The Dystopian Gene Read online

  “What is Project Shield?” Anna asked.

  Anna's jaw slacked as she watched a trickle of blood flow from Gina's left nostril. “Miss Thorp, you're bleeding.”

  Gina touched her nose, smearing the blood across her lip. “Oh, no,” she said, looking at her fingers. “They must have found out I helped you. I may not have much time,” she said, a stream of blood now flowing from her ear. “Listen, Anna. I have to tell you something,” she said, falling to her knees. Anna reached out to steady her. Gina flopped down onto her side.

  “I have to get help Gina. I have to call an ambulance.”

  Shit, my phone.

  “I'll be right back,” Anna said.

  “No!” Gina gurgled through her blood-filled throat. She grabbed Anna's shirt and pulled her close. “This is important. Project Shield wasn't about Fleishman's.” Gina coughed, spraying blood onto Anna's cheek.

  “What was it? What was Project Shield?”

  “Project Shield was to protect...” Gina trailed off again before coughing up more blood. It was now running out of every orifice, soaking Gina's clothes. “It was to protect...” Gina's grasp of Anna's shirt loosened as she let out her last breath. “Find their monkeys.”

  Anna lowered her eyebrows. “What? Shit, no. Gina!” Anna cried. She raced back to the bench and snapped up her phone. Dialing 911, she ran back to Gina. Anna knelt beside the woman turning Gina's hand palm up. She studied her hand, finding a tiny blue speck in the middle of her palm as the emergency operator picked up her call.

  ◆◆◆

  Anna parked her car in the public parking garage four blocks away from the hideout like she always did. She picked up her phone and called Charlie while wrapping a scarf around her face.

  “Charlie, did you find James?”

  “No, Anna I'm sorry. We lost him.”

  “What do you mean you lost him? He was getting treated.”

  “By the time we got there, the clinic had already sent him to the hospital. They said he bled out, collapsed after checking in. I went to the hospital, but it was too late Anna. He died. James is gone.”

  Anna sucked in a breath. “That poor woman. Mrs. White. Charlie are you in the office?”

  “Yes.”

  “Can you find the original picture my mom gave me? There was a list of names on the back.”

  “Hang on a sec, I put it in your desk. Where are you going with this?”

  “We keep running into victim’s parents in that picture, maybe we can get a lead from the list of names.”

  “Here we go,” Charlie replied. “I found it.”

  “Take a picture and send it to me.”

  “Oh my God, Anna.”

  “What? Your voice is shaking are you okay Charlie?”

  Anna's phone chimed with a message notification.

  “Look at the list,” Charlie replied. “It‘s not a list of the people in the picture at all. It's a list of women's names.”

  Anna looked at the names. Heart hammering her chest, her eyes grew wide.

  “Charlie, this list is an exact match to the one Gina gave me.”

  “Yeah, except now we know that last name on the list.”

  Anna stared at the list. The name 'Margaret Morton' burning into her brain.

  “You know what this means,” Charlie whispered.

  “Yes. It means I was part of the trial.”

  “Anna where are you? I'm worried. If you were part of the trial then your in danger. James is dead, along with everyone else on this list.”

  “I can't tell you that, but I’m fine Charlie.”

  “No, you're not!” Charlie yelled. “So far everyone on the list has died. You could be next.”

  “Trust me Charlie, I can take care of myself. I have to go. I have some things to look into. I'll check back in with you later.”

  “No, Anna. Tell me where you are.”

  “I'm sorry, Charlie, I can‘t.”

  Anna ended the call and got out of the car, eager to get back to Jax and Isabelle.

  I have to find out what the hell is going on. Why didn't you tell me about this, mom?

  As she neared the street, Anna stopped in her tracks. The man with the bowler hat was standing on the corner, facing her.

  Shit. Now this guy again.

  Anna swallowed hard and took a sharp left. Glancing behind her, she saw the man following behind.

  I can't let him know where the hideout is.

  Anna's pulse throbbed in her neck as she quickened her pace. Realizing she had no safe place to go, she took another left and made her way back towards her car. She glanced back over her shoulder to see the man gaining on her. Anna quickened her pace, jogging down the street as the man's shoes slapped the concrete behind her.

  Half a block and I'll be back in my car.

  The footfalls got closer.

  Almost there.

  The man‘s labored breath filled her ears. Another few seconds and his hot exhalations would be on her neck, Anna concluded. She pushed herself, running as fast as her legs would allow as the steady thump of her pursuers shoes paced her.

  I won’t make it.

  Cornered, the instinct of fight overcame flight and Anna turned into an alley on her left. She pulled her gun, loaded the chamber and spun around behind the corner, pointing the barrel at head height. Within seconds the man came around the corner and ran into Anna's gun. He stopped as the tip of the cold barrel touched his forehead.

  “Who are you?” Anna asked. “What do you want?” she panted., holding the gun steady between the man's thin eyebrows.

  The man raised his hands. “Easy Anna, put the gun down. I'm not here to hurt you,” he said between breaths.

  “Why have you been following me? Seems like you’ve been behind me at every turn for days.”

  “I've been trying to catch you alone, but every time we get interrupted, or you run away.”

  Anna held the gun steady. “Why didn’t you simply say something, instead of acting so suspicious and following me around every corner?“

  “The ears of the good Governor strain to listen from everywhere. I was being careful.”

  “Sketchy is a more appropriate description. What do you want?”

  “I have to meet with you. We have some things to discuss and I have a message from Atticus.”

  Anna eased her grip on the gun.

  Atticus?

  “I don't have a gun or any weapon. Frisk me if you must. I need to talk to you. My office is close by. Will you meet with me there? It's not safe out here and I‘d like to get out of the cold.”

  Anna took a minute to contemplate her options. She stared the man down, trying to determine if he was lying. “Okay,” Anna replied. “But I'm keeping my gun on you. I have no idea who you are, and I believe someone is trying to kill me.”

  Anna followed behind the man as he led her three blocks to his office. She kept her gun inside her jacket, but trained on the stranger's back as they walked. He unlocked a steel door, and she followed him inside.

  Metal screen lined the walls and ceiling of a small room. There was a desk to one end with two chairs. Anna noticed a short hallway that led to meager living quarters.

  “Please have a seat Miss Wool,” the man said, gesturing towards a chair.

  “This is where you live? Why is there metal screen on everything?”

  “I turned my apartment and office into a Faraday cage. No signals in or out. They're always listening,” the man replied setting a briefcase on the small desk and snapping the latches. He pulled several sheets of paper from the briefcase and then sat in the chair opposite Anna. “My name is John Green and I am Atticus's attorney. I am settling his estate since his, um, death.”

  “You said you had a message from Atticus?”

  “Yes, what I have here is Atticus's last will and testament.”

  Anna squinted. “What does that have to do with me?”

  John nodded and gave Anna a smile. He rubbed his tired eyes and shuffled severa
l sheets of paper. “Atticus left you his entire estate, which was quite a sum, inherited from his adoptive parents.”

  “Adopted? Atticus never told me that.”

  “Yes. The uprising decimated the reservations. They were not willing to trade their tribal lands to live inside walled cities, and they would not accept treatments. Everyone got sick. Atticus was one of the many children placed in foster care. His birth father's last name was Lonewolf, so he was born Atticus Lonewolf.”

  Anna's eyes widened. “What?” She slapped her thigh. “Well, son of a bitch. He was telling me who he was the whole time. A. Lonewolf.” Anna smiled. “So why would he leave everything to me?”

  John Green leaned in towards Anna and made eye contact. The man‘s strict stare made Anna squirm in her chair awaiting a reply.

  “He left everything to you because you are his next of kin.”

  “What?” she asked through the hand now covering her mouth. “That's not possible.”

  “Yes, it is Anna. He and Margaret had a long-term affair. Atticus Lonewolf was your father.”

  CHAPTER 25

  Anna's head swam with the news of Atticus. My biological father? It seemed a foreign idea, her mother having an affair, but she knew all too well the connection one makes with a work partner you spend all of your time with. More time than with any family member. The image of Atticus from Anna's Chamber reenactment flashed through her mind. 'I love you, Margaret.' His words were sincere and Anna recalled the depth of the connection behind his green eyes.

  Mr. Green had told her that Atticus left everything to her, including the property they were living in. He handed her bank account numbers, a check and a ragged old deed, but legal ownership nonetheless. Atticus left all the money and property in a trust, keeping it safe from seizure in the event of an arrest.

  Puling the scarf from her face as she entered the dining room, Anna found Isabelle and Jax seated at the table. Jax stood up. “Are you okay Anna?” he asked, noticing her expression.

  “I don't know,” Anna replied, shaking her head. “It seems like every time I turn around I get blasted with more shocking news about my mother, and now Atticus.”

  “What about Atticus?” Jax asked.

  Anna pulled in a long breath. “I just found out he was my biological father. Did you know?”

  Jax shook his head. “No, he said nothing about it.”

  “I need you to do something for me. I need you to see what you can find out about Gentech. Check my mom's drive for any information about a trial there.”

  Jax nodded. “Gentech? Okay, sure.”

  “I need to get some air and sort my thoughts. I'm going for a walk and I'll check back in with you guys later,” Anna announced, wrapping the scarf back around her face.

  “You know that's illegal now,” Jax said.

  “What are we supposed to do? We can't expose this place so we have to take the chance,” Anna replied, leaving the room for the front door.

  Anna strolled from the alley behind the hideout deep in thought. She paid no attention to where her feet were going and had no destination in mind. Just a walk. Time to think. Time to take it all in. She wondered if her dad knew about the affair. Growing up Anna could remember the spits and spats her parents would get into, but she never recalled an eviscerating tension like that of an affair can cause. Or maybe that was one more way her mother protected Anna and her sister; keeping the atomic arguments for when the girls were at school with enough time to clean up the nuclear aftermath before they arrived home. No, there was no fallout that Anna could remember; no hiding under beds, or in closets, waiting for the yelling to stop.

  Anna's thoughts wandered to the trial. Why her mother would agree to such an unproven risk. It wasn't like her. She was always trying to do what was best for her and Sara.

  So why take the risk?

  Knowing her mother, the juice must have been worth the squeeze.

  Anna continued to walk, oblivious to her surroundings. Building after building passed by, flashing banners and billboards in Anna's peripheral. It had been hours before Anna broke free from her thoughts and took in her surroundings. She had wandered into a warehouse district with deserted sidewalks and...

  Anna jolted.

  The wall.

  There it was, looming on the horizon. Anna swallowed hard, wondering how she could have wandered so close to the place she most despised on any kind of conscious, or subconscious level. She continued to move closer, regardless of her hatred for the partition, and the confinement it embodied.

  Within minutes Anna was standing before the slab of concrete, anxiety creeping into her chest. She placed a hand over her breast before leaning sideways against a light pole. Looking up along the pole's length a thought crept into her mind. A thought she could not brush aside. It soon enveloped her senses and took hold of her extremities.

  Freedom.

  Anna shimmied up the pole, pushing with her legs to ease the strain on her rib. She reached the light pole arm and grasped the cold metal with bare hands. Ignoring the pain that ripped through her side Anna pulled herself up. Once she was standing on the light pole arm she jumped, landing on the top of the wall. Anna glanced up and down the empty street, glowing orange from the sun as it neared its destination behind the hills west of Easton.

  With her back to the city, Anna stared out at the rolling hills on the other side of the wall. She spread her arms wide, feeling the late afternoon breezes play with her brown ringlets. Wincing through the pain, she went into a full spread eagle before stepping closer to the ledge. Anna recalled the story her mother used to read to her every night.

  One thing I must never do at all.

  Anna edged closer, the arches of her feet caressing the outside lip of the wall as her toes extended beyond it.

  I must never, ever, climb over the wall.

  Anna teetered, swaying forward, the wind alone holding her from going over. She closed her eyes.

  Freedom.

  A foreign thought.

  Sure, she could pay the ransom they required for a plane ticket. She could visit other walled cities, but that wasn't freedom. For Anna, that was not the essence of being free. Anna’s idea of freedom was absent partitions, able to go wherever one desires. She longed to run through the meadows or picnic in the clover beneath a grove of maples. Anna’s heart begged to fall asleep to the sound of a brook, laughing over stones until it found its way to the ocean. Yes, she wanted to be as free as the water. An ocean, unconstrained, roaming in and out with the tide. An ocean that mirrored the color of Anna's eyes. It was something she could only imagine, and in her mind, was freedom's definition.

  There also was Billy to consider. Anna wondered if he was still out there, somewhere, feeling the same rays of light on his cheeks as she. At this moment, still alive and thinking of her. A connection through a tendril of thought flowing out through the wind, free to sway.

  If Atticus was right, it was possible he was still alive, waiting for her.

  Anna inched closer, only her heels now keeping her from going over the edge. Her arms did not tire from casting their cross-like shadow on the warehouse behind her. Like an effigy of suffering hanging on the cold metal siding, an unseen force awaiting the hills to overtake the sun and finish its crucifixion in darkness.

  Anna recalled Damarion's words. 'It's time you tell Anna who she really is.'

  Her thoughts strayed to Atticus. That must be what Damarion meant. Time to tell me I was his daughter, but he understood I would never let him leave if I knew.

  He was out there too, somewhere in the wilds. Another casualty of a loved-one lost, never to be seen again, Anna supposed.

  I could do it. I could just let myself go. I could be free.

  Ripped from her meditative trance, an unknown force pulled Anna backward. She opened her eyes to find Richard behind her with a fistful of scarf in his hand.

  Anna sucked in a breath.

  “What the hell are you doing here? Leave me alone Rich
ard.”

  “I just saved your life. That's twice now. Another second and you were going over the wall. What are you thinking Anna?”

  “I'm thinking I don't want to be here anymore, a part of this world.”

  “So suicide is the answer?”

  “That's not what I meant,” Anna replied wrenching her scarf free from his grasp. “I don't want to kill myself, I just want to be free.”

  Richard arched an eyebrow. “That won’t happen. I've been watching you, following you. I've been waiting for the right moment. This silliness has to end. Once and for all you need to agree to marry me.”

  “My God, Richard. You're like a dog with a bone. You can do whatever you like I will never agree to marry you. I would rather die.”

  “Your death isn't what should worry you.”

  Catching her off guard, Richard struck out his fist and connected with Anna's rib.

  Spots spun across Anna's field of vision as she bent over in pain. She filled her lungs and let the air creep out her nose. “What the fuck are you doing, Richard?”

  “Trying to get your attention. I've had enough of these games and playing nice. It's time you accept your future.”

  Still bent over and clutching her rib Anna replied. “My future?”

  “Yes, as my wife. I told you, Cromwells always get what they want.”

  “I'd shoot you right now, Richard, if my captain hadn't specifically asked me to show restraint.”

  Anna closed her eyes, breathing through the pain. Richard took advantage of the moment and kicked, driving the toe of his shoe between Anna's fingers and deep into her wound, tearing the stitches.

  Anna let out a cry and fell to her knees. Richard reached into Anna's jacket, pulling her gun from its holster. He tossed it over the wall and the gun landed on the street below, bouncing toward the light pole.

  “Just in case,” Richard said. “You've never been one to show much restraint.”

  Anna flopped down on all fours as blood dripped from her side. Richard knelt in front of her, his nose within an inch of Anna's. “I will tear everyone away you ever loved, Anna. I'll kill Sara. I will kill the rest of your family if you don't marry me!” Richard spat.