Bound to Ashes (The Altered Sequence Book 1) (19 page)

“There’s nothing there!”

I slide the rifle around my shoulder and move towards the building. Around the corner, through the door, is a young human female slumped against the wall. Some of the boards in the window shattered from the bullet entry. Her eyes are clenched shut and the blood from the exit wound pools in her eye socket. I kneel and grab the sleeve and drag her to the street. I let her drop where the others can see her.

The shocked expressions, expected. The emotionless one from Dev, not as much. Ashton looks mad—the bleeding heart. Lives don’t need to be spared.

I stare him down and say, “He said the supplies are in the alley. Better see if he was lying.”

10
• on the road

[Dev]

I’ve seen more geographical features in the last two weeks than in my entire life. I can tell what plants back home are poisonous and what time of day dust storms come around, but now we might as well be on another planet. We’re hiding from torrential rains that make my chest tight. We duck under pines that make poor cover.

Alessandra hasn’t said anything in days aside from the occasional, unconvincing reassurance that we’re headed the right way. She just buries herself in the map. She concentrates on it more and more, which probably is a good thing, but part of me thinks she doubts her navigation. Even Peregrine and Vinder have been quiet. The trip is wearing on them, too.

For all I know the Ecodome could be resting just beyond the trees, right over the next hill, or past the next town. We have to keep moving. If we don’t, the image of the dome in my head will become just that— an idea. It still feels better to put one foot in front of the other, but eventually it won’t be enough.

Ever since the incident at the stadium, the group has stuck together tighter. The threat of outsiders sits fresh on everyone’s mind. I used to only think of ‘the group’ as Ashton, Jules, and Cain, but unconsciously the humans have squeezed their way into the association. I catch myself every once in a while noticing it. Feels weird acknowledging it.

Alessandra lets out a sigh. The first sound she’s made almost all day; it makes everyone snap awake.

“What?” James says.

“I—nothing, I’m fine,” Alessandra says.

“Yeah, clearly,” James replies.

“Look I’m just sort of... distracted,” Alessandra says.

“I’d prefer some honesty,” James says sourly.

Alessandra doesn’t say anything, just clenches her teeth and flattens her lips. She glances at everyone then says, “This map is garbage.”

He looks at her like he expected that. Disappointed, resigned. It’s the same look I got a few times from the test supervisors if I missed my mark.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Ashton asks from beside me.

“What?”

He smiles. “What’s on your mind?”

All I have to do is frown at Alessandra’s general direction and Ashton sighs. “Yeah. I don’t think she’s taking it well, either.”

“Leave that to me,” Jules says from behind us, making a show of pushing past us and into position beside Alessandra. Ashton and I raise our eyebrows at each other.

“Everything going okay?” Jules asks. Her acting is awful.

“Yeah, fine,” Alessandra says quickly, pausing to look around.

Faltering, Jules shuffles uncomfortably and slaps the back of Alessandra’s neck.

“What the hell?!” Alessandra cries, glaring at Jules. James looks shocked, too.

Jules shrugs and says, “Spider. It’s okay, I got it.”

“Oh, thanks. I hate spiders,” Alessandra says, wiping the imaginary spider remains off her neck. She glances at her fingertips and wipes them on her shirt.

Mine and Ashton’s stifled laughter might give the whole ruse away.

The effect on Alessandra is immediate. She perks up and starts walking again with vigor and purpose. As if she suddenly remembered something and had a weight lifted off her.

Jules rejoins me and says, “Serotonin is a wonderful thing.”

I laugh. “You’re a mad genius.”

“And hey, did you know, Alessandra’s favorite food is blackberries?”

“No, but thanks for that crucial information,” Ashton says.

“I aim to serve,” Jules says with a half-bow.

With Alessandra’s new-found confidence, she leads us to the end of the woods. A cool breeze whips through the empty plains before us. Stumps of trees litter the hilly landscape and between them grow tiny saplings. Children amongst the dead. We stand on the highest hill—I didn’t even realize we were walking at an incline—and we can see everything.

“Is... that it?”

A huge structure juts out of the small valley before us. A massive grey fortress stands seamless in the middle of the grassy field. Line after line of wire fencing surrounds each tier of the cylindrical structure. There are no windows. It doesn’t appear to have any doors. A mess of an The top of the strange tower is a mess of antennae and shining, flat panels. More of the panels stand on stalks among the trees, towering over them and nearly resting on the canopy. Now that I’m looking for them, the whole forest behind the structure is teeming with metal poles topped with panels.

“It must be!” Alessandra says.

I expected it to be more, well, dome-shaped. I feel stupid for picturing it as a giant see-through greenhouse bubbling out of the earth.

“Not very welcoming, is it?” Jules comments.

“No, but that’s how they wanted it. My father was a very secretive man,” Alessandra says. “He made the previous dome, too, but this one was his pride and joy. He was the lead developer.”

“What happened to him?” Cain asks. Strange, coming from him.

Alessandra grows quiet, then replies, “The virus.”

“And we get to deal with his... handiwork,” Vinder comments. “Why was he so gung-ho on all the defense stuff?”

“We weren’t at war at the time, or anything,” James says, the sarcasm painfully evident.

“He designed the Ecodome as a sort of bunker. He knew we would need sanctuary.”

For a heavy moment, everyone stands on the viewpoint. The forest shifts around us, fluttering birds send pine needles trickling down. We seem to be stopped for Alessandra’s sake. She keeps her eyes glued to the structure as if convincing herself that it’s really there.

We set off down the hill and the monstrous building rises slowly from the earth, growing taller and taller. It makes the skyscrapers in the city look like cinder blocks. Smooth concrete dappled with moss fades into low clouds. We pace around, searching for some sort of entrance. Maybe the moss and ivy covered it up.

“So....” Jules begins. “How do we get in?”

Alessandra’s shoulders fall as she stares up the tower. “Those jerks at the stadium have my pack. With all the schematics in it. Of all the things to lose....”

“There’s got to be a freight port or something,” Peregrine says. “I’ll go right,” she jogs off to the right, checking the perimeter of the structure. As if on cue, Vinder salutes and heads left.

There’s nothing I can do about it, might as well rest. Jules sits heavily next to me and flops back into the grass, letting her breath out all at once. “Guess we wait.”

Cain, as usual, stands apart from us and glares into the woods.

Who designs a building with no door?

“Nothing,” I hear Peregrine say. “It’s the same all the way around.” Vinder joins her a moment later.

“There’s no way we can climb it?” I mean, maybe....

“Not unless those vines can support your weight,” Ashton says. “I can’t jump the wall, either.” And if Ashton can’t jump it, no one can. He can clear a ten foot fence without a running start, but this is completely different. This structure dwarfs the pine trees that surround the field.

“What’s the password?” Peregrine says, chuckling to herself.

Ashton walks up to it and brushes some of the lichen away. He mutters, “Speak friend and enter.”

Peregrine’s mouth falls open. “Whoa, wait,” she shakes her head and grins. “You read the Lord of the Rings?”

Ashton glances at her and says, “Yeah, the first one. A couple times.”

She laughs, beside herself, and plants her hands on her hips. “I don’t believe it. Well, once we’re back home I’ll lend you the other two.”

Ashton lights up, smiling bigger than he has in a long, long time. “That would be amazing. Thank you!”

She laughs and says, “Don’t sweat it, man.”

James walks by me and rolls his eyes at them. He folds his arms and looks up at the building. “Did anyone ever leave this place?”

“The only reason I ever left was because—well, I don’t think employees were supposed to ever leave,” Alessandra says.

“Like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory,” Vinder says seriously.

“Well. They’re either still alive in there or dead from the virus.”

“You know,” Alessandra says, something dawning on her, “I never considered that. What if they
are
still down there? All the scientists and maintenance workers. They could still be living in there! The Ecodome is self-sufficient! Maybe the virus didn’t penetrate the defenses....”

“I thought you lived here once. You don’t remember... a door, or anything?” I offer.

“I was just a little kid when they brought me here, and honestly I think I was still sleeping from the trip over here when they carried me in. I woke up inside the facility.” Alessandra folds her arms and adds, “Then they lost funding as the virus was setting in and they moved all the
unessential persons
out of the facility, stupid bureaucratic....” her voice trails off in a grumble of curses.

“D’you think they’ll let us in if they
are
still in there?” Jules says, grinning.

“Yeah right,” Vinder says. “Even if we asked nicely.”

“Excuse us, we’d like to come in and take over your dome thing,” Jules says.

Cain’s voice, louder than I’ve ever heard it, says, “I knew this shit would be a waste of time.”

The venom makes us pause.

“So let’s lay it all out,” Jules says, resuming a serious tone, drawing us away from Cain’s dangerous attitude. “One, there’s no door,” she continues, counting on her fingers for emphasis. “Two, we can’t force our way in, unless one of you have some grenades stashed somewhere. Three, we can’t scale the wall....”

“Four, we’ve trusted these humans and risked our lives for
nothing
!” Cain cries, pulling out the silver handgun and cocking it. I don’t put shooting someone past him. His eyes are wide and wild but his mouth is stiff.

“Whoa, whoa, hey! Calm down! Seriously?” Jules shouts.

“I’m done listening to you,” he snaps. He’s been simmering inside ever since we left, and now he’s finally boiling over.

“So what, what are you gonna do?” Jules growls back. By now they’re in each other’s faces and I half expect Jules to reach out and shut him down.

“We’re lost, with no supplies, limited ammunition, and the human’s plan of
salvation
is a big lie.” He turns to Alessandra. The silver handgun tracks with his gaze like a reliable machine. When Cain looks, he looks to kill. It’s his job. But he can’t—

Ashton drifts between them like a ghost. My heart sinks.

“What, you’re on
their
side now?” Cain squints with disgust. He grips the gun so hard it shakes.

“This isn’t about sides—” Jules says.

“Don’t deny it. Tell Ashton a pretty lie and he’s first to jump on board. Just like with Spec. Doesn’t know when to just gi—”

Ashton tackles him. The handgun fires and the humans gasp, but the gun’s flung away. Others run to pull Ashton off Cain, but they fight too quickly. Jules is tossed off before she can get a grip on them. Like wildcats tearing into one another, hairpin trigger reflexes and muscles itching to crush and kill. At one point Ashton’s foot reaches Cain’s face. Cain straightens himself and cracks his neck, then spits a glob of blood. I’ve never seen Ashton so angry. Seeing his face contorted with rage gets my pulse beating.

They’re too fast. The humans can’t do anything. My feet move under me before I tell them to. Someone—can’t tell who—lands a blow high on my cheekbone. I grasp and push until my muscles burn and their desperate hands only claw air. “Would both of you just stop?!” I shout above their scattershot arguments, pushing both of them away from each other.

Cain stumbles backward and growls, “You can’t see what’s right in front of you! They’re lying!”

“Shut up!” Ashton screams. “You say I’m on their side? Well you’ve never been on anyone’s side! You’ve
never
been one of us!”

“Ash, stop—” But I don’t think he hears me.

Cain spits blood again and says under his breath, “Who gives a shit.” He adjusts the shoulder strap for his rifle and stares us down. It’s the look he gives his targets—complete apathy, even edging into contempt. He turns around and starts to walk away. No hesitation.