The camera jerked as the soldier herded Chad and the cameraman to the safety.
The view went blurry for a moment before the camera stabilized and refocused on theflame-filledfield behind them.The charred carcass of atwo-storytall tree slammed to the ground, spraying fiery black bark into the air.
“I didn’t see—man, that—close.”Chad’s voice cut in and out as he adjusted his microphone.“Thankyou.”
The camera expertly swooped back to the reporter as he regained his composure and turned his attention to the helmeted soldier.“What’s your name, soldier?”
“Major Owens.”He holstered his flame thrower and adjusted the straps of the large square pack hooked over his shoulders.“Rhett Owens,” the soldier said, looking past Chad at the line of flames behind them.The once brilliant red stripes streaking the arm of Owens’s uniform were now the same stale, muted red of dried blood.
Chad motioned to the faceless man.“Major, we’d be on our way to the MediCenter if it wasn’t for your quick action.”
“It’s my duty.”The helmet bobbed with a nod.“And I’m proud to serve Westfall and the Key.”Sweat streaked through the soot plastering hisneck.
“Can you tell me what these duties mean to our community?Our citizens would love to hear firsthand.”Chad dragged a gloved hand across his own forehead before adjusting his facemask.
Rhett removed his helmet and secured it under his arm.“Leaving this zone and the lands beyond to grow wild would only result in another outbreak.We have all heard the termconcrete jungle.Cerberus nearly eviscerated our species because of the wildness of the concrete jungle in cities like Westfall.This”—he lifted a gloved hand toward the ferocious flames burning brilliant orange and yellow and red behind him—“would be a true jungle where Cerberus and who knows what else would thrive and mutate.We are lucky enough to have great minds within the Key Corporation, who have recognized this threat and who send teams like mine all over the globe to ensure these wilds—concrete or nature made—will never get so far out of control that they again threaten us.”Rhett’s golden amber eyes bored into the camera.“We truly do have the Key to thank for our continued survival.”
Blair’s lips twisted into a satisfied smirk.“Well, well, Major Owens.Perhaps we should chat.”An assistant, even one as skilled as Maxine, could only help a woman like Blair reach a certain level of power.There were some things—so few Blair could count them on one hand—only a male protégé could provide.Like a spider, Blair had left manydried-up, shriveled husks of men in a trail behind her.
The “live” footage ended, seamlessly transitioning back to Vaughn in hislight-drenchedstudio.“I don’t know about you,” the anchor said, “but I for one am supremely grateful for the Key and soldiers like Major Rhett Owens who risk their lives to keep us safe.”The camera angle changed, and Vaughn shifted his attention without missing a beat.“And our gracious Key Corp is hosting the annual Rose Festival at Waterfront Park this weekend.We’ll report live and cannot wait to see you there, where we all will show our gratitude.”
The image froze on Vaughn and his overly active eyebrows.
Blair tented her fingers and swiveled her chair away from her desk to look out her windows.Soon, she would own this city.She’d earned it, and, more importantly, she’d burn anyone who got in her way.
XXIV
If Elodie hadn’t read ahead in her nursing textbook (the real pages, not the pages of Vi hidden inside), and learned all about coronary events, she’d have thought that she was about to keel over from a massive heart attack.The muscle inside of her chest had never beat as hard as it beat now.She sucked air through her nose and released her breath through pursedlips.
Why was she so amped?It wasn’t like Aiden would be waiting for her when the elevator opened to theLong-TermCare Unit.They weren’t meeting in VR until after work.Her heart seemed to skip a beat.Elodie couldn’t wait.She was more excited than she had been the first time she’d toured the MediCenter, and she hadn’t thought anything could topthat.
Since their skateboarding friendget-together, she and Aiden had communicated through handwritten notes attached to delivery bots.It was sweet and cute and mysterious and left her feeling like she was breaking the rules.In short, their new friendship was already frickin’ amazing.
The elevator reached the LTCU and Elodie nearly bounded over to Gus and the controlpanel.
“What’s got you so chipper this morning?”Dandruff swirled off Gus’s shoulders as he pulled on his rain jacket in his usual speedy effort to leave the moment she arrived.
Elodie dropped her backpack onto the floor and practically wiggled in place in an attempt to tamp down her excitement.“Just happy to be alive, I guess.”
Gus groaned heavy and deep.“That makes one of us.”He flipped up the collar of his jacket as he shuffled toward the elevator.“Everything’s been the same.Checked off all my duties.”He scanned his cuff and the metal doors opened immediately.“Oh, you got another one of those paper notes.”He motioned toward the folded slip resting on the corner of the control panel.“You do know what all this tech is for, right?”
Elodie plucked the note off the glass top and didn’t bother to answer Gus as the elevator closed and whisked him away to be a dark cloud over someone else.No matter how much he tried, Gus couldn’t ruin her mood.Nothing couldmake—
Something came up.Not going to be able to make it to the VR meeting.
—MM
Aiden had done it again, canceled on her just before they were supposed to get together.
Elodie dropped into her chair.
It was weird that she and Aiden had sent so many notes but hadn’t actually seen each other since the Waterfront.Elodie saw each of her other friends nearly every day.Sure, that list really only included Rhett, who had been chosen for her, and Astrid, who she’d known since grade school—but still, either through vidlink or VR, they were never out of contact for more than half aday.
After she and Aiden had theirin-personmeetup, Elodie had suggested a VR date—a simple friend get together.Where didn’t matter.She just wanted to see him again.In a totally innocent,building-a-friendship sort of way.But Aiden hadno-showedeach scheduled meetup, leaving Elodie and Astrid (eager to meet thenote-writingoddball) to wonder whether or not he was truly as nice as he seemed.
Every morning at work, Elodie would arrive to a disgruntled Gus, and a sealed note with a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why Aiden wouldn’t show up.If they’d first met in VR instead of in person, Elodie would have thought that he’d hacked his avatar and altered his appearance, which would explain why he didn’t want to meet in the real.But they’d met in person first, and there’s no way Aiden could have faked those long lashes, emerald eyes, or sculptedarms.
She shook herhead.
