Finals

6: the hunt

"What was that?" came Asher's shaken voice.

"I couldn't just leave her to be experimented on," Kalista said roughly. "Plus, these people -- you guys -- you killed the President! You killed the Collective! If not for that stupid partner rule I would have killed you already."

Asher ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. "Kalista, no. They're lying to you. Do you even have proof that the Collective is gone? Do you have proof that this bombing even happened?"

"I trust Aeternum more than I trust some rebels like you," she shot back. "How did they let you back in, anyway? I bet they really loved you after you gave my parents up to be executed. What was Raphael thinking? I would've just killed--"

"Raphael is gone."

Kalista blinked. "Raphael? How?"

Asher let his head fall back against the wall and closed his eyes. His voice was laced with pain when he continued. "A year ago, the Collective raided Quinton Corners. I don't know how they found us; it must have been a spy, or a double agent, or someone..." He swallowed. "They came with their machine guns. They took 50 of us prisoner -- 50 members of the Crimson Division -- and killed everyone else."

The Crimson Division had been Kalista's group -- those born from 2980 to 2990. Those 50 must have been the ones reserved for Finals... but how would the Collective have known that they would need them? Kalista bit her lip as Asher continued.

"Warren, Elpher, Raphael... they're all gone," he whispered. "I saw the soldiers shoot them with my own eyes. Those white uniforms... they were everywhere. They've been lying to you. There is no rebel movement. There are no rebels. There's no one left."

Kalista's mind spun. It couldn't be true. It just couldn't. For the last seven years, she had assumed that her old friends were still out there. She had worked to bring them down in practice missions, where they would draw out plans for generals to deal with the next rebel attacks. Even though she had turned her back on them, she had assumed they were still out there. She couldn't imagine that her old home was completely gone -- the dimly lit barracks underground, the training rooms where she learned to flip and twist and throw, and the watchtowers built of brick with their long, spiral staircases. She had grown up there, and she couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of sadness at its demise.

But it was what she wanted. It was what she had been working for.

Right?

She shook her head to clear it and blurted out, "No. No, it can't be. They told us you were getting stronger... you killed the Collective! The bomb--"

"Was fake, Kalista," Asher said exasperatedly. "Think about it. How could we have gotten a bomb into the Chambers? There's a dome around it, for god's sake! You think your parents and Raphael never thought about simply blowing them up? Of course they did! Why would we use covert operations when we could just use a bomb? Kalista, they have ten -- no, twenty layers of security. We could never get through."

Kalista pressed a cool hand to her forehead, dizzy with the implications. Aeternum was lying? The President was alive? But why would the Collective lie to them? Why would they kill off all of the world's most promising youth? They were the future. They were the next in line.

Or were they?

"You don't have proof," she found herself saying. "Why should I believe you? You've lied -- you lied to me for years. You killed my parents. You left me to die. How can I believe that you were let back in? The Raphael I knew -- he was my parents' best friend. He would have shot you himself."

Asher glanced out the door and took a deep breath. "K, this--"

"I said, don't call me that!"

He looked flustered. "All right, I'm sorry. This is going to take a long time to explain and we don't have that time right now, okay? All I'm asking is for you to trust me. Please. It wasn't all a lie, I promise."