Lockdown Nation Read online

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  The bell chimed. Mandy opened the door and peeked around the fast-food restaurant. The greasy smell of oil and chatters impregnated the air. The patrons filled up the last table and the waitstaff rushed about with the orders, a stark difference from the Panic Protocol era that happened a few days ago.

  Mandy stood at the door where she scanned for a familiar face. None rang a bell. She propped against the doorframe and contemplated her next move when a waitress spotted her. “Do you need a table?”

  The question hung at the tip of Mandy’s tongue, but she shook her head and turned around. She heard a soft whirring of a hoverboard before jumping a foot backward.

  “Ops! Sorry!” cried the girl on the hoverboard. She put her foot down and skidded to a halt inches from crashing into Mandy. When she looked up, their eyes interlocked, and the same smile plastered on their faces. “Blot my gel! Mandy! I didn’t think you would come and find me!”

  Carlisa Choo removed her helmet and flipped her long black hair dramatically in the air. Everything about her had been the same since the last they met in ANNUS. She removed her delivery bag she tossed at her feet and rolled her shoulders. “So how is it going? Did Roxy find her family?”

  Mandy couldn't reciprocate her excitement and didn’t bother to hide her concerns. She racked her brains trying to find the right words, but she didn’t even know where to start. A lot had happened since.

  Carlisa caught the hint on her face and slumped her shoulders. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

  “We need to talk, Carlisa.”

  Carlisa chewed her lip and looked through the tinted window of the restaurant when Mandy clutched her on the arm. “Please, Carlisa. Something bad happened and you’re the only one I can trust now.”

  Carlisa regarded her for a few seconds. “Right.” She picked up her delivery bag and carried the hoverboard under her arm. “I’ll speak to my boss.” She disappeared through the door.

  Mandy waited aside. She wiped her hands over her face and raked her fingers through her hair. What could Carlisa do? She would be as clueless as herself. But what else could she do now? Her conscience wouldn’t let her walk away.

  She pulled her phone out to check the time again. Roxy hadn’t replied or returned her calls. She muttered a cuss beneath her breath.

  “Consider you’re taking your lunch break then!” shouted a male’s voice from inside the restaurant followed by Carlisa stomping out and slamming the door behind her. She rolled her eyes and cussed. “Well, that’s a peasant life for you. So, spill the tea.”

  Mandy and Carlisa walked down the street. They stopped at the intersection when Mandy turned to Carlisa. “After you left, we were thrust into Ronin’s path.”

  Carlisa’s eyes widened with concern. “You guys got caught again?”

  Mandy shook her head. “No, it’s much more complex than that. The Cranax pandemic is more than meets the eye. Somewhere along the line, we found out this covert syndicate called Project Hive Mind happens to be the mastermind behind this pandemic. Some people got a stronger strain of the virus that seems to be able to control the other Infected.”

  Carlisa’s jaw dropped. She stared at Mandy, lost for words before her hand flew to cover her open mouth. “Blot my gel. Maybe I should’ve stayed…”

  Mandy sucked in a breath. “I’m glad we didn’t. The Infected were among us, disguised as asymptomatic recruits. We were lucky we got out before—” A sick feeling rose from her stomach at the thought of the footage.

  “What?” Carlisa insisted.

  Mandy looked Carlisa in the eye. “Before the outbreak.”

  Carlisa turned away muttering a cuss and pinched the bridge of her nose. She looked up with a look of concern. “What do we do now?”

  Mandy shook her head. “Don’t know. That’s why I’m here.”

  “Where is Roxy? And Sam?”

  “I don’t know where they are. I can’t contact them.”

  “What do you mean you can’t contact them?”

  “Look, Ronin knew her family was gone, and he’s been hiding it thinking it was a good idea. So she’s mad at him.”

  Carlisa nodded. “What a piece of shit. I would be mad at him too.”

  “That’s why I’m at a loss now. But we have to—”

  A horrendous shriek scattered their thoughts. They spun around at once. Mandy’s hand flew to the Zapper in her pocket while Carlisa got into a fighting stance. “Blot my gel! What’s going on there?” They traded a dubious glance and traced back where they’d come from towards the source of the sound.

  Mandy’s heartbeat punctuated the growing cacophony. They stopped in front of the window of the restaurant. Her blood ran cold at the horror sight taking place right before her eyes. As if the footage from the cameras in ANNUS replayed itself. Except this was real-time.

  The hairs on the back of her neck bristled. The Infected pounced onto their victims and sank their jagged teeth into their flesh, breaking skin and drawing blood. Though the insulated glass muffled the screams and filtered the disgusting metallic pang, she could hear and taste them as if she was inside.

  “Father of Science! No!” Carlisa headed for the door when Mandy pulled her back.

  “No! Are you crazy? It’s suicide! These people treated you like shit anyway!” shouted Mandy.

  “I don’t care about them. I left my car keys inside.” Carlisa’s glance bounced between Mandy and the window.

  “We should go. Before they get out.” Mandy pulled Carlisa down the street where she’d parked the car. The mental images of the fateful incident still flounced in her head. If she hadn’t been there, Carlisa would’ve joined the statistics. Her heart cinched at the thought. Her instinct had led her there to save Carlisa’s life.

  How many lives would be lost due to her inaction? She couldn’t let that happen. Her hand involuntarily slipped into her pocket where she pulled out a phone and opened Roxy’s contact.

  The same dial tone answered her. She muttered a cuss and looked at Carlisa. “We need to speak with the coalition.”

  Carlisa frowned. “The coalition?”

  Mandy waved her hand in the air. “Get in the car. I’ll explain everything as we go.”

  13

  ROXY

  The fire crackled in the bonfire, punctuated by the gentle waves washing against the shore. Minty evening breeze brushed against my hair and kissed my face. The sea and sky merged into an abyss. Sam’s chest felt warm against my body in the cold.

  Closing my eyes, I luxuriated against his warm body, inhaling the scent of his cologne while soaking at the moment. Like time had slowed down to compensate for the moments I’d lost chasing impossible dreams in the Community.

  If I hadn’t been in the Community, I wouldn’t have ended up in such a place. I wouldn’t have almost lost Sam to the virus. I cringed at the thought of losing him. My fingers wrapped tightly around his arm, not wanting to let him go.

  “Hey, you okay?” Sam squeezed my hand and kissed me on the forehead.

  I feigned a smile and shook my head to purge out the thoughts of the past and Cranax. Selfish but it had to be done. I ignored the guilt creeping into my system. When you were groomed your whole life to serve and put others before yourself, it became a challenge to care for yourself.

  No matter how much you gave up, the small voice inside your head would continue to mock you for not doing more. I sucked in a breath and let the waves drown this voice. My mind idled, the small voice came back, this time louder than before.

  I shook my head. “We should go home now.”

  We packed up and strolled back home. The voice in my head became wilder and more intrusive. Once in the house, I rushed to the kitchen where I turned on the tap and splashed the icy cold water on my face until I drowned them all.

  My chest heaved and fell. I turned off the tap and let the water droplet slide off my face.

  “Hey, you okay?” Sam caught up
behind me and passed me a kitchen towel. I buried my face in it. “You can tell me things, you know.”

  Closing my eyes, I sucked in a breath and looked him in the eye. I wished I could unload everything in my head, but I couldn't find a word. I wanted to go and read the rest of grandpa’s journal. I wanted to go to bed and sleep this off though this unfinished business would keep me awake.

  My phone vibrated on the kitchen bench. The screen lit up with Mandy’s name. I watched it stop and checked the thousands of messages Mandy sent me.

  They’re all gone. I don’t know if they’re still alive.

  I frowned and opened the message.

  We went to the Council to get the virus DNA from Peyton. I kept guard in the car. Vaxine told me to leave. I don’t know what’s going on. Please answer my call. Please, bro.

  Fear swelled in my chest. The mental pictures of what happened whirled in my head. My memory flashed back to the footage in ANNUS except for Vaxine, Axon, and Ronin’s faces replaced the recruits. “Father of Science…”

  Sam held my shoulder. “What’s wrong, Roxy?”

  Unable to find my voice, I thrust my phone into Sam’s palm. Squeezed my eyes closed, I pinched the bridge of my nose. Vaxine knew this day would come so she gave me the protocol.

  The guilt gnawed harder at me. She entrusted me with the data, but I abandoned them along with the last hope of stopping Cranax.

  Sam muttered a cuss when he put down the phone. “What were they thinking? I thought they’d be smarter to walk straight into Peyton’s trap. Why did they want the virus DNA from Peyton?”

  An idea struck me. I pushed past Sam and bolted upstairs into my room. I dropped to my knees next to the nightstand and withdrew my tablet. I turned it on and checked the Cranax database. A new sequence had registered.

  I clicked it on. 99.99% match with Hershey’s.

  Sam caught up and stood by the door when I got up. Our eyes interlocked. “We need to find Robert Tan before it’s too late.” I sucked in a breath, fearing he would put up a fight. Instead, he nodded. A wave of relief washed over me.

  “What’s your plan?” he asked.

  “He worked for Quillon. He’ll have information that can shed some light on what’s going on,” I said.

  “And how are you going to make him talk?”

  My hand flew to my empty pocket. I muttered a cuss. I left all the Genex at Hershey’s.

  Sam shrugged. “I guess we have to go back.”

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  The icy evening breeze blustered my trench coat. I looked up at the shadow of Hershey’s lab. Not sure if it was my imagination but even the breeze and waves here were wilder and angrier as if they were mad at me. I stared at the dark windows wondering if they had always been tinted or the lights had been turned off tonight. A strange feeling came over me.

  “Ready to go?” Sam dipped his hands into the pockets of his black hoodie. He locked the car and joined my side.

  We made it towards the backdoor where we had escaped from. I stayed on guard and let Sam do the work.

  Sam tapped on his tablet and looked up at me with a frown. He reached for the knob but it fell off. The alarm rang in my head. We traded a knowing look. I groped for my Zappers and aimed it at the staircase when Sam opened the door. He whipped out his phone and pointed the column of light into the abyss.

  Fear trickled in my chest. Whoever the mastermind behind Project Hive Mind, they knew about Hershey’s lab. Sam and I inched up the stairs. My heart pounded in my chest. We stayed close, back to back. Sweat dripped from the sides of my face.

  The door on the top of the staircase was wide open. The hairs on my arms bristled when we entered the common area. It looked the complete opposite of how it used to be. All the cabinets and drawers had been left open. Someone had rummaged through every single corner of the lab. The laptop in the pantry snowed, buzzing and humming.

  “Looks like they’ve come for a spring cleaning,” said Sam.

  I inched towards Hershey’s room where the static got louder. The multiscreen cracked. The dents in the hard drives that had seen better days indicated they sustained some brute force. The files and books decked in the bookshelves piled on the floor. Hershey would turn in her grave if she saw her room in such an unruly state.

  “All I can say is they hate Hershey’s guts or they’re desperate to destroy something Hershey had in her possession,” muttered Sam.

  I tried to process what happened when my thought went to Botty. Whipping out my phone for light, I bolted towards the lab, through the double glass door left ajar. An eerie vibe hung in the air. All the equipment stood still and the lab was in radio silence. It reminded me of the scenes in post-apocalyptic movies where the scientists had to evacuate the lab in a rush.

  “Botty?” My hollow voice echoed through the walls. Sam caught up and took my side. His consoling hand on my shoulder didn’t help me feel any better. My heart stopped when Botty emerged from the back of a bench.

  “Roxy! Blot my gel! You’re back. I thought you were gone forever!” Botty hopped onto the stool and the bench next to me.

  “Oh, thank goodness you’re still here!” I muttered. “What happened here?”

  Botty hung its head low. “Few hours after they went out for their mission, I heard a loud bang, and the next thing I knew some ATP barge into the lab. They rummaged around like they were looking for something. They discarded all the samples in the freezer and shut all the equipment down. Taking no prisoners. Then, they destroyed every single one of the computers. As if they’re trying to wipe out some data.”

  I looked at Sam. “I can only think of one thing—the anti-Cranax gene.”

  “Speaking of which…” Botty hopped off the bench and slithered under the bench where it pulled out a Genex and placed it on the bench. “I believe this belongs to you.”

  I couldn't conceal my smile. I reached for the Genex when Botty put its cold metallic paw on me. “There’s not much of the anti-Cranax gene left. I would amplify it first to save up some DNA templates for next time, so you don’t have to re-create the synthetic gene. You have the protocol, don’t you?”

  I stared at Botty. The flashbacks from Connor University flounced in my head. Shaking my head, I sucked in a breath. “Yes, I have the protocol.”

  Sam glanced around. “If we’ve got a backup generator, we might be able to do it here.”

  Botty shook its head. “They’ve destroyed all the remaining primers and reagents.”

  “Then, what do we do now?”

  “There are lots of co-labs, co-research lab space for your slow mind, out there in the city you can rent and perform experiments for a few hours,” said Botty.

  “How do we get the primers?”

  “These co-labs usually come with instant primer services,” said Botty.

  My glance bounced between Botty and Sam. “How am I supposed to know how to do all these?”

  Botty rolled its eyes. “Well, I thought you’re a scientist, so you’d better get out there and mess with this shit until you get it right!”

  The footsteps coming from outside the lab catapulted us into alert mode. Sam and I spun around. I whipped out my Zappers and pointed at the entrance where the two silhouettes appeared. The Zapper brushing in the air followed by a familiar voice.

  “Roxy?” Mandy sounded happy and angry at the same. “Father of Science! I thought you were dead. Didn’t you know how to answer a friggin phone call?”

  Their faces came to the light. I lowered my Zappers. “Mandy? Carlisa? What are you guys doing here?”

  “We should be asking you, Roxy,” said Carlisa. They rejoined our group.

  “I need the anti-Cranax gene,” I said.

  “What for?” Mandy asked. “You’re not planning a suicide mission to the Council, are you?”

  I shook my head. “There’s someone who can help clear the air.”

  Carlisa and Mandy traded glances and arched th
eir brows. “Who?” asked Carlisa.

  “Robert Tan,” I said. “He worked for Quillon Riley. He’ll have the information we need.”

  “At Vector? But he’s an Infected.” Mandy frowned.

  “That’s why I need the anti-Cranax gene.”

  Mandy stared at me. A dubious look on her face. “What if it doesn’t work?”

  “All we can do is try.”

  “What were you doing here?” Sam turned to Carlisa. “How did you know about this?”

  “I couldn't contact you, but I knew I had to do something with the information I have. Carlisa was the only person I thought of,” said Mandy. “I was going to report to the Cranax Coalition what was going on.”