“No shooting,” a woman called. “Do not hurt Elizabeth!”

Sam grunted and rolled off me, leaving behind a stain of something red on my chest.

A gun fell to the floor, skidded across the concrete, and stopped only inches away from me.

I reached for it, pulled it into my hand, and rose to my feet.

Everyone else is an enemy.

I put my finger where a finger should go and squeezed.

40

NICK

AGENTS LAY AT MY FEET, A TANGLE OF arms and legs, blood running in rivers on the stained concrete.

A gun went off behind me. I could almost feel the air part as the bullet left the chamber, sailing past me, hitting Dr. Turrow in the chest.

Another bullet. Then another.

“Everyone else is an enemy,” Elizabeth whispered, and then she began to shake.

Dr. Turrow’s knees buckled. She stared at her daughter, her eyes wide and bloodshot.

“Elizabeth.” Her voice cracked as blood turned her white lab coat black. Tears ran down her face. She collapsed against the door frame, and frowned. “I am not your enemy.”

One final shot took the doctor out, and she fell over, just another body on the concrete floor.

“Go! Go,” Trev said as he cleared the door of bodies and slammed it shut, propping it closed with a shop broom.

“I’ll go first,” I said, since Sam had been shot in the arm and could barely keep himself upright.

I leapt onto the filing cabinet and into the air vent, and then twisted around to hang back down into the closet. I took Elizabeth first. Trev told her which way to go, and she started crawling on her hands and knees in the direction of our freedom.

Anna came up next. “I’ll help her along,” she said to me. “Don’t worry.”

“Thanks.”

With Trev’s and Cas’s help, we managed to get Sam inside.

Cas came up next. Trev came up last. I closed the vent behind me.

The sound of our shuffling echoed through the vent, but the farther we got, the more the vent smelled of fresh air and pine trees. When the access panel was opened at ground level, colder air rushed in, and my fingers went numb.

When I climbed out, dirt jamming beneath my fingernails, I sucked in a breath. Trev offered me a hand for a boost up. There was some weird symbolic shit going on there, some bridges mended and all that.

I took his hand and set my feet on solid ground.

The sky had darkened in the hours we’d been inside the lab. There was no moon, only the silver of stars, and the swaying of the treetops.

Cas shut the vent behind us. “Which way is out?”

Trev pointed to the left. “To the east.”

Elizabeth wrapped her arms around herself, and looked lost. I’d had to keep myself together inside the lab, but now, out in the open, freedom so close, everything that had happened came rushing in.

We hadn’t reached her in time, and they’d wiped her memories. Or at least, partially. She’d shot her own mother. She hadn’t even recognized her. That would be a memory so volatile that when it returned it would ruin her.

“Hey,” I said. “You okay?”

She frowned and ran her teeth over her bottom lip. “I don’t know. I’m so… confused.”

I reached for her hand. At first, she stiffened, but then she relaxed. I threaded my fingers with hers. “I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”

She nodded.

We started walking east, keeping our steps light, but quick. If there were any agents left in the lab, they’d be after us soon. As soon as Riley got his shit together.

Ten minutes into the walk, a twig snapped to the left. We all froze. Sam waved us to the trees, and I dragged Elizabeth beneath a massive oak, shielding her body with mine. She trembled beside me.

Footsteps came heavy and quick. But only one set.

I met Sam’s eyes across the ten feet or so separating us. He motioned to me with three fingers.

On the count of three.

We stepped out into the path of the runner, and the man collided with us, bouncing back.

It was Riley.

Sweat poured down his forehead despite the bite in the night air. His shirt was unbuttoned at the top, untucked from his pants. There were dark circles beneath his eyes.

He staggered back. Brought a gun up. His hand shook.

He was only one man, and there were six of us.

“No. No no no,” he said, and turned around and ran.

“Get him,” Sam said.

“Stay with Elizabeth!” I shouted to Anna, and she nodded as I took off.

Sam, Cas, and Trev fell in step behind me. No way were we letting Riley go this time. No way in hell.

Out of all of us, Sam had the best endurance, but he was lagging because of the bullet wound, and anyway, I was the fastest runner.

And I wanted Riley. He was mine.

My lungs opened wide. My arms pumped at my sides. I was gaining on him.

Riley wove through the trees, trying to lose me. But I felt better than I’d felt in a long time, like I could run for days.

The trees thinned out. The barn came into view again. I had a split second to wonder if this was another trap, but Riley veered away from the barn, toward the road. Where an SUV sat, waiting.

I picked up speed.

When Riley reached the end of the cornfield, he cut right, disappearing from view. I blasted around the corner three, maybe four seconds later, just in time to see him reach the SUV and slide in behind the wheel.

He slammed the door shut, flipped the locks, and started up the vehicle.

I pulled the gun out from behind my shirt. Shot. Missed.