Dr. Lopez peered at him skeptically.

His dad chuckled. “I’ll do that.”

“Bye, Dad.”

Agent Johnson’s voice returned to the line. “May I speak with Dr. Lopez, please?”

“Sure.” Lennon handed the phone back to the doctor. “Agent Johnson.”

He took it, pressing it to his ear. “Agent Johnson, we expect to have Mr. Pierce to the northern gate in twenty-four hours. There shouldn’t be any—”

Boom.

Dr. Lopez stopped talking. Lennon stiffened.

Boom.

Was that…a bomb?

Surely not.

“Let me just check on something and call you back,” Dr. Lopez said hurriedly, and then hung up the phone. He jumped to his feet and ran to the door, yanking it open. “Hadley! Emergency alert! Now!”

MAISIE

A LOUD BOOM sounded from behind Maisie. She turned.

Boom.

Louder.

Gunshots.

Around her, people began running.

She spun in a circle, trying to find the source of the gunfire.

The building next to her exploded.

Maisie flew backward, hitting the ground hard. She squeezed her body into a tight ball as debris rained down around her.

“Take cover. I repeat—TAKE COVER. The Q is under attack.”

Hadley’s voice rang out from somewhere as the debris stopped.

Maisie slowly lifted her head. Burning chunks of building were scattered all around her. She sat back on her heels.

The building in front of her was half gone. A charred, blackened body was strewn across the grass.

“Take cover,” Hadley’s voice repeated from nearby speakers. “Follow instructions from Lopez family members. Do not—” Hadley’s voice cut off with a scream. Over the speakers, gunfire sounded.

She heard the rush of footsteps, and quickly stood and turned to see Nathan rounding the corner. He was panting, his nearly-toothless mouth open wide.

“Maisie, what the hell is going on?” he yelled.

She shook her head. Gunfire rang out again, and she turned to look. It was maybe two blocks over.

Behind her, Nathan yelled something.

“What?” She glanced back at him. He was already turned to go, but he paused, cupping his hands around his mouth.

“I said, your arm is on FIRE!”

She looked down. Flames licked up the shirtsleeve of her left arm. Her brain clicked into place, and she could suddenly feel the heat on her skin.

“Oh, shit.” She hit the ground, smothering the fire in the grass. She straightened, and quickly pushed the blackened sleeve up. Her arm was red and slightly singed, and it burned a little, but the damage wasn’t too bad. Her hand, though, ached even worse. Not a great day for her entire left arm.

She got to her feet and did a quick inventory of the rest of her body. Nothing else was broken.

She reached back, pulling out the gun tucked into the waistband of her pants. She ran down the street toward the comms tower, keeping her weapon pointed at the ground and pumping her arms as fast as she could.

A blast erupted from her left. She skidded away from it, using her arm to shield her face, and then took off again, her boots pounding the pavement.