Jaden Baker (37 page)

Eyes closed, Jaden tore each of the seven tranquilizer guns from their owners, but didn’t gather them to himself. Instead, each gun hovered above its master, pointing at their legs. Then he pulled the triggers, neutralizing Joseph’s best offense. The guns fell to the floor with toy-like clattering and Jaden jogged down the hall in a direction he had never been.

“Take a left,” Seth said.

“But that has to be the exit!” Jaden said, pointing at the biggest, most solid door straight ahead of him.

“It is,” Seth said. “You can’t go outside looking like that.”

The room to the left was a locker room—none had locks. They slammed open at once and Jaden sorted through them. He found watches and wallets, paper sack lunches, cell phones, car keys, bottled water, backpacks and books.

“Take all the keys,” Seth said. “Put them in that bag.”

Jaden took a plastic bag from a trash bin and dropped all the keys inside. He pulled off his pants and changed into a pair of blue jeans that fit him loosely, but well enough. He tightened the belt around his waist. One of the workers had a hooded sweatshirt with “GIANTS” written across it, which Jaden pulled over his head.

“Shoes,” Jaden mumbled. He went into the hallway, proud of all the limp bodies scattered over the floor, and removed a pair of running shoes from someone who appeared close to his size, then put them on his own feet, lacing up.

Back in the locker room, Jaden rifled through the wallets and took all the cash he could find: $277. He dumped the wallets into the bag with the keys, added the cell phones and tied the bag. A silver watch caught his eye, and he stuffed it in his jeans pocket. Jaden emptied out a backpack and shoved another sweatshirt and two water bottles inside it.

“Take that too,” Seth said, pointing to a first aid kit. Jaden ripped it off the wall, put it inside the backpack, and zipped it shut. He grabbed the plastic bag with the cell phones and keys.

“Time to go,” Seth said, grinning.

Jaden strode into the hallway and faced the enormous steel door. Unlike the doors in Dalton’s lab, this one did not slide into a recessed wall, it was on hinges, so it would swing toward him or come off.

He took three large steps backward and extended his right hand. Summoning all the power and energy he had, Jaden pulled at the door, feeling with his mind its massive weight but weak jamb.

The door thumped but did not open. Jaden jerked his hand into his body, knowing his physical motions did nothing except help him visualize. He repeated the motion three more times, watching as the wall around the door crumbled and cracked.

With a mighty tug, the door burst from the jamb, bits of concrete flying into the hallway. It hung weakly from two of its hinges.

Jaden pulled it toward him and walked through it, reading the “Employees Only” sign painted on the opposing side of the door.

A short flight of stairs greeted him and he vaulted them two at a time. He clasped the door knob once he reached the top step, pushed hard on the door, and plunged outside into the dark, cold, wet air.

Jaden heard a loud rhythmic crashing, and wind blew in his face, carrying with it the unmistakable salty mist of the ocean. Below him waves crashed into white foam on large rocks off shore, and onto the beach down the hill. The deepness of the sound mesmerized him. He stared at the dark ocean, listening to the wave’s drumming, trying to memorize the percussive pounding, and the
puuhssssst
of the cymbal splashing that followed.

The domed sky above, more massive than he remembered, was dusted with thousands of stars, gleaming down on him, applauding him with their shine. A plane’s flashing lights made their way across the sky. Jaden followed it, spinning around when his neck wouldn’t bend any farther. An orange glow tinted the black sky inland, bleeding into it like only city lights could. Jaden ran up the hill, following a dirt road. He clutched a stitch in his side and was out of breath before reaching the top of the hill. But he didn’t slow down. Running, up a hill, with real dirt, was thrilling in its own way, how the sandy ground almost crunched under his feet, the feel of the cold air on his skin, blowing his hair off his face, the smell of the ocean as he took deep breaths—he was outside again, back in the world.

A large parking lot sat half-way up the hill, and a new sound reached him: cars. Jaden dashed behind a parked truck to avoid the headlights from the road ahead of him. He took the stolen watch out of his pocket to check the time. It was midnight, which explained the sporadic traffic on the road. During a lull, Jaden dashed from the parking lot and continued climbing the hill toward a group of buildings, taking cover in the tall bushes.

“You can’t go into those,” Seth said, suddenly at his side.

“Why not?” Jaden asked.

“People live there.”

“Exactly,” Jaden said. “They can help me!”

“No,” Seth said. “Use your head. You just escaped from a place where a man tortured you to control you. I’m sure they set off an alarm when you shot the first guy with a tranquilizer. They’ll be looking for you soon, and a house is the first place they’ll check. They’re going to do everything they can to get you back. Don’t involve other people in this.” Seth pointed to a group of buildings further up the hill. “And anyway, you don’t know who to trust. Go up there and stay in the trees.”

“It’s bright up there,” Jaden said. “They’ll see me.”

“Not if you stay in the trees. You have to stay hidden.”

Jaden took the hill at a sprint and followed Seth’s advice. He paused every minute to listen for followers and search for bobbing beams of light. No one followed him yet. Jaden brushed his hands through the trees, feeling the rough bark with his fingers. Seth smiled at him as they ran up smaller hills, the natural debris of fallen leaves and twigs crunching under their feet.

They crossed a road and entered another wooded area, this one with foot trails. He needed to put as much distance between him and the facility as possible. Jaden stopped running to catch his breath and think about where he was going. His dramatic escape would be useless if he ran the wrong way. He wished he had a compass… Whatever path he took, he must have been following the shore, for the crashing waves remained as loud as before.

Jaden’s legs were already sore. He had used them so rarely over the past several years they were atrophied, but the sensation of running was so liberating he pushed past the pain and sprinted faster, the air roaring in his ears. He hurtled over fallen branches, scattering mice. Jaden stretched his hands and grabbed leaves and pines, tossing them behind him, running faster. Dust puffed around his feet when they struck the uneven ground, lit by ambient light.

A break in the woods ahead brought him to a stop. He saw something glimmering, so he clambered down the hill to get a better view, slipping and grabbing at rocks and tree roots with his hands. Even though it was dark, there was no mistaking it. He’d seen photos in text books when he had been in school.

Through the gap in the trees, miles away, lit by headlights and street lamps was a great orange suspension bridge spanning from one dark mass of land and ending in the frame of trees around him. A small blanket of fog rolled up and under the bridge.

“San Francisco,” Jaden said to Seth. He had never left California. Jaden chucked the plastic bag with the phones and car keys as far as he could, hearing the bag land in the black night. He pulled his eyes from the bridge and continued down the path at a jog. Starting car engines and sirens greeted his ears as he ran. Jaden kept himself hidden in the tall grass and trees, creeping up a hill to see where the sounds came from.

Several tall buildings, some wide, sat on the top of the hill: a hospital.

“If Joseph’s smart, and I think he is, he’ll have a staff of people on alert at the hospital. We need to get out of here now,” Seth said and Jaden agreed. He slid back down the hill to the trail and ran as fast as he could, ignoring the dirt in his shoes.

As he ran through the brush, scratching branches, a thought occurred to him. He was leaving a trail for dogs. He had to get out of the woods, where he made tracks, and his scraping skin left a scent. His feet hit concrete as he came to a road. Jaden ran over it, aware of how loud his shoes smacked the ground.

“We have to find a bathroom or something soon,” Seth said.

“Why?” Jaden panted.

“There’s no point running if you’re being tracked.”

Jaden goggled at him. “What?” he gasped, clutching his side as he ran. “Tracked?”

“Don’t you think they put a tracking device in you?” Seth asked. “You have to take it out.”

“Where is it?”

“Your leg, I think. Just keep running, we have to find something sharp to cut it out with. Glass would work best.”

A large building to his left caught his eye. At midnight it was probably empty, Jaden couldn’t be sure. He skirted it and came around its rear. The building was old, with pillars and a dome top with statues around the circumference.

“They’ll be security guards in there. Let’s find a public bathroom in the park,” Seth said, nodding towards what was obviously a recreational area, with manmade paths and planted trees.

It took some searching, but they eventually found a public bathroom. It was locked. Jaden unlocked the door from the inside and walked in, locking it behind him. He turned on the light, hoping no one was around to see. Jaden breathed through his mouth—it smelled awful in here.

“Break the mirror and get a sharp piece.”

“No wonder I have such bad luck,” Jaden said as he backed into a stall and busted a mirror. “It’s the second one I’ve broken.”

“This time you’re not trying to do yourself in,” Seth said, sitting on the dirty floor. “Take the first aid kit out of the backpack and see if there’s any disinfectant.”

Jaden fumbled for the small metal box and undid the snaps to open it. Inside were bandages, gauze, swabs, medical tape, clean needles, rubbing alcohol, Betadine, and tweezers. Following Seth’s instructions, Jaden rolled up his left pant leg and scrubbed Betadine on his lower calf. He poured the rubbing alcohol on the tip of the glass.

“Make an incision right here,” Seth said, pointing with his finger at a place above Jaden’s ankle bone. “It’s just below the skin, it’s not in deep,” Seth said as he looked at Jaden’s face.

“How will I run after I cut my leg open?”

“You’ll find a way,” Seth said. “Now cut it out.”

Jaden took a deep breath and held it as he pushed the glass into his leg. He bit his lip and cut an inch long incision, blood oozing. He wiped at the blood with gauze and grabbed the tweezers but Seth stayed his hand.

“Take it out with PK. Feel for it first. It’s small, like a pencil eraser.”

Jaden tried feeling for it, but couldn’t. He shook his head at Seth and took the tweezers in his right hand. Making a face, he insert the tweezers into his leg, wincing in pain. He had to probe for a while, biting hard on his lower lip, but he reminded himself why he did this. Finally he found something that wasn’t supposed to be there. He yanked it out, ripping muscle and skin as he did so. He yelped then covered the wound with a wad of gauze.

“Don’t throw it out!” Seth said as Jaden went to drop the small, silver device into the toilet. Jaden put it on the floor then poured more Betadine on his wound. It was bleeding freely now.

“Shit,” Jaden said. “Shit! How am I supposed to run now!”

“Shut up and wrap it,” Seth hissed.

Jaden wrapped as much bandage as he could around it, making it tight but not cutting off circulation. He put the first aid kit into his backpack, then stood. His leg burned—but in comparison to his other injuries, this was nothing. He limped, but he could handle it. Taking the small silver tracking device in his hand, Jaden left the bathroom, shutting off the lights and locking the door once he was out.

“Okay, come on,” Seth said.

They ran again, this time further inland away from the ocean and toward the residential part of town. When the street came into view, Jaden slowed and carefully tread down a dirt road. Before them was a large house and several parked cars. Seth told him to hide behind one.

“Why are we waiting?” Jaden whispered.

“We have to throw the tracker into something moving, like a truck.”

Jaden stared incredulously at him. “It’s one in the morning. Who’s driving around in a truck? I can’t wait here, they’ll find me!”

Seth was unconcerned. He made Jaden wait for at least seven minutes before a small pickup revved into life and drove toward them.

“Get ready to toss it in the back.”

Jaden held the tracker in the air above the ground, not trusting his arm with the aim. As the small pickup passed, Jaden had the tracker follow it and drop into the truck’s bed.