Elites of Eden (Children of Eden #2)(79)

Lachlan, still on the stairs with Ash, watches in apparent amusement as the Greenshirt floats by. Then he looks at Lark and grins. Her face is hidden by her cap, all but her curling lips. I see her smile back for an instant before she squats down and pretends to be fixing the malfunction instead of acting as a saboteur.

Somehow, that quick interaction between them makes my heart lighter. We make it to the door before we seem to attract any more notice. Everyone has their hands full with toxic gas and floods. An alarm sounds, but no one seems to know exactly what it is for. I see a guard coming down the stairs. Bikk! It’s the man who let us in. He’s choking, clutching his throat, but still standing. He must have been out of range of the worst of the camphor toxins. He points at us, shouts, but there’s too much confusion and no one seems to know what he’s saying. He starts to chase us himself, holding tightly to the railing as he staggers down the stairs.

The only thing in our favor now is that the guards on the prison level don’t carry weapons. Otherwise he would have shot us already.

Lachlan catches up, but we’ve lost precious seconds. “Where’s the car?” I ask.

It’s nowhere to be seen.

And now we have another problem.

“Lachlan, I don’t think Ash is breathing!”

I’m not completely sure. It’s hard to see at this odd angle, slung over Lachlan’s shoulders. But I don’t see him breathing, can’t see his chest rise and fall. I pull his mask off, my own, too, gasping as we make our way toward the street, searching desperately for the car. Ash’s eyes are closed, he’s pale. I slap his cheek but there’s no response. If he’s breathing at all, it is terribly shallow and weak.

“We have to get him to a doctor!” I know Lachlan has connections. He must know a safe place to take Ash. Even Flame might be able to help him. Even . . . “My father can help him!”

“No, we stick to the plan,” he gasps. “The Underground.”

“But he heeds help! This is all for him.”

“They’re too close. We have to get underground fast. If we stay on the surface, they’ll track the car and catch us.”

“If he dies, I won’t help you!” I cry, desperate.

Lachlan grinds his teeth but doesn’t answer.

We’re around the side of the Center now, and there’s no one near us. They’re all in the front, escaping, milling.

“There it is!” Lachlan shouts, and makes his labored way to the waiting car. I can hear the guard coming after us, but I don’t dare spare the extra second to turn around and check how close he is. Lachlan shoves Ash into the car and dives toward the driver’s seat. He’s expecting me to follow, and flips on the manual override without looking back at me.

He’s right. The guard is too close, bearing down on us. If he can’t stop the car, he’ll call in a description and have all of Eden after us. Ash will never make it to medical help. Not to Lachlan’s secret contacts, or Flame, or my father. We need to get Ash away without this guard letting the city know exactly what to look for.

“Are you in?” Lachlan shouts without turning around, gunning the engine.

“Yes!” I call back.

He hears the door slam and jets off.

But I’m not inside.

I’m running at full speed toward the guard. We crash into each other.

He’s big, as solid as the trunk of the camphor tree, and any other time I know I would have just bounced off him. But he inhaled at least some of the camphor poison, and he’s weak, off-balance. We both go down. For a second he’s on top, and he’s so heavy I think I don’t have a chance. His hands close on my throat, cold from the camphor in the air, and I tuck my chin and push at him in vain. But then he starts coughing so violently that he lets me go, and I manage to shove him off me and get to my feet.

Maybe he’ll pass out. Maybe I won’t have to hurt one more person.

But the universe isn’t that kind. The coughing fit passes. He drags himself weakly to his knees, reaching for me.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, before I kick him in the side of the head. The sound is sickening.

He crumples flat on the ground. I don’t know if he’s alive or dead. The important thing, I have to tell myself, is that he can’t give a description of the car. The little vehicle is long gone. That gives Lachlan a chance to get away. That gives Ash a chance to get medical care.

I’ve done it. I’ve saved my brother.

I wonder if Lachlan has even noticed I’m not there yet, or if he’s too focused on driving.

I feel strangely free, as if I’ve done everything that is expected of me and can finally rest. I even feel—and this is something I never expected—almost relieved that Lachlan has driven away, that Lark has by now no doubt found her own stealthy way out, and I’m all alone again. It’s normal for me to be alone. The status quo. I always hoped my solitude would end one day, but all this time with people has been draining. Now Lark is gone, and Ash, and Lachlan, and everyone who matters in my life.

I’m alone, and I feel strong.

I’m not alone for long, though. A moment later five or six Greenshirts round the corner, spy me and the fallen guard, and start shooting.

And I, as always, start running.

I hear a rumble, and the world around me seems to shiver. I ignore it. There have been too many strange visions dancing before my eyes lately for me to pay this one any mind at this particular moment. It might be real, it might not. It doesn’t matter. Running is the only thing that matters.