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Authors: Stephanie Diaz
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who came to watch the ceremony on the CorpoBots are still here, waiting to catch a glimpse of us. To say good-bye.
But something’s not right. People are shoving against the security line. People are shouting—shouting at us . Like they think we’re the ones who stole their spots away. Which I guess is true, but I can’t believe they’d act like this with so many guards around.
The officials amplify their voices with their helmets so everyone can hear their orders over the noise: “Everyone, stay back. Do not touch the rope. Do not fight us or you will be sent to quarantine. You will be replaced.”
“Let’s stay close to the building, Extractions,” Cadet Waller shouts over the noise.
Our escort guards push us away from the security line. I’m knocked back with the others.
The panic starts to rise, churning to a boil in my stomach. This shouldn’t be happening. People have been angry after the ceremony before, but never this bad.
I need to see into the crowd. I have to find Logan. He can’t disappear like this, with no warning.
The whir of an engine reaches my ears. My stomach flips as I turn toward the sound. The hovercraft speeds toward us from down the street, arriving much too soon. I need more minutes. I need more hours.
I turn back to the crowd again, fear and adrenaline coursing through my veins. I won’t get on the transport yet. Not until I find him.
There’s a smack in the crowd a few feet away from me. A scream pierces the air.
A guard steps out of my way, and I see an official beating a girl’s head in with the butt of his pulse rifle.
She crumples in the gravel with blood pooling in her hair.
I’m gaping and shaking and screaming no no no no no no inside my head.
Everything falls apart. All the kids rush forward, slamming into the officials and knocking over the security rope. There are gunshots. Cadet Waller yells something. Guards scramble in front of me to block the kids from reaching me and the other Extractions.
I think they might want me dead, even though the Developers picked me and the official beat that girl’s head in. I think they might kill me if they get close enough.
Someone knocks into me and I fall, my knees scraping the asphalt. I need a second to recover, but I don’t have a second. Everyone’s going to trample me if I don’t get up.
I push off the asphalt, blinking fast to see what’s happening through the rain. The guards are trying to create a new security perimeter. Cadet Waller’s trying to steer the Extractions toward the hovercraft, which can’t reach us anymore because there are too many people blocking its path.
My eyes water, blending with the rain. I can’t get on the hovercraft yet. I can’t. I can’t. I need Logan. I can’t leave without saying good-bye because I don’t know if I’ll ever see him again, or when.
Cadet Waller’s voice reaches my ears—a shout of “Get on board. Hurry!”
Instinct pulls me in one direction. My legs carry me in another.
I slip under a guard’s arm and into the crowd, letting it swallow me whole. Hopefully, I’ll blend in. Hopefully, no one will recognize me. This is reckless and stupid and maybe it means the ship to the Core will leave without me, and I’ll lose my spot on it, but this is too important.
Logan is too important.
Rain lashes against my face. More gunshots go off somewhere behind me. I don’t look to see who went down.
I reach the part of the crowd where kids aren’t trying to fight anyone. They’re terrified instead. They’re running away, tripping over each other.
I duck under people’s arms and look frantically around for Logan’s face. I blink tears out of my eyes and pretend they’re part of the storm.
Where are you, where are you?
I’m almost to the other side of the crowd when I think I hear someone call my name. But there’s too much screaming for me to tell where it came from. And I can’t see anyone but the people right near me. I hate how short I am.
Thunder
But something’s not right. People are shoving against the security line. People are shouting—shouting at us . Like they think we’re the ones who stole their spots away. Which I guess is true, but I can’t believe they’d act like this with so many guards around.
The officials amplify their voices with their helmets so everyone can hear their orders over the noise: “Everyone, stay back. Do not touch the rope. Do not fight us or you will be sent to quarantine. You will be replaced.”
“Let’s stay close to the building, Extractions,” Cadet Waller shouts over the noise.
Our escort guards push us away from the security line. I’m knocked back with the others.
The panic starts to rise, churning to a boil in my stomach. This shouldn’t be happening. People have been angry after the ceremony before, but never this bad.
I need to see into the crowd. I have to find Logan. He can’t disappear like this, with no warning.
The whir of an engine reaches my ears. My stomach flips as I turn toward the sound. The hovercraft speeds toward us from down the street, arriving much too soon. I need more minutes. I need more hours.
I turn back to the crowd again, fear and adrenaline coursing through my veins. I won’t get on the transport yet. Not until I find him.
There’s a smack in the crowd a few feet away from me. A scream pierces the air.
A guard steps out of my way, and I see an official beating a girl’s head in with the butt of his pulse rifle.
She crumples in the gravel with blood pooling in her hair.
I’m gaping and shaking and screaming no no no no no no inside my head.
Everything falls apart. All the kids rush forward, slamming into the officials and knocking over the security rope. There are gunshots. Cadet Waller yells something. Guards scramble in front of me to block the kids from reaching me and the other Extractions.
I think they might want me dead, even though the Developers picked me and the official beat that girl’s head in. I think they might kill me if they get close enough.
Someone knocks into me and I fall, my knees scraping the asphalt. I need a second to recover, but I don’t have a second. Everyone’s going to trample me if I don’t get up.
I push off the asphalt, blinking fast to see what’s happening through the rain. The guards are trying to create a new security perimeter. Cadet Waller’s trying to steer the Extractions toward the hovercraft, which can’t reach us anymore because there are too many people blocking its path.
My eyes water, blending with the rain. I can’t get on the hovercraft yet. I can’t. I can’t. I need Logan. I can’t leave without saying good-bye because I don’t know if I’ll ever see him again, or when.
Cadet Waller’s voice reaches my ears—a shout of “Get on board. Hurry!”
Instinct pulls me in one direction. My legs carry me in another.
I slip under a guard’s arm and into the crowd, letting it swallow me whole. Hopefully, I’ll blend in. Hopefully, no one will recognize me. This is reckless and stupid and maybe it means the ship to the Core will leave without me, and I’ll lose my spot on it, but this is too important.
Logan is too important.
Rain lashes against my face. More gunshots go off somewhere behind me. I don’t look to see who went down.
I reach the part of the crowd where kids aren’t trying to fight anyone. They’re terrified instead. They’re running away, tripping over each other.
I duck under people’s arms and look frantically around for Logan’s face. I blink tears out of my eyes and pretend they’re part of the storm.
Where are you, where are you?
I’m almost to the other side of the crowd when I think I hear someone call my name. But there’s too much screaming for me to tell where it came from. And I can’t see anyone but the people right near me. I hate how short I am.
Thunder
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