I couldn’t see the people doing the throwing, and there was no way they could see me in the middle of the crowd. But somehow, they knew where I was, could tell where I was headed, and were able to throw with pinpoint accuracy.
We finally made it out of the enclosure, Rex pulling me by the arm. Trash was still raining down as we hurried past two cops, both wearing Wellplants. They smiled as they watched us, neither of them doing anything to help.
We ducked into the street entrance to the underground Lev Hub. Rex pulled me in after him, then turned me around, checking me for injuries. “Are you okay?” he said, his eyes wide and scared. “Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m okay,” I said, running my hands up and down his arms to soothe him. “I’m fine. What about you, did you get hit?”
He shook his head and picked a bit of mustard-covered bun off my shirt and flung it aside, then pulled me to him and held me tight. I hugged him back, reassured by the contact, safe in his arms.
When I pulled back from him, he glanced back out on the street. “What the hell was that?”
Wells was still speaking, and the two crowds were taking turns cheering and booing.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Wells was looking at me. Then everyone else was, everyone with a Wellplant.”
“When?”
“Right before the throwing started.”
“And what was up with that? Why were they throwing stuff at you? And how were they able to hit you like that? Most of them couldn’t even see you.”
“I don’t know,” I said, shaking my head and fighting off another shiver as I considered the implications. I thought back to the three Plants from that RV, how their actions had been synchronized, and I could feel my guts squirm inside me. “I guess it’s some kind of…Wellplant thing.”
THIRTY-THREE
We went back to my house and I showered, letting the warm water rinse the food out of my hair and ease the tension out of my shoulders. I was shaken by what had happened at the protest, but probably more shaken by the look in Rex’s eyes, the fear, as we were fleeing.
While I was sorting myself out, Rex made tea, and after I’d changed into clean clothes, we sipped it quietly while sitting on the sofa, close enough that we were touching, comforting each other with our presence. By the time we were finished, it was time to meet Sly.
When we got to the coffee shop, Ruth and Pell were standing with him in the corner. The three of them hurried over to us as when we walked in, all asking if we were okay.
“We’re fine,” I told them. “We’re both fine.”
“Ruth and Pell were just telling me what went down out there,” Sly said, shaking his head. “That sounds crazy intense.”
“It was,” Rex said. “Crazy and intense.”
“And creepy, too,” Pell added. “They were definitely targeting Jimi? And targeting accurately.”
“Right?” I said, rubbing the back of my head at the memory of it. “That was the creepiest part: most of the people throwing stuff, I couldn’t see them, and they couldn’t see me, but their aim was incredible.”
“And how about Wells, too?” Ruth said. “I swear, at one point he was looking right at you. Singling you out.”
I nodded. “I thought it was my imagination at first, but then all of them turned to look at me. All of the ones with Wellplants. That was even creepier.”
Ruth reached out and squeezed my hand. “I’m really glad you’re okay.”
I squeezed back. “Thanks.” Then I turned to Sly. “So? What have you got for us?”
He nodded in a way that gave me pause, as if he was going to deliver bad news. “Um, let’s go in the back. Jerry said we could use his office.” He turned to Ruth and Pell. “Excuse us.”
Then he turned and walked toward the back.
Pell feigned indignation. “Well, excuse us.”
“Sorry,” I whispered to Ruth and Pell as Rex and I followed him.
We entered Jerry’s office, and Sly leaned against the desk while Rex and I sat in the two chairs facing it.
“So?” Rex said. If he shared my suspicions, he wasn’t showing them. “Did you find anything?”
Sly nodded again, like he was putting off saying what he was about to say. “So…Chimerica’s scientists tested the carcass, but unfortunately, they decided they can’t share the results.”
“What? We told CLAD we’d pass along whatever Chimerica found. They’re going to be furious if we don’t,” Rex said. “Why, what did they find?”
Sly took a deep breath and let it out. “I mean with anybody.” He looked at Rex and then at me. “Including you and me.”
I let out a short, sharp laugh. “You’re joking, right? We got the sample. We’re the ones who gave it to you.”
“I know, and they appreciate that,” he said. “They really do. But this is very sensitive, and we have to be very careful.”
“Meaning they don’t trust us,” Rex said quietly.
Sly shook his head. “Rex, man, you know it’s not like that.”
“No, obviously it is,” he said. “Damn, Sly, after all the stuff I’ve done? All the secrets I’ve already kept?”
“I know,” Sly said. “I know. They won’t tell me, either, and it’s not about trust. Apparently, this is incredibly sensitive.”
“It’s bullshit is what it is,” I said. “There’s people getting sick out there. More and more of them. And maybe it’s H4Hers for now, but so what? They’re people, too. And the way it’s spreading through them now, it won’t be long before it’s spreading through us, too.”
“I know,” Sly said quietly.
“If it’s related to this chicken thing, that means we’re partly to blame,” Rex said. “We were the ones who brought the carcass into the public. And it also means Wells is somehow behind it, because the chicken came from his plant, or whatever the hell it is. We need to know what you know.”
Sly laughed sadly and shook his head. “Not what I know. They won’t tell me, either, remember?”
“And you’re okay with that?” I demanded.
“I have to be. I trust them. I trust Dymphna. She knows what she’s doing.”
I was fighting the rage building inside me, trying not to tremble or curse or throw things around. I wasn’t sure any longer that I trusted Dymphna. Yes, we were related, but so what? It wasn’t like I really knew her, not in any meaningful way. “Well, I’m not so sure I do. All the secrecy, all the bullshit. You know I don’t agree with CLAD, killing people and blowing stuff up, but I’m starting to think they might be right about Chimerica.”
Sly pushed himself away from the desk, standing upright. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
I stood up, too. “It means you don’t do anything.”
Rex stood up and put himself between us. “Hey, let’s calm down here.”
“No, I’m serious,” I said, Ogden’s complaints echoing in my head. “What the hell does Chimerica do? Rex, when you were stuck in jail, they wouldn’t do a thing to get you out. Nothing. All those people down in that mine at Omnicare, and Claudia and I had to steal a damn quadcopter to go get you out.”