Chapter 49
It's not over between us
I stare at the temple, feeling the destruction as if it’s a personal attack. It hadn’t just been an escape but a moment of history and safety for people for many years, and it’s just gone in an instant.
“We need to get out of here,” Mordecai whispers urgently.
He grabs my wrist and tugs me away, peeking out on the street before he drags me out across the road and into the buildings on the other side.
“From now on, we don’t use the roads, we travel through buildings as much as we can. We move fast, we don’t sleep,” Mordecai says firmly.
Mordecai is freaking me out.
“Stop,” Jarek commands.
“No.”
“Mordecai, stop. Explain,” Jarek says firmly, his eyes glittering.
“This is the first step towards hunting down the last of us. They will flush us out, one way or another. We need to get out of here. How did they know about the temple?” Mordecai murmurs in frustration.
“Where could we possibly go to escape?” I ask, voicing the question everyone is thinking.
He doesn’t answer, and I know it’s because he doesn’t know. None of us know. There was only one place.
“Maybe we could get down to the river from another building?” Jarek offers.
“It’s not worth the risk. They will fan out from the temple, knowing that somehow, in all of that, we managed to escape from that point. The Path will bring in the sniffers and try to use those alphas to lure us out. They will go from building to building. We are vastly outnumbered now, and all their focus is on us.”
That twinge of guilt resurfaces. I have an urge to say I’m sorry, but I know it’s not my fault.
We run quietly, and as the day turns into night, it becomes clear that Mordecai’s predictions are accurate.
We stop, crouching beneath a window, listening as a troupe of betas in black robes run past. The constant pressure to keep running but also be so hyper-aware of movement is doing bad things to my head. I’m seeing black-robed figures everywhere. The drums started around midday and haven’t stopped. I’ve got a headache, but I can’t tell if it’s from stress, the drums, or how exhausted I am.
Jarek stares up, peering through a dirty window before he crouches down again.
“There’s a door almost directly opposite us. If we can get into that building, we can get off this street.”
Jarek stands up and lightly leaps through the window, watching intently while Cadel jumps through. Mordecai helps me up and through, and then we’re all running again. My legs are on fire and feel wobbly.
We make it, but every time we cross these open areas, I’m holding my breath, hoping that we don’t get caught, and the distance feels like it’s stretching out forever.
Jarek drags me into the building and closes the door behind Mordecai. He leans his head against mine, panting heavily. I wrap my arms around his back and just hold him.
“If we get separated, where do we go?” I ask. “We should have a safe place.”
“The school?” Cadel offers. “It’s a very central position; we can go anywhere from there, and I don’t think they’d expect us to go back.”
“We should head there now,” Jarek murmurs. “Get our bearings, find some food.”
“I stashed food and water in the roof when everyone was sick,” I murmur and then let go of Jarek and stagger to the side and throw up.
Their heads snap towards me.
“Kaida?” Jarek reaches for me, but I hold a hand out.
“I’m good. Just tired.”
