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Chapter 205 - The Signal
Ray did not wait for the radio to finish crackling. He grabbed Priya by the arm and pulled her toward the door."How many people in Kansas took the new batch?""I don't know," Priya said. "Wilson handled the Miami shipment himself. But we gave doses here too. Maybe two hundred in the last nine days.""Get me the list. Everyone. Now."Jane was already at the gate, shouting for the guards to seal it. Mara ran up with a clipboard, her hair wild."I have the names," she said. "Priya's logs, plus the intake sheets. Two hundred and eleven."Ray scanned the page. Some names he knew well. Teo was on it. So was Osei's sister's guardian. So were four of the guards standing at the wall right now."Don't let anyone panic," Ray said. "Quietly pull each one aside. Say it's a routine check. Keep them separate from the others.""And if the signal comes?" Jane asked.Ray looked at the page again. "Then we find out what it does."It came twenty minutes later.Ray felt it before anyone saw it. Across th
Chapter 204 - The Mother Who Fought Back
Ray reached the research tent in under a minute. The lantern inside was still burning, and Alex Wilson's chair was pushed back from the table as if he had left in a hurry."Priya!" Ray shouted.She came running from the clinic with Jane behind her. Ray pointed at the empty chair."Where is he?""He was here an hour ago," Priya said. "He said he wanted to double-check the new batch for Miami."Ray's stomach dropped. "What batch?"Priya ran to the cold storage crate and threw the lid open. Rows of vials sat in neat lines, all labeled in Wilson's careful handwriting. She pulled one out and held it to the lantern."The color is wrong," she said. "It's too dark.""Can you test it?""Not fast enough." Her hands began to shake. "Ray, these were packed for Ruiz this morning. The truck left at noon."Jane swore. "Then Wilson's been in here for weeks, doing whatever he wanted.""Find him," Ray said. "Now."*****He closed his eyes and reached out with his awareness. Camp after camp of faces mov
Chapter 203 - The Other Mother
Ray threw himself sideways as the stage eleven swung. Its fist hit the stair rail and tore it off the wall. Wood and metal flew everywhere."Back! Back down!" Jane shouted, firing into the dust.Four Zeds walked out of the smoke in a slow line, all with the same face and the same calm smile. One of them raised a pistol and shot the fighter next to Corran. The man dropped without a sound."Fall back to the tunnel!" Corran yelled.Ray did not move. The woman in the dark uniform was still standing at the top of the stairs, and the stage eleven had turned toward her. She stood in front of it without fear."Stop," she said.The huge infected froze, one fist raised.All four Zeds stopped smiling."What are you doing?" they said together."Something I should have done in Kansas," she said. She looked down at Ray. "Do you still want the name? Then take my hand."Ray did not stop to think. He ran up the broken stairs, grabbed her wrist, and pulled. She came with him easily, as if she had been
Chapter 202 - The Copy
Ray did not sleep. By dawn he had a plan, and by noon he had told only three people: Jane, his father, and Corran."The clone is in Washington," Ray said. "She stood right behind Wolfe. That means she's close to him and she's valuable. If we take her, we learn how the cloning works. Maybe we learn how to stop it.""It's a suicide run," Jane said. "Washington is full of stage nines and tens.""Not all of it," Corran said. "The White House has a service tunnel. I used it twice when I worked for Wolfe."They left that night with eight fighters. Ray's mother begged to come, but Priya refused to let her out of bed. Before he left, she grabbed Ray's wrist."She has my face, but she isn't me," she said. "Don't hesitate. She won't.""I know," Ray said.Eli stood at the gate in a blanket, watching them go. Ray crouched in front of him."Stay close to Dani. Don't talk to anyone you don't know."Eli nodded. "Be careful."The trip east took three days. They traveled by night, avoiding roads, pass
Chapter 201 - Ash President
Wolfe was smiling when Zed walked into the Oval Office. It was a small smile, but Zed had worked for him for years and rarely saw it."The Wraiths attacked Kansas," Zed said. "Ray held, but he lost a lot and his loyal man Saul is dead so are the fighters who went with him.""Saul," Wolfe said. "The one who heard everything.""Yes, sir."Wolfe leaned back in the President's chair. "Then Ray is deaf now. Good."He stood up and walked to the window. Below, the lawn was full of people who did not move. Some stood in rows. Some sat on the grass and all of them were infected."Show me the city," Wolfe said.They rode out in a black car with soldiers in front and behind. Washington had changed. Stage 9 infected walked the avenues like guards. Stage 10s stood at every bridge. Near the Capitol, a few stage 11s sat on the steps, huge and quiet, their gray skin split in places.Nobody screamed anymore. Nobody ran the city belonged to the infected."How many of the soldiers are still huma
Chapter 200 - Fire against the Dead
Ray found Eli on the third night.The lead came from Corran's contact and the note from the depot. It pointed to an old feed store, two hours north of Kansas. Ray took six fighters and went in fast and quiet. They took out two guards before anyone could shout.Eli was in the back room, sitting on a cot with his knees pulled up. When the door opened, he looked up and didn't move."Ray?" he said."I'm here," Ray said. "Come on."*****Eli ran into him so hard Ray almost fell. He lifted the boy and carried him out himself, and he didn't put him down until they reached the truck."Did they hurt you?""No," Eli said. "They just kept me in that room. I'm okay."Ray didn't believe it was that simple, but he let it go for now. The boy was alive and hat was enough for tonight.Back in Kansas, the whole camp came to the gate. Dani grabbed Eli first and wouldn't let go. Mia cried so hard she couldn't speak. Ray's mother stood at the clinic door with her hand over her mouth.Ray watched it all
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