it takes to save people from a terrible fate is one person willing to do something about it. Even if that "something" is a fake bathroom break.
Amar drives for a few more minutes before anything happens. Then the truck shudders and starts to bounce like we're going over bumps.
"Shit," Amar says, scowling at the speedometer. "I can't believe this."
"Flat?" I say.
"Yeah." He sighs, and eases on the brakes so the car slips to a stop by the side of the road.
"I'll check it," I say. I jump down from the passenger's seat and walk to the back of the truck. The back tires are completely flat, flayed by the knife Christina brought with her. I peer through the back windows to make sure there's only one spare tire, then return to my open door to give the news.
"Both back tires are flat and we only have one spare," I say. "We're going to have to abandon the truck and get a new one."
"Shit!" Amar smacks the steering wheel. "We don't have time for this. We have to make sure Zeke and his mother and Christina's family are all inoculated before the memory serum is released, or they'll be useless."
"Calm down," I say. "I know where we can find another vehicle. Why don't you guys keep going on foot and I'll go
find something to drive?"
Amar's expression brightens. "Good idea."
Before moving away from the truck I make sure that there are bullets in my gun, even though I'm not sure if I'll need them. Everyone piles out of the truck, Amar shivering in the cold and bouncing on his toes.
I check my watch. "So you need to inoculate them by what time?"
"George's schedule says we've got an hour before we reset the city," Amar says, checking his watch too, to make sure. "If you want us to spare Zeke and his mother the grief and let them get reset, I wouldn't blame you. I'll do it if you need me to."
I shake my head. "Couldn't do that. They wouldn't be in pain, but it wouldn't be real."
"As I've always said," Amar says, smiling, "once a Stiff, always a Stiff."
"Can you . . . not tell them what happened? Just until I get there," I say. "Just inoculate them? I want to be the one who tells them."
Amar's smile shrinks a little. "Sure. Of course."
My shoes are already soaked through from checking the tires, and my feet ache when they touch the cold ground again. I'm about to walk away from the truck when Peter speaks up.
"I'm coming with you," he says.
"What? Why?" I glare at him.
"You might need help finding a truck," he says. "It's a big city."
I look at Amar, who shrugs. "Man's got a point."
Peter leans in closer and speaks quietly, so only I can hear. "And if you don't want me to tell him you're planning something, you won't object."
His eyes drift to my jacket pocket, where the memory serum is.
I sigh. "Fine. But you do what I say."
I watch Amar and Christina walk away without us, heading toward the Hancock building. Once they're too far away to see us, I take a few steps back, slipping my hand into my pocket to
protect the vial.
"I'm not going to look for a truck," I say. "You might as well know that now. Are you going to help me with what I'm doing, or do I have to shoot you?"
"Depends what you're doing."
It's hard to come up with an answer when I'm not even sure. I stand facing the Hancock building. To my right are the factionless, Evelyn, and her collection of death serum. To my left are the Allegiant, Marcus, and the insurrection plan.
Where do I have the greatest influence? Where can I make the biggest difference? Those are the questions I should be asking myself. Instead I am asking myself whose destruction I am
more desperate for.
"I'm going to stop a revolution," I say.
I turn right, and Peter follows me.
MY BROTHER STANDS behind the microscope, his eye pressed to the
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
TRIS
eyepiece. The light in the microscope platform casts strange shadows on his face, making him look years older.
"This is definitely it," he says. "The attack simulation serum, I mean. No question."
"It's always good to have another
person verify," Matthew says.
I am standing with my brother in the hours before he dies. And he is analyzing serums. It's so stupid.
I know why Caleb wanted to come here: to make sure that he was giving his life for a good reason. I don't