Out Of The Ashes (The Ending Series, #3) (24 page)

Children of two mutated parents are
mutated as well, gaining some combination of their parents’ Abilities. I
inserted a genetic block into you both when you were young to prevent your
Abilities from manifesting. They remained latent until activated by a trigger I
built into the Virus. As you are second generation, your Abilities should, in
time, prove to be some combination of mine (being able to affect the potency
and effectiveness of another’s Ability) and your father’s (being able to alter
another’s perception as well as view, and even change their memories and sense
their emotions).

From what Dani told me, Zoe, you take
after your father, which will be difficult for you. Tom learned—over a very
long time, I might add—that the key to controlling his Ability was to not fight
it, to not even think about it, but to let it become an extension of his
senses, as integral and second nature as his senses of hearing, sight, smell,
touch, and taste.

And you, Jason, apparently take after me.
We’re valuable, which means we must always be cautious. People who desire power
will seek out those like us, because no matter how much power they have, they
will never be satisfied. They’ll always want more, and we can give them that.
Case in point: Gregory Herodson.

You must be asking yourselves why I’ve
stayed with Gregory for so long. I let him use me as an instrument of
destruction and a way to increase his power for several reasons, but chief
among them was to protect you. Gregory placed a Monitor close to each of you,
intended to carry out your execution should I step out of line. At the first
sign that I wasn’t absolutely under his control, he would have sent word, and you
would have died. If I’d attempted to contact you or your father, and the Monitors
found out, you would have died. I couldn’t allow that.

This is very important
—These Monitors may still be with you.
They would have had the gene therapy and already been familiar with their
Abilities by the time they were implanted into your lives. They would still
have fallen ill when infected by the Virus, but it would have been nothing more
than a bad case of the flu to them, as their genetic code would have already been
altered. It is possible that they don’t even know what they are. Herodson has
people like your father who can alter perception as well as memories; they are,
after all, the heart of the T-R program. Your Monitors could be sleeper agents,
programmed to carry out their mission and eliminate you only when they’ve been
triggered. If this is the case, those triggers
will
include any sign
that I’ve been in contact with you.
Be very careful about who you share this
letter with
.
Better yet, share it with no one. Burn
it.

I’m so sorry that you have to deal with
the fallout from my decisions, but I’m not sorry that you’re still alive. The
hope that we will meet again one day is one of the few things keeping me going.
I love you both, so very much.

Love,

Mom

There was a long
moment of silence after Jason finished reading. It was Gabe who finally broke
it. “Well, at least we know who one of these ‘Monitors’ is.”

Jason, Zoe, and I
all exchanged narrow-eyed glances with one another, not quite sure where Gabe
was going with his proclamation.

And then I
understood. It was the very reason Becca had advised Dr. Wesley to include the
information about procreation. “Oh crap.”

“Sarah,” Jason
said softly, setting the letter on the table. He looked at Zoe “Yours has got
to be Sarah.”

“But…she’s my
friend,” Zoe said. “She wouldn’t hurt me, I know it.” Her hands clung to the
edge of the table in a white-knuckled grip. “I mean, I
know
it.”

I sighed and,
shaking my head, pulled out a chair and sat heavily. “But if
Sarah
doesn’t even know it…”

“So she’s a
sleeper agent,” Gabe said. “It’s the only explanation.” He looked at Jason.
“What do we do?”

Jason placed his
palms on the table. “We get Sarah alone and interrogate her.”

“But she’s
pregnant,” I said. “Whatever she’s done—or might do—it’s not the baby’s fault.
We can’t
hurt
her.” I looked to Zoe, hoping for her support.

She was biting
the inside of her cheek, her gaze distant with thought. “I can get inside
Sarah’s head, rummage around to find out the truth and, I don’t know”—she shrugged—“try
to get rid of it or something?”

“Deprogram her,”
Jason said with a nod. “Good plan.”

“And how
precisely will we mentally interrogate and deprogram her without setting her
off?” Gabe’s voice was calm, composed; it was his problem-solving-research-genius
voice, which was awesome. Because we really needed a problem-solving research genius
on our side at the moment.

“Sedative?” I
suggested. “One that won’t hurt the baby?”

“I think Harper’s
got some in his med kit,” Jason said. “But I don’t know how safe they’d be.”

“There’s another
option,” Gabe said, and all eyes focused on him. “My Ability seems to be
expanding, and I might be able to force her into an unconscious state.”

Jason
straightened. “Define ‘might be able to.’”

“Fine.” Gabe took
a deep breath. “It’ll take a lot out of me, but I
can
definitely
do it.”

“Works for me.”
Jason looked at me, and I nodded, as did Zoe when he shifted his questioning
gaze to her. “Let’s do it.”

~~~~~

“No matter how
you look at it, that leaves Chris and Ky,” I said, glancing from Jason to Gabe
and back. We were sitting in the living room of the farmhouse, staying out of
Zoe’s way while she sifted through Sarah’s mind in one of the bedrooms. “Either
of them could be your Monitor—”

“—or it could’ve
been Dalton,” Jason said. Dalton had died back in Bodega Bay, before we ever
left for Colorado. He’d been with Jason from the beginning, making him the only
other feasible candidate. We’d already eliminated Holly, Hunter, Cece, and all
of the others who’d left the base with Jason as candidates to be Monitors
because they’d chosen to go their own way, away from Jason. We agreed that a Monitor,
sleeper or not, wouldn’t just give up on a mission like that. We were certain.
Fairly certain.

“So…do we do this
all again?” Gabe nodded toward the kitchen.

“It’s going to be
a lot harder to pull something like this on one of them,” Jason said.

I rubbed my eyes,
then took a deep breath. “This might be crazy, but what if we don’t do
anything? If they’re set to activate
only
if we mention your mom
contacting you guys, then maybe we can just keep going as we are…”

Jason leaned
forward, his elbows on his knees, and rubbed the back of his neck. “It’ll be
like playing hot potato with a live grenade.”

“At least it
would still have a pin in it,” I mumbled.

All three of us
looked up as Zoe appeared in the mouth of the hallway. She shook her head
before dragging her feet across the carpet and plopping down on the floor
beside me. She rested her head on my shoulder and yawned.

“Anything?” Gabe
asked.

“Nope.” She
yawned again. “Nothing but Sarah.”

Gabe frowned.
“Which means either she’s a blip and her DNA miraculously stabilized quickly
enough for her to carry a child to term, or you can’t sense the sleeper part of
her.”

“I think we have
to assume the latter,” Jason said. “We’d be fucking idiots not to.”

Groaning, I rubbed
my eyes. “So if we go with that—Zo can’t uncover the truth—then we can’t rely
on her to weed out and unmask any
other
sleeper agents, either.”

Gabe leaned back
in his recliner, popping up the footrest. “We could trigger them on purpose, flush
’em out…”

Jason shook his
head in sync with me. “Too dangerous,” he said. “We can’t assume they’d
immediately go berserk and rush us or anything like that. We have to remember
that Chris and Ky are trained fighters with years of experience in combat
tactics and strategies. Even if they were triggered, they’d wait…they’d have a
plan, and we can’t bank on Zoe picking up on it. Especially with Sarah, because
we don’t even know what her Ability is.”

I leaned my cheek
against the top of Zoe’s head. “So we wait. We keep going as we are, keep our
mouths shut, and pretend everything’s normal.”

Gabe and Zoe
nodded.

Jason met my
eyes, everything about him weary, and nodded as well. “We wait.”

MAY

1AE

18

ZOE

MAY 1, 1AE

Fallon, Nevada

The sun was just
setting, filling the sky with the most vivid, ethereal waves of purple and
orange I’d ever seen—an unexpected welcome to the mountain-rimmed patches of
forest we would be trekking through for the next week or so. The awe-inspiring
sunset was a tranquil ending to a tedious day of cart-driving and thinking,
thinking and cart-driving, along Highway 50 through the high desert. We were a
little less than a week outside of Tahoe, finally.

Sitting beside the campfire, I
watched Jason intently. I watched everyone more intently. For someone who
always seemed to arrive to a party early—to know my companions’ secrets before
everyone else—this time, I felt like I was the late arrival.
Why couldn’t I
sense the Monitors, sleeper agents or not? Why can’t I now?
I could sense
everything else, including Jason’s dejection as he sat on the other side of the
fire, quietly lost and drowning in his own misery.
I
should have been
miserable. But I wasn’t.

I wondered if I should be grateful
for not being able to remember my past, for not being in the same wretched
state as Jason. But I wasn’t grateful; rather, the reminder that I was so far
detached from what used to be my reality was disconcerting. Instead, all I
could feel was gratitude for my mom’s timely intervention, that she’d stopped
Clara before she could finish whatever else she’d been attempting to do to me.
Without her interference, I most definitely wouldn’t be sitting around the fire
with a beer in my hand, relaxing with my friends. Well, relaxing might not have
been the right word, but I was alive and mostly intact, which was more than I
could say for Clara.

I took a swig of my beer.

“That bad?” Sarah asked, plopping
down into the camp chair beside mine. I tried not to let any hint of last
night’s clandestine exploration of her brain show on my face. I hated that I’d
been digging around her mind, and even more, I hated that, after finding
nothing, I still couldn’t trust her.

Sarah pointed to the bottle in my
hand. “You keep making a”—she twisted her features into a grimace—“face.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh,
come on. I’m not that bad.”

She started shaking her head
before I could defend myself. “Zoe, trust me. That’s
exactly
what you
looked like.”

I held the bottle of beer out and
studied it. She was right, I didn’t enjoy the taste, and I didn’t understand
why everyone else did. “Even if it was cold, I don’t think I’d like it. I’m not
sure how the guys drink this.”

“It’s because we’re men,” Harper
said, sauntering over. He had a cowboy hat on and a piece of straw between his
lips, an ensemble he’d readily adopted during our travels through Utah and
Nevada. He stopped beside me, waggled his eyebrows, and smiled. “’Evenin’,
ladies.” He dipped his hat, and once again, I started laughing. This time,
Sarah joined me.

“Nice hat,” Sarah said with a
snort. “Where’d you find that old thing?”

“
Old thing?
” Harper’s hands thudded
against his chest and he displayed mock offense. “This is vintage, ladies.
Vintage.
Do you know what that means?”

“Yes,” Sarah said, snorting again
before tossing her head back for a belly laugh. “It means it’s old, ugly, and
was purposely left wherever you found it. Trust me, you should toss that thing
into the fire.” She rested the paper plate holding her fourth helping of
cornbread on the mound of her stomach.

I studied Harper’s hat while he
poked and prodded at the fire with a thick stick, still mulling the piece of
straw between his lips as he listened to Sarah’s playful teasing. The hat was
tan felt, with a wide rim and a tattered, navy blue band. I kind of liked it.
Although I’d probably never
wear
it—it was a little hideous—I was
perfectly content with him doing so.

“Where did you get that thing,
anyway?” I asked.

“I scavenged it. My grandmother
used to tell me I would’ve been a good cowboy. It must’ve been my chivalry and
good looks.” As usual, his eyebrows danced. “Anyway, it was time for a
changeup.”

“I don’t see it…” I said, eyeing
his dark, olive-colored skin and sable features. He seemed more islander, more
exotic.

Harper shrugged, but he was right,
it
was
time for a bit of a changeup. Like everyone else, the long days
of riding, of meeting other survivors every now and again, and of having to
deal with unexpected injuries, were wearing on him.

“What’s on your mind, Zoe?” Sarah
asked. When I glanced at her, her eyebrows rose suggestively at me. “Jake
again?”

I smiled. “No, not this time.”

“How are things going between the
two of you? Are they getting any better?” She grunted as she leaned forward and
tossed her paper plate into the fire.

I nodded. “Yes, actually.”

“Then what it is?” she asked, the
playful lilt in her voice replaced with concern.

Sarah’s eyes were imploring when I
looked at her, and unwillingly, I wondered why she was so curious. Digging around
inside her mind for a brief moment, I found no malicious intent, nothing that
would indicate her as a Zoe-assassin, so I tried to forget about the pact I’d
made with Dani, Jason, and Gabe the night before, about the letter from my mom.

Leaning back in my chair, I opened
myself up to my friend. “It’s more difficult than I thought.”

Sarah’s brow furrowed. “Am I
supposed to read minds as well as be pregnant with twins? Or are you going to
help me out?”

I straightened. “What? Twins? But—when...?”

Sarah smiled. “Harper heard two
heartbeats during my morning checkup.”

I searched Sarah’s face for any
indication of how she felt about the news…the
huge
news.

“Don’t look at me like that, Zoe,”
she said and shook her head. “I’m fine with it.”

“Are you sure?”

She heaved a sigh before leaning her
head back. “I think I sort of expected it. I mean, there’s
a
lot
of movement in here.” She pointed to her belly. “Plus,
Harper’s been extremely attentive lately. I think he already suspected but
wanted to be sure before he broke the news to me.”

I saw a memory of her bursting
into tears, completely despondent when she’d first received the news that she
was pregnant.

“Well, I’m happy for you. At least
now they’ll have each other…being the first post-apocalyptic baby would be a
lot of pressure.” I smiled, offering her what little jest I could in hopes it
might make her smile in return.

“Thanks, Zoe.” She nudged me with
her elbow. “So tell me, what’s eating at you?”

Mind still reeling from baby news,
I shook my astonishment away and leaned back in my chair again. “Not that it’s
nearly as exciting as having twins, but”—I stared out at the group of friends
that surrounded me—“I’m starting to loath my Ability, I guess…trying to fit in,
to be accepted. It’s all more difficult than I thought it would be.”

“Really?” She let out a slow, even
breath.

Again, I nodded. My Ability was
proving to be my biggest enemy, making it difficult to get closer to people
because they still tended to avoid me, and it forced me to know things I didn’t
want to know and to keep secrets I didn’t want to have to keep. It was ruining
everything.

“I’m just tired of being in
people’s minds, that’s all. I wish I could control my feelers a bit better.” I
watched her, waiting for a reaction. “I wish I didn’t have to carry so many
secrets.”

But Sarah sat there, oblivious,
picking at the food crusted on the hem of her shirt. “Look at me,” she groaned.
“I’m such a pregnant mess!” Her voice was nearly a hiss, and again, I fought
the urge to laugh at her expense. “I’m sorry things are so hard, Zoe. I know
there’s probably nothing I can do, but if there is, you’ll let me know, won’t
you?”

Offering her a quick nod and a
grateful half-smile, I watched as she struggled to her feet.

“I better go change, I’m
exhausted.” She gathered my hair up off of my neck, then gave it a gentle,
playful tug. “Nighty-night, Zoe. See you in the morning.”

“’Night,” I said, and I watched
her waddle away. Sarah was so uncomplicated, or at least she seemed that way.
She spent most of her time thinking about Biggs and babies and sleep and food.

Jason, on the other hand, wasn’t.
His mind was toxic most of the time, a reservoir of overflowing, dangerous
emotions that would eventually suffocate him. Among his outrage and disbelief
at what our mom had done was his constant concern for Dani. Over the past
month, I’d learned a lot of things about my brother—he kept his emotions
hidden, had a foul mouth, and was beyond stubborn most of the time—but
stupidity wasn’t one of those things. He knew something wasn’t right with Dani,
and although his guarded expression gave nothing away, I could feel his
disquiet regarding her, as messy and convoluted as his emotions were.

Dani was
trying
to get
better, I knew that much. What she’d seen the night we were all attacked by
wild drifters and her conversation with Ralph had spurred her toward trying to
take better care of herself, trying to overcome her drifting problem…
trying
.
But she was failing, and that was why I needed to tell Jason. He needed to know
what the hell was going on with her, and she needed him if she was going to get
any better.

Setting aside my nearly full beer,
I walked around the fire toward Jason, Sanchez, and Biggs, hoping Dani wouldn’t
decide to return from her walk with Mase, Camille, and Carlos until after our
conversation ended. I wanted to avoid getting caught in the act of tattling,
because no matter how necessary I tried to tell myself it was to get Jason
involved, I still felt like I was betraying her.

Jason’s body tensed as I
approached, his gaze questioning.

“Hey,” I said and cleared my
throat, readying myself to say what I knew I should but feared Dani might hate
me for forever. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

Jason frowned minutely. “Is this
about…?” He gave me a meaningful look. “Did you discover something?”

Glancing from Sanchez to Biggs and
back to Jason, I shook my head. “It’s sort of personal…” I hoped that would
squelch any formulating questions from our audience.

Taking a deep breath, he searched
my face. Whatever he found must have convinced him that what I wanted to talk
about was important, because he nodded once, slowly, and stood. “Alright. Where
to?”

Without another word, I walked
away from the fire, away from prying ears and distracting chatter, toward a
shack that temporarily housed our things. Jason’s footsteps were heavy and
methodical behind me, but stopped as I slowed in front of the shack and turned
to face him.

“It’s about Dani,” I said. “I
didn’t want the others to know…she’s going to be upset that I’ve told you as it
is.”

Jason’s jaw clenched, and I could
feel the concern rolling off him in waves.

Biting the inside of my cheek, I
considered my words carefully. “I know things have been beyond crazy lately,
but I also know you’ve been worried about her—”

“You saw how she reacted the night
of the drifters—of course I’ve been worried.”

With a curt nod, I said, “Right,
but it’s more than that, Jason
.
”

“She’s having a hard time dealing
with all the loss…” He shrugged one shoulder, clearly trying to seem less
concerned than he was. “I think she’s just been through a lot and needs some
time to work through it.” I felt a spike of defensiveness come from him.

I shook my head slightly and tried
not to sound too sympathetic as I explained, knowing he wouldn’t appreciate it.
“She can’t stop drifting. It’s become an addiction for her, something her body
seems to want, even if she doesn’t. But once she saw what happened to Scott and
the other drifter in that band of wild men…let’s just say it doesn’t matter how
badly she wants to stop, she’s not in control of it when she’s sleeping. She
can’t fight it on her own.” I paused, allowing myself to breathe and letting
Jason absorb the truth.

“Why—” He shook his head, both
understanding and denial battling within him. “Why didn’t she tell me?” His
composure cracked, making his voice hoarse.

I felt like I should comfort him,
but I didn’t dare. “She’s embarrassed, Jason. She hasn’t told
anyone
.
I’m the only one who knows anything about it at all—and not because she’s
confided in me.” I peered into his troubled blue eyes. They were almost glowing
in the moonlight. “I know Dani needs you.”

Jason took a long, deep breath and
then another. “Yeah, okay. Just tell me what to do.” From the desperate plea in
his eyes, I could tell that he would do
anything
to help Dani.

“You can null her, like you did
with me. You can make it so she can’t use her Ability at all, right?”