Skin Dive (3 page)
The woman pointed at her cell door, a plea in her eyes, and Gillie had to shake her head. “Sorry,” she whispered. “I can’t.”
When the girl turned away, she walked on. Mercifully she could remember little of her time in these cells. They’d kept her sedated while they studied the limits and requirements of her gift. She didn’t know how the others bore it, and as for the ones who couldn’t, well, the madness was understandable.
She found Taye in the last cell. His swollen jaw and black eyes made him difficult to identify at first, but she knew the shape of his hands and the breadth of his shoulders as well. Not to mention the tousled dark hair. His gray pajamas were stained dark in splatter patterns. All too clearly she could see the crunch of cartilage and bone echoed in the discolored fabric. Gillie recognized Silas’s handiwork; he executed the doctor’s punishments, but she’d never received the impression he enjoyed it.
Goddamn you, Rowan, what have you done?
He lifted his head as if he sensed her. His eyes took too long to focus, and Gillie had watched enough medical TV to know that meant a concussion.
If only I had the key code
. As if Taye read her mind, he extended a hand. Blue sparked from his fingertips, echoing in the panel, and the door popped wide, but he wasn’t steady enough to stand.
If only I had the key code
. As if Taye read her mind, he extended a hand. Blue sparked from his fingertips, echoing in the panel, and the door popped wide, but he wasn’t steady enough to stand.
He tried and fell.
Which explained why she hadn’t seen him. Mindless of the cameras, she hurried into his cell and knelt beside him. “I have to get you out of here. He’s going to kill you.”
“Won’t.” His voice came out slurry through puffy lips. “He’s selling me to China.”
“What? How do you know?”
“Overheard.”
“So that’s why he had you beaten?”
“Also suspects I see you more than an hour a day. Couldn’t prove it.” He gave her a hard look. “Now he can.”
She helped him to a sitting position, an arm around his shoulders. It was hard to know where to touch him that wouldn’t hurt. An ache sprung up inside her; he had been beaten because of her, because of a madman’s obsession.
“I was worried about you.”
“Go. Will try to wipe the cameras before anyone notices.”
“The pain makes it hard to focus,” she guessed.
“Yeah. Please go.”
Impotence made her angry. She had spent her whole life obeying orders. She was tired of toeing the line for fear of consequences. Rowan held the unspoken threat of the cells over her to compel her cooperation, and now, the one time she’d dared disobey, Taye was trying to banish her back to the safe walls that held her prisoner.
“Not just yet. When you aren’t injured, how’s your control?”
“Good.” His green eyes reflected anger and frustration. “Might be another reason why he had me beaten. Was nearly ready.”
“Then you just need a few days to heal. Try not to piss him off.” Gillie held up a hand, forestalling his instinctive protest. “I know you love to provoke him, but remember, I can’t get out of here without you. I need you, Taye.”
“I’ll be good,” he growled.
She couldn’t do anything else for him, but she knew who could. Gillie hurried out of the cell, which locked behind her when the door clicked shut. At this hour, Silas would be eating in the small employee lounge. As she’d suspected, he was spooning up some soup while staring at the television. He wasn’t homely per se, just . . . unnerving.
“Silas,” she said softly.
He turned to regard her with dead, black eyes. “You’re not supposed to be in here.”
“Neither are you, I think. Do you like your job?”
The big man made a sound like an inner tube deflating and studied his enormous hands as if he’d never seen them before. “No.”
“You hurt Taye.”
“I know. Rowan made me.”
“How?”
In answer, Silas turned his head and showed her a faint blue pulsing light, inset behind his ear. Jesus, it had to be a control mechanism. Silas wasn’t an employee; he was a former test subject.
“I’m going to die here,” he said, and went back to his soup.
Suddenly bolder than she’d ever been in her life, she touched his arm. He tensed at the simple contact and looked at her hand as if it were an alien appendage complete with tentacles. “What if I said you could get out? Would you do something for me?”
Silas put the spoon down. “I might.”
“Taye might be able to help you. He could short out that gizmo in your head. I don’t know where that would leave you, maybe you’d revert to however you were before, but at least you wouldn’t be under Rowan’s control anymore. That has to be worth something.”
He didn’t think about it overlong. “What do you want me to do?”
ONE WEEK LATER“It’s time,” Gillie
whispered.
whispered.
Taye pulled himself off the floor. His bruises looked a lot better, and he seemed to have the control he needed to make this work. If he didn’t, they were going to die slowly, along with everyone else in this place.
It was a miracle they hadn’t been discovered. When Rowan showed up unexpectedly the day before, it was all Gillie could do to keep from panicking. She’d been sure he knew she was hiding Taye, and that Silas was conspiring with them. Instead he’d behaved like a deranged Victorian suitor. After he finally left, she’d brushed her teeth for five minutes.
In accordance with their plan, Silas had stopped giving Taye his injections altogether. With nothing damping his abilities, he could light this place up like a summer storm. But he had to be careful, too. Fire was extremely dangerous underground. If the lift shut down, they were done for. So the situation called for a certain amount of finesse.
“I’m ready,” he said in answer to her unspoken question. “I’ll sound the alarms at the far end of the complex and fry all the diagnostic equipment. Maybe put a short in some of the lights.”
“Can you open the cell doors?”
“I
can
,” he said. “But do you really think it’s a good idea?”
can
,” he said. “But do you really think it’s a good idea?”
Gillie thought about the woman who had pressed her hand to the glass. “Yes. I want anyone who has the will and the desire to be able to leave when we do. What happens past that point is up to them.”
“They might do an amazing amount of damage up top.”
She regarded him steadily. “So could you.”
“Good point.”
Taye’s brow furrowed, and a soft blue glow surrounded him. She’d never seen him completely unfettered before. His dark curls lifted as if in the wind, but she knew it was electrical current. Voltage crackled from his fingertips, and the lights in her apartment dimmed. Then a siren went off, just as he’d promised. Gillie heard the sound of running feet—techs and orderlies running to check out the problem.
“Now diagnostics?”
He grinned. “That
was
diagnostics.”
was
diagnostics.”
“Wow. Impressive range.”
With the air of a kid showing off, he set the lights to flickering. They should be able to move from her apartment now. If anyone interfered with them, Taye could handle nearly anything, and Silas would arrive soon to provide muscle.
She’d been horrified to learn that Rowan held Silas prisoner, too. Staff lived off-site, but since Silas had been part of the original experiments—a failure—the orderly wasn’t permitted to leave. However, the moment Taye shorted the implant in his neck, the life had started returning to the big man’s eyes. Gillie knew they could count on him.
Nausea rolled through her in a hard wave. Now that the moment had arrived, she was frightened of leaving, frightened of the wider world, of which she knew nothing but what she’d seen on TV. Taye misunderstood her expression.
“Is there anything you want to take with you?”
“No,” she said quietly. “There’s nothing.”
“Then let’s go.”
Gillie followed him out of the apartment. In the distance, they heard cries of fear. The electrical problems were growing worse. In passing the first cell, he extended a hand. Blue sparks lit up the keypad and then blazed along hidden connections, giving the wall an eerie glow. The doors snapped open one by one as Taye went by.
Most of the prisoners were too far gone to respond. It broke Gillie’s heart, but there was nothing she could do, short of sacrificing her own chance at freedom. Others stepped cautiously into the hall, gazing around like frightened animals. Gillie quickened her pace. Maybe it was wrong, but she was almost as frightened of Rowan’s subjects as she was of the scientist. She knew all too well his gift for twisting humans into beings both wretched and monstrous.
Spotting Silas at the next intersection, she broke into a run. Taye followed, but she noticed him keeping an eye on the escapees trailing behind them. The orderly fell into step as they headed toward the lift. They had no way of knowing whether Taye could make it work as he did the locks on the cells, but it was their only hope. This was the one portion of their escape they hadn’t been able to test.
“Are you all right?” she asked Silas.
The enormous orderly gave a quiet nod.
From the other side of the facility came a distant boom. Something had overloaded. Acrid smoke trickled through the vents, stinging her throat. Gillie tugged her pink scrub shirt up over her mouth and watched Taye at the lift controls.
“It’s much the same as the cell door security,” he said, after a few seconds. “This should work.”
“Then do it. Fast.”
She couldn’t figure out why they hadn’t seen Rowan by now. Someone would’ve called him, and from what she’d gleaned from his odious, egocentric soliloquies over the years, he lived nearby. Still, it was an unexpected boon.
“Here goes.” Taye touched his fingers to the keypad, and a pale ripple of energy flooded outward, enveloping the ret-scanner.
CHAPTER 1NINE MONTHS AGO ABOVE THE EXETER FACILITY, VIRGINIA
Taye prayed his
nerves didn’t show. He had a whole elevator full of people counting on him to make the right decisions. Insane when you thought about it. He suspected he’d never been in charge of anything before. He bore all the signs of a man who had never amounted to much; nobody was looking for him.
nerves didn’t show. He had a whole elevator full of people counting on him to make the right decisions. Insane when you thought about it. He suspected he’d never been in charge of anything before. He bore all the signs of a man who had never amounted to much; nobody was looking for him.
Not so long ago, Gillie had asked him,
Do you remember who you are? Do you have a family?
He’d answered,
Only bits and pieces. I think I might have a family out there, but I’m not positive. I’m pretty sure they’d given up on me, long before I was taken.
Which made it even crazier that these people were all looking to him to guide them out of this mess.
Do you remember who you are? Do you have a family?
He’d answered,
Only bits and pieces. I think I might have a family out there, but I’m not positive. I’m pretty sure they’d given up on me, long before I was taken.
Which made it even crazier that these people were all looking to him to guide them out of this mess.
But hell, I got us this far.
As the lift rose, the sound of distant explosions carried from the facility below, even through all the metal and concrete. Down there, the workers were dying.
Because of me.
That probably made him a monster by most people’s reckoning, but to his view, those who could cash a paycheck without trying to stop what had been done to Gillie—well, they deserved the big boom. The floor heated beneath his feet, and he imagined the wall of flames shooting up the shaft toward the car. There were only two stops, top and bottom, and the metal box rocked as it climbed.
Come on, just a little higher. Systems, don’t shut down just yet.
Because of me.
That probably made him a monster by most people’s reckoning, but to his view, those who could cash a paycheck without trying to stop what had been done to Gillie—well, they deserved the big boom. The floor heated beneath his feet, and he imagined the wall of flames shooting up the shaft toward the car. There were only two stops, top and bottom, and the metal box rocked as it climbed.
Come on, just a little higher. Systems, don’t shut down just yet.
At last, the doors swished open, swamping him in a wave of crushing relief.
Promise kept.
Gillie glanced his way, seeking direction. She had to be scared shitless, but damned if she would show it. There was a word for a girl like her—indomitable.
Promise kept.
Gillie glanced his way, seeking direction. She had to be scared shitless, but damned if she would show it. There was a word for a girl like her—indomitable.
Now let’s see, where the hell are we?
Four walls of textured metal. No visible door. But since the place had been built from panels—
Four walls of textured metal. No visible door. But since the place had been built from panels—
“Start looking for a latch or a hidden exit,” the dark-haired lady said.
Took the words right out of my mouth.
The woman who had given the instruction seemed different than everyone else, less tentative, less damaged. She couldn’t have been there long, or she’d carry fear in her face. Instead, she only appeared determined, as if this sojourn had proven a minor inconvenience.
Rowan didn’t have a chance to work on her.
Taye took visceral satisfaction in that.
The woman who had given the instruction seemed different than everyone else, less tentative, less damaged. She couldn’t have been there long, or she’d carry fear in her face. Instead, she only appeared determined, as if this sojourn had proven a minor inconvenience.
Rowan didn’t have a chance to work on her.
Taye took visceral satisfaction in that.
Eager for freedom, the others spread out; Silas found the panel after a brief search. The big orderly flipped it open, and Taye pulled the juice from his own body—precious little left now—to pop the electronic lock. Sizzle and spark, just like underground. When the door swung open, the scent of musty grain wafted in. Tentatively, they moved as a group, peering into the next room.
It wasn’t what he’d expected. No barbed wire, no high-tech perimeter. There were no guards he’d have to fry. It was almost . . . anticlimactic. This outer room was lined with straw and held the remnants of an old harvest. That was all.
“Looks like a farm,” a man with a faint Southern drawl said.
He was a little taller than Taye, but he wasn’t as pale, which meant he hadn’t been incarcerated long. The blond woman, on the other hand—Rowan must’ve had her for a while because she was damn near wrecked. And that was everyone: Gillie, himself, Silas, the Southern man, the confident brunette, and the broken blonde.
“We need to get out of here. Right now. Rowan could be arriving any minute.” Fear rendered Gillie’s words sharp and staccato with urgency.
That triggered a stampede, though nobody pushed or shoved. Silas hit the door first, and it wasn’t locked, swinging open to reveal daylight. Taye shaded his eyes, unable to speak for the pleasure of it. Though it hurt his eyes, the fresh wind on his face felt amazing. It was late spring, he guessed, by the color and size of the foliage, so the weather was on their side, at least. Given all their disadvantages, they needed the break. Or it might be early summer, if weather patterns had changed while he was underground.
Taye gazed out over the furrowed fields, breathing in the verdant air. It was sweet and clean, hints of manure and compost, but no chemicals. No pine-scented cleaner. That antiseptic smell haunted him. Flashes still hit him from the time before, when his brain was scrambled, and he remembered screaming as they dumped some solution on him from the ceiling; Rowan aspired to complete dehumanization of his subjects, and in most cases, he had succeeded.
Beside him, Gillie trembled from head to toe. This had to be fucking overwhelming for her. He remembered how she had said,
I want to see the sun again, Taye.
That was when he’d known he’d do anything to make that dream come true, anything at all.
I want to see the sun again, Taye.
That was when he’d known he’d do anything to make that dream come true, anything at all.
And here they were.
He touched her on the shoulder. “It’s okay. We made it.”
“What now?” the man with the drawl asked.
“We should split up.” The black-haired woman spoke decisively. “Looking like this, if we stick together, we’ll be caught fast.”
Mental hospital pajamas, no shoes, no money, crazy eyes? No question. They’ll round us up and put us on the first short bus they find.
“She’s right,” Silas agreed.
Gillie managed a grin. “Before we split, should we all agree to meet at the top of the Empire State Building in five years?”
And that was so Gillie. Lightening the mood, refusing to show fear. She might be quaking inside, worried how the hell they’d manage, but nobody would ever know it. The girl would spit in death’s eye, and if he understood her past, she had done so more than once.
While the others gaped in astonishment, Silas gave a slow nod. “I’d like that. Five years—to the day.”
The thin, blond woman spoke for the first time. “If I’m alive, I’ll come. But for now, it’s time to get moving.”
A murmur of good-byes followed. Taye didn’t take long about it, and he didn’t ask Gillie if she wanted his company either. He laced his fingers through hers and gave a tug.
With a final backward glance at the silo, she followed him across the field. He pushed north, avoiding the highway, because they would attract attention from passing cars. People in their right minds didn’t go for a hike barefoot in thin cotton pajamas.
They’d been walking for a while—impossible to say how long—when he glimpsed a white house set well away from the road in the middle of sprawling fields. Farmhouse. He didn’t see any cars in the gravel drive, but there was a detached garage, so it was impossible to be sure.
“Let’s go check it out.”
“Why?” she asked.
He read the anxiety in her expression. Though she tried to hide it, she was freaked. She hadn’t been out in twelve years, and it would be dark soon. Compounding that, they had no money, no food, and no shelter, and she had to rely on him for safety; that would trouble anyone with a lick of sense. Shit, it worried
him
.
him
.
“We’re not gonna knock on the door and ask for help, if that’s what you’re fretting about. But we can’t travel like this either.”
She merely nodded. He pretended confidence, striding toward the house. The gravel drive bit into the soles of his feet as he crossed to peer into a garage window. No cars. That ought to mean nobody was around. Setting Gillie on watch, he broke in through the back and stole food, drink, and clothing.
As he came back out carrying a plastic bag, she called, “I hear a car coming.”
In tandem, they raced across the property toward the fields; once they put some distance behind them, they paused to change clothes. His were too loose and short; hers looked like they’d previously belonged to an old woman. It didn’t matter. At least the shoes worked, more or less, and socks made up the difference.
By then it was getting on toward nightfall, but they pressed on. He could think only of getting out of Virginia. To the north lay safety and freedom. Or maybe he was conflating old history classes about the Underground Railroad with personal motivation. Strange he could remember those kinds of facts, but nothing about the man he had been. That was unsettling.
Gillie stumbled beside him and he turned to her, shoring her up. “We need to stop soon, huh? You’re not used to this.”
She didn’t deny being tired, but she didn’t complain. “I can go on.”
“No need.” He pointed. “There’s a barn up ahead. Just a little farther and we’ll rest.”
The red outbuilding was well kept and had been shoveled recently, so the smell wasn’t overwhelming. In the stalls, the landowner kept cows, who lowed at the intrusion. Taye ignored them and scrambled up the ramp to the hayloft. There was enough straw to mound for a bed, and if someone came to investigate the restless animals, they should be able to hide behind the bales.
Good enough.
Good enough.
“It’ll get better,” he told Gillie. “You’ll have your own place. We’ll find work.”
“But we don’t have any identification.”
“That just means we’ll have to do the jobs nobody else wants for a while. Just until I figure out a better way.”
She didn’t argue. Instead she helped him arrange a makeshift bed. Though he wasn’t crazy about the idea of sleeping together—even like this—he couldn’t leave her unprotected. He’d just have to tamp down the unwelcome desire she roused in him. Thinking about Gillie that way made him feel dirty and wrong, as bad as that bastard Rowan.
They ate some of the bread and peanut butter he’d lifted from the house a ways back and washed it down with tap water. It wasn’t gourmet fare, but he could tell she enjoyed it by the way she smiled at him; that look made him feel ten feet tall.
“My first meal as a free woman,” she said.
“The first of many.”
Then he lay down and tried to sleep, but as the temperature dropped and she lay shivering in her thin polyester pantsuit, he turned with a reluctant growl. “Come here.”
Just sharing body heat, that’s all. Don’t think about that kiss. You can’t have her. Not now. Not ever.
He gazed up at the slats above his head and tried to resign himself to that. The straw prickled, and they lacked both covers and pillow.
Not an auspicious start, genius.
He gazed up at the slats above his head and tried to resign himself to that. The straw prickled, and they lacked both covers and pillow.
Not an auspicious start, genius.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“I should’ve grabbed a blanket, too. I wasn’t thinking about sleeping rough.”
“I’m glad we didn’t take more than we had to from those people. They had nothing to do with what happened to us.”
“You’re too nice.”
Gillie didn’t reply right then. Instead, she nestled into his arms. God, why did she have to feel so good, feminine without being fragile. Her small frame possessed a tensile strength; he knew she’d worked out in captivity to stay strong. Some days when he came to visit her, he’d found her running on the treadmill, as if she could outpace Rowan and his cameras, artificial lights, and doors that didn’t lock.
Eventually she asked, “Do you want to split up?”
He understood the reason behind the question. After all, they’d decided as a group that it made sense to go their separate ways.
That would be the smart thing.
He sensed her tension as she awaited his reply; she wasn’t ready to be alone. Which guaranteed his response.
That would be the smart thing.
He sensed her tension as she awaited his reply; she wasn’t ready to be alone. Which guaranteed his response.
“No. I broke out of there for you, Gillie-girl. I’m not going anywhere without you.”
Not now. Not until you’re ready.
The world seemed
so big. Gillie had all but forgotten the feel of the wind on her face; today it didn’t matter if it smelled of exhaust, not as fresh as she remembered. There wasn’t much sun either, a gray day threatening rain that hadn’t materialized yet. But the hint of it hung in the air, a touch of damp that charmed her. She remembered rain and she’d seen it on TV, but the visceral feel of the droplets hitting her skin . . . not so much. Would it strike lightly or sting? She so looked forward to finding out.
so big. Gillie had all but forgotten the feel of the wind on her face; today it didn’t matter if it smelled of exhaust, not as fresh as she remembered. There wasn’t much sun either, a gray day threatening rain that hadn’t materialized yet. But the hint of it hung in the air, a touch of damp that charmed her. She remembered rain and she’d seen it on TV, but the visceral feel of the droplets hitting her skin . . . not so much. Would it strike lightly or sting? She so looked forward to finding out.
Though her feet hurt and her thighs burned from the long walk, the fact that she was free made all the difference. She wanted to dance and spin, but people would stare, and that’d piss Taye off for sure. He had been muttering about staying under the radar all morning.
They passed through the shabby downtown area and kept moving. She hoped he knew where he was going. Apparently he did, because he stopped outside a bank.
Gillie watched as Taye strode up to an ATM machine. He touched his fingers to the screen and sent a gentle jolt of power. To her astonishment, the machine spat out a number of bills. He palmed them smoothly and hurried away, tucking the money into his pocket.
She followed. They’d hiked all the way to Altoona, across the Pennsylvania state line. He’d turned down two offers of rides even on the back roads, and she was wary enough to appreciate his caution; she knew their value to the Foundation well enough. They couldn’t risk trusting strangers right now.
He eyed all the storefronts as they passed, until she felt impelled to ask, “What are you looking for?”
“Thrift shop.”
“I guess we do need some stuff.”
Eventually they found a secondhand store in a shopping plaza that had clearly seen better days; they bought jackets, jeans, Tshirts, and sneakers, as well as battered backpacks to put the clean things in. Since the place also sold irregular socks and underwear, it set them up to keep moving, blending in on the lower edge of normal. They changed in a convenience store bathroom, discarded the stolen clothes, and then walked on.
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