Chapter 20
As we approach the sub level entrance to the NRI, we finally discover what “gym class” means.
According to Delilah and Veronica, when they were in high school, Delilah hated phys ed. She would much rather go to the library or spend the time at one of the labs in the science wing of their school, but the graduation requirements were clear: each student had to take a physical education class.
I’m an identical twin. Xandra and I had the same face, the same build, the same long, blonde hair with enough of a curl to it to be annoying.
From a distance, we were indistinguishable.
Up close, there were little differences that made our identities obvious.
Like how I wore pink nail polish and Xandra wore black.
I tended toward feminine blouses and jeans that showed off my shape.
My twin? She grabbed whatever t-shirts or tanks and black jeans she had that were clean and looked fucking amazing doing it.
When the McLean twins were younger, they were just as identical. So they came up with a plan. Veronica—who was always the more sporty twin—would attend Delilah’s gym classes for her. “Gym class” eventually became code for times when they would dress as each other and pretend to be the other.
I nodded knowingly as they explained. Chase gave me a curious look.
“You and Xandra ever do that?” he asked.
I snorted. “Of course we did.”
His brow furrowed. “Did you ever do that to me?”
I squeezed his upper arm. “Never, babe. You knew me too well. Even if I pretended to be Xandra, you’d always know who I really was.”
After all, for almost three months, that’s exactly what happened, isn’t it? Though we’re always careful not to mention the damage that my twin’s death did to my psyche, he knows exactly what I mean, and he flashes a small grin my way.
“Damn right I will.”
Chase knows me too well. We’re banking on the fact that Delilah’s colleagues won’t. Pausing only long enough for Veronica to take a spare hair tie and her pair of shades out of her backpack, she hurriedly makes herself look as much like Delilah as she can.
Hey. It would fool me. Neither one has a lab coat—and I doubt the staff at the NRI expects her to be wearing one—but with the same face, the same hairdo, and the shades… the twins are sure they can fool the Men in Black.
That’s part one of our plan. We’re still hoping that they don’t know how many of us to expect. By splitting up, we’re going to get our full revenge on the NRI.
David and Chase are the fastest. Their job is to follow one of Jules’s maps and plant the five explosive devices that Maverick built with their help.
David has a trigger, and so do Maverick and Veronica; Mav made three in case something like this was necessary.
Our plan is to put them where it will hurt, set off two specific explosives as a distraction, then if we get out of the NRI, we’ll set off three more.
Between two blasts, we’re going to blow that motherfucker sky-high on our way out of Manhattan.
Even better, we’re hoping there is enough fire left from the explosion to spread throughout the island to kill all of the lurkers, and with one big ka-boom, both Maverick and I might just get our revenge.
If not, it’s worth the try regardless. The lurkers can wait. Right now? I just want to see everyone responsible for Project Phoenix burn.
It’s risky. The last two days, we used Jules’s maps to figure out exactly where to place the IEDs for maximum impact. We need to set off the first two without trapping the five of us inside, then get out before the other three go off.
Until Chase and David are in place, Veronica is going to attract attention as Delilah.
The goal is for her to make it to the lab where Gwen is supposedly being kept before the first bombs blow.
Of the two sisters, Veronica is a much more ferocious fighter.
She has a trial size can of hairspray in her pocket, plus her lighter and a knife similar to the one I got from Annie at the trading post. At first, though, she’ll pretend like she’s Delilah, that she’s still loyal to the cause, and beg for a second chance.
If that doesn’t work, she’s going to fight her way out.
Delilah will be hidden nearby, ready to grab Gwen if she can since we all agree this endeavor will have been worth it if we can’t liberate the scientist. Maverick and I are going as back-up, only revealing ourselves if her plan to impersonate her twin fails.
Then, when the bombs blow, we’ll work together to escape any of the goons who come after us.
Then, once we’re outside of the blast radius, it’s ka-boom again.
Delilah passes the map over to David as soon as we reach the same sort of ladder built as a sublevel access to the NRI as the one passing as the Cash 4 Gold place. Veronica reaffirms her instructions to David while Chase accepts the duffel bag of explosives from Maverick.
He cups my neck, dragging me up to my tiptoes so that he can kiss me. “Don’t forget,” he whispers huskily. “New Jersey, Mrs. Knight. You’ll finally be my bride.”
Veronica shoots me a look. “You’re not really married?”
I roll my eyes. This is so not the time. “Come on. Are we doing this or what?”
Then, before I can let my nervous gut convince me that it’s a really fucking bad to separate from Chase, I nudge Maverick toward the ladder.
Veronica moves in front of him. “I’ll go first, cutie. They’re expecting me. I don’t think they’ll rip my head off right away, but it’ll be a shame if something happens to you after how hard you’ve fought to stay alive.”
Maverick’s lips twitch. “I’m doing this for Lindsay,” he murmurs. “But for me, too. When I’ve made them pay, maybe I can finally move on. Take this second chance I got and use it.”
She flashes him a grin. “Sounds like a plan to me. And I’m an expert.”
He laughs. Delilah hems nervously as Veronica starts to climb.
Me? I have to swallow the “I told you so” that I really want to say to Chase. I fucking knew there was something between Veronica and Maverick. Maybe they don’t even know it themselves, but I noticed it all the way back when we first met the rogue, and I’m more convinced of it now than ever.
But Chase and David have already loped down the sewer tunnel, running ahead to do their job. And, welp, it’s my turn to go and do mine.
Delilah doesn’t need a map to navigate her way through the National Resilience Institute building.
For those members of staff who survived, this is their place of business and their home.
As far as I can tell, there are at least ten levels dedicated to the NRI.
Three of them include offices, with some of them having been converted into the same sort of cell that I once found myself in.
There are floors that contain conference rooms, staffing areas, and kitchens.
Break rooms. Rooms for the higher-ups, like Winston, and even higher.
Above the main floors, there are apartments that were saved for prominent visitors to the facility.
Traveling scientists as well as full-time employees could rent the space so that they didn’t have to worry about any sort of commute.
So, yes, Delilah is very well acquainted from the building where she spent the last nine years of her life, but what surprises me the most is that, within minutes of us creeping down an empty hall, I recognize it.
We’ve gotten lucky so far. Delilah explained that she was taking us a less-traveled way to reach the labs. Unless the building was back on lockdown—something we feared might happen if they expected us coming—we shouldn’t run into anyone until we went at least one floor up.
Once upon a time, the NRI boasted a staff of hundred. Delilah doesn’t have the exact number… and considering how often they sacrifice their own, it could be even less in the time after she defected… but she says there were about forty people who were still haunting the NRI building when she left.
One thing I’m regretting is that we didn’t take the time to get a good look at Kristian and figure out how long he had been dead.
There weren’t any flies and he didn’t stink, but when he was an almost-lurker, I don’t know if he would decompose like a normal human.
Was it an hour ago? Yesterday? He could’ve been killed any time since Delilah corresponded with him last, and since that was a day and a half ago, we at least have forty hour window where he could’ve been killed—and the Men in Black could be waiting for us to make a move for Gwen.
Are they expecting us now? Do they even know we would’ve gone looking for him?
I wouldn’t put it past these monsters to torture information out of Kristian before they killed him.
They might know everything, but if that’s the case, it’s business as usual here.
We’re still managing to avoid detection when I look around and I can’t help but feel a shiver of recognition as I peer around.
At first, I don’t know why. The NRI is full of the same white walls, fluorescent lights, and sterile floors that somehow survived the end of civilization better than most of the people did.
Then I look to my right and down the hall, and my stomach twists for a completely different reason than the cramps I’ve been dealing with since we came back to Manhattan.
That door. I know that door.
So, it seems, does Maverick. Even before I caught sight of it, he’s turned toward it, glaring at it.
To my left, Delilah is already pointing toward the opposite end of the hall, quietly explaining that the lab marked on the schematic is two levels above us and they’ll need to take the service stairs to keep from getting caught before Veronica steps out as Delilah.
Veronica listens to her twin, but she’s looking at Mav same as me.
Mav? He’s still looking at the door.
They exchange a glance, and I almost scoff.
Oh, those sneaky fuckers.
“You did this on purpose,” I mutter.