“Riley!” I scream as I lunge at her, pinning her to the metal door. Grabbing her shoulder, I pull her against me and tuck her head to my chest. I wrap her in my arms, shielding her with my body as the shots ring out.
When the first bullet penetrates me, I close my eyes and concentrate on the sensation as time slows to a crawl. I feel the tip pierce my skin at my lower back, and I shift slightly. I force the muscle to flex as the bullet enters, tightening around the projectile and holding it fast. As I capture the first bullet with my body, the second enters my shoulder.
I raise my shoulder just enough for the bullet to go over Riley and into the wall. The next one hits, and I catch it with my thigh.
Again and again, I take every hit, manipulating my body to hold the bullets and prevent them from going all the way through and hitting the woman I hold close to me. She’s screaming my name over and over as I’m hit, and my body quivers with the impact, but I can’t listen to her. It’s taking everything I have just to keep her from harm.
I can’t even tell how long they continue to shoot.
The shots stop. I have no idea if they’re all reloading at once or if they figure we must be dead by now, but I embrace the opportunity. I pull my arm back and slam my hand into the handle of the metal door. The latch breaks with the impact, and I shove Riley through the opening.
“Go!” I scream at her.
Riley turns and stumbles forward. As I start to move, the pain in my body doubles me over, but my implants immediately begin to compensate. The pain is muted, my thoughts focused on making the damaged muscles in my body act.
Running footsteps behind us start to get closer. There are three in front—the specimen team. Riley has no chance of outrunning them. Given my injuries, I’m not sure I can, either.
I have to. I have to save Riley.
“Keep going!” I yell as I shove her head of me.
I’m starting to slow down as I become increasingly aware of the damage to my body. The implants can’t seem to compensate for the pain any longer. Seventeen bullets have hit, four going through me and the rest captured inside. I fight through the pain in my legs to force myself forward.
I can see the exit just ahead of us. Once through it, I can get her into the forest and find cover long enough to determine the best strategy to get out of Mills territory and back to the farm. The trees are only a few feet away from the house, and the bog directly behind that.
If I bar the door behind us, stay and keep it closed, Riley has a chance to get away.
I know she isn’t going to like it. I can already hear her protests in my imagination, but I won’t allow for any argument. She has to run, with or without me. It may be the only way to save her.
I have to save Riley.
I’m right behind her. I can feel the heat of her back on my chest, and I remember how she curled up against me last night after I made love to her. She’d sighed softly as she drifted into sleep, and I’d just lain there, watching her.
I can’t let that be our last night together.
I reach my arm over her shoulder, ready to hit the door with full force and get through it as quickly as possible, but just before we reach it, the door flies open. There are a dozen Mills soldiers and three specimens I don’t know but recognize immediately as my kind.
Grabbing Riley by the waist, I start to turn, but the specimens and soldiers from behind us close in. My mind flies through every available avenue—calculating nearly four hundred possible courses of action in a half-second—and finds no means of escape.
Two of the specimens grab hold of my arms, but I don’t release Riley. The other specimen grabs a hold of her shoulders, pulling as hard as I am to keep control of her. Riley’s mouth opens in a silent scream. I’m crushing her diaphragm with my grip. If I keep my hold on her, she’ll be torn apart.
I loosen my grip, allowing her to be ripped from my arms.
“No!” Riley screams. She thrashes in the specimen’s arms, kicking and yelling. “Let me go! Leave him alone!”
“Riley!” I scream and fight against the arms that hold me, but I can’t break the grip they have on me. I’m forced to my knees as one of the specimens grabs my head and holds it to my left shoulder. The implanted chip is pried roughly from my neck, and I feel blood dripping from the wound.
I can only struggle fruitlessly as I stare at Riley. She keeps fighting against her captor, but she has no chance. As she’s dragged backward, Dr. Helen McCall walks through the door with a self-satisfied grin.
“You bitch! Riley screams in the other doctor’s face and kicks out at her, but Dr. McCall only tilts her head and smiles.
“You knew it would end this way,” Dr. McCall says. “You never had a chance.”