Kings and Crowns: A Dystopian Thriller (Age of End Book 2) (14 page)

Their hearts stopped. Alan raised a finger to his mouth, pleading for him to stay quiet. The man saw his signal, nodded, and turned around as the labbie guided him around the corner.

They sighed with relief. “That was too close,” Alan said. “That patient was looking out for us. He’s got something against the Spire maybe?”

“Perhaps,” Rupert said, “but we may not be so lucky next time. We need to get out of this main hallway. There are too many occupied rooms. Anyone could come at any time. It’s too risky.”

Alan nodded. “You’re right, but where do we go?”

“Let’s follow them,” Ella said. They both looked at her like she was crazy. “They just came out of the glass room. They’re probably not headed to another one. They must be going somewhere else. There’s no reason for the labbie to turn around. He won’t see us if we’re quiet. As long as we keep our distance, they should lead us somewhere important. Or at least somewhere new. I’m getting sick of all of these hallways.”

“That sounds like a solid plan to me,” Alan said.

Rupert nodded and took the lead, creeping up to the corner and poking his head out. There was a door. He cracked it open and peeked through. It was another long hallway. The two men were nearly at the opposite end already. He signaled to the others and pushed through.

They kept the two men in sight, following their every turn through a maze of the same halls and doors, until finally they reached something different. It was another door, but this one was different. It was larger and made of metal. The labbie held his eye up to a device by the door. A soft beep played over the speakers, followed by the loud clank of metal. The door slid up, and they walked through.

Ella scurried forward. “Hurry, before it closes.”

They ran as quietly as they could and slipped under the door just as it was closing. Another loud clank rang through the room as the metal hit the ground.

Alan looked up in awe, stunned by what he saw. “What is this place?”

The hall opened up to a vast room with numerous floors. They looked down into the hollow area. The huge chamber carried catwalks along the sides. Metal cages lined the walls, like prison cells. A single source of light beamed down from the large glass ceiling and down the center shaft, filling the void between the catwalks. The labbie escorted the patient further down the path and into one of the cells.

“I guess the glass rooms are just for show,” Alan said. “These are their real rooms.”

They stood near the top floor, staring into the dark abyss. Posted on the wall was a sign. It listed each floor and their corresponding sector.
Level 149 — Rehabilitation Sector
. Above that,
Level 150 — Victor Greene
. They looked up and saw a glass viewing room, where Greene could stand and watch over his prisoners. It was currently empty.

Ella looked to Rupert. “What do we do now? If Greene finds out we’ve seen this, what will he do?”

“He probably already knows we’re here,” Rupert said. “There’s no turning back now. Fred might be in here. I want to look.”

Ella and Alan agreed, but as they began to walk, they bumped into a labbie. The same labbie they were following.

“What? Who are you?” he asked, clearly flustered. “How did you get in here?”

They didn’t respond.

“This is a restricted area. Only lab technicians and guards are allowed. I’m afraid I must ask you to leave.” He motioned to the door. “Here, I’ll escort you out. These halls can be a little confusing.” He went to the door and held his eye to the device. The door slid open like it did before, and slammed shut once they were through. They walked back through the blank white halls. “I apologize for kicking you out like this, but I could get in trouble. Mr. Greene is very strict about his rules. He has a low tolerance for people who break them. I hope you understand.”

“Of course,” Rupert said. “What was in there, anyway? I’ve never seen such a big room before.”

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you. Sworn to secrecy. Mr. Greene’s orders.”

“Aww, come on,” Alan nagged. “You got to give us something. We have so many questions. We’ve never seen something so magnificent outside of the City.”

The labbie looked at him curiously. “Outside of the City?” His eyes lit up. “Are you with Vince Vigo and Saul Shepherd?”

“We sure are,” Ella said with a smile. “Came over on a raft from a place called Snow Peak.”

“I can’t believe it! I’m actually speaking with people who know the Heroes of the Spire!”

Alan chuckled. “That title has really stuck, huh?”

“It sure has. People can’t get enough of those two, especially here in the testing labs. They remind us why we do what we do. To help people. The fact that they came all this way to thank Mr. Greene, it’s inspiring. Tell me, what are they like in person?”

Alan shook his head. “Now I don’t think that’s fair. You have to tell us something about that room first. Then you’ll hear all about how great Vince and Saul are.”

The labbie hesitated. “I don’t know. I’m really not supposed to say anything. He would probably throw me in there with the rest of them if he ever found out.”

“He’ll throw you where?” Rupert said.

The labbie grew flustered again. “Oh man, I shouldn’t have said that.” His face turned bright red.

“It’s okay,” Ella said. “You can tell us. We won’t tell anyone else.”

“And we’ll get you a private meeting with Vince and Saul if you do tell us,” Alan said, nudging his arm.

His head turned, and his eyes widened. “A private meeting? With the Heroes of the Spire?”

“That’s right, and all you have to do is tell us what that room is. No one needs to know. It’s our little secret. Right, guys?”

Ella and Rupert nodded.

They could see thoughts race through his mind as he tried to make a decision. “Okay. I suppose it can’t hurt since you’re all such big supporters of Mr. Greene’s work already.”

“Exactly,” Alan said. “we’re just eager to learn as much as we can. Get every little tidbit.”

The labbie nodded. “Right. See these doors? They lead to the glass rooms, which I’m sure you’ve seen.” He opened a door to a vacant glass room. “This is where we keep our patients. As you can see, it’s a spacious area with clean, comfortable furniture. A very pleasant place for a patient.” He looked behind his back, just to make sure no one was there. “But these are just for show. The truth is, with the amount of patients we have, it’s not feasible to build and maintain so many rooms like this.” He shut the door and continued down the hall. “That room back there that you saw is called the cell room. It’s where we really keep our patients.”

“It looked like a prison,” Ella said.

“The living conditions aren’t quite as nice, but it’s much more cost-efficient. Whenever a group comes along for a tour of the Spire, we bring a few lucky patients up for the day to fill these rooms. That’s how we reward good patients.”

“And how do you punish the bad?” Alan asked.

“I wouldn’t say we punish anyone. We just give incentives for good behavior.”

“I have a falcon,” Rupert said. “Is there any chance she’s in there?”

“Is she a patient?”

“She was a patient in the medical sector. They were fixing up her wing.”

“No, the medical sector is separate from the rest of them. They keep all of their stuff in their part of the building.”

“She wasn’t there.”

The labbie shrugged. “I couldn’t tell you where they brought her, but the cell room doesn’t have medical patients. She would only be in there if they were doing tests on her.”

They reached the main hallway, outside of the glass rooms. “Well, this is where I’ll leave you. How will we arrange my meeting with Vince and Saul?”

“What’s your name?” Alan asked. “They’re pretty busy right now, but we can have Greene call your name when they’re free.”

“My name’s Humphrey. Humphrey Jacks.”

Rupert held out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Humphrey. Thanks for the information. We appreciate your honesty. We’ll make sure you get your meeting with Vince and Saul.”

Humphrey gripped his hand and shook with enthusiasm. “Thank you so much. You have no idea what this means to me. Meeting the Heroes of the Spire. The others will be so jealous. Anyways, goodbye.” He waved and shut the door.

As they left the testing labs, Ella noticed a worried look on Rupert’s face. “What are you thinking?”

“He said they only hold test subjects in the cell room. I’m thinking she’s in there. They’re doing tests on her, and I’m thinking they’re bad ones.”

“How do you know they're bad?” Alan asked. “From what I can tell, there are a lot of good tests too.”

“They’re hiding it from us,” he said. “Hidden is always bad.”

TWENTY-SIX

THEY ALL HAD trouble sleeping that night.

Vince and Saul’s thoughts lingered around Greene’s plan of espionage, and Saul’s impending death. Vince had thought about Charlotte’s words. Was he scared of death, and just using Greene as an excuse? When the time came, would he be able to stop draining? His friend’s impending death forced him to think these thoughts. It made his head spin. He could only imagine what Saul was going through.

Saul had chased the possibility of immortality. No matter how weak their powers were, he held on to the belief that he could live forever. That he
would
live forever. Vince had once thought the same. Maybe he still did. But that hope was now gone for Saul. He knew he would die, and he was frightened as hell.

Rupert, Ella, and Alan’s thoughts were overwhelmed by what Humphrey had told them about the cell room. Rupert couldn’t stand to be apart from Fred any longer. A part of him knew that she was okay. She was a strong bird. She could handle anything. But the other part of him was terrified of the possibility that they were testing her. Terrified that she was locked up in that prison. He needed to find her, to make sure she was safe, but there was nothing he could do. The doors were locked at night, and they were already on thin ice with Greene. There was no doubt that Greene knew they had found the cell room. Either he saw it himself through the cameras, or one of his workers informed him. How would he handle this information? How would he punish them for disobeying orders?

Charlotte slept beside them, in a bed near the door. She had escorted Vince and Saul for nearly their entire stay in the Spire. She had heard them talk about Greene as an enemy. She understood why they loathed him, but she had always looked up to him. She respected him. She overheard conversations to plot against Greene, plans to kill him once Simon was out of the picture, and she did not know what to think of it.

Greene was the man who kept the City in order. Without him, how would it survive? Would it thrive, or crumble? There was only one way to find out. When the time came, would she let them turn on her boss, or would she sabotage their plans? If they failed, they would surely be killed. Her assignment would end, and she would receive a big paycheck. She could retire for the rest of her life. If they succeeded, she had no idea what would happen. For now, she delayed her decision, and instead, recorded everything in her journal. Every spoken word.

None of them knew what would come, but they were all certain, bad things awaited.

TWENTY-SEVEN

IN THE MORNING, with Charlotte busy flipping through her journal, the group met to discuss their plan for the day.

“After the meeting this morning,” Vince said, “Saul and I will stay close to Greene. We’ll keep him busy. That will give you more time to explore.”

Saul nodded. “You found some good information last night. That cell room sounds like it’s worth looking into.”

“You can thank Humphrey for that,” Alan said.

“Who?”

“He was the labbie who told us about the cell room. You guys owe him a meet-up by the way.”

Ella laugh. “Yeah, sorry about that. We had to persuade him somehow.”

Vince nodded. “Good work. It paid off. We can find some time later on. His name is Humphrey?”

“Yep,” Alan said. “Humphrey Jacks. When you meet with him, you can dig for more information. He was pretty hooked when we mentioned your names. I imagine you’ll be much more persuasive.”

“Perhaps, Vince said. “In the meantime, learn as much as you can about the cell room.”

“Right,” Rupert said. “I have a growing suspicion that Fred is in one of those cells. I intend to find her. I take it Greene already knows we found the cell room yesterday, so it might be best that we don’t attend the meeting this morning. I want to avoid him for as long as we can. Until he stops us, we’re going to explore as much as possible.”

“Good. Saul and I will be busy most of the day. We may not see you again before we head out, so good luck.”

Alan patted him on the back. “You too, buddy.”

Charlotte clapped her journal closed, checked the time, and got up from her seat. “It’s time for our morning meeting,” she said, walking towards them.

“These three aren’t feeling well,” Vince said, pointing to Rupert, Ella, and Alan. “Is it okay if they skip the meeting?”

“That should be fine, but it’s important that you two attend. You’re at the center of his plan right now. Without you, there’s no mission.”

“Right. Of course.”

They followed her to the briefing room. They had been there so many time, Vince could have found it with his eyes closed. The rest of the Spire was a mystery.

Greene and the others were already there as they strolled into the room. He was beginning to recognize their faces, but he didn’t know any of their names.

They took a seat at the table, and Greene stood up at the front. “Good morning, everyone. I hope you all got a good night of sleep. You’re going to need the energy. I don’t want anyone falling asleep on this mission.”

Everyone laughed.

“This meeting will be short. As you know, our troops return today. They will arrive in the afternoon if everything goes as planned. That gives me enough time to brief them. As I said before, most of them will go on the wall. One will go with Vince, Saul, and Charlotte to help them sneak into Simon’s base. Most of you in this room will be their eyes. You will watch the cameras with vigilance and warn them of anything that threatens the mission. I will personally watch over you as well. This mission is a big deal, and requires my undivided attention.” He shifted his eyes back and forth, scanning the room. “Where are your friends?”