“Hurry,” 13 struggles to say. His body shakes under the weight of the concrete.
“Pocket. I need you to jump and grab tight with both hands.” I encourage her. This is our only chance. If 13 lets go, the weight of that slab will collapse the hole around her.
She jumps, and when I feel her small hands grip my arm, I tighten my grasp. This time I won't let go. I pull her out of the small cave, wrap her in my arms, and roll away. 13 jumps out of the way, allowing the full weight of the slab to fall on the pile. The hole collapses in on itself, kicking up a small puff of dust. We would have all perished if we took any longer.
We hustle down the mound of rubble and debris and run toward the Flyz. The number of drones shooting at the Flyz increases with each step we take. Soon their numbers will be too massive to hold back.
13 climbs into the Fly first as another drone tosses a rifle to me. I shoot at the wall of drones that has formed in the clearing. Most focus on the Fly closest to them, so they don't shoot toward me. I hand Pocket over to 13, and he hoists her into the Fly. As I toss the rifle back into the cabin, an awful noise turns me around.
Cabras are stampeding from all directions, their groans louder than I've ever heard. They have surrounded the drones and are closing in on the Flyz. The drones must have blown down the walls keeping the Cabras separate, and now every last one of them has descended on this spot.
The drones turn their fire toward their new attackers, but there are three times as many Cabras. For each Cabra a drone kills, two more are there to rip the flesh off the drone's body. They have no allegiance, so some of the Cabras turn their attention to us.
“Go. Go. Go.” I jump into the cabin of the Fly as a Cabra grabs the back of my leg. A bullet skims past my body and connects with the Cabra, sending it flying back.
I settle into a seat as the Fly climbs, and Pocket crawls into my arms. She closes her eyes and lets me hold her. As we turn, I spot a single Cabra standing over the rubble that used to be KJ's home. He's looking down and around, struggling with a small piece of human emotion left in him. He turns, and for a moment, I think he sees me. We've stared at each other before.
The Cabra lets out a primal scream and hobbles down the pile of rubble to join the others of his kind. My eyes follow as he makes his way to the last of the three Flyz. This Fly is struggling to lift off as a group of Cabras have grabbed hold of it. Their weight is keeping it from gaining altitude.
Shots from the cabin knock off some Cabras, but they pull one of the Integers from inside the Fly to the ground. He disappears in a group of Cabras and gets devoured.
The lost weight lets the Fly take off, but the few Cabras still clinging to it tip the balance. The pilot attempts to level it out but swings the craft right into a building. The explosion rattles our Fly as we lift higher, and the bright burst of fire shuts my eyes. I can feel Pocket clench tighter on to me.
Everything that I see before me does not seem real. I am numb and have displaced myself from this reality. As the burning Fly falls to the ground, and the building collapses on itself, the world around me feels less true than my dreams. The Cabras and drones continue to fight as I rise above the clouds, and the life I lived, the world I knew, disappears below me.
I see a blur up ahead that tells me the other Fly made it out, but right now, I can't be out there. I look down at Pocket and realize that I need to be where she is. Inside. Alone. Sad. Angry. In Pain.
The sounds of the Integers sitting around me fade to a muted garble, and I close my eyes. I try to clear my thoughts and just be, but the image of the falling building and KJ's corpse keeps flashing in the darkness of my eyes. I give in to it and let the tears come.
I rest my head on the side of the window, feeling the rhythm of Pocket's breathing in my arms as she sleeps. Moments later, my rhythm falls in sync, and I too fall into darkness.
My body shakes as I gasp for air. I'm not sure how long I've been asleep, but a thought jolted me awake. I pull Pocket closer, and I look around. I don't see what I'm looking for, so I turn to 13. “Where is Farouk?”
CHAPTER XIV
None of the others on the Fly can give me a definitive answer. All they are able to tell me is that he was on one of the other aircraft. They aren’t confident if it’s the one that's soaring ahead of us or if it was the one that lies in a charred mess, feet away from where I left KJ.
I look down at Pocket in my arms. She is the spitting image of her sister. I will never be able to look at her and not think of KJ—a constant reminder that I failed her. I let her, Martha, and her other sister die. I will do right by her. Pocket will live to see old age. I will see to it myself.
Pocket has slept most of the way. The occasional bump in the flight wakes her, but the tears that follow send her back to sleep. When my mind settles, I look her over for any injuries, but only find a few small
