Strike

by D. J. MacHale

  Thanks to him.

  With the confidence that ultimate victory was at hand, Feit stepped up to the bomb to enter the deactivation codes.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  Kent, Tori, and I ran for the infirmary and immediately jumped inside.

  There were only a few patients in beds and one Retro soldier attending to them. It was the woman who had first given us the Sounder sign and allowed us to sleep in the bed next to Kent as he healed. She was exactly who we were looking for, but when she saw us, she backed away in fear.

  “This is a hospital,” she said with rising panic. “You have no business here.”

  The three of us hesitated, not understanding why she was reacting that way.

  “It’s our SYLO uniforms,” Tori said. She lowered her pulser and said to the woman, “It’s okay. Remember us? We were prisoners. You treated my friend here.”

  Kent gave her a little wave. “That would be me.”

  The woman was a raw nerve and too frightened to remember any individual patient. All she saw were the uniforms.

  “Look,” Tori said, and put her hand over her heart.

  I did the same, offering her the Sounder salute. Kent joined in.

  The woman softened, though I wasn’t sure if it was because she finally recognized us, or was just relieved to know we might be on the same side.

  “I don’t understand,” she said uncertainly. “What’s happening out there?”

  “SYLO and the Sounders are fighting the Air Force for control of the dome,” Tori said.

  “But we’re looking for my mother,” I said. “She’s a prisoner.”

  The woman’s eyes lit up with recognition.

  “You’re the ones Feit was looking for,” she said.

  “Yes!” Tori exclaimed. “Do you have any idea where she might be?”

  “As soon as the attack began they locked all the prisoners up in their barracks. She must be there.”

  “Locked up?” I said, incredulous. “All the prisoners are locked in the barracks?”

  Tori grabbed my arm and said, “If they’re trapped here and the dome isn’t closed—”

  “Get out,” I said to the woman. “Now. Get these patients out and as far away from the dome as you can. SYLO transport vehicles are scattered around the borders of the camp. Drive as far away from here as you can.”

  “Why?” she asked, dumbfounded.

  “A very big bomb is about to go off,” Kent said flatly. “Is that a good enough reason for you?”

  It was. The woman immediately went to her patients and started to rouse them.

  “You have less than twenty minutes,” Tori said. “Hurry.”

  I ran out of the far side of the infirmary, headed for the barracks area. Kent and Tori ran right with me.

  “We’re running out of time,” Tori said.

  “We’ll check the barracks and let the prisoners loose,” I said.

  “I’ll give you ten minutes,” Kent said.

  “And then what?” I asked. “What’s your deal? You got a date?”

  Kent didn’t answer. I was afraid he was going back to his old ways and wanted to bolt. That was his call. I had no right to stop him.

  When we arrived at the first barracks I saw people at the windows, crowded together, trying to see what was happening outside. Or maybe they were just struggling to get air. I pulled out the pulser, aimed at the door, and blew off the lock. The door instantly flew open and orange-clad prisoners cautiously peeked their heads out.

  “Get out of the camp,” I shouted. “Run as far away from the dome as possible. There’s a bomb.”

  The prisoners didn’t question me. I think all they heard was “run” and “bomb.” They quickly piled out of the building and ran for the camp border. I scanned the desperate mass of people as they flooded out of the door, straining to see if my mom was with them.

  She wasn’t.

  “Go to the other buildings,” I said to Tori and Kent. “Set them free but please, look for her.”

  The two ran off instantly. Moments later I heard their pulsers blowing open more doors. While one side of the camp was a battle zone, the other side was filled with the sounds of panicked people running for their lives.

  My mother wasn’t in the second building I set free. Nor was she in the third. There was absolute bedlam as a sea of terrified people scrambled to get away. We had quickly freed a dozen barracks, but my mother was not in any of them.

  Tori and Kent rejoined me, winded from the effort.

  Kent shook his head gravely.

  “I’m sorry, Tucker,” Tori said.

  “There’s still one more building,” I said.

  We ran for the final building, which was closest to the dome on the edge of the battle zone. From there I could see the fight. With the arrival of Granger and his SYLO ground troops, the Retros were now outnumbered. But they weren’t done. More Retros continued to arrive from other parts of the camp. The battle was definitely still in doubt.

  The last building was small, less than half the size of the others. As we got closer I saw no movement inside. My heart sank. This was my last chance. I walked right up to the door and shot off the lock. Throwing the door open I hoped to be flooded with escaping prisoners, but there were none. After a quick, nervous look to Tori I stepped inside.

  It was like stepping into another world. This wasn’t a barracks at all. We were inside an opulently decorated office, complete with overstuffed chairs, a couch, and rich wood paneling on the walls. Standing behind the large desk, frozen by our dramatic entrance, was Major Bova.

  He stood staring at the door, probably expecting a contingency of SYLO soldiers to come storming in. Instead, he got us. Still, we were in SYLO uniforms and had pulsers aimed at his head so he threw his hands up in surrender. In the process he dropped a large duffel bag onto the floor.

  “Don’t shoot,” he shouted. “I’m unarmed.”

  Seeing his weasel face brought back a flood of horrible memories, from the way he tortured prisoners before killing them, to parading my mother out in front of the prison population to try to lure us into surrendering.

  “I guess you weren’t in the train wreck,” Kent said. “Too bad.”

  “Where is she?” I demanded while quickly closing the ground between us.

  Bova backed away in fear and confusion.

  “Wh . . . who?” he said, stuttering.

  I shoved him against the back wall and jammed the pulser into his neck. Like most bullies, without backup he was a coward.

  “My mother,” I said, seething. “Don’t pretend you don’t know.”

  His eyes went wide with recognition.

  “You!” he gasped, stunned. “Feit said you and your friends would hound us until you were dead. Why aren’t you dead?”

  I drove the pulser into the soft spot under his chin, making him gag.

  “Where is she?” I asked again, with more force.

  “I’ll tell you,” he said. “But I want something in return.”

  I wanted to say something cocky like, “In return I’ll let you live” but that wasn’t me.

  “What is this?” Tori asked.

  She had picked up the duffel that Bova dropped. Reaching inside, she pulled out a fistful of jewelry. There were golden bracelets, jeweled rings, and expensive-looking watches. She turned the bag over on the desk, spilling its contents. Besides a load more of jewelry, there were also thick rolls of cash.

  “Wow,” Kent said. “That’s some serious stash.”

  “That belongs to me,” Bova said, his voice cracking with uncertainty.

  “You stole this from the prisoners, didn’t you?” Tori said, disgusted.

  “No!” he said quickly. “Of course not. I got those from . . . from . . .”

  I rammed the pulser into his neck
again.

  “All right!” he squealed. “Yes, I did. And what’s wrong with that? Spoils of war. It’s not like they’ll need any of it again.”

  Kent lunged forward and pulled Bova away from me. Before I had the chance to react he landed a punch square to his chin.

  Bova’s head snapped to the side, he stumbled back, hit the wall, and fell to the floor.

  “And you call us animals!” Kent screamed with a fury I’d never heard from him before.

  “That’s exactly what you are,” Bova shouted back, his arrogance returning. “Everyone from this time. You’re all guilty of crimes far worse than pilfering a few pieces of jewelry.”

  Kent made another move for him but I held him back.

  “Where is my mother?” I demanded.

  Bova’s confidence grew. He had something I wanted and that gave him leverage. He reached up to his desk and pulled himself into his rich leather chair.

  Tori, Kent, and I stood across the desk in front of him.

  “I’ll tell you,” he said. “All I want in return is to leave. Lower your weapons and let me walk out of that door.”

  I looked to Tori and Kent.

  “Let him go,” Kent said. “Who cares? Your mother is way more important than him.”

  Tori nodded in agreement.

  “Once you leave this building, we can’t help you,” I said.

  “Understood,” Bova replied.

  He reached forward, grabbed the duffel bag and started scooping up the jewelry to put back inside.

  “Seriously?” Tori shouted. “Leave it.”

  Bova smirked as if to say, “Hey, it was worth a try” and dropped the bag.

  “Where is she?” I asked.

  “Right in there,” he said, pointing to a closed door on the far wall. “Feit told me to keep her close in case we needed her as leverage against SYLO. Surprise! He was right. She’s my leverage.”

  “Go get her, Rook,” Kent said adamantly. “We’re running out of time.”

  “You stay right there,” I said to Bova.

  Bova shrugged innocently.

  I turned and walked quickly across the floor, headed for the door. Without waiting another second I grabbed the knob and threw it open.

  At that instant, Bova made a quick move to reach under his desk.

  We were all so tense that the little movement was enough of a warning.

  We all dodged out of the way . . .

  . . . as Bova’s desk exploded.

  The force came from a pulser shot that he fired from underneath that blew through the wooden desk and nailed the wall next to the closet, blasting out a huge hole. Though he didn’t hit any of us, the sudden and surprising explosion had done its job. While we were trying to clear our heads, Bova bolted from behind the wreck of his shattered desk and threw himself out of a window.

  “What the hell happened?” Kent muttered, dazed and angry.

  I pulled my head together enough to remember what I had been doing. I looked through the doorway I had just opened, hoping to see my mother. What I saw instead was a closet. An empty closet. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but it crushed me. My disappointment was quickly replaced by anger and I took off after Bova.

  We all jumped out of the same window to land in an open dirt field between buildings.

  The sound of a motorcycle firing to life brought our attention to Bova, who perched on a bike next to the building we had just come from. Kent sprinted for him. But Bova hit the accelerator and squirted away a second before Kent could reach him. The powerful motorcycle kicked up dirt, leaving a filthy cloud in its wake as it tore across the empty field with the murderous camp commander on board . . .

  . . . along with the last hope we had of finding my mother.

  But we weren’t the only enemies Bova had to worry about.

  As he sped toward the open space between the two newly constructed buildings, a group of orange-clad prisoners appeared between them. There were dozens of them, all with the same thing in mind: stopping Bova.

  He turned hard to avoid them and sped toward another passage between buildings, but that was soon clogged with several more prisoners. Bova turned again and hit the throttle, headed back our way. Behind us, another group of prisoners had appeared. Within seconds the area was clogged with hundreds of prisoners that formed a circle around the fleeing man.

  Their tormentor.

  Bova had nowhere to go. As the circle of vengeful prisoners tightened in on him, he spun the motorcycle, desperately looking for an opening. Any opening.

  “Why aren’t they running away?” Tori asked.

  “Unfinished business,” I replied.

  In one final, desperate move, Bova gunned the engine and sped directly for the circle, hoping to break through by mowing down a few lowly primates.

  He didn’t get far. The first prisoners he reached dodged away and grabbed him, sending the bike flying forward on its own.

  They had their man.

  Bova screamed, though I couldn’t tell if it was with rage or agony. I didn’t want to know. I also didn’t want to know what those people would do with him. They carried him off as he squirmed and fought futilely.

  “Payback’s a bitch,” I said, with absolutely no sympathy.

  Kent laughed. I was glad that Bova had gotten what he deserved but I didn’t think it deserved a laugh.

  “I guess we’re done here,” Kent said.

  “Not yet we’re not,” I said.

  “Sorry, I can’t wait anymore, guys. I’m out of here.”

  “Why? Where are you going?” Tori asked. “We still haven’t found Mrs. Pierce.”

  “No?” Kent said with a smile, and pointed to our right.

  “Tucker? I heard a familiar voice call. For a moment I didn’t want to believe what I had heard. I didn’t want my hopes to be smashed again. But in my heart, I knew it was real and I spun quickly to where Kent had pointed.

  She stood there alone, looking dazed but very much alive.

  “Hi Mom,” was all I managed to say.

  I ran to her and threw my arms around her.

  She hugged back and did her best to control her tears. We both did.

  “Where were you?” I asked. “We looked everywhere.”

  “I was in one of the barracks,” she said. “The door blew open and people started flooding out and I got caught up in it and went with them until I heard that SYLO had invaded the camp. I came back with the others looking for Bova and what did I find? You.”

  She held her arm out for Tori, who joined us as Mom held us both close.

  “I thought I’d never see you again,” she said. “And here you are. In SYLO uniforms. What is going on?”

  I wanted to tell her everything, but there wasn’t time.

  “They’re going to destroy the dome,” I said. “We’ve got to get out now.”

  “Who is?” she asked. “SYLO?”

  “No,” Tori answered. “There are rebels among the Retros called Sounders. They’ve been plotting against their own people to stop the invasion and—”

  “Wait!” I shouted.

  I spun to look for Kent.

  He was gone.

  “What is with him?” Tori asked, irked.

  My mind raced, calculating the possibility and realizing the truth.

  “Oh man,” I said.

  “Tucker, what?” Tori asked.

  “Mom, you’ve got to leave,” I said. “Right now. Please don’t ask questions, there isn’t much time left. There are SYLO vehicles on the edges of the camp. Bring as many of the other prisoners with you as you can and drive away from here. Fast. Hit the desert and just keep going.”

  “I don’t understand. . . .” Mom said, totally confused.

  “You have to trust me. Go. Tori, please, take her out of
here.”

  “What about you?” Tori asked.

  “I’ve got to help Kent,” I said.

  “Help Kent?” Tori said, confused. “Do what?”

  I hugged my mother, kissed her on the cheek, and said, “I know why you and Dad moved us to Pemberwick Island. I get it. I still wish you’d told me the truth but I understand why you didn’t. I’m not angry anymore. Please tell Dad that.”

  “You can tell him yourself. What are you going to do?”

  “I love you, Mom.”

  We touched fingers.

  “I love you too. But—”

  I turned and started running after Kent. I sprinted past Bova’s building, scanning the camp for Retro enemies when . . .

  “Where are you going?” Tori called.

  I was stunned to see that she had caught up and was running with me.

  “No!” I screamed. “Stay with my mother!”

  “There’s nothing I can do for her that she can’t do for herself. What is going on, Tucker?” she asked.

  “Please, get out of this camp,” I begged.

  “We are not splitting up,” she said adamantly. “Not now. Where are we going?”

  It was a waste of time arguing with her. It always was.

  “To the dome,” I admitted.

  “Why?”

  “I know what Kent is up to,” I said. “He’s going back through the Bridge.”

  “But why would he . . . ?” That’s when Tori got it. “Olivia,” she said, numbly.

  It was fifteen minutes till the boom.

  TWENTY-SIX