“Thanks,” I said, rifling through the bag’s remains, finding some GuardCore and some wound dressing. I popped the GuardCore needle into Kale’s skin near the wound, then created the tourniquet, tying it tight around the top of his arm and over his shoulder. “You lost a lot of blood. Are you feeling weak?”
“A little,” he admitted, cutting Jet a sharp glare. Jet was hunched behind Hera, taking inventory of his weapons and fumbling around with his artillery belt. “We better get going, Skylla. Jet and Hera don’t need the Capsule anymore.”
“Oh no you don’t.” Jet stood to his feet and walked toward us, popping the blade on his army knife. “Turn around. Both of you.”
“What?” I jumped back, placing my hands in front of Kale to protect him. The action caused Jet to waver for a second, and I could have sworn I saw a flash of betrayal there. I stood my ground anyway. I couldn’t care less what this guy thought of me. I only agreed to come with him because I thought he might be right about this whole Invader thing.
My loyalty was to Kale, now. I just had to bring us all onto the same page, somehow.
“I need to get rid of your chips,” Jet said. “It’s the only way to make sure your judgment isn’t clouded.”
“Yeah,” Kale chuckled, “and to make sure you have her wrapped around your little finger. If you think restoring her emotive memory will erase what she feels for me, you’re wrong.”
Hold up. What I feel for him?
“Oh, I know it will,” Jet seethed, stepping closer.
“Kale, I … I think you’re confused,” I said. “I know we … never mind, this isn’t important right now. Stop!” I placed my hand on Jet’s chest, eyeing the blade. “I’ll do it.” I opened my palm to accept the blade from Jet, but Kale lunged forward and barreled past me, slamming into Jet before I had the chance to take the knife. Kale used his good arm to punch Jet in the jaw, and then fists were being thrown in every direction.
Jet slammed a heavy boot into Kale’s abdomen, and he went down with the hit, but sprang back to his feet and drew his gun.
Jet’s was already leveled with Kale’s temple. “Drop the weapon.”
“Jet, don’t,” I said. I couldn’t stand by and let them kill each other. Not after all we’d been through. We were free from Lucenta, free from Rico’s rebel group—free from it all, free to start over and find another solution. There had to be a way.
One hand holding the knife, the other keeping the gun on Kale, Jet’s eyes seemed to shoot daggers. “Skylla, I won’t lose you to this asshole. And I definitely won’t let him put me, you, or Hera in any more danger. He either takes the chip out and declares his loyalty to us, or I shoot.”
“Did you not see what happened back there?” Kale said, keeping his weapon steady. “The Invaders turned around. They let us go. They don’t care about tracking us.”
“Kale,” I pleaded, “why are you hell-bent on keeping the implantation? Let’s just remove it and be done with it, okay? We need to work together, now.”
Jet laughed, his stone-cold glower burning into Kale’s. “He won’t remove it, because he still wants to help the Invaders. He’s stupid enough to believe them. We can’t trust him, Skylla.”
“And you’re too wrapped up in your desperation to get your girl back that you’re too proud to recognize when you’ve lost!” Hearing Kale bark these words, Hera flinched against my side, latched onto my leg and buried her face against my hip.
“You guys, you’re scaring Hera. She’s been through enough. Please!”
“Well tough shit, dude,” Kale said, his voice a growl. “You lost her, and you lost your planet. The Invaders have won, and it’s about time you wake up and face the music. Prototype Seven is the past. Foundation Zero is the future. We just have to play by the Invaders’ rules.”
Jet took another step forward, bringing his forehead to Kale’s, his gun still pressed to Kale’s temple. “I will never play by their rules. And you’re wrong. I haven’t lost Skylla. And you never had her.”
I felt Hera’s tears dampen my leg. “Jet, come on—”
A heavy boom sounded from above us. We all froze as a group of Invader Capsules descended, lowering to the ground at the edge of the warehouse. Jet spun and grabbed Hera and me by the shoulders, shoving us behind him while he raised his weapons in the Invaders’ direction. Kale sent me a glance and lowered his gun, raising his hands in surrender.
“Shit,” Jet mumbled, his bicep and forearm muscles clenching as he adjusted his artillery belt and braced for battle.
But the Capsule enclosures didn’t open. No Invaders emerged. Nothing stirred.
There was a sudden ticking sound, and the hourglass symbol bleeped in my corner vision. I looked to Kale and he returned the exchange, letting me know he saw it too. The blue text began to scroll, this time accompanying a voice—Elara’s voice.
“Attention, Shepherds. Stand by for new directive in three … two … one.” The blue text began to scroll faster, and I raced to read each line as it was fed to me. Each word rolled to a stop and my blood went cold when Elara began to read the order.
“Task: Skylla Warden. Execute Hera Phoenix. Task: Kale Archer. Ensure this order is carried out. You are both to return to base with Jet Phoenix. Failure to comply will result in immediate execution. Comply, and your transgressions will be forgiven. You will still receive admittance to Foundation Zero and your race will be preserved. That is all.”
Elara’s voice and the text directive vanished. My fingertips went as numb as my entire body felt. Me, execute Hera? Just like that? The Invaders would really turn on Kale and me that fast? They would take me out—the Seventh Shepherd, supposedly so sacred to them—if I didn’t comply? My mind reeled. Could Jet be right? It didn’t matter that I didn’t feel anything for him or Hera. I didn’t want to take anyone’s life, let alone an innocent child’s.
And then there was Kale.
Kale was convinced obeying the Invaders was the right thing to do. He was willing to sacrifice the lives of many, to accept the bad for the sake of the good. But what did I believe? What was I willing to live with?
The truth was, I couldn’t live with any of it—not the damage that had already been done on Prototype Seven, and not the deception the Invaders had been feeding us about the recruits. None of it was okay, and none of it could simply slide. Evil was evil, and wrong was wrong.
But one reality remained. Since the beginning of time, from the dawn of Prototype Seven’s creation, the human race had one priority and one priority alone.
Survival.
I had to survive, and so did my race. Could I do this for the sake of the greater good? Exchange one life for countless others? All it took was one shot. One split second, one single decision, and my life and so many others would be spared.
My fingers shook and my heart throbbed a turbulent rhythm in my chest. My focus suddenly restored, I realized Jet had been speaking to me, asking me something over his shoulder, something I hadn’t heard. The Capsules were still there, yet not one Invader had commenced any kind of confrontation. I slid my gaze to Kale, to search for his thoughts, to search for any trace that he was just as conflicted as me, only to find his expression resolute. He nodded, almost imperceptibly, and carefully gestured to my gun.
Jet’s voice continued to mumble something in the distance. I pivoted on my hip and Hera let me go, tilting her head back to look up at me. Her tear-ridden eyes were bright and wide, searching the depths of mine, probing for something good. I swallowed hard and lifted my weapon, everything rolling in slow motion as recognition swept her face and she began to back away. Her eyes grew wider and I aimed the gun with a trembling hand.
Everything sped up then.
Jet shifted with a shout as my finger brushed the trigger. I faltered, and Kale noticed. He threw his body in front of mine to aim at Hera.
“No!” I screamed, tapping the trigger and eliciting a sharp bang.
Kale spun and dodged my bullet, his gaze floating from me
to Hera to watch the bullet collide with her chest, instead. She slumped to the ground. Kale’s expression twisted into anger as an earth-moving, gut-clenching roar detonated from Jet’s direction. Jet charged forward, hauling his body on top of Hera’s, closing her up like a cocoon. His cry ripped into me, tearing me open and grazing against my bare bones.
“No,” I whispered, eyes falling to my firearm. I grew dizzy, stumbling to the left as Jet’s big body covered Hera’s, which now lay in a pool of dirt mixed with a garish, unreal maroon. His torment reverberated beneath my feet, reaching up my legs and dipping inside me, wrapping tight around my lungs.
Somehow, amidst the dizziness overtaking me, I could make out Kale’s form as it hovered over Jet. He’d quickly recovered and moved to snatch Jet’s weapons away, and for the first time, Jet’s finger was not on the trigger. He barely registered Kale’s presence at first, but began fighting him the second Kale tried pulling him from Hera’s body. Kale managed to grab him and pry him off her, and Jet’s grief wrapped tighter around my lungs when I caught a glimpse of this strong, handsome, courageous man reduced to wailing sobs and the inability to stand upright while Kale led him away from the scene.
Rage seemed to fuel Jet with a second wind, but as he lashed out in retaliation, Kale snatched a Venom Sphere from his belt and lodged it into Jet’s back, rendering him a limp heap.
Kale wasted no time. He adjusted Jet to drag him by the underarms toward our Capsule. I just stood there, my gun dangling at my side. I let it drop to the ground and stared down at Hera’s body.
I did not have all the answers. I did not know what awaited us on Foundation Zero, or if our race would ever recover from all that we had lost.
But I did know how to shoot a gun.
* * * * *
If you’d like to get an automatic email when my next book is released, sign up on my website. Your email address will not be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time!
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Aqua Bomb – Invader-designed weapon. Fills lungs with water upon impact. Death by drowning.
Black Holes – Human underground bunker communities designed as hideouts for protection from invaders
Capsules – Main method of invader transportation. Used for air, land, and sea travel.
Collectors – Keeper Agents in charge of collecting human recruits for invader camp sector assignment
Foundation Zero – The primary model Earth created by the invaders, designed for human permanent settlement
GuardCore – Fast-acting, advanced antibacterial injection designed for wound care
Invaders – Foreign species responsible for Earth’s invasion, takeover, and downfall
Keeper Agents – Humans pre-selected by the invaders as servants at or before birth, or humans who volunteer or are placed into invader-led service. Implanted with identification chips that activate upon prototype invasion or service placement
Lucenta – The invaders’ underwater city located in the Pacific Ocean, on Prototype Seven. Houses the Creators. Houses screening and training sectors for human recruits collected from Prototype Seven, for preparation for transfer to Foundation Zero
Prototype Seven – The seventh prototype of planet Earth, created by the invaders
The Maker – Head Creator of the invaders
The Shepherds (Sacred Seven) – Seven humans (also known as the Head Keepers) pre-selected by the invaders at or before birth to activate upon prototype invasion and lead human recruits from prototypes to Foundation Zero
Venom Sphere – Invader-designed weapon. Temporarily paralyzes victim and renders them unconscious.
ABOUT RACHAEL WADE
Rachael Wade is the Amazon bestselling author of THE PRESERVATION SERIES, LOVE AND RELATIVITY, and the upcoming New Adult sci-fi series, THE KEEPERS TRILOGY. When she’s not writing, she’s busy going to concerts, watching too many movies, and learning how to protect animals and the environment. She’s an avid Brandi Carlile fan and loves all things Tim Burton.
CONNECT WITH RACHAEL WADE ONLINE
I love to hear from readers. Please visit me online!
Email: [email protected]
Author’s Website: http://www.RachaelWade.com
LightsOn Website: http://www.lightsonlove.com/
Facebook: AuthorRachaelWade
Twitter: RachaelWade
Word of mouth is very important for any author. If you enjoyed the book, please consider leaving a review, even if it’s only a sentence or two.
WANT MORE BY RACHAEL WADE?
The Replacement
Love and Relativity
— THE PRESERVATION SERIES —
Preservation
Reservation
Declaration
— THE RESISTANCE TRILOGY —
Amaranth
The Gates
The Tragedy of Knowledge
Unearthed: A Resistance Trilogy Novella
— THE KEEPERS TRILOGY —
Repossession
Restitution (Coming 2014)
Curses, Fates & Soul Mates Page 123