6

by James Phelan

  This one’s for Carlotta—JP.

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Our Battle Continues

  Previously

  01

  02

  03

  04

  05

  06

  07

  08

  09

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

  16

  17

  18

  19

  20

  21

  22

  23

  24

  25

  26

  27

  28

  29

  30

  31

  32

  33

  34

  35

  36

  37

  38

  Collage

  Copyright

  PREVIOUSLY

  With the loyal Guardians bravely fighting back against Stella’s Agents, Sam and Tobias jump from the bridge in a daring escape. They drive across the US, headed for Eva and Lora, stopping at the home of Tobias’ uncle, Duke, in Texas to regroup.

  Alex comes up with an ingenious plan and breaks free from the Vancouver compound with his mother. Back at the Academy in London, a chance discovery leads Alex to believe he is one of the last 13. He goes to Washington with a team of Agents to prevent the powerful transceiver concealed within the Monument falling into Stella’s hands.

  On their way back to the Academy, Eva and Lora are ambushed by Mac’s men and have to go on the run across the country. Tracked by a drone plane, they take refuge in the bustle of Las Vegas.

  The tranquility of Duke’s farm is soon shattered by a surprise attack from Stella. She wants to mine Sam’s dreams for all that he knows about the race. While Sam is drugged, Tobias frees them, waking Sam.

  In Washington, the Agents mysteriously disappear, forcing Alex to climb the Monument to disable the transceiver alone. Fighting off two Marines, he smashes the top of the Monument and rescues his mother and the Agents from Mac’s soldiers.

  Using a secret underground passage, Tobias rescues Duke and hijacks Stella’s jet, using it to distract their captors while Sam escapes in Duke’s vintage Mustang car. He drives to the Grand Canyon, where he meets Cody, the next of the last 13.

  Sam and Cody BASE-jump into the Canyon, leading them to the hidden temple Cody had discovered and where he says the Gear is to be found. Deep underground, Sam is betrayed by Cody and his Agent parents who have sided with Mac in the race to discover the Dream Gate.

  Sam is taken to a government base under Denver Airport. Mac triggers the timer on a nuclear device when Solaris attacks the base, scattering everyone inside. It’s too late for Sam to run when Solaris confronts him and changes the countdown, leaving only minutes before the bomb will explode …

  01

  SAM

  05:55

  05:54

  Sirens wailed as flashing emergency lights strobed overhead. Sam ran out of the control room into the corridor of the underground complex. There he saw the trail of destruction Solaris had left in his wake. Among the huge chunks of concrete that littered the ground, Sam saw several Marines sprawled on the floor, their bodies at jarring angles. Closest to the door, Mac was slumped over, motionless, his hand still clutching his chest.

  Is he out cold? Or is he . .?

  Sam put his fingers to Mac’s neck. No pulse. He struggled to latch onto one emotion as conflicting thoughts ran through his mind.

  Mac deserved this end, but still …

  What about the others?

  A severe, robotic voice rang out above the wailing sirens—

  ‘T-minus five minutes until detonation.’

  ‘Sam!’ a voice called out.

  Sam could just make out Cody at the other end of the long corridor, staggering forward with his parents. Despite the smoke haze, their faces were clearly etched with shock and fear. Cody pointed meaningfully towards the outside wall and then waved at Sam, gesturing for him to look at the wall where he stood. He shouted something but Sam couldn’t make it out. Sam turned to see a line of doors next to him.

  What’s behind these doors?

  Sam took a small, cautious step forward to read a sign at the nearest door. Two words were printed above an electronic control pad, illuminated by a bright red light:

  He looked back to Cody and his parents and saw that the light next to their door was green.

  An escape pod must still be in there, ready to go …

  ‘Go!’ Sam shouted to Cody without thinking, waving wildly. ‘Go!’

  Cody hesitated for a moment, then gave a quick nod and hurriedly followed his parents through the open doorway. Sam scanned the corridor. The sirens echoed through the deserted complex. All security personnel had disappeared what seemed like a long time ago, even though only minutes had ticked by.

  All the doors close to him showed red lights. If he squinted to see down the still-smoky hallway in the other direction, he could just make out a few tiny green lights in the distance.

  Sam went to sprint towards them but suddenly felt a tight grip around his arm.

  ‘No,’ Solaris said. ‘We stick together.’

  Sam jumped. He slowly turned back to look at Solaris, fear rising in his throat.

  I thought he’d gone, left me for dead.

  Sam stood straighter to counter his fear. ‘To go where?’ he said.

  Solaris paused, evaluating Sam for a moment. A chunk of rubble near Sam’s feet tumbled further down a pile of blasted concrete. Sparks spat erratically from where live electrical cables dangled from the ceiling.

  Without answering, Solaris started to walk down the corridor, dragging Sam behind him.

  They navigated around the shattered slabs of concrete towards the green lights indicating the available escape pods, until they reached a tall mound of collapsed wall, the site of the main explosive impact, which blocked the corridor.

  ‘You first!’ Solaris said, pushing Sam ahead of him to climb over the obstruction.

  Sam shook off Solaris’ grip and started to slowly crawl up and over the pile. Pieces of concrete and debris shifted and slid under him as he tried to make his way over. A live wire sparked and hissed near his face as he made it to the other side.

  ‘Stop!’ Solaris commanded, raising his weapon to reinforce the command. Then, as Solaris scaled the rubble with little effort, time seemed to stand still for a few seconds as Sam ran through his options.

  There’s no way I can outrun him here. I wouldn’t make it to the closest pod … the live wires …

  Tobias’ science class had the answer—conductive electricity.

  Sam looked down at his rubber shoes, then back at Solaris, fully clad in his metal body armour, covered in high-tech weapons circuitry.

  In one quick motion, Sam took a step towards Solaris, grabbing the wire as he moved to bring it into contact with his enemy’s mask—

  ZAP!

  On connecting with Solaris, a bright blue spark arced in the air and ran up Sam’s hand and arm. He was sent flying backwards with such force that he slammed into the wall several metres away.

  Sam scrambled up, trying to move as fast as he could despite being dazed and unsteady on his feet. He looked at Solaris, who had been sent flying even further in the opposite direction back up the corridor. There was now a sizable distance between them. Sam could see the shimmering black form of Solaris slowly starting to rise …

  ‘T-minus two minutes until detonation.’

  Sam saw another door with a green light. He hit the door release. Inside was a cylindrical-shaped pod, with a bench seat running around the
inside. He stepped into the small space, feeling as though he were inside a missile.

  The corridor door hissed shut, and Sam heaved the inner pod door closed, spinning the locking wheel as fast as his shaking hands could manage. As the lock slid into place, a tiny screen inside lit up with a command option:

  ENTER DESTINATION CODE

  Huh? What?

  Panicked, knowing Solaris would be at the door in a matter of moments, Sam punched in the first four numbers that came into his head: 1 3 1 3.

  CODE ERROR

  ENTER DESTINATION CODE

  Sam tried again with a set of random numbers.

  C’mon! Please work!

  DESTINATION CONFIRMED

  PRESS TO LAUNCH

  Sam exhaled in relief. He leaned over to the launch button and pressed it. Numbers began counting down from ten. As he watched the digits flick by on the screen, he strapped into a four-point harness fastened to the pod wall, his still-shaking hands making him fumble as he did up the clips.

  Got no idea where I’m going, but anywhere is better than here.

  … 5

  4

  3

  2

  1

  The noise of the launch was deafening. Sam put his hands over his ears as the escape rockets ignited and the pod shot upwards with great speed. There were no windows so Sam had no idea what was happening outside. All he could make out was the immense noise and the feeling of motion as he was pushed down into his seat.

  Sam counted the seconds from launch, while trying to remember back to another of Tobias’ science classes where they had watched a space rocket launch.

  How many kilometres per second was it that they travelled?

  He could hear Tobias talking about angles and direction and velocity in his head …

  Inside the windowless rocket, he kept counting the seconds but then gave up. It was impossible to tell how fast or how far he was travelling.

  This is designed to get survivors away from any catastrophe, including a nuclear blast. I’ll be a long way away by now …

  Suddenly, the roaring of the rocket engines petered out, with the pod continuing to glide in a smooth trajectory. Sam tried to relax. He looked around and waited, and listened. There was an odd moment of being suspended mid-air, where he felt weightless.

  CLUNK, CLUNK, CLUNK.

  Sam heard what he figured were the rocket booster packs separating from the body of the escape capsule. For the first time the thought of landing entered his mind.

  How does this thing touch down? And how will anyone ever find me when it does?

  ‘OK … that’s OK, I’m sure I’ll figure it out when the time comes,’ Sam said to himself. He felt the speed of the pod starting to increase again. ‘Except … now I’m not flying, I’m just—’

  Falling.

  Sam froze upright in his seat for a few seconds, listening carefully to the muffled sounds outside the walls. The speed of the dropping capsule continued to pick up until—

  BOOMPH!

  He felt the jolt of arrested motion as what must have been parachutes were deployed. Immediately, the free-falling descent slowed. Sam relaxed a little back into his seat. He closed his eyes and tried to breathe steadily again.

  Nothing to do now but wait …

  02

  SAM’S NIGHTMARE

  ‘Shh, listen,’ the girl says.

  I turn to her.

  ‘Hear that?’ she says.

  ‘What?’ I say. ‘I don’t hear anything.’

  A fire flickers in the small fireplace in the middle of the tiny cabin. The flames make me anxious, my heart races, but it is too cold to put the fire out.

  ‘That’s what I mean. The wolves are silent.’

  She’s right. A memory of their incessant howls echoes in my mind.

  Try to remember, Sam.

  We have been asleep, before the wolves started up against the moon, waking us suddenly. Then, just as abruptly, they have stopped.

  Silence.

  I stand by the locked door, my breath fogging in front of my face. At my feet there’s a wet patch seeping in from under the door, where the drift snow outside melts against the timber, warmed by the fire. I look down at the small table by the door. The girl’s bag is there, sagging open. I can see an ID card, sitting on the top, amongst other papers and spare clothes.

  The girl walks over to the fireplace and places another log on the fire. The flames jump up higher, making my uneasiness take over my breathing. I try to calm myself.

  ‘But they are still out there. Waiting, planning …’ she says, her strong accent matching her strong voice.

  Planning?

  ‘But we’re safe in here?’ I say.

  ‘Maybe,’ she says, now sitting in one of the two battered armchairs in front of the fire. She looks around the room and I follow her gaze. There’s a tiny bench at the back of the cabin, serving as a kitchen, separated from the main area by a couple of cupboards. A small fold-away mattress stands pushed against one of the side walls, close to a collection of firewood and fishing equipment.

  I press my ear to the front door.

  Complete silence still. I preferred hearing the calls of the wolves in the night. Then I could tell roughly how far away they were.

  ‘Maybe they’ve gone?’ I say.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Then what would make the pack go quiet like that?’

  For a moment, she appears to reflect on the question, perhaps running through the possibilities. The firelight through the steel grill is the only illumination in the room, its orange glow flickering against her striking features.

  ‘It’s a big pack,’ she says, as though thinking it through out loud. ‘A super pack, they call it, hundreds of them.’

  ‘Hundreds?’

  She nods. I lean back against the door.

  ‘Something may have disturbed them,’ she says. ‘Or it’s probably about food–they’ve been howling to assemble the pack. They’re going silent to move in on their prey.’

  ‘What do they eat?’

  ‘Meat.’

  ‘Any meat?’

  ‘Deer, probably.’

  ‘They’re going to need a lot of deer. I mean, for hundreds of them? That’s a lot of deer.’

  She nods again. ‘My parents took me through this region once, when I was a little girl,’ she says. ‘We would only drive in the daytime and stay in villages for the night.’

  ‘Because of the wolves?’

  ‘Because of everything that Mother Nature can deal out around here,’ she says.

  The fire crackles and she watches it, mesmerised.

  ‘One day,’ she continues, ‘our vehicle broke down. We were forced to sleep in it for the night. It was very cold, but peaceful. My father stayed up all night, worried. I slept–to me it was a great adventure. I didn’t know any better. Then the howling woke me. That sound–it was terrifying. And then it got worse. Then they stopped …’

  I swallow hard. I turn and press my ear to the door again. The only sound is of the wind being sucked in through the tiny gap at the bottom of the doorframe. I feel tired, and a cold shiver runs through me, up my spine.

  She seems all talked out. I want to ask her what happened next, but I don’t.

  ‘First light,’ she says, ‘we will leave.’

  I’m too distracted to respond as the silence outside is broken.

  The crunching of feet upon snow.

  I tense and listen. The girl has heard it too.

  ‘What is it?’ she asks.

  ‘Shh!’ I say, and listen hard.

  More footsteps. Distant, but moving closer. Moving quickly, nearing.

  ‘Someone’s coming.’ I back away from the door until I’m standing next to her and the fire is close behind me.

  ‘Someone?’ she says, getting to her feet. ‘Or something?’

  BANG! BANG! BANG!

  The thick wooden door shakes in its rough-hewn wooden frame. The door is old, but solid. The lock is
a sturdy slide-across metal bar. There’s only one window in the cabin, boarded over, inside and out, to shut out the worst of the harsh weather. A small metal chimney disappears through a round cut-out in the ceiling.

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

  The pounding against the door is louder now, as if whoever is out there is using some kind of battering ram. The hinges won’t hold out for long and neither will the metal bar. They’ll get through.

  ‘There has to be another way out of here!’ I say.

  At the sound of my voice, the pounding stops. Silence. We both stand, unmoving.

  ‘Have they gone?’ she whispers.

  ‘No,’ I reply. ‘Whoever is out there wants us more than the hungry wolves. They need us for this race. They will be planning too.’

  There’s a huge WHACK! against the door.

  I frantically glance around the room again, panicked.

  Maybe …

  ‘Help me,’ I say to her. Together, we use the fire poker to dig at a joint between two of the wide floorboards, and soon we have the metal bar through. We lean on it to pry up one of the boards. It comes free, leaving a gap to the space under the floor. The gap is no more than fifteen centimetres wide. Not big enough to get through.

  ‘We need to pull up another one!’ she says.

  ‘I know.’ I squat down and put my fingers under the wooden plank and try to stand, lifting with all the strength in my body.

  It doesn’t move–

  Another WHACK! against the door. A huge crack splits the middle panel. The sound reverberates through the hut, but the door still holds.

  ‘Both of us!’ she says and I move along so that there’s room for us both to get a purchase on the floorboard and lift.

  CREEEAK!

  The nails come free, one by one, along the bending floorboard until–

  WHACK!

  The door is starting to splinter apart around the hinges.

  ‘One more lift!’ I say and we stand and the board pulls back to create a bigger gap. The dark space below is just high enough from the ground to crawl through. I stick my head through the gap and can just make out a little hatch door in the boarded-up panels. It must be where the firewood is stored.