My fingers slip on the latch, oily with blood and ooze, but I get it open and step inside. Rowe jumps on the ledge, Eaters lunging for his feet. He stands and slams the clear Plexiglass door in one monster’s face.
The alarm and recorded voice come to an abrupt stop, leaving us in relative quiet. My mind is thankful, although the chorus of Eater moans on the other side of the glass is another reminder we can’t rest.
Well, maybe for a minute.
My back is against the solid, clear wall, ignoring the hands and banging as they try desperately to get to us. My feet leave bloody footprints on the white canvas floor.
“I can’t believe we made it,” I say, exhaling.
“That was tough, but we’ve got to get moving. It took longer than expected.”
I nod, gaining the energy to make the final journey. I move slower than I’d like on my weary legs, and when the back door opens suddenly, Rowe steps protectively in front of me.
Cole stands in the doorway, looking crisp and official in his Hybrid uniform. I’m so tired I don’t even react, which is unwise because he pulls out a gun an
d without warning, shoots Rowe square in the chest. The man drops his own weapon and falls to his knees and then on his side.
I gasp and drop to my knees, taking his hands.
“Never stop, Alexandra.” The light flickers out of his eyes. I stare helplessly at the Fighter on the floor.
“What the hell, Cole? He was helping me!”
He holsters his gun and walks toward me. “It’s not his job to help you. He disobeyed direct orders from the Commander.”
“The Commander?” I don’t know why I even asked. The answer is obvious.
He steps over Rowe’s body like it’s nothing but a stain on the floor. “Chloe is in charge now and this man is a traitor. It was my duty to eliminate the threat.”
“You’re kidding, right?” I have no idea where this is going, but I keep my eye on his gun and my grip tight on my knife. “You said you were here to infiltrate and keep fighting, but that was a lie. You have no intention of stopping your sister, do you?”
“No.”
I know there’s no reasoning with a Hybrid. They follow their leader’s every command. This is why the flaws in Chloe’s vaccine caused a problem. Too much independent thought on top of the hyped-up rage and aggression. I stare at Cole. The man who protected me and took care of me for miles and miles of hardship and battle. I know he’s in there—under the dark Hybrid eyes—beneath the lean muscular body.
“So you’re taking me back to her?” I ask, avoiding his eyes. It hurts to see him like this. “You’ll vaccinate me with that poison and turn me into another droid? Because I’d rather die, Cole. I would. I would rather turn into one of those nasty monsters out there and roam aimlessly though life until the birds and the bugs finish me off.”
He reaches for me and I have a flash of earlier in my cell. I’d wanted him then, but it was before I knew what he’d become. I twist and fight to stay out of his grasp but he’s too big. Too tall. He pulls me against his chest and I stare at Rowe’s unmoving body on the floor.
“There are forces at play that I can’t explain,” he whispers in my ear. “You’ll understand one day.”
His fingers grapple with mine and I feel the familiar grip of my hatchet. I look up and for the briefest moment, I spy the man I once trusted.
“We’re responsible for our family,” he says. “Even now. You take care of yours and I’ll take care of mine.”
With a move so fast it could only be performed by the genetically enhanced, he forces my hand, ramming the hatchet blade into his gut. I step back, holding the bloody weapon in my hand.
“Cole!”
He bends, clutching his stomach. Bright red blood pours through his fingers and he glances up at my stunned, unmoving face, his hair backlit like an angel’s halo.
“Run, Alexandra.”
I run.