Defiant: Quantic Dreams Book 2 by Elizabeth McLaughlin (reading list txt) 📗

I finally got my chance to see Fiona, through thick metal doors and a window so small I had to bend down to see her face. She had lost a lot of weight, her cheekbones were thin and the bags under her eyes were pronounced. Through the door I could hear her labored breathing and her eyes shone with fever.

“I’m okay, Dad.” She pressed a hand against the glass and smiled a thin smile. “This is definitely not great, but I'm not about to keel over anytime soon. Have you seen Eliza?”

Forget the fact that people were dying all around her. My little girl only worried about her beloved. “Yeah. She came to visit me in the infirmary.”

“Is she okay? She always puts on a good show when she comes to see me but I don't buy it.”

“She's worried about you. I told her to knock it off, that you would be just fine.”

She laughed, which turned into a wracking cough. “Okay,” she gasped, “this sucks a whole lot.”

“I bet it does. Listen, there's something I need to do. When the time comes I need you to just go along with it, okay? Eliza and Marcus will be there to guide you through.”

“You're going to take them outside.” There was no shock, only a finality in her voice that gave me chills. She wasn't stupid. Any attempts to leave the shelter could only include one kind of people—the healthy.

“I'm going to take you with us. I haven't figured out yet how to do it, but I'll come up with something.” This was the ultimate catch-22. We couldn't take the sick. Who was I to flout that rule by except for my own daughter? Even if I did, when I was caught it would be the end of me. Not just as shelter leader, but as a citizen of our microcosmic nation. I would be exiled or worse. First things first. “Is there any way you can hide something in there?”

She looked around as if making sure no one would overhear our conversation. “I think so. I’ve been a good patient, most of the med techs have been pretty friendly towards me. They won’t ask too many questions.”

“Supplies. Antipyretics, supplementary oxygen, really anything you can get your hands on.”

“Okay.” Fiona furrowed her brow, confused. “You said Eliza will be here to make it all make sense?”

“I hope so. I gotta go, hon. They’re going to notice that I’m missing and I’m sure I’m being watched. As are you. I’ll be in touch as soon as I can. I love you, sweetheart. No matter what, we’re going to get through this.”

She nodded and departed. The treatments for my burns had worked a kind of magic. I felt almost back to my old self again . With my improved health the physicians relaxed my restrictions. I was now allowed to come and go as I pleased, as long as I reported back for a daily checkup. Being cooped up in the infirmary had taken a toll on my mental health. I missed my runs around the shelter, and normal meals with others. Given quarantine the latter was impossible but I could at least reproduce a facsimile of the former. I ditched my crutches against a wall and set off at a light jog. My legs burned but held, the muscles protesting the increase in force. My breathing fell in synch with my pace and I pushed forward. I made it back to the infirmary and touched the end of the corridor before doubling back.

Being able to run quieted my mind for the first time in weeks. I didn’t realize how essential the exercise was to my mental well being. I passed a couple of people in the hallways as the minutes passed and barely noticed them. At the opposite end of the corridor I stopped to catch my breath. The hallways were empty now, shelter residents having wrapped up their days and returned to their quarters. It brought back memories of before I had freed them from the virtual world. Those lonely days where I longed for the companionship of others felt so long ago. Now I almost wished for them again. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and set off again. My jog brought me to the inner door of the shelter. I traced the grooves cut into the steel and smiled. With luck, soon they would be nothing but a memory. I stretched and yawned. Time to head back to my infirmary bed for some rest.

“Hello, Jacob. Out for a little evening jog?”

Goddamnit. And here I was having a good day, too.

“What do you want?”

“You know, you have to be some kind of stupid. The man who mandated that all his precious little sheep travel with a buddy decides to run alone? At night? Do you have a death wish or are you just truly too dumb for this world?”

“You know what, fuck you Gabriel. If you know that I’ve instructed everyone to travel in pairs, you know that we’re going to break out of here. You waited too long. People are scared. Your promise to get them back into the virtual world doesn’t mean shit if they die horribly out here. There isn’t anything you can do to stop it.”

I didn’t see the blow coming. Gabriel’s huge hand connected with my jaw hard enough to send me flying. My returned confidence had brought a newfound sense of strength. I felt blood dribbling down my chin from where my teeth had split my lip and smiled. “That’s how you want to play? Let’s play.”

Either Gabriel had become infected himself or I was running on an extra dose of adrenaline, but I managed to land several strong punches before he could swipe at me. The feeling flowing through my veins was an otherworldly godliness that made me feel invincible. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew I should be afraid,