Countdown (17 page)

I turned it over and stared at the small, precise writing. “This is— It’s…too good to be true.” My gaze shot up. “What’s the catch?”
This earned me the edge of a smile on his otherwise deathly serious face. “I understand your doubt. But it’s all true.”
A school that could help someone like me. Where I could meet other girls who had Psi abilities. Where I could make friends and take classes and have a place to belong—after all this time of not belonging anywhere.
I drew in a shaky breath, my throat tightening. “Thank you.”
He nodded. When he turned his attention to Rogan I noticed that Jonathan’s eyes were now shiny with emotion. “As for you, Rogan. I cannot express to you how sorry I am for all the pain you’ve been through.”
Rogan’s throat jumped as he swallowed. “It’s over now.”
Jonathan nodded. “As I said, your father has had a few sentient moments. He was able to arrange for a bank account to be set up for you. By the time you reach the Colony your criminal record will be cleared, so your name will cause no red lights upon your arrival. The account number is written on your shuttle ticket. Your father wanted you to have enough money to last the rest of your life. He wanted you to enroll at the school Liam went to. He believes you have incredible potential—more than you ever gave yourself credit for. Some admissions tests will be required, but again, I’ve made a call and explained the situation, leaving out some of the more unpleasant details, of course.”
“You would have had to leave out a lot.”
Jonathan raised an eyebrow. “Let’s face it—money speaks volumes when delivered in the right amounts. The school is aware you might stop by, and they said that they’re looking forward to it.”
Rogan stared at the ticket as if in disbelief. “My father wanted this for me.”
“Yes. He loves you, Rogan. He always has, whether or not you realized it.” Jonathan pressed his lips together. “You should know, he begged me to kill him while he was still in control of his body, but I couldn’t do it. Now he doesn’t trust me—this technological monster that possesses him believes I’m working against him, but he has no proof yet. He has associates who shadow me wherever I go.”
Alarm rose inside me. “Then how were you able to get away today without being seen?”
He crossed his arms. “After your escape, Gareth was furious. The headquarters were in chaos. I had a feeling that you might be headed here, and when you pressed the buzzer, I managed to slip away unseen. I’m afraid I won’t be able to stay for much longer, though. In fact, I should leave immediately. They’ll be looking for me.”
“I’m coming with you,” Rogan said firmly.
“No, you’re not. My plan does not involve you. I must do this myself.”
“What’s your plan?”
His expression was tense as he fished into the front pocket of his pants and pulled out a small card. “Take this. I will find a way to contact you in a week to tell you if I was successful. However, if you don’t hear from me, it means I have failed. Wait a month until everything has calmed down and then use this information to get in touch with a man named Joe. I believe he might be able to help fix this if I can’t.”
Rogan didn’t look convinced, but he took the card, anyway. “But why can’t I help you now?”
“Because the moment they see you they will kill you. They’ll kill both you and Kira for escaping from the game. There’s still a risk once you arrive at the Colony, but it’s substantially reduced from the risk of staying here, I can assure you.”
I shuddered at this blunt statement. Then I glanced at the card. It had an H-like logo on it and an address here in the city. The logo looked familiar to me, but I couldn’t place it.
“What is this place?” I asked.
Jonathan’s lips thinned. “Just a small glimmer of hope after years of darkness. After all this time, I still hold on to the hope that things can change—even when they seem at their bleakest.”
I eyed him. “Well,
that
is annoyingly vague. Can’t you tell us more than that?”
“Sorry. I’ve already told you too much as it is.”
Rogan took a step closer to Jonathan. I wasn’t sure what he was going to do until he thrust out his hand toward the other man. Jonathan shook his hand firmly.
“Thank you for what you have told us—and what you’ve done to help us,” Rogan said, his voice tight. “And good luck with your top-secret plan, whatever it is. Please do what you can to save my father.”
“Be safe, Rogan.”
When Jonathan glanced at me, I offered him a genuine smile. “See, I
knew
you were a good guy after all.”
“No, you didn’t.” He smiled, too, but his eyes remained sad.
“No, you’re right. I didn’t. But I do now. Thank you for the tickets and for the—the school thing.” Words failed me. How could you thank someone who’d forever changed your life for the better?
He gave me a gracious nod. “The shuttle will arrive at three o’clock on the dot. Stay inside the house until only a few minutes before. Understand? There are clean clothes upstairs if you’d like to change. I’m sure you’re ready to get out of those ridiculous costumes.”
“It’s like you’re psychic, too,” I said, which drew a short laugh out of him.
“Goodbye, both of you. And good luck.”
He turned away and left the kitchen. A moment later I heard the door slam behind him.
Rogan looked at me.
I stared back at him, my mind reeling, my heart racing— I honestly didn’t think it had slowed to normal since I woke up in that silver room chained to the wall.
“My head is still killing me,” Rogan said, deadpan. “I have no idea why.”
“Might be because a big piece of metal just got ripped out of it.”
He snorted and I couldn’t help but grin.
“Yeah, that could be part of it.” He glanced in the direction Jonathan had just taken to leave the safe house. “I shouldn’t have let him leave yet. I should be helping him.”
“You heard him. He has a plan.”
“I wish he’d told me what it was.” His expression was grim. “But after everything we’ve been through, I just want to get as far away from here as possible.”
“I’m so sorry about your father.” Looked as if we were both orphans. Even though his father was still technically alive, Rogan had really lost him two years ago.
He nodded. “Yeah, so am I.”
I reached around to the back of my head and felt the hard ridge of cauterized skin. “I can’t believe the implant’s gone.”
“I know.”
“And here I thought I was going to have to get used to having you within ninety feet or less for the rest of my life.”
He gave me the edge of a smile. “Good job they’re out, right? You can finally be free of me. You’ll be happy in that private school, Kira. I know it.”
“I hope they like me.”
“What’s not to like?”
I rolled my eyes and tried not to grin. “I’m going upstairs and check out that change of clothes Jonathan mentioned.”
“You do that.”
I turned away from him, leaving the kitchen. Around the next corner was a f light of stairs to the second f loor.
Once we got to our destination we’d go our separate ways. Was I thinking we’d stick together indefinitely? There really wasn’t any reason why we would. I would go to the Iris Institute—which sounded both terrifying and amazing. And Rogan would go to university, like his brother had. The Colony was huge—a thriving city of a million people. We’d both get lost in the crowd.
If my father had seen the results of my tests, that I was a high-level Psi, maybe he’d been planning to take me to this institute so I could develop my abilities and learn how to control them. What would my life have been like now if that had happened? If instead of living on the streets of this dangerous, desolate city for the past two years, I would have lived those years in the Colony.
However, then I wouldn’t have met Rogan.
We’d been thrust together, neither of us had had any choice in the matter, and we’d dealt with it the best we could. Now it was over, and the moment we reached our destination I might never see him again.
This was the way it was supposed to be.
Even though I knew that, it still hurt like hell.

THE CLOTHES WERE UPSTAIRS IN A CLOSET. They weren’t perfect—I didn’t think whoever had stocked the closet, probably Jonathan, ever expected a girl to be here. I grabbed the smallest pair of jeans I could find, cinching them with a belt, and a T-shirt I had to tie at my waist. There were no shoes close to my size, so the black lace-up boots I already had would have to do.
Then I busied myself with taking a shower and washing my hair before I slowly got dressed. I stared at my ref lection in the foggy mirror after clearing it with my forearm.
Still me. I looked the same as ever. Tired, though. And a bit bruised. I had a small cut on my cheek that I hadn’t noticed before.
I tidied up and left the bathroom. Rogan was waiting in the hallway.
“Finished?” he asked.
“Yeah, it’s all yours.”
“Thanks.” His hand brushed against mine as we passed, and he closed the door with a click. I stood there for a moment, studying the door separating us, listening to the sound of the shower turning on, as well as to the sound of my suddenly racing heart.
I spent the next two hours exploring. The house was small, but fully furnished. It reminded me of the house I’d grown up in, even though it didn’t look much the same. Maybe it was just the fact that it was a real house, not some crappy place I could crash for the night to get off the streets.
There was a small view screen set into the wall, and I activated it, f lipping through the channels. I stopped on a news feed, half expecting to see mine and Rogan’s faces splashed across the pixels as dangerous, escaped criminals.
There was nothing, of course. We weren’t criminals. And the only thing we’d escaped from was something that very few people had any idea existed.
In another room I found a bookcase with some old hardcover novels. I pulled one out, brushing my palm against the torn, dusty cover. After a second, I recognized it as a book about a boy wizard and couldn’t help but smile sadly. My mother had read this book to me and my sister—even though my sister had always thought she was too old for such things. Still, it hadn’t made her leave the room when Mom had pulled this book, and others, out.
I read a few chapters, lost in nostalgia, before slipping it back onto the shelf.
Soon I’d be sort of like that boy wizard. Only, you know, I wasn’t a boy. Nor was I a wizard. But I’d be going to a school where they’d help me learn how to use my special kind of magic. And to think, only a few days ago I’d been stealing red shoes and depending on French fries for my meals.
I glanced at the clock for the hundredth time. It was two o’clock. Still an hour to go until the shuttle arrived. The house was cold, and I hadn’t found a temperature control yet. I decided to grab a sweater before we left. At the top of the stairs, in the room I’d been in before, I tapped the light pad on the wall so I could take a better look in the closet.
The f loorboards behind me creaked—Rogan had moved into the doorway and was standing there, looking at me.
“You’ve been keeping a low profile,” I said, not taking my attention from the closet of fascinating men’s clothes. “Two hours apart. I think that’s a record for us.”
From the corner of my eye, I could tell he smiled at that.
“Yeah, well, I guess we should get used to it.”
I forced a grin to cover up the f lash of pain I felt at that. “Do you know what subjects you’ll take in university?”
“No idea.” His words were dry and fairly clipped. He wasn’t making eye contact with me anymore. “I’ll deal with that when I get there.”
“Good idea.” I pulled a blue sweater from its hanger and slipped it on. It would do fine.
“Kira…”
“What?” I turned back, surprised that he’d drawn closer. I waited for him to say something else.
He didn’t.
“What is it?” I prompted, pushing the closet door shut with a click.
His throat worked as he swallowed. He studied a small picture of a lake on the wall over my shoulder. “So, you’re definitely going to that girl’s school.”
“Well, yeah. Of course. I can’t think of anywhere else I should go.”
“Just don’t let anybody tell you that being a Psi is wrong— like that bastard did. It’s not. Jonathan’s right, it’s a gift.”
“All the more reason to go so I can be around other kids like me. Otherwise, I would think I’m a total freak.”
“You’re not a freak.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” I pressed back against the wall. It hadn’t been this awkward talking to Rogan before, had it? Now that I knew we were parting ways, everything seemed harder. “What are your plans if you don’t know what you want to study?”
“Other than waiting for news about my father, not much.” He shook his head. “Actually, I have no damn idea what I’m going to do next.”
I nodded and tried to push away some of this overwhelming sadness—it was crazy to be so sad over saying goodbye to a boy I’d only met a handful of days ago. “Well, I wish you luck.”
“Yeah, you, too.”
“Like, seriously, Rogan. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been with me through all of this.”
“I feel the same way.”
Silence fell, and I began to feel very awkward again, and at a total loss for words. He moved back toward the door, but paused there, blocking it as I was about to move past him.
I eyed him. “Do I need to pay a toll?”
His lips curved. He studied a spot on the ground by my feet. “No toll.”
But he didn’t move.
“Well?” I prompted.
He snorted softly, and finally raised his gaze to capture mine. “It’s going to be a little strange.”
I bit my bottom lip. “What’s going to be strange?” “Not having you around anymore.”
My heart began to pound faster. “I thought you’d be glad to finally get away from me.”
“Glad isn’t exactly what I’m feeling right now.”
I hesitated. “What are you feeling?”
He shrugged and finally stepped out of my way. “Forget it. I know the past few days have been bad for you, Kira. Don’t worry, the worst is over now.”
I moved past him, but he caught my wrist.
“There’s just one thing I really need to know…”
My breath caught. “What?”
He captured my face between his hands, and then his mouth was on mine in a deep kiss that made me gasp against his lips from the sheer force of it. He pressed me up against the wall, and the picture of the lake went crashing to the f loor.
The reward room experience had ended in such embarrassment that it had tainted the moments we’d spent together, made me doubt what I’d begun to feel. But this kiss—so unexpected, so right. It made me realize that the only bad thing about that moment with Rogan had been the interruption.
“What did you want to know?” I asked as we parted for a second, my heart going a million miles a minute.
He grinned. “If you’d kiss me back.”
I was going to laugh, but his next kiss stole my breath.
His warm hands slid under my sweater to circle my waist, pressing me tight against him. There was no future, no past, only this moment. All I knew for absolutely sure was that I never wanted to let him go.
But then the sound of a slamming door made me freeze.
“What the—?” Rogan didn’t waste any time. He grabbed his gun and ran down the stairs. I was right behind him.
We turned the corner at the bottom of the stairs to see that Jonathan had returned. He stood by the sink in the kitchen with his back to us.
I let out a long breath. “Jonathan, thank God it’s only you.”
Rogan grabbed his shoulder and turned him around to face us.
I gasped. Jonathan looked terrible. His face was as white as snow and damp with sweat. The skin around his left eye was dark purple, the white of it filled with red. He clutched at his upper chest with his right hand and supported himself against the counter with his other.
“What happened to you?” Rogan demanded.
Jonathan shook his head. “There’s no time to explain. I learned that the shuttle would be here early and had to tell you. You must leave now…you have only minutes to catch it. Gareth and the others—they know…they’re…they’re coming for you…”
“What? They know about this place? Did you tell them?”
“They know that I…that I helped you. They’ve been suspicious ever since I gave you the antidote. They think I helped you escape.”
He slid down to sit awkwardly on the f loor.
“What did they do to you?” My heart was banging painfully against my ribs. “What can we do to help?”
“Be safe.”
Then his expression stilled and his eyes glazed over. His hand dropped away from his chest to reveal a large, bloody wound. It was just like the wound Rogan had had when the game had begun—the wound from the knife dipped in calcine poison.
Rogan dropped down beside him and pressed two fingers to Jonathan’s throat. He looked up at me grimly. “He’s dead.”
I stared at him in shock. “He can’t be dead!”
“They killed him, Kira. And they’re on their way to do the same to us.” He leaned forward and closed Jonathan’s eyes, and then got to his feet. “We need to leave right now.”
I didn’t want to believe it, but it was true. Jonathan was dead. The only one who cared enough to try to help us…and they killed him
because
he helped us.
Rogan’s hand closed around my upper arm, and he roughly guided me along with him out of the kitchen as a banging sound came from the front door. Someone, or a lot of someones, was trying to get in. They were from
Countdown
. They were trying to get me and Rogan and take us back or kill us or torture—
“Kira, come on,” Rogan urged. I shook my head trying to clear it enough to keep putting one foot in front of the other. We slipped out the back door just as I heard the splintering of the front door behind us. The back of the safe house looked out on a yard encircled by a small fence. A few hundred feet beyond the fence lay a set of train tracks.
A train was pulling up right now.
“That’s got to be the shuttle.” Rogan’s voice was strained. “We’re going to miss it.”
“Are you sure? Maybe there are lots of shuttles that go past here.”
“Maybe. But this one has the symbol on it.”
He was right—it did. However, at first glance and if I hadn’t had the mayf lower symbol pointed out, it didn’t look any different than any other train I’d ever seen.
When we got there, the pain in my ankle obscured by the racing of my heart, a white-haired man reached out to me from the side of the shuttle. “Do you have a ticket?”
“Yes!” I showed him the ticket Jonathan had given me. He eyed the ticket, then eyed me. If he saw anything strange or suspicious, either he didn’t show it or he didn’t care. Maybe he saw a lot of panicky people about to board. In fact, I’m sure he did. This wasn’t just a train, it was the promise of a better life.
Scratch that. It was the promise of a
life
. Period. There were no such promises in the city.
“Welcome aboard,” he said with a nod.
I climbed up on the shuttle and turned around to look at Rogan.
“Ticket?” the man asked Rogan.
Rogan looked back at the house.
“Rogan!” I tried to get his attention and reached my hand out to him. “Come on, there isn’t any time. They’re coming.”
“I know.”
There was something glinting in his eyes when he met my gaze. Resolve. Determination.
It worried me deeply.
The man frowned down at him. “The shuttle’s leaving, young man. On or off?”
Rogan shook his head. “I’m sorry, Kira. I can’t go with you.”
I stared at him. “What?”
“Now that Jonathan’s gone, I have to stay.” There was anguish in his eyes.
Panic clawed at my chest. “No. No, Rogan! You have to get on this shuttle right now.”
“I can’t just turn my back on him knowing what I now know—about…about my father.”
This couldn’t be happening. Not now when we were so close to escaping! “We can think about what to do later when we’re somewhere safe. Those men—”
“Those men are being controlled by something evil that needs to be stopped.” His expression was strained, but fierce. “I want to come with you, but I can’t leave. I have to stop him.”
The shuttle let out a sharp whistle.
We had tickets. The shuttle was here. It was about to leave, to take us somewhere we’d be safe. My dream come true of starting a fresh new life, finally after all this time—it was everything I’d ever wanted.
“I need to go now,” Rogan told me, his voice strained. “I have to do this, Kira. You see that, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” I managed. “I see it.”
I jumped off the shuttle to land at his side.
“What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” Rogan growled. “You were on the shuttle. You were leaving.”
“I know. And now I’m off the shuttle and I’m staying.”
“I can’t wait any longer, miss,” the man said.
I turned to look at him grimly and tucked my ticket back into my pocket. “I understand.”
“Very well.” He nodded and blew a whistle. The shuttle began pulling away from where we stood.
“There’s no guarantee you’ll be able to find another shuttle,” Rogan said.
“Well, that’s just the chance I’m going to have to take, isn’t it?” I clenched my jaw. “Now, are you going to stare at me all day, or are we going to get out of here before those whitecoat-wearing freaks figure out where the back door is?”
He chanced a glance back at the safe house and then sent a pained look at the departing shuttle as if he couldn’t believe I’d just sacrificed a first-class trip to the Colony to stay here with him.
Yeah, me neither, actually. But here we were. “Do you need a literal countdown all the time to get your ass in gear, or what, rich boy? Let’s go!”
“You drive me crazy, Kira. You know that?”
I felt his anger at my decision like a heat wave emanating from him. He crossed his arms in front of him, and I saw that he’d tucked his gun into the waistband of his new jeans. He started walking along the outer line of the fence. We didn’t say another word until we found an opening and were able to dart through a neighboring yard, and then along a side street that took us back out into the village. A cool wind had picked up, and it blew my hair around my shoulders as we emerged on a well-populated street.
“So what’s the plan?” I finally asked.
“The plan is to get you somewhere safe, and then I’m going to the location on the business card Jonathan gave me to see if I can find this Joe person. I just wish Jonathan told me more before he—” His voice broke. “Damn it.”
“You want me to go somewhere
safe?
” I repeated f latly.
“That’s right.”
“Forget it. I got off that shuttle for one reason and one reason only, and that’s to help you stop the virus and save your father.”
He laughed. It was a cold laugh that sent a chill through me.
I narrowed my eyes. “What’s so funny?”
“
Save
him?” he repeated bleakly before his eyes went hard with resolve. “Actually, my plan is to