Once We Were

<What?>

Addie took control of our limbs, shaking off Ryan’s hand and lurching back toward the front of the car. Dr. Lyanne’s pain medication had finally kicked in a bit, but I could still hardly put pressure on our right ankle.

“Wait—” Lissa said. “What’re you—”

<We taught Nina her name in Morse code.> The key was still in the ignition. Addie started the car. The lights on the dashboard lit up. So did the headlights.

“Addie?” Jackson said.

“Shut up and give me a moment,” Addie said and switched off the headlights. Then on again. And off again.

N

I

N

A

We could no longer see anyone on the fire escape. Had they caught our signal? There were so many police lights already flashing.

We didn’t dare do it again. With Jackson’s help, Addie crawled out of the car.

“Are they coming?” Lissa called quietly.

“They’re coming.” Addie stared Jackson in the eye until he swallowed down his argument.

Ryan was still looking down the street. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to drive out of here. There’re only police cars on this road, and on the one intersecting over there. I think they’ve shut these roads down.”

Addie straightened. Jackson still had a hand under our elbow, helping us to remain standing, and she grabbed his shoulder for support as she hopped a few steps away from the car. She pointed. “I see them! There!”

The four figures were still about a block away, moving in bursts as police cars passed by, staying to the shadows. A relieved breath strained through our lungs.

“Yeah, I see them,” Jackson said grimly. “I see the police filing in, too.” He extracted himself from our grip, letting us rest against the car instead of him. “You guys stay here. They’ll never find us in the dark at this rate.”

And before anyone could say another word, he rushed off in the direction of Peter’s apartment.

“Jackson,” Addie hissed.

“Shh,” Lissa said suddenly. She grabbed our hand and pulled us away from the car, deeper into the shadows, Ryan hurrying to keep us from falling over. Addie bit back a cry of surprise and pain as our foot knocked against the ground.

We pressed against the wall as another police car passed, going in the direction of Peter and Emalia’s apartments. The same car as before? It parked a little ways up ahead. Two officers climbed out, bearing flashlights.

<Where are they?> Addie whispered, searching the darkness for Jackson and the others.

Lissa’s fingernails bit into our palm. But the police officers weren’t heading in our direction. They moved down the road, the glow of their flashlights growing dimmer in the darkness.

Ryan let out a sigh of relief.

Then, out the corner of our eye, I saw five figures hurtling toward us. <There! There, see them?>

Addie waved wildly, ignoring the pain in our arm. With every step, they became a little more human, a little less shadow. Soon, we could pick out the pale moon of Kitty’s face, the curve of Jackson’s jaw. The glint of a streetlight in Henri’s eyes. The swing of Emalia’s hair. And Peter, Peter hustling them forward.

“Come on,” Ryan said as they drew up beside us. “Come on, let’s go—”

Emalia’s eyes swept over us. “Thank God,” she murmured.

“Where’s Rebecca?” Peter’s gaze locked on ours. “Where’s my sister?”

“I—I don’t know,” Addie said.

There was a flash of something in Peter’s eyes, but he shook it away. “Let’s go. We’ve got to get past the barricade. Then find a car.”

“We’re not going to get past the barricade,” Henri said quietly. “Not now.”

<The photography shop> I said. <We can hole up in the attic. If it’s inside the blockade, we can make it on foot. The police won’t check there.>

<But the window . . . It was all smashed, and—>

<They’ll have checked that ages ago. You think they’ll be worried about one smashed store window in the midst of all this?>

<All right, all right> Addie said. She repeated my suggestion aloud. Nobody argued.

We set off in the darkness, ducking into the shadows whenever a police car passed. Addie and I gasped air through our mouth, our ribs aching. Our arms and ankle burned. Ryan and Jackson helped us along, but it was an uneven, jolting journey.

“Wait!” Kitty said suddenly. Peter rushed to shush her, but she twisted away from him, fumbling for the bag she wore across her chest. Her camera bag, I realized. “It’s gone,” she said. Her voice was high, panicked. “My video camera—”

“Forget about your video camera,” Jackson said.

“It’s important!” She looked desperately toward Emalia. “Tell them, Emalia —”

Emalia hesitated. “She filmed everything,” she said softly. “The police dragging people out of the building. The initial chaos. But . . .”

“But it’s not worth getting caught over,” Lissa said. She took Kitty’s shoulder and ushered her forward. “You—”

“But it’s there,” Kitty said, pointing. We could just see something glimmering on the ground under a streetlight, a block away. “I see it—it’s just—”

Kitty ripped free. Darted back in the direction we’d come. Jackson ducked from under our arm and chased after her.

“No,” Addie gasped. “No. No.”

But we couldn’t even stand without Ryan’s help, let alone run after them, and by the time the thought seemed to cross anyone else’s mind, they were too far away to easily reach. Peter swore.

Kitty was unbelievably fast, but Jackson gained on her. The darkness swallowed them, then spit them out again as they neared the streetlight.

We watched them reach the camera. Watched Kitty bend down and scoop it up. Jackson reached her a second after. Grabbed her. Shoved her back toward us—back toward the darkness. She disappeared.

I didn’t see the officer until he shouted for Jackson to stop.

Jackson did stop. The officer’s flashlight beam swung into view. The light struck him across the face.

Then Jackson ran.

But he didn’t run toward us.

The officer yelled again for him to stop, and now there were two flashlight beams and two officers and Jackson was still running, still running away from us, heading across the street.

The officers pounded after him, flashlight beams crisscrossing the ground, the air, the empty cars. Jackson was fast, but so were they.

Kitty slammed into us, gasping. Addie clutched her against our side, tried to hide her face, but Kitty wouldn’t let her.

<Eva> Addie screamed in our mind. Pure sound. <Eva! Eva! >

They’re going to shoot him, I thought numbly. What if they shoot him?

What if they catch him?