The Unpaired (The Pairings Book 3) Read online

  “Did we get headway to finish the cure?” I asked. “I could go back in there and try again. I’m not tired,” I added, even though he knew where I wanted to go.

  “We’re nearly there with completing the map of your entire brain,” he said. “Even the memory of your mother was clear.”

  “Then what’s with your face?” I asked him.

  He wiped a hand across his frown, turning it back into an impassive look as he studied the brain maps. “It’s clear we were able to activate more areas in your brain this time around compared to the previous scans.”

  “Is that enough to finish the cure?” I asked.

  The other technicians glanced our way. As much as we were using their lab, this study was strictly under John’s control. He only shared information that could help us. Otherwise, he seemed to turn over ideas and methods in his mind alone.

  “I’m not sure yet, Lora. This process is so new. We can’t quantify the results based on the scans alone.”

  My chest deflated.

  “Don’t worry. We’ve known about these macro-level differences for a long time. Since you were the only one given the injection before birth, we’re studying both you and a way to use the information from these scans to replicate the cure on a microscopic level. The programs we’ve tried don’t come close to what’s inside your mind.” He pulled up another map. This one was labeled Test_Biomod_46. “This is the latest one.”

  The normal and New Zero maps disappeared in the background, leaving my scan on a loop on the screen while the test scan appeared next to it. The movement of the colors still appeared, but the test map was different.

  He pointed at the screen on the test brain map. “These flickers keep appearing.”

  I observed closely, noting the movement on the scan. “What is that?”

  “It appears to be interference.”

  “From what?”

  He sighed. “This damn equipment. If only we had access to the BioPure labs, we’d be able to get this done much quicker and more efficiently instead of slapping together everything from old or stolen components.” He plopped onto the wheeled chair behind the desk and I moved away from him, offering him more room.

  He clicked through several zoomed-in images of my brain. I had no idea what he was looking for, but I gave him the peace he needed to work while I quietly observed. John zoomed in on one area and then checked the most recent scan. From watching them with a closer lens, I could see the differences. They were minor, but there. Whatever feedback the equipment created within the scan was consistent throughout all of the newer scans.

  John sighed each time he was unable to get the scan to the correct resolution. I had some idea that this would take much longer than I was willing to stay in the lab. We had somewhere to be, and he knew that.

  As if he had sensed the urgency running through my veins, he pushed away from the desk. “The resolution has improved, but I need to do some more tweaking. I can do that this afternoon since I don’t need you here for that, Lora.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure,” he said with a quirk of his lips. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter Two

  As we walked toward the exit, John removed his long, white coat. By the door were many hangers, and there were already a half dozen lab coats hanging there. The scientists worked in shifts so someone would be in the lab at all times. The cure was the priority, yet each day’s passing made it feel as if we were getting further behind.

  He slung the coat onto one of the hooks and pressed his code into the keypad by the door before opening it. In the hallway, we donned our thicker coats and I wrapped a scarf around my neck, covering my nose. The faux fur-lined hood covered my red hair until only my eyes were visible. Staying undetected was a precaution since my parents and I were on a hit list that came straight from BioPure. Security forces from BioPure wouldn’t take the target off my back until they found my parents or me, if not all of us.

  We walked up the three sub-levels of the building, which had been one of the undetected rebel-run facilities outside of the heart of the city. The building held the armory as well as a clinic for the rebels who didn’t trust the government-run ones. The treatment for New Zero was handled by BioPure in the heart of downtown Chicago. As of yet, we’d been unable to procure more of the cure, other than the single vial we had left. After six months of careful dosage for experiments, we were running dangerously low. As in, we’d have to figure this all out soon or risk another raid of the BioPure labs. I doubted we’d be able to succeed this time around, though—not after the number of deaths sustained in the first raid.

  Outside, the air was crisp enough to catch in my throat. Spring was around the corner, but I’d been told that in this part of the country, it came much later than what I was used to. The breeze continually moving across the lake dipped the temperatures down even further.

  Again, a lump caught in my throat just as happened every day on the way to the isolation hospital. The cure was essential to help all the rebels afflicted with New Zero, but I had a stake in the manufacturing of the cure. Two, actually.

  Mom and Dad had been exposed to New Zero while we were in Denver. Dad had caught it shortly after we arrived in Chicago, and when Mom had finally made it to the base from Salt Lake City, she hadn’t even recognized me. Her memory came and went in wider swings than Dad’s. He consistently needed reminding of his life because his condition had progressed much faster than hers. In either case, New Zero ended in one place—zero memory.

  I sensed that was why John wanted me to talk about Mom during the brain scans. My memory was perfect, but maybe he was testing his? There was no way to check all of the rebels who might have been affected by New Zero until the proof came and it was too late, and memories started to disappear. The preventative measure of the cure was of utmost importance to the cause.

  But, still, I hated to be away from my family. With New Zero, thankfully, no one had died from it yet. Since it affected the mind instead of the heart, people were lost in life, shells of themselves without the personalities developed by experience and memory, but with treatment from BioPure, they would live. There wasn’t a way for us to come out to the headquarters in Chicago unless we were willing to out ourselves as rebels, though. The fix was so close, yet untouchable for any of us.

  Every night, I wondered what it would feel like to turn myself in to the corporation for more of their treatment in order to save my parents’ minds, though they wouldn’t be happy with that. I understood because I wouldn’t have wanted them to do the same. But coming from the other side of the experience, I debated with myself constantly on what else I could do in order to help them, beyond just helping John find a cure—assuming he could.

  I was the only person we knew of who had a natural immunity toward New Zero. Helping the research team was my sole superpower for the moment. Yet, without the proper equipment, I was only as useful as the information we could glean from that.

  The rebel-run facilities were located at the edge of a residential area. To any other citizens of the suburbs of Chicago, the town looked attractive and well-stocked, with kids playing in the streets while parents participated in potluck dinners together. But it was all tightly controlled by rebels who were hiding from BioPure in plain sight. They were paired couples and their families, waiting for the day when we could strike back. It was different than any other rebel base I’d stayed at before.

  Most of the time, I felt safe—especially with John and Syeth around. Though, my anxiety about Syeth spiked each time he went off to fight for the rebels. He was gone for days and sometimes weeks at a time. To him, it was the only way he could compete against the invisible chains he believed were latched onto our wrists each time we came in contact with a new base. Fighting on his terms was his way of helping with the resistance.

  I understood his reasoning, but that didn’t make me feel any more at ease when he left each time. With Jarid gone and my parents’ minds fading away, I simply ha
d no control of what was happening all around me.

  Our steady footfalls pounded in my head as we walked the streets toward the isolation hospital. The doves whirred by at regular intervals, but I didn’t even glance at them. No law-abiding citizen should fear the doves. A year ago, I’d been terrified of the doves and security, but not anymore. Now, they were only a force to be reckoned with in the fight to find a cure for my parents and everyone else who was suffering. The lack of fear was a symptom of larger change, however. My heart and mind had hardened to the rebel life, and I wondered if we would ever stop fighting.

  The isolation hospital was inside of what used to be a nursing home for those with memory issues. That was before Zero had wiped out a majority of the old and young populations first. The facility had already had the proper safety mechanisms in place, so that rebels wouldn’t wander into the city and spout off whatever memory they had left. If security forces were alerted to us hiding those with New Zero here, it wouldn’t serve our cause very well.

  After the call for amnesty, many rebels and their families had wanted to leave and give up the fight. The insurgents didn’t keep people in the cause who didn’t want to be a part of the cause, but most people had stayed after we’d arrived and given them knowledge about the cure and who’d really been in charge of the dispersion of Zero and New Zero.

  Even if they wanted the treatment from BioPure, without sound minds, they weren’t going to be able to walk into downtown treatment centers and come out the same. The ones who had gone for amnesty hadn’t been seen again. I didn’t want to think that they’d all been killed for treason, but that thought latched heavier into the back of my mind with each day Jarid remained missing. It was the worst-case scenario for all of us, and every other option was continuously pushed out of my head, reaching more and more toward negativity. I supposed this cynicism was the only way I could harden my heart toward that possibility.

  The nursing home’s basement had been fully renovated to add more space for patients. It had been a necessity since the virus had swept the country, and it was clear they were running out of space, which put even more pressure on the work John and I were doing.

  As the familiar whir of the doves approached, John and I picked up our pace to reach the overhang above the front door. If the dove didn’t spot our faces, we were okay. A familiar guy leaned against a rusted bike rack and looked up when he spotted us.

  “Syeth,” I breathed, creating a fog around my head. I raced over to him and into his open arms. His grip was firm, and tears sprang to my eyes just as they always did when he returned. I kissed his stubbled cheek and hugged him again.

  He let out a grunt as I squeezed him against me. He still wore his thick, bullet-proof vest, and his hair was flattened from being under a tactical helmet. “Nice to see you, too.” His arms tightened around me and I inhaled his scent.

  “I didn’t hear anything about the Unpaired coming back,” I said, giving him just enough space to breathe. Whenever he came back, I held onto him as if I could somehow prevent him from leaving ever again. His hand reached up to tuck a chunk of hair behind my ear.

  John cleared his throat and nodded at Syeth. He walked ahead of us and pressed the buzzer next to the door. He held it down for a moment and then did it two more times in quick succession.

  Syeth pressed a kiss against my lips and I melted into him as the door clicked open.

  John cleared his throat again, but his gaze remained in front of him before he slipped inside.

  I pulled away from Syeth but held his hand. His black gloves were cold, but the hands under them were strong. I never wanted to let go. Each time he left, I wanted to hold him even closer. There was no guarantee that he would come back at all or with a full mind. The more Syeth fought against BioPure, the higher the chance of him contracting the virus and ending up like Mom and Dad. My family became smaller each day, and I couldn’t lose Syeth or John. They were holding me together. I had all the hope in the world that John would figure out the cure, but until then, all of the rebels and everyone I cared about were at risk.

  “How did the raid go?” I asked Syeth as we entered the building.

  Two armed rebels nodded at us as we entered. I visited my parents every single day, so it hadn’t been long before they’d started to recognize us. Besides, John’s reputation had proceeded him. The security protocol was the same, though, and they scanned our IDs before allowing us by.

  “We got our hands on several new pieces of equipment,” Syeth said, glancing at John. Syeth and the Unpaired were in a constant battle with the security forces of the city to keep the New Zero treatment effort supplied. While they hadn’t procured actual treatment, new equipment was always accepted and necessary.

  We took a left before going into the lobby toward the basement level where my parents resided.

  There were only dim lights leading the way down the stairs, and some of them flickered as we walked. It wasn’t the most high-tech place in Chicago, but most of the electricity was dedicated to the equipment helping the patients.

  “That’s fantastic,” John said. “Where is it?”

  “It’s on the way to the clinic now. I haven’t been around much, so I figured I’d meet you here.”

  “I’m glad you did.” I squeezed his hand. Having him next to me offered me the ability to take a full breath, no longer strained. Each time I saw my parents and Syeth, I couldn’t help treating the visit like our last. As we were always putting ourselves in danger, there was no telling if that was true. Better to expect it, I thought.

  “Have you heard from Jarid?” I asked.

  The corners of Syeth’s eyes crinkled with thought. The tightness of his lips suggested that he hadn’t even before the reply came out. “No.”

  Again, my insides deflated. Even though I knew the Unpaired—who ran the military sector of the rebellion now—didn’t allow any of the rebel fighters to communicate with anyone from BioPure, I’d had to ask. They were worried about anyone from the corporation infiltrating the rebellion, but I wondered if Jarid was alive, and thought that if he was, then there’d eventually be some way in which he’d send word to his brother. If we at least knew that he was alive, then we could figure out a way to get him away from BioPure when we finally figured out a cure.

  “I would try to find him if I could,” Syeth said, grinding his teeth together. Even though he was working with the Unpaired, I already knew part of the reason for that was to find Jarid. But it wasn’t as if he could ask anyone. According to Isra, Jarid was a traitor. She had already threatened to kill Jarid if she saw him again, so Syeth snooping around for clues about his brother’s whereabouts would either get him kicked off the force or into the line of fire. The Unpaired were an asset to the rebellion, but they were rigid in their thought processes and didn’t waver against the enemy.

  “We’re close to coming up with the cure,” I said, trying to move away from the conversation about Jarid. I had my update about him now, and thinking about it for too long would only stain the memory of seeing my parents again.

  John stiffened, but didn’t say anything as Syeth’s gaze fell to him.

  Neither of them spoke. I had tried to be positive with everyone, but I couldn’t ignore the toll it was taking on those in my family who weren’t diagnosed with New Zero.

  At the bottom of the stairs was another door. It was an unassuming barrier, but the blinking red light attached to a camera tucked into the corner of the room said otherwise. As John approached, the door clicked open without any effort from us. We weren’t given complete access to the building—few rebels other than the leaders had that—but it was enough to have them allow us inside without the series of questions that we’d had to answer again and again when we’d first arrived at the base.

  The basement was fortified and had been constructed as a fallout shelter in the case of an attack from BioPure. At least my parents were safe from an attack if not from BioPure’s involvement, considering the virus in their bodies.<
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  As I walked through the doorway, I inhaled a shuddering breath and tried to push those thoughts out of my mind. Showing any discomfort with our progress on the cure wasn’t going to help my parents get better. If they were having a good day, I didn’t want to disappoint them.

  I crossed my fingers and held on to the small hope that they’d recognize me today.

  Chapter Three

  Once the door opened, I sucked in a breath. The scent of antiseptic chemicals stung my nose, and I tried to breathe through my mouth to counteract the urge to sneeze. It wasn’t just the smell making my stomach churn. The flood of memories from all of our other visits bombarded me.

  Seeing Mom and Dad was always difficult, but wondering what their status would be today forced a squeezing sense of apprehension into my stomach. I’d visited plenty of times without them knowing who I was—depending on how New Zero affected them on any given day—but, today, I wanted the spark of recognition. I needed it. The progress with the cure wasn’t as far along as any of us wanted, but having a moment with my parents—a real, memory-filled one—was what I needed to push on.

  I was going to do whatever it took, but I wasn’t ready to lose them yet.

  As we walked down the hallway, I tried to calm my nerves. The doctors and nurses contacted John regularly with reports on my parents. It wasn’t as if he needed the motivation to fight for the cure, but it sure did help as far as I was concerned. John and I knew enough about each other to get by, but over the last six months, he had fallen into a focused state when it came to looking for the cure. He was never sharp with me, but instead he consistently beat himself up with each hiccup in the process. Both of us were suffering, though no one suffered more than my parents. I doubted they understood that for long periods at a time, but it was true.

  Staff in pale blue scrubs passed us with little more than hopeful smiles. The hospital was locked down enough that all of the staff knew who was supposed to be there and who wasn’t.