chapter FORTY-NINE
Kira ran for the pile of strips she’d torn up for Samm’s arm. “Sorry, Samm, you’re going to have to wait a little longer for that bandage.”
“The meds were enough,” he said, through clenched teeth.
Kira dove back to Calix’s side, pressing a wadded sleeve of the suit coat against her leg wound and wrapping it as quickly as she could with the makeshift bandages.
“Why bother?” asked Heron. “You don’t even know—”
“Shut up,” said Kira. She tied the strips firmly, putting as much pressure on the bleeding hole as she dared without turning the bandage into a tourniquet. “How does that feel?”
“Fine,” said Calix. “How long before I can kick this Partial girl in the ass?”
Heron raised her eyebrow.
“Stay here,” said Kira, wrapping another bandage around Calix’s hand. “I have painkillers in my bag—don’t take too many. Someone will be back to find you.”
“Where are you going?” asked Calix.
“Out to meet them.” Kira shook her head. “If no one comes, look for antibiotics, and get as strong as you can before trying to cross the wasteland. It isn’t kind to people with leg wounds.”
“Please,” said Calix. “Please, don’t let them hurt anyone.”
Kira took the girl’s rifle and ran for the street, Samm and Heron close behind.
“What are you expecting to accomplish?” asked Heron, catching up to her.
Kira scanned the sky for any sign of the plane.
“There,” said Samm, pointing to the east. Kira followed the line of his finger and found it, a small black cross in the pale gray sky. “It looks far away, but it’s moving fast.”
“Then we run,” said Kira. “Back to the Preserve. There’s no telling what Morgan is going to do with the RM-resistant people she finds there. We need to get as many of them out of there as we can.”
“Smart way to spend your last few minutes,” said Heron.
“Who asked you?”
“I don’t want them dead any more than you do,” said Heron, “though admittedly I don’t necessarily care if they live, either. As far as I know, all Morgan wants is you.”
“You don’t know what she’s going to do to those people,” said Kira.
“We should be running the other way,” said Samm. “We can get lost in the ruins and save you, Kira.”
“I’d like to see you try,” said Heron.
“We’re not running away,” said Kira. “I ran away when Morgan invaded Long Island, and she started killing hostages to flush me out. I thought I made the right choice, but . . . I’m not letting her do it again.”
“What are you saying?” Samm asked, but Kira pointed up at the giant plane looming low in the sky.
“We need to get to the Preserve, now!” She took off, racing through the now-familiar streets that led through the outskirts of the city to the edge of the Preserve, with Samm and Heron right behind her. Kira kept looking up, trying to judge the plane’s speed and distance. We’re not going to make it in time, she thought, it’s coming too fast. She pushed herself, never daring to slow down or deviate from her path. The plane grew larger in the sky, lower to the ground, and soon she could hear it, a low drone that built to a deafening crescendo as Kira finally reached the Preserve. There were guards by the gates, a new posting to keep the intruders out, but they were too preoccupied with the giant airplane roaring toward them to notice Kira and the others. The plane had wide rotors in the wings for a vertical landing, and it swooped down across the fence at the same time Kira pelted through the gate.
She shouted to get the attention of the interior guards, though she could barely hear her own voice above the sound of the rotors. She grabbed the nearest guard and spun her around, shouting in her ear. “That’s a Partial army—you need to get everybody out of the Preserve and into the ruins now.”
“We’re—” the guard stammered, looking from Kira to the plane and back again. “Supposed to—”
“You don’t want to be here when they land,” Kira shouted. “Get everyone you can and hide them in the city!” She let go of the woman’s arm and ran deeper into the Preserve. In the corner of her eye she saw the guard regain her bearings and rush into the nearest building; soon a crowd of people spilled out, terrified children and parents with babes in arms, screaming in terror as they ran for the toxic ruins of Denver.
Kira and Samm ran toward the plane, shouting at everyone they passed to evacuate. Heron slowed behind them, blocking any retreat they might try to make. Partial soldiers were already piling out of the plane when it landed in the grass, securing a perimeter with ruthless efficiency and then expanding it from cover to cover, each team watching the next. They trained their rifles on Samm and Kira, but they didn’t fire.
“They’ve linked me,” said Samm. “They know it’s us.”
“Drop your weapons,” said the soldier at the edge of the landing zone. Kira held her hunting rifle out to the side, not dropping it but showing that her hands weren’t near the trigger.
“I surrender,” she said. “I’ll come willingly.”
“Drop your weapons,” the soldier repeated. Wind from the rotors whipped through the air, smothering their words and lashing Kira’s face with dust and her own flailing hair. Kira grimaced in frustration, but dropped the rifle. Samm still wasn’t armed.
“Don’t hurt the civilians!” Kira shouted.
“Kira Walker,” said a voice, and Kira looked up to see Dr. Morgan descending from the plane. Her lab coat was gone, replaced by a crisp black business suit. “Nice to see you again.”
“Do not hurt them,” said Kira. “These people are innocent.”
“Samm,” said Morgan, stopping in front of them. “It’s not every day I get to meet a rebel soldier from my own command.”
“You haven’t responded to her,” said Samm.
“And I don’t intend to,” said Morgan. “You’re a traitor and she’s an enemy combatant; hardly the kind of people to whom I feel beholden to listen.”
“I don’t want to fight you,” said Kira.
Morgan smiled. “I wouldn’t either. You took us by surprise last time, but now you have no rebel Partial army to flank us while your friends make a messy rescue attempt. I have all the power here, and I’ll thank you to remember that.”
“Not all,” said Vale. He approached from the far side of the clearing, a cluster of Partials surrounding him in a way that looked more like an honor guard than a prisoner escort. “I have to say, your soldiers are very obedient.”
Morgan frowned, and Vale gritted his teeth. Kira wasn’t sure what was happening until she saw the soldiers fidgeting uncomfortably, torn in two directions by the competing authority of two members of the Trust. She looked at Samm and saw him swaying, a bead of sweat rolling slowly down his brow. She took his hand.
“You’re stronger than they are,” she whispered. “You don’t have to obey either one of them.” He gripped her fingers tightly, so tightly she felt they were ready to crush under the weight.
The contest of wills carried on, Vale and Morgan staring each other down, the soldiers wavering in the middle. Kira saw their knuckles turn white as they clutched their rifles desperately, and one reached up to grasp his forehead.
“Enough!” said Kira. “This isn’t getting anyone anywhere. Dr. Morgan, what do you want?”
Morgan stared at Vale a moment longer, then looked away and released a shallow breath. Vale did the same, and the alignment of the soldiers didn’t seem to have changed at all; they remained loyal to whoever they were standing closest to. Kira looked at Samm, but read nothing on his face. She felt her heart race, terrified that she’d lost him back to Morgan’s control, but he squeezed her hand.
She realized, in that moment, that she’d never been more relieved in her life.
“I am here for my esteemed colleague,” said Morgan. She looked at Vale and smiled. “I’m putting the band back together, Cronus. Enough is enough, it’s time we reversed your expiration date once and for all.”
“Are you trying to do it with gene mods?” he asked. “You saw what they did to Graeme; what they’ve done to Jerry.” His put his hand on the shoulder of the Partial soldier in front of him. “Our minds can’t take it, and neither can theirs.”
“We can make them into anything we want,” said Morgan. “We’ve done it before, and we can do it again. They’re the future. Our children. Made in whatever image we’d like.”
“Gene therapy is not the answer,” said Vale.
“You would know,” said Morgan. “But I don’t have time to solve your genetic riddles on my own.” She looked at Kira. “That’s why I’ve come for you, and for her. The new model. The one without all those pesky genetic limitations.”
“I won’t let you take her,” said Samm.
Morgan started to answer, but Kira cut her off. “I’ll go,” she said quickly.
Samm started to protest, and Morgan looked genuinely shocked, but Kira nodded, taking a deep breath. “Dr. Vale’s knowledge, Doctor Morgan’s research, my biology. Heron was right. It’s the only real chance we have of ever curing expiration.” She looked at Samm. “It’s the same thing you said before—the only moral choice is to sacrifice yourself. Somebody has to step up.” She had come to Denver looking for answers, a plan, any sort of hope that she was part of something larger, something that could save both humans and Partials. But that plan had gone wrong long ago, and she was nothing. A failed experiment. She’d dedicated her life to saving the world, but now she realized that dedicating her life wasn’t enough. She had to give it.
She looked back at Morgan. “I’m ready.”
“I . . .” Morgan’s voice trailed off, and she peered at Kira closely. “That’s not what I was expecting at all.”
“Me neither,” said Kira. She clenched her jaw, trying not to cry. “Let’s go,” she said softly. “Now, before I lose my nerve.”
“You don’t want to do this, McKenna,” said Vale. “Any experimentation on Kira could release the Failsafe.”
Morgan looked at him quizzically. “Excuse me?”
“The Partial Failsafe,” said Vale. “The decoy we built to fool ParaGen, the one that kills Partials. The board embedded it into a new line of Partial prototypes without our knowledge. If you stumble onto the chemical trigger, you could release it.”
“What are you playing at, Cronus?” asked Morgan, though Kira could see a hint of doubt in her eyes. “I’ve seen her medical scans—I’ve combed through every cell in her body for months now. If there were another viral package, I would have seen it.”
“You didn’t know what you were looking for,” said Vale.
Morgan stared at him, then shot a glance at Kira. “Is this true?”
“I . . .” Kira kept her eyes locked on Morgan, too afraid to look at Samm. “I think he’s right.”
Morgan nodded vaguely, her eyes distant. “We’ll have to be careful, then.” She turned to the plane. “Take her. Let’s get out of here.”
“What are you going to do with the Preserve?” asked Vale. The soldiers around him, fully under the sway of his link, made it clear from their positioning that they were ready to fight if he gave the word. But they were surrounded, and Kira doubted his small group, no matter how loyal, could really stop Morgan from doing anything.
Morgan glanced around her, at the intact buildings and thriving grass and trees and the families surrounding the plane, as if noticing them for the first time. “Assuming you come with me, I don’t see any reason why your little ant farm shouldn’t be allowed to die in peace.”
“Then I’ll join you,” said Vale.
“And I’m staying,” said Samm.
Morgan rolled her eyes, clearly irritated. “What makes you think you can make requests?”
Samm stood firm, looking more fierce than Kira had ever seen him. “It’s not a request.”
Morgan thought for a moment before answering. “Fine,” she said, dismissing him with a wave. “Exile here is worse than what I had planned for you anyway.” She looked at Heron. “How about you? I’d say you’ve earned your way back into the inner circle, my dear.”
“I’m staying, too,” said Heron.
This surprised Morgan even more. “What about your expiration?”
“I’ll be back east in time,” said Heron, and glanced at Samm. Kira couldn’t be sure, but it looks like they were sharing something over the link. She expected her to mention the Partials trapped in the spire, and thus was surprised at the vagueness her next words. “I have some loose ends to tie up first.”
“Fine, then.” Morgan turned back to the plane, signaling for the soldiers to bring Vale and Kira after her. Kira could see the humans of the Preserve cowering here and there in the background, watching in terror and fascination as this enemy from the sky from the sky took their leader and left them alone.
I have to go with them, she thought. I have to take a step, and then another, and then up onto the plane and away to . . . to I don’t even know. The end. She shook her head. I want to go, but . . . I don’t want to leave.
“Kira,” said Samm, and she felt a tear in the corner of her eye.
“Samm,” she said, “I . . . I’m sorry, I don’t know . . .” She turned to face him, trying to find the right words to tell him what she felt, but she didn’t even know it herself, and suddenly he was embracing her, holding her in his arms, kissing her more passionately she had ever been kissed before. She kissed him back, feeling their bodies melt into each other, lips and arms and chests and legs, a single person in a moment of perfect unity. She held him as long as she could, and when he pulled away to breathe, she pressed her face against his chest.
“I’m sorry for bringing us here, for everything I’ve done,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”
“I chose to follow you,” he said, and his voice was deep and rich. “And I’ll find you again.”
They kissed one more time, and then the Partial soldiers were pulling her to the plane. She turned and looked at him from the steps, and he stared back, motionless.
And then the doors were closed and the giant rotors spun up with a hum she could feel in her bones.