Read The Renegades (Book 4): Colony for Free Online Page B

gone. He cocked his head.
    “I have a bad feeling about this,” I said chasing after him.
    We pressed on through three more doors. Where the hell we were was anyone’s guess. Several times we stopped and didn’t move until he counted using his fingers. It was about the third time he did it that I started to wonder if this was a mental institution.
    But this kid was smart. He’d figured out when and where the guards would be at night. He knew their shift rotations and where they would be at exactly the right moment.
    By now sweat was trickling down my back.
    When we finally arrived at the location that he swore I would want to see, I was about ready to go nuclear on his ass.
    “This had better be the Ark of the Covenant or some invite to a party with women who like to get funky as I’ve…”
    Before I could finish, the door hissed open in front of us. Inside the room was what looked like steel coffins; however, the tops were covered in glass. In front were glowing buttons and blue lights that flickered. Monitors displayed heartbeats. They were like cryogenic chambers. My eyes fell upon what was inside. Humans, naked and motionless with round white monitoring pads and cables attached to them.
    “What the hell…”
    Birdy was looking around anxiously.
    “We don’t have long.”
    “Who are they?” I asked.
    “Family, friends, sons and daughters.”
    I ran my hand over one of the chambers, it was warm. I could see their chests rising and falling. Behind the chambers were large metal vats.
    “There are even more beyond those doors.”
    “What are they doing to them?”
    “It’s not what they are doing to them, it’s what they are doing with them. Siphoning.”
    I frowned trying to make sense.
    “But why?”
    “Answers later, we need to go.”
    The door hissed open and I stood there taking it all in.
    “Johnny. Hurry.”
    That’s when I saw something very troubling. The man who had asked to leave. The one with the tattoo on the side of his neck was inside one of the chambers.
----
    U pon returning to our dorm following the same lengthy process of stopping and starting to avoid being seen, I was full of so many questions. Birdy was more than eager to spill what he knew. In the darkness of the room he answered me. Every answer shocked me to the core.
    “That’s why they call this place the Hive. Like worker bees going out and gathering pollen to make honey. They keep bringing them in and siphoning out what they need.”
    “To develop a cure for everyone, right?”
    He shook his head. “No, to develop a cure to sell to everyone.”
    “What?”
    “They’re not going to give it out. The cure is the new commodity. This world has gone to shits, Johnny. A cure is the means to create a new government where those who own it are the ones in power, and those who need it are slaves.”
    I shook my head. “No.”
    Birdy raised his eyebrows, then handed me the access card.
    “You’re going to need this.”
    I stared down at it.
    “How did you know about the room?” I asked.
    Birdy pushed up his sleeves. In the crooks of his arms were dark red needle marks.
    “That’s where they took you?”
    He nodded. He didn’t need to explain any further. For a moment I sat there contemplating what this meant and my conversation with the Warden that day.
    “Why would anyone be willing to do that?”
    “Because they think they are getting the cure. An antibody therapy treatment. Like getting a flu shot to prevent catching a cold.”
    “But they’re not, right? They’re extracting,” I muttered.
    He nodded.
    “Are you an anomaly?”
    “I’m not sure. Maybe. I’m guessing that’s why I’m still alive here when others…”
    He trailed off and I stared at him as his chin dropped.
    “What do they do with the others, Birdy?”
    He hesitated before replying. “There is no way for them to know if someone is or isn’t an anomaly until you are hooked up. Those who don’t have what they need, they get rid of or use as