16

The woman’s tiny home was hardly big enough to fit another two people. Zulu hovered, hunched over with his chin on his chest to fit in.

Evazee held her arms close to her sides to try make herself take up less space.

Sam sat on a dirty blanket in the corner with his face beaming, eyes glued to Evazee’s face.

As crude and small as it was, the place was tidy and as clean as a shack built on dirt could be. Sam’s nana took a deep wooden bowl from a makeshift shelf and scooped water from a bucket in the corner. She held it out to Evazee with hands that shook.

Evazee’s heart pulled tight. She could only imagine the effort it took to get this bucket of water from wherever they had to fetch it from. Drinking it when they had running water from taps back at the OS seemed nothing short of a crime, yet to refuse it would be wrong.

She drank a few mouthfuls and passed it on to Zulu.

He bowed deeply to the old woman before draining the bowl and handing it back.

The lady shuffled across the small space and slipped it back onto the shelf next to an ornate black glass flask. The flask was so out of place in the humble surroundings that Evazee’s curiosity flared.

“What is that?” She spoke gently to the old lady, keeping a smile on her face even though she was feeling uncomfortable.

“Tonic. It gets dropped off here every month. I don’t see who brings it.” Her ancient face creased into a smile. “Helps my old bones and his young ones.” There were more gaps than teeth in her gums.

“Can I see what it is?” Hairs stood up all down Evazee’s neck.

The woman was reluctant, but Sam shot up and whispered in her ear. She sighed and nodded. Sam gave her a quick hug before handing the bottle over to Evazee.

She took off the lid and gagged as a familiar scent tinged drifted through the room. “Are you sure you don’t know who brings this for you?”

The lady’s face lit up. “Somebody loves us. As a bottle finishes, we put it out and a full one is delivered.”

“Do you know what you’re drinking?”

“I told you already.” The lady sighed as if this conversation were sucking up all her energy. She waved to Sam and he stepped forward.

“A tonic that helps us. Just what Nana said.” He shrugged.

Evazee caught Zulu’s gaze and handed the bottle to him. “Do you know what this is?”

He sniffed and shrugged.

Evazee turned back to Sam’s Nana. “Do the neighbours get it too?”

Sam waved his arm in a gesture that seemed royal. “Everybody. Everybody gets.”

“Do you like the taste?”

Sam shook his head so hard his cheeks wobbled. “Ugly.”

Dark Affinity serum. Someone was supplying them all with dark Affinity serum and they were drinking it like soda.

~*~

 

“I brought you some test subjects for your newest batch.” A gravelly, cigar-smoking voice.

Kai lay still, allowing consciousness to return to his brain. Adrenalin pumped through him as he tried to remember how he’d ended up on the cold tile floor of this dark room.

“Who are they?” A voice as cold as the floor Kai lay on.

“Expendables. Caught them snooping in the vault.”

“You know that this batch isn’t safe to be live tested yet. The effects of this mutate are designed to be permanent. I’m not inclined to rush the process or the testing.”

“Do you honestly think the general cares?” A fit of coughing. “Just do it. He’s pushing hard now. Besides, they shouldn’t have been here.”

“Strap them to the beds and leave me to my work, then.”

“Hey, you can’t order me around like that.” Bad lungs and an insecurity complex. Almost enough for Kai to pity him.

“Just get it done. I thought the general was in such a hurry.”

“Fine. But I’m not doing it because you told me to.”

“Ja-ja. Whatever makes you happy.”

Kai’s mind flew. Resist? Run? Before he could make up his mind, he felt hands sliding under his armpits, dragging him. His dragger coughed, and Kai cringed at the thought of being coughed on. The man hauled him to his knees in front of the wheeled gurney. Kai saw the straps waiting for his arms and legs.

Not happening.

He flung himself backwards. His head connected with something sharp. Crunch. They fell to the ground. Kai whipped himself around and backed away on all fours, looking for the others. He saw them lying in a row along the wall, not moving. Not conscious.

A slim man in a lab coat stood off to one side, arranging instruments on a metal table. He didn’t seem bothered by the drama at all.

Kai’s captor had regained his balance and came at Kai with his arms out like a gorilla, his face a contorted mask of rage. His nose was bleeding. So that was what crunched. Kai’s Affinity sparked, and the man’s eyes were solid black. The snake marking writhed on his forehead.

Kai yelled, deep and guttural. He ran, putting the gurney between him and the man. It was time to take this man out of the picture. He swung the gurney around, pulled it towards himself, and pushed. The gurney rolled across the room and smacked into the man who doubled over with a grunt.

The man sucked air into his lungs. It seemed that Kai had succeeded in fuelling the man’s anger. He threw the gurney aside, toppling it. Groaning came from near the wall. The others were waking up.

“Zap! Ruaan! Get up!"

The man launched himself at Kai, catching him around the waist. The man’s weight toppled them both. They came down hard.

Kai winced as his shoulder joint clicked. Pain shot through his torso, and he fought back stars.

The man hauled him onto a gurney like a sack of potatoes and strapped him down before moving on to the others who were still too far gone to resist.

Through the stars, Kai watched the man re-tuck his shirt and haul up his pants. He sniffed and wiped the back of his hand across his nose.

“That’s how you do it.”

The man in a lab coat sighed. “Fine. You’re the man. Let me get on with my job now, please.”

“If they give you any trouble—”

“I know where to find you. It’s all good. Now please…”

Clunky footsteps sounded on the tiles as the man left. He must weigh about the same as a baby elephant.

Lab Coat sauntered over to Kai and shone a light in each eye. “Neanderthal.”

He looked familiar.

“Me or Muscles?”

Lab Coat grinned. “I guess time will tell. You put up a good fight.”

The man’s face was definitely familiar. “Do I know you?”

“Doubt it.” He focussed on Kai’s strapped arm, trailing his fingers down the blue lines of veins that criss-crossed the inside of Kai’s wrist. He reached for a syringe from a silver tray next to the gurney and filled it from a small vial. With the loaded syringe in one hand and deep frown lines creasing his brow, he leaned on Kai’s gurney.

“What is that?” Kai worked hard to keep his voice neutral.

“This would be better if you were still knocked out.”

Kai knew one thing for sure, whatever was in that syringe should not go into his veins. His restraints were too tight for him to budge. Keep him talking. “Is it an improved version?”

Lab Coat stopped, tilting his head to the side with an eyebrow lifted with the exact measure of are-you-crazy that Bree used. “You’re Bree’s dad, aren’t you?”

The syringe bounced off the edge of the gurney and tumbled through the air, spinning twice before hitting the tiles with an unsatisfying clink.

“I can see Elden in you too.”

Lab Coats’ lips were moving, but no sound came out.

Kai focussed on his mouth and understood.

Shut up.