Chapter 13 - We had fifty-seven minutes.There are situations where you can plan.
This wasn't one of them.
My mother knew the tunnels.
Elena knew the Directorate.
Daniel knew the network.
Rex knew the hidden doors.
And I had exactly one advantage.
Kane thought I was still playing by his rules.
We surfaced through an old service entrance three blocks from the Rusty Spur.
The town was changing.
People stood in the streets.
Confused.
Some stared at nothing.
Others were crying.
A man walked past me and whispered the same sentence over and over.
“My name isn't Edgar.”
Another woman stood outside a grocery store.
She was shaking.
She looked at me.
“Do you know where the hospital is?”
Then she suddenly screamed.
Her husband grabbed her.
“He's coming back.”
“Who?”
She stared at me.
“Daniel.”
My brother froze.
He looked at her.
“She was one of them.”
“How do you know?”
“She recognizes me.”
The woman began crying.
“My daughter.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“What about your daughter?”
“She took her.”
“Who?”
“The man with the black watch.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Kane.”
We moved.
The Directorate had already started.
People were remembering.
And not all memories were safe.
Some were killers.
Some were victims.
Some were both.
At the center of town, emergency vehicles lined the street.
Butch stood among them.
I stared.
He removed his leather vest.
Underneath was body armor.
I laughed.
“You're kidding.”
He smiled.
“Told you I wanted out.”
“You were part of this.”
“Yeah.”
“Why help me?”
He looked at Rex.
“Because eleven years ago, he saved my life.”
Rex sniffed him.
Butch's expression softened.
“I never forgot.”
“You said you didn't know him.”
“I was paid to say that.”
He handed me a phone.
“Your team.”
I looked at the screen.
Names.
Former soldiers.
Police.
Firefighters.
Doctors.
People who had worked with Echo without knowing it.
Or perhaps knowing enough.
“How many?”
“Sixty-three.”
“For what?”
Butch smiled.
“To hit the Directorate.”
My heart kicked.
“You built a team?”
“Not me.”
He pointed at my mother.
She stood behind us.
“I did.”
I stared at her.
“You've been preparing for this.”
“For eleven years.”
My mother looked toward the horizon.
“Your father died believing Kane was untouchable.”
She turned to me.
“I intend to prove him wrong.”
The attack began at sunset.
We entered through three locations.
Butch took the north entrance.
Daniel took the west.
Elena led the internal team.
I went toward the central tower.
With Rex.
The building was enormous.
Glass.
Steel.
Security everywhere.
We reached the elevator.
The doors opened.
A man stood inside.
Kane.
He looked at Rex.
Then at me.
“Come with me.”
I raised my weapon.
“No.”
He smiled.
“I thought you'd say that.”
He stepped aside.
The elevator doors remained open.
Behind him was a single room.
Inside stood dozens of unconscious people.
Echo subjects.
All connected to machines.
Kane gestured.
“Save them.”
I looked at Rex.
Then at Kane.
“You planned this.”
“Yes.”
“You want me to choose.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Kane smiled.
“Because you always choose people over victory.”
He stepped closer.
“And that's why you'll lose.”
The machines activated.
Every monitor turned red.
The subjects opened their eyes.
May you like
And all of them looked at me.
At the same time.
