Into The Fire (The Ending Series) (15 page)

Two hours later, we were leaving a large cafeteria. It was
part of the same university complex as Gabe’s lab, which had once been an Air
Force Academy. The room had been filled with several hundred Colonists, some in
lab coats, some in sweats, and some in scrubs. Other than the people in scrubs,
everyone was wearing either yellow or black armbands, and only those with black
armbands were acting…normal. Everyone else seemed to speak only when necessary,
and even then only in hushed tones. It wasn’t that they were whispering schemes
to overthrow the General or anything nefarious, unfortunately. They were
just…quiet, subdued. Gabe and I had said nothing the entire time we’d been sitting
across from one another at a small, square table, drinking a cup of coffee and
sharing a turkey and cheddar sandwich and a blueberry scone.

He’d shown me enough of the base—including the perimeter,
with its ever-moving patrols, the school, and the location of the warehouses
storing food and weapons—that I realized how foolish my assassination plans had
been. Seeing classrooms half-filled with perfectly cooperative and focused
children of all ages had been the creepiest stop along the tour. It was unnatural.
The kids were clearly under the General’s mental influence. I feared that
manipulating brains that were still developing would harm them permanently.
That
man is all kinds of evil.

I was uncomfortably aware of two
very
important
things: everyone in the Colony had an Ability and was actively training to
strengthen it, and nearly every single person was an emphatic follower of the
General, either because of his mental manipulation or by choice. True free will
was absent. Herodson’s will was law.

I was resolved to contact Jason and Zoe once my telepathy
returned, no matter how long it took me to actually find them. It wasn’t just
that I missed them like crazy—I did—but I needed to make sure they were okay. I
needed
them to be okay. And if they were, it was likely that they were
planning some sort of prison break. I couldn’t imagine Jason
not
planning such a thing, reckless as it might be. It was imperative that I pass
on what I’d learned about the Colony.

“There’s one thing that doesn’t quite make sense,” I said to
Gabe as we walked from the cafeteria to a neighboring building. Wanting to make
sure I passed as much relevant info on to my friends as possible, I intended to
scour Gabe’s mind for pretty much anything he could tell me.

“Which is?”

I moved closer to him, keeping my voice hushed. “Back in the
cafeteria, most of those people were acting sort of zombie-ish—like they have
no thoughts beyond what the General tasked them with. But everyone in your lab
was busy and active, talking with their colleagues.”

Gabe nodded but said nothing.

“Then there was that guard with the yellow armband who was
getting all handsy at the entrance to the General’s building,” I explained. “He
seemed to be operating outside the ‘guard my building’ parameters. It all just
seems really inconsistent.”

After several drawn-out breaths, Gabe said, “That guard was
probably given multiple commands, one of them being to actively attempt to
procreate.”

The breeding program…Project Eden.
I scrunched my
face in disgust.

Ignoring my reaction, Gabe continued, “That’s been a pretty
standard order given to the men. The women are told the same…and that they
should be open and willing to any man’s advances.”

I made a choking sound. “That’s…that’s…ugh!”

Gabe nodded.

“But…he didn’t give
me
that command,” I told him.

For once, it was Gabe who frowned. “I can only assume that’s
because he didn’t want the pursuit of reproduction to interfere with your
communication tasks.” He was quiet for a moment. “That, and he likely wants to
choose your future, uh, partner…someone with whom you could produce children
who have
your
Ability.”

“Hmmm,” I murmured, processing his disturbing words. I was
still processing as he led me into a squat, boxy gray building. The sign
protruding from the overgrown grass proclaimed,
Humanities Building
.

Holding open a heavy glass door, Gabe said, “This is where
you’re intended to work once you’re given a clean bill of health.”

“And how will that work, exactly?” I asked, hoping I would
be long gone before that could happen. I wasn’t planning to stick around for
much longer; I just had to figure out
how
to not stick around.

I followed Gabe down a bland hallway and through a second
set of glass doors that led to some sort of reception office. I leaned in
closer to him, acutely aware of the woman organizing papers at the front desk,
and whispered harshly, “I’m supposed to just do his bidding, fully aware of my
actions? What does he even need telepaths for, anyway?”

Gabe offered me a tight-lipped grin and murmured, “He uses
them to spread the word…to draw people in. You remember what I said about the
Colony being the new center of civilization?”

“He wants me to bring people here so he can control them?” Horrified,
I stared into Gabe’s cunning eyes as he towered over me. “I will
never
do that,” I vowed.

Gabe shrugged. “You may not have a choice. When it’s your
life, or the life of someone you care about, versus a relative stranger…what’ll
you choose?” With one final, significant eyebrow-raise, Gabe left my side and
approached the woman at the desk. She was pretty enough, in a perky, blonde,
former-cheerleader way, and the smile she offered Gabe contained more than a
hint of “come hither.”

“Emily, so lovely to see you again,” Gabe said.

Emily giggled, sounding about ten years younger than she
appeared. “Hi, Gabe.”

It took an effort not to roll my eyes.

“I’ve brought someone in to meet you. She’s your newest
telepath.” Gabe reached back, and closing his long fingers around my arm just
above my elbow, he pulled me forward. “This is Dani. Dani, this is Emily—she’ll
be coordinating your schedule and assignments once you begin work.”

When I said nothing, his grip tightened.

“So nice to meet you,” I chirped.

Emily glanced at Gabe’s hand, which was still on my arm, and
her eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly before returning to my face. Jealousy,
it seemed, was still ready and available through the lens of the General’s
commands.

“Welcome to the Colony,” she said.

“Dani’s the one General Herodson’s been waiting for—the
sender
and
receiver,” Gabe explained.

Emily’s face lit up with recognition. “Oh! How exciting!”
she gushed, her enthusiasm genuine. She’d instantly transformed into my biggest
fan. Apparently, like me,
her
commands included a directive about
enthusiasm for her tasks. “We’ve got big plans for you!”

“Great,” I said, trying as hard as possible to keep my smile
from melting. “Can’t wait.”

“We have your office all ready and a huge list of
communications to start you off,” Emily explained excitedly. “We’re going to
draw in
so
many more new Colonists using you!”

Using me.
“Awesome,” I said with so much fake
perkiness that I wanted to vomit. I was becoming used to my stomach being in a
general state of nauseated discomfort. I needed to get the hell out of the
Colony before I started luring in hapless survivors.
I didn’t care what
Gabe said. I couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t.

As we left the building and returned to my house, I pondered
the massive amounts of information I’d learned since leaving that afternoon.
One fact kept bouncing around in my mind: the General had known about me and my
Ability before I’d arrived. He’d been
expecting
me. He’d been waiting.
The more I thought about the implications, the more pissed off I became.

Gabe
.

A second after Gabe shut and locked my front door, I rounded
on him. “When I was still brainwashed, you said MG was a guy I’d trusted and
that he’d betrayed me.”

“Dani—”

“What did you…I can’t believe I’ve been so stupid!” I yelled
as I stepped closer and slapped him as hard as I could.

“Dani, I can explain—”

I slapped him again and felt wicked satisfaction when he
brought his hand up to his reddening cheek. “‘You were attacked. Our patrol
rescued you and brought you back for medical attention,’” I said, throwing his
words back at him. “How could you? I asked for your help to find Zoe. You knew
where we were. I—I
trusted
you!” I raised my hand to hit him again, but
Gabe caught my wrist before I could land the blow. “It wasn’t Crazies who
attacked me, it was Colonists—because of
you
. I got knocked out and
abducted because of
you
,” I hissed, yanking my wrist out of his grasp
and spinning to stomp down the hall toward the family room. I had to get away
from him.

“I’m sorry, Dani. It just—”

I stopped mid-step and spun to face him. “Oh, shut up!
You’re such a bastard! You…you…” Unable to find a word that adequately
described how I felt about him at that moment, I growled in frustration. “Just
tell me why. Why’d you do it? Why’d you set me up? Why’d you pretend to help
me…to care?” He’d been my only human companion, even if it was only in my
dreams, when I’d taken the sabbatical from my other companions several months
back. He’d been the one to comfort me when I discovered that Grams was dead.
I’d
cared
about him. I still did. The crushing betrayal weakened my
voice to a sad whine as I asked, “Why did you let me kiss you?”

Gabe sighed, and having followed me into the family room, he
lowered himself onto the couch. With his elbows on his knees, he clasped his
hands together. “Herodson has people he calls Truth Guards—they’re like human
lie detectors. Their Ability allows them to hear truth and lies in what people
say. He keeps them around at all times, just in case someone manages to break
through his control.” After a moment, he added, “And the neutralizer doesn’t
block that particular Ability; it doesn’t block any that aren’t directed at a
person specifically.”

So the neutralizer has limitations, and the General has
people like Ben. Good to know.
Stopping in front of Gabe, I crossed my arms
and raised my eyebrows, silently telling him to continue.

“Every time I visit the dreams, I have to report back, and
he
or one of his seconds—they’re called his Controllers—always asks me a series of
questions in the presence of one of the Truth Guards. Did I find any people
with Abilities I thought could be useful to Herodson? Who are they, and what
are their Abilities? Where are they? And so on.” Gabe paused, pleading with his
eyes. “If I’d lied, he would have known I had a way to break his hold. He would
have—”

It was an effort to unclench my jaw, but I managed it.
“What? Killed you?” I wasn’t some idealistic fool to believe that a man I’d
never met in person would forfeit his own life to prevent me from being
captured and mentally enslaved, but still, his betrayal hurt.

Staring at my boots, Gabe shook his head.

“Then what? What would he have done to you?”

“Not to me.” He sighed. “There’s a woman. I’ve known her
most of my life. She’s like a little sister to me, and…well, it’s my fault he
has her.” His voice gained strength. “If I lie, or even if I simply fail to
bring in people with the Abilities he’s searching for, he’ll hurt her. Badly. He
won’t kill her—she’s too valuable to him—but he’ll make her wish she was dead.
He calls it ‘extrinsic motivation.’”

Holy crap.
“I understand,” I said, my voice rough. I
liked to pretend I was noble, to tell myself I wouldn’t draw someone into the
fire, but threatened with the safety of the people I loved, I wouldn’t even hesitate.

“I’m really sorry,” Gabe said softly, finally glancing up at
me. “I didn’t want to. Dani, I—”

“It’s done. Apologizing doesn’t fix anything.”

“I know,” he agreed, sounding defeated. “But I did leave
something behind…something for your friends to find.”

My eyebrows rose of their own accord. “You did? What?”

“One of the yellow armbands. I know you said some of the
people you were with were in the military; they would’ve recognized them. I
just wanted to leave them a sign. I didn’t want them to give up, to stop
looking for you.” He shook his head in defeat. “I wish you’d never asked me to
help you find your friends. I wish you hadn’t trusted me.”

I studied him for a long moment, took a deep breath, then
sat on the sofa beside him. “We need to get out of here,” I said. “You, me, the
woman, and Dr. Wesley. We need to escape.”

“But—”

“No buts,” I interrupted. “You know what he wants me to
do—to bring in who knows how many more survivors. Like what you’re doing times
a thousand, or however many people are left alive. They’ll just become his mind
slaves too, and then he’ll be that much more powerful.” Enunciating each word
very clearly, I repeated, “We need to get out of here.”

Gabe’s eyes left mine, and he studied his hands. He seemed
to be mentally warring with himself. Finally, he said, “Okay. I’ll do whatever
I can.”

Exhaling, I reached for his forearm and gave it a squeeze.
“Thank you. I don’t think I can do it without you.”

Standing, Gabe started making a circuit around the room. “We
won’t have long before you have to report to duty—a week at most. I can get Wes
to extend your sick leave, but any longer than that and they’ll become
suspicious. Really suspicious. Herodson’s been looking forward to obtaining you
for a long time, and he wants to start using you as soon as possible.”

God, that’s disturbing.
“Okay.”

“Is your telepathy functioning yet? Can you get a message to
your people? Tell them not to do anything stupid?” he asked.

I checked quickly and was incredibly relieved to find the
telepathic portion of my brain alive and kicking. Nodding, I said, “I was
planning to do that anyway, assuming the power boost from the neutralizer is
strong enough for me to reach them and maintain contact. One question…”