Resistance (The Institute Series Book 2) (23 page)

Chapter Nineteen

We leave Paxton’s office and start heading to the training orientation room to meet up with the people who will help, all of us invisible again except for Paxton. As we enter the room, Nina lets go of her ability and we all reappear, taking a few people by surprise. Paxton shakes his head at us, closing the door and shutting the blinds over the window. Perhaps we should’ve waited for him to do that before exposing ourselves.

A few more people arrive as we take out seats and it’s almost a full class room.

“As you may all be aware, a mass arrest is currently taking place on the outside,” Paxton starts. “The only thing I can tell you about these people is that they were all informed and prepared for this arrest. They, along with our help, are going to take over the Institute. The plan is to overthrow Brookfield, who we all know cowered out of going on the arrest himself. Fortunately, he’s so predictable.” He pauses for a moment to smile. “With all of his goons and the best people out there on the job, we now have minimal security to deal with.”

One of the guards stands up. I recognise him as Ty; the guard who exposed my ability and treated me like a prisoner … which I guess technically I was. I don’t judge him for how he treated me, but I’m surprised that he is with us. He seemed to enjoy tormenting me.

“Whoa. No one ever said anything to me about taking on the boss.” His voice is deep and authoritative. I’m reminded of the times he stood behind me during my meal breaks on interrogation days, towering over me, making me flinch with every word he said.

“When you were told we were going to fight, what did you think it entailed?” Paxton asks in a condescending tone.

Ty shrugs, “I don’t know. Escaping, fleeing, getting the hell out of this place.”

“And you think we could accomplish that
without
taking on Brookfield?” Paxton looks annoyed at the simpleness of Ty. No wonder he wasn’t chosen for the mass arrest.

Ty thinks about it for a moment before shaking his head, “I guess not,” he says sitting back down.

“Now, two of his personal guards have stayed behind and they are up in Brookfield’s office while the arrest has gone on. We don’t have much time left. We need to get Brookfield neutralised before the arrest team comes back. Agent Daniels and I will be running that. We need you to start containing everyone who isn’t on the arrest. We need this place locked down by the time they get here – that’s your job. Explain a lockdown has been put in place for the imminent arrival of the arrestees. Once Brookfield is out, the takeover should be a lot smoother as everyone else will be looking for someone to lead them.”

“Won’t his second in charge be responsible for that?” a female voice from the front of the room says.

Paxton smiles. “Are you aware of whom that is?”

Someone else says, “Lynch.”

“No. It’s Zac,” another person adds.

Paxton shakes his head. “Try again,” he says, smiling.

I narrow my eyes. “It’s you. Isn’t it?”

Paxton just smiles wider and I find it to be contagious.
This is going to work.
I didn’t have all-round certainty until just now.

But that queasy, unsettled feeling appears in the pit of my stomach again, telling me something isn’t quite right. With Brookfield out of the way, Paxton will have full reign over the Institute. I’m not saying Paxton will do a bad job, I think he would be great, but I’m suddenly aware of the political gain he will get from taking Brookfield out, and I begin to wonder what his true motives are for this plan. He’s already admitted to me that the reason he’s here is for political advancement, but I assumed that it was just a side benefit for helping his daughter, Nuka. I don’t want to think it, but there’s a nagging part of me that feels like I’ve been manipulated into this position.

“I wanted you all to know what was going to happen today. Just remember to tie these to your arms when everything starts to go down.” He passes around pieces of red material, just big enough to tie around your bicep. “Anyone in uniform wearing these is on our side, and the rebels will be able to see who of you could be helpful. It will also avoid you getting shot or hurt.”

The certainty I was just feeling moments ago dissipates as he says the words ‘shot or hurt’. I know that this is a big possibility but hearing the words puts me on edge. This could go down numerous ways, and there are very few possible outcomes where no one goes unscathed.

“Don’t forget to let the others know. Understandably not everyone could make this meeting, so we need to get word out that the takeover has been moved up. So if you’re ready, let’s do this,” Paxton says.

Everyone leaves, except Paxton, Licia, Nina, Ebb and me. Nina and Ebb look as nervous as I feel. Licia and Paxton look raring to go which is helping me remain confident… on the outside at least. The inside is another story.

“So we ready?” Paxton asks.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I say. I look to Ebb though who looks almost as white as a sheet. “Are you okay?” I ask her.

“Yeah,” she stutters back. “I’m fine.” I give Paxton a look. Ebb is not fine. “No, no. I can do this, really,” Ebb says unconvincingly.

“You don’t have to though,” I say, putting one arm on her shoulder. “We’re not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to, and if I’m completely honest, we need someone who’s going to be one hundred percent ready for this.”

I see colour come back to her face already as she hangs her head and nods. “I really do want to help,” she says. “But I just can’t seem to get myself under control. My nerves are shot, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” I’ve never seen Ebb in such a vulnerable state either.

“How about you go back to my office and wait up there until this part is over? We can come get you when we really need you. The four of us can handle this bit.” Paxton says reassuringly. Ebb nods, avoiding eye contact with us all as she disappears.

Arming ourselves with guns, we make our way up to Brookfield’s office. Nina cloaks herself and Licia, while I borrow her ability to cloak myself. Paxton approaches the guards standing outside Brookfield’s office.

“I need a word with the man,” Paxton says confidently. I jump at the sound of his voice. Maybe my nerves are a bit shot, too. Brookfield’s personal guards stand at the door with unpleased looks on their faces.

“Can’t. He’s busy,” one guard replies.

“Oh, he’ll want to hear this.”

“Let him in,” Brookfield yells from inside his office.

We follow Paxton and the guards into the room and I narrowly miss getting the door shut on me. Paxton moved painfully slow into the office to help us out, I just hope the other two made it in here. I also didn’t realise how hard it is to make footsteps silent. It’s damn near impossible! But the carpeting helps – I’m sure if Brookfield had hardwood floors, we’d have been caught already.

“Got time for a chat?” Paxton asks.

I tell myself to breathe normally but every time I remind myself, I find myself breathing deeper, causing more air in and out of my lungs and more noise to come out of me as I exhale.

“Not really,” Brookfield replies, “But what’s up?”

“How’s the arrest going? Any word yet?”

“Is that what you came to discuss?” Brookfield asks with a tone of annoyance.

“Actually, no. Are we able to have this conversation in private?” Paxton gestures to the guards.

Paxton begins to sweat, a sure sign the nerves are starting to get to him too. But instead of being suspicious, Brookfield seems intrigued. He dismisses his guards with a wave of his hand and a half smile on his face. I’m almost getting the impression that he knows what Paxton is about to say. He looks right into Paxton’s eyes, almost challengingly.

“So you’ve come to admit you’re the mole then?” Brookfield asks.

“The mole?” Paxton asks, surprised.

“I had a suspicion it could have been you. You’ve been calling in sick a lot recently, haven’t you? I didn’t know for sure until just now. Why else would you be here now – while the biggest arrest of my career is taking place – looking so nervous?” he raises an eyebrow.

Paxton wipes sweat off his brow. I reveal myself and step forward. “He’s nervous because of me,” I say confidently, putting a hand on Paxton’s shoulder, causing him to flinch. He’s better at this acting thing than I expected him to be.

Brookfield’s face drops, the colour draining from it rapidly. “How did you … what are you doing?” His hand drops below his desk, I assume to press the panic button that Paxton warned me is there.

I raise my gun, pointing it at someone for the first time ever. My arm starts to shake a little, and I take my hand off Paxton to steady myself and the gun.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” I say threateningly.

“Why not?” Brookfield asks. “Are you going to take on all of my guards by yourself? Am I meant to be scared?”

“You mean your two guards? Where’s everyone else right now, Mr. Brookfield?”

Realisation and fear wash over his face before he tries putting on a brave façade. “Two on one – I still like those odds,” he says, making a movement with his arm letting me know he’s pushed the silent alarm.

Brookfield’s guards come rushing in, guns aimed at me – I’m assuming anyway, I haven’t taken my eyes off Brookfield.

“Actually,” I say hoping Licia and Nina are in position, “It’s three on two.”  I smile as Brookfield’s face drops once again. That’s enough confirmation for me that Licia and Nina have my back. “You might want to order them to drop their weapons,” I instruct. Brookfield nods at them to do so. “Now both of you go stand over there next to Brookfield,” I order and they obey. “And keep your hands where I can see them.”

As they step around his desk, I can’t help but match their smiles. They’re both wearing red arm bands. “Looks like my odds just got better,” I boast.

Brookfield fixes his eyes on mine. “So what are you going to do now, Miss Daniels?” he asks. “No matter what you threaten to do, you’re not going to make me do what you want. You’re going to have to kill me. And if you kill me, then you’ll have Paxton to deal with, then Lynch after him, the list is endless. You really think I’m your sole enemy – that if you get rid of me, your problems will be over?”

“The public need to know how we are treated here,” I say.

“And how are you going to go about letting them know?” he asks casually. If I couldn’t see his face right now, I wouldn’t even think he was scared. His tone is downright composed.

“That’s easy. You’re going to tell them,” I say, smiling.

Brookfield scoffs. “With a gun to my head?” he asks. “That will just cement the public’s view of Defectives. Won’t that show them that I am, in fact, doing the right thing here?”

“Oh, I think you’ll do it all on your own,” I say confidently, even though I don’t believe what I’m actually saying. We’ll have Hayden to help us with that.

“And why is that?”

“What will our leading politicians do if they found out what exactly goes on here? They are technically your bosses, right? What would that do to your career? I’m having visions of possible jail time, no job, no money; your wife would leave for sure.”

“Exactly. So why would I want to let everyone know?”

“Because we are giving you an out. You are going to organise a press conference – coincidently I know of one already happening this afternoon regarding this mass arrest –” I smile, no it’s more like a cocky smirk. “You are going to resign as director of the Institute. You’re burnt out, you need a break, you’re not providing the high level care as required and that needs to change for the welfare of the human beings that are in your care. You will still be admitting guilt, but the extent of it will save you from ruining your life. I’m going to give you what you once gave me. I’m offering you the chance to go back out into the real world, a free man. Will you have to find another job? Yes. Will your political career be over? Yes. But that sounds like a pretty good option to me over jail time.”

He shakes his head. “That’s not going to happen.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to think about it?” I ask. He just stares at me, blankly. I nod, disappointed. “That’s fine by us. The alternative is getting rid of you and putting Paxton in your place. He seems to be a lot more co-operative.” I cock my gun, poised to shoot.

“Wait!” Paxton exclaims, standing up from his chair. “At least give him a while to think it over,” he says.

“Okay,” I shrug, lowering my gun, putting the safety back on and placing it in the waist band of my jeans, sitting it in the small of my back. Brookfield lets out an enormous breath, I think I actually convinced him I was going to do it. I had no intention of actually shooting him. “Let’s take him to where he belongs,” I say.

Considering Brookfield’s brave front, it’s relatively easy to get him moving. But I guess six on one has something to do with that. The hallways leading us down are empty. I can only assume that the others have finished with the lockdown process. As we walk Brookfield and his two guards down to the Crypt and past the cells of inmates, cheers and whooping sounds surround us. I assume no one down here actually knows what’s going on – they’re just excited about the look of Brookfield, restrained and overpowered. I give a crooked smile.