Reboot (32 page)

Authors: Amy Tintera

BOOK: Reboot

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Beth looked from me to Callum. The way everyone stood behind her quietly made me think she was one of the highest numbers in the Austin facility, if not the very highest.

She let out a soft laugh, taking a few steps back. “Interesting plan. I hope it works.” She jerked her head toward the front window. “Some of you guys should take a look.”

I turned my attention forward as a few Reboots stepped into the pilot’s area. The shuttles weren’t meant to fly too far off the ground, so we weren’t high above the trees. Open land spread out in front of us, a lake sparkling in the distance. I could see pieces of old, deserted highways where greenery was poking through the black asphalt.

Callum leaned forward in his chair, blinking at the scene around him. He was still a little pale, but otherwise looked like himself.

“Do you feel okay?” I asked softly, scooting sideways until I could put my hand on his leg.

He turned, taking my hand and pressing his lips against it. “I’m fine.”

He slid one hand up my neck and inched forward until he could press his lips to mine. I reached for his hand, melting into the kiss. Behind me, someone cleared her throat.

“Are we kissing or flying?” Beth asked, her annoyance tinged with amusement.

I pulled away from Callum with a grin. “Right. Flying.”

The shuttle quieted some as we continued north, the occasional Reboot wandering up front to check out the view. The land was mostly trees and grass, but there was an occasional animal or two. We flew over a big group of cows at one point, and I wondered how the Reboots in the reservation got food. Did they hunt? Farm?

The Austin Reboots didn’t spend too much time up front with me and Callum. They mostly spoke in hushed whispers behind us, casting suspicious glances our way. I couldn’t really blame them.

Many of the Reboots stared at me but didn’t come over to talk, and I ran my finger over the
178
printed on my wrist.

“You think the numbers will matter there?” I asked quietly.

“I hope not,” Callum said, leaning back with a sigh. “I mean, I don’t think so. HARC is the one who started all that.”

But we bought into it. We separated ourselves into groups and acted accordingly. I glanced back at Beth, who was standing with two girls and a guy. I didn’t even need to ask to know they were the One-twenties of the Austin facility. Their faces were serious, the guy’s eyebrows knitted together as he listened to Beth. The other Reboots milled around them, but no one came too close.

I had no idea how Reboots would divide themselves up when left to their own devices. Maybe they wouldn’t. Maybe Callum was right, and the numbers wouldn’t matter without HARC around.

I looked up at him and smiled, turning my wrist over so I couldn’t see my number. I hoped so.

Callum straightened suddenly, pointing in front of him.

“Look.”

I turned to his window to see the remains of a city. It was bigger than any one I’d known and lay smack in the middle of a circle of highways. Parts of the city looked untouched from this distance, but as we flew closer I could see destroyed buildings.

“Which city was that?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I think we’re too far west for the original Dallas or Fort Worth.” He looked at me with a smile. “We should go see those sometime. I heard they’re huge.”

I’d never considered going to any of the old cities. I wouldn’t have guessed it would be appealing, but I felt a spark of excitement at the prospect. “We should.”

Addie’s shuttle started to descend about twenty minutes later, and I held my hand out to Callum. “Helmet. Put yours on, too.” I glanced at the Reboots in back. “Everyone put your helmets on and brace yourselves!”

“But I don’t see anything,” Callum said worriedly as he handed my helmet over and strapped on his own.

I scanned the area in front of us. The land was pretty flat, but I couldn’t see that far at this height.

“We’re landing a few miles out,” I said. “We still have to walk a ways.”

He nodded, taking one more glance around as we headed for the earth. “We’re totally going to crash, aren’t we?”

I grinned at him. “Probably.”

I pushed the lever down and tried to lower the shuttle slowly, but the ground was suddenly right there and we were smashing into it. I locked my arms against the dash as we flipped once, twice, three times. We ended up on our sides, Callum crumpled against the window, and when I pulled off my seat belt I tumbled on top of him.

“Sorry,” I said with a laugh, grabbing the edge of the driver’s seat to pull my way to the door. I shoved it open and crawled out, landing in orange-red dirt. Addie’s shuttle skidded to a stop a few yards away, and I squinted at it in the sun. She’d had a rough landing, too, but at least they didn’t flip. The land beyond her shuttle was flat and dry, the sky stretching out massively above the red dirt.

A strong wind whipped across my face as I offered my hand to Callum and he climbed out beside me. I opened the back door of the shuttle to see the Reboots were all piled on top of one another but grinning, their eyes wide as they took in the scene behind me. They chatted happily as they emerged.

“Hey, nice landing!” Addie called, and I turned to see her standing next to her shuttle, grinning.

I laughed and shrugged my shoulders. “They’re all still alive!”

“Sort of a low bar you set for yourself, huh?” Beth asked, playfully punching my shoulder as I helped her out of the shuttle.

I laughed again, the sound echoing in the sudden silence. The chatter and giggles around me stopped all at once. Everyone went quiet.

Callum touched my arm, and I turned to see a grin spreading across his face.

He pointed in front of him at a large wooden sign.

REBOOT TERRITORY

ALL HUMANS TURN BACK

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

SO MANY PEOPLE HELPED TO GET
REBOOT
INTO READERS’ HANDS, and I am forever grateful to all of you. Thank you to:

My agent, Emmanuelle Morgen, who had incredible faith in
Reboot
and worked so hard to make sure Wren and Callum found a good publishing home. And thank you to Alison, Ellen, Judy, and Sarah at Stonesong for your enthusiasm and support!

My editor, Kari Sutherland, for your editorial insight and amazing attention to detail. This book truly became so much better in your hands. And thank you to Farrin Jacobs, Alice Jerman, and the whole team at Harper for taking such good care of me and
Reboot
.

Lucy Stille and Lane Shefter-Bishop, for the amazing work you did with the book’s film rights, and everyone at Paradigm, from my mailroom buddies to the chairman, who reached out to celebrate with me. And thank you, Lindsey and Peggy, for providing me with happy days at work so I was refreshed and ready to write this story at night.

To all the other writers who took this journey with me: the Lucky 13s, for answering all my questions (even the dumb ones) and being so wonderfully supportive. Natalie, Kim, Michelle, Amy, Ruth, Corinne, L.J., Deborah, Gemma, Lori, and Stephanie—thank you for sharing your stories with me and listening to mine.

John T., Sara, and Sean, for offering to read and crit not just
Reboot
but the last book; Vong and Hannah R., for your feedback on the first part of the manuscript; and Hannah P., for being
Reboot
’s first fan and pointing out that I was using the wrong “its” (you were right). All my friends who read my work, celebrated with me, and didn’t get mad when I wouldn’t hang out on Sundays—Michelle and Josh, Sara and Sean, Mely and JP—thank you for putting up with my weirdness!

My family, for always encouraging my writing, even when I was scribbling out novels by hand. Thank you to my mom and dad, for sharing your love of reading with me and allowing me to chase my dreams.

Mike, thank you for your unfailing optimism and enthusiasm, and for never getting mad when I ignored you to spend time with imaginary people.

And my sister, Laura, the first person to tell me she loved
Reboot
and the only person to have read every single bad book that came before it. Thank you for being my first and best crit partner.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brant Brogan

AMY TINTERA
grew up in Texas and now lives in Los Angeles, California. She has degrees in journalism and film and can usually be found staring into space, dreaming up ways to make her characters run for their lives. You can visit her online at www.amytintera.com.

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BACK AD

CREDITS

Cover design by Torborg Davern and Sarah Nichole Kaufman

COPYRIGHT

HarperTeen is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

R
EBOOT
. Copyright © 2013 by Amy Tintera. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Tintera, Amy.

Reboot / Amy Tintera. — First edition.

pages cm

Summary: “Seventeen-year-old Wren rises from the dead as a Reboot and is trained as an elite crime-fighting soldier until she is given an order she refuses to follow.”—Provided by publisher.

ISBN 978-0-06-221707-3 (trade bdg.)

ISBN 978-0-06-228745-8 (international edition)

EPub Edition March 2013 ISBN 9780062217097

[1. Adventure and adventurers—Fiction. 2. Soldiers—Fiction. 3. Dead—Fiction. 4. Science fiction.] I. Title.