This Is Not The End.

Chapter 39

"Fine," I said, trying not to embrace the rage, "Fine. We need to move,"

"What about the SWORD bitch?"

I shook my head as I fought a war inside my brain for ideas, staring down towards the end of the hallway, as if she were about to jump out and run back.

"Fuck her," I said eventually, "Stingers first, then Readers,"

The alarm seemed to blare louder, echoing through my head and shooting throbbing pains through my body. I tried to keep my breathing steady, counting my breaths, and reminding myself that we were there for a reason. We still had at least two more groups to get out manually – they didn't automatically open the Stinger and the Readers' doors because they thought they'd wreak havoc in an emergency, which was exactly what we needed. I wanted to get to the Flames, but they were on the other side of the facility now. Jack and Cara would have to get to them, which was for the best – I thought they'd listen to one of their own as opposed to a Sun and two Snuffs. Flames and Snuffs, hell, Flames and anyone, hardly got on, so it was easier for us all to pit them against each other.

"We're running low on time, here," Beck said, running a hand through his hair. He still had his glasses on him, prepared for the worst. I needed to find myself a pair.

"Even more reason to start doing shit, and doing it well," Kai said.

We picked up the pace, our feet hammering like war drums against the tiles. We didn't need to run just yet, but with every flying step I dared to sprint. I had to get closer, I had to start making a difference. Nothing I did ever helped, and I needed to change it.

"This way," Beck said, pulling us down a corridor without waiting to see if we were following. It was almost like he had been here before and had the way memorised. He'd said before that he'd broken into here to save his brother, and consequentially Cara, so I trusted him.

The Orange walls faded into grey and subsequentially into pink. It forced me to think back of my brother. My chest ached as I tried to think of the last time I'd seen him, or even thought of him, and I let out a sigh as I realised I hardly remembered his face. He didn't look like me; I was more like dad, and he was definitely our mother. She was reflected in his eyes, green like life but swirled with the age our family put on him. Harry had always been Elena's hero, to me he was just my dickhead of a brother.

And I missed the fucker.

Something stung in my mind, a wave of simmering anger. My dad, he'd brought something up that I wasn't supposed to hear – Project Noah's Ark was a part of it, something that resurfaced in my mind at the worst intervals – but then it hit me in a wave of red hot rage. We thought Harry was alive.

I used 'thought' to keep my expectations low. If I said I knew he was with us, I wouldn't have made it out alive. None of us would, and it would be my fault.

"Skye, you still here?" Kai raised his eyebrows and waved a hand in front of my face as we let corridors pass us by.

"Where would they have put him?" I asked rhetorically. "How have I never seen him?"

He caught on immediately, "He's a Stringer, Skye. They'd have never let him within five miles of us if they had the choice,"

"It's worse than that," I said, narrowing my eyes. "When David was on the phone to that SWORD guy, it was like he didn't know what was happening to Harry,"

"How'd you know he knew what was happening to you?"

I thought back to all our conversations, to the malice and the recognition weaved into his haunting words of care, and I subconsciously rubbed my arms.