“Who are you?” I ask, unsheathing my weapon.
“We are the Keepers,” intone a number of voices.
“What’s happened?” Brink asks, grunting slightly from the pain.
“War has begun. We were not able to start the realignment in time.”
“Where are the others?” I ask, still holding my weapon by my side.
“We are able to track only those who survived Thrace Tower. We moved them to other safe locations throughout the Dead Zone. Not all made it out alive.”
“The Dead Zone isn’t safe,” Garrett says loudly. “It’s full of nuclear toxins from when you bombed the hell out of it.”
“Untrue.” The voices are now just one again. "We have spent many years cleaning the air and the ground. The Patrician bombed the people when they began to revolt. We stood by helplessly as millions perished.”
“Lies, all lies,” Garrett says.
“Do not provoke us, Garrett. Remember, you are still connected to Thrace Tower. We can return you there at our discretion.”
He looks down at his wristband and remains quiet.
“How do we stop this?” I ask.
“Find the others and bring them back to Pentras Tower,” the multiple voices return. “But be careful about the drones. They are controlled by the Patrician. If they catch you, they will kill you.”
“Why can’t you just loop the others here like you did when you moved them from Thrace Tower?” Van asks.
“Better yet,” I begin, “why not bring them here to begin with?”
“We had to act fast as many of our children were dying. We felt it was better to spread them out so that the Patrician could not locate all of you.”
“That still doesn’t answer Van’s question,” Garrett says.
“Pentras Tower can only be accessed by a modified Looper. Since Max was altered by the Patrician, she can loop in and out of the structure as she wishes, as well as anyone connected to her. We, however, cannot physically penetrate the building’s safety protocols. We can gain access to the video and audio portion, but even that is minimal.”
“You are liars,” Garrett says, almost laughing. “You can’t send me back to Thrace Tower any more than you can transport yourselves into this building.”
I glare at Garrett and he quiets down.
“So, it wasn’t a coincidence that you placed me in that unit? You knew what the Patrician had done to me before I got there,” I say.
“Yes, but we did not know to what extent your alterations had been until you took Garrett’s weapon.”
“Who told you?” I ask.
“Tilda. It unfortunately led to her death.”
“And Vernon? He told the Aedox where I was hiding. He’s with the Patrician, isn’t he?” I ask.
“Yes.”
“What was the event going to really be about?” Van asks, packing up the medical kit.
“We needed a leader for our army as we knew war was imminent. We wanted someone in place before the realignment started, however we were too slow. Pentras is not a new utopia, but a new beginning.”
The speakers cut out, leaving nothing but silence around us.
I need to think. Who could’ve made it out? Would the Patrician have saved only those loyal to them, or anyone? Who do I look for first?
I sheathe my weapon, notice a door with the sign “Stairwell” stenciled across it, and go through the door, then up, two steps at a time. I don’t know where I’m going, I just know I need to get higher in the building.
“Max, wait,” Garrett calls behind me.
I don’t stop until I reach the twentieth floor, where I have to catch my breath. I don’t want to loop inside the building since I’ve never seen any of the floors and don’t know their layouts. I knew the lobby from the nightmare, that’s the only reason I could get us there safely.
“Where are you going?” Garrett asks when he catches up to me.
“The top floor. It’s the only way to see if we can locate the others.”
“You’re not serious? They’re more than likely dead. Killed by whatever is outside these walls.”
“I don’t believe that.” I begin climbing again with Garrett at my heels.
“You’re going to get yourself killed, Max. Then everything the Patrician did to you will have been for nothing.”
I stop and turn around. “Don’t you dare defend their actions. They mutilated me.”
“And the Keepers are using it to their benefit.” He takes a deep sigh, looks down for a brief second, then back at me. “All right, how about we don’t trust either of them, at least until we can figure things out?”
“We may all be dead by then.”
I start climbing again and don’t stop until we reach the fiftieth floor. The heavy metal door is jammed, and it takes both of us to open it. The air is stale, but again everything is dust free. The entire top floor is open space with couches, tables, displays that aren’t currently functioning, and lots of windows. Off to the right of the stairwell is a large kitchen including stoves, ovens, and refrigerators. Two massive pantries line the walls by the stairwell door.
Lightning flashes in the distance as a storm rolls in. I’m not sure how this is possible since the Dead Zone is completely encapsulated. We walk to the far wall and watch the light show, but we don’t hear any thunder. The building is so protected from the outside that not even sound will penetrate.
Why build a structure like this? Unless, you knew you were going to need it. So, was the bombing of the original city of Pentras really premeditated murder? Were the Dracken in that time trying to prevent it? Why would the Patrician build a society only to destroy it later? Is that why the Dracken are forming again? To stop a second wave of merciless destruction?
“Max, you all right?” Garret asks, taking my elbow.
I hadn’t realized I was beginning to sway. He walks me over to a nearby couch and helps me sit down. He then goes over to one of the refrigerators, and opens it. We’re both surprised that it’s still functioning. Inside are perfectly preserved fruits,
