Into The Fire (The Ending Series) (7 page)

“What’s there, then?”

“It’s a storage warehouse now…before, I don’t know what it
was.”

“Oh?” I asked. I pointed off to our right to a row of houses
at the edge of what was obviously a residential area. “Do you live in that
neighborhood?”

“Yeah…along with pretty much everyone else.”

“Do all of the houses have power, too, or just the important
buildings like the hospital?” Because that would be a lot of power, more than
just a mini-power plant could provide.
Do they have enough people to man
such a thing?

“All the houses, the warehouses—everywhere has it,” he
explained.

Hmmm…
“So where does it come from?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see MG shake his head.
“It’s…complicated. And, honestly Dani, that’s not my area of expertise.”

“Well, you must know where it comes from.” After a moment of
thought, I added, “Wind? A dam? Solar?” Did they have some sort of nuclear
power plant nearby? Had they come up with a new way to generate electricity? I
watched his face as we walked, even though it made me feel dizzy.

“I hate to disappoint, but I really don’t know how to
explain the system. I spend most of my time in my lab, not interrogating the
engineers about their power sources.”

“Okay,” I said with a shrug. I squinted and resumed looking ahead.
There were a couple people on the other side of the street, yelling about
something, and I could hear several engines rumbling in the distance. “It’s
effing loud here.”

“Is it?” MG made a show of listening, but didn’t seem
impressed.

“Yep. I haven’t heard a car engine in months.” Suddenly,
everything about the Colony felt very,
very
wrong. I stopped and grabbed
his wrist, my fingers clutching at the rough sleeve of his jacket.

MG halted. When he glanced down at my hand, I released him.

“It’s great that you have a place that’s so”—I floundered,
searching for the right word—“er, accommodating, but you have to understand
what it’s like out there for everyone else. It’s not bad, exactly. Well, it
sort of is. But this—” I waved my arms around at the buzzing power lines and
parked vehicles. “It’s like you’re all living in a bubble. How could this
possibly be sustained?”

Studying me, MG took a deep, contemplative breath. “I don’t
know. That’s not my—”

“Area of expertise,” I finished for him with an exasperated
sigh. “I know.”

MG frowned and continued walking. “As far as I’ve been told,
the plan is to draw in enough survivors that we can use the infrastructure
already in existence in and around Colorado Springs. We just need enough people
to make it work. It’ll be a mini version of the world we knew.”

I shook my head, ignoring the pain. For such an intelligent
man, I didn’t understand how MG could be so blind…unless he wanted to be. “And
how many people would that take? A hundred thousand? Two? More? How would you
feed them all? The stuff you scavenge is going to run out, and you can’t grow
and raise food for that many people in just the area around here. Are you going
to ship it in? From where?
Everyone
is dead. Where will you get medical
supplies? Hell, where will you get the basic things that people need to stay
healthy? Are you going to build factories to produce toothpaste and toilet
paper? What about—”

“Okay, Dani. I get it,” MG said sharply. He caught my eye
then quickly looked away. “I’ve been focused on other, more immediate things. I
haven’t spent much time thinking about the future.”

“Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean…I know that none of this is
your fault and that you don’t run this place. It’s just frustrating, you know,
seeing all this. It feels so wrong and makes me that much more eager to get out
of here.”

Turning to face me, MG leaned in, his eyes fierce. “I know
you want to get back to your friends, but when we get to Colony Headquarters,
please
don’t behave confrontationally toward General Herodson. No matter what he
says, just don’t. Please, Dani.”

I thought about arguing. I really,
really
wanted to
argue. But he just seemed so sincere…so concerned. “Don’t worry, MG.” I shook
my head. “I mean, Gabe. I’ll be the perfect little Colonist…who just happens to
want to leave.”

He sighed and reached out a hand to squeeze my shoulder. “I
just hope that’s good enough.”

We walked the rest of the way in silence, me looking around
at everything, logging the layout and details of the Colony as best I could, and
MG thinking. Eventually, we turned right at an intersection and approached
three enormous, extremely modern buildings. Each looked imposing and completely
unique, like the three structures didn’t really belong together. We passed the
first two, aiming for the third, the darkest.

“General Herodson is expecting her,” MG told the two men
posted on either side of the building’s reinforced glass door. Both were
dressed in green and tan fatigues with yellow armbands, and both carried
assault rifles.

The man on the left nodded, and the one on the right opened
the door for us.

I started to follow MG into the building, but I was halted
by the guard on the left. His hand gripped my upper arm, his hold firm and
unwelcome. “Why don’t you come find me after your meeting with General Herodson.
I’ll help you
settle in
.” The way he emphasized the last two words left
no question as to his meaning. I was so shocked I could only gape at him.

MG clenched his jaw and stepped closer, looking like he
wanted to attack my detainer.

I finally shook off my astonishment and rolled my eyes.
Placing my free hand on MG’s chest, I said, “Hold on, cowboy,” before turning
my attention to the man who was still holding my arm. I took my time looking
the stranger up and down, then curled my lip. “Not interested.”

Apparently it was the wrong response, because his grip
tightened.
Damn.
“We’ll see if you feel the same way after your
meeting.”

I scoffed and checked him out again, noting the name
stitched onto his breast pocket. “Trust me,
Grant
. I will. And don’t
ever
touch me again.”

He stiffened, and a glint of challenge flashed in his eye,
but he also released me. It took a conscious effort not to shake out my arm,
but I refused to give him the satisfaction.
What an asshole
, I thought
as MG and I continued into the building.
At least I’ll be gone by morning.

As we neared a stairwell door, MG eyed me sideways. “You’ve
changed.”

I shrugged. “Had to.”

He didn’t say anything else as we ascended two flights of
stairs and emerged into another bland, beige and gray hallway. Evidently the
military hadn’t been big on creative interior decorating.

MG stopped before a reinforced door. Its gold placard read,
General
Herodson, President of the New United States.

“I guess I missed the vote,” I said.

Without warning, the door opened.

“Welcome. You must be the young woman my people rescued last
night,” a man said from inside the room. He hadn’t been the one to open the
door—that was another camouflaged soldier reminiscent of the two guarding the
entrance downstairs. No, the owner of the voice was seated behind a wide, metal
desk that was equally cluttered and organized. Piles of papers, file folders,
and notebooks were neatly stacked along the desk’s surface, as well as on the
bookshelves and tables arranged around the periphery of the office. It was very
Spartan—all function, no fluff.

The speaker tapped a few final keys on the laptop he was
using, then gently shut it and handed it to the woman standing behind him, who
exchanged it for a sleek tablet. She, too, was wearing camouflage fatigues.
Shocking, I know.

The seated man, however, was decked out in a far more
intimidating uniform. Made from a blue fabric so dark it was nearly black, his
jacket was decorated with a rainbow of badges and medals over the left side of
his chest, and it had garish bronze buttons. A stripe emblazoned with four gold
stars and outlined in even more gold was tacked to the edge of either shoulder.

The appearance of the man himself was unremarkable, though
his intense presence was undisputable. He was trim, his face narrow, and though
it was etched with lines that had likely come from a life of stress and frowns,
it was not unpleasant. I guessed he was in his late fifties or early sixties,
though his hair showed no signs of his late-middle-aged status; it was brown
and short, and only a little lighter than his neatly trimmed mustache. Overall,
he was quite average. But then there were his eyes. Cold and gray, they seemed
to see inside me, measure the essence of my being, and refuse to divulge their
findings. Even with the smile spreading his thin lips, his stare made me want
to shiver. There was no doubt in my mind that I was staring at General Herodson,
supposed President of the New United States, leader of the Colony, and the one
man who controlled whether I stayed or left.
Delightful
.

“Please, come in. It’s Danielle, isn’t it?” he asked. His
voice was soft and calm in a way that made my skin crawl. MG’s hushed warning
to hold my temper was suddenly making a lot more sense. The General was
dangerous—like swimming-in-a-shark-tank-while-bleeding dangerous.

Hesitantly, I stepped into the office, and MG followed. Or
at least, he tried to follow.

“Thank you, Gabriel, but I’d like you to wait outside while
I meet with the newest addition to our little settlement.”

MG looked like he wanted to argue, but with great effort, he
held it in.

“You may leave,” the General said, and though the tone of
his voice hadn’t changed, irritation was evident in the tension around his
eyes.

I glanced back at MG, trying to imbue my face with
reassurance. Unfortunately, I was pretty sure it came across more like
constipation. I was feeling neither reassured nor reassuring. When I turned
back to the General, I relaxed my features; my blank face could have easily
rivaled Jason’s usual stony expression.

“Thank you for seeing me,” I said, stepping further into the
room. “I’m sure you’re really busy with running this place and everything.” I
heard the soft click of the door shutting behind me and sat down in the empty
chair in front of the desk. The General’s right eye twitched minutely when I
sat, making me wonder if he’d expected me to wait for his permission.
So
he’s a control freak.
I scoffed inwardly.
Figures.

General Herodson rested his elbows on the desk and steepled
his fingers under his chin, unabashedly studying me. “I make it a priority to
meet with every person who enters the Colony or plans to leave indefinitely.”

The woman to whom he’d handed the laptop closed a file
cabinet behind the General and walked around the desk to stand behind me,
presumably next to the man at the door. It bothered me that the two armed
soldiers were behind me—a lot—and I itched to turn and see what they were
doing. With a herculean effort, I managed to restrain myself.

“So, um, thanks for rescuing me and for the medical care,” I
said, breaking the protracted, very uncomfortable silence. I was fairly certain
my discomfort was the whole point of the silence, that and the soldiers
standing behind me.
I think I’m ready to go now…

“Of course,” General Herodson said. “I like to make sure all
of my Colonists are well cared for.” He graced me with another of his eerie
smiles.
Ugh…
instant heebie-jeebies. “Well, now that you’re safely within
my grasp, I’d like to offer you permanent residency here in the Colony. It’s
the heart—the Capital—around which the New United States will be built.”

“Oh…um, thanks. But I already have somewhere I belong
outside of here.”

General Herodson put on a tolerant expression, his voice dripping
with condescension. “Please don’t make any permanent decisions until you hear
everything I have to offer you.”

“Listen, I really appreciate—”

“I have a house already set aside for you—it’s quite
comfortable, and I’m sure far better than whatever your accommodations have
been over the past few months. I also have a position as a communications specialist
denoted just for you. I know it would utilize your Ability perfectly.”

Um, okay…how does he know about my Ability? Has MG been
blabbing about me?
I felt a sudden, sickening pang of betrayal in my chest.

“Also, we have the technology and personnel to help you
increase the strength of your telepathy,” he continued. “You’re a very special
woman, Danielle—your Ability is exceptional and very unique. It could greatly
increase our numbers here.”

That he knew so much about me, about my telepathy, was just
another notch on the General’s creepy belt. I felt like I’d been stalked. I
made a mental note to interrogate MG about everything he’d told General Herodson.

Plastering on my friendliest smile, I said, “I really do
appreciate the offer and everything the Colony has done for me so far, but I
already have a place I belong. I’m happy there.” It was hard to find a way to
say what needed to be said without sounding like an ungrateful brat. His people
had
saved my life, after all. “So, if it’s not too much trouble, I’d
prefer to leave as soon as possible…or whenever’s convenient.”
And if you
say no, I’m outta here tonight, you creepy, creepy man.

He sighed, and his chilling, almost dead eyes latched on to
mine. “I’m very sorry to hear that, Danielle. I had really hoped you would feel
more at home here and that I wouldn’t have to bend your mind like all the
others. My most loyal are those who choose to follow me of their own accord. Oh
well. You will do exactly as I say…”

As he spoke, a fog seeped into my brain, coating my senses
and thoughts, dulling them… numbing them. His voice droned on, but I was having
a hard time focusing on the sounds, comprehending the meanings. They jumbled
together, turning into a mind-numbing hum. My vision slowly unfocused, becoming
a blur of colorful, unidentifiable shapes.