The Elite: The GEOs, #3

By Ramona Finn

Making the right choice always comes with a price.

 

Tylia Coder has joined the resistance after her ejection from the Labs. Yet if the Farrows discover she's still alive, her family and friends in both the GEOs and the Greens will be in terrible danger. What's more, her supposed death only spurs on the bitter rivalries. The Rejs ramp up their attacks on the Labs' sky transports, their leader so desperate now that he doesn't care who gets hurt anymore.

 

The Farrow family in the Labs is only concerned about maintaining the status quo, even if that means others must die to preserve their pampered way of life. But it's when rivalries among the Geos factions erupt and supplies are all but cut off that Tylia realizes she must do whatever it takes to find the answers she seeks – and truly learn which man in her life she can trust.

 

In this explosive series conclusion, Tylia must embrace her destiny – or die trying.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Relay Publishing
• Release date: Mar 27, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224187270

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

The heat from the midafternoon sun bristled through the canopy of trees, piercing the thick layers of clothing I had on. Sweat trickled down my back, making me itch. Even the chain of my necklace was biting into the back of my neck. I fidgeted with my mother’s pendant, and Skylar’s vial tucked in safely behind it, appreciating the coolness of their surfaces.

I’d fallen behind in the trek and could only just make out Skylar’s figure ahead—he was signaling for us to stop. At least a dozen Rejs stood between Skylar and me. Another five or six froze behind me. At Skylar’s next hand signal, most everyone crouched low on the ground. Some leaned against thick tree trunks. A couple even climbed up into the trees.

Donalt waved me over to the tree she was hiding behind. She was Skylar’s oldest friend, and getting on her good side hadn’t been easy. Only very lately had she begun to be semi-nice to me.

Now, Donalt had her back pressed up against the rough bark of a wide cedar. She indicated that I should take my place by her side. I did so, wordlessly, and she nodded her approval. A deep silence fell over our portion of the forest. Only moments ago, the air had echoed with the crunching of dried leaves and twigs under the footsteps of all the Rejs who were heading toward the Geos’ landing site. With Skylar’s signal, all movement had come to an abrupt end.

If I hadn’t been one of the ones trudging through this forest, I wouldn’t have been able to tell that there were almost twenty people breathing and observing among the trees now. The Rejs were excellent at hiding in plain sight.

Skylar had stopped us about a kilometer from the landing site of the Elite transports. From this distance, I couldn’t see a thing, but I knew the entrance to the Geos was only a few steps from where the transports landed. There would be two elevators traveling into the underground world—one small one for people, and another larger one for crates of supplies.

As we waited for more instructions from Skylar, our leader, the air vibrated with the rumble of engines powering down. The transports had arrived.

The trek over the range of small hills where the Rejs had now set up camp had been the longest I’d ever attempted walking on the surface. Yes, I was immune to the Virus, and it seemed that so was every Rej on this mission, but the idea of breathing in something so vile had still made me uncertain about taking this journey, long as it had been. Things that Ben Farrow, Kev, and the old survivors had said about the Virus mutating, and becoming much more vicious, had left me growing more anxious with every camp we’d set up over the last three days. I could almost picture Rejs falling over and bleeding out through every orifice, telling us that we’d just come up against our old enemy, who was now stronger and deadlier than ever.

Skylar had initially asked me to stay behind in the caves. For my own safety, he’d said. But I couldn’t. This mission was the first since the bombings that had taken out hundreds of Rejs, including Skylar’s father. As the new leader of his band of Rejs, Skylar had managed to persuade several other groups of Rejs to join him in this offensive, and I had to be here with him, to make sure he didn’t go over the edge. His father’s death had taken a toll on him. Even though, over the last two weeks, he and I had barely been able to keep our hands off each other, I’d often woken up to hear him groaning in his sleep, his fists and teeth tightly clenched, tears soaking the bed clothes. He wouldn’t talk about it with me, or with anyone; he always kept up a brave front. When I pried, he said it was more important to look to the future, to the survival of our people, rather than to the inner emotions of their leader.

Skylar walked back from his position at the front of our group, stopping to give quiet instructions to each bunch of Rejs he passed. I noticed that he put his hands on the shoulders of several of his people. It seemed to me as if he was reassuring them, or checking to make sure they really wanted to be a part of this mission. He had learned from his father, and I could tell that the people loved him. A small twinge of jealousy pinched at my heart. He was mine, in the most private of ways, but he’d never be completely mine. He belonged to his people, and his heart lay with them first.

He handed me a bandana and a beanie, which he pulled out of his back pocket. Tuck your hair into this, and cover your face. You’re too well known, and we don’t want anyone to recognize you. He was all business in his tone with me, but I saw the twitch in his eyes, which told me he was worried for my safety. I took the bandana from him, brushing my fingers along the back of his hand. I hoped my smile told him I was capable of taking care of myself.

Yeah, Donalt sneered. I’d figured out that this snarkiness was her default mode of talking to or about people. I’d learned not to take offense. Don’t want the Elites to think that their kidnapped princess has gone all Stockholm Syndrome on them, now do we?

In the two weeks since I’d been ‘taken’ from the Greens, the little news that the Rejs had been able to glean from their spies inside the Geos hadn’t been great. The Farrow’s TV show, The Cure, told us that the Elites believed—or at least they wanted us to think they believed—that the Rejs had kidnapped me right before my partnering ceremony to Ben Farrow, the ‘favored son’ of our world’s leader, R.L. Farrow. On the show, the Elites were outraged, swearing revenge on the Rejs and vowing to return me safe and sound to Ben’s arms. From what our Rej ‘spies’ had reported, even the off-screen Ben was devastated and furious. That had me worried. An angry Ben, as I’d learned up close, was a vengeful Ben. And that meant the Rejs would have to be on the lookout for more attacks. Skylar was convinced that, with his moving the Rejs’ camp out so far over the hills, the Farrows would never find us. But I had my doubts. Ben was nothing if not determined.

Skylar tied his own bandana over the lower part of his face, leaving only those stark blue eyes peering at me from under thick eyebrows. His shock of dark, spiky hair disappeared under the beanie he pulled over his head. A tingle danced through my body, disrupting the seriousness of this moment.

The effect Skylar had had on me in the last fortnight left me breathless all the time. I hadn’t had a moment to think about what it was we were doing here today. Skylar had let me in on all of his council meetings, but I’d pretty much just sat and listened, afraid to interrupt. I was still getting glares from the other Rejs. They weren’t sure I could be trusted, even though Skylar had been doing his absolute best to persuade them otherwise. He’d taken every opportunity, when we were out together in front of his people, to speak to them, sometimes individually, almost forcing them to get to know me. These encounters were uncomfortable, to say the least.

But I was the girl who’d almost become a Farrow. I had to have had some inclination toward the family. Surely, a girl like that couldn’t simply turn her back on the people who’d given her such an opportunity—only in order to slum it with the Rejs, who had nothing.

Skylar adjusted my beanie for me, tucking one last strand of hair into the dull blue knitted hat. As his fingers brushed my neck, my mind flashed to recent memories that were completely inappropriate for a moment like this. I blushed involuntarily, which made Skylar chuckle.

Oh gross, you two. Donalt pretended to gag. I really don’t want to be a part of this. It’s bad enough that I have to sleep in the compartment next to you two.

I gasped. In the caves, we didn’t have rooms with walls, but Skylar’s ‘quarters’ were farthest away from the people.

Don’t listen to her, Skylar said to me, giving Donalt a playful smack. She’s just jealous.

Donalt made an exaggerated show of gagging even more. She and Skylar nudged each other playfully, and I couldn’t help wondering if I’d come in between something that might have happened there. And if Donalt might really be hurt by the fact that Skylar had chosen me.

When Skylar and I first met, during the Acceptance—the survival trials that had gotten all this mess started—we’d felt a pull toward each other almost right away. I’d never been so powerfully attracted to anyone in my life…not even to Ben, who was sweet and caring to me. Skylar blew my mind, which was a stupid expression that my best friend in the Geos, Viv, had used when she’d talked about boys she liked. But with Skylar, the phrase fit so perfectly. When I was with him, I couldn’t think straight, could barely put a coherent sentence together. I became a weak girl with wobbly knees whenever he looked at me, and worse when he touched me. It was ridiculous, but I couldn’t get enough of him.

But, right now, I had to get my act together. We were heading into the Geos—my home, where my parents lived. At least, I hoped they still lived. If R.L. Farrow truly believed I’d been kidnapped, then my parents should still be under his care. They’d been moved to the medical wing of the Geos. R.L. was supposed to have moved them up to the Greens after I’d won the Acceptance, but the Cough, an infectious illness that affected many in the dank, dark underground world of the Geos, had taken on a more dangerous mutation. My mother had had the Cough for years, and she was getting worse. I’d hacked my way into the Acceptance to get her out of the Geos, so she could get the proper treatment. But as long as the new Cough was spreading, my parents couldn’t be moved out of the Geos. So said R.L. Farrow.

And now I was grateful he hadn’t moved them up to the Greens. But that didn’t mean R.L. didn’t have the power to reach down and hurt them, if he believed that I’d betrayed Ben. I had to know that they were safe. If I had to admit it to myself, this was the primary reason I’d come on this mission.

The Rej spies had informed Skylar that the Elites were sending down three transports to the Geos to pick up supplies. The Elites grew most of their crops in the Sky Lab called the Greens—where the Farrows lived, and where I’d been for a while. But the Geos’ farms gave them the seedlings of all their crops, and the farmers in the Geos improved on the crops each year. The Geos also provided the Greens with luxury items like truffles and mushrooms.

Skylar wanted to disrupt this flow of supplies by sabotaging the transports that came to collect them. This would cause more than a slight panic in the Greens, for sure. Once their current crops were used up, they would need the seedlings to replant for the next harvest. The loss of luxury items would be an inconvenience, but losing access to the seedlings would be a matter of life or death.

The transports were the perfect target. And since the Rejs had sabotaged transports before, these would make an easy mark.

This was the argument Skylar had used to persuade the neighboring Rej bands to join us.

So, are you clear on your roles? Skylar interrupted my thoughts.

I got it, Donalt said. Same as before. Put holes in their extra fuel supplies and cut the fuel lines.

I turned to her, eyes wide. So, that was you—when the transport I was in crashed? I almost died.

Donalt tilted her head and grinned. That would’ve been a pity. Not.

Knock it off, Donnie, Skylar scolded her. He gave me an uncomfortable frown. That was a miscalculation, that one time.

Hey, we didn’t do enough damage to take out the entire transport, Donalt insisted. It was just enough to send them a scary warning.

Well, it worked, I huffed, recalling that terrifying free-fall in my first ever transport ride.

Skylar touched my elbow. Electricity shot through my body. Stop it, Tylia!

And you? You got your mission? The way Skylar asked told me he knew exactly the effect he was having on me.

I’m sneaking inside, I said, forcing myself to focus on the danger of the mission. I couldn’t get caught by anyone—not Geos people or the EFs, R.L.’s soldiers. There’d be a whole lot of trouble if I was even seen by the surveillance cameras that were everywhere. I repeated the orders I’d been given at the last council meeting. Get to a terminal. Disrupt the water flow to the farms. Get out.

Skylar exhaled. Don’t get caught.

I know that, I said. I can handle my small part in all of this. Don’t worry. What I didn’t tell him was that I had a mission of my own. I needed to find out if my parents and my friends were all right. I had to make sure Mom was getting her meds, and that R.L. hadn’t taken any measures to make them suffer. Skylar didn’t need to know any of this. He had enough on his plate.

Done confirming things with us, Skylar checked with the Rejs behind us and then walked into the middle of the forest path. He raised his hands and gestured the signals we’d all memorized. He was saying to move ahead in silence, split into our assigned groups, and carry out the individual tasks we’d practiced in the caves.

Then he came back to my side and wrapped me in his arms. Don’t get caught, he repeated. Pressed up against his body, I could feel how fast his heart was beating.

I pulled away and forced him to meet my gaze. I can take care of myself. I don’t want you worrying about me while you do your part. It’s too dangerous for you.

I know, he said.

Say it.

You can take care of yourself.

That’s right, I can, I said. Now, remember, only disrupt, not destroy those transports. We’re out to warn the Farrows, not to completely cut off supplies.

Skylar’s eyes narrowed. No, Ty. I want them to suffer. For what they did to my father.

The intensity of emotion in his voice frightened me, and I gripped his arm. If you cut off the supplies, you also cut off what the Geos get from the Greens. That may just be leftovers and surplus food, but it’s important to the people below.

Skylar’s nostrils flared. We’d had this conversation too many times in the last three days. Skylar didn’t consider the potential suffering of the Geos in his planning. He only focused on making the Elites’ lives hell. People who are in the way always suffer, but their sacrifice is for the greater good, he said. It’s called collateral damage.

"My friends and parents aren’t collateral damage! I snapped. You wouldn’t allow that to happen to the Rejs if the situation were the other way around."

Skylar scowled. He knew I was right, but the most I could get out of him was a reluctant nod.

I sighed. There wasn’t any more time to argue about this. I just had to hope that some of what I’d said to him would sink in. My people lived in the Geos. I couldn’t deliberately sabotage their meager supplies in order to get back at the Farrows. But then, I still had my parents. Who knew how I’d react if R.L. took my parents’ lives and broadcast the murders on TV for all to see?

Skylar had been through that. I couldn’t blame him for hating the Farrows. I bit my tongue, this time, and wished him good luck and safety. With a quick peck on the lips, we parted. I watched him move to the head of the group. In a matter of minutes, we’d be leaving the safety of the trees. We’d be running across the wide-open space beyond them, toward the transport landing site. The early afternoon sun would be glaring, and if we weren’t careful, the mission would be over before it began. But we had no choice. The transports would only be here for as long as it took to load each one, and that rarely happened under the cover of night. The Elites weren’t that stupid.

I watched as Skylar signaled to the first group of Rejs. They moved away from their hideout and took off toward their assigned transport. They would take out whatever EF guards were there and proceed to sabotage the vehicles. Skylar signaled again. Another group ran. Then Donalt patted me on the back, gave me an overly optimistic wink, and took off with the third group. I waited until all of the Rejs were moving toward their targets. Then, I dashed for the entrance to my old home.

CHAPTER TWO

The Rejs ran fast, outrunning me by several meters. They’d trained for this sort of thing their whole lives, and I had gotten out of shape. Those few weeks in the Greens had softened me, physically.

I was out of breath before I’d reached the edge of the tree line.

Stopping behind the last tree before the wide-open area that was the landing site, I tried hard to mute my panting. I couldn’t give the Rejs any more excuses to laugh at me or think less of my abilities to help them in their quest.

Ahead of us loomed the three monstrous looking transports which were parked side by side, each taking up the width of at least twenty thick-trunked cedars. The Farrows had sent down their biggest cargo vehicles—an unusual move. The regular supplies pick-up consisted of one large cargo transport. By sending three, what message were they trying to get across? Each transport was the size of a small warehouse, with a rusty orange central body and side sections that looked like legs. To fill one would be hard on our people, already leaving us with little of what we grew and made. To fill three would deplete our supplies for a long time.

But there was something else about these transports. I’d seen a few of them since the time when I’d flown off with Ben to visit my old home, to announce our engagement. These transports were equipped with weaponry. That’s what Ben had mentioned in passing. I hadn’t thought much of it then, except to wonder who they would use such weaponry against. According to Ben, the transports had guns attached that were hidden within the leg sections and would only be obvious when the weapons were primed for discharge.

I swallowed, hoping that none of us would ever have to encounter this kind of firepower. Ben had been particularly proud of this aspect of the machinery, as the hidden weaponry was his idea, and R.L. made a fuss about how cunning Ben had been to think of it.

A knot formed in my stomach. I had decided, rightly, that I couldn’t become a Farrow, but I couldn’t help feeling bad that I’d hurt Ben. I’d left him hanging at our ceremony, without any indication that I’d changed my mind. He’d wanted so badly to form a family unit, to have someone at his side who was on his side. I’d betrayed him. As much as I knew it was the right thing to do, I still felt a twinge of guilt for how much I’d humiliated him.

The Rejs had all run ahead of me by now, and I watched as they stayed low, taking advantage of the thinning foliage—bushes and boulders that dotted the open space, meters before the landing pads. I was about to make a run toward a boulder about ten meters ahead of my location when I caught sight of movement by the middle transport. From this distance, I could just make out the white outline of a pair of Emergency Force soldiers, or EFs. From head to toe, they were dressed in white, which meant they were in full combat mode. The black straps across their shoulders and the long stick-like objects in their hands told me they were fully armed.

The EFs moved out toward the forest, at which point they paused and looked around. Then they turned and strolled to the back end of the transport they’d been guarding. As soon as their backs were turned, I booked the ten meters to the boulder. Ducking behind it, I gave myself the time my racing heart needed to get back to normal.

This first transport now loomed over me, casting a shadow over the entire area where the Rejs and I hid. Luckily for us, someone had long ago decided to grow a hedge around the perimeter of the landing site—thinking of decoration rather than security. In between the hedges, they had laid large boulders, each the size of two grown men crouching. These hedges had mostly dried up over the years, but there were still many bushes and boulders that made for great hiding places.

The EFs were now closer, so that I could see them clearly. They continued to walk around the far side of the first transport. Their thick uniforms and round helmets, which had darkened faceplates on them, made it impossible to tell if they were male or female. Not that it mattered. All EFs were extremely well-trained and skilled in combat. These EFs each carried their weapons low in both gloved their hands. They turned from side to side as they walked, clearly on high alert.

R.L. wasn’t stupid. He was expecting trouble. This was a situation the Rejs hadn’t encountered before. True, in the past, the Elites had known there was a possibility of attack. What they hadn’t known was that not all attacks came from the already-stretched Rejs. Some, I’d discovered, came from the old Acceptance survivors who had been kept in the back passages of the Sky Labs and experimented on for years. But the attacks were few and far between, so security had often lapsed.

Not today, though. I scanned the area for my next hiding place. About twenty meters ahead, there was another boulder. Getting to that one meant I’d be about equidistant between the first transport and the elevators that would get me into the Geos. But that was, I’d guessed, another fifty meters or so away. Without any hedges or boulders to hide me, I’d be fully exposed during that run.

The two EFs I’d been watching disappeared behind the first transport. I braced myself to dash to the boulder. Just as I took one step out of my hiding place, though, another two EFs appeared from the front side of the transport.

I recoiled, making myself as small as I could in my hiding spot. That had been too close. It took me several long breaths before I dared to peek out again. These new EFs moved in the opposite direction, covering the side of the transport that faced me. They were also looking very alert. When they reached the end section of the vehicle, they were met by the first two EFs. Great. I had to outrun four of them.

Then, as if the universe had heard my thought, an entire troop of EFs joined the four. They must have come from one of the other transports that were parked on the other side. The Farrows were expecting us.

How were the others handling this? Had they expected this level of protection for the cargo transports? Supply collection had never been like this before, which meant that, whatever intelligence we had relied on, it was now irrelevant.

I had to trust that Skylar knew what he was doing. And I had to get on with my own part in all of this.

I spent a few minutes watching the EFs as they discussed something amongst themselves. Then they dispersed. They patrolled the area around their respective transports. I could only see the two who were closest to me, but I expected that they were all doing similar things at each of the three transports. The two nearest me walked up and down one side of the transport, their strides matching each other’s, while the