Chapter 31

ADDIE DECIDED TO REST AFTER LUNCH, SO TONY LET HER HAVE his room and suggested I

take a nap as well. I declined. There was no way I would be able to sleep, not with Callum tied up in the

other room and my stomach in knots.

Instead I headed down the hallway with Callum's sandwich and peeked inside the guest room. He was

on his side, his eyes fixed on the wall in front of him. His arms and legs were still bound.

"Is that uncomfortable?" I asked, crossing the room and putting the plate on the nightstand. "I can untie

you while you eat if you want."

He didn't respond, so I knelt down next to the bed and ran my fingers into his hair. "Callum."

He didn't move an inch. His eyes were empty, and when I waved my hand in front of his face he

didn't even blink.

What if it was already too late? What if we'd already missed the window?

My heart was beating too loudly now. It was pounding in my ears, the only sound in the quiet room.

"Callum." My voice was desperate as I shook his shoulder. The bed creaked under his weight as I

shifted him.

Nothing.

That stare that saw nothing was too awful. I shook him harder, repeating his name as the ache in my

chest grew. Tears were on my cheeks before I realized I was going to cry, and I pressed my hand to my

mouth to stifle a sob. It came anyway, echoing through the bedroom, followed quickly by another. I'd

thought of crying as a release, but the tears were almost painful. I wanted to stuff them back inside. My

body refused to listen.

I let go of his shoulder and sank down on the floor. Maybe I should have run to get Tony or Addie and

ask them if he was okay, but I was too scared. I didn't want them to give me that sympathetic look again.

"Wren?"

My head popped up at the sound of Callum's voice. He blinked at me, his brow lowered as he twisted

his hands against the ropes.

"What's wrong?"

I leaped onto the bed and untied his hands in seconds, pressing my head into his neck as he wrapped

his arms around me. He nuzzled his cheek against my skin, his warm breath tickling my neck.

"I'm sorry," I said, taking a deep breath.

"You don't have to apologize for crying."

"No, for all of this. For letting you attack that human and for breaking you out at a really terrible time.

I should have checked first. I knew they were doing this to Under-sixties and I didn't even think to check."

"Yes," he said, his voice tinged with amusement, "next time you risk your life saving me, could you

please do proper planning beforehand? This is just unacceptable."

I laughed, hugging him tightly with one arm.

"You don't need to apologize," he said, his lips brushing against my ear. "If anything I should thank

you."

"Please don't. It will make me feel terrible."

He chuckled, running his fingers under my chin until I turned my face up to him. He kissed me, which

felt sort of like a thank-you, but it was one I didn't mind. When he pulled away he gave me a sad little

smile.

"Just don't leave me like this, okay?"

I sniffled, lowering my eyes so I didn't have to look at him.

"I don't want them to make me into this . . ." He looked down at himself. "This crazy thing." He

planted a soft kiss on my cheek. "It's like they won, you know?"

It was exactly like they'd won.

"I don't want to kill more people." He scrunched up his face. "Or worse, eat anyone. So, if it doesn't

work out, don't just let me be like this, okay?"

I nodded, pressing my lips together to stop the tears. "Okay."

Callum was quiet for a moment, his eyebrows lowered in thought. "And even if we don't get the

antidote, you should help them." He nodded at the door. "Go to the reservation and get the other Reboots

to help them, too."

"The humans?"

"Yeah. You can't let HARC win. Not after everything they've done. So even if I don't . . . if I don't

make it, I think you should help them."

He knew I had very little interest in helping the humans. All I wanted was for him to be better so we

could get away from them and never come back. And I didn't want to think about what I would do if

Callum didn't make it, but sticking around to join forces with humans was not on the top of my list.

"That won't be an issue. You'll be fine."

"Wren, think about it at least. You shouldn't let the fact that you're a badass go to waste."

I managed a laugh. "I will think about it."

It was a lie. I wasn't going to think about any scenario that didn't include him.

Callum eventually faded away again, even though I could see him trying to fight it. I sat on the floor

for a long time, until I couldn't take those vacant eyes anymore. I refused to panic about it, so I tied him up

and moved to the living room, where I spent the afternoon and early evening pacing back and forth.

The sun had just set, and I was anxious to head over to the facility, but Tony insisted the best time was

very early morning. The facility had the least guards on duty between the hours of four and six a.m., and it

was best to go near six, since a few lab personnel would be on duty by then. No one could tell me what

the antidote looked like, so I might need a human to point it out.

Tony was at the kitchen table with about ten other humans, poring over the schematic of the Austin

HARC facility. A larger group than I had expected had agreed to help us. A few had left, saying they were

certain we'd all be dead by morning, but the rest seemed thrilled to have such an ambitious plan after

years of trying to defeat HARC.

Gabe slipped through the front door with Zeke, the blond boy from earlier. Gabe was holding a black

canvas bag against his chest, and he nodded at Tony.

"I got them," he said, dropping the bag on the couch and reaching inside. He pulled out several black

guns and dumped odd-shaped yellow bullets onto the table. I frowned, leaning over to grab one of them.

"What is this?" I asked, turning the yellow plastic bullet around in my fingers. It had a tiny needle

coming out of it.

"Tranquilizer darts," Gabe said. "Tony doesn't want you killing humans while you're in there."

I turned to Tony with raised eyebrows, and he leaned back in his chair to meet my gaze. I held up the

yellow dart. "These things actually work? Quickly?"

"Within a couple seconds. Aim for the chest or arm or leg."

"How long will they be out?" I asked.

"Hours. You don't have to worry about that. I'll give you your real gun back, but I don't want you to

use it in there. Most of those guys are just doing their job. And some of them are with us."

I nodded, dropping the dart on the table. "Fine."

"Did you find some helmets?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, Henry will be by soon with them," Gabe replied.

Addie grabbed one of the tranq guns off the table and stuck a dart inside, studying the gun curiously.

Gabe darted behind the couch and she snorted. "Oh, relax, human. I know how to use a gun."

"Gabe," he corrected, wincing as she pointed it at the wall behind Zeke.

"Come out from behind the couch, Gabe. I'm not going to shoot you. Unless you deserve it."

He crept out of hiding, cautiously reaching for the gun. "I'll just take that."

Addie rolled her eyes as she handed it over, and I shot her an amused look.

"Hey." I turned at the sound of Desmond's voice. He plopped a ladle of something into a bowl. "Do

you want dinner?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Then come and eat."

I scurried into the kitchen, peering into the bowl. It was some sort of stew. I gave him a grateful look

as I spooned some into my mouth. I hadn't expected to be fed again.

"I thought the lower numbers were supposed to be nicer!" I heard Gabe exclaim from the living room,

and I glanced over to see Addie holding a tranq gun to his chest.

"Adina, stop torturing Gabe," Tony called with a chuckle.

I almost laughed, but Desmond was staring at me like he was plotting my demise. I swallowed my

food and wiped at my mouth. He'd been quiet and moody all evening, obviously not in favor of the plan.

"Why are you helping if you don't want to?" I asked.

"I said I would, didn't I?" he asked. He'd pulled his brown hair back into a short ponytail, and the

sharp edges of his face looked harsh. He wasn't an attractive man, even when he was happy.

"And you seem so pleased about it."

All I got in response was a glare. I considered taking my food in the other room, but I had too many

questions. While he didn't seem scared of me, he appeared to hate me only slightly less than the average

human did.

"But why help us at all if you hate us?" I pressed.

He let out a long sigh and leaned against the counter. "I don't hate you. I just don't trust you're not

going to come back and kill us all."

Valid concern, in my opinion. "So you decided to free us and take your chances?"

He paused, sliding his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "There was a discussion a few years ago.

When we decided we needed the Reboots gone to have any sort of success against HARC, some people

thought we should kill you."

"Ah. And you saw their point."

He cleared his throat. "Maybe a little. But then Tony was like, 'Let's just meet one. Let's go rescue

one and talk to them without HARC watching and see what they think.' So we did."

"And the Reboot was . . . what? Nice?"

"No. Or hell, I don't know. She sat in the living room and sobbed. Wouldn't say one word to us."

"She probably thought you were going to kill her."

"Yeah. None of us really expected that reaction, though. We thought she'd fight back, attack us. When

she didn't and it came down to it, we couldn't kill her. We'd heard rumors of Reboots up north, so we got

her as far as we could and let her go. Asked her to talk to any Reboots she found about the possibility of

them taking in any others we rescued. You know, see if they'd be willing to work with us. And they

were."

"Why couldn't you kill her?" I asked. "HARC eliminates us all the time. Tony must have seen it."

"I'm sure he has. But it's different, when you're sitting with a fifteen-year-old who doesn't really

seem all that different from you." He shrugged. "I've always thought we were taking a terrible risk,

freeing you, but it was the best of two shitty options. So here I am. Hoping you lot will be grateful enough

to not come back and destroy us all."

"If it helps, I have no interest in coming back to kill any of you."

A hint of a smile crossed his face. "I appreciate that."

"Des, stop it; they're not murderers." Tony put his hands on my shoulders and I jumped, almost

dropping my spoon. It was weird he didn't mind touching me.

I minded it, though, so I sidestepped his hands and frowned at him. He either didn't notice or didn't

care, because he just smiled at me. I glanced at Desmond again. Maybe he was the only sane one here.

"Wren, you want to come map this out again with me?" Tony asked. "I want to make sure my guys

know where they're going, but they'll be following you."

I nodded and joined him at the table, standing behind the humans while Tony again outlined the route

we'd take to get inside. It was dark now, and he had to move a lamp closer to the table for us to see it.

"And then you'll come out here," Tony finished, running his finger through the HARC lobby. "Or

wherever you want, I guess. After you release a hundred Reboots I think you can probably take your pick

of exits."

A smile tugged at the edges of my lips.

He had no idea.