Ruins of the Fall (The Remants Trilogy #2) (18 page)

I have three minutes to deal with what I need to do. I wipe blood off the workstation monitor and work the piece of code out of my pocket. The techs graciously copied his work over to a more technologically relevant medium.

The thin, bendable thumbnail sized wafer merges with the upload pad when I place it on the surface. A window pops up on the screen, indicating that I need to confirm whether I want to send this data. I wave my hand in front to confirm my assent, and a little bar appears on screen.

The clock ticks over to 11:15 PM. Cutting it real close.

“No, no,” I say. “Come on.” The upload is paused. I try all the gestures I know, but it’s demanding an authorization from Kid. Only problem is, he’s dead, with a quarter of his jaw blown off.

But it just wants a fingerprint. He’s only be dead for a few minutes. Maybe the system won’t notice.

My knife is still in his pocket. I take it back, and close my eyes while I work off his index finger. Then I sprint back to the system and jab the bloody digit into the reader.

The bar disappears.

I hold my breath.

Success. Access authorized.

The satellite upload zips along, immediately installing everything to HIVE’s central server. Then a prompt comes up on screen. I check the time. 11:16 PM.

Lots of lives on the line, here. I told the Oshies that I would be finished with time to spare. Cutting it awfully damn close. But even with the crunch, I take a moment to consider what the system is asking me.

Shut down HIVE.

Or hand over the reins. Make the system sentient.

I recall the words from Atlas’ hand:
you can’t just pull the plug. The light of civilization will go out
. Matt’s words, from the memory:
If the wrong person gets HIVE, a good man will know what to do.

An explosion outside brings my attention away from the screen. The bombing runs are starting. Every last drone the Oshies have. In case, I didn’t make it. And to provide cover if I needed it.

I don’t get out of here, my rescue party is going to be toasted.

I think about the wasteland, all the terrible things I’ve seen. How bad the world has gotten.

And I make my decision. Not the one I told Reno I’d make. But the one I feel is best.

Then I run like hell out of the building. The smoke is already thick outside, and another bomb drops nearby. I gotta make it to the front gate, and I’m way more than a minute out. An ATV roars along the road, two soldiers responding to the threat.

“Hey,” I yell, “Over here.”

They look at me and slow down. Because of the swirling chaos, and the fact that I’m coming out of the operations center, they must think I’m Kid. They start driving towards me. Then I unload on them with Kid’s pistol.

I’m not a great shot, but it does the trick. One guy falls off the ride, the other clings to the back. I rush over and kick him. He’s groaning from where I got him in the shoulder.

“It’ll be over soon,” I say. Then I grip the throttle as hard as I can and spin out. The explosions crescendo around me, starting from the east, just as we planned. I smile. It’s nice to have someone listen to you for a change.

But that satisfaction quickly turns to fear. The bombing runs are catching up with me, and there’s no way to call them off.

Sometimes, failsafes bites you in the ass.

Hopefully, this isn’t one of those times.

I plead with the ATV to go faster. Amidst the crumbling base, I hear the engine growl and sputter, trying its best to respond to my harsh treatment. I begin putting some distance in between the explosions and me.

But the gates ahead are closing. I hear gunfire, shouting. The New Allied State troops have taken umbrage with my rescue party. Muzzle flashes light up the guard towers.

I unload the last of my pistol into the air, trying to draw fire. Some of the guards turn their attention to me, and now bullets spatter the dusty asphalt around me. I swerve, trying to make myself tricky to hit. Rifle shots glance and spark off the ATV’s hood. I huddle down, so that my head is level with the handlebars.

Ahead, the gates are open only a sliver. Too tight to make it and not enough runway to slow down. I double down and grind my hand around the throttle so hard that I swear I dislocate a couple of my fingers.

An explosion erupts around the gate as I plunge through. The ATV’s wheels wobble and whine from the heat and force as I rocket through the new hole. I ease off the throttle, realizing that the whole thing is about to disintegrate.

Last minute bursts of gunfire continue, until the rest of the base is devoured by the drones. I skitter off the ATV fifty yards outside the gate, tumbling into the dirt.

A man in a cowboy hat rushes over from the waiting helicopter.

“Well damn if you didn’t do it,” Reno says. “But we gonna die, you don’t get up.”

I will myself forward as the bombs continue to drop. Benny is already a couple inches off the ground as Reno and I climb in.

“Get ready boys,” Benny says. The takeoff is violent and sudden, Benny whipping the chopper hard to escape the blast zone. Massive orange plumes are reflected by the bubble of the chopper’s glass. The craft wiggles and spins as the dirt and smoke swirls around it.

A minute later, though, we emerge on the other side.

Reno breathes out and says, “Goddamn, you did it, Luke. You shut down that HIVE business.”

That’s when I drop the real bomb.

“I turned it on,” I say. “It’s alive, now.”

“What have you done?” Reno reaches out and shakes me, but I ignore him, looking out at the ruined landscape.

Truth is, I have no idea what I’ve done.

All I know is, something had to change.

So I took a leap of faith.

And it might damn well kill us all.

Which begs the question.

Did I end everything, like Jana needed me to?

Or is this just the beginning?

END OF BOOK 2