And then several things happened at once.
Rachel dived forwards and grabbed me, pulling me down beside her onto the floor.
Elijah yelled out – an incoherent roar of frustration.
A gun fired behind Lewis. Then another.
One of the security guards rushed past me to the door. I turned my head in time to see Lewis twisting the man’s arm behind his back, forcing him to the ground.
‘Run,’ he hissed.
More gunfire. Elijah was trying to shut the main gate. Rachel was dragging me across the ground – half crawling like a snake.
‘What’s happening?’ I yelled. Gunshots were ringing out, deafeningly loud in the enclosed concrete passage outside. Then a huge explosion.
I froze. ‘What the—?’
‘RAGE.’ Rachel tugged at my arm. ‘They’ve bombed the gate. The second car’ll be coming through. Come on.’ She scrambled to her feet and rushed into the Outdoor Room.
An alarm screeched out all around us, piercing through the gunshots.
Security guards flooded past us. There was no sign of either Elijah or Lewis.
I raced beside Rachel through the Outdoor Room. Her eyes were wide, staring all around her as she ran.
More security guards were rushing towards us. RAGE’s gunfire boomed behind.
‘Oh, God,’ Rachel said. ‘We’re right in the middle.’
I grabbed her hand. ‘This way.’ I ducked sideways into a clump of trees, then wove my way right round to the stream. The shooting sounded close. Screams and yells echoed all around us.
The shed that led back to the main part of the compound was open – more security guards hurtling through it.
We reached it. I pulled Rachel after me. In one side. Out the other. Even in the corridor you could still hear the fighting.
‘Lewis said we should go to Mel’s room,’ Rachel said urgently. ‘He told me where . . .’
‘She’s not there.’ I pelted down the corridor towards the lab areas. We had to get back to Elijah’s room. Mel was there. Daniel was there. And neither RAGE nor Elijah’s security guards would be able to follow us.
The alarm blared out as we swerved round the corner. No. Ahead the lab area was blocked off with a large corrugated-iron shutter from floor to ceiling.
We skidded to a halt.
‘Is there another way?’
I nodded, then sprinted back down the corridor, trying to remember the other – longer – way round towards the living quarters. The sound of the fighting grew closer again. I sped up. Left round the corner. Right down another corridor.
Left. Left again. Blood pounded in my ears. A final right turn. Rachel ran lightly beside me, her trainers sounding a tapping beat on the vinyl floor.
‘You came here with RAGE?’ I panted.
‘To rescue you.’
What? I stopped. ‘But RAGE want me dead.’
‘I’ll explain later,’ Rachel gasped. ‘How much further?’
‘We’re here.’ I pointed to Elijah’s private door. I stood in front of the eye scanner. The bar of light flashed down my face. The door opened.
I knew as soon as I walked inside that Mel had gone. The logic of it hit me like a brick round the head. Of course she’d gone. Why would she hang around here waiting for Elijah to come back and find her? I strode across the main room, flinging open the doors to the bedroom and bathroom. Then I crossed over to the holographic panel, squatted down and punched in the access code. The panel slid back. The room inside was empty too. I strode across and through the door leading out into the rest of the private apartment.
‘Mel?’ I yelled. ‘Daniel?’
Nothing. My heart hammered in my chest, loud in the silence of the room. The sound of the fight going on at the front of the compound had completely vanished.
Rachel ran up beside me. ‘What are you doing? Where is she?’
‘I don’t know.’ I thought quickly. ‘Maybe she went back to her room? Maybe she went to see what the alarm was for?’ No. As I said it, I was sure she wouldn’t have done that. Not with Daniel with her. Unless she’d taken him back to his nanny first.
I stepped out into the hallway that led to the rooms where Daniel had said he lived. ‘DANIEL!’ I roared.
Not a sound.
‘Why isn’t Mel here?’ Rachel’s voice rose in panic. ‘Where is she? And who’s Daniel?’
‘I don’t know where she is,’ I snapped. I was mostly angry with myself. It was so obvious Mel wouldn’t have stayed here. She must have taken Daniel and . . . man, and the nanny too, probably, somewhere she thought they’d be safe.
I walked back into the main living area. ‘Look we’ll be okay here for a bit. No one can get in.’
Except Elijah.
‘We can’t just hide. Mel might need our help.’ Rachel turned away and paced up and down a few times. ‘Oh, God, I hope Lewis is all right.’
I frowned. This wasn’t the Rachel I’d been remembering. The Rachel who’d clung to me, needing me to comfort her.
‘Why do RAGE want to rescue me?’ I said.
‘They don’t.’ Rachel stopped pacing. ‘Me and Lewis went to them. The plan was that if we brought RAGE here to get you and destroy the compound, then Elijah’s men would fight them. And . . . and while they were all busy we would find you and Mel and get you out.’
I stared at her. I couldn’t quite believe what she was saying.
‘Whose bloody idea was that?’ I said. ‘How on earth did you think we’d get past all those people shooting the crap out of each other?’
Rachel jutted out her chin. ‘Lewis said the fighting would move further inside,’ she said defiantly. ‘If RAGE gets the advantage, that is. Which they should because they’re heavily armed, they know the layout of the building and they have the element of surprise on their side.’
My eyes widened. ‘Since when did you turn into a walking military tactics textbook?’
I meant it to sound like a joke. But the words came out all harsh and hard.
There was a horrible silence. Then Rachel bowed her head. ‘I haven’t.’ She pressed her lips together, like she was trying not to cry.
I ran my hand through my hair. Shit. Rachel had come here to get me out, to help me. What was I doing getting angry at her?
‘What is this place?’ Rachel’s voice was all shaky and embarrassed. She still wasn’t looking at me.
I wanted more than anything to walk over and hold her. But I couldn’t. It just felt too awkward. Anyway, after what I’d just said, she’d probably push me away. The thought turned over in my stomach like a dead weight.
‘Elijah’s private quarters,’ I said, flatly. I told her about Daniel. ‘I don’t know what the Hermes Project is exactly, but from what Daniel told me it sounds like Elijah’s doing tests that compare him with a bunch of other kids. God knows why.’ I tried to smile. ‘Maybe he’s hoping more of his genius scientist brains will have come through in his later clone model.’
Rachel didn’t smile back.
‘Look,’ I said, indicating the door that led through to the rest of the apartment. ‘There’s a way out of the compound down there. Mel said it would be locked, but maybe we can find a way through.’
Rachel opened her mouth.
‘Once we’ve found Mel,’ I added quickly.
‘And Lewis.’ She met my eyes. ‘He told me he’d meet us in Mel’s room.’
I nodded, wondering just how close Rachel had got to Lewis while I’d been stuck in Elijah’s compound. She seemed to be going on about him a lot.
‘Okay,’ I said. ‘Well, maybe we won’t need to find a way through here. Maybe RAGE will be further inside the compound now, like you said. Mel’s room isn’t far. If we can reach her, maybe we’ll be able to get round them and out the front without anyone seeing us.’
We walked across the room and out into Elijah’s living area. Rachel stood beside me as I opened the door out onto the corridor.
The sound of gunfire was closer now
.
Gritting my teeth, I led Rachel towards it.
64
Rachel
He was different.
My heart constricted in my chest. Theo was different from how he’d been before. There was something harder about him. Something rougher.
I glanced at him as we ran down the corridor. At his beautiful, strong face. I didn’t understand. It was like he was angry with me.
We turned a corner. Practically collided with two of the RAGE soldiers.
One of them looked down at me. His face was completely covered by his black mask. He grabbed my arm.
The other man sucked in his breath. He was staring at Theo. ‘This is Apollo,’ he breathed. ‘Apollo. We’ve got him.’
Both men now fixed their eyes on Theo. He backed away a step. The man nearest to him reached out to grab him too. Theo darted sideways.
Taking advantage of the fact that neither man was looking at me, I raised my free hand, made a fist and punched the guy holding me in the throat.
He let go of me, choking, clutching his neck. I squared up and drove my knee hard between his legs.
‘Aaaah!’ The man doubled over in pain.
Yes!
Theo ducked as the other guy made a grab for him, then darted up and punched him in the stomach. The man stumbled backwards. Theo grabbed my hand. ‘Come on.’
We raced down the corridor. Gunshots fired. A loud hiss passed my ear. And another. Oh, my God. Were those bullets?
Theo pulled me round corner after corner. The corrugated-iron gate that had previously barred our way through to the labs was in pieces across the corridor. Theo pelted round the biggest bits of iron, then turned left down another long corridor. He was running so hard I could barely keep up. Noise was all around us. The piercing screech of the alarm. People yelling. Gunfire. A group of Elijah’s security guards ran across the corridor ahead of us. They didn’t see us.
We swung round another corner. More rooms. More doors. Lily. Ivy. Hyacinth. Acer.
A massive bunch of RAGE masked soldiers powered across the corridor ahead of us.
‘In here.’ Theo opened a door on the right. A cafeteria. Huge. Full of long tables. Empty.
I raced inside. The alarm was still screeching, the sound piercing through my head.
Theo slammed the door shut. We both leaned against it.
Euphoria flooded through me. We’d fought off two RAGE soldiers. I bent over, panting. ‘Man, that was a rush,’ I gasped.
I straightened up. Theo was grinning at me. ‘Good use of the element of surprise,’ he said. ‘Where did you learn to fight like that?’
For a second it was like seeing the Theo I remembered again – his gorgeous smile and his brown eyes almost melting me.
‘Lewis,’ I breathed, trying desperately not to blush. ‘He taught me when we were in this squat, before we went to RAGE.’
Theo’s eyes hardened. ‘Oh.’ He turned away.
No. What had I done to upset him now?
‘We sorted out new identities too,’ I said, quickly, trying to make whatever was wrong, right. ‘For Mel and Lewis, you and your mum, and me and my parents. Max and Jake helped.’ I gabbled on, explaining how Lewis and I had worked to give us all a chance of a new life free from both RAGE and Elijah.
Theo listened and nodded. But he didn’t smile at me again.
It was like a barrier had come down between us.
At last my words dried up. I stood there, staring stupidly at him.
‘Do you think they’ve gone now?’ I said. ‘Those RAGE soldiers?’
Theo nodded. He opened the door and peered onto the corridor. He beckoned me after him.
We didn’t see anyone else as we ran down the last few corridors. The sound of fighting grew more distant.
‘How much further to Mel’s room?’ I said.
Theo stopped outside a room labelled Poppy. ‘This is Mel’s,’ he said.
He pressed a buzzer beside the door. I could hear it ringing inside the room. No one came to the door. He pressed it again, then stopped. Seconds ticked by, the only sound the alarm screeching. Theo ran his hand through his hair.
‘It’s okay,’ I said. ‘Lewis gave me her room code.’ I punched in the numbers. ‘Let’s go in. Work out what to do.’ I opened the door and stepped inside.
‘Theo.’ A female voice called out from the end of the corridor.
Theo turned. I peered round the door. Mel was running towards us, a little boy floppy in her arms. Her face was grimy.
She didn’t see me inside the room, her eyes were fixed on Theo.
‘They’ve set the labs on fire.’ Her voice shook. ‘I was trying to get to the front of the building with Daniel and Kelsey – that’s his nanny. She got across but we got trapped . . .’ She coughed. ‘So much smoke . . . Daniel breathed it.’
I stared at the little boy in her arms. It was unmistakably the Daniel Theo had mentioned. The same glossy brown hair as Theo. The same smooth, olive skin. The same shape eyes. Exactly the cute little boy I would have imagined Theo had once been. And because of me, because of my idea, he was unconscious.
The alarm stopped.
‘Oh God,’ Mel said. ‘They’ve disabled it. And they must have turned off the whole sprinkler system too.’
My chest tightened. RAGE wouldn’t care who died, so long as the whole compound was destroyed.
‘We have to get back to Elijah’s room,’ Theo said. ‘We can—’
‘What about Lewis?’ I interrupted, stepping out into the corridor.
‘Rachel?’ Mel’s eyes widened. ‘What—?’
‘No time,’ Theo shouted. He pointed up the corridor. Black smoke was pouring through an open door. Through it I could just make out the outline of a masked RAGE soldier. ‘Come on!’
65
Theo
We made it back to Elijah’s private room, no problem.
Here, the fighting noises were more subdued. Without the alarm piercing through the air, it was easy to imagine everything was over. Easy, except for the acrid smell of burning chemicals that drifted towards us. And the distant crackle and hiss of flames.
I closed the door, my heart thudding.
I grabbed a couple of the sofa cushions and shoved them along the bottom of the door. Maybe they would keep the smoke out for a while.
Rachel sagged against the wall. ‘Oh, God. All those people working here.’
‘Maybe they got out in time,’ I said.
I didn’t believe that.
I was pretty sure Rachel didn’t either.
‘Is Lewis here?’ Mel was asking her. ‘Is he really . . . I mean . . . he’s alive?’
Rachel nodded.
‘I hate to break up the Lewis fan club meeting,’ I said, trying to smile, ‘but we can’t wait for him. We have to get out of here.’
Mel nodded. ‘Can you get hold of him, Rachel? Let him know what we’re doing?’
Rachel shook her head. Her lips trembled as she looked at Mel. ‘I don’t want to leave him,’ she said.
‘I don’t either,’ Mel said. ‘But Lewis can look after himself. He’d want me to get you two and Daniel out safely. And this is the only way. Elijah’s private apartment is totally separate from the rest of the building. This is the only way out to the front without going through the fire.’ She looked at me. ‘We just have to find a way through the door that leads outside. It’s always locked.’
I nodded, looking round for something, anything, that we could use to break it down.
Mel carried Daniel over to the couch and laid him down. His eyes flickered open and he coughed. She bent over him. ‘He’s okay,’ she said after a few moments. ‘I’ll fetch some water.’ She disappeared into the bathroom.
There was nothing in the living room that could possibly break down a locked door. Maybe there’d be something in the kitchen of the hidden apartment. I strode over to the hologram door and opened it
Boom. The sound of a gun firing made me jump. It sounded close.
As if it had come from beyond the room, somewhere in the rest of the private apartment.
Rachel appeared at my shoulder. ‘What was that?’
We stared at the closed door opposite.
The handle twisted.
I stepped back, out of the hidden room, dragging Rachel with me.
The hologram panel slid shut in front of us. I leaned forwards and stared through it. The door opposite was opening.
Lewis walked into the hidden room. Elijah was behind him, a gun in his hand.
66
Rachel
I stood next to Theo and stared through the holographic panel. My heart was beating fast. No.
‘Lewis.’
‘Sssh,’ Theo hissed.
Inside the room, Elijah pointed to one of the little kids’ chairs beside the low table. ‘Sit down.’
Lewis sat, his big legs looking all awkward on the tiny plastic seat. His eyes were flickering everywhere. I knew he was working the room, trying to see if there was anything he could use to get away. At least his hands were free.
‘Oh God,’ I whimpered under my breath. ‘Oh, God, oh God.’
I could feel Theo tensing beside me. I glanced round. Mel was still in the bathroom.
‘I gave you everything.’ Elijah’s voice was low and furious. ‘And you have brought those evil madmen in here, destroying my work . . . everything. You’ve got no goddamn idea what you’ve done.’
Lewis said nothing.
‘Before I kill you,’ Elijah went on, ‘tell me why.’
My mouth was dry. Please don’t do this. Please.
Lewis looked up. ‘I came to get Mel.’
‘How gallant,’ Elijah sneered. ‘How pointless.’ He aimed the gun.
I didn’t think. I just knew I couldn’t stand there and watch Lewis killed.
‘NO!’ I shouted, banging my fists on the panel. ‘NOOO!’
Elijah and Lewis both looked up.
Keeping his eyes on Lewis, Elijah strode towards me. He pressed something on the wall beside the panel.
I held my breath as it opened.