“You’re not allowed to die,” she said quietly with a small smile. “I’m ordering it, as your former trainer.”
“Got it,” I said, kissing her again. “You either. Or captured. Or anything.”
She leaned closer, so our foreheads were almost touching. “If we get separated and it looks like this isn’t going to work, if it looks like we’re losing, I want you to run. Meet me at that spot halfway between Rosa and Austin where we stopped and ate. Remember?”
I nodded. “Only if things get really bad, though.”
She nodded in agreement as her lips touched mine again. I tightened my arms around her and held on until she slowly began to pull away. She hopped down to the ground.
Our shuttle was now fully loaded. Wren grinned at me, the kind of grin that made my insides turn over.
“I probably love you,” she said.
I let out a surprised laugh. “Probably?”
She laced our fingers together and tugged me toward the shuttle, glancing over her shoulder. “Probably. It’s hard to tell with me, you know?”
I laughed again. “I probably love you, too.”
“I figured.”
I wanted to grab her and kiss her again, but I settled for a smile as we stepped inside with the others. The door banged shut as I ran my fingers down her cheek, and she returned my smile as the shuttle roared to life.
The day I arrived at the Rosa HARC facility, my first day as an active Reboot, I’d been brought in by ground transportation. I’d sat in the back of a HARC van, my hands cuffed, a guard on either side of me.
I’d been able to hear my heart beating, and realized I’d never asked if a Reboot still had a heartbeat. I’d understood the general idea of Rebooting—the body shutting down and coming back stronger—but I’d never considered what exactly the body still did (or didn’t do) after it happened.
I remembered sitting in the van as the Rosa fence opened. My palms were clammy and I felt sick. It had taken me a minute to remember I was a Reboot, and to realize I still had all the same emotions and feelings I did as a human.
I hadn’t known whether to be relieved or terrified. Relieved to be the same person; terrified to have to go through being a HARC Reboot while I still had a conscience and happy human memories.
We approached Rosa on foot this time, the shuttle parked a mile behind us. My fear was the same.
No, not the same. It was still there, but it wasn’t fear of HARC or worry for my future. It was fear for Wren, fear of messing up, fear of the plan not working and all the Reboots dying. But I could keep the fear under the surface now. No sweaty palms or pounding heart.
I glanced down at Wren, who was staring straight ahead, her expression blank. I might not have been as good as her at keeping my emotions in check, but I admired the way she could push them back and pretend they weren’t there when it suited her. I wouldn’t have ever guessed I’d like that about her.
She stopped, and the Reboots and humans behind us paused as well. Riley, Addie, and Isaac were following us, with about twenty Reboots. The human group bringing up the rear was small, only about ten or so.
We were so close to the gate I could see the towers. It was silent, the usual buzz of the fence gone. It had been turned off, just as Riley had said it would be. That seemed like a good sign. Maybe we had enough human support in Rosa after all.
Wren gestured for us all to stay put and walked to the gate. She wrapped her fingers around the wire without hesitation and paused for a moment. I winced, thinking of the charge that could have gone through her body.
She nodded and Riley and Addie ran forward with wire cutters. They snapped them quickly, the wires falling down loose toward the ground. Once there was enough space for us to get through, Wren went first, followed by the Reboots, then the humans.
My eyes darted to the towers as we quickly formed a half circle, humans in the middle, and took off toward the city. We’d been told to go to this location because the guards in either tower would pretend not to see us, but I still braced myself for bullets as I ran.
They didn’t come. It was silent as we passed the towers and headed for the HARC building looming ahead.
THIRTY-EIGHT
WREN
THERE WAS NO FENCE AROUND THE ROSA FACILITY, SINCE IT WAS set so far away from the houses of the slums. I’d rarely seen it from this angle, my view usually obscured in the shuttle, although I would occasionally glance back at it from assignments.
The humans split off into the slums as we neared the facility, and I took a quick scan of our surroundings. The area around the facility was deserted, but the idea that they weren’t guarding the place was ludicrous, especially now.
I glanced up. They likely had guards on the roof. Probably snipers. There also had to be guards at every door. We’d had no direct guard or officer support in Austin—the HARC rebels who were inside steered clear of us—and it felt odd that the plan was to walk right straight to a HARC officer and ask to be let in.
We rounded the corner and everyone slowed as we came into full view of the facility. Nothing but a few yards of dirt between us and the entrance now.
I took a step forward.
A shot rang out.
I jumped, my eyes immediately going to the roof. But the shot came from the slums and was quickly followed by another one.
“Run?” Callum whispered.
I nodded and we took off, footsteps pounding the dirt. Two guards were standing at the door, faces turned in our direction. Neither had their weapons drawn.
I slowed, holding out my hand as Riley grabbed his gun. “Wait.” I came to a stop in front of the guards, their faces serious beneath the bright light above the door.
One of them was familiar, though I’d never known his name. Perhaps the other one had been around as well, but I’d never paid much attention to the HARC officers inside the Rosa facility, other than Leb. They mostly stood against the wall and tried not to make eye contact.
They were both staring at me now, though. The taller one pulled his access card away from his belt and swiped it across the pad next to the door.
“Move fast,” he said quietly, holding the door open. “Leb can only distract them from the cameras for a few minutes.”
I darted into the lobby, casting a glance over my shoulder. “Thank you.” If we failed they were going down, too. The camera had just recorded them letting a bunch of Reboots into the building.
The lights were still on in the lobby. It was dinnertime, and if we had timed it right, all the Reboots were in the cafeteria right now.
The man behind the desk looked casually in our direction. His eyes widened to saucers as he processed what we were, and he scrambled for the com on his desk.
“Hands up,” Riley ordered, drawing his gun as he strode forward.
The man paused, his finger poised over the button on his com.
“I will shoot you,” Riley said. “Drop the com on the desk.”
“Gently,” Callum quickly added, running past Riley.
The human scrambled away as Callum got closer, abandoning the com on the desk as he raised his hands.
“Sit on the floor,” Riley said, gesturing. “One sound and you’re dead.”
An alarm shrieked through the lobby and I winced. “Too late.”
Callum grabbed the com and twisted a button on it. He tossed it to me. “I’ll stay with the guard,” he said to Riley as he raised his gun. “You guys go.”
“All Reboots to your rooms immediately.” The voice over the speaker made Addie jump, and she gave me a worried look.
I lifted the com to my mouth as I ran for the stairwell. “Reboots. Stop. Don’t go to your rooms.” I took the stairs two at a time as I raced for seven, the cafeteria. Reboot rooms were above that, on the eighth floor, but hopefully they weren’t there yet.
“This is One-seventy-eight,” I continued. “HARC is losing control of the cities. They will kill all of you if you go to your rooms.”
I rounded
a corner and burst onto the seventh floor to see Reboots crowding out of the cafeteria door. Their eyes were wide as they met mine, growing bigger as Riley and the other Reboots flowed in around me.
The guns in the cafeteria went off.
Screams.
“Run!” I darted away from the door and gestured for them to go down the stairs. I raised the com again. “We have a lot of human allies. Confirm they’re hostile before you attack.”
That produced a few baffled looks. I gave them a stern expression in return and turned to the cafeteria as more shots rang out. I wrapped my fingers around my gun and pulled it from my pants, swallowing hard as memories of Ever began trickling in.
A hand roughly clapped down on my helmet, forcing me to duck as several bullets flew right over my head.
“Watch your head, newbie!” Riley said with a grin as he released me.
I shot him a grateful look before he turned and began shooting at the guards coming down the hallway.
Hugo ran out the cafeteria door, holding a smaller Reboot close to him. His face broke into a grin when he spotted me. “I knew you weren’t dead!”
A guard flew around the corner before I could respond, gun pointed at Hugo’s head. I fired off a quick shot and the guard crumpled to the ground.
“Get the gun,” I said to Hugo. “Did any Reboots make it to their rooms?”
“Maybe a few,” he said as he scooped up the gun.
“I’ve got it,” Riley said, gesturing for a few others to follow him.
“Lock down the building. All personnel to the lower level.”
I slipped the com into my pocket as the voice spoke, and ran for the stairs. The sounds of screams and gunfire grew louder as I got closer to the bottom floor, and I tightened my hand around my gun.
Bullets immediately pelted my chest as I passed through the door on the bottom level. Callum sprinted in my direction as soon as I stepped into the lobby, and I grabbed him and pulled him down to the floor with me as bullets raced over our heads.
The lobby was full of HARC officers. Dead bodies littered the ground, too many of them Reboots. There was gunfire everywhere, and bullets zipped all around me as I pushed my way to the building entrance.
HARC officers were lined up on the front lawn. They formed a solid wall around every exit, bullets exploding from their guns.
“Stand back! Reboots, stand back!”
Isaac’s voice barely carried over the chaos in the lobby, and the officers were all moving back from the building, arms over their heads.
Callum grabbed me around the waist as the blast shook the building, and we hit the ground together. His body covered mine as the front windows exploded and glass rocketed across the room.
Another blast shook the lobby and the screams around me faded, replaced by a high-pitched ringing in my ears. I squirmed against Callum and he sprang off me, pulling on my hand to help me up.
The lobby windows were completely gone and smoke partially obscured our view of outside. Bodies of HARC officers littered the ground, and Reboots jumped over them as they made a run for it.
Several of the Reboots stopped in their tracks as they encountered a wall of guns. Humans.
Tony was at the front of the crowd, and he lowered his gun slightly as he jerked his head. “Come on! Get out of there!”
I grabbed Callum’s hand and rushed for the exit. The other Reboots followed, and Callum turned to grin at me as the cool air hit our faces.
A familiar sound overhead made me turn. A massive HARC shuttle was headed right for us. And on the ground, coming around the corner, at least a hundred heavily armed HARC officers.
They swarmed toward us and I positioned myself in front of the line of humans.
“All Reboots without a helmet back with the humans!” I yelled.
A hand yanked on my arm and I swung around, crushing my fist into an officer’s face. He grabbed for me again and I fired a quick shot into his chest.
Riley was fighting off an officer right next to me, and I took a frantic glance around for Callum. He’d disappeared.
“Wren!”
I whirled around at the sound of my name, but saw nothing but a sea of bodies.
Someone behind me grunted, and I turned in time to see a HARC officer grab Addie’s helmet and try to rip it off her head. I lifted my foot and kicked him as hard as I could. His hands flew off of Addie and he collapsed in a heap a few feet away.
I pulled Addie to her feet and ducked at the sound of a blast. Flames were coming out of the HARC building, as well as from a bunch of buildings in the slums.
Two big bodies slammed into me and I hit the ground, almost losing my grip on my gun. I held it tightly as one of the HARC officers who’d hit me scrambled across the dirt, pointing his gun in my face.
I kicked both my feet into his face and shot to my knees, grabbing the other HARC officer by the collar.
“No, no, no! It’s me, One-seventy-eight!” Leb’s eyes were wide as he stared at me, his hands up in surrender near his face.
I let go of his collar and jumped to my feet, offering him my hand.
“Thank you,” he said with a long exhale, straightening the helmet on his head. Like all the other HARC officers, he was in full gear.
His face changed as his eyes found something behind me, and I turned to see Addie with her back to us, gun poised for the next attack.
“Addie!” I grabbed her arm and she whirled around, her panicked expression changing to surprise when she spotted her dad. She raced forward and threw her arms around his neck.
I suppressed a smile as I jumped in front to block them from the HARC assault. “This isn’t really the time for hugging!”
“Yes! Right!” Addie pulled away, pointing. “Get back there with the rebels! You’re going to get shot up here. Take that HARC shirt off or something!”
He laughed but did as she said, embracing her quickly before running for Tony and Desmond.
I pushed through the crowd, whipping my head around as I searched for Callum. I found Riley instead, who had one HARC officer on his back and was trying to wrestle a gun from the hand of another. Screams echoed around me as I dove for him, wrapping my arms around the waist of the officer on his back and hauling him off. He darted into the crowd as soon as he recognized me, casting a horrified glance over his shoulder.
Riley stood over the other dead officer, breathing heavily. “Thanks.”
I started to say “You’re welcome” when Riley blinked, putting a hand to his neck. Blood seeped through his fingers, and I whirled to look for the source of the bullet.
A shuttle officer I’d only encountered once stood a few yards away. He’d made me take my shirt off to search for weapons, then was disgusted by my scars.
I dove for him, a bullet clipping my hand. His eyes lit up like he’d succeeded at something.
My heart stopped as I turned around. Riley was already on the ground, a bullet hole in his forehead.
I pressed a hand to my mouth as I choked back a cry. The world was blurry as I started to lift my gun again, but two Reboots were already there, wrestling the shuttle officer to the ground.
I ducked as a barrage of bullets raced over my head and hit my knees next to Riley.
“Up. Get up now!” Riley’s voice was loud in my head, drowning out the sounds around me.
But I was glued to the ground, my fingers wrapped around his lifeless wrist. I couldn’t move, even as his yells grew louder in my head. His bright eyes stared vacantly at the sky.
A Reboot slammed against my back as she shoved a HARC officer to the ground, and I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. I slid my hand into Riley’s and gave it a squeeze, saying a silent thank-you I should have said a hundred times over before now.
I forced myself to stand and wiped a hand across my eyes. I had to find Callum. I had to at least see if he was okay.
Spinning around, I finally spotted him over the sea of faces. He’d been pushed back closer to the HARC building, a
nd he was helping a young Reboot who’d lost a leg over the pile of rubble and bodies. There were no immediate threats nearby and I breathed a sigh of relief.
A door at the other end of the HARC building opened, and I squinted through the smoke at a chubby figure who emerged.
Officer Mayer.
He had a large gun in his hand, and I pushed past the Reboots and officers as I ran for him.
He stood at the front of the building, breathing heavily as he observed the scene. He turned to the Reboots making their way out of the building. To Callum.
“Callum!” I screamed, but he made no sign he’d heard me. I fired several bullets in Officer Mayer’s direction, but he didn’t even flinch. I was too far away.
Officer Mayer raised his gun. He hit the young Reboot right in the head, an easy shot without a helmet.
Callum whirled around, his hand going to his gun.
The officer fired. Callum’s head flew back. His body was still for a split second and I held my breath as I waited for him to move. He crumpled to the ground, motionless.
THIRTY-NINE
CALLUM
FORTY
WREN
BLACK TINGED THE EDGES OF MY VISION AND I COULDN’T BREATHE. I couldn’t move.
It had been several seconds and Callum was completely still on the ground. I couldn’t go over there. If I went to look I would know he was dead. He couldn’t be dead.
Desmond appeared, horror on his face as he knelt down next to Callum. He turned to me. Back to Callum.
Panic began to spread through my limbs and I choked back a sob as Desmond gave me a shocked look.
I charged for Officer Mayer.
He took off running, pumping his arms as fast as he could. He turned around and fired a wild shot in my direction, which missed me by at least a foot.
I raised my gun. I could easily hit his back at this point, but that wasn’t how I always imagined killing him. In my head, it had always been more intimate.
Now I wanted him to suffer.