Specimen

“Anna, it’s all right!” Riley calls out. “We came here together!”

“We need to talk to you and to Spat,” I say slowly, directing my words at Anna.

“Not as long as you’re restraining her,” the older man says. “You have to release your hostage if you expect us to listen to you.”

“I’m not a hostage!” Riley’s insistent words are ignored.

“Make sure she’s not harmed.” With great effort, I release my grip on Riley and step back, raising my hands in the air. The two soldiers behind me grab my arms and hold me tightly. Another moves slowly toward us, weapon still at the ready, and takes ahold of Riley’s arm, pulling her to him.

I lurch forward before I can stop myself. I don’t want his hands on her, and everything inside of me screams to kill them all—keep her protected.

I stop just short of ripping myself from the soldiers’ hold, but it’s enough for one of them to decide to bash me over the head with the butt of his rifle.

“Galen!” Riley tries to pull away, but she’s held fast.

“Don’t you hurt him!” she screams as I allow myself to be shoved to my knees.

My hands are cuffed behind me. I run my thumb along the edge of the metal restraint. It’s nowhere near thick enough, and I can break it at any time. I keep my eyes on Riley and the soldier holding her. If he is anything less than gentle with her, I’m going to break his neck.

Luckily for him, Anna Jarvis steps up and shoulders him away from Riley.

“I’ve got her,” she says, glaring at the man.

“We don’t know if she’s safe, ma’am.” The soldier stands his ground. “She needs to be searched for weapons and detained until we can determine the level of threat.”

“We’re not armed,” Riley tells him. “We came to talk.”

“I will check her for weapons,” Anna says. She’s staring at me, and I know what she’s thinking. If the soldier pats Riley down, I’ll rip his arms from their sockets.

Anna checks Riley over quickly as she speaks to her softly.

“Are you hurt?”

“We had to parachute out of a helicopter close to the ground. We both got banged up, but I’m fine.”

“Is he back on his regular treatments?”

“He is.”

“How much does he remember?”

“All of it,” Riley says. “That’s why we’re here.”

Anna and Riley stare at each other for a long moment.

“You didn’t know, did you?” Anna asks.

“I had no idea.”

Anna nods and looks over at the grey-haired man.

“We need to get Spat into your office,” she says, “and get a call out to Merle. He needs to be here, too.”

“What about him?” the man asks, nodding toward me.

“His implant continuously transmits a signal to Mills. At this point, they likely already know he is here. We’ll need to block the implant and get him somewhere else as soon as possible.”

“If they already know, it’s too late.”