Dead Girl Running (The New Order Book 1) (39 page)

I wake to the soft clink of metal on metal.

I’m so tired. Better go back to sleep. I hope it’s not time to get up for work yet.

Something shakes my arm.

“Silvia,” Gus’s gruff voice whispers in my ear. “Can you hear me?”

My eyes flutter open and then closed. “What’s up? Is it morning, yet?”

“Hold still. I’ll get you out of this,” he promises. “Don’t make a sound.”

I try to move my arms and realize that I’m handcuffed to a gurney.

Panicking, I start to flail.

Gus pushes my shoulders back down on the bed. “Stay calm and lie still. I slipped a sedative in the guard’s drink, muffled the microphones, and hijacked the cameras, but we have to hurry before they catch on.”

They. The Suits. The New Order.

They’re all out to get me.

I’m not pregnant with Liam’s love child, presumably for the New Order Representative who looked just like me, so they’ve probably sold my internal organs instead. Because to them I am merely disposable goods.

Now, I’m both angry and scared. I have to escape before they kill me, so I can figure out how I’m going to kill them instead.

Wait a minute. How did Gus know I was here? What’s his plan? What’s going on?

“Gus,” I whisper, holding as still as I can, “How did you know I was here?”

“I’ll tell you everything, but right now there’s no time. I’ve got to get you out of here.”

“Aren’t you going to get in trouble?”

The first handcuff releases with a clink against the hospital bed.

Gus hurries to the other side to work the other lock. “Someday, I expect I will get in a whole heck of a lot of trouble, but I don’t care about that anymore. I’d rather be killed for doing the right thing then die inside by turning the other cheek.”

The second handcuff opens, and I rub my wrists. Gus helps me off the gurney. My legs are weak, but I manage to stand.

“Hurry. Put these on.” Gus pulls out some scrubs from a large bag slung over his shoulder. “And give me back your hospital gown.”

When I switch outfits, Gus slips the robe over a long pillow and carefully arranges it to look like a body under the sheet.

“Let’s go.” He covers his face with a surgical mask and hands me another one along with a scrub hat to hide my hair.

We tuck out into the dimly-lit hallway, checking each corner and ducking around every camera we can. We scurry to the back stairway where Gus has somehow managed to turn out all the lights. He hands me a flashlight, and down we go, all the way to Mortuary Sciences.

The gurneys are all lined up and ready to go to the Incinerator.

One is empty.

Gus hands me a black body bag. “This one’s yours.”

’m sorry, Silvia.” Gus points at the gurney. “There’s no time to explain. You have to trust me.”

Shaking, I climb onto the gurney, slip into the body bag, and watch the room disappear as Gus zips it over my head.

“Don’t move or talk,” Gus warns. “The Handlers will be here soon.”

Metal carts clang together.

Papers shuffle.

Body bags rustle.

I’m in the middle of one of the triple-wide gurneys Gus hates so much.

The gurney creaks and shudders, and then I’m sandwiched between two, cold, dead bodies, one on either side.

“I’m sorry, but it’s the only way,” Gus whispers under his breath.

The back door opens with a bang.

“You ready to go?” hollers a Handler.

“Yeah,” says Gus. “I’ve been ready and waiting for over an hour.”

“Then let’s go.”

Carts squeak and roll past. When another cart jolts the one I’m on, I brace myself, biting my lip so as not to make a sound.

With a sudden jerk, I’m on the move, sliding back and forth in the bag. The wheels whine and complain beneath the weight, catch on the grate of the ramp, and then the gurney steadily inclines into the truck. The cart bangs into the next one in line, and we halt to a stop.

Doors clang shut. The truck engine comes to life. And we’re off, headed for the Incinerator.

I can hear Gus’s monitor crackle to life. The hum moves from side to side around the truck. I wait in silence. After what seems like forever, Gus unzips the bag.

“How’re you doing in there?” He frowns. “We should be out of the main part of the city and onto the outer-lying roads soon.”

“Then what, Gus?” I ask. “Do I jump out and run for it?”

“No.” He shakes his head. “Where would you go?”

“I don’t know.” I can’t sit up; the rack is right over my head. I’m trying so hard not to cry, but it’s no use. A few tears squeeze out. “They’re going to kill me, Gus. And what about my mom? What’s going to happen to her?”

Gus sighs. “At the moment, your mom will have to fend for herself. But she
could
be in trouble.”

I wipe my eyes. “She was freaking out when I was taken. And now there’s no one left in our family to take care of her.”

“I’m afraid things might be even worse than you think, now that Franco talked to her.”

“What do you mean?” I can still feel Franco’s kisses on my lips, but that seems unimportant now and so far away. “What does he have to do with this?”

“Franco went looking for you this morning when he woke up,” Gus explains.

“He did?”

“Yeah, he said there was some misunderstanding between you two.” Gus waves his hand. “I don’t need to know the details. But when he didn’t find you at work, he went to your home and found your mother, instead.”

“So, what does my mom think happened?”

“Franco told her everything. In fact, now she knows more than you, and we’ll get to that. But, my point is, that’s how I knew where to find you.”

“I’m glad you found me, and I don’t mean to sound unappreciative, but what do you plan to do with me at the Incinerator?”

Gus chuckles. “Well, I don’t plan to turn you to ash. That’s for certain.”

The truck grinds to a sudden halt.

“What the Hell?” Gus exclaims before zipping the bag back over my head.

I hold still in the stale darkness.

The back doors of the truck slam open.

“Truck’s overheated!” yells a Handler. “Do you have any water?”

“Yes.” Gus swears under his breath, fusses with his tool rack, and clambers out. I strain to hear the voices outside the truck, but they’re too muffled to comprehend.

Finally, Gus clambers back inside and shuts the doors. The engine starts again, and I take a deep breath. The zipper opens overhead to reveal Gus’s sweating face.

“Stupid piece of crap truck, trying to carry too heavy of a load. Damn thing overheated, but some water did the trick. Unfortunately, you’ll be needing that water later, but there was no other way. I have to get you to the Incinerator.”

“What am I going to do at the Incinerator?”

He points toward the floor. “You’ll be going out the sewer.”

“What?”

“The sewer drain. It’s there in case the building catches on fire. There’s an overhead emergency sprinkler system. I’ll unscrew the drain cover, down you’ll go, and then you’ll run ‘til you reach the woods for cover.”

My heart races. “The woods outside the fence? But there’s wolves and man-eating creatures out there.”

“Silvia, don’t be scared of the wilderness. That fence was built to restrain you, not protect you.”

“But I’ll starve.” I rub my stomach. I’m hungry right now.

“No, you won’t.” Gus shakes his head. “I’ll give you the supplies you’ll need. All you have to do is to find the others.”

“What others? What are you talking about?”

“After the War, some people resisted the move to the cities.” Gus takes a deep breath. “Ben’s brother was one of them.”

I gasp. “
Your
Ben?”

“Yes. His name’s Frank. He’s the one who sets off the firework show every fourth of July, just to let me know he’s still out there.”

“So, that’s why we waited for the fireworks. But I still don’t understand.”

“Don’t you get it? I’m the Underground Railroad for getting people out of this Godforsaken city.”

“Why? Because of what they did to Ben?”

“Yes, it started with Ben. When I realized that the New Order basically enslaved the survivors of the WWIII to serve their own needs, I knew I had to do something.”

A cold chill races down my spine. “Holy crap, Gus.”

“I wanted to tell you. I was working my way toward it. My plan was for you to take over for me. I’m getting old, Silvia.”

“To take over?” I feel dizzy. Good thing I’m already lying down. “But where do these people go exactly?”

“Don’t worry. Once I set the Incinerator on fire—“

“Once you
what?”

“Don’t interrupt; there’s no time. I hid explosives in one of the body bags. That will start a fire once it hits the Incinerator. Then you’ve got to get out of this bag and jump down into the sewer system. I’ll drop down all the supplies—maps, compass, and the like. They’re hidden in another one of the body bags in case you’re wondering. Oh, and I have some stuff stashed in my tool chest.”

I’m shaking all over. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

“Sure you can. You’re smart—and you have no other choice.”

“But what if I want to come back? Then what do I do?”

Gus shakes his head. “You’re never coming back, Silvia. It’s hard enough getting you out.”

“No, I’m coming back. I’ll find all the others and convince them to join me.”

“Join you in what?”

“Overthrowing the New Order just like Franco said when he was drunk. I thought it was crazy talk, but now I know he was right. It’s time to destroy it. Blow it to smithereens.”

Gus’ eyes widen. “Franco was drunk? No wonder he smelled—oh, never mind about that. But, Silvia, put the thought of coming back out of your mind. This is goodbye.”

“No, I’ll see you again.” I get up on both elbows, so he can see my face. “I swear it, Gus. I’m coming back for you and my mom at the very least.”

Gus chuckles, but he grabs at his chest like it hurts him. “That’s what they all say, that they’ll come back. But it never happens.”

“No, I’m coming back!” I protest. “I’m not like the others.”

He holds up a hand, and I fall silent.

“Silvia, that’s exactly what your father said. And he never came back, did he?”

“W-what?” I can’t breathe.

“That’s what else I had to tell you. Your father was in the accident along with Jack, Liam’s dad. Neither one of them died. And it was no accident, either. It was staged by the New Order trying to get rid of the rebels working in that sector of the clothing industry. Your father and Jack were unconscious when they were brought to me, but not dead.”

“He’s not dead?” My heart ricochets in my chest. Now that I finally have proof, I can hardly believe it’s true.

“No. Not yet. But I knew the Representatives had their eyes on them, so I drugged them to make it look like they’d been killed in the fire. They were covered with soot when they arrived, and I used my stage makeup to make their injuries look worse than they were. I fooled the examiners, who were just a bunch of politicians anyway. Not a real doctor in the bunch, thank goodness.”

My hands shake. “What the Hell are you telling me, Gus?”

“Your father’s alive. And you’re going to see him again.”

The truck halts with a bang and a wheeze that echoes my own.