The Beyond: Dystopian Survival Fiction (The Breeder Files Book 4) Eliza Green (fantasy novels to read TXT) 📖

Dom took Anya’s hand. He glanced back to see June was glaring at Anya. Dom gave her a reassuring smile.

They followed Agatha and her soldiers out and into the corridor. All he could hear was the beat of his heart and the thick, echoing thud of military-grade boots pounding the concrete floor. The sounds changed to sharp clanging when those boots hit the steel stairs leading to Agatha’s office.

Agatha entered the room first, but one of the soldiers stopped Dom from following.

‘When she’s ready, not before.’

After a minute, Agatha called out, ‘Send them in.’

They entered the room. A visibly distraught Agatha paced the room.

She stopped at the desk and turned to face them. ‘What the hell have you people done?’

‘What are you talking about? We’ve done nothing.’

‘We’ve just had a security breach.’

He played dumb. ‘I’m not sure what that has to do with—’

‘The one called Alex?’ Agatha glared at him. ‘He was in the control room. At your insistence, I presume?’

Dom said nothing.

Anya spoke up. ‘If something’s happened, it’s your fault. We told you we needed to open the door to the Region. We have people trapped on the other side.’

Agatha folded her arms. Her lips thinned. ‘You don’t understand what’s happening here, do you? A security breach is a big deal in this place.’

Anya smiled. ‘Open the door and we promise not to touch your security again.’

‘You’re not listening to me, girl. You never were good at listening. Your Alex has uploaded something extra into our systems.’

‘What?’

‘A virus.’ Agatha perched on the desk’s edge. ‘You brought something back with you, something that could destroy this base and our city.’

‘Alex did that?’ said Dom.

Other than Frahlia acting strange around him, he’d seen nothing odd about the former Breeder.

But when Anya fell quiet, his blood ran cold.

‘What is it?’ he asked.

She looked up at him with round eyes and he suddenly felt sick.

‘When Thomas and I freed Alex in the medical facility, I thought there was something off about him. Then Frahlia didn’t take to him.’

His breath caught in his throat. ‘In what way was he off?’

‘He was too excited by Frahlia. I put it down to my not knowing him all that well. I’m sorry. I should have said something.’

He rubbed her back. ‘It’s okay.’

‘No, it’s not,’ said Agatha. ‘None of this is okay.’

There had to be a way to fix this. ‘What can we do?’

Agatha pushed off from the desk. ‘We need to evacuate the base, cut the systems off from the rest of the network. Find a way to fight this enemy again.’

Enemy? Again?

His stomach flipped. ‘You think it’s Quintus?’

‘I know it is.’

‘Let us open the door. We have people on the other side that can help. We have the man who was the Inventor for Praesidium. Please.’

‘No, it’s too dangerous.’

‘At least let us try. We didn’t bring Quintus across willingly.’

Agatha pursed her lips. ‘The damage is done. The one entity we wanted to keep out is now here. We can’t risk rebooting the security to open the door.’

Dom had another idea. He held up his arm. ‘If you agree to it, we may not need to reboot your system.’

Agatha’s eyes widened. ‘What are you going to do?’

‘You wanted to study my tech? Well, here’s your first chance. I’m going to open the door with it.’

But Agatha looked unconvinced. ‘Then what?’

‘You let the others pass and you can ask me whatever you want. Study me however you want.’

Anya turned sharply. ‘Dom, no!’

He smiled at her. ‘It’s okay. I’m not afraid anymore.’ He looked at Agatha. ‘What do you say?’

‘Do you really have someone who can help?’

He nodded.

Her expression relaxed. She strode over to the door and opened it, to speak to the soldiers. ‘Get a team to the door. We’re going to try opening it.’

‘But it’s on lockdown,’ said the wide-eyed soldier.

‘I know. Just do it.’

She turned back to Dom. ‘Let’s see your tech in action.’

Agatha led the way and Dom followed, taking the stairs two at a time to the ground floor. He heard Anya’s lighter, hesitant steps behind him.

This would work. He would use Quintus’ technology against him.

Agatha moved fast and he was tempted to outrun her and reach the door first. But he stayed back; he couldn’t risk losing this opportunity.

They arrived at the heavy, steel door. Five armed soldiers guarded it. They parted when Agatha approached them.

She turned to Dom. ‘The door is shut tight. You’re going to need all the power you can muster.’

Behind him, more soldiers filled the area. One held a grappling hook. He glanced back and saw the wire led back to the bay area. Probably attached to one of the trucks there.

‘If you can get the door open partially, the grappling hook and truck will do the rest,’ said Agatha. She paused. ‘Are you sure you can do this?’

Dom held up his arm. He hadn’t tested the strength all that much, but he couldn’t think of a better reason to use it.

‘No, but I’m going to try.’

He tugged on the handle of the door and leaned back into it. His body quivered with the force. The door groaned, but he felt it shift, if only a few millimetres. A pain radiated up into his shoulder socket and lit his muscles on fire.

‘Dom, you don’t have to do this,’ said Anya.

‘I’m okay.’

He kept tugging, because his body was all he really had control over. If Quintus was here, Dom would make him pay for everything he’d done to him.

The door loosened a little more. One of the soldiers wedged the hook in the crack. The slack wire snapped tight and instantly lightened