The Extinction Trials(43)

“The funny part is,” Owen said slowly, “moments after I received this book—after I saw my mother for the last time—my life came full circle. I got to play the role I had envisioned when I became a firefighter. I was that thin red line, the only person who could help a small child in a burning building.”

He made eye contact with Maya, and she knew he was hesitant to say more because that small child had been her sister. She sensed that he didn’t want his words to hurt her.

“Tell them,” she said.

Owed nodded. “The day The Change happened, I responded to a gas alarm. Things happened quickly. The building caught fire. I saved a girl from the fire, and I was giving orders to evacuate the building when a fire bot attacked me and my crew mate. That young man sacrificed himself to allow me to escape with the girl—who I later learned was Maya’s younger sister.”

All eyes turned to Maya. She inclined her head to Owen, silently urging him to continue.

“I refuse to believe that’s a coincidence, though like the book, I don’t know what it means yet. I do know that on that day, when I saved her, I became like that guy who had carried me out of my home and changed my life. When I was lying on that roof, busted up, I felt a sense of completion. It’s hard to explain, but I felt like I had done what I was born to do.”

Owen took a deep breath. “What’s even crazier is that when I woke in that ARC Station, and I was called to action to help get you all out of those tubes, and when I put on that environmental suit and went out into that ruined world to try to save us, I felt it again—that sense of purpose. And it felt good.”

Alister grimaced. “You’re kidding.”

“I know it sounds crazy. And maybe I shouldn’t have felt the way I did, but it is what it is. That’s who I am. When I see a building burning down, and people trapped inside, I want to be the person that runs inside.”

He pointed to the journal lying on the table. “They weren’t. Look at what happened to them. They saw a burning building and they got out and tried to save themselves. If you ask me, I think the world we’re in now is like that: it’s a burning building. ARC has the last human survivors. They’re trapped inside, and we’re the only ones who can save them. What’s inside of us—whatever interventions ARC did—might be the key to saving them. For me, I feel like I’m staring at a burning building, and I know what we must do. We have to try to help them.”

He paused, making eye contact with each person sitting around the deck.

“That’s why I vote that we go to the Escape Hatch. Because my gut tells me that it’s the only way to get those people out of this burning building that this world has become. At The Colony, we might save ourselves. At the Escape Hatch location, we might find what we need to save everyone else.”





Chapter Thirty-Four





Alister pushed off from the chair in the cockpit. “That’s the worst logic I’ve ever heard. Totally nonsensical.”

“It makes a certain sense to me,” Will said. “Often, in life, the most obvious path is not the right one.”

“That sounds lovely,” Alister said. “But out here—where people are getting shot with crossbows—platitudes don’t help us much.”

The statement instantly struck Owen as odd. Why? There was something about it… “Crossbow?”

Alister looked up quickly. “Yes.” He pointed to the journal. “It was in the story. Someone was shot with a crossbow.”

Owen nodded. “Right.”

He picked up the book and flipped through the pages. He was missing something. He felt it, like a puzzle piece out of place.

“The crossbow isn’t the point,” Alister went on. “The point is, we can’t be on some spiritual quest for meaning out here. We need to be practical if we’re going to survive. If we don’t survive, does it really matter if we fought the good fight? The practical plan is to go to The Colony. That’s how to survive. If we survive, sure, I’m on board for entertaining future plans of grand rescues and world-saving nonsense. But please, let’s be practical right now.”

“Yes,” Maya said, her voice firm. “Let’s be practical.”

Alister nodded. “Good, so you agree.”

“I don’t. I think what you see as practical is quite different from me. Specifically, I think Owen is right. About a few things, actually. The first of which is that we still need more information. We need to share our stories.” She turned her focus to Owen. “Thank you for sharing yours, Owen. It was beautiful and devastating and gave me a lot to think about.”

Alister put his face in his hands. “Oh, for crying out loud. At this point, I wish I had been the one shot by that arrow. Right through the heart.”

Maya ignored him. “Who wants to go next?”

To Owen’s surprise, no one volunteered.

“Well then,” Maya said. “I’ll go.”

She stood from the table and left the deck, descending the stairs. A moment later, she emerged with her large envelope, which she set on the table beside the journal.

“As I said before, I don’t remember what happened to me. I remember being in the hospital, being visited by someone named Parrish, and I remember, vaguely, where I used to work—Genesis Biosciences.”