The Beyond: Dystopian Survival Fiction (The Breeder Files Book 4) by Eliza Green (best ebook reader for surface pro TXT) 📕

The Inventor looked down at the deactivated medic. ‘If we make it to the Beyond, I might be able to fix her.’

Had that idea occurred to him when Carissa had offered herself up as a sacrifice?

He commanded Rover to lie down. Thomas, Vanessa and Charlie dragged 118-C over to him and hoisted her up on his back. Rover stood up, looking restless. He continued to whine for his dead mate.

‘Can he fit in the tunnels?’ asked Thomas.

‘We’ll make him fit,’ said the Inventor. ‘I’m not leaving him here. He won’t survive this place alone.’

They crashed through the doors of the Learning Centre. A wave of sickness hit Carissa. She hid it with a cough.

The Inventor eyed her. ‘Are you sure you’re okay?’

She managed a smile. ‘Yes.’

They approached the Great Hall, where they discovered a hundred Copies in a heap on the floor.

‘Quickly, in case they’re not really out.’

Their group picked their way across the bodies and made it to the hidden stairwell. Thomas and Vanessa pulled 118-C off Rover’s back; with her as a passenger, there was no way the wolf would fit. They carried 118-C down the stairs.

Carissa’s head swam and everything went dark. She steadied herself against the rough wall. A gasp escaped her lips.

‘What is it, miss?’

‘I can’t see.’

She groped for the walls, finding the cool rock first, followed by something warm and steady.

‘Take my arm.’

Her breathing became more laboured with each step.

‘The wolf won’t fit,’ said Charlie.

‘Boy, make yourself smaller,’ the Inventor instructed.

Rover whined behind her as Carissa made her way slowly down the steps.

‘It’s working,’ said Charlie.

Carissa concentrated on what was ahead. Her organic heart hammered her ribs. Something wasn’t right. A new pain ripped through her skull and brought her to her knees.

‘Miss! Hold on.’

Someone lifted her up—the Inventor, she presumed—and carried her. He no longer smelled of grease and oil, but of lemon soap.

‘Thomas, get started on bypassing that damn force field.’

‘On it,’ shouted Thomas from below.

Carissa heard sounds all around her. Her breaths shortened in the Inventor’s arms.

In a whisper, she said, ‘Put me down, please?’

The wolf whined behind her. Her feet found flat ground. Rover nudged her on with his nose. At least he’d made it here, wherever here was in the tunnel.

‘I can feel the barrier,’ said Thomas, sounding close.

The air crackled as he fired at something. The Atomiser, she presumed, that would punch a hole in the defence wall.

Carissa heard a clink clunk and a large door open.

‘That wasn’t me,’ said Thomas sounding panicked.

Carissa’s heart pounded harder. They were coming for them. This time, her friends would make it.

‘How did you get the door open?’ said the Inventor.

Another surge of electricity hit her NMC connector and made her hands shake.

This was it. The end.

‘Goodbye, Jacob,’ she whispered.

All noises drifted away.

28

Dom

Agatha’s confession rocked Dom to the core. In a haze of numbness, he shuffled back to the dorm with Anya. She was biting her nails, looking as calm as he felt.

He pulled her to a stop. ‘It’s not true. It can’t be.’

She popped one finger out of her mouth. ‘I... don’t know.’

His failure to lead returned to haunt him again. He’d insisted they find this place. Now, their group was separated and Agatha was feeding them a pack of lies to keep their people apart.

He combed his fingers through the longer section of hair on the top of his head. Charlie had styled his hair a few days ago.

His throat tightened. Charlie. And Vanessa. Both stuck in the Region dealing with who knew what.

‘What do we do?’

He searched Anya’s eyes for the answer, and to borrow some of her strength. The fire in them had died a little after Agatha’s chat.

‘I don’t know, Dom,’ she said, meeting his gaze hesitantly. His hope flittered away. ‘I... don’t know what to think right now.’

‘Should I tell the others?’

‘Yeah. You have to.’

He took her hand. Her grip was weak, unsure. But when he looked down at their hands she gripped harder, as if she didn’t want him to know she was struggling.

‘Let’s go,’ she said.

They entered the dorm they’d left twenty minutes ago. Everyone was still asleep. Anya closed the door softly.

‘We need to wake them,’ she whispered in the dark. ‘This news can’t wait.’

‘Agreed.’

Anya flicked on the light and they went around the room, gently rocking the others awake. Dom woke Sheila last.

She groaned and looked up at him through two slits. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Sheila, I need you to get up.’

‘Get up?’ She nestled deeper under the covers. ‘Leave me alone, ass munch.’

He ripped the covers from her. She bolted upright. ‘Hey! I could be naked under here.’

She wore her clothes from the day before; the pair of borrowed pyjamas was still folded on the end of her bed.

‘Please, Sheila. This is important.’

Sheila huffed and sat up properly. Imogen, in the bed next to her, became alert.

The others shook off their lethargy with collective groans. Dom saw some of the younger soldiers had opted for the borrowed clothes. It must have given them a sense of normality to wear something other than rebel gear. Seeing everyone enjoying their newfound freedom ripped his heart in half. He wished he had better news to share, that he and Anya weren’t about to shatter their hopes.

‘What’s going on?’ asked June.

She had Frahlia in the bed with her. The strange, little girl stirred and stretched. She made no sounds, not even a whimper or a cry. He wondered if Agatha knew the truth about her.

Alex stirred in the next bed. Jerome was on the last bed at the end of