Wasteland (Flight) (8 page)

“Exactly. You are simply providing a consumer service; a show of protection so the citizens of the Underground can live in their idyllic paradise. Harpies aren’t the ones stealing their freedom,” he says.

“But you murder and eat them. They have every right to be afraid,” I sputter.

Asher looks at me—really looks at me, and his gaze cuts me down to the core.

“That’s where you’re wrong. Not all Harpies eat Humans. In fact, many of us don’t. We are evolving as a species, just like any other.”

“So you’re… a vegetarian?” I ask skeptically. He bursts out laughing, his infectious chuckle echoing from the buildings around us.

“No. Absolutely not. There are more kinds of meat than I can count on both hands. Tell me, would you eat the finest food you could afford for each meal?” he asks.

“No,” I say. I think of eating expensive imitation lobster for every meal. It makes my stomach flip-flop.

“Now what if your food was not only
not
created in a lab, but it had emotions, intelligence, a society to relate to?” he continues, “Would you eat Human?”

I coil away from him, disgusted at the suggestion. I don’t even want to think about it, let alone picture it in my mind.

“No. Where are you going with this?” I nearly spit.

“My point is, that though many Harpies believe Humans to be the superior food source, more of us realize that to kill a Human is to kill a soul. We rely on other forms of meat, or the volunteers,” he finishes.

“Volunteers?” I echo. I’ve never heard of this. Asher runs his hand through his hair, like he’s embarrassed to explain this to me.

“There are Humans who don’t want to live anymore, or Humans close to death. We provide a quick and painless death in exchange…” he trails off. He doesn’t need to say it.

“And war?” I ask, changing the subject. I can’t talk about this anymore; it’s too much of a shock to my convictions.

“War is a fabricated notion pushed by Rupert Elder. He knows that if his Humans discover they don’t need him, then he will lose all of his power. He creates situations where we need to react, exacerbating the scenario entirely. I’m not saying all Harpies are good, but not all Humans or Hunters are good either,” he says.

I think about Rupert’s strategy plans. He is so convinced that war comes from the Harpy side. But what if Asher is just trying to divert me? What purpose does this all serve? Without noticing I begin to slide away from him, and he quickly reaches out to grasp my arm.

I nearly gasp at his touch. His skin is cool and electrifying, his hand soft and strong at the same time. My entire body shivers, and none of it is unpleasant.

Not even close.

“Wait. Stay a bit longer,” he pleads. There is so much vulnerability in his voice. Who is this guy?

“Why should I trust you?” I respond. “You’re H002. My mission is to capture you.”

“Because you haven’t. You know inside that we don’t need to be enemies. Feel it. Trust it.”

And even though every bit of logic in my body is screaming at me to leave, I sit back down. He lets go of my arm, and I almost want to ask him to touch me again.

“I’m just… I don’t know what to say, or think, or feel. I keep thinking this can’t be real, that it is just one of those strange dreams,” I say finally.

“Not me. I’ve been waiting for this for so long,” he replies. I squint my eyes.

“You’ve been waiting to hang out with a Hunter?” I say skeptically. Asher looks over at me, smiling.

“I’ve been waiting to meet someone like you. Someone to confirm that this is possible. That peace is possible,” he answers.

“You’re something else, you know that? Is that why you went missing? Because you want to change the world?”

“Absolutely. I mean, I’m not really missing, my mother knows where I am. I don’t want to rule like my father. I want us all to co-habitate, for fear on every side to disappear. Obviously many of my family members think I’m insane. So I left. I’m out here searching, trying to find others to join me, to fight for a new world,” he says.

So much passion fills his voice, and his eyes light up as he appears to envision his future. Maybe he
is
insane. As much as that future would be great, I don’t think it will ever happen. Too many are involved in this situation. Hate does not become tolerance easily, if at all.

“And what if you fail?” I ask quietly.

“You can never fail when you’re trying to change things. Even if everything I do amounts to nothing, the idea I’ve created will remain in people’s minds. If it grows, then it will take hold,” he replies.

An idea of peace in this crazy world. It seems so ridiculously optimistic to me.

“There’s something in the Corp that we never say, but always think. War. War is coming. Peace is a long way away,” I say. Asher sobers, processing this.

“Sometimes war is necessary to obtain peace. Maybe if everyone just got over their prejudices, it wouldn’t have to be.”

“But that won’t happen,” I finish for him. “Is it worth it to risk the lives of thousands?” I ask. He looks me straight in the eye, and staring into his, I feel like I could get so lost in them, in his infinite mind.

“I know this may sound bizarre to you, but my people are dying. Anyone not living in the cities are at risk. Elder Corp is relentless. Even those trying to live peacefully are at risk. I can’t let my people live in fear. But I will do anything it takes to try to make this possible,” he says. His voice is so sure, so confidant. I don’t know if I’ve ever met anyone so passionate, so willing to die for his beliefs. He may not be a ruler yet, but he’ll be a damn good one among the murderers and crooks that have dominated history.

It also hits me that maybe things aren’t one-sided. A pang in my chest hits me as I think about the Harpy family I killed. The Harpy children I killed. Were they just trying to live a peaceful life?

Am I a monster, too?

My arm cuff buzzes, bringing me back to cold, hard reality. It’s Rupert.  For the first time the sight of his face on my comm sends shivers down my spine. I motion to Asher to keep quiet.

“Pleasha Pleasha,” I answer, using our usual greeting. Guilt crawls through my veins like a thousand black spiders.

“We’ve got a situation. Report to HQ,” he says, then severs the connection. I look at Asher, at his wise eyes, his scruffy hair, his beautiful and terrifying ebony wings. In such a short time, everything has changed, down to my bones, down to my heart.

“I need to go,” I whisper.

“I will see you again,” he replies, eyes twinkling.

“Yeah,” I say, nodding my head. He flourishes his wings as he stands, but before he soars off, he says one last thing.

“I’m glad I’ve found you, Piper Madden.

Breakfast is oatmeal and orange juice. The sludge in my bowl is nowhere near edible-looking, and I load it with crystallized sugar. I can’t look up at my friends at the table. I can’t bear to see their faces.

Last night I wiped the computer and hid the flash drive, even though I know they all have copies. Somehow in their searches they didn’t come across what I’d found buried deep in those files. I keep hoping last night was a dream, wishing I hadn’t read those words.

Asher once told me that Corp held more secrets than I could ever imagine, and he was right. If I didn’t read it with my own eyes, I don’t think I would have believed it.

This changes
everything
.

“Sorry for the lackluster meal. We have to keep everything low-key while we’re in Central,” Shelley apologizes. I shake my head, forcing a little smile to my lips.

“Trust me, compared to what they were feeding me before, this is luxury.” We all giggle, but there’s an edge to it. Grier’s the one who finally speaks up.

“What did they do to you in there?” My foot twitches as the memories flash back: pure white, needles, pain, euphoria. Asher. Io.

“Rupert told me they were running experiments on me to make me stronger,” is all I can muster. Grier’s face immediately shifts to stone-cold and angry, while the rest just look at me with a mixture of shock and apprehension. They have the right to be fearful though, after all not even I know what they put in my body. Knowing Rupert, it could have been anything.

“I can run some blood work through some of my programs if you want,” Sandy offers meekly, but I shake my head no. I don’t want to know what’s in me. I’m too scared to find out. If it’s Harpy blood, it could very well kill me, but if it was something else, something only kept within the Corp’s vaults…

I picture Io. I know that the Corp created her. She has abilities I’ve never seen before. Abilities I thought existed only in fairy tales.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m fine, and since I’ve been out I’ve been training hard. I’m ready to get back—”

I can’t finish the sentence. Immediately every fiber of my body is filled with intense, white-hot pain. It spreads from my brain to my fingertips, through every bone and muscle and ligament. My eyes remain open, even though I can’t move them. I see myself falling from my seat, my friends surrounding me, worry and concern on their faces.

Rupert. This is Rupert trying to get me back. I wish I could tell Sandy about the bots in my blood, and that they need to get the hell out of here if they want to stay alive. I was careless. I didn’t remove my tracker. Now he knows exactly where to find me.

“Get her into the lab!” Sandy shouts. The rest comes in flashes of pain. Dodge lifts me over his head, rushing me to a corner where some computers and chem equipment sit. I end up lying on the floor, my paralyzed body in rigor mortis.

“Just hang on, Piper,” Sandy shouts. Shelley holds me while Grier stands as sentry. A tear drips from my eye, blurring everything. Everyone’s going to die because of me. They all die because of me.

I wait in agonizing panic as Sandy pokes and prods at me, sticking thick needles into my veins. This time the formulas inside don’t send me into ecstacy. They slow everything down, so I can experience each pang harder, endure each moment longer.

I don’t know how much time has passed before they all just wait around me. No one shows up from the Corp. Slowly, my fingers and toes tingle, and then scream as my nerve endings wake up. I wiggle them as much as I can.

“It’s working!” Shelley exclaims. Bit by bit my body comes back to me, and as soon as I can, I shoot up to a seated position, trying to ignore the black spots speckling my vision.

“We need to get out of here,” I sputter, my tongue not quite mobile yet. Sandy looks around, waiting for Shelley’s nod before proceeding.

“We’re safe. Don’t worry. I… ran a sample on your blood while you were sleeping and targeted the bots that caused your paralysis. I’ve seen them a few times before, luckily, so I had an antidote formulated.”

I stare at him, wide-eyed, and flex my muscles.

“So they’re gone? He can’t activate them again?” I ask. Sandy smiles.

“They’re deactivated indefinitely, and they should completely clear your bloodstream in a few days,” he answers.

“But my tracker!” I exclaim, holding out my wrists. But as I do, I notice a half-healed scar running jaggedly across my skin. “How?” I begin.

“I took it out and dropped it into the sewers uptown. No one’s going to find us any time soon,” Grier announces. Her voice is stoic, her eyes gazing far off into her own mind. But it doesn’t make sense. How could they have done all this? I didn’t go to sleep until early morning.

“Eh… I hope you don’t hate us… but we knocked you out for the day yesterday morning so we could examine you for bugs. You’ve been asleep for the last twenty-four hours,” Sandy says sheepishly, running a hand through his shortly cropped hair.

I should be so, so angry. But I’m not. I’m grateful. They saved my life—and they saved theirs.

“We knew you wouldn’t give it freely,” Shelley begins to explain, but I wave her off.

“Don’t worry about it. You did the right thing,” I say.

Grier is still looking off. I wonder what’s wrong with her now. The last time I saw her we were friends, but I’ve noticed more than a few resentful glances from her.

“Piper, can you move? It’s time for us to switch bases,” she says. I nod, hopping up from the cold ground to prove it.

“Where are we going?” I ask as everyone starts canvassing the warehouse like it’s second nature, combing for discs and medications and food. Sandy and Dodge hop on to each computer, wiping the data. I just stand in place, feeling lost in the whirlwind of activity.

“We don’t stay in one place for more than thirty-six hours if we can. This is the longest we’ve stayed somewhere, and probably the most dangerous,” Grier quips. There’s that old anger again, that resentment. Like risking lives for me isn’t worth it. I don’t have the energy to confront her. Or the time.

I run to the room I was staying in and grab any stray belongings. I throw on my Corp jacket, realising how ridiculously conspicuous it makes me, when my fingers brush the folded note from Asher. And nothing else matters.

I need to get my strength and help the resistance as much as I can. That’s the only way to get back to him. The only way we can ever be together again and change it all.

Rupert Elder is going down.

“Cake coming through!” my mother shouts. Someone turns off the living room light; the only thing left visible being my mom’s excited face lit by dim flames. The room is packed with people; friends and relatives, co-workers and neighbours. I grin widely as the cake is placed on the table before David. Tor squeezes my hand as we sing
Happy Birthday
.

David blows out his candles with one breath, and we all cheer as the lights flash back on. His smile infects the room.

“To my wonderful son, and everything he does!” Mom toasts. She looks so happy, her hair modestly tied back and her face creased by smile lines. I squeeze through the crowd, Tor in tow, to reach my brother. I wrap my arms around him tightly and he lifts me off the ground, swishing me back and forth.

“Put me down!” I squeal, but David, of course, doesn’t listen.

“It’s my birthday, so I get to torture you all I want,” he growls. Everyone laughs. Finally he puts me down and pats me on the head as I throw him a mock glare. The little blonde beside him stares off, annoyed. He’s been bringing her around for the last few weeks, but she doesn’t seem to get our relationship.

This has proved problematic in the past, on both sides. Tor’s presence behind me only reminds me of this. But David and I will always be each other’s number one. We’re blood. He’s my best friend, and nothing will ever change that. I’d die for him a thousand times, and I know he’d die for me.

David turns to pay attention to his date, and I drag Tor through the crowd, stopping only to wrap my mother in an embrace.

“You throw an awesome party,” I whisper in her ear.

“Hey! What about me?” Shelley appears from the kitchen, camera in hand. She’s back in town for the party, and I’ve been begging her, trying to convince her to stay. Just having her around this morning has made everything better. Her bubbly light is hard to ignore.

“I’ll be back for you later,” I tease. I wink as Tor and I move upstairs to my room, and she flashes a picture while my mom just sighs, exasperated. She gave up trying to ignore innuendo years ago when she realized me and David wanted to stay with her to help the bills.

As soon as we’re in my ridiculously cute and purple room, Tor shuts the door behind us and pulls me into his arms. He runs his hands down my back as he kisses my neck, sending shivers through my body. I feel his hard muscles, exploring his defined back and shoulders. He pushes me forward until we reach my bed, then gently lowers me down as he moves his lips just under my ears, his hot breath echoing in my mind.

I wrap my hand around his neck, bringing his face to mind. I admire his long lashes and strong features before I kiss him, hard. He holds himself on top of me, tossing pillows off the bed as we creep to the top. I can feel his raw strength as he hovers over me, and I reach my hands under his shirt, running my fingers from the top of his solid abs to the hem of his boxers. He groans and traces his finger from my earlobe, down my neck and chest.

I gasp, but I’m distracted by the noise downstairs. As he kisses me I think about what it would be like to live away from here, with him. It would be the next big step of my life, but with Tor there, I’m not so afraid. I break our kiss, ignoring my panting breath.

“I want to move in with you,” I say. His lips turn upward in a grin, his eyes sparkling.

“You mean it?” he asks. I rub my lips together, containing the smile forcing itself out.

“Yes. I don’t know when, but I want to live with you,” I whisper back. With an aggressive grunt he grabs my torso and flips me around so I’m straddling him. I’ve never seen him look so happy.

“Piper, I love the hell out of you,” he says. I giggle a little at his puppy dog eyes.

“I love you too,” I whisper, leaning down to kiss him.

But before I can, a loud knocking sounds on the door.

“Sorry to interrupt, but Pie, you need to get out here.” David. He sounds serious. I leap from the bed, checking to make sure my clothes look proper and my hair isn’t too mussed. When I open the door, David’s face is overcome by a deep frown.

“What’s going on?” I ask. The party seems to be still going on just fine.

“Rupert called. There’s been a breach,” he reports.
Shit
. Tor grabs my waist from behind and I glance back, mouthing,
I’m sorry
.

“Can I help?” Tor asks David, voice stern. David actually looks remorseful as he replies,

“I appreciate it, dude, but the boss wants task force only. You want to keep an eye on Stacy for me?” I slap David on the chest, but he just forces a grin out of that grimace. Tor and David do some kind of bro handshake.

“I’ll tell her some kick-ass stories about you,” Tor replies. He kisses my cheek and trundles down the stairs.