sign in the shape of a star. Meet me there in an hour.”
“Promise me you’ll be there,” I said.
He brushed my dark hair behind my ears and leaned forward. His voice was raw and husky.
“I promise,” he said. Then he kissed me. Long and sweet. He tasted like home.
Far away we heard pounding noises against the concrete and I felt the walls tremble. People screamed and the crowd surged forward, pressing me up against the sea of bodies in the tight hall. The line was moving too slowly. A man got knocked down and nearly trampled before I grabbed his arm and helped him up. Jazmine lifted a young girl and held her up against her waist.
Suddenly I realized how much danger we were in. Not everyone in this place were rebels. Many of them were free-range humans, just trying to exist in a dangerous world. And I was forcing them out into the wilderness, to contend with the poisonous ash and deadly predators. For most of them, it would be a death sentence. But the alternative was even worse.
“If the elite get in here...”
“It’ll be a bloodbath,” Jazmine finished under her breath. “Like a fox in a chicken coop.”
“More like a blood buffet,” Luke added grimly.
“This is all my fault,” I said. “If I’d listened to Jacob, if I had only stayed in Havoc instead of going outside the defenses.”
“I shot the gun,” April said, appearing at my side suddenly. “Not you.”
I smiled at her, relieved that she’d found us. She must have gone to grab her stuff. Tucked under her arm was a yellow folder full of research notes, and a leather satchel stuffed with lab equipment.
“If you hadn’t, I’d be bear poop right now.”
“That reminds me,” she said, pulling something out of her pocket. “I made you something. I reverse-engineered the bracelet, it should show the level of elixir in your blood. But no trackers.”
It was a simple device, just metal and leather. I felt a sharp pinch when I strapped it on. Instead of the fancy gold and diamond band the king had given me, this one was a black strap with metal studs and an analog reader. The screen was blank for a few breaths, but then flickered to life. 1%.
“It works!” I said.
“Probably, though I’m not sure if it’s accurate or on the same measure scale. How much can you handle?”
“I don’t know, in the citadel, when I killed the first slagpaw, it was at nearly 20%. So at least that much.”
“Let’s hope we don’t have to find out today,” Camina said sagely.
Finally we entered the final room, a long arched hallway at the end of the mall, with twin sets of metal stairs leading up to the exit.
“Hurry!” I shouted.
The men were prying open the large security door from the inside with crowbars, and the metal screeched against my eardrums. Finally, it was off and light poked through. I strapped on my mask and tightened my dark scarf around my neck, making sure to cover up any exposed skin, and helped a few others do the same.
As soon as we were outside, we broke away from the crowd and headed north towards the checkpoint. I glanced back at the mall, and while most people disappeared quickly down side streets, at least a hundred were still standing around the exit.
“They’re too exposed,” I frowned.
“They’re probably just waiting for loved-ones, to make sure everyone’s out,” Jazmine said. “We need to worry about ourselves now.”
“Quickly, this way,” Luke said, gesturing with the end of a shotgun he must have grabbed from the armory. The weapon made me feel queasy. After my encounter with the mutid bear, I never wanted to see another firearm again. I tightened the straps to my backpack and hurried after him. After ten minutes, we’d put the mall behind us and our footsteps echoed in the silent streets, despite the floor of ash.
The streets got thinner and more residential. In this area, the tall apartment complexes had balconies, with rusted chairs and tables outside. I couldn’t even imagine a time when people could live outdoors, relaxing on their patios, taking in the sun.
The city was a death trap, full of infected animals and raiders. It reminded me of the stories my mother had told me in Algrave, about the dead cities, filled with skeletons and monsters.
“There it is,” Luke said finally, pointing out a short, rectangular building. Out in front was some kind of tattered red and white awning, over metal boxes