“What happens when you run into them?” I stepped over upturned cement and almost lost my balance when my foot caught in a crack.
“They’ll try to steal your things,” Ozzie said.
Reyna hadn’t spoken a word since Rhett had called her my best friend. She took long strides to Rhett. Their voices sounded muffled, but I had a hunch they were talking about me.
My focus went back to Ozzie. “They do?”
“Don’t worry. We have Tasers. The first time we were here, they were all over us until we stunned one of them. They don’t bother us anymore. They’re mostly men, but a few are women.”
“What do they look like?”
“Like zombies.” Ozzie snorted.
“Really?”
“Yes, really. They have dark circles under their eyes and sallow, ashen skin, like they’re malnourished. Or dead. They smell like they haven’t washed in months. Does that describe a zombie?”
I nodded.
Then Ozzie’s hand on my arm stopped me from bumping into Rhett. My jaw dropped at the antique vehicle in front of us.
“Is this real?” It was the dumbest thing I could’ve said, but I almost didn’t care, the thing was so cool.
“Are you asking if it’s a car?” Reyna snickered.
Reyna wasn’t as bad as Justine, but I swear if she got on my nerves again I was going to punch her. Ignoring her patronizing tone, I gave her one right back.
“It’s actually called a truck.”
Rhett tried to hide it, but he lifted an amused grin. Reyna hissed and got in the back with Ozzie.
Opening the door for me, Rhett said, “Get in and put on your seatbelt.”
“So bossy.”
Rhett closed the door without reacting, and went around to the driver’s side. He tangled a couple of wires together. The engine roaring to life gave me goosebumps. I wondered where we were headed. I’d thought we’d go out to the street I’d seen earlier, but instead, we went toward the back of the building.
Driving down an empty narrow street where the sun didn’t shine made my stomach recoil in dread. Damaged structures loomed all around us, and polluted air hung over us like a heavy blanket. Steel and cement peeked through weedy undergrowth. Not one building stood untouched.
In history class, I’d seen pictures of the natural disaster aftermath. After the meteors, came hurricanes, floods, famine, and destabilized government. It seemed to me, Mother Nature punished us for abusing our resources.
We drove over what debris the truck could handle but often had to swerve around bigger obstacles, like street lamps, flipped over cars, and large blocks of collapsed buildings. My generation and my parents’ were the lucky ones. People of my grandparents’ era had experienced a horrendous disaster. Their cities crumbled to nothing around them. Everything they’d worked for their entire existence had been wasted and destroyed. The loss of lives had scarred an entire generation.
Ozzie looked out the window. “The Remnant Councils don’t care about this side of the world. Which is a good and bad thing. They could make this a workable city. It’s far from the main cities, but I don’t see why they couldn’t.”
Reyna kept her eyes on the road. “It would cost too much to supply clean water, electricity, and rebuild homes.”
We drove in silence for several miles. My skin crawled when Rhett parked under a half-collapsed building. I had no choice but to trust him. When he got out of the car, I did the same.
“Where are we?”
“This was their main hospital. This is where we get our medical supplies,” Rhett said.
“Don’t you have enough?” I brought my Taser to the front. Ozzie’s description of drifters as zombies didn’t inspire comfort, especially when I’d read about zombies not too long before.
Rhett took a couple of steps up the stairs, opened the door, and stopped. “Every time we go hunting, we get what we can. One day, the councils might decide to tear this city down for good. From the information we’ve gathered, there’s a war coming. This time, it won’t be from Mother Nature. It will be our own doing. It’s the way we are. Anyone with power will take over what they can. A perfect example is ISAN. How many more secret agencies are out there? They might be called something else, but I’m pretty sure they’re out there and organized the same way. We’re preparing for the worst.”
Rhett sprung up the stairs, his footsteps echoing loudly. He slowed when the stairs became uneven, jumping from one to another, avoiding protruding metal rods.
The higher I climbed, the more my muscles wouldn’t cooperate. I dared not look down, or it would be the end of my climbing. As I sneezed, I almost slipped on the dusty cement particles. I bent low and grabbed one of the rods to stop my fall.
“This way. Be careful.” Rhett leaped to the tilting stairs, then helped his friends and told them to go on ahead.
“Ava, don’t look down.”
Too late. I already had when I waited for Ozzie to jump to Rhett. The fact that he’d said, “don’t look down” meant I would’ve done it anyway. My curiosity always won. My heart raced a mile a minute when I ascended higher, until it palpitated out of control.
“Ava. Look at me.”
Rhett’s stern voice grounded me.
“I’m right here. I won’t let you fall. You saw Ozzie and Reyna jump with ease. Not a problem, okay?”
My knees buckled and my muscles locked. I couldn’t even get my body to move back down.
“That’s easy for you to say. You’ve done this many times.”
“I know you’re afraid of heights, but you were getting over it because you trusted me. I won’t let you fall.”
His words, his tone, his eyes, all told me he spoke the truth. The tension eased from my muscles enough to allow movement. Taking tiny scoots to the edge, I focused on my mental mission.
I am stronger than my fear. I don’t need Helix. It’s all in my head. I can do this.
Rhett leaned as far as he could, anchoring his leg on a broken piece of structure to his left. “That’s it, Ava. Keep your eyes on mine. Come to me, Ava. I’ve got you.”
I took a step back, held my breath, and pushed off as hard as I could. One of my feet landed on solid ground, and Rhett grabbed my arm. When Rhett pulled me up, my stomach dropped from my rib cage, but my heart continued to thunder.
“I knew you could do it. That was nothing,” he said when I balanced solidly on both feet.
Then his smirk turned to alarm.
“Rhett!”
He’d slipped on a small pile of debris and started to fall backward after he swung me around. Anchoring my leg as he had, I twisted my hands in his shirt, heaved him forward, and slammed his back against the wall with all my weight pressed against him. My fast thinking and the training from ISAN had saved him, but I had no idea where the strength had come from.
“I believe ... I’ve got you.” I panted, my heart racing. Blood drained to my toes, trembling from the near-fall. My fear had almost cost him his life.
“I believe you have.” Rhett’s amber eyes darkened and heated, inches from mine.
His warm breath met mine halfway, colliding and exchanging. My fists still wrung his shirt, rising and falling on his chest, in rhythm with my heart drumming. I realized my body pressed against his in an intimate way when his hand idly caressed the small of my back. What was he doing to me?
I stood there in silence. Staring. Searching. Connecting with Rhett. Like I’d done that before. The blazing fire of desire inside me—I felt it before in my dreams.
Emotions are the one thing you can’t forget. Rhett’s voice rang inside my head. For a moment, I forgot I’d been kidnapped.
“What’s taking you two so long?” Ozzie’s voice echoed from down the hall, breaking the moment.
Rhett closed his eyes, his face contorting as if in pain, and then opened them to focus on the ruined wall behind me.
As he slowly released his hold on me, seemingly not wanting to let go, he murmured, “You first. Go
straight and curve right at the dead end. I’m right behind you. I just need a minute.”
Farther in, the middle of the building was not as heavily weathered but had caved in. The air became cooler and thicker, making it harder to breathe. I entered what I guessed to be a supply room.
From the opened cabinets, Ozzie and Reyna had searched the room while waiting for Rhett and me. Syringes, IV bags, Band-Aids of all sizes, clamps, and other tools for surgery rested on a broken dusty table. Rhett packed supplies into his backpack and so did Ozzie and Reyna. Then, we wound back through the eerie halls.
“How about that one?” I pointed and mentally slapped myself for acting like I was part of their group.
“We already raided that room.” Ozzie slowed his steps to hike beside me.
“We need to hurry. This way.” Rhett’s long strides took us down a slope. “Watch your step. It’s slippery here.” He bored his eyes to mine, making sure I’d heard.
I nodded and followed behind him as usual. Rhett’s eyes were always on me. I felt the weight of his stare, and I didn’t know if he thought I would try to escape or he just wanted to protect me. Resting my hand on whatever I could grip, I let my leg muscles do all the work as I skidded down.
“Where’re we going?” Reyna sounded annoyed, swinging her backpack over her shoulder. “We went down this way last time. We need to try another route.”
“I need Ava to see the files,” Rhett said.
Reyna’s nostrils flared as she placed a hand on her hip. “It’s not going to bring her memories back, Rhett. We need to hurry. The sun’s going down.”
“We have flashlights.” Ozzie reminded her.
Reyna’s cold stare silenced Ozzie.
Rhett took a step back. “This has nothing to do with that. She might be able to tell us something. I think reading the files will help her understand.”
“Fine.” She positioned herself and leaped.
Another jump? I relaxed when I peered over the small gap and jumped.
“What is this place?” I asked.
Weak sunlight streamed in from the cracks, but it wasn’t bright enough until three flashlights beamed, lighting up the surrounding dark areas.
Rhett placed his flashlight down and handed me a black folder. “You need to see this, Ava.”
It had the ISAN logo on it.
“I believe this was the last hiding place of the doctor who created the Helix serum. I also believe ISAN is holding him captive. They obviously didn’t know he had been here, or this place would’ve been destroyed. I also found some recordings. Go ahead.” He gestured with a tilt of his chin.
“Reyna and I will be back.” Ozzie tugged Reyna out.
My hands shook and my heart thundered as I dove into the folder.
Project HelixB77—Day 1: I injected HB77 into a woman pregnant with twins today without her consent. The mother is my special test subject. The ultrasound shows the special subject’s twenty-week fetuses are more active, with no sleep during the hour I observed them with Helix in their systems. Though this study is top secret, conducted by a network known as ISAN, it is taking place in my office at a local hospital in the East. ISAN is not aware of the special subject.
Project HelixB77—Day 30: I injected 10 milligrams into the thirteenth subject, and the same amount to twenty new pregnant moms. All are from low income families, except the special subject. The serum binds with testosterone and stays in the male babies longer. Injecting them earlier in their pregnancies changed the DNA to adapt to Helix easier and faster I assumed. For this reason, I named the first part of the serum Helix, the shape of a DNA strand, and the second part, Batch 77. It took me 77 batches to finally get it right. Testing of the special subject, the fetuses appeared alert on ultrasound; furthermore, their sense of hearing was heightened. When played a recording of their mother’s voice from the next room, something that would’ve been impossible for normal human ears to hear, the fetuses reacted. Great success.
Project HelixB77—Day 60: I injected 20 milligrams into the special subject. Babies’ reflexes were impressively faster and stronger. Mother was in great pain from the kicks. I had to inject another serum to counteract Helix. Fifty new moms were injected with Helix today. ISAN will send me more.
Project HelixB77—Day 90: The special subject gave birth to twins early, as expected. Though I’m a proud father today, I’m also devastated. ISAN: International Sensory Assassin Network. I’m not sure what they are planning, but training the young to kill is wrong. How many lab-created killers will they create around the world? In order to keep my children safe, I had to separate us. The first child will be going to trusted foster parents. My wife will think her first child is dead. The second child will stay with us, for now. I will inject my children with the last dose of the enhanced serum I have been injecting them with since I began. ISAN is not aware of the enhanced serum. My children will be special. I will not know what their special abilities will be. Their bodies will determine that. I only hope this will work.
Project HelixB77—Month 48: Today will be the day I will lose my wife and my second child. When my wife learns what I’ve been doing, she will want nothing to do with me. But I have to tell her. They are watching our child too closely. A trusted friend is waiting for their arrival at a safe house with new identities. To my peers and ISAN, I will make it look like my wife and I are separating. And my second child will think her father is dead.
Project HelixB77—Month 60: My family has been gone for so long. I have no choice but to keep enhancing the formula to its full potential. ISAN isn’t aware it’s as perfect as it can be, for now. I will have to continue to delay and try to find a way to escape from the East territory. The Abandoned City is my only safe haven. There is no one around, except for drifters, but they don’t bother me because I bring them food. Maybe someday, someone trustworthy will find my folder. It will be the only evidence I existed. I don’t know how long ISAN will allow me to live. Once they think the formula has been perfected, they won’t need me anymore.
Project HelixB77—Month 72: It gives me joy to see both of my children, even if from a distance and for a very brief moment. I know I should stay away, but I can’t. Those moments give me enough happiness to last for months. My second child is healthy and doing well. My wife sees me from a distance. She knows I’m watching, but she turns away, crying. This is our life now. She despises me. She will hate me even more if she finds out I lied about our first child.
Project HelixB77—Month 96: My second child looks more like my wife every day. When I watch her play in the park, she is full of life. She is brave and thinks fast on her feet, but she is afraid of heights. It didn’t cross my mind to alter that gene. The first child is doing well and has moved to the South with the foster parents.
Project HelixB77—Month 144: ISAN has found the first child. I don’t know how, but my child will remain in juvie until they are ready to start training the first round of kids. I’m not worried. My child is special. I don’t know in what way, but my child will stand out from the others.
Project HelixB77—Month 156: My heart has been ripped to shreds. I have nothing left. My wife died today, supposedly from a new virus. A lie. We have found cures for almost all illnesses. My second child was sent to a foster home. The motions have been set in place. They will bring her in. It’s time for me to contact the only person I trust in ISAN. I spoke briefly with my second child today and filmed her without her knowledge. I needed to have this. I can’t continue to observe my children secretly anymore.
Project HelixB77—Month 168: My source reported my first child was sent to the West territory. I assume they are planning to organize an ISAN network there. At least I know my child is safe.
Project HelixB77—Month 192: They brought the first batch of kids to ISAN headquarters and started the mental training I designed with another scientist. It makes me proud to see the serum is successful, but I hate what they will be using it for. The serum is flawed. When binding with testoste
rone, depending on the dosage, it will make the males aggressive, some more so than others. It will turn them into monsters. This will require more testing on male subjects. If I don’t find a solution, what will happen to them?
Project HelixB77—Month 204: My second child was brought to ISAN. It had been years since I saw her last. She is as beautiful as her mom. Seeing her brings joy and sadness, mostly sadness, because she doesn’t know me. I’m so proud of her. She’s doing well in the mental missions, and my trusted contact is looking after her. I hope I live to see her take down ISAN.
As tears streamed down my face, I flipped through the pages as fast as my fingers allowed. My adrenaline pumped rapidly I couldn’t keep up with the intensity of the rush. My breath cut short, and it took every ounce of me not to collapse on the floor.
“Where’s the rest?” I turned to the beginning and flipped through it again and again. When I saw an envelope on the back, I opened it, but it was empty.
“Ava.”
I flinched and shoved Rhett when he placed his hand on me.
“This doctor is not my dad. My dad is dead,” I said through clenched teeth.
I didn’t want to believe my dad would experiment on his own children, that he’d been the one to create such a powerful serum. The serum that molded killers. The serum that had ruined my life. I had no right to judge him, but how could he?
All my life Mom had told me Dad was an engineer who’d died in a traffic accident. She’d never shown me pictures of him since she claimed to have none. My stomach roiled and I fought nausea. If the doctor was my dad, Mom had to lie to me to keep me safe. Knowing that didn’t make it easier to accept.
“I’m not this second child. You didn’t come here to get more supplies. You came here to see if I was her, didn’t you?”
I didn’t realize I was shouting until Ozzie and Reyna returned, looking at me with pity.
Rhett reached for me. “Ava.”