I stare at her. Why did she just call him Nicholas?
I don’t have time to sort out my thoughts. Maxine enters the room, firing a rifle at the guard holding me down. The bullet takes him in the head and he falls on top of me. Agatha flinches, turning to look at Maxine, but still holding her gun on Wreck. One of the guards releases his arm to return fire. Maxine backs away into the corridor. Stella screams. Wreck struggles with the guard still trying to hold him. Agatha starts shooting. But Wreck uses the guard as a human shield. I realize that she’s about to kill him. My mind becomes blank. I push off the dead guard and sprint across the room, charging into Agatha. We both collapse to the floor and her gun flies free. I sit on her stomach, grab her throat and squeeze as hard as I can. Images of Gabriel strangling me cross my mind. I hear more gunfire behind me mixed with Stella’s screams. I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t even care. I perceive everything through a red haze and can only press my fingers tighter and tighter into her neck…
“Kora! Let her go. She’s dead.”
I don’t react. Somebody grips my shoulders and shakes me. I freeze, looking up. The room is quiet now. Wreck kneels beside me. I’m still squeezing Agatha’s neck.
“She’s dead already,” he repeats calmly. “We have to go.”
I glance down at Agatha. She lies motionless, her eyes open and empty. I cover my mouth, holding back a sob and feeling sick. Wreck pulls me to my feet. I breathe in deeply, swaying slightly on my feet, trying to collect my thoughts. Maxine stands in the doorway with her rifle, watching the corridor. Stella sobs uncontrollably, staring at her dead mother. Wreck approaches the bed, but she doesn’t even notice him.
“Stella.” He touches her shoulder. “Stella, look at me.”
She shudders, turning to face him, her long blonde hair covering half of her face.
“I’m sorry about all this,” he says. “I did what I had to do. Don’t try to come after me, all right? I promise I won’t come back. Just stay out of all this mess.”
Stella nods slowly. My heart aches for her. I know what it feels like to watch your mother die.
Wreck looks at his cousin for a moment longer, then heads toward the door. I snap from my stupor and follow. We walk down a corridor, descend the staircase and enter the basement. I don’t know where Wreck is taking us, but ask no questions. Instead, I replay in my mind everything that’s transpired tonight, wondering why I don’t feel any remorse. How can I remain so calm after committing murder? Or maybe I’m still in shock and the memories from this dreadful night will later come back to haunt me?
Wreck and Maxine move a few large barrels away from a wall inside the basement, revealing a door. Wreck kicks it a few times and the door gives in. He leads us through a long underground tunnel. Maxine shines a small flashlight, illuminating the way. I remember Dimitri carrying me through a similar tunnel back in the Recycling village. Of course Wreck knew about this secret exit. This was his home.
The tunnel leads to an abandoned shack outside the master’s residence. We jog toward the parked trucks. Tanya stands beside one of the vehicles, holding a handgun. I guess she and Maxine encountered a few guards and took their weapons. Tanya smiles upon seeing us and reports that the racers are loaded inside the trucks. I take a last lingering look back at the high master’s mansion. I can’t see the building, but notice a glow of fire in the distance. I know I should feel happy because Samuel is dead and my friends are now free. But I don’t experience any particular joy or sense of satisfaction. I feel indifferent.
I climb inside a truck and Wreck gets behind the wheel. We drive off. Maxine follows in the other truck right behind.
I press my head against the cool glass and close my eyes. Only now I fully realize how tired I am. My muscles are sore. My head hurts where the guards and Logan hit me.
“Well, I guess you realize you rescued me tonight,” Wreck says. “My lovely aunt almost killed me. So I guess our score is about even now. I liked how you downed that guard I was grappling with back in the hall. He was really tough. Nicely done, Kora!”
I don’t understand what he’s talking about. What score? What guard? My mind is foggy.
“I still can’t believe we got Samuel!” he laughs, still wired. “I really enjoyed killing him. It felt good. You want to know a little secret? I’ve never killed anybody before tonight.”
I open my eyes, looking him over. He’s smiling broadly, his hands still stained with Samuel’s blood.
“I thought you’d killed many times before,” I say.
“I was just trying to maintain my reputation. Tonight was the first time.”
“But what about all those travelers you captured?”
“Well, I just scare the hell out of them, and cut them loose.”
I don’t reply, realizing what I’ve done. All his talk about being a cold-blooded killer was a lie. He was innocent before meeting me, and now I’ve coaxed him into killing. I’m not sure how I should feel about that.
“I’m really glad you chose to spare your cousin,” I say. “But why did you?”
“I’m not Samuel, all right? Although I really regret initially sparing Agatha. I still can’t believe she was the one behind everything. What a witch! She always acted so nice. I never even suspected her.”
“Kris,” I say. “Why did
