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I shifted away from him. My heart lurched when I saw about twenty bodies scattered on various mattresses. I reached for my phone—only one bar of reception.

I had several texts from Attikus and a voicemail. My phone had a little battery left, so I replied to Attikus—the one man I trusted to save me.

Vanessa:Help me. In some warehouse with a canopy over the canal dock. Suite 207. Modern Research Group. They drugged us.

A boom sounded next door, and I quickly tucked away my phone.

“Help!” a man shouted.

“Get him!” Tiffany shrieked.

Footsteps approached, and a scuffle occurred outside the door. I got up and peeked through the window, seeing two men trying to apprehend a man with a pale face.

“Get the fuck off me! What did you inject me with?” He kicked and punched the men with significant force.

They charged at him again, and he defended himself well.

“Did someone give him too much Serum99?” Tiffany cursed. “He’s too strong.”

“We gave him the new one, Serum100,” said one man.

“Fuck!” Tiffany barked. “You weren’t supposed to give him that until tomorrow, when Dr. Messina is here.”

“What the hell is going on?” a familiar voice demanded.

Tiffany looked scared as Brody Harris stepped into view and shot the madman.

“Sorry.” Tiffany jerked. “He didn’t react well to the serum.”

Brody glared at her. “Get rid of his body. Hurry and finish what you were hired to do, or you won’t get paid.” He turned and left.

I slowly made my way back to the mattress. The man whose sneaker had hit my ribs opened his eyes and looked right at me.

I put a finger to my lips.

He sat up, glanced around, and muttered a curse. “Come with me,” he whispered. “Hurry.” He had curly brown hair and a large build.

Could I trust him?

He crouched and moved to a cabinet filled with medical supplies, shifting it aside to reveal a vent. He removed the screen and gestured for me. “Go.”

What if this was a trick? What if he was pretending to be a victim like me?

I didn’t move. “Why should I trust you?”

“I discovered this evil research program a month ago. I had an interview scheduled with a news station but never got to it. Someone drugged me while I was at a restaurant.” He glanced toward the door, then back at me. “Hurry. We need to get out to save the others.” He looked at all the unconscious bodies.

Intuition told me to trust him. I crawled through the dark space, and he was behind me.

“Keep going,” he urged.

“How do you know about this vent?”

“I helped renovate this building months ago. It’ll take you to the garage near the street.”

When I got closer, I heard a buzzing noise. A metal dragonfly with glowing eyes flew up to me. It moved past me to the man behind me.

“Shit,” he said.