“Please, Ky. Come back with us. Don’t stay here.”
“I’ve already told them I’ll stay, Marc. I can’t change my mind now.”
“Yes, you can!” His brows tug together, and sorrow steals his sober eyes. “I’m begging you, Kylie. I’ll get down on my hands and knees if I have to.”
“I,” I stammer, fighting the truth. “I’m doing it. I warned you last night that I wasn’t going back.”
Marc cuffs my cheek, and I bite my lips and lock my knees to contain the feebleness that travels over my body. His free hand moves to my side and grabs me for support as if he knows I crumble at his touch. “I’ll miss you, Ky. There will be no more of this.” Magnetically, our lips align, and he kisses me hard and long. I exhale against his mouth, never wanting to break away and hating that I’ll have to. Marc’s forehead presses to mine. It takes me a minute to open my eyes as I push down the growing burn working its way up my stomach to my throat.
I pant, clutching his sides.
“Open your eyes,” he says, voice even hoarser than his usual rasp.
I part my lids, meeting his violet gaze, inches from my face.
“You’re okay with never seeing me again? I’ll never see you again, and I’m not okay with that, Kylie.” He pecks my lips once. “If you’re trying to break me, Ky, I’m broken.” He takes a step away from me, brows furrowed, fists balled. “If you’re trying to prove something to me, I fucking get it. If you’re this pissed at me, I promise I’ll do anything to make it up to you, everything you’re mad at me for.” Marc drops to his knees and grabs me by the back of mine. “Are you listening? Kylie, say you won’t stay.”
I swipe the tear from my eye that I was trying to keep from falling. “You don’t understand. I’m going back to nothing, Marc.” The denial I’ve been trying to bury breaks from me.
“You’re going back to me. What is it that I don’t understand? I got you. While you sleep and are awake. I am not trying to replace Luke, but I’m here for you too.”
I try to shuffle from his hold, but he’s got me tight by the legs. The plea in his eyes is like a bullet driving through my heart—murder. “I don’t want that. I told you, I need to find myself, and I can’t do that if I’m relying on someone else to help me sleep at night or watch my back while I’m fighting. I need to learn how to be a Creation. Or human…on my own. I need to find out who I truly am, and going back isn’t going to help me with this. I love you, Marc. Everything about you. But you must let me do this. Let me go.”
He lays his forehead to my thighs. “I don’t want to.” He clears his throat, but it only worsens the rasp. “I’m sorry, Ky.”
“Me too.”
When his grip loosens, I break from the force field that pulls me to Marc, step around him and leave the hall. As I pass Sean, Seits, and Jord, I break into a run. It takes all the will within me to not look back at him, at them. But I have to do this for me.
Chapter Sixteen
*Marc*
Once I’m on my feet, I turn away from Kylie. A growl charges up my throat, and I release a grunt as I ram my fist into the pillar. It splits in two. The top tears away from the ceiling, and wall plaster crumbles to the floor. “Shit,” I groan. That’ll cost me.
“Marc.” Sean shakes his head, gesturing toward my disaster. “What the hell are you doing?” he asks when I return. “You good?”
I pull my hood over my head and stuff my hands in the pockets of my hoodie. “Yeah.”
“We need to go. Our plane will be setting up for departure shortly,” Jord informs.
The lot of us march out of the hotel to a truck awaiting our arrival. It drives us to a landing field where a commercial, wide-body airliner is being loaded with crates, and Normals are climbing the stairs for entry.
Sean glares out the window, frowning. “Why aren’t we flying solo?”
Jord adjusts in the passenger seat of our chauffeured transportation. “It was the next flight out. We needed the space, and these citizens are traveling to Arizona. It’s a way of killing two birds with one stone.”
The truck comes to a stop as our silent driver hits the locks. We exit the truck and board the plane with the Normals.
From the second we walked out of the Inn, I was hoping Kylie would change her mind at the last minute. That she would even find her way to the airstrip and board this plane. We’d find her waiting for us in one of these seats with a smile. But she was set on staying, and I can’t stand in her way of finding herself. We rely on our twins from the day we’re created, and I can’t put myself in her shoes to say she’ll be fine without Luke. It’s noble though, that she wants to be the best she can be on her own. I’m just selfish. I’ve grown used to her company and comfortable with her smile. I don’t want to miss it, but I must.
I watch the passengers get settled and wait for the plane to prepare for takeoff.
“Don’t trip, Marc,” Sean tells me.
“Shut up about it, Sean.” I lean my head against the headrest and close my eyes, trying to drown out the chatter and crying baby.
“I’m only trying to help. Don’t be mad at me. I didn’t do it.” His seatbelt clicks, and he continues his nagging. “I told you that was going to happen, but you just wanted to believe otherwise. There was no way she was coming back.”
“Sean. Shut. Up.”
“You wanted to think a girl like Kylie would understand forgiveness. Her brother was Lukahn. Don’t be so stupid, Marc. You’re making me ashamed to be your brother.”
I part my lids and look at him from the corner of my eye. “If you don’t shut up…”
He points, waggling his finger. “Don’t threaten me because you’re angry. Give it a year, you’ll get over it.”
“Sean,” I bark, sitting forward.
“Whoa. Whoa.” Sean throws his hands up in the small space. “Calm down, Marc. I’m just trying to make you feel better. Jeesh.”
“What the fu—.” I grind my jaw, and the aversion for his reasoning bleeds through my words as I say, “Make me feel better?” I sigh, sinking onto the seat, remembering my brother is an idiot. “Make me feel better by shutting up.” I look out the window. The day has dawned, and red and white lights line the runway. They’ve lifted the stairs and shut the doors.
We were supposed to depart fifteen minutes ago.
The Creation flight attendant stands in the aisle near the front of the plane. She says, “We will be departing soon. Sorry about the delay. The engine needed quick maintenance. We should be on our way in ten minutes.”
From the seat in front of us, Collins peeks over the headrest. “Maybe this is just a stall for Kylie to come back.” She chuckles.
I look her over. They should’ve offered Collins the opportunity for placement change. Her curvy frame, salt and pepper hair, electric green eyes, and arrogant attitude would fit well in Highrum. She’d look nice beside Cambridge too. I can’t believe I let this girl kiss my damn cheek. I don’t regret the choice I made, but I for damn sure hate that it involved her.
“What are you staring at, Marc?”
I drag my gaze away from her. “Absolutely nothing.”
“You know…”
Why won’t he shut up? “No. And I don’t want to.”
Sean slaps my shoulder, child-like. “I know you’re all heartbroken, but you need to have a better attitude.”
I sit forward and whip my left elbow at Sean, hitting him square in the jaw.
“Agh,” he groans.
“Now shut your mouth.”
There’s a chime before the pilot speaks over the intercom. “Prepare for takeoff.” Recycled air blasts loudly through the cabin, and the plane finally jerks into motion.
Sean yanks my left hand to his busted lip and grabs my right in his. The slightest vibrations move between my palm and his face. As long as he remains quiet, we’re good. The only thing Sean takes seriously is waking up in the morning. I’ve busted his mouth on more than one occasion, all deserving. Maybe the next time, I
’ll avoid healing him so he can learn his lesson. Everything isn’t a joke.
The plane takes off, lifting through the clouds with ease.
General Jord is in the aisle seat across from us, and General Seits is next to him, peering out the window. She hasn’t said a word since Kylie walked off. She and Ky seemed to have grown closer with her helping Ky plan our date, which is odd behavior for a general. They are supposed to put an end to relations between Creations, not encourage them.
“Everyone should load up now and be prepared when we land. Who knows how things will be when we get there,” General Jord says.
Even more reason why it doesn’t make sense for them to allow Normals to take the flight back. I’m fine being uncertain about what lies in wait for us. We’ll take down everything we can. But putting these Normals’ lives in danger is reckless. Maybe they didn’t do their research or care enough to check, but this doesn’t make any sense.
“Yes, sir,” Sean, Collins, and I respond.
An explosion blasts from beneath the plane.
Daylight reclaims the night sky in a flash.
The plane shakes, contents rumbling in the compartments. Panic draws screams from the passengers. The lights flicker and oxygen masks drop from the panels.
The flight attendant takes a spot in the aisle, trying to keep hold of the seats to remain upright. “Please, everyone. Try to remain calm.”
A second explosion comes from the rear, jolting the plane forward. We thrash frontward, and the flight attendant loses her grip and hits the floor.
A wail of beeps and ringing joins the shouts of the Normals and rumbling of the aircraft.
A suffocating scent of smoke and burning oil replaces the recycled air. The lights shut off. Passengers jump from their seats and scramble into the aisle.
Over the intercom the pilot says, “Please remain seated with your seatbelts fastened. If you are a Creation alongside your twin, take precaution and latch now in preparation for healing. We’re in for a tough landing.”
We take a nosedive, and the shift in space sends those standing falling to the front of the plane and us seated ramming against our seatbelts.
“Do not unbuckle your seatbelt,” I tell Sean, pointing to his belt because I can’t hear myself over the ruckus.
Collins shuffles around in the seat in front of us, yelling, “I don’t have a twin to grab. Help me!”
Sean grabs my hand, and I watch out the window as we meet the land.
The front of the plane plows into the ground. I jerk forward, and my head rams against the back of the seat in front of me.
Disoriented, I force myself to unbuckle my seatbelt. I catch myself on the seat now below me. “Come on, Sean.” He dangles forward at the waist, unconscious. I pat his cheek. “Get up. We need to help these people off this plane before it blows.”
He grumbles inaudible words.
“Come on, bro. You can do this.” He blinks, eyes rolling around in his head before they focus on me. “Attaboy. I’m going to unbuckle your belt. You will fall forward. We’re no longer upright.”
He looks around us then nods. “Wow. That was some landing, huh?”
“Yeah it was. Come on now.”
He unbuckles his belt and lowers himself onto the back of the seat beside me.
I pat his shoulder as he shakes the dizziness from his head. “Help anyone you can get to in the back. I’ll get the front.”
Sean gives me a nod and goes to help up the generals. They climb through the plane, helping anyone they can. The rear is flaming. That’s bad for the artillery we have stored beneath the plane.
Jumping to the next row of seats, I call, “Collins?” but I find her lodged between the seats with her neck snapped, and her body bent by the middle of her spine. She’s unresponsive.
Someone coughs. “Help,” an elderly voice calls, gasping. I climb over the seats to the next row and help an elderly woman onto my back. She pants in my ear. “Thank you very much, young man.” She wraps her arms tightly around my neck.
Throughout the plane, we hurry in search for survivors. Managing to balance on the back of seats while carrying Normals makes it hard, but even without the convenience of a flat surface, we make it work.
Metal whines. Bolts groan and a smaller explosion rumbles the plane. Fire rises from the nose and is escalating from the tail.
We meet at the door, balancing on the backs of seats to remain upright and avoid slipping to the front of the plane.
Jord’s holding an unconscious boy in his arms. He throws him over his shoulder and balances on one foot to kick open the door with the other.
We help out those we saved. “Hurry,” we shout and run out after the last of them. We did our best to get everyone off the plane, but as I’m jumping out, I hear another scream. I land and look up at the broken door. The jump from the ground to the door is out of my reach.
Gunshots pop off.
Shit! The bullets from the cargo. “Everyone hit the ground! Try to get as far from the plane as possible!”
Everyone drops. Bullets clip the legs and plow into the backs of those who were too slow.
An eruption explodes from the plane, brightening the land in red and orange. Splinters of metal and steel zip through the air. The fire swells and bursts. I’m thrusted backward, thrown off my feet, soaring through the air until I’m slammed against the ground.
My ears are ringing. Over it, I hear muffled cries and a hollow rumbling. I blink twice before I can make out the plane, over twenty feet from me, split in two. Both parts are blazing, people are on fire, running from the wreckage.
I try to turn my head, but a stiffening pain shoots down my spine. “Fuck.”
Sean crawls to me on his belly. “You okay?”
“No.” I wince from the movement. “I think my back is broken.”
He’s lying on the grass, elbows propped in the dirt with his chin resting on his fists. He smiles. “Well doesn’t that just suck for you. I’m just fine,” he sings.
I squeeze my eyes shut and pinch my lips together to prevent myself from cursing him out.
In a singing tone, he asks, “Would you like for me to heal your back, Marc?”
“No. Just let me lie here while all these Normals suffer as you lie there being an idiot.”
There’s a familiar thundering patter that sounds over the rumble of the fire. Heavy groans echo through the air, carried by the wind. Zombies.
“You hear that?” Sean asks, gone serious, taking my hand and healing my back. My vertebra and spine align and snap back into place.
I sit up, stretching to check my back’s strength. “Yes. Let’s get out of here.” I jump to my feet.
From the other side of the fire, a herd of Zombies are advancing in our direction.
“You see anyone else?” Sean asks, tugging on my arm.
“We don’t have time to look. And don’t have enough bullets to fight them off. We gotta go.”
I look around, noticing the plane crash-landed in a valley, seemingly just outside the fenced-off city of Highrum. No nearby states start beyond Highrum’s city limits. On the east, it’s grassland, trees, and the sky’s a clear blue during the day. On the west, desert, dry and desolate; never a cloud to shade the land from the sun. Highrum’s climate is a mixture of the two. The scientists managed to make every day perfect.
The growing cloud of smoke is about to change that.
We run across yards of grassland, racing for the border barrier. Beyond it is the city—buildings we can use for cover.
“I thought this was over,” Sean yells.
“Said who? We only made it worse,” I say.
“The silver building with the black windows at the top floor, near the roof. It’s a lab with a bunker,” Jord shouts from behind us. “We can hole up in there and revamp.”
I glance over my shoulder and see him and Seits coming up behind us. Glad to see they made it. The building is one of the three tallest on this end of the city. The black win
dows on it stand out from the other buildings with clear or mirrored windows. It’s a few blocks beyond the barrier. We make it to the twelve-foot border, climbing the metal infill panels reinforced by slabs of steel.
The Zombies are hard on our heels, making it to the barrier before we’re up and over it. We drop over fifteen feet to the ground, smacking into the concrete ditch hard on our backs and sides.
I grunt, rolling from my back to my side to push myself to my feet.
The barrier is shaking, thrusting forward and back. The growls and snarls of the Zombies grow louder.
I limp to Sean and grab his arm to yank him to his feet. “They’re going to make it over that fence,” I say. “We can’t stop now.”
“Just a few blocks north,” Jord says, popping Seits’s shoulder back in place. She groans in pain, gritting her teeth. She throws up her index finger, closes her eyes, and breathes deep.
“No time. We need to go,” I say.
They nod, and we push forward, climbing out of the ditch to higher ground. The creaking of the giving barrier draws my attention to the single Zombie that’s made it to the top and is falling over the edge.
“They made it over!”
We race for our destination with the herd of snarling Zombies coming up behind us. Some drag their feet, others thrash forward. Those that barged through the fire burn, the flames having little effect on them.
The first floor of our safe haven is surrounded by glass. The building goes up five flights, so there’s a slight advantage if we can make it to the roof and lock them inside. As we approach, scientists in white lab coats pull open the glass doors for us. We help them shove them closed once we’re in.
“Get something in front of those doors. We’re under attack!” Seits moves to a position facing the glass doors. “Back away from the glass.”
Sean and I drag a desk in front of the doors. I point to a tall man with a white lab coat and badge that reads Manager Chris. “We need guns, bags of ammunition, and anyone who’s willing to fight alongside us. There’s an army of them, and it’s going to take an army of us to take them out.” He nods and runs off to a hall behind me.
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