open. “Move it up? But why? I still don’t understand why we are so quick to dispose of him. Didn’t Frank need Harvey’s help?”
I know the answer is yes. Frank wants his limitless Forgeries and he needs Harvey to get them. Unless . . .
My grip slackens on the gun. Maybe Frank solved it. Maybe in the time I’ve been away, someone in his labs wrote the right code and now Frank can make Forgery after Forgery after Forgery. Endless replications of the replicas. His voice echoes in my mind. There has been some progress since you left. We no longer need his answers.
Marco sneers at my question. “Frank doesn’t want the help of traitors. The only thing he wants from Harvey’s kind is to see them die.”
And with that, he walks up to Harvey and yanks his shoulder back out of place. Harvey cries out in pain and slumps to the ground. All I can do is stand there, helpless, knowing we’ve failed.
THIRTY-FOUR
WE GET LOCKED IN A room together. It has no windows and the ceiling panels refuse to give way when I push on them. There is no escape. Harvey keeps telling me it’s fine, that things will work out.
“How is this fine?” I snap at him. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. We were supposed to get out. We were supposed to be successful.”
“You still can,” he says. “I never planned on making it back, even from the beginning.”
My eyes go wide as I understand. “This is what you were talking about in those private meetings. The fact that you might have to die in order for Bree and me to escape.”
He nods.
“Why did I have to be kept out of those conversations?”
“Because you would have argued,” he admits, “as you are right now.”
“Of course I’m arguing, because it shouldn’t be like this. If I had been included in those meetings, maybe we could have thought up another plan, a strategy for if we got into this predicament. Plus, the Rebels need you. Badly.”
“Clayton is wise beyond his years. I’ve taught him everything I know. The Rebels will be fine. And what makes you think we didn’t try to come up with other strategies?”
“Because you’re willingly walking to your death!”
“Maybe that’s the plan.”
“Well, that’s as dumb a plan as any.”
“Gray,” he says simply, “it is a worthwhile sacrifice, one life for many, and you will be a fool to waste it. Don’t do anything stupid when the time comes. I will not be angry with you. This is the way for you and Bree to make it back. Do this final deed, and then, as they celebrate my demise, when they trust you, bring the vaccine back to Crevice Valley so this battle can continue.”
I sit there and shake my head in disbelief. Before I can find peace in my thoughts, the guards are leading us from the room.
Union Central is quiet again. The alarms have been turned off, the Code Red cleared. Harvey and I are pushed into a car, which drives us downtown to the same public square where Emma and I witnessed the water thief’s execution. Here, it is busy, citizens and Order members alike buzzing through the space. Frank stands on the raised platform and quiets the crowd. He speaks into a tall narrow contraption that amplifies his voice through the square.
“This is Harvey Maldoon,” Frank says. The wall behind Frank illuminates with the visuals from Harvey’s wanted posters as the guards drag him onto the platform. They secure him to a wooden post. He doesn’t struggle. In fact, he willingly participates, arranging his arms so the Order can more easily bind him.
“This man is no stranger to us,” Frank continues. “We have seen his face strung up around the city, but I think it is worth reiterating the evils he has committed. This is a man who has no desire to live by laws that are just and fair. He is a snake and a coward, a murderer and a traitor, a filthy disease that Taem will be cleansed of tonight. Harvey has traded information and knowledge to AmWest, and in doing so he has betrayed us all. He has clearly proven that he wishes every one of us dead, and so tonight, this man will die!”
The spectators erupt in cheers, lifting arms above their heads and urging on the execution. Frank continues talking, working the people into a frenzied rally, but I am not listening. Where is Bree? I whisper