Farrelly fired his rifle, cutting the alien across the neck and head. Purple brain matter splattered against a chalkboard.
The creature's body dropped to the floor with a thud.
Farrelly stared with his mouth open. The nun in the corner began to scream. He raced over and shouted at her in that strange language, but she kept shrieking until he clamped a hand over her mouth, murmuring foreign words.
I glanced at the doorway, wondering if another Heavy lurked nearby. Hanna, barely conscious, was running out of time. I moved my fingers over her wound when Farrelly came over, carrying a boy.
“Gunshot wound. Bullet must have ricocheted.” He set the boy down.
Hanna’s eyes widened, and she cried out. “Samuel!”
“Oh shit,” Farrelly said. “Her brother.”
The bullet had entered his chest near his heart. I checked his back for an exit wound, found it. Blood pooled underneath his unconscious body.
Hanna reached over and squeezed my hand. “Help him,” she pleaded.
I grabbed his wrist, waited for a pulse. Nothing. Was he killed instantly? I paused, wondering if I’d been mistaken.
And then—a faint pulse. A trickle of life.
A wave of relief flooded through me, but I would have to work fast.
Hanna’s eyelids flickered, but she fought to stay present. “Him first,” she begged.
Could I save them both? If I worked on Samuel, Hanna might die—she was barely hanging on and…
Samuel’s pulse faded; Hanna’s eyes rolled back in her head, and she fell unconscious.
“Do something!” Farrelly yelled.
I rested my palms on Hanna’s side, closed my eyes. “Watch the door,” I said to Farrelly. “Protect us.”
He headed to the door, and I went to work on Hanna’s wound. My arms tingled as the nanobots stirred within me, fusing the strength from my blood cells into hers. Repairing damaged tissue, prying the shrapnel loose. The miniature beads of light darted in and out and everywhere.
And I could see them—the tiny bots—spinning inside the girl’s body, synthesizing and restoring the destruction.
Minutes passed, and I pulled away. The color returned to Hanna’s face; her breathing steadied.
I went to Samuel and placed my fingers on the entry wound, but my hands stung. Recoiling, I stared at my palms, expecting to see burn marks, as if the boy’s skin had given me frostbite, as though death had repelled me. Grabbing for his wrist—I could touch that part of him—his pulse was gone.
Hanna stirred. “Samuel? Did you help him?”
A dreary emptiness penetrated my chest, and I wiped sweat from my eyes. “No, I’m sorry.”
A single tear ran down her dust-caked cheek.
I let Hanna grieve for a minute. A wave of dizziness pummeled me as I stood. Everyone else in the room had disappeared—Farrelly had ushered out the nuns and orphans. The classroom was oddly quiet as I stared at the dead Heavy, then at Perez’s lifeless body, her blood pooled across the black and white tiled floor. Gunfire in the distance sounded surreal, as if this was a bad dream.
Hanna sat up, and her eyes lingered over her brother's body. She mumbled to herself with closed eyes. A prayer in her native language.
My chest felt hollow. Why couldn’t I have saved them both? Had there been more time… If Samuel hadn't been shot before I healed Hanna?
The long window in the room shattered. I ducked and sheltered my face as Hanna collapsed onto Samuel’s body.
“We have to leave.” I grabbed her arm.
She looked up at me with watery red eyes. “But his body. I can't leave him. I want to stay and die… here, with him.”
My fists clenched. “You have to live.” I crouched down and met her gaze. “Or his death will have been for nothing.”
She stared at me, her mouth twisting into a quivering frown.
I stood and signaled Tyren on my comm. “Tyren, do you read? It's Sarek. I'm inside the orphanage. Do you copy?”
Walking to the hallway, I scanned it. No sign of Farrelly. He left us? Damn him. The hollow place in my chest caved in. I wanted to cry.
But Hanna. I had to help her. Who else did she have now? There could be Heavies nearby, waiting, stalking us.
I tried the comm again. “Tyren, do you copy? Sarek here, awaiting orders.”
Inside the room, Hanna stood, having said her last goodbye. Her once yellow tee-shirt had turned ragged and bloody from her wound.
The comm chirped with static. “Sarek, you there? Tyren here. Copy?”
“Yes. I’m here. Farrelly left us. Perez is… dead.” My throat tightened.
“You couldn’t save her?”
“No. I’m sorry. I had to save a girl.”
He paused. “You did your best. Listen, they took out the bridge. You can’t go back the way you came.”
I tensed, wishing I had time to tell him I’d been on the damn bridge when it had collapsed, but there would be time later. I hoped.
“Exit the building and head straight north on the boulevard. When you get far enough, we’ll be waiting with the cruiser.”
“How long do we have?” Next to me, Hanna’s eyes were wide, and she shivered uncontrollably.
“Five minutes. Then we have to take off. I'll try to delay long as I can, but… just get your ass out here. That’s an order,” he said.
“Copy. Over and out.” I turned to the grieving girl. “Hanna, I can get you out. But you have to be as quiet as possible and follow my every command. Do you understand?”
“Y-yes,” she whispered.
I squeezed her shoulders. “Be strong… for Samuel.”
Before we left, I took Perez’s rifle. For a moment, I considered taking the med unit bag, but it would slow us down.
After checking the hallway, I led the way north, banking on the hope there would be another stairwell on the opposite side of the corridor. There was, and we reached it, but I made Hanna wait while I checked for Heavies. Grabbing her hand, I guided her to the first floor.
By now,
