Free The Benders by Katie French

experimentation. And I thought, ‘What better time to reconnect with my son?’ We’ll be able to get so much closer.”
    Her voice makes my skin crawl. “The minute I get the chance I’m gone. You think you can keep me?”
    Nessa smiles like she anticipated this. “Check the back seat.”
    Slowly I turn and peer in. At first, I see nothing but an old blanket, but then I notice tufts of brown hair blowin’ in the wind. Ethan. I whip around.
    “From everything I hear, you seem to think this Ethan boy is your brother Cole reincarnated. But Cole’s died on your watch, right?”
    Cole. Just the sound of my brother’s name snaps me back to that day. The pain of it. “Stop.”
    “Did he die in your arms?” she asks, fixin’ me with a look as she lets up on the gas pedal.
    “Stop talking ’bout him.” My teeth are clenched, my hands fisted.
    She shrugs, looking like a cat that’s tired of toyin’ with a mouse. “Try to escape and I’ll think of something particularly awful to do to that boy. I have a very vivid imagination.”
    I bite the inside of my cheek until it bleeds. Having Ethan here changes things. At least he’s safe. But Riley? I burn with the sorrow of lettin’ her through my fingers. I promised never to leave her, and here I am without her. I got us into this mess. She trusted me, and I let her down.
    “We’re here.” She cruises up to a gated entrance and brakes.
    My head snaps up. We approach a high brick wall. The entrance is blocked by a metal gate. U.S. Air Force and below that Kirtland Air Force Base beside two large silver wings. An air force base? What the hell are we doin’ here?
    She pulls the Jeep up to a guard station as a man in black cargo pants and a black T-shirt steps out holdin’ an automatic assault rifle. You don’t see guns like that out on the roads anymore. You can’t find bullets for ’em, so they’re useless ’cept for chucking at rats or propping a door open. Seein’ his makes my hands itch for my revolvers.
    Nessa smiles as she greets the young guard. “Dr. Nessa Vandewater and her…guest, Clay Tate.”
    “Why’s he in cuffs?” the baby-faced guard asks.
    Nessa brushes a lock of hair back from her forehead like a class-A flirt. “Oh, him?” She looks over at me. “He’s being a bad boy.”
    The guard frowns, leanin’ over Nessa to look at me. He’s well-fed with most of his teeth and a decent, buzz cut. What’s the end game here? Nessa don’t need no more fire power. The Breeders got everybody on their knees as it is.
    “I have clearance,” Nessa finally says, the humor out of her voice. “General Nadir gave it to me himself.”
    The guard squints at the piece of paper she holds up, nods and steps out of the way. Nessa waves and drives into the Air Force base.
    I feel goddamned sick to my stomach.
    We drive past lawns that used to be green and trees that used to spread shade. Now their dead, skeletal limbs are another reminder of the land gone to rot. But the sidewalks are cleared and the buildings seem in good repair. We pass a training field where young men in sand-colored outfits are drillin’ with rifles. A Jeep buzzes past with military men at the wheel. All of this is making my blood crawl. I thought all Nessa had up her sleeve was a handful of guards with guns back at the hospital. This…this is something completely different.
    She turns right. I catch a couple of signs—Wherry Elementary School and AFB Fitness Center. The elementary’s boarded up, but the fitness center looks open with more soldiers inside. Where are all these men comin’ from? Better yet, what the hell does my mother plan on doin’ with ’em?
    She pulls the Jeep up to the curb of a nondescript building with fresh white paint and new windows. There’s no signs out front, nor any markings of any kind.
    “Get out.” She unbuckles herself and reaches for me. When she leans over my body, I recoil. She smells like dead roses. Sensin’ me tense up, she turns, her