hard on him , I think. But then I think of Max, trapped, alone, and probably terrified. Because of Colt.
Closing my eyes, I silence all thoughts and clear my mind. My father taught me how to do this to endure stressful times. “If your mind is clear, you can endure anything,” he’d say. “Push the pain away.” And that’s what I need to do right now until I know more about Max: push the pain away.
I’m not sure how much time has passed, but the sun is fully on us when a scraping sound draws our attention. I turn around just as a small, square door opens on the roof floor. Anthony’s head appears. The muscles in his face relax when he sees us. “You’re here!”
“Where else would we be?” Colt stands and goes over to him. With two hands, he easily pulls Anthony onto the roof.
“I thought maybe the Institute captured you. I came back and saw Cleaners at the apartment. It looked like someone had destroyed it. What happened?” Anthony hands him a t-shirt as if he suspected he might be shirtless.
I grimace at the name. Cleaners are the Institute’s cleanup crew when there’s been an “incident” they don’t want the public to know about. They’re soldier-like with a hunger for violence and they never question authority—a bad combination. I move to stand, but it takes me a minute on account of my weak and sore muscles.
“The Institute came shortly after you left,” Colt says as he pulls the black shirt over his head and around his chest. “They came with a Grater.”
“How did they find us?” Anthony asks.
“I don’t know, but we should probably check everything on us for trackers. What did Bram tell you?”
“Let’s go inside and we’ll discuss it.”
I follow Colt and Anthony down the open hatch door and onto a ladder. Because my legs are shaky and weak, Colt stays to the side of the ladder and keeps a steady hand on me as I make my way down. Our eyes meet briefly, and I quickly glance away.
“You didn’t get enough rest, did you?” Anthony asks me at the bottom.
“I’ll be okay,” I say and walk into a large room with wooden paneled walls. It’s a stark contrast from Bram’s safe house. There are only a couple of rusty metal chairs lying on top of worn, brown carpet. There’s no kitchen, and off to my right is a single bathroom. But the biggest difference is what circles the room: weapons of all kinds, some I recognize and some I don’t.
“What is this place?” I ask.
Colt brushes by me to get to the other side of the room. “This is my home.”
Anthony grabs a small square-shaped device from off the wall. It looks familiar but I can’t quite place it from all of the other electronics my father has taught me about. Anthony scans it up and down me, saying, “The Institute doesn’t know about this place. Infact, they’ve condemned it. It’s where we keep, well, weapons. It’s the perfect hiding spot.” The device in his hand beeps.
“You’re clean,” Anthony says to me. He turns to Colt. “I wish you wouldn’t use your wings. They’re going to be looking for you now just as hard as Sage. You know how they love Nocs.”
“I didn’t have a choice,” Colt says as Anthony scans him up and down. “It was either fly or let them take Sage again. Besides it was still dark, mostly, and only the Titan saw me. They might not believe what he saw and think I had a parachute or something.”
“I get it. It was a risk you had to take. I just wish it didn’t have to happen.”
All of a sudden the device beeps loudly, startling me.
“Got one,” Anthony says. He swipes a small black sticker the size of a ladybug off the back of Colt’s belt and hurries over to an electronic box hanging on the wall. Very carefully, he presses it onto a white pad on the front of the box and touches a button on its top. The white face lights up.
Colt growls. “I bet that Rhine at the club, Spit, snuck that on me when we left.”
“Do you think they followed us here?” I ask,
Closing my eyes, I silence all thoughts and clear my mind. My father taught me how to do this to endure stressful times. “If your mind is clear, you can endure anything,” he’d say. “Push the pain away.” And that’s what I need to do right now until I know more about Max: push the pain away.
I’m not sure how much time has passed, but the sun is fully on us when a scraping sound draws our attention. I turn around just as a small, square door opens on the roof floor. Anthony’s head appears. The muscles in his face relax when he sees us. “You’re here!”
“Where else would we be?” Colt stands and goes over to him. With two hands, he easily pulls Anthony onto the roof.
“I thought maybe the Institute captured you. I came back and saw Cleaners at the apartment. It looked like someone had destroyed it. What happened?” Anthony hands him a t-shirt as if he suspected he might be shirtless.
I grimace at the name. Cleaners are the Institute’s cleanup crew when there’s been an “incident” they don’t want the public to know about. They’re soldier-like with a hunger for violence and they never question authority—a bad combination. I move to stand, but it takes me a minute on account of my weak and sore muscles.
“The Institute came shortly after you left,” Colt says as he pulls the black shirt over his head and around his chest. “They came with a Grater.”
“How did they find us?” Anthony asks.
“I don’t know, but we should probably check everything on us for trackers. What did Bram tell you?”
“Let’s go inside and we’ll discuss it.”
I follow Colt and Anthony down the open hatch door and onto a ladder. Because my legs are shaky and weak, Colt stays to the side of the ladder and keeps a steady hand on me as I make my way down. Our eyes meet briefly, and I quickly glance away.
“You didn’t get enough rest, did you?” Anthony asks me at the bottom.
“I’ll be okay,” I say and walk into a large room with wooden paneled walls. It’s a stark contrast from Bram’s safe house. There are only a couple of rusty metal chairs lying on top of worn, brown carpet. There’s no kitchen, and off to my right is a single bathroom. But the biggest difference is what circles the room: weapons of all kinds, some I recognize and some I don’t.
“What is this place?” I ask.
Colt brushes by me to get to the other side of the room. “This is my home.”
Anthony grabs a small square-shaped device from off the wall. It looks familiar but I can’t quite place it from all of the other electronics my father has taught me about. Anthony scans it up and down me, saying, “The Institute doesn’t know about this place. Infact, they’ve condemned it. It’s where we keep, well, weapons. It’s the perfect hiding spot.” The device in his hand beeps.
“You’re clean,” Anthony says to me. He turns to Colt. “I wish you wouldn’t use your wings. They’re going to be looking for you now just as hard as Sage. You know how they love Nocs.”
“I didn’t have a choice,” Colt says as Anthony scans him up and down. “It was either fly or let them take Sage again. Besides it was still dark, mostly, and only the Titan saw me. They might not believe what he saw and think I had a parachute or something.”
“I get it. It was a risk you had to take. I just wish it didn’t have to happen.”
All of a sudden the device beeps loudly, startling me.
“Got one,” Anthony says. He swipes a small black sticker the size of a ladybug off the back of Colt’s belt and hurries over to an electronic box hanging on the wall. Very carefully, he presses it onto a white pad on the front of the box and touches a button on its top. The white face lights up.
Colt growls. “I bet that Rhine at the club, Spit, snuck that on me when we left.”
“Do you think they followed us here?” I ask,
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