The Fallout (25 page)

I set a hand on hers. “You have to do this.”

She nodded.

Eddy asked, “What else?”

I rubbed my chin for a moment. “I wish we had cell phones or some way to communicate.” I sighed. “We just have to time it right. I will leave during breakfast, say I want to go for a run before the flight. You guys need to keep Dad busy. Keep him here. And keep him happy.”

Eddy asked, “Shouldn’t we be at the jet?”

I shook my head.

Lexie broke in, “But I thought we were all—”

I held up my hand. “I won’t leave without you. But you need to keep him here as long as you can. I’ll come back for you. I promise. Okay?”

They looked at each other and nodded.

Eddy yawned. “I’m going to bed.” He stuck his hand out. I put mine on top, and Lexie set hers on mine. No one said anything, just let them stay like that for a moment, before Eddy pulled his back and Lexie and I did the same.

Eddy left, but Lexie lingered by the door. She turned back to me. “I asked Dad. About my birth mother.”

“And?”

She lifted and lowered a shoulder. “He said they took babies from everywhere, that all the babies got a fresh start no matter where they were from.”

“Was that it?”

She shook her head. “He said he never wanted to know about any baby’s background, and he never asked the people that ran the home. He also said he had never planned to adopt anyone. But Mom fell in love with me and wouldn’t stop pestering him until he gave in.” She smiled. “He said they both fell in love with me and couldn’t imagine life without me.”

I said, “There you go. You have
your
answer.”

She frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

I looked down at the floor. “You have your answer. That’s what I meant.”

She came over and sat beside me. “What’s wrong?”

“You know that you don’t … that you aren’t…” I sighed. “You know that you aren’t your birth mother’s child. I mean, she didn’t raise you, she didn’t affect your upbringing in any way.”

Lexie nodded. “Yeah. That’s a good thing. To know I’m not a monster.”

I met her eyes. “But I was raised by mine.”

“By your what?”

“Dad is…” I swallowed. “He’s not right. And I’m his son. Eddy only had nine years, but I had my entire life to be affected … molded by his thinking.” I shrugged. “What if I’m like him?”

Lexie put an arm around my shoulders. “You’re not.”

“But what if I am?”

She shook her head. “If you were like him, you would leave tomorrow. You would leave us here.” That sentence hung in the air for a moment. “But I know you won’t.”

I hoped she was right.

She asked, “Eli, if we do leave here tomorrow … will we ever see Dad again?”

If we left, would I ever
want
to see him again?

The answer to both questions was the same. “I don’t know.”

That night, with all the thoughts racing through my head, I was barely able to get any sleep. When the bedside clock said seven, I got up. I threw on some running shorts and a T-shirt and dug in the closet for socks and shoes. I opened the drawer of the desk and took out a pen, which I put in my pocket. Then I went down to breakfast.

As planned, Eddy and Lexie were there, plates of eggs and sausage in front of them, pitchers of juice and milk on the table. Dad was nowhere in sight. “Where is he?” I asked.

Eddy looked behind him, then leaned forward and said in a low voice, “Haven’t seen him yet.”

Lexie said, “Maybe he’s still sleeping?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “When he comes, tell him I went for a run on the beach.” I started to go, then turned back. I took the time to look at them both, hoping I would see them again in just a little while, when I came to get them, so we could leave there.

Lexie stood and came to my side. “Be careful.” Then she hugged me. Eddy came over and put his arms around both of us.

Then we each stepped back for one last nod, and I left.

Trying to hurry, I jogged as much as I could on my way to the lab Dad had shown us the day before. The doors opened and I stepped into the cool interior. I paused there for a moment, letting myself cool off before heading down the hallway to the silver door with the keypad.

I stood in front of the silver door. My plan was to try a couple of codes, hope something worked. A very lame plan, but it was all I had. Dad had punched in only six numbers yesterday, I was sure of it. My first thought was a date.

But which one?

It could have been when we went into the Compound or when we got out of the Compound. Or his wedding to my mom. Or the birth of any of us.

The real problem was how many wrong tries would I get before it locked me out?

I took a deep breath and punched in my parents’ wedding anniversary. Two short beeps sounded, and nothing else happened.

Sweat dripped off my forehead. I rubbed my fingers together. “Please, please, please…” I tried again, punching in my, and Eddy’s, birth date.

Two short beeps sounded, like before, only the door slowly opened.

I whispered, “Oh, thank you—”

A pretty blond woman in a lab coat stepped out through it. She frowned at me.

“Oh, hi!” I forced a big grin on my face and wiped my forehead with a trembling hand. “Wow, Dad didn’t warn me how hot it would be here.”

Instantly, the lines on her forehead disappeared as she smiled. “Are you one of the twins?” Her accent sounded Scandinavian, Norwegian or Swedish, I couldn’t tell for sure. “I heard you arrived yesterday.”

I stuck out my hand, willing it not to shake. “Eli. And you are?”

She held out her hand and grasped mine for a moment, then let it go. “Dr. Sylvia Jorgenson.”

“Oh, perfect!” I said. “Dad actually sent me here for you. Since I was going on a run anyway. He needs you…” I snapped my fingers and scrunched my eyes shut. “Shoot, I forgot the name, but it’s that building next door.”

“Building B?” she asked.

Wow, would she buy that I had forgotten a frickin’
letter
? I needed to sound dumber, if possible. “Oh, duh.” I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, that was totally it.”

She looked confused. “Are you sure?”

I shrugged. “He was talking all fast and loud, yelling actually, but I think that’s what he said.” I made a point of frowning. “I hope I didn’t get the message wrong. Is there a phone where I could call him and check?”

“No, no.” She waved her hand frantically, apparently not willing to show a lack of confidence in the boss, no matter how small. “I will go there and meet him.” She brushed by me, then turned back to the open door. “I need to close that.”

“Oh, I’ve got it, ma’am.” I put my hand on it and started pushing it closed. “No problem.”

She nodded at me. “Thank you.” Then she marched off down the hallway, heels clicking on the floor.

I slipped inside the door, then took the pen out of my pocket and stuck it in the opening so the door wouldn’t close all the way. I fell back against the wall for a moment, and placed my hand over my pounding heart. “That was too frickin’ close.”

CHAPTER
THIRTY-SEVEN

When I had calmed slightly, I ran for the room with the gene gun, pushing through the plastic curtain. I went over to the shelves and picked up the black box I had seen the day before.

My heart started to pound. I was right.

The black remote was exactly like the one in the Compound: the one Dad had used to set off the explosion.

My plan was nothing more than a gamble, but I was betting on the whole island being rigged to go off, just like the Compound had been.

My plan counted on it.

I would go back to the house, Dad would be there with Eddy and Lexie, and I would wield the remote, threaten to blow up the island if he didn’t let us go. And if I was right, if Tony still held all his Phil-like qualities, he would want to save his own skin. So he would happily fly us off in the jet.

I heard a sound from the back of the room. I looked that way and saw the closed door I’d seen the other day. I needed to leave, and I headed for the plastic curtain and the way out. But I heard the sound again, almost like a mewling.

Were there research animals back there?

The least I could do would be to release them. Give them a chance to survive on the island. I didn’t give a damn what it did to Dad’s heinous research.

The latch was locked from the outside, so I easily unlocked it and pulled the door open, releasing a smell of floral-scented disinfectant that didn’t entirely mask a much less pleasant odor.

From inside came a mechanical and steady
whoosh whoosh whoosh
that grew louder as I walked farther into the room. But that wasn’t the sound I’d heard.

Then I heard the mewling again.

The room held several structures that resembled cribs, except they had solid sides instead of slats, and they were much bigger than those that held babies. Each had a machine hooked up to it, the source of the whooshing sound.

Were they respirators of some kind?

I slowly stepped nearer to the closest one and peered over the side.

I gasped and jumped back, my free hand clasped over my mouth.

What in the—?

My heart began to pound.

That crib held something unnatural. Something impossible.

I took one step only, then leaned forward to look again.

Something lay there on the white mattress. Something human, but not human. The being was the shape of a human, with normal-size limbs for an adult, only they looked deflated, like a balloon with no air. Suddenly, one of the saggy arms reached up and the creature rolled toward me. Under an oxygen mask, the flesh on the face looked like it had fallen off the bones. “Help me,” it mewled. And the mewling turned louder, until the sound turned to an inhuman shriek. “Help me!”

My throat tightened, and I backed away until I couldn’t go any farther. I had backed into another of the cribs, and I twirled around to see another creature that resembled the first, holding out its alien arms to me.

I cried out and stepped back, my hand on my chest, where my heart threatened to pound its way out.

More mewling came from the back of the room, where a curtain was drawn. I trudged forward and reached up to grasp the edge. The metal rings at the top clinked as I yanked it open a few feet.

The room was larger than it first appeared, and went on for another hundred yards at least. Enough space to hold dozens more of the cribs, all with respirators making the same
whoosh whoosh whoosh.
And, spurred on by the two shrieking creatures in the front of the room, a chorus of mewling arose from every crib, growing louder as I stood there.

Did every single crib contain one of those creatures?

“Oh, my God.” I started to back up toward the door.

“Pity, but it’s not an exact science yet.”

I whipped around.

My father stood there, between me and the door, blocking my way out.

CHAPTER
THIRTY-EIGHT

My throat was so tight, I could barely swallow, but I managed to squeak out, “What are those things?”

Dad shrugged. “We’re still working on being able to dictate the precise age. Some of the people didn’t
de-age
as expected, especially when we went beyond forty years or so. But all their memories and knowledge seem to remain.”

My knees started to buckle and I grabbed hold of the nearest crib to stay upright. “Oh, my God! They still know everything? They’re still aware?” I looked down at the creature in the crib, huddled in the fetal position, making the mewling sound I’d heard from outside. “How can you let them suffer like this?”

Dad shook his head slightly. “They did all sign waivers.” He noticed the remote in my hand. “Going to blow us all up?” He started toward me. “All that will do is set off a warning that will only be a drill.” He held out his hand. “Eli, save us all a wasted day of resetting the alarms and hand it over.”

“You’re lying!” I backed toward the wall, trying to edge my way toward the door.

Dad kept coming toward me as he still blocked my way to the door.

I raised the black box up. “Stop! Or I’ll push the button.”

“Eli,” Dad repeated. “It will only set off a drill.” But his eyes weren’t as calm as his voice. Was he afraid?

I took a chance and held up the remote, my finger poised above the button. “Back off or I’ll push it.”

“Fine, fine.” Dad held up his hands and moved to the side so I could get to the door. I backed through it in order to keep an eye on him the whole way, and kept going until something stopped my progress. I glanced behind me.

The machine with the gene gun.

I grabbed the gun and held it out in my other hand.

Dad laughed.

I glanced down at the machine. The dial made no sense, but I saw what looked like a power button and pushed it. With a whir, the entire thing started vibrating. I held the gun out and said, “Stay back.”

Dad shook his head. “Or what? You’ll de-age me?” He laughed again.

I said, “That’s why you didn’t use it on yourself. Because the process isn’t perfected yet.”

The machine beeped. I wondered if that meant it was ready. Dad kept advancing toward me, and I took a firmer hold on the gun in one hand, the black remote in the other. “I won’t let you have my family.”

Dad frowned. “They’re my family, too. You’re all my family.”

I shook my head. “Not anymore. Not after what you did. And I won’t let you do it again.”

“We can talk about this later,” said Dad. “There’s been a slight change of plans. I’ve decided your brother and sister should go back to Seattle. You can stay here until the rest of them come.”

“They won’t leave without me,” I said.

Dad laughed. “Really? You think they love you that much that they’d stay here and wait for you to come get them? You really believe that?” He shook his head.

The gun trembled in my hand and I felt my chin wobble.

Would I stay for them?

And I realized that I already
was
staying for them. I was standing here in this room in order to take them with me, get us home. I swallowed, and said with the most conviction I could muster, “I do believe it.”