Page 10

We slipped outside. Some distance away, the door guard seemed to be busy scolding two cultists, so I pulled Claire in the opposite direction, away from the crowd.

She pointed us toward a quiet side street, and thankfully, we didn’t run into anyone.

Finally, we reached the flat-roofed, beige school building.

Even with its clean angles and relatively fresh paint, it was so bland and sterile that it was a little depressing.

No wonder Claire started to like life outside the compound better.

We went through a keypad-locked door on the side of the building. Inside was a narrow hallway with three closed doors.

“The administrative wing,” she explained. “No students were allowed here without escort. Nurse’s office was located here to prevent drug theft.”

She led me to the last door. The room held a small cot, a table with medical instruments, and a desk with a terminal.

Floor-to-ceiling storage units covered the far wall, and Claire began searching through them.

I joined her, and a few minutes later, we came across a small, sealed case of penicillin, alongside another that had Regenerex EX stamped on the side. Inside each was a preloaded syringe.

“For extreme emergencies,” she said with a nod. “It was barely used because it was rare and expensive. I learned about it when a student was impaled by a metal fencepost in a fall, so they used it to save his life. Since then, there was always one on hand.”

She slipped the penicillin and Regenerex into her bag.

“I know it’ll help Kimmy.”

I nodded, my throat feeling a little thick at the thought of my sister, hurt and alone in that falling-down cottage. If this didn’t work, I’d regret missing her last days for the rest of my life.

“The PNCs would be in the utility shed,” Claire continued. “It’s in the yard.”

I shook my head to clear it. Focus.

“Alright,” I replied. “Show me the way but be careful.”

Claire nodded. On our way out, she stopped suddenly beside a coat rack that I hadn’t noticed. A single deep blue coat hung there.

“A winter coat,” she said, pleased.

The coat was made of modern materials, lightweight but warm. It’d make the cold journey ahead a little less painful for her. She folded it into her pack.

We went to the fenced-in yard behind the building. At the far end, there was a squat building that Claire confirmed was the utility shed. I stayed alert as we walked to the door. Two voices—one male, one female—came from inside. The door was open a crack.

I pressed Claire against the wall beside me, shielding her with my body.

“Stay quiet,” I whispered to her. “Keep watch. I’ll take them out.”

She nodded.

A quick peek around the corner told me that the space was barely big enough for the two masked cultists; the room was taken up by shelves and machinery.

Both faced away from the door, looking at a screen.

The man was dark-haired and had a slim build.

The woman’s only distinct feature was her light golden hair, cropped short and sticking out at weird angles, like a bottle brush.

They were arguing. Good. They were distracted.

Next to them were dozens of small boxes that said Portable Universal Nano Controller, 100ct. Holy shit. Claire’s hunch had paid off, big time.

There was no time to celebrate, so Claire crept to the other side of the doorway to keep watch.

I drew my hunting knife and slowly pushed on the door.

Easy does it. I moved it maybe two inches before it creaked.

Not loudly, but enough that both cultists turned instinctively.

They weren’t on alert yet, but they would be. I needed the element of surprise.

I threw myself into the door, slamming it into the woman as she turned.

She let out a small scream of surprise before being knocked to the floor.

Another step in and I slashed the man’s throat.

Blood sprayed across my chest. I was already turning on the woman as he collapsed to the ground gurgling.

I found her clawing toward the door. Her bushy hair let me yank her head up, exposing the throat.

Her golden hair caught the light for just a second. Long enough.

“John!” Claire suddenly cried out. “Stop!”

I froze.

“What?” I asked, confused.

In an instant, Claire was in the tiny room. Her eyes were glued on the woman I had in a hold.

“It’s Holly,” she managed to get out. “My sister.”

“Claire?” the blonde woman croaked.

Well, shit.

I relaxed my grip but didn’t let her go. We couldn’t afford to. I squeezed her carotid artery until she went limp, then kept her in a tight hold.

“We can’t let her go,” I said firmly. Claire opened her mouth to argue but I interrupted. “She’s one of them, and she’ll rat us out. Someone may have already heard her scream.”

“You can’t kill her in front of me,” Claire replied, choking on a sob.

Damn. I didn’t want to scar her for life. Didn’t solve the problem of what the fuck we were supposed to do, though.

There were suddenly voices in the distance, coming closer.

“We have to move,” I said. “You know this place. Find somewhere to hide, and we’ll bring her with us. Grab the PNCs and let’s get the fuck out of here.”