“Could that be him?” I asked, looking at the screen.
“It’s toward the mountains,” he said.
We drove a short distance, tracking the signal. Flintridge was in the foothills, so the terrain became mountainous quickly. The homes thinned out, giving way to stretches of land where some houses had been burned down due to fear of spore contamination.
I prayed the signal was Michael’s. It got louder, brighter, and faster.
“We’re close,” I said. “Here.”
“Where?”
“There.” I pointed to a body lying on one of the scorched lots.
He slammed his foot on the brake, and I jumped out of the car. Michael’s body lay facedown.
“Michael!” I shouted.
I knelt beside his body. Hyden came and stood behind me.
“Michael!” I said, but no response.
I eased him over onto his back and put my ear to his chest. It was warm.
“He’s breathing,” I said to Hyden. A sense of desperate helplessness filled me. I didn’t know what to do. It was awful seeing him like this, unconscious and limp.
I cradled Michael’s head on my lap. “What happened?”
“My guess, he was jacked. Then they lost the connection. It’s like a dropped call.” He looked around. “We can’t stay out here in the open. Between us, we’ve got three chips here. Might as well hang up a sign.”
I glanced down the street. I saw some people coming our way. Friendlies? Or not?
“We have to move him,” I said.
I was so glad Hyden was in Jeremy’s body; his being able to touch people without some barrier made all this a lot easier. He bent down to pick up Michael.
“You know the drill,” he said.
I wrapped my arms around his legs. Hyden did most of the lifting.
Once we got back to the lab, Ernie took over, carrying Michael’s body. Hyden had sent him a Zing explaining everything.
“So this is the body you’re borrowing,” Ernie said, nodding. “I’ve been waiting for you to do this.”
Ernie put Michael in one of the unused bedrooms. One of the Metals, Avery, checked him over, taking his vitals. Avery was petite and gentle. Her mother had been a nurse.
“All his numbers are pretty normal. Blood pressure, temperature,” she said. “Sometimes, all you can do with a patient is wait.” She eyed Hyden in Jeremy’s body.
“That’s actually Hyden,” I said to her.
“I know. Ernie told us,” she said.
I sensed some disapproval there. But she was too polite to say anything outright.
“I’ll stay here with him. You guys can go,” I said.
After they’d gone, I looked at Michael lying there. It was good to see him again, but not like this. He looked so vulnerable.
Would he come back to us? What happened?
“Michael.” I took his hand in mine. “Michael,” I whispered, as if that would somehow reach his subconscious.
It didn’t.
If someone had jacked his body, they would have given it up by now. So why wasn’t he coming to?
I sat on his bed for a while, thinking about how fragile life was. Thinking about what Hyden had said about how we’re more than just our flesh. I sponged Michael’s forehead and spoke softly to him, trying my best not to think negative thoughts. I grew more fearful, wondering if he was ever going to be revived.
His eyelids fluttered.
“Michael?”
He started kicking and tossing from side to side.
“Michael, it’s me, Callie.”
He stopped thrashing. His eyes opened. He stared at the ceiling.
“Michael?” I whispered.
I wondered if it really was Michael in there. He patted the bed as if trying to find his bearings. Then he looked at me.
“Callie?”
It was him. “It’s me, Michael. How are you?”
He sat up. He was covered in sweat.
“Easy,” I said.
Michael swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat there a moment, looking down. “My head hurts.”
“How do you feel? Other than the head?”
“Foggy. Like I slept for a thousand years.”
“What do you remember?”
He rubbed his forehead. “We talked on the phone. …” He seemed uncertain, as if fishing for confirmation.
“Yes,” I said. “You called me.”
“After that, I walked around looking for someplace to wait for you. There were so many people outside the library: Starters, Enders. I headed for the street. Then—then …”
“What?”
“Everything went black.
Hyden was right; he was probably hijacked outside the library. Why? Were none of us safe?
“What about Tyler?” I asked. “Is he okay?”
Michael nodded. “He loves Eugenia. Don’t worry. He’s good, Callie.”