Modified- The Complete Manipulated Series

by Harper North

  Once Emma opens up the door, we slowly lower Drape inside. I kiss my fingers and press them to Drape’s head, saying one last goodbye, then close the door.

  “Okay,” I mutter. “Let’s go.”

  When I turn, Emma has the comm ready in her hand again. She presses the side and lifts it into the air, trying to get a signal. “Elias, come in.”

  All that returns is static.

  I check the gun still strapped to my side as we move toward the street.

  “Stay alert,” Emma says, looking up at the buildings flanking us. “No telling who has eyes on us right now.”

  I take a long, slow breath as we race through Ethos. Only hours before, the majestic black buildings shimmered. Now, a dull coating of dust and sand coats the remaining windows that haven’t been busted out. Citizens rush past us. A few moments later, several ops emerge from a building. I hold up my gun ready for battle, but they run past us.

  “It must be bad if the ops are abandoning their posts,” Sky says.

  I force my feet to move faster, climbing over another pile of smoking metal and cement, around more dead bodies, past holograms permanently stuck in a gyrating flicker.

  “The EHC headquarters are there,” Emma says.

  “How do you know?” Sky asks. “Everything looks the same now.”

  “The ops,” she says, pointing to a group of guards who struggle to pull Reinhart from the partially collapsed structure.

  I blow out a sharp breath and follow Emma and Sky to what’s left of the building. “Where are they?” I yell at the ops, but they ignore me.

  Reinhart moans. The guards help him to sit up.

  “They’re not going to help us,” Sky says.

  “They don’t have to,” Emma says. “I found them.”

  I follow her gaze to the side of the street where Lacy sits along what was once a sidewalk. Standing beside her are Elias and Talen. They’re badly cut up, but they’re alive.

  My pulse speeds up. It feels as if I’m getting another chance to make this right. I rush to them and throw my arms around Elias.

  “You’re alive,” I say.

  “We made it out just before the building collapsed.” He pulls back and winces. Burns cover his forearms and hands. “The front entrance was bombed,” he says when he sees me looking. “But Talen got it the worst.”

  My eyes flash to Talen. A deep cut penetrates the back of his head. He teeters on his feet, as if he might fall any moment.

  Emma puts pressure on it stemming the blood flow. “It should heal in a few minutes,” she says, helping him to the ground.

  “What about you?” Elias searches my eyes.

  I gulp back the words, then finally manage to get out, “I’m fine. There was a crash. The hovercraft—it was hit by a missile. I’ve mostly healed, but…”

  As if slowly registering the situation, Elias’ eyes bounce from face to face. “Where’s Drape?”

  It takes me a few seconds. Finally, I lift my chin. “He didn’t make it.”

  “Drape’s dead?” Lacy says as she stands and faces me. The look in her brown eyes is human again, full of life and the same regret I feel. Her face flushes as she shakes her head.

  “We did everything we could,” Sky says. “He was too injured.”

  Lacy wraps her arms around her waist. “I-I can’t believe it.”

  “No one can,” I say.

  “But, I… I did this!” Lacy cries. “I got you involved. If it wasn’t for me, he’d be alive.”

  My breath hitches. Before she can say another word, I hug her tight. “It’s not your fault,” I whisper.

  An SNA hovercraft swoops close. Too close.

  I pull back. “They’re not going to stop until the command center is destroyed.”

  “We need to go then,” Elias says. “Get out of the city.”

  “Can Talen walk?” I ask Emma.

  Talen nods. “I’m fine. Nearly healed.”

  I take a long look at each person in our group. We’re all healing from the attack and getting stronger, but each of us carries a battle-weary stare, and beneath that the fresh wound of another loss.

  “We should go underground,” Emma says. “It might be the safest place.”

  Panic at the thought wells inside me. “No way,” I say.

  Emma takes a long look around. “If we stay here, another bomb is going to drop on us, or one of the EHC guards will take us out.”

  “But we have…” I scan the group for Bellaton. “Wait, where is she?”

  “Dead,” Talen says. “Crushed in the falling debris.”

  I hitch back my shoulders and secure my gun to my hip. “We need to protect ourselves from the EHC ops,” I say. “They’ll be looking for revenge.” My gaze turns to Reinhart, who’s slowly coming around. One of his guards hands him a bottle of water and helps him to his feet. “We have to take him.”

  Elias turns a concerned eye toward me as another bomb falls nearby. The loud boom rattles me to my core, but I push past it and go with Emma and Talen to pull Reinhart to his feet. Sky and Lacy work to force the guards back.

  “After all you’ve done,” Reinhart hisses. “You’ve destroyed Ethos and compromised the EHC’s thirty years of peace and order—”

  “You can blame us later,” Elias says. “Right now, we’ve got to get somewhere safe.”

  Reinhart narrows his eyes. “Nowhere will be safe for you now.”

  “Then apparently we have the same problem,” I say to him, waving the others to follow.

  Elias moves to the front of the pack and leads us back into the belly of Ethos. The deafening explosions tear into my thoughts, forcing me not to think, and for that I’m grateful.

  CHAPTER 19

  “Where are you taking us?” I ask Elias.

  “There’s an underground hovercraft port up ahead,” he says between breaths.

  I grip my gun and my eyes shift from rooftops to alleys, sure we’re going to get attacked by an EHC op or bombed by the SNA.

  “What happened back there?” Elias asks.

  “We waited,” I say. “Then the SNA hovercrafts flew right past us. They were headed straight for the EHC headquarters.”

  Elias grits his teeth as he swivels toward an op who rushes past. Sky and Talen cut him off, but the op puts his hands up and rushes away. Behind him, a hail of gunfire erupts from approaching SNA operatives on foot. Nearly a dozen charge at us, all wearing dark green uniforms with silver trim and black helmets. At least they’re dressed differently than the EHC.

  “Move!” Emma yells as we rush to avoid getting hit.

  Reinhart groans as we drag him away. One of his ops flies back from a barrage of gunfire. With a thud, his lifeless body now lies in a pool of expanding blood.

  I duck for cover and breathe deeply to try to slow my pounding heart. It doesn’t work.

  “That was close,” Lacy says. “Too close.”

  “You don’t even know who you’re fighting anymore, do you?” Reinhart says, dusting off his jacket. “Or how to fight them.”

  “Stay quiet,” Elias orders.

  “You opened the gates to the SNA,” Reinhart growls. “We’ll all be dead soon if you keep letting them kill my guards.”

  Around the corner, several more SNA ops gather. Sky waves for us to follow him to an alley and we creep into the narrow passageway. Talen forces Reinhart ahead of him and against the wall.

  “The entrance to the hovercraft port isn’t far,” Elias says. “We just need to wait until the guards move and then make a run for it.”

  The enemy ops fan out, blocking our escape, but getting underground is our only chance to survive the non-stop bombing.

  “Why don’t we take them out?” I ask.

  “Too many,” Elias says. “Besides, I’m low on ammo.”

  Sweat drips down my cheeks. I brush it away and check my gun. It’s the same for me, only a few bullets left. One more battle might spell disaster. It would be nice to have a rechargeable blaster right ab
out now.

  Beside me, Lacy holds her hand to her head, probably struggling with the reprogramming. Her ability could neutralize the SNA forces, but she’s not fully recovered yet.

  “You okay?” I ask.

  She leans back and presses her head against the brick wall. “It’s all coming back,” she says. “I didn’t want it to come to this.”

  Reinhart turns a cold eye to her. “You begged for us to enhance you.”

  “No… no, I didn’t,” she insists.

  A chill rushes up my spine as I imagine what she must have seen under Reinhart’s authority. Too much death, no doubt.

  “Just hold on,” I tell her. “As soon as we’re out of this nightmare, things will get better.”

  She laughs as if that’s the best joke she’s heard all day.

  All around us is the smell of death and smoke, and my throat tightens. I need to get out of this tight space. I glance down to the end of the alley, where debris litters the ground. A soft wind blows bits of ash around the sky, and a wall of crumbling rock keeps us from heading through and around to the other side.

  “You’re like a bunch of scared rats,” Reinhart chides. “Hiding in an alley instead of fighting.”

  Emma pushes between us and to Reinhart’s side. Her stern eyes tell me she’s had just about enough fighting for one day. She presses her hand against Reinhart’s shoulder, forcing him into the wall. “I’d stay quiet if I were you.”

  “Or what?” he asks. “You’ll need me to make it out of here, which is highly unlikely.”

  “We need you,” she says, “but not necessarily in one piece.”

  Reinhart tries to shift away, but beneath her firm hand, he stays put.

  “Now,” she says. “What do you know about the SNA?”

  “Stories,” he says. “I’ve heard nothing but stories about them. Several outside groups have wanted to infiltrate the EHC. We get threats every day. What do you think we’ve been doing for the last thirty years?”

  “Your way of controlling only benefited you,” I say.

  The commander turns his gaze to me. “You don’t even know what you’re talking about. Without the EHC, you would have been dead a long time ago.”

  “You don’t know that,” I say.

  “There have been past attacks on the outskirts,” he says. “Skirmishes. But no one made it to Ethos or any of our other cities. Not until now.”

  “Ethos is destroyed because of you,” Emma hisses. “One word back at the headquarters would’ve changed everything. We would never have agreed to—”

  “We warned you—” Reinhart starts to yell.

  “No,” Elias interrupts, backing Emma up. “You didn’t tell us everything.” He holds his gun to Reinhart’s chin. “But now you will. What are we up against?”

  The veins in Reinhart’s neck pulse. “I didn’t know it would be the SNA,” he says, twisting away. “It was classified information. Kept away from everyone—even me. This world is a big place and we have many enemies.”

  My eyes flash to Elias. I doubt Reinhart’s telling the truth, but if he is—

  Reinhart rubs at his chin as Elias pulls his gun back. “The perimeter was closed. It was to protect all of us.”

  The thought of something worse than the EHC makes me shudder. Protected by the EHC feels like a joke, but I never imagined there could be anything worse than them.

  “There must be something we can do,” Sky says. “We have to be able to keep them from gaining control of Ethos.”

  “You really messed up,” Reinhart says. His eyes narrow at Elias. “It was stupid to open the no-fly zone.” He runs a hand through his hair. “You think you know so much and you don’t.”

  Behind me, Lacy lets out a low growl, and I spin around. Her hands are clenched, and a darkness covers her face as she raises her fingers to Reinhart. Suddenly, Reinhart drops to his knees and claws at his throat. His face turns red as he gags.

  “S-stop her,” he sputters.

  “Lacy!” Talen shouts, pulling her back. Released, Reinhart slumps forward.

  Nothing gives me more pleasure than seeing Reinhart struggle, but Lacy’s use of her Aura power is a step in the wrong direction. “You can’t do that,” I tell her.

  Her dark eyes soften. “After everything he did—”

  “Focus on healing yourself,” I say. “Killing him now only makes you like them.”

  She swallows and nods.

  Emma crouches next to Reinhart’s limp body. “He’s out,” she reports.

  “At least it shuts him up,” Elias mutters.

  Sky pokes his head around the corner again. “We’ve got to move. No sign of the SNA fighters.”

  Elias holsters his gun, bends down, and heaves Reinhart’s body over his shoulder. With the path to the hovercraft port open, we race down the street, around more debris, fires, and wreckage. It’s only two city blocks away, but every step feels like it might be my last.

  Our feet pound the pavement, each of us running as fast as our tired bodies can move until we reach the opening of the barely-standing building and slip inside, then follow the stairs down into a subterranean parking lot where half a dozen hovercrafts are parked, untouched by the bombing. The cool air inside envelops my body. I take a deep breath of the smoke-free air.

  “Put him over there,” Emma says to Elias, pointing to a wall.

  He lowers Reinhart against the post, then moves fast to the first hovercraft, one of the larger ones, and smashes the side window with the butt of his gun. “We can take this one,” he says, pulling the door open.

  Sky and Talen climb in and help lift Reinhart to one of the back seats as Emma and Elias work to break through the security protocols.

  I pull Lacy to the side. “What was that back there?”

  She taps her legs with both hands and nervously bounces from foot to foot. “Reinhart said I wanted this. I didn’t.”

  “Of course not,” I agree.

  “I wish I didn’t remember what I did to Drape, but I do. I remember hurting him. I loved that little guy—”

  “He’s forgiven you.” My throat tightens with each of my words. I rub my hands together. “That’s the kind of kid he was.”

  Lacy presses her lips together. Her smile is reassuring and reminds me of how things used to be. “Listen…” she reaches out for my hand, “you have to believe me. When the EHC came for me, I didn’t want to be turned into an Aura op.”

  There was a time when I would’ve second-guessed her, but not now. “Even if you wanted the enhancement,” I say, “I know you would’ve never wanted to hurt Drape or anyone else in our group.”

  “I didn’t,” she says. “But I couldn’t fight it. Every part of my brain told me I had to hurt him. I had to kill. I had to destroy. I had to—”

  “It’s all over,” I assure her.

  “I tried to stop Reinhart,” she says, glancing to Elias and Emma. “Do you think they’ll believe me?”

  “In time.”

  Her shoulders drop as she turns her gaze to the ground.

  “I’m just happy you’re back,” I say, squeezing her hand.

  Suddenly, the hovercraft charges to life. Elias waves for us to get in. “We have to leave,” he says. “No telling when the SNA will drop another bomb, especially if they figure out this is a hovercraft port.”

  Emma steps closer to Lacy, examining her face. “Do you remember your life underground?”

  “Of course,” she says. “It sucked, and they made us work like slaves.”

  Smiling, Emma pats Lacy’s shoulder and says, “She’s all right. Almost back to her normal self. Memory recall is one of the last things to return.”

  But I know her full recovery is a long way off, and doubt she’ll ever return one hundred percent to who she was before the enhancement.

  None of us will ever be the same.

  “Let’s go,” I say, grabbing Lacy’s hand and heading toward the hovercraft. We climb in and Sky closes the door. Ahead of us, the meta
l wall shifts open, letting in the outside light. It floods the port and splashes across our faces. Dark circles cling beneath our eyes.

  Emma and Elias click buttons along the dash and secure their belts. “Hold on,” Elias says as he turns to me. “It’s going to be a challenge getting out of here.”

  Talen leans closer to Lacy. “If you need anything—”

  She nods and whispers, “I might.” The whole experience has definitely taken some of the edge out of her.

  As the hovercraft moves forward to the edge of the opening, two SNA crafts zip past. My breath hitches as Elias pushes the craft forward, and seconds later we cruise out into the air. Red and black mingle in the sky as if the sand and smoke have merged, creating a haze that blocks out the sun.

  In the front, Emma tinkers with the comm, flipping through channels until, finally, the crackling static fades. “I think I’ve found something.”

  A moment later, Ambassador Morris’ voice comes through loud and clear, shouting out orders to his soldiers. My eyes go wide. A dozen things that I want to say to him go through my head.

  “We’re connected into the SNA’s main channel,” Emma says as she lifts the device to her mouth. “Ambassador Morris,” she yells.

  The shouting on the other end goes quiet. Sky and Talen lean in just as Elias snatches the device from Emma’s hand.

  “How could you do this to us?” he shouts. “You betrayed our trust. What you did is nothing short of pure evil!”

  Again, there’s silence. The hovercraft makes a sharp right turn to avoid an SNA craft. Up ahead is the edge of Ethos and its burned out buildings.

  “Ah,” Morris says. “You’re still alive. I thought you’d be killed or chased off a while ago.”

  “You don’t know us very well,” Elias says.

  “And you don’t know us, either,” Morris says flatly.

  “How could you do it?” Elias demands.

  Morris laughs. “It is not my fault you chose to believe me.”

  My blood begins to boil, and I shift my gaze out the window.

  “You do have one thing to look forward to,” Morris says.

  “What’s that?” Elias asks.

  “You will be remembered as the group that brought the EHC to its knees; the beginning of their end. You assisted in the rise of the Sovereign Nerics Alliance. Soon, we’ll have full control of Earth.”