Children of the Cull (11 page)

“What the hell was that?” Brennan yelled.

“Don’t worry,” I called back. “It’s all clear. Garret, can I have the axe?”

I used the handle to knock lumps of loose concrete clear on my side of the hole to make it easier for the others.

“Okay,” I said, leaning the axe against the door. “Start passing things through.”

Bags and weapons were slipped beneath the door, which I piled to the side, before the rest of the party began to push themselves through. Brennan was first, as lithe as she was steely. Then came Fenton, and I had to resist the urge to accidentally kick his perpetually whining head as it appeared beneath the door.

As predicted, crawling through the hole proved more difficult for Beck, and almost impossible for Garret and Curtis. The latter looked as though he was stuck as he attempted to squirm through, and I finally heard our resident goliath stringing more than two words together, although most only had four letters. All looked lost, until he twisted abruptly, dislocating his shoulder with a
crack
.

“Oh, Christ. That’s disgusting,” gagged Fenton, but Curtis didn’t even grunt, pulling his now-displaced arm through the gap. Garret reached down to help his partner up and Curtis nodded, giving permission for what was about to happen. With a sickening crunch, Garret pushed Curtis’s shoulder back into place. Everyone winced, but it was clear this was a trick they had performed before. All the time, Curtis barely uttered a sound, although the colour drained from his face, only returning as he rolled his aching shoulder in its socket.

“What now?” asked Brennan, as we recovered our various loads.

“Now you follow me,” I said jogging ahead to a T-junction. I paused, mentally placing the buildings I’d seen earlier.

Left. It had to be.

“This way.”

“Are you sure?” Fenton asked, sounding even less confident in my abilities than usual.

I didn’t answer. Now we were inside, I wasn’t sure about
any
of this anymore.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CURE

“
D
OCTOR
T
OMAS, COME
in.
”

“Don’t answer it,” said Olive, running beside me, still clutching that bloody clipboard.

“Don’t be stupid, I have to.”

I thumbed the button on the handset. “Go on, Lam.”

“
Neighbourhoods Three and Four are secure, but we’ve lost contact with Team Two.
”

“Where?”

“
Neighbourhood One,
” came the squeak of the reply. Lam was in One.

“Do you have a weapon?”

“Only his breath,” muttered Olive.

“Shut up!”

“
What was that?
”

“I said, do you have a weapon?”

“
What do you think?
”

“Lock yourself in. What do the cameras show?”

“
Only that they’re everywhere. The front gate is down, and they’re all over the perimeter.
”

“And the children?”

Lam drew a breath and expelled it loudly. “
All tucked up safe and sound, although a couple are looking... agitated.
”

I turned a corner at speed, almost going over on my ankle. “Who?”

He paused, and I pictured him reading the labels on the screen. “
Er, Davie and Michele.
”

“Davie?”

“David. Whatever.”

Still, that was interesting. David was another of the more taciturn subjects in the experiment.

“Always working, doctor,” commented Olive. “You just can’t help yourself.”

“I’m almost with them,” I told Lam, ignoring her. “I’m going to get the children down into Bunker Three. Team One are meeting me at the dorms.”

On the other end of the channel, Lam gave a cry of alarm.

“What was that?”

“
I heard something,
” he whispered, holding the mic close to his mouth, the sound distorted. “
Someone’s outside.
”

“Shut the door. Barricade yourself in, with anything you can. I need you there. Do you understand?”

There was no response.

“Lam?”

The walkie-talkie crackled. “
Yes, I’m here. I was just shutting the door. Going to see if I can pull the bookcase in front of—
”

“Excellent,” I said, cutting him off. “Tomas out.”

We continued down the corridor, Olive matching me step by step. “I thought he’d never shut up. It would serve him right if he gets a bullet in the brain!”

“How can you say that?”

“You’ve seen the way he looks at us, looks at you. He’s probably watching us now, on those little screens, hunched over, jerk—”

“Olive!” I said, stopping in shock. “What is wrong with you?”

She stared back at me with wide eyes, her cheeks flushed, breathing hard. “You know he is, dirty little pervert. Fuck him.”

Oh, God, she’d cracked. I
knew
she would. So prim, so proper, so many neuroses squirming beneath the perfect facade.

“That’s enough, Olive. You need to go back to your quarters, right now.”

She took a step closer. Too close. “We can’t. We need to save the children. They’re all that’s important. They’re the future.”

I stepped back, putting space between us. “That’s what I’m going to do, but I can’t look after both them and you. Do you understand?”

If she did, she showed no outward sign. She was hugging her clipboard to herself, the papers crumpling against her chest. Sweat was beading on her forehead, running down her throat as she tapped her foot in agitation. “No, I can help you. That’s what we do. You and me, together.”

She was getting hysterical. I considered slapping her across her face—it was either that or landing a punch to her jaw.

Unless...

“You want to help?”

She nodded eagerly. “The children, yes. We need to help the children.”

“Go to my office, get all the files. I’ll need them in the bunker. Can you do that?”

She stared at me as if I was mad. “Of
course
I can. You couldn’t find a
thing
without me.” She frowned. “But what about you? Will you be okay?”

“I’ll be fine, I promise. Now, go. And hurry.”

“Yes,” she said, spinning on her heel and tottering off, pausing only to remove her stilettos. “I’ll be right back. You can rely on me.”

And she was off, racing around the corner as if all our lives depended on it.

Poor bitch.

I wondered if I’d see her again, and stopped myself asking if it would be such a bad thing if I didn’t.

I had to hurry. The sirens were still wailing, the shots still sounding outside. The children must be terrified.

I sprinted towards the Dorms, turning the corner to crash headfirst into someone racing the other way. They screamed, pushing away from me, before realising who I was.

“Jas,” Allison cried out, flinging her arms around me. “Oh, thank God. I thought you were... I don’t know
what
I thought you were. But you’re okay.”

I pulled out of the embrace. “I’m fine. Things aren’t good. Moore’s dead.”

“Dead? Are you sure?”

“And I’ve no idea how many guards are left. We need to get the children down to Bunker Three. Once they’re safe, I’ll send word to the Cabal.”

Allison nodded, gathering herself. “Right, okay. Bets is checking on the wards. I know you said everyone had to stay in their quarters, but—”

“Things have moved on, I know.”

“Where are the others?”

“Still back in N-2, I think. The doors have sealed.”

I couldn’t remember if Lam had said Neighbourhood Two was secure. They’d have to look after themselves.

Allison led me back the way she’d come. “The children are confused, to say the least. It’s not exactly surprising, they haven’t a hope of understanding all this.”

Her tone annoyed me. “They’re not stupid, Allison.”

“No, but they’re not exactly normal, either.”

I stopped short, Allison taking a few steps before she realised I wasn’t following.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What’s what—?”

“
Not exactly normal
.”

“Really? You want to do this now?”

“It’s bad enough that I have to listen to this crap from Lam, but from you?”

Allison grabbed my arm, pulling me on. “I didn’t mean it like that, you know I didn’t. It’s just been a hell of a day, that’s all. What did Lam say?”

She wasn’t getting off that easily. “If you’ve got something to say, Allison, now would be a good time.”

She blew out in exasperation, raising both her hands to the heavens. “There’s nothing, honestly. I’m just worried about them, that’s all. Jesus.”

“You don’t approve of what we’re doing? All this time and you’ve never thought to mention it before?”

“Seriously, Jas—not now. Trust me, we can debate ethics until we’re blue in the face once we’re locked up in that bunker.”

And then what? She’d tell me what she really thought? I fell silent as we dashed towards the dorms. I couldn’t believe this, not of Allison. I thought she understood what we were doing. I thought she was on my side. All the time we had been working together, all those dark moments when I felt so alone, so wretched, she had been there for me, my right hand, my rock.

And now this? How long had she had doubts? How long had she been lying to my face?

We turned and entered the dorm block to find three guards waiting for us in full riot gear, rifles in hand.

“Doctor Tomas,” the first said.

I frowned at him. “Eckstein?”

He raised a hand. “Before you say anything, I know—I should be resting, but—”

I nodded. How could any of us rest at a time like this? “Your side?”

“Holding together,” he said as my eyes dropped to where he’d taken a bullet just this morning. The man was as pale as a sheet, his accented voice thicker than usual. “Just. Ma’am, Chief Moore is—”

“I know.” I looked at the other two men, reading the names on their uniforms: Wright and Stones. “Any more of you in the building?”

“Decker, Southern and Krause. They’re patrolling the ground floor.”

“Is that all?”

“Why do you think I’m up and about? But the doors are secure. No one’s getting in.”

“Not yet,” said Allison, behind me.

“That’s not helpful, Allison,” I spat, walking Eckstein to the first dorm before she could offer an apology.

“Have you ever been in here, er...?” I realised I didn’t know the German’s first name.

“Stefan,” he supplied, trying to hide the fact that he’d had to lean on the door post as we entered the observation room. “Only once, on a tour of the building.”

He looked through the observation glass, seeing a girl sitting on her bed, knees tight against her chest, rocking gently back and forth.

“This is Dawn. I have to warn you; this might be difficult. The children often struggle with emotional situations. They... shut themselves off.”

“Like a defence mechanism?”

“Maybe. We don’t understand yet, but they have trouble expressing how they’re feeling and have a habit of taking things literally, so let me and Dr Harwood do the talking, okay? We’ll gather them together and take them down into the bunker.”

“Understood.”

That was more like it. Someone who was used to obeying orders without question. Why couldn’t more people be like Stefan Eckstein?

I called back into the corridor. “Allison, you take the left hand side, starting with Adam.”

“Sure,” she said, making for the first observation suite. Just like that. One word and she was gone. But what was going on inside that head? What was she thinking?

I couldn’t worry about that now. I slipped my ID across the card reader, waiting for the light to flash green. Then it was time to fix a calming smile on my face and get to work. I pulled the door open and entered the room.

“Dawn, hi. It’s Dr Tomas. We need to go on a little adventure.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

KILL

G
ETTING INTO THE
building itself was easy, especially when you had a Curtis and a big hammer. Curtis and Garret grabbed hold of the battering ram’s handles and took out an internal door in three bone-shattering blows.