Helix

by Mary Ting

  “Traitor? He did what?” Rhett glared at Mitch. Then his tone softened, turning back to me. “You remember?”

  “Yes.” I had never sounded so sure.

  Rhett beamed a smile, too happy considering our situation, but his grin died when I leaped at Mitch like a wild beast.

  Rhett caught me before I tore Mitch into dust. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Sometimes I want to kill him, too, but you need to know all the facts.”

  I swung my arms as if swimming for dear life, my fingers clawing to reach Mitch. “Let me go, Rhett. Let me go.”

  I wanted to break Mitch, destroy him, shatter him to tiny pieces so I could grind his ashes into the ground as if he were nothing, worthless.

  “I’m going to kill you,” I spat at Mitch, shoving Rhett away to no avail. “You’re a traitor. You’re a monster. You made me do what I had to do. I had to ... You made me forget Rhett. Forget Ozzie. Forget Reyna. This is all your fault. My father. My sister. My mother ...” My lips quivered as the words died on my tongue, and I couldn’t hold it any longer. I choked on my words and sobbed.

  Tears streamed down my face as the memory of Rhett jumping into the trash chute replayed in my mind and the pain latched onto me—clinging and heavy. As if the ache was an entity of its own.

  I pulled myself together and locked up my emotions. I had no room to crumble. ISAN couldn’t find out what I knew and how I felt. Losing my memory of Rhett, finding out I had a twin, my own father experimenting on his children, and then my mother possibly being murdered was too much. It was all too much to bear.

  I finally settled when Rhett’s face came in to focus and his soothing voice told me to calm down. My body simply could no longer sustain the rage.

  “He’s on our side, Ava.” He didn’t sound so sure.

  I found myself again in Rhett’s arms, but tender this time.

  “We couldn’t all leave. Mitch volunteered to stay behind. He played the role of double agent. You knew this. It may seem otherwise, but I wouldn’t have been able to kidnap you at the Leviathan Hotel if it hadn’t been for him. He was the one who erased all of our conversations via the TAB. Mitch has been trying to find your father since I got the word to him. We keep communication as minimal as possible.”

  Ozzie and Reyna left the conversation to keep an eye out, watching our backs.

  I recalled Brooke stating Mitch had told everyone he searched for me in the restroom, found my dress was on the floor and that I was gone. He’d thought I’d gone down to our meeting point without letting him know. I would have never done such a thing due to ISAN protocol.

  My intuition told me not to trust Mitch when I’d first met him. Perhaps in the back of my mind I knew the game he had to play. But he was a good actor and performed his role perfectly.

  I reeled back my memory to the times he’d scrutinized me and tried to intimidate me. All an act. Or maybe not. Who else was acting? Who else was a double agent? Russ? My team? No, Brooke and Tamara weren’t hiding anything from me, or Mitch wouldn’t have Tased them.

  I had to stop thinking.

  Mitch gave me a slight nod to confirm Rhett’s words. For once, he kept his lips sealed.

  Regardless, my nostrils flared, and I scowled at him. “Is that why you Tased Brooke and Tamara?”

  Mitch’s charming personality prevailed. He dusted the dirt off his sleeve, rolled back his shoulders, and closed the space between us. His ever-so-cocky true face emerged.

  “I wanted to tell you, but my little half-brother wanted me to wait.” He emphasized the word half-brother with a sneer.

  “And you think I’ll be nicer to you now?” I glared back. Why were Mitch and I bickering right on the battlefield as if no danger existed?

  “You two can argue later. It’s time to go. Ava, come with me.” Rhett tugged my arm.

  “If you go, you can’t come back.” Mitch locked his eyes on mine. “Getting taken twice will increase suspicion. Kidnapping Ozzie last time was a good ploy to get Ava back in ISAN, thanks to my genius, but I do recommend you go. Novak knows you shot at ISAN guards.”

  “Mr. Novak can kiss my ass. He needs me—that’s why he hasn’t killed me yet.” I shook my head, peering down at Brooke and Tamara. I had promised Brooke we would leave together. “I can’t leave unless I take Brooke with me.”

  “Brooke stays.” Mitch took a quick look at her. “I can’t let two escape. That would make me look bad.”

  “I don’t care.” I jabbed a finger against his chest.

  “Hurry,” Ozzie said without looking back at us. “The guards have moved closer.”

  Mitch twisted to Rhett, disregarding me. “Is Ava going with you or not? This might be her only chance.”

  “I’m not,” I said.

  “She is,” Rhett said at the same time.

  Then Mitch raised his Taser. “Sorry, Ava, but Rhett is my half-brother. Family comes first.” He smirked.

  I quirked an eyebrow and scoffed. “Really? My suit is Taser proof, remember?”

  Mitch curled his lips mischievously. “Oh, I do remember, darling. But I’m just a distraction.”

  “What?”

  Something cold pressed on the back of my shoulder. Not a Taser. The ground tilted under my feet and the world slowly began to fade.

  “Sorry. I’m doing this for your own good.”

  “Ozzie, no.” Rhett’s voice.

  Ozzie?

  Rhett

  “Go, go, go.” Frank shut the door as soon as I entered with my team.

  After Mitch expressed his concern about the possibility of Mr. Novak terminating Ava, I hadn’t wanted to take any chances. He was closest to ISAN, and I had to take his word for it. I also didn’t want to take the choice from her.

  I didn’t know Brooke, but she obviously meant a great deal to Ava. I had to respect their friendship.

  No matter how many ways I had planned to kidnap her again, in case she refused to come with me on her own, I couldn’t do it. ISAN had taken too much from her. She had the right to make up her own mind. But I hadn’t expected Ozzie to step in.

  I placed Ava across the seats, strapped her in securely, and examined the shoulder where Ozzie had injected her with Zen’s sleeping serum. That’s when I noted her back was slightly damp.

  Blood. When? How? She seemed fine. But Helix dulled the pain.

  “I need help. Ava’s hurt.” My voice came out more desperate than I had intended.

  Gunshots in the distance, closing in, grabbed my attention, and I peered out the window. Frosty mist coated it, making it difficult to see out. The imposing pine trees bucked in the howling wind.

  “I’ll take care of her. Go help Zen.” Reyna pushed me to get me going.

  “Check her back. Be careful.”

  Reyna creased her brow as if I had said something to offend her. “I will. And why aren’t we off the ground yet?”

  “I don’t—” I jerked and would’ve slammed into Ozzie had I not grabbed onto the seat strap.

  The sub-glider rocked from the impact of an explosion.

  After I righted myself, I stood behind Zen at the driver’s seat. “Why aren’t we flying?”

  The sub-glider swayed as bullets pelted it like hail. It groaned under the abuse. Thankfully, no bullets could penetrate, but we needed to get off the ground.

  “Fly.” Zen cursed at the machine, punching the monitor.

  Frank sat next to Zen. “Give it a second. Even machines can’t tolerate such unforgiving weather.” He rubbed at the monitor as if it were a precious treasure and cooed. “Come on, baby, fly.”

  I almost choked on my laugh.

  “You—” Zen didn’t get to finish.

  Something exploded in front of our sub-glider. The sub-glider slid back in the snow. Then another explosion to our right.

  “Let’s not die today.” I held onto the headrest, my pulse thrumming as I glanced over my shoulder.

  Reyna and Ozzie sat on either side of Ava, ensuring she was safe.

  Zen’s fin
gers skimmed across the monitor, and the transporter shot upward. More explosions blasted. Fire blazed in the trees. Men ran across the frigid snow with guns. ISAN guards I knew for sure, but who were they shooting at if not us?

  “Idiots,” Zen groaned. “They’re shooting at their own.”

  “No. Not at their own,” Frank said. “ANS. The splinter group I told you about. They’re here. Go.”

  Frank’s urgency made me tighten my grip on the seat. He had told us about ANS. Their one and only mission was to get rid of ISAN. Unlike our group, they would take harsh measures.

  Frank had also told us they wanted Ava since ANS knew her father was the inventor of the serum. Hell no.

  The sub-glider finally leveled, but the unrelenting wind buffeted the machine, causing it to teeter like a seesaw. That wasn’t the only problem. Light streaked across my view—laser targeting beams. Flames of red and orange blasted when the missiles hit the trees and the snow.

  “We’ve got company.” Frank checked the monitors and focused out the window.

  The monitor showed eight transporters tailing us.

  No shit, Sherlock.

  “Do something.” I punched the back of his headrest, needing to release some adrenaline.

  The next missile nicked us in passing, throwing the glider sideways.

  Zen banked sharp right, heading straight for the city. Beautiful, glistening lights twinkled. So peaceful, yet alive, filled with people out and about.

  Gliders flew in an orderly fashion. Though going over the city seemed hazardous, it was a good tactic. Hopefully, they would back off or at least hold their fire.

  Wrong.

  “Go up. Go up.” I waved as if somehow that would cause it to ascend.

  The monitor showed a missile barely missed us. Had I not given that warning, we would have been hit. Zen was good at many things, but flying was not one of them.

  “Go left.” I rapped at his arm, directing.

  “I’m trying.” Zen bared his teeth.

  Not fast enough, old man.

  “Let me fly it.” When the words left my mouth, the glider plunged. Whatever was left in my stomach almost dumped on Zen’s white hair.

  “Good idea.” Zen slid off his seat and made room for me.

  As the seat belt locked me in place, I did my thing. My fingers moved about the control panels and I released the manual drive. Grabbing the handle, I swerved right into the heart of the city.

  “Are you crazy?” Frank craned his neck toward me.

  I gave him only a second of my time. “You want to live or die?”

  He didn’t respond.

  Shut the hell up and let me fly this baby.

  Frank kept quiet. He knew what I’d done was smart, and there would be consequences. But I had no choice. Thankfully, the other gliders stopped firing at us for now.

  ISAN or not, they wouldn’t want to draw attention and risk being found. But if they continued to hover over us, it would trigger an alarm to the Council guards.

  Streaks of color flashed by. Lights from the building-sized advertisements for video games, fashions, and high-tech entertainment items caused me to squint. Foreign words from all over the world flashed as well. Voices from commercials boomed into the air. I smoothly filed in line with the citizens’ gliders.

  Half of the gliders chasing us disappeared from the monitor. Most likely ANS had decided to back off. But ISAN remained hot on my tail.

  Four left.

  My knuckles turned white on the handle. How long would they follow us? I needed to cause chaos or do something to alarm the Council guards. Their interference was our only chance of survival.

  “Hold on tight. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.” I veered a sharp left.

  “Rhett!”

  Reyna’s annoyed tone faded when I flipped the glider upside down and took it to hover over the ISAN glider nearest to me. When it realized I was above, it took the shot. Predicting what it would do, I yanked to the right, and the ISAN glider angled toward a citizen’s glider.

  It would have hit, but the sensor on the citizen’s glider stopped the transporter, causing the ISAN craft to skid along the building to its right from the momentum.

  Sparks and light exploded. The talking ad went pitch black. Another ISAN glider grew bold and fired at us, only to shoot the building instead when I yanked our transporter to dodge their beams. More ads went down, bringing chaos into a perfect world. Then sirens wailed through the dark sky.

  Finally.

  A swarm of Remnant Council gliders came out from their slumber.

  “This is the Remnant Council guard,” a voice boomed. “You are in violation. Pull over.”

  I strayed off course, rounding the building, but ISAN continued to close in on us. I plunged us under a bridge and into what looked like a tunnel.

  “Do you know where you’re going?” Frank heaved, looking pale like he wanted to vomit.

  “Nope.”

  I prayed my spontaneity would pay off. Then I snickered from the image of Frank puking on himself. But my cackle died quickly. Wrong way. I’d gone the freakin’ wrong way.

  Horns blared, echoing through the tunnel. Behind me, one ISAN glider crashed. Fire and smoke filled the entrance.

  Three left.

  I soared high, dodging the oncoming traffic. Some drivers lacked fast reflexes. I shifted to avoid a collision and the side of our glider screeched across the wall surface. Sparks ignited. Trying to escape the flames, the citizens’ gliders dispersed.

  A few collided. Fires erupted behind us. Our glider ricocheted off the side of the tunnel. I jerked us to the side, skidding against the surface.

  “Rhett!” Zen’s freaked-out voice bounced within the small space.

  “I know. I know. Don’t worry. We’re almost out.”

  I hadn’t meant for this to happen. Guilt coiled in my stomach. Hopefully no one had been hurt or worse, but it would be telecast as it happened. At least our glider had heavy tint, shielding our faces.

  No one would be able to identify us, not even ISAN. However, it was the first time citizens had been affected by our rebellion. I hadn’t thought ISAN would have the balls to chase us within the boundary of the city and risk exposing themselves.

  I ascended, and three ISAN sub-gliders followed. Then lights flared like spotlights from Remnant Council guards’ gliders. Sirens pounded my eardrums, but I ignored them. Squinting behind the anti-glare window, I zoomed past. Then they gave chase.

  An ISAN glider and a Remnant Council glider crashed into each other.

  Two ISAN gliders left.

  Zen rushed to the monitor and punched at the number screen.

  “What’re you doing?” Frank twirled his seat to face Zen.

  “Getting the Remnant Council’s guards off our tail.” Zen tapped his mic on the lapel of his jacket. “I thought they were chasing us for show but this is ridiculous.”

  “How are you doing that? And what do you mean, show?” I avoided a collision by changing lanes as gliders blasted their horns. I was still going the wrong direction.

  “I’ll explain later.”

  Moments after Zen finished his call, the Remnant Council gliders dispersed. But the pain-in-the-ass ISAN gliders still followed. It was time to lose them once and for all.

  I looked over my shoulder, checking on Ava.

  “She’s fine.” Reyna caught me looking. “Just some cuts and bruises. It looks worse than it is. Nothing Dr. Machine couldn’t fix, if we had one.”

  Good.

  “Hold on tight.” I dropped the glider into a deep dive.

  “Rhett!” Reyna’s indignant voice ricocheted in the cabin. “I hate it when you do that.”

  Taking the glider out of the city, I passed over the titanic wall and headed toward the destruction area. Had I made a mistake?

  Drifters lived in the ruins in the West like in the East. Too late. I had no time to worry about their safety when ISAN began shooting at us. Our sub-glider jerked. I swayed our tran
sporter to the side and dipped lower, faster.

  I had one advantage. I knew the surroundings like my own backyard. Mitch and I used to venture off to the Western ruins in younger days. They had been our escape, where we used to pretend to be Remnant Council guards. Zen knew that, which was why he didn’t question me.

  I shut down our sub-glider’s headlights and drove it into an abandoned building. The solar panels mounted on the building gave a faint glow in spite of the darkness engulfing us. ISAN’s gliders slowed, too.

  Gotcha. You can’t see me, but I can see you.

  “What’re you doing?” Frank lunged, ready to take over the wheel.

  “If they can’t see us, they can’t fire at us, can they?” I shoved him back to his seat. He leaned too close for comfort.

  “Let him be.” Zen patted Frank’s shoulder. “He knows what he’s doing.”

  I dove upward through the shattered buildings from the eighth floor, winding round and round. When their high beams spotted us, we were on the next level.

  On the sixteenth floor, I squeezed our glider into the pitch darkness, blending in with the silver beams. Safely tucked and out of view, like a predator ready to pounce.

  ISAN’s gliders crept. Sweat beaded on my forehead. Waiting ... waiting ... waiting. Everyone in the glider froze. I released a sigh when their high beams passed us.

  One glider pointed upward and soared through the destroyed ceiling, up to the full moon and to the stars. The second glider followed.

  Good riddance.

  But the second glider didn’t veer out of sight. Instead, it dropped back down and beamed its light directly at us.

  Rhett

  The ISAN glider landed directly in front of ours, its high beam shining a spotlight on the tinted window. No space to the left or right. Nowhere for me to take our glider except forward.

  “What the hell is going on?” Zen rose behind me, squinting.

  “Shoot it.” Frank pointed, his other hand blocking the brightness.

  I clenched my jaw and cupped the missile launch button before Frank got the itchy finger and did something he would regret.

  “No. Stop. Calm down. If you shoot and that glider blows up, what do you think will happen? This building won’t hold, and we’ll go down under it.”