Even though I know this, it doesn’t feel so bad, because looking at him now, knowing what he’s done, I’ll still do anything to save him. I’m probably the biggest idiot on the planet, but I can’t turn off my affection for him, even though he has no affection for me.
Oh wow, he has no affection for me.
Still, I’m not going to let the LIC kill him.
But just: ow.
He moves back into position and tilts his head to the side. “You’re right. Just do it.”
I reposition the blade, right beside the bump. I push the blade in, and Dyl screams and shoves me with both hands. I take a few steps backward. Blood is spurting from the wound, running down his face onto his jacket.
He takes in a deep breath that fills his chest, then he gets back into position. “So the Stalker is coming?”
“Yep.”
He scrunches up the material of his pants. “Then we need to hurry. Just do it. Come on, man, do it!”
A jagged red slash sits above his forehead. I step forward and peer closer. Peeking out through the slash are a few tiny red wires. I move my fingers up and go to grab the wires, pulling gently. Dyl roars, baring all his teeth.
“Stop!” he cries, shoving me in the chest again. I step away, raising my hands. He’s shaking. “I felt it, Caden, I felt it in my brain. It’s connected or something. You can’t take it out. You can’t. If you pull you’ll scramble me.” His eyes fill with tears. “I’ll die.”
Half of his face is covered in blood. It needs to be done, but I don’t want to hurt him any more, so I step backward.
I start unbuttoning my shirt. “Then we’re going to have to trust the LIC.”
“What are you doing?”
“I need to stop the bleeding. It’s something Kaylee taught me.”
I pull the shirt off my shoulders and drop it. Then I take off my undershirt, ball it up, and hand it to him. “Press that to the wound. Can you walk?”
He nods, and raises the shirt to the wound and presses it in. He winces as the white material turns red.
I pick my shirt up off the ground and jog down the path to the street. Dyl follows me. My phone buzzes. As I run I pull it out of my pocket and look at the screen. It’s a text from Juliet: We’re here. Hurry.
What does she mean, we’re?
“Come on!” I scream, and I pick up my pace. We reach the bottom of the hill, where Juliet is sitting in the driver’s seat of my truck. The headlights are on, and they cast two white beams of light across the gloomy parking lot. I sprint toward the truck and swing the door open.
Trevor is sitting in the backseat. “Hey,” he says with a wide grin. His hair is spiked up and he’s wearing a brown leather jacket. “I heard you’re a fugitive now.”
“What are you doing here?” I ask him.
Natalie peeks her head out from the backseat. She’s wearing a black shirt and jeans, but her hair is still perfectly styled and her makeup is immaculate; her eyes are smoky and her lips are covered in pale-pink lipstick. “I’m here too. We all decided that we can’t let you die. Oh and, just so you know, Trev knows about me. I kind of had to tell him.”
Trevor shrugs. “I’m a cheater, she’s a liar. But we’re happy and in love, and that’s what matters.”
“Aw, babe,” says Natalie, and she plants a quick kiss on his cheek.
I stifle a scream of frustration. “Don’t you see what you’ve done? Now we’re all going to die!”
Natalie’s eyes widen. “Yeah, we will, if you don’t stop whining. Now hurry up.”
I want to argue more but I quickly realize it’s stupid, so I jump into the front seat. Dyl climbs in after me, wedging himself between Natalie and Trevor. They both stare at him like he’s a confusing piece of art. He looks down at his calves.
“Go!”
Juliet plants her foot on the accelerator and the truck surges forward.
Natalie crosses her arms. “Does your coach know you’ve rebelled?” Dyl and I both nod. “Shit, that means we’re already running out of time. Juliet, you need to drive as fast as you can and get us as far out of town as possible.”
Juliet gives it some more gas and the truck picks up speed.
“I know this might be an unpopular opinion at the moment,” says Trevor. “But shouldn’t we go somewhere public, like a mall or something, and then call the police?”
I’m staring out the window at the flat, barren earth. “The LIC has enough money to bribe anyone. The police can’t help us.”
“We could make a video explaining what happened to you and post it online, and …”
“People have tried,” says Dyl. “They all died, and the whole thing is covered up so fast it was like it was never posted. They were tortured for days before they were sent to the incinerator. And they say they lowered the heat settings for those people, so their deaths took longer. I’d call bullshit, but I heard the screams. It took hours. My point is that the LIC doesn’t want anyone to know they exist, and they’ll never let the word get out. Ever. And every conceivable way of spreading the word has been tried, and they all failed. Our best chance is to hide and hope they give up or forget about us.”
Trevor leans back in his seat and sighs. “I guess you’ve thought about this more than I have. It’s still so huge, I can’t even fathom it.”
“Then why are you here?” I meant to sound curious, but it comes out sounding mean. I press my lips together, then realize it doesn’t matter that I did something that wasn’t Nice. The LIC wants to kill me anyway, so there’s no reason to be Nice ever again. I turn and look out the window as that sinks in.
I don’t have to pretend I’m someone I’m not ever again.
Trev winces. “Well, you’re my friend, Caden, and I’m not going to let some shady group of people treat you like a slave or kill you. And Natalie, well, she’s the most important person to me on the planet. I’ll do anything to protect her.” He looks over his shoulder. “And Dyl’s all right too, I guess.”
“So is there somewhere we can go?” asks Juliet. “Like, someplace where people have made it away from them?”
I shake my head. “As far as we know, no one has ever survived running from the LIC. A Stalker always catches them. Always.”
“What’s a Stalker?” asks Juliet.
“It’s a killing machine,” says Dyl. “It’s designed for one purpose: to keep Love Interests in line.”
“Specifics, please.”
“It’s a robot,” I say. “A big robot strong enough to pull people apart. They’re also expert trackers, and they’re scary fast. So far, they’ve got a perfect track record of catching fleeing Love Interests. No one gets away from a Stalker.”
“But they’re not us,” says Natalie.
“Everyone thinks that,” says Dyl. “Everyone thinks they’re the exception.”
“No, she’s right,” I say. “They’ve never had to face us. We have a shot.”