38. Chapter Thirty-Eight Lakey
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Lakey
Ants crawled up and down my legs as the blood flow slowed. I needed to move, to stretch. Kyle had become head honcho and enjoyed telling me what to do. It was pissing me off and my knives burned on my thighs, wanting to slice his tongue out of his mouth.
"Alright, listen up," Kyle whispered, rummaging around in his camo-designed backpack. I was just waiting for him to bust out an energy drink and punch a hole in a wall. "We've got motion sensors, infrared cameras, and a scheduled patrol once every hour. One wrong move and we're fucked."
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, but Cam was watching Kyle intently, so I forced myself to pay attention. I didn't like the way we were deferring plans to someone else, but the respect on Cam's face was hard to ignore.
"Take these," Kyle muttered, passing out gleaming pistols.
The weight felt good in my hand, and yet I knew I wouldn't use it unless I had no other choice.
I wondered if Kyle knew how many people I'd killed with my knives.
Probably not, judging by how casually he handed me a weapon capable of much more widespread damage.
As Kyle rattled on about security protocols, I scanned the perimeter.
No movement, no signs of life. Almost too easy.
My gut twisted. Was Kyle leading us into a trap?
I glanced at Cam. His jaw was clenched tight, eyes narrowed.
He wasn't suspicious about Kyle's leadership, not yet, but that was unease on his face.
Yeah, he felt it too. Almost like Chimera wanted us to find this place.
If Janine was here, and if she was as important as they made her out to be, there's no way she'd be left unguarded.
So why was this all so fucking easy?
"Ready?" Kyle asked, pulling out a sleek laptop.
I nodded, cocking my pistol and checking the chamber. "Ready as a chicken for slaughter."
Kyle's fingers flew across the keys. I leaned in close, breathing down his neck. Not because I gave a damn about his hacking, but to watch for tells, any sign he was about to screw us. Nothing happened. He hit some buttons, entered a few commands, and declared it safe to enter the building.
"Once we're in, we'll have three minutes before the system resets," he murmured. "I've got the camera feedback on loop, so no issues there. I just need to grab the code to the inner lab doors and we're set. Just watch for guards that are out of place and anything that looks like a trap."
I flashed a grin. "Got it, darling. Now less yappin', more hackin'."
Kyle finished his work and we moved. One wrong move inside and we'd be swarmed, our bodies riddled with bullets before we could blink. The thought should have terrified me. Instead, it brought me something close to peace. At least death would welcome me with open arms.
"We're in," Kyle breathed. "Remember, three minutes to the control panel. Don't fuck this up."
Sarah came up behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I love you," she whispered before he crushed her mouth with a kiss.
"Don't lag behind. Stay with the group," he warned her before taking point.
As we slipped into the facility, my fingers curled around my pistol. Kyle might think he was calling the shots, but if push came to shove, I'd paint these walls with his brains without a second thought. Nothing personal. Just business.
The facility's atmosphere hit me immediately. Sterile white walls stretched endlessly. The smell of bodily fluids assaulted my nose, but there was something else underneath. Something rotten. The faint hum of machinery set my teeth on edge, reminding me of the lab below St. Mary's Orphanage.
Why the fuck would Janine come here? This looks more like a private medical center than a safe house.
Kyle's hand signals guided us forward, his movements crisp and practiced.
I had to admit, the bastard knew what he was doing.
My eyes darted between his back and the security cameras lining the corridors, half-expecting alarms at any moment.
Sarah walked to the panel on the wall, opening it for Kyle before moving past, motioning for Rose.
Kyle got to work and a small beep indicated he'd done what he needed.
Step one: check.
Cam's presence at my side was a steady constant, his towering frame between me and potential danger. I could feel the brutality radiating off him, every muscle coiled, ready to spring at the slightest provocation.
"Two guards ahead," Kyle whispered, pressing himself against the wall. "Wait for my signal."
I bit back a snarky comment. Focused on breathing. In, out. The calm of incoming violence settled over me. As we waited, I wondered what kind of shit went on here. The pristine hallways felt like a facade, hiding horrors beneath the surface. Part of me itched to tear it all down, to expose the rot.
Kyle's hand shot up, signaling us to move. We darted across the intersection, our footsteps loud in the oppressive silence. Had they heard us?
"How much further?" I hissed.
Kyle's eyes narrowed. "Almost there. Just keep your shit together."
"Oh, don't you worry about me. I'm cool as a cucumber. Just focus on getting us further in without getting caught, yeah?"
Inside, my gut churned. Something about this whole place felt wrong.
Looking at Rose, I could see she was trying to put on a brave face.
She looked cute, for lack of a better word.
Definitely not one of us. Though, she did know how to fight when push came to shove, so that feral kitty was just hiding somewhere inside.
We rounded the corner, and the world fell away.
My breath caught as I took in the scene behind the glass in a closed-off room.
Rows upon rows of glass containment units lined the walls, each one housing a child in various stages of development.
Some were barely more than clumps of cells, while others were fully formed infants, their tiny fists pressed against the glass.
"Holy fuck," I whispered.
In the center of the room stood a massive, translucent bag filled with fluid. Inside, a fully formed baby floated, umbilical cord still attached. IV lines snaked into the bag, pumping God knows what into the kid.
My stomach lurched. I'd seen some fucked-up shit in my life, but this was on another level entirely.
Cam's hand found mine, squeezing tight. His face was flushed, eyes blazing with a fury I rarely saw. Not the controlled anger he used when he fought. This was something rawer. Something that came from a place even Cam didn't like to visit.
A choked sob drew my attention. Rose stood frozen, staring at the rows of children. Sarah was at her side immediately, a hand on her back stroking up and down in slow motions.
"Stay with me, Rose. We can't help them if we fall apart now. Go to the garden. The garden, Rose, go to it."
Sarah gently blocked Rose from the worst of it, positioning her body in Rose's line of vision, murmuring encouragement.
Part of me wanted to mock their weakness, but something in Sarah's quiet strength gave me pause.
We kept walking, on high alert. Down the hall, Kyle showing us to where we needed to go, unlocking the door with a code.
The door hissed open and we rushed inside.
Sarah sat Rose down and kept talking to her, helping her breathe through it.
A sudden whirring sound had us all tensing. Kyle's voice cut through the buzzing.
"Drone! Everyone, hide! Now!"
We scrambled for cover, ducking into a darkened alcove. I pressed myself against the wall, Cam's solid presence at my back. As the drone buzzed past, I held my breath, every muscle coiled tight.
When it passed, Kyle pulled out a gadget, scanning for heat signatures.
"Looks clear," he muttered. "But those cameras are still active. See that one in the corner? Must be on a different system in case of power failure. Can't imagine anyone wanting this shit getting out. Give me a sec."
What the fuck is this place?
As Kyle disabled the cameras, I grabbed Cam's hand, squeezing.
The question hung between us: How far were we willing to go to see this through?
Growing babies in bags was pretty fucking out there.
The small, almost nonexistent maternal part of me wanted to save them.
They were just babies. But what the fuck would I do with fifteen infants?
I tore my gaze away from Cam, forcing myself to focus. The experimental equipment scattered around the room made my skin crawl. Sleek metal contraptions with sharp edges and cold, clinical designs. A special kind of sick fuck came up with this shit.
"Well, well, well," I said, keeping my voice light despite the churning in my gut. "Looks like we've stumbled into a mad scientist's wet dream."
I snatched up a file from a nearby desk, flipping it open. My eyes widened as I scanned the contents.
"Jesus fucking Christ. Kyle and Sarah were right," I muttered.
"They're not just breeding kids. They're enhancing them.
Genetic modifications, hormone treatments, cognitive rewiring.
It's a whole assembly line of custom-built child soldiers.
They've been growing them in 'grow bags' in order to handpick their genetic material.
These aren't even babies. They're pieces of DNA spliced together. "
My fingers tightened on the file, crumpling the edges. For a second, I wondered if I'd been through something similar. Is that why I was the way I was? Is that why I didn't remember ever having a family? I shook the thought off. No time for that shit now.
"Hey, guys," I called out to Cam and Kyle, who were looking at one of the bag babies with a mixture of curiosity and revulsion. To hide my irritation at their growing bromance, I forced a teasing lilt into my voice. "Any sign of our girl Janine in this clusterfuck?"
"Nothing yet," Kyle sighed. "But there's gotta be a relocation log somewhere. The map said this was the central laboratory, which means most everything will be kept here."