Chapter Text
“Max?” Nate whispered, reaching out to shake her shoulder. He felt something catch in his chest on his next breath. “Max.”
“What?” She grumbled, not moving from underneath her blanket.
“Can I stay here tonight?”
She froze for a second, then sat up, the realization that he was even here pulling her completely out of her tired state.
“Did you go home?” She asked. She’d fallen asleep hours ago, she couldn’t remember if he’d left her quarters or not.
He hesitated. “Nate.”
“I don’t wanna go.” He whispered, folding in on himself a little as he sunk back against the mattress.
“Why?” Max asked carefully, sitting up as she wrapped the blanket around her shoulders.
“Because it’s not like she’ll even notice I’m gone.”
“What about Silas?”
Nate didn’t answer, hanging his head instead.
“Oh.”
Nate’s eyes burned with tears, his older brother's disappearance still fresh in his mind. If he went home the extra bed would be empty, and he’d never fall asleep anyways.
“I’m sorry, Nate.”
“He was the only family I had left.”
“That’s not true—”
“My mom left when my dad did.” He said bitterly. “That’s not her. Not anymore.”
“I’m still here.” She offered quietly.
Nate looked up, his green eyes shimmering behind his still unshed tears.
“I’m not leaving, Nate.”
“Everyone always leaves.”
“I won’t.” She whispered, scooting closer so that she was sitting right in front of him. “I promise. If you stay, I stay.”
“Again!” Nate yelled, walking behind a group of boys as they aimed their throwing knives at the target fifteen feet away, letting the weapons fly with ease, several sticking into or close to the bullseye as they reached for their next.
Nate was in charge of training for the next week, Brenner out on a mission to look for something confidential.
They’d already made it through five lessons that should’ve taken all week, and after receiving confirmation to continue Nate had taken the group of boys to the next level, beginning with the skills that should’ve been used only for the age group ahead of them.
Laughter turned his head, his attention now focused on a smaller group of older boys, younger than him but still the oldest of the group he was in charge of.
The taller of the three, likely the leader, threw the knife backwards over his shoulder towards the target without Nate yelling out the signal to do so, his aim several feet off as it clanged to a halt against the concrete floor.
“Hold!” The commotion in the room died down immediately, all the other groups turning their attention towards him, all eyes eventually moving to the older boys, who were still laughing and not paying him any attention.
He recognized the boy, he’d performed highly in their physical examination last week, and always had a group surrounding him outside of training. He was one of the best they had.
“Thomas!” The boy looked up at him, expression bored.
“What?”
“You look at me when commanded to, soldier.”
“Why?” The boy scoffed, one of the other boys barking out a laugh. “You’re just some rookie intern that got stuck with us till the big kids are back.”
A couple of his friends snickered.
Nate took a step forward, snatching one of the throwing knives out of the nearest kid’s hands, a little boy no older than nine, his dark hair messy and blue eyes almost scared.
“Say that again?” He challenged the boy, continuing to walk closer.
“What’re you gonna do, Walker? Cut me?”
“Front and center.”
“What?”
“You heard me.” Nate pointed lazily in front of him with the blade. “Front. And. Center.”
The boy gulped nervously, stepping forward in an attempt to keep his cool with his friends watching.
His final steps forward brought a smirk to his face, cockily stepping up to Nate and saluting him half-heartedly. “Just an act you gotta keep up huh, Lieutenant? Don’t worry, won’t let them know you’re a big softie—”
Nate snatched the boy's arm before it could fall back to his side, twisting it behind his back and pulling him backwards, his opposite hand pressing the knife up against the younger boy's throat.
A few gasps and protests rippled through the crowd of boys, Thomas squirming uncomfortably as the fear set in.
“Anyone else wanna mouth off?” Nate asked, spinning the boy around with him as he scanned the crowd surrounding him, whimpers of fear escaping the younger boy's throat involuntarily with the movement.
“No? Good.” He shoved Thomas away, letting the boy fall to his knees as he struggled with his footing. “Get up.”
Thomas scrambled to his feet, standing stock straight in front of him, face paling. Nate gestured towards one of the boys closest to him. “Knife.”
He ran forwards, pressing it firmly into Nate’s palm before running back to his spot. Nate tossed the knife to Thomas, the boy’s eyes widening as he caught it by the handle.
“One throw.” Nate warned him, pointing to the nearest target. “You get anything under a bullseye and you’re out of here.”
Thomas gulped, looking down at the blade in his shaky hands.
“Go.” Thomas blew out a breath, stepping up to the line as the crowd parted to give him space.
He set his feet, holding the blade between his thumb and forefinger, sucking in a breath. He cocked his arm back, letting the blade fly with surprising accuracy. The blade sunk into the canvas smoothly, slotting against the wood behind it.
The entire compound held their breath as Nate stepped forward to examine it, his hand closing around the hilt as he pulled it out, the slit in the canvas inches away from the red circle.
Nate sucked his teeth in disappointment, turning around and pointing to a nearby pair of guards with the blade in his hand. “Get him out of here.”
“What? No! I’m sorry!” The boy exclaimed, struggling as the two guards pinned his arms dragging him away. “Wait! Nate—Lieutenant Walker! Please, I’m sorry I-I’ll do anything!”
Nate waved the guards away when they hesitated, the doors sliding shut and cutting off Thomas’ protests with it.
He turned his attention back to the group in front of him, a few of the younger boys physically forcing themselves to hold eye contact with him in fear of angering him.
“Anyone wanna find out where he went?” A few boys shook their heads in response, the two boys previously standing with Thomas hanging their heads.
“Didn’t think so.” Nate threw one of the knives he was holding towards the target, hitting the bullseye directly in the center and embedding the blade in the wood clear down to the hilt.
“Get back to work.” He handed the second knife to one of the nearby boys, no one daring to move.
“You just gonna stand there? Line up!” The boys all scrambled into position as Nate resumed his observations.
“Again!” He commanded.
Several knives all hit the canvas at the same time, the sound of the blades striking the wood echoing throughout the entire silent compound.
_______________________________________
Max lifted her head from Lucas’ shoulder when the locked door clicked and was opened from the outside. The two of them sat up a little straighter, leaning away from the wall behind them as the rusted springs of the bed squeaked with the movement of added pressure.
They watched, waiting and tensed, because aside from receiving meals they didn’t get to leave the cell or go anywhere anymore, so the door never opened.
“You’re in here for the night.” A guard grumbled under his helmet, the two of them tossing someone into the cell. They crumpled to the floor with a whimper, arms shielding their head instinctively.
For a moment Max felt a spark of hope in her chest, maybe it was Nate. But this boy's hair was much darker and he was too small, probably years younger than him. He was wearing one of the dark Tech suits she’d seen all the other boys wearing, and she wondered if he’d been one of the boys in training. What was he doing here?
She caught the guards eyes, or what she assumed to be his eyes under the mask, and he held eye contact for a solid three seconds just to try to scare her, before turning away, shutting the door behind him. Max listened to the familiar hiss she’d learned to expect whenever that door opened or closed, then the footsteps of the retreating guards.
She leaned against Lucas again, too tired to even question why there was suddenly a new person in their cell.
Maybe he’s a spy. She thought to herself.
The boy didn’t even look at them, scooting into a sitting position as he pressed his back against the wall furthest from them, tucking his knees to his chest and leaning into the corner where the walls met, trying to make himself as small as possible.
I don’t trust him. She thought again, watching him. Only then did she realize he was crying, truly crying. Almost silent, gasping, scared breaths escaped his lips, trying to be quiet so that he didn’t alert them.
Max sat up again, poking Lucas’ side. He looked over at her without a word, but she saw the question written in his expression.
She gestured to the boy, leaning closer to whisper to him. “He’s crying.”
“Maybe he’s faking.” He offered half-heartedly. Clearly he didn’t trust the new visitor either, and she didn’t blame him, but Max had grown to know the difference between true fear and an act.
“He’s not.” She whispered. “He’s not faking.”
Lucas glanced back at the younger boy again, studying him, trying to see what she saw.
“Go talk to him.”
“Why me?” He asked. She gave him a look and he sighed, pushing himself up off the bed. The springs creaked again under his weight, and the boy looked up, suddenly scared when he saw the older boy approaching him.
“Hey.” Lucas whispered, crouching down a few feet in front of him. “What’s wrong buddy?”
Max watched as he sank away, trying to distance himself from Lucas out of fear. “Hey, hey. It’s okay. I’m not gonna hurt you. Okay?”
The boy eyed him skeptically, and Max could see the gears turning in his head.
“What’s your name?” Lucas asked gently.
“Thomas.” The boy whispered. “Henry. Thomas Henry.”
“I like that name.” Lucas told him, almost genuinely. Max smiled, remembering the way he’d said the exact same thing to her the moment they’d met. “How old are you, bud?”
“T-twelve.” Thomas said, sounding unsure.
“Twelve?”
“I think so. I don’t remember.”
Lucas glanced over his shoulder at Max, his expression a mixture of sadness and something like surprise.
“Do you know…why you’re in here with us?” Lucas asked, approaching from a different angle.
Thomas nodded nervously.
“Can you tell us?”
He glanced at Max over Lucas’ shoulder, swallowing nervously.
“She’s not gonna hurt you either.” Lucas said confidently. “Promise. Right, Max?”
She nodded. “Promise.”
Thomas nodded, bracing his hands against the concrete to stand up. Lucas stepped back, rising with him as the younger boy used the wall to pull himself up, still keeping his distance.
Max noticed the way the younger boy's eyes never left Lucas’, so when he surged forward and hugged the older boy tightly around the waist, she almost wasn’t surprised.
“It’s okay.” Lucas whispered, cradling the smaller boy's head against his chest. Max saw how his hand practically covered Thomas’ head, his fingers curling into his hair as he massaged gentle circles against his scalp.
It was such a big brother thing to do that Max felt herself smiling despite their circumstances.
“It’s okay.” Lucas whispered again. “Shhh it’s okay.”
“He kicked me out.” Thomas hiccuped. “I didn’t mean to—”
“Who?”
“The new guard. He—I was messing around with some of my friends and he called me out and I mouthed off. I didn’t think he’d do anything, he’s just a rookie and—”
“Whoa whoa whoa. Slow down bud. Breathe, just breathe.”
Thomas sunk deeper into Lucas’s arms, squeezing him a little tighter. Max wondered when the last time the kid had been held, if he’d had an older brother he hadn’t seen in ages that Lucas reminded him of.
“He threatened me in front of everyone.” Thomas continued. “W-with one of the other kid’s knives and then I had to do a test and I failed but I didn’t mean to—”
“What do you mean ‘he threatened you’?” Lucas asked gently.
“He told me to come front a center and I thought he was gonna chew me out like all the other rookies do, but he put me in a chokehold and held a knife against my throat.” Thomas hiccuped, pressing his face against Lucas’ chest.
Max met Lucas’ eyes, the two of them silently exchanging their surprise. They knew the guards were harsh, but Thomas was just a kid. He looked so small in Lucas’ arms.
“It’s okay, buddy.” Lucas whispered, trying to calm the now hysterical kid down. “It’s okay. You’re safe now.”
“What’s gonna happen to me?” Lucas closed his eyes, like he’d been dreading the question. Max knew he knew the answer, he’d practically run it for years. Not willingly, of course.
“They’ll take you somewhere for a while. It’ll be harder. It will, and it’ll hurt. But if you keep your head down and work hard, you’ll be back here soon. I promise.”
“What if I don’t?”
Lucas swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. He glanced over at Max, and just by the look on his face she knew the answer wasn’t good.
“You have to buddy.” He whispered. “You have to.”
“Is he asleep?” Max asked. Lucas nodded, walking across the small room to sit down beside her on the floor.
“He’s pretty shaken up.”
“I can tell.”
Lucas propped his legs up, resting his arms against his knees as he leaned back against the wall. “I don’t know what to do.”
Max scooted closer, he was warmer than she was. “There’s not really anything we can do.”
“We can’t just let them take him.”
“We don’t really have a choice, Lucas. We can’t save every kid—”
“I know. I know that.” He paused, blowing out a breath. “But he’s here now, right? We can help him.”
“You can’t put that pressure on yourself.”
“Why not?” He asked, turning his head to look at her. “Max, I’d spent everyday for so many years here that I lost count. I lost the only people I’d considered friends, my older brothers even, because I sent them into a war that I was commanded to lead. I left without them and I can’t do that again.”
“We’ll try. Okay?” She said after a moment, because he was right. She’d lost people too, she couldn’t let herself be responsible for them hurting this kid too, even if she didn’t know him. “But if they take him…”
“I can’t go searching.” He finished softly. “I know.”
They listened to the soft snores echo around the small cell, the single light from the hallway shining through the window on the door so that a square of light shone in the middle of the floor.
“The guard.” Max started carefully. “Thomas said he was new.”
“Yeah?”
“How long does it take a trainee to advance to a guard?”
Lucas shrugged. “Depends on the person.”
“But like the average.” She pushed.
“I don’t know, maybe a couple years usually? The fastest I saw was about a year and a half. Why?”
Max shook her head. “Never mind. It’s stupid.”
“You think that…” he stopped, looking up at the smaller boy, curled up under Max’s hoodie.
“Maybe.” She finished. “What if he’s being used?”
“Would Nate do that though?” Lucas wondered out loud.
“No.” Max said confidently. “Unless he’s being forced.”
Lucas blew out a breath, swearing quietly and running his hands over his face. “So what’s the plan?”
“We need to find a way to sneak around the compound without being noticed.” She said, looking to him for ideas.
“So we need a suit.” He offered. “Helmets and keycards.”
“The armory is over by my old cell, but I don’t know how to get back.”
“Still have that map?”
She pulled the small notebook out of where she’d tucked it into the back of her jeans before giving Thomas her hoodie. She held it out to him, and Lucas scooted closer to the light coming in from the doorway, holding it into the light to read it as he flipped to the right page.
“Okay so…” he pointed towards an unmarked area. “That’s the compound with the chair they put me in, which means…” his eyes scanned the page until he found what he was looking for, pointing it out. “This is the row of cells we’re at. Our last one was by the cafeteria.” He flipped the page, pointing to the map on the other side. “Here. On the floor below us.”
“Do you remember if there are any closer supply rooms or anything?” She asked.
“Most of it has changed.” He admitted. “It’s way bigger…but—”
Something like remembrance flashed across his face, and he thumbed through the remaining pages, searching for something.
“I was always in the comms room. They never let me leave unless I was going back to my room or had a guard escort.”
“Okay, Prince Charming.” Lucas rolled his eyes playfully, holding up the book to point something out to her. “I watched everything from those cameras for so long I pretty much memorized the layout on the second level. There’s a training room where all the extra equipment was stored with overflow or duds.”
“But we’re on the third floor right now.” Max told him. “It’s a trap to go down to our old cell or up to the equipment room without a suit. We’ll be caught before we even make it.”
“Not unless we avoid the cameras.”
“You said there’s no blind spots, remember?”
“That’s not necessarily true. There’s not a big enough monitor to hold all of those cameras on one screen, they probably cycle between floors every few minutes to complete their shift. No one really pays attention to the camera unless they’re really looking for something.”
“Like me?” She questioned with a smirk.
“Funny.” He deadpanned. “That’s just a guess though, we can’t base a plan off something we’re not sure of.”
“Then we have to be sure.”
“We don’t have that kind of time anymore.” He whispered.
The two of them looked up at the boy across the room, depending on the two of them to protect him while he slept. Max felt a pang of fear that they’d come and take him like they’d taken Lucas, and she wouldn’t be able to stop them.
She took the book back from him. “I have an idea.”
__
Lucas backed away from the window, blowing out a breath. “They’re at the end of the hall.”
“How many?” Max asked.
“Two, like we thought.”
Thomas’ leg bounced nervously from his place on the bed. Max sat down next to him, equally as anxious but better at hiding it.
“Ready?” She asked.
“I think so.”
“Hey.” Lucas crouched in front of him. “We won’t let them take you. Just stick to the plan. Okay?”
Thomas nodded, glancing at Max for confirmation.
She ruffled his hair, standing up to take her place on one side of the doorway, Lucas on the other. He glanced over at her as the sound of heavy footsteps echoed down the hallway, stopping in front of their door.
They held their breath as they heard the beep of the keycard, followed by a pause of silence before the door hissed open.
The two guards stepped through the doorway, attention focused solely on the boy sitting on the bed in front of them, the helmets obscuring their side view.
They took a step towards the boy staring nervously back at them, forgetting about the fact that two more people were supposed to be inside the small room.
Lucas kicked the back of the nearest guard's legs as Max grabbed the others keycard, scanning the panel beside the door and locking them inside, the heavy door hissing shut.
The second guard turned as his partner fell to his knees, and Max shoved him from behind, sending him to the floor over the other body.
Lucas grabbed the wand from his belt as he fell, switching the electricity to the highest setting and jamming it against the disoriented guard's side, just under the Tech Vest, holding it long enough to knock him unconscious, leaving him twitching slightly.
The second guard stood, slightly dazed as he reached for his own weapon, but Lucas reached out, pressing the wand against his neck and dropping him to the floor.
The room was silent for a moment, filled with the sounds of heavy breathing and slight smoking and crackling of electricity in Lucas’ hand. He switched it off, gesturing towards the bodies on the floor.
“Hurry.” He told Max. “If the guards don’t come out with him in less than five minutes they’ll come with backup.”
He tore the guard's helmet off, tossing it to the side and unzipping the tactical vest, pulling it off the boy’s shoulders and slipping it on over his own.
Three and a half minutes later, they emerged from their cell, Lucas’ hand on Thomas’ shoulder as he steered him down the hall, Max on his other side.
The helmets gave them tunnel vision of only the hallway in front of them, and they had to resist the urge to check behind them every ten seconds, just to make sure no one was following them.
They passed a group of boys on break, their helmets tucked under their arms as they strolled down the hallway.
They glanced over at them, and Lucas shoved Thomas forward just to sell it a little more. “Move it.”
Thomas glared over his shoulder and Lucas shrugged in apology.
“Which way?” Lucas asked, his voice buzzing quietly in Max’s com.
She closed her eyes, mentally mapping out their route in her mind. She saw the drawing as clearly as the page in the book tucked into her pocket under the tactical vest.
“Right.” She answered. Lucas turned, gently steering Thomas along with them.
At the end of the hall sat a single elevator, with a keycard panel beside it, the only way on or off the floor, Max guessed.
Lucas gestured towards the panel with his helmet, and although Max couldn’t see his face she got the message. She scanned the keycard, the doors sliding open almost immediately.
“Please state floor level.” A programmed voice echoed around them. Max remembered the elevator down to the bunker.
“Level 2.” Lucas said confidently, his voice a little deeper under the helmet. Max wondered if he’d changed the settings to hide his voice.
The floor lurched under them, and Thomas jumped slightly, looking around the small space.
“You doing okay, buddy?” Lucas asked softly.
Thomas nodded, tangling his hands together.
The room stopped moving and the door slid open once again, revealing a hallway that looked almost identical to the one they’d just left.
“Straight ahead.” Max told Lucas as they stepped out. “Take the first left.”
“Copy that.”
This floor was mostly empty, though Lucas knew why. Only approved personnel were allowed access to the comms room. Everything below Level 2 was for training, everything above was off limits.
He glanced up and down the hall as he reached the doorway, opening the room with his keycard and holding the door open for Max and Thomas to enter before following.
Lucas pulled off his helmet, and Max caught his arm. “What’re you doing?”
“There’s no camera in here.” He told her. “That’s why it’s a designated equipment room.”
He crossed the room, grabbing one of the spare tech suits and gesturing Thomas over as Max pulled off her own helmet. “Put this on.”
Thomas quickly slipped on his suit, as Lucas searched through the overstock of weapons, tossing Max an unloaded handgun gun and a box.
It rattled in her hand as she caught it.
“Load up.” He said with a smile.
“You’re way too excited about this.” She told him, opening the box of ammo.
“Just ready to go home.” He told her.
“Don’t jinx it, Stalker.”
“What?” Thomas asked. The two of them turned towards him, forgetting he was there, watching the two of them curiously with a helmet tucked under his arm. “Stalker?”
“Long story.” Max waved him away and finished loading the gun, tucking the extra ammo into a pocket on the vest. “Don’t worry about it.”
“You guys are weird.” He said flatly, shaking his head as he pulled in his helmet, a red scan flashing across the screen as it calibrated.
“Cmon.” Lucas said. “The sooner we find those bikes, the sooner we get out of here.” He tucked his own gun into his holster, reaching for the doorknob.
He froze before fully pulling it open, catching voices on the other side.
“…didn’t check in the kid you sent away yesterday.” One of the boys said.
“Are you sure?” The other voice asked. Max perked up slightly.
“They picked him up but they didn’t bring him in. We’ve gotta seal off the transportation unit.”
The other boy swore.
“This is on you, Nate.” Max’s eyes widened under her helmet, and she turned towards Lucas, finding him already looking back.
“There’s no way.” She said into her com.
“Maybe it’s a different Nate.”
“That was him.” She said, her chest constricting painfully. “Lucas, that was him.”
“Who?” Thomas asked, having connected his helmet to theirs.
“Just a friend.”
“Nate?” He asked. “Lieutenant Walker? He’s the one who held me at knife-point yesterday.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Max asked, slightly annoyed.
“I didn’t know you knew him.” Thomas answered sheepishly.
“Didn’t know you were friends with a physco.” He added in a mumble.
“There’s no way you could’ve.” Lucas told him, ignoring his last statement and turning to Max. “We get him, and we get out.”
They listened for the ding of the elevator before opening the door and slipping out into the hall.
The transportation garage was on the first floor, but storage for other vehicles was on the fourth.
“There’s still a garage down there.” Lucas told Max as they reached the elevator. “The tunnel leads up to the first level and deposits out into the forest. If we can get to it—”
“It’s easier to slip away.”
“Exactly, which means—”
“Why do you guys do that?” Thomas asked suddenly, the doors closing behind them as they climbed on.
“What?” Lucas asked.
“Finish each other’s sentences. It’s weird.” Max rolled her eyes under her helmet, turning to Lucas.
“So which way?”
“Please state floor level.” The elevator chimed. Lucas looked up at her, then back at Thomas.
“They’re more reliable up there, but I don’t think all three of us will make it out at top level.”
“What?” Thomas exclaimed.
“Shhh!” The two of them scolded.
“Please state floor level.” The elevator chimed again.
“Do the bikes still run?” Max asked, looking nervously up at the floor level screen, flashing as it waited for command.
“Yeah, some of them might be faulty though, like the ones we had back at the compound—they could fail at any moment.”
“That’s a chance I’m willing to take.”
“Level 4.” Lucas said. The floor lurched under their feet as it started to move.
“Sooooo…” Thomas started awkwardly into the silence, looking over his shoulder at the two of them. “You guys know Nate?”
“He and I ran away from Murkshore together seven years ago.” Max told him flatly
“Ew!”
“Wha—not like that! I was your age!” Lucas suppressed a laugh and Max smacked his shoulder.
“Is he your boyfriend?” Thomas continued.
“No.”
“Is Lucas your boyfriend?”
“Level 4.” The voice chimed, the doors sliding open.
Max nudged Thomas forward. “Let’s go.”
“You didn’t answer my question—.”
“Let’s. Go.”
“Ew, have you kissed him?”
“Thomas.”
“Sorry. Sorry.”
Lucas led the way, Max and Thomas positioned behind him. He walked the route he and Max used to take to the rec room confidently, the sounds of someone else hitting the punching bag echoing from inside as they walked straight past the door.
Lucas pulled his keycard out of his pocket, scanning the door towards the end of the hall urging the two of them forward before slipping inside.
“Whoa.” Thomas muttered.
The ceilings reaching hundreds of feet above them, the lights dimmed so that only the light from the windows at the top of the compound shone against the concrete floor in channels of golden sunlight.
“Whoa is right.” A voice said. Several armed guards stepped out from behind a nearby army truck, fitted with a camouflage tarp over the open back.
Thomas stepped back, edging behind Lucas.
“Didn’t think you’d be stupid enough to come down here.” The head guard said. He was dressed in the same black tech suit as the rest of his posse, but the rest of them stayed behind him, only one brave enough to stand beside him.
“You know.” The guard continued. “Prisoners are supposed to stay in their cell, not beat up the ones trying to issue punishment.”
“There was no reason to issue it.” Lucas growled.
“Ah, see that, is where you’re wrong. Thomas here,” the younger boy flinched when the guard raised a hand to point at him, and Lucas stepped in front of him, shielding him. “Has decided that he knows best.”
“So you’re scared of a twelve year old boy—what? Taking over? Embarrassing you?”
“Leading the others astray.”
Lucas scoffed. “Yeah, some good that’s done. Keeping them all in line.”
“Actually, we were doing a good job.” The boy reached up to unclip his helmet, pulling it off his head. “Until you two decided to wreck it.”
Max swallowed, nudging Lucas’ arm frantically.
“Yeah.” The boy laughed, noticing her sudden realization. “I’m sure you’d recognize me.”
“He’s the one that caught me.” Max spoke through their com. “I thought…he looked just like Nate.”
“Silas Walker.” The boy introduced himself. “Nice to finally meet you, Max.”
“Wait.” The other guard took off his helmet, shaking his damp hair away from his face as he turned to his brother. “What did you say?”
“Nate?” Max said, almost too quiet to hear her own voice. Lucas glanced over at her, and even though she couldn’t see his face, his movements were anxious.
“Oh, yeah, one thing we forgot to tell you.” Silas said, smirking now that he had the upper hand. “Those prisoners that broke out?” He gestured towards them. “I think you might know them. Old friends maybe?”
“Nate.” Lucas took off his helmet, letting it hang limply in his hand. “What’re you doing?”
“What am I doing?” Nate snapped, glaring back at his friend. “Nice of you to finally show up.”
Max followed suit, taking off her own helmet. Nate’s gaze flicked to her. “Nate—”
“Don’t.” He warned her. “Don’t even try, Max. You left me to die.”
“What’re you—?”
“You made your choice.” He grit his teeth, throwing the helmet aside. “I should’ve known it’d be him. It’ll always be him.”
Max glanced nervously at Lucas.
“Ooh. I didn’t realize how serious this love triangle was.” Silas said, sounding amused. “Clear out!” He ordered. “While we let Nate discuss his little heartbreak.”
The other guards filed out through the door the three of them had come in, a beep signaling it had been locked behind them. Nate stared back at them, expression hardened.
“Nate, I’m sorry.” Max tried.
“Uh uh uh. Save it.” Silas said, throwing an arm around his younger brother's shoulders. “We all know why you did it. Don’t we?”
“You threw us in a cell!” Lucas interrupted. “We thought he was dead!”
“Oh, he’s alive.” Silas said, patting the boy's chest. “And he’s one of the best guards we’ve got.”
Nate stood proudly, staring almost blankly back at them.
“Nate, please just—” Max whispered.
“Your charm doesn’t work on him anymore.” Silas told her.
“Then let her speak.” Lucas snapped. The older boy weakly held his hands up in surrender, never stepping away from his brother.
“Nate, we didn't leave you.” She started. “We’ve been trying to find a way to get out so we could find you for months—”
“Months. And months…together.” Silas put in. “Without you.”
Nate’s hands curled into fists at his side, his anger growing.
“But that’s okay.” The older boy continued. “Because he’s had his big brother to take care of him. Isn’t that right, Nate?”
Nate’s expression fell a little as he looked back at his brother, no longer angry but thankful and nostalgic.
Silas laughed. “Well, I guess we should do what we came here to do.” Alarms suddenly blazed to life throughout the compound, red lights flashing as every window and garage was barricaded with a wall of pure metal.
“It was nice to meet you.” He said sarcastically, shooting Max a smile. “Sorry about this Nate.”
Nate’s eyes went wide as he looked over at his brother. “What—?”
Silas moved quickly, his arm locking around Nate’s neck as he pressed a pistol against his younger brother's temple, never taking his eyes away from the two of them in front of him. His expression was cold, and Max knew he’d been playing his brother from the beginning.
Gain his trust, then break it.
Lucas flinched to attack, but Max’s fingers tightened around the handle of her own handgun as she grabbed it from her holster, pointing it steadily at Silas while fighting to keep her voice in control.
“Let him go.”
“Oh, that’s not gonna happen.” Silas said, tightening his grip. Nate gasped for breath, his face reddening at the loss of air. Max remembered the day they’d been running in the forest. When the soldier chasing them had been killed by the sniper instead of Nate when she hadn’t been able to pull the trigger. Everything felt too familiar, too surreal, all of it deja vu.
She felt herself surveying everything around them, looking for a way out, but the only door was the one they’d come through, sealing off everything behind them.
“You’re not getting out of here.” The older boy laughed maniacally, as if reading her mind. “That door won’t open until there’s only four heat signatures left in this room. I have strict instructions to bring you in alive, and they need Thomas back in the Labor Sector . So, you choose. Either I shoot Nate—” his grip tightened even more, and Nate’s struggling increased, his face reddening. “Or you shoot him.”
Silas faintly gestured towards Lucas, and Max felt her heart sink and her blood run cold she turned her head towards him, keeping the gun forward.
He stood in front of the younger boy, shielding him like he’d fight the world before letting anything hurt Thomas.
Max swallowed nervously as the realization dawned on her.
One of them wasn’t making it out. That had been Silas’ whole plan. He’d brought Nate along to make her choose.
“What’ll it be?” Silas demanded.
Lucas looked like he’d decided for her, the look on his face she’d learned to read showed the way the gears were turning in his head. He was getting ready to give himself up for Nate, because that was just the type of person he was.
“Max.” She turned back towards the choked voice as Nate tried, but failed to pull his older brother's arm away from his neck. “Max, please.”
She could see the fear in his eyes even from where she was standing, her breathing starting to become shaky at the thought of even making this impossible decision.
She couldn’t lose either of them. They were her best friends.
They were her family.
“Time’s running out.” Silas warned.
“Wait, ok!” She snapped, slightly panicked as she looked between the two boys.
Lucas gave her one look, and she knew what he was going to say.
“Dont.” She said, cutting him off as soon as he’d opened his mouth. “Don’t even.”
“Max…” he said softly. “You have to get Thomas out.”
“No.” She said firmly. “Not without you.”
“This is cute.” Silas said loudly over them. “But I need an answer or I’m blowing his brains out.”
“Max.” Lucas warned. She saw the sweat trickle down his temple, saw the scar that had just barely started to heal the last couple days. She remembered how she’d felt, watching him take the punishment he hadn’t even earned. He’d kept her calm when she started freaking out ever since they’d been here, and he’d done everything in his power to keep her safe, not just now but her whole life, even when they weren’t together, he’d been protecting her.
She glanced at the other boy, the last memory of him dying in her arms still fresh in her mind.
She couldn’t choose.
“3!” Silas warned.
“Max.” Lucas repeated, more anxiously.
“Trust me.” She whispered.
“2!”
“Wait a second.” She said.
“I’m done waiting.” Silas told her. “1!”
“Nate.” She said shakily, turning towards the other boy. His eyes met hers and she felt her heart shattering at how broken and scared he looked. She’d never seen him like this, so vulnerable. He was always the one protecting her, and she hadn’t kept her promise to protect him. “I’m sorry.”
His eyes widened as she raised her arm a little higher, the gun in her hand shifting slightly until it was pointed towards him.
“Max, wait!” He choked, pushing back against Silas as he tried to move away, panic flashing across his face. “Please, please Max. Please. I’m sorry, ok! I’m sorry. I don’t wanna die. MAX!”
“Nate…”
“Max, wait please! I’m sorry!”
“Me too.” She whispered. There was a beat of silence, a look of betrayal flashing across Nate’s face before she squeezed the trigger, the sound of the bullet leaving the barrel echoing around the vast, empty warehouse.