33

NOAH

I could barely breathe.

Min was shouting at Myers, who refused to respond. Tack’s head was on my shoulder, still stunned from having it cracked. I sat still, unspeaking, locked up to the point I was almost unable to function.

It’s happening.

We were prisoners of Project Nemesis, which was operating in the open now.

The Humvee raced down Main Street to town square, which was surrounded by a confusion of people and vehicles. Gray-uniformed soldiers had formed an armed cordon around the entire plaza. Townsfolk were pressing the barriers, shouting and pointing angrily toward a group of nervous-looking teens huddled by the fountain at the square’s center.

The Humvee stopped just short of the protesters.

“Everyone out,” Myers ordered gruffly. “Join your classmates on the lawn.”

“Why?” Min demanded. “So you can shoot everyone at once? What’s going to happen to us? How could you do this?”

He paused. “I’m sorry, Min. Especially for you betas. I had to make a hard choice.”

“Sorry doesn’t make this okay!” Min shouted, her face purpling. She started punching him again and again in the shoulder. Myers made no attempt to defend himself.

I watched, immobilized, unable to react.

This has to be a dream.

A soldier opened the door and removed Tack, then ordered me out. A squad stood a few paces off, watching the crowd intently. Shouts and threats carried from the barriers—Fire Lake citizens, demanding access to their children. The troops held their weapons ready.

A soldier thrust Tack at me. I caught his weight and swung an arm under his shoulder, holding him up as best I could. Tack swayed, mumbling incoherently as more soldiers hauled Min from the Humvee. Myers remained inside, staring at his hands as blood trickled from a cut on his forehead, unnoticed. For some reason this scared me more than anything else.

“Form up!” Sutton commanded. Troops raced to obey, surrounding us in a tight phalanx. We marched past the Nolans’ van, pulled up on a curb outside the cordon. I could see Ethan and a few others inside the assembly area, milling anxiously, watching the guards with a mixture of resentment and fear.

Tack stirred. Pushed me away, his head lolling on his shoulders. “Wha—?”

“Take it easy.” I kept an arm out just in case. “We’re being moved.”

“We have to do something,” Min whispered, but Sutton was already issuing new orders.

“Deliver them to the holding zone,” he told our escort, then addressed us directly. “You three: proceed to the center of the square and remain there. Don’t get cute. Noncompliance will be dealt with harshly.” Then he turned and strode away.

Min’s hands were fists. I could see blood on her knuckles, and nearly got sick.

“We should do what they say,” I said quickly.

Her eyes whipped to me. She thought I was being spineless again, but I’d witnessed the massacre at the Plank. We can’t test these men.

A hand gripped my shoulder. I spun, nearly shouted.

Dr. Lowell had wormed his way to my side. He looked ridiculous in a military uniform, his fiery red hair at odds with the drab fatigues. His gaze bore into me, his fingers tightening like a claw. “Listen to me, Noah. You can do this! I believe in you. Just trust yourself. Trust your instincts, the real ones we buried so deeply. Do you understand?”

I shook my head, stunned. Of course I didn’t understand. But then Min lunged across me, trying to get a piece of Lowell. “I know what you did, you monster!”

Lowell stepped back through the guards, who didn’t impede his movements. “I’m not worried about you, Min. You’ve always had spirit. Godspeed to you both. I’m sorry I didn’t do more.” Then he disappeared into the mob.

Our escort carved a path through the protesters, using force when necessary. A sawhorse was pulled aside, the lines parted, and we were shoved into the open space beyond. The soldiers were arranged in a double formation—an inner square facing the kids by the fountain, surrounded by an outer square holding back the townspeople. They were stone-faced and heavily armed. All wore gray uniforms with the black starburst emblem.

Without another option, we hurried over to join our classmates. Ethan intercepted us halfway, his expression unreadable. Min tensed, and I worried her anger would erupt again. The last thing we need right now.

But Ethan merely nodded. “You too, huh? Thought maybe they skipped the trailer park.” He jabbed a thumb back at the fountain. “Almost everyone. The whole sophomore class, rounded up like criminals. They jammed the cell tower, too.”

His gaze flicked behind me. A disturbance was working through the crowd to the edge of the cordon. “I’ll bet anything that’s Hector, Benny, and Darren Phelps,” Ethan said. “They’re the only ones still missing.”

The troops parted and Hector Quino stumbled onto the grass, followed by the two other boys Ethan had named. Benny Erikson hustled over to the group, but Darren whirled and ran at the guards, trying to break the line. Three soldiers tackled him. Darren continued to struggle until a soldier punched him in the stomach, shoved him down, and drew a pistol. Wide-eyed, Darren crawled away, gasping, until Hector helped him to his feet. The soldier watched them retreat, then coolly holstered his sidearm and rejoined the line.

The crowd seethed, shouting and cursing at the troops. I recognized parents and business owners, people I’d known my whole life. They were scared, outraged, but the assault rifles were keeping them at bay.

Myers hobbled over and screamed in the face of the soldier who’d drawn on Darren. The man ignored him. Red-faced, Myers limped toward a knot of officers at the corner of the square.

“Everyone’s here?” Min asked sharply. She’d gotten ahold of her temper.

“Yes,” Ethan replied, for once choosing not to be difficult. “You six make sixty-four on the nose.” He smiled without humor. “Think they’re planning a Hunger Games?”

Tack pointed to the command post Myers had joined. “We’re about to find out.”

Vehicles formed the northern edge of the security cordon. As we watched, Myers heaved himself onto the back of a flatbed truck and began fumbling with a bullhorn. But before he could speak, there was a disturbance on the street.

Tack gasped. “Oh no. Dad!”

Wendell Russo was trying to fight his way into the square. He caught a soldier with an uppercut, knocking him to the turf. A second man charged him, but Wendell captured his arm and launched him sideways. Three more troops converged, and they all went down in a pile of bodies.

Tack lurched forward, but Min caught his arm. “Tack, stay here. You can’t do anything.”

The fight ended quickly. Two soldiers lifted Wendell and held him between them. Blood ran from a broken nose. “Let go of me, you bastards. I’m a veteran! Where’s my son?”

Captain Harkes strode over and said something. Wendell spat in his face. “Piss on you and your threats. I know my rights, sunshine soldier. Who are you guys, anyway? You can’t just grab people off the streets.”

“No no no,” Tack whispered.

Min locked her arm around his.

Harkes wiped the spittle from his cheek. He nodded to the soldiers holding Wendell, who dropped his arms and stepped aside.

Harkes drew his gun and fired twice.

“DAD!”

Tack lunged, but Min held on until I could grab him, too.

Wendell dropped to his knees, then toppled forward and lay still. The crowd erupted, scrambling away from Harkes, who strode back to the command post. “Safeties off!” he ordered. A pair of soldiers began dragging Wendell’s body away and the defensive line re-formed, only now with fingers on triggers.

“You son of a bitch!” Tack fought to free himself, choking on tears. “He was unarmed! He wasn’t going to do anything!” We wrestled him to the ground and held him there, even Ethan lending a hand. Min was crying, but I was too rattled to feel anything but shock.

“Let me go!” Tack growled, but no one did. He struggled futilely, then gave up. Slowly, his breathing calmed. When he spoke again, his voice was almost normal. “Seriously, let me go. I won’t do anything stupid, I swear. But get the hell off me, I mean it!”

I released him, watching like a hawk. We weren’t friends or anything, but I didn’t want Tack getting himself killed. He rose slowly, then stood there, clenching and unclenching his fists as he stared at the captain. “I’m gonna kill that man. I will.”

Ethan gaped at the bloodstained curb. “They just . . . shot him. No warning. No anything.”

Behind us, I could hear classmates panicking. Toby jogged over, his face a mixture of wonder and fear. “Ethan, we gotta do something! Mike and Derrick have an idea, but we need your help. Come on!”

Ethan nodded, waved for me to follow. “Let’s go, Noah.”

I flinched. Min was suddenly watching me. It felt like the docks all over again.

All my life, I’ve taken the easy way.

“Come on, Noah.” Ethan’s voice carried a note of warning. “You belong with us.”

I shook my head, avoiding his eye. “I’m gonna stay here. Help with Tack.”

“Really? So that’s how it is?”

“Yes.”

Ethan clicked his tongue. “I’ll remember this.” Then he and Toby jogged away.

I snuck a peek over at the fountain. Ethan and Toby were huddling with Chris, Mike, and Derrick. Jessica was crying beside Sarah, who was staring at me. My head jerked away.

Min was holding Tack as he sobbed. She mouthed her thanks.

I nodded.

I might never see my father again, but I didn’t care. And screw what the others thought. I was done with all that.

Min can be my family.

The instant I thought it, the ground began to shake.