The scientist is on his hands and knees, whimpering. Don’t think about it. He runs his fingers through his thin hair. He looks so small and weak, groveling on the floor. He reaches into his wallet and pulls out a photograph. It’s beaten and tattered, and the corners have yellowed. It’s of a woman holding a baby girl.
I aim the gun at him. Can I do this? I don’t know if I can, but I know that I must. I failed Trevor, and I need to keep the others safe. This will destroy me, but I must do it to protect them. If someone is going to be ruined it must be me.
It has to be me.
It has to be.
“Please,” he whimpers. “I have a—”
A gun goes off. I look down and see blood welling above the doctor’s heart. He gasps, then falls face-first to the floor. A red circle of blood appears on his back.
But I didn’t pull the trigger. How? I look up and see Natalie aiming her smoking gun at him.
“He took more from me,” she says. “And I can survive this. You probably couldn’t. You’ve done so much, Caden, but you’re not the only hero in this story. So let’s play to our strengths, huh? You tell us what to do and I’ll deal with anyone in our way. Okay?”
“You’re right,” I say. My brain is all over the place, but I need to focus. “Okay, Juliet, you have to blow up the Stalkers. Just in case we were wrong.”
Juliet runs toward the Stalkers at the back of the room. When she reaches them she slides her hand into her backpack and pulls out a bomb. She places it on the floor, then starts tinkering with the wires.
Dyl is standing to my left, looking at me. “He deserved it, Caden.”
I look down at the broken body at my feet. “I know. It’s just, you know. He was still a person.”
He places his hand on my shoulder. “I know, man. I know.”
“Guys,” says Juliet as she walks toward me. “The bomb is ready to go. Should I detonate?”
We all nod, and Juliet presses her thumb down. With a roar, a huge whirl of purple and black appears, devouring the army of Stalkers. The whirling color snaps them out of existence, leaving only a few mangled, smoking parts.
“Now what?” asks Natalie.
Everyone is looking at me.
I have one idea, and it’s risky. But it is what a protagonist would do.
I clear my throat. “There’s one last thing. But you guys, don’t do this if you don’t want to.” I look at my friends and know that they’re going to follow me, so I smile. “We’re going to end this once and for all.”
CHAPTER
THIRTY-SEVEN
Trevor’s body is still in the hallway.
Natalie’s eyes fill with tears at the sight of him, but she keeps moving.
The guard is also in the spot where he died, slumped against the wall with his head leaning forward. There’s so much death here, and I’m leading them back through it. I didn’t keep Trevor safe and I didn’t kill the scientist. I can’t make any more mistakes.
We jog forward.
Once we’re all inside the elevator, Juliet presses the button marked 1. The elevator zooms upward.
“We’ll have a funeral for him,” says Dyl. “When we’re free.”
“For both of them,” I say, thinking of the scientist. I remember the guard. “No, for all of them.”
The elevator stops and the doors open. A guard is standing in the middle of the hallway. He gasps and reaches for his baton.
“No!” cries Juliet. “You moron! Why are you here?”
He steps forward. Natalie raises her gun.
“You,” I say with a jab of my pointer finger. “It’s four against one. And we will kill you. If you want to live, I suggest you play dead or get the hell out of our way.”
He drops his baton. It clatters against the concrete. “Fine. Please don’t hurt me.”
As we approach, I reach out and grab his wrist. The lights on my glove flash, and his body stiffens. He falls against me. I lower him to the ground, then advance toward Craike’s office. I press the card against the screen and the panes of glass separate.
Craike is slumped against the glass bookshelf beside his desk. His eyes are closed and his legs are stretched out in front of him.
“His computer’s there,” I say, pointing. “Juliet, can you figure it out?”
She nods and walks across the room to the laptop. She steps over the fallen Stalker’s massive body and then leans forward to stare at the monitor. Her fingers tap against the keys, filling the room with a clicking sound.
Natalie is eyeing Craike warily.
I make my way over to her. “I just wanted to say thanks. You know, for what happened in the lab.”
“You’re a lot of things, but you’re not a killer, Caden. Killing him would’ve destroyed you. Me, well, I just wish I’d made him suffer a bit more. So you don’t need to thank me. To be honest I’m glad I’m the one who got to make him pay for everything he’s done. I—”
“Hey, guys!” interrupts Juliet. “I’ve found it! I—”
A static hum fills the air, and a grid of red light appears just in front of the desk. Juliet looks up and realizes she’s trapped. I turn to Mr. Craike. His eyes are now open, and he’s holding a silver pen. Or at least it looks like a pen. His thumb is pressing down on one end.
Using his free hand, Craike reaches into his jacket and produces a gun. He aims it at Juliet. My mind flashes back to when he greeted me at the gates. He had two guns. One in his hand and one strapped to his hip. I took the first, but I forgot about the second.
I raise my gun. I’m out of bullets and he probably knows that, but I need to do something.
“Drop it,” growls Craike.
“Okay,” I say. I bend my knees and place the gun on the floor. Craike’s arm is shaking and his grip on the gun is going slack, like he’s struggling to keep it upright. From that, and the way his eyelids are drooping, I guess he’s only a few minutes from passing out. I just need to stall him. I rise and lift my hands above my head. “It’s over. Just put the gun down and—”
Craike barks a harsh laugh. “It’s not over yet, Caden. There’s something you need to know before you can call it a day.”
A gun goes off. The grid of light sends out sparks, then returns to normal. Natalie is holding her gun, aiming it right at Mr. Craike. She shot at him. It was a good plan, but with the barrier up, he’s untouchable.
“As I was saying,” says Craike, “you can either listen to me or I can kill Juliet. It’s up to you.”
“You wouldn’t do that,” I say. “She’s too important.”
“She’s nothing now! She knows about us, so she’ll never trust anyone again. And if she doesn’t tell anyone her secrets, I’ll never get paid. Because of you, she’s disposable. But that’s not what I wanted to tell you. I have something to tell you about Dylan.”
I turn and look at Dyl. He’s standing with his arms crossed. What could Craike possibly know about him that could damage me? What else could he be hiding?
“You’ve got nothing,” says Dyl. “You don’t know me.”
“Look at me, Caden,” says Craike. “I want to watch as the horror sinks in. Look away and I’ll shoot her.”