I toss him the jacket he left hanging off the back of a chair. “I’m going to find my father and my sister. There’s no way in hell they haven’t already come up with a backup plan.”
*
Catlettsburg changed while I was gone. Erwin’s fingerprints are all over the town. The helpless people I left the prior spring are now lean and fit. They move like soldiers. The result is both encouraging and sad at the same time.
“I thought maybe this place could stay the same, you know? A little piece of heaven,” I tell Wyatt as we walk down Main Street. I see all the little shops are still open but now they have armed guards out front.
“It sounds like they were sitting ducks. They’re lucky Erwin got here first.”
“Did you train them?” I ask Wyatt, spotting some tell-tale signs as we pass a group sparring in the schoolyard.
“Erwin just wanted to keep me busy. My mind was a little messed up when we got here.” When I look at him in question he shrugs and admits, “Losing you took a toll.”
My heart clenches and even though I’m determined to stay hard—and not let emotions take me over—talk like that isn’t helping my resolve. I switch the subject and ask about the training.
“Erwin gave me a team and I had Paul, Jude, and Green’s help.” We’re walking toward city hall. My father is apparently holed up there in an underground laboratory. “Jude and I are in charge of the human recruits. Paul takes the Mutts.”
I’ve noticed the Mutts around town. They’re not hard to miss. They wear casual clothing—not Erwin’s Army-issued uniforms—and have an interesting edge. I don’t admit out loud that although Paul has proven himself loyal, I’m worried they may turn at any time, like Cole.
“How has it been, working with Benjamin?” Things were strained between the three of us before Chloe’s attack at the farmhouse. This seemed due to a crush on Benjamin’s part but things change. The cause is bigger than relationships.
“Green, is, well…I think this is what you’re going to talk to your dad about.” We pass two guards, both Mutts from what I can tell, and enter Town Hall. Wyatt leads me downstairs, confirming how Chloe inoculated Erwin’s men down south with the EVI-1, creating a super army she couldn’t fight. Since then, Erwin has given everyone in town the opportunity to take the EVI-2. Many, but not all, have accepted.
I stop mid-step. “Green took the EVI-2. He’s a Mutt.”
Wyatt nods. “Yes.”
“Anyone else?” I feel sick in my stomach. Months of being tortured by Cole has this effect on me. “Jude?”
“No.” He rests his hand on my shoulder. “Listen, I’ve been hesitant to tell you and you didn’t ask right off so I let it wait, but you should also know that we haven’t heard anything from Walker and her team either.”
I’d been afraid to ask. When none of them appeared at our door I knew it couldn’t be good. “Dammit. It’s been six months!”
“I know.”
That information churns the anger again. I hate this. I hate this life. Do I mourn these friends or do I spool out a fantasy that they’re alive and happy somewhere? Again, the disconnect from the real world sucks, and I feel like I’m on a roller coaster of emotions. Thinking about Walker sends me crashing, but one moment later I’m standing in my father’s doorway and my emotions flip again.
The simple sight of him sitting at his desk, sharing with my sister whatever project he’s working on, brings a flood of pain I can barely withstand. Jane looks like hell, the loss of Avi’s life showing in her red eyes and exhausted face. I reach for Wyatt’s hand for support. His fingers wrap tight with mine.
My father and Jane break from their intense conversation, spotting us in the hall. Jane smiles before looking back at the paper on the desk.
“Alexandra,” he says, nodding at Wyatt.
The Ramsey’s aren’t known for their emotional breakdowns, so I’m not hurt by not receiving a more touchy-feely welcome. I’ve come too far to fall down that rabbit hole. I need science. I need facts. I need a plan.
“What are you working on?” I ask.
Jane’s eyes, although hardened by loss, light up at my question. “It’s interesting. Could be a total disaster. We won’t know until we try it.”
I leave Wyatt in the doorway and sit across from my family.
I’ve come to the right place. No emotion. No distress. It’s all science, all the time.
My dad holds up some papers filled with data and formulas. I have no idea what it means and press him to explain. “As you know, the EVI-1 is a success in stopping the Eater virus, but when merged with the EVI-2 the result is a mutated version of a Hybrid—the Mutt.”
I nod. “Right.”
“The Mutt has proved useful as a soldier against Chloe’s Hybrid army. They’re capable in a fight yet still independent thinkers. But it’s still the wrong direction. We need humans to survive. Not an aberration.”