Noah Langford - March 2121
I manage to reach the weapons shed without being detected, keeping to the darker edges of the field where the trees provide enough cover to hide me from the attackers moving around the school.
The cold has made the ground hard beneath my boots, and although the snow should make moving quietly difficult, the wind has already disturbed most of the footprints, giving me just enough cover to reach the shed unnoticed.
I slip inside and close the door behind me before immediately making my way through the equipment.
There isn't much time, so I don't bother checking everything. I open the nearest case and pull out a handgun, checking the chamber before sliding it into the holster attached to my harness. It feels unfamiliar against my side, but I push the thought away because the weapon isn't the reason I came here.
The reason is underneath the workbench.
I crouch down and pull the briefcase free, setting it on the bench before turning the combination lock towards me. My fingers move towards the keypad, but before I can enter the first number, a noise from the doorway catches my attention.
I turn, expecting to see Ethan, but instead, one of the attackers steps inside.
His weapon is already pointed at me, but the moment he sees my face, his expression changes and the gun slowly lowers.
"Noah Langford," he says. "You are to come with us."
I stare at him for a moment before glancing towards the briefcase.
"I'm afraid I can't."
I shift slightly to the side, keeping my movements casual as I reach behind me.
"It is not a request," he replies, his eyes following me. "Dr Langford has requested your return."
Of course he has. My father has always had a remarkable talent for making demands sound like inevitabilities.
"Of course he does," I say, my fingers closing around the object behind me. "But I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline."
I pull the pin.
The soldier notices the movement almost immediately, but by then it's too late. I throw the device towards him and turn my face away, closing my eyes just as the shed erupts in a burst of blinding light.
I move before the brightness has completely faded, grabbing the briefcase from the bench and making for the door.
I almost make it, but then a hand closes around my arm and yanks me backwards, twisting my shoulder hard enough to make me lose my grip on the door. I turn towards him and swing the briefcase with everything I have, catching him across the side of the head.
He staggers and his grip releases.
Unfortunately, the sudden lack of resistance sends me stumbling forward, and my shoes lose their grip on the frozen ground outside. I fall hard, the back of my head striking the ground with enough force to send a burst of pain through my skull.
For several seconds, my vision refuses to focus.
Then a shadow moves over me.
A hand grabs the collar of my jumper and pulls me upright before I have time to recover. I reach for the man's wrist, but he twists my arm behind me and begins dragging me across the field.
I try to kick backwards, but he adjusts his position before I can connect, and when I try to pull against his grip, he simply tightens it.
He's stronger than me.That much is obvious. Continuing to fight him with strength would be pointless, so I stop. Not because I've given up, but because I need to think.
I force myself to look past him, and that's when I see Kai.
He's still fighting.
My relief lasts less than a second because I notice the expression on 002's face as he looks towards me. There's a small smile forming at the corner of his mouth, and when Kai notices where he's looking, his attention immediately shifts.
Our eyes meet.
"Noah!" he shouts.
He takes a step towards me.
My captor pulls me backwards, but I barely notice because 002 has already turned towards Kai. His hand moves, and I watch the material gather around his fingers before forming the shape of a gun.
"Kai!" I shout.
He turns at the sound of my voice, but it's too late. The shot rings across the yard and Kai jerks backwards, his hand immediately going to his shoulder as he stumbles, and for one terrible second I think he's going to fall.
He doesn't. Instead, he forces himself upright and turns back towards 002, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing him stay down. 002 moves towards him again, but Kai strikes before he can get close enough, forcing the fight to continue.
My captor starts dragging me away.
I need to get free.
I close my eyes for half a second and force myself to remember everything Finn taught me. He never tried to make me stronger because he knew I wasn't going to overpower someone twice my size, so he taught me to use positioning, leverage and momentum instead.
Don't fight the force, but instead i redirect it.
I open my eyes and study the man holding me.
His right foot is slightly ahead of his left, and because he's pulling me rather than pushing, most of his weight is already positioned forwards. His grip is high on my arm, which means I can't simply twist away, but it also means his balance is dependent on keeping his feet underneath him.
I let him pull me. He takes another step and that's all I need.
I suddenly twist towards him, hooking my leg behind his forward ankle while shifting my weight in the opposite direction. For a moment, nothing happens, and then his balance disappears beneath him.
We hit the ground together, but I don't give him the chance to recover.
Remembering Finn's instructions, I use his momentum rather than trying to overpower him, rolling with him and forcing myself on top before pinning his arm against the frozen ground.
He immediately starts fighting back.
His shoulder drives upwards and throws me sideways, but I recover before he can roll me over completely. I shift my weight across his chest and trap his wrist against the ground, using my knee to keep his arm from reaching me.
It works for perhaps two seconds, then he bucks beneath me again and I begin losing the position. I try to hold him, but I already know it's impossible. I'm not strong enough to keep him there for long, and the more I struggle against him, the faster I'm going to lose my balance.
My hand moves towards my holster. The soldier sees what I'm doing and reaches for my wrist. I draw the gun and for a moment, I hesitate.
I don't want to kill him.
The thought of doing it makes my stomach turn, even now, even with Kai somewhere behind me and the entire school under attack.
But he reaches for me again and I squeeze the trigger.
The gunshot is deafening at this distance, and suddenly the man beneath me goes still. Warm blood splashes across my face, and I freeze for a moment as I stare down at him.
My breathing becomes shallow.
I've spent years studying the human body, learning exactly how fragile it is, but knowing that has never made taking a life easier.
I wipe the blood from my face with the back of my hand and force myself to stand, but then movement catches my attention.
The soldier from the shed is beginning to recover. He's unsteady, but he's reaching towards the weapon lying nearby.
I raise the handgun again and He looks at me.For a moment, neither of us moves. Then his hand closes around his weapon and I fire. He collapses as I lower the gun and stare at him for a second longer than I should.
Finn is going to be furious with me when he finds out.
The thought almost makes me smile despite everything. He spent weeks teaching me how to defend myself, and somehow I suspect shooting two people was not quite what he had in mind.
But the thought disappears as quickly as it came.
Kai.
I turn towards the field and see him still fighting 002.
He's hurt, but he's standing.
I look down at the briefcase clutched in my hand and immediately return to the shed, dropping to my knees beside the workbench. My fingers move across the keypad and enter the combination.
The lock clicks.
I open the case.
The nullifier is still inside.
Relief hits me so hard that I have to take a breath before I can move again. I pull the vials out of the case and grip it tightly before looking back towards the fight.
I don't know how much time Kai has left.
I don't know what happens if I reach him too late.
But I do know that I'm not going to stand here calculating the odds while my brother is out there fighting for his life.
I start running.