The Fall (Book 4): Genesis Game by Joshua Guess Page A

played across his face and threw stark shadows over the deep lines of it. He wasn't a young man, probably in his late forties or early fifties, and not without signs of hard living. A few of those lines were scars, too obvious to be surgical in nature but too clean to be anything other than knife wounds. They complimented a nose broken at least twice, judging by its crooked lean.
    His eyes measured the group unabashedly, without fear or worry. This was a man who spent his days making decisive calls about who constituted a threat. Kell was reminded of nothing so much as a great jungle cat as Victor scanned them, then wondered if the guy was hiding tigers or something.
    “Oh, you're injured,” Victor said, gesturing at Kell's arm. “Make yourselves comfortable. Grab chairs if you like.”
    Kell took the warm tone and words at face value, dragging a chair and pulling it roughly in front of the desk. He was aware of Victor's eyes on him the entire time, measuring. Weighing. In itself the watchful gaze wasn't sinister, just a reflexive survival mechanism. The same one Kell had indulged in a minute earlier.
    “Emily and I spoke the last time she was here,” Victor said once everyone was settled. “She explained that your group has managed to gather a few scientists who have been trying to come up with a cure.” His eyes rested on Kell. “I'm assuming that's you, otherwise you wouldn't have risked the trip while injured.”
    Kell nodded but remained quiet, opting to err on the side of appearing meek.
    “As I told Emily before, I have no problem giving you free run of the place. My people are free to talk to you, give you whatever samples, or leave with you.” He paused and scanned their faces, but when he continued his voice was just as pleasant and even. “However, if any of them choose not to speak to you, then you won't push the issue. At all. Each of them has the right to completely ignore you, and if they do you'll respect that and back off.”
    It was the lack of threat or emphasis that scared Kell. This wasn't a man who growled or tried to instill fear. Victor saw no essential difference between letting them go about their business and killing them to keep his people safe. One of them was less work than the other, but it was a negligible job if it came to that.
    Everyone on Kell's side of the room had enough practice governing their own reactions that no one so much as bristled at the implied consequences of disobeying.
    “Would it be okay if I asked a few questions?” Kell asked.
    Victor raised an eyebrow. “Other than that one?”
    Kell nodded.
    “Of course,” Victor said. “I might not answer, but you're welcome to ask.”
    Kell glanced at the gorilla behind the glass, which itself was only a corner of the large parcel of land the ape had at its disposal. “Why a zoo?”
    Victor smiled, which sent the hard planes of his face off at slightly odd angles. “What's not to love about them?” he asked. “They're already fenced in and walled. They're filled with hidden bunkers and have plenty of farmland, just to name a few reasons. But what you're really asking is why are some of the animals still here, right?”
    “Yeah,” Kell said, dragging out the word.
    Victor shrugged. “Who else was going to take care of them? Everything fell apart. Even if they'd been released, most of them would have died in the wild. I didn't want that to happen.”
    He paused again, as if weighing a decision.
    “I know what you were before the world went to hell,” Victor said. “You didn't become a biologist or whatever since then, I'm sure. I guess it's fair you know what I did. I was a criminal. I ran a local drug ring.”
    Unsure how to react, Kell merely cocked his head slightly.
    “I wasn't a kingpin or anything,” Victor continued. “We distributed a lot of pot, mostly. Sometimes pills. I tried to keep things peaceful, but in that business you always have someone trying to steal from you or take over. It got nasty