Special Dead (27 page)

They fishtailed across the soccer field and onto
the access road behind the school. Ani tore open the back window and stuck her
head in the cab as Sarah shifted gears.

“What the fuck, Mom?”

She kept her eyes on the road. “They weren’t
making cures; they were making weapons. You, Mike, Sam. Me.”

“Devon?” Ani stared ahead. “What about Devon?”

“I never had the opportunity to remove hers,
sweetie.”

“Shit, Mom. How did you—”

“Remote trigger. They work exactly as Freeman and
Banerjee designed them.” She pulled a small transmitter from her pocket and
tossed it on the seat without looking at it. “Now let me drive.”

She swerved onto the highway and buried the
speedometer. Ani closed the window and crouched low behind the cab. Sam and
Mike held each other, shaking, and she joined them, saying nothing. A minute
later, a police car passed them, lights on and sirens blaring, headed out of
town.

He’s got the right idea.

Sam looked at her phone, then held it up to them,
face pale. The screen read: BREAKING NEWS—ZV OUTBREAK IN OHNEKA FALLS.
PRESIDENT ORDERS STRATEGIC CONTAINMENT.

Ani felt the blood drain from her face. She
swallowed, then yelled over the wind. “Does that mean what I think it means?”

Sam nodded. “I think so.”

Mike looked confused as Sam shoved her head into
the cab. “Drive faster!”

Eight minutes later they pulled into a gravel pit
next to a charcoal-gray SUV. “Go!” Sarah said. They leaped out and clambered
into the new vehicle. Tires spit gravel as they pulled out onto a side road.

In the relative silence of SUV, Sam found her
voice. “Oh, my God, Ms. Romero. What the hell just happened?”

“I’m sorry,” Sarah said. “I couldn’t save
everyone. We’d never be safe with Banerjee and Freeman alive. I didn’t see
another opportunity.”

“Wait, what?” Sam asked.

“I triggered the weapons and saved who I could.”

Sam sat back and pressed the palms of her hands to
her eyes. Her feet kicked a duffel bag under the seat. Mike pulled it up,
unzipped it, and grunted. He showed the contents to Ani and Sam.

“That’s eight hundred thousand dollars,” her mom
said. She looked at Ani. “There’s more if we need it.”

The truck rocked as a shape blurred overhead. Ani
slammed into the back of the front seat as her mom hit the brakes. The SUV
skidded sideways, then vaulted the ditch as Sarah gunned the gas. They came to
rest behind a dilapidated wooden barn.

“Duck and cover,” she said. She put her head down,
and wrapped her arms around her face. Ani copied her.

The world went white, then silent.

“Don’t move,” Sarah whispered.

The wind gusted, then roared. The truck rocked on
its tires, a back-and-forth motion that made Ani seasick. The barn shuddered, casting
off shingles and boards, but held. The roar died to a murmur.

“Okay.”

Ani looked up as her mom put the car in reverse
and backed onto the road.

A mushroom cloud blossomed in a reddening sky.

“My God,” Mike said.

Ani said nothing, could say nothing. Tears
streamed down her face.

“Ms. Romero,” Sam said, her voice soft. “What do
we do now?”

The SUV picked up speed.

“We live.”

The
End