the night before she’d fled. Lemon-pepper chicken and broccoli with cheese casserole. For dessert, she had had chocolate cake with a raspberry sauce. Her mouth watered.
“Good.” Doc sounded pleased. “If you can keep the food and water down, I’ll remove that,” he said, indicating the IV.
The doctor started for the opening, but stopped when another set of footsteps echoed down the hall. Whoever it was wasn’t worried about being heard. The steps were loud and thumped with attitude. Ellyssa tilted her head to see around the doctor, but no one appeared. Instead, the visitor stopped just out of sight.
“Rein said the girl was awake.”
The voice she definitely recognized, the intonation clinging to her spine. The male who’d tried to wake her in the store. Jason.
“So?”
“He sent me here to guard her.”
“She is weak. I don’t think you need that.”
Ellyssa closed her eyes and used her gift to enter the mind of the doctor, while trying to ignore Jason’s. Jason had stringy, dark hair hanging limply around his face. He stood in the shadows of the tunnel and carried a shotgun in the crook of his arm.
“That’s your opinion,” he said to the doctor.
Ellyssa pushed past Doc and entered Jason’s head. His mind appeared simple, more barbaric. He didn’t seem well-educated, but she assumed most people here didn’t have the schooling she and her siblings had received. Images of her kicking him filled his thoughts. He wasn’t happy about it, either. Through his eyes, she saw the doctor. The older man’s forehead was pocked in anger. Clearly, the doctor didn’t care for Jason.
“And this is my domain. You stay outside of this door.” Doc jabbed his finger in the air. “Understand?”
“Fine.”
Before the doctor stepped through the opening, he glanced back at Ellyssa. “I’ll be back in a moment,” he said, emphasizing
Ellyssa stayed with Jason for a moment longer to see if he was planning anything. He seemed content to stay where he was. She heard him shuffle, and then a sound like him sliding down the dirt wall.
Her head pulsed. Taking the hint, Ellyssa withdrew. She was in no condition to push her ability, and she needed to conserve her energy. Regardless of how nice the doctor seemed, these people were Renegades. Dangerous people she had been engineered to kill.
Ellyssa’s eyes wandered around the rocky enclosure. Only one way in and one way out. She could hear Jason as he shifted positions.
She inhaled deeply and relaxed against her pillow. Her current circumstances posed a problem she hadn’t anticipated. The priority had been reaching Kansas City. Now, she was uncertain what to do. Maybe the dark- haired man had just sent random thoughts that she’d intercepted. But they’d seemed directed at her, as if he knew her capabilities. Of course, if it hadn’t been for the stranger, she never would have stumbled across her father’s lies.
From her earliest memories, Ellyssa had been taught that everything for the greater good was a necessity. She and her siblings had been trained to dispose of inferior beings. They were the solution, not part of the problem.
According to her father’s files, though, they would be just as disposable when the time came. Her father’s research was on its way to its apex; she was the foundation.
Thoughts racing around, Ellyssa’s head started to thrum as if someone was trying to split her skull open with a jackhammer. She placed her glass on the little table next to her cot. Thinking hurt too much.
The next thing Ellyssa knew, the doctor was hovering over her with a smile. Surprised, she jumped. Her whole body, especially her leg, wrenched in pain. She stifled a cry.
“Nice nap?”
She jerked her head.
“I brought you something to eat. Here, let me help you.” He started to reach for her, and she flinched. He paused. “I’m not going to hurt you. I promise.”
Ellyssa popped into his mind and back out, before the jackhammering started again. The doctor was sincere in his intentions.
Relaxing, she let him help. Doc propped several pillows and rolled up blankets behind her back for added support, then grabbed the tray from the table and placed it on her lap. Chunks of potatoes and carrots swam in a brown broth. Next to the chipped bowl lay a slice of bread.
“I want to see how you hold this down.”
She reached for the spoon and scooped up a potato. She eyed it apprehensively.
“I promise it’s good.”
Stomach rumbling like thunder, she put the spoon in her mouth. The soup was warm and seasoned with salt and pepper, and the vegetables were cooked perfectly. Surprised, she drank the soup until there was nothing left but a little liquid at the bottom of the bowl. She sopped it up with the bread.
“How does that feel on your stomach?” the doctor asked, taking the tray.
She stared at him.
“Still not talking?”
Ellyssa offered him a small smile. That bit of communication pleased him. Doc’s grin widened, and his eyes lit. He offered her a glass of water, which she accepted.
“Well, the least we can do is clean you up some. You don’t smell like a flower garden.”
He smiled as he said it, but she imagined he wasn’t lying. The last shower she’d taken had been the night she’d run away.
Doc went and poured some water in a basin and grabbed a washcloth. He set it on the table next to her, then uncovered her. Surprise registered when Ellyssa noticed her clothing had been replaced with a white gown. She had been seriously out of it.
After wringing out the cloth, he began wiping her arms and legs down. When he was done, he stuck the cloth back into the water, wrung it out, and handed it to her. “Why don’t you clean…um…other parts?”
Turning around, the doctor went and stood between her cot and the entrance. Keeping her eyes on the male, she pulled the gown up and cleaned her lower regions. The effort exhausted her more than she’d like to admit. Done with the task, she tossed the cloth back into the basin and cleared her throat.
“Finished?”
She cleared her throat again.
Doc glanced over his shoulder before turning completely around. He grabbed a basin and filled it with water. “We’ll get your hair later. Right now, you need to get some sleep.”
Her gaze darted to the entrance.
The doctor leaned closer. “Don’t worry about anything,” he whispered. “I’ll be sitting right over there.” He pointed at the desk. “When you wake up, I’ll bring you something with a bit more substance.”
He removed the extra pillows and blankets, and Ellyssa settled onto her back. Her eyes followed him to the desk. From the top drawer, he took out a worn hardcover book. Wondering what he was reading, she drifted into sleep.
Rein navigated the long tunnels, his thoughts lingering on the girl they’d saved. Deep down, he knew it’d been dangerous for him to bring her back here; the others had protested, especially after she’d attacked them, but he couldn’t leave her there to die. Her greyish skin, her eye sockets, dark and sunken, her knotted hair tangled into dirty clumps—he just couldn’t do it.
He knew, as soon as he’d seen her, there was something about her. Especially when her eyes popped open, the blue reminded him of parting clouds exposing the sky after a rain. Then, even in her condition, the ferocity of her attack. She was definitely special.
He paused just outside the main hall. Jordan was speaking with the others, delivering orders. The frail frame of the elder stood in the center of room. He beckoned with a thin finger to Terri, a young girl with pretty features. She helped him shuffle to the wooden bench. Grunting, the elder sat and watched as the community worked together, picking up the remaining supply boxes stacked against the wall and moving them into the kitchen
