Blindsided (28 page)

This must be the entrance to the excavated factory.

I hold my breath as Allie shows the guards her badge. They part, but she still has to put her palm to a scanner. Then she sticks her face up against a machine to scan her retina. Finally, a mechanical voice says, “Name, please.”

“Allison Porter.” The door opens after a
whiff
and a
clank.
“Welcome to the Radison Manufacturing Company, everyone, birthplace of Radiasure.”

The stairs seem to go on forever. Sickly yellow lights guide our way—they’re just enough to make sure we don’t kill ourselves falling down the endless steps. The air smells like the desert after a storm, when the ground is fleetingly damp before the sun comes out again.

“You know what would be nice right now?” Carlos’ voice sounds too loud in the cavernous dark space. “An elevator.”

Allie smirks. “There will probably be one in the future, but it wasn’t exactly the first priority when there was so much more to restore down here.”

“Just how big is this place?” Brady asks. There’s an enthusiasm in his words I didn’t expect. Then I realize he might be as excited by the idea of a cure as I am—he’d never have to worry about hurting someone by accident again.

“I’m not sure,” Allie says. “They’re still digging. The Major seems to have a good idea of what this place is like, though—maybe he’ll explain it to you now that you’re here. I’m sure curious about it.”

“He hasn’t told you?” I have to admit I’m surprised.

She seems annoyed, but pushes it aside. “I’m not privy to all top secret information. Just the things that involve my experiments.”

“Huh,” is all Seth says. I glance at him, sure he’s thinking a lot more than that. He hasn’t said anything since we left the office, and I can’t tell whether he’s happy to be here or not.

Finally the lights below are close enough that I realize we’re looking at the floor of a giant hallway. The tiles are midnight blue, as are the walls. Thick cables run along the baseboards, a smaller chord diverging from the bulk to a light every twenty yards or so.

“We’ve just barely gotten this place in workable order,” Allie explains. “The rooms were mostly intact, but all the wiring and plumbing has been damaged by age or the blast that destroyed the above-ground portion of the factory. That’s why we couldn’t initially set up my lab here.”

We make a left when the hallway forks, and after another right turn the place is suddenly alive with workers. Some are cleaning, while others seem to be rigging more wires and pipes. The distinct sound of machinery can be heard, so I figure if we keep going we’ll find the place where they’re still excavating.

But what’s most interesting is that there are doors along the hallway. They are numbered crudely with spray paint. Offices? Testing rooms? Workers’ quarters? I don’t know what they used to be, but for some reason they make this place more real. People used to work here, making this drug that changed the world. Did they know what they were doing? Were they proud or ashamed? Or maybe it was just a job like any other.

Seth grabs my arm out of nowhere, stopping me as our group goes forward. His lips brush against my ear as he says, “Fiona, there are people in those rooms.”

I force myself to remain calm despite Seth’s clear worries. This is where I’ll be when I take the first dose of Allie’s cure. “That makes sense.”

“That’s all you have to say?”

“What do you want me to say? That I’m backing out?” I pull away from him. “If you’re still so upset about it, why are you even here?”

He purses his lips, glaring at me so hard I have to look away. “Because I don’t have a choice. What, did you think I’m here as a show of support?”

“No.”
But I hoped.
I walk quickly to catch up with the group.

Allie opens a door with the number twelve painted on it. “This will be your room during testing, Fiona. Since the equipment is still being unloaded, you’ll have to wait here until then.”

“Okay.” I walk forward as confidently as I can, but then stop at the door. “Um, Allie?”

“Yes?”

“Would it be okay if I could wait until my mom and Miles get here? I don’t want them to miss it. You know, if it happens.”

Allie purses her lips, seeming reluctant. “We really need to start all the testing at the same time, but hopefully we’ll have word from them before that. Don’t worry too much—I’ve projected that at this stage of development, the cure, if it works, should last several days.”

“Oh.” My heart soars at the thought. I didn’t dare hope it would last that long. “Okay then.”

I head into the room, which is sparse to say the least. There is only a bed and a chair, plus a small nightstand stacked with medical stuff. The wall to the right is a mirror, ceiling to floor. I worry it’s one of those observation windows where you can see through on the other side, but I’m still glad for it. I want to see everything I can if this works.

As I sit on the bed, Seth, Brady, and The Pack come in. Their expressions vary from Hector’s mildly concerned to Seth’s angry to Carlos’ scared.

Seth takes the one chair, and they all sit on the floor like this is some weird story time. I figure I do owe them an explanation, but so much has happened that I’m not even sure where to begin.

“So, first question.” To my surprise, it’s Brady who starts. He knows the most of everyone, and yet he looks seriously upset. “Why didn’t you tell me we could volunteer to take the drug?”

Seth explodes from his chair. “You are
not
taking it! Do you hear me? This is an illegal experiment on
human specimens.
Am I the only one who sees how insane that is?”

“Jeez, so I need your parental consent now?” Brady glares at his brother, then turns to me. “Is this why you guys have been fighting more than usual?”

I look at my bracelets. “Yes.”

“What if you die?” Bea’s voice is shaky. “Look at this place, Fiona. This isn’t a hospital—it’s barely a bunker.”

“Hospitals haven’t given me much when it comes to answers about myself. I could find them here.” I sigh, feeling like I’m about to get ganged up on. It was bad enough when it was just Seth who knew I’d be part of the experiments.

“Or you could get seriously messed up,” Hector says.

“You’re letting them turn you into a lab rat,” Carlos says.

“If you haven’t noticed,
everyone’s
messed up.” I fold my arms, wishing I could kick them out. I don’t need this lecture again. “I’m not ignoring the risks. I know I could die; I know it could do permanent damage; I know it might not work at all. But what you guys don’t understand is that it’s worth it to me. What I could get in return—being visible—it means everything to me. If that makes me a lab rat, then so be it.”

This clearly doesn’t register for anyone but Brady, who is nodding while everyone else shakes their head. “I get it, Fi. I’d volunteer right now.”

Seth points his finger at his brother. “Don’t you dare. If you care about me at all, Brady, you won’t make me deal with that on top of possibly losing the only girl I’ve ever cared about.”

I shrink at the words. The guilt is heavy—it gets heavier every day—but as much as I care about Seth, I can’t sacrifice this chance for him.

Brady shakes his head. “You guys don’t understand how life-changing this could be for me or Fiona, do you?”

“Please don’t,” Bea says quietly as she leans on Brady’s arm. “Just…please. I’d rather deal with your ability our whole lives than lose you.”

This seems to suck the words right out of Brady, but Seth fills the silence. “Ditto. You guys forget we like you just the way you are. We can deal with the hard parts just fine.”

I glare at Seth, wanting so badly to say he doesn’t have to deal with my invisibility at all—I’m the one who still can’t see herself, who has to deal with it every time I look in a mirror. It’s so unfair for him to even use that argument. “Well, I’m tired. If you don’t mind I’d like to sleep before I become a lab rat. And when this works I’ll use it to stop The Phantom and anyone else who threatens you. Then you can thank me for taking the hit.”

I grab the blankets and cover myself in them. They’re stiff and smell like bleach. I wait for someone to say something back, but instead I hear the door open and footsteps as they leave. When it slams behind them, I pull the blankets down, expecting to be alone.

But Seth is still there.

“They just care about you,” he says.

“I know.” I wish I could make it better. I know I’m being selfish. But I can’t stop myself. “Thanks for staying.”

“This could be the last time I see you alive. I have to stay.” His eyes water, but he stops it before he cries. “You better live. Or I’ll never forgive you.”

“I will.” I say it for him, though we both know very well that once I take this drug, I won’t have any say in the outcome.

Chapter 37

A couple hours pass before anyone comes. There’s no word on my family—my phone seems to be useless down here as well, which makes me worry the mic on my glasses doesn’t work either. I’m not sure where The Pack has gone, but I’m almost relieved they’re not here to see what might happen to me. If it does work, I want to be the first one to see myself. If it doesn’t…well, it’ll only hurt them more.

Allie comes in with a nurse at her side, her smile tentative as she hands me a clipboard. “Fiona, I’m sorry we haven’t heard from your family yet, but we’ve waited as long as we can under the circumstances. We need to move forward with the testing. If you could fill out the information you know, that’d be great. After that your nurse will take what vitals she can from you.”

“Okay.” I look over the first page of the form, though I feel sick knowing my mom and Miles aren’t here for this. They were so excited when they heard about it over the mic. I could use their support about now.

As I start filling out my medical information, the door opens again. I hope it’s The Pack at least, but it’s Major Norton. “Allie, you and the nurse can prep the other patients while I talk with them.”

Allie looks like she wants to protest, but she does as she’s told. Major Norton waits a few moments before he speaks again. “I wanted to thank you for your information on The Phantom—I’m sure you went to a lot of risk to get it. Honestly, I owe you for that, so I’ll tell you about the factory.”

Seth perks up a little. “Really?”

The Major nods. “It’s quite simple, really, but I would like to keep my connections to this factory top secret, do you understand? I don’t want my superiors to pull me off this due to conflict of interest.”

Seth raises an eyebrow. “Sure. I just want to know if my family had anything to do with this place.”

“Your great grandfather did.” The Major puts his hand into his crisp jacket and pulls out a picture. Seth and I crowd around the photo—it’s an old black and white image of five men standing in front of a building I assume is the old Radiasure factory. Even I can see the family resemblance between Seth and the guy on the far right. “Greg Mitchell was the head contractor.”

Seth sits back, and I think I see horror in his eyes. “So part of this is my family’s fault?”

“I don’t know what to tell you.” Major Norton points to the guy in the middle wearing a white coat much like Allie’s. “
My
grandfather, Patrick Norton, was one of the scientists who created Radiasure, so I’m not one to say you shouldn’t feel guilty. It’s the whole reason I’m here.”

It takes me a minute to realize my jaw’s dropped. When I put myself together, I manage to say, “When did you find out? I thought all that was buried by the government. You know, to protect them from being hunted down.”

“I found out about five years ago, when I was promoted to Major. I’d always believed that destroying the remaining Radiasure stores would help bring the world back into order, so I went digging for information. It was difficult, but I figured it out thanks to my ability and asking the right people the right questions.” He sighs, and there’s a weight to it I never noticed before. “Eventually, I was able to track down the creators, but I never expected to be related to one of them. I always knew my grandfather lived in a remote part of China, though I would have never guessed
why.
”

I put my hand to my mouth. China? My dad’s plans to get the real formula. The guy they murdered. “They finally found him.”

Major Norton nods. “Before I could get there.”

“He still had the papers?” Seth seems angry. “Why didn’t he destroy them?”

“I don’t have details; I just know he’s dead and the formula is out there. They could have had a mind-reader or a brainwasher on the job for all I know.” The Major pauses, as if he needs a second to compose himself. I can’t stop thinking about the brainwasher Dad had me and mom kidnap from Val Sutton—was that why? She would have been able to persuade him to tell. “The point is, I had to act fast if I wanted to stop the syndicates from making the drug again.”

“So you’re here to make up for what your family did?” I ask.

“I don’t think anyone can make up for what Radiasure has done to the world,” the Major replies. “But I still want to right as many wrongs as I can. That’s why I found Allie and the factory plans from Mitchell Construction and an endless list of rumored Radiasure caches. I think once we have a cure—once people see that there’s a way to make the world different—things will change.”