As the youngest of six brothers, Diggs would kill to have a younger sibling to take off some of the heat. Especially since he’d always been the smallest, the weakest and least likely to succeed out of his family. When he joined forces recon, he hadn’t been able to tell them. They still thought he was just a wanderer, working odd jobs here and there, living without aim orpurpose.
It was a fact that twisted his insides into knots that even a Boy Scout couldn’t figure out, but one he had accepted withresignation.
You didn’t join the teams for guts and glory—maybe guts, but no glory. He’d done it because he wanted to protect those who needed protecting, to serve his country and fight the fight that no one elsecould.
And, he willingly admitted to himself, the rush of adrenaline was addicting as hell. No one joined the teams because they didn’t like the feel of that buzz in their veins as they jumped out of a C-130 at 20,000 feet or infiltrated a terrorist camp out manned 50 to1.
But when he’d signed up for Project Mayhem along with the rest of his team he’d done it because he thought it’d give the edge he needed to save more American lives. Instead, he’d gotten a heavy dose of fucked up and ended up on the run from his commander, unable to go to his own government for fear of being inspected like a labrat.
And all because of a power thirstygeneral.
They reached the end of the tunnel and Diggs slapped the reader beside the door. They had scanners at every entrance and exit from the outside into the lab. Biometric. It wasn’t completely impregnable, but nearly. Someone would have to cut off their hand to be able to disarm the lock. And after that it was backed up by a 10-digit code that Diggs changedregularly.
They entered what appeared to be a 10 x 10 concrete basement littered with boxes full of crap. On the center of the wall directly in front of them was another 2-inch-thick steel door with the same locking mechanisms. Diggs unlocked the door and both men stepped into the dim blue lighting of the lab located beneath themansion.
It was because of Dr. Averton’s research they discovered that blue tinged light didn’t affect them as harshly as regular fluorescent or incandescent bulbs. Why though? They weren’t sure but it was something they were alwaysresearching.
As they passed through the hallway, half walls of concrete topped by bulletproof plate glass flanked their left and right, multiple research areas set up for Dr. Averton’s experiments. It was closer to the back that they found Dr. Averton, in the largest lab hunched over a computer, squinting through her glasses at a screen full of numbers that meant absolutely nothing to either of themen.
She didn’t even look up from her study when she said, “The rest of the guys are already in the war room waiting onyou.”
“Have you been doing that since we turned in last night?” Juarez askedsoftly.
Melissa turned and glared over her shoulder, but there were obvious signs of fatigue on her delicate features. She’d adopted a constant shadow beneath her eyes from the lack of proper sleep and even though she wore that hideous white lab coat all the time everyone on the team could tell she’d droppedweight.
“Yes, I have. You have a problem withthat?”
“You need to take better care of yourself,” Diggssaid.
Her big sapphire colored eyes narrowed behind her glasses but Diggs didn’t regret his words onebit.
“Why, because I’m your onlyhope?”
Diggs replied without hesitation, “Because we care about you. You saved our lives, we don’t intend to see you lose yours—even by a self-imposed starvationschedule.”
As if on cue, Juarez reached into his pocket and pulled out a chocolate flavored protein bar and held it out to the doc. “Here, this will tide you over for awhile.”
Melissa’s shoulders fell and the prideful tilt to her chin dropped with it. She took the protein bar and set it on her desk. “I’m sorry, guys, I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. It just feels like the piece of the puzzle I’ve been missing to complete the serum is right there. If I could mend that one broken link your bodies could self-sustain without the weekly injections. And I think, eradicate the side effects completely.” Side effects being debilitating migraines and seizures at any moment without reason or cause from what they’d been able todiscern.
Still, no matter how tempting the prospect of going back to a normal person was, Diggs could feel the doctor’s anxiety like a living and breathing monster inside of her. She worried and worked nonstop and he knew it was because she felt guilty for being a part of Project Mayhem in the firstplace.
“We can live with the side effects for a little bit longer. Hell, we’ve done it for over a yearnow.”
“If I’d come on to the research team a little sooner, maybe I’d have more answers. Maybe I’d know how Dr. Winters came up with the original ingredients in the bindingprocess.”
Diggs shrugged. “And maybe you’d bring peace to the earth. Stop worrying about things you can’t change. There’s no one in this entire compound that blames you for any ofthis.”
For the first time since they’d known each other, Dr. Averton’s bottom lip trembled as if she were on the verge of tears. From the fresh wash of pain that seemed to shoot straight out of her pores, Diggs knew that she washurting.
“Quantum is slipping further away. If I don’t figure out something soon we may losehim.”
The thought of Quantum sent an ice-cold stab of regret straight into Diggs’ chest. If anyone in this compound should feel guilty about their teammate’s comatose condition, it washim.
Diggs turned his head, his throat too closed off to force wordsthrough.
It was Juarez who spoke, his own voice hushed. “There’s nothing any of us could have done to stop them from doing that toQuantum.”
But there was something Diggs could have done, if only he’d gotten the super strength enhancements like King and Hicks he could’ve fought off Rainier that night to stop him from injecting the last lethal injection into his teammate’s arm. But just like he’d always been the weakest link in the chain of his family, he’d held that same slot in the team. No super enhancements—just an above average soldier hanging onto his team’s coattails and dragging a couple of them down withhim.
