The Beyond: Dystopian Survival Fiction (The Breeder Files Book 4) by Eliza Green (most popular novels TXT) 📗

Carissa breathed in and out fast. One of the guards reached down for her and picked her up by her top. He held her up at eye level.

‘What are you doing?’ the guard said, alert and no longer confused.

Carissa flicked her gaze over to the door. The Inventor slipped out but stayed by the entrance. He waved at her to come.

She concentrated on the grey eyes of the Copy; she knew him to be lower in status than her. ‘I am 173-C. I command you to put me down.’

The guard ignored her.

‘Quintus, one of the Copies won’t let me go,’ she said.

‘He’s under a new command,’ he replied. ‘Did you find the Beyond?’

‘Yes, but I couldn’t pass through to reach it.’

‘Who made it through?’

She detected excitement in his voice.

‘Most of the humans.’

‘What about Jerome? Alex?’

‘Yes, they did. Why?’

The guard holding her squeezed his eyes shut, then dropped her. A breath rushed out of her upon impact. Carissa crawled away from him and made it to the door. The Inventor and Vanessa pulled her through.

Leaving the hall behind, their group ran for the exit and out to the courtyard. An excited Rover greeted them.

Jacob patted the wolf’s nose as he passed and commanded, ‘Guard the entrance.’

The wolf went into sentry mode. He and his mate stood in the space between the workshop and the Learning Centre.

They slipped into the stairwell. The cool air inside the tunnels settled Carissa’s nerves. Only when they’d reached the Inventor’s workshop did Carissa release her breath.

‘We should be safe here for a while,’ she managed to say. She explained for Charlie and Thomas, ‘The Copies don’t like dark spaces.’

Neither of them had spent time in the city.

The Inventor turned her to face him. ‘What happened in the Great Hall? What did Quintus want to know?’

‘He was asking if we’d found the Beyond, and who had made it through.’

‘It seemed like the guard received a new command, right after you told him something. What was it?’

Carissa swallowed. ‘He was asking about Jerome and Alex. When I said they’d made it, the Copy released me.’

The old man straightened up. Vanessa, Charlie and Thomas stepped in closer.

‘What are you thinking, Jacob?’ Vanessa asked.

He rubbed his chin. Carissa saw the worry in his eyes.

‘Alex and Jerome were brought to this city,’ he said. ‘We have no idea what happened to them during that time. I’m concerned one or both of them are not quite themselves.’

Carissa cleared space on the workshop counter and climbed up onto it. Thomas joined her while Jacob and Charlie took the only two seats. Vanessa paced the room, looking unsettled.

She turned suddenly. ‘How are we going to get out of this one?’ She pointed up through the hole in the roof. ‘We could still leave the city. The defensive barrier is still down.’

‘And go where?’ said Charlie. ‘Back to the camp and risk this place becoming impenetrable? Dom was right. We need to stay. We’ve found the Beyond, and it sounds like this Quintus character is happy about it. If Dom, Sheila and the others are in danger, we need to warn them.’

Vanessa stared at him. ‘How? We’ve got a room full of violent Copies between us and freedom. Not to mention’—her eyes flicked to Carissa—‘Carissa can’t pass through the scanner.’

‘We also don’t know if the system will reset and open the door again,’ said the Inventor.

‘Most systems reboot or reset at some point,’ suggested Thomas. ‘What we experienced was probably a defensive capability. The door will lock down for a predetermined length of time. Then, after that time has lapsed, it should open up again.’

Carissa listened to the others debate their next move. She didn’t see how they could succeed while the guards in the Great Hall remained. She needed to know what Quintus had planned.

‘I think we should search the city properly,’ she said.

All eyes turned to her but only one of the others spoke.

‘Why?’ said the Inventor.

‘Maybe there are other humans here—’

The Inventor mumbled, ‘Of course.’

‘And other Copies.’

He shook his head at her. ‘Why on earth would you want to find more?’

She had an idea. ‘I knew some of them. One of them showed compassion to both Anya and Dom. 118-C was Anya’s medic. If we can find her, she might help.’

Thomas perked up at that idea. ‘I say we try. We could use all the help we can get. Plus, they might know how to disable the other guards in the Great Hall.’

Vanessa was folding her arms tightly and Charlie had his head in his hands. Neither of them looked happy with Carissa’s idea.

But the Inventor seemed intrigued. He said to Carissa, ‘I always suspected there were other Copies like you in this city, miss.’

Other Copies with a conscience and an interest in the humans? Not in the same way Quintus had an interest, but a more sociable one. It intrigued her, too.

She jumped down from the workbench, eager to get started. ‘We should begin our search now.’

The Inventor held up his hand. Her excitement wavered.

‘Not so fast. We should wait until dark to go look. We’re too visible in the daytime.’

‘But we have Rover! And the other wolf—’

‘It’s not enough, miss.’ He turned to the others. ‘I vote we wait until nightfall.’

Charlie and Vanessa agreed.

Thomas muttered a quick sorry to Carissa, then said, ‘Me too.’

She stared at him. ‘I thought you’d be with me on this.’

He shrugged. ‘Night time is safer. We can sneak around more.’

Carissa looked up at the broken roof, then at the entrance. She shivered, hoping she was right about the Copies not coming down here.

But after Quintus’ reset, anything was possible.

20

Anya

‘How many of you are out