Again with the I have no choice.
“Watch me make my own choice,” I say.
He laughs again, and I grimace at the sound of his voice.
He sent me on a mission to show him where the hideout was, but I haven't even set foot in it after he injected me with his chip. I can make the same choice now, and he can't prevent me from doing what I think is best.
Kill me. I couldn't care less.
“Typical Ms. Vivian wants to stay out of trouble, eh?” Kent says. “Well, you can't...because you're right in the middle of it all.”
“You can torture me all you want. I'm not going to be your messenger.”
Kent scoffs. “You will.”
“And what if I won't?” I ask him. “I didn't show you where the hideout is. And I'm not helping you with your message.”
“Oh, but you did show me where the hideout is, in a way. You let me meet all of those wonderful people. While you complete your new mission, your hideout pals are going to be showing me where they're staying.”
I shake my head, reluctantly choosing to say my next words. “So say I did do your stupid little mission. What's it about?”
An amused look passes over Kent—raised eyebrows and a tilted mouth. “Good. You're interested.”
I never said I am.
But I don't say this, no matter how much the words want to escape my mouth.
“All you simply have to do is deliver a device to Jack. You don't have to worry about what will happen later.”
“And that's it?”
Kent moves his head left and right. “No, of course not. You have limited a time to get it done. Remember that little blue tracer in your arm?”
Slowly, I nod, fearing what might be coming next.
Kent points to me. “That is what gives you that limited time. Well, I'll tell you the truth, I'm not one hundred percent positive we will be able to get a signal if you're far away from us. It's more like seventy-five percent, to be honest.”
I narrow my eyes. “What do you mean by that being the thing that gives me a limited time? Limited time to do what? The mission? Live?”
Kent holds up three fingers. “Three weeks. Your deadline is after three weeks. If you have not given the device to Jack by then, your chip goes off...and you're dead.”
I feel my eyes open wider than they already are. “Dead?”
“Dead,” Kent confirms with a nod. “Your device will blow up in your arm first, travel up your body, then end in your heart until you're not breathing anymore. You might also lie there in pieces, breathing, or not breathing—” he shrugs— “I can't be sure.”
I stare at him, realizing my face is stuck in a cringe. I shake my head and straighten myself out. “I won't do it.”
“Yes, you will.”
I grit my teeth. “I may not know you that well, but I sure as hell know that I'll die anyway, whether I complete the mission or not.”
Kent puts his hand up and laughs. “Okay, okay, you got me. You'll die either way. But why not accomplish something? Why not throw your life away for the greater good?”
“None of what you're doing is for the greater good.”
“You don't even know what I'm doing.”
He's right, I don't. But him being who he is, I don't doubt his messed-up plans.
Kent's amused look is wiped off his face. It's replaced with some else. Seriousness? Pity? Hatred?
“You're a bomb, Vivian,” he says, his voice low. “You're the disposable bomb I'm sending after Jack. He deserves it. His science of reviving and killing isn't right. It has to be stopped. We have to get rid of him. If you refuse to do anything, I'll send someone else. I'll keep sending people until someone actually cooperates. If you won't be the first to do it, you'll be putting innocent lives at risk after you. Sacrifice yourself and it'll all be over with.”
Something's stuck in my throat, and I can't quite get the words out. Oh, wait—
“You have got to be kidding me!” I screech. “You have seriously got to be kidding me! You're a lunatic, that's what you are!” I point an accusing finger at him, wanting so bad to spit in his face. “Sacrificing myself for your stupid plan? What did you call me? A bomb? You want to blow up Jack Welds and everything he's worked on? Do you know how much he's accomplished? Do you know how large of a community he's built? You should go see for yourself! Go sacrifice yourself for this great good!”
I take a deep breath, slapping my hand over my face. He's not joking, is he? He thinks this will help. Destroy Jack Welds' projects? Really? What if I blow up Kent's entire town? How will he feel?”
When I look back up at him, I don't doubt that my face is streaming with tears. My voice is hoarse when I say, “No way am I doing this favor for you. Rot in hell.”
Kent watches me, his thin mouth completely gone because he's pressing his lips together so tight.
“I am still sending you. There will be a bag by your side. Give the device inside it to Jack. Once he activates it, I will be able to communicate with him. After our little conversation is done, you're all dead. Starting with you and the chip in your arm. If you choose not to do this, you will realize that there is absolutely nothing out there in the wild. You will starve to death. You will be so close to dying of dehydration. You will be desperate to do anything. You will finish my mission.”
CHAPTER 26
V I V I A N
There is a pulsing in my head.
I think it's coming from my right arm. My forearm to be exact.
I pry my eyes open, holding the gaze of the blue sky above me. The ground under me is sharp and cold. I pat it and realize it feels familiar. Rocky and hard.
I turn my head to look at what I'm laying on.
The ground. The gray ground outside the town. The endless, hopeless field leading to nowhere.
A sob escapes me as I realize what I'm doing here. Kent sent me out here to get ride of Jack Welds. I've been set to self-destruct in three weeks.
The town is not too far away, but it still looks small from here. If I run back, it'll only take me seven to ten minutes to get there.
But I can't go back. I will not be welcomed.
Out of the corner of my eye, I notice something black. When I turn my head to greet it, I see that it's a bag. A small one that would easily go around my shoulders. I flip over on my stomach and bring my hands out in front of me. With a pained grunt, I push myself up on my knees.
My arm reaches into the black bag, and I pull out a black device. It's nothing I've ever seen before.
But then my eyes land on something else.
A human body. A man with untidy blond hair.
I gargle out nonsense and forget the bag quickly, too focused on trying to get to this human being Kent left me.
The body suddenly divides until I can see two full human beings lying on the ground. But one is just an unstable, transparent copy.
“Hey,” I croak, crawling on all fours toward the figure. It pulls together into one whole body again. “Hey, are you alive?”
The figure's face comes into view, but it takes me a couple of seconds to finally put the pieces of the nose, the mouth, and the eyes together. The parts form into the face of...Rian.
Rian?
I gasp. “Rian!”
Left arm, right arm. Left foot, right foot. I keep it up until I reach his side. He's still not awake, and I don't know what's happened to him.
“Rian!” I roll him over on his back, grunting. “Rian.” I place both of my hands on either side of his face, staring straight into his closed eyes. “Tell me you're not dead.” The only person Kent was kind enough to return can't be dead. I don't want to be here by myself.
I press my ear to his chest, trying to see if I can find a heartbeat.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
Oh.
I pull away from him, breathing out loudly.
Thump, thump, thump.
This time the pulsi
ng isn't coming from Rian. It's coming from my right forearm. The glowing blue light has appeared again. My arm stings at the pulsing. It's the device inside of me. Why is it doing that? Does that mean it's been activated? Does that mean it's counting down the days until it gets to blow up inside me?
“What is—?” Rian. I look down at him when I hear his voice. My hands are still on his face, but I let go.
His eyes have opened.
I feel my mouth stretch into a large grin, and I can't hold it back. He's alive.
But the mission cannot be forgotten, and I don't know how it just left my mind that easily during these last few seconds. Kent planted a bomb in my arm, and now he expects me to finish this task for him. Go back to Jack Welds, and sacrifice myself. Detonate the entire building and give myself to the flames and debris right along with it.
And I have to make a choice. Go on with the mission, or walk away from it all and wait for the day I finally leave the world.
Three weeks. Let's start the countdown.
CHAPTER 27
J A N E L L E
When Jack first made the announcement of the success of our program, I did not know what feelings to express.
Getting a chance to feel the air in my lungs and smell the soil seemed possible for the later generations, but not for mine. I did not think I would be the one to stand out here, gazing out at the dead field.
“Dr. Janelle?”
Gentle fingers on my shoulder is what helps me find my way out of my thoughts. I look to my right to see Piers Clancy viewing the field with me. He has not been a helpful brother to Vivian, but I can't say that I have been a helpful doctor to her, either.
“Time to go inside,” he says.
I nod, knowing he is right. Turning, I start toward the opening in the lift. It stands alone and mysterious, being the only electronic device in this flat, gray field. The lift will sink us back into the earth when we step inside it. We will be returned back to our underground edifice. But I will visit this field again soon. I know this.
END OF BOOK TWO
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