Allie and I ran to the door. Others followed, pushing and shoving to get out. We had to run around the hummock of the bunker to see the dome and there it was, glowing like the moon, a stream of iridescent particles flowing out the top of it and up into the night sky. Was it radiation? Had Fineman set off a fucking bomb? Is that what he’d been rigging down in that tank room? Fuck.
“Look.” Allie pointed, but not at the dome. At the people.
Everyone had come out of their tents and vehicles, thousands and thousands of people, spread across the desert floor and glowing like lightning bugs, because almost every one of them had PSS.
A murmur rose from the crowd as they looked around at their neighbors. It grew louder when they realized they’d been changed as well. I saw people reaching out, trying to touch the PSS of a family member or friend, but there were cries of fear and alarm too. The sound of the response grew like a rumble of thunder. Some people panicked, shoving their stuff into cars and campers, desperate to escape, but there was no quick way out of Umatilla. Other people began to celebrate, great cheers and chants sounding from various areas around the dome.
“Your friends in there did this,” Allie said. “Didn’t they?”
“I don’t know,” I said, but she was probably right. This had Olivia and Kaylee’s signature written all over it. At any rate, I was sure now it hadn’t been Fineman. The last thing he’d want to do was give all these people PSS.
Over the noise of the crowd, I heard the rattle of gunfire off to the west.
Allie and I turned in that direction, but I couldn’t see anything through the swirling, glowing horde.
Matty’s phone rang and he answered it. “Okay. I understand. We’ll be ready,” he said, before hanging up. “The CAMFers are making a run for it,” he told Allie and me. “They’re plowing through the crowd and running people and camps over if they have to. And they’re headed this way. Jay doesn’t think we’re their target. He thinks they’re just taking the path of least resistance to the closest exit.”
I almost laughed. My old man was having the worst night of his life. And I was glad he was coming my way. Maybe I’d get to see his PSS.
“Should we try and stop them?” Allie asked.
“No,” I said. “They’re running scared, and we want them gone, so let’s do our best to clear the way. But get everyone armed and ready, just in case.”
“Got it,” Allie and Matty said, heading off to organize our people.
Fifteen minutes later, a caravan of armed, glowing CAMFers blew past our bunker, my old man’s truck in the lead.
As he drove by, I know he saw me standing there surrounded by my army of locals.
And I saw the glow of PSS shining from his left arm as he gripped the steering wheel.
It was impossible to miss.
43
DAVID MARCUS
“Well, this confirms it,” Reiny said, running a hand-held imager over Olivia’s ghost hand one last time. “Your PSS is completely back to normal.”
Sam, Olivia, and I had woken up in the infirmary a few hours ago, and Reiny had been running tests on us ever since. And not just on us, but on everyone in the dome. As she finished up Olivia, Chase came in for his final check, and Reiny turned her scanner on him. “Yours is back to normal too,” she told him, smiling. “And Pete, Lonan, and Mike are downstairs checking Anthony, but we expect the results to be the same. Whatever Kaylee did last night, it saved the three of you.”
“And it killed her,” I said, slumped in a nearby chair. I had fucking failed again. I had promised Kaylee I’d keep her safe and now she was dead.
“It was her choice,” Olivia said, her voice full of emotion. “She knew what she was doing. You heard her say it was the only way.”
“And you believe that?” I asked, standing up. “There had to be something else we could have done. I could have gone in her place.”
“That wouldn’t have worked and you know it,” Olivia insisted. “I have to believe Kaylee weighed all the options, and did what had to be done. Besides, it was her gift of seeing PSS that everyone needed. You couldn’t have given that.”
“And you really think that’s going to change anything?” I scoffed. “It doesn’t matter what people see, they’ll always think they’re better than someone else. Maybe their PSS is brighter, or it’s near their head instead of their ass. It’s human nature to compare ourselves to others and fight about it. Nothing is going to—”
“Shut up!” Olivia snapped, jumping off the gurney and getting right in my face. “You think you feel her loss more than I do? Or my mother does? You knew Kaylee for what? Two weeks? And that’s about twelve more days than we had with her, but you’re not going to see us bitch about it. You’re not going to hear us complain about how she didn’t let us rescue her so our poor, bruised egos would feel better. I lost my dad to cancer, and it was pointless. You lost Danielle and it nearly destroyed you. I get it. Death fucking sucks. That’s exactly why we have to make Kaylee’s count for something. I know what she told me at the end. I believe in what she did. And now we’re going to go on with the plan, just like she would have wanted us to. So you can either shut up and help, or get out of my way,” she finished, storming past me and out the infirmary door.
There was a long, uncomfortable silence after she left.
Part of me knew what she’d said was true, but some other part just couldn’t let go of the loss. It was stuck inside of me, something I couldn’t dislodge any more than I could remove my own heart. But I could bury it and face the task at hand. I’d done that all my life. And so that’s what I did.
The next time I saw Olivia, she was typing away on Chase’s laptop up in the dome library. I came around a partition, surprised to find her alone. If she noticed my entrance, she chose to ignore it. I sat down at the table across from her and cleared my throat.
She kept typing.
“What are you working on?” I asked.
“A speech.” She looked over the top of the screen at me. “The people out there deserve an explanation for what has happened to them, and the internet is exploding with questions and theories. Chase and Tee have confirmed that the effect is global and comprehensive. Everyone in the world can see PSS, and they want me to be the first to make an official statement about it. I’m on in less than an hour.”
“What are you going to say?”
“Oh, you know, that my sister sacrificed herself in vain and everything is hopeless. That sort of thing.”
“All right. You made your point. I know what I said was out of line but—”
“Really?” she interrupted, returning to her typing. “I guess I’ll say something else then.”
“Olivia,” Palmer called, coming around the partition. “Chase said you wanted to see me.”
“Yeah.” She looked up. “I want you and Marcus to go down and get Anthony. Then I want you to take him to the nearest exit and put him out of the dome.”
“You want us to just throw him out?” Palmer asked.
“Yes.” She nodded. “I’m tired of wasting time and people guarding him. There’s too much to do, and Pete’s says he’s healed up enough to get to the nearest hospital himself. He’s no longer our problem or our responsibility.”
“Okay,” Palmer said, glancing at me. “Let’s go get rid of Anthony.”
I followed him out. What else was I going to do? Olivia had obviously dismissed me.
Palmer and I went over to the CAMFer side and made our way down to Anthony’s cell. Grant was standing outside the door, guarding it, and we told him what Olivia wanted us to do.
When we opened the cell, Anthony cowered in the corner, the PSS in his left knee joint now clearly visible. I could tell he thought we’d come to kill him.
Palmer went over and grabbed him, pulling him to his feet. Then Palmer and I each took one of his arms and led him out, heading toward the main level with Grant following behind us.
“Where are you taking me?” Anthony asked.
“We’re letting you go,” Palmer told him, as we approached the same side-entrance Chase had used to let us in.
“What?” Anthony dug his heels in, struggling against our hold. “No. Please. You can’t put me out there. Not after what you’ve done to me.”
“Your stump is almost healed,” Palmer said. “And we’ve pumped you full of enough antibiotics and pain-killers to last until you can get to town. You’ll be fine.”
“No!” Anthony cried. “You don’t understand. It’s not this I’m worried about.” He shook his handless wrist at Palmer. “It’s this.” He gestured at his glowing knee. “I can’t go out there a freak. I’ll have no place with the CAMFers. My old man will kill me. You have to ask her to take it back. I know she did this to me. I can’t live like this. I’d rather die.” He collapsed on the floor, clinging to Palmer’s leg.
Palmer yanked away, crossing to the door’s security keypad and punching in the code while Grant and I grabbed Anthony by the arms and pulled him to his feet.
“Please,” Anthony begged. “Just take it away first. I’ll do anything.”
Grant and I shoved him forward, pitching a weeping Anthony out into the desert sand, and Palmer slammed the door behind him.
“Well, that felt good,” Palmer said, turning to head upstairs.
And he was damn right.
44
OLIVIA
I had never been great at speeches. I’d gotten a C minus in my junior year communications class, but that seemed like a very long time ago. I doubted what I’d learned was going to come in handy for a speech to the entire world about why they could now see PSS they’d never known they had. But I had my mom read over my notes and she thought they were good. She was sitting nearby, putting on a brave face for the daughter she still had left. She was grieving Kaylee. We both were. But we’d learned a long time ago that you just had to keep going after you lost someone.
As I sat down in front of the microphone, Chase pointed his hand-held camera at me, smiling. Overhead, the dome’s sky projector program ran its final skyscape, alerting the crowd outside to pay attention. “We go live in two minutes,” Chase said. “I’ll give you a count down at three seconds, so you know when to start.”
I had assumed we’d record my speech before we showed it on the dome or posted it to the internet, but Chase thought it would be more impactful live. He said it would give an immediacy and personal touch that would increase our reach. He was the internet and computer expert, so I went along with it, but now I was regretting that. What if I froze or completely messed up? I looked down at the papers in my hands, already crumpled and sweaty.
I heard one of the dome doors open and looked up to see Grant, Marcus, and Mike returning from releasing Anthony. Marcus caught my eye and nodded. They’d done it.
“And three, two, one,” Chase said.
I glanced back at the camera, caught off guard, staring into its lens and forgetting everything I’d prepared.
Shit.
Chase was still smiling at me encouragingly, so I opened my mouth to begin. But then I made the mistake of looking up, and there I was, my head bigger than a house, projected onto the surface of the dome, my mouth hanging open like a giant idiot.
“Olivia, you’ll do great,” my mother whispered from behind me.
So, I looked away from the dome straight into the camera and went for it.
“Hello and good morning,” I said, my voice a little wobbly. “My name is Olivia Black and I’m speaking to you from inside the dome at Umatilla Chemical Depot in Northern Oregon.”
I didn’t expect the cheer that suddenly roared outside the dome, as if we were at a sporting event and everyone’s favorite team had just scored. I paused for a minute, waiting for it to subside. “Late last night,” I continued, “there was an event here—a surge of PSS energy emanating from the compound which we understand has had a global impact, and we know you have questions.”
I tried not to smile—I wanted people to take me seriously—but that last part was probably the understatement of the century.
“First, let me say, you are not in any danger,” I went on, which was followed by another cheer. “All of us inside the dome, who were exposed the most, have been tested and have been given a clean bill of health. Well, except for my sister, Kaylee. She was—lost,” my voice broke on that sentence, and I gulped back the tears rising in my throat. This was for her. I couldn’t get emotional and mess it up. Not after all she’d done to make this possible.
“The truth is,” I said, my voice gaining strength, “she sacrificed her life to keep us safe. And in the process she gave us a gift—the ability to see the PSS inside of others.” The crowd went utterly silent then. “Now, I know rumors are already circulating that what happened was some sort of disaster, or that what you’re seeing as a result is an optical illusion that will soon wear off. However, we have reason to believe it is a permanent alteration of human perception. As soon as this video is done, we’ll be releasing documented scientific research that proves ninety-eight percent of the world’s population had PSS before this event ever occurred. We just couldn’t see it until now. And we know there will be people who will not believe the evidence, but that’s their problem, not mine.” That got a rumble of laughter from the crowd.
I looked down at my notes, shuffling to the last page.
“For those of us inside the dome one thing is clear,” I said, letting the conviction ring in my voice. “Something has happened today that cannot be ignored or suppressed. You deserve to know the true origin and nature of PSS.” A cheer rose up. “The world deserves to know the truth.” Another cheer, louder this time. “So, we in the dome are dedicating ourselves to researching and uncovering that truth. We will be releasing videos and documents that have long been hidden.”
“If you’re already here with us at the dome,” I continued, “thank you for all you’ve endured, but our fight is not over. We need your continued presence and support, so our message cannot be stifled.” That got a roaring cheer. “And if you are watching this on the internet, or the news, or on your phone, we invite you to join us.” That’s when they started chanting, “Come home to the dome. Come home to the dome,” and they didn’t stop so I had to speak over it. “We’re not going to hide here forever, or continue to keep you out. Our goal is for this dome and our cause to belong to every one of you.” That got the biggest cheer of all, a roar that went on and on.
“Thank you,” I concluded, and then T-dog shut off the feed and the dome over my head went opaque.
“Great job,” Chase said, lowering the camera. “The crowd loved you, and you hit every bullet point we talked about.”
45
DAVID MARCUS
When my jet landed on the dirt tarmac just outside of Umatilla, I recognized Gordon’s old truck parked there waiting for me—the same one Lonan and Reiny had driven onto the depot eighteen months ago, before The Change. It was nice to see that truck. Nice to know there were still things in the world that hadn’t changed since I’d left the dome over a year ago. Because most things had.
As I descended the stairs of the plane, Lonan jumped out of the truck and strode toward me, the glow of his PSS temple visible, even in the bright afternoon sun. We met at the bottom of the steps and he grabbed me by the shoulders, pulling me into a hug.
“David,” he said, stepping back and grinning at me. “It’s good to see you. It’s been too long.”
It had only been three months since we’d seen each other at Gordon’s funeral, but Lonan had been understandably distracted then. Prior to that, it must have been Reiny and Pete’s wedding on the rez. At least Gordon had gotten to walk his niece down the aisle before his heart had finally given out. And I had gotten to dance with Olivia. More than once.
“It’s good to see you too,” I told Lonan. “How’s Reiny?”
“Busy. And stressed. She would have been here to greet you, but she’s in the thick of this FDA approval process and they need
ed her at the lab. We’ll see her later though. And Pete.”
“So, the FDA is still dragging their feet on Passion’s vaccine?” I asked. “How can they possibly justify that?”
“They can’t,” Lonan said. “Not after what happened at the high school in Oklahoma and the theater in Idaho. Those people would still be alive if they’d had Pass-1. The CAMFer attacks have strengthened our case to push through approval for global distribution as soon as possible. The momentum is on our side now. Reiny says it’s only a matter of time.”
“And my uncle’s been cooperative?”
“He didn’t have much choice,” Lonan said. “Thanks to you, we had the money for a good lawyer and his case completely fell apart once it came out he’d used Passion’s samples without her knowledge or permission. They seized his stock of the vaccine and his research. Of course, none of the Holders who got the vaccine are complaining. In fact, we’ve been able to use their data as proof of a successful human trial, which has sped up the FDA process somewhat. But enough about all that. You must be eager to get to the dome and see all the changes.”
Eager is not the word I would have used. I wasn’t eager to revisit the place Danielle and Kaylee had died—the place I had failed them—which is exactly why I’d gotten out of there as fast as I could after The Change. I had run away, but I hadn’t bailed on Olivia completely. I’d flown back to Indy, gathered my financial resources, and hired the best lawyers I could find. They immediately set up a foundation for The Center for PSS Research and Acclamation and negotiated legal possession of the dome. But I hadn’t stayed like everyone else, living and working by Olivia’s side, and I knew that had disappointed her.
Instead, ironically, I’d gone recruiting, traveling the world convincing young, impressionable college students and professionals to donate their time and knowledge at the very facility I had fled. Maybe I was trying to make up for not being there. I don’t know. I did know I was good at my job. Over the last year, I’d sent three hundred and thirty-two volunteers back to the dome. And occasionally, I’d returned to Oregon for a wedding, or a funeral, and a few times I’d met Olivia in a coffee shop in Portland and we’d caught a movie and dinner together.