by Michael Ford
He didn’t trust me. . . . Is that it? Because I’m just a kid.
Kobi wanted to believe that was the reason. His father had just wanted to protect him, not give him false hope. But Kobi looked up at Asha and Fionn, their faces cast with pity, and thought about the times he had asked his father about other survivors like them. Kobi had longed to find others. He’d suggested over and over that they search, improve the radio receiver, build a smoke fire somewhere they could hide from Snatchers. And always, his dad had refused.
“It’s just us, Kobi. It’s me and you. Focus on that.”
“How did you make it play the message, Fionn?” Kobi tried to speak slowly, calmly, but the words wavered. “I want to hear the whole thing.”
Fionn stepped forward tentatively and passed a hand over the device.
The head scrambled and reset. It played back with the same interference.
“. . . in trouble . . . an intelligence leak . . . change locations, just to be . . . don’t know . . . be careful, Jon. . . . No, we shouldn’t. . . . onto us. We’re supposed to be scientists, right?”
Kobi let it play, listening intently, hoping to glean some further clues. The holo-message went on to describe a new batch of anti-Waste drugs that Kobi’s dad was sending out. Kobi thought back to the vials of Waste cleansers in the fridge back at the school. His dad had developed them from samples of Kobi’s blood. But where was he sending them? If Kobi had just known, he would have been happy to help. It didn’t make sense. Why didn’t he tell me the truth? What possible reason did he have to lie?
And what did this message have to do with his disappearing?
“Maybe your dad was in touch with CLAWS,” said Asha hopefully. “This guy says he’s a scientist, and it sounds like they were working on a Waste cure.”
Kobi listened a third time. Test subjects? Dad was sending vials of his Waste cleanser to some sort of test site. Somewhere a drone could get to. But it sounded like something underhanded. They were worried about getting caught. In among the shock, the hurt, Kobi wondered what exactly his dad was involved in.
Kobi noticed a folder resting on the table near the drone and recognized his father’s handwriting. The title of the folder was 2.0, written in bold, typed font. At the top of the folder his dad had scrawled: Other Testing. Full Cure, Part Two. Send to Alex. The familiar handwriting made Kobi’s father’s deceit feel more real, more personal. A well of emotion rose suddenly, threatening to drown Kobi from the inside. How could he have done this to me?
“I need some time to think,” he said quietly to Asha.
No one answered, and as Kobi stood and turned, he heard the now-familiar pneumatic hiss of the dart gun. He felt a thump in his midriff and saw the dart protruding from his clothes.
“What?”
Asha was standing there, lowering the weapon.
“Sorry, Kobi,” she said.
And it sounded like she truly meant it.
15
WHEN KOBI CAME TO, the room phased in and out of his vision. There were two Ashas, both standing by the window. Strips of sealing tape lay on the floor.
“What are you doing?” said Kobi, his voice slurred. He tried to stand, but his feet skidded out from beneath him and he crumpled. It made no sense.
Fionn was wailing, pawing at Asha in distress. The wolf was pacing behind them, growling, hackles raised.
“It has to be done, Fionn,” she said.
“No!” the boy replied.
Kobi grabbed at her leg, angry but weak. She easily pulled her foot away, then pointed the dart rifle at him again. “It’s done, Kobi. They’re coming. Now back off. You’ve taken a D-Three. Another might kill you.”
Fionn placed himself in between them, holding out his arms. “No!” he said again.
A flicker of doubt crossed Asha’s face, but she hardened her jaw. “I know he helped us,” she said. “But that doesn’t change anything.”
Kobi felt so fuzzy. He managed to stand but toppled back as if the floor itself was rearing up. “Why?” was all he could say, but as he asked the question, the answer formed in his mind. “It was you, wasn’t it, who reactivated the Snatcher? Not Niki. You want CLAWS to come and get us.”
“I had to,” said Asha. “Your dad’s research can save lives.”
Fionn rushed at her again, grabbing for the gun, but she sidestepped and shoved him in the back. He crashed into the wolf, which growled, and moved away.
“Don’t you see?” said Asha. “Those cleansers aren’t like ours, Fi! They might lead to a real cure.”
Kobi’s confusion burned away in a flare of anger. He thought his head might actually be clearing. “You have no right!” he said. “I trusted you—I saved your lives!”
“And we’re saving yours,” said Asha. “You just can’t see it yet.”
“By attacking me?” said Kobi. Yes, the dose was definitely wearing off. The room concentrated into tight focus. Should have gone D-Four if you wanted to keep me down, he thought triumphantly. He wondered if he could get the gun away from her. Maybe not worth the risk.
“By calling the Guardians,” said Asha. “They’ll see the flare and come for us.”
Flare. He saw that the window to the room was smashed. She’d fired the flare gun from Kobi’s supply bag into the sky, where it could be seen from miles and miles around. How long did they have before the Snatchers came?
“You can’t survive out here on your own,” said Asha, meeting Kobi’s furious glare.
“I’m not on my own!” shouted Kobi. “When I find my dad . . .”
Asha sighed. “Kobi, he’s gone,” she said softly. “Accept it. You’re better off with us now.”
Fionn sobbed, shaking his head. He stared at Asha like he hardly knew her. “No,” he said. “Don’t take me back.”
“Go to hell,” Kobi said, then pretended to stumble back before turning and running for the door.
“Stop!” snapped Asha.
Kobi didn’t look back, charging out into the corridor. He’d almost made it to the stairs when he heard the thudding of helicopter rotors directly outside, then the thundering of boots on the floor below. They’re here already! Of course they were. They’ve been looking for us since the school. They were just waiting for the signal. Asha must have briefed them through the Snatcher’s comms in the woodwork room. She had this plan all along. She knew if the Snatchers came, it would force Kobi out and she could follow him to his dad’s base and his research. He felt almost bad for Niki, that he had blamed her. He’d been such an idiot.
The first of the guards was coming up the stairs, masked and wearing protective gear. He raised a gun at Kobi. “Freeze!”
Kobi jumped, feetfirst, and slammed into the guard, sending him tumbling back down the steps. He clambered over, only to see half a dozen more guards waiting below. The two leaders knelt and fired, and Kobi felt another dart pierce his shoulder. He pulled it out and kept on running, throwing himself into their midst. Hands tried to grab him, but Kobi lashed out wildly, raining punches and kicks wherever he could. They won’t take me! And then he was free, sprinting back toward the door into the outside world. If he could reach it, maybe he had a chance to slip away.
A Snatcher blocked the doorway, lumbering through and filling the corridor. Instead of slowing, Kobi pumped his legs harder, drawing his machete and charging. Just have to get past. As he neared, he dropped into a slide, skidding across the ground under the massive metal legs. He swung the machete at the same time, and the blade crunched right through one of the leg joints. He fetched up on the other side, leaving the Snatcher skittering clumsily for balance as sparks crackled over its severed foot. Kobi felt a little woozy already. They’d upped their doses too. How long did he have?
The CLAWS guards were shouting at him to stop, and a sharp sting told him another dart had hit the back of his leg. The Snatcher reached out, and a single claw caught in Kobi’s shirt, yanking him back down onto the floor. The Snatcher reared over him. Kobi threw up his ar
ms, then saw the creature jolt under a heavy impact. The air was filled with a fierce guttural snarling as furred flesh met with metal. Kobi scrambled away. The wolf was on top of the Snatcher, paws wrapped over its carapace and tearing with its teeth. Frayed wires and loose hydraulic cables spilled free as the huge predator savaged the robot. Behind Kobi saw the CLAWS guards holding back a screaming Fionn. Three Snatchers crashed down on top of the wolf, pinning it to the ground. Stingers extended from their metal underbellies, pumping a tranquilizer into the wolf’s body. Kobi watched, frozen in horror, as the creature’s strength drained away.
He stumbled on through the door and into the street. The tree line was just a few feet away. Just a few more steps and—
He saw the shadow coming, and before he could look up, metal legs closed around his middle and hoisted him off the ground on blasting jets. Kobi twisted and rammed the hilt of the machete into another Snatcher’s “face.” The metal dented, and something inside made a fizzing sound. The Snatcher lurched sideways, like a giant lazy bee struggling to take off. Kobi smashed it with another blow, and the grip around his waist loosened a fraction. He slipped through, and his legs slammed into the ground, leaving him gasping for breath. He tried to move, but his limbs felt numb. The Snatcher rose away, leaning sideways at an odd angle, and then careered into the side of a building, exploding on impact.
He managed to get onto his knees, then one foot. Clumsily he began to half hobble, half crawl toward the trees. Another dart hit him beneath the armpit. He didn’t have the strength to pull it out. The guards’ voices were distant, like he was underwater, and the trees ahead became a green smear, shadowy at the edges. Kobi’s own breath came like a wheeze.
One of his hands gave way beneath him, and his face hit the ground hard. He tasted earth. Rolling over with a groan, he saw feet all around, then guns; bio suits; and blank, masked faces. His field of vision was shrinking fast.
Then Asha’s face appeared, anxious. She leaned closer.
“It’s going to be all right,” she said. “Stop fighting.”
Kobi didn’t believe her, but he didn’t have a choice. Though his mind told him to get up, to punch and kick and scream, his body was impossibly heavy. The black shadows closed in completely.
16
HE WAS FLOATING, AND though he could have opened his eyes, he didn’t want to. Better just to enjoy the sensation of being at rest, in the dark, every muscle relaxed and cushioned. There were voices—his ears took in the sound—and he kept them at the reaches of his brain, an incomprehensible murmuring.
But slowly, Kobi’s consciousness took over. His limbs reported, via nerve endings, and neurons fired across his mind. I’m lying in a bed. The comfiest bed I’ve ever felt.
“. . . abnormal readings. The tranquilizer is wearing off fast.” A man’s voice. “It should’ve kept him under for hours—it was a level five dosage. The girl wasn’t lying about this kid.”
Then a woman, deep and commanding and a little irritated: “Why would she? Take more blood while he’s still under.”
Kobi felt a cold hand on his elbow, then the prick of a needle. He tugged his arm away. There was a gasp, and the rattle of metal on metal, then he opened his eyes into blinding light.
“He’s waking up!”
Kobi threw off a sheet, rolled sideways. His bare feet hit the floor. He blinked until he could see clearly. A sterile-looking room, with a normal bed against one wall. Monitors and a table of instruments. Two middle-aged men in lab coats, one poised with a syringe. Another man in a more military-looking uniform, his hand on a holstered gun. A single door, closed, and a large glass viewing panel beside it, with several men and women in pale uniforms, all marked across the chest with the CLAWS logo.
Kobi realized he was in his underwear and nothing else.
“Where am I?” said Kobi.
The doctors looked at each other, then toward Kobi. No, behind him. He spun around to see a woman in a dark suit and white blouse watching him from an armchair. She had gray hair cut short, and pixieish sharp features. Her pale blue eyes, wide-spaced, seemed familiar.
“Welcome to Healhome, Kobi.”
She climbed smoothly from the confines of the chair.
Kobi remembered what had happened at his dad’s lab, and his terror spiked. They’d caught him. Brought him here. He saw a tray with a scalpel on the table and made a grab.
“Hey, no!” shouted one of the doctors.
But Kobi had it in his hand. He seized the woman’s arm and pulled her in front of him, holding the scalpel at her throat. She was slight, her limbs birdlike.
“Let me out of here!” he said to anyone listening.
On the other side of the glass, a guard spoke into a walkie-talkie. In the treatment room, the one with the gun drew it and pointed it at Kobi’s head.
The woman in front of Kobi held up a hand. “Stand down, Mr. Krenner,” she said.
“I can take him out,” said the guard, keeping the gun trained.
“I gave you an order,” said the woman. Though her body felt weak, she spoke with calm authority.
He obeyed, but his eyes didn’t move from Kobi’s, and his lip curled in a snarl.
“Kobi,” said his captor calmly. “There’s really no need for this. We’re the good guys.”
“You kidnapped me,” said Kobi. He backed away toward the door, keeping his eyes on the doctors. Both had raised their hands, staring at him in alarm.
“Kobi, let’s just talk, all right?” said the woman.
Kobi gripped her firmly with one hand and tried the door. It was locked, but there was some sort of keypad: “How do I open this? What’s the code?”
“We need to discuss some things first,” said the woman.
Kobi knew he would never hurt her, but she didn’t need to know that.
“I’ll kill you,” he said.
“If you do, we’ll all be stuck in here,” she said. “Only I have the code. This is my facility. My name is Melanie Garcia.”
Kobi’s hand was shaking. Asha had talked about a head Guardian—Niki seemed to like her. Though Niki liking someone didn’t count for much . . .
“Kobi, we’ve been searching for you for a long time. Please, believe me, we’re your friends. Put this thing down.”
“I don’t trust you,” he said. “Where’s Fionn? And Asha?”
“Fionn is being looked after in a quarantine environment,” she said. “He’s not in such robust health as you and Asha—he needs close monitoring. But all signs show whatever drug you gave him worked remarkably well. Asha’s right here.”
Kobi heard a knocking at the glass and turned to see Asha on the other side. She’d changed into clean clothes—a gray one-piece jumpsuit.
“I’m here, Kobi,” she said, her voice muffled by the glass.
She betrayed me. She brought them to the school first, then Dad’s lab. Still, just the sight of her in this strange place gave him a shot of relief. A face, even hers, softened his panic. It was all too confusing.
“You lied to me all along,” said Kobi.
“Not all along,” she replied a little sadly. “I told you—our job was to find survivors. But, Kobi, don’t you see—those cleansers your dad made are amazing. We need them. And we need you.”
Kobi shoved Melanie off him. He wasn’t sure what he was doing, but he put the scalpel to his own neck, right over his carotid artery.
Now Melanie looked a little alarmed. “Kobi, don’t do anything stupid. We’re on your side—”
“Then prove it,” he interrupted desperately. “Just open the door.”
Melanie straightened her skirt and nodded. “Very well, Kobi. But please, don’t hurt anyone, least of all yourself.”
He backed away as she approached. Kobi watched her tap in a six-digit code, and the door slid open. The guards on the other side bristled.
“Tell them to drop their guns,” said Kobi.
Melanie hesitated, then nodded. The guards obeyed, laying their weapons
gently on the ground.
“And back off, toward the wall!” said Kobi.
They did as he said, but Asha approached the door.
“Please, Kobi. Don’t do this. The Guardians can help you.”
Kobi couldn’t tell if she was lying or not, but he needed time. He lunged at her, grabbing her arm, then wrapped his own around her. She struggled in his grip, but he squeezed tighter until she cried out.
“Ow—Kobi, that hurts!” she said.
“You’re coming with me,” he replied.
He dragged her out, then under an archway. The large room was surrounded by chambers just like the one he’d come from, glass-paneled but decorated with more individual pieces of furniture. Colored bedspreads and pictures on the walls. A foosball table, a dartboard, and something that looked like an old-fashioned jukebox. There were posters on the walls, and TVs. There were kids in the rooms, all wearing the same uniform as Asha. They all came to the glass to watch as he and Asha made their way past. There were double elevator doors at one end of the room, and several doors at the other.
“Which is the way out?” said Kobi in Asha’s ear.
“Out where?” said Asha.
“I’m going back to Seattle,” said Kobi. “Where are the transports?”
“They’re on the hangar level—top floor. We’re not allowed up there unaccompanied.”
He pulled her toward the elevator doors, ignoring the staring kids. Some of them looked a little odd, but he didn’t have time to focus. The Guardians emerged from the viewing room, following Melanie. “Kobi—this isn’t a prison. It’s a medical facility.”
Kobi reached the elevator and stabbed the call button, which lit up. The doors slid open almost at once. He paused, suddenly afraid. It looked so small inside, like a cage. Melanie and the guards were moving closer, though. He backed in with Asha. One side was covered in buttons. He pressed the highest number, 182. The doors closed, sealing them in.
With a tiny bump, they began to rise from level 42. Kobi’s stomach lurched with the sensation. He let Asha go, and she sagged against the wall, shaking her head.
