Chapter 13 - subject zero
Rachel remembered her mother as a quiet woman who disliked hospitals.
Marianne Miller had died when Rachel and Rebecca were seventeen. The official cause was a sudden heart condition.
The records beneath the hospital told another story.
Marianne had been recruited into Harrison’s earliest trial at age nineteen. The program studied a rare genetic trait believed to improve the body’s ability to adapt to structural stress.
She became Subject Zero.
The experiments weakened her heart.
Harrison followed her daughters from birth.
Rebecca inherited the marker strongly.
Rachel carried it silently.
Their children became the next generation.
“Sophie and Lily were never random babies,” Caroline said. “They were selected before they were born.”
Grace opened a sealed folder.
“Lily’s biological mother is listed.”
The name was Anna Weller.
Senator Weller’s supposedly dead daughter.
Rachel looked at Lily.
“Anna gave birth to her?”
“Yes.”
“Why was Lily switched with Sophie?”
Caroline studied the records.
“Anna attempted to withdraw from the program after delivery. Harrison moved Lily into Rachel’s custody to hide the child from the Weller family while still keeping her under observation.”
Rachel laughed bitterly.
“They used me as an accidental foster parent.”
“Not accidental,” Noah said. “You worked at the research center. Rebecca could monitor you. Harrison could reach Lily whenever he wanted.”
Sophie’s placement with Vivian served the opposite purpose: strict control inside the program.
Two girls born within minutes of each other.
One raised under surveillance disguised as poverty.
One raised inside privilege disguised as protection.
Both treated as property.
Federal officers entered the hospital above them.
The tunnel group moved deeper into the abandoned wing.
Sophie remembered a hidden exit near the old laundry dock.
Before they reached it, the lights came on.
A woman stood at the end of the corridor.
Dark blond hair.
Scar beneath her chin.
Anna Weller.
Lily stared at her.
“The phone lady.”
Anna’s eyes filled.
“You remembered.”
Lily hid partly behind Rachel.
“Are you my other mommy?”
Anna stopped several feet away.
“I gave birth to you.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
The question struck everyone silent.
Anna knelt.
“I don’t know what word I deserve.”
Lily looked at Rachel.
Rachel’s face showed pain, but she nodded.
The child stepped closer to Anna.
“Did you tell me to call 911?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you come?”
“Because Harrison watched me. I could only open the phone line and guide the dispatcher to you.”
“Did you know my legs hurt?”
Anna began crying.
“I knew they were testing the frame again.”
“You let them?”
“I tried to stop them.”
“But did you?”
“No.”
Lily returned to Rachel’s side.
The truth mattered more than comforting language.
Anna explained that Senator Weller had controlled the program after Harrison’s staged death. Malcolm remained the scientific director, while Vivian managed children placed in selected homes.
“Why is your father doing this?” Noah asked.
“He believes the trait can create soldiers and trauma patients who recover faster. The original medical goal became a defense project.”
“Where are the other children?”
“Being moved to Red Haven.”
“The destination on the map?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“An underground facility built beneath an abandoned military hospital.”
Anna looked at Lily and Sophie.
“They need both girls to activate the final trial.”
Caroline’s expression hardened.
“They are six.”
“The program does not see age. It sees generations.”
Noah asked how to expose the truth.
Anna held up a small drive.
“Every unaltered record is here. Birth transfers. medical procedures. deaths. federal payments. My father’s authorizations.”
Grace reached for it.
Anna pulled back.
“There is one problem. The encryption key is inside Malcolm’s personal system at Red Haven.”
“So we need to enter the facility.”
“Yes.”
Rachel shook her head.
“We are not taking the children anywhere near it.”
Anna looked at Lily.
“They are already coming here.”
A low vibration moved through the tunnel.
The hospital’s lower doors had opened.
Senator Weller’s tactical team entered the abandoned wing.
Anna pointed toward the laundry exit.
They ran.
At the final door, Rebecca appeared in a wheelchair pushed by Ethan.
She had left recovery against medical advice.
“You were going without me,” she said.
Rachel stared.
“You were shot hours ago.”
“I have spent my whole life running from what I did. I’m done.”
The group escaped through the loading dock seconds before tactical officers reached the corridor.
Outside, news helicopters circled above the hospital.
Senator Weller’s broadcast had made them fugitives.
Anna led them to an unmarked medical transport vehicle.
“Red Haven is three hours away,” she said.
Rachel looked at the girls.
“No.”
Lily tugged her sleeve.
“If we don’t go, will the other children keep hurting?”
Rachel could not answer.
Sophie spoke quietly.
“I know the doors.”
The adults faced an impossible choice.
Protect Lily and Sophie by running.
Or use the only opportunity to rescue the children already trapped inside Red Haven.
Noah received a secure message from an unknown sender.
RED HAVEN TRANSFER BEGINS AT DAWN.
SEVEN SUBJECTS. ONE WILL NOT SURVIVE.
Attached was a live image of the missing children inside a metal chamber.
Among them stood a pale boy wearing a bracelet labeled MASON.
May you like
He was alive.
👉 The group had only hours to reach Red Haven before a final trial began, but entering the facility would require Lily and Sophie to return willingly to the people who had claimed them since birth.
