foggy and confused, but word will spread of the rebels, the vandalism of state property. If it were just a few, I could try and wipe their memories. But this many… it’s too many to compulse. We can’t cover up an event like this.”
“What about the rebels?” I asked. “How do we know they won’t just try it again when they wake up?”
“Well, they’d have to get their hands on some more explosives first. Those can’t have been easy to come by.”
Tobias kicked one of the men, who was rousing to his feet shakily. He grabbed him by the throat and held him against the warm, rumbling engine.
“You have committed treason against King Richard,” Tobias said, locking the man in a fierce, unblinking gaze, “the penalty is death.”
The man, struggling, spit at Tobias, tearing his gaze away. Tobias grabbed his chin and forced his eyes open with one hand, until their eyes connected and the man went slack.
“I know your name, and your face. If any of you try something like this again, I will not hesitate to kill you.”
“In fact,” Tobias pulled out a tiny barbed device. He stuck it in the man’s neck and snapped it off. The man screamed in pain.
“From now on, your movements and conversations will be tracked. So I suggest you practice restraint, as I have today.” Then he tapped his finger against the man’s forehead, and he fell unconscious.
“We have to hurry,” Tobias said, dropping the man in a heap. “I knocked out the royal guards who were with me, but more are on their way. A lot more.”
“What about you?” Penelope asked.
“I’ll keep them off your tail as long as possible.”
“I’m not leaving you again,” she said.
Tobias grabbed Penelope’s hand and pulled her off the path towards the woods. The rest of us followed warily. The last time we’d run into Tobias, he nearly killed us with his pet slagpaw. Luke and Trevor held back, grabbing guns and weapons from the fallen rebels. I took a curved sword from one of the elite warriors, and a high quality mask with black mesh. I frowned at my bare feet, wanting to go back for my gear in the village, but I knew Tobias wouldn’t wait that long. I grabbed a pair of boots from a young woman and shoved them on before catching up to the others.
We approached the outer fence, tall, electrical and lined with barbed wire. But it was late and unguarded. Luke and Trevor unlocked the heavy gates and pulled them open.
The hum of the machines faded behind us as we got further away. I adjusted my mask as we headed into the deadly ash outside the compound, moving briskly until we reached the top of a small, rocky hill.
“How did you find us?” Camina asked.
“When the alarm went up in Crollust, we knew you were in the area. I didn’t dare hope, not really... but after Emily told me you were still alive.”
“Well, I’m not technically, am I?” Penelope smiled. Half of her face was still wet with blood, which made the expression chilling.
“You’re elite now,” Tobias said, wiping a thumb over her lips. “Strong, powerful. But unfortunately, that means it will be harder to hide you, and the beasts will be drawn to the elixir in your veins. I can’t bring you back to the capital with me, and I have to go back. I can distract the guards, point them in the wrong direction. It’ll buy you time.”
“Time for what though?” Jazmine said.
“You tell me,” Tobias said, crossing his arms. “What are you doing out here? What’s your plan? Please tell me you have nothing to do with those fool terrorists.”
“They were only trying to do what they thought best,” Luke grumbled. “Someone had to do something.”
“Are you so eager to fight that you’d put every compound at risk? Thousands of humans live under elite protection. You’d rather have them starve and die horribly in the wild?”
“At least they’d have a choice,” Trevor started.
“No, they wouldn’t,” I snapped. “You’d be deciding for them. If you actually bothered to ask, I’ll bet the vast majority of citizens are happy living in the compounds.”
“As happy as a toad in hot water.”
“When I found you before,” Tobias said, interrupting us, “you compulsed the slagpaw, didn’t you?”
I glanced at Trevor and nodded.
“So they all know, that you’re renitent?”
“They know, but so what? You said I only had one chance, at the trials, and I blew it.”