“What’s going on?” I asked. I glanced back at Avian nervously. He was stitching West’s leg up. West’s jaw was clenched tight, his entire body stiff from the pain.
“We need to set this thing off the instant it’s charged,” Royce said, handing me an assault rifle. “Since the Nova is five blocks away and how many Bane are closing in, I thought it best to head out right now. Dr. Beeson will take care of things here with Graye and Gabriel’s help. Addie’s coming with us. But you need to come now. Dr. Evans is already there getting things set up.”
I let out a slow breath and turned back toward the room. Everyone was looking at us.
This was it. It was time to see if we could save the world.
“That’s going to have to do for now,” Avian said, clipping off the ends of the threads. “Lin, could you call for Dr. Sun to finish cleaning him up?”
“Of course,” she replied.
West hissed and pulled himself up into a sitting position. Avian took the rifle Bill handed to him as he stepped out of the room.
“Give Creed to Vee,” Royce said, looking at Lin. Vee looked nervous about holding Creed, but took her with careful hands. “I’m going to need everyone else ready to help get us to the transmitter.”
“Wait,” West said, attempting to stand from his bed. “I’m coming too.”
“You can’t walk,” Vee protested, taking a step back toward him. “You’re still bleeding.”
“Sorry,” I said, meeting his eyes. “Not this time.”
He met my eyes and all our history squeezed at my insides. The lies, the passion, the hurt, and the pain. And the friendship that had finally replaced it all. “I’ll see you on the other side of the apocalypse.”
It took him a moment to nod, his eyes seeming to study my face. “See you on the other side.”
“Let’s move,” Royce said.
The crowd that had started gathering in the hall behind us, parted. None of them said anything as we made our way to the front doors. But every one of them held their hands over their hearts and then raised their fingers up in salute.
I could feel their gazes as we passed them. They didn’t know if we could do this. They knew the consequences if we failed. But they were looking at me with hope.
Searching for Avian’s hand, I slipped my fingers into his and held tight.
When we approached the front doors, Royce nodded to a woman off to the side, and the doors ground open.
The air outside was perfectly still after all the chaos that had taken place. The sun shone brightly and I could see little particles of dust floating in the air. The scent of gunpowder hung heavy over the city.
There were at least twenty Bane standing just outside the door. They all stood in a semi-circle, staring directly at me.
Royce stepped out first, his rifle held up to his eyes, ready. Bill followed. I stepped outside, my chin held high.
“Go find the others,” I said. “Don’t leave any of them alive.”
They each turned and darted out into the city.
We headed west, toward the building that had the Nova. The streets were suddenly alive with noise as those I had commanded started destroying those who rushed us.
Just let us get to the building, I thought. Just clear the way.
There was a screech from up above, and I looked to see Bird circling us, calling as if in a war cry.
We had gone half a block when a batch of three Bane stepped from their hiding places.
They approached slowly, their eyes intently fixed on me. Two more came up from ahead of us.
“You got this?” Royce said quietly, his rifle pointed at the ones before us.
I nodded, even though he wasn’t facing me. “I’ll keep them away from us.”
“Just one more block,” Royce said, picking up the pace.
Six more came out of their hiding places. Soon they had formed an oval around us, walking alongside us, staring intently at me. They kept a distance of ten feet from us on all sides. Just outside our perimeter, I saw another of the Bane I had commanded, rip the head off another. It collapsed into a heap. My soldier darted away to look for another Bane to destroy.
Finally, we got to the building. Royce pulled the door open, and held it for the rest of us.
“You will stay here,” I said, addressing the Bane that surrounded us. They all froze on the spot. “You will not move from this spot. Ever.”
They stood still as the buildings around them.
I wanted them to stay here because if we managed to make the Nova go off, I wanted to immediately see if it worked.
“Keep moving,” Royce said, waving us forward with his hand. Vee and Creed ducked inside, followed by Addie, Bill, then Avian, then myself. Royce and Elijah took up the rear.
“We’ve got one more hour until the batteries are fully charged,” Royce said as we climbed stairs. “But I’m hoping by the time we get up there, Dr. Evans will give us the go ahead to set the blasted thing off. I don’t want to wait one second longer than we have to.”
All the full humans were sweating by the time we reached the door to the roof. They breathed hard but I knew it wasn’t just the steep climb that had them huffing.
This anticipation could kill a person.
Vee stepped aside, letting me do the honors of opening the door.
Placing my hand on the cold metal push handle, I leaned my weight into it, and stepped out into the sun.
THIRTY-THREE
Dr. Evans stood on the edge of the roof, staring out into the distance. The wind blew around him, hitting me in the face with an arctic blast. Too afraid to call out, too unable to break the sacred silence of what was before us, I crossed the roof and joined him.
I knew what it was Dr. Evans was staring at the moment I saw it. It was far off, far enough out that it was simply a landscape of dark color that moved in a way that was almost imperceptible. But it steadily progressed from the east to the west.
A Bane sweep.
They consumed the buildings before them like a swarm. Explosions lit up the early afternoon sky. Grey dust filled the air.
They had to be less than five miles out.
All ten of us lined the roof of the building, looking out at it. Avian’s hand slipped into mine and squeezed tight. To my right, Royce’s hand gripped my other.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
I could feel this wave surging upon us and the breath within me was being drawn out. The wave would crush down upon me before I would have the chance to draw another in.
This was it.
None of us had to say it, but everyone shared the universal thought.
All those creatures that were rushing toward our city to tear it apart had been people once. They’d been wives and fathers; they’d been students and workers. Billions of normal people living normal lives. They’d felt anger, sorrow, joy, love.
For a moment, I felt sorry that I was about to end what remained of their lives.
I was about to kill off seven billion former people.
I opened my eyes again and a single tear leaked down my cheek.
But now they didn’t feel anything but the drive to spread TorBane.
“Can we set it off now?” Avian asked. His voice was filled with emotion and determination.
Dr. Evans didn’t answer and his silence was like being hit in the face with cold water. We all turned and looked at him.
He stared out over the cityscape. His eyes were open and blank and he stood completely motionless.
Avian, Bill, Elijah, and Tristan backed away automatically, drawing their weapons. Royce stayed put and swore under his breath, drawing his own rifle. Addie just stood there frozen.