Chapter 21: Gashes

Gene woke in the middle of the night after an intense dream. The details were fuzzy, but he was trying to rescue his family from a someone. Or something. He wasn't sure. Whatever it was, he couldn't go back to sleep. He rose and stretched, decided to walk the hallways a bit, see if anyone was up.

He passed the computer room, saw one or two people staring blankly into monitors, wondered how such a small crew managed to maintain 24-hour duty. He made coffee in the crew kitchen, figured he might as well be up for a while. There was no sign of anyone else stirring as he walked down the corridor toward the rec room.

Inside, he saw Jesus naked, sprawled on the same couch where they'd fucked Charlotte. Gene's dick was raw from the friction of her tight, clenching butthole. It pulsed twice, the memory still fresh and arousing.

A dark stain was near where Jesus's feet met the floor, an overturned glass nearby. The man had obviously come down from his trip and was likely out cold to the world for a while. Gene figured he'd clean up a bit, maybe find the man a blanket. He knelt down, picked up the glass, and froze.

Blood was dripping down the man's leg, pooling on the floor. Gene jumped back, saw the angry, red gash on the side of his abdomen. Panicked, he sprinted out of the room, back to the computer lab. "Jesus has been stabbed!"

Wistin jumped to his feet from behind a monitor, rushed out with Gene, yelling as he went. He heard doors creak open, footsteps behind. They charged into the room and Wistin began to check Jesus for vitals. Holly was there suddenly, "what the fuck!"

An alarm sounded throughout the bunker, a persistent clang that drove Gene's anxiety higher. Holly looked near panic, an unusual emotion from her. Sofija ran in a moment later, rushed a medical kit to Wistin. "He's still breathing, barely. Get Dentry in here, now!" she yelled at Holly. She rushed out of the room and Gene followed quickly behind her.

Holly found Dentry rushing up the corridor, sent him on to tend to Jesus. She stood motionless a moment, then turned, headed back towards the computer lab, Gene on her heals. Inside, the older agent Gene knew only as Ice was watching video monitors showing movement in green and black near the edge of the aboveground complex.

The woman saw them rush in, said sharply, "truck just sped out, heading South. What the hell's going on, Holly?"

"I don't fucking know. Someone stabbed Jesus. What triggered the alarm?"

"Someone tampering with the tracker on the truck. Looks like it got ripped out and tossed. See, it's not moving right there," pointing to a single red dot on the map screen. "I saw the truck, though. No doubt it moved South in a hurry."

Two more agents crowded around as they tried to figure out what had happened.

Holly put her hands over her ears, yelled, "turn off that fucking alarm!" A second later, the grating noise ended, and the silence which remained was deafening.

Everyone was upset, confused, and Gene sensed that no one was taking charge. He calmed himself for a moment, finally said, "get everyone not working on Jesus in here. Now!"

Ice made a short announcement over the intercom instructing the remaining agents to form up in the lab. Within seconds everyone but the three treating Jesus was there except for Charlotte and Anna. Gene briefed the late arrivals with what he knew.

"Can we go after them, whoever took that truck?"

Ice shook her head, "not in the dark. Not without the tracker. Look at that sandstorm kicking up, the tracks are probably already gone."

"What's South?" Gene asked.

"Nothing but desert. Nothing's out there."

"Whoever stabbed Jesus is getting away, and there's nothing we can do?"

Silence filled the room.

"Where the fuck are those two? Search everything, we need to find Anna and Charlotte."

Over the next half-hour, they split up and checked every room in the bunker, and spent another twenty minutes braving the sandstorm and darkness to do the same around the complex. Neither woman could be located.

They gathered back in the computer lab, seething with frustration and anger.

Wistin came in, hands covered in blood, more on his clothing. Holly tossed him a towel. He said, "he's alive, but he's still critical. He lost a lot of blood, not conscious. Ten more minutes and there'd have been nothing left to work with." He nodded toward Gene, continued. "The wound isn't a stab wound. It's an incision. Looks like something was ripped out of him, there are wires in his abdomen that look to have been left behind when something was yanked out. Dentry's never seen anything quite like it."

"What was he carrying?" Gene's mind was racing.

"No idea. Could have been anything. There are all sorts of implants. RFIDs, data chips, beacons, keys, you name it. Whatever it was looked to be a few inches long, but we're doing a lot of guess work based on the cut and the wires, very hard to know."

Gene's fears began to fester. "Jesus said he was the finger on the pulse of M1. If anyone knew something, he knew it too, right? Christ ... whatever got ripped out of him could have compromised everything."

Holly nodded more and more as he spoke. "Only a few people knew about Jesus's role. Everyone here, a small handful of others." She looked to Ice, asked, "no one got in, right? No one got through your security and snuck in?"

Ice shook her head. "No one. Never one-hundred percent, but I'd stake my life on it."

Holly's expression became grim. "Anna and Charlotte are still missing..."

Everyone understood the implications. One or both of the women had betrayed the Oasis and M1.

"Marcus, you can't just keep running forever. You've got to get into a position of power, somewhere you can protect her and get back on your feet, start fighting back and finding her husband."

Hannigan and Hilda had been arguing for an hour. He wanted to get to a safe house he knew in Guam, acknowledging how hard that would be to get to. "I know! But I don't trust this guy. I don't know him, and it sounds like you don't know him well either."

"I don't, Marcus. I don't. But ... I know about him, and know people I trusted who trusted him. If anyone could get you to a position of power, it would be him. Perhaps more than anyone not related to Victor."

"But we don't know who he supports. We're just as likely to deliver ourselves to Victor as we are to find allies."

"No. That's one thing I'm certain of. He hated Victor. He was the one that started my doubts about the man, sending me intel that raised all kinds of red flags about Victor. Chaster Haul is as far from Victor's hands as you're gonna get." She sipped her coffee as the morning sun rose and lightened the sky. "You'll never make it to Guam. I bet anything that place is locked down. That safe house was there only because the US military wanted it there. Jesus, you want to hand yourself to Victor, that would be the way to go. If you could get there, which you can't."

Hannigan's shoulders sagged and Tamara knew he'd given in. He stewed silently.

"How do we contact him?"

"I call a pay phone."

She looked incredulous. "A guy who waits around for a call on a pay phone doesn't sound like someone who can help us."

"He doesn't answer it. Calling is enough. He'll know. Trust me. I reached out to him once before. And he helped me when I was backed into a corner. I can't swear he's a good guy. In fact, I doubt he is. But ... it's all I've got, Marcus." She rested a hand on his shoulder, her eyes on Tamara. "You can't keep running."

He nodded and Tamara admitted to herself that she didn't know what else to do. The thought of staying on the run, hiding, fearing that every passing vehicle was going to be the one, she couldn't go on like that. And she had to find her children, her husband. Running just put miles between them.

Tamara set her will and said, "call him."

"They set off fishing about twenty minutes ago, Dear. Grab yourself a pole and go join them!" Juliana's bright voice was overly-cheerful as Lauren tried to wake up after a restless night. Thoughts of the day before rattled her. The joy and thrill of fucking Georges, the horror of being caught by her brothers. She'd spent the rest of the day in rather mundane activities, helping the boy's mother with groceries and dinner, then watching a movie with the twins and her brothers.

They'd all seemed out of sorts, especially Finch. He said little to her, though she caught him glancing at her when he thought she wasn't looking. Logan was wired, but the energy was wrong. He kept disappearing into the bathroom for long stretches. Lauren wondered if the long weeks on the run was taking its toll on them. She tried her best not to be the bitchy, older sister that had often felt so good back home.

Lauren shook her head, "nah, thanks. Not much into fishing. Might go down and join them, though, show me the way?"

Juliana pointed, "out past the barn, there, head straight towards that distant peak once you get to the trees, then follow the stream down to a clearing the kids call the Glade."

Lauren jumped in spite of herself. "Oh, uh ... right. Ok, yeah, we were ... there yesterday. Yeah, I can find it. Thanks."

"Here, take these!" The woman passed her a small bowl with warm scones wrapped in a cloth, along with a small basket containing fresh, chilled milk and small cups. "Enjoy!"

Lauren nodded, and walked quietly off in the direction of the Glade. Her brothers were still shut in their shared bedroom, and she assumed they were sleeping. The relative calm of the farm was hard to swallow. The days of terror and fear, of being filthy, hungry, even pissing herself with fright, had given way to what, so far, seemed normal. It was almost uncomfortable.

She sucked in her breath, thought about her mom and dad while she walked at a measured pace into the treeline. The way they'd been taken from her so suddenly had left her no time to tell them how much she loved them. The old Lauren would never have thought it mattered. Now that they were gone, possibly dead, the pit of her stomach turned sour thinking of the wasted opportunities to just be thankful, to be nice to them, to say she loved them.

It was lovely on the farm, to be sure. Despite her early reservations, the couple of days spent there had been very easy and mostly relaxing. Her mind drifted to Georges, could feel again his thrusts inside her body. He'd been a gentleman afterwards, getting her drinks, flirting with her without being clingy. It made her feel really good.

The Glade was just ahead when she heard voices. It took several seconds and several steps closer before the words being spoken made her stop in her tracks.

"Oh ... that's so hot. And they both came in your mouth?"

"Both of them. Neither had been with a girl before ... mmm ... I liked being the first."

"Thinking of ... ohh ... going further, letting them fuck you?"

"Of course! Not ... ommm ... like you, diving between Lauren's legs the second ... mmm ... you have a moment alone with her."

"What can I say, she's very hot. God, Hannah ... uhnnn ... it felt great."

"Better than me?"

"Not better. Different. Wonderful ... ohhh ... Thinking about it has me about to cum again."

Lauren's butterflies had returned. What in the world was going on? A few quiet, quick steps brought her to a low hedge and enough of a view to see into the Glade. What she saw blew her mind.

Hannah was on her back, skirt flipped up, panties loose around one ankle, her legs wrapped around her twin brother's waist. Georges was slowly fucking his sister, the dark-haired girl holding him tightly against her. Their conversation died as they shared a long, passionate kiss. Lauren could not believe her eyes.

The fucked so slowly, calmly almost. Lauren watched as he moved in and out of his sister, humping gently like he didn't want to hurt her. Hannah's arms caressed his back, low moans could be heard when she broke the kiss.

Georges began to moan as well, his face buried in his sister's shoulder. Lauren heard her say, "shoot in me ... that's it ... shoot in me ... oh ... ohhh ... I feel it ... ooohhh..." His body showed no obvious sign that he was cumming, but Lauren knew he was. She felt again the way his hot semen had splashed inside her, knew the pleasure Hannah was feeling in that moment as her brother ejaculated in her body.

They slowed and stopped, joined lips again for a long, passionate kiss. Georges rose slightly, smiled at his sister, "I love it when we do it slow like that ... feels so good..."

"Mmm ... agreed." The twins kissed a moment longer, then Georges rolled off her. Just as he started to pull his pants up, Lauren knew she'd been caught.

Georges eyed her, panicked, tried to yank his pants up his legs, got caught and ended up falling over his twin sister.

"Easy! You nearly smashed my boob!"

Hannah looked at his face, knew something was wrong, followed his gaze back to where Lauren was frozen in place.

"Lauren! Oh ... Please ... don't go ... Wait, let me explain, oh ... shit!"

Lauren ran from the Glade and didn't stop until she'd found a small stall in the barn and closed herself inside.

"It's done."

Gene looked up from where he'd laid his head on the table, didn't remember drifting off. Holly's voice was strained, tired. His voice cracked as he asked, "what's done?"

"Made contact with Israel, made them aware of the situation with Jesus and Charlotte. And Anna. To say the shit hit the fan isn't doing it justice. Whatever he'd had on his body might have compromised anything. Everything. There's no record of him getting an implant, no one seems to know why he had it or what it was."

"So what now?"

"We'll have to black Oasis. We're compromised here for sure. We can't defend this place. And they'll come, Gene. You're here. They'll definitely come. Goddammit!"

He rose and wrapped his arms around the nineteen-year old. Gene still couldn't believe how much the young woman had experienced, how much responsibility was on her shoulders. Her eyes were red. He wondered if she'd been crying. Gene hugged her and tried to calm her down. Her arms wrapped around him, and for the first time since he'd met her, the embrace felt wholly sincere.

She didn't unlock her grip for some moments. Holly tried to smile, managed a shallow frown instead. Tears had formed in her eyes. Gene led her to a couch and sat holding her while she let a few drops slide down her cheeks.

He asked softly, "worried about Anna?"

"Terribly."

He hated to ask but he had to know, "do you think she did this?"

Holly didn't answer a moment, finally said in a quiet voice, "I hope not..." Her tears had stopped and her face showed her strained attempt to collect her resolve. "I don't know. She's never been exactly ... predictable ... but she was always on my side. I ... I don't know."

Gene thought a moment, said hopefully, "maybe Charlotte kidnapped her, took her with her. Probably she's innocent, right?"

"I don't know."

Holly's significant doubt troubled Gene, made him wonder why the young woman could believe her sister had betrayed her and the rest of the allies. Anna had seemed tightly focused, an M1 agent to the core, but Gene was deep enough in the game to know that deception and lies were core as well. He exhaled, wondered if it ever got easier, and cleared his mind to make room for the things they could control.

"So we leave. Shouldn't we try to make it to an M1 strong point? We've been hanging out here vulnerable since you saved me from Victor. Isn't it time we rallied with a force somewhere?"

Holly's resolve clicked and she pushed herself out of Gene's arms. "Yes. The obvious choice is Israel, though that's the most likely place Victor would expect you to run."

"What are the other options?"

"There's ... Sudan, though I expect that's not a viable option if we want the best intel. Afghanistan is out, Russia too, Victor and Playa look to be consolidating multiple forces in both. M1 pulled out most of the regular forces from both last night. Japan never was a strong point, and New Zealand is too far out of the fight. That leaves..." She pursed her lips, "the Cambridge."

"The Cambridge? As in ... England, or ... Massachusetts?"

Holly shook her head, "no, not even close. The Cambridge is the M1 emergency fallback headquarters. When the worst shit is imminent, the call gets made to get the best of the best to the Cambridge."

"So where is it?"

"Right now ... umm..." she closed her eyes a moment, "actually ... not too damn far at all."

"Enough dodging, Holly. Where is this place?"

"The Cambridge is not a place, it's a nuclear submarine we acquired and upgraded about six years ago. It never docks, constantly on the move. Outside a dozen people at the very top of the M1 regional agencies, there are probably only five people in the world who know how to find it without help. I'm one of them."

"You are full of surprises. How do we get there?"

"Safer if I keep that to myself right now. Just us, though, and we'll need to move quickly. Sofija and Wistin will almost certainly go to Israel. The others, well, except for Jesus, aren't M1. I don't know enough about what else Dad may have set up to know where to send them."

Gene had a darker realization. "Wait ... if the top of M1 know how to find the sub, wouldn't Victor have that knowledge?"

Holly was silent a moment. "Yes. Fuck. I'm slipping to miss something so obvious."

"Does that really change anything? Do we have a better option?"

"No."

Ice walked out of the corridor and said, "message waiting for Anna. Marked 'eyes' and 'top'. Want to take a look?"

Holly gave Gene a troubled look and followed Ice back to the computer room. Gene trailed behind, mind racing.