Into The Fire (The Ending Series) (38 page)

Clara screeched like a banshee and slapped my face
repeatedly until, finally, the world faded away…again.

“I’m not pleased,” I heard the General say from far, far
away.
Is he talking to me?
What’d I do to anger him now?
“If I
didn’t need you as much as I needed her, you’d already be dead.”
Is he
talking to someone else?
“There are other ways to make your life very
unpleasant. Pull a stunt like this again, and I’ll show you,” he said.

“I’m sorry, Sir.”

Ah…Clara
.

“Apologies prove nothing. Just don’t do it again,” General Herodson
snapped.

“Yes, Sir.”

There was a long pause, then the General said, “Good. Now
wake her up.”

I felt another prick in my arm, followed by a burning
sensation that spread outward through my body. My forearm flamed with pain, as
did the back of my head and various spots on my face. I turned to vomit over
the side of the chair.

“Clean that up,” the General said. I heard movement beside
me. “We expected as much, what with your many injuries.” His voice sounded
matter-of-fact with a hint of kindness. “I didn’t intend for this to turn so
ugly, Danielle. The nausea will pass in a few minutes, once your brain has a
chance to equalize the pain.”

Slumped sideways in the chair as far as the arm restraints
would allow, I simply breathed. In and out. In and out. In and out.

I hurt so badly. But the pain, I soon realized, was both a
blessing and a curse. When I focused on it—embraced it—my head cleared a
little. The pain drove away some of the haze of whatever medications they’d
injected me with, and my Ability flared to life, just out of grasp. I needed a
little more time, a little more clarity.
Just another minute
, I thought
desperately,
just one more minute…

“Can you sit up?” I felt hands on my upper arms, righting me
before they let go. “There we go. Better, no? I would gladly drug you further
to prevent such undue suffering, but alas, Clara can only work with your mind
when it’s awake and unclouded with medications. So, we have a bit of a dilemma.
I need your mind clear enough for Clara to begin the T-R process, but I can’t
have you communicating with whoever it is you keep communicating with. I’ve had
a little chat with my advisors, and they all agree that since my influence
worked on you in the beginning, it should work on you again, at least for as
short of a time as we need it to, so—” When he spoke again, his words were
laced with will-bending power. “—open your eyes.”

I did, instantly.
I want to tear out your throat with my
teeth.

“Good. One more little test.” Again his voice filled with
the power of undeniable influence. “When I touch your broken arm, you will not
make a noise.”

I watched as his hand slowly neared my broken forearm,
dreading the pain I knew would accompany his touch. When his fingertips pressed
down on skin that was swollen and just starting to show hints of bruising, my
lungs tried to force a scream, but the sound caught in my throat.

“Wonderful,” General Herodson said. “Now listen very
carefully. You will not talk to anyone telepathically, you will not try to
escape, and you
will
answer all of my questions truthfully.” He offered
me a fatherly smile and added, “And because I’m not a monster, you will not
feel any more pain.”

Blessed relief—the lack of pain—blanketed my body. The aches
and throbs weren’t gone, exactly, but they were distant, almost like memories
of pains long past. Freed from the burden of pain, I was able to notice the
other people in the room. Mase was still dangling in front of me on trembling
muscles, and Clara was skulking in a corner. There were even more guards lining
the walls than had been there before, making me feel claustrophobic. The Truth
Guard was back, along with the guard holding Camille and the man who could tell
when Abilities were in use—who was still grasping Camille’s arm in an iron
grip.

“Better?” General Herodson asked.

I nodded, grateful despite myself.
I hate you. You
are
a monster.

“Good. Now, tell me all about your little rebel friends on
base. Who are they?”

Compelled beyond personal restraint, I answered. “Mase and
Camille, and Gabe.” Somehow, I hadn’t felt the need to provide Dr. Wesley’s
name.
Is it because she’s not my friend? Or is it because the neutralizer is
still working, even a little?

“Gabe? Gabriel McLaughlin?” General Herodson asked
skeptically, frowning. “Why didn’t I see that coming?” He turned away from me
and barked several hurried orders at the guards nearest the exit. Two of them
rushed out of the room, practically slamming the door.

I squeezed my eyes shut as the clang resounded in the room.

“Eyes open, Danielle,” the General commanded, and I obeyed. He
met my eyes, seeming to see inside me. “What about your other friends, the ones
outside who are supposedly coming to rescue you? How many are there? What can
they do? Where are they?”

“I’m not sure how many are coming…maybe a couple, maybe a
dozen or more.” I wanted to bite my tongue off to stop the words from tumbling
out of my mouth. “They can do many things: walk, talk, jump, shoot gu—”

“What are their Abilities?”

I considered how to order their Abilities to hide the most
dangerous, but then I realized that in his hands, they were all dangerous.
“Visions, telepathy, changing the magnitude of others’ Abilities, something
with electricity, empathy, mental healing, regeneration, lie detecting, sensing
volatility, and some we’re unsure of. Oh, and I don’t know where they are.” I
smiled.

“Have you come across any other large groups of survivors?”

“Yes.”

He pressed his lips into a thin line. “Where?”

“One near Lake Tahoe and the other on the California coast a
little north of San Francisco.” Again, I’d been able to answer truthfully
without revealing everything. He hadn’t asked for any names of towns, he’d just
asked
where
.

General Herodson sighed. “I see that there is already some
resistance to my influence. Very well; I’ll have Clara search for the things I
want to know while she’s erasing your memories.” Gone was the pretense of
kindness, and his steel-gray eyes turned to ice. “Sometimes the T-R process
requires several swipes of the hard drive. You should know that to test your
obedience I’ll be ordering you to kill your sweetheart.”

My heart skipped a beat.
Does he have Jason? Oh God, no!

The General backed up and looked at Mase. “An interesting
choice. I wasn’t sure if Re-gens were still sexual creatures, but I know this
one spent the night at your house and you seem quite concerned about his well-being,
so I can only assume you two…it’s quite enlightening.”
He’s going to order
me to kill Mase…

A thrashing and screaming Camille drew my attention. “You promised!
You said you wouldn’t hurt either of them if I told you! You promised!” But
Camille was as small as me—half the size of the soldier restraining her—and she
hadn’t had any combat training. She didn’t stand a chance of breaking free.
Hell, were I in her place, I wouldn’t have either.
Wait…why isn’t she using
her Ability to—

“If you’re hoping she’ll mentally gut us all, don’t hold
your breath,” General Herodson said, seeming to read my mind. He’d turned to
watch Camille’s struggles as well. “Frank, the man holding her arm, has a very
unique Ability. Not only can he sense when others are using their Abilities,
but through touch, he can suppress others from using theirs.” He sighed,
sounding wistful. “Unfortunately, Camille will also be disposed of when this
ugly business is completed. She was useful, but…you can’t always get what you
want.” Turning, he beckoned Clara from the corner. “Come, start the process.
I’m tiring of this. I want to be done with it.”

I watched Clara slink closer, watched her reach her slender
fingers out to touch my temples. Her presence in my mind felt like an oil
spill, toxic and clinging. Defensively, my Ability kicked in, and I sought out
the nearest familiar mind.

Ray was circling in the sky above the Colony, swooping and
soaring along currents of wind. Slipping out of my mind and into hers was the
most welcome relief imaginable.

29

ZOE

MARCH
22, 1AE

It was a couple hours past nightfall and we’d ridden nearly
fifty miles. Our horses were worn out by the time we made it to the south end
of Silver Spruce golf course. We hadn’t been willing to linger any closer to
the Colony than necessary for fear of running into patrolling black-bands, so
we’d settled for our tucked-away ghost town and exhausted horses instead.

Thankfully, having known we would be leaving, we already had
most of our belongings packed by the time Jason received Dani’s panicked
communication. Tavis and Sam had decided to stay with our group, riding with us
to Colorado Springs to rescue Dani, and then on to Durango to meet up with the
others. Shadow was still healing and putting on weight, so he was ponied behind
the brown mare I’d saddled up to ride on our journey.

As soon as we reached the pond, the place where Dani was
supposed to meet us, Carlos, Chris, and Jason dismounted and moved a few yards
away from the rest of us. Carlos needed to focus on sending out an
electromagnetic pulse strong enough to shut down the ever-stretching sea of
electricity. We needed to signal to Dani that we’d arrived and were ready for
her to make her escape, and the disorientation caused by the blackout would aid
her breakout.

Anxiously, I stood beside Jake, Harper, and Sanchez amidst
the overgrown green, taking in what we could see of the infamous Colony. The
very idea of its existence festered in my mind. The place seemed alive, radiant
even. It had been months since I’d seen something so inexplicably awe-inspiring…and
obscene. The longer I stared at it, the hotter the deep, septic hatred burning
inside my gut became.
Killing people? Kidnapping them?
And for what
purpose, exactly?
I knew there was no acceptable reasoning behind it, and I
wanted to hurt everyone responsible for causing so much pain and heart-wrenching
grief—the doctor, maybe, or Gabe and the General.

In fact, knowing the General was responsible for creating
the two Re-gens that were with Dani made me restless. I’d witnessed how loyal
Becca had been to her “Father,” how much she feared his wrath and how desperate
she was to please him.
What makes Dani’s Re-gens any different?

But every time I thought of Dani stuck inside that glowing,
mind-controlled encampment with the General, who wanted her Ability so badly he’d
probably waste no expense to retain possession of her, I knew my
only
choice
was to trust the Re-gens…and Gabe. I had to believe they would keep Dani safe
and get her to the electric fence in one piece. I had to believe that Camille
would not only use her metal-controlling Ability to successfully cut through
the deadly fence, but also to detain any guards who crossed their path, and that
Mase really would use his superhuman strength and speed to fight off any who
made it past Camille. And I had to believe that Gabe, using his knowledge of how
the Colony worked, would get Dani out of there once and for all…that he
wouldn’t betray us all again. I
had
to believe that together they would help
keep Dani safe until we met them outside the fence, and I
had
to believe
that tonight was the night we would all ride away and never look back. I
sighed.
God, I hope they know what they’re doing…

Jake leaned into me, nudging my shoulder with his. Apparently
my mental scowl was readable on my face, too.

I shook my head in disbelief at the glowing city spread out
before us, but quickly my determination resurfaced.
We’re getting Dani out
of that fucking hellhole.

There weren’t walls lining the perimeter like those of a
castle, nor were there machine gun stations atop battlements like I’d half expected;
there was only a heavily charged electric fence.
It’s not so impossible
,
I mused. Then again, I guessed the General didn’t need towers and tanks if he
was mind-controlling everyone so expertly and had walking weapons at his beck
and call.

Dani had told us that guards weren’t scarce along the
Colony’s border, and that they patrolled the roads and the buildings
surrounding the base, watching and waiting for any possible dangers. The Colony
was well equipped, to say the least—they had electricity, and from the intense
aura of light around it, they had a lot of it. We didn’t stand a chance. At
least, not without Carlos’s Ability.

Unexpectedly, shooting and distant yelling echoed from
inside the Colony, and my heart seemed to stop in momentary dread.
What the
hell’s going on?
Is it Dani?

I glanced over at Carlos’s shadowed form kneeling on the
grass. Even in the darkness, I could tell he was shaking. Chris’s silhouette
crouched on his right while Jason’s stood to Carlos’s left, each with a supportive
hand on his shoulder. We were relying on the darkness and the weeping willows
to shield us from any watchful eyes. Hearing another burst of gunfire, I
grabbed Jake’s hand, clutching it tightly while I squeezed my eyes shut.
Please
work.

As if Carlos himself had heard my plea, the humming sound of
electricity faded. My eyes flew open in time to see a wave of darkness flowing away
from us…away from Carlos.

30

DANI

MARCH 22, 1AE

I was Ray.

It was moon-time. I spotted my prey again, flitting from
branch to branch in a tree with budding leaves. It squawked once before
launching itself into the air. I dove, striking at it as I crossed over its
back, and watched it fall to the earth. Lazily, I sank through the air, landing
beside my prey with a victorious cry. I tore into it, savoring its warm flesh.

Sated, I extended my wings fully and launched back into
the air immediately before she-who-flies-with-me withdrew.

I slipped out of Ray, and like I was sloshing across an
ocean of tar, crawled back into my own mind. Instantly, I regretted it. Despite
the General’s power-laced command to not feel pain, a deep ache pulsed through
my body, and the fact that I was still strapped to the damn concrete chair by
shiny steel restraints wasn’t helping my comfort level.

But…yes! I’m also still me!
I’m not a T-R!
I
didn’t understand it, but somehow, fleeing into Ray’s mind had protected me
from Clara’s Ability.
Thank you, Ray!

Opening my eyes, I glanced around the room. Camille was
still there, standing with her wrists handcuffed in front of her and Frank at
her side, suppressing her Ability through his touch. I could hear someone
moving around behind me and figured it was Clara. Mase stood in the same place
in front of me, his arms still extended over his head by heavy iron chains, and
sweat streamed down his face and neck. General Herodson, on the other hand, was
gone. The only other people in the room were two yellow-armbanded guards watchfully
flanking the door.
Where’d the General go? Why’d he take most of his people?

“Where’s Herodson?” I croaked.

At my question, Clara skipped around to the front of my
seated prison, blocking only some of Mase’s massive body with her slender
frame. “You’re awake! That’s a relief!” she exclaimed, sounding genuinely
relieved. “General Herodson was super pissed. He thought I did something that
broke your mind, but I knew I didn’t.
You
did something.” She balled her
hands into fists and placed them on her hips in an exaggerated motion. “You
made me look like a fool in front of him!” She glared at me. “What did you do?”
I half expected her to stomp her foot in indignation.

What did I do?
“Ah…what?”

Clara’s eyes narrowed to slits, and she moved closer to me,
setting her hands beside my wrists on the wide cement armrests. She leaned in
so far that she was almost close enough to kiss. I was tempted to spit in her
face.

Instead, I whispered, “You’re in my bubble.”

Slowly, a sly grin turned up the ends of her mouth, making
her eyes glint with malice. “You know,
he
won’t be back for a while. He
has some crisis to deal with…something with those Re-gen freaks. But that
doesn’t mean we can’t play while he’s gone. I may not be able to wipe your mind—yet—but
there are other things we can do for fun.”
Clara smiled sweetly. “And who says you’re the only one I can play with?”

Turning, she took several steps in Mase’s direction and
placed a hand on the side of his ribcage. Ever so slowly, she walked a circle
around him, tracing her fingers along his sweat-soaked t-shirt. “A bit damp for
my tastes, but he’s definitely burly enough.” When she was behind him, she
reached her right hand around to his stomach and slipped it down to the
waistband of his fatigues. “I bet I could have a
lot
of fun with him.”
She traced a line along the coarse fabric, barely dipping her fingers lower.

Mase jerked away from her touch as much as possible. His
eyes were squeezed shut, and his face was locked in a strained grimace.

I looked past the disturbing scene and met Camille’s eyes.
They were wide, imploring with me to pay attention to her…to the words she was
mouthing, slowly and deliberately: “Use your telepathy on me.” Her eyes widened
further, demanding.

Use my telepathy on her? But I can’t! The General
commanded me not to…oh!
He’d said I wasn’t allowed to use it to
talk
to anyone, but he hadn’t forbidden me from listening to—or, in Camille’s case,
seeing—what other people were trying to tell me.
She wanted me to
connect our minds telepathically. I jerked my head in a single, minimal nod.

“Don’t look at her!” Clara screeched. “She’s not a part of
this. This is
my
game!”

I shifted my gaze back to the psychotic blonde, settling a
bland expression on my face. It was harder than it sounds. Her left hand was
clutching Mase’s arm just above the elbow, her fingernails digging in deep
enough that several thin streams of blood were sliding down his arm.

I leeched all emotion from my voice, doing my best to look
bored. “What do you want from me?”

“I want you to watch…just watch, that’s all,” she cooed.

Keeping my eyes locked on Clara’s, I reached out to Camille
with my mind. I had to swallow a cry of relief. I could connect with her mind
even if I couldn’t actually say anything because of the General’s damn command.

I saw myself in Gabe’s empty lab, lying on the floor
while he injected me with the neutralizer. And then I saw myself start
screaming. Camille, peeking through the door from the hallway, dropped to her
knees, clutching her head in her hands.

I saw myself as I currently was, restrained and broken.
The rest of the concrete prison was in place, guards and prisoners alike.
Again, I saw myself start screaming, but only Frank, the man touching Camille’s
arm suppressing her Ability over metals, seemed affected by my outpouring of
power.

I saw myself running down a dark corridor with Camille
and Mase. We were free and fleeing together.

Blinking, I refocused on Clara and Mase. Only seconds had
passed since I’d started receiving images from Camille’s mind, but Clara’s hand
had dipped further into Mase’s pants. It wouldn’t be long until she’d violated
him completely. With renewed determination, I focused on my Ability. Camille
wanted me to use it like I had after receiving my one and only dose of the
neutralizer and remembering all of the memories and pain of the last few
months.

Wait—she was there?
I shook my head.
Focus!

But I’d had heartbreaking memories, an aching sense of loss,
to fuel my scream the last time. None of that was as fresh now. All I had was…artificially
dulled pain.
Will that work?

In a surreal moment, I stepped outside of myself, assessing my
emotions.
What else do I have to work with?
Anger. Panic. Fear. I had an
overabundance of fear. I was terrified of never escaping from the Colony, of
being wiped clean and remade into someone else.
And what if something
happens to Zo and Jason?
My gut-wrenching terror was so powerful that once
I started screaming, I feared I might never be able to stop.

But that was assuming it would work at all. I didn’t know if
the General’s command not to use my Ability to talk to anyone telepathically
would extend to mind-screaming.

There’s only one way to find out.

Shifting my attention to Frank, I opened my mouth and
focused all of my mental power on my unrestrainable fear. I let it nourish me.
Consume me. Transform me. I embraced it, and when I pushed the air out of my
lungs, I used that fear to make my scream as mind-shredding as possible.

Oh God!
It felt like shooting a never-ending laser of
pure telepathic power into Frank’s mind. I strained under the force of it,
watching him convulse as blood leaked from his nose. Nobody else seemed to
realize what was happening to him—nobody but Frank and Camille. Probably
because everyone else was staring at me.

My scream cut off almost as abruptly as it began, and I
hunched in on myself, panting.

“What’s wrong with you?” Clara asked me warily, drawing my
attention back to her.

I risked the briefest glance at Frank. Blood was leaking
from his ears, too. Crimson tears started streaming from the corners of his
eyes right before he stiffened and sank to the floor, releasing Camille…freeing
her Ability. She didn’t hesitate in unleashing it.

“What the hell?” one of the guards at the door exclaimed
while his counterpart simply struggled in place. Their bodies weren’t
frozen—they could still move, a little, so I knew Camille wasn’t restraining
them by the metals in their blood—but they appeared stuck enough.

Stunned, Clara still stood behind Mase, one hand partially
submerged in the front of his pants.

Camille pointed to her and said, “She doesn’t have any metal
on her. I can’t hold her in place.”

“Mase! Pull!” I shouted. He didn’t falter.

At the exact instant my steel restraints snapped open,
chunks of concrete rained down on Mase from the ceiling and the heavy chain
clattered to the floor. Clara followed almost immediately, collapsing into a
limp heap. There was blood on her temple.

I stood, cradling my broken arm, my legs shaking. Camille’s
fingers were hovering over the locks holding the manacles around Mase’s wrists.
Keeping an eye on an unconscious Clara, I approached my friends. “What’d you
mean about the metal? Why can she still move?”

Camille was clenching her jaw. She didn’t look up as she
said, “The low concentration of metals in the body…takes a lot of effort to
hold someone that way…but almost everyone has metal
on
them…and holding
that in place is easier…a lot easier. I can do…more…that way.”

The iron that had been around Mase’s wrists clanked to the
ground, and he rubbed his raw skin. “Thanks, Camille,” he said softly before
striding around the room, knocking out each of the guards quickly and
efficiently. At least, I thought he only knocked them out.

Camille crossed her arms over her middle, her eyes narrowed
with strain as she watched Mase. All of a sudden, a thick stream of blood started
leaking from her left nostril.

“Crap, Camille, did you get hit in the nose?” I lurched
forward so I could get a closer look at her face.

She turned wide, gray eyes on me. “What? No.”

“You’re bleeding.”

Tentatively, she raised a hand to her face and touched her
shaking fingers to the blood. Looking at her crimson-coated fingertips, she
frowned. “I wonder…it must be because…I’m holding so much metal in place…right
now.”

If her Ability’s making her nose bleed, what’s it doing
to her brain?
“How much metal, Camille?”

She glanced around the room. “All of it.”

“In here?”

She shook her head. “In the Colony…at least, all that I can
reach. Except what’s on us.”

My heart sank, and I reached for her good arm with
my
good arm. “We need to get out, now, so you can let go.”

Mase hurled his body at the door, and after several failed
attempts at breaking it down, Camille asked him to stop. There was a low,
metallic click. “It’s unlocked now, but…”

“But what?” I asked, stopping midway to the door.

Camille sagged in place, remaining on her feet for a few
seconds before falling to her knees. “I can’t go with you. I can’t do anything
else. I’ll lose concentration.” Raising her eyes to mine, she made a silent
plea. “Leave me. I’ll hold on as long as I can.”

“No, Camille—”

Mase had apparently heard enough. Having already opened the
door, he stomped back to Camille and hoisted her up, flinging her over his
shoulders in a fireman’s carry. He turned to me. “Let’s go.”

All of a sudden, Clara was on her feet and sprinting out of
the room.

“Mase! She’s—” I started to say, but his hands were full
with Camille, and the sadistic woman was gone before he could do anything to
detain her.
Damn it!

“Forget her,” Mase said. “We need to go, now.”

I followed him to the door…and froze. I couldn’t move.

No, that wasn’t quite right. I could move backward—back into
the room—but I couldn’t step through the doorway. My stomach soured and bile
rose to my throat when I realized what was going on. General Herodson had
also
commanded me not to try to escape. So far, everything I’d done had been to help
free Camille and Mase as much as myself. But leaving the room—that was definitely
me
trying to escape.

“Shit!” I hissed.

In the hallway, Mase turned, his eyebrows drawn down in
confusion.

“I can’t leave…the General’s commands—”

There was the sound of a throat clearing in the hallway to
the left of the doorway. “I believe I could help with that…if I could move more
than my mouth, fingers, and toes.” I didn’t need to be able to see him to know
it was Gabe. I wanted to collapse to the ground in equal parts relief and
frustration. I couldn’t get to him, but he was alright…for the moment.

“Ah, thank you, Camille.” Looking harried, Gabe stepped
through the doorway and into the interrogation room with me. His eyes flicked around
the room, taking in the five motionless bodies, but he shook his head and
returned his attention to me. He scanned me from head to toe, shock and fury
pinching his features.

“I thought you might need this,” he said, holding up a small
metal case. I desperately hoped it held the neutralizer. Without pretense, he
removed an inoculator and a glass vial, fitted them together, and injected the neon
liquid into my neck.

Within seconds, I felt the General’s influence erode until
it released me completely. Luckily, it wasn’t like the previous time, when all
my old, painful memories had resurfaced at once. Unluckily, it was physical
pain that threatened to drown me. I stiffened, shutting my eyes tightly while I
struggled to hold on to consciousness under the sheer agony. I gritted my
teeth.
I
won’t
give in!
Slowly, it abated, fading to a more
manageable level.