Red Awakening (Red Zone 2)

She stilled, her fingers feeling the back of her head to see if she was bleeding. “That’s illegal.”

“You really are as ignorant as you seem on the news. CommTECH runs the country—they make the laws and do exactly as they wish. It doesn’t matter whether or not something is illegal. They wanted to plant a chip in my brain that would turn my life into a live feed for security to watch in detail. They would have seen me bathe, seen me use the toilet, seen me make love to my wife. And there wasn’t anything anyone could have done to stop it.”

It didn’t make any sense. “Active recorders are only used on heavily monitored criminals.”

“No, my dear, they’re used on anyone CommTECH wants to use them on.” He stood and held a hand out to her. “Please, come with me. Otherwise, I’m afraid I’ll have to let my less-civilized colleague take care of getting you to the terrace. And I can’t guarantee that you’ll make it there in one piece.”

Keiko cast a glance back up the stairs, but there was no sight of Mace. Time had run out. She couldn’t fight off these two men, and she couldn’t wait for Mace. Please let him be okay.

“Ms. Sato, we need to go.”

For some reason, she found his genteel manner even more offensive than the brutish behavior of his fellow Freedom fighter. His civility made her stomach curl, because he was politely inviting her to walk to her execution.

She gritted her teeth and stood, feeling each bruise on her body as she did so. The man put his hand on the small of her back as he walked her to the elevator. It was a courteous gesture, at odds with her walk to the gallows.

“Stay here,” he told her attacker. “Back up Rock. Make sure the reporter is dealt with.”

Keiko felt the blood drain from her face at his orders, making her stumble over her feet. The man who’d attacked her glared in her direction but did as he was told. Meanwhile, the polite man ushered her into the elevator and programmed the panel with their destination—the terrace and Freedom.

“Did you run to Freedom when you were told you’d have an active recorder implanted?” She shouldn’t have cared, but she wanted to know. To understand.

He arched his eyebrows at her, surprised by her question. “My wife left me. She didn’t trust me when I told her that I’d refused the implant. A week later, I was fired. Two days later, I lost my CommTECH-assigned housing. Tell me, Ms. Sato, to whom should I have run if not to Freedom?”

He didn’t need to say all

of his other options had disappeared once CommTECH had wiped their hands of him. No one would employ someone CommTECH fired. If they did, they risked the wrath of the company. Which meant that once CommTECH ruined an employee, they stayed ruined. Keiko had always thought it was a security matter. To ensure the fired employee had to find work in a different sector, to prevent them sharing the knowledge and skills they’d gained at CommTECH. Now she realized it was just one more thing she’d been deluded about.

“I’m sorry about what happened to you,” she said softly. “No one should have to deal with that.”

He stared at her for a long moment. “I do believe you mean that,” he said at last.

As she watched the elevator draw closer to their destination, her stomach clenched tighter. Was Mace still alive? Did he need her?

Oh God, please, help him. Don’t let him die.

It was the first prayer she’d said since, as a child, she’d decided there was no room for God in the modern age. Please, she begged again. Hoping that God hadn’t decided there was no room for Keiko and Mace in the modern age. I’m sorry. I’ll believe from now on. And she meant every word.

The elevator doors slid slowly open, and the cool air from the terrace rushed over her. She stared at the mass of reporters, crouched and fearful in front of the platform. On the dais, Rueben Granger knelt with his hands bound behind him as he wailed and begged for mercy from anyone who would listen. Bodies of his colleagues lay beside him—a constant reminder of his fate. Keiko searched for Abigail among them, but someone stepped in front of her, blocking her view.

It didn’t stop her from seeing all the other deaths around her. Part of her feared she’d break down again, the way she’d done in the security hub. But it didn’t happen. Mainly, she felt a deep, aching sadness. What a waste. Whatever Freedom was demanding from CommTECH, it wasn’t going to get it. Didn’t they see Enforcement gathering outside the building? Didn’t they realize their time was running out? Wasn’t it clear that this was a pointless exercise?

“Ms. Sato,” a woman said as she came up to stand in front of them. Her eyes were alight with malice. “It’s lovely of you to join us. Do come in.” She stepped to the side and swept her arm out in a gesture that indicated Keiko should precede her.

Nervously, Keiko walked forward, all the while scanning for a glimpse of her friend. At the same time dreading that she would see Abigail like that, discarded for the entertainment of a crazed terrorist and news viewers around the world.

The whole situation made her feel nauseous.

“Yes,” Rueben Granger shouted when he spotted her. “Take her. She’s far more valuable. You don’t need me now that you have the press secretary.”

There was a splat and then a wail of outrage. A small bird had emptied its bowels on Rueben’s head. Keiko couldn’t help but smile as she cocked her head in the direction of the bird. Or maybe it was a moth. No, it flew like it was dancing.

A shiver ran up her spine.

She was looking at a bat. Not just any bat. Mace’s bat. Which meant he was still alive, because man and beast couldn’t survive alone. A surge of hope rushed through her, followed closely by outrage. She’d told him not to let that bat free, and he’d done it anyway—probably to keep an eye on her. What was he thinking? The bat made him vulnerable. Did he want to die? When this was over, she was going to give both of them a piece of her mind.

If she survived.

Chapter Thirty-Four