The Fade

50

The next seven days go by too quickly.

We sit together by the window on the seventh day, flinching each time another plane crosses overhead.

After months of silent airspace, their frequency is unnerving.

"What do you think will happen to the people who refuse to board the planes?" Maeve whispers to Jamison.

He briefly meets my gaze before saying, "I don't know."

"Do you think they'll do to them what they did to Callum?"

The thought never crossed my mind, but now that she mentions it, it makes sense.

They wanted someone to test a new serum on, and they threatened a painful death for anyone who defied them. There's no arguing that Callum's death and the circumstances leading up to it were unthinkably painful.

Guess we now know what they meant the serum to be used for.

"I don't know," Jamison says again, and his fingers squeeze mine a little more tightly.

Silence falls again, but only until the next plane flies over, rattling the window panes, and prompting Sander to ask for the umpteenth time, "So what do we want to do?"

Just like every single time before, no one answers.

At least not immediately.

"I think we should go to them," I say finally, surprising even myself.

They all turn to look at me, in shock, in anger.

"It's either that or we die a painful death, right? So we go to them, like they asked. And we end this once and for all."

"You're forgetting we've already tried that on three other occasions. And look how all those went." Sander's stony gaze makes my blood run cold. "Cass is dead. Callum is dead. Because we went to them."

"We don't have another choice."

Sander stands up, fists clenched at his sides as he stares out the window. "Sure we do. We can pack up and head back west. We can get the hell out of here." He turns, just daring me to argue.

"Like cowards?" I ask, slowly getting to my feet. "You want to run, like cowards?"

"I want to keep what's left of my family alive."

"Then your best chance of doing that is taking the fight to the Alliance. Not turning tail and waiting for them to strike you dead."

He throws his hands up in the air. "I'm not doing this anymore. Lisette, we're leaving."

"Don't be stupid," Ori says, reaching over and smacking Sander's hand away when he reaches for his sister.

"Don't get in my way, Oriana." Sander grabs for Lis again, this time succeeding in pulling her to her feet. "Come on, we're leaving."

Lis's eyes widen, but she makes no effort to argue with her brother.

The two of them leave the room.

It feels like the temperature in here has dropped several dozen degrees.

I sink back to my spot on the floor, and Jamison wraps an arm around me.

"So what about the rest of you?" Ori asks, staring each of us down in turn with narrowed eyes. "Who else is going to flake out?"

"You know where I stand," I say.

"I'm with Halle," Jamison says.

Maeve peeks around his shoulder. "Me too."

"Kerris? Beck?"