Read Online The Dark Water by Seth Fishman - Free Book Online Page A

replies, smiling at her, “they might come running, so go hide in the corner, okay?”
    â€œSee you soon,” she says, gently touching the clear glass in front of his face.
    And then she’s gone.
    â€¢Â â€¢Â â€¢
    Jimmy takes stock. There’s a walk-in fridge. More steel tables. Even through his filtered mask, it smells like a vet’s waiting room. Jimmy walks to the far end of the cages, which are set atop each other, ten by five. Fifty monkeys. What did Veronica send them here for? To just wreak havoc? Jimmy supposes it will help, though he hates the idea of a monkey getting shot. Look at these guys, he thinks. Even screaming they don’t deserve that.
    He stands in front of a cell marked HENRY , where a bigger guy is staring Jimmy down. He puts his hand on the lock and begins to count down from ten, giving Odessa a little more time to get ready.
    At three, though, an alarm goes off. It’s loud and blaring and a spinning red light, like on a cop car, twirls above the door. It scares the crap out of him. All along the cages an additional lock springs into place, sealing the monkeys in. Jimmy looks at Henry, but the monkey just goes apeshit.
    Odessa,
he thinks. And runs.
    â€¢Â â€¢Â â€¢
    She’s at the end of the hallway, her body splayed on the floor. The thick metal door at the entrance is almost down the wall, only a few feet above her, held in place by a cart. On the cart, crushed, is a microscope. The wheels on the bottom are bent off, and Jimmy can see the whole thing trembling beside her. If it gives, the door will drop and cut her in half.
    â€œ
Dess!
” Jimmy screams, hurrying down the hall, cursing his clunky suit.
    She rolls over, waves for him to come, seemingly okay. Jimmy doesn’t even have time to feel relieved. He plunges onto the ground next to her, where she’s peering out underneath the door. The cart groans next to them.
    â€œWhat happened?” he says.
    â€œI don’t know,” she replies, checking whether something’s coming. “One minute I’m standing in the hallway, the next, this door is closing by itself. I put the cart under, but it’s not going to hold long.”
    â€œI didn’t get the monkeys,” Jimmy says.
    â€œI don’t think it’s about the monkeys, Jimmy,” Odessa says, pointing at the BIOHAZARD LEVEL 4 door across the hall. It’s been sealed by a mean-looking steel wall. Above the door is another spinning light, flashing in their eyes. “I think Veronica sent us here to save us. To lock the doors behind us. The monkeys were a stupid trick to get us here.”
    â€œWhat, why?”
    â€œTo protect us, obviously. I caught the door because I didn’t want to be locked in, but maybe she’s right. Maybe we should ride this out.”
    Jimmy looks at her. Her eyes are wide and blue behind her mask. She wants this all to end. The cart, next to them, groans against the weight. There’s still a few feet free beneath the door. If they want to leave, they have to go now.
    â€œThat’s not how it works, Dess. Mia needs our
help.
If we don’t help, then she’s going to come back from wherever the hell she is and find ten guns pointing at her face.”
    â€œWe need to take care of ourselves,” Odessa says, having a fit that surprises him. The door groans.
    â€œDess,” he says gently, “we have to help them. We have to get out of here.”
    She’s crying. He can hear it.
    â€œYou know that if Sutton wins, we aren’t going to be safe here. How long can we stay? What do we eat? It’s just as dangerous here as it is out there, only the danger will take longer to get to us. You need to trust me, Dess. We have to go.” Jimmy feels something in his voice, a conviction stronger than anything he’s ever felt in the huddle at a football game. Odessa sees this. She stares into his eyes, and finally she takes his hand and