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Chapters (36)
  1. Future Shock
  2. Dedication
  3. Part I: The Present
  4. Thursday
  5. Part II: The Future
  6. 00:32
  7. 01:06
  8. 02:09
  9. 02:53
  10. 05:21
  11. 06:13
  12. 06:34
  13. 07:17
  14. 07:48
  15. 08:25
  16. 09:11
  17. 09:40
  18. 10:29
  19. 11:14
  20. 12:02
  21. 12:27
  22. 13:05
  23. 13:28
  24. 14:36
  25. 15:16
  26. 15:43
  27. 17:30
  28. 20:59
  29. 21:46
  30. 22:18
  31. 23:41
  32. Part III: The Present
  33. Friday
  34. Tuesday
  35. Acknowledgments
  36. Copyright

For a second I can’t move. She shot him, she killed that cop, and then—oh God, no. I hunch close to the ground, hands trembling as I check her body. Blood gushes out of a hole in her chest and she’s not breathing. She’s already gone. I feel faint. Lynne’s dead, and my hands are covered with her blood, and I don’t know where anyone else is or if Adam’s okay, and I have to get out of here, we have to get out of here, right now.

Zoe appears in the smoke, tears running down her face as she hovers over Lynne’s body. Seeing her clears my head a little. I need to get Adam. We can’t leave without him.

I grab the gun and push myself to my feet, fighting through the pain. Adam’s sprawled on the ground a few feet away, smoke curling around his body. I can’t tell if he’s breathing or not, but he must be alive. He has to be.

The other cop sees me, but Chris and Trent rush him from behind. They knock off his helmet and force the last chloroform rag over his mouth. While they take him out, I kneel beside Adam. He’s breathing but unconscious, and a long gash on his forehead spurts blood. The other cop lies next to him, but he’s definitely not breathing. A dark pool of blood spreads below his back. I’m paralyzed at the sight, my mind replaying the jerk of Lynne’s arm as she fired the gun. I still can’t believe she did it, that she shot this cop to make sure we could get away, and the price she paid for it.

“Elena, get the car!” Chris yells.

I don’t want to leave Adam, but I don’t know how to help him either. We need to get out of here before more police arrive—they’re probably already in the lobby. I scramble off in the direction of the car, stumbling around on my injured ankle until I find it in the smoke.

I collapse into the car and drive to the others. I’m so exhausted my limbs are shaking, but I find them in the smoke somehow. The boys haul Adam’s body into the backseat, while Zoe slips in beside me. As soon as the doors slam shut, I switch the car to manual and peel out of the garage, tires screeching.

“What about Lynne?” Zoe asks. “We just left her there!”

“She’s dead,” I say. My voice sounds harsh, but I can’t think about her sacrifice without my throat tightening up. We screwed up and she died, but we don’t have time to dwell on that right now. We need to get back to the research facility in the desert before the aperture opens. Once we return to the present, we can fix everything.

I hope.

23:41

23:41