The Pulse Series (Book 1): Pulse (30 page)

"No!" Sarah screamed.

I looked up at her face and turned to see what she was looking at. My blood went cold. Thomas was lying on the floor, his neck twisted at an odd angle. His blank eyes stared out into the woods. I wanted to vomit. The man standing above Thomas's body was shaking his head as he looked down at the boy. He shrugged his shoulders, and turned to talk with one of the others.

I felt a white hot rage flow through me, but my short attempt at a struggle earned me another blow to the back of the head. I shook it off as we came to a stop in front of the General. The man and woman that were directing us let us go and stepped off to the side. The general cleared his throat. I ignored him and turned to look at Sarah. Her face was white and she was hyperventilating.

"Sarah." She didn't turn. "Sarah!" She jumped in shock and looked up at me. "I'm going to get us out of here, okay?"

Sarah looked at me in the eyes, and just turned to look at the general. I sighed and did the same. Walker stepped forward to within a few paces of us and cleared his throat.

"Well that was unfortunate."

I snarled at him. "You bastard."

He shook his head. "None of this had to happen, Alex. This was your choice. His death is on your head."

I spat at his feet. He smirked and turned toward Sarah.

"Sorry for your loss."

Sarah stared him in the eyes. "No, you're not."

The general frowned. "I am. It wasn't part of the plan. I wanted to keep you all alive. To rehabilitate you."

Sarah didn't move. "You mean torture and kill us, like you did with that kid last night?"

The general shook his head, and I saw some uncertainty pop into his eyes. "No, that's not it at all, I just—"

"You didn't think, did you?"

The general blinked a few times, and looked around for help, but the guards around him just seemed confused. I was too. Where was the man I had always seen? The powerful man. This was his business. What was he—

Then I felt it.

It wasn't a wave like I was used to. It was more like the tide coming in. You couldn't feel it rising unless you were expecting it to. I looked over at Sarah, and smiled. She was controlling him. Playing with his emotions. I reached inside myself and got a firm grip on my own pulse, ready to explode the moment I had an opportunity.

"You enjoy this, don't you?"

The general shook his head. "N-no, I d-don't."

"Of course you do. You're a sadist, and you're never going to stop."

"Never stop?" The general looked up at Sarah. He looked vulnerable. It was an odd look on him.

Sarah leaned forward as far as she could while being held from behind. "There is one way."

The general's eyes widened and and nodded. He reached into his holster and started removing his pistol. It was an old style revolver. He started lifting it toward his head. My eyes widened.

"Sir!"

The shout made me jump. I turned to see Bradley with his hand on the General's arm. Walker frowned, and shook his head. His eyes seem to lose some of their cloudiness. A few seconds passed as he turned to look at Bradley.

"Thank you, Bradley," he said, before turning back to Sarah. He smiled at her. "You clever bitch."

He raised his gun to her face and fired.

THIRTY-EIGHT

Time seemed to slow as I watched her head flick back and blood explode from her face. I screamed as I watched her fall forward, her lifeless body slamming to the ground with nothing to keep holding it up. I fell to me knees and did my best to crawl over toward her. Without my hands I couldn't move her, but I fell to the ground and let my head rest on her back. The tears that clouded my vision fell onto her back, dampening her shirt.

Pain spiked in my shoulders as I was picked up and pulled away from her. I looked up at the general who was re holstering his weapon.

"You murderer!" Rage burned within me. I wanted to tear this mans eyes out.

"Take her to the holding area."

I was pulled away from the General and forced to march to the edge of the clearing nearest the facility. Bradley was standing in my path.

"Stop, I need to say something to her."

Whoever was behind me halted his march, but didn't release my arms.

"Alex, look, I just need to tell you why I—"

"Stop talking," I said, staring up into his eyes. A few seconds passed between us. At the moment I wished for the power to stop someones heart. I had to settle for words instead. "If I ever see you again—I'll kill you."

Bradley sagged and stepped out of our path. Our march through the forest recommenced. Two men with fully automatic rifles took places either side of us to accompany us back to the mansion. I would have laughed at the convoy needed for one little girl if I had felt like laughing. I couldn't get the image of Sarah's head flicking backwards from the impact of the bullet. I closed my eyes as we walked and tried not to think of my friends lying in the dirt behind me. I stumbled a few times, but the hands of my guide on my arms kept me upright. Soon enough I could feel the sunlight on my skin and opened my eyes to see the barracks.

People were standing in crowds near the barracks. They must have heard the gunfire. I could see more of the armed guard patrolling through the crowd to keep everyone calm, but from this distance it seemed to have the opposite effect. The crowd was full of whispers and shifty eyes looking all around them. It wasn't long before we were spotted and a cry went out. Soon enough a hundred pairs of eyes locked onto us, and the crowd fell silent.

As we came closer, and they realized I was a prisoner, the whispers broke out again. I stared at my feet, not wanting to meet any of the eyes that were judging me. I wasn't sure I could handle it right now. The crowd wasn't thick, but they parted as the men escorted me in a straight line toward the mansion. No-one spoke to us. We were almost through when someone stepped out of the crowd and into our path. One of my guard stepped forward and shifted his weapon.

"Clear the path."

"I need to say something to her," said a voice I recognized.

My eyes flicked up to see Nadine standing in front of the armed man. She was standing with her head held high in full military mode. None of her usual carefree attitude was evident.

"Negative, ma'am, we're to escort the prisoner to a holding facility right away. General's orders."

Nadine didn't move. "One minute."

The man stared at her for a few seconds, before turning to look over my head at the guard behind me. I felt him shrug. The man in front of Nadine turned back to her.

"One minute."

Nadine nodded to him and looked up at me. As she stepped toward me I wondered what she was going to say. Would she chew me out for getting in trouble? Would she bother to ask for my side of the story? Nadine had always been one of the girls that I could count on. Not a friend, but someone I could go to if I needed to. I knew I had to tell her what I had seen. What they had done.

"Nadine, they killed—"

I was cut off mid sentence by Nadine's fist colliding with my cheek. My head flew back from the unexpected impact, but the man behind me prevented me from falling. I blinked the tears of pain from my eyes, and spat out some blood. The inside of my mouth had split open against my teeth. I looked up into her eyes. They were filled with anger, and something else. A hint of sadness?

"How could you?" I frowned at her. Nadine shook her head. "By the time I reached Jane she was close to death. I managed to get her to the doctor in time, but she's in a coma. Was it worth it, Alex? Was it worth it to get your petty revenge? I hope you rot wherever they leave you."

Nadine turned on her heel and stormed off into the crowd. The whispering around us reignited with a fervor. I tried to yell out to her, but she had already slipped back into the sea of people. She thought that was why I was being arrested. That is the story that would be circulated. The general wouldn't even need a cover-up. I gave him the perfect excuse.

The man behind me gave me a shove and we started walking again. When we reached the mansion out march stopped. Without warning a black hood was pulled over my face and tied at the back. I cried out in surprise, but the noise was muffled behind the thick material. It smelled musty like it had never been washed. I gagged. Our march resumed.

After another ten or so minutes of walking, including navigating some stairs, I was seated in a chair and the cable tie that held my hands behind my back was cut loose. Before I could even rub the pain out of my wrists they were shacked again to either side of the chair. I heard the sound of retreating footsteps, and then a door closing behind me, but I couldn't be sure all the men were gone with this hood on.

I was about to try to shake it off when I felt hands on the back untie the knot. The hood was pulled from over my head, and I had to blink as the white fluorescent light filled my eyes. When they adjusted I saw the man of my nightmares standing over me. Doctor Vorboyov leaned down over me with his usual grin.

"Welcome to your new home, child."

I looked around the room. It was empty, with nothing but a large glass mirror in front of me, but a glance to the roof confirmed the sense of dread that had been building in my stomach.

I could see the vent system. The same I place I had looked out of not twenty-four hours beforehand and watched as a young boy was tortured, and then murdered.

I was in one of the torture rooms.

I was in my nightmare.

Doctor Vorboyov loomed over me like a grim reaper. He looked so excited, like a child with a new toy. I wanted to be sick. I swallowed my fear and stared into his eyes.

"So when are you going to torture me?"

He tilted his head to the side. "Torture? Why would we torture you?"

I frowned. "Isn't that… what you do here?"

The doctor laughed, causing a chill to run down my spine. "No, child, that is not 'what we do'. He help people."

I felt anger boil under my skin. "Like you helped Justin?"

Doctor Vorboyov frowned. "Who?"

I lifted my hands to wrap them around his throat, but the steel cut into my wrists and prevented me from standing. I screamed at him in frustration. "You know damn well who!"

Vorboyov just shrugged. "I do not remember names of our subjects here. You will need to be more specific."

I was shaking in my restraints. "You tortured him for weeks, and then murdered him last night as I watched. Killed him for his pulse ability."

The doctor's eye lit up. "Ah, subject C462. Yes, a successful subject that one. His loss will help save many more lives in the future. A worthy sacrifice."

"It wasn't your decision to make!"

Vorboyov shrugged again. "We made it anyway."

I wanted to tear him apart. I forced myself to breathe. The time would come when they let their security lax. I would have my opportunity then. I would avenge Justin. I would avenge Thomas. I would avenge Sarah.

I was about to ask another question when Vorboyov pulled out a syringe from inside the chest of his white lab coat. I frowned at the silvery liquid in the tube.

"What's that?"

"Memory serum. It will help you forget some of the nastier parts of the last few days."

I felt the color drain from my face. "You're going to take my memories?"

The doctor smiled. "We're going to try, but I'm unsure as to whether it will work on you or not."

My eyes scrunched in confusion. "What? Why?"

Vorboyov smiled at me. "Because you've thrown it off before. I believe you may have developed an immunity for it. We will see."

"What are you talking about?"

The doctor tilted his head. "Are you not the one who we removed the memory of near the pond? Have I gotten the wrong file?"

I felt the blood drain from my face. They had taken my memories? What? I shook my head to clear it.

"My memories were taken by Jane, not you."

The doctor frowned. "Jane?"

I sighed. "The one who attacked me near the pond."

"Ah, D443! And how would she take your memories?"

"Her pulse ability. Isn't it… memory…"

I realized I had been lied to. Bradley had not only betrayed me now, but he had lied to me then too. Even after what had happened between us before then. All at once I felt the rage rain out of me. I just felt empty. He had never been mine, no matter what I had thought. No matter what he had said. Had he ever been honest with me? I realized that Doctor Vorboyov was talking.

"—bility has nothing to do with memory. The dose was administered by myself when you were unconscious. Anyway, on to business."

He took a step forward and pushed the needle into my arm. I flinched at the bite of pain, and winced at the coldness entering my bloodstream as he depressed the plunger. I tried to follow it as it spread through my system, but after a few seconds the feeling of if became too diluted for me to track. I waited for the effects to take hold.

It hit me without warning. My head felt like it was going to explode. It felt like I had been hit with a sledgehammer. I shuddered and started convulsing in my chair. I fought to retain consciousness. The pain threatened to split my head open, but I grit my teeth and forced myself to stay awake. Darkness pulled for me at the corner of my mind, but I pushed away from it.

The pain started to dissipate, and I managed to open my eyes again. A gentle throb had taken up residence inside my skull. The light hurt my eyes. I tasted copper, and realized my nose was bleeding. Vorboyov walked forward with a handkerchief and wiped the blood off my face. I was too weak to flinch away from him.

"As I suspected. Failure to take hold. Unfortunate."

I felt a grim satisfaction that I was able to throw off his serum. I wondered who had to die to give him that syringe full of liquid. I shuddered at the thought.

The doctor cleared his throat. "We will have to resort to other means."

My satisfaction dissolved and was once again replaced with fear. What were they going to do to me? Was this what happened to Justin? Was he able to throw off the serum too?

"Your rehabilitation will begin tomorrow morning."