Modified- The Complete Manipulated Series

by Harper North

  Steven appears next to Cal in the thinning air. “How many are trapped?”

  “I don’t know,” Cal coughs—or sobs.

  Steven leans down and helps Cal lift the piece of concrete. Color and effort flood into his cheeks. The pressure eases as another man, and then one of the Original women, join in on clearing the rubble from the entryway.

  As they work, the pressure eases. Finally, they’re able to pull Sky off me. There’s blood pooling on the concrete just under his knee, and his pants are almost black with the amount that clings to them. He’s paling as he sits up, but he’s still moving.

  “Sky, lie down!” I shout, hating the panic that seeps into my voice. “Put your leg up or you’re going to lose more blood.”

  I push myself up, every inch of me screaming with burns and scrapes and bruises and grasp him around the shoulders and force him down. He’s in no shape to fight back.

  Sky obeys with a grunt, and I wedge my leg under his, lifting it. I pull his head against my chest, trying to ignore the warm liquid still seeping from the wound there.

  “Shh.” I rock him against me. “You’re going to be fine.”

  Cal pushes past me, checking the rubble for anyone else who might be trapped. People shout all around me as the dust finishes settling, but all that matters is Sky. The world might collapse on top of us, and all I can do is hold his leg.

  Elias did this.

  I hear his last words echoing through the station, warning me not to move. He thinks he cares about me, but he can’t. If he did, he would know taking Sky from me would be far worse than death.

  “I’m bleeding a lot,” Sky whispers, closing his eyes. “Dizzy. Thirsty.”

  “We need water!” I shout at everyone. “Someone bring me a canteen, now!”

  “Sky!” Cia clambers over the rubble to get to us. Good. She didn’t follow us in. That would be a fate worse than death for Sky.

  She grasps his leg and helps me hold it up. “I’m going to kill Elias for you, I swear. First, he tried to steal Fin—”

  “Sis, stay out of this,” Sky whispers, forcing a smile to his lips. “Go make sure Mom’s okay.”

  “She’s fine. We need to find those guys who did this and kill them,” Cia says. “Lacy says so, too.”

  Lacy is the one who brings the canteen. She takes over helping Cia hold Sky’s injured leg up—his leg that has bone protruding from the ripped fabric just under his knee—while I kneel beside him with the water.

  “We’re going to have to push the bone back in, and then you should heal so long as we keep you hydrated,” I say. “You might need blood.”

  But how would that work down here? They have that primitive infirmary, and isn’t there the worry about blood types? My heart races, and the entryway and jagged pieces close in around me, ready to cut and slice. I remember Elias saying we need some way to deal with injuries. Did he know then that he would be the one inflicting them?

  Sky sighs with relief as I pull back the canteen. He licks his lips and cracks a weak smile. “How about that kiss, huh? Was it… earth shaking?”

  I laugh and kiss him again for a split second before bringing the canteen back to his lips with my shaking hand.

  Cal finishes scouring the rubble. I calm down enough to look around, only to find a battered, bloody hand sticking out from under the pile beside us. Cal kneels beside it with his eyes closed, grasping the wrist. Already the skin’s going pale. Whoever lies under it is long gone.

  “We only lost one fighter,” Cal says, rising from the pile and releasing the hand. “Everyone, help us get this man to the infirmary. Then we’re pursuing those Destroyers until they’re dead. Move. Now!”

  He rises and turns away from me, but not before I see the hunger for revenge in his eyes. They burn with hatred and, most of all, regret. Cal’s mistakes helped lead us to this. That’s a feeling I know very well.

  Originals in plaid swarm around us, lifting Sky and holding his leg up as if they’ve done this before. He bites his lip and screams into his closed mouth as they carry him. There’s no way to ease his pain right now.

  I run after the Originals, my Noble class body already stitching itself back together, following them up the hill and down the steps to the infirmary, which several women in plaid are frantically working to restore order to.

  “Don’t manhandle him!” Lacy shouts beside me. Her voice echoes through the storage room.

  “Give him something for the pain,” I add.

  “We have morphine,” Cal says. “You heal quickly, right?”

  “Something like that will still take a while,” I say, trying to gather my thoughts. “Sky can heal, but not instantly. And I don’t think he’ll heal around a broken bone.”

  They lay him on the table. Sky bites back another scream. Someone brings in a battery lantern, since we still have no power, and opens it on the counter to flood the room with light. Sky’s still bleeding. It drips off the edge of the table onto the tile floor. Cal directs two people to hold him down, and I know what’s about to happen.

  I rush over to him and hold him by the cheeks. “Focus on me,” I say, because I’m not sure what else to do. Someone hands me a wooden dowel, and I stick it between his teeth.

  “Ready,” Sky mutters as his eyes roll up into his head.

  “Sky!”

  Cal doesn’t miss the opportunity. With a cloth in hand, he presses down against Sky’s leg, which results in a horrible snap. When I look, the bone is no longer poking out of his flesh, and Cal is pressing the cloth down against Sky’s leg so hard he’s grimacing.

  “Get me some alcohol!” Cal shouts. “I need to disinfect this.”

  My stomach sinks. I hear the shatter of the bottle Elias dropped when I startled him. I smell the alcohol spreading across the floor. What if Sky dies because—

  “That will work,” Cal says, opening a brown bottle a woman passes him and pouring it on Sky’s wound. “We should give him antibiotics to be safe. And an IV drip. This man needs fluids and electrolytes.”

  As Cal and his people go to work, I back away. I stand beside Lacy, watching in amazement at how coordinated the Originals are with this old technology. Sky’s eyes flutter open. Someone rolls a clear bag full of fluid into the room, and a woman—the same doctor who watched over Lacy and Talen—sticks a massive needle into his arm. Sky doesn’t even react. The pain of his leg, which is now wrapped in layers upon layers of gauze, has to be taking all his attention.

  “Fin?” he mutters, lifting a hand toward me.

  “You need to get out of here while we get him stable,” Cal says, waving us out with bloody hands. “Out, all of you!”

  * * * * *

  We wait in the main storage room for news. It’s the worst feeling I’ve ever experienced, like a lightning bolt of terror and sickness every time I think of what could happen. Lacy, Emma, Talen, and I sit at the old card table as we wait for someone to emerge from the infirmary. Cia and her mother have taken another room, away from everyone else, to wait for the same.

  What feels like hours pass. No one speaks much. Originals and Dwellers drift in and out, bringing bits of news from above. Someone says something about a blocked tunnel, but I can only handle one horrible thing at a time. Maybe two. Sky and Elias. My stomach twists into shapes I never thought possible.

  At last, the door to the infirmary opens and Cal steps out. There are bags under his eyes. For a second, I wonder why he’s not out near the entrance, trying to figure out how to defend us from another attack. Instead, he’s nursing one of ours.

  Then I get it. A lot of regret is going around right now.

  “Sky will probably pull through,” he says. “We’ve given him fluids, and he’s stopped losing consciousness. I’m sure we can’t monitor him as well as people could on the surface, so I’d like to offer my apologies.”

  I get up right along with Lacy, and together we wrap Cal in hugs. Yes, even Lacy hugs Cal.

  “What is this?” I ask her.

&n
bsp; “Sky’s my friend,” she replies.

  We rush into the infirmary, where Sky lies with his eyes open. He turns them toward me, and I kiss him again.

  “I was asking them to let you come,” he says, just as his mother and sister burst in.

  The doctor paces around the room, warning, “We’re getting too many people in here.”

  But everyone ignores her, and the doctor stands back while we crowd around Sky. I stare at his leg. The room no longer smells like blood. The IV drip is still taped into his arm.

  “How are you feeling?” I ask.

  “Better. Leg hurts, but I think it’s starting to heal. Cal says they’re going to bring me a big meal once the morphine wears off. I feel loopy, Fin.”

  “Can we trust these people?” Lacy asks.

  I still have to bring her up to speed. “They saved Sky’s life, and now they know who the real danger is. Once we’re done visiting, I’ll tell you and Talen why they put you under, and why they won’t do it again. Don’t pull any kind of revenge scheme on them. Swear on it, right now.”

  Lacy sighs. “Okay. I swear.”

  I hold out my hand and she shakes it.

  Cal exits the room, talks to someone out in the hallway, and comes back in. “It looks like Sky will have to stay here for a while,” he says. “I’m sorry to break this up, but we need to figure out where those Destroyers went and what to do about it. Everyone who’s still able, meet me near the entrance. We’ve cleared some of the debris, and we need to get a team together.”

  I hold Sky’s hand. I don’t want to leave him again after what’s happened, and if we send out a team, we might not come back.

  But he speaks before I can get any words out. “You need to go. I’ll be fine here. It’s clear Reinhart was trying to get away from us. I bet they’re going to find another settlement down here and regroup before they try anything else. And I have to believe Elias didn’t want to hurt us.”

  “He did, and he didn’t,” I say as a wave of sickness returns. We all know the truth.

  “There’s not much time,” Cal says. “The rubble is cleared enough to get some people through. We’re going to have to walk a ways, and those of you who are… enhanced… will be of a big help to us.”

  It kills me to leave Sky in this state, but now that I know he’s going to live, it’s bearable. I walk with Lacy, Emma, and Talen to the entrance, where rubble lies in messy piles next to the turnstiles. The ceiling is still full of holes, and Cal warns us there could be more cave-ins at any time.

  He leads us through the ruined turnstiles to the tracks where other Originals and Dwellers stand together. Everyone holds automatic rifles, and a few people even carry bombs stolen from the bodies of Cho’s people. Though rubble still blocks the tunnel ahead, there’s an opening at the top that will allow us to climb over the worst of it. Cal goes first without a word, and we watch him scale the pile with some effort and jump through to the other side.

  “Safe!” he calls.

  The rest of us follow, and even with my enhancements, my whole body is sore. Somehow, Lacy follows without much effort. Apparently, she managed to eat while waiting to visit Sky. Talen follows as well, also fairly recovered.

  Once everyone is over the pile and standing in the tunnel, Cal clicks on a flashlight and nods.

  “Move out.”

  The End of Book Five

  BOOK SIX: ELEVATED

  CHAPTER 1

  “MOVE OUT!”

  I’ve heard people shouting that order a million times, and it’s become such a part of my life that by now, I’m sure I’ll never be able to rip it from the fabric of my reality. Move out. Open fire. Take cover. How many people have shouted those orders at me in the last couple of months?

  And how many of those people have turned against us?

  How many of them are dead?

  Cal waves our ragtag group of Dwellers and Originals down the dark tunnel, a flashlight taped to his rifle. Steven and David, Cal’s top men, walk right behind him, signifying that Cal’s still in charge. And, honestly, that’s a relief to me.

  “We’ll find that dirty old fox,” Cal says, continuing down the rails. “And his litter of pups as well.”

  My stomach turns over as I think of Elias, caught between two worlds. Sweat snakes between my palm and the pistol I’m holding. After what he did, Cal will never want to let him live.

  I look at Talen and Lacy walking beside me. Lacy offers an eager nod. Talen focuses on the rail ahead, ready to take down Reinhart’s breakaway group or Cho’s Naturals—whoever we run into first. Emma walks with us as well, an automatic rifle stolen from one of Cho’s soldiers in her hands. I wish Sky were here. But he has to heal.

  “Do you think we’ll ever quit having to fight?” I keep my voice low so only Lacy and Talen can hear.

  Talen shakes his head. “No. Don’t think so.” He sounds flat, the way he did before Emma broke the EHC’s control over him.

  My body goes numb.

  Maybe it will never stop. We’ll fight forever. Who will break away next? I study our fighters. A couple of Cho’s surrendering Naturals, now dressed in plaid, have joined us, and only a few of the former EHC prisoners from the work camp remain. The rest have gone with Reinhart.

  Great.

  Cal holds his hand up. “The tunnel is blocked up ahead! They’ve detonated a second bomb. Those rats.” He moves his flashlight over crumbled concrete and rails bent downward from some terrible force.

  My stomach sinks to my boots as Steven and David fan out, checking out both sides of the blockade.

  “This will take weeks to move!” David shouts.

  “Quiet,” I whisper. “We don’t want to cause any more cave-ins.”

  The knot in my gut loosens. We won’t be killing Elias yet. Maybe he’ll have time to get away before we reach Reinhart.

  Emma steps forward, eyes on the ceiling. “Are there other tunnels we can cut through?”

  Cal nods to her. “There may be. I have some old maps that show where the tunnels block off open cave systems. Follow me. We’ll blast our way to the rats if we have to.”

  * * * * *

  We all head back to Elysian Beach, which is still partially darkened from the power outage. The mirrors continue to funnel down sunlight from the surface, but it’s either dawn or dusk outside—I’ve lost track of time. Or maybe it’s mid-afternoon, and the cloud of ash from the Monster’s Nest is still blotting out the sun.

  Cal, Steven, and David vanish into the storage area, leaving everyone else to sit on the sand, waiting for the next round of orders. But not me. I rush straight to the infirmary, breezing past Starla and Cia to lean over the metal table Sky is stretched out on.

  He lifts his head, looking startled and a little loopy from whatever the IV is pumping into his arm. But then his eyes focus on mine and a sleepy smile appears on his battered face. He’s still here. Still breathing. I lean over and kiss him, not caring that his mom and sister are sitting in chairs right there.

  “Fin,” he wheezes. “Fin, I’m just about healed. And that was a fast mission.”

  “Tunnel was blocked. Should have known.” I shrug, not really wanting to talk about war right now. Or ever again. My eyes travel down Sky’s body to his leg, all wrapped up in gauze and free of the stench of blood. “Your leg.”

  “These people did a good job. I guess this is how we healed each other back in the day,” Sky says, almost dreamily. Then his gaze hardens. “Reinhart and Elias die as soon as we find them.”

  I swallow, holding back my protest. I can’t believe noble Elias would side with the Leeches, but there’s no use arguing about it with Sky. He makes sense. I don’t. If actions speak, then Elias’ screamed, Go to Hell.

  “I’m going with you,” Cia says.

  “Cia, no—” Starla starts.

  “Yeah,” Sky cuts his mother off, pushing himself up on both elbows with a grunt. “You come with us. You’ve got your big girl weapons now.”

  “Sky!”
Starla cries, and then buries her head in her hands, accepting defeat.

  “Big girl weapons?” Cia huffs. “Why are you making it sound like I’m still a child?”

  “Because you are.” Sky gives her a weak poke on the shoulder. “A very talented sniper child.”

  Cia’s pout twitches into a little grin, which makes my own tired lips curl upward. This kid.

  Sky’s fingers worm their way between mine, tugging for attention. By the time I turn my head back to him, the table is squeaking as he shimmies his bad leg over the edge.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” I ask, putting a hand on his chest.

  “Getting out of here.” Sky brushes my hand aside and twists until he’s sitting up, one leg dangling, the other sticking straight out. “What’s the new plan for tracking the rats?”

  I’m not wild about him picking up Cal’s lingo; reminds me too much of how Elias cozied up to Reinhart. But I don’t have any more energy for starting an argument than I did two minutes ago, so I just answer his question.

  “Cal’s consulting some old maps, trying to find another way to catch up to Reinhart.”

  “And Elias,” Sky growls, sliding off the table onto his good leg.

  Ignoring his comment, I lift his arm over my shoulders and make him lean on me before he puts any weight on his bandaged leg. After a few awkward stumbles, he gets the hang of walking again. We make a few careful circles around the table together, and then I ease back and watch him do it on his own.

  “But can you run?” I ask, chewing on my lip. Because that’s something we need to do pretty often around here.

  He trots over to his mother, kisses her on top of her bowed head, and then trots back to me. Wincing, he says, “Yep. Good as new.”

  I lift an eyebrow at him. “You’re going to jog your way out of a hailstorm of bullets?”

  Starla lets out a little whimper of distress.

  Sky frowns at me, cutting his eyes toward his mom. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Elias and Reinhart won’t have time to get their guns up anyway!” Cia chirps, miming aiming and firing a rifle.