“The group I told you about. Who I ended up with after the Great Collapse. They’re a group of scientists. There are a few other groups like us too. Scattered around the country and even the world. Sometimes things need to be delivered by hand. That’s where couriers come in.”
“That’s what’s really in those vials? Something important you need to deliver by hand?”
Zach’s too smart for his own good. No use in denying it. But I can’t tell him any more details, so I simply nod.
“And the tall blond guy we saw outside the bank. You know him, right?”
The mention of it sets me on edge. The guy who’s been chasing me is Connor Bishop. Somehow still alive. I haven’t had time to process that. Seeing him outside the bank was like seeing a ghost. I saw him fall hundreds of feet to his death. At least, that’s what I thought. Somehow, Connor survived the fall. And apparently, he’s working against the Collective. He’d hinted about this the night before he fell off the bridge. I even got the impression he was trying to convince me. To recruit me, even. But after his fall, I put it out of my mind. And now he’s back from the dead. After what transpired between us that night, I can’t imagine a worse turn of events.
I’m lost in the past when Zach gives me a little tap on the shoulder.
“Hey, Aiden, you in there?”
I come back, shaking my thoughts off. “Sorry. Just recalling some unpleasant memories. His name is Connor Bishop. He used to be a courier like me. I thought he was dead. I haven’t thought about it in forever. I haven’t wanted to. But now I need to remember each detail. Figure out what I missed.”
Zach nods and watches me, waiting. I have to tell him more. Maybe it will help.
“Connor and I were on a mission together about six months ago. I was excited to go because Connor was my friend and one of the best couriers I knew. I was eager to learn from him.”
I don’t tell Zach how upset Marcus was about me traveling alone with Connor. Marcus was the jealous type, and Connor had been more than a bit flirty on several occasions. Thinking of that dredges up memories I don’t want to revisit.
“Connor was driving, and I was navigating. We were taking the back roads, trying to avoid people. In the middle of nowhere, we came up to a long, narrow bridge spanning a deep ravine. When we were halfway across, a large truck came out of nowhere, blocking the end of the bridge. Another one pulled up behind us. An ambush.”
Zach’s eyes widen. “What did you do?”
I stop walking and close my eyes, trying to recall every detail of the chaos that unfolded. “Connor jumped out of the car and told me to follow behind him. He started running to the truck behind us as a bald guy jumped out. I tried to follow. But by then bullets were flying everywhere, and I froze up.”
As I reflect on the past events, I filter through the details I’m willing to tell Zach, wanting to avoid anything that would reveal too much about my mission. I’d reached into the glove compartment and grabbed the aluminum box we were transporting, but it popped open, and one of the vials fell out and smashed onto the pavement. Connor had kept the contents of the vial secret from me. But now it all made sense. It had to be XT58. Why else would they have paired up the two immune couriers to work together?
“What happened then?” Zach’s quiet voice helps to ground me.
“Connor ran to the bald guy, shooting at him. When they got face to face, they started punching and kicking. It was so damn vicious. Both of them fighting for their lives.
“I finally forced myself to move and started running to help him. Before I got there, Connor kicked the bald guy hard, sending him over the edge of the bridge. But as he went over, his foot smashed into Connor’s jaw.
“Connor was stumbling around like he was drunk. That kick really messed him up. I was about twenty feet away when he fell forward and tumbled over the guardrail. I was just in time to see him disappear into a bank of mist over a hundred feet down.”
I shudder at the memory. Zach puts a gentle hand on my shoulder. My first instinct is to pull away, but the look in his eyes is caring and earnest, so I take a deep breath and finish the story.
“The guys from the other end were running toward me, shooting. They had already passed our car in the middle, so I ran to the other truck. The guy had left the keys in with the engine running. So, basically, I got really fricking lucky and just got the hell outta there.” I let out a long sigh. “I don’t get it. No one could have survived that fall.”
“But somehow Connor did,” Zach says quietly.
“Yeah. Somehow, he did.”
Chapter Eleven
Awakening
ZACH
The light is fading fast. The last time I hiked out this far, I had a much earlier start. On that day, the campground sign was plain to see. But thus far, we’ve found nothing. We come to a trail crossroads. No campground sign, but I’d swear this is the turnoff.
“I think this is it.” I peer down the trail in the twilight.
“Youthinkit is?”
“It looksveryfamiliar.”
