And that’s when I realize it. Our first home. The place we were last happy, a real family.
“I need paint,” I say. “Bring me paint, by the old apartment complex on Main.”
As you wish, the Commander says.
I have never heard so much darkness in a single man’s voice.
CHAPTER 21
ZEPHYR
I hate the Resistance Cave.
I stand at its entrance with Rhone, Dex, and Sparrow, preparing myself for the argument that I know is soon to come.
The Cave is shaped like a dome, an arching ceiling with water dripping down the concrete walls. It’s hidden under the Shallows, a patchwork of tunnels and concrete caverns that are perfect for hiding out.
“This isn’t going to work, Zero,” Rhone says beside me.
I swallow. “It has to work.”
We step into the Cave as a team.
Tunnels jut off into different areas, leading to places all over the Shallows. People are scattered about. Some of them sit by a crackling fire. Others practice fighting.
I see some new faces, some old.
The last time I was in the Resistance Cave, I was hoping for help that I knew Orion wouldn’t be happy to give.
The time before that, I was with Meadow.
Memories rush for me and grab ahold. Meadow teaching me how to fight, how to harness the power of my training from when I was only a child.
Talan is here, glowing with life, making jokes that make me laugh until I feel like I can’t breathe. Sketch paints our faces before we head into the Leech Headquarters to shut down the Motherboard. Kill the Protector, and end the system for good.
Three weeks ago, we were a family. An army.
Now, we’re broken, scattered across the Shallows. Some of us are dead.
Some of us might as well be.
And some of us . . .
“Zero!” a voice shouts from across the Cave. I’d recognize it anywhere, because I’ve hated its owner since the very first time I saw her. Sparrow tenses beside me, though I don’t know why.
“Orion,” I say. The Resistance Leader, who once posed as a Leech Officer. She’s the reason we got into this whole mess in the first place.
I hate her.
I also need her.
She’s seated by the fire. Her bald head, covered in tattoos now, shines an eerie gray in the dim light. She waves us over.
Dex squeals and sprints past me to join the other Resistance kids as they chase a rat like it’s a toy.
“I’m telling you, Zero, this is a no-go,” Rhone warns.
“I’ve heard enough,” I say. “We’re out of options.”
We cross the Cave with Sparrow in tow, and I get ready to beg for the cause.
CHAPTER 22
MEADOW
I stand on the steps of my old apartment building, a can of bloodred paint at my feet. This is the last place where my family was happy together. This is the last place in the Shallows that might still hold a special place in my mother’s heart.
If I am right.
And I could be horribly wrong.
The windows of the building are boarded up. There are plenty of them that I can paint a message on, large enough for my mother to see.
I dip my fingers into the paint and lose myself to the motion.
I start on the far left windows, the first-floor ones that I can reach.
And I spell out the time, and I spell out her name, in large letters, one on each window. My heart cracks a little more with each letter, but finally, I step back and admire my work. The wet paint drips down the sides of the old brick, and the moonlight illuminates it. Like blood.
6 a.m.
For Peri.
If somewhere, deep down in my mother’s heart, she still feels for us, and somehow, a part of it still beats for her family, when she sees the message . . .
She will come.
CHAPTER 23
ZEPHYR
The second Orion sees Sparrow, she freezes.
“You,” she gasps. She takes a half step forward. “Sparrow?”
Sparrow reaches out with trembling hands. “Orion,” she whispers. “It’s been a long time.”
They stare at each other like they’re both seeing something beautiful, something that couldn’t or shouldn’t exist in the Shallows.
I didn’t even know they knew each other. Rhone shrugs when I look at him, like he didn’t know either. We help Sparrow walk forward.
Orion closes the distance in two quick strides, and I think they’re about to both fade into one sobbing mess, when Orion suddenly goes bright red. Not from embarrassment. From fury.
“I thought you were dead!” Orion screams. “We all did!”
She leaps.
And tackles Sparrow to the ground.
It’s all screams and curses, and Sparrow’s flattened on the concrete floor of the Cave. Orion rolls her over, puts her thighs on either side of Sparrow’s body. Then she starts beating the hell out of her.
“Stop it!” I yell, but no one moves.
A crowd gathers.
Sparrow screams, and Orion keeps hitting, and finally Rhone and I step forward and yank them apart.
“You liar!” Orion shouts. Rhone and I hold her back as she fights to get away.
“I’m sorry,” Sparrow sobs. She’s lying on a heap on the floor, gasping for breath. Dex helps her sit up, rubs her back in circles, wipes blood from her face with her T-shirt. Sparrow sobs. “It was to keep you safe.”
“We were best friends,” Orion says. “You never came back. You abandoned me. You were the closest thing I ever had to a sister, to a family.”