Page 19 of Rebel
I held him tighter. “How many hours till light?”
“Predawn will be here soon. When it comes, take the compass and head north. Just keep walking. The station is on a rise, you won’t be able to miss the antennas and the dish.”
“I’m not going to leave you.”
“You have to. I won’t make it.” He sounded so matter-of-fact.
Anger burned away my fear. “Fucking no. You don’t get to quit on me. I did not carry you up that rock face just for you to check out on me.”
“Rogue.”
“No.”
I leaned over, grabbed the pack he’d been carrying, and opened it up. There was a thermo-blanket inside. Of course. I shook it out and pulled it over him before sliding out from behind him and tucking the blanket around him.
“This will keep you warm. As soon as it gets light, we leave.” I headed for the ledge. “I’ll keep watch for the guys.”
He didn’t answer, and a quick look showed he’d slipped into unconsciousness.
Fuck.
Come on, predawn. Where the fuck are you?
8
XAVIER
Every part of me wants to run after her, but instead, I run for the station. The station holds weapons and light and hope. She’s right, so damn right—she is the fastest of us all. She can see in the dark. She’s our only hope, and we can’t let her down.Ican’t let her down.
We should be coming up to the station soon. Even in the dark, we should see the blinking lights of the satellite tower. The world is a blanket of black around us, and if the others are like me, then we’ve been running with our arms outstretched. Lore hit the ground twice, and we hauled him up.
“You there?” Lore cries.
“Here,” Vex replies.
“Here.” I’m the last because I’m at the front. This is our mantra, so we don’t lose one another.
“How much farther?” Vex asks.
“Up ahead. Can you see it?”
I feel Lore brush past me and then see him in the light cast from the satellite tower. Vex and I break into a sprint behind him. The blinking lights cast enough illumination for our night vision to kick into gear, and the satellite hub comes into view fully, rising above us.
Lore is at the huge metal doors fiddling with the casing on the access panel. The code is the same for all the stations, and one that we’ve been forced to memorize, but it also comes with a biometric test. Only Athions can access the hubs. Lore presses his palm to the scanner and then taps in the code. The huge metal doors grumble and groan and then slide open. Lights flare to life as we step into the air-lock chamber. The doors close, and then we’re blasted with decontaminants before the next set of doors lead us into the quad.
“Where are the weapons?” Vex strides forward and then stops because he has no idea where anything is.
“Follow me.” Lore leads the way to the metal tower, up the steps, and into the watchtower. It’s a two-man cabin, and it’s a squeeze for all three of us, but none of us care because Lore is unlocking the cabinet under the control bay and pulling out laser guns.
“Let’s grab some lamps and get back out there,” Lore says.
But Vex is already out the door and clambering down the metal stairs. I don’t wait any longer.
Rogue is out there with Tide. They’re running for their lives, and my heart is in my mouth because if anything happens to either one of them, I’ll never forgive myself.
This is my fault.
Everything is my fault.
