Rebel (29 page)

I started to say “You’re welcome” when Riley blinked, putting a hand to his neck. Blood seeped through his fingers, and I whirled to look for the source of the bullet.

A shuttle officer I’d only encountered once stood a few yards away. He’d made me take my shirt off to search for weapons, then was disgusted by my scars.

I dove for him, a bullet clipping my hand. His eyes lit up like he’d succeeded at something.

My heart stopped as I turned around. Riley was already on the ground, a bullet hole in his forehead.

I pressed a hand to my mouth as I choked back a cry. The world was blurry as I started to lift my gun again, but two Reboots were already there, wrestling the shuttle officer to the ground.

I ducked as a barrage of bullets raced over my head and hit my knees next to Riley.

“Up. Get up now!”
Riley’s voice was loud in my head, drowning out the sounds around me.

But I was glued to the ground, my fingers wrapped around his lifeless wrist. I couldn’t move, even as his yells grew louder in my head. His bright eyes stared vacantly at the sky.

A Reboot slammed against my back as she shoved a HARC officer to the ground, and I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. I slid my hand into Riley’s and gave it a squeeze, saying a silent thank-you I should have said a hundred times over before now.

I forced myself to stand and wiped a hand across my eyes. I had to find Callum. I had to at least see if he was okay.

Spinning around, I finally spotted him over the sea of faces. He’d been pushed back closer to the HARC building, and he was helping a young Reboot who’d lost a leg over the pile of rubble and bodies. There were no immediate threats nearby and I breathed a sigh of relief.

A door at the other end of the HARC building opened, and I squinted through the smoke at a chubby figure who emerged.

Officer Mayer.

He had a large gun in his hand, and I pushed past the Reboots and officers as I ran for him.

He stood at the front of the building, breathing heavily as he observed the scene. He turned to the Reboots making their way out of the building. To Callum.

“Callum!” I screamed, but he made no sign he’d heard me. I fired several bullets in Officer Mayer’s direction, but he didn’t even flinch. I was too far away.

Officer Mayer raised his gun. He hit the young Reboot right in the head, an easy shot without a helmet.

Callum whirled around, his hand going to his gun.

The officer fired. Callum’s head flew back. His body was still for a split second and I held my breath as I waited for him to move. He crumpled to the ground, motionless.

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BLACK TINGED THE EDGES OF MY VISION AND I COULDN’T BREATHE.
I couldn’t move.

It had been several seconds and Callum was completely still on the ground. I couldn’t go over there. If I went to look I would know he was dead. He couldn’t be dead.

Desmond appeared, horror on his face as he knelt down next to Callum. He turned to me. Back to Callum.

Panic began to spread through my limbs and I choked back a sob as Desmond gave me a shocked look.

I charged for Officer Mayer.

He took off running, pumping his arms as fast as he could. He turned around and fired a wild shot in my direction, which
missed me by at least a foot.

I raised my gun. I could easily hit his back at this point, but that wasn’t how I always imagined killing him. In my head, it had always been more intimate.

Now I wanted him to suffer.

There was no way he could outrun me. He’d trained me too well for that. I leaped forward, yanking on his arm so hard it cracked. He screamed as I launched my foot into his stomach.

He hit the ground, firing off another wild shot that missed me. I tore the gun from his hand and tossed it away. I positioned myself over his chest and knelt down.

I wrapped my fingers around his throat.

His eyes bulged and he swung at me. He grasped my shirt in his fingers and tugged, but I dug into his neck harder. He wheezed and began kicking his legs.

His face turned red.

I held on tighter.

He dropped his fingers from my shirt, putting his hands down and giving me a desperate look. He was surrendering.

I didn’t care.

I didn’t care.

I didn’t care.

I let out a scream of frustration and let go of his neck, backing off slightly. Officer Mayer gasped for air, rolling onto his side as his body shook and trembled.

I wiped a hand across my eyes and found they were wet.
Officer Mayer stared up at me, his expression a mixture of horror and shock.

I considered killing him and was struck again with that awful feeling I’d had a few seconds ago. Did I kill someone just because I could? Was that who I was?

I kicked the gun farther from Officer Mayer’s reach and pulled two sets of cuffs from his belt. I slapped them around his ankles and wrists.

No. That wasn’t who I was.

My body was heavy as I straightened, and I forced myself to turn around to where Callum lay.

Desmond was still crouching over his body. He had something bloody in his hand. A bullet.

Callum slowly sat up, blood running down his cheek from his left eye.

I yelled, sprinting across the dirt so fast I almost knocked him over when I threw my arms around his shoulders. Callum laughed and wheezed as I squeezed him tightly.

“Sorry,” I said, pulling away and putting my hands on his cheeks. His eye was a bloody mess, but starting to heal, and I pulled his hand away when he tried to touch it. “Don’t. It will heal faster if you leave it alone.”

I turned to Desmond, who tossed aside the bullet.

“Lodged in his eye socket?” I guessed.

He nodded with a wince. “Really disgusting, too.”

“Thank you,” Callum said with a smile.

A loud yell and the sound of shooting made me turn. The scene in front of the facility had changed, and lots of HARC officers were on their knees on the ground. A tiny group of officers were holding out, firing off shots at the rebels. A few officers took off running in our direction, and I jumped to my feet as bullets sprayed through the air.

Desmond sprang up next to me and I darted in front of him, but it was too late. He doubled over as blood spread across his stomach, then his shoulder. Callum caught him before he hit the dirt.

I raised my gun, but a large band of humans swarmed the officers, and wrestled them to the ground.

Tony was at my side in seconds, and Callum moved away as he knelt down next to Desmond. There was no saving him, though. I quickly turned away, my hand finding Callum’s.

The gunfire had stopped in front of the facility, but I could still hear traces of it in the slums. The humans were dirty and bloodied, and the Reboots didn’t look much better.

I knew I should go into the slums to help stop the violence there or assist in rounding up the HARC officers for containment, but it all felt like too much to deal with at the moment. I holstered my gun and wrapped my arms around Callum’s waist, pressing my face into his chest and letting out a long breath.

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THE ROSA HARC FACILITY LOOKED LIKE IT MIGHT CRUMBLE AT ANY
moment, so we made sure there were no Reboots locked in their rooms and moved everyone out of the area. Dead bodies were strewn across the lawn, and when the sun began to rise the scene was gruesome.

A few of the rebels gathered together the HARC prisoners, including Officer Mayer, and piled them into HARC transport vans headed for Austin. Isaac and a few other Reboots went to New Dallas to check on the HARC situation there, and reported back that most of the HARC officials fled or abandoned their posts when they arrived. Many blended into the human population, giving up their duties with little protest.

Wren went with Addie and Leb to do a sweep of the city and slums and they returned with a few more humans and HARC officers who’d shot at them. Leb said they were using the human cells in the Austin capitol as a prison until they could figure out what to do with everyone. I thought about asking who was guarding this prison, and who would decide the appropriate punishment, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. Not today, anyway.

Wren had disappeared, and I found her on the lawn of the facility, sitting next to Riley’s body. Her arm was slung across her knees, her head bent down, and she didn’t move at all when I knelt down in front of her.

“Do you want to bury him?” I asked quietly.

She shook her head, wiping the back of her hand across her eyes before she looked at me. “No, Riley would think that was stupid. We should cremate him with the others.”

I nodded, wrapping my fingers around her arm and giving it a gentle squeeze. I stood, intending to leave her alone, but she got to her feet and slipped her hand into mine. We walked off the HARC lawn to where Leb and Addie were standing with a large group of Reboots.

Leb glanced over at Wren, his expression half surprise, half sympathy. She had dirt and blood smeared on her clothes, and her shoulders were slumped in exhaustion. It was obvious she’d been crying. I suspected that was where Leb’s surprise came from, because it seemed that even the people who knew her
were shocked to discover she had emotions like them.

“Thank you,” Leb said. He looked for a moment like he might hug her but seemed to think better of it.

“For what?” Wren asked.

He gestured to Addie. “I didn’t think you’d go to get her out.”

Wren was almost amused. “I know you didn’t.”

“Also for saving my life that one time,” Addie piped in with a smile. “And that other time.”

Wren laughed softly. “No problem. I’d say we’re even now.”

Addie pointed to a shuttle a few hundred yards away. “Are you guys going back to Austin? That shuttle is going to take some people soon.”

Wren looked at me. “Yes?”

“Yes,” I confirmed.

“Are you staying here?” Wren asked Addie and Leb.

“We’re thinking we’ll pack some stuff up and come to Austin for a while,” she said. “Dad thinks that’s where they’ll start electing leaders and establishing a government. We figured we should stick close.”

He was probably right, and I was suddenly glad we were going to be close, too. If they were going to rebuild, we needed to make sure Reboots were part of that. My first thought was Riley, and I swallowed when I remembered he was dead.

“I’m going to stay and help my family get things together,” Addie continued. “We’ll probably be there in a few days.” She bit her lip. “Tell Gabe for me?”

“Sure,” Wren said.

“Who’s Gabe?” Leb asked, looking between them.

Addie patted her dad’s arm, which only increased his alarm. She turned to Wren. “I’ll find you when we get there, okay?”

Wren nodded. I dropped her hand as Addie stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her. She returned the hug, and Addie leaned down and whispered something in her ear. I couldn’t hear what it was, but when Wren pulled away she had tears in her eyes again. She smiled at Addie through them and slipped her hand into mine.

Wren squeezed my hand and pulled me in the direction of the shuttle. “Let’s go home.”

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I WAS MET WITH LAUGHTER AS I TURNED THE CORNER TO CALLUM’S
old house. A group of human kids sat in a front lawn to my left, but when they spotted me they quieted. One of the girls leaned over and whispered something to a boy, and his eyes widened.

I instinctively reached for the weapon on my belt, just in case, but there was nothing there. I’d given all my weapons to Addie days ago.

A grin spread across the boy’s face when I glanced back up at them. “What’s up, One-seventy-eight? They described you as taller!”

I laughed, and when I faced front again Callum was standing on his porch, watching us.

“Hey!” he called, his voice amused. “She can’t control her height!”

I hopped up the steps and pressed my lips to Callum’s, smiling as he pressed a hand into my back.

“They do describe you as taller,” he murmured against my lips.

I pulled away, trying to stand straighter. “Better?”

“No.” He quickly kissed me again and pushed open the front door, holding his arm out for me to go first.

I took in a deep breath as I stepped inside. I hadn’t seen Callum’s family since that day they’d come by the facility. He’d visited them a few times, but I hadn’t gone with him. When he’d invited me to come to dinner, Addie had clapped her hands like this was exciting. It mostly just made me uncomfortable.

The house didn’t have any more furniture than the last time I’d been here, but the smell of meat cooking drifted out from the kitchen. Callum’s dad stood next to a table already set with plates, one hand clasped around his opposite arm.

Mrs. Reyes turned around, spoon in hand. She smiled when she spotted me. It even seemed genuine.

“Hi, Wren.” She put the spoon down and walked across the kitchen, holding her hand out. “Nice to see you again.”

“You too.” Her hand was warm and when she smiled she looked like Callum.

David bounded into the kitchen as Mr. Reyes shook my hand. He lifted his nose in the air.

“What is that?” He peered over his mom’s shoulder. “Where did we get meat?”

“Callum brought deer meat,” Mrs. Reyes said, walking back to the stove.

I turned to him in surprise. “Did you go hunting?”

He snorted. “Yeah, right. Isaac gave it to me since we’d been helping him with construction so much.”