Push (Beat series Book 2)

by Jared Garrett

  “Making him at least a hundred and thirty,” Lily said. “No way.”

  “The avatar said something about cellular transplants,” I said, finally remembering what the inhuman thing had said while it was trying to kill me. “And before, in New Frisko, Holland said something about trying to find a way to keep people alive. So he used his own medical technology to stay alive and do all this.”

  “But that’s impossible,” Lily said.

  “He was still alive until an hour ago,” I said. “So impossible doesn’t matter.”

  We fell into silence. I couldn’t believe it was over.

  “Where’s James?” I asked.

  Melisa pointed at the pod they’d come out of. “He’s okay, just immobilized in there.”

  We looked around the base. At some point, the sun had started going down, making the shadows longer. At least forty Ranjers stood completely immobile in the sun. Their legs blended somewhat into the pale dirt of the road.

  “We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Pol said.

  I turned to Melisa, fatigue in every bone and muscle. “Yeah.”

  We lifted off in a shiny new pod. The Ranjers followed our orders to go into the beat up building and wait for us to return.

  Pol flew as Melisa helped me sit on a bench. James had fallen asleep in the copilot’s chair.

  “First my parents and the others,” I said.

  “Of course,” Pol said. “They were going to meet us where we dropped you off?”

  I nodded. He banked tightly and took us fast back to the houses. As we landed, he spoke through the loudspeaker on the pod.

  “Granjers. Tim. Karl. It’s us. Pol, Nik, Melisa, and James.”

  “Hey!” Lily said. “What about me?”

  “They don’t know you,” Pol said.

  She shrugged. “True, but still.”

  “We promise it’s us. Don’t shoot us,” Pol said. The pod touched down near a few of the houses.

  “Stay here,” Melisa said. “We’ll get them.”

  I didn’t think I could have stood if I wanted to.

  Desert haze filled the air as the pod door slid open. Pol, Melisa, and Lily stepped out, their forms made featureless by the sun shining directly into the pod. Their shadows touched my feet.

  Pol waved his arms. “It’s us! Come out if you can hear us.”

  “It’s not a trick,” Melisa said. She went a few meters away from the pod. “Anybody out there?”

  My mother’s voice rang out. “We have two keepers pointed right at you if you try anything.”

  “Mom!” I called out. She probably couldn’t hear me. “Don’t shoot my friends!”

  “Kayt,” Melisa said. “Nik’s okay.” She paused. “Well, mostly okay. He’s in here.”

  “Nik?” My mom again.

  “It’s all right, everyone,” my dad said. “Let’s go.”

  Then a bunch of people crowded into the pod. My mom dropped to her knees next to me and hugged me, soaking my shoulder with tears while my dad and the others carried Karl Stevens into the pod. He was in bad shape, but his eyes were open. He caught my gaze.

  “Good job, Nik.”

  I nodded.

  As Karl got settled on a bench with a shirt under his head, Pol called out.

  “Okay, we’re going back to the pod building. We’re going to take some pods, go to the caverns, and get everyone and bring them back here. It’ll probably take a few trips.”

  “What?” My mom sat up straight. “Why here?”

  “We’ll explain on the way,” I said. “Everyone who knows how to fly a pod should take one, make the trip as easy as possible.” All the people who thought they were about to go back home to a cave stared at me. “I promise, it’s okay. The fight’s over.”

  “No more running away,” Melisa said.

  “It’s true,” Lily said. “I saw.”

  “Who is this?” My dad asked.

  “That’s Lily,” Melisa said, kneeling next to me and examining the slice on my neck. “She’s a friend.”

  Pol flew us back to the pod building while I told the story again. We landed.

  “Okay, we’re at the hangar,” Pol said. “Looks like ten pods are left. If you know how to fly, go get one.”

  “Come on, Bruse,” my mom said.

  Dad was looking me over, muttering “Unbelievable” under his breath while I told my story. “What?” Dad said. “No way. We’re staying right h—”

  Mom looked from Melisa to me, then back to Dad. “No, we know how to fly, so we’re going to. Nik is in good hands.”

  Dad frowned. Some kind of communication happened between my parents. He shrugged. “Fair enough.”

  They both gave me a quick hug and led six of the former captives to pods. One of them, a woman I didn’t know, stayed with Karl, who had fallen asleep.

  I caught Melisa’s eyes. “You know how to fly too.”

  “I forgot,” she said. She sliced the clone’s shirt I still wore off of the Ranjer body armor.

  Smiling, I nodded. “Pol, you know how to get back to the cavern?”

  “Yeah, no problem,” Pol said. “They had the coordinates in their system.”

  “Let’s go,” Melisa said. “And then we’ll get Lexi.”

  “This is Pol,” he said, speaking to the other pods. “Everyone ready?” A bunch of voices came back. “Follow me back to the cavern.” We took off.

  The sun was closing in on the horizon when we got to the caverns. Melisa and Lily had insisted on cleaning and closing my wounds, because they were terrible people who didn’t know when a guy just needed to sleep. Then they forced protein cubes and vitamin water down my throat. At least Ranjer food wasn’t as horrible as the stuff we’d had in New Frisko.

  I woke up when Pol banked the pod in for a landing. James did too. Karl stayed asleep.

  “Hey,” James said, focusing on me. “You’re alive.” He looked around the pod. “We’re all alive.”

  “Crazy, right?” My head felt like it was full of wet fabric.

  It took way longer than it should have to get James and Karl into Kristin’s medical alcove and even longer to get everyone settled enough to tell the story. Krista had arrived at a dead run a few minutes after we got James into the alcove.

  She shouted “Bug me what happened?” and it echoed off the cavern walls.

  The story itself took too long to tell also, since people didn’t know when to stop asking questions. I had to backtrack and fill in details and it just seemed like it took hours by the time Dyana convinced everyone to start loading up the pods.

  I forced myself off the fabric-covered rock I’d been sitting on. My joints tried to lock up, but I made them bend.

  “Jan,” I said as she followed her mom to visit Karl. “I’m sorry about your dad.”

  Jan turned. A small, tired smile stretched her lips. “Kristin says he’ll be okay after a while.”

  This was the worst time possible, but it was the only time. If I waited any longer, I was a Bug-eater. I looked her in the eyes, taking a moment to silently appreciate the light orbs hovering all around that pushed back the shadows.

  “I have to talk to you.”

  She closed the distance between us and wrapped me in a tight hug. I froze. Melisa was right next to me. Come on. Don’t be a spammer. I hugged her back, but pushed her gently away after a moment.

  “I have to tell you something.”

  Jan frowned. “What? Are you okay?”

  I nodded. “Yes, but—” I had no idea how to do this. “I think I was too—Okay, no, I did move too fast with us, and I shouldn’t have done that.”

  “Done what?” She genuinely had no idea.

  “I always liked you,” I said. “But I didn’t really understand, and then I acted like I felt more for you than I did because I really liked—”

  Did Melisa really have to be sitting right there?

  Jan took a small step backward, her brows drawing down. “Oh.” She looked from me to Melisa and back.
“ I guess it was inevitable.”

  “Jan, I liked how it felt to be with you,” I said. “But I shouldn’t have rushed like that. And I shouldn’t have kissed you. Those feelings weren’t real and I know I rushed you and I’m really sorry.”

  She took a slow breath and visibly swallowed. She blinked fast, then her expression hardened a bit. “For a little bit, I hoped. I knew I shouldn’t, but you’ve been there for so long, always with Bren and…” She trailed off. “Deep down, I think I knew it wasn’t going to work—”

  I cut her off, needing to get through this fast. “I think I’m just a terrible person.” I hung my head. My throat wouldn’t let air past the knot in there. “I kissed you. But my feelings are different. I’m….” Then I realized what she’d been saying. “Wait, what?”

  Jan pursed her lips. “Nik, just say it. Bug me, just say it!” Then she actually burst into laughter.

  What the Bug? “Just say what?”

  “You are so oblivious!” She glanced at Melisa. “It’s obvious who you love, and it’s not me.” She smiled wryly. “I knew all along, really.” She pointed deliberately at Melisa. “You can have him.” Then Jan turned back to me. “You took way too long to figure this out.” She looked at Melisa. “Didn’t he? He’s kind of slow, I guess.”

  I stared at Melisa. Melisa stared back.

  “What are you talking about?” Melisa asked Jan.

  Jan’s gaze flicked back and forth between me and Melisa. “Spam, you two are made for each other.” She kissed me on the cheek and stepped back. “It was fun. Thanks!” She disappeared into a corridor.

  I turned to Melisa. “What just happened?”

  She shrugged. “No clue.” She scooted next to me and put her arm around my shoulders, being careful not to touch my new stitches. “But don’t let her kiss you again.”

  “Okay.”

  We sat that way for a while. Voices echoed around the cavern as people took stuff out to the pods. I calculated. We had nine pods to move over two hundred people and a lot of supplies. It was going to take at least two trips.

  Melisa rubbed the spot Jan had kissed. Then her warm lips covered the same spot and lingered. It was almost the best thing I’d ever felt.

  “Let’s go get Lexi,” she said.

  My arm and shoulder ached and throbbed as I lifted her chin. One of Melisa’s hands warmed my cheek. Her lips tasted soft and salty and sweet and like they should never not be touching mine. My heart skipped a few beats. After way too little time, we separated and I took a deep breath.

  “Okay, now let’s get Lexi.”

  Chapter 54

  I surveyed the group of cleaned up, healing Pushers that had gathered in the hanger to see us off. Two months already? We’d occupied the old Edwards Air base completely. Some folks even had a garden going.

  Melisa and I stood next to our pod. James and Karl sat in hover chairs Rojer and Pol had rigged up, a low cloud of dust spreading from them in a transparent haze. Jan stood between Pol and her mother, Karl on Dyana’s other side. Pol kept looking at Jan, his face going red every time. He had trouble meeting my eyes.

  “Melisa, Nik,” Rojer said. “Hang on a minute.”

  “We want to cover some ground before it gets dark,” I said.

  I glanced into the pod, seeing the packs and crates we’d loaded. There was enough space to sleep. Did we have enough supplies? Melisa had only been learning how to hunt for a couple months. The couple months it had taken to free Anjeltown and Mento from the Papas and the Bug.

  “I know, but you’ll want to see this,” Rojer said. “Lexi? You ready?”

  I looked around. I hadn’t seen Lexi much after she’d gotten back on her feet, but I’d heard she’d become Rojer’s apprentice. I had thought Pol would do that, but then Rojer told me Pol was already too advanced to be an apprentice. Pol had been the one to develop the radio repeaters, using technology he’d found in Holland’s lair.

  “Make a lane!” Lexi shouted from somewhere behind the crowd. A low rumble filled the hangar. I recognized that rumble.

  The crowd shifted in two directions and Lexi shot between the groups, bringing the SyJet to an abrupt stop five meters in front of me.

  “Rojer!” I ran to the machine. “You found it!”

  Rojer beamed, jogging up to the machine. “It was Pol’s idea.” He rubbed a sleeve along the back of the SyJet. Pol showed up a moment later. “We made some alterations.”

  “Like what?” I asked.

  He grinned. “You’ll see.”

  “Wow, this is amazing,” Melisa said. “I remember riding this into New Frisko.”

  Pol glanced at Lexi. “Load it up.”

  Lexi leaned forward and drove the SyJet into the pod. It fit perfectly.

  I stared at Rojer, then at the SyJet, then at Melisa, then Rojer again. “Spam. You want us to take it?”

  “Definitely.” Rojer squeezed my shoulder. “You’ll probably need it more than we will.” He patted Melisa’s shoulder. “Have fun out there.”

  “Thank you,” I said, giving Rojer a hug. “That’s incredible.”

  “You deserve it, my friend,” Rojer said. He stepped back.

  My parents came in right behind him. They hugged me and Melisa between them.

  “You’re going to stay in touch, right?” Dad asked.

  “Yes,” I said.

  We’d been over this. We were leaving to explore, not to get away. Although that will be nice. It was going to be months, at the most. Maybe a little longer, to let people heal more.

  “Because you’re going to put repeaters on high points,” Pol said.

  “Yes, Pol,” Melisa said, her voice muffled by my parents’ arms. She leaned her head back. “You could say it a hundred more times—”

  “Or a hundred less,” I added.

  “And we wouldn’t forget it,” Melisa finished.

  “Come back and tell us what you find?” Mom said.

  “I promise,” I said.

  “Stay safe,” she said.

  “We will.”

  Then it was time to go. We were going to find the Outcasts, say hi to Mintz and Evum and Lyn, then head straight north and see if we could find any more people. We couldn’t be the only ones left, could we?

  Melisa and I stood at the pod door. I glanced at her, then back at the group.

  “Say something,” Melisa said.

  “You say something,” I said.

  She groaned. I laughed.

  “We did it,” I said, raising my voice loud. “I’m sorry it was so hard, but now we can live our way. No Bug. No Ranjers. No Prime Administrator.”

  We were in touch with Anjeltown and Mento, and some of our people were thinking about going down to Anjeltown to see how things were going now that everyone was free of the Papa.

  This was much better. I thought back to that first night in the park with Bren and the original Pushers. I hope they can forgive me. I won’t miss the looks. My throat got tight.

  “We’ll see you again. Soon.”

  Pol and Koner jogged over and they, Melisa, and I grabbed each other and held on for a long time. Koner had kept every single one of his squad alive while the Ranjers hunted them. They’d even brought down two pods.

  “You’re the best friends I could have ever had,” I said, my vision blurring. My throat hurt so much. “Thank you for everything.”

  “Go find more people,” Koner said.

  Pol squeezed tighter and we broke apart. “Don’t forget—”

  “We know!” Melisa and I said together. “High places.”

  Pol scrubbed his face with a sleeve and he and Koner stepped back from the pod. Melisa and I climbed in and turned. I spotted Scott and Lily at the back of the crowd. The rest of their triune stood around them. I lifted a hand and waved at them. They waved back. Lily mimed pulling a bow and shooting an arrow at us. She grinned.

  I surveyed the crowd. Raising my eyebrows high, I said, “Better safe than sorry?”

  The crowd gaspe
d and burst into laughter. “Better calm than dead!” they shouted back, their voices and laughter echoing all over the hangar.

  I stroked the SyJet as the pod door closed.

  “Nice one,” Melisa said, settling into the pilot chair.

  I dropped into the copilot chair. “Thanks.” I laughed. “It really was.” I took a deep, cleansing breath. I felt light, excited.

  “It wasn’t that good,” Melisa said. She lifted us off and pointed us north. She punched the accelerator and we took off fast.

  “It was pretty good. Perfect really.” The hangar and crowd disappeared in a cloud of dust behind us.

  “Oh spam that,” Melisa said. Her smile grew as we gained altitude.

  “Nope,” I said. I couldn’t stop myself from leaning forward to watch a world free of the New Chapter open ahead of us. “It was perfect.”

  THE BEGINNING

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