Joan Undone

Chapter 45

Lexi remains unconscious as I struggle to pull off the tape covering her mouth. I reach in and pull out a small metal capsule covered in her saliva. Then I stumble out of Strand Studios, into the sunlight.

I'm wrung out, physically and mentally. It's an effort to remember that the real battle is raging three miles away at the capitol. My best friend is there, fighting for her life. My stomach heaves.

I send my team a message, so they know that I've retrieved the bomb and killed Crew. Like magic, a courier approaches me within ten minutes. Isaac and Professor Wilde have continued to keep their support for our team private, but they were willing to make sure this bomb is safely destroyed.

The courier is a Mac clone, and he stares at me like I'm Frankenstein's monster. My fingers fly up to my cheek, and I wince at the stinging pain.

"Let me call an ambulance," he says.

"I'm okay," I say, already walking away from him.

I make it back to the Lab, where Marie is still sitting at her makeshift desk, flicking between images on her tablet.

"Where's Dennis?" I ask.

Marie turns and gasps. "Joan, we have to get you to the incubator."

I ignore her. Not much matters now, certainly not the scratch on my face. "Dennis is part of the rebellion. He betrayed us, like Leo."

Marie's face goes white. "He has complete administrative access to all our information. The Mind Manipulator, our new security infrastructure, everything!"

"I know," I say, my voice dull. "Where is he?"

"He joined the team at the capitol, or so he said."

"That's where I'm headed. Any messages from Harriet?"

"She's been silent. I think her phone might have been broken in the battle, because I can't even track her GPS."

"I'll find her."

"Joan, you can't go anywhere until you let Flo take care of you."

"I'm fine."

Before Marie can argue, I hop on the Mindlink and take off down the tunnels of the Lab. I don't steer it as well as Harriet does. She will be so pissed when she sees all the dents in the sides from where I nick the walls. No wonder these things were taken off the market. It's a miracle that I make it down nearly three miles of tunnel and survive without causing a cave-in.

Bracing myself for the worst, I climb up the ladder to the exit nearest the capitol building. When I poke my head out, there are no sounds of heavy fighting. There is a yellowish haze in the air, and my eyes sting. No panicked civilians run down the streets. The quiet makes the hairs on my arms rise.

The streetlights are out, even though dusk is settling in. Neon signs in shop windows show no signs of life. Crew's team must have deployed another electromagnetic pulse to put out all of the electricity in this part of the city. That would explain why Harriet's cell was inactive.

It might also be the reason for the darkened windows at every shop and apartment. But an electromagnetic pulse does not account for the absence of movement, of life. The itching fear at the back of my mind grows.

I'm within sight of the capitol building when I see the first body. She's a Throwback, with the bright red hair that is a trademark of the Molly clone type. Tied around her right arm is a bright red band that glows subtly with lights. One of Crew's rebellious mob. Her body has the unnatural stillness of death, but there is no blood.

In the shadow of another building is the body of a Throwback who can't be more than thirteen. He might be a Ram clone type, but it's hard to tell. He's wearing one of Aft's blue "Write Peace into our DNA" shirts. Like the Molly near him, there are no signs of a wound. What the hell happened here?