Storm

by D. J. MacHale

  “I won’t argue,” I said. “Do what you gotta do. But I want you to know that I heard everything you told me in Kentucky, and I agree with you. Every move we’ve made, that I’ve pushed you guys into making, was about me getting what I wanted. I was wrong. I’m sorry.”

  Tori nodded. “It wasn’t all your fault,” she said. “I bought into it. I bought into you. I really did believe we needed each other, and for somebody who has taken care of herself for most of her life, that’s saying something.”

  I couldn’t have felt any lower.

  “That night,” she said. “When I begged you to come to Nevada with me . . .”

  She had trouble finishing the sentence. The memory stung.

  I was wrong—I could feel lower.

  “I put myself out there,” she continued, fighting back tears. “You even told me that you loved me. That moment . . . it seemed as though no matter what happened, we would have each other’s backs. Stupid me, huh? You’d already decided to take off on us and go after Granger on your own, didn’t you?”

  I nodded.

  “You should have told me the truth, Tucker,” she said, her voice hardening. “The next morning, when I heard what you’d done, that’s when it all became clear. I can’t tell you how to feel, or what to want, but I deserve to know the truth. We all do.”

  “I know,” I said. “Going after Granger was insane.”

  “No,” Tori said. “Abandoning us was insane.”

  I couldn’t argue with her. Here I had warned Kent about keeping secrets, and I was just as guilty as he was.

  “What do you really want, Tucker? What’s driving you? Is it still about getting revenge for Quinn? Do you still think you can go back to Pemberwick Island and mow lawns someday? What is it you think is going to happen?”

  She was forcing me to think about things in a way that I had been avoiding for a long time.

  “Anger is easy,” I said. “It makes sense. So does wanting things to be fixed. It’s natural to get all righteous and demand to get back what we lost. It’s a lot harder to face the unknown and accept that things can never be the same. So I guess I don’t know what I want, and that’s the scariest thing of all. Almost as scary as losing your friendship.”

  I desperately wanted her to look me in the eye, but she wouldn’t.

  “What is it you want, Tori?” I asked. “You’ve been talking about fighting back, and now you’ve got your chance. What happens after that?”

  Tori stared at the floor for a good long time, giving a lot of thought to her answer.

  “What I want isn’t about a place,” she finally said. “Or going home. Or trying to recapture what I used to have. I’m not so sure I’d want that even if I could have it. What I want is to know what’s going to happen tomorrow, and the next day, and to know that somebody will be there with me.”

  She finally looked at me, and I saw that she had tears in her eyes. That’s the moment I fully realized how much I had failed her. She gave me a sad smile and said, “It’s the exact same thing I wanted before I ever heard of SYLO.”

  I wanted to reach out and hold her but didn’t dare.

  “I wish I could give that to you,” I said.

  She wiped her eyes and said, “Yeah, well, whatever.”

  I expected her to leave, but she didn’t. It gave me faint hope that maybe we could start over again.

  I had been struggling with a decision for a while. It wasn’t until that moment that I finally made up my mind. It might prove to be a huge mistake. A fatal one. But I had to take the chance.

  “I want to tell you something,” I said, lowering my voice to be sure that nobody would overhear. “Back in Fort Knox, before the Retros attacked, Granger told me something that’s been torturing me.”

  “Granger?” Tori said. “Why would you listen to anything he said?”

  “Because it made sense.”

  I had her full attention.

  “He told me not to trust anyone. My mother told me the same thing in the SYLO prison.”

  “So?”

  “So he told me that the whole time he was chasing us down, in the rebel camp and through the battle on the ocean, he wasn’t after me.”

  “Of course he was,” Tori said, scoffing. “He was after all of us because we were trying to escape from the island.”

  “No, he wasn’t. He was after Retro infiltrators.”

  “That’s bull. There weren’t any . . .”

  Tori stopped talking, and her eyes went wide. She tried to form words but had trouble putting them together.

  “I . . . I’m not a Retro,” she finally said.

  “I didn’t think you were. That’s why I’m telling you this.”

  Tori glanced to the far side of the room, where Olivia and Kent were sitting close to one another, giggling about something.

  “I don’t believe it,” she said, more out of surprise than true disbelief.

  “I wish I didn’t, but it’s hard not to wonder. Especially after what happened with Jon. That’s why I put the hardcore press on them to stay.”

  Tori kept staring at them, as if she were looking for some clue that would tell her they were innocent . . . or not.

  “What are you thinking?” I asked.

  “What really happened on Pemberwick?” she asked. “Did Granger and SYLO set out to ruin everyone’s lives? Or were they trying to protect us?”

  “You’ve said that before. I don’t know. It’s hard to believe, but it sure makes it easier to accept that my parents were helping him.”

  “It’s time!” Matt announced as he strode into the ballroom.

  Everyone slowly got to their feet and stretched.

  “Has everyone been assigned to a team?” he asked.

  There were general grunts of agreement.

  I looked at Tori. This was her chance to bail.

  She reached out, took my hand, and gave me a small smile.

  I didn’t know if she trusted me any more than before, but at least this meant we would be together until the end. I’d take the victories where I could get them.

  “Everyone has a starting position?” Matt called out.

  Same response.

  I looked at the number I was given. Number six. We would be leaving in the sixth wave.

  “Good,” Matt said. “There’s nothing more to say but . . . good luck. I’m proud of you all. Group number one, come with me. I’ll come back to fetch the next group shortly.”

  He strode out of the room as four people hitched up their packs and headed after him. The rest of the room broke out in spontaneous applause. It was a heroes’ send-off.

  “This is really going to happen,” Tori said.

  “Sure is!” Kent announced as he joined us.

  Olivia was right behind him with wide, nervous eyes.

  “I gotta admit,” Kent said. “I wasn’t sure at first, but now I’m looking forward to this mission. It’s gonna feel good to kick those guys where it hurts. Thanks for talking us into this, Tucker.”

  Olivia winced as if she had been hit in the stomach. She didn’t offer me any thanks.

  “The main thing we have to do is stay together,” I said. “Let’s make sure we can always see one another.”

  “Don’t worry,” Kent said, as cocky as ever. “I’ve got your back, whether you think so or not.”

  “Thanks,” I replied. What I didn’t say was, “We’d better stay together, because if any of you sneak off, I’ll know that you’re going to try to warn the Retros.”

  One by one the teams were called out of the ballroom. Each group got their own round of applause and cheers of encouragement.

  During one cheer I leaned in to Tori and whispered, “Did they give you your gun back?”

  She nodded.

  That was reassuring.

  “Team number six!” the escort called.

  “That’s us!” Kent announced. “Saddle up!”

  “Oh God,” Olivia blurted out.

  As we walked from
the room, we got the same applause as the others.

  Kent waved to the room like he was some hero who had actually done something to deserve it. Idiot.

  The escort led us first to the hotel lobby, where Cutter was waiting with four small backpacks, each holding ten charges.

  “You’ve got your maps?” he asked.

  We all nodded.

  “Take off at exactly sixteen thirty hours,” he said.

  “When?” Kent asked, confused.

  “Four thirty.”

  “Oh. Why didn’t you just say that?”

  Cutter shot him a dirty look and said, “Once you hit the interstate, pick it up to eighty-five miles an hour until you hit the exit point marked on your map. You should have all the charges attached and activated by twenty hundred, uh, eight o’clock. Then get on your horse and out of there, because thirty minutes later . . . boom.”

  “That’s it?” I asked. “That’s all the instruction we get?”

  “What more do you want?” he asked. “Get out of there fast. How’s that?”

  I didn’t like Cutter. He was way too cocky, like he was putting on a show of being a Special Ops guy to impress us.

  “Head outside. Charlotte has your ride.” He then held out his hand to shake and said, “Good luck, son.”

  He said it with absolute sincerity and no bluster. That simple gesture made me realize he was just as nervous about what was about to happen as everybody else.

  I shook his hand and said, “Thanks. Same to you.”

  He shook each of our hands. Olivia actually gave him a hug. He wasn’t ready for it and was stiff at first, but then loosened up and gave her a reassuring pat on the back.

  “I’m sorry you kids have to do this,” he said. “But I’m proud that you are. You guys are already heroes. It’s an honor to serve with you.”

  Olivia broke away, and we all headed outside.

  Tori whispered to me, “Okay, maybe he’s not such a tool after all.”

  We walked out of the front doors of the hotel, where Charlotte stood in the driveway beside a green Range Rover.

  “All gassed up and ready to go,” she announced cheerily.

  We put our gear in back, and I went right for the driver’s side.

  “I’ll drive, Tori navigates,” I announced with authority. I didn’t leave any room for discussion.

  Charlotte was waiting for me at the driver’s door.

  “Any questions, pardner?” she asked.

  “Only about a million.”

  “I’m sorry, Tucker. I should have seen through Jon’s act.”

  “That makes all of us,” I said. “We spent a lot more time with him.”

  “But I’m supposedly the expert. It was my job.”

  She glanced out to the street and the devastation that Jon had brought on. When night fell, it would get far worse.

  “I can’t believe I’m sending kids off to do something like this,” she said wistfully.

  “Yeah, well, like you said: We may be young, but we’re not kids anymore.”

  “I know, and it kills me.”

  She reached out and hugged me.

  “You’re incredible,” she said. “You all are. Please be careful.”

  “We’ll see you afterward,” I said. “Somewhere. You realize this is just the beginning.”

  “Let’s hope so,” she said.

  She walked off to set up the next team, revealing Tori, who had been standing behind her.

  “We’re really going to do this, aren’t we?” she asked.

  “Looks like it,” I replied. “There’s just one thing I gotta know first.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Why the hell were you making out with Kent at the racetrack?”

  Tori’s jaw dropped, and her eyes went wide with shock and embarrassment.

  “You saw that?”

  I smiled, which broke the tension.

  She smiled back and shrugged. “I gave it a shot. What the hell? Big mistake. It was gross.”

  “Kind of how I felt about being with Olivia in the shower.”

  “Liar.”

  “Guilty.”

  “Hey!” Kent yelled, sticking his head out of the window. “We’re on a schedule.”

  Tori gave me a killer smile and said, “Let’s go blow ’em away.”

  As she hurried around to the passenger side, I gazed out at what was left of Las Vegas. Being part of this operation gave me a jolt of confidence that I hadn’t felt in, well, ever. At least not since my old life was destroyed. It was time for payback.

  I got in the car, threw it into gear, and hit the gas.

  It was a good feeling.

  We were finally going on offense.

  TWENTY-SIX

  The desert is beautiful at sunset.

  It was our second journey through the wide-open desolation, and it was just as breathtaking as the first. As the sun dropped toward the distant mountain range, long shadows grew and crept over the desert floor. The colors changed from multiple shades of amber to deep orange to purple and ultimately to black.

  Unlike our tense, quiet journey across the country, this trip was full of nervous chatter. The fear of a black Retro jet suddenly appearing over the mountains on its way to blasting us to dust made it difficult to fully appreciate the glories of nature.

  “I’m feeling good,” Kent declared. “We’re gonna get in fast, do what we have to do, and get out even faster. Hit and run. Shock and awe. I’m feelin’ it.”

  He was terrified.

  “Where do we go afterward?” Tori asked. “We’re pretty much on our own.”

  “I saw that there’s a resort on the California-Nevada border called Primm,” I offered. “It’s in the middle of nowhere.”

  “Everywhere out here is the middle of nowhere,” Kent said sarcastically.

  I ignored him. “I’m thinking we’ll find food and a place to sleep. From there we can head west toward the coast.”

  “Whatever,” Kent said. “I’m more focused on the next two hours.”

  The only person not talking was Olivia.

  “You with us, Olivia?” I asked.

  “Unfortunately,” she replied.

  That was about as much of a vote of confidence as we could expect from her. At least she hadn’t completely checked out.

  I held our speed to eighty-five for the entire time we were on the interstate. We didn’t want to catch up to the team ahead of us or lose ground to the team behind. The mission would succeed or fail based on how many of us could get through to the air base. If the Retros smelled trouble, they would have a tough time targeting multiple small targets. At least that was the theory.

  “There it goes,” Olivia said, sounding wistful.

  She was watching the sun disappear behind the distant ridge.

  I couldn’t help but wonder if we’d ever see it again.

  “We should be reaching our turnoff spot soon,” I said to Tori.

  She checked the map for the four hundredth time.

  “It’s coming up,” she announced.

  We reached a fork in the highway and saw the sign that directed us to our next leg.

  “Extraterrestrial Highway,” Kent read. “Classic.”

  I made the turn without losing speed. Soon the road began to rise and twist as we crossed over a ridge.

  “Won’t be long now,” I said. “Keep an eye out for a dirt road on our left.”

  “It’s hard to tell where we are,” Tori complained. “How are we supposed to see a single-lane dirt road in the middle of—”

  “There!” I announced.

  If I hadn’t been looking hard, we would have missed it. It was an unmarked dirt road that led away from the highway and into the desert . . . toward Area 51. I made the turn and immediately had to slow way down because the road surface was uneven and gravelly.

  “I think we’ve got about twenty miles of this,” Tori announced. “Then we look for the contact.”

  Our contact was a membe
r of the Paiute tribe. The Paiute had escaped with relatively few casualties on the night of the attack. Seems as though the Retros mostly targeted population centers and didn’t spend as much time wiping out people who lived in remote villages. It gave me hope that there were many more such survivors scattered all over the country, and the world. Since the attack, the Paiute had been working with the other survivors to scout the air base, help with security, and plan the counterattack.

  “It’s almost dark,” Kent said. “How are we going to see this Injun?”

  “Seriously?” I scolded. “Injun?”

  Kent shrugged. “Little slack, please. Tasteless comments are allowed when you’re putting your life on the line.”

  I decided to let it go, as did everyone else.

  The road was dead flat but led toward another ridge that was covered with scrubby trees and towering rock formations. Somewhere on that rise, our contact would be waiting.

  We had traveled for nearly twenty minutes when Tori leaned forward.

  “There he is,” she announced.

  On the side of the road maybe a quarter of a mile ahead was a figure waving a flashlight. I slowed and soon pulled up to an elderly guy who was wearing a cowboy hat, blue work shirt, and jeans.

  “Park behind those boulders,” the old man instructed.

  His face was as deeply lined as the desert. I’d bet that if anybody knew his way around these parts, he and his fellow tribesmen did.

  I drove across a stretch of dirt toward a pile of boulders that was fifty yards away. As we drove around to the far side, our headlights set upon our next mode of transportation: a couple of two-seater dune buggies.

  “Awesome,” Kent said with relish.

  “Swell,” Olivia moaned with dread.

  “Leave your gear here,” I said after killing the engine. “Just take the charges. We’ll come back for everything afterward.”

  The old man rounded the boulder pile as we got out of the Range Rover.

  “The moon is full tonight,” he said. “Travel without headlights. Follow this same road for maybe ten miles. It will take you up through these hills and down to the other side. That’s where you’ll find it.”

  “Have you been to the base?” I asked.

  The old man looked at the distant hill as if lost in thought. It was an awkward moment. I wasn’t sure if he had heard me or understood what I asked.