Rebel (13 page)

As I approached the fire pit, I saw two figures standing not far from the food table, gesturing wildly with their hands.

“Just because I think my own father isn’t a bad guy, doesn’t—” Addie yelled, but Kyle cut her off.

“That kind of human-lover talk is going to get you dropped real quick!”

“What the hell is ‘
dropped
’?” She made an annoyed sound. “You are all—”

“Whoa.” I grabbed her wrist before she could say something that would get back to Micah. I didn’t know what “dropped” meant, either, but I couldn’t imagine it was good. Reboots around them stared worriedly, and I was reminded of the scared look the girl had given me when I stood up to Micah. He was obviously implementing some pretty serious punishments.

“You need to get your Reboot under control,” Kyle snapped at me, his massive chest heaving up and down.

Anger flared in my chest, mixing with my lingering frustrations with Callum. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize Addie was under my
control
.”

She snorted, quickly covering her mouth with her hand as Kyle glared at me. The area around us quieted, and he stared at me a beat longer before stomping away.

“That was awesome,” Addie said.

“You’re being a pain in the ass.”

She laughed, following me to the dinner table. “How so?”

“I think you’re supposed to be more discreet in your human-love. Not to mention the fact that I’ve seen Jules watching you since you called her out about the birth-control thing.”

“I can’t help it if the chick’s crazy.”

I gave her an annoyed look and she sighed. “All right, I’m sorry. I’ll be more discreet.” She grinned as I speared a piece of meat and plopped it on my plate. “Look how well you got me under control.”

I almost laughed, but the weight sitting on my chest wouldn’t allow it.

Her eyes flicked over my face, concern in her expression. “You okay?”

“Fine.” I ducked my head and headed for an empty spot on the ground. She sat down next to me, and a few Reboots to our right watched us. Isaac was with them, as well as the new Reboot. Her dark hair was pulled back and she looked like she hadn’t slept in two days. She noticed my gaze and a smile barely tugged at her mouth. She nodded. I returned my attention to my food, unsure what to make of that.

“Can I ask where you stand with helping the humans?” Addie whispered.

“I’d rather not,” I said flatly. “But I do agree with warning Tony and Desmond. Callum is trying, tonight.”

“That’s awesome. I thought he might be.” She glanced at me. “But you’re not angry? My dad risked his life to get us to the reservation. And then it’s run by a crazy guy who wants us
to have a bunch of babies and kill everyone. It sucks.”

“You’re really pissed about that baby thing, huh?”

“It’s total crap. I haven’t been having sex at all because I’m worried they snuck in at night and took it out without me knowing.”

Amusement played on the edges of Addie’s lips and I laughed. “That seems a little extreme.”

“They’re all total nut jobs, so I wouldn’t put it past them. Have you checked yours? Did Micah harass you to take it out?”

I shook my head. “No. Not that it matters.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’ve never . . .”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Never? Not even with Callum?”

“No.” I brushed my fingers over my shirt where my scar was. I’d thought about having sex with Callum, more than once since we’d been at the reservation. I’d been thinking about what he said, about how he wanted to see my scars if we had sex, and how maybe that wouldn’t be so bad. They were just scars, after all.

A lump formed in my throat again when it occurred to me that it might not happen at all now. I quickly pushed the thought away.

“Why not?” Addie asked.

“I’m, you know . . . weird.”

She laughed harder than I would have expected. “You really
are.” Her smile faded to a more serious expression. “Is everything okay? With Callum?”

“Fine,” I said, taking a bite of meat and avoiding her eyes.

“He’s crazy about you, you know,” she said softly, like I hadn’t just told her things were fine. “I see other girls looking at him sometimes, and he doesn’t even notice. He only sees you.”

I blinked as tears threatened to spill over and cleared my throat.

“Sorry,” Addie said. She waved her hand and gave me a sympathetic look. “None of my business.”

I ate a bite of meat and dropped my fork on my plate. Part of me wanted to escape to my tent, but the other part of me liked having someone to talk to again. I hadn’t even realized that was something I liked about Ever until she was gone.

“You and Micah spend a lot of time together,” Addie said quietly.

“I guess.”

“Has he told you his plans?”

“Not really. He doesn’t trust me. He creeps me out and I’m pretty sure he knows it.”

Addie snorted. “Yeah. I don’t think I could keep it together the way you do. I’d go off on him.” She gestured to something behind me. “But he lets you into his tent. And he keeps his plans in there, doesn’t he? Schematics of all the facilities?”

I nodded slowly. “That’s what he told me.”

“Maybe you could grab them one day? Like when we’re
about to leave? I think it would be helpful.”

I gripped my fork and started moving the remains of my meat around the plate. “Maybe,” I said softly. I didn’t want to talk about Micah’s plans to kill the humans, or my role in stopping it. It made me think about Callum.

Addie sighed like she was disappointed. I felt like telling her to join the club.

A figure blocked the heat of the fire and I looked up to see Isaac standing in front of us. He was rubbing his fingers over one arm like he was nervous, and he cleared his throat before kneeling in front me.

“It occurred to us”—Isaac tilted his head to the group of Reboots he’d been sitting with—“that there will be a bunch of new Reboots after we kill all the humans.”

I blinked at him, not sure what to make of that statement.

“They’ll wake up just like we did, with their families gone and a bunch of crazy-ass people wanting to be their best friends,” he whispered.

I almost laughed, but Isaac’s expression was serious. Addie and I exchanged a look, her face full of hope.

Isaac leaned a little closer to me. “So if the Austin Reboots are going to do something to stop it, we’re with you.”

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins Publishers

..................................................................

THE SHUTTLE BEGAN TO DESCEND AS WE NEARED AUSTIN, AND
Micah turned off the lights so we wouldn’t be spotted. I sat in the back next to Riley, and Micah and Jules talked quietly in the pilot’s section.

I leaned my head back against the metal wall and closed my eyes.

Why are you distraught about killing one human but you don’t mind that I’ve killed dozens?

Wren’s words kept circling my brain, demanding my attention.

Why are you okay with my lack of guilt about it?

I’d always thought deep down she did feel guilty. I just
thought she didn’t show it. Maybe she did feel guilty, and she didn’t even realize it?

Maybe you should take a look at who I am, instead of who you wish I were.

I ran my fingers through my hair. It was true that I liked Wren the way she was, but it was also true that I thought she’d change the longer we were away from HARC. I thought she’d have more interest in other people. I thought she’d be excited to use the skills HARC taught her to help, instead of to kill.

I glanced at Riley next to me, and it occurred to me for the first time that he might know Wren better than I did. He’d known her for years, since she was a newbie.

He noticed me staring at him and gave me a weird look.

“What was Wren like as a newbie?” I asked quietly.

“Tiny. Quiet.” He paused, thinking. “Terrified.”

“Terrified?” I repeated skeptically.

“Definitely,” he said with a laugh. “Everyone was making a big deal about her number and she was so young. And she was so freaking traumatized by how she died that every loud noise made her this huge, shaky mess. She was always trying to hide in corners and under tables.”

My chest twisted around until it was hard to breathe. I couldn’t imagine her like that. Even at twelve, I couldn’t see her ducking under tables, terrified.

“I almost didn’t pick her,” Riley continued. “I wanted the highest number, but I was worried I couldn’t be hard enough
on her. I felt too bad for her.”

“I can’t really imagine,” I said quietly, dropping my eyes.

“Sure you can,” Riley said. “You were there.”

“Yeah, but I was seventeen. And I didn’t have to train anyone. I just did everything Wren said.”

I still did everything Wren said. I realized a big part of me was waiting for her to jump on board with saving the humans, and tell me exactly how to do it.

But she was right. I was the one who wanted to save them, who needed to save them, so I had to be the one to take charge. If I didn’t step up, we were all going to end up following Micah to the cities to kill everyone. That wouldn’t be on Wren, it would be on me.

I returned my attention to Riley, a frown crossing my face. “If she was so terrified, why did you shoot her all the time?”

A flash of irritation crossed his features. “
Because
she was so terrified. Man, she would have been dead in six months if I hadn’t gotten rid of her fear of guns. HARC wasn’t giving her a free pass because she was twelve. I couldn’t, either.” He shrugged. “Would you really want to be the one who did such a crappy job training the twelve-year-old that she ended up dead? I couldn’t . . .” Riley shook his head and cleared his throat. “I couldn’t handle that.”

I leaned back in my seat with a sigh. Now I felt like an ass. When he explained it like that it sounded like I should be thanking him, not be angry with him.

“She’s entirely different from when I left,” he continued. “The Wren I knew never would have escaped.”

“You don’t think so?”

“No. She liked it there. Not just accepted it, but
liked
it.” He shook his head. “From what I gathered, her human life was pretty bad. HARC actually looked good in comparison.”

Wren had never told me much about her human life. I’d pried a few details out of her, but I’d come to the same conclusion as Riley. It hadn’t been that great.

He leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes. “She must have really liked something about you to leave.” He opened one eye. “I don’t see it.”

I laughed softly. I forgot sometimes that Wren considered HARC her home, and I realized suddenly that she hadn’t used that against me yet. It would have been easy for her to remind me that she’d saved me—more than once—and maybe I owed her. I did owe her.

I ran my hand over my face as the shuttle touched down on the ground. Micah killed the engine and I unbuckled my seat belt and got to my feet. I had a gun strapped to either hip, but I was the only one who didn’t pull it out as we got off the shuttle.

We were about two miles from Austin, in the trees Wren and I had used for cover on our way from Rosa. We walked in silence toward the city, Micah and Jules several paces ahead of us, and Riley lifting his gun every so often as he scanned the area. He had the same sort of alertness as Wren, half his brain
always on something I couldn’t see or hear. It was strange that people who were so observant couldn’t pick up on the emotions of others and feel sympathy.

When the Austin skyline came into view, I turned my gaze to the ground. I’d been excited last time I saw it. Full of hope about seeing my parents again, wondering if they even knew I’d Rebooted. I’d worried about scaring them at first, but I’d imagined they would get over it and hug me and beg me to stay with them instead of going to the reservation.

Maybe if we succeeded in helping the humans fight off Micah and HARC, I’d pick a different city from Austin to live in. Maybe I’d go to New Dallas or take off to see the death state with Wren. Sticking around Austin no longer appealed to me.

As we got closer, I could hear the soft hum of the HARC electrical fence. I recognized the area immediately, and easily spotted the leaves covering the tunnel the rebels had built that allowed secret access to and from Austin.

“We wait here,” Riley said, pointing to the tunnel entrance. “They should be here soon.”

No one sat, or relaxed, or lowered their guns, and I shifted from foot to foot, uncomfortable. The note sat heavy in my pocket, and I carefully slipped it out, keeping it folded inside my palm.

I jumped at a rustling sound behind me and whirled around, hand poised over my gun. The others did the same,
Riley stepping up next to me as the sound of footsteps echoed through the quiet.

I sucked in a breath as a dark head appeared from behind tree branches, and a smile spread across Tony’s face when he spotted me. He was a big, solid guy, with streaks of gray through his dark hair. He was carrying large, plastic fuel containers in either hand and seemed genuinely happy to see us. Riley lowered his gun, followed by Jules, then Micah.

“Jesus, Tony,” Riley said, letting out a breath. “You scared the crap out of us.”

Tony grinned. “Apologies. We didn’t need to use the tunnel this time.”

Desmond walked up behind him, also carrying fuel. My memories from our time with the rebels were still fuzzy, but I remembered that he hadn’t looked at me in the same way Tony did. Tony regarded me like I was still a seventeen-year-old human, not a Reboot.

“Oh, good,” Desmond said dryly. “They brought the one who tried to eat us.”

I winced. “Sorry about that.”

Micah chuckled, holstering his gun. He shook Tony’s hand, and I tried not to cringe at the entirely fake smile he was giving the human.

“Why didn’t you have to use the tunnel?” Jules asked suspiciously.

Tony beamed again. He was exceedingly happy about
something, and I felt bad about having to crush him. I clenched my fist tighter around my letter.

“The fence is only half staffed most days now,” he said, nodding back to it. “HARC’s having a hell of a time controlling the population in Austin. They’ve got to keep a lot of officers inside.”