RecruitZ (Afterworld Series) (23 page)

“Is there a chance your mom’s in this facility, Preston?” I asked.

His gaze darkened and he shook his head. “I honestly have no idea. I guess there’s always a possibility of that, no matter how slim. There are hundreds of facilities across the country, and they don’t always keep the patient in-state.”

“Sorry for asking. I just wasn’t sure what the odds were.”

He shrugged and began walking toward the exit. “I don’t really even know.”

We closed the door and marched up the stairs.

“How about that code now?” I teased.

“99275,” Preston muttered. “And then asterisk after you enter the number.”

I was completely shocked he gave the code to me. I wasn’t expecting it at all. Maybe I caught him off-guard.

“Thanks.”

Braden and Emily were already in the hallway waiting, holding a cup of coffee for each of us.

“Appreciate it,” Preston said, grabbing the cup and taking a sip.

“Yeah. Thanks,” I said, taking the cup from Emily.

“Everything all sorted?” Emily asked.

“I think as much as it can be. I have everything memorized based on what you showed us last night, but we won’t know until we actually get past the fence tomorrow,” I confessed. “I hope it’s all still accurate.”

According to the map, the compound didn’t just have the guard towers in the corners. The structures were also centered in the middle of the property so they weren’t as easily spotted from the road. Why an MHA facility would need so much security was also cause for alarm. Our plan was to park within three miles on the backside of the facility and hike in the remaining distance. The walls were far too high to scale, and their informant was fairly certain that the top had some sort of invisible electrical fencing as well. He mentioned he had seen several crows perish instantly whenever one was brave enough to land on top of the wall. That was enough evidence for me.

“There’s one other thing,” Braden said, turning toward me outside.

“What’s that?” I asked, an uneasy feeling spreading through me.

“We need to take the self-driver,” Braden said, pressing his lips together. “It’s quiet and can glide over surface streets that might be destroyed and last we checked that road was horrible,” he finished before I could object.

“If there was another way…” Emily’s voice trailed off.

“I understand,” I muttered. I would have to face my fears eventually. Why not today?

Braden placed his thumbprint on the key and spoke softly. “Engage.”

My stomach began twisting in knots as I watched the black car turn the corner from the side of the house and pull up in front of us. They were right. Silence was even louder than these vehicles. They were a great invention. As long as they didn’t fail. As long as humans could override them.

Preston opened the back door and motioned for me to climb in. My stomach was to my knees as I slid across the backseat and watched him climb in. Emily was in the front passenger seat and Braden fell into the driver’s seat.

I watched as his fingers hastily programmed the vehicle and the dashboard lit up. I looked away and clenched my eyes shut as the images of Gavin and me came crashing down. The terror, blood, desperation—all the memories pummeling into me at once were almost more than I could bear.

Preston reached over and grabbed my hand, lightly squeezing it. I looked over at him and gave him a grateful smile. Regardless of what I found out last night about how he got me here, I still appreciated him and these small gestures. The car began gliding down the driveway, and I watched the scenery go by at a rapid pace. At this rate we’d be there in no time. That was another feature these self-drivers offered, speed.

“Everything we need is in the trunk,” Emily said. “Braden put it in last night. I know none of us want to stick around this place longer than we have to, but I just wanted to mention it again. As for tomorrow, we’ll be on the outside waiting for you to emerge so we have to ensure the pick-up place is decided upon today. We can’t veer from it.”

“The acreage around the property is far too vast and wild,” Braden confirmed. “That could be one of our downfalls, no doubt.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said, happy to have a distraction. “Maybe we should make the extraction point the same as the entrance?”

“That might be risky,” Braden said. “If anything goes wrong on the way in or you leave a trace that you didn’t know about…”

“Yeah. You’re right,” I agreed, as the car turned off the main road. “We’re not almost there, are we?”

“Pretty close,” Emily said, glancing at the screen on the dashboard showing approximate mileage to destination.

“Wow. It took us like thirty minutes from the MHA facility to your house in the old truck,” I said.

“This car could’ve easily shaved off ten minutes,” Emily agreed, nodding as Braden pulled over on the side of the road.

“This is it,” he said, pressing the button that put the car to sleep.

The towering conifers dwarfed our vehicle. The early morning light was barely trickling though the trees, not to mention the overcast skies blocked out most of the rays. The large boulders, sprays of sword ferns, and slippery moss were part of the landscape that made the Cascade forests absolutely beautiful, but it also made them absolutely treacherous. I got out of the car and stretched briefly, feeling the soreness along my back. The skin had been healing fairly well, but it was still quite painful at times and with certain movements. I wasn’t really sure how that was going to work with what we were facing in the days ahead, but I didn’t have the luxury of time on my side.

“It looks like there’s an incline on this side?” I asked.

Braden was handing cables and bags to us from the trunk when he nodded. “Yeah. This is the more hidden side from the towers, but it’s also far more dangerous to scale.”

“Of course,” I laughed.

“You’re not afraid of heights, are you?” Preston asked, a smirk appearing.

“You’re asking me that now?” I laughed, looping the rope over my shoulder.

“There’s a small bridge across a deep ravine with a creek at the bottom that we need to get over,” Preston said.

The more Preston spoke, the more I realized that if we needed to get out of any situation quickly tomorrow, our chances weren’t very good for surviving.

“We’ve got everything,” Braden said, as the trunk closed softly by itself. “We don’t want to slow ourselves down too much, but we also don’t want to be reckless. If you need more time, let us know.”

I nodded as we began entering the forest. The pine needles created a slick surface for our feet, and the deeper we plunged into the woods, the darker it became. The temperature dropped and the terrain became steeper. Before long I found myself grabbing onto limbs to steady myself and holding onto the ferns’ fronds so I didn’t slide back down the hill. Every so often my palm would scrape along a Douglas fir’s bark as I tried to balance myself, and I’d curse myself for not wearing gloves. Definitely not making that mistake tomorrow.

Everyone’s breathing was becoming labored as we climbed up the hill, but I began seeing sprays of light through the conifers. We had to be getting close to the top or to where we needed to cross over. Braden stopped and switched his gear from one side to the other, and I allowed myself a breather. I’d always considered myself to be in good shape, but this forest was kicking my ass.

“Not too much longer,” Emily whispered.

I nodded and began my ascent again, following Preston. His stride was unmatchable and so was his speed. His breathing had shifted slightly but nothing like the rest of us.

“Apparently someone was a lumberjack in their former life,” I whispered.

Preston’s body shook as he held in his laughter, and I watched Braden come to a stop. I was hoping this was as far as we needed to go. Emily grabbed a spray can and marked a tree in hot pink.

“We’ll take a look at things as we make our way across the bridge. We might do better spotting which tree would be the best for hanging the cable.”

Just as he mentioned cable, my heart rate shot through the trees. The idea of sliding down a cable and over a possibly electrified fencing was horrifying, but it had to be done. It was doubtful we’d get this much support trying to sneak into any other MHA facility and the idea seemed plausible.

Successful? Not so sure.

I spotted the bridge ahead that looked more like a bandage than a safe place to cross and wondered when the last time someone stood on it might have been. It was probably best not to think about it.

Braden got to the bridge first and gingerly put one foot on the slick wood, tapping it lightly. When nothing fell off or creaked, he placed his other foot on it and it held his weight. He nodded and swiftly ran across, all of us holding our breath until he made it to the other side. Emily went next. Preston gently nudged me forward, and I took a deep breath before looking down. There would be no surviving a fall from this height, not to mention crashing against the boulders on the way down.

“You got it, Rebekah,” Preston said, his voice low, encouraging.

I looked down at the dull wood strips and heard the gurgling of the water below. The thought of Frank crumpling to his death as I was perched from the same height, sprinted through my mind. When would these thoughts quit paralyzing me? My pulse was racing and as if sensing I wasn’t going to budge, Preston gently pressed his hand on the small of my back and nudged me forward. I looked up to see Emily and Braden watching me on the other side and raced to meet them.

“Nice,” Emily whispered, as Braden took stock of the conifers ahead.

I turned and watched Preston dash over the bridge. I got the sudden urge to hug him and did. I unlocked my arms from his neck as quickly as I had secured them and took a step back unsure of what just came over me.

“I think this one ought to work,” Braden said, pointing at a large fir tree in front of us. “It lines up with that big tree across the fence.”

It was difficult to see the entirety of the fence from our vantage point, but the trees did look to be perfectly lined up, and the distance not too far from the fence. My only question was how we were going to get out, considering we would be sliding down the cable once it was fastened across the way.

“I’m gonna scale the tree and secure the cable. When you guys come tomorrow, Preston is going to have to swing the other end over to that tree across the way, but I think it’s manageable,” Braden said, looking at Preston.

“Yeah, with a weighted end, it should be fine,” Preston agreed.

“Just make sure the hook goes around and latches on the cable,” Braden said, staring at Preston who nodded.

Braden grabbed the bag from Emily and the rope from me. He adjusted a quick loop around his waist as he walked over to the tree and began scaling the tree like he’d done it a million times before. Maybe he had. It didn’t take long before I couldn’t see him in between the branches, and the thought occurred to me that Preston would be up there tomorrow. I didn’t like that idea. I wanted him on the ground with me.

“It’ll take him a few more minutes, but you think you’ve got everything under control for tomorrow?” she asked, pointing in between the trees toward the compound.

“As much as we can,” I said.

“Let’s get back across the bridge. A group of us standing and staring, probably isn’t the best idea,” Preston said.

With the amount of brush surrounding the area, it would be surprising if anyone would be able to spot us from down below or up above, but he was right. Why risk it?

We made our way back across the bridge and this time, I had no near-death experience. We made our way down the hill, and Preston leaned up against one of the large conifers. Emily and I could still see Braden’s tree but we were no longer exposed.

“I think he’s coming down,” Emily whispered.

I glanced up and saw a few of the branches bow and wiggle as he climbed back down the tree. Hopping off from about six feet up, he landed on his feet and made his way toward us. Emily waved and Braden smiled as he hit the bridge.

“Hey, this is protected federal property. You can’t come hiking around here,” a guard hollered out of the silence.

“Is it target practice time?” Another guard yelled.

“I don’t know. Maybe if we’re lucky,” the first guard answered.

They broke into laughter.

“Drop your bag and put both hands up and slowly turn to face us,” the first guard hollered.

Braden was armed just as the rest of us were. He could take them both out. Why wasn’t he doing anything?

“I said, turn around,” the man hollered again.

Preston stood deathly still against the tree as Emily and I saw Braden drop his bag over the bridge and slowly turn to face the guards.

“Now, what are you doing here?”

“Just wandering and getting in touch with nature,” Braden said, flippantly.

They didn’t respond.

“What about you? What makes two rent-a-cops feel the need to wander away from their post?” Braden asked and my heart stopped.

Why was he antagonizing them?

“A regular smart ass, huh?” the second guard laughed. “I don’t think the world will miss him, do you?”