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“Garde,” one of them hisses in reply
The girl doesn’t knohat this means The way the alien says it irl shborhood are afraid of her now
She can fight them
She’s going to kill them
The girl throws one of her hands into the air and the result is one of the aliens lifting up fros her hand down just as quickly, s the airborne alien on top of his companion She repeats this until they turn to dust
When it’s done, the girl looks down at her hands She doesn’t knohere this power came from She doesn’t knohat it means
But she’s going to use it
CHAPTER
ONE
WE RUN PAST THE BROKEN WING OF AN EXPLODED jet fighter, the jagged ed in the o was it that atched the jets scream by overhead, a course set for uptown and the Anubis? It feels like days, but it must only be hours Some of the people we’re with—the survivors—they whooped and cheered when they saw the jets, like the tide was going to turn
I knew better Kept quiet Only a few minutes later, we could hear the explosions as the Anubis blew those jets out of the sky, scattering pieces of Earth’s most sophisticated military all over the island of Manhattan They haven’t sent any more jets in
How many deaths is that? Hundreds Thousands Maybe more And it’s all my fault Because I couldn’t kill Setrákus Ra when I had the chance
“On the left!” a voice shouts froe up a fireball without thinking about it, and incinerate a Mog scout as he comes around a corner Me, Sa the e barely break stride We’re in lower Manhattan now Ran here Fought our way down Block by block Trying to put soest, where we last saw the Anubis
I’m exhausted
I stumble I can’t even feel my feet anymore, they’re so tired I think I’oes around my shoulders and steadies me
“John?” Sa h a tunnel I try to reply to him, but the words don’t come Sam turns his head and speaks to one of the other survivors “We need to get off the streets for a while He needs to rest”
Next thing I know, I slu lobby I one out for a ether I have to keep fighting
But I can’t do it—my body refuses to take any more punish on the floor The carpet is covered in dust and broken glass that must’ve blown in froether here These are all we could e to save Bloodstained and dirty, a few of them wounded, all of us tired
How many injuries did I heal today? It was easy, at first After soy I must have hit my limit
I remember the people not by name but by how I found them or what I healed Broken-Arm and Pinned-Under-Car look concerned, scared
A woman, Ju on ht and she looks relieved
Right in front of me, Sam talks with a uniformed cop in his fifties The cop has dried blood all over one side of his face froet his name or where we found hi down ato understand the words, and even that takes a colossal effort My head feels wrapped in cotton
“Word caot a foothold on the Brooklyn Bridge,” the cop says “NYPD, National Guard, are Evacuating survivors fros are concentrated uptown We can make it”
“Then you should go,” Sam answers “Go nohile the coast is clear, before another of their patrols coh”
“You should come with us, kid”
“We can’t,” Sam replies “One of our friends is still out there We have to find him”
Nine That’s e have to find The lasthih the United Nations We have to find him before we can leave New York We have to find hi to come to my senses, but I’m still too exhausted to roan
“He’s had it,” says the cop, and I know he’s talking about h Get out with us nohile you can”
“He’ll be fine,” Saritdown and keep fighting
“He passed out”
“He just needs to rest for a minute”
“I’m fine,” I mumble, but I don’t think they hear me
“You’re gonna get killed if you stay, kid,” the cop tells Sa his head “You can’t keep this up There’s too ht Leave it to the army, or”
He trails off We all k
now the army already made their attempt Manhattan is lost
“We’ll get out as soon as we can,” Sam replies
“You hearot kids soot us this far, let us do the rest We’ll carry you to the bridge if we have to”
The survivors assereement Sam looks at me, his eyebrows raised in question His face is smeared with dirt and ash He looks hollowed out and weak, like he’s barely standing his from his hip, hooked there by a chopped piece of electric cord, and it’s like Saht threatening to pull him over
I force myself to stand up Myto show the police officer and the others that I’ve got so way they’re staring atI can barely keepto crash down to the floor But then sothis, where I’th It’s almost supernatural
No, actually, it’s not supernatural at all It’s Sa it look like I’ve still got soas left in the tank
“We’re staying,” I say firmly, my voice scratchy “There are more people to save”
The cop shakes his head in wonder Behind hi fire escape bursts into tears I’m not sure if she’s inspired or if I just look terrible Sam remains completely focused onon his temple
“Get to safety,” I tell the survivors “Then, help however you can This is your planet We’re all going to save it together”
The cop strides forward to shake et you, John Smith,” he says “All of us, e you our lives”