Extraction (16 page)

I swing my other leg over the wall and drop down, bending my knees when I land so I won’t hurt my feet. Pain slices through them anyway. I clench my teeth.
Focus.

Two steps and I’m gripping the first bar with one hand. I reach out to grab the next. I should’ve wiped my palms on my clothes first. They’re sweaty. I’m breathing hard, and I’m afraid I’ll slip, but I reach for the next bar anyway. And the next, trying not to think about whether the bones in my legs will snap if I fall and hit the ground.

I reach the end platform at the same time as Ariadne. This time there are ropes to help us climb the next wall, which looks about twice my height.

But there are no footholds. I’ll have to depend entirely on my arms.

I grab the rope, heaving myself up. Ariadne does the same beside me, her face pale, her eyes focused. I try to keep holding on so I can push my feet against the rope and move higher. The rope sways from my weight. I lose my grip and fall hard on the platform.

Wincing, I push off the ground even though I haven’t really recovered. I can’t quite remember why I’m doing this. But I can’t afford to waste any time.

I try to climb the rope again, visualizing all the strength in my body seeping into my arms as if strength were made of liquid. After too many seconds, I manage to pull myself up to the top, and then reach and grab hold of the wall’s edge and drag myself up the rest of the way. I’m breathing through my mouth instead of my nose.

I see what’s on the other side of the wall, and my heart’s rhythmic beating speeds up about 10 percent.

This time, there’s a thick steel pipe—one of five in total—about three feet below me instead of a platform. Below the pipes lies a pit of murky water instead of the ground.

Oliver crosses the pipe next to mine, shaky. Three other Extractions are also still crossing.

There’s a splash. A girl slipped off one of the pipes and fell.

I watch her come up for air, sputtering, and flail her arms about. A lieutenant pokes out of a hole in the wall and reaches to help her.

My eyes are wide, and I’m pretty sure I’ve been clinging to the top of the wall for fifteen seconds too long.

Swallowing hard, I swing my legs over, one at a time, and drop down. The pipe is wide enough that I land easily. But it narrows in a few feet. And I can already tell it’s slippery.

I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t know if I can cross without falling.

But the tower is on the other side.

Eyes wide, I take a step. And another.

By the fifth step, I’m breathing easier. This isn’t so bad, as long as I don’t look down. As long as I don’t think about how cold the water might be, or the fact that I don’t know how to swim, and therefore might drown if it’s deep.

When I’m almost at the end, I run the rest of the way. My boots slide on the pipe once, and I gasp but recover. I don’t stop running until I hit the final platform and grab a rope hanging from the looming tower.

The Extractions who aren’t still behind me on the course are already attempting the climb, some only a few ledges up, some nearly halfway. One person is almost at the top.

My lungs feel like they’re going to explode in my chest, but I do my best to suck in air and ignore them. I grip the rope with one hand and find a hold on one of the thin ledges of the tower with the other, and pull myself up. My forearms tremble—oh no, oh no—but they hold me steady.

My mouth twists into a smile. This is familiar. This is what I’m good at.

On the sixth ledge, my foot slips.

I cry out and clutch the rope. My feet dangle in the air, leaving me suspended. Sweat dribbles down my cheeks, and I can’t let go but I’m losing my grip. I need a foothold—I need one fast.

My boot digs into a crack. I put all my weight on it and push off, climbing up to the next ledge.

I stay there for a second, catching my breath. I can’t let that happen again. I’m already high up from the ground, and I’m only going to get higher.

Colonel Parker said we won’t get hurt if we fall from the tower, but I don’t want to risk it.

I keep moving, fast. There’s no wind here—not in this room or anywhere in the Core—but the air grows colder as I reach higher ledges. It nips at my skin through my leather suit.

I pass the Extractions who haven’t reached the top of the tower yet, which is most of them.

Soon I’m at the top. I clench my teeth hard, and use what’s left of my breath to crawl onto the roof. My whole body is on fire, but it’s a good kind of fire. It makes me feel capable of anything.

Standing, I lean over the edge and glimpse the people still struggling up the ledges. That might be Ariadne near the top, but I can’t tell for sure.

Adrenaline warms my veins, though the air is freezing. I turn away to cross the rooftop to the other side. I still have to get down. I’ve lost track of counting seconds. I have no idea how long it’s been.

Five sets of ladder rungs stretch from here to the ground. Three of them are already in use by Drew and Stanley, and a girl whose name I don’t know.

For a second I hesitate. Should I jump? Colonel Parker said that would be faster.

But it’s a long way down. And I don’t know if I trust him when he says we won’t get hurt.

The ladders look less scary to use. I lower myself onto a rung, slowly at first, to test the strength. It holds me, so I drop to the next. There’s pressure in my lungs from controlling my breathing for so long, but it eases as my altitude decreases.

I shift my weight to the rung below me, and it snaps.

I hang suspended, gripping the metal bar above me, my heartbeat in my fingertips. My toes stretch, seeking something to touch, but my legs aren’t long enough. The next rung is barely three inches from my toes, but I can’t reach it without letting go.

My teeth clench so hard, I might break them. I’m going to fall.

I strain my arm muscles and try to pull myself up to stand on the rung I’m holding. I can’t do it. Adrenaline rushes through me, but my biceps are too tired. I’m not strong enough.

I squeeze the bar until my fingers hurt. I’m okay. I’m okay.

I’m
not
okay.

Parker said if we fall, something will keep us from getting hurt. Which means I won’t die, but what if he’s a liar? I don’t think he wants me to die; I think the Developers want me alive, but I’m not certain. I don’t know if I trust him.

My fingers are slipping, and my heart is racing, and I’m going to have to do something. I can’t reach the next rung, and I can’t hold on much longer.

I have to trust him. I don’t have another option.

I squeeze my eyes shut and let my fingers slide off the rung.

My nerves scream. Wind rushes past me, ice that chokes me. I’m falling, tumbling from the sky, and nothing will catch me. I will splatter, and then
nothing
.

But something soft surrounds me, like a breeze or a bed of feathers, and I float. I’m still high, still sinking lower, but no longer in danger of breaking. I’m a leaf on the wind, falling slowly until I land on the soft mat on the ground.

I close my eyes, my chest still heaving, trying to get more air in.

I open my eyes and Sam is standing beside me, a small scanner in his hand. His eyes are narrowed.

I push off the mat, glancing around. Drew is here too, leaning over and coughing up saliva. And Stanley is almost down. But I don’t think either one of them jumped—they didn’t have to.

“What was her time, Sam?” a second voice says. I turn to see Colonel Parker.

“Four minutes and twelve seconds.” Sam’s voice is stiff.

Colonel Parker observes me, his eyes saying something I can’t read. “And that was her first time. Incredible.” He pulls a small tablet out of his back pocket. His fingers tap the screen. “Commander Charlie will want to hear about this.”

My eyes flit to Sam. He scowls at me from behind Colonel Parker. I can’t help smiling a little. I didn’t beat his time today, but maybe I will tomorrow. I proved myself like I wanted to.

Now Commander Charlie will know my name.

13

I stand in Recreation Division with Oliver and Ariadne, watching two boys who look like they’re ten years old fight each other on a floor mat, while their friends cheer them on. The bigger boy aims a kick at the other’s stomach, knocking him to his knees. He shoves his head to the floor and pins him for three seconds.

Ding
.

A screen on one side of the mat adds a point to the bigger boy’s score. He’s winning four to one.

Seeing kids hit each other like this for fun makes my mouth taste sour.

“See?” Ariadne says beside me. “Soldier training.”

“It’s just a game,” I say, turning away. “They want to be officials when they grow up, so they’re practicing.”

“Since when are you okay with them growing up to be officials?” Oliver asks, his voice almost spiteful.

I falter, biting my lip. He’s right. Why am I defending them? “I’m not.”

“Good.” Oliver moves past me into the crowd, his shoulder bumping mine a little too hard. “Since you’re the only person who passed the officials’ obstacle course the first time, I wasn’t sure if you’d decided to become one of them. You and Sam seemed pretty tight, after all.”

I stare after him. “Excuse me?”

“Just saying.”

I glance at Ariadne, who twists her mouth. Her blue eyes reflect the flashing lights.

“I wasn’t trying to pass because of that,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady. “I don’t want to be an official. I have to do well in training because…” I swallow, unsure if I want to tell them. “Because there’s someone I’m trying to save.”

“Who?” Ariadne asks.

His face flashes through my head: his starry eyes, and the scars on his skin, and those lips that turned me into lightning. “Just someone,” I say, blinking fast because my eyes are watering.

Oliver turns around. “I’m sorry,” he says. Pain flickers through his eyes.

I duck my head so he won’t see my face. “Do you miss anyone?” I ask. “From where you came from.”

“No,” Ariadne says without hesitation. When I look up, her lips are pressed firmly together.

“I do,” Oliver says. He runs his fingers through his hair, his eyes on the ground and his forehead creased. “But it’s pointless, you know? We’re not going to see them anymore.”

“Thank the stars,” Ariadne whispers.

They’re wrong, but I don’t want to argue with them. I turn away and take a breath, and remind myself that everything is going to be okay. Commander Charlie already knows my name. I just have to keep this up. I just have to show him I’m useful and that he can trust me.

I just have to convince him to make an exception for Logan.

I wipe the wetness from my eyes and glance back at Ariadne and Oliver. “Come on, let’s do something, yeah?”

“Sure,” Oliver says.

We push into the crowd, past the tank where people are swimming. We pass the zero-gravity capsules and a giant system of glass-and-steel tunnels where children are crawling. None of them appeal to me at the moment, and they must not appeal to Oliver or Ariadne, either, because we keep on walking in silence.

“Hey, Shorty,” someone says.

I know who it is before I turn around. I stiffen.

Sam pushes through the crowd with those two boys he was with yesterday. There’s a smirk on his face, as usual, but something colder in his eyes. The same glare he gave me earlier when Colonel Parker congratulated me on my time.

“What do you want?” I ask.

“We thought you three might be down for a little game,” he says, sticking his hands in his pockets.

“Why would we be?”

“All the cool kids are playing it. We’re about to go pick teams. See that dome over there by the wall?” He points behind us.

I turn and look. He means the massive steel dome with
PHANTOM
flashing on its side. The dome stretches through a hole in the glass floor above ours.

“What’s the game?” Oliver asks, frowning.

Sam’s lips spread into a grin. “Come see.”

*   *   *

I’m not sure why we agreed to this. Beyond the entrance to the dome, the room is small and round, brimming with unfamiliar weapons in glass cabinets and steel fixtures. Static sounds and low hums fill the air.

“Phantom Preparation Deck,” a computerized voice says. “Pick your weapons.”

There are quite a few people in here already—ten or twelve of them around my age, I’d guess. They wear leather suits like mine, but in shades of red, gray or green. Ahead of me, a muscular boy in gray snatches an orange mega-gun with double barrels. It’s the biggest weapon I see.

“Everyone, gather up,” Sam yells. He and one of his buddies march to the far side of the room, to a round door I imagine leads into the main part of the dome. They face the rest of the group.

“Captains are me and Riley,” Sam says. “We’re doing two teams, nine people on each. It’s gonna be tough today. If you don’t think you can handle it, better leave now. There are plenty of easier training modules. Go test those out. Riley, take first pick.”

“You in the red.” Sam’s crony, Riley, points to a well-built girl who cracks her knuckles and smirks.

“Joe.” Sam makes his first pick.

The muscular boy with the orange mega-gun nods.

“What a surprise,” a girl standing a couple feet in front of me mutters.

Riley picks another person. Sam picks another.

Finally there are only three people who haven’t been chosen: me, Oliver, and Ariadne.

It’s Sam’s pick first. He rubs his chin and smiles. He whispers something in Riley’s ear.

“Fine,” Riley says, rolling his eyes.

“Shorty and Blondie on my team,” Sam says. “Riley’s taking Glasses.”

“Two minutes to launch,” a computerized voice says, echoing through the room.

“Let’s hurry.” Sam moves toward a weapon’s cabinet.

I turn to Oliver, who’s grimacing. “Sorry,” I say. “We can still not do this, if you want.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” he says. He adjusts his glasses and moves to inspect a case full of small bots that remind me of cam-bots, but they’re shooting lasers. A girl sticks out her foot, and he trips flat on the floor.