by Angel Lawson
I lost track of Finn and Mary Ellen. My ears ring from the roar of fighting, the howls of the Eaters. It’s like the whole world has come to an end at this tiny, little bridge in eastern Kentucky.
Wyatt clutches the neck of a Hybrid and twists, snapping his neck in two. He spares me a glace, a weary, worn-out, human glance before diving back in.
Another explosion rips through the air, screaming overhead. It lands too close to the bridge, creating a ripple of vibration across the concrete. I’m flung forward, away from my defensive position at Wyatt’s back. Bone-chilling howls pierce the air as Eaters are crushed, steamrolled by the massive tanks. I assume Chloe is hiding inside one. Erwin in the other. Neither like to do much fighting. They prefer the dramatics of their minions doing it for them.
The Mutts fire another rocket and this one streaks over the bridge in a fiery arc. I look away from the Hybrid I’ve just cut down and watch it stream overhead. It lands feet from the tank. I push aside the scrambling Hybrids to look over the side. The vehicle has come to a stop and the fighting is pushed in a circle outward. I spot a blip on the road, a figure not involved in the brawls but headed toward something—the tank.
My brain clicks, calculating speed, height, frame. I know who it is and where they are going. My body moves before my mind and I climb onto the barrier overlooking the highway. A quick glance over my shoulder brings me face-to-face with Wyatt.
It’s a frivolous moment in the middle of immense danger. An Eater charges at us and Wyatt cold-cocks him in the face, then flips him over the side of the railing. I zero in on his face. The sweat dripping down his neck, the blood smear over his eye. Even in the hyped-up, sensory-overloaded moment I swear I can hear his heartbeat raging beneath his chest.
I don’t know what to expect but he risks everything to grab the back of my head, the cool metal of his knife pressing against my cheek, bringing me into a hot-mouthed kiss. My senses go on overdrive, the Mutt in me igniting in a totally different way.
He pulls back and says, “End this.”
He pivots and jumps back into the fight, slashing the throat of a Hybrid charging toward us.
With his words and the taste of his mouth as my motivation, I jump over the side of the bridge.
Chapter Twenty-Two
My feet hit hard, but it’s as though my soles and ankles are reinforced. Two other people drop beside me. Jude and Jane.
“Chloe’s in that tank,” I inform them, dodging an Eater coming my direction. I kill him easily, knife to the eye, and take off in a run before the Hybrids find me. Dashing between legs, punches, and bullets, I feel like I’m in the Matrix, moving in slow motion as I navigate the chaos. When I reach the tank Cole is on the roof wrenching the door off with his bare hands. The metal whines under the pressure, reluctantly bending. Jude jumps to his aid. I climb to the top of the tank and hold my gun steady, aiming at the door.
The top pops like a lid, screaming in protest. It flies backwards, cartwheeling over Cole and Jude’s heads, landing twenty feet behind them with a loud clang.
The Eaters howl and rush for the disturbance.
I hold my gun steady. Jane watches my back. I laugh at silence in the pit of the tank. “What? You too scared to come out and play?”
Cole doesn’t wait. He dives down the hole, boots sticking out. Jude reaches for his legs and yanks at his calves. His head appears followed by his arms and hands, wrapped tightly around his sister’s neck.
He flings her away and she clings to the tank looking around like a wild, rabid animal.
“You’re done,” I tell her.
“Do you not see my army? What I’ve built? There’s no end to this, Alexandra.” I can’t argue what she’s saying. We’re in the eye of the chaotic storm. “Look at you, you’ve taken the injection. You’re no better than him.” She spits in her brother’s direction. He hauls off and slaps her hard across the face. Laughing like a maniac.
Cole grips her throat again with his large hand, muscles bulging as he fights off rage. Her eyes widen as he constricts her airway. I think killing her would be very, very easy for him right now.
“Let her go,” I demand. “Cole, let her go.”
The tendons in his neck strain as he fights against the demon in front of him and whatever one lurks beneath the surface. I step forward and press the barrel of the gun against her head and say again, “Let her go. I’ve got this.”
He releases her and we stand, eye-to-eye, enemies longer than we were friends. It still hurts for it to come to this, but family doesn’t kill family. It’s my job to do and I cock the trigger.
Chloe’s eyes narrow and she hisses, “My Hybrids will live to fight on, Alexandra. It’s in their blood. Attack. Conquer. Spread. Killing me does nothing.”
“Do it,” my sister shouts from her position just out of reach of the fighting.
“I never wanted it to end this way,” I say. I can tell by the look on her face that she doesn’t believe I’ll do it. Neither do I, until I actually pull the trigger.
Even over the roar of battle the sound of the gun firing cracks my eardrums. Chloe’s eyes widen just before the bullet slices through her brain, our eyes meet, and it doesn’t feel like a victory but a harsh, painful defeat.
She tumbles backwards, falling off the tank into the fray below, and the first person I look for is Cole, who stares at me with wide, clear eyes. I don’t look away, unwilling to watch her become cannibalized by her own soldiers as they stomp on top of her remains. She’d been right about that; her beloved Hybrids never stop. Not for a second, unaware that their leader is gone.
The tank from the opposing side of the bridge rolls forward, led by skull-masked Mutts. The battle rages on and I blink, trying to acclimate back into the scene around me. I feel a hand on my arm and I look up. Cole stands close to me and says, “Thank you for releasing her.”
His words would have cracked a non-mutant Alexandra. But my armor is still mostly intact and I just nod that I hear his message. I didn’t kill Chloe, his sister. I killed the monster she’d become. I watch as Cole dives off of the tank and into the fray, racing to meet with his mutant brothers.
Two Hybrids spot me on top of the tank and lunge for me and I barely get out of their way. Jude shoots them in the chest and they fall back, only to be replaced by two more. My hands tingle and I hold them up to my face and although they don’t look different they feel different. My brain is still alert and ready, like I’m hopped up on a mega dose of caffeine or something more lethal.
You know, the way you feel right before the crash.
Jane comes to my side. “I think the EVI-3 may be wearing off. My legs feel weird.”
“Same.”
Even if we can keep going we’re not going to stay strong as the injection wears off. I know at least one other person out there, no matter how bad-ass he is even without modification, that can’t keep fighting forever.
“We need to get out of here.” Jane nods in agreement. “Any idea where Finn and Mary Ellen are?” Paul and Cole are actual super-soldiers and can take care of themselves. I learned that long ago.
“I saw them last on the bridge.” She shouts this because the tank is rolling closer.
“I’m going for Wyatt.” I grip her arm and pull her close. “Can you and Jude get back to the farm? It should be cleared of Eaters by now.”
“We can try,” she says.
“I’ll meet you there.” I pray Wyatt’s still up on that bridge and jump off the tank to find him. I’m pushing against the injection, repeating to myself that I need to get to safety, no matter what my inner Mutt wants me to do.
That’s the difference between a Mutt and Hybrid.
We can choose.
The clock is ticking on my temporary enhancements. I feel them slipping away like sand. I use a burst of speed to get through the mass of fighters on the ground and for once I’m thankful for the Eaters. I understand why Erwin set that horde on us and why he used us as bait. He needed Chloe’s army in a
certain place under particular circumstances. The Hybrids can easily fight the Eaters off but they’re a constant, singularly-focused nuisance. Since I’m not fighting at the moment it allows me a chance to get through the fray.
I climb to the top of the bridge, past the metal door of the bunker. I step over bodies, getting tangled up with a not-so-dead Eater, looking for one last chance to infect. I kick him in the face and scramble up to the road. At first glance the fighting is over up here, only the mangled bodies of the dead and severely injured remain. I run through the bodies, scanning faces, searching for something familiar.
I push over a Hybrid collapsed over another person. The dirty, pale face of an Eater shot through the head stares blankly back with dead, spidery eyes. I move to the next fatigue-clad body and flip it over. I do this again and again, until my hands are sticky with blood. My hands are dirty, so dirty, with the blood and grime of so many people. Hundreds of Eaters, dozens of Hybrids, Chloe and my mother. I try to wipe them on the back of a body, knowing the stain will never truly come out. I catch a blur of movement down the road. I look up and find two people huddled. Mary Ellen’s blonde hair waves in the breeze. I race over, jumping across bodies to reach her.
It’s only when I get close enough I see Finn. A dark red stain spreads from his chest. The worst part of the Mutt enhancement slams down on me. I know he’s dead before she says it. There’s no heartbeat. No breath.
“He’s gone,” she says, voice devoid of appropriate emotion. The darkness in her eyes is fading though, blue peeks through and soon enough the trauma will hit.
“I’m so sorry.”
“He had my back. We were doing really good, but this Hybrid, he just got past me. Fired the gun and he was gone.”
“He was a good man and he loved you so much.”
I squat in front of her and try to pry her hands off of his. “The EVI-3 is wearing off. Erwin’s still fighting down there and it’s getting nasty. We’re meeting the others back at the farm.” I swallow. “Have you seen Wyatt?”
“He was fighting up here.” Her eyes glaze over but I’ve finally gotten her to release her grip. Another explosion rocks the bridge and I wonder what Erwin’s plans are. Destroy everyone? Mutt and Hybrid alike?
I wonder for a second, as gunfire explodes, if he just can’t stop? Like Cole and Paul constantly diving back into the fight. I feel the tug myself.
I’m helping Mary Ellen off the ground when I hear a groan behind me.
“Dammit,” I mutter, so sick of it all. I turn, hatchet over my head and mid swing. “Oh my God.”
I pull back on the blow and reach for Wyatt, who can barely stand. He’s bent over at the waist and I think he’s injured—or maybe just exhausted.
“I was looking for you,” I say, wrapping an arm around him. Mary Ellen is with me but her eyes keep shifting over to Finn. Wyatt grimaces when he sees him. “We’ve got to get out of here. The EVI-3 is wearing off and you’re, well you’re not doing well and—”
“Is she dead?” He cuts me off with the most important question.
“Yes. I killed her.”
“You’re amazing.” He kisses me, using a burst of energy I didn’t know he still possessed. I feel it all the way to my toes and a bit of the numbness from my act washes away. It was the right thing to do. The only thing to do.
Mary Ellen moves to the other side of Wyatt and we make the slow walk over the bridge. I glance down the road, to the west where the sun is setting, away from the fight. Erwin came from that direction and there’s nothing but death and destruction in his wake. It’s unreal. Like a video game or a newsreel. It’s what Jane developed the E-TR virus to stop, yet we’ve come full circle into something worse.
I stare at the wasteland but stop short and narrow my eyes.
“What?” Wyatt asks—or sort of grunts.
“I saw something. Like a reflection.” It blips on the horizon again. “See! It’s moving!”
My words are cut short by a sound overhead. A familiar yet completely out of place noise shakes the foundation of the last few months. A helicopter streaks across the sky, low enough to nearly blow us off the bridge. I clutch against Wyatt’s side and watch the propellers spin. The reflection is no longer so far away, it’s bouncing down the highway. Trucks. Big ones with giant flags shooting toward the sun. I spot the red stripes flapping in the breeze and an unmistakable field of blue and my knees nearly give out.
We move to the railing and lean over, noticing the fighting below has come to a complete and total stop.
“I’ll be dammed,” Wyatt mutters as the first truck rolls to the edge of the underpass.
“Is that the real army?” I ask, stepping on the squishy arm of a decapitated Eater. Mary Ellen leans next to me.
“I don’t know.” But it seems like it. It feels like it. The helicopter makes another swoop overhead. The door slides open and a figure leans out the side carrying a massive megaphone.
“This is the United States Government. Lower your weapons immediately. Cease fighting at once. Stay right where you are and wait for further instructions.” Wyatt and I look at one another and my heart leaps into my chest.
“Is that…” I clench his arm, because oh my God. I know that voice.
A flash of red hair comes into view and I’m not surprised in the least. Wyatt smiles, it’s the first one in days, and he squeezes my waist. “Yep, that’s Walker. I think the cavalry has arrived.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
The helicopter lands at the end of the bridge, blowing dust and debris far and wide. We start toward it, hoping to get to Walker before all hell breaks loose, but the soldiers on the ground don’t follow directions.
“Look,” Mary Ellen says, pointing to the highway. The Hybrids in particular scurry into the tree line, disappearing into the forest.
“Guess they know their commander is dead?” Wyatt says.
I watch the men and women run like ants, fading into the night. “They were loyal to her. They’re not going to stick around for a new regime.”
The megaphone starts up again. Walker’s voice is loud and clear. “Do not leave the area. Any person unaccounted for will be considered armed, dangerous, and wanted for arrest.”
Another voice rises into the night, echoing off the concrete. Erwin shouts the command, “Soldiers! Stand down.”
Walker must recognize his voice and steps from the helicopter. We move into view and she stops dead in her tracks.
“Alex? Wyatt?” For a brief second she looks shaken. I drop Wyatt’s hand and race, nearly knocking her down with the force of my embrace. “Holy shit, girl, it’s you.”
“And it’s you! With the freaking US Army! You did it! You found them!”
She looks over my shoulder and frowns at Wyatt, who is slowly making his way over. “Is he okay?”
“Took a beating, but you know how he is.”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Davis? Parker? Are they okay?” I ask.
“Davis and Jackson are down with the convoy.”
She doesn’t mention Parker and I don’t think I’m ready to know.
The soldiers from the truck are now spilling into the streets. I can’t find my friends but Erwin is exiting his tank and there’s a higher level meeting about to happen. I don’t feel comfortable not being there.
From the expression on Walker’s face I don’t think she does either. There’s a beat between us and she stares at my face. “Are you okay? Your pupils are a little dilated.” She looks at Mary Ellen. “Yours too.”
“It was just a long fight. Really long. Chloe is dead.”
Her eyebrows shoot up her forehead but she nods in approval. “Well done.”
“You want to find out what that’s all about down there?” I ask.
“Absolutely.”
Wyatt makes it over and Walker says, “You look like shit, Faraday.”
“Good to see you too, Walker.”
I can’t help but exhale for the first time in hours
. We made it, we’re back together and it’s possible Chloe was wrong. We can stop this, once and for all.
*
After a surreal standoff amidst the piles of dead bodies on the highway, Erwin and the US official, Mackenzie Hamilton, agree to meet at the farm house.
I’m relieved to see Paul and Cole backing Erwin up, looking beat up but still alert. Benjamin must have been with Erwin in the tank as he stands close by, seemingly moved to a higher station with Erwin now that he’s taken the EVI-2.
Erwin definitely knows how to surround himself with powerful soldiers.
The best part though is how pleased I am to spot Davis, hulking and quiet, as part of Hamilton’s direct guard. I can’t fight the smile when I see him and I spot the twitch of his lips. He doesn’t break from duty to give me the hug I want but God, I’m glad to see him. Jackson, still lean and strong, flanks Hamilton’s other side. They’ve got their game faces on and I don’t exactly know their positions in Hamilton’s world. Or what Hamilton’s world even is. I’m just happy to see them alive and part of whatever’s coming next. It’s good to have friends on the inside.
“Get a team together and prepare to track down the missing Hybrids,” Hamilton says to Davis. He eyes the rest of us. “I was serious about them being wanted.”
No one argues. No one says anything. Davis follows his command.
The rest of us climb into the trucks, our bodies tired and weary, and head to the farm.
At the house Jane and Jude wait on the porch, shocked to see our caravan. I hop off the truck and pull them to the side. They are both exhausted from the fight and the turmoil our bodies have gone through with the rapid change from human to Mutt back to human. I feel my feet dragging but I know we’re near the end, and it’s enough to keep me going.
“Keep your head low,” I whisper. “I’m not sure what’s going on but—”
“There’s a dining room table inside,” Jane says, pointing to the door. I roll my eyes for her cutting me off but absorb the exchange Hamilton has with Walker. He knows who my sister is and what she’s done.