Chapter 10: The Dead Man’s Number
Lucas’s finger tightened on the trigger.
Maya did not move.
“You know me,” she said.
“I know what they programmed me to know.”
“Then why did you help me escape?”
“Because one of my memories says you’re my sister.”
“And the others?”
Lucas lowered the weapon slightly.
“They say you killed her.”
He pointed at Anna.
Mercer knelt beside his wounded daughter, trying to stop the bleeding.
Rafe moved carefully toward Lucas.
“Put the gun down.”
Lucas aimed at him.
“You should already be dead.”
“People keep telling me that.”
Maya stepped closer to her brother.
“Where is Elias?”
Lucas’s expression changed.
“Helix transferred him before the lockdown.”
“Where?”
“North Medical.”
“Is he Adrian Cross?”
Lucas’s hand began trembling.
“I don’t know who Adrian is anymore.”
An alarm sounded inside the tunnel.
A red light flashed.
Anna grabbed Maya’s sleeve.
“The memory card.”
Mercer still held it.
Maya took the card and placed it inside her pocket.
Lucas watched her.
“If you access that file, they will know.”
“Let them.”
“They already have agents outside Blackridge.”
“Then help me expose them.”
Lucas gave a bitter laugh.
“You still think this is only a prison.”
He explained that Helix had Lazarus facilities hidden beneath hospitals, military bases, and private rehabilitation centers across the country.
Blackridge was only the oldest site.
“Why copy me?” Maya asked.
Lucas looked toward Anna.
“Because of what happened at Redwater.”
No one would explain Redwater.
Every time Maya heard the name, she experienced the same flash of memory:
A burning house.
A man shouting for her to run.
A little girl crying behind a locked door.
Lucas suddenly pressed a hand to his temple.
A small device beneath his skin began flashing.
Anna saw it.
“They activated his compliance implant.”
Lucas dropped the gun.
He fell to his knees, screaming.
Maya caught him.
“Help him!”
Anna removed a knife from Rafe’s belt.
“We have to cut it out.”
Maya held Lucas still while Anna sliced behind his ear. She extracted a small black chip covered in blood.
Lucas gasped and went limp.
The tunnel alarm stopped.
Rafe examined the chip.
“There’s a number on it.”
Maya wiped away the blood.
Elias’s prison number.
Before anyone could speak, Mercer’s radio activated.
Captain Shaw’s voice came through.
“Warden, Helix has assumed full control of Blackridge. Return the Cross subjects, and your daughter receives medical treatment.”
Mercer looked at Anna.
She was growing pale.
Shaw continued.
“You have three minutes.”
Maya took the radio.
“Where is Elias?”
There was a pause.
Then a different man answered.
“Your father is waiting in North Medical.”
“Who is this?”
“My name is Warren Vale.”
Anna’s eyes widened.
Rafe whispered, “Founder of Helix.”
Vale continued.
“Bring me the necklace, Maya, and I will tell you which of your childhood memories are real.”
The connection ended.
Lucas opened his eyes.
He grabbed Maya’s arm.
“Don’t go to North Medical.”
“Elias may be there.”
“That isn’t Elias.”
“Then who is it?”
May you like
Lucas stared at the number on the bloody implant.
“Subject 1178 died fifteen years ago.”
