I push against the chunk, but it doesn't budge.
"Mother? Mother!" I shriek.
Father's voice breaks through the rumbling. "No, no, no!" he cries. He's joined me and digs frantically in the debris.
Mother coughs and groans.
"We're getting you out. You'll be fine." I touch her face and smear blood from the side of her eye into her hair.
"Go," she murmurs. "Leave."
Meyer brushes me on the shoulder. I flinch.
"We can't stay." He kneels beside me. "The EP's telling me she's pinned in tight. Even if we could get her out, she wouldn't make it long. Her chances... they aren't good."
I twist toward his pleading eyes and growl. "We're getting her free."
"If we don't leave now, none of us will get out." Meyer looks toward the woman who raised me. He grabs my arm, but I yank away and whirl back to dig with Father.
"Michael… you need to stop," she mumbles. Her face is covered in dirt, and more blood trickles from her hairline. With sudden intensity, she locks eyes with Meyer. "Get Avlyn out of here… She's important."
The words sting. I never believed I would be important. And not to her.
Father collapses next to me and stops digging. His dust and tear-streaked face falls forward toward hers. The two share hurried whispers I barely hear, then Father rises, their clasped hands ripping from one another, and he walks behind Meyer, back turned from his spouse.
"Avlyn," she whispers.
I lean toward Mother and lower my face to touch hers. Sweat and blood connect us.
"Mother—"
"Shh... love you. Never forget."
Pain tears through my abdomen. She's telling me good-bye. "I love—"
"I know you do. I'm so sorry we couldn't tell each other until now. It took this for me to see it." Mother's voice falls so low I can barely make out the words. "Avlyn, this world is both beautiful and broken." She closes her eyes, and her breathing slows. "Make more beautiful moments than broken ones."
Pressure grips my arm, and someone pulls me through the disintegrating tunnel trap. I spin around to Meyer. "No!" I yell, pulling away from him. Just as I do, another explosion rips the crack in the concrete ceiling further, debris raining over us.
"Go," Mother chokes.
Meyer jerks me to my feet and drags me forward. "I love you… I'm sorry!" I wail. Any words Mother might have left are drowned out as we leave her behind.
Father, Meyer, and I rush through the haze of dust and dirt, hands covering our mouths, dodging falling chunks of concrete. The dust kicking in the air hurts my lungs, but the dim emergency lights ahead silhouette the staircase to the tunnel.
What will be out there?
Meyer readies his weapon and start for the steps. I take the one from my pocket and hold it to the side.
"I've lost my comm," Meyer says.
I have no idea how long he's been out of communication with Affinity, and I don't ask. I push between them and race to the top of the stairs, touching the panel.
"Ready?" I ask without turning.
"Yes," Meyer answers.
The panel slides open to reveal the slight storage area, but this time many of the containers are smashed and toppled in the space, spilling their contents. There's no Guardians though, human or drone.
"They've definitely been here," Father whispers. Tear stains streak his dust-covered face.
I close the panel and reset the illusion, then we skid behind a pile of overthrown crates. Meyer's eyes flicker. He must see something in his EP.
"Drones," he murmurs. "Stay here while I clear the hall."
He advances to the door and triggers it. Meyer pauses and looks out, weapon extended. The pulse light on the barrel illuminates and an electric vibration sounds from the hall. I lunge forward, but Father catches my shoulder. His eyes are pleading.
"No unnecessary risks."
Meyer pops back in the room. "Now. Go."
Father pushes me up, and the two of us escape the mess of containers. At the door, one drone is taken out, crushed and smoking on the floor.
"There's an emergency escape across the hall," Meyer says.
We follow him into the next room, where a body lies slumped over in the corner. I freeze and stare. To me, the man appears as if he's asleep. Meyer hooks his arm around my waist and propels me forward, but my eyes stay glued to the man and the pool of blood I can now see seeping from his body onto the floor.
Meyer releases me. He and Father pull a vent cover from the upper half of the wall.
"Get her in," Meyer says.
I gulp. "And you?"
"I need to cover you two. Go. I'll follow."
"Come on, Avlyn," Father whispers.
I follow his direction, pull out the stunner, and drive into the vent. It's wide enough for one person to fit through at a time. As I glide through, my arm scrapes against bent metal and heat flares at the spot. I wince but bite down, willing away the pain.
Father follows me inside, then the clunk of the vent being closed indicates Meyer's in as well. We press on through the shaft around ten feet until it opens up above us. A ladder affixed to the wall bids me to climb. My sweaty palms slip on the rungs, but I push forward.
Meyer's voice sounds from below. "The exit's one floor up."
The panel above comes into view. At the opening I ready my weapon, shoving the vent cover open with my shoulder. Thumping and popping sounds echo from outside the room. Part of me wants to hide in the safety of shaft. Instead, I crawl out onto the floor of another cramped work room. The hole is partially blocked by a pair of shelves.
I squeeze through and kick them forward. They slide along the smooth floor. I kneel and grasp for Father's hand to pull him out. Meyer emerges after.
"My comm's back… for now," Meyer whispers. Three loud pops sound, and he holds his hand to his ear. "Philly has sent in an army." He sounds surprised. "A hovership is coming for us. The bunker is cleared and they're holding Direction back."
Meyer clears the space outside the door, and the three of us start toward the lobby, stunners ready, toward the sound of shooting. The beating of the explosions reverberates through me as we sprint toward freedom.
Hopefully.
"The lobby is the only way out from this location," Meyer says. "As far as I know, we're good, but don't let your guard down. My comm and EP's on the fritz, so I might not know what's ahead."
Rounding the corner, repulsion swirls in my stomach. Bodies litter the floor, what must be a mixture of Affinity members and the DPF force.
A micro drone, similar to the one Aron sent to my apartment, zooms into view, and without thinking, I aim and fire. Bullseye. The thing explodes and smashes into the wall behind it. My sick sensation is replaced with a flicker of excitement.
But the feeling disintegrates when dozens more tiny drones, no bigger than small birds, fly around the corner and stop directly in front of us. One stops inches away from my face. I recoil slightly.
A blue beam emits from several of the drones and our stunners wrench from our hands and fly across the room, hitting the floor with a crack before skimming away.
"Freeze."
A black-masked, armored soldier with a lean frame appears, looming ahead of us. The spark in my gut explodes. I raise my hands, and Meyer and Father do the same. For some reason he's not killing us. Yet.
Another beam shoots out from one of the drones, destroying our weapons on the floor, shattering any hope of escape.
The drone in front of my face shoots a ray of light toward my torso, filling me with electricity. My arms cement to my side.
The male soldier points his weapon toward us. "If you try anything, these drones are equipped to kill." Then his voice softens. "Let's go."
Something sparks inside me as we obey the soldier's command.
I know this voice.
"Aron?" I ask.
"Move," the soldier repeats more forcefully this time. "I'd rather arrest than kill you," he mumbles, motionin
g with his weapon toward the lobby.
"Aron, let us go," I plead. "Manning is going to kill us."
The soldier steps closer, his pained blue eyes looking straight into mine. He sighs and unlatches his mask. "Avlyn, I don't have another choice." His caramel hair sticks to his head with sweat, and his cheeks flush pink. "When the report came out that Direction was trying to bring you in, I panicked. I thought the whole thing had to be a mistake, so I volunteered to help bring you in with my new drone project… I'm the only one who knew how to run them. It was stupid, but I thought maybe I'd find you first."
His eyes are pleading when he looks back at me.
"But when I got cut off from outside communication and Affinity took over the building, I hid. Then I saw you…"
I want to reach out to him, but I can't move my arms. "What did you do to us?"
"I made your nanos control your muscle groups and lock your arms in place," Aron says. "I'm sorry. If you do just what Direction says‒‒"
"Who is this?" Meyer sneers.
"His name is Aron," I tell him. "He's a friend."
Just the guy who asked me to be his spouse. And I said yes to.
"Aron Barton? Your pairing?" Meyer asks, whipping his head toward me.
I don't answer.
Aron raises his weapon toward Meyer, causing me to step back. "Listen," he snaps, "you could be dead right now."
"It makes no difference," Father mutters.
"Let's go." Aron eyes me and mutters something into his comm. The diminutive drones glide overhead and take a place behind and to our sides.
Numbness spreads through me. I'm unsure how my feet are actually working right now. I turn to check Father and Meyer. Tension radiates on Meyer's face, but maybe he has a plan.
Aron whispers something in his comm again, and half of the drones zip away. "On the wall!" he yells.
I smash myself to the wall and onto the floor alongside Father, who reeks of powdery dirt. Sweat. Blood.
Mother's blood…
The memory smarts, so I shove the thought away. If Aron takes us in, Father and Meyer are dead. And me? Probably worse...
From the ground, the micro drones hover over us, and something scrapes against me inside my jacket. The other stunner. If I could only get to it, I could stun Aron before he does something to us.
Remembering how I hacked Sanda, I close my eyes and visualize my nanos.
Set me free, I think.
I tug at my wrists, but they're still stuck. I focus on my goal, to save my father and Meyer. They are all I have now, and I can't let them die.
Set me free.
With a snap, my arms release.
Aron glances nervously back toward the lobby, and I turn toward the wall and gingerly reach for the weapon. I feel the cold metal graze against my fingers. Wrapping them around the grip, I twist, throwing my arm out to fire at the remaining drones. The blast hits each directly, flinging the dead devices toward the wall as I lunge toward Aron, who's just now bringing up his weapon toward me. My stunner ends up inches from his head.
I like Aron, he's a good person, but I can't let him bring us in. "Drop it," I snap.
From the corner of my eye, Father inches back toward the wall, but the heat and tension of Meyer's body is not far behind my shoulder.
"Avlyn, at this close a range, your stunner will do more than stun him," Meyer growls.
I don't move.
Aron stands wide-eyed as he inches his hands up and drops his weapon. "You can't do this..."
"I'm not who you thought I was."
I'm not who I thought I was.
From behind us, a group of soldiers burst into the corridor. An electric blast sounds, and then another. Their weapons are not pointed at us, but at Aron. I lower my stunner as Aron pushes back against the wall, his focus moving between them and me.
One soldier speaks into his comm. "Yes sir, the building and area is secure, and Lark is located."
I turn and touch both Meyer and Father on the shoulders, releasing their arms. Relief rushes through me, but my stare flips to Aron, who now has his hands in the air.
"Don't hurt him!" I shout and charge forward.
An arm clasps my waist, and I twist toward Meyer.
"Let's go," he says.
"But..." I turn back to Aron. Terror blankets his face. For all he knows, Affinity is a group of terrorists… a virus. A deadly virus, like Direction said. A pang shoots up my center for shoving a gun in his face.
"It's time to leave, Avlyn," Father says.
The two escort me forward into the group of soldiers in a daze. Father falls behind, and my arm accidentally brushes against one of the soldiers, whose back is toward me.
A jolt pops at the spot where we touched. It runs up my arm and seizes my chest. A wave of pain rolls over me, then subsides. With a gasp, I turn, pulling from Meyer's grasp. I tear back to the brown-haired soldier, taking hold of his shoulders and spinning him around. His straight, dark hair falls into his hazel eyes.
I stare at his face and my mind screams, flooded with a white wave of long-forgotten memories. A laugh. A cry of lament.
"Do... do I know you?" I choke out, nausea swirling in my gut.
He looks away, his deep voice quivering. "Quinn's right. You don't have long."
Meyer jerks me forward, but I stay focused on the scattering of freckles over the soldier's nose until he's blocked from view.
"That boy back there," I say to Meyer. "Do you know him? He knew your name."
Meyer shakes his head. I stare into his eyes, convinced he's telling the truth, but still utterly confused as to what's going on.
When we reach the lobby, there are no bodies to be seen, only chunks of the walls scattered over the powdery tile. The glass of the entrance is coated in a layer of grime, and long cracks spider out over its surface.
I pull away from Meyer and rush to the exit. It's stuck, but the slider is cracked a few inches. I wrap my fingers around the frame and pull it open, wedging myself through the gap.
The roar of what must be a hovership reverberates from the front of the building. The sound sends an ache through my ears, and I throw my hands up to dull the pain.
The massive black pod lowers itself to the ground, kicking up a cloud of debris. Our soldiers circle the building around us. When the hovership touches down, a hatch opens on the side and expels a rush of air. A ramp descends and kisses the ground.
Meyer and Father jog past me and onto the ramp. I race to catch them. Once inside, the ramp pulls in and the hatch shuts with a hiss. Inside, there's nothing to see but a cramped loading area which has four seats attached to the walls.
A middle-aged woman with high cheekbones and a muscular build pops her head through a doorway. "Welcome. The captain will be with you in a minute. Please have a seat and get ready to take flight. We are so glad you're safe."
The three of us sit in silence until footsteps bring a dark-haired man speaking on a comm into the loading area. "Yes. Yes, we have the four… no, three of them secure."
Father's face goes white. He starts to stand, but a jolt from the ship plops him back into his seat.
Pictures… no, memories continue to dance in my mind. A run in the park, a secret gift given in haste. I don't need anyone to tell me what I already know in my heart.
That was Ben back there. Ben's alive. Somehow, impossibly, it's true. The news should fill me with joy, and it's there, but tainted with loss.
This isn't how it should be.
I catch Father's sad, hollow eyes and bend forward to squeeze his hand. He forces a smile and surprisingly clasps mine back before he pulls it away.
The three of us stand and follow the captain into the middle of the ship. It's the size of my living room, and three people work at stations lining the perimeter. At the front, a pilot sits behind a wide window, steering us to safety.
"Where will we go?" I whisper.
A voice sounds from behind. The captain. "We're on course to New Philadelphia
."
I have no idea what, or where New Philadelphia is, but don't ask. Instead, I shuffle toward the vista out the window in front of the pilot.
Meyer steps beside me. His fingers slide into my palm, and I take them gratefully. His weary face and eyes seem to indicate that he wanted to do more, but a meager smile is the most I can manage, and I focus forward.
The viewing glass at the bow of the ship devours the cityscape of Elore and rushes into the enigma of the Outerbounds. I pull out the heart charm from beneath the collar of my suit while Mother's last words burn into my conscience.
This world is both broken and beautiful.
I draw closer into Meyer's body. Off in the distance, a single, humble brown bird, maybe a lark, swoops and dives against the horizon.
Beckoning.
***
Book one of Avlyn's story is at an end, but you can find out what happens next in Immersed (Book 2 in the Configured Trilogy).
Dear Book Lover,
Thank you SO much for your support. I am truly humbled. As a new writer I would be incredibly grateful if you took the time to leave a review on Amazon. Short or long is JUST fine. Your review will make a big difference and help new readers discover The Configured Trilogy.
I would also love it if you joined my book club at JenettaPenner.com. When you do you will receive a FREE printable Configured YA coloring book as well as YA book news and information on upcoming releases. You can also follow me on Facebook and Twitter.
XXOO,
Jenetta Penner
About the Author
I'm Jenetta and a lifetime lover of Sci-Fi (thx Dad). I had a weird LONG stint (declaring HOW long would give away too many age secrets... and eh hem... a girl never tells) where I read almost no books for pleasure (the horror!). Near the end of 2014 I picked up Hunger Games, and I was off like a rocket.
That next year I read about 40 YA books (mostly Sci-Fi/dystopian) and a couple months into it got the idea to write a book (with no prior experience or even desire) about children who were not allowed to be raised by their biological parents. You see, I am an adoptive mama of two lovely daughters from foster care. That story grew into what Configured is today.
Configured: (Book #1 in the Configured Trilogy) Page 27