“Thanks, Bryn.” Lucash paused, considering something, then asked, “I know you said that what you guys are doin’ right now is going against what…Melody, is it?...ordered, but it seems to me that once she heard about everything…well, how could she not want to do something, too?”

  Remy took up the response, “You would think that would be the case, but Melody is cautious—”

  “Now that’s an understatement,” Cassidi chimed in.

  Remy gave a tight laugh, “True enough. She likes us to think that she trusts us, and maybe it sometimes even seems like she does, but she has a very tight grip on the overall operations. Nothing major happens without her approval.”

  “Which means nothin’ much has been happenin’ up til now. Til we broke the rules. Now look at all the progress we’ve been makin’!” Selby said.

  “I doubt Melody would consider all this progress,” Destin said, to which several in the group voiced agreement.

  “Yeah, well, she doesn’t know what she’s talkin’ about then,” Selby responded, not one to be easily dissuaded from his opinions.

  “You might be right, but that doesn’t change things in terms of Melody’s reaction,” Remy said, just as the door to the storage area opened to a disheveled, distraught, and breathless Davi.

  “Davi! You got here fast,” said Rebecca.

  Davi closed the door behind him and leaned back against it before saying, “I didn’t have far to go by the time I got a signal. When I found out where you guys were, I ran all the way.” He gasped for air as he spoke, his words coming out in bursts.

  “Come on in,” Bryn said. “Catch your breath for a minute. We were just starting to discuss the best way forward, but there’s a lot you don’t know. We’ll need to catch you up. We’re waiting on Selby’s parents, too, so it’s probably best just to do all the catching up at once.”

  If Davi was surprised by what he just heard, he didn’t show it. Until he noticed Juniper. “Who’s that?” he asked, tilting his head in the direction of the sleeping form on the table.

  “This is my girlfriend, Juniper. We are, I guess, the two people you all were out looking for. You found me.”

  “So, where was she? Looks like she got poked with the virus.”

  “Yes.” Lucash didn’t really care for Davi’s tone, but he tried to ignore it. “She was really sick, so I had to leave her hidden while I went out to hunt down some food and water. Didn’t expect to see anyone else out there except the Guard, who I was hopin’ not to see. But it’s good you found me because these two gave her some medicine, and it seems to be helping,” he said, gesturing towards Remy and Bryn. “So…thanks.”

  “Yeah. Sure. Why aren’t you sick?”

  “Don’t know. I got injected, too, but nothing happened. I feel just fine.”

  “Huh. Isn’t that something? Wonder if maybe you got immunity.”

  “Don’t know.” Lucash turned to Remy and Bryn, “Could that happen?”

  Bryn responded, “Sure,” she hesitated, “it could happen, but I wouldn’t want to jump to that conclusion without running some tests. We do know they were trying out some new generalized virus concoctions. So, it could also be that the dose wasn’t strong enough for you, or there was something wrong with the serum.”

  “Can you test me? Find out which it might be?”

  “Once we can get back into the lab, we can.”

  Bendi spoke up, “Would knowing he’s immune help us with anything?”

  “Maybe. It might help us with improving the anti-viral if we can determine why he’s immune. I’m curious, certainly, but I’m not entirely sure that it’s our priority right now. I think we have more pressing concerns to attend to.”

  “Like getting Mel back,” said Davi.

  “Yes, absolutely,” Bryn agreed.

  “What happened?” asked Daniel. “I mean, we know some of it, but…what actually happened?”

  “Just like I said in my message. We had bad luck. Guard caught up with us. Mel’s fast, but she’s a short one, so she had a hard time up on that mountain. It was only one guard, so when she told me to run on, I knew I had to. I didn’t think we’d be a match for his weapons, whatever he had on him, since we had nothing at all. I got quite a ways on up and hid. Heard the scuffle when she was caught. I followed back down from a distance to see which way he was going to take her. She was still struggling against him when he tossed her in the back, so she was still alive. They waited in the truck, and I stayed put. No signal there, so I couldn’t message you guys. When two of the other three came back, they waited a while longer, but it was dark. They left without the fourth guy, and drove slowly towards BRO.”

  “She was in the truck! When they passed by us all, Mel was actually in there,” Cassidi spoke up, horrified that they didn’t know.

  “We couldn’t have helped her,” Destin said.

  “I know, but still.”

  “The fourth guy is dead,” Selby said, “That’s why only three came back.”

  “Really?” Remy asked, somewhat horrified. This would not mean good things for them. “How?”

  “He stepped on a soft section on the ridge. It fell away and took him with it. He was after me and Becs,” Daniel said. You guys didn’t hear the scream?” The others there shook their heads, astonished that they hadn’t heard someone yelling as they fell down the side of the mountain.

  “We heard it. That’s how we met up with Becs and Daniel,” Cassidi said.

  “Oh, I bet Karl is not gonna be happy about this,” Destin said.

  “No, and neither will Manglebee when he finds out. That puts us in a riskier situation. They have Mel, but they won’t let this go. Guarantee they’ll be trying to get information out of her. But at least we know she’ll likely stay alive for a while,” Remy said.

  “You know who else isn’t gonna like this?” Selby asked.

  “Melody,” several of the others responded in unison.

  A hesitant knock sounded at the door. Selby trotted over to open it, knowing it would be his parents. They were relieved to see him, and his mom pulled him into a brief hug, while his dad grabbed his shoulder with one hand and squeezed. Selby brought them into what was now a crowded storage room full of discarded ranch materials and people. Selby’s parents looked a little surprised at the number of people standing in front of them. They seemed flustered at first, but they recovered their composure quickly.

  “Mom, Dad, this here is the gang. The best part of Colossus.” He made the round of introductions.

  “Welcome, Mr. and Mrs. Myer,” Remy said.

  “Rena and Sid, please,” said Sid. “We appreciate you letting us come.”

  “Yes, well, we’re glad you’re here. We think you’ll be a good addition. However, we haven’t cleared this with Melody yet, so, for now, it’s just between all of us in this room. Davi arrived a few minutes ago, and we were waiting for you two to be able to fill all three of you in on these most recent events at the same time.”

  The three recent arrivals were brought up to speed on the most recent discoveries about the virus and Manglebee’s plans, Troy’s dad and Troy, and, for the Myers, Mel’s capture.

  “We have to stop this,” Rena said, shaking her head in disbelief. “I knew Manglebee was a monster but turning human beings into robots to do his fighting? That’s so much worse than I ever imagined.”

  “Lucash? Lucash?” A raspy, quiet voice called from behind the huddled group. Lucash had been standing near Juniper but facing away from her and had missed her stirring until she called out his name.

  “Juniper! Oh my god, Juniper! Are you…I mean, do you know it’s me?” Lucash said, suddenly worried that maybe she was hallucinating again.

  “Of course, I know it’s you…why wouldn’t I?” Lucash hugged her and cupped her face in his hands. “Welcome back. You had me scared for a while there.”

  “Sorry. What happened?” she said, trying to sit up, but then sank right back down, holding her head.

  “Don’t move too much. You’ve been really, really sick.”

  “Hi Juniper, my name is Bryn. Lucash is right. You’ve been one sick young lady. It’s going to take some time before you feel like yourself again, so please take it easy.”

  Juniper looked at Bryn in utter confusion, then looked back to Lucash for an explanation. “Bryn and Remy saved your life. Maybe mine too.”

  “Where are we?”

  “A long ways from home. Do you remember jumping off the truck?” Juniper nodded. “Okay, good. Because you were already pretty sick then, and you just got worse. Found a hiding spot for you, then followed the truck’s tracks.”

  Juniper nodded, “I remember. Did you find it?”

  Lucash smiled, “Yep. Almost got caught by somebody though. Three people were out in those woods, and—”

  “That was you?” Selby exclaimed.

  Lucash looked confused, and then realization hit, “That was you guys out there?”

  “It was. Selby, another guy from Colossus who isn’t here, and me,” Remy said. “Well, guess there’s one mystery solved.”

  “Good thing. Didn’t think I’d ever find out,” Lucash said.

  “Lucash?” Juniper said weakly, trying to keep up with the conversation, but failing.

  “Sorry, Juniper. Not important. I found the place, but these guys know where and what it is anyways. I had to go out looking for water and, when I did, this group found me. We’re on the same side, Juniper, only they aren’t with the Resistance. They’re part of something much better because they’re doing more. More real stuff. And you won’t believe it. You won’t believe what all is happening—” Lucash noticed Juniper’s confusion and realized he had been saying too much and talking too fast. “But you just rest now. You’re safe. We’re on a ranch in Montrose. In the mountains. There’s plenty of time to tell you everything later. Just work on getting better now.”

  Juniper’s eyes were closing again, but she gave a little nod to show she had heard.

  “Juniper, before you go to sleep, do you think you can swallow a little water? You need to start hydrating. That’ll help that headache you’re having.” Juniper again nodded. She didn’t open her eyes, but when Bryn lifted her head and held a thermos of water to her lips, she took several sips. She was asleep again in seconds.

  “Thank you both,” Lucash said. “I will never be able to repay you for saving her life. But I’ll try. Just know that Juniper and I will do everything we can to help you guys. I know her. As soon as she is able, she will be the first to volunteer for anything you throw at us.”

  “I’m relieved it worked. Remy and I have been working for months on potential anti-virals. I’m not glad that Juniper was sick, but I am glad that we were able to help her, and at the same time, know that what we’ve created has been successful. At least with the kind of dose they gave Juniper. That might end up helping in the long run, more than you know.”

  “Lucash, I’m so glad Juniper is getting better,” Bendi said.

  “I hate to say this, but should we be planning what’s next now?” Rebecca said. “It’s getting late, and I think we should decide whether or not to call a Colossus meeting.”

  “You’re right, Rebecca. We need to decide that first,” Remy agreed. “Thoughts everyone?”

  Over the next hour, the group tossed around their ideas and opinions, giving pros and cons for involving Colossus, and, thereby, Melody, or continuing to operate as an independent group.

  They took a vote.

  Remy sent out the message.

  CHAPTER 38

  T

  revor’s team worked through the night reconfiguring the security system. They redesigned it from the bottom up. None of them, however, were entirely confident that it was any better than the last one. Just different. They’d put everything they had into the system in the first place, so they had no idea how they could make it any better. Their only hope was that different was good enough.

  Trevor instructed the team to set up an additional monitoring and alert system. If this person, or anyone else, managed to break through again, an alert would be sent out immediately to just these team members. Should that occur, they’d be ready with an intervention to cut loose the connection and implement a temporary security patch until they could figure something else out.

  “I don’t think there’s much else we can do,” Trevor said as the team finished up on the security system.

  “How much longer do we have to keep looking for another level of encryption? We’ve tried everything, and we’re just not finding it.”

  Trevor was at a loss. How long was he supposed to keep these people here when they’d done everything they knew to do? They had been at this for hours. No sleep. No food. Nothing else to do. Every fiber of his being told him it would be a bad move to let them all go home, but he wanted to go home himself, even if it was just for his bed.

  He made a decision, “Go home. Get some food and some rest. At least for a few hours. I doubt Head Councilor will be returning at this late hour.”

  “Are we coming back here?”

  Trevor sighed, took off his glasses, and pinched the top of his nose, squinting his eyes against the headache building behind them. Putting his glasses back on, he replied, “I’m afraid so. Maybe we’ll find something if we come back to it with fresh eyes. Report back here…” he checked his watch, “at 7:30. I know that doesn’t give us much time, but it’s the best I can do.”

  They all groaned their displeasure, accompanied by muttered complaints, as they finished shutting down their computers. All four team members filtered out without another word, leaving Trevor on his own. He should be leaving now, too. He only had a few hours. He wanted to go home, he really did, but he couldn’t seem to make himself move in that direction.

  Trevor sat back down in his chair with a thud. He rested his head in his hands. He felt like sobbing, but he couldn’t. The emotions got caught up in his chest and stayed there. At last, he peeled himself up, grabbed his belongings, and headed to the garage. When he arrived, he noticed the Guard truck, but no one was around. He was glad for that. He didn’t want to talk to anyone right now. He didn’t even want to know if they got the prisoners. Actually, that was the last piece of news he wanted right now. He’d rather still hold on to the idea that they got away.

  Trevor unplugged an available BRO vehicle and then climbed in, pushed the button to start it, and backed slowly out of the slot. Driving down the darkened dirt road, Trevor wondered if it wasn’t time to end the secrecy between him and Mica. Mica deserved to know the truth, but he honestly wasn’t sure he could bear her reaction to it. Still, at least she’d know. And he’d either have an ally or another enemy. Either way, at least he’d know, too.

  ๛ ๛ ๛

  On the opposite side of Montrose, in Quadrant 4, a Guard vehicle pulled up in front of a darkened house. It was 2 a.m. If their info was correct, dad should be working the night shift again, which would mean daughter would be home, probably asleep. Their surprise entry would not give any time to conceal a computer, if one was present. The three guards had placed friendly bets on the way over as to whether or not an 18-year-old girl in Quadrant 4 could possibly be hiding a computer. The three guards had had a good laugh at the idea, but one placed a bet in favor of finding the computer, just to make it fun.

  By the time they exited the car, their smiles were erased, replaced with the hard looks required on the job. They approached the tiny house with stealth steps, careful not to break the silence that surrounded them. At the door, one of them checked to see if it was locked. It was incredible how many people actually left their doors unlocked these days, though far fewer in Quadrant 4 than in any other Quadrant in Montrose. Upon finding the door locked, one of them kicked it open. With ease. These old wooden doors in this section of town took little to bust free of the lock.

  They fully expected lights to turn on and shouting after their loud entrance. Instead, silence engulfed them once more. All three men looked around the dark house, and then at each other.

  “Didn’t they say the girl should be home?” one whispered.

  “Yeah, that’s what they said.”

  “Let’s look around. Be sure. Who brought their light in?”

  A light flashed on in the dark, sending a wide beam through the house, flecks of dust dancing in its glow. The guard holding the light did a quick sweep from where they still stood by the broken in door.

  “This shouldn’t take long.”

  They went from the living area, which passed as a bedroom as well, though the men standing there wouldn’t know that from looking at it, to the one bedroom. It was also empty of a human presence, including the closet. They checked the only two other rooms in the house: the kitchen and the bathroom. Those, too, they found to be vacant.

  “Guess someone got the wrong information.”

  “Let’s just see if we can find this computer, since that’s what we came to do.”

  The three guards began their search, starting in the bedroom, a small and tidy box of a room with one small closet. The closet held three identical uniforms and one other set of clothing. Tucked behind the clothes on the floor next to a single pair of shoes was a box. It was the only thing that was of a size to hold a computer, so one of the men yanked it out and pried off the lid, only taking care because they were ordered not to damage or destroy the computer if they found it. All they found in this box were two more uniforms that looked like they were made for a woman; an old book, faded with age and the words “Grapes of Wrath” barely discernable; a scarf that would never be worn by a woman in Quadrant 4; and several pressed flowers, dried and littering the bottom of the box with bits of their petals. No computer.

  The guards did a sweep of the bathroom and then moved to the kitchen. They opened every cabinet door, tossing contents onto the countertops and floor as they removed them all. To their disappointment, all that was to be found was a few simple meal packs and even fewer serving wares.

  “Wish they’d had something good to eat. I coulda used a bite,” one guard joked to the other two as they made their way from the kitchen.

 

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