“What did you mean, you’re waiting for Wren?” Tony asked.
“Micah betrayed her and dumped her and Addie in bounty-hunter territory,” I said. “You don’t happen to know anything about bounty hunters, do you?”
“No, they’re a whole different part of HARC. Mostly criminals given a second chance.” He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Addie, too? Leb’s going to kill me.”
“She’ll be fine,” I said tightly. “I’m sure the bounty hunters are no match for Wren.”
“And we need to deal with this first,” Riley said, pointing to where two more shuttles were flying in. “We could use some support.”
Tony and Desmond glanced at each other, and the anger started invading my chest again. I’d counted on them helping. I’d counted on them being grateful and accepting us and being happy to work together.
“We’ll see what we can do,” Tony said, which didn’t sound promising.
I whirled around, half expecting Tony to shout something more encouraging after he’d seen my angry face. But there was nothing but silence as I broke into a jog. Riley appeared beside me, and we turned to go back in the direction of the schoolhouse.
“You and Wren were right,” I said, glancing at him.
“I don’t know, that went better than I expected. They didn’t try to kill us.”
I shook my head, biting back anger at the humans as we rounded the corner. A HARC shuttle lay in two pieces on the ground, and someone had tied an officer, bleeding but still alive, to one of the halves. I almost laughed. At least they were listening to my “only kill if necessary” suggestion.
Humans started coming out of their houses, trickling into the street, and Beth was in the distance handing off a gun to a teenage human who looked vaguely familiar. I squinted at his slight frame and curly hair. Gabe. He’d been there the night we first met Tony. A tiny sliver of hope wiggled into me among my disappointment. At least someone was willing to help us.
He spotted me and waved, but a shuttle zoomed overhead and a blast of gunfire blew up the dirt around me. I ducked and ran, passing Isaac and three other Reboots returning fire from the ground.
I stopped next to Beth, and she pointed at something behind me. “Look.”
I turned. A group of at least twenty humans ran toward us, some of them armed. Their faces were tight with fear and worry, but when they aimed their weapons, it wasn’t at us. It was at HARC.
TWENTY-TWO
WREN
“HOW BAD DO YOU THINK IT WOULD BE TO EAT THIS CANDY?”
I looked at the dirty pink package Addie was holding up. “Worse than eating rats, I think.”
She examined it. “I disagree. I’m intrigued. They’re advertising ‘sour’ like it’s a good thing.”
“I think there’s a reason that’s the only food left in here,” I said, stepping over the mess of broken shelves and empty bottles. We’d found a fueling station not long after leaving the café, but it looked like it had been picked over many times before.
Something white and blue caught my eye, and I grabbed the edge and pulled out a giant bound book with the words Map of the US on the plastic cover.
“Got it,” I said, flipping to the end of the book and finding Texas. I located the lake at the edge of New Austin, Lake Travis, and traced the route up with my finger. “There’s an old Ranch to Market Road that goes straight there. If we find it and follow it, we should be fine.” I glanced at her. “We might want to be careful, though. I wouldn’t be surprised if HARC uses that road.”
She nodded and we hopped over the debris on the way to the door. It was sunny and cold, and my leg was frozen where my pants were torn. The night had been quiet, not a human in sight, and now that Addie was fully healed, we could probably make good time to New Austin.
Addie crossed her arms over her chest as she emerged from the store. “How far is it?”
“Not that far. Fifteen miles, maybe.” We were still in the middle of the city, crumbling buildings on either side of us.
“Cool.” She gave me a worried look. “When we find Callum, we’re going to go to Rosa, right? To rescue everyone? I know you weren’t exactly wild about the idea, but you and Callum know Rosa.”
“Yes,” I said. “I told Callum I would.” And maybe the idea was slightly less annoying than before. If Ever were still in there, I wouldn’t have hesitated to go back for them. So what about all the others? The trainers I knew? The Under-sixties getting shot up with drugs? It didn’t seem right to leave them.
“Good,” she said with a smile. “Besides, I’m sure no one really thought you were dead. They’re probably expecting you.”
“Why would they think I wasn’t dead?”
“Not everyone was as brainwashed by HARC as you, Wren. Some of us were sort of suspicious when Reboots mysteriously went missing, especially the high numbers.”
“I was not brainwashed.”
“Yeah. Sure you weren’t.”
“I wasn’t!”
Addie rolled her eyes like she seriously doubted it. “Anyway. They are probably expecting you to come back for them. Or at least hoping.”
“That’s wildly optimistic of them.”
Addie punched my shoulder. “Stop acting like you don’t care. You totally care. You’re like a big ball of caring.”
“Yes,” I said dryly. “That’s just the way to describe me.”
“But my point is, the Rosa facility is the biggest. It has the most badasses like you. We release them, we get them to help us with the rest of the cities, run off HARC, save all the humans. Boom.”
“Boom?”
“Yes. Boom. Done. Easy.”
I raised an eyebrow at her.
“Okay, maybe not easy,” she conceded.
“Maybe not.” I tucked the map under my arm. “One step at a time, okay? I’m not doing anything until I find Callum. And then I wouldn’t mind strangling Micah.”
“I’m down with strangling Micah. Then let’s push him out of a shuttle. Then let’s chop his head off.”
I laughed and she grinned at me.
“I’m not kidding,” she said.
“I know you’re not.”
After a few miles, the big buildings of the city began to disappear and the road became narrower. It was also in better shape than most of the other roads in the city, confirming my suspicion that HARC used it for travel, but the homes lining it were in shambles. It looked like the entire area had been heavily bombed. This had probably once been a wealthy area, but now the houses lay in ruins.
When we turned onto the Ranch to Market Road to find a wide, empty street in decent shape, I scanned the sky warily. I pointed to the trees on the left side of the road.
“Maybe we should walk in the trees,” I said. “I’m not sure being out in the open on the road is the best idea.”
“Sounds good to me.” Addie followed me across the black asphalt and to the trees. They didn’t provide as much cover as I would have liked, as many of them had started to lose their leaves. The river that wound all the way to New Austin was right beneath us, the trees giving way to rocks and a steep incline.
“Where are you going to go when all of this is over?” Addie asked.
“I don’t know,” I said, leaves crunching under my boots as we walked. “Callum and I had talked about it a little. He’d like to see the ocean.”
“That would be nice.”
“You?” I asked. “If the rebels manage to get rid of HARC, would you want to stay in the city with your family?”
“Maybe. If they wouldn’t mind me staying with them. I miss Rosa.”
“Oh yes. The smell, the trash, the lovely people. What’s not to miss?”
She cast an amused glance at me. “I liked it.”
“I’m sure your family wouldn’t mind,” I said. “Leb went to a lot of trouble to get you out. I assume he did that because he was hoping to see you again.”
One side of her mouth turned up. “Yeah.”
A familiar noise made my head whip around, and Addie froze in her tracks.
A shuttle.
I darted behind a tree, and Addie did the same. I slowly pulled my gun from my pants and clicked off the safety.
The shuttle made a banging sound as it hit the ground, and I let out a slow breath. It wasn’t that far away. Not much more than fifty yards.
I glanced at Addie to see her face tight with fear, her fingers wrapped around her gun. I gestured for her to stay put and she nodded. The ground was littered with leaves and crunchy brown grass. If we ran now, they’d definitely hear us.
Silence followed the shuttle landing, and I wondered if they’d gone in a totally different direction. What were the odds they were searching for us anyway? It had been less than twenty-four hours since I’d killed those HARC guys.
Footsteps dashed my hopes. Several different footsteps. Coming toward us.
Addie met my eyes as we listened. As the footsteps got even closer, I peeked around the tree to see the corner of a black-clad shoulder. Then another.
I lifted my gun and nodded at Addie.
I ducked out from behind the trunk just in time to see HARC officers step off the road and head straight in our direction. I lifted my gun, my finger beginning to pull the trigger.
I paused.
They’d come prepared for us. They were in helmets with hard plastic covering. Each of them held a long black shield in front of them.
One of the officers darted forward when he spotted us, and I fired off two shots in his direction. They bounced off his shield.
I whirled around, grabbing Addie by the wrist. We took off as the officers began to fire, and bullets bit at my shoulders and legs.
Something wrapped around my ankles and I gasped as I went down. I kicked my legs, but the wire circled tight around them, digging into my skin.
Addie skidded to a stop and reached for me, but a blast rocked the earth and I only saw the outline of her as she hit the ground.
Someone snatched the gun out of my hand and I grasped his arm so loudly he yelled. But there was another officer there, holding my neck down.
Both my guns were gone. I managed to squirm from the officer’s grasp, breaking a few of his fingers in the process. Addie was a few feet away, throwing punches at a HARC officer, and I caught him by the ankle and knocked him to the ground.
She leaped over him and grabbed me under the arms, but the wire was attached to something in the distance.
Two humans hit her at the same time and she fell with a grunt. I crawled for her, but humans had me by the arms and then the waist. There were four of them holding me, and all the twisting in the world didn’t loosen their grip.
Defeat began to creep in as I watched two officers haul Addie to her feet.
“Radio in that we got One-seventy-eight,” one of the officers said.
They didn’t mention Addie. Of course they didn’t. I was the one they wanted. And they wanted me alive, given the fact that I still didn’t have a bullet in the brain.
My eyes met Addie’s. I looked over her shoulder, at the empty space. The steep incline leading to the river.
Using the officers for leverage, I lifted my legs off the ground and slammed them into Addie’s chest. She yelped as she flew backward.
One officer let her go, but the other dove for her arm, screaming as he started to fall down the incline. He quickly dropped her, scrambling to find his footing on the rocks. The other officer grabbed his jacket and yanked him back.
Addie disappeared over the side.
TWENTY-THREE
CALLUM
“ALL HUMANS EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY. PLEASE HEAD TO THE nearest HARC gate and exit now. A shuttle will be there shortly. I repeat. All humans—”
“Yeah, yeah,” Isaac muttered as the announcement blasted from every HARC tower around Austin for the hundredth time. “We get it.”
“I could shoot out the speakers in all the towers,” Beth said, shotgun swung over her shoulder.
I shook my head, brushing dirt off my pants as I stood. “Don’t. Let the humans leave who want to leave.” I glanced at the humans milling around the area. The schoolhouse was still standing, but many of the homes were destroyed.
A family of three ran through the street, bags swinging, and I did a double take. Not my family. Would they be one of the groups sprinting for the nearest exit, or would they stay?
It appeared that most humans were staying. Many weren’t talking to us, they were congregating in their homes or just outside. But they weren’t running, and they weren’t fighting us.
A few Reboots lifted their hands in a wave, bags slung over their shoulders, and I swallowed as I watched them go. That made almost fifty who had decided they didn’t want to remain in Austin. Many who didn’t have families couldn’t be convinced to stay and help after we lost a few more Reboots last night, and our numbers would be maybe a hundred after they were gone. Riley was still working on getting an accurate count. Whatever it was, it was far less than I’d hoped.
Tony and Desmond stood at the end of the street, past a mess of shuttle parts, and I stepped over the debris as I headed in their direction. The humans around them stopped talking as I neared, but Gabe smiled at me.
“This is Callum,” Tony said, clapping me on the back. “Twenty-two. He’s the one who arranged everything.” Tony’s attitude toward me had improved tremendously when HARC retreated before sunrise and the humans reclaimed the city. Desmond still mostly scowled.
The humans visibly relaxed at the mention of my number. I didn’t know whether I liked that reaction. If Wren were here, it would have been the opposite. They might even have run away in fear.
“I’ve been asking around, but I’ve got nothing on the bounty hunters yet,” Tony said before I could ask. “And my connection to HARC is gone now, obviously.”
“I just checked; the gates aren’t live anymore,” Gabe said. “If she wants to get in, she won’t have much trouble.”
I swallowed, trying to push back my fear. It was midmorning and still no sign of her. I wanted to hop in a shuttle and start circling the perimeter, but it was too dangerous. We’d run HARC out of Austin but they were setting up shop elsewhere, preparing for a fight. One shuttle on its own beyond Austin was sure to be shot down. Not to mention the fact that Wren would hide at the first sight of a HARC vehicle.
Riley came to a stop next to me, a frown on his face. “We should put some people at the HARC watchtowers. We’ll want to know when they’re coming back. And they can keep an eye out for Wren and Addie.”
“I know a few who wouldn’t mind,” Gabe said, bouncing on his heels.
“Can we put people on the city side, too?” I asked. “Chances are Wren will try to enter on that side. She’d go back to the area where the tunnel is first.”
“I haven’t been over to the rico yet,” Tony said. “You might want to do a quick sweep of the area, see how many humans are left and what kind of attitude they have.”
“I’ll go,” I said. I looked down at my clothes, smeared with dirt and grime. I had a few things in the backpack slung over my shoulder, but maybe I could stop by my old house and grab more before it was blown up or something. Some of the Reboots were going through the slums, searching for empty homes to crash in. It wouldn’t be long before they moved on to the city.
Tony held out a hand com. “Channel three,” he said. “Don’t say anything you don’t want HARC to hear; this is their equipment. But I’ll radio and tell you to come back if Wren shows.”
I nodded and slipped the com into my pocket. Gabe found two humans to go with me, and three Reboots trailed behind us, Beth leading them. They didn’t appear to want to talk to one another on the walk over and I didn’t try to push it. Our alliance with the humans seemed tenuous at best.
The wall was unguarded, quiet, and I dug my fingers into the brick and hoisted myself to the top. I offered my hand to a human on the ground. He glanced over his shoulder, as if considering going back instea
d.
“The death doesn’t rub off on you, I promise,” I said as the other Reboots jumped over the wall. One of them snorted.
The human reddened and took my hand as he started up the wall. I pulled him to the top and held his hand as he found his footing on the other side of the wall. I did the same with the next one and then hopped down myself.
“Thanks,” the younger guy said, his eyes flicking over me for a moment like he was looking for something but didn’t want to be too obvious.
We walked straight through the city and down Lake Travis Boulevard. There were a few humans out, sitting in front of stores, casually talking or eating like nothing was wrong. It appeared HARC hadn’t touched this side of town, because everything was still pristine. I wasn’t really surprised.
I nodded to one of the humans. “You want to talk to people over here, tell them where to go on the slum side to get instructions if they’re staying?”
“Sure.” He jogged away and I stopped, squinting in the sun at the part of town where I used to live.
“You guys going to the towers by yourselves? Things look pretty dead here.” I pointed in the direction of my old house. “I’m headed that way. I’ll comb the residential areas, see if I run into any humans.”
“Yeah,” Beth said, lifting her com. “We’ll radio if we get into trouble.”
The wind was chilly as I turned away from them, and I pulled my jacket tighter across my chest. I wondered if Wren was outdoors. If I was cold, she must have been freezing.
I took a quick glance down at my com, willing Tony’s voice to come through any second. Part of the reason I’d volunteered to come over was to have something to do, something to stop me from exploding, but now I sort of wished I was back there, angling for a shuttle or making a lap around the Austin fence.
I turned onto my street and upped the volume slightly on the com. If I couldn’t go search for Wren, this was the next best thing. Staying busy. It’s what she would have told me to do.
I glanced at Eduardo’s house as I approached it, looking for signs of life. He’d been one of my best friends, and willing to help me even after I Rebooted, but I wasn’t sure how his parents felt. The swing in front of their white house moved with the breeze, but it was the only sign of life on the whole street.