Authors: Allison Maruska
“Peter?” Jeremy asked from across the row.
“Yes, him.”
“Scott stayed in Denver so Levin could pick him up at the airport,” Rana figured.
“Makes sense. Anyway, he drove me to the building we just left. Some other people locked me in one of the rooms. They basically left me alone until yesterday, when Dr. Craig found me. He opened the door and gestured for me to follow him. He led me through a few hallways and out a side door, took me to a car, and drove me to a motel.
“On the way, he told me the Project Renovatio staff split a year ago. Scott and his supporters forced Dr. Craig and his supporters out of the organization. The part Scott led was hell-bent on getting all the PR kids together to form an army. Dr. Craig said he needed my help to rescue you.” She moved her attention to Levin when he winced. She stroked his hair.
Rana wrapped her arms around the seat in front of her. “Did you know you would have to kill Scott?”
She pursed her lips. “Not exactly. We waited until he and Peter started talking because we couldn’t know before then if all the PR kids were there. We peeked out at the same time Levin punched Scott, and we made our move after Levin collapsed.” She took a shaking breath. “We didn’t know if the gun would be a sufficient threat or if we would need to use it.” She wiped her face with her open hand. “Dr. Craig told me to fire when I had a clear shot.”
“Why didn’t he shoot Scott?” Jeremy asked.
“He didn’t think he could shoot his own son. Well, the man he raised as his son. He knew hesitating would put you all at risk.”
“How did Dr. Craig know what Scott planned if Scott forced him out of PR?” Rana asked.
“He had some people working for him who appeared to work for Scott–those two big guys who led you to the room, among a few others. They kept Dr. Craig updated about Scott’s plans, and they made sure all of you ended up in that room, because that was the exit point.”
“Now I feel bad for tackling one of them.” Jeremy chuckled.
“Okay, that should do it,” Daniel said while examining his handiwork. “It’s not pretty, but it should hold.” He faced Levin. “Lie around as much as you can until it heals enough for me to remove the stitches. If you pull on them, it will hurt and you could open them. Then we’ll have to do this all over again.” He covered the wound with gauze and medical tape.
“Thank you,” Levin muttered. “Does anyone have an extra shirt?”
****
Levin relaxed after Daniel finished the stitches. Daniel found an empty seat on the opposite side of the van and fell asleep. A pang of guilt hit Levin’s stomach when he remembered thinking Daniel was obnoxious when they first met.
He couldn’t see anyone else from his position. Silence filled the dark van.
A steady burning sensation remained across his left side, and the van seats itched his back. He planned to ask someone to buy painkillers and a shirt when they stopped for gas. If they stopped for gas. He still had no idea where they were going.
He pulled his phone from his pocket, checked the time, and sent a text to Maggie despite the late hour. He needed to talk to her, but he didn’t know where to start.
Mom is back with us.
He waited a few minutes and started to think she’d gone to sleep when he received her reply.
That’s so great! What happened?
Long story. Lots of PR kids are with us now. We’re headed somewhere.
He considered telling her about his injury but decided against it. He didn’t want to worry her.
Where are they taking you?
I don’t know.
How long will you be gone?
I don’t know.
Can I go home?
He wiggled his thumbs as he contemplated his answer. He decided to ask someone who knew better than he did. “Mom, are you awake?”
She twisted around and peered over the back of her seat.
“Is it safe for Maggie to go home?”
“Go home? Where is she?”
“I sent her to her uncle’s place in Arizona after you disappeared.”
“Oh. She’ll be fine. I don’t think anyone besides Scott knew about her.”
Levin sighed.
Mom says it’s safe for you to go home.
A few moments passed before she replied.
Okay. I’ll leave tomorrow. See you soon?
I hope so. I love you.
I love you, too.
He started to pocket his phone when his mother stopped him.
“Can I use that? I want to call Walt and tell him I’m okay.”
“Sure.” He handed her the phone, closed his eyes, and tried to fall asleep in spite of the fiery pain coming from his ribcage.
Rana woke as the van stopped at a gas station. The sun peeked over the horizon. Where were they?
“Good time for a break. Everyone out,” the driver said.
The passengers unloaded. Rana looked over the seats in front of her. Levin slept, taking long, deep breaths. She considered letting him rest but didn’t know when they might stop again. She shook his shoulder until he stirred.
“What? Are we there?” he asked in a groggy voice.
“No. We stopped at a gas station. The driver suggested everyone take a break.”
“Okay.” Levin glanced at his torso. “I need a shirt.” He pulled his wallet from his pocket and gave Rana a credit card. “If they have shirts, buy one for me. Get some painkillers, too.”
“Okay.” She took the card and left the van.
The gas station displayed souvenirs that said
Utah
on them. Rana picked a generic blue shirt in what she guessed was Levin’s size, ibuprofen, and sodas. She paid, looked towards the restroom, and decided to take the items to Levin to give the line a chance to shrink. Their driver stood next to the van.
“Hi. I'm Rana.”
“Hi, Rana. I’m Aaron.” He scratched his goatee.
“Where are the other vans?” she asked.
“Every driver took a different route. We’ll all end up in the same place, though.”
“And where’s that?”
“You’ll see. We have a full day of driving ahead of us. You might want to go buy yourself a book.” He stared at her. “Is your brother the injured guy?”
“Yeah.”
He nodded. “He looked pretty bad last night. Did the doctor guy do a good job stitching him up?”
She remembered him asking last night if they needed to stop at a hospital. “I think he did fine. Levin’s in pain, but I bought him something for that.” She lifted the bag. “I should get it to him.”
“Okay. See you in the van in a few minutes.”
She climbed through the side door and found her brother sitting up. She gave him his credit card and pulled the shirt from her bag.
He took it from her. “We’re in Utah?”
“I guess. Aaron, the driver, said we’ll be driving all day but he didn’t tell me where we’re going. He said the other vans took different routes to the same place.”
“Huh.” He put the shirt over his head and groaned as he lifted his arm. Rana grabbed the sleeve and helped him ease his arm through it.
“I got you these, too.” She handed him the ibuprofen and one of the sodas.
“Thanks.” He swallowed some pills.
“Wanna go inside with me? There’s food. I think Mom and Dayla need you to pay since Mom doesn’t have her wallet. I can bring your card to them if you want to stay here.”
“I’ll come in.” He held the seats in front of him and pulled himself to his feet. The two left the van and walked to the building. Levin kept his arm bent and close to his side.
****
When they arrived at a campground, the sky glowed orange from the sunset. The road signs indicated they’d crossed into Montana hours earlier. Aaron took them to a department store in the last town, where he purchased clothes and toiletries for all of them.
The area reminded Rana of where she used to go to summer camp. Bigger buildings surrounded a central area with a large fire pit, and smaller buildings scattered the outer edges of the property.
“Looks like we’re the first ones here.” Aaron parked the van by one of the larger buildings. Everyone piled out and wandered the grounds.
“Rana, why are we here?” Dayla asked as the group huddled near the fire pit.
“I don’t know, girlie.”
“This is an old campsite.” Aaron peered into the pit. “Kids used to come here for summer programs. The owners sold it to Dr. Craig. He realized as Scott’s plan unfolded that he may need a large place for you kids to stay for a while.”
Eliot asked, “Do you work for Dr. Craig?”
“Yes. I worked on the last phase of the Project. When Scott started recruiting PR staff, Dr. Craig pulled me aside to tell me Scott would force him out. I told him I would stand with him. About half of the original PR staff works with Dr. Craig. He’s planning on telling everyone the rest of the story after they arrive. We took the quicker route because of our injured passenger; the rest should get here in the next three hours. Those cabins are unlocked. Go have a look around.”
“Sir, how long will we stay here?” Jeremy asked.
“Until it’s safe for you to leave.”
****
Levin claimed a bottom bunk in one of the cabins and tried to sleep until he had a reason to be up. As long as he stayed unconscious, his wound didn’t throb.
“Everyone’s h…h…here now.” Brent’s voice pulled Levin out of his shallow slumber.
“Okay. I’ll walk with you.” Levin grabbed the bedrail above him and lifted himself while Brent waited by the door.
The men walked along the dirt path to where the group gathered around the fire pit, where tall flames now blazed. When Dr. Craig looked in their direction, he announced, “Everyone, please take a seat.” A half circle of bench-like seats faced the fire. Levin and Brent claimed spots in the front row.
Dr. Craig stood in front of the fire; his casual outfit contrasted with the seriousness of the moment. “I wish I could say I’m glad to see you all here, but that’s not entirely true. It means we’ve reached our last option. It means we couldn’t stop Scott and his supporters before now. And for that, I apologize.” He stared blankly in front of him and cleared his throat.
“A year ago, Scott managed to convince a little more than half of the PR employees that we planned to create an army of genetically superior soldiers. He told a beautiful and untrue story about how that was the plan all along, and I was too slow and incompetent to implement it. He even suggested I worked for a secret agency with the mission of eliminating PR kids because they could overthrow the government.”
Mild laughter moved through the group.
“He planned to go around to the PR kids, tell them about their unique genetic situation, and persuade them to join him in his cause. He quickly figured out talking to every PR family individually would take a very long time. So, he came up with the plan to lure you all into a large group.”
Dr. Craig paced in front of the pit. “A few months after he started recruiting without my knowledge, he had enough supporters from my staff that he could forcefully remove me and anyone who supported me. I had a few days’ warning before he ousted me, though, and I moved some of the Project money into a secret account, which I’ve set up to receive a portion of any future funding. Our supporting governmental departments keep us well financed, and I’ve hidden quite a lot of it without anyone noticing. I used the money to buy this property, and we have plenty of food and supplies for you all to live here for a while. Some of my former PR staff will prepare food and wash linens. You’ll figure out the rest as you go along.”
A girl raised her hand, and Dr. Craig faced her. “Yes, do you have a question?”
“Yes. I’m confused. Scott’s dead. Why do we need to stay here?”
He rubbed his neck and cleared his throat before answering. “Great question. He scattered his supporters around the country. Some stayed in San Diego, but the rest he had stationed around PR families. We don’t know what they will do now that he isn’t around to lead them.” He paused and cleared his throat again, as if to keep from crying. “We’re keeping you all here until we’re sure they don’t pose a threat to you.”
He directed his attention towards Levin. “You’ve all seen that Scott didn’t shy away from violence. He taught his followers to use violence when necessary to grow their cause. Because of that, another leader could rise up to continue Scott’s mission. We want to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Another teenager’s hand went up. “Do we have to stay here? And for how long?”
“I can’t force you to stay, but I can’t promise your safety if you leave. Scott’s supporters will likely want revenge and will take it out on you. Scott presented himself as a general. His supporters will take his death very hard. To answer your other question, you’ll stay as long as it takes for my people to neutralize the threat. We’re finding and influencing Scott’s people every day. To complicate matters, we need to reach the other PR kids before Scott’s people do. Did Scott say the rest were meeting in large groups like this one?”
A few in the crowd murmured confirmation, and Dr. Craig shook his head. “That’s not true. You are the only PR kids he managed to get together. I think he planned to hold separate gatherings for the others.”
He paused, as if waiting for more questions, then continued. “You’ve probably noticed there’s no cell phone service here. Tomorrow, we will take you in small groups to the nearest town so you can call your families, jobs, or whoever you need to contact. Assure them you will come home, you just don’t know when. Do
not
tell them where you are. You’ll all need to turn your phones off after that. The longer they’re on, the better the chance one of Scott’s supporters will track us. That’s all I have for tonight. I’ll talk with some of you individually in the coming days. In fact, I’d like Jeremy Ruiz, Levin Davis, Brent Sutherland, and Daniel Jackson to stay behind. Everyone else can get settled in the cabins. Breakfast will be served at 8:30.”
The group dispersed, leaving the four brothers clustered around the front row with Dr. Craig sitting among them. Dr. Craig leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “I thought you guys might have more questions.”
“You raised Scott as your son?” Jeremy asked. Levin wondered why, since Jeremy already knew the answer. He decided Jeremy wanted to get Dr. Craig talking.
“Yes, I did. My wife participated in the first phase of the Project. Scott’s father was the Greek man, and he was your half-brother. My wife passed away eighteen months ago, and I believe her death sent Scott on this crazy mission of his.”
“I’m s…s…sorry for your loss,” Brent said.
“Thank you. It’s been hard to grieve the loss of my wife with Scott acting the way he was. I hoped it wouldn’t come to the conclusion it did last night.” He focused on the ground.
“I have a question,” Levin said. “Why did Scott do the whole meeting with us? Why didn’t he let us learn about PR like everyone else did, with the letter?”
“Did he tell you about the loss of boys in the first phase of PR?”
Levin nodded.
“He saw himself as an elite case because of that. I can’t say for sure, but I imagine he wanted to establish a rapport with you before he tried to recruit you to his cause. Perhaps he wanted to make you guys the upper ranks of his force, so to speak.”
“And how did kidnapping my mother help him with that?”
“He made it look like I was responsible and he was there to help you, so he would earn your trust. His plan probably changed after I found your mom. He lost his leverage. In the end, it appears he used–or tried to use–her and you to demonstrate what would happen to the others if they went against him.”
“Thank you for finding her.” Levin’s response felt inadequate.
“Sir, I have another question,” Jeremy said. “Scott said PR wanted us to marry other PR girls, and our girlfriends would be in danger if we stayed with them. He said you made him break up with his girlfriend. Is that true?”
“No, that’s not true. He never had a serious girlfriend, as far as I know. He likely told you that to turn you against me and my supporters, though he called his group PR. My group doesn’t have a name. I guess we need to come up with one.” He smiled. “But I digress. We designed PR to allow PR kids to grow up and marry whom they choose, because people tend to choose others like themselves as partners. We wanted to create a strong base of people who are able to survive and study how the next generations express their parents’ genetic advantages. We obviously didn’t get to the second part. We hope to take back the organization at some point and re-establish our research.”
A flood of relief covered Levin, and he wished he could call Maggie.
“Well, I’ll let you boys get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning.” Dr. Craig stood and walked towards one of the cabins, leaving the brothers to process the new information.
Jeremy put his arm around Levin’s shoulders and offered a huge grin. Levin couldn’t help but smile back.