3

by James Phelan

  This one is for Raff, who I owe her weight in chocolate—JP.

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Our Battle Continues

  Previously

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Collage

  Preview of The Last Thirteen: 2

  Sneak Peek

  About the Author

  Copyright

  PREVIOUSLY

  Just as he begins to lose hope, Sam is rescued at sea. Befriended by the Japanese Prime Minister, and with help from Issey’s grandfather, Sam and Tobias leave for Cambodia, where Sam has dreamed he will meet the next of the last 13.

  At the Academy, Eva discovers that a Doors team have been sabotaged but the competition will go on. Travelling to Istanbul, Eva, Xavier and Zara prepare to face their fears and enter the dream construct.

  On their way to Angkor Wat, Sam and Tobias are ambushed by local bandits. Tobias’ quick thinking saves them and they continue to the temple where they meet Poh, the next Dreamer. He is ready for Sam and revisits his dream to find his Gear.

  Alex decides to stay on Hans’ superyacht, playing along with him to discover his plans. They sail south but are attacked by drone planes sent by Stella. Fending them off, they arrive at the Marshall Islands where they are taken hostage by local pirates.

  Tobias remains on guard while Sam and Poh navigate an amazing complex of tunnels under Angkor Wat. Poh finds his Gear around the neck of an incredible elephant statue and inadvertently sets off a trap, filling the chamber with water.

  Meanwhile, Eva, Xavier and Zara enter the Doors construct where Eva quickly discovers something is amiss. Searching for the others, she is attacked by Solaris. With great courage, Eva faces her worst fear and escapes the Doors. She awakens to find Xavier has been “lost” inside the construct and is fighting for his life.

  Poh leads Sam to safety but when they return to their camp, Tobias is missing. Sam finds him wounded in the forest, attacked once more by the bandits. He is too badly injured and dies in Sam’s arms.

  Heavy-hearted, Sam travels to New York where the Japanese Prime Minister has arranged for Sam to speak to the UN. Putting on a brave face, Sam stands before the General Assembly and reveals the existence of Dreamers, the prophecy and that they only have fourteen days left to save the world …

  01

  EVA’S NIGHTMARE

  “Run, Eva! Run!”

  I hear Sam’s voice but I cannot find him among the hundreds of faces passing by me.

  “Eva!” Sam yells again.

  His voice sounds distant and I can’t place where it’s coming from in the busy plaza.

  “Eva—up here!”

  I look up from where I stand, shielding my eyes from the bright sun.

  Sam is a tiny speck above me, standing on top of one of the most recognizable buildings in the world—the Sydney Opera House. Its huge white sails seem to sparkle in the sunlight, the dappled reflections of the nearby water making the glimmering walls look like they’re moving.

  What is he doing up there?

  “Sam!” I call out. “How’d you—”

  “Behind you!” Sam shouts, pointing way over my head. “You have to run!”

  I turn.

  There’s commotion in the crowd. Voices cry out and the crowd begins to disperse, running. They’re scattering in all directions—away from something.

  Or, rather, someone …

  A black-clad figure blasts through the masses and is headed straight for me.

  Solaris.

  Oh no …

  No sooner have I spotted him than a blaze of fire streams over my head.

  I turn and run. It’s hard to break through the crowd of startled and screaming tourists. I am knocked to the ground in the stampede, but quickly get back to my feet and run up the wide stairs. I glance over my shoulder. Solaris is following, slowly and purposefully, yet somehow he’s gaining on me. I run toward the doors, trying to conjure up thoughts of something safe that might be beyond them—Lora with a team of Guardians, armed and ready, or Sam, there to lead us to a secret exit where a helicopter waits …

  The thought stops me in my tracks.

  Fire flashes again. My vision burns, blinding me, the ground beneath me circles, spinning fast.

  But how …?

  The screaming crowds, the tall buildings, the bustling city have disappeared. I look out into an expansive sky—the colours of the light have changed. Even the air feels different. And now I’m flying aboard a helicopter.

  I’m in a dream. I did this … I made this happen.

  I breathe in deeply, trying to not let the fear of being so high up overcome me. I turn to look at the pilot next to me. He’s big and strong, with long dark hair and dark skin. I don’t recognize him but I think that he must be a Guardian, though he’s not wearing the usual uniform. I notice a long scar zigzagging up his left arm. He sees me looking at him and points down at the ground.

  Reluctantly, I turn to look where he’s pointing, trying to look outward, not downward.

  Outside it seems like a different kind of bright. The sun is still on top of us, but the sky is a deeper blue and the ground below is burned orange and dusty. Everything seems so endless.

  My eyes focus on something tiny, far in the distance.

  As we near, I realize there is someone there. He is waving his arms over his head, signalling desperately to get our attention as we approach.

  Someone with short dark hair and glasses.

  We hover over this boy and I gasp in shock as I suddenly understand.

  It’s Sam.

  Why is he wearing glasses? And what happened to his hair? What’s going on?

  “Hold on!” says the pilot, as the helicopter banks sharply and circles around. “I’ll find a spot to land!”

  I give him a shaky thumbs up, my other hand beside me clinging tightly to the edge of the seat. I feel my heart rate accelerate as we go through the manoeuvre, my head spinning as the ground twirls closer in the helicopter’s ever tighter turns. I see Sam again as we pivot around, still waving at us. At first I think he’s smiling, but as I get a longer look, I see his mouth is moving. He’s saying something—no, shouting something.

  I feel a cold shiver run down my spine.

  Sam’s not waving at us.

  He’s warning us.

  I look out the window, twisting my body to see farther back. There’s another aircraft out there in the sky, another helicopter. It’s painted in military greens and browns, with its side doors open. I can see it’s loaded with weapons—missiles and heavy machine guns.

  I’ve seen a helicopter like this before … in the Alps.

  There’s a bright flash and a plume of smoke streaks across the brilliant blue sky. The missile heads in a straight line toward us.

  I’ve seen t
his before too.

  There seems little hope of escape. I know how this ends.

  But it’s my dream … control it, Eva. You’re not ready to wake up, you have to see the rest of this dream. Think.

  I close my eyes, feeling calm despite what is coming. I will myself to change my surroundings, to be somewhere else.

  The world spins and I feel weightless, as though floating on a sea.

  “Eva, wake up!”

  I open my eyes.

  Sam is next to me. He’s still wearing the thick, black-framed glasses. One of the lenses is cracked and his hair is as black as mine. He’s running next to me. It’s dark and our path is lit only by Sam’s flashlight.

  I’m moving as fast as Sam is, but I frown in confusion because I know I’m not running.

  I look around in the darkness and am startled to realize the helicopter pilot is carrying me, cradled in his arms like a small child, as he runs alongside Sam.

  “What … happened?” I ask.

  “The helicopter went down, a missile, just like before,” Sam says. “No backyard pool to splash down in this time, though.”

  “Then how did we …?” My mind is blank. I try to shake the confusion clear but I still can’t recall. I lean upward a little to look behind us and can see the glow of a large fire.

  “We have to get out of here,” Sam says. “They’re after us. Can you run?”

  “I—yes—I don’t know …”

  It feels as though my arms and legs are not mine. I try to move them but I can’t.

  “What happened?” I ask again. It’s night now and there are more stars in the sky than I have ever seen.

  “We have to get out of here,” Sam repeats.

  “Where are we?” I ask. I look around the horizon. There’s nothing to see, nothing but …

  What is that?

  Something ahead glows in the darkness, illuminated by powerful spotlights. Huge white structures, like golf balls. It looks like a space station, like I’m on the moon or another planet or something.

  “Why are we running?” I say to Sam.

  “Because of what you’ve got!” Sam says, pointing at me.

  I’m confused, starting to get frustrated with Sam’s evasive answers, but I look down. Hanging on my dream catcher necklace is a shiny object. Even in the dim light I know immediately what it is.

  A Gear.

  It’s unlike any that I have seen before in the race.

  “How’d I get this?” I ask.

  “We were hoping you could tell us,” Sam says.

  “Where are we?” I ask.

  “Australia,” the Guardian carrying me says as he runs after Sam. “We’re in Australia.”

  “Wait …” I say, and to my surprise, the two of them stop running, obedient. “Sam?”

  “Yes.”

  “We’re in my dream,” I say, wriggling out of the Guardian’s hold and dropping to the ground to stand on my own two feet. “I’ve got this.”

  I turn around and, clutching the Gear, I close my eyes to concentrate.

  Go back, Eva. See it all. From the start. How’d you get here? Where’d you find this Gear? See it all. Every step, so that you will know where to go in the waking world. You can do this … control it.

  I open my eyes.

  Daylight.

  “Yes!”

  I’m back in Sydney.

  But my elation is short lived, replaced instead by panic when I realize that this time, I’m on top of the Opera House, way, way up high. I crouch down and my arms fling out to hold onto something—anything—to steady myself. The height makes my head spin and my heart race. The strong wind buffeting me makes the terrifying distance from the ground worse. I start to breathe, fast and furious, but then hold my breath completely at the sound of something familiar.

  “You’re getting good at this, Eva …” It is Solaris’ voice, amplified and menacing. “But no matter how far or how fast you run in your dreams, I will always be there. You will never outrun me.”

  He charges at me, becoming a shapeless black blur. The full force of his momentum knocks me over the edge. I see him standing there above me as I fall into—

  Nothingness.

  02

  ALEX

  The sea was calm and quiet. The pirates, on the other hand, were not.

  How is it even possible to make that much noise when you’re asleep?

  The snores and snuffling noises coming from the main living area was the good news, as Alex could easily tell where the pirates were on the Ra. The bad news was even though they seemed a little carefree with security, over-confident about their superior numbers and weaponry, they were not dumb enough to completely forget about leaving a night watch. That guy was walking around, looking out for trouble.

  Great.

  Locked up in Hans’ stateroom with the others, Alex was the only one small or agile enough to fit through the port window. He’d gotten to this point quickly and without any trouble. The next part would be tougher.

  But Alex had an escape plan and was determined to see it through. He clung to the outside of the Ra’s hull, holding onto the rail, his back arched and his feet shuffling along. His toes were balanced shakily on a ridge along the hull’s side. Even at this hour of the night, the pirates had the boat going at quite a speed, slicing through the dark Pacific waters.

  The guy on night watch was smoking. Alex could smell it on the breeze.

  “Disgusting habit,” Alex murmured under his breath, positioning himself below the guard, clinging onto the handrail and the side of the boat. The pirate’s machine gun was strapped around his back. Alex extended up onto his toes, lifting himself up closer and closer to the back of the guard …

  He grabbed the barrel of the gun and pulled, hard.

  The pirate flipped backwards over the bow of the superyacht, disappearing into the deep black sea with the smallest of splashes.

  “Shoulda quit while you had the chance, buddy,” Alex muttered, wincing at the desperate cries of the pirate as they sailed away from him.

  Alex still had the guy’s machine gun in his hand.

  This should come in handy.

  “That was easy …” he said to himself, getting up onto the forward deck, carefully and quietly making his way to the bridge, gun at the ready. He ducked down under the windows to consider his position.

  Now what—shoot my way out? No way.

  OK, think. They’re just pirates, making the most of the fact that the world’s gone crazy to expand their criminal activities.

  But … what if they know me? What if they’re here because they think I’m one of the last 13? Or maybe this is just a set-up, Hans could be in on it … but that doesn’t make sense, I’ve been with him all this time.

  Alex’s spiralling thoughts were disrupted by a voice coming from the bridge.

  Are there two more of them up there? Or is the pilot on the radio?

  Alex stayed where he was, trying to figure out what he was up against, when suddenly the door next to him burst open.

  03

  SAM

  Sam moved fast, seamlessly stitching together a jujitsu block and throw, putting his instructor down to the mat and then locking her into a compliance hold.

  “Yield,” the instructor said. “I yield.”

  Sam released the pressure on her shoulder and elbow lock and backed away. He put a towel around his neck and wiped away the sweat beading his forehead. He shook hands with his instructor and sat down at the side of the dojo to catch his breath.

  As he had done again and again over these last few days, he made his mind think back to his address at the UN. He could still feel the stares of the Assembly when he spoke. Still picture the cameras with their red lights flashing, all focused on him. He had felt calm as he explained about the race and of the thirteen special teenagers who would lead it. But as he recalled the end of his speech, he could still hear the desperation in his voice as he asked for help.

  The world’s reaction had
been swift and unexpected. The race, and those within it, were now global news.

  “That was intense,” a voice said. Sam’s head snapped up and he saw Eva standing in the doorway.

  Sam remained silent. He got up and walked past her, out of the gymnasium and across the great lawn of the Academy’s London campus, through an avenue of elm trees, their bare branches pointing starkly up into the winter sky. Eva followed close behind. Students were starting to pour out of the main building, their school day over. It was a world from which Sam was feeling more and more distant.

  “Sam, we have to talk,” Eva said.

  “No, we don’t.”

  “My dream—”

  “No.”

  “I had it. The dream—the one that makes me one of the last 13.”

  Sam stopped and looked long and hard at her without speaking.

  I knew this was coming but I still can’t work out if I’m happy or not. More people I care about in more danger … but she’s super smart and brave. Maybe braver than me.

  “Sam?” Eva said. “Come back to me from wherever you are. I need you now, more than ever. I finally see where I fit in and that’s amazing—and the scariest thing in the world. I know you understand.” She reached out for him. “Nothing? You have nothing to say to me now?”

  Sam hesitated for a moment, then kept walking.

  “OK, never mind that I need you. We all do. And it’s not good for you to shut down like this,” Eva sighed, worried. “We’ve barely seen you, since the funeral, I mean …”

  Sam said nothing, staring straight ahead, his expression blank.

  “I know how you must be feeling, Sam, but you should talk about it. We all miss Tobias, you know.”

  Sam stopped midstride, flinching at the sound of Tobias’ name. “Yeah? You think you know how this feels? Well, you didn’t see him, you weren’t there. You didn’t see him take his last breath. Or hear his last words …” Sam stopped himself, shocked to find himself shouting.

  Eva’s eyes widened, filling with tears. “I’m sorry, Sam. I’m so sorry … I didn’t mean … I don’t know what else to say.”

  Sam looked at Eva, his closest friend. He immediately regretted his outburst—wished he’d stayed silent and blocked the grief from surfacing as he’d done up to now.