“It started. Lucie has sent the first wave out into the city, and we need to go.” He doesn't budge from the doorway. Chaos fills the hallway behind him as drones and scientists run in all directions.
“I have to get KJ!” I step up to him, the end of my bed behind me.
“You can't. There is no time.” He puts his hand on my chest.
I step back, blood boiling in my veins. He will not stop me from getting to her. When my calf hits the bed, I anchor my foot against the frame. “I have to save her!”
He fills the doorframe as much as he can. We both know what is about to happen, and we are getting as much leverage as we can. “80, I will not let you run out to the city. You are coming with me, even if I have to drag you. Besides, it's too late. She is most likely already gone.”
“No!” My eyes widen, and I push off the bed, launching my body at Farouk. My momentum carries us both into the hallway and against the back wall. Other scientists and drones move out of our way but leave us to our own devices. They have more critical things to tend to.
Farouk tries to grab me, but I shake free. When he lunges again, I dodge and swing with my left hand, connecting hard with the side of his head. He stumbles against the wall and pulls himself up. When he turns to look at me, I see a rage that I will not be able to beat. I have to run.
“I'm sorry!” I run away from him, weaving in and out of the various people in the hallway. I scream back. “13 will know where to find me!”
I speed my way through the hallways, bumping into the occasional scientist and drone. I don't look back; I keep running. There is only one thing on my mind, and that's saving KJ and her sisters. I couldn't stop her mother's death, but I can at least give them a chance to survive. I can bring them with me to the compound. No one will convince me otherwise.
Most people don't pay any attention to me as I run by them, too preoccupied with their own agendas. When I turn the last corner, before I reach the exit, I come face to face with a wall of drones. There are four, standing side by side, and behind them stands a smug Lucie. She was waiting for me.
“Kill him,” she barks at the drones.
I'm running at them before she finishes her command. I am unarmed, and every one of the drones has a gun. If I stand still, I'm target practice. As they raise their weapons, I run straight at the drone on the left. His position is the most vulnerable because the rifle is in his right arm and hindered by the wall.
All my senses have gone into overdrive as the adrenaline pumps through my veins. If I die, KJ dies. If I die, I can't stop the Ragnarok. The world slows down, and the fight for survival has opened my eyes to every movement around me. Their fingers squeeze on their triggers, and I know I only have a chance at one move.
Pushing off my toes, I jump toward the drone against the left wall. My left hand pushes the rifle against the wall as a bullet flies out of the barrel. My right fist connects with the drone's eye, cracking his cheekbones under my knuckles. The drone stumbles back and falls against Lucie. Her eyes widen with shock, but I have no time to enjoy the moment.
As the other drones turn to me, I waste no time reacting. I grab the drone's collar closest to me and pull him in for a head butt as I push his rifle away with my right hand. His finger pulls the trigger, and the bullet flies through the back of the drone by the right wall. That drone falls limp to the ground.
The drone I headbutted falls back into the third drone, giving me a chance to reset. As the two still standing adjust to face me, I plant my right foot against the wall and launch myself at them. My force pushes them against the other wall, and we fall on top of the dead drone.
I plant a knee on the neck of one, and he punches my side as he struggles to breathe. The other drone reaches for his gun, but before he can aim it at me, I pry the rifle from the dead drone's hands and shoot him in the chest. He stumbles back, and I shoot him again, this time hitting him in the head. He falls to the ground next to the first drone I punched.
That one has clambered to his knees, blood covering his face from his shattered eye, and is attempting to find the rifle on the ground. I shoot the drone under my knee and shoot the first drone before he can find the gun.
I stand, having finished off the four adversaries. When I look up, I see why the drone could not find his gun. Lucie is aiming it right at me.
“I should have never let Farouk bring you here, you subhuman maladroit copy.” She pulls the trigger, and the bullet flies. The recoil of the gun sends her stumbling backward, and the shot misses me by a foot.
I'm not going to take my chances with her aim again, so I flip the rifle in my hand, and once I grab the barrel, I swing it with as much force as possible. The butt of the gun smacks Lucie square in the face, and she falls hard to the ground. She screams with agony. If no drones or scientists were alerted by the commotion before, they will for sure come running to her.
She'll survive, but I don't have time to
