Doomed (46 page)

Long hours pass and Theo doesn’t move from the chair, his fingers flying faster and faster over the computer keys. I feed him, take a shower, explore my father’s cabin and the world directly outside it. Feed Theo some more. Watch him and my father work. Play tic-tac-toe with Eli. Take a walk.

I finally fall asleep around midnight. I’m sitting in one of the recliners in front of the fireplace, and everything that’s happened these last few days catches up with me. If you’d told me a week ago that I’d be able to sleep with the threat of imminent nuclear annihilation hanging over my head, I would have called you a liar. But sitting here, knowing that the fate of the world is no longer in my father’s hands—it’s in Theo’s—makes it so much easier to believe that things are going to be okay. When my eyes start to close, I let them.

I wake up a few hours later to see Theo stoking the fire. “Did you do it? Did you find a way in?”

“Not yet.” His voice is grim as he drops down beside me.

“You’ll do it.” I scoot forward and press a hand to Theo’s cheek. He looks so tired, so worn down, yet so much like a warrior, with his bruised face and battered body. Not to mention the bad-ass gleam in his eyes that tells me he’s determined to run this thing down. It’s hard for me to imagine I once thought he was crazy.

He closes his eyes at the first touch of my fingers. He
doesn’t move away, so I trace one of the many cuts that still decorate his dark-angel face. He pulls in a sharp breath and I yank my hand away. “I’m sorry. Does it still hurt?”

“No.”

“Oh.” I put my hand back, lightly brush my fingers over the bruise on his high cheekbone, then move down his strong jaw to the cut on his chin, and over the small slices from falling debris that decorate his cheek. So many different injuries. So many different times he didn’t back down when an average guy would have.

I pause at his full lower lip, then sweep my finger over the scrape there, toying with it. He looks at me again, and this time his eyes are so dark that I can’t distinguish his pupil from his iris.

I know I’m playing with fire right now, know I should take my hand away just as I know that I’m not going to. I can’t help myself, don’t want to help myself. For days I’ve sat by and watched while Theo stayed cool and calm and in control, no matter what happened. I’ve watched him get beat up for me, shot for me, seen him do things that only someone incredibly brave or incredibly stupid would do, again and again and again.

It’s hard to forget all of that, hard to think that it didn’t mean something to him. Because it meant something to me, means something to me still as he continues to battle to save the world. I’ve never kissed Theo, but sitting here, touching him as dawn streaks across the sky, feels a million times more intimate than anything I’ve ever done before.

Then Theo stands up abruptly, pulls me outside. My dad and Eli are asleep, but I understand his need for privacy. I
feel the same way. Out here, as red and purple and orange make their way across the early morning sky, I don’t want to think about everything that’s waiting for us, all the responsibility we still have to carry. I just want Theo to kiss me.

It’s cold out, the wind harsh, but I barely feel it as Theo presses me back against the house. His arms come around me and he holds me to him, his chin resting on the top of my hair. “This isn’t the right time,” he tells me.

“I know.”

“Everything’s messed up, confused.”

“It is.”

He smiles against my hair. “You don’t care, do you?”

“Not really. Not anymore.”

“I really like you, Pandora. I don’t want to make a mistake with you.”

“Life’s full of mistakes, Theo. And if you don’t kiss me now, when are you going to? We’re almost out of time.”

“I won’t let us run out of time.”

I think about everything we’ve been through, everything he still has to do to end this nightmare. “Promise?” I ask.

He doesn’t answer. Instead he puts a finger under my chin, tilts my face up until I’m looking him in the eye. Then he lowers his mouth to mine. And I was right. I’ve never, ever felt anything like it.

It’s fireworks after a baseball game, a cool dip in the pool on a sweltering, summer day. Front-row seats at a kick-ass concert.

It’s the sweetest melody I’ve ever heard, playing in my head over and over. I don’t ever want it to end.

I press myself against him, wrap my arms around him, and tangle my fingers in the cool silkiness of his too-long hair. The hair that should have been a tip-off about who he really was all along.

His arms harden around me, his hands clenching at my back as his lips move gently against mine. His tongue comes out, traces my lower lip, and I gasp at the sweetness of it.

Theo laughs a little, and then he’s kissing me, really kissing me, his tongue sliding against mine as rockets—forget the fireworks—launch all around us.

I laugh, too, even as I draw him deeper. He tastes like spicy cinnamon and smooth, sweet caramel. He tastes like hope, which I need more now than I ever have before.

We’re both breathing hard and he starts to pull away, but I stand on my tiptoes, yank his mouth back to mine. I’m not giving this up—not giving
him
up—at least, not yet. I want to hold him to me a little longer, to take his light inside me until it burns so brightly that nothing diminishes it, not even this nightmare we’re both locked into.

It’s Theo’s turn to gasp, and then he’s kissing me everywhere—his lips traveling over my cheek to the ticklish spot behind my ear.

Down my neck to the hollow of my throat.

Across my eyes to my temples and back over my jaw to my lips again.

I don’t know how long we stand there, kissing and touching and murmuring to each other, but when he finally pulls away, his lips are swollen and the dazzling colors of the morning sky have faded to blue.

“We need to go in,” he whispers.

“I know.” I fight the urge to beg for just a little more time.

“You know, no matter what happens, we’re going to have to call someone. Your dad—”

“I know.”

“I’m sorry.”

“He made his choices. He deserves to go to jail. No matter how good his agenda was, no matter how much he wanted to help, this isn’t the way.”

Theo nods, then leans down and kisses me one more time. I cling to him, cling to this one perfect moment before letting him go. He takes my hand and we walk back inside.

Eli’s sitting on the couch, reading. He looks up with a smile that quickly clouds over when he sees my fingers twined with Theo’s. He doesn’t say anything, though. For long seconds, none of us do. We just stand there, absorbing this newest shock wave to rip through our world. It’s so much less, yet so much more, than the ones that have come before it.

Finally, Theo walks over to the computer and starts to work. I head into the kitchen to find something for breakfast, and Eli … Eli heads outside without another word.

I follow him, the cabin door slamming behind me like a gunshot. I expect Eli to be sitting on the porch, but he’s not there. Instead, he’s halfway across the meadow, running like the demons of hell are after him.

I don’t stop to think, don’t try to figure out what I want to say. I just take off after him. He’s faster than I am, though. Has more stamina, especially after everything we’ve been
through the last few days. I finally get a stitch in my side and have to pause as I struggle for breath.

I expect him to keep going, but a few seconds later, he circles back. Drops onto the ground at my feet. And smiles up at me—that same charming grin I used to see before I got to know the real him. It hurts a little to see it now, to realize he’s using it as a form of self-protection—against me.

I sit down beside him, but don’t touch him. For a long time, I don’t say anything and neither does he. We just sit there, staring out at the horizon. Finally, he comments, “You and Theo, huh?”

I nod. “Pretty much.”

“You know he’s a mess, right? His dad’s death really screwed him up.”

“Yeah, because the two of us are such pictures of mental health.”

He laughs, drapes an arm over my shoulder. “It was worth a shot.”

“Give me a break. If things were normal, you’d be so blinded by your harem that you wouldn’t even know I existed.”

“Sure I would.” He reaches over and plays with a strand of my still-brown hair. “None of my harem had purple hair, after all.”

“Well, there is that.”

“Anyway, normal is highly overrated.”

“I don’t know.” I lay my head on his shoulder, watch as a flock of birds takes off, flying in some preordained formation as they fill the sky. In no way disrupted by the nightmare that has all of mankind in its grip. “I kind of miss normal.”

He sighs. “Me, too.”

We sit there for a while, quiet but content—or as close as we can get to content with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. At least until Eli’s stomach growls and shatters our hard-won peace.

“Come on, let’s go.” I leap to my feet, extend my hand to help him up. “I’ll make you some eggs.” It’s a peace offering, and we both know it.

He stares at me for a second, his crazy green eyes lit up with emotions neither of us wants to explore. Then he asks, “Scrambled?”

“Uh, yeah. It’s the only kind I know how to make.”

He grabs my hand, lets me drag him to his feet. “Race ya.” This time, he’s the one who takes off without saying go.

I follow, laughing, as the sun beats down on me. Maybe everything is going to be all right, after all.

Half an hour later, I’m in the middle of cooking Eli’s eggs when my father’s computer lets out one long, high-pitched
beep
. Theo shouts in triumph, and seconds later my dad slams out of his room. His bare feet slap against the concrete floor as he runs down the hall. Even Eli gets up from his spot on the couch.

“Dude, you’re in?” he asks incredulously.

“I’m in.”

“Awesome!” I run over to see what he’s done, but stop when I see a gun in my father’s hand. A gun that’s pointed directly at the center of Theo’s chest.

“Mitchell! What are you doing?”

“I never thought he’d manage it.” He shakes his head, bemused. “You’re almost as good as I am, kid. I’m impressed.”

Theo doesn’t move, doesn’t so much as blink. He just stares my father down even as his life flashes before my eyes.

Ignoring Eli’s warning shout, I shove between them. It’s my turn to face my father. “Really? You said you wanted to end this thing.”

“I do. Just not yet. One more day and we can turn the game off. If we do it now, it will ruin everything.” The hand holding the gun shakes violently, but he keeps it aimed straight at me.

Which is where I want it. Better me than Theo. From the way he’s snarling behind me, I know Theo disagrees. But I don’t care. I’m betting on the fact that my dad won’t shoot me. And if I’m wrong, then it’s still better me than either Theo or Eli.

“You’ve already ruined everything,” I tell him. “You’re just too stupid to realize it.”

“By tomorrow, the water plants will go out. Shipments will have been disrupted long enough for gas to be a problem, even for the government. Generators will fail, and things will grind to a halt. Forever. It will be beautiful.”

“You’re insane!” I back up so my body is covering as much of Theo’s as possible.

“I’m a visionary. You’ll see.”

“You’re a madman.”

“I’m also your father. And I’m ordering you to move aside.”

“After Theo stops the worm.”

“That’s not an option.” He lifts the barrel of the gun, points it straight at my head. “Step away from the computer, Theo.”

“Theo, don’t …”

But it’s too late. He’s already stepping back.

“Good. Now, Pandora, sit down. We’re going to fix whatever your boyfriend messed with.”

I know I should do what he says. Know that defying him will do nothing, as he can fix it himself anytime he wants. But I won’t do it. There’s no way I’ll sit in his chair and help him destroy the world. He already used me for that once.

My father sees the refusal in my eyes, and his face falls. The gun wavers, and I brace myself for the feel of a bullet ripping through me. But he doesn’t shoot. Even when I’m sure that he will, he doesn’t. Instead, I hear the soft
snick
of the gun uncocking. And then it hits the ground. Hard.

“Pandora, please. We can change everything,” he pleads.

“You already have.” I bend over, pick up the gun, then turn and walk out the door. Back toward a world turned upside down and an airplane that is almost out of fuel. It won’t get us far, but it will get me away from him. Away from here.

Eli and Theo are behind me as we walk away from my father and all of his empty promises. None of us speak. There isn’t anything to say.

When we get back to the plane, I walk straight to the radio at the front, turn it on. Send out a call for help.

“What are you doing?” Eli demands. “You’re going to get us caught.”

I ignore him, send out another call. I’m doing what I should have done the second I realized where we were. Who we were with.

For long seconds the radio waves are empty, and I’m about to try again when a voice crackles back at me. “This is Sergeant Michael Butler from the Wyoming Police Department. What kind of assistance are you in need of?”

I freeze for a second, try to find my voice even as my heart races. I didn’t let myself hope that someone would really answer. Finally, I take a deep breath and say, “My name is Pandora Walker. My father, Mitchell Walker, is responsible for the Pandora’s Box worm. I’ve found him, here in Wyoming.” Under Eli’s stunned gaze, I give them our GPS coordinates.

The police officer has a lot of questions, but I don’t answer them. Don’t say anything else at all as I reach over and flip the radio to Off. I know the day is coming when I’ll have to give the government a full explanation of everything that has happened. But that day, God willing, isn’t today. Not when there’s still so much at stake.

I turn to say as much to Theo, to tell him and Eli that we have to go, but he’s not standing behind me like I expected him to be. Instead, he’s scrunched into the passenger seat, my laptop on his lap.