Falling & Uprising

by Natalie Cammaratta

  Tori and Sophos.

  Sophos clutches his left shoulder and grunts through clenched teeth. Tori lies on her back, eyes open and unmoving. There are two bullet wounds in her chest. A pool of crimson blood grows around her.

  Kneeling next to her, I slam a fist into the floor. I don’t feel the impact. I squeeze my eyes closed and allow myself one deep breath before moving on. The metallic smell of her blood rattles my brain—so pungent I can taste it. But I have to keep moving. I brush my hand over Tori's face, closing her eyelids. She was the first thing I saw in Kaycie, and now she’s one of the last. During my five years here, she’s been a teacher, a trainer, an ally, a friend, even a lover for a minute, and now she’s just… gone. I pull my eyes away and try to focus on the task at hand.

  “Let me see that,” I say to Sophos as I pull his hand away from his shoulder.

  He winces as I sit him up. Blood pours from his shoulder.

  “Just a second.” I go into the bathroom to get a hand towel. When I return, he is holding Tori's hand as tears fall from his eyes. I wrap the towel around his shoulder, under his arm. “Hold it here,” I tell him, placing his hand on the front of the makeshift bandage. “We have to go, come on.”

  I pull him to his feet, and he steadies himself. “Thank you.”

  “We have to get out of here. Krisalyn and Jase can patch you up on the train.” I assume so anyway. They’re in the health department.

  He nods and makes for the door. I take one last look at Tori, and my chest tightens. I hope you go somewhere that brightens you up.

  Blood pounds through my ears as Sophos and I start down the hallway toward a staircase that will exit on the side of the building. A marshal enters the hall several doors down, gun ready. I take him down with two shots before he can point his at me.

  We turn a corner, and I lift my gun as I see someone, but lower it immediately.

  “What are you doing here?” Jase yells. Serenity pops out from behind him. Seeing her here snaps me into focus. They look like they belong in a movie, not a war.

  “We are leaving. What the hell are you two doing here?”

  “I need to get my parents,” Serenity cries. “Why would Governor Martel collect them at the top of this building? And what happened to Sophos?” Her eyes widen as she notices his injury.

  What is she talking about? Who’s at the top of the building? I don’t care right now.

  “We’ll talk about it on the train, let’s go.” I grab her arm and pull her toward the stairs.

  “No!” She wrenches her arm out of my grasp and takes off at a run with Jase in tow. “You go, we’ll catch up,” she calls behind her.

  “Serenity!” I shout.

  I look at Sophos and back in the direction she ran to, itching to go after her. The end goal isn’t to save one person, Tori's memory reminds me. This is the moment, right now, when Serenity could be my downfall. It takes every ounce of my self-control to turn around and go the opposite direction. I can’t pursue her, but it kills me to let her go. I just left Tori here, dead. Now I have to leave Serenity too.

  Numbness is all I feel as we scramble down the stairs and outside. Cutting around to a backstreet, we hurry toward the train station. Serenity is handing herself over to Martel. What the hell is she thinking?

  “Why would Martel have the Wards at the top of the Establishment Center?” I ask Sophos as we move, slower than I’d prefer, down the street.

  “They are evacuating the council. The deceased marshals in my office were planning to take me up there as well.”

  “Martel’s office is their meeting place before heading to the trains? Why not send everyone straight to the station?”

  “Martel’s office is their escape route. They have a hoverplane to take them away.”

  “They’re flying to Leavenworth?”

  “Yes.”

  I thought they kept the aircraft in Leavenworth? How long have they kept on at the top of the damned EC? And how long did Sophos know about it? These questions bounce around my head, but only one comes out. “What will happen to Serenity?”

  “If she can’t get out, then she’ll go with them. Immediate family members were included for the council’s evacuation.”

  I’m sure Martel and Agnar will be all too happy to have her. Damnit, Serenity! How the hell does she plan to get her parents out from the middle of the council?

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  SERENITY

  Hand in hand, Jase and I run toward the elevator as Bram shouts my name behind me. He can’t follow—Sophos needs him.

  Thank goodness the service elevator is on. Pressing the button for the twenty-third floor only makes it glow red. The elevator is locked out, at least for that floor. Jase taps his cuff on the round sensor to no avail. I suppress a groan. The stairs it is then.

  “Try yours,” Jase says.

  “Why would mine work if yours doesn’t?”

  “Your parents told you to come here. Maybe you have access.”

  I tap my cuff, and the red turns to green. The elevator climbs as I lean my forehead on Jase’s shoulder and catch my breath. “Do you know your way around the top floor?”

  “I don’t frequently get invited to meet with Governor Martel, so no.”

  When the doors open, we squeeze out as five or six people pile in. We are at the end of a hallway, so we go the only way we can. It opens up to a large, bright lobby. Two marshals flank a double door.

  Jase and I exchange a look and walk toward the door. “Name?” a marshal asks.

  “Serenity Ward.”

  The other marshal opens the door, and I peek through. The twenty or so people inside range in dress from black-tie to ‘just got pulled out of bed.’ We pad in. A few frightened children are among the group, an elderly woman handing someone coffee, and Adwin. Excellent.

  “Oh, thank goodness!” My mother rushes over and throws her arms around me.

  “Mamá, we need to leave,” I urge under my breath.

  “Well, we are leaving, actually.” She wipes a tear from her eye.

  “No, not with them,” I whisper. “Where’s Papá? We need to get out of here.”

  I scan the room. Jase finds him and points him out to me with an incline of his head. My father is huddled in the corner with some other councilmen. Governor Martel looks grave as he speaks to them.

  “How do we get him out of there?” Jase murmurs.

  Think! I need a distraction. What though? I feel my heartbeat in my head. I look around, frantic for an idea.

  Jase grabs my arm and whispers, “I’m sorry,” through a grimace. Something pricks my thigh before I collapse flat on the floor.

  “Serenity!” my mother screams.

  I bite my lip and suck in a breath. My head pounds from its impact with the floor, blocking out my senses. I don’t think I can move my legs. What did Jase inject me with?

  My father appears over me, kneeling on the floor with Jase and my mother. My head is in my mother’s lap somehow. Unknown faces buzz around them as Jase tells them to back up and give me some air.

  “What happened?” my father demands.

  “She just collapsed!” my mother wails.

  Jase presses two fingers into the side of my neck and says, “We need to get her to the hospital,” with all the authority he shouldn’t have. I would laugh if my head wasn’t spinning. Everyone assumes that being in the health department makes people doctors.

  My father looks at him in distress and back toward the corner where he was meeting with the council.

  “Yes, please,” I wince. “Hospital.” My chest heaves as I squeeze Jase’s hand. He’s brilliant.

  “Sweetheart, we’ll get you looked at,” my father says, “just wait a moment.”

  Jase scoops me up in his arms and stands up. “I’m taking her to the hospital. You don’t have to come.”

  The room is emptying out, but where did the people go? Jase will undoubtedly take me and leave my parents here if it comes to it. He turns and
starts to step toward the door when a voice says, “Anton, is your daughter all right?”

  I look over Jase’s shoulder and shudder when I see Lieutenant Governor Agnar at my father’s side. His eyes lock onto mine.

  “I believe she needs a doctor,” my father says.

  “We’ll get her the best care available.” My mother tugs on Jase’s arm, and he turns around to face them all again. His chest and arms are tense around me. Agnar’s eyes shift between our faces. “The city is a bit dangerous at the moment. You’ll be safer with us. Come this way.”

  “What about Jase?” my mother asks.

  Agnar’s thin smile chills me. “We can make room for him.” He must think himself quite lucky to have snagged us both.

  Jase’s breaths are short and rapid as he carries me through a backdoor and into a small elevator, following my parents and Agnar. I press my palm over his heart in an attempt to soothe him. I’ll likely be there to fall with you anyway. That’s what Jase had said when I told him I wouldn’t want him to share my fate if I fell into trouble. Except he isn’t falling with me, I’m dragging him down.

  I press my forehead onto his cheek and whisper, “I’m so sorry.”

  He squeezes his lips together and presses his eyelids closed. His chest rises, taking in a long breath. The elevator opens to the roof, where there is a massive machine, looking like something out of a movie.

  We walk toward it as a cold wind whips around us, sending chills through me. People are climbing into the steel monstrosity, which has two enormous fans in its outstretched wings. What the hell are we doing here.”

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  BRAM

  There wasn’t a single marshal the whole way to the train station. Inside, I look around for the others through the red glow of the emergency lights. If our tech friends aren’t here to operate the train, I’ll have to drive that stupid truck.

  There isn’t a train at the station, but my cuff illuminates a train stopped just a few yards past. As we make our way over to it, a figure pops out from behind a corner wielding a gun. She recognizes us in a second and lowers it.

  “Oh, thank God!” Krisalyn sighs. She gasps as she registers Sophos’ appearance. “What happened to you?”

  “Someone shot me before you had a chance to.”

  “Let’s take a look at that.” She takes his arm in hers and leads him to the train. She looks over her shoulder to speak to me. “Did you see Jase and Serenity?”

  “Yes. They were going the wrong way, though.”

  She drops her head and looks at her feet as she walks on. As we enter the train, Vogue’s voice rings out. “Serenity?”

  “Just us,” Sophos answers.

  Vogue leans her forehead onto the heel of her hand. “We need to get this done,” Frey urges her.

  She ignores him. “How much time can we give her?”

  “There isn’t any time.” Sophos winces as Krisalyn uncovers his wound. “The chaos at the Establishment Center may draw back marshals from Leavenworth. We can’t stay at this station.”

  “She is always willing to save everyone else!” Vogue’s voice cracks as she rants. “We can give her a few minutes!”

  “Can you check her location?” I ask. I have little hope, but we have to know.

  She taps her cuff a few times and drops her head. “She’s still at the Establishment Center.”

  “We have to leave,” Sophos says.

  Krisalyn and Vogue share an intense look. A tear rolls down Krisalyn’s face.

  “If she gets away from the council, she’ll find a way to hide or get to us. She’s smart.” I don’t know if I’m reassuring Vogue or myself.

  “I know. Fine.” She continues to work on the holoScreen floating in front of her as she blinks away tears.

  “Let’s get going then,” I command to whoever is controlling the train.

  Dixon nods and rakes his fingers through his hair. He pulls up a holoScreen, setting the train in motion.

  Serenity told me to get her out, and I failed. I left her here. She’ll probably sacrifice herself, reverting back to the silly girl she was at the beginning of the year. A girl she doesn’t like any more than I did. She won’t even remember me.

  It took her longer to recognize how she had grown, but she knows it now. She knows she is a different and better person, but she’ll give that up. I should have stopped her. I should have thrown her over my shoulder and carried her out. Why didn’t Jase? Why was he even going with her?

  Vogue and Frey work away, muttering to each other while Krisalyn dresses Sophos’ wound.

  “Krisalyn,” I say, “why did Jase go with Serenity to get her parents?”

  Her lips turn up at the corners as she continues her work on Sophos. “There’s no way he’d let her out of his sight in the middle of this. There was never a possibility that he wouldn’t be throwing himself into whatever danger she might get herself into.” She snaps her attention to her cuff, but her eager expression melts quickly. Her eyelids flutter as she takes a deep breath.

  “What?” I ask.

  “Jase finally answered my messages. Just confirming they won’t be coming with us.”

  Sophos squeezes her hand. “They’ll be all right.”

  She nods slightly. “At least they’re together.”

  Again, I find myself in the middle of turmoil but focused on sorting out Serenity. Krisalyn expecting Jase to follow Serenity into anything, Serenity looking happier than I’ve ever seen her. They were supposed to keep acting like they were in a relationship… but they weren’t acting.

  My stomach tightens. Seeing them acting like a couple infuriated me when she caught him outside the train station. That’s when I should have realized I had feelings for her. I’m an idiot for not seeing it.

  “Why did he let her go headlong into danger then?” I demand.

  Krisalyn gives me a patronizing look. “For the same reason you and Vogue did. Serenity won’t be controlled anymore. We’ve all had about enough of that from the Establishment.”

  Do you think she’s easy to control? Sophos asked me once. No, I do not.

  “Who has the broadcasting system?” Sophos asks.

  Dixon replies, “I do.”

  “Send it out.”

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  SERENITY

  Jase steps up into this thing, maneuvering me through the doorway to avoid knocking me into the sides. I still can’t feel my legs. People are strapping themselves into seats, which are paired off in rows on both sides. I see Adwin, but I avoid eye contact. Jase walks sideways to get me down the aisle and gently sits me down in the back row before squeezing past me to sit down on my right.

  My mother frets at my side, looking up at the front of the craft where my father is. “I’ll come find you when we arrive.” I nod, and she squeezes my hand before returning to him.

  Jase and I look at our cuffs to see messages from Krisalyn and Dixon. I drop my head back and press my eyes closed. I can’t believe we broke up our nameless band. Jase responds for us and squeezes my hand. I cling to him like he’s the only thing keeping my heart pumping. A miserable conflict threatens to pull me apart. For his sake, I wish Jase were anywhere but here. But I’m also glad I’m not in this alone. I’m so horribly selfish.

  Watt Kemp boards looking decidedly disheveled. He steps into the middle of the aisle to address the passengers. “Most of you have never been on a hoverplane before. I assure you it is perfectly safe, and our flight will be over shortly. When we reach Leavenworth, you will be briefed on the situation at hand.”

  I rest my chin on Jase’s shoulder and wrap my arms around his chest. “I’m so, so sorry.” I sniff as tears well up in my eyes. I destroyed it. I delivered us both right into the hands of the Establishment.

  He rubs his neck and leans his temple onto my forehead. “You don’t have anything to apologize for.” Then he turns toward me and lifts my chin so my eyes meet his. “I’m sorry for the abrupt way I finally swept you off your f
eet.”

  I laugh as tears make their way down my cheeks. “It was an impressive attempt. You almost salvaged me running in here with no plan.”

  “Are you all right?”

  “Bumping my head is the least of my concerns. What was that?”

  “A local paralytic. It’ll wear off shortly.”

  “You carry that around with you?”

  “We each have our preferred weapons. Bram carries a gun—I’m more comfortable with pharmaceuticals.” He shrugs. “I never imagined I’d be injecting it into you, of course.”

  The hoverplane’s roar fills the cabin with white noise, and we rise off the roof with a jerk. As if I don’t have enough to be afraid of right now. The city drops away from the window, and my pulse quickens. Who would think it’s a good idea to fly around in a metal machine?

  “We can’t wait too long,” Jase whispers.

  I squeeze my eyes closed and drop my head onto his shoulder. His hand slides around my waist and pulls the pouch out of my pocket as he retrieves his own.

  My heart wrenches in my chest, making it impossible to breathe. I picture Vogue’s sad face at the thought of me doing this and Bram’s furious one. I think about the first time I saw the map expand, the picnic on Vogue’s bedroom floor, our new friends, the excitement of every problem we solved along the way, the train trip, rescuing Jase, that night at the symphony with my parents.

  If I could only tattoo it all onto my brain to find it later. I focus on the breathless feeling that accompanied every touch. I hold onto the memory of the electric feeling of Jase’s hands on my neck as he put the necklace on me earlier. I grasp it, and Jase holds my hand over it. Forget me nots. If only.

  My breathing is ragged, each breath hollowing me out. We only had a month. All of my musings about my new-found happiness being more precious because of its fragility proves that all of the revelations I had this year didn’t quell my naivety. It was asinine to fall for Jase. I had just enough time to become addicted, only to face an abrupt detox.