Modified- The Complete Manipulated Series

by Harper North

  My gaze drifts to Drape, standing by Emma’s side. “He does.”

  “Drape will be all right. Give him time.”

  “We’d better see what’s taking them so long,” I say, moving from the rock toward Emma. Sky follows.

  “So?” Sky asks when we get there.

  “Nothing,” Emma says. “But they’re probably making sure the no-fly zone has really been lifted.”

  I tug on the strap of my gun. Drape paces, then eventually sits on a hunk of building and drops his head into his hands while his foot taps on the ground. Just then, the comm device crackles, and he’s up and back by my side.

  Emma holds up the device. “Hello?”

  “Emma?” Elias says. “Are you there?”

  My shoulders drop. I grab the device from her. “We’re here. Are you safe?”

  “We’re still secure,” he says, “but the ops are swarming the place outside. How much longer?”

  “I don’t know,” I say. “There’s no sign of the SNA yet.” My eyes flit from Sky to Drape. “How’s Lacy?”

  “She’s fine. She’s coming around.”

  “Good,” Emma says. “Keep her moving and talking. It will help her to reestablish a familiar sense of herself once she reconnects.”

  “Will do.”

  Drape turns his gaze back toward Ethos. He walks as if he’s heading back to the city. I hand the comm back to Emma. “Keep trying to make contact,” I say, then head after Drape.

  “Where are you going?” I shout.

  He stops and turns to face me. “They’re not coming. I know how this works. You get your hopes up, everything seems to be working out, and then it fails. It’s basically like our entire life.”

  “I have to believe things are changing, and for the better.”

  “How do you know?” he asks.

  “We’ve disrupted the EHC’s system. That’s enough. They’re no longer an isolated power.”

  Sighing, Drape leans against the fallen part of a brick wall.

  I lean beside him. “We’ve managed to infiltrate and cripple a system that was impenetrable.”

  Drape turns his gaze to me. “None of this would’ve happened without you.”

  “And you,” I say.

  “I admire you,” he mumbles. “No one is as brave as you. I would’ve given up a long time ago.”

  “That’s not true,” I say, heat flooding my cheeks. “You’re braver than you think.”

  A slow smile spreads across Drape’s face, a light rekindling in his eyes.

  “Once this is over, we’ll get back to our normal lives.”

  “Normal?” Drape echoes. “I hope not. Normal in the mines was not so great.”

  I chuckle. He’s totally right. We have no idea what normal is.

  Drape turns to face the city again. “A new life, a home, friends, and—”

  “Never having to answer to the EHC,” I finish.

  He turns back to me and his face brightens.

  “Hey!” Sky calls out to us from the hover.

  I turn to see him pointing at something in the air. Shielding my eyes, I spot what looks like hovercrafts—a dozen of them, maybe more. My heart swells. Turning back to face Drape, I say, “They’re here.”

  We race back to Emma and Sky.

  A few seconds later, the hovercrafts get close enough for me to see their grey and black exteriors. Medium ships lead while larger ones trail behind. I wave a hand to them. Drape, Sky, and Emma do the same. My head tingles with excitement.

  “Where are they going to land?” Drape calls to Emma.

  Emma stops smiling as she stares hard at the sky. “They’re not.”

  Her words hit me hard. “What?” I say, facing her.

  “They’re flying too fast. They’re going past us,” she says.

  As I return my gaze to the armada, I feel the blood drain from my face. Emma’s right. They’re not slowing down. “Maybe they don’t see us.”

  “They see us.” Emma steps back to the hovercraft. I shift to grab Drape’s hand, but he’s too fast as he rushes back with Emma.

  “I don’t get it…” Sky says.

  “They’re flying toward Ethos,” I say, chasing after Emma and Drape.

  “Get in,” Emma calls, waving Drape inside. I grab Emma’s shoulder before she has a chance to board the hover.

  “Why aren’t they meeting us? “

  Her face is lined. “Get inside and stop asking questions.”

  Shaking my head, I turn in time to see a bright white light followed by a boom in the distance. The ground shivers under my feet.

  “No!” Drape shouts, holding his hands to his ears.

  “Are they bombing the city?” Sky asks in disbelief. “There has to be a mistake. There has to be—”

  “It’s not a mistake!” Emma yells. “The SNA betrayed us. They used us. Now get inside!”

  More pops in the distance echo and fire erupts out of the city. I try to force my feet to move, but my body is stiff with shock. My thoughts scatter between freedom and disaster. I swallow and run my hands through my hair as I imagine Elias, Lacy, and Talen fighting for their lives as the bombs continue to drop.

  More flashes of light are followed by clouds of black smoke and loud explosions. My eyes stay glued to one of the collapsing towers as one of the SNA’s largest hovercraft steers away from the wreckage.

  “Fin!” Emma yells. Her voice feels hollow, like an echo. “You need to move!”

  Slowly, I turn and get in, leaning back against the seat as the door closes. All of my words to Drape just moments ago were empty. Lies. I slam the back of my head against the cushion of the chair and scream in frustration, then lower my head to my hands. Hot tears rush to my eyes and stream down my cheeks. When I finally look up, Sky and Drape stare blankly ahead while Emma grips the controls, her knuckles white and her eyes fixed. She pushes the control all the way down. The hovercraft shakes as it picks up speed.

  “We have to get back to the headquarters,” she mutters. “Fast. Maybe they haven’t bombed it yet.”

  Every ounce of hope inside of me wishes the same, but I know if I were to attack the EHC, it would be the first building I’d drop a bomb on. Emma’s eyes are locked forward, as if she knows the same.

  “We’re going too fast,” Sky says as the sides of our craft begin to rattle.

  “Put on the seatbelts,” Emma orders.

  We quickly strap in.

  “I’m sorry,” I whisper to Drape, reaching for his hand. He pulls away and leans his head against the window.

  As we reenter Ethos, my gaze turns toward the streets. Citizens rush from burning buildings below. Rubble is scattered over the ground. Dead bodies lie in the streets. I press my hands to my temples as panic sears through my veins.

  “Watch out!” Sky yells. I look up and see a sleek grey SNA hovercraft pull out of nowhere. It’s twice as big as ours, and a missile heads straight toward us.

  Emma swerves, but the missile grazes the side of our hovercraft, opening up a gaping hole in the metal at my side and sending us into a vicious tailspin. My body jars left, then right. The belt around my waist snaps. I scream as I feel myself falling out through the hole.

  “I’ve got you!” Drape yells. I feel his hands around me as he pulls me back into the hovercraft. Our eyes meet as wind rips around us. He’s at my side, unsecured from his seat. I take a deep breath and squeeze his hand.

  “We’re going down!” Emma yells. “Brace for impact!”

  The streets below rush at us and fear locks me in place when everything goes black.

  ***

  When I open my eyes, nothing surrounds me but fragments from the craft. A buzzing sound in my ears reminds me I’m still alive. My trembling hands trace my arms and legs. Blood covers my body. The taste of metal lingers in my mouth. I try to move, and pain erupts from every part of me, searing through to my core. I cry out as I roll to my side, trying desperately to get to my hands and knees and find my friends. Around me ther
e’s yelling. I guess that’s what it is, but it sounds like it’s coming from a different world.

  It can’t end like this.

  People rush past. Fire burns all around me, and the smell of charred flesh penetrates my senses.

  “Fin!” Sky cries. “I need help!”

  Pushing past the pain, I force myself up. I turn to follow his voice through black smoke and a haze of fire and ash. As I get closer, I see the hovercraft has broken into two pieces. From the front, Emma slowly emerges from her seat. Blood trickles down her head. She coughs and points to Sky, who’s wedged into the second piece of the machine.

  “Get me out,” he says.

  Black spots form in front of my eyes and mix with the blood that continues to run down my forehead. “Hold on,” I yell as I try to get closer, climbing between the wreckage and pieces of a building that collapsed nearby. Somehow, I manage to see into the hovercraft and glance down at Sky’s legs, which are wedged tight behind one of the seats. I scan the area for something to use to get him out of there.

  “I’ll be right back,” I say.

  “Where are you going?” Sky demands.

  Limping toward the back of the hovercraft, I look around. There has to be something I can use, but all I can see is panic and destruction and my mind won’t settle for long enough for me to figure it out.

  The screams of an injured woman lying in the street pierce through the fog in my head. My eyes land on the bodies all around me, twisted and destroyed. Many more are hurt and lie on the sidewalk. They reach desperate hands to me, begging for help.

  “I can’t,” I say. “I have to help my friends. I have to—”

  My gaze falls on a familiar face lying half-twisted and bloody in the nearby rubble. I shake my head as I try to erase the image. When nothing works, I climb over the debris toward it, half-believing it can’t be, but by the time I’m there, I know it’s real. There’s no taking back what’s done.

  “Drape!” I yell, ripping the rubble from his limp body. “He’s not breathing!” I scream at everyone and no one, clawing at the debris around him, tearing metal back with all my modified strength.

  CHAPTER 18

  I GRIT MY teeth as I pull a massive rock from Drape’s legs and heave it to the side. His blood streams from his forehead and his right leg is twisted beneath his body.

  “Hold on.” My voice shakes as I reach down and feel for his pulse. “Stay with me, Drape.”

  It takes a while, but finally, I feel a faint vibration. My hands shake as I scan over his unconscious body for injuries. There’s a deep gash to the cheek, what looks like a broken femur, and a possible crushed pelvis. Without the right equipment I don’t know for sure, but it doesn’t look good.

  “Help!” I scream, shifting more pieces of debris off him. When it’s mostly cleared, I press my hands to his chest and focus on compressions. Desperately, I breathe into Drape’s mouth and pump on his chest, forcing oxygen into him and blood to circulate. Resuscitation was one of the first skills we learned underground. Mining is dangerous, and people got hurt all the time.

  Muffled bombings in the distance mingle with the sounds of screaming people and collapsing structures.

  I have to stay focused. I can’t let Drape die. He’s my family.

  “Come on!” I plead as I try again to breathe life into him.

  From behind, Emma yells. I whip my head around to see her and Sky. Emma’s eyes are glued on Drape’s body. She helps Sky over the rubble toward us and places him not far from us on the ground. The sight of Sky, battered and torn up, brings another layer of guilt to my already aching chest. His pant legs are shredded. A giant cut lines his forehead.

  “Hurry! I need your help!” I shout to Emma.

  She races to my side.

  “W-what do I do?” I stutter.

  “Is he breathing?”

  My eyes fill with tears. “I... I think I felt a pulse.”

  She rolls up her sleeves. “Keep working on compressions. We’ve got to get his heart started.”

  Without question, I begin again. Kneeling next to Drape’s limp and twisted body, Emma examines him from head to toe before leaning back on her heels.

  “He’s too far gone.”

  “No way,” I argue. “Drape’s a survivor. Look at how far he came.” The words come out between sobs.

  Emma runs her hand through her hair. “His body is too weak from the impact. He must have been thrown out from the hover. There’s nothing—”

  “I was thrown out, too. If I can survive, he can.”

  Another nearby blast nearly knocks me to the ground. The heavy smell of burning fuel fills my nostrils as several small EHC hovercrafts collide midair. The sound of shattering glass hitting the pavement is followed by more screams.

  “We can’t stay here too long,” Emma says. “It’s too dangerous out in the open like this.”

  “I’m not leaving Drape.”

  “Let him go,” she says, slowly standing.

  “What?” Her words slip past me and my heartbeat pounds in my ears. “He still has a pulse! He’s not gone!”

  Just then, Drape’s eyelids twitch and flutter open.

  Between a gasp and cry, I stop compressions and reach down for Drape’s hand, pressing the other to my chest.

  He smiles at me.

  “Stay with me,” I order him. “I’m going to get you help, but you’ve got to fight, okay?”

  A trickle of blood leaks from the side of his mouth. “If I knew I’d have to die to get your lips on mine, I would’ve done it a long time ago.”

  I brush away tears and laugh. “Just hang on, okay?”

  “How bad is it?” he whispers. “I c-can’t feel anything.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” I say. “We’ll fix it. You’ll be fine.”

  Drape gives me a weak smile, as if he knows I’m lying.

  I turn to Emma. “Please, there’s got to be something—maybe if we move him.”

  “Where? The city is collapsing. Nowhere is safe right now.”

  I scan in every direction and my chest tightens. Smoke billows from broken buildings. The SNA hovercrafts dart around the sky, blasting any EHC defense away. Another bomb drops in the distance.

  Emma’s right. I choke back a cough and try to swallow, but my throat is dry and sore from inhaling the toxic fumes. I press my fingers to my temples, fighting back the urge to scream as Emma digs the comm out of her bag.

  “Is he going to be okay?” Sky asks, limping over toward us.

  When I glance back, Drape’s eyes are still. “No!” I yell, feeling his neck for a pulse.

  “He’s gone,” Emma says.

  Refusing to listen, I start compressions again. My hands work fast as I move from his chest to his mouth and back again, willing life into my friend. My arms ache as I pump down on his motionless body.

  “Fin, please,” Sky says. “He’s gone.”

  I know it’s over, but if I stop, then I’ll have to accept it, and I can’t. I can’t give up on Drape, not when he never gave up on me. I’m alive right now because of him.

  “Please stop,” Sky says. I feel his arms wrap around my waist and he pulls me to my feet. Just as fast, a wave of despair blankets me.

  When Sky lets go, I stand staring at Drape’s pale face. His whole body is limp and broken. They’re right… he’s gone. No one can bring him back now. I scramble to his side and brush his hair back from his face. Again, tears flood my eyes. I lean over and kiss his forehead, a wave of regret washing over me.

  Sky’s hand on my shoulder brings me back to reality—to the bombs that drop around us and the collapsing buildings.

  “Fin, I’m sorry.”

  His voice barely reaches my ears. I slowly turn and fall into his arms and cry.

  “You did all you could,” he whispers.

  “I could’ve done more,” I say, pulling back as a surge of anger consumes me. “I should never have gotten him into this situation.”

  “These things
happen in war,” Emma says, stepping closer.

  Clenching my fists, I rip myself from Sky’s embrace. “It was obvious. Everything was too easy. The SNA was too willing to help. We should have known.”

  “We were lied to,” Emma says. “We had to take the chance.”

  Another enemy. More lies. A world full of deceit. My stomach churns as I realize Bellaton and Reinhart were telling us the truth. I flex my fingers and hold back the urge to punch something. The very people I’d grown to hate and distrust were telling us the truth. Or, at least, a small part of the truth, although it was only to save themselves, not us.

  “And look what happened,” I say, pointing back to Drape. My chest tightens as I realize Drape’s devotion to me got him killed. “He would never have followed us if not for me. He was tired of war. He wanted to leave the fighting, end it—”

  Another blast shakes the ground. The tremors rumble up my legs and rattle my teeth. After a moment, the roar of another building collapsing subsides.

  “That was near the EHC headquarters,” Emma urges.

  Sky leans over, looking straight into my eyes. “There’s still time to help the others.”

  Emma tries the comm again. Still no signal. Only the familiar crackling static. “We have to go there to help the others.”

  “How?” I check the quickly changing landscape. “The streets are full of wreckage.”

  “We’ll have to figure it out,” Emma says.

  I pull back my shoulders. If there’s a chance to rescue them, we have to take it. I glance back to Drape’s body. “I can’t leave him.”

  Sky raises a brow. “He’s dead. There’s nothing more we can do—”

  “No. I’m not going anywhere until I know his body is secure.”

  Emma glances at Sky, then holsters the comm. “I’ll help you lift him back to the hovercraft.”

  Renewed energy from my already healing body mixes with my determination to do everything I can to make up for what I failed to do when Drape was living. His body was too far gone to heal, even with his modification.

  Together, Sky and I work to rush Drape’s body from the rubble and toward what’s left of the hover.

  “In the back,” I say.