Tested (7 page)

“What would you need me to do?” she asked, just as Geoff opened his mouth to reply. He looked at her in surprise, clearly expecting her to react the way she had before.

“I’m thinking he’d be a lot more cooperative if she was in the room when we dealt with him,” the same man answered, still looking at the others and not at her. “It would save us having to tranq him every time and wait for him to come around again.”

“I’ll run it by the big guys and see what they say,” Geoff said, watching her. “I’m not sure how they’d feel about involving someone so new, especially a woman.”

Missy bristled instantly. “What does being a woman have to do with it?”

“Sweetheart, you have no idea what goes on around here. Trust me, it’s not for the faint of heart,” Geoff replied. Missy didn’t appreciate being called “sweetheart” by this man – not that she would say anything. It had occurred to her that she was in a room alone with four men she didn’t know. Well, five, but he wasn’t going to be waking up any time soon. Sweat beaded on her upper lip and lower back. She eyed the door but forced herself to remain looking calm.

“I’m willing to help if you need it,” she said.

Geoff didn’t look too happy when he replied, “we’ll see.”

It was five days later that one of the men from that night approached her again. She’d been working on some filing alongside Heather , who had yelled at her for going into Tyler’s room, when he stopped just behind them. They both turned at the same time.

“We need you,” was all he said but Missy knew exactly what he meant. Her heart had hammered straightaway. A mixture of fear and excitement that she was finally going to see Tyler again coursed through her. Sure, he had no idea who she was, but that wasn’t going to stop her and didn’t lessen her desire to see him. For the past five nights, or mornings would be more accurate, she’d lain in bed thinking about him. Unfortunately no opportunity had arisen that allowed her to even go to his floor, so she’d just grown increasingly frustrated.

Following the man down the hall, Missy couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief that she’d see him again. It was strange to think that she’d gone from hiding from him when he’d first arrived at her house, to counting down the minutes to when she’d see him again. It was only because she really wanted to help, she reasoned. Her sister and the rest of the group were counting on her. Missy was determined to get him to remember her, no matter what it took.

When they entered the elevator she expected him to push the button for the fourth floor, but instead he pushed the button for the basement. Unease immediately slithered into her stomach as she pressed closer to the opposite side of the small space. Why were they going down and not up?

The doors opened and the man walked out, not bothering to look back to see if she followed. Taking a deep breath, Missy finally forced herself to put one foot in front of the other in the direction the man had gone. No one else was around. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as they continued to walk through what had once been an underground parking garage from what she could tell.

They walked across the damp, gloomy area toward a single door at the other end. Their footsteps echoed off the concrete walls. Missy had to walk twice as fast to keep up with his long strides. He was a lot taller than her and seemed to be in quite a rush. As they drew nearer she started to hear the sounds of men fighting. Grunts and the sound of slapping against mats echoed out into the area where they were.

He opened the door, the sounds magnifying as Missy stepped inside the room. She stopped, surveying the large, open space that had been set up for what looked like training. Some men were working with weapons – bows, staffs, short blades. She didn’t see any guns, but she figured that would be done in a more sound-proofed area.

Missy didn’t know too much about the resistance, but she knew enough to know Douglas Hatcher had managed to accumulate a decent sized artillery. Other people looked like they were doing gymnastics as they walked on beams, some flipping on a trampoline or swinging from rings hanging from the ceiling. Another area was simply set up with exercise equipment. Phoenix would die to get into this place, she thought to herself. It wasn’t easy to find the kind of equipment they had. Of course, this building had electricity as well, and their home certainly did not.

The last area was set up with a large cage where two men faced off in hand-to-hand combat. It was closer to this area that she spotted Tyler, restrained to a chair again. Her heart literally felt like it stopped when she finally found him in the crowd. Part of her wanted to look closer at the people in the other training areas, since she had a good feeling they were all “patients” and therefore enhanced in some way. The other part, the one that won, just wanted to get to Tyler as quickly as possible.

Missy followed the man in front of her across the large space, ignoring all the curious stares she got from patients and technicians alike. She was halfway to him when she noticed him stiffen and turn his head slowly, all his attempts to break free from the chair forgotten. Their eyes met and held as she closed the distance between them.

It depressed her to still see no sign of recognition in his eyes. She had really hoped something would have registered with him when they were last together. His eyes reflected nothing but that dark hunger he exuded whenever he looked at her. As upsetting as this was, she still felt her pulse increase and something akin to anticipation curl in her stomach.

Tyler was, by all accounts, even scarier now than he’d been when she’d first met him. Danger radiated off him like a tangible force. And yet for some reason Missy found herself even more attracted to him. She couldn’t make sense of it, but knew that the way he looked at her now had a lot to do with it.

They reached him just as two more men joined them. The sound of the men fighting beside them in the caged area made her want to cringe. She forced herself not to look that way, having no stomach for outright violence.

A man in a white lab coat stepped in front of Tyler, blocking her view of him. He opened his mouth but was interrupted by a loud growl Missy was quickly becoming familiar with.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Everyone froze except Missy. As all heads turned to find the source of that threatening sound, Missy simply took a small step to her right so that Tyler could see her again. How did she know that’s what he needed? She wasn’t sure, but when his eyes found her again, the deep, inhuman growl ceased.

Their eyes held again, but Missy could see the man in the lab coat looking between the two of them from the corner of her eye.

“Interesting,” he muttered. Her attention swung back to him to find that he was looking at her as though she were some sort of strange creature. Ironic, considering the people in the room, she thought. Everyone there, aside from the people who worked at the institute, was essentially a science experiment.

“I wasn’t sure my men’s observations were correct, but I can see now that they weren’t lying,” he said.

Missy cocked her head to the side in confusion. “Weren’t lying about what?” she asked.

“About patient 2140’s reaction to you. He seems to be oddly possessive. I can’t decide if it’s a side-effect or something else.”

Her palms started to sweat under the intense scrutiny of the man in front of her. Two more had joined them as well, wearing similarly confused expressions.

“Side-effects of what?” she said, feigning ignorance.

“Careful, doc,” one of the new men said. “We don’t want the little thing to know too much.”

Was he referring to her? Missy looked around and decided he had definitely just called her a ‘little thing’. She bit the sides of her cheek against the snide reply hovering on the tip of her tongue.

“Don’t worry, John,” the doctor said. “She’s going to have to be brought into the loop to some degree, though. I think we’re going to be able to get some good use out of her.”

That didn’t sound like it boded well for her. Shifting anxiously on her feet, she glanced over to Tyler to see that he still stared at her, almost as though he were completely unaware of anyone else around them. The way he looked at her was as if she were the only important thing in the room. It brought a flush to her cheeks as she forced herself to look away again.

“Take a walk with me,” the doctor said, motioning with his head. A warning sound from Tyler had everyone looking back at him. “Or perhaps just step over here where he can still see you,” he suggested.

Missy followed him, stopping just out of hearing from anyone else.

“What’s all this about?” she asked, hoping he was going to tell her something she didn’t already know. Keeping up the charade that she was completely in the dark was imperative.

“Do you know what we do here at the institute?” he asked.

She shook her head.

“Our patients have been specially chosen to be a part of a miraculous trial to further the development of human abilities in order to revolutionize our species.”

It took every ounce of self-control not to outright snort at that statement.
What a crock,
she thought. Missy kept her face neutral as he continued.

“We have created a drug that will take someone’s natural ability or talent, and heighten it. For example,” he said, turning to point at a man who ran the perimeter of the room on a specialized track, “say if you were a fast runner before, after the treatment you would be far superior to any other human. It would literally be impossible for a normal human to run as fast as someone who has been modified.”

Missy shuddered at the word modified.

“Phillip!” he yelled out suddenly causing her to jump.

The runner stopped and looked around until he found the source of his name.

“Full force please,” the doctor said. The man nodded once before taking off again. Sure, he was fast, Missy thought, but it wasn’t anything out of this world. That was, until she noticed that he continued to pick up speed until he was zooming around the room so fast her eyes were having a hard time keeping track of him. Her breath caught in her throat as she watched something that, for all intents and purposes, should be impossible.

“Why has no one heard of this?” she asked.

“We keep it under wraps. Our men and women would be recruited by the army,” he explained.   

 “And you don’t want that?” she said as a question, but really meant it as a statement. Would he admit to what they were really up to? She doubted it. The men of the resistance were smarter than that.

He smiled tightly, his eyes hard. “No, we don’t,” was his simple reply. “There are also a few bugs we’re still working out.”

“Bugs?”

He surveyed the room slowly, his eyes taking in all the men and women at the various stations. “Their talents have been amplified, as expected, however so have their emotions.” He looked back at her. “We’re finding that many of our patients end up having anger issues, or something else that makes them unfit to actually be called a success.”

Missy did as he did, and looked around the room. As far as she could see, everyone seemed normal. He must have read the scepticism on her face.

“Trust me,” he said with a laugh, “should one thing go wrong right now for anyone here, you would see quite a display of theatrics. It’s why we have to have so many male guards around all the time.”

“Don’t you mean technicians?”

He smiled. “Yes, technicians.”

“So you’re telling me you have had no successes with this drug? Why even bother to continue with the testing?”

“We’ve had two complete successes, and about twenty-five
very
close ones. The twenty-five still have some issues, but can be easily dealt with.”

Two successes. Missy knew he was referring to Bridgette and Charlotte, and the thought made her sick to her stomach. The only reason, they assumed, that the two sisters were such a success was because their father had been giving them the drugs from the time they were little children. It made them wonder if the enhancement happened more easily when the body was naturally growing and changing, rather than with a fully developed adult. Looking around, Missy was relieved to see that she couldn’t spot any children here. At least they hadn’t gone down that road – yet. She wouldn’t put anything past these men.

“Patient 2140 has taken extremely well to the treatments, but suffers the anger issues I’ve told you about.”

Missy looked over at Tyler to find him already staring at her. “You don’t say,” she said dryly.

The doctor chuckled. “Unfortunately.”

“And what exactly is his…talent?” Missy asked.

“Brute strength,” the doctor answered simply. “He was strong when he was brought here, but now he is unbelievable. Most of the guards – technicians, here have started to call him the Hulk.”

“Where do I come into all this? What exactly did those technicians mean when they suggested I be used to control him?”

The doctor nodded as though he had been waiting for this question all along. “We need 2140 to start honing in that strength and using it to actually fight. He needs to get better control over it, which he won’t do unless he practices. Unfortunately he refuses to do absolutely anything, and none of us can force him. I need him in that cage and sharpening all those skills.”

“And my job would be to…?”

“I’d explain to him that if he didn’t do as he was told, you would be hurt as a consequence.”

Missy instantly took a step back.

The doctor turned his body so his back was to Tyler. “I won’t really hurt you,” he said softly. She didn’t understand why he was suddenly whispering. “Some of them have acute hearing now,” he explained in the same tone. How he had known she was thinking that, she didn’t know. “Your face is expressive.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Now that’s just getting creepy,” she said.

He smiled. “As I was saying, no one will touch you. You will simply be a way to exert some sort of control over him. If he reacts the way we believe he will, there will be no reason to demonstrate any harm to you. From what I can already tell, 2140 will agree to anything if it means you are safe. He doesn’t even like having you out of his sight.”