Gavin was the first to answer. “In part.” He let out a heavy breath. Was he nervous?
Hunter wasted no time in interrupting the awkward silence, “I’ll tell her if you won’t.”
Although I’d met him briefly, right now I had grown to respect him. Gavin shot Hunter a look before explaining what they were up against, “The new government, the one we’re responsible for putting in place, is already corrupt.”
I sighed and leaned back against the table. “What kind of corruption?”
“This place is a breeding ground. Their main facility,” Gavin answered. “It’s how they plan on repopulating the entire country.”
“I don’t understand.” Scientists would work together, to try to cure the issues of infertility. It would take time but of course there’d be centers with research and medicine. What was so terrible that prompted Gavin, Hunter, Aidan, Elsa and Joshua to lead an uprising?
“While you were put under, we believe they studied you, Olivia.” Hunter stepped closer, trying to offer me reassurances but all I felt was sick. My skin flushed, my stomach somersaulted, and I swallowed the bile rising in my throat.
I pushed away from the table and took a step back. The only place to go was towards the wall and I felt the cold glass of the window at my back. “Isaura was in my head. She wanted to know about the Mindonsiphan.” I didn’t care if Hunter wasn’t aware of what it was, he’d find out if he was around us long enough. “Why?” I asked. I rubbed my temples. I wanted out of here.
Gavin sighed, his eyes on me the entire time. “It’s not all about her. Isaura and the new government know what you’re capable of. She’s informed them and made it sound terrible and scary. She’s pegged you as a monster.”
“No.” I crossed my arms and paced the length of the room. “They should know better! I’m not a monster.” I was growing agitated and upset but I wasn’t evil. I wasn’t a terrible and vicious person. I did what anyone else would do.
Joshua stepped closer, his hands finding my arms. “Of course you’re not. We all know that, but the problem is they don’t. They see us for what we are. Rebels. We destroyed Genesis. We brought about the revolution.”
“And they’re here because of it!” I shouted and Joshua’s hands clasped over my mouth.
“You have to keep your voice down,” he warned me. “There are research labs surrounding this room. We could be found at any moment. Understand?”
He dropped his hand and gave me an apologetic look. “Isaura has a lot of power. It’s possible it was derived from something else,” Joshua admitted. “What we know is she has the power to persuade and to make others afraid of her.”
“Jaxon could persuade people to do things.” I remembered that on our trip to Genesis.
It wasn’t unreasonable to think Isaura would try to do the same thing. “Why are we here?” I asked. “What are you planning to do to the facility?”
“There’s more to it than you think. They’re studying people who have been injected with Mindonsiphan and they’re running their own drug trials on women. Trying to get them pregnant with the drug.”
“Is that possible?” I asked.
Gavin shook his head. “Ordinarily no, but Isaura has a compound that when mixed with Mindonsiphan can do some strange things when injected.”
“What strange things?” I stalked across the room towards Gavin. I needed more than he shared with me.
“It can replicate the hormones needed in pregnancy.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“It’s against the women’s will. They don’t have any idea what they’re being injected with or the consequences of what might happen,” Hunter answered. “If they had a choice, it might be okay, but they don’t. The new leader is rounding up women by the dozens and running genetic profiles on them. If he feels they’re an appropriate match, he promises them wealth and fortune along with a healthy baby. He’s lying to them.” Hunter elaborated, “And if we don’t reveal the truth, no one will.”
I rubbed at my forehead frustrated. “New leader?” It was too much to bear. “Do we have any idea how many women have undergone the injection?” If they were loyal to the new government, we would have no chance at all.
“Right now, two hundred and seventy-two,” Gavin said.
“How many so fast?” I couldn’t believe it. There had to be a large number of beds in the building, but it didn’t look as though they had the facilities to run such a huge operation. “When did they find the time to manufacture Mindonsiphan?” I glanced at Joshua, hoping he had a decent answer.
“I helped before I returned to Shadow,” Elsa confessed. “I knew you had used your ability to save Drezden, Olivia. I had no idea what I’d involved myself in.” Her brow furrowed. “Believe me, if I knew I’d never have suggested it to Isaura.”
“You worked with Isaura?” My stomach sank.
Elsa cast her gaze down. “At the time, she was Chloe’s boss.”
Hunter eyed his watch. “We don’t have much time.” He pulled out a dozen or so syringes from a black case he’d had on the floor all along.
“What’s that?” I asked wondering if they planned on injecting something in me. I wasn’t going to trust them, even if Joshua was involved. I’d had enough experimentation! I was done with it.
Hunter gestured towards the syringes and tossed us each a vial to go along with it. “We’re going to save as many people as we can. It’s an antidote.”
“Save?” Again we were working outside the lines of right and wrong. Administering the drug without their permission was a dangerous game to play. “What will it do to them?” If they had been willing participants, even if I didn’t agree with what had been done, I couldn’t justify what we were about to do.
Hunter pulled the vial from my hands. “Never mind. We didn’t plan on you being here. You don’t need to help.”
“No.” I took a step forward, my eyes narrowed as I searched his face. “I want to help.” Maybe I did. I wasn’t sure what to do, but I wasn’t going to have someone else take that choice away from me. Hunter studied me skeptically before returning the vial to my outstretched hand. “The vial goes like this.” He showed everyone as he held it upside down. “Uncap the needle, pull it back to 1000ML.” He showed us the line. “Then at an angle pierce the rubber of the vial. The needle will go in. Push down on the syringe until the air is out of the needle and then pull it back to 1000ML again. Don’t forget to tap the air bubble out of the syringe before you inject it into the patient or you’ll kill them. Everyone should have an IV line that you’ll inject the dosage into. We work in pairs,” Hunter announced. How had he been skilled with medical tools when we’d hardly seen them in Genesis? There wasn’t time to ask.
Joshua nudged my arm. “You’re with me, partner.” He smiled and I wondered how he’d gotten into this mess. Was it Gavin’s idea? Or Hunter’s? How had Hunter and Gavin reconnected in Torv? I had so many questions but they were all pushed aside as the door opened and Joshua stepped out first. I wanted to ask what happened after we injected the patient with the syringe. Would they wake up? If they did, what we were supposed to do, help them escape? I didn’t have much time to consider my questions as Joshua and I tiptoed across the hall and into the first room. We had the twelfth floor. Joshua administered the antidote to the first patient while I stood by the door to make sure no one was coming. I held my breath, waiting for the young girl to wake up.
Dark hair splayed out on the table as her eyes slowly fluttered open and I saw the bluest hue staring up at me. She moved her mouth but the words didn’t quite come out. “It’s okay.” I smiled down at her. “We’re here to help.”