Burn Out (16 page)

Alec typed fast and furious. He told me that his family was poor—too poor for a pod city, and he’d only gotten lucky when he found a GlobalNet device in a dead family’s pod. He said Sector 2’s pod city actually had a name—Consulate City. Wow, they were as creative with their names as I was with my guns.

He’d lived on the outskirts of that city like we did here, meaning no dome for protection. Only single pod units with unreliable air and water systems. When those systems broke down, you either had to have money to fix it or you’d be toast. Literally. It was just him and his dad, until their water system began failing and their pleas for assistance were ignored by the government. Alec woke one
morning to find a note from his dad saying he’d gone to demand help from the Consulate. Knowing that the Consulate wouldn’t help, he ran to a friend’s house. They didn’t have enough water as it was, but agreed to let him stay.

The guilt over not going after his father burned his insides more than the sun ever could
.

Several weeks later, his friend’s home was stormed by the Consulate. Alec had grabbed an old sunsuit and hidden in a crawl space under the pod, but heard them murder his friend and his friend’s family.

I shook my head. It didn’t make sense.

Why? What did your friend’s family do wrong?

A long moment passed.

Nothing. The Consulate wanted the W.A.R. It was the only thing missing when I went back inside
.

I didn’t understand.

Why would the government want a W.A.R. machine?

Alec wrote that he heard times were getting tough, even inside the pod cities, and the Consulate was looking for excuses to take the machines from the poor. A new planet hadn’t been found yet and even the government panicked. They started out just taking W.A.R.’s from the families of the deceased, and created a law that it was illegal to be in possession of a W.A.R. machine that wasn’t yours. So many people outside the cities took W.A.R.’s from the dead, but since they were government-issued, the Consulate knew who was registered to have one and who wasn’t. If you didn’t give it back, they killed you.

Alec continued typing at a rapid pace.

I think when the situation in the city became more desperate, they stopped waiting for people to die off and started taking the machines by force. The Consulate probably thought they were doing them a favor by killing them outright, instead of letting them die slowly of dehydration. I heard them accuse my friend’s family of treason, though I think that was a bunch of shit
.

I knew the government had killed my father, but killing innocent children was unbelievable. I shuddered.

So a trumped-up treason charge helps those burners feel better about murdering people?

He responded:

Don’t you get it, Tora? Treason makes them the enemy. No enemy survivors. Which really means no witnesses. Trust me, if they knew I’d been hiding out, they would have killed me too—then there’d be no survivor in my sector. I heard them marching up and down the pod streets, and the only sound was gun blasts
.

He’d only survived because he found a hidden W.A.R. machine under a pod. Alec’s words sent a chill up my spine. No enemy survivors. Both Kale and James had referred to that earlier. Had James experienced something like that with the Consulate? I couldn’t work out how Kale figured into everything, or how James and Kale were connected.

My father’s genius was a mixed blessing. He’d created super-guns, but also had been able to restructure our W.A.R. machine to accommodate the drop in atmospheric water particles. The government didn’t have my father’s brains. It made sense that if they couldn’t make their existing W.A.R.
machines more sensitive, they needed more of them to harvest enough water to survive. And they believed that their lives were of greater importance than those of the “lower class” citizens outside the cities. My dad’s super-weapons would have killed people faster and more efficiently than having to shoot multiple lasers at each person. And if they got lucky and found a planet, which they did, the guns would provide order in the new world.

My fingers flew across the keyboard, telling Alec that if I wasn’t killed by the assholes I was living with, I’d find a way to get there and rescue him. I also mentioned that I noticed his Spanish and loved the language. We logged off and I promised to rescue him if I survived. His parting words gave me hope.

Buena suerte,
Tora. You’re pretty damn strong if you made it this far
.

I went back into the front room just as James and Kale signaled their return with a knock on the sliding door. I’d decided not to tell any of them about Alec yet. I hadn’t figured out how to play that card.

“How’d it go?” I asked James, trying to sound casual.

He wouldn’t meet my eyes.

“Got her all fixed up.” Kale’s pride in the ship was evident. “She’s good to go, as soon as we load her with the ammo and visit our friends over yonder.” He motioned his head in the direction of the crash.

James continued to stare at some imaginary spot on the wall. Something was wrong.

Britta stared back and forth between them, then jerked her thumb at me. “This one’s been busy too—shooting books.” Britta fake coughed into her arm as she muttered “crazy bitch.” Yet her tone was different, not as evil as usual.

I pulled my shoulders back and stood upright. “Yes, I shot them. They sure won’t be bothering us again anytime soon. You got any questions?”

Kale studied me, his expression unreadable. “That explains the pile of ash out there.” He turned to address the group. “All right, people. Listen up. We’ll do what we did before and fly between the night storms.” Kale’s voice projected confidence and control. “Unless we find survivors, it’s purely a salvage mission. Then, on to Caelia.”

“Don’t forget where you promised to take me when we get there,” James said.

Good thing he wasn’t being cryptic or anything
.

Kale waved his hand in the air. “Yeah, yeah, of course. A soldier never breaks a promise.”

The way Kale strode around the small space, his leg pain must have significantly receded, because his gait was almost normal. He hadn’t asked for any more pain meds either.

James’ eyes were glued to my sister’s wildflower painting like it was the most astounding masterpiece he’d ever come across. Definitely avoiding eye contact. What had changed? If only I could get him alone, but he wasn’t veering far from Kale’s side. I patted my satchel, the weight of
The Obliterator providing strange comfort. James was the only one who knew T.O. existed, and whatever was going on with him, I didn’t think he would have told Kale.

I stood and crossed the room to remove my sister’s picture from the wall, then carefully placed it in my satchel. I gave up trying to catch James’ eyes and situated myself in a chair. Fine. I just had to hope that even if it didn’t seem like it, that moment in my room was real.

Kale cleared his throat. “Helmets on everyone. Let’s move some guns.”

Any ideas I had about finding alone time with James were shattered when he refused to come within ten feet of me. Instead, he and Britta grabbed a box of guns and followed Kale up the ladder. Frustrated, I leaned down and hauled up one of the remaining boxes. Being alone wasn’t new, so James’ behavior shouldn’t have stung so much.

Markus came up behind me and grabbed the bottom edge of the box. “Here, let me help you.”

Tears sprang to my eyes and I blinked them away. Maybe he couldn’t tell through the helmet. “I’m fine, Markus. I don’t need help.” I tried to lift the box higher so it would cover my face.

He pulled the box out of my arms with ease and set it on the floor, then yanked off his helmet. He made a show of turning off the com device on his arm.

I pulled my helmet off and shook my head. “You’re going to get in trouble for that—”

“Look, I’ve wanted to talk to you alone but haven’t had
the chance. I’m sorry for how this all went down. I don’t regret much, but I regret this. Not that it matters now I guess, but I wanted you to know.”

I wanted to hate Markus for everything he’d done but it would have been a waste of energy that I didn’t have. I’d known him longer than any person still living in this world. “Good to know. Now do you want to tell me what the hell is going on with Britta?”

Markus laughed. “She’s not that bad. Reminds me of you actually. I like my girls with a little spunk.”

“The fact that you just compared me to her makes me feel ill.” I studied him. “You really like her?”

He shrugged. “I kinda do. There’s a side to her you haven’t seen.”

I raised my hand to stop him. “I don’t even want to know.”

Markus grinned.

The others might be wondering what was taking so long. I grabbed my helmet. “We should get over there. And turn your com device back on before Kale notices.” If he hadn’t already.

Markus picked up his helmet. “I just want you to know that you’re not as alone as you think. I have your back.” He clicked his com device back on, winked at me, and lugged the box upward.

I watched him disappear out of the opening and sighed. If only I could believe him. I bent over and ran my hands
through my hair, then twisted it up to fit under the helmet.

Several boxes of guns remained, so I grabbed the lightest one and headed up. James could haul his ass back in the scorching heat to get the rest for all I cared.

Sweat dripped down me as soon as I stepped outside. Markus had already reached Kale’s ship, and I cursed my slow pace but had to keep the box from hitting against my ribs. I couldn’t wait to get away from this forsaken place. I still needed to figure out how to take Alec with us because I couldn’t leave someone here alone to die—I knew exactly how desperate he felt. Just as I reached Kale’s ship, James and Kale were exiting to head back to the bunker.

“How many left?” Kale asked me through the helmet com as they passed.

I glanced at James, who looked away. I resisted the urge to scream through the com just to get a reaction from him. “Two, and they’re really heavy. Don’t sweat too much.” I stormed onto Kale’s ship and dropped the box on the floor in the loading area. After taking off my helmet, I kicked it across the floor.

I looked up to find Britta staring at me wide-eyed from across the room. Markus watched me with concern and motioned me over. He turned his com device off again, and Britta followed suit.

I stomped over to them. “Markus, I’m fine. You need to stop doing that or—”

“You’re not fine, Tora.” Markus spoke quickly. “I just
went to take a piss, and James and Kale walked by in the hallway. They were talking and must not have known I was in there.”

I frowned. “And?”

Markus’ voice cracked. “This makes no sense at all, but Kale asked James to kill you.”

My stomach dropped to the floor and my knees buckled. Britta looked whiter than I’d seen her. I looked back and forth between her and Markus. “And?”

Britta’s voice came out in a whisper. “James said yes.”

M
Y BLOOD TURNED TO ICE
. I
BACKED AWAY FROM THEM
. I
F
they were telling the truth, then the first boy I’d started to fall for had turned out to be a psychopath.

Markus glanced out the window of Kale’s ship. There was no sign of them yet, so they were still down in the bunker. “Whatever you think we should do, we should do it quick,” he noted.

What was I supposed to do? I thought about how my family would deal with this. My sister would try and hug her way out of it, my mom would dope herself up with meds to avoid dealing with it, and my dad would try to have a rational, calm conversation with them and explain his position. None of those options gave me a chance in hell of getting out alive.

“Do you know how to fly this bird?” I asked Markus.

Markus looked sheepish. “Yeah, I’m the copilot.”

“So let’s fly it then.”

Britta shrieked and pointed out the window. “They’re coming back.”

Kale and James each carried a box of Dad’s guns. It made me glad I left the heaviest ones for them so it would slow them down. The sight of James caused a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

“Run!” yelled Markus, and we raced full speed toward the cockpit.

We reached the front of the ship faster than I thought possible given my ribs. Britta and I strapped ourselves in, while Markus jumped into the pilot’s chair and flipped several buttons. The engine roared to life. Britta’s fingers were white from gripping the arm of her seat. At least I wasn’t the only terrified person in the room.

Markus flicked on his com device. “Might as well let them give me an earful.”

An idea formed in my head. “Okay, but don’t tell them you overheard their plan.”

A second later, Kale’s voice boomed through his com system. “What the hell? I didn’t give orders to start her up. Report, soldier.”

Markus gave me a questioning look but I shook my head. He pulled back on the throttle and the ship lifted and turned. James and Kale had dropped the guns and ran directly toward us. Kale lifted his own weapon and aimed
at the ship—his ship. A leaden weight sank in my stomach. I hadn’t planned on the fact that he’d be willing to try and take down his own ship.

“Oh, God. He’s gonna shoot us down!” Britta screamed and covered her eyes with her hands.

James reached over and put his hand on top of Kale’s gun, pushing it down toward the ground. Some exchange took place and then it was James’ voice I heard through Markus’ com. “Tora, what are you doing?”

The deep scratchiness of his voice got to me, even through the com device.

“Keep going,” I told Markus. “And toss me your com device.”

We had to be almost out of firing range. If James had really wanted me dead, why did he stop Kale from shooting us? Unless what he wanted in one piece wasn’t me, but the ship and my guns.

Once I had the com device in my hand, I wanted to rage at him for betraying my trust and tell him where he could put those guns, but I also knew what he must be thinking. That I’d left them to die down there. Now he’d know how I felt. But a part of me wondered if maybe Kale was the one James was deceiving. I refused to believe that the time in the weapons room and my room had all been an act. Or maybe I was just refusing to believe what a bad judge of character I really was. I fiddled with the device.