll find another way,” he said through gritted teeth.

I placed my hand on his shoulder. “We might never have another chance like this.”

Several moments later, Jackson dropped his arm and stepped back. Riley clasped his own throat, breathing heavily while glaring at Jackson. “I should turn you in right now.”

“You promised Vee you’d help us.” It took every ounce of self control for me to play t
hat card, but I had no choice. For some reason, I knew he’d do anything for her.

She had a way of demanding that kind of power.

Riley turned his angry glower toward me. I could see his jaw moving with unspoken insults but he remained quiet.

A buzzer sounded at the desk, startling all three of us. Jackson jumped to attention and focused on the computer. I followed behind only to see Sam and Todd
on the screen waving their arms and jumping around, trying to get our attention. Without saying a word, Jackson opened the door to the “storage room” for them. That patrol should keep them busy for a while.

“We leave tonight,” Riley said.

Stunned, I didn’t know what to say. I’d worried Jackson might have messed up the plan. But Vee did have some kind of hold on him. Maybe it happened during their field trip to the lab. I didn’t like the dark place my thoughts were going.

“
Just enter the code into the keypad to get Max,” Riley spoke to Jackson. “And you need to get the others ready.” He ordered us around like one of his vassals. “I’ll get Vee out of her shift.”

“No, I’ll get her,” I said without even thinking. “I’ll tell her the plan and then go get the others.”

Riley and I stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Vee was mine. Not his. “Fine,” he finally said. “Tell her to gather everyone at the tunnel’s entrance through the communal shower area. I’ll meet you there at midnight.”

I nodded.

“Come on, let’s go get Max,” Riley said to Jackson.

“What about Todd and Sam?” he asked.

“I’ll send them back here.” He pointed at me. “Don’t leave until they get back, understand?”

I nodded again, too pissed to say anything for fear I may wrap my hands around his throat.
I didn’t work for Captain Riley. Jackson held out his hand toward me and I took it, pulling him into a hug and slapping him on the back. “I’ll see you at midnight.”

He smiled and took a deep breath.
“Looks that way.”

“Please don’t kill him,” I whispered with a smirk.

“I’ll try not to.”

I laughed when Riley cleared his throat, not caring if he heard the exchange or not.
As soon as the unlikely duo left the room, I pulled the chair over to the desk and began flipping through the computer files. I watched Sam argue with Riley at one of the doorways and had to smile when I saw the gestures he made behind his superior’s back. In less than five minutes, they’d be back here. I wanted to make sure Jackson would be able to do this, but I had no choice except to trust the situation.

When I found the plans that showed the hidden tunnels, I pushed the print button. Time ticked by as I waited for the printer to respond. Many slow, agonizi
ng minutes later it finally screeched to life. Todd and Sam were at the last doorway. My palms sweat with the anxiety riddling through me. Come on!

As the last of the ink colored the paper, I snatched it from the printer. In a few more seconds, the two guys would be back. Looking around for some type of weapon, I cursed myself for not thinking ahead and figuring out how to get the keys to the metal locker from Sam.
Too late now.

I frantically searched the desk for something sharp. I missed my knives and although the sword was still on my waist, I intended to give it to Vee. Something caught my eye and I shoved papers out of the way to find it. I
heard Sam’s annoying voice getting closer. There! A shiny piece of metal glistened as though calling out to me. A letter opener. Not the most ideal weapon, but it would have to do.

Just as the door opened
and Sam let out an obnoxious belch, I shoved my bounty into my back pockets and turned to face them.

“About time,” I mumbled, trying to calm my frantic heart. “Did Riley find you?”

“That royal dick?” Sam asked, flinging himself into a chair and propping his feet up on the table. “Yeah, so what. He’s got no street-cred.”

“Huh?”

“Sam’s just jealous that he’s better looking than him,” Todd said. Sam flipped him off.

“Well, I’ve been reassigned
for the rest of the day,” I announced making my way to the door.

“Whatever,” Sam said, but Todd didn’t seem so convinced.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“Riley wanted me to escort some deserters to their shifts or something,” I shrugged, moving one step closer to my exit.

“Huh,” Todd didn’t sound convinced.

“It’s just while he’s
in here. I’ll be back tomorrow.” No, I wouldn’t and I needed to stop sounding so desperate.

“
Okay, see you tomorrow then,” Todd said.

“Later loser,” Sam added just as I closed the door behind me.

Moving to the side of the hallway where I knew the cameras couldn’t see me, I pulled the map out of my pocket and began my journey through the secret corridors. Down three sets of stairs and through ten different hallways with hideous fluorescent lights finally put me at the elevators leading to the basement deserter duty. I was surprised I didn’t see any other mercenaries roaming the halls. In fact, I didn’t see anyone until the elevator doors opened on Vee’s floor. At least I hoped it was her floor.

The guard outside the elevator stood up when
I arrived. I cleared my throat and got into character. “Riley sent me to collect one of the workers.”

“Again?” the guard asked, mostly speaking to himself. “Man, he’s really got it bad this time. Let me guess, he wants the
dark-haired girl?”

Even though he didn’t say her name, I knew he met Vee. How many times had Riley visited her
? With clenched teeth I nodded, blood pounding in my head as I stood there. Anger, jealously, hatred…each emotion ripped through me and time slowed. I watched the guard’s face as he focused on my own. I needed to calm down.