Chapter 22

CALLUM LOOKED UP AT ME FROM THE HOLE, RELIEF AND JOY spreading across his face. He

had one arm wrapped around his knees, my helmet sitting in the dirt beside him. I was so happy to see him

I didn't even bother to point out he should have been wearing it.

"You got it," he said, looking at the helmet tucked under my arm with genuine surprise.

"Yes." I jumped into the hole and handed it to him. "I took his shirt, too. Hopefully it doesn't stink."

He brought it up to his nose. "Nah, it's fine."

I held the bread out to him. "This is for you, too."

He unwrapped it and looked at me in amazement. "Seriously? You're scary good sometimes."

"You can have it all; I'm not hungry," I lied.

He frowned at me as he set it on the ground. "Don't be ridiculous. We haven't eaten since last night."

He put his arms through the shirt, leaving it unbuttoned as he split the bread in half and offered part to me.

"You take it; I'm fine for now," I said as I slid down to the ground.

"Wren. Eat it. I am actually a little tough, you know. You don't have to take care of me."

The edge in his voice made me pause. "I didn't mean—"

He cut me off with a kiss, which I returned, relieved I didn't have to finish that sentence. He pressed

the bread into my palm and I took it, smiling at him as he pulled away.

"Where'd you get it?" he asked as he took a bite.

"Just some house," I mumbled. "Do you want to sleep for a while? I'll keep watch."

"Nah, I'm not tired," he said, finishing his bread.

"But you didn't sleep at all last night."

"I don't sleep all the time. I just can't."

"Ever didn't sleep much," I said, running my fingers through the dirt. "Is that common with the Undersixties?"

"Yeah, that's what I heard. I was sleeping more the last week or so, but I feel all awake again."

"Do you feel okay?" I asked.

"I feel fine. They gave Ever the shots, didn't they? The ones that make us crazy."

I nodded, keeping my gaze on the dirt.

"What if . . ."

I looked up to see his face worried, anxious. "What if they gave them to you?" I guessed.

"Yeah."

"They didn't, that you know of?"

"No. But my roommate and I didn't talk much. I don't think he would have told me."

"You feel all right, though?"

"Yes, except . . ." He looked down at his shaking hands.

"You're probably just hungry. You never ate enough. And tired. You should try to sleep."

"I guess. But if it's not just that? Then what?"

"You're out now," I said with a confidence I didn't feel. "They couldn't have even given you that

many shots. They'll probably just wear off."

He nodded, leaning back against the dirt. "Yeah. I'm sure it's fine. I wasn't there that long."

He was trying to convince himself more than me, but I smiled and nodded. "Exactly."

"I'll try and sleep," he said, closing his eyes. He cracked one open and held his arm out to me. "Want

to come closer?"

"I can't. One of us has to stay up and keep watch."

"One cuddle. Maybe two. Fifteen, max."

"Callum," I said with a laugh. "Go to sleep."

"All right," he said with an exaggerated sigh, a smile twitching his lips.

When I poked my head out of the hole hours later, the night looked deceptively calm. A soft breeze blew

across the field, rustling the few leaves left on the trees. It felt so nice I had a brief, wild thought of just

lying back down beneath the trees with Callum.

He popped up next to me, glancing around. He had tried to sleep, or pretended to try, for quite a

while, until he finally gave up and stared at the side of the ditch. It reminded me of Ever so much it

became difficult to breathe. It felt like someone was standing on my chest.

I held the map out in front of us, pointing to the area where Leb had indicated we should make our

escape.

"We'll run through here," I said, tracing the route with my finger. "I'm hoping we can get pretty close

to the fence before the guards spot us. From there we'll head into the trees and go north until we lose the

humans. Then we'll turn and go south."

Callum nodded. "Got it."

I pulled myself out of the hole and Callum did the same. The lights of the slums were ablaze as HARC

officers continued to scour for us, but it was dark in the field.

I started in the direction of the city line and Callum followed. He took my hand as we walked, lacing

his fingers through mine. We were a little slower than usual. My feet felt heavy and my stomach was

growling for food. I was almost tempted to stop and find something, but I didn't want to risk drawing

HARC officers out this way again. We needed to get as close to the city line as possible without being

noticed.

Callum seemed in better shape. He hadn't mentioned being hungry, and when he glanced down at me

he looked steady and calm.

"Do you know who shot you and your parents?" he asked.

"No. It doesn't matter anyway."

He paused, glancing over at me. "Do you miss your mom and dad?"

"I don't know." It was the only way to truthfully answer the question.

"You don't know?"

"No. I don't. I don't remember much of them, and what I do isn't great. But sometimes I feel . . .

weird."

"Weird like sad?"

"I guess."

"You wouldn't want to see them again if you could?"

"Callum, you'll never get me to say that's a good idea. And no. I wouldn't want to see them again."

He was quiet for a few minutes as we made our way through the neighborhood, staying close to the

backs of houses as we got closer to the city line.

"What did you do?" he asked. "As a human?"

"I was twelve. I went to school and worked."

"Where did you work?"

"A pub. Washing dishes. A lot of kids wanted the job but they liked how small I was. I didn't take up

much space."

"There weren't age rules for working in the slums?" he asked.

"No. If you could do the job you could apply. They have age rules in the rico?"

"Sixteen. After graduation. The wealthy ones go on to trade school; the rest of us start working."

I looked at him in surprise. "I thought you all went to trade school."

"Nope. Too expensive."

"What did you do, then?" I asked.

"I worked the fields." He laughed at the stunned expression on my face. "What? Someone has to do

it."

"Well, yeah, but . . . I didn't think it was the rico folks."

"Who else?" he said with a shrug. "They won't bring in workers from the slums for the food crops

because of the risk of disease. They don't want Reboots touching their food. HARC tried to bring them in

a while back and people protested. They're terrified of us."

"They should be."

The lights at the edge of town appeared and I stopped and checked the map. The houses had thinned

out and then disappeared completely. There wasn't much on the south side of Rosa. HARC was to the

west, the worst part of the slums to the east. The trees were scarcer as well, leaving nothing but flat dirt

dotted with grass in front of us. HARC had no doubt cleared it out so there would be no way to sneak out

of the city. The whole area was lit up brighter than daylight.

"Leb didn't give us an area with much cover," I said, ducking behind a tree and gesturing for Callum

to follow.

"I doubt any section has cover," Callum said. He moved closer to me until both our bodies were

hidden behind the tree trunk.

He was probably right, unfortunately. Leb had drawn the star directly in between two of the tall metal

watchtowers, which he must have thought was the safest route. The watchtowers were spaced several

hundred yards apart. I peeked out from behind our hiding spot to see an officer strolling up and down in

front of the fence, a massive gun at his waist.

"Let's just run," he said. "What do we have to lose?" He took a step forward, like he was going to

take off right away.

"Our heads," I said in annoyance, tugging him back to me by the arm. "They're going to have

sharpshooters up there."

"What else are we going to do?" He knocked on his helmet. "Besides, we have these."

He was right, but I still felt a burst of irritation at his disregard for his own life. Again.

"Those helmets don't hold up forever," I said. "I didn't save you from getting shot on the inside so you

could die one day later out here. At least pretend that you care about dying." I looked down at the map

again. "This can't be the best place. It seems so stupid."

He looked at me in surprise. "I care if I die."

"You don't act like it."

"I already died once. Turned out all right." He smiled at me.

"That's not funny. You'll be dead for real this time. And then what? I'm supposed to go to this stupid

Reboot reservation by myself? I never would have left if it weren't for you."

"I didn't ask you to do that," he said. "And what do you mean, you never would have left? You were

fine with it? Being a prisoner?"

"Yes. It was better than my human life."

"But they made you kill people."

"I don't—" I wrapped my arms around my waist and stopped myself. I couldn't tell him that.

"You don't care?" he guessed. "You don't feel guilt? Sadness?"

"No," I said, looking at the ground. "I did at first. But now . . . no."

I stole a glance up at him to see a heartbreakingly crestfallen look on his face.

"I don't know why you keep saying that," he said.

"Because it's true."

"No, it's not. I saw your face when they took those kids away. You feel everything, just like the rest of

us." He paused, considering me before a mischievous glint sparkled in his eyes. "And you totally have the

hots for me."

A surprised laugh escaped my mouth.

"What? You do."

I couldn't argue with that, so I just smiled. He grabbed my hand and tugged me to him, planting a soft

kiss on my lips.

"Leb wanted us to get out," he said. "We can't rescue his daughter if we're dead. He must have

thought this was the best way."

"Yeah," I admitted, tucking the map into my pocket. "I'd just prefer it if our heads didn't explode."

"Let's run fast, then." He lifted his eyebrows, looking at me for approval.

I nodded. "Start going in a zigzag pattern when they spot us. Should make it harder for them to hit us."

"Got it."

I took one more glance around before ducking out from behind the tree and heading for the open field.

We had taken only a few steps when the siren sounded. It was louder here, screeching from one of the

towers. I felt the bullets before I heard them.

They pelted my shoulders and knocked against my helmet. My feet flew over the dirt, Callum at my

side even as I picked up speed and began running in a crooked line.

The world was white suddenly, the ground rumbling as I fell against it. A second blast, closer, threw

me across the dirt and sent a searing pain up my leg.

I couldn't hear. I couldn't see. I scrambled to my feet only to have the world shake again, the blast so

intense I landed several feet away.

A bullet clipped my ear as I jumped up. They whizzed by, hitting the dirt like heavy drops.

Callum. I couldn't see him.

"Callum!" I ran into the smoke and directly into a hard chest.

I couldn't make out a face, but he lifted a gun to my head. I ducked, smashing my fist into his gut and

knocking his knees out from under him. I snatched the gun from his hand and smashed the barrel against his

head.

"Wren." I heard Callum's voice, quiet, but when I looked up he was right next to me, yelling. His

helmet was half-gone, the left side of his head totally exposed. I took his hand and we sprinted for the

fence.

His eyes were wide with fear as he turned to look behind us. I whipped my head around to see a

massive group of HARC officers hot on our trail.

I lowered my chin into my chest as they fired, dropping Callum's hand so I could run faster.

The fence was so close I could see it clearly now. It wasn't terribly high—fifteen feet or so.

But it was electrified.

I could hear the buzz as we approached. We were going to have to hold on to it for several seconds to

be able to get up and over it, but the force of the shock might knock us off right away.

Callum hit the fence a second before I did. I saw the jolt go through his body as his fingers wrapped

around the wire, but he held on, his face determined.

I grabbed the wire and gasped as my insides lit on fire. The shock was so intense I almost screamed,

almost broke my own rule.

I hauled ass up the fence as fast as I could, my hands black by the time I reached the top and hurled

myself over.

The twitching was so intense it was hard to stand, let alone run. But I heard the buzz stop as they

turned the fence off for the HARC officers. They'd catch us if we didn't move. Callum's body jerked as

badly as mine so I grabbed him around the waist and turned him in the direction of the trees.

We needed to go north, and panic flashed through my brain as I struggled to remember which direction

that was. Austin was south, but I didn't want HARC to see us headed there. If they knew where we were

going, they'd be waiting for us.

A shuttle roared through the sky, bringing a fresh round of bullets with it. I heard the crack, then felt

the blast against my head.

The remains of my helmet toppled to the ground.

Right. North was right.

My brain didn't want to run but my legs carried me anyway, floating over the dirt and grass faster than

a human could keep up with.

We were in the trees, the beautiful trees, slapping against branches as our feet pounded the dirt. My

insides jiggled around, unsettled, but I pressed on until the officers' voices grew distant.

I came to a sudden stop, looking up as the shuttle zoomed by. I gestured for Callum to follow me as I

darted farther into the trees and hid behind a thick one. I couldn't see them anymore, but I could hear

officers running and yelling from several directions.

I looked over at Callum to see the twitching gone, his fingers wrapped around the trunk of the tree as

his eyes scanned the area. The rest of his helmet was gone, too, probably lost and shattered somewhere

like mine.

"You all right?" I asked, breathing heavily.

"Yes. I can keep going."

I glanced up at the sky as another shuttle flew overhead, and hesitantly took a step out from behind the

tree. Nearby, boots crunched against leaves and I squinted in the darkness. They weren't using flashlights,

which was smart. Easier to sneak up on us that way.

I nodded at Callum, putting a finger to my lips as I took a careful step to the west. He followed my

lead, and I wanted to hug him for his quiet footsteps. I eased past a fallen tree branch and glanced over my

shoulder.

We crept through the trees until I couldn't hear our pursuers anymore. It was quiet, the only sounds the

breeze rustling the leaves and the distant hum of a shuttle engine.

"Run?" I whispered to Callum, turning to face south.

He nodded in agreement, his eyes serious when they met mine, but a hint of a smile starting to form on

his lips.

I let myself smile, too, just for a moment. And then we ran