The Typhon Project

Chapter Thirty: Alien Liar

At first, I was worried that the backpack bouncing as I ran would detonate the bomb, but after a couple of minutes, I relaxed. My feet slapped the cement as my long strides carried me closer to The Farm. I no longer wanted to slow this down. I wanted it to be over.

When I reached the usual shaft inside The Farm's boundaries, I passed it by. I followed the tunnel in a direction I'd never gone before. I'd only tried to escape The Farm, never tried to go deeper into it. The tunnel ran beneath the coil. I had a strong suspicion there would be another shaft that led up and into the Tesla coil building. If there was, I wouldn't have to risk being seen by a surveillance camera.

Dean flashed in my thoughts. Would they have discovered me gone by now? I swallowed hard. What would they do to him if they found out he was involved? I slowed my pace as my thoughts spiralled. If they hurt him because of me . . . .

I couldn't live with myself.

I wouldn't be alive much longer anyway.

"I'm sorry, Dean," I breathed.

Ahead, another shaft came into view. I stopped at the ladder and peered up at the hatch above.

You can do this.

I had to. If this worked, Jace and the other survivors might have a fighting chance. If it didn't work, I'd have died for nothing. My life didn't mean much to me, but I still wanted it to matter.

Please let this work.

I climbed the ladder up to the hatch, put my shoulder into it, and shoved. But it didn't open. I climbed one run higher and pushed with my legs. The thing didn't budge, as though it was welded shut. I tried again, straining until my muscles burned, but I couldn't get it to move.

I climbed back down the ladder and stared up at the hatch. I grabbed handfuls of my hair and pulled. My breathing came in shallow gasps. I was counting on that entry point. Now, my only option was to use the hatch in the lawn and go in through the main doors.

My chances were grim before, but I'd held onto a glimmer of hope that I could get in without getting caught. That option was dead. In going through the front doors, I had to pass at least two cameras. They would know I was here, and they would come after me. Using those doors assured me of either capture or death or both.

I climbed back up the ladder to the coil building hatch and reefed on it a couple more times. Please open. My shoulder throbbed by the time I gave up.

It wasn't going to open.

My heart sank. I collapsed to the floor of the tunnel and buried my head in my hands. Getting captured was not an option. If I continued on my mission, there was only one option left for me. I go down with the coil. I'd have to walk inside and detonate the thing before they could get to me and stop me.

I forced myself to my feet and hurried to the other shaft. I had to do this before I lost my nerve. I climbed the ladder and flipped open the hatch. After checking for witnesses, I scurried onto the perfectly manicured grass and closed the hatch. A sliver of sunlight peeked over the horizon. So beautiful but so deadly. This was the last time I would see it.

Goodbye.

I ran to the coil building and, keeping to the shadows, skulked toward the front of the building.

My next step would take me within range of the cameras. I had to move fast. Once they caught sight of me, I'd only have minutes. I put my head down and sprinted around the front of the building. I slid to a stop at the glass doors, punched in the code, and hit enter. The door buzzed and clicked. I paused, looked up at the camera, and smiled.

I threw the door open and bolted for the second access point. I tapped in my code again and flung the steel door open. I darted for the coil while the steel door crashed closed behind me. The coil lay in front of me. I slid my backpack off as I ran and ripped open the zipper. Stopping at the steel undergirding that held up the immense coil, I yanked the duct tape out of the bag as the coil thrummed with energy. I glanced around. So far no one had found me.

I peeled a length of tape off the roll and tore it off with my teeth, then dug the bomb out of the bag and pressed it against the steel supports. Holding it in place with my leg, I fixed it to he girder.

A metal-grating screech echoed around me. The door! Someone was here. Then heavy footfalls--boots on cement.

Typhon soldiers spilled through the door. I reached for the detonator switch and five lasers converged on my chest.

"Don't move. Put your hands up!" A voice boomed.

I froze with my finger on the switch. "Put your guns down else I'll arm it!" 

The lasers centered over my heart, but my finger remained on the switch. I eyed the crocodilian faces of the soldiers, their yellow eyes squinting into the sites on their guns.

"If you lower your guns, I'll come with you quietly," I shouted. I had no intention of going anywhere with them, but they didn't need to know that.

No one moved. My pulse rushed in my ears and my legs went numb.

A clicking sound broke the silence. Click, clack. Click, clack. Growing closer every moment.

And then Dr. Rail stepped in front of the soldiers. "You don't want to do that, Leah. In fact, if you tell us where you got it, we might be able to overlook all of this."

I glared at her and kept my finger on the switch.

She smiled. "You don't want to die, Leah. Just step away from it. This is all a big mistake."

I ground my teeth.

Dr. Rail took a step forward.

"Don't come any closer!"

"I'm glad you came back, Leah. This is where you belong. Hmm. That looks like a human contraption. Did they put you up to this?"

She stepped closer. "You see how they are? You used to be one of them, and they treat you like this? Sending you to die for their cause. Leah, just move away from the device."

I peered into her in the eyes and lifted my chin. "No."

She smirked. "Bring him in," she called over her shoulder.

A soldier shoved a boy through the door. A bloody and swollen face, unrecognizable. Then his gaze met mine with the one eye that wasn't swollen shut. Dean! "What did you do to him?"

Dr. Rail sighed. "He refused to tell us where you disappeared to. This all works out well though. See, he still has a use."

The soldier nudged Dean forward with the barrel of his gun. Dean stumbled.

She walked over to Dean, grabbed his hair, and yanked his head back. "You step away from that or Dean dies." 

Tears blurred my eyes. I glanced between my friend and the bomb. Would they let him live if I gave up?

Could I trust anything Dr. Rail said? The defunct magnetic field, them changing us into Typhons, the purpose of The Farm--all lies. They'd kill Dean. If they didn't kill me, they'd turn me into a vegetable and lock me in the psych ward.

"Dean--I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," he said. He winced as he squared his shoulders. "Leah?" He locked his gaze on me and nodded. "Flip the switch."

A chest pounding boom split the air. Dean lurched forward and fell to his knees. Blood spread across the chest of his shirt and he fell, face down, to the floor.

"No!" I shouted.

Dr. Rail smirked.

I flipped the switch. Another shot rang out. Something threw me backward, as if I'd been smacked in the shoulder with a baseball bat. I grabbed my shoulder. A warm fluid oozed between my fingers. I stumbled sideways and fell to the floor. I looked up at the bomb. Red digital numbers counted down.