Z 2136 (Z 2134 Series Book 3) by Sean Platt, David W. Wright Read Free Book Online Page B

“I’m sorry,” then slipped a step back and shut the door on his tirade.
    Keller stared at his wall, the monitor set to “Off” and showing nothing but black. He kept flinching with the thought of flicking it on. After five minutes he was certain he wouldn’t.
    He should apologize to his wife. Get something to eat. Maybe step outside and get some fresh air.
    Again Keller planted his palms to the wood, ready to stand. And again he was interrupted, this time by a call.
    He looked at his phone: Kern.
    Accepting the call, he barked, “What is it?”
    Kern’s breathing sounded nervous. “We failed to get Ana and Liam, Sir.” Before Keller could explode, Kern added, “We’re confident this is controlled.”
    Through gritted teeth, Keller said, “Do you have any leads?”
    “We’re working on it.” Kern, an unflinching man, was clearly trying to keep the quiver from his voice. He cleared his throat. “Freedy wants to know if you’d like to activate Adam’s bracelet.”
    “No,” Keller said. “We continue as planned.”

CHAPTER 7—ADAM LOVECRAFT
    “We’re not gonna hurt ya,” Derek Colton assured him, reaching out to help Adam up.
    The man hefted him to his feet, eyeing Adam toe to nose along the way. “You remember me, son?”
    Colton drilled his deep green eyes into Adam’s, hard enough that he forced the boy to blink.
    “You were a friend of my dad’s, right?”
    “Yeah.” Colton grinned, just like Adam remembered from ages ago. “Man, last time I saw you, you were what? Six? Seven?”
    “I dunno,” Adam shrugged. “It’s been a long time. Where have you been?”
    “I moved to City 5 about 10 years ago to head up The City Watch unit when they had some corruption issues. They needed an outsider to come in and help clean things up.”
    “So,” Adam asked, “if you were doing that, why are you here in The Games now?”
    “Let’s just say I learned that the real corruption was coming from the people I worked for.”
    “Come on,” said the giant bearded man who had been standing behind Colton as he and Adam caught up. “We need to move.”
    “This is Hooper.” Colton jabbed his thumb at the man. “He’s good people.”
    Hooper reached out a massive paw. Adam expected the man’s grip to swallow his—like Commander “Trunk” Avery at City Watch—but it was surprisingly soft, a lot like his smile. Adam noticed a leather strap across his chest and a sword’s hilt sticking up over his left shoulder. He wondered how they’d landed such excellent weapons so quickly in The Games. It didn’t take a ton of imagination to guess: both men’s coveralls were splattered in crimson, evidence of what they’d had to endure in The Opening Rush.
    “Hi,” Adam said to Hooper, before turning back to Colton. “What do you mean you’re going to get me out of here?”
    Hooper answered for Colton as he turned and started toward the stairwell. His voice was soft and raspy. “We’re with The Underground. We got ourselves put into The Games on purpose.”
    “But . . .  why ?” Adam said, hesitantly following the two men back down the corridor, watching them creep into the dim stairwell leading with their drawn blasters.
    Colton nodded back, letting Adam know that the path was safe. He followed the men down the first flight feeling safer by the step. He had been vulnerable without a weapon other than his puny hammer; now he saw himself as having two weapons—both walking in front of him and each one capable of pulling its own trigger. That gave him enough confidence to at least keep putting one foot in front of the other. Once the silence became too much, though, he broke it.
    “Why would you get yourselves put into The Games on purpose?”
    Colton paused, one landing up from the lobby. He turned back toward Adam, looking at the boy a half flight up. “After your father’s execution, The State mandated that The Cities crack down on The Underground. Watchers weren’t just grabbing