by Wesley King
He had failed.
Jack slowed down, grasping his cramping sides. Neither had done a lot of exercising in their many years together, unless furiously typing code counted. The corridor was long and straight—built out of the rock and slate-gray metal. White warning lights were flashing on the walls, making everything look dreamlike and surreal.
“What now?” Jack gasped, taking off his glasses and wiping his sweaty forehead.
Marcus shook his head. “Should we go back?”
He turned to see what Dree thought, but she wasn’t behind him. The hallway stretched back to the annex, bathed in flickering light. But no one else was there. Dree was gone.
“She was right behind us,” Jack said, panic creeping into his voice.
“I’m going back,” Marcus said immediately, turning around.
He had only taken a few steps when a massive steel door slid shut, blocking the way back to the annex. Marcus yelped and jumped back, stunned. Dree was trapped inside the building.
“The other agent must have woken up,” Jack said, grabbing Marcus’s shoulder and pulling him back toward the exit. “He’s locked down the annex. We can’t go back now.”
“But—”
“Marcus, we can’t be here right now. We’ll figure out a way to get them back. Both of them. But we can’t help if we’re caught too.”
“I won’t leave her,” Marcus said, a bit more sharply than he had intended.
Jack met Marcus’s eyes. “We don’t have a choice. And for all we know, she might have made it out somewhere else. We have to trust that your friend can take care of herself. At least for now.”
More than anything, Marcus wanted to head back into the annex, but he knew his uncle was right. He nodded, and they continued down the hall, the white lights flashing furiously around them. They stumbled on down the seemingly endless corridor, and only then did Marcus see one of the storm doors begin to close ahead of them. They were trapped.
“Hurry!” Jack said, breaking into a sprint.
Marcus ran after him, moving faster than he ever had in his life. His sneakers pounded off the concrete, and Jack threw himself through the door headfirst. It was nearly closed. Marcus lunged forward, twisting himself in midair to fit through the narrowing gap. His sneakers cleared the door by mere inches, and he crashed into the unforgiving concrete with a bone-crushing thud. His right shoulder screamed with pain, wrenching sideways beneath him, and he grimaced as Jack pulled him to his feet.
“We’re out,” Jack said, pointing to some stairs just ahead of them.
He led Marcus up the steps, and they emerged through another hidden door behind a seedy strip mall. When it closed, he saw there was no door handle or controls on the other side. Marcus grabbed his right shoulder as they ran out into the empty parking lot—it was aching terribly.
“Where’s the other exit?” he demanded. “We need to check it for Dree.”
“It’s too dangerous,” Jack argued.
“Show me.”
Jack sighed and then started jogging back toward the burger joint where they had first entered.
“There is a little grate close by,” he said, looking around. “There it is.”
He led Marcus to another empty parking lot behind a hardware store, and Marcus spotted a grate tucked into the brick on the other side. It was old and rusted, with a strange lock covered in grime.
“Just a quick look,” Jack said, checking the street. “They’ll swarm the entire area soon.”
Marcus was just starting for the grate when it was flung open. Dree emerged, her pack slung over her shoulders. Marcus grinned. He should have known Dree wouldn’t be captured that easily. He waved to get her attention, and she turned to him, catching his eye.
Then she turned away and started running.
“Hey!” Marcus shouted, “Dree, where are you going?”
She didn’t answer. Instead, Marcus watched as she jumped over a fence and sprinted away. She was leaving them behind.
Marcus ran after her.
“Marcus . . . wait!” Jack shouted.
Marcus ignored him. How could Dree just leave him now, after everything they had been through? Was she going back to Dracone alone?
It didn’t make any sense.
Jack was close behind him, and Marcus leapt over the fence, catching a glimpse of Dree down the alley. She was faster than him, but she was out of her element—she didn’t know Arlington. Marcus took a shortcut down the other side of the building, and as he rounded the wall onto the street, he ran right into Dree. Marcus grabbed her arm, and she tried to yank it away, but he held on firmly, turning her to face him.
“You have to stay,” she pleaded, trying to get her arm free.
Marcus frowned. “What are you talking about?”
Jack rounded the corner behind them before doubling over, gasping.
Dree’s shoulders slumped, defeated. “You can’t lose him again, Marcus,” she said quietly. “He’s your family. You’ve done a lot for Dracone, but it’s not your problem anymore. You just found your dad. You can’t leave him like this. You have to go back.”
Marcus saw the pain in her eyes, and he realized she was thinking of her own father too. She had told Marcus a lot about how he had slipped away after his injury, leaving a shell behind. It had felt like Dree had lost a little bit more of her father with every passing day. And she knew how much Marcus had wanted to find his father—how it had consumed him for years and led him all the way to war in Dracone. But he was a part of that war now, and he had to stop it. He couldn’t just leave her. He took her hand, meeting her eyes.
“Thank you,” he said hoarsely. “But I have to go back. It’s my home too, remember?”
“Marcus—”
“I’m a part of this, Dree. My dad . . . he is the cause of this war. And I know he would want me to deal with Francis first. He would want me to go back. I’m not going to leave you, okay?”
Dree nodded, and for just a second he thought he caught a hint of tears in her eyes.
“Okay,” she said softly. “We’ll do it together.”
“It’s our only chance,” Marcus replied.
“I agree,” Jack said, straightening up again. “But we can’t go to this Dracone yet. We need to get the Egg.”
Dree smiled. “No, we don’t.”
She reached into her pack and pulled out the Egg. It glinted red and orange in the darkness, rippling as if freshly pulled from a fire.
“You got it?” Marcus asked, amazed.
“That agent was a little preoccupied with your father,” she said. “He managed to put up a fight long enough for me to grab the Egg and run for it. I couldn’t help him escape, though. I’m sorry.”
“He’ll be okay,” Jack said. “Let’s get back to the apartment.”
“They’ll be watching it,” Marcus warned. “We need to get to Dracone.”
“I know,” Jack said. “But we’ll need my car if we’re going to get out of the city.”
They hurried through the night, hugging the walls and staying away from the main roads. Marcus and Dree constantly watched the skies, but the night was clear and starry. Perhaps the drones had never made it back to Earth after all.
When they reached the apartment, they watched it for a while, making sure it wasn’t under surveillance. Satisfied, Jack ran to grab his keys, while Dree and Marcus waited in the underground parking lot. Jack returned a moment later, materializing in the dark. They piled into his old forest-green sedan, Marcus in the shotgun seat.
“We need to get to a field outside of the city,” Marcus said, glancing at Jack. “I have the transmitter for the portal, but it’s going to create a thunderstorm.”
Jack nodded. “We’ll head south. We don’t have long. They’ll be looking for this car.”
He peeled out onto the road, and Mar
cus leaned back in his seat, rubbing his shoulder. He hoped he hadn’t broken anything. It felt very tender, but he could still move it.
“So what happens when we get to Dracone?” Jack asked.
“We?” Marcus asked, glancing at him.
Jack looked at him. “Do you think I’m leaving you guys? No sir. I’m coming with you.”
“It’s going to be dangerous,” Dree said from the back.
“And it’s not here?” he countered. “I just escaped from the CIA. They’re going to be after me. Hiding out in an alternate realm might not be the worst idea. Besides, with your dad detained, it’s my job to keep you safe again. I let you go the first time . . . I’m not doing that again.”
“Uncle Jack—”
“Don’t bother,” he cut in. “I’m coming. End of story. Now what happens when we get there?”
Marcus opened his mouth to argue but then just smiled instead. Even if he didn’t want to admit it, he was kind of happy that Jack was coming. He couldn’t wait to show him the dragons.
“We use the Egg to build a new hybrid,” Dree replied. “And we go to war with the drones.”
“Something to look forward to,” Jack said sarcastically. “Marcus, how long does the portal take to form—”
“Oh no,” Marcus whispered, cutting him off.
“What?” Dree asked.
Marcus peered out the windshield where a huge white shape was descending from the sky like a storm cloud, the moonlight reflecting off its angled wings and dual machine guns.
A Destroyer.
And it was coming right for them.
Chapter
7
“Impossible,” Jack said, leaning forward to watch as the massive white drone swept down from the star-filled sky. “Our design—”
“It’s real,” Marcus cut in. “And it’s about to blow us sky-high. Drive!”
Jack put his foot down, and Dree flew back into her seat as the car swerved onto a main road, causing several other drivers to slam on their brakes. Horns and angry shouts filled the air. Jack raced down the street, heading south as the outskirts of Arlington flashed past them in a blur. Dree rolled down her window and stuck her head out to get a better view, watching as the Destroyer drone made a ponderous turn, clearly following them. She could see the missiles protruding from beneath its wings, each one capable of turning their car into a smoking crater. But she had a feeling it wasn’t going to destroy them just yet.
Francis Xidorne wanted the Egg—if he destroyed them, he destroyed the Egg too.
Dree clutched the bag to her chest. She would rather die than surrender it to Xidorne.
Jack swerved in and out of traffic, eliciting more horns and shouts. Marcus grabbed the armrest as they burst through a red light, and Dree shouted out a warning as a car just narrowly missed them.
“How many drones have been built?” Jack asked tersely, his eyes on the rearview mirror.
“We don’t know,” Dree said. “Francis has a factory in Dracone. He is building more every day. Fifty or more, I would guess.”
“I can’t believe it,” Jack said, shaking his head. “Are there other kinds?”
Marcus nodded. “Trackers and Surveyors. They probably won’t be far behind this one.”
“Maybe it’s time to start that thunderstorm?” Dree suggested as they raced around a truck. She cringed as they just narrowly avoided another onrushing vehicle. The driver shook his fist and honked.
“Agreed,” Marcus said.
She watched him pull out the transmitter and punch in instructions, signaling the fixed transponders that George had placed throughout Arlington and Dracone. They created a huge web of energy disruptions, crisscrossing the area and merging the electrical frequencies of the two worlds. A massive storm would ensue, and the portal would open. If Francis didn’t change his mind before then and have the Destroyer turn them into a smoking crater.
Marcus activated the transponders and then gazed upward. “It doesn’t take long.”
Already, the sky had begun to darken. The storm would erupt in minutes. They were heading into the outskirts now—suburban areas where the traffic was lighter. The drone decided to take advantage of that.
Dree shrieked a warning as the drone suddenly opened fire, targeting their tires. Jack wrenched the steering wheel to the right, and they all screamed as the car ran up onto the curb. A line of chewed-up pavement streaked past them as the bullets dug into the asphalt. Now everyone else had taken notice of the attack. Cars began to peel off the road, and Dree saw a pedestrian point and run just as the first sirens blared from somewhere close by. The police would be coming for them now.
The drone swept lower—maybe a hundred feet overhead—trying to get a better shot and blow out their tires. Dree turned back to the others. “Are there any weapons on this thing?”
“It’s a Corolla,” Jack said.
Dree looked at him, waiting.
“No!” he shouted, before veering out of the way of another burst of machine gun fire.
Outside, the sky grew darker and massive clouds were forming, obscuring the stars.
“How much farther?” Dree asked.
“Not much,” Marcus said. “I directed the center of the storm at a clearing just south of here.”
Another burst of machine gun fire tore into their bumper, ripping it from the car. Jack turned sharply, and Dree watched as the bumper clattered away behind them, surrounded by shooting sparks. There were more sirens in the air, and she saw the first white flashing car pull onto the road behind them.
“Perfect,” Jack muttered.
A fork of lightning split the sky overhead. Marcus checked the transmitter.
“Almost ready,” he said.
“Look out!” Dree screamed, pointing as a black Tracker emerged ahead of them, speeding down the road. The Tracker launched a missile, and Jack again turned sharply left, just narrowly avoiding it. But the missile was never aimed at them.
Dree watched in horror as it sped past them and hit the ground right in front of the police car. It exploded in a dramatic fireball, causing the cruiser to careen through the air and slam back into the road.
“They’re trying to kill us!” Marcus shouted.
Dree shook her head. “They’re making sure the cops don’t capture us first.”
“There!” Marcus said, pointing to a sprawling field that opened up beside the road—stretching for a few miles at least. It was covered in knee-high grass and divots and ruts. The storm was raging fiercest there—lightning seemed to explode in the sky.
“Hold on!” Jack said.
Dree quickly put on her seat belt. “This is going to be bad.”
Jack turned right and the car leapt off the shoulder, dropping a few feet onto the field. The car bounced horribly, causing Dree’s head to slam into the ceiling as they sped across the grass. She gripped the pack tighter. They were almost there.
“It’s not . . . exactly . . . an off-roader,” Jack managed, trying to hold on to the wheel.
“Go left!” Dree shouted, as the Destroyer and Tracker both opened fire.
Jack turned, but he was just a bit too late. One of the bullets caught the back tire, and they heard a pronounced thump as it immediately went flat. The car started to list terribly to the right, and Jack struggled for control on the bumpy field. Marcus checked the readings again.
“The portal should be open soon,” he said. “Head right for the middle of the storm—where the lightning is hitting the ground.”
Jack looked at him. “We’re going to drive into that lightning, aren’t we?”
“Pretty much,” Marcus said.
He steered them back and forth in a wild zigzag as both drones kept firing. Dree ducked as the back window was blown out. Glass sprayed over the inside of the car, and she covered her eyes.
“Faster!” she shouted.
“My foot is on the floor!” Jack shouted back.
The drones clearly didn’t want to take any more chances. A missile flew past them and exploded into the ground ahead, chewing into the meadow and sending a plume of dirt flying in all directions. Jack steered around it, the flames racing over the car, and he shouted in alarm as the fire pressed in on them. Dree didn’t even really notice the heat. The car buckled and jumped over the lip of the crater but kept moving.
“Can we drive through the portal?” Jack asked.
“I don’t think so,” Marcus said. “My bike didn’t go through. You’ll have to stop, and we’ll run out.”
“We won’t have long before they cut us all down,” Jack warned.
“We don’t have a choice,” Marcus countered, checking his transmitter. “Three . . . two . . . one . . . now!”
Jack slammed on the brakes, and Dree felt the seat belt dig into her chest. The car started to swerve across the grass, out of control with the flat tire, but the sudden stop had caught the drones by surprise. They flew directly overhead and wheeled in either direction, trying to turn back.
“Run!” Marcus said.
They piled out of the car, Dree tightly clutching the Egg, and they started sprinting to where the lightning was striking the ground again and again, smashing into the dirt and creating a mesmerizing pattern. The rain had started now, beating into their faces in a freezing sheet blown almost horizontal by the wind. Dree struggled to see as they dashed madly across the meadow. The drones had turned around, and they weren’t waiting. Both started firing.
“Jump!” Marcus said, leaping forward and twisting himself to look back at Dree.
He disappeared in a flash of blue, Jack right behind him. Dree felt a cold bullet graze past her cheek, cutting into her skin. She cried out in pain as she threw her body toward the portal.
The world turned blue.
Chapter
