Code Name Flood. Laura Martin

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СКАЧАТЬ bag. Leaning over, I peered inside it to see equipment I was all too familiar with as the daughter of a biologist – small sample bottles, logbooks, and various bits of technology used to measure, catalog, and label scientific findings.

      What had that girl, Chaz, said? That they had been studying dinosaurs since before the pandemic? How was that possible? The pandemic, set off by the resurrection of the dinosaurs over 150 years ago, had moved swiftly, decimating over 99 per cent of the human population within days and forcing the remaining survivors underground. Well, I amended, most of the survivors. Todd’s village, the Oaks, was proof that not everyone had found refuge underground. Yet this girl acted as though the pandemic had come and gone and they’d gone right on studying dinosaurs. It made no sense.

      “Do you live in a tree village like Todd?” Shawn asked, the confusion in his voice echoing my own thoughts as he shrugged into the damp tunic Todd handed him.

      Todd shook his head as he eyed the girl’s strange jumpsuit. “There aren’t any villages within miles of the lake. Too dangerous. They must be compound moles like you guys.”

      “Not possible,” I countered. “There are only four compounds, and none of them are anywhere close to here.” They were in fact located on the northern, southern, eastern, and western corners of what used to be North America. And up until I’d met Todd, I’d believed that they were the last holdouts of the human race, used as safe houses for the survivors of the pandemic. Now I was faced with yet another person who apparently lived outside the Noah’s rule.

      Chaz grinned while she watched this exchange, as though she was enjoying a private joke. “We aren’t affiliated with the compounds or any tree villages. Good guesses, though. Actually—”

      “That will be enough, Chaz,” Schwartz said sharply, cutting her off midsentence. “You’re making me regret promoting you to my assistant. One more word and you’ll be back scooping out pens.”

      Chaz cringed, and I cocked my head to the side as I considered what Schwartz had just said. What pens could Chaz possibly have to scoop? I glanced back at the bag of scientific equipment again. Who were these people? Before I could ask, Schwartz turned a lever on the motor, and the boat suddenly lurched forward. My feet went out from under me, and I yelped, toppling backwards into Todd, who hit Shawn. Someone’s elbow connected with my head as I landed hard on my back. The boat continued its surge forward, the bottom vibrating underneath me so hard my teeth clattered together.

      “Thanks for that,” Todd called over the roaring motor as Chaz helped him to his feet.

      “Sorry,” Chaz said cheerily as she extended her hand to me. “Schwartz isn’t really a people person.”

      “You don’t say,” Shawn said wryly, shooting Schwartz a dirty look. Grabbing Chaz’s hand, I attempted to clamber to my feet, but my pack caught on something, bringing me up short. There was a sharp ripping noise, and I stood up as my pack tore open, and its hastily packed contents spilled out. As if in slow motion, I saw my father’s map fall. I’d been consulting it so frequently that I hadn’t bothered to tuck it back inside my compass for safekeeping. I lunged for the map but missed as it got picked up by the wind and tumbled across the floor of the boat. Moments before it was about to go airborne and out, a booted foot smashed down on top of it, successfully halting its escape. Sighing in relief, I grabbed for it. The boot didn’t move. I looked up into Schwartz’s annoyed face.

      “What is a savage doing with a map?” he asked, bending down to retrieve it before I could protest. Schwartz’s expression went from annoyed to fearful as he surveyed the meandering line that led from North Compound to the centre of Lake Michigan. “Chaz, get your weapon out,” he snapped. “Don’t let them move.”

      “What?” Chaz asked, looking just as confused as I felt. “You mean the tranquiliser gun?”

      “Of course the tranquiliser gun. Don’t make me say it again!” Schwartz bellowed. Chaz scrambled to follow orders and whipped her large black gun up to her shoulder.

      Dr Schwartz let the motor sputter out and die as he continued to study my map as though he’d seen a ghost. The boat bobbed up and down in the waves, and my stomach rolled sickeningly. I didn’t think I liked being on a boat.

      “Tie them up,” he finally said, rolling my map up and storing it in the duffel bag at his feet. Shawn opened his mouth to protest, but snapped it shut as Schwartz picked up his own tranquiliser gun. One by one, we put our hands out and allowed ourselves to be tied.

      “A tranquiliser probably wouldn’t kill you,” Chaz murmured under her breath to us as she tightened the ropes on Todd’s wrists.

      “Gee, thanks,” Todd sniffed.

      “Yeah, I’m sure something calibrated to drop a dinosaur would be really great for our health,” Shawn muttered with a murderous look at Schwartz. It wasn’t until Chaz had double-checked the ropes on our wrists that Schwartz walked up to stand in front of me.

      “No one should have a map that leads directly to the lab,” Schwartz said, scowling. “Where did you get it?”

      I pressed my lips together and looked down. Schwartz grabbed my shoulder roughly and shoved me backwards until the hard wood of the boat’s edge dug painfully into the backs of my knees. My jaw clenched. If he thought he was going to bully information out of me I wasn’t ready to give, he was wrong. I’d come too far, survived too much, to risk failing my dad and the mission he’d given me by trusting the wrong person now. Swallowing hard, I remained silent and met his angry glare with one of my own.

      “Maybe I didn’t make myself clear,” he said, leaning forward so I was forced to lean back further over the water. “Talk or you go overboard.”

      I flicked my eyes back towards the shore; it wasn’t that far away. But with my hands tied together it might as well have been miles.

      “Whoa,” Chaz said. “Dr Schwartz, sir, isn’t that a bit much? I mean, she’s just a kid.”

      I felt the faintest tug of hope. Maybe Chaz wouldn’t let this guy do anything too drastic.

      “So are you,” he sniffed. “Do as you’re told.”

      “Yes, sir,” Chaz said, but she sounded uncertain. When I still didn’t say anything, Schwartz sighed and backed up a step, giving me some much-needed breathing room. My feeling of relief flitted away when he grabbed Shawn by the front of the tunic and shoved him against the opposite side of the boat. Shawn swayed dangerously backwards but his feet stayed firmly planted and Schwartz’s grip on him held him upright over the dark waves lapping against the boat. My heart felt like it had jumped into my throat, and I attempted to swallow it as I took in the obvious threat to my best friend’s life. It was time to talk.

      “It’s from my dad,” I said. “A family heirloom. No importance.” It was a lie. The map was the most important thing I owned. But every instinct I had was screaming at me not to trust this man, and I was not going to tell him anything I didn’t absolutely have to.

      Schwartz just stood there, his face unreadable as he studied me. I held my breath.

      “Liar,” he said, but I barely heard him because over his shoulder I’d just seen an all-too-familiar look come over my best friend’s face. Before I could tell him not to, Shawn pulled back and clobbered Schwartz on the side of the head with his bound fists. Schwartz yelped, and as if in slow motion, I saw him lose his grip on the front of Shawn’s tunic. Shawn fought to keep his balance for a gut-wrenching СКАЧАТЬ