Project HALO

Chapter 13

I don't know how much time has passed when I finally jerk awake, my feet kicking out in front of me. My pulse won't slow down no matter how much air I heave in.

Mikey is still passed out from the sedatives, but the sight of him calms me a little, but only a little. I'm fuming. My chest heaves as I scan our surroundings. We're inside a van, and the constant vibrations tell me we're moving. It looks like a police van from the inside, with hard benches on either side and railings for handcuffs on the walls.

I try to stand up, but something tightens around my wrists.

I groan loudly and slam my head against the wall behind me when I realize we're cuffed to the railings. There are no windows, so there's no way to know where we're headed, but I can take a wild fucking guess.

This has to be because of the chip, but I don't understand why it's so important. They must have created more of them, so why do they need me?

I blow out a frustrated sigh. The only things I know for sure are that we must be heading to NIC's offices and that I'm grateful we're alive.

Mikey wakes up with a grunt, his glasses barely hanging onto his nose. He tilts his head back to adjust them, and glances around with eyes that widen for every inch they see.

"Charlie..." He stares at me in distress, his voice weak.

"I never should've gone to your apartment," I say through gritted teeth, shaking my head. I should've left Mikey alone like he asked me to back in February. "Sorry for being an idiot."

Mikey draws a shaky breath. "Like that's something new," he says, trying to sound unfazed. "At least I got outside for a change, right?"

A smile tugs at one corner of my mouth.

"I knew this would happen. They have cameras everywhere. Maybe they even tracked your chip. But still, it happened faster than I anticipated." Mikey's voice darkens and the humor leaves his eyes. "I told you the government watches us. They're behind this. They've been paying for the NIC's corrupted projects for decades and now this... I refuse to believe that's a coincidence."

"Mikey, chill," I try, but he continues.

"Think about it. All the new cameras installed in the city, companies hacking our computers to see what we're doing, and don't even get me started on cellphones..." He zones out for a minute, collecting his thoughts, obviously more than ready to get started on the cellphones. "They've been listening for years, Charlie. Years! And now they have made chips... They actu—"

"Mikey, breathe." I cut him off. Once he starts on these conspiracy rampages, there's no stopping him. "Maybe they watch us and listen to our calls, but I don't think they'd create chips to use like that. I know what Phantom said, but that's insane. People would never accept it. It can't even be legal."

Mikey raises an eyebrow. "Even Dr. Pratt said it, Charlie. You were one of their experiments, for flip's sake! A human experiment! That's messed up and you know it."

He has valid points, but I don't want to discuss it. I don't know what to believe. It's not like we can stop the government anyway, even if what they're doing is wrong. We're just two kids trapped in a van.

"I think we should focus more on getting outta here and less on conspiracy theories," I say.

It takes one short glance to understand that there's no way out. No windows to kick out and jump through. The door must be locked from the outside, but even if it was completely open it wouldn't be of any help, because there's nothing I can use to unlock our handcuffs.