“You have to. It’s not safe,” I plead.
“It’s not safe anywhere.” His eyes have begun to clear. “You’re going back to that place, where they have your sister? Where they tortured you? No.” He shakes his head. “I can’t come with you.”
“But Fort Black is dying,” I tell him. “It’s infested with Floraes.”
“My father . . .”
“He’s been bitten. I’m so sorry.”
“I’m not leaving him here alone. And my uncle? They’re the only family I have.”
I don’t know how I can make him understand. He refuses to budge. He’s in shock.
I take his hand. “Jacks . . . your father is infected.”
Jacks looks to where his father stands by the wall. He walks slowly over to his father, with me in tow.
“Dad?”
Doc looks at his son. “I . . . I’m sorry. For everything. For the years I wasn’t with you and Layla, for what I did to your mother, for all of this.”
Jacks nods. “I forgive you.” He drops my hand and reaches to my other hand, taking the gun.
Doc eyes the rifle. “What happened to Layla was never your fault. You did more for that girl than I ever did. You were a better role model, a better provider. It wasn’t your fault, son.”
“I know,” Jacks tells him. “I love you, Dad.”
Doc stands up straight. “I love you too, son.”
Jacks raises his gun and fires into Doc’s chest.
Doc stumbles back, clutching his wound and staring at Jacks, his face torn between pain and love. Then he falls backward and disappears over the railing.
I turn to Jacks and take the gun away from him. “Jacks, I . . . Are you okay?”
He nods once, tears streaming down his face.
“It’s now or never, Amy,” Ken calls to me.
“Jacks, please. Come with me.” I reach out for his arm and slowly lead him to the hover-copter.
Ken looks at Jacks, covered head to toe in blood. “No,” he says simply.
“I’m not leaving him,” I say.
“Then stay. I was only letting you come because of Kay. . . . But taking him—the risk is too great. What if he’s infected? And you . . . You’re not supposed to be anywhere near New Hope. Do you want to get caught? Because the more people we take, the more likely it is that you’ll be found out.”
I look at Jacks, who is slowly regaining his senses. “Amy, go. I’ll be fine.”
I shake my head. “You’ll die.”
“I won’t. I said good-bye to my father. I’ll go back to my cell and lock myself in. I’ll be safe there.”
“If you live,” I say, tears streaming down my face, “your uncle knows how to contact New Hope. That’s where I’ll be.”
“New Hope,” he repeats, nodding. “I’ll find you in New Hope. I promise.”
He hugs me to him, brushes his lips with mine, and then pushes me toward the open door of the hover-copter. Before I know what is happening, the door has closed me inside. I collapse onto the floor of the hover-copter and hug my knees.
The ache in my chest worsens the farther we get from Fort Black. I realize that all those feelings for Jacks I had buried deep down inside are now being ripped from their hiding space and are rushing to the surface. I cry into my knees and for the first time in a long time, let myself feel.
Chapter Thirty-two
We land outside of New Hope, and the door to the hover-copter opens. Kay steps out with me.
“You remember what I told you, sunshine?”
I nod. “Wait until dark. Then go to Building Nine, climb the fire escape to the fourth floor. The window will be open.”
It was pure luck that Kay happened to be on patrol near Fort Black when Ken radioed for help. She was piloting, and when she stepped back to check on me and her brother, she found me crying on the floor of the hover-copter. She didn’t try to comfort me. Instead she acted as if we’d never been apart, and started talking tactics. It worked, pulling me from my sorrow. I wiped my tears and listened to her strong, able voice.
Kay laid out the game plan to get me into New Hope, that it was too dangerous to bring me in all the way. Instead I would walk in, Kay letting me know the best route since the new cameras have been set up around the perimeter.
Kay looks at me for a moment. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m . . . fine,” I tell her, hiding the truth. I’m far from fine, but I can’t break down again, not now when I’m so close.
She puts a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t get caught.”