Into The Fire (The Ending Series) (26 page)

From his perspective, the plan was genius. Re-gens, if they
were initially trained to follow his every command—and didn’t electrotherapize
themselves at every possible opportunity, like Camille and Mase—they wouldn’t
require the use of his mind-manipulation Ability at all.
But why? Why is he
doing any of this? For power?
Could anyone be so power-hungry…so truly,
unequivocally evil?

Camille pursed her lips again and shook her head. “I don’t
know exactly what T-Rs are, but it stands for ‘Tabula Rasa,’ and it has
something to do with the Ability of this new normal who arrived a few weeks
ago.”

Tabula rasa…
blank slate.
Oh my God, does he have
someone who can wipe our minds completely clean?
Oh no…

I’d been betting on the dwindling resources left over by
civilization to limit his expansion, but if I was right about T-Rs—about the
new “normal” who’d arrived—all bets were off. General Herodson wouldn’t need to
rely on Dr. Wesley or scientific equipment or electricity to make his perfect,
obedient slave army; he would just need one person with the Ability to wipe a
mind free of memories.

Shakily, I stood and walked back into the kitchen. “Do you
want some tea?” I’d been planning on drinking English breakfast tea—hearty and
full of caffeine—but I searched the little combo box for a packet of chamomile
instead. I definitely needed something to calm my nerves, not excite them.

“I’ve never had tea,” Camille said, sitting on a stool on
the other side of the counter. “Is it good?”

I picked out a packet of Strawberry Fields for her, tore it
open, plunked the teabag in a mug, added a spoonful of sugar, and filled the
mug with steaming water. “I like it,” I told her as I slid the mug across the
counter to her and began preparing my own. “It’s hot, so I’d wait a few
minutes.”

Camille leaned down and sniffed…and giggled. “It smells
sweet…and pink!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her innocence.
Not innocence
,
I reminded myself,
just a weird form of amnesia unique to Re-gens.

When I didn’t say anything for a few minutes, Camille asked,
“Are you mad at me?”

“What?” I blurted. “No, of course not.” I opened the box of
unbelievably hard chocolate chip cookies and nibbled on one, more wanting
something to occupy my hands than wanting to eat a stale, processed cookie.
“It’s just…once I think I understand how horrible
he
is, I learn
something else about this place, and—” I cut my words off abruptly and closed
my eyes. I was revealing too much.

“You mean Father?” Camille asked.

Opening my eyes, I watched her warily. I liked her, despite
her moments of creepiness, and I owed Mase—big-time—but I still didn’t know how
much I could trust them.

Camille stared at me point-blank and said, “I want a ‘Spartacus
situation.’ That’s why Mase and I sneak into Dr. Max’s lab to do electrotherapy
on each other—so we can be stronger than everyone, strong enough to create a
rebellion. But…” She paused, chewing on her bottom lip and testing her tea with
the tip of her finger. “This Spartacus situation has to be big enough to get
rid of Father
and
the Controllers.”

“The ‘Controllers’?” I asked, hoping to get more information
about the General’s mind-controlling lackeys than Gabe had given me.

Nodding, Camille clarified, “The others like Father, who
make the normals do what they want. They control all of the people wearing
those.” She motioned to my yellow armbands with a wave of her hand.

I took a deep breath.
I’d suspected that taking the
General out wouldn’t solve the problem; it would just give the problem a new
face…an unknown face.
Better the devil you know, and all that.

I munched on the cookie and sipped my tea, thinking. “Do you
know who these Controllers are?”

Camille shook her head. “The only people who have direct
contact with them are Father and the people they’re controlling, and they won’t
reveal their identities because they’re mind-controlled, so…”

Damn!
If I’d known who they were, then I could’ve
made some sort of insane sleeper cell assassination attempt.
And probably
gotten myself killed
,
I thought.
But still…

After a long moment, Camille asked, “What was it like
before?” I watched her as she raised her mug to her lips, took a sip, and
smiled blissfully. Apparently, she liked strawberry tea.

“What do you mean?”

“Everything—the world, people, life—what was it like?”

I tapped my lips with my index finger as I pondered her
question.
What
was
it like?
It was a question that
should’ve been easy to answer, but it wasn’t. “I guess it was kind of like it
is in here, except way more chaotic and
way
less mind-controlled. And it
was louder…more energetic. People would get angry or laugh or cry a lot more
than Colonists do. Many people spent hours sitting in front of TVs or their
computers just surfing the Internet. We worried about making enough money to
pay for the things we needed, even though we spent money we didn’t have on
things we didn’t need. And there were too many of us.” I frowned. “Most
scientists agreed that we were killing the planet, slowly, and that if we
continued, we’d destroy our own species eventually just by running out of
resources. And, um…”
Why is it so hard to explain? Why can’t I think of
anything positive?

Camille took another sip of her tea. When she set her mug
down, she opened her mouth, and then closed it before saying anything.

“What?” I asked.

She shook her head, staring shyly down at her tea. “You’ll
laugh,” she said softly.

At that, I did laugh, but not unkindly. “I might. I can’t
promise you I won’t, but I don’t think I’ll be laughing
at
you. Some
things are just funny.”

Camille raised her eyes to meet mine, their gray depths
twinkling mischievously. “What was it like between men and women?”

I smiled, not laughing. “What do you mean, exactly?”

Camille frowned, searching for the right words. “Was it
always like it is here…like with you and that guard in the warehouse? Did men
always treat women like that? I’ve seen…did they make them do things with their
bodies? Did women have a choice? Or did they like it? And why do the men want
to do that with so many different women? I wouldn’t want to do that with anyone
but—” She caught herself mid-sentence, blushing.

“Anyone but Mase?” I finished for her. When she nodded,
looking down at her half-empty mug, I said, “I have someone like that, someone
who’s the only person I want to, um…be with. His name is Jason.” I smiled
fondly, forcing myself not to dwell on the possibility of never seeing him
again.

Camille met my eyes. “Once, in the middle of the night, I
got out of bed to go to the bathroom and two of the Domestication Officers were
in there, and—”

“What’s a ‘Domestication Officer’?” I interrupted. It was a
term I’d heard several times, but I still didn’t know what it meant.

“The people who watch over Re-gens,” she said, dismissing
them with a wave of her hand. “They’re not always very attentive. Anyway, when
I opened the bathroom door and saw they were in there, I stepped back and
watched through the crack in the door. They were, um…” Her already-pink cheeks flushed
a bright red. “At first I thought the man was hurting her—she was making these
noises—but then I saw her face. She was—I’ve never seen anyone look so happy.”
Her eyebrows drew together and she shook her head. “I don’t—I thought maybe
Mase and I…have you ever, um…
what
were they doing?”

Though I tried, I couldn’t hold in my nervous laugh.
“Uh…yes, I have ever, and I’m pretty sure the Domestication Officers were
having sex.”

Camille’s eyes widened in horror. “Sex is forbidden! Re-gens
can’t do that!” Slowly, her eyelids narrowed. “But…what is it, exactly?”

I sighed, figuring the apparent Re-gen antisex rule was just
another way to control them. Pity for her stunted understanding of life
overshadowed my embarrassment at the topic. After explaining the mechanics of
the act and emphasizing the emotional connection and how important it was—I
really didn’t want Camille to go off and start sleeping around like crazy—I
refilled Camille’s mug and sat down on the stool beside hers. Though she’d
listened to my explanation eagerly, she turned suddenly glum.

“What’s wrong?”

She took a deep breath, and exhaled in a long, despondent
sigh. “It’s not fair. I can never do that with Mase.”

“Uh…why not?”
Are they physically incapable? Is that one
of the differences caused by the Re-gen process?

“If someone saw us, they’d know we were different and we’d
be destroyed.”

Oh, right.
“You know, I have other rooms here,” I
said. A plan was forming in my mind, and Camille had just given me the currency
to buy what I needed.

Camille’s eyes lit up, and a purely devilish smile spread
across her face.

“I’ll let you and Mase have the house all to yourselves
whenever you want, but…I’d like something in return.”

Camille cocked her head, silently asking.

“Can you both meet up with me tonight? I have some more
reconnaissance to do.” At her blank look, I clarified, “Scouting…looking
around…gathering information…”

Camille hopped in her seat happily. “Oh—yeah! What are you
looking for?”

“Anything that’ll help me get out of here and back to my
friends,” I told her.

“You’re leaving?” Her eyebrows drew down and she looked like
she was on the verge of tears. I hadn’t expected such a strong reaction.

Reaching for her hand, I squeezed gently. “Yes, but maybe
you can come with me. You and Mase.” She looked unsure, so I added, “I’m going
to find a way to stop him—General Herodson
and
the Controllers. I just
can’t do it from
inside
the Colony, at least not right now. He’s too
close, and we don’t know who the Controllers are, and it’s too dangerous, and…I
just need to get out of here.”

After a long moment of thought, Camille smiled. “We’ll help
you, but it’ll have to be tomorrow night. I can think of lots of places for us
to do this, um…reconnaissancing.”

I let out a sigh of relief. Camille and Mase knew their way
around and seemed to be really good at staying under the radar. I’d been
planning to ask Gabe to join me, but it wouldn’t hurt to have more eyes—and
Abilities.

“There’s one thing you might want to try to get first,”
Camille said. Her eyes were narrowed into conspiratorial slits.

“What’s that?”

“Dr. Wesley’s master key. With it we can get into most of
the restricted areas.”

I frowned. “I don’t know how I could get—” But the solution
popped into my head.
Blackmail
. I didn’t owe Dr. Wesley anything, not
after discovering her role in killing nearly everyone I loved, so I didn’t feel
an inkling of remorse at the thought of potentially hurting her. Plus, I had
one hell of a blackmail item.

The neutralizer—it was made from
her
blood.

20

ZOE

MARCH
20, 1AE

“I can’t wait to actually
bathe
,” I said, groaning
with anticipation. We’d decided to take a fieldtrip down a deer trail to the
river for some much-needed scrubbing—with the exception of Jason, who’d opted
to remain back at camp just in case Dani tried to contact him again.

Carlos barked a laugh and gently tugged Arrow’s head back up;
his horse, along with most of the others, had become increasingly distracted by
the wild green grasses emerging from the ground for spring. I shared in their
joy, reveling in the smell of alfalfa and grass and basking in the periodic
rays of sunshine. We’d had a lot of rain off and on over the past few evenings,
and mixed with the sunlight, it was encouraging everything to sprout.
One
month closer to summer.
I sighed contentedly.

“Laugh all you want to, Carlos.” I looked at him askance,
barely able to contain my growing anticipation. “I’ve been waiting for this
moment for days.”

Carlos nudged Arrow toward the river. “I’ve been meaning to
tell you…you stink,” he teased.

Sam giggled from atop his smaller palomino, Buck.

“Really?” I turned in my saddle to face them both, tapping
my index finger against my lips in mock forgetfulness. “You’ll have to remind
me, Carlos, when was the last time
you
bathed?”

He shook his head, not sparing me a glance as he tried to
contain how entertained he really was.

“At least
I
took a sponge bath the other day.” I wrinkled
my nose playfully.

Harper and Chris paused their easy conversation beside us
and snickered. Everyone seemed amused, and I even thought I saw Jake’s lips
curve into a slight smile as he rode past me. As usual, Cooper and Jack trotted
behind him, blissfully unaware that the world had been turned upside down and
that we all smelled like dirty pond water.

Tavis’s brow furrowed, and his horse, a tall, coffee-colored
mare named Mini, stopped momentarily to pull up another mouthful of grass.
“What’s that even mean—‘sponge bath’? I watched you—it’s not like you actually used
a sponge. People always use a rag or a towel or piece of cloth or something.”
He seemed deeply perplexed, and I chuckled softly.

“You’re funny, Tavis,” I said, shaking my head.

“How many people have you seen take a sponge bath, anyway?”
Sanchez called, looking back at us. Her tone was light, but as usual, her
expression was blank. “Should we be worried?”

Tavis grinned and rested his fist on his hip. “Alright, I
surrender.”

Up ahead, the dogs started barking, and I could hear
splashing as they lunged into the water. “Finally,” I practically sang and
pressed Wings on, the anticipation nearly too much to bear.

When we reached the edge of the river, we let the horses
drink before tying them up in a clearing a few yards away.

“How’s Shadow doing?” Harper asked as I untied my bag from
Wings’s saddle and carried it over to a large, lichen-covered boulder beside
the water.

“He’s okay, I guess. I wish you knew more about horses so
you’d know if I’m treating his wounds the right way.”

“You’re doing fine.” He nudged my shoulder. “And Carlos is a
big help, right?”

“Yeah, he is. In fact, Shadow’s not in as bad of shape as I
thought. I washed off about seven layers of muck. Mostly he’s just scared,
tired, and needs to be fattened up a bit. He
finally
let Carlos and me
get the halter off him, and since he followed us all the way back to the ranch,
I think it’s safe to say he wants to trust us.”

“I don’t blame him for being scared.” Harper squeezed the
bill of a baseball cap in his hands to shape it better before putting it on.
“Who knows what they did to him.”

“If Dani were here,” I said wistfully, “it’d be a whole lot
easier.”

“Is that what’s been bothering you, Baby Girl? You haven’t
been yourself lately.” Harper quickly removed his hat and tugged off his shirt,
draping it over a low-hanging branch.

I sighed and sagged against the side of his horse. “Yeah,
it’s Dani, but it’s everything else, too. Things just keep getting more
complicated.”

“Things with Jake?”

I scoffed. “With Jake, with Jason—and then there’s my lying,
deceitful family.” I groaned. “And I’ve been dreaming about Clara the last
couple of nights,” I said, the discomfort in my voice too deep-seated to hide.
“Why is she in my head suddenly, H? It’s weirding me out.”

He shook his head, looking equally discomfited. “Stop
dwelling on Clara. She’s long gone. Besides, your Ability’s getting stronger, so
if she’s really around, you’ll know.” He snapped me with his towel. “Come on,
Baby Girl. Let’s get you cleaned up. You look like a ragamuffin.” Harper winked
at me, making me smile, and headed to the water toward Chris and Sanchez.

After digging out my wash cloth, body soap, and shampoo and
setting them on the waist-high boulder I was using as a vanity by the edge of
the river, I stripped down to my bikini and tossed my clothes on top of the
boulder as well. Slipping on my red rubber flip-flops, I crept over to the
riverbank and dipped my right foot in. Big mistake. It was ice cold. I shook my
head, taking a deep breath.
You’ve been attacked by Crazies, almost died—more
than once—and lost Dani twice. You’ve suffered worse than this
,
Zoe,
I
told myself and
glared at the water.

Cooper and Jack splashed by me, interrupting my internal pep
talk.

“Oh my God!” I cried when the water sprayed all over my
already chilled skin. The brisk March air bit at my bikini-clad body, but I was
determined to deal with it…as long as I could clean the lingering blood and weeks’
worth of grime off me.

“Green togs?” Tavis remarked, wading up to the riverbank.

I peered over at him. “Togs?”

He gestured to my bathing suit, his eyes wide and approving.

Unable to prevent my gaze from wandering, I appraised his
disheveled hair and sinewy muscles covered by tanned skin. He wore nothing but
plaid boxers, a towel draped around his neck, and a big-ass grin on his face.

Looking around at the rest of the group, I realized I was
the only one with an actual bathing suit on. Harper was shirtless, laying on
his back in the sunshine, his arm beneath his head and the shade of his ball
cap covering his eyes. Chris and Sanchez were playing fetch with the dogs in
the water downriver, both of them wearing sports bras and gym shorts. Carlos
and Sam, wearing only boxers, were skipping stones on the river’s surface. And
then there was me.

I suddenly felt self-conscious. “I guess I’m the only one
who planned ahead,” I said lightly, then looked pointedly at Tavis. “At least
I’m not standing around in my underwear.”

At the sound of crunching footsteps, I glanced over my
shoulder. Jake stopped a few feet behind me and started undressing.

My heartbeat picked up, and I unintentionally held my
breath. I watched as he pulled his black t-shirt off over his head, revealing
the broad, sculpted chest I’d traced with my fingertips so many nights. I’d
seen him shirtless in the dimly lit locker room back in Fort Knox, and I’d
memorized the contours of his abs with my hands, but I’d never appreciated
Jake’s mostly bare body in the sunlight—the dusting of light brown hair between
his pecs and the hard muscle beneath his flawless skin…
no scars.
I thought
back to the first time I met him, the night he’d been shot in the shoulder, but
there was no mark. There were no burn scars from the fire, either.

As he stood there, wearing only his gunmetal-gray boxer
briefs, I couldn’t look away. Things had happened so fast since we’d met, and
time seemed to be passing so achingly slowly, that I hadn’t realized how little
we’d really
seen
of each other; we were always layered in clothes. I
suddenly wished we’d spent more time together…alone.

The thought of his life before I met him seemed more
intriguing than ever. Although I couldn’t picture him without his reserved
veneer, I assumed he hadn’t always been so impervious. He must’ve laughed and gone
drinking with friends and made love to women. He must’ve lived.
What would
it have been like to go on a date with you, Mr. Vaughn?
I couldn’t help but
wonder what his type of woman was back when he actually had options.
Is that
all that we are? Convenient?

Jake sauntered toward me, oblivious to my mind-wanderings, and
his eyes raked over me. Narrowing, they shifted to Tavis. I blinked out of my
intrigued haze and forced myself to look away. Groaning inwardly, I took a
long, deep breath, inhaling the crisp, mountain air and welcoming the taunting
breeze. It kept my mind from wandering…again.

Jake cleared his throat. I was too busy
not
looking
at him to notice what had passed between him and Tavis, but Tavis walked away
toward Sanchez and Chris while I crouched down to submerge my washcloth in the
frigid water. When Jake continued to stand there, saying nothing, I peered up
at him. I was greeted by a raised eyebrow.

“Nice suit,” he said casually as he bent down to snatch the
plastic bottle of body wash I’d brought.

I held my wash cloth out and he squeezed orange-scented soap
onto the wet terrycloth. I gave him a rueful smile. “I like yours, too.” I
shifted my eyes to his tight underwear. His toned thighs alone made my mouth
dry out, and I forced myself to swallow.

I brought the sudsy, dripping washcloth to the nape of my
neck and cringed as I began scrubbing away the grime…and the heat from Jake’s
gaze.

He crossed his arms as he watched me, which was apparently
the most entertaining thing he’d ever seen.

I continued scrubbing, first around my face and then under
my arms. “You seem to be enjoying this,” I said, glowering at him.

“Why aren’t you doing that in the water?”

I tilted my head. “Seriously? Do you know how cold that
water is?”

He nodded and glanced over at the rest of our group, who
were bathing several dozen feet downriver. “They’re handling it fine,” he
offered.

“Harper isn’t in the water,” I retorted.

“I washed up yesterday while you guys were being assaulted
by half-naked Crazies,” Harper interjected. I’d forgotten he was lounging in
the patches of sun behind me.

“Well, then I’m a wimp, and I’m okay with that.” I submerged
my washcloth in the water for a rinse.

Jake just shook his head, his sexy grin warming my insides.
“You’re only prolonging it,” he said with a deep chuckle. “Just jump in, scrub,
and get out.”

“Ha! That’s easy for you to say. You have, like, no hair,
and you like to pretend nothing fazes you. I, on the other hand, pretend no
such thing. Lots of things faze me…like cold water.” My teeth chattered as the
water ran down my body, trickling suds down my chest and stomach. I had yet to
wash my hair and dreaded dunking my head into the water.

I hadn’t noticed Carlos wade up to us. Without warning, he
splashed me, and I shrieked like a little girl. “Stop it, Carlos, or I swear—”

“You’ll do what?” He splashed me again, and I instinctively
tried to block the spray with my hands.

I gave him the evil eye, and he shrugged. “You’re no fun,”
he said and called for Jack, who was drying off in the sunshine, to come back
and play with him in the water.

I returned to my diligent scrubbing. “Did I get all the dirt
off? And the blood?” I asked, pointing to my face and neck. Jake nodded, and I
looked down, taking inventory of my sudsy body. “I just need to wash my hair
and rinse off, then I’m done,” I said, running through my list of cleansing
to-dos.

“That’s the worst part,” Jake remarked.

I flashed him an insincere smile. “Thanks.” When he only
nodded, I continued, “Are you planning on watching me the whole time, or are
you washing up at some point, too?” He didn’t answer, only eyed me, a scheme
clearly forming in his mind. I froze with fear and scowled at him. “What are
you thinking?”

“I’m thinking I’m just gonna pick you up and dunk you in the
water…just get it over with.”

“Don’t even think about it, Jake.” The predatory look in his
eyes made me giggle. “No, seriously, don’t. Don’t!” I tried to make my voice as
stern as possible.

Despite my protests, he bent over, picked me up, and tossed
me over his shoulder.

“Seriously,” I squeaked. “I’ll never speak to you again!”

Jake said nothing, but walked into the water, his arms
tightening around my legs to hold me in place.

“Let me go, Jake! Please!”

I heard his rumbling laughter. “Oh, you’re still speaking to
me?”

I squealed and laughed again, part thrilled and part
panicked as he stepped further into the river. “Please, Jake, I’ll do whatever
you want, just don’t dunk me.” I screamed and squeezed my eyes shut as I clasped
on to the back of his arm, bracing myself for the imminent cold.

“People are going to think you’re being attacked if you keep
screaming like that,” he said ruefully.

“I am!”

I heard the water splashing at his feet as he faltered down
the rocky decline, deeper into the river. “Do you want me to put you down?” he
asked. I could tell he wore a mischievous grin.

I looked down to see the water swirling at the backs of his
knees. “No!”

With little effort, Jake repositioned me so that I was
against his chest, his arms wrapped around me as I held on for dear life. At
first, I considered wriggling free, but I wanted to stay in his arms a little
longer. So instead, I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling myself closer to
his body. Although I shrieked and screamed a little more, my rigidity
dissipated and instead I felt alive, adrenaline coursing through my body as he
held me against him.

His hold loosened a little.