I run along the outer parts of the clearing, making sure they don't see me, and I hide around the corner of the building they entered. A couple of Flyz circle overhead as I run to the entrance of the building. That might be Farouk and 13 looking for me. I need to make sure I dispose of the drones as fast as possible so that they won't be in the way of us getting on the Flyz.
When I step through the door, my shadow dances against the back wall, and both drones turn. They drop down and cover behind some pieces of furniture, and I do the same. I only have a couple of shots remaining in this gun, so I need to make them count.
I set my sights on the drone on the left, and when his head comes up to look for me, I shoot. Two bullets speed out of my gun. The first misses, but the second hits him between the eyes. The other drone reacts by unloading all of his gun in my direction. Most of the bullets strike the metal cabinet that I am crouched behind.
As I turn to find his head, booms explode overhead, and the building around us rumbles. The Flyz must have launched missiles at this building. Those Flyz weren't Farouk and 13. I look up and see a large crack rip in the ceiling above me. This entire thing is about to collapse.
The crack splits in two above the drone, and a large chunk of the floor above falls on him. I take that as my cue and run out of the building, heading as far to the side as possible. As I look up, the top half of the building bends and starts to come down. I follow the projected path of the collapse to make sure I'm not in danger. When I look at where it's supposed to hit, my heart jumps out of my body.
“KJ!” I find the last bit of the voice left in me. I run, but I'm not fast enough. The full weight of the top of the building falls on KJ's house. The ensuing plume of dust engulfs me.
CHAPTER XIII
I fight my way through the dust and rubble, stumbling over pieces of the fallen building and debris.
“KJ!” I scream out, the polluted air fills my lungs. I throw chunks of concrete to the side as I fight my way to where their house stood. The dust cloud settles to a faint fog, and I can see that KJ's home is in complete ruins.
The pile is a mix of the two buildings. It's hard to see where one ends, and the other begins. I climb to the top and start to peel layers of rubble and debris off. After a few moments, I find a hand, and my heart falls into my stomach. I keep digging in. Then I see her face—her eyes are still open, but they aren’t looking anywhere.
“No. No. Please no.” I pull as much as I can off of her body. She's not breathing. I reach for her neck to find a pulse, but I can't find any. “KJ, please, no.”
I peel every piece of building off of her until I reach a chunk too heavy to lift. It's crushed the lower half of her body and covered in blood. I'm helpless. “I'm sorry. I'm sorry.”
A hand grabs me from behind and pulls me back. My instincts cause my fists to swing at my aggressor, and I connect hard with its shoulder.
“80, it's me.” 13 steps back, hands up, trying to calm me. Behind him, three Flyz hover feet from the ground. That must be Farouk and the other Integers. 13 looks at me and then to the rubble behind me. He sees KJ and a sadness I did not expect becomes him. “I'm so sorry, 80, but we have to go.”
He reaches for me, but I push him away. “No!”
“80, we don't have time. We passed dozens of drones on the way. They will be here soon.” He pleads with me.
I turn back to KJ's lifeless body and kneel next to it. The pain from the stone digging into my knee is cathartic. I grab her hand and hold it up to my face, and with my other hand, I shut her eyes.
“Don't let her die in vain.” 13's voice carries to my ears and hits every part of my being.
I kiss KJ's forehead and stand to get one last look at her. Underneath the blood and dirt is the girl that made my breath stop when I first saw her walking toward the stadium. Right before I step away, a peculiar sound grabs my attention. It resonates over the hum of the Flyz and the thunder of the charging drones. Someone is crying.
“13, quick!” I run in the direction of the sobbing.
Gunfire erupts behind us. The drones have arrived, and the Flyz have opened fire on them. 13 runs to me. “The drones are here. We have to go!”
“Now!” I order him as I toss a couple of large chunks.
Together, 13 and I lift the heavier pieces off until the light of the sky shines into a small hole and illuminates a face.
“Pocket!” I shout. A smile graces my face. “Don't move.”
13 seems as excited to see her as I am. He looks around and points to one of the larger slabs of concrete. “I'll hold that up. You get her out.”
I'm not sure he's strong enough to do it, but it's the only hope we have. We lift the slab together so he can get underneath it and have some leverage, and then I peel off to reach down for Pocket.
“Grab my hand!” I shout as I reach my arm into the hole toward her. She grabs onto my fingers, but as I pull, she slips out of my grasp and
