Obession by Design (14 page)

“Agreed.”

He
frowned and cupped her face. “Up there, my word is law. You have to do exactly
what I tell you to do, when I tell you to do it. You can’t second guess
anything, and you can’t hesitate. If I tell you to run, you run. If I tell you
to get down and cover your face, you do it. Failure could result in you losing
your life. Liane … Liane, I can’t lose you.”

“And
I can’t lose you, Emmett. That’s why I have to go with you.”

Chapter
Fourteen

They
set out on their journey three days later, after Emmett made sure all the
Weathermen knew where he was going and with whom. Liane learned that he always
did that so there was someone who could take over his work in case he didn’t
come back. Since cell service was spotty at best on the surface, he kept in
touch with them below ground minimally, if at all.

The
above ground shelters were equipped with data lines that ran underground
through thick concrete-encased conduit, so if and when he was able to make his
way to one, he checked in. Otherwise, they waited for him to return, or not.

Now
that she knew that little tidbit, she realized there was no way she could have
stayed behind without hearing anything for who knew how long. He had said,
after all, that a one-day trip could easily turn into one week above ground.
Distance meant nothing when the storms came up quickly and with little or no
warning.

Viaducts
that used a series of air locks led to the surface at various intervals, and
anyone going up there needed special clearance. Emmett was able to obtain that
for her in record time because of who he was. Once they reached the surface, a
member of the procurement team went first to make sure there were no active
storms approaching or ongoing. Once it was clear, he signaled to them.

“Are
you sure you’re ready for this?” asked Emmett. “We won’t come back down until I
get that dagger for you.”

She
squeezed his hand. “I’m ready.” They were dressed in ski pants, parkas, and had
thick gloves and goggles with them. They also each carried a backpack with
supplies, and most of the procurement team carried weapons. One of them had
their tents and other heavy equipment that he pulled on a rolling cart.

The
air felt thin at first, and Emmett told her that was because there were far fewer
trees than there had been six years ago. Once she got used to it, she was able
to breathe normally, but the physical shock of seeing the surface wasn’t
something she’d been prepared for, despite having read all the articles Emmett
had sent her, three times.

It
looked like old movie stills of what Hollywood had imagined alien planets
resembled.
Barren, very little sign of plant life, no
structures, and no animals or birds.
Tears ran down her face as she
stood still and glanced around. She pulled back her hood and listened to the
hollow sound of wind, soft yet ever-present. The sun was out, but cumulus
clouds drifted by, occasionally blocking it out.

How
would they stop this? What if they couldn’t? They were able to manufacture air
so they all could breathe underground, but what would happen when the air up
here was nearly depleted of oxygen? Without plant life, there wouldn’t be any
at all, which meant anyone coming up here would need to carry oxygen with them.

“It’s
quite a shock, isn’t it?” He asked quietly.

“It’s
horrible. Far worse than I imagined.”

He
gave her hand a squeeze. “Let’s go. It isn’t far to where we’re meeting George.
From there he’ll take us to his place.”

George
had arranged to meet them in the closest above ground shelter, and then he
would lead them to his bunker. As they walked along, Liane tried not to watch
the sky, but the clouds were building at an alarming rate. She’d never seen
anything like it except on that fateful day.

The
others didn’t seem to be worried, so she tried to stay calm and follow their
lead. One of them held a tablet that Emmett said could pick up the weak weather
satellite signals, but it wasn’t one hundred percent reliable. Mostly they
relied on their five senses to tell them when they needed to run or find
shelter.

“Why
are the satellites messed up, too?” she asked.

“The
program did that when it took on a life of its own,” explained Ken Chunn, the
procurement team lead. “The way The Madeline Project works is through
electrical pulses that are generated by the earth’s magnetic field. It
harnesses them, if you will. The satellite feeds are distorted because of the
random and uncontrolled way in which those pulses are now bouncing around the
planet.”

She
frowned. “That reminds me of a question I had for you weeks ago,” she told
Emmett. “I wondered that very thing. What was the source of the electrical
pulses.
”

“That’s
why we can’t simply shut down the program,” said Emmett. “The source is the
planet itself.”

“Any
attempt to launch new satellites that work on different frequencies is long
gone,” said Ken. “We can’t stay above ground long enough to fly a kite let
alone launch a satellite into orbit.”

“So
the only way to stop this thing is to hack back into it,” said Liane.

Emmett
nodded. “That’s what we believe, yes. Only we can’t do that. Whoever set it on
this course also coded a failsafe program into it, and we can’t access it.”

“You
need the hackers to do it,” said Ken. “When you find them, that is.”

“In
the meantime,” said Merrill Taber, the Storm Trooper accompanying them, “we
collect data on the storms in the hopes it will give all of you a clue to the
hackers, or a way to access The Madeline Project once more and reprogram it.”

Liane’s
mind reeled with the entire scenario as they made their way across the plains.
She knew they were in what used to be Tennessee, but it didn’t look as she’d
expected it to. Middle Tennessee used to be a hilly, lush paradise. The hills
were still there, but the forests and flowers that used to exist no longer did.
Even the soil had a gray, tired look to it, as though it had been stripped of
all nutrients a long time ago.

Pieces
of what she slowly realized used to be highways lay at odd angles every so
often, as if someone had simply tossed them there at random. She didn’t see any
signs of what used to homes or other structures. All that debris must be long
gone.

The
clouds built to a dark sky, but again, no one seemed worried about that. Connie
Oppenheim, the woman holding the tablet had indicated she had a strong signal
today, and watched the radar as they walked along.

They
stopped once for a quick break, and Liane went into the thick underbrush with
the two other women who accompanied them to relieve
herself
,
while the men went in the opposite direction. Then the group sat on a knoll
that was half grass, half dirt to eat quickly before they resumed their
journey.

“The
storm shelter is less than an hour away,” said Emmett. “George is meeting us
there, and then he’ll take us to his home.”

“How
often do storms come up?”

He
smiled at her. “It’s totally random. I’ve been up here and not seen any for as
long as two days, and I’ve seen them come up every hour for days on end.”

“This
time of year is less active than others for some reason,” said Merrill.

Liane
asked if it was summer up here as it was underground.

“Yes,”
said Ken. “We didn’t change that when everyone moved underground. It’s the
middle of August.”

She
frowned. “Shouldn’t it be much hotter and more humid, then?”

“Yes.
That’s part of the changes up here. The seasons are all fucked up. That’s why
we dress for anything and everything. In two hours the temperature might rise
forty or fifty degrees.”

She
shivered. It couldn’t be more than fifty degrees now. The only places she knew
of where it would have been routinely be
this cool
in
the middle of an August day were the northernmost states, unless a rare cold
front had come through. It was far worse up here than she’d realized.

The
storm shelter was in sight when the clouds began to build again. Connie’s voice
sent hot fear racing through Liane’s body.
“Heads up!
Rotation in those clouds to our south.”

Emmett
took her hand. “Run.”

Liane
didn’t need to be told twice, but her legs felt like rubber and it was
difficult to breathe. This was more fearful than that day in class because she
was outdoors and totally exposed. She didn’t dare glance up at the sky. Instead
she kept her hand in Emmett’s, squeezing as hard as possible, and kept her eyes
on the person in front of her.

The
wind made it difficult to move as they approached the rise where the shelter
sat atop it. She could feel the updraft, and a rumbling sound she hadn’t heard
in six years split the air. Liane tried not to panic, but it was obvious from
the group’s reaction that a tornado was forming right behind them.

She
glanced up at Emmett, and her fear increased. His face was full of both
excitement and trepidation, and sweat dotted his forehead. He gazed at her and
smiled slightly, but it did little to help. Why the hell had she
come
up here with him? But if she’d been waiting, it would
have been worse not knowing what was going on.

They
reached the shelter, and Ken opened the door, which was no easy feat since it
required quite a bit of force to do so because of the wind. They filed in, with
her and Emmett in the middle of the pack, and then Ken needed the help of two
additional men to get the door closed and locked.

Emmett
took a seat on a bench and pulled her onto his lap. “You’re okay,” he
whispered.

No, I’m not.

She
didn’t say anything in response. This wasn’t what she’d expected. Not even
close.

One
of them lit a lantern, and the room was bathed in soft light. Liane glanced
around, surprised by the space inside and all the equipment. Ken and Connie
were already at work on the computers, attempting to access the radar.

“Got
it,” said Connie. “There’s a debris ball. It’s on the ground.”

Liane
didn’t need Connie to tell them that. She could hear the storm outside, and the
walls of this shelter were concrete so it had to be massive and strong. She
closed her eyes and clung to Emmett as she listened to the muffled sound of the
wind, and objects striking the sides of the shelter.

Why
weren’t they underground?

Then
she recalled reading that because so many of the underground shelters had
flooded, the only ones the Storm Troopers and procurement teams attempted to
access were the ones above ground.

“Will
it hold?” she asked quietly, gazing into Emmett’s face.

He
nodded.
“Absolutely.”

How
did he know that for certain?

The
others were gathered around the two computers, groaning when they lost the
radar image and cheering when it came back up again. They pointed and talked
about mesocyclones and lift as if they were discussing what to have for dinner.
Their calm attitudes both amazed and confused her. How did they do this, day
after day, without fear?

“That
was close,” she said. “Wasn’t it?”

Ken
turned to glance at her. “That? No. That wasn’t close. The wall cloud hadn’t
even descended yet. I’ve been next to funnels while running for a shelter.”

It
suddenly occurred to Liane that this shelter was where they were supposed to
meet George. She asked Emmett where he was.

Emmett
gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Don’t you worry about
him.
He knows what he’s doing. When this passes we’ll go out and find him.”

She
didn’t ask what would happen if they couldn’t find him.

They
left the shelter a half hour later, and without benefit of working radar, only
because the last image they’d been able to see was clear. The storm that had
produced the tornado had also dropped a shitload of rain, and the ground was
now soaked as they made their way further up the rise to see if they could spot
George.

Liane
shivered next to Emmett. The temperature had to be close to thirty now, but the
sun was out. No wonder he lived for this. It was utter chaos and totally
unpredictable, just the way he liked things. It was also the complete opposite
of how she lived her life. The only time she mirrored his personality was in
bed.

That
realization forced her thoughts to their future. Was she truly the right woman
for him? This wouldn’t be the last time he came up here. She knew that, but it
might be the last time for her. How could she simply sit in his apartment,
trying to focus on work, while he could be swept away in a flood or sucked up
into a funnel and dropped miles away, at any second?

Even
if he survived such an experience, he could be seriously hurt. Someone would
have to get him back underground and to a medical facility. Liane wasn’t sure
she could handle that. She wasn’t sure she could deal with any of this.

Her
thoughts raced with memories of the last few weeks even while her mind played
at the fringes of the very real possibility she and Emmett might not be suited
to each other. Tears ran down her cheeks before she could stop them.

As
she reached up to wipe them before Emmett saw her crying, a shout drew the
group’s attention. A man walked briskly toward them over the rise, dressed as
they were and waving a red flag. The group cheered.