The Extinction Trials(78)

How was that possible? How could the city bus mechanic who had woken up with them in Station 17 have been here before?

The man advanced into the room. “We had almost given up hope.”

He reached out to embrace Alister, but Alister held up his good arm. “Mind the shoulder. I’ve been shot.”

“We’ll get you patched up.”

Alister stared at the man, his eyes hard. “Did you…?”

“No. She’s here. Our deal is still on. We honor our promises.”

Alister exhaled. “Good. Thank you.” He nodded in Maya’s direction. “She’s infected with GV.”

The man studied Maya. “Oh, we know exactly who she is and what she’s infected with. We’ve been looking for you for a very long time, Doctor Young. We have some questions for you. We’ll get those answers soon.”

The man bent down and focused on Blair. “And we’ve been looking for you for a long time as well. There’s someone who wants to see you, Blair. We’re waking him up right now.”

He stood again and to the group said, “Welcome to The Colony.”





Armed guards escorted them to a holding room that reminded Owen of an observation room in one of the ARC Stations. There was a small bathroom, a couch, several chairs, and a wide mirror set in the wall. Owen assumed that there were people behind the mirror right now, peering into this holding room, discussing what they saw, making plans, and perhaps concocting experiments to run. He had hoped The Colony would be their salvation. So far, it seemed they had only landed in another cage.

The guards had paid Alister no mind. At the airlock, he had split from the group and walked with the man who had greeted them, talking as they went, like old friends reunited.

Who was Alister?

What was going on here?

“We need to talk,” Cara whispered to Owen and Maya.

Before either could respond, the door opened, and Blair’s father stepped in. He knelt down, arms held out. “Come here, B.”

The girl ran into his arms, and he squeezed her tight, his eyes closing.

“Daddy,” she whispered.

“I missed you so much, little one. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there when you woke up.”

“I was scared.”

“I know. It’s all over now. Everything is going to be okay.”

He lifted her up as he stood and rocked her back and forth.

To the group, he said, “Thank you for returning my daughter to me. I can only imagine what you’ve been through to get here.”

“Why are we being held?” Owen asked.

The man set Blair down and called through the door. “Melissa, can you take my daughter, please?”

A tall woman wearing a gray uniform stepped into the doorway and extended a hand for Blair to take. “Go along, B,” Blair’s father said. “I’ll be along shortly.”

Blair looked back at Maya as the woman in the gray uniform tugged gently at her hand, coaxing the girl out of the room. Suddenly, Blair broke free of the woman and ran back to Maya, who bent down to hug her.

“It’s okay,” Maya said, holding Blair tightly. “Everything is going to be okay.”

“Where are you going?” Blair asked.

Maya swallowed. “I don’t know.”

Blair’s father studied the scene—his daughter’s attachment to Maya seemed a surprise to him. “She needs to stay here for a bit, sweetie. Doctor Young is sick.” He stared at Maya. “We’re going to make her better. And then we’re going to have a talk about what happened.”





When they were alone again in the room, Cara ushered Owen and Maya into the corner and whispered, “We need to get out of here. Right now.”

“Why?” Owen asked quietly, glancing at the two-way mirror, wondering if anyone could hear their conversation.

“I can’t explain. Not here. Not now.”

“At that station in the city, Will said that you and Alister were both hiding secrets,” Owen whispered. “I think we know Alister’s secret. He was from The Colony. What’s your secret, Cara?”

“I’ll tell you. Once we get out of here. We need to get the cure for the Genesis Virus and get out.”

“And go where?”

“Back to the city.”

“To those people who killed Will?”

“Yes.”

Owen was about to respond when the door opened again, and Blair’s father strode through. The woman with the gray suit pushed a silver cart behind him. There were three injectors on the top shelf and a stack of sanitizing wipes.

The man smiled. “The time for secrets has passed, my friends.”

Owen stepped toward the man. “I couldn’t agree more. Why are you holding us here?”

“For your protection. And ours.” The man placed his hands in his pockets. “My name is Darius Aldridge. I’m the founder of Genesis Biosciences.” He cut his eyes to Maya. “And one of your former colleagues, as you’ll soon remember.”

“What do you want from us?” Owen asked.

“That will become clear to you very soon.”

Owen stepped closer to the man. “I want to see Alister.”

Aldridge turned to the mirror. “Who’s Alister?”