Chapter Text
"And this is why we don't make deals with the Cartel." Jay sighed.
"Oh, would you lay off it?" Nat rolled her eyes. "I just wanted to know if they had spare parts. How was I supposed to know they were Cartel?"
"Well, now they're going to trade us into WCKD as payment for their next drug shipment." Awinita laughed.
Cara shook her head. They'd only been in Mexico for two weeks and they were already in trouble. New parts for the jeep were needed and Natalia had traded her services to a rather shady group. Nat had assured them all would be fine, brushing off her friends' worries. It had soon become clear that all would not be. Now, in a basement, with their wrists tied to a pipe in the ceiling, it'd been two days since anything happened. "I miss Newt. He was the most level-headed out of all of you."
"We know, mom ." All three said in unison. They all burst into giggles. They all missed Newt but were happy he'd been reunited with his family. Plans had been made to reunite with him at Safe Haven after the business was finished up in Mexico. In the two weeks they'd been here, several WCKD facilities were already nothing but ash. Cara looked up at the handcuffs keeping her connected to the pipe. Old and rusty, it looked like they could fall apart at any moment. The space between the ceiling and the pipe would be enough for Cara to hook her legs around and mess with the cuffs. Deciding to try it while Jay, Awinita, and Natalia were arguing over something stupid, Cara jumped and swung her legs, hooking them together around the pipe. A quiet banging sound was made, and the four froze. No one moved until they were sure they were clear.
"What are you doing?" Jay asked with a slight hiss of caution. Cara rolled her eyes and reached into her boots, producing a needle. "What does it look like I'm doing?"
Quickly picking the lock, Cara was free and now hanging upside down. Cheering quietly, the others watched as the medic freed them one by one, before dropping down from the pole. Massaging their wrists and retrieving their belongings from the pile in a corner, Natalia approached the door and inspected it. Locked, but not a sturdy one. Stepping aside, and bowing while motioning to the door. “If you wouldn’t mind good sir?”
“Not a problem my dear lady.” Jay rolled his eyes before kicking the door down. It made a loud thud, kicking up dust and sand. Peeking their heads out the door, they were a little surprised to see no guards standing outside. Natalia faked an offended gasp while Awinita put her hand to her chest, also faking offense. “Do they think so little of us to believe they wouldn’t need guards?”
“Let’s get out here before they realize they did need guards,” Jay said, and they rushed up the stairs. Surprisingly, and slightly worrying, there was nobody in any of the halls or rooms they looked into. They'd been running around for ten minutes and had slowed to a walking pace. It had gotten to the point where they were purposely making loud noises. Still, no one came. It was like they’d abandoned the place. Continuing down the hall, they were met with a nice wooden door. Cara promptly kicked it down. When the others looked at her quizzically, she just shrugged. If the place had been abandoned while locked up in that basement, then there was no reason to knock or be polite. Might as well kick down the nice wooden door that probably leads somewhere important. The inside was furnished to resemble an office one might imagine the CEO of a company might have. Bookshelves and filing cabinets along one wall, a desk with papers, folders, files, and a computer. A big rolling chair behind the desk, and two soft ones on the other side. The lights had been left on, same with the computer, which flashed an error code repeatedly. Natalia and Cara flipped through the papers.
“There’s nothing useful in here. Just a bunch of business proposals, orders, and other random crap.” Natalia said. Jay looked at the computer while Awinita helped the others look through the filing cabinets. While Jay was not the codebreaker of the group -that title belonged to Awi- the boy knew enough to clear the error code. Once it closed, an email was waiting there for him.
Thank you for reaching out to us, unfortunately, we will not be able to accept your trade offer. With the deaths of D.A.P, A.D.J, and Alpha 2, as well as the betrayal and unknown whereabouts of Alpha 1, their project has been terminated, and they are therefore of no use to us. I would warn you, though, that they are dangerous. Once let out of our control, they went on a rampage and destroyed all our facilities in the States. If you value your life, I suggest you either kill them and protect the world from their savagery or flee and leave them to rot. If you do not believe us, attached is their project file.
Jay was confused. ‘Surely they couldn’t be talking about us right?’. When they’d first met Newt in the abandoned train, they’d told him they had implants but had been running from W.C.K.D once the trails started. If they had implants though, they’d obviously been captured by the organization long enough to be given them. But none of the group could remember the event clearly. Just that they’d been given implants. “Hey, guys. We might have a problem.”
The girls came over and read over the email. Equally surprised, Cara suddenly inspected the back of all their necks, wiping away any dirt, grime, and possible makeup that would’ve hidden any W.C.K.D branding. “They can’t be talking about us. We don’t have brands.”
“But we’re the only ones who went around blowing up their facilities.” Natalia countered.
“How about we open the file, and see what information that gives us?” Jay proposed. The girls agreed, and the file was opened.
WCKD Subject Files
Experiment: Hunters
Project ZETA
Subject ZETA 1
Age: 18
Name: Level 10 Clearance Needed
Height: Redacted
Weight: Redacted
Description: Blue eyes, brown hair
Subject ZETA 2
Age: 16
Name: Level 10 Clearance Needed
Height: Redacted
Weight: Redacted
Description: Brown eyes, brown hair
Subject ZETA 3
Age: 17
Name: Level 10 Clearance Needed
Height: Redacted
Weight: Redacted
Description: Brown eyes, red hair
Subject ZETA 4
Age: 15
Name: Level 10 Clearance Needed
Height: Redacted
Weight: Redacted
Description: Green eyes, black hair
Purpose of experiment:
The finding, retrieval, and/or termination of any subject, item, person, and anyone/thing that has either crossed, escaped, and/or dealt unkindly with WCKD.
Project Authorized By: D.A.P
Project Designed By: Alpha 1, Alpha 2
Project Overseen By: A.D.J
Project Monitored By: A.D.J
Project Run By: A.D.J
World In Catastrophe:
Killzone Experiment Department
Level 10 Clearance:____________