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  “What did they do?”

  “They killed him. The alarms didn’t sound. We didn’t know they were there. Ethan said we had to jump to get away, so I did, but they caught his leg and pulled him back. Then they just pushed him over the edge! I should’ve waited. I should’ve stayed and fought. He didn’t have a chance.” Those were the most words I’ve heard him speak, and I was left speechless.

  It was Byron who found the words to respond. “We have to go. They will know you’re here, and they are probably already on their way up.”

  He was right. We hoisted Tenason between us and urged him on. He barely stood on his own. Byron grabbed Tenason and slung him over his shoulder. He reached for his safety cable and strapped it around them both.

  “Will it hold you both?” I asked.

  “We’ve got no other choice,” he responded.

  I secured the cable to the rooftop, and then he leaned back over the edge. Tenason’s eyes were closed tightly as he clung onto his black shirt, fear had taken over him. Slowly, Byron rappeled down the side of the building.

  He was halfway down when the roof door slammed open, and the two Carbons along with six Bots stepped out. I was grossly outnumbered with nowhere to run. I grabbed my gun and shot, no time to aim. The bullets hit a few, but no kill shots. They slowed them down for a moment.

  I was backed up against the edge with nowhere to go but down. Byron was almost at the bottom, but I knew the cable wouldn’t hold all three of us so I urged him to hurry. I ducked as the Bots shot back. They were so close. I had no choice; I had to go. Rushed, I aimed one more shot their way and then jumped over the edge, reaching out to the cable and grasping it just in time, but I was unable to get my feet secure. I dropped fast—too fast—as the cable burned through my gloves, and I kicked my feet trying to wrap my legs around the cable, anything to stop my momentum. The wind was whipping my hair across my face, and my stomach was in my throat as I free fell, unable to stop. My left foot kicked at the cable; I almost had it. The ground was nearing quickly, and I saw the image of Ethan’s body on the pavement.

  I squeezed my hands tighter, ignoring the pain burning through them. It slowed me down enough to wrap my feet around the cable and I came to a stop. There was maybe ten more stories to go, but as I moved again, I felt the cable snap. They’d cut the cable, and I was falling. It was too far to land safely, that much I knew. My hands scrabbled at the side of the building, searching for any handhold, but I found none. Time was going too slowly and too quickly all at once. My fingers grazed a ledge, and I hoped to find another.

  My fingers found another ledge and with all my strength I latched on with one hand, my shoulder screaming in pain. I wasn’t sure I could hold on much longer, and I was still about three stories up.

  “Let go!” Byron yelled, and I gladly obeyed. He broke my fall as we both tumbled to the ground. My legs stung from the impact, but it could’ve been worse. Nodding my thanks, we both scrambled to our feet. There was no time for words; they’d be close behind us.

  We urged Tenason to run, and with a little help he started moving. Slower than usual but we were moving nonetheless. We opted to take the back alleys rather than a direct route to avoid running into any more of them.

  Once we reached the base, we were barely past the guards when Tenason dropped to his knees and broke down. His body shook as he sobbed, tears streaming down his cheek. I crouched down beside him and held him tight, fighting back tears of my own.

  Chapter 9

  “What happened?” Kyle whispered to me as we carried Tenason to his quarters. All the Watchers were called back once Command saw what had happened.

  “I’m not sure.” I shook my head. “He said the alarm didn’t go off. Two Carbons found them, and Tenason made the jump, but Ethan was thrown over.”

  Kyle scrunched up his forehead as we helped Tenason into his room, knowing there was nothing more we could do but let him grieve. Byron stayed with him.

  Exiting the room, Kyle grabbed my arm and pulled me aside. “We need to get a Carbon and bring it to Adam,” he said.

  “Smith is going to put the base on lockdown, we have to go now.”

  When the base went into lockdown, nobody was allowed in or out. With two Watchers dead in two days, things were in chaos. Nothing made sense. How did the Carbons get past the Eye? And there was one thing that kept bugging me. Why did they kill Ethan?

  Since our rebellion began, they’d been trying to catch us to find the rest of the base. Why not take Ethan into Sub 9?

  An alarm sounded as speakers filled the hallway with two loud beeps. The base was going into lockdown. Kyle and I caught each other’s eyes, and then we took off. Racing to beat the guards, we sprinted past the first line. They shouted for us to stop, but we saw the main door closing. We pushed forward harder.

  Kyle reached for his rifle and shoved it between the doors just in time. With all his strength, he wrenched the door apart enough for me to squeeze through. On the other side, I twisted the rifle to pry the door open further. I saw a guard racing behind Kyle. We had only seconds before they’d grab him, or worse the rifle broke and Kyle was crushed.

  I put my whole body into it, all one hundred and twenty pounds of me pushing to open the door a little wider. It worked. Kyle squeezed through just as the door slammed shut, and the rifle shattered to pieces.

  “Smith is going to kill us!” I winced.

  We made our way out the crack in the wall and onto the street. Kyle took the lead. “Twice now they have found us on the west side so let’s start there,” he suggested, and I followed.

  The dimming sun was setting through the clouds and smog as we made our way down the street. We were much more exposed than we wanted to be, but the setting sun cast shadows all around us no matter where we ran, and this was the most direct route.

  Kyle navigated us toward where Kane had been caught. The space looked undisturbed. The Bots had cleaned up any trace of him, and they took the broken eyepiece as we suspected. We moved onward to the spot where Ethan had fallen. I wasn’t sure I wanted to see it again, but as we rounded the corner, I saw they’d already cleaned that up as well. Only a deep red stain remained to indicate where he’d landed.

  “This doesn’t feel right.” Kyle scanned the area. “Not one Bot? That never happens.” He cautiously took a few more steps forward and then paused.

  My throat bobbed as I swallowed hard, nodding my agreement. The Bots were a constant presence, always on the lookout for humans or signs of life anywhere.

  “Do you think they were called back to Sub 9?” I wondered out loud.

  “No, they’re planning something. I can feel it. This isn’t right. We shouldn’t have come here.” We were both on high alert, scanning the area for movement, anything. Nothing.

  “We should go back—” Kyle started, but the words were broken by the sound of soft shoes hitting pavement in the distance, coming closer and closer. We both heard it and knew what it was. Carbons, and lots of them.

  “Run!” Kyle screamed.

  ~

  Over a dozen Carbons rounded the corner. I’d never seen that many together all at once, and they were gaining on us. I didn’t know how that was possible. Kyle and I were the fastest Watchers. There’s no way they should’ve been able to keep up. But they did, and they were gaining.

  We rounded the corner and came to a screeching halt as we nearly ran into a dozen more Carbons. We had nowhere to go; we were trapped. I reached for my gun, and Kyle did the same. We stood back-to-back, surrounded by Carbons. Our only option was to shoot our way out although our chances of survival were slim.

  The Carbons took a step forward, and I fired, hitting one in the head and another in the leg. There were too many of them and only two of us. I scanned around me for a way out, anything that could mean our survival, but there was none.

  Kyle sighed behind me, and I knew what he was thinking.

  “Plan B,” I said, not as a question but as an order. I felt him nod.
r />   I raised the gun to my temple. The cold metal gently grazed my cheek on the way up. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and willed my finger to move. This was my ending. I wasn’t afraid since I knew this day would come. I no longer had anyone to say goodbye to, no one who would mourn my death.

  I’d never considered where I might die. That it might have been in the presence of friends or in the presence of my enemy. I guess today it would be both.

  In the quiet moments before it all went black, my mother’s face appeared. She was smiling down on me, and it reassured me that everything would be okay. I trusted her. She’d always been there with me even when she was gone. I’d see her soon.

  One shot was fired, and all that lingered was darkness.

  ~

  Everything moved in slow motion, and it took a few seconds to realize I hadn’t pulled the trigger. And judging from the feeling of the warm body still pressed against my back, neither had Kyle. I opened my eyes to see the Carbons frantically looking around and scanning the rooftops for the shooter. The setting sun hid whoever was up there.

  Another shot and a Carbon went down. Bang and another fell. Kyle sprang into action, and I was right behind him. We shot as we ran for shelter, the covering fire protected us from the Carbons, who had retreated for safety from the onslaught of gunfire.

  As I sprinted for the alley, I spotted a Carbon nearby and I found an opportunity.

  I reached down and grabbed one of its wrists, dragging her toward Kyle. Once I’d reached him, he moved to remove her microchip, but I stopped him. “No, wait. Adam may need her intact,” I said. He nodded and lifted her over his shoulder, and we took off. I was right behind Kyle as our mystery shooter covered us as we raced back to the base.

  We barely reached the base before our legs gave out, and Kyle dropped the Carbon to the ground. The doors were still closed.

  I turned to Kyle with despair in my eyes, and his reflected the same. We were locked out with no way in. The only one who could order a lockdown open was Smith, and he was inside. I prayed he saw us on the security feed. I dragged the Carbon closer to the doors, out of view of the street. The Carbons would sense where we were, and we would soon be caught. There was little hope of survival outside the base. I readied my gun and so did Kyle, unwilling to go down without a fight after all that had happened. We saw a shadow coming around the corner, and I took aim.

  “Oh my God!” Kyle exhaled.

  Smith sprinted toward us with a sniper rifle across his back. I hadn’t seen him outside the base since he found me. “Too much risk for an old guy like me,” he’d said once.

  “Open the doors!” he yelled into his earpiece, and the doors slid open.

  Kyle picked up one side of the Carbon as I grabbed the other, and together we pulled her inside. We were barely through the doors when they slammed shut behind us. Smith turned to us, winded but furious.

  “You stupid children,” he said before he walked away.

  Chapter 10

  “Look, Smith, we’re sorry. But we got one, didn’t we?” Kyle tried to reason as he chased after him. I jogged and caught up, leaving the guards to bring the Carbon to Adam.

  “No, you didn’t succeed. I saved your sorry asses, and you put the entire base at risk.” Smith was steaming. I’d never seen him so mad. “What were you thinking?”

  “We went out for the good of the base. It had to be done, and you know it,” Kyle argued.

  Smith spun around so fast I almost ran into Kyle’s back as he halted to a stop. “I almost lost you. Ten years and you want to end it like that? I can’t even look at you right now.” He shook his head in disappointment as he turned to leave. Kyle didn’t follow him this time.

  It had never occurred to me how losing Kyle would affect Smith. They had been like brothers. The only family either had left.

  I’d spent the past ten years since I lost my parents distancing myself from everyone. So much so that I’d forgotten what it would feel like to lose a friend—a family member. I don’t even know what I’d do if I lost Kyle. He was like a brother to me.

  Kane and Ethan were colleagues. I’d miss them, and I would mourn them, but I’d move on. I wasn’t sure Smith would have moved on so quickly if he’d lost Kyle.

  “Tell him I made you do it!” I offered.

  Kyle smirked but there is no warmth behind it. “He knows better, and one day he will forgive me. But for now, let’s get down to Adam and see what he’s found.”

  ~

  Adam was in a mad scramble when we entered the lab. He ran from computer to computer mumbling “fascinating” and “I see” to himself. His assistants were on his coattails, recording everything he spat out.

  “So have you found anything?” Kyle jumped out of the way as Adam raced through.

  “Yes…no, kind of,” Adam babbled. “You see, the structure is the same as the old model, but the fibers are a bit different. Built with, well, God knows what. Nothing that has even been discovered yet, at least not by us.” He paced back and forth, and his assistants did the same. “But that’s not all. They have brains! Not human brains per se, but they function like a human brain. They serve as the sensory board almost. That’s how they found us so fast. They could sense us like a dog sniffing out meat.” His arms flailed in excitement. “And get this! They can put up a shield of sorts. An invisible barrier that doesn’t allow the Eye to detect them. Like a little force field! It’s brilliant really! Well, not really, but you know what I mean.”

  “I don’t think we entirely do know what you mean. So these new Carbons can sense us and stop us from detecting them?” Kyle narrowed his eye.

  Adam bounced on the balls of his feet, almost giddy at this new find. “Yes, exactly!”

  “Can we fix it? Break through the shield?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. I mean, I’ll try, but this is technology I’ve never seen before.” Adam sat, taking a deep breath.

  “Where is it?” Kyle asked.

  “Oh, right.” Adam sprung back up. “We disabled the tracker right away and turned off its motor skills. Now she is in the other room with Doc. He’s helping me dissect her. It was quite creepy really, as she was still talking!”

  Kyle and I stared at each other. “Talking?”

  “Yeah, quite a chatter box this one was, actually,” Adam said happily.

  ~

  I’d never heard a Carbon talk. I’d been told their speech resembled that of a robot’s. It was one of the ways we could tell who was human and who was a Carbon.

  Kyle rushed next door, startling Doc as he burst in. I followed close behind him.

  “What has she said?” Kyle demanded.

  “Nothing much of interest, mostly asking what we’re doing, what we’ve found, and where she is. General small talk,” Doc replied as he looked back down at his charts in hand. “It would seem she is a fairly new Carbon. She doesn’t quite understand what she’s doing here. Her memories keep sparking back to her original orders, which were to trap the humans and bring them in alive.”

  “You two, specifically.” The Carbon spoke from the table she lay on, her chest cavity exposed and wires strung everywhere. She was petite and had long, golden-blonde hair. If she wasn’t an abomination, I would’ve said she was pretty.

  “What did you say?” Kyle asked, moving forward.

  “My system informs me that you two were to be taken back to Sub 9. Patient S and Patient K to be delivered to C Quadrant for further processing.” Her voice was monotone and without emotion, but sounded as human-like as Kyle or I.

  “What does further processing mean?” Kyle furrowed his brow.

  “I am not aware of that. I am only a Gatherer,” she explained.

  “Gatherer of humans?” I asked.

  “Yes, of all the living humans who match the code.”

  “What code?” Kyle asked before I could.

  “The C-Node code. All compatible humans are to be taken back to C Quadrant for further processing,” she repeated.
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br />   “But what is the C-Node code?” I asked again.

  “I am not aware of that. I am only a Gatherer.”

  “Argh, you already said that! What exactly are you aware of?” Kyle shouted in frustration and paced.

  “I am aware of living humans who match the code.”

  “Yes, yes, you said that!” He threw his hands up and flopped into the chair beside the table.

  I moved closer to her, my eyes narrowing. “What happens to the humans who aren’t a match?”

  “They are disposed of,” she stated.

  I gasped. “Ethan.”

  Kyle nodded. “He wasn’t a match, so they just threw him off the damn building.”

  “What else can you tell us?” I asked.

  “I am not programmed to provide information. You must ask the appropriate question for me to form an answer.”

  I sighed. “What is Sub 9’s plan?”

  “That I do not know. I am only a Gatherer.”

  “What happens after all the humans have been gathered?” I tried.

  “Then they will be made better.”

  “Made better? What do you mean by that?” Kyle questioned.

  “To be made better as in becoming more like the superior species—us. To remove your human tendencies, which hold your species back.”

  “Wait, you expect us to become like you? To become Carbons?” Kyle said with disgust written across his face.

  “Yes,” she said. “With our help, you will evolve into a better, superior species, and you will no longer have to fear death, illness, or loss as the humans do. You will have purpose as we do.”

  We said nothing but stood there in silence and shock.

  Chapter 11

  Kenzie

  An ominous and silent precense lingered over a large, white holding room stationed with over a hundred beds of unconscious humans. For their own safety, the humans had been drugged, so they slept. A sterile air floated in the room with white floors and walls filling the canvas of the vast space. The room was so wide you couldn’t see from one end to the other. Nurses walked from bed to bed as they checked on their patients, but he was here to see just one.