Gods Under The Dome

3.2

《The Collective》

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Tujo jumps to his feet. Sin moves away from the wall. In seconds, the other Titav have their weapons trained on them. No one moves, no one dares to breathe.

Della leans in close. I can smell her menthol-scented breath on my cheek. "Now tell me, why I shouldn't kill you."

"Because it's not a part of the deal," Nol says.

He steps toward us but Keran blocks his path. Her pistol's in her hand and aimed at Nol's gut.

"I'm not really good at upholding my end of the bargain. Snitch, there, can attest to that."

Snitch cowers in a corner, whimpering, like a child who's lost their parent. Keran cackles.

"Who's to say I won't just force you to uphold your side of the agreement?" Nol frowns."You're gonna have to try harder than that, Chemist."

Della angles herself to get a better view of Nol and when she does, the barrel slides off my temple. I don't waste any time and connect my fist into Della's gut. My knuckles crack, bones splintering on impact. I never thought for an instant I'd be able to hurt her through her Kevlar, but I didn't want to hurt her, I wanted her off-balance.

Della stumbles backward, her gun aimed at the ceiling. The whole room tenses and while she's trying to regain her footing, I shove my hand into my pocket, whip out the DEC bracelet and slip it over Della's wrist. As I go for the activation key, Della takes these few seconds to steady herself.

She grabs me by the collar, throws me back against a table. Silverware and plastic plates clatter to the floor. Mugs of coffee, shatter, spray my legs in lukewarm water. Della shoves the gun in my nose. With a hiss, she growls, "You've done it now."

I nod to her left. She looks down at the bright ring of blue now encircling her wrist. I grip the activation key tight in my pocket. It was my only leverage. I damn sure needed it to work.

Delta snarls and rams my head off the table. Stars flash before my eyes. "What the hell's this?"

Blood rushes to my ears. A loud buzzing sound blankets everything. "It's a DEC," I think I say. "Contained electrical current. There's enough juice in there to cook an elephant from the inside out." Through the pain, I manage a smile. The smooth feel of the activation key between my fingers helps to steady me. "Just thinking about the things it could do to you makes me giddy. Maybe I'll develop a case of trigger happiness, too."

She mutters a curse before lessening her grip on my collar. I flop back onto the table, gulping for air as my heart tries to wrench free of my chest.

"And let me guess," Della says. "You've got the key?"

Coughing, I manage to my feet. The room flickers to black before returning in soft focus. "Maybe," I say, trying to bring detail back into the world. I hone in on Nol, on those eyes where sky and forest meet. "or maybe it's with one of the other Liars." I reach up and rub the agitated flesh around my neck, feel the scrapes Della's leather gloves had left behind. "Or perhaps a DEC can be remotely accessed and I don't need anyone else."

Her eyes go wide. She hadn't thought of that possibility. Good thing I had. "Maybe this one's been hacked and all I have to say is one word and that shield comes down and you get the full blast of over 20,000 volts sent through your body." I wrinkle my nose. "Ever smell burnt flesh? I haven't, but I can't imagine it's pleasant."

Della nods, glowers, hatred igniting her brown eyes from coals to full-blown infernos. Still, she keeps herself composed. The danger comes from the current, not the deceptively placid surface.