The Collective

Chapter Thirty-Four

     Stacy pulled up outside the hatch imbedded in the hillside. She held a pair of binoculars, marking something on her paper. She checked her watch, just like she had every five minutes for the last hour.

     I sighed. I shouldered the door open, sauntering towards the hatch. I stood over it, facing Stacy. She shook her head, frantically motioning for me to come back. I ignored her. I popped the hatch open. I slid down the ladder.

     The door that led to Chase's war room buzzed as it slid open. Chase sipped a giant Slurpee. He waved from his seat in the corner. He slid to a different monitor. "I was wondering how long it would take you to come in. Who's the driver?"

     "Stacy Gardner. She wants to help me save Ethan." I did jazz hands as I walked in. I froze. The place had been ruined. Everything was either smoking or shattered. Pieces of the walls were crumbling. The doorway was bent and twisted. There were holes in all different sizes all over the floor. "Chase?"

     "Incoming." He slid into the tunnel leading to the dining room.

     Stacy's heels echoed softly. "Annie, perhaps we need to revisit proper stakeout protocol? This could've been a trap."

     Yes, and there could have been a tripwire on the door. And we could've slid off the road and died of exposure. It didn't matter. We didn't have time for all this covert ops nonsense.

     I ignored her, not checking to see if she followed me into the hallway. Chase sat right on the edge in his wheelie chair with a gun held on Stacy. He pulled the trigger. Bubbles popped out. He shoved it into the holster on his chair. "Stacy."

     She smiled loftily. "I see your living conditions haven't improved."

     Chase stood up, sighing heavily. "What do you want?"

     "It's not what I want. It's what you want. I know where your sister is. Come on. We have work to do." She waltzed past us.

     Chase mumbled under his breath. He growled, laughing uncomfortably. He stomped down the tunnel.

     The lights flickered off. It was way too quiet. I gnawed on my lip. I didn't want to go. I followed after them. The dining room wasn't any better. Tables and chairs were flipped. And was that... blood, all over the ground. The walls. I kept my head down, pressing my hands together. I ducked through a narrow doorway. Only to find more of the same.

     Stacy sat on a metal counter, taking her gloves off finger by finger. She pulled a muffin out of her bag.

     "Chase, what happened?"

     He stiffened. "What do you think?" He slid me a water bottle, passing one to Stacy. "What's this about, Gardner?"

     She chewed her muffin, taking her sweet time. She dusted the crumbs off of her hands, swallowing. "Your sister's in prison."

     Chase spluttered, almost dropping the water bottle. "What?"

     Stacy pursed her lips. She pulled a blue folder out of her bag. She flipped it open to a page in the middle. She laid several black and white photos on the counter.

     Chase scanned them over. "Where were these taken?"

     Stacy flipped through her folder, unperturbed. "You know, I always thought Max would be the one who ended up in prison. I never thought it would be sweet, little Sarah."

     "Yeah, well, life happens. Now, where is she?"

     She slammed the file closed. "Let's go."