The Shift: Book II of the Wildfire Saga (32 page)

“A palace?" asked Chad.
 

“Probably one of the old KGB dachas leftover from the Cold War," observed Alston.
 
He nodded and gestured to 13, “Go on.”

"They gave me good food, fancy clothes—anything I wanted.
 
But they kept me isolated.
 
All I really wanted was someone to talk to.
 
I counted the days by scratch marks in wall.
 
Finally they came and began taking my blood.
 
They were gentle at first—like my own people—but when I start ed asking questions, the Russians became more…aggressive."
 
Her eyes looked down at the metal floor of the airplane.
 
When she continued, her voice was so low Chad had to turn the volume up to max on his headset to hear.

"One of the doctors took the time to explain to me how special I was.
 
How out of all the billions of people on planet, the Russian government had only come across a handful who had blood as unique as mine.
 
He said they knew of seven such people.
 
Their blood was strong—immune to many different diseases."

"Sounds familiar," said Alston as he glanced at Chad.

“My sisters—my family—each had an element of this uniqueness.”
 
She frowned.
 
“No, not ‘element’.
 
What’s the word?"
 
She pursed her lips, tapping them with one finger.
 
"Type?
 
Similarity?"
 
She shook her head.
 
“It doesn’t matter.
 
My blood was stronger—they needed whatever made mine strong.
 
After all the testing, though, they discovered my blood was not as good as they thought.
 
I was immune to a few types of diseases, but not the flu.
 
I could not help them fight the Great Pandemic, but I heal fast.
 
Faster than normal.
 
They decided to keep me after all—for future use."
 
She rested her head back against the hull of the aircraft and wiped a strand of blonde hair from her face.
 
Her eyes stared at the ceiling of the Osprey.
 

"I spent two years there.
 
Such a cold place—colder than Sweden.
 
They did so many tests.
 
I fought when I could—even hurt a few guards…" A lopsided smile spread across her lips.
 
When she moved in the dim light, Chad noticed the faint mark of a scar under her jaw line that slithered down the side of her neck.
 

He hadn’t notice it before, but now that he had, anger boiled through Chad’s gut and his fist clenched involuntarily.
 
The thought of someone threatening her like that made him want to hurt someone.
 
Bad.

"Did they do that to you?
 
The Russians?”
 
Chad said in a voice hoarse with emotion.
 
He ignored the sharp look from Alston.
 
"They did that?"

Her head still against the hull of the aircraft, 13 lowered her eyes to look at him down her nose.
 
The smile faded from her lips.
 
"Yes, and worse."
 
She closed her eyes and folded her arms across her chest.
 
"I do not want to talk about that."

The aircraft flew on and they sat in silence for a few moments as the Osprey roared its way through the sky.
 
Chad looked around and noticed that most of the Rangers and Marines who had their wounds patched were now fast asleep.
 
He marveled that they could fall asleep so quickly after combat.
 
He still felt the aftereffects of adrenaline coursing through his body.
 
He was all keyed up and full of nervous energy.
 

"I soon learned the more I resisted them, the more I was punished.
 
And Russians are
very
good at punishing people."
 

Chad could see the wetness in her eyes.
 
“What did you do?” he asked gently.

She sniffed.
 
“I switched tactics—something they taught me in Sweden.
 
How to survive interrogation and how to escape.
 
I tried to befriend a few of the nicer Russians.
 
One of the scientists started to tell me about a secret American program they discovered through spies.”
 
She looked at Alston.
 
“He said the Americans were convinced there were more than just seven people with special blood around the world.
 
A famous American scientist was working with a secret team that claimed they had found 18 people with blood like mine around world.”
 
She turned and pointed at Chad.
 
“He is number 14.
 
The Russians had 2, 5, and 6.
 
And me.
 
The Russians told me the Americans had 10, 12, 11, 1, 3, and 4.”

Alston looked at Chad.
 
"So who had the rest?"

13 shook her head, causing locks of hair to fall loose from the ponytail behind her head and tumble down her shoulders.
 
"I don't know.
 
China?
 
North Korea?
 
England?
 
There were others, but everyone wants One."

"One?" asked Alston.

13 nodded.
 
She gazed at Chad in reverence.
 
"The One.
 
The One whose blood is immune to flu."
 
The moment passed and 13 continued: "At least, that’s what the Russians told me.
 
I never thought that story was real.”
 
She looked at Alston again.
 
"Until I heard how the American government used his blood to find a vaccine for The Pandemic and saved all those people…”
 
She nodded, a gesture more of confirmation than approval.
 
“I knew Project Sanguine was real at that point—I the Russians had told the truth."

“All that only happened toward the end…" said Chad.
 
He cleared his throat and spoke louder.
 
"They didn't go public with my name until it was almost all over.
 
Did they release you?
 
Were you able to find your family?"

"Russians do not release people,” she snapped.
 
"The scientist was…
sympathetic
…to my plight," she said in a voice that dripped with sarcasm.
 
Her eyes met Alston's.
 
The Ranger nodded.
 
"After a time he arranged it so I could ‘free myself’.”
 
She lifted her chin proudly.
 
“And I did.
 
When I found my family, it had been years…”
 
Her voice trailed off.
 

Chad felt his chest tighten in sympathy.
 
He knew that look, he knew the emotion behind it.
 
She was completely alone in the world.
 

Chad was suddenly standing on the frozen dirt of his family's land back in Texas.
 
He felt the shovel in his hands as he looked down and saw the fresh grave where he buried his mother.
 
The snow-dusted mound sat next to his father’s and his sister’s mounds, completely covered in snow.
 

He blinked and brought himself back to the present.
 
13 and Alston were staring at him.
 
He cleared his throat.
 
"Sorry, I was somewhere else…"

13 held his gaze and slowly nodded.
 
"You understand.
 
You know what happened."

Alston looked between her and Chad.
 
“Well, I sure don't," he said, “can someone fill me in?"

Chad stared at 13, who held his gaze.
 
"She got home and found her family dead,” he said in a detached voice.
 
She nodded and he continued.
 
“House empty, neighbors dead.
 
What was left of the town no longer cared for her—she had no relatives, no friends, nowhere to go."

"I was more alone than ever in my life," she said sadly.
 
She sniffed and wiped at her eyes as if embarrassed.
 
"But…that was ten years ago," she said.
 
"I tracked down the scientists in Sweden who’d used my blood—I found some of the soldiers who’d trained me—I wanted to be one of them.”

“You wanted revenge," said Alston.

13 nodded.
 
“Oh, yes, I did.
 
I wanted it so bad I could taste it.
 
It consumed me—it was all I thought about.
 
In the end, it saved me."

"Revenge?
 
It saved you?" asked Chad.

13 nodded again.
 
"I was not the first woman to experience Russian hospitality.”
 
She spat in the aisle.
 
“Nor will I be the last.
 
My doctors told me," she went on quickly, “my hatred and anger helped me heal—helped me cover my psychological damage.
 
It helped me forget those men…"
 
She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, her fists clenched on her thighs.

"When they decided I was fit for duty," she said, “I was given a mission.”

“What mission?" asked Alston.

She turned and looked at him.
 
"They wanted me to track down what was left of my family."

Now it was Chad's turn to be confused.
 
"Your family?
 
I thought they were dead?"

"My
new
family."
 
She looked down at the floor again.
 
"My parents and sisters, aunts and uncles, cousins—they all died in Pandemic or fighting in the wars afterward."
 

“The Aftermath,” agreed Alston.
 
“Bad times for everyone.”

She looked up and met Chad's eyes.
 
"My new family—people like me—scattered around world, held by governments, used as guinea pigs.
 
They are my family now.
 
They’re all I have left.
 
People like you," she said through half closed eyes at Chad.
 
“We have more in common with each other than most people on the planet.
 
We’re special—
different
."

Chad grasped the concept immediately.
 
She was right.
 
There was someone just like him, who’d lost her entire family and been taken away for government experiments.
 
Used, abused, and left to her own devices when the crisis passed.
 
She was just like him.
 

“That's…I don't know what to say…" Chad said.
 
"I've never met anyone like me who… I mean, after I lost my family…"

“It’s okay," she said softly, one hand outstretched across the aisle toward Chad.
 
"I know it’s a lot to take in—it was for me, too.
 
I know how you feel.
 
That’s why I allowed myself to be captured.”
 
She sniffed again and rubbed at her eyes, gathering strength around her like a warm coat.
 
"That’s why I allowed myself to be taken by Russians and brought to you.
 
To help you escape—to save you—so we can save our brothers and sisters around world.
 
Our family.”

Alston raised his hand.
 
"Hold on," he said with a frown.
 
He cocked his head, listening to something over his helmet.
 
Chad listened, but heard nothing but dull roar of the engines.
 

Chad felt the plane turn suddenly and the deck angled sharply down.
 
The engines pitched to a lower volume as the plane turned and corkscrewed down toward the ground.
 
Chad gripped the edge of his seat and closed his eyes.

“He just told the pilot to take evasive action," 13's voice drifted into his mind.
 
Chad's eyes snapped open and saw her speaking into her headset.
 
Her eyes were on Alston.
 
“They’re looking for a place to land.”
 
She turned and looked at Chad.
 
"He’s not listening to me—he’s on a different channel.
 
This is bad—the Russians have aircraft chasing us."
 

Chad tried to look as calm and detached as she did and worried that he looked more like someone about to vomit.
 
"Well, at least they're consistent."

A crooked smile curled up one corner of his mouth.
 
"Although if I had known
you
were chasing me, I would've let myself be caught a long, long time ago," Chad said quietly.

There, across the aisle from him, was one of the most beautiful and strong women he'd ever known in his entire life.
 
And through luck or Providence, they shared a closer connection than he’d had with anyone in the world.
 
They were unique, set apart from the rest of humanity.
 
They would always have each other, no matter what, because no one else was like them.

He opened his mouth to say something when a hole appeared in the aircraft hull above 13's head.
 
One second it was just solid steel, the next he could see daylight.
 
There was no sound, no explosion.
 
Just a hole.
 
Alston shouted, the plane shook violently and Chad saw a snake of orange flame slither through the hole.

The plane rocked violently and Chad's headset flew off.
 
Smoke appeared from the forward section of the aircraft and the last thing he heard before the cabin lights went out was the roar of another aircraft passing close by overhead.