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“He could’ve looked the other way. Could’ve left me at the hands of monsters and the Ragers, and he might be alive today, if he had.” Once again my eyes meet Jed’s, and I lift my chin in pride as I speak of the man I loved enough to call my Papa. “He was a better man than anyone gave him credit for. A better man than most.”
“And he’s dead,” Gregor adds, stirring my rage.
“He’ll be remembered when most men will fade from memory.”
“I’ll escort you to the lab.” Jed’s words are unexpected, almost falsely genuine given the conversation, and I look up at him frowning.
“Why?”
“Because I’ve lived with the guilt of having looked away for far longer than you realize. And I still have some of my shit locked down in that lab. Employee of the month plaque. I’d like to retrieve it.” His humor is misplaced, in spite of the gesture, but I’m not certain I trust him. It takes an apathetic man to look away from the atrocities committed upon innocent people. If he thinks one trip to Hell will atone for all the years he never bothered to intervene, he’s wrong.
“You’ll do no such thing.” Gregor pushes up from his chair, the irritation clear in his deep furrowed brow and the snarl he wears. “This meeting is over. I’ve given you the information you need.”
“We need the code.” I also rise up from my chair, prepared to have Six do the worst, if he refuses.
As if he knows what’s on my mind, his gaze flicks to the Alphas standing behind me for a moment. “It’s D-Day. What else would it be?”
The day the outbreak was first believed to wreak havoc on our world. One celebrated in mourning out in the Deadlands. The first of October in 2017.
“That will open the hatch and the tunnels?”
“It will. My hope is that you will not venture down inside those tunnels, Wren. They’re no place for a woman carrying a child. You’re welcome to stay here. You’d be safe here. Hidden from Legion.”
“How?”
“Why would they bother with an old man? Especially one who built this damn place?”
“Why would you do that for me?” I ask him, though perhaps he has a point, and I would be safer here than anywhere else.
“Because Doctor Falkenrath was like a brother to me. If he saw fit to protect you, then it’s only right that I do the same.”
“Good. You’ll have someone to look after you, then, when I’m gone.” With a pat on the back, Jed steps past him, twisting the diagram Gregor drew and examining it.
“We’ve discussed this, Jed. You are not going down in those tunnels.”
“I am, and this is the end of our discussion.” He nods toward the group standing behind me. “That research lab is a maze for those who are unfamiliar with it, and since I spent nearly a decade of my miserable life trapped inside like a rat, there really is no one more qualified to act as tour guide.”
Lips clamped in obvious frustration, Gregor huffs through his nose “Are you certain about this? What if …”
“Then, I suppose you’ll find yourself another young piece of ass to fuck.”
“Enough with the jokes. This isn’t funny.”
“It isn’t. But I’m done being …” Jed’s eyes find mine before shifting back to Gregor’s. “Indifferent. We should’ve put a stop to this a long time ago.”
Gregor lowers his gaze and shakes his head. “I helped build this city as a safe haven. A sanctuary for those who survived the Dredge, and whose lives were destroyed as a result of it. My conscience remains clear. But if yours is not, then I won’t be the one to stand in the way of what you feel you need to do. Just know that I’ve never judged you for your past.”
“You never had to, my love. I judged myself.”
Chapter 18
Wren
Gregor was kind enough to offer us rooms, to get a few hours sleep before the others head out for the tunnels. The plan is to leave before sunrise, when it’s still dark outside. I estimate the tincture of opium I gave to the soldiers will last long enough for the group to escape Szolen, before the soldiers can notice Cali and I missing and alert the whole guard.
Though we’re supposed to be resting, I couldn’t sleep if I tried. The idea of Six going down to those tunnels, with all the risk I’ve become privy to over the last couple days, is enough to keep me from sleep until he’s returned. It’s enough to overpower the ache still churning in my stomach, and the knot that forms in my chest every time I close my eyes and see visuals of the mutations tearing him limb from limb.
As Jed said earlier, the ones who stand to gain the most from those samples are the ones pregnant by Alphas. Many of whom were sealed inside Calico and left to die, so in essence, this whole mission, aside from Cali’s determination to find her Alpha, is to retrieve something on my behalf.
