He couldn’t believe this was the woman in the photo. She was so jaded.
“That’s why I have to know what’s happened. I don’t want to get myself killed, or anyone else for that matter. If I’m doing something ignorant, convince me to stop.”
She folded her arms, looked away, then dropped her arms and stormed off, navigating the mirrored maze effortlessly.
As they returned to Penny’s apartment, Melissa walking between Faller and Snakebite, Snakebite handed Melissa the photos of his children.
“Have you seen any of them?”
Melissa studied each photo carefully. “I’m sorry, no. If they weren’t on your island, they could be on any one of ten thousand. More.”
Snakebite remained stone-faced as he digested this nugget.
Faller was dreading the moment Storm learned she wasn’t the woman in the photo. For his part, Faller was trying to sort out how this new information affected his feelings for Storm. It did, and it didn’t. It didn’t change who Storm was, but knowing their coming together was all predicated on a case of mistaken identity was disturbing.
He and Melissa were divorced. All of that time he’d spent mooning over that photo, yearning to find her. Early on, it had been the only thing that kept him going.
“What should we do about Penny?” Snakebite asked as they approached the apartment.
That was a good point. They could ask Storm to come outside and leave Penny out of it, but then anyone passing would see Storm and Melissa together, and that might raise eyebrows.
“I say we risk telling her the truth,” Snakebite said.
“Who’s Penny?” Melissa asked.
“A woman we met from your world,” Faller said.
Melissa only nodded.
At Penny’s door, Faller took a deep breath before pushing it open. Storm, who was sitting on the couch across from Penny, gave him a bright smile as he stepped through. When Melissa followed, she sprang from the couch.
Penny looked from Melissa to Storm and back again. “I don’t understand. What is this?”
For her part, after looking Storm up and down, Melissa only shook her head, as if Storm’s presence were only mildly surprising.
“This is Melissa,” Faller began. “Apparently she knows some things and has been kind enough to enlighten us.”
“Can someone please tell me what’s going on?” Penny’s voice was shaking.
Faller held up both hands. “Please. Penny, just bear with us.” He turned to Storm. “Melissa claims she’s the woman in the photo.”
Storm blinked rapidly, trying to keep her reaction from showing. But it did show, at least to Faller.
“You’re sure?” Storm asked Melissa. “You remember?”
Melissa looked at the ceiling. “All too well.”
Faller went to Storm, put a hand across her shoulders, and as gently as possible said, “Melissa and I are divorced.”
Storm covered her mouth and ran into the bathroom.
Melissa was gaping at Faller in disbelief. “You’re in love with her?” She looked as if her legs might give out, like she might cry, laugh, scream, or do all three at once.
Faller didn’t respond.
“Would you mind telling us who you are, and why you remember what Faller doesn’t?” Snakebite said, folding his arms across his broad chest.
Her hand trembling badly, Melissa swept her hair back, clearly trying to compose herself. “As I told Faller, it’s a long story.”
“Why don’t you get started?” Snakebite said.
“Wait a minute.” Faller went to the bathroom door, rapped on it gently. “Storm, you’re going to want to hear this.”
The door opened. Storm looked composed, her expression unreadable. “Thank you.”
Melissa took a seat in a white stuffed chair. Snakebite set a cup of water on the table beside her and took a seat on the floor against the wall. Faller led Storm to the couch, his heart thumping, sensing that some of the confusion he’d lived with since Day One was about to be lifted.
Melissa stared at him and Storm. “This is just … I can’t believe what I’m seeing.”
“Please,” Snakebite prodded.
Melissa pressed her fingers against the sides of her nose and closed her eyes. “There was a war. Peter and I—” She cleared her throat. “Excuse me—Faller and I were active in the war on the losing side, so according to the winning side, we’re war criminals.”
She opened her eyes, looked at Faller and Storm. “I guess it makes sense. If you’ve been lobotomized, lobotomies seem sexy.”
Pinching his lower lip, Faller waited for her to continue. He had no intention of interrupting this.
“The war went on until a scientist on the enemy side, Ugo Woolcoff, developed a weapon. It was called the blackout virus. It spread like a disease, but instead of making you sick, it erased your memory.”
And just like that, the mystery of Day One came clear. It wasn’t gods or guilt that had done it, but war.
“The thing was, our side had a weapon of a sort, too.” Melissa took a sip of water. “A scientist on our side developed it, not as a weapon, but as a way to end the war peacefully. The scientist was rushing to finish his device when Ugo Woolcoff released the blackout virus.” Melissa shrugged. “He finished it just as Woolcoff released the virus. Only it didn’t do what he expected.”
“What did it do?” Faller asked.
“It tore the world apart.”
Penny looked about to say something, then rose and limped into the kitchen area and poured herself a glass of water.
“How big was the world, before it was torn to pieces?” Snakebite asked.
“You’d have to walk…” Melissa looked at the ceiling, “for about five hundred days to go around it.”
It had taken Faller half an hour to cross his world. And that was lengthwise.
“Why do you and I look alike?” Storm asked.
Melissa folded her hands in her lap and stared at them for a long moment. “The machine responsible for tearing the world apart could create duplicates of people.”
It felt as if someone had poured ice water down Faller’s back.
“There wasn’t much time, and there was a lot to do if we were going to end the war, so some of us duplicated ourselves. When the world was torn apart, the duplicates ended up scattered—”
“Wait a minute,” Storm interrupted. “Are you saying I’m a copy of you?”
A copy. That’s why Melissa had reacted so harshly when she realized Faller and Storm were in love. Suddenly Faller wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the truth, if that was what this was.
“Yes,” Melissa said, speaking gently. “That doesn’t mean you’re not just as real as I am.”
“Oh, I’m real. Well, that’s reassuring.” Storm got up, turned toward the front door. “You’re out of your fucking mind.”
“Storm,” Faller called as the door slammed behind her. He half stood, intending to go after her, then, reluctantly, sat. He needed to hear this.
Snakebite was now standing beside Penny in the kitchen. He was showing her the photos of his children, speaking quietly. Evidently Penny’s ankle was feeling much better.
Peter pulled out his map, handed it to Melissa. “This was in my pocket on Day One. It looks like a map to me. Do you know what it leads to?”
Melissa studied it. “It’s telling you to go down. The land mass with the X over it is probably where you lived. Williamsburg.”
The front door flew open. Storm rushed in and slammed the door closed behind her. She looked at Faller. “I just saw you outside.”
Everyone sprang from their seats.
“I told you you’d get us killed,” Melissa said.
Snakebite pulled the shotgun and a pistol out of his pack, then slung the pack over his shoulders. He went to the door, cracked it open and peered out. “I don’t see anyone, but they’re not going to stand in the middle of the road after spotting Storm.”
“Who isn’t?” Pe
nny asked.
“Do you have more guns?” Melissa asked, ignoring Penny.
Snakebite turned. “Can you shoot?”
“Not really. Enough that I won’t accidentally shoot you, or myself.”
Faller squatted by his pack and fished for the pistol Snakebite had given him.
Snakebite raced around the apartment, peering out the corners of windows. “Grab the parachutes. I want everyone to climb out the bedroom window. There’s only two feet between this building and the next, so you can shimmy down. When I shout, run for that long blue trough.”
“The log flume ride,” Penny offered.
“Fine. We’re going to take that right over the edge. When I start shooting, get out that window.”
Snakebite grabbed Penny’s life-sized doll and set it beside the kitchen window, which faced the log flume ride. He disappeared into the bedroom, returned carrying a mattress. Partially folding it, his biceps bulging from the strain, he shoved it through the window. He snared Penny’s doll by the throat, took two deep breaths, then tossed it out the window as well.
Gunshots rang out as ambushers mistook the doll for a person. Snakebite stepped onto the windowsill, gripped the frame and swung himself outside, fired a quick burst toward the roof. A body dropped past the window.
“Go.” Snakebite let go and dropped toward the mattress.
They ran for the bedroom. Melissa went through the window first, bracing her feet against the opposite wall, her back against the wall of Penny’s building. As she attempted to shimmy down, she immediately dropped five feet, managed to wedge herself again, then half slid, half plunged the last dozen feet. Gun drawn, she motioned for the others to follow as more shots rang out behind the house.
Faller sent Storm down next.
When Penny lifted her leg to step through the window, Faller said, “Stay! You’re not part of this.”
“I doubt they’ll see it that way when they burst in shooting.” Not waiting for Faller’s reply, she plunged to the ground, clawing the walls trying to slow herself. She didn’t limp at all as she moved off.
As he was climbing out, Faller heard a sharp whistle—Snakebite’s signal. He landed hard, staying on his feet only because the space was so narrow. Maybe Snakebite could shimmy down between two walls, the rest of them might as well have simply leaped.
“Go.” Melissa was at the back edge of the tiny alley, waving them on.
Snakebite was at the far back corner of Penny’s building, exchanging shots with however many assailants were in front, pinning them down. Faller ran like hell to the log flume, then rolled into the big semicircular raised canal where Storm was waiting for him. They climbed a steep incline on hands and knees. It would slow them down, but Faller recognized the brilliance of Snakebite’s plan: the log flume provided excellent cover, and gave them a clear view of anyone moving below.
The problem was, Penny and Melissa were with them. No: the problem was, Penny was with them. If Faller had his way, Melissa would leave with them. Ex-wife or not, she knew what was going on. He hadn’t gotten a chance to ask what the flag at the bottom of his map meant.
It occurred to him that he didn’t have his map; Melissa had been holding it. Hopefully she’d stashed it in a pocket.
Faller heard footfalls below. He raised his head to look, and suddenly Snakebite was half on top of him, pushing his face into the grit and rotting leaves lining the flume ride.
Snakebite let go, gestured to Faller that they should rise together on either side, guns raised, and shoot. Faller nodded, suddenly realizing the flume probably wasn’t bulletproof. Once the shooters below pinpointed their location, they could shoot right up through it.
Snakebite held up three fingers, then two, then one …
Gripping the side of the flume, Faller rose to his knees, immediately spotted one of his duplicates, sans mask, squatting in a copse of trees. The gun seemed to go off on its own, spraying bullets left to right, then right to left, all shy of the figure in the trees.
The figure jerked three or four times as bullets ripped into his chest, shoulder, thigh. Snakebite’s shots. Faller spotted another duplicate directly below, just as Snakebite got him, his shots incredibly accurate.
Melissa and Storm were at the top of the rise and on their feet, shooting off either side. They would have looked like mirror images if Melissa hadn’t been wearing that long white dress.
“Let’s go,” Snakebite barked.
Scrambling on all fours, Faller climbed as fast as he could.
“Keep moving,” Snakebite said behind him. A second later, Snakebite was firing again. Faller kept his head down, his breath coming in ragged gasps, his arms and legs absolutely burning with fatigue as he clambered the last ten yards and reached the peak.
They had to be seventy feet in the air. Ahead was a steep drop that tapered off at the bottom before it simply ended, sticking out over the void.
He turned to Penny. “Just hide until we’re gone. When they see us go, they’ll have no reason to climb up here.”
“Come on.” Storm waved him on. “Snakebite will catch up.”
“I’m staying,” Melissa said. “They haven’t had time to count heads.”
“But we need you,” Storm said.
Melissa gave her a look. “That doesn’t mean I’m parachuting into the sky with you.”
“I’m sorry.” Storm shoved Melissa in the chest with both hands, hard. Shrieking, Melissa tumbled backward, hit the steep incline and plunged headfirst, building remarkable speed. Storm leaped after her as shots rang out, peppering the steel framework directly below them. Faller jumped onto the slide and plummeted, the wind growing louder in his ears as he gained speed. Just as he leveled out, the slide ended. Sharp pain lanced his bicep as he caught a jagged edge on the way off.
Then he was falling, headfirst, the whistle of the wind growing louder.
Faller righted himself. He clutched his arm, pulled it against his side. It stung. Blood oozed between his fingers. They were alive, though. That was the important thing. And they had Melissa, so they weren’t fumbling in the dark anymore.
A panicked shriek drew his attention. It was Penny, thrashing and screaming. Her shrieks reached him on and off through the whistling air.
“What did you do?” Faller shouted, knowing no one would hear.
Snakebite was diving toward Melissa, who looked to be in shock. Snakebite pointed at Faller, then at Penny. Faller gave him the “okay” sign, spread his arms and legs and waited for Penny to catch up.
37
“BREATHE,” PENNY said, evidently to herself. “You’re okay.” She was clinging to Faller with both arms and legs. She had remarkable stamina.
“I have to check on Storm,” Faller shouted. “Will you be all right?”
“No.” She squeezed tighter.
“I still don’t understand why you jumped.”
“You think those men were just going to walk away? I was dead if I stayed.”
Faller wasn’t sure those men would have gunned down a woman they hadn’t been after, but he had to admit he didn’t know what they were capable of.
“I’m so scared,” Penny said. “I’m having severe heart arrhythmia; I think I may be having a heart attack.”
Faller wasn’t completely sure what a heart attack was. “It’ll get easier. I promise. But right now I need to speak to Storm.” He peeled one of her hands off his back. “You’ll be fine.”
Penny moaned uneasily, gripped him harder. He felt bad about tossing her into the deep end of the pool like this, but he had to check on Storm.
“Deep breaths,” Penny said. “Promise you’ll come right back? I don’t have a parachute.”
Faller couldn’t help laughing. “I had noticed. Yet you still jumped off your world.”
“Well, you pushed Melissa off without one. I assumed you had a plan.”
“We’ll fix you up when the time comes.” Faller pulled free. Whispering urgently, Penny hugged herself and squeezed her
eyes shut.
Faller dropped toward Storm.
He offered Storm a hand, and was relieved when she took it. Her eyes were red.
“How are you feeling?”
“Confused,” Storm said.
Faller wanted to tell her it didn’t matter, but he doubted that would be comforting. Storm had just learned she’d been manufactured.
“How can I help?”
Storm smiled. The buffeting wind made it look as if her face were twitching. “I don’t think you can.”
“What does this mean for us?”
She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. “You’re drawn to me because you were drawn to her. I’m attracted to you because I’m a copy of her. I’m guessing you’ve noticed that she doesn’t like you much, and I’m guessing before your memory was wiped, you didn’t like her much. So we know how this story ends.”
“I don’t believe that. You’re not her.”
“Evidently I am, more or less.”
Faller tried to respond, but Storm cut him off. “Can we talk about this later?”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up. I’m going to talk to Melissa, see what else I can find out.” He squeezed her hand.
As he let go, she asked, “What sort of world was this, where they made people like it was nothing?”
Faller had no answer for that.
Melissa was overhead, clutching Snakebite’s arm for dear life, probably because he was the only person with a parachute who was neither her duplicate nor her ex-husband. Faller spread his arms and legs, allowed the pair to drop toward him as he decided what to ask first.
“Why are my duplicates trying to kill me?” It seemed a sound place to begin.
Melissa shrugged. “You left four behind. Ugo caught one and made more.”
Faller didn’t have much to go on when it came to finding holes in Melissa’s logic. “How do I know how to fire a gun if I can’t remember ever firing one?”
“Completely different part of the brain. The virus works on autobiographical memory, and the reading centers. Firing a gun is procedural memory. Totally different thing.”
It was as if she’d switched to a foreign language. “The brain has different parts?”
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