Page 61 of Stryker

Smith took a file from one of theother men in lab coats and stepped toward the young boy’s cage. Thefrail boy was curled up into a fetal ball in the center of hiscage, burying his face into his knees.

“This is specimen X,”Smith said to the other people in lab coats. “He was found livingon the streets after having escaped his assigned caretakers duringa fire in their house.” He gestured to the cage. “Open thecell.”

A guard unlocked the door, and Smithwalked in.

“Don’t hurt him, please,”John begged.

Smith looked over at Johnand smiled. “Welcome, John. I’m glad you’re here. The last fool Isent to fetch you was no good, so I’m glad we had a backup plan.”He turned to the young boy. “And I can assure you,heis much moredangerous to me than I am to him.”

The doctor pulled what looked to be athick band of metal from his coat pocket and slid it onto the boy’sshaking wrist. He didn’t move to fight back. The band lit up andappeared to shrink to fit his slender wrist. Smith walked back outof the cage, and the door was relocked.

He then walked over to Mrs. Greer’scage, pulled out another band, and ordered, “Hold out your wrist.”Simultaneously, a guard pointed his gun at her head.

Mrs. Greer looked at the guard andslowly raised her arm. Smith placed the band on her wrist. It litup and shrunk to fit her size. The doctor went on to do the samething to each of the other prisoners except John.

Walking up to John’s cage, Smithflipped through the paperwork in his file. “Your supposed abilityisn’t dangerous to anyone. You’ll be easy to control. If you getout of hand, we will punish the boy, as you have shown an affinitytoward him. That will be more powerful than any measure I place onyou.”

Fuckingasshole.

“Now, I will show what youcan expect from the keepers I’ve placed on your wrists.”

With a nod of Smith’s head, all fiveprisoners cried out in pain, clutching their wrists. The youngboy’s eyes widened in terror as he clawed at the band.

“Stop it!” John yelled andhe grabbed onto the bars of his cage. “You bastard, stopit!”

Suddenly, his cage lit upwith electricity, burning his palms and flinging him to the ground.He knew what was coming next as his breathing shallowed, and hislungs fought for air. The wheezing in his chest worsened as hedesperately tried to suck in a breath of oxygen.This is how I’m going to die, lying in the middleof a fucking cage.Sorry, Stryker. Lookslike there’ll be no more dates for us. I tried to holdon.

He heard the door of his cage open butwas too far gone to see who entered. Suddenly, he felt a warmthenvelop his chest and lungs as a lightness filled his body. Indisbelief, he took his first unencumbered breath since the day he’dbeen shot. John opened his eyes to find Mrs. Greer kneeling besidehim, her hands on his chest. As he sucked in a deep, cleansingbreath, he watched as a guard approached and pulled her off. Shewas dragged back to her cage, and John was left struggling tounderstand what had happened.

“I allowed her to saveyour life,” Smith said smugly. “Perhaps that will show you wearen’t quite as heartless as you think we are.” He waved a hand tothe guards. “Take them back to their cells but leave the senator.We’ll begin with him.”

When he returned to his cell, Johnwent to the wall that separated him from the young boy. He scannedthe room, finding the boy curled up in the same corner.

“Are you okay?” he asked,and the boy raised his hand to the wall. John put his palm up to iton his side. “If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll get you out ofhere. I have friends who will come for us.”

John felt the same warmth on his palmas the first time they spoke. “Do you have a name?” It was sick forthose people to refer to him as Specimen X—he deserved a propername Perhaps he too had been born in a test tube. The thought ofhis own origins still horrified him.

The boy shook his head.

“Do you know a name you’dlike?”

Again, he shook his head.

“My dad was called Frank.He died when I was a teenager. Do you like that name?”

The boy lifted his head for the firsttime and looked directly at John through the wall with the moststriking green eyes he’d ever seen. He watched as they changedcolor to blue. Could the boy see through things as well?

“May I call you Frank?”John asked.

The boy nodded.

“Well then, Frank, I’d behonored if we could be family,” John said.

The young boy smiled and sealed theirfates with that small act—John wasn’t going anywhere withoutFrank.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Stryker

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