Page 44
Tucked away under my socks and bras was a folded piece of paper.
There is no greater universe than holding you… For a change, my eyes stayed dry as I read the poem, and then Alex’s message at the bottom. I love you. Today on your birthday and always. Alex.
“I love you, too,” I whispered. I kissed my finger and pressed it lightly against his signature. As I put the paper back into place, my hand brushed a tiny package.
Even after all this time, I’d never opened Seb’s present. Suddenly curious, I unwrapped it – and found a flat beige stone about an inch long, exactly the same as a million other stones in the desert. Then I turned it over and caught my breath. The stone had a pattern, some fluke of nature: the figure of a girl with long hair and outspread wings.
An angel with no halo. Me.
I’d never thanked Seb for this; I’d just thrown it in my drawer unopened. Seb, I’m sorry. It’s beautiful, I thought, running my thumb over the stone’s smooth surface.
Sam stuck his head in. “Hey! You coming, or what?”
I shoved the stone in my pocket; a minute later, I was jogging behind Sam towards the training room. As we went through the main entrance, we were enveloped in chaos. The entire base was there – we had almost two hundred recruits now, all at different levels. That included some of our original AKs who’d taken longer with the energy work; most of them would leave in the spring.
At the centre of the massive space sprawled an earthquake-ruined city. The set’s shattered buildings always made my stomach tighten. It looked way too much like an explosion site.
We were just about to start when there was a fizzling noise: the holograph machines failing. Again.
Sam groaned and went over with a guy named Eric, our computer guru. Everyone had been tensely poised; now the mood relaxed as the two of them huddled over the computer.
Suddenly I realized I was standing beside Meghan. She had on camouflage trousers and a black T-shirt, her rich auburn hair piled on top of her head.
“It’s like having a fire drill back at school,” she said as our eyes met. “Remember, we’d get to hang around outside for a few minutes?”
“And miss algebra if we were lucky. ” I felt very conscious of the stone Seb had given me, nestled in my pocket. From the corner of my eye, I could see him across the room, talking with some of his students.
I hesitated, then decided to say it. “Meghan, listen…I was really sorry to hear about you and Seb. I’ve wanted to tell you that for a long time. ”
She didn’t answer for a second. Then she sighed. “Yeah. Not my smartest move ever – getting involved with a guy who’s in love with someone else. ”
I froze; I hadn’t expected her to just come out with it like that. Her voice went on, low and non-accusing. “But I couldn’t help it; I just…fell so completely in love with him. I really thought that someday he’d wake up and see how amazing we were together. ” She snorted. “Stupid, huh?”
I licked dry lips. “So what happened?”
Meghan shrugged, her face creased with sadness. “Oh, I don’t know. After Alex died, Seb was so desperate to be there for you, and…well, I guess it made how we both felt pretty obvious, even if neither of us wanted to see it. Finally it got to where being with him hurt more than it made me happy. Time to call it a day. ”
Oh. I cleared my throat, my cheeks on fire. “I always wondered why you didn’t hate me,” I admitted softly.
She glanced at me in surprise. “Why? It’s not your fault. ” She gave a slightly bitter smile. “When I’m being extra-mature I know it’s not his either. He never lied to me, even though sometimes I really thought that…” She trailed off, then made a face. “Oh, who knows? Seb is complicated. And not my favourite topic of conversation, to be honest. ”
She looked up and grinned suddenly, a real smile that lit up her face. “Hey! We’ve got lift-off!”
The holographic angels had appeared, hanging motionless in the air. I managed a smile too as people cheered. Deep down, I guess I’d always known that Seb wasn’t over me. I still hated hearing it.
Sam clapped his hands. “Okay, y’all!” he shouted. “We start in five, four, three—”
Everything else vanished as I grabbed my rifle, checking people’s auras to see who’d been caught off-guard. Then the lights snapped out, and we were plunged into battle.
As the angels started diving, I felt the familiar adrenalin rush. One swooped right at me – I got it in a single shot and then ran for the set, white fireworks exploding through the room. My heart was pounding as I crouched behind a wall and aimed; I pulled the trigger. This was the one time in my life when I felt – well, not happy, but alive again.
Then everything seemed to go into slow motion. My hands chilled, and I missed an angel entirely; its holographic body sliced through me. The buzzer signalling that I’d “died” went off as I lowered my rifle, my spine suddenly prickling. What was going on?
For a heartbeat I stood motionless, surrounded by shouts and the red pinpoints of laser rifles. Then by some instinct I looked up at the broad ceiling, shrouded in darkness.
And I knew.
Time snapped back into place. “Attack! We’re under attack!” I yelled. I scrambled from the set; ran for the door, and switched on the lights – the room flooded with brightness. I could hear Seb calling out too now; people stood gaping at us both.
“We’re under attack!” I shouted again, cupping my hands around my mouth. “The angels are almost here! Get a weapon – do something!”
I flung open the door and started sprinting towards the armoury. Oh god, I could actually feel them now, surging through the ground like ethereal arrows. Before I’d made it halfway down the corridor, I heard the sound of screams starting.
No! I whirled back towards the training room and saw that some of the more experienced AKs had followed me out. Sam was pounding towards me; Liz and Kara, Meghan, a dozen others.
“Don’t stop, we need real guns!” bellowed Sam, charging past.
I took off running again. We reached the armoury; Sam threw it open. “Grab as many weapons as you can carry, then get back in there!”
I swung a semi-automatic rifle over each shoulder, grabbed another, and then a couple of pistols. I shoved them in my jeans waistband with a hand that somehow wasn’t shaking.
It’s time, I thought. Finally, it’s time.
Meghan was pale as she loaded herself up. As Kara clicked in a magazine, I saw the scars where her tattoo used to be. I registered them in a blur as I raced from the armoury, ignoring the weight pulling at my shoulders.
Sam passed me, bristling with weapons. The screams grew louder with every step. As Sam edged open the training room door, they amplified. I gritted my teeth and followed him in – then stopped, the breath freezing in my lungs.
The room was a frenzy of angelic light. Hundreds of angels – hundreds, swooping, diving, tearing away life forces. Through the churning wings, I saw that at least half the AKs lay dead already, their bodies sprawled amid the fake ruins. Some of the ones left must have had real pistols on them – they were shooting frantically, aiming upwards.
It made no difference. We were hopelessly outnumbered. In a daze I saw another few AKs fall; realized that in minutes we’d all be dead.