Page 24 of Tracking the Alpha (Project Therianthrope #1)

“So listen here, Wendell. We’re going to leave this room in a second, and you’re going to get me to that elevator and down to where my people are being held prisoner.

Do that without raising any alarms and I’ll let you live.

” A sour promise Barrett for cooperation but he did console himself with the fact he didn’t speak for anyone else.

Most likely a member of his section would do the job for him.

“Setting them free isn’t a good idea.”

“I get that some of my people might not be feeling themselves, but at the same time, you do realize I can’t leave them here. What you and the others have been doing is wrong.”

“Oh, I know it’s sick.” Wendell had the grace to look ashamed. “When they brought me into the project, I had no idea what it would entail.”

“And once you did?”

Wendell shrugged. “What could I do? You of all people know the general and his major sidekick are psycho.”

“You do realize they will kill you rather than let you go.”

“Which is why I’ve ensured I remain useful.” Wendell’s shoulders rolled. “Not sure what else you think we should have done. Once they had us here, the options were work or end up in one of the cells as a patient, or the worst-case scenario, as food.”

It hadn’t occurred to Barrett that some of the white coats might have been coerced. Only one thing didn’t mesh with Wendell’s supposed coercion. “If you’re going to lie and try to pass yourself off as a prisoner, you probably shouldn’t have let me see you playing on your phone.”

“You mean the phone that gets no signal?” Wendell pulled it from his pocket.

“No bars. No service. No SIM card either. General let us keep them as a perk, but they’re useless for anything but listening to music or watching movies we’ve downloaded.

If we do good, then we get an hour of supervised internet once a week to refresh our content. ”

Sounded plausible, but Barrett still didn’t trust the guy. “Hand it over.”

Wendell sighed but slapped it into Barrett’s hand. It took less than a minute to confirm the phone was indeed useless. “Fuck.” Barrett grumbled as he tossed it onto a workbench.

“Told you.”

“I’m aware. We’re wasting time. How do we get to the basement levels?”

“Follow me and I’ll show you.”

“Wait.” Barrett grabbed him by the arm. “How many soldiers does Davidson still have?”

“I’m not sure. Used to be about a dozen, including the brass. Definitely not that many at the moment, though, as I know two went on a supply run yesterday and never came back. Major just sent out another pair to see if they could locate them, plus two others popped out to grab supplies.”

Add in the soldier mauled by the coyote and the general was down to less than a half-dozen military personnel. “What about civilians? I assume he’s got people doing the cooking and maintenance, plus doctors and shit.”

“He’s been using soldiers to handle everything, which explains the crappy food we’ve been getting.

As for the project, he’s got five of us for the whole operation.

” Wendell’s mouth twisted. “We started out as a team of eight, but two of the scientists mouthed off to the general, and we lost another when a patient flipped into a bear without warning.”

Barrett couldn’t help but exclaim, “Bear? I thought this experiment was to make wolves.”

“Yeah. So did we, but as we’ve learned, people react differently to the serum.

Most end up as wolves, but we’ve seen coyote, tiger, bear.

We had one buck early on in the project, but he escaped, and with it being hunting season…

” No need for him to finish that sentence.

“We also suspect we’ve gotten a few possible aquatics seeing as how autopsies show those patients asphyxiating despite having nothing wrong with the air quality or their lungs.

Dr. Levy seems to think it’s because they didn’t develop gills properly. ”

Gills? This got more and more nightmarish. “How many have you killed since you started?”

Wendell winced. “We’ve had a few die.”

“How many?”

“Sixty-one.” Wendell hung his head as he whispered the reply.

The number floored. “And how many of those were part of my section?”

“Just one.”

Just. As if that made it okay. “Take me to them.”

Barrett couldn’t stand to listen anymore. This ended today.

The hallway didn’t appear to have any cameras, and even if there had been, nothing Barrett could do but hope whoever watched didn’t think it odd a soldier followed Wendell to the elevator. The guy held his face still for a scan without prompting.

As they entered the metal box—almost triggering a claustrophobic attack in Barrett—Wendell wrung his hands nervously. “I meant what I said earlier. It’s a really bad idea to release the patients.”

“Still gonna do it.”

“Some of them aren’t human anymore,” Wendell stated as the doors closed, but he didn’t press a button.

“And whose fault is that?” Barrett cooly reminded.

Wendell ducked his head. “I’m just trying to warn you. Some of them have no self-control. If you let them go, people will get murdered.”

“If that happens, it’s only because they’re behaving like the animals you made them into. Keeping them locked in a box isn’t an option.”

“Releasing them might be worse.”

“For who? You? If one of them munches on you, can’t say as I really blame them given what you’ve done.”

“Not just me. Everyone in the world could be at risk.”

The wild claim made Barrett snort. “I doubt that. There’s like what, maybe twenty of us, give or take, still left alive?”

“I’m talking about the possibility of mutating all of humanity.”

“Say what?”

Wendell’s sour fear intensified. “We’ve not fully tested whether or not the treatment is contagious.”

“How is that possible? It took a series of injections for you to change me,” Barrett argued, even as he felt his blood chill.

“It shouldn’t be feasible. However, we’re still in the early phases of testing, so I can’t speak for certain.

The only reason I’m mentioning this is because one of the lab techs slept with a few of the patients, and we’re not sure if she accidentally contaminated herself or if it was the exchange of bodily fluids, but she died abruptly. An autopsy showed her cells changing.”

“It can be passed on through sex?” Barrett hissed, advancing on Wendell.

Wendell retreated until his back hit the elevator wall. “We don’t know for sure, which is why the general was talking about bringing in some untainted subjects to test if it’s possible.”

What if Barrett had infected Tanis? He couldn’t allow himself to be distracted now over something he couldn’t change. He leaned forward and slapped the lowest button, marked B6, only to have nothing happen.

Without a word, Wendell hit B5, and the elevator lurched.

“I’m calling bullshit,” Barrett exclaimed.

“Agreed. I think it more likely Vicky was messing around with the stuff. She was fascinated by the project, and not in a healthy way.” Wendell’s voice lowered. “She was obsessed with smutty shapeshifter romances. I think she wanted to be one.”

Barrett preferred to believe Wendell’s theory than live with the fact he might have fucked over Tanis’ DNA—and life.

The elevator doors slid open, revealing a hallway lined with cells.

“No guard?” Barrett asked, surprised at the empty corridor and yet not at the same time. After all, when he’d lived in his cell, no one dealt with him unless he was drugged or strapped down.

“Staff only come to this level when we need to transport a patient. No need to have someone stand watch since the doors are always locked.”

“Are all the patients on this floor?”

“Almost. The most dangerous are still one more level down. And before you ask, I don’t have access to B6. No one but Dr. Levy and the general do.”

That would make freeing them a tad difficult. Barrett would deal with that problem once he’d freed those on this floor. Then he’d hunt down the doctor or general, because he couldn’t think of a pair more deserving of losing their heads.

“Let’s get started. Unlock the doors,” Barrett ordered.

Wendell blanched. “But they’re awake. If they see me, they’ll kill me.”

“Maybe they’ll feel forgiving when they realize you’re setting them free.”

An incredulous gaze turned on Barrett. “You know they won’t be so lenient.”

Barrett shrugged. “No idea. I mean, I hate your guts with a passion, and yet I haven’t even punched you in the face once. But I will if you keep balking.”

Wendell swallowed hard as he stood in front of the first security screen. It scanned his face, and a computer voice said, “Hello, Wendell. Are you sure you want to open Cell One? Sensors indicate the subject is currently conscious.”

Wendell paused before whispering, “I’m sure. Please open the cell.”

Click . Woosh .

Before the door had finished opening, a body flew out, petite but fast, slamming into Wendell and taking him to the floor.

Barrett’s chest tightened as he watched Freya slam Wendell’s head on the concrete. He might have let her vent but cleared his throat to say, “Private Algar, while your anger is understandable, we need Wendell’s face intact to break out the others.”

Freya paused and craned her head. Everything about her looked the same, petite elfin features, hair still cropped short, but her eyes had an animalistic gleam.

“Captain? Is that really you?”

“Yeah. It’s me. Sorry it took so long for me to come to the rescue. I wasn’t myself for a while,” was his wry reply.

Her lips twisted. “Understatement.”

“We can catch up later. What do you say we get the others out of their cells?”

She glanced from him to Wendell, who hyperventilated rather than fight. “Do we really need this asshole for that?”

“Afraid so.”

She sighed loudly. “Fine.” She stood and roughly hauled Wendell to his feet.

Before they could start opening cells, the elevator doors shut, and Barrett could hear the hum as it left.

“Where’s it going? I thought you said everyone on the medical team was off duty,” Barrett stated, glaring at Wendell.

“Don’t get peeved at me. I can’t control what they do. Maybe someone was in the mood to work.” Wendell cocked his head. “Looks like it hit the main level to grab someone.”

“Who?”

“Dunno.” Wendell shrugged.

“Freya.” Barrett just had to say her name, and she understood.

“On it, Captain.” She quickly moved to flank the elevator in case it descended to their level.

It didn’t.

The elevator stopped at sublevel six, and Barrett glanced at Wendell. “Why would anyone go there? I thought you said it was for the dangerous patients.”

The guy frowned. “Not sure why anyone would be there at this time. Meals have already been delivered for the day, and there’s no testing scheduled.”

Barrett’s blood turned cold. “Is the elevator the only way out?” he asked Wendell.

“More or less. There is a utility shaft with a ladder that no one uses, but it stops at the first subfloor.”

“Show me,” Barrett commanded because something inside him screamed that he needed to go, now.

Only that warning came too late. The vents in the hall began to hiss, and Wendell whispered, “Someone activated the gas.”