The Fallout

  I met her eyes. “But I was raised by mine.”

  “By your what?”

  “Dad is…” I swallowed. “He’s not right. And I’m his son. Eddy only had nine years, but I had my entire life to be affected … molded by his thinking.” I shrugged. “What if I’m like him?”

  Lexie put an arm around my shoulders. “You’re not.”

  “But what if I am?”

  She shook her head. “If you were like him, you would leave tomorrow. You would leave us here.” That sentence hung in the air for a moment. “But I know you won’t.”

  I hoped she was right.

  She asked, “Eli, if we do leave here tomorrow … will we ever see Dad again?”

  If we left, would I ever want to see him again?

  The answer to both questions was the same. “I don’t know.”

  That night, with all the thoughts racing through my head, I was barely able to get any sleep. When the bedside clock said seven, I got up. I threw on some running shorts and a T-shirt and dug in the closet for socks and shoes. I opened the drawer of the desk and took out a pen, which I put in my pocket. Then I went down to breakfast.

  As planned, Eddy and Lexie were there, plates of eggs and sausage in front of them, pitchers of juice and milk on the table. Dad was nowhere in sight. “Where is he?” I asked.

  Eddy looked behind him, then leaned forward and said in a low voice, “Haven’t seen him yet.”

  Lexie said, “Maybe he’s still sleeping?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “When he comes, tell him I went for a run on the beach.” I started to go, then turned back. I took the time to look at them both, hoping I would see them again in just a little while, when I came to get them, so we could leave there.

  Lexie stood and came to my side. “Be careful.” Then she hugged me. Eddy came over and put his arms around both of us.

  Then we each stepped back for one last nod, and I left.

  Trying to hurry, I jogged as much as I could on my way to the lab Dad had shown us the day before. The doors opened and I stepped into the cool interior. I paused there for a moment, letting myself cool off before heading down the hallway to the silver door with the keypad.

  I stood in front of the silver door. My plan was to try a couple of codes, hope something worked. A very lame plan, but it was all I had. Dad had punched in only six numbers yesterday, I was sure of it. My first thought was a date.

  But which one?

  It could have been when we went into the Compound or when we got out of the Compound. Or his wedding to my mom. Or the birth of any of us.

  The real problem was how many wrong tries would I get before it locked me out?

  I took a deep breath and punched in my parents’ wedding anniversary. Two short beeps sounded, and nothing else happened.

  Sweat dripped off my forehead. I rubbed my fingers together. “Please, please, please…” I tried again, punching in my, and Eddy’s, birth date.

  Two short beeps sounded, like before, only the door slowly opened.

  I whispered, “Oh, thank you—”

  A pretty blond woman in a lab coat stepped out through it. She frowned at me.

  “Oh, hi!” I forced a big grin on my face and wiped my forehead with a trembling hand. “Wow, Dad didn’t warn me how hot it would be here.”

  Instantly, the lines on her forehead disappeared as she smiled. “Are you one of the twins?” Her accent sounded Scandinavian, Norwegian or Swedish, I couldn’t tell for sure. “I heard you arrived yesterday.”

  I stuck out my hand, willing it not to shake. “Eli. And you are?”

  She held out her hand and grasped mine for a moment, then let it go. “Dr. Sylvia Jorgenson.”

  “Oh, perfect!” I said. “Dad actually sent me here for you. Since I was going on a run anyway. He needs you…” I snapped my fingers and scrunched my eyes shut. “Shoot, I forgot the name, but it’s that building next door.”

  “Building B?” she asked.

  Wow, would she buy that I had forgotten a frickin’ letter? I needed to sound dumber, if possible. “Oh, duh.” I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, that was totally it.”

  She looked confused. “Are you sure?”

  I shrugged. “He was talking all fast and loud, yelling actually, but I think that’s what he said.” I made a point of frowning. “I hope I didn’t get the message wrong. Is there a phone where I could call him and check?”

  “No, no.” She waved her hand frantically, apparently not willing to show a lack of confidence in the boss, no matter how small. “I will go there and meet him.” She brushed by me, then turned back to the open door. “I need to close that.”

  “Oh, I’ve got it, ma’am.” I put my hand on it and started pushing it closed. “No problem.”

  She nodded at me. “Thank you.” Then she marched off down the hallway, heels clicking on the floor.

  I slipped inside the door, then took the pen out of my pocket and stuck it in the opening so the door wouldn’t close all the way. I fell back against the wall for a moment, and placed my hand over my pounding heart. “That was too frickin’ close.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  When I had calmed slightly, I ran for the room with the gene gun, pushing through the plastic curtain. I went over to the shelves and picked up the black box I had seen the day before.

  My heart started to pound. I was right.

  The black remote was exactly like the one in the Compound: the one Dad had used to set off the explosion.

  My plan was nothing more than a gamble, but I was betting on the whole island being rigged to go off, just like the Compound had been.

  My plan counted on it.

  I would go back to the house, Dad would be there with Eddy and Lexie, and I would wield the remote, threaten to blow up the island if he didn’t let us go. And if I was right, if Tony still held all his Phil-like qualities, he would want to save his own skin. So he would happily fly us off in the jet.

  I heard a sound from the back of the room. I looked that way and saw the closed door I’d seen the other day. I needed to leave, and I headed for the plastic curtain and the way out. But I heard the sound again, almost like a mewling.

  Were there research animals back there?

  The least I could do would be to release them. Give them a chance to survive on the island. I didn’t give a damn what it did to Dad’s heinous research.

  The latch was locked from the outside, so I easily unlocked it and pulled the door open, releasing a smell of floral-scented disinfectant that didn’t entirely mask a much less pleasant odor.

  From inside came a mechanical and steady whoosh whoosh whoosh that grew louder as I walked farther into the room. But that wasn’t the sound I’d heard.

  Then I heard the mewling again.

  The room held several structures that resembled cribs, except they had solid sides instead of slats, and they were much bigger than those that held babies. Each had a machine hooked up to it, the source of the whooshing sound.

  Were they respirators of some kind?

  I slowly stepped nearer to the closest one and peered over the side.

  I gasped and jumped back, my free hand clasped over my mouth.

  What in the—?

  My heart began to pound.

  That crib held something unnatural. Something impossible.

  I took one step only, then leaned forward to look again.

  Something lay there on the white mattress. Something human, but not human. The being was the shape of a human, with normal-size limbs for an adult, only they looked deflated, like a balloon with no air. Suddenly, one of the saggy arms reached up and the creature rolled toward me. Under an oxygen mask, the flesh on the face looked like it had fallen off the bones. “Help me,” it mewled. And the mewling turned louder, until the sound turned to an inhuman shriek. “Help me!”

  My throat tightened, and I backed away until I couldn’t go any farther. I had backed into another of the cribs, and I twirled around to see anoth
er creature that resembled the first, holding out its alien arms to me.

  I cried out and stepped back, my hand on my chest, where my heart threatened to pound its way out.

  More mewling came from the back of the room, where a curtain was drawn. I trudged forward and reached up to grasp the edge. The metal rings at the top clinked as I yanked it open a few feet.

  The room was larger than it first appeared, and went on for another hundred yards at least. Enough space to hold dozens more of the cribs, all with respirators making the same whoosh whoosh whoosh. And, spurred on by the two shrieking creatures in the front of the room, a chorus of mewling arose from every crib, growing louder as I stood there.

  Did every single crib contain one of those creatures?

  “Oh, my God.” I started to back up toward the door.

  “Pity, but it’s not an exact science yet.”

  I whipped around.

  My father stood there, between me and the door, blocking my way out.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  My throat was so tight, I could barely swallow, but I managed to squeak out, “What are those things?”

  Dad shrugged. “We’re still working on being able to dictate the precise age. Some of the people didn’t de-age as expected, especially when we went beyond forty years or so. But all their memories and knowledge seem to remain.”

  My knees started to buckle and I grabbed hold of the nearest crib to stay upright. “Oh, my God! They still know everything? They’re still aware?” I looked down at the creature in the crib, huddled in the fetal position, making the mewling sound I’d heard from outside. “How can you let them suffer like this?”

  Dad shook his head slightly. “They did all sign waivers.” He noticed the remote in my hand. “Going to blow us all up?” He started toward me. “All that will do is set off a warning that will only be a drill.” He held out his hand. “Eli, save us all a wasted day of resetting the alarms and hand it over.”

  “You’re lying!” I backed toward the wall, trying to edge my way toward the door.

  Dad kept coming toward me as he still blocked my way to the door.

  I raised the black box up. “Stop! Or I’ll push the button.”

  “Eli,” Dad repeated. “It will only set off a drill.” But his eyes weren’t as calm as his voice. Was he afraid?

  I took a chance and held up the remote, my finger poised above the button. “Back off or I’ll push it.”

  “Fine, fine.” Dad held up his hands and moved to the side so I could get to the door. I backed through it in order to keep an eye on him the whole way, and kept going until something stopped my progress. I glanced behind me.

  The machine with the gene gun.

  I grabbed the gun and held it out in my other hand.

  Dad laughed.

  I glanced down at the machine. The dial made no sense, but I saw what looked like a power button and pushed it. With a whir, the entire thing started vibrating. I held the gun out and said, “Stay back.”

  Dad shook his head. “Or what? You’ll de-age me?” He laughed again.

  I said, “That’s why you didn’t use it on yourself. Because the process isn’t perfected yet.”

  The machine beeped. I wondered if that meant it was ready. Dad kept advancing toward me, and I took a firmer hold on the gun in one hand, the black remote in the other. “I won’t let you have my family.”

  Dad frowned. “They’re my family, too. You’re all my family.”

  I shook my head. “Not anymore. Not after what you did. And I won’t let you do it again.”

  “We can talk about this later,” said Dad. “There’s been a slight change of plans. I’ve decided your brother and sister should go back to Seattle. You can stay here until the rest of them come.”

  “They won’t leave without me,” I said.

  Dad laughed. “Really? You think they love you that much that they’d stay here and wait for you to come get them? You really believe that?” He shook his head.

  The gun trembled in my hand and I felt my chin wobble.

  Would I stay for them?

  And I realized that I already was staying for them. I was standing here in this room in order to take them with me, get us home. I swallowed, and said with the most conviction I could muster, “I do believe it.”

  Suddenly, Tony was there. He told Dad, “The jet is ready to go.” He looked at me. “You ready?”

  Dad had lied to me. He hadn’t changed his mind. At least, not the way he told me he had.

  “No!” Dad shouted. “None of them are leaving! My wife can bring the rest of my family here if she ever wants to see them again.” He lunged for me.

  I stumbled, trying hard to hold on to the gene gun, that as I fell, I accidentally squeezed the button on the black remote.

  Immediately, a deafening high-pitched electronic beeping began.

  Dad was on top of me, grabbing for the gene gun. I shoved it out toward him, my finger pulling the trigger with the hope it would shock him or something. As it connected with his stomach, my finger got stuck, keeping the trigger on for several seconds. I heard several mechanical punching sounds.

  Dad rolled off me to the floor. His eyes widened and he tried to get up, but fell back. His limbs began to shake and he started convulsing.

  I jumped to my feet and backed away.

  As Tony and I watched, my father’s hair turned darker and thicker and curlier, growing longer before our eyes. Immediately his limbs began to shrivel and shrink; then his fingers folded in on his hands and his feet curled up.

  “What’s happening?” I yelled.

  Tony yelled back, “He’s de-aging!”

  My father’s limbs continued to shrivel, but they stopped getting smaller. They were deflating, like a balloon that had lost its air. And then he was suddenly still. His flesh hung there, saggy, just like the creatures in the cribs.

  Tony said, “My, God, it didn’t work on him.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  My father, the creature that had been Rex Yanakakis, reached up for me and mewled, “Son.”

  I stood there, looking down at him, unable to move.

  “Kid!” Tony grabbed me. “This place is gonna blow.”

  I yelled, “He told me it was a drill!”

  The expression on Tony’s face was serious when he shook his head. He didn’t need to say a word.

  I said, “But we have to help him!”

  Tony pointed at the open door to the room with the cribs. “Like he helps them? Leaving them in there like that?” He shook his head. “They need to be put out of their misery.” He pointed at my father. “So does he.” Tony grabbed me. “Do you want to live?”

  I nodded.

  “This place will be a chain reaction. As soon as I hear the first explosion, I’m going,” he said. “With or without you. You’ve got about nine minutes, kid.” And he disappeared through the plastic curtain.

  I turned back to my dad, who still lay on the floor, curled up and mewling. I knelt beside him, wanting to throw up, wanting to run away. I set my hand on his arm. It was soft and mushy, and I yanked my hand back.

  Dad tried to say something, but I couldn’t understand what it was. I didn’t want to understand. I stood up. “I’m sorry.”

  Only thirty seconds behind Tony, I ran through the plastic curtain and down the hallway. Outside, the sun hit me. And I realized Eddy and Lexie weren’t going to be at the jet.

  Maybe, when Dad hadn’t shown up at the house, they decided to go to the jet, ignoring my orders?

  But if I went to the jet and they weren’t there … I’d have no time to get them. I couldn’t risk it.

  If I wanted to save them, there was only one option.

  The electronic beeping was everywhere, increasing in speed and volume. As fast as I could, I ran through the plaza toward the house, dodging people who seemed to be unconcerned about the alarm. Apparently, they’d been told, and believed, that it was just a drill.

  I hurried thr
ough the fence and onto the path and into the house, screaming, “Eddy! Lexie! Where are you?” I ran into the living room and saw no one. I screamed their names a few more times, then made a decision. They had to be at the jet. They hadn’t listened to me.

  I ran down the hallway and out the back. I leaped down the steps of the marble veranda, hit the path, and went through the door in the wall.

  I heard a roar. The jet.

  “No!” I yelled. I tried to run on the boardwalk through the jungle, but it was slow going and I was forced to shorten my steps, pounding my way toward the runway. Finally, I reached the trees and caught a glimpse of the runway. I sprinted the rest of the way, triumphantly emerging out of breath where the jet had been the day before.

  But the jet was gone.

  CHAPTER FORTY

  About a quarter mile away to my right, the taxiing jet was just about to reach the end of the runway, where it would turn around and accelerate down the length of the runway and take off.

  “No! Wait!” I screamed. “I’m coming!”

  And I pushed for the aircraft, my legs and lungs already burning. My heart was nearly pounding out of my chest, and I pumped my arms like my life depended on it, which I was pretty sure it did.

  The jet reached the end and circled around until the left side faced me, but it was still far from me. It paused there, not moving.

  Was Tony waiting for me? Were Eddy and Lexie on board?

  I slowed to a fast jog, relieved.

  I would get there, make sure my brother and sister were on it, and then we could go. Tony said he’d wait for the first explosion. And that hadn’t—

  BOOM!

  The ground shuddered beneath my feet and I stumbled and tripped, falling onto the hot tarmac. I got to my feet, my knees skinned and bloody.

  The jet had started to roll.

  As fast as I could run, I headed straight for it, wincing at the pain in my knees. I aimed for the front of it, trying to cut off some distance. The smell of jet fuel made me want to gag, and the roar of the jet deafened me.

  Just as I got closer, the jet passed me.

  Tony was leaving without me.