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

Her gaze went to the image behind Agatha’s head. ‘Is this San Francisco?’

The woman laughed. ‘No. It’s an old photo. Bygone times.’

Dom leaned forward. ‘Please. We got separated from our friends. We need you to open the door and let them in.’

Agatha shook her head. ‘It’s not possible. The door locks automatically for twenty-four hours. We won’t be able to open it until the time has expired.’

‘So they’re stuck there?’

She nodded. ‘A non-human life form attempted to pass through the door. It triggered the lockdown.’

‘You mean a Copy?’

‘I believe that’s your term for the lower life forms the Collective has created.’ She clasped her hands on the table. ‘We’ve had others make it here before. They’ve filled us in on the evolution of events there.’

Anya thought of Janet, of Warren’s parents—of other rebels who may have made it.

‘Are they here? Can we speak to them?’

Agatha shook her head. ‘Moved to another location. Sorry.’ She leaned forward. ‘What I’d like to know is why a Copy was attempting to cross the barrier. Were you being attacked?’

‘No, Carissa was helping us,’ said Anya.

‘Carissa?’

‘It’s her name.’

Agatha sat back, eyes wide. ‘Copies with feelings? I didn’t think their evolution would get that far so fast.’

‘Neither did we,’ said Dom. ‘Carissa is the exception.’

Agatha leaned forward again. ‘So you would like me—us—to rescue her?’

‘She deserves a chance to be free.’

Agatha clasped her hands tighter, turning her dark skin paler in places. ‘What about the Collective? Is she still connected to it?’

‘No. With her help, we successfully escaped Praesidium a few days ago,’ said Anya. ‘After, she broke her connection to the city.’

She left out the part about Quintus still talking to her.

Agatha nodded and waved one hand. ‘Well, it doesn’t matter right now. The door won’t open.’ She stood. ‘Well, Dom and Anya, I expect you to keep your team in line while you’re here. We also insist all refugees go through a physical. For your peace of mind as well as ours. We find those who arrive here unannounced are malnourished.’

Anya stood up fast. ‘Is that it?’

Dom grabbed her hand, as if to calm her.

Agatha stared at her. ‘What did you expect?’

She snapped her hand out of his grip. ‘I don’t know... a better explanation of where we are?’

She was supposed to find answers here, to turn her parents’ and Jason’s deaths from senseless into a cause worth fighting for. So far, she wasn’t seeing it.

Agatha smiled and gestured to the door. ‘All in good time, Anya.’

Dom stood up and walked swiftly to the door.

She stayed put, not ready to leave. ‘We have more questions.’

‘And I promise to answer them soon. But for now, we have our rules. If you want to stay here, you must abide by them.’

Agatha opened the door. Outside, the soldier with the gun stood to attention.

‘Take them to the infirmaries,’ Agatha said to her. ‘I want to make sure they’re healthy.’

The soldier nodded, then signalled to the soldiers below.

Anya stepped out onto the high platform. A cross walk connected the prefab to a door on the same level. From the rock face opposite her, it looked like they were deep underground. The soldier led them back down to the level below. Anya saw other soldiers leading Sheila, June and the others down a new corridor leading farther into the heart of the Beyond.

At the bottom, a male soldier waited.

‘Take him to the infirmary,’ said the woman, nodding at Dom. ‘I’ll escort this one.’

Dom gave Anya a quick nod and whispered, ‘I’ll see you soon.’

Fear and anxiety set her hands shaking. It reminded her too much of the medical facility. And it felt too much like she was about to be experimented upon.

But with their weapons under the Beyond’s control and with the way back locked down, she didn’t see another choice but to comply.

21

Dom

The male soldier led Dom down a right-hand corridor that led to an area with a circle of doors. The soldier opened one room and told him to enter. Dom eyed the layout of steel benches. There was equipment he’d never seen before and too many cutting instruments for him to settle.

He hesitated by the door. The soldier gave him a gentle push inside.

‘You have to complete a physical if you want to stay in the Beyond,’ he said. ‘It’s for your own good.’

Dom understood the rules, but the layout of the room gave him pause. No way would he let them open him up again.

He shuffled inside. A man in a lab coat looked up from a microscope.

He took his glasses off and pocketed them. ‘And you are?’

Dom cleared his throat. He was a leader. He needed to act like one.

‘Dominic Pavesi. And you?’

‘Not essential.’

The doctor, he presumed, picked up a small screen. He gestured to a reclining chair that reminded Dom too much of the ones in Arcis—except this one was black leather, not cream. Dom and the others had been forced to sit in front of screens on the seventh floor and answer questions. Their answers had determined their success moving on.

‘I’ll stand if that’s all the same to you.’

‘It’s not. Sit or I’ll make you.’

The soldier poked him on.

Dom slid into the chair, hands tightly clasped. ‘What do you do here?’

The doctor waved his hand at him without looking up from the screen. ‘Medical stuff.’

He pulled up a second chair next to Dom’s and sat in it. ‘I have some routine questions that I need you to answer. Okay?’

Dom nodded. At least he’d asked first.

‘How old are you?’

‘Nineteen.’

‘And how long have you lived in the Region?’

‘All my life.’

The doctor recorded something on screen. He looked up. ‘Are