“Please,” said Calix. “Please, don’t let them hurt anyone.”

Kira took the girl’s rifle and ran for the street, Samm and Heron close behind.

“What are you expecting to accomplish?” asked Heron, catching up to her.

Kira scanned the sky for any sign of the plane.

“There,” said Samm, pointing to the east. Kira followed the line of his finger and found it, a small black cross in the pale gray sky. “It looks far away, but it’s moving fast.”

“Then we run,” said Kira. “Back to the Preserve. There’s no telling what Morgan is going to do with the RM-resistant people she finds there. We need to get as many of them out of there as we can.”

“Smart way to spend your last few minutes,” said Heron.

“Who asked you?”

“I don’t want them dead any more than you do,” said Heron, “though admittedly I don’t necessarily care if they live, either. As far as I know, all Morgan wants is you.”

“You don’t know what she’s going to do to those people,” said Kira.

“We should be running the other way,” said Samm. “We can get lost in the ruins and save you, Kira.”

“I’d like to see you try,” said Heron.

“We’re not running away,” said Kira. “I ran away when Morgan invaded Long Island, and she started killing hostages to flush me out. I thought I made the right choice, but . . . I’m not letting her do it again.”

“What are you saying?” Samm asked, but Kira pointed up at the giant plane looming low in the sky.

“We need to get to the Preserve, now!” She took off, racing through the now-familiar streets that led through the outskirts of the city to the edge of the Preserve, with Samm and Heron right behind her. Kira kept looking up, trying to judge the plane’s speed and distance. We’re not going to make it in time, she thought, it’s coming too fast. She pushed herself, never daring to slow down or deviate from her path. The plane grew larger in the sky, lower to the ground, and soon she could hear it, a low drone that built to a deafening crescendo as Kira finally reached the Preserve. There were guards by the gates, a new posting to keep the intruders out, but they were too preoccupied with the giant airplane roaring toward them to notice Kira and the others. The plane had wide rotors in the wings for a vertical landing, and it swooped down across the fence at the same time Kira pelted through the gate.

She shouted to get the attention of the interior guards, though she could barely hear her own voice above the sound of the rotors. She grabbed the nearest guard and spun her around, shouting in her ear. “That’s a Partial army—you need to get everybody out of the Preserve and into the ruins now.”