I clenched my jaw, trying to calculate where they would take these kids outside of the Void. Gustov’s information had told us the kids weren’t being sent into the forest after that explosion, but if they weren’t here, that meant they were being transported somewhere else.

  “Where are we?” the boy asked tentatively.

  I shook my head. “Don’t worry about that now. You’ll be safe soon.”

  Em got the final wall open and led the kids through. I waited until the last was out of the room before crawling back through to the first room. Guards made their way to us. They had the first door open a crack and at the sight of me, they blindly shot in my direction. I took off the guard’s hand with a sharply aimed bullet.

  I placed a small bomb in the center of the room, clicking it twice to allow myself time to get away, and then I ran back through the holes in the walls. I was just sliding through the last one when the bomb went off.

  “Go,” I yelled, and Em opened the door. “Stick together,” I called over the noise and chaos.

  Em sprinted down the hall, guiding the kids to the closest exit.

  “Two minutes, let’s go,” I said into my watch comm.

  “On our way,” Logan said from the other end.

  We reached outside much quicker this time, taking a different route leading us up a flight of stairs and directly to the rooftop.

  The shuttles were already hovering over us as we sprinted out. Em helped kids reach the ropes dangling over the rooftop while guards inside pulled them to safety. A few of Gustov’s men had jumped down and helped more.

  The sound of bullets rang loud over the engines, and one of the shuttles swerved and swayed as the engine at the bottom burst into flames. The pilot struggled at the controls to bring the shuttle down, but it sent out another spray of fire.

  I dove and pushed three kids out of the way just as the shuttle flew out of control towards us, slamming into the glass wall along the inside edge of the forest and bursting into flames. The glass splintered and seemed to quake for a moment before it ruptured into a million shards of tiny glass.

  I glanced out to the forest where the glass wall separating us from the monsters inside no longer stood, and the reverberating sound of a thousand footsteps pounding through the forest heading straight for us made my heart nearly stop. At least the metal wall surrounding the entire Void was still intact… for now.

  “We’ve got to get these shuttles out of here,” I screamed, pushing the kids at my feet towards Em and pulling out my gun.

  I hid behind the edge of the rooftop as bullets screamed overhead. Standing, I took out four guards on the ground before ducking back down.

  Gustov’s men, identified by the big arrow pointing North on the back of their jackets, were filtering out of the shuttles and towards the edge where I was, aiming bullets and grenades below. But the guards did the same and another shuttle blew up, sending a spray of metal and flames across the roof. A few kids screamed out in pain, and I ran to help them.

  “Just a small cut, you’ll be fine,” I told a young girl who had a piece of metal sticking out of her leg. I lifted her up and shoved her into an older boy’s arms, who helped her into the shuttle.

  They were almost full, only Gustov’s men remained, and I waved them back to the shuttles.

  “Is that everyone?” I asked Em, screaming over the engines.

  She shook her head. “Simon’s not back.”

  I swore, glancing down to my wrist. He was more than fifteen minutes late already.

  I grimaced. “Go, get these kids to Eres,” I told Em, moving to leave, but she gripped my wrist.

  “No,” she said sternly. “He knows the rules.”

  “I can’t—”

  “But you will.” Em glared at me.

  I took one last look towards the building, my mind telling me to leave, but my heart hoping I’d see Simon run out of that door towards us any second now, Reyes at his side.

  “Let’s go, now,” Em repeated.

  I sighed and let her pull me to the ropes dangling from the shuttle. I climbed up the few feet to the edge where someone helped pull me the rest of the way. The shuttle lifted off before we’d gotten all the way in. I turned around, sitting at the edge of the open shuttle door and looking down to the rooftop, still empty.

  “He knew what he was doing, and who he was doing it for,” Em said beside me and I nodded.

  Gustov was behind me, his large belly hanging over the belt of the co-pilot’s seat.

  “Any others?” I asked him.

  While we searched the base, his job had been to circle the Void. Once Em had disabled The Six’s security system, their larger weapons would be offline, allowing Gustov to travel over the Void safely, using our hacked-in access to see if any kids were still in the forest. Em knew they’d all have trackers or a way to be found, so once she’d hacked into the system she sent Gustov all their codes, and he and his men were to try and collect any of them.

  Gustov shook his head. “Sorry lass, not one out there.”

  I let out a long sigh as the shuttle sped off and the base we’d just been on disappeared.

  I knew there’d be no one left in the Void; I’d expected Gustov to confirm it… yet I’d still allowed myself to hope Caspian might be alive.

  Em gripped my hand, squeezing it tight as the Void, and the hope of ever seeing Caspian again, disappeared into the darkness. The lump in my throat grew into a sob, and I didn’t stop the tears from streaming down my cheeks.

  He was really gone.

  CASPIAN

  The alarms had stopped blaring about five minutes ago. Gunner, Vic, and I were still locked in this room, waiting to find out what was going on, but no one had bothered to return.

  Reyes’ body was still covered, but a small dot of red was growing in the spot where the scalpel had gone through. I shuddered another breath and looked away.

  The door swung open, and Dr. Allard swiftly entered, closing it quickly behind him. His features were a bit frazzled, his eyes wide and alert.

  He glanced to Reyes’ body. “Well, that’s peculiar,” he said, tilting his head towards me.

  I swallowed but didn’t reply.

  Allard’s brows rose and he shrugged. “Oh well, let’s go.” He nodded and we all stood. “No, just him.” He pointed to me.

  I gripped Vic’s hand beside me. “I’m not going anywhere without them,” I said.

  “Sorry, they can’t come where you’re going,” Dr. Allard said, waving his hand for me to come with him.

  I shook my head.

  Allard sighed. “This isn’t up for discussion.” He pulled a gun out from his side and aimed it at me. “Move, now!”

  Vic pulled her hand from mine and pressed it against my back, silently telling me to go.

  I spun around to her. “I’m not leaving you.”

  “Afraid you don’t have a choice,” Allard said from my side. He gripped my arm with unexpected strength and pressed the gun to my temple.

  “Where are you taking me that they can’t come?” I asked.

  “You’re leaving,” Allard said simply.

  I turned to him. He was shorter than me and smaller, but I could tell from his grip and even the way he held his gun, he was well trained, which explained why he never had a guard with him.

  “What do you mean, leaving?” I asked. Was he going to kill me?

  Allard shrugged. “We don’t need you, and frankly your presence is a bit of an inconvenience to me—with people looking for you and all.”

  “But—”

  “They can’t come with you. We still need them,” he said.

  “For what?”

  “Things.” The corner of Allard’s mouth curled into an amused smile.

  I refused to move, even with the gun pointed at my head.

  “Listen, boy, you can stay if you really want to, but know this. You mean nothing to her, less than nothing,” Allard said, and I knew whom he was referring to: Dr. Merinda. “You no longer have any information or usefulness. The first chance she gets she’ll kill you, simple as that.”

  “But my family, my friends—”

  Allard snorted, a cruel, mean sound. “She doesn’t care about them, not now. She doesn’t even know where they are, just a few names she picked up from sleeping beauty over there.” Allard nodded to Reyes’ corpse. “You either leave now and possibly live to see another day, or you stay playing the hero and die just like everyone else... forgotten, useless, and frankly a pain in my ass.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Because as cruel as you may think I am, I don’t care to see lives wasted when the whole reason we’re here is to save them.” He nodded to where Gunner and Vic stood, the latter now a step closer to Vic. “These kids, they’re still needed. You’re not.”

  “Go,” Gunner said, his voice low and rough. “Get out of here, and maybe find a way to get us out, but don’t stick around just so you can die. That’s stupid, mate.”

  I glanced to Vic, who nodded.

  Gunner glanced down at her and took another step closer. “I’ll watch out for her, I promise.”

  My jaw clenched, and I didn’t want to leave, didn’t want to take one step away from her. But if I did, maybe I could find Jayla; maybe I would see her again? And I would come back. I would find a way to get them out of here.

  I gave Gunner a sharp nod and reached for Vic’s hand. She squeezed it tightly. “I will be back for you,” I said. She gave a soft smile then released my hand.

  Allard pulled me to the door and opened it, stepping into the hallway with the gun still pointed at me in case I got any ideas.

  “Hey, mate,” Gunner called. “When you get out of here, if you have the chance, go to the mountain,” he said. I scrunched my brow at him. “There’re more there, survivors. Tell them Gunner says sorry.”

  I didn’t know what he meant, but I gave him a nod before the door closed between us, and I was out in the hallway with Allard.

  He pulled me swiftly along with him, gun still in his hand, as we wound down two hallways before we reached a door.

  “Take the stairs to the top. I think you’ll find some friendly faces up there… if my intel is correct,” Allard said.

  I nodded and opened the door, only to be pushed aside by a strong body shoving me out of the way and pouncing on Allard. I smashed into the wall just as I heard the gun from Allard’s hand drop to the ground.

  “Where is she?” said a smooth voice I was surprised I recognized.

  Simon stood with one arm wrapped around Dr. Allard’s neck and a gun aimed at his head with the other.

  “Who?” Allard ground out, his voice gritty, as he pulled against Simon’s tight grip.

  “Commander Reyes!” Simon yelled. I froze.

  Allard’s eyes slid to mine, and a small smile spread on his face. “Ask him,” Allard said.

  Simon glanced over to me, finally focusing on who I was. His eyes widened with surprise and recognition. “We thought you were dead,” he said by way of greeting.

  “Not yet.”

  “Where is she?” Simon asked.

  My gaze dropped to the ground, and I saw Simon’s arm loosen with realization. Allard pushed himself free and staggered a few feet away.

  “Are you sure?” Simon’s voice was small, quiet.

  I nodded. “I’m sorry,” I said. I couldn’t bear to say how it happened, that she’d died in my own arms.

  Simon stilled, his eyes distant and lost for a second before his arm rose, and the gun in his hand aimed at Allard.

  “No!” I shouted to both Simon and Allard’s surprise. “He’s… helped me,” I said. I wasn’t sure why I saved him. I could have let him die, snuck back to where Gunner and Vic were, and rescued them right here and now, but something told me Allard was better kept alive. And I knew there were more kids in here than just Vic and Gunner, more kids needing help.

  The sound of footsteps came down the hall.

  “Best be going,” Allard said before taking off towards where we’d just come from.

  Simon kept his gun aimed at his back until he slid around the corner and out of view. Finally, he sighed and dropped his gun.

  I took a step to follow just as an explosion sounded from outside. The glass windows nearby shattered, and the hallway I had just planned to head down crumbled and leapt with fire.

  I swore under my breath, still moving forward, but Simon caught my wrist. “This way.” He nodded to the door leading to the stairs behind us.

  “There are more here, two people I need to get out.” I pulled against his grip.

  “If you want to live, I suggest you come with me, but I won’t stop you if you go,” Simon said quietly, releasing my arm. The fire and anger I was used to hearing from him was gone. “But I won’t be the one to tell Jayla you chose them over her.”

  My fists clenched, and my shoulders dropped with a sigh. I will come back for you, I silently promised Vic before I turned and followed Simon to the rooftop. Two busted shuttles were still on fire in the distance, one halfway through the building, crushing the hallway we’d just left. The second had smashed through the glass wall, and I could hear the tell-tale sound of a thousand Reeks pressing through the forest towards us. They would be here soon, and there was no longer anything to stop them.

  A few guards circled the wreckage as others pointed up to the sky. In the distance, multiple red and green flashing lights moved farther and farther away from us.

  “Shit,” Simon muttered, as we ducked behind a vent stack, hiding from the guards who hadn’t spotted us yet. “We’re too late.”

  I crawled to the edge, looking for another shuttle or way to escape, but the ground was empty of anything but guards combing the area.

  Simon pressed something on his watch and whispered, “We need a shuttle, someone come back. Two people trapped on the rooftop.”

  No one responded.

  “Return,” he said a bit louder, but still the only response was silence.

  Simon rested his head back, and I sat down on the ground. We’d gotten this far, made it out of this place, only to have missed our ride home by seconds.

  Simon was quiet for a moment then he turned towards me. “Did you see her?” he asked.

  I nodded.

  “Was she… did she suffer?”

  “No, she didn’t.”

  “Good,” Simon nodded, blinking back whatever threatened to come up as a scowl returned to his face. “We’ll have to find—”

  “Coming in hot!” a voice called from Simon’s watch and we both jumped.

  Seconds later a blast of gunfire peppered the rooftop then the blast of an explosion right where the guards had surrounded the wrecked shuttle.

  Overhead a shuttle screamed by, someone waving out of the side window towards us, as it circled around. They dropped two ropes, and neither Simon nor I hesitated. We sprinted, running towards the rope dangling just over the edge of the building and leaping to grab hold.

  Shouts and gunfire filled the air, and I tucked my body in tight as the shuttle lifted higher and out of the way. Slowly, we climbed up, my tired and weak arms howled at the effort, but soon we were at the edge, and two men pulled us inside.

  I flopped onto my back beside Simon, who was also breathing heavy.

  “Boy, am I glad to see you, Logan,” Simon said to the pilot.

  My gaze bounced up to find Logan Wallace, the son of Governor Wallace, seated at the front of the shuttle in the pilot’s seat. What the hell was he doing here?

  He smirked. “What, did you think I’d let them leave you behind or something?”

  I eased a long breath as I looked out the open shuttle circling back and heading south. Glancing out to the dark night, something caught my eye. Something big… the mountain.

  “Wait, we have to go to the mountain,” I said, pointing to the large black and grey peak shimmering in the moonlight. “There’re survivors there.”

  Logan glanced back. “You sure?”

  “Positive,” I said, remembering Gunner’s words.

  “All right, hold on.” Logan tilted the shuttle, and we readjusted to move north, towards the towering peak of the mountain.

  I watched the forest below, the pine smell mixing with the now familiar odor of the Reeks. Below, the hoard of those black monsters moved like a fierce wind through the foliage towards the burning building we’d just escaped. They would tear the place apart. I hoped Allard wasn’t lying, that the Marked kids were indeed important, and they’d get Vic and Gunner out of there.

  As I glanced back to the building, I saw the thick metal wall surrounding the Void open, and a few people filtered out, then it slammed shut as the Reeks barrelled through, and anyone still left inside would surely be dead soon. I knew they’d have taken Vic and Gunner with them, wherever they escaped to; Allard had said they were still needed.

  I looked back to the mountain, and I took a long, deep breath as my gaze moved to the moon and stars pocked across the black sky, and I almost didn’t believe I had made it out. I closed my eyes, praying to the stars shining above this wasn’t a dream.

  I lived, and I’m coming back to you.

  SIENNA

  An explosion rang out in the distance. We could just barely make it out from the ledge we sat on. The wind was cold and vicious, too dangerous to risk trying to climb down, so we’d wait until morning when we could assess the situation.

  We leaned against the door and rock, looking out into the distance, where something seemed to be on fire. It was so far away we could only make out the flicker of red flames and smoke, but it was at the edge of the Void, where the wall was, which made us believe it was one of The Six’s locations.

  “I hope the whole thing burns down,” I mumbled.

  A weak chuckle rumbled in Theo’s chest. He only had a few cuts on him. His side was bruised, and he might have cracked a rib, but he didn’t complain. There was nothing to splint my leg, and seeing as it had been feeling so much better before I jumped down on it, I didn’t have my brace on when we left in such a rush. It was stretched out in front of me, throbbing.

  We needed rest and food. We needed to get out of here, but I could hardly stand, let alone climb down a mountain.