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

‘What’s to say the camp isn’t riddled with Copies right now?’ said the Inventor.

‘Or the second we leave, the barriers restore around this city,’ said Thomas. ‘Then we’d struggle to get back in.’

Vanessa gestured at Carissa. ‘What about her? She got us out once before. She could get us back in.’

The Inventor rubbed his chin in thought. ‘I don’t think it would work, not without her NMC chip aligned to the system. She knew the frequency of the barrier then because she was still connected.’

Vanessa released her arms. ‘What then? We’re sitting ducks here.’

The Inventor sighed. ‘We’re sitting ducks if we go back to the camp. The Collective abandoned this city for a reason.’ He looked at Carissa. ‘Any idea why the Ten vanished and only Quintus is in touch?’

She wished she knew. Ever since Quintus had contacted her, she’d wondered if it really was just him, or if the Collective had been listening.

‘Jacob’s right,’ she announced. ‘There is no guarantee the barrier would open up for me a second time. We can’t risk leaving.’

Charlie said, ‘So what do we do? We can’t get past the army in the Great Hall. And Carissa can’t pass into the Beyond. The only way to leave is to leave her behind.’ He looked at her. ‘I’m sorry.’

Her heart sank at Charlie’s words. She’d feared this new friendship arrangement would be temporary.

‘No!’ The Inventor’s sharp voice startled her. ‘We all came here together. We all leave together. We find a way through the force field, then we disable the scanner so it can’t detect her NMC, or biogel—or whatever the Beyond has programmed it to look for.’

Both Vanessa and Charlie agreed with a reluctant nod.

Carissa’s hope lifted for the first time since arriving at this city. She needed to be—she would be—useful.

But the Collective’s absence from a city that still had guards in sentry mode bothered her.

‘I think we should search the city again,’ she said. ‘The Collective would never leave Praesidium. It’s a part of the Ten. They have nowhere else to go.’

The Inventor furrowed his brow. ‘What do you suggest?’

‘While we figure out how to get back to the tunnel and the door to the Beyond, we should do our own research. This city is empty. The Collective is apparently gone, but Quintus still talks to me so that means he’s here. He wanted to know where the Beyond was. In fact, that’s all he wanted to know.’

Charlie nodded. ‘If we search the city some more, maybe we’ll get answers.’

The Inventor frowned deeply. ‘Dom’s Copy guard is gone.’ He looked down at Carissa. ‘Can you get us into the locked buildings?’

She didn’t think so. ‘There may be other Copies who can help, others who aren’t in sentry mode.’

Vanessa paced. ‘No guns, no way for us to keep them under control.’ She stopped. ‘We can’t take the risk.’

The Inventor said, ‘You’re all we have, miss. You’ll have to talk them round.’

Thomas added, ‘I can try picking the locks or hacking the system. You know, the old fashioned way.’

Ω

They stepped over rubble in the courtyard. Rover waddled over to them as soon as they emerged, his bum wiggling with excitement. His mate, not programmed by the Inventor, cocked her head in silent wonder. The Inventor patted his nose and walked along the empty street leading from the central Zone A to Zone B.

The wolves acted like chaperones and their company settled Carissa’s pounding pulse. She glanced at Rover, who was more proof the machines could evolve beyond their original design. Maybe there was hope for her yet.

They arrived at the buildings in Zone B. Their only stop there was the school for both Copies and Originals. Classes had been conducted in separate sections of the same building. The setting sun cast an orange and red glow over the building. She walked up to the door of the school she’d been in many times. Here, her level of empathy had been tested to determine if she was becoming more than her design. This was where she’d fooled the teachers into thinking she had not developed in any meaningful way.

She tried the door to find it locked. Without a chip to open it, she couldn’t do much. Carissa looked back at Thomas. He stepped up to the door, removing what looked like a series of picks from a black sleeve of fabric.

‘I never travel without these,’ he said with a wink.

Thomas removed the panel and fiddled around with the electronics. But after ten minutes of fiddling, he couldn’t get the door open.

‘What if we break a window?’ asked Vanessa.

Carissa shook her head. ‘The glass is tempered. You’d need something with a lot of force.’

Vanessa pointed at Rover.

‘Not even him.’

‘What about one of the trucks? We could put a battering ram on the front.’

Charlie shrugged. ‘It’s worth a try.’

The group returned to Zone A while Thomas ran to get one of the trucks. Carissa helped Charlie, the Inventor and Vanessa collect one of the steel girders from the courtyard rubble that had been holding up the workshop roof. Rover pushed the girder along the ground with his nose. Thomas drove back to Zone B. Together, they popped out the window of the truck and secured the girder against one of the chairs.

Thomas lined up the truck with the front of the school and floored it. A wide-eyed Carissa chewed on her thumb. The girder hit the glass of the door but bounced the truck backwards. Carissa popped her thumb out of her mouth.

‘You okay, Thomas?’ shouted Vanessa.

Thomas shook his head in a dazed way. ‘Fine. I’m going to try again.’

He backed the truck up, then aimed for the same spot.

The edge of the girder marked the glass.