Page 42 (1/2)

He let the arrow go

Chapter 41

ARIA

The spotlight exploded with a deafening pop that burst through the speakers of Aria’s helmet The two Guardians by the rescue center ramp startled at the sudden darkness In seconds, a dozen men flooded down the ramp to see what had happened Aria slipped from the shadows into the commotion and then darted toward the rescue center, her shoulders brushing against Guardians ere hurrying outside

She put one foot in front of the other through a long lanced at her She wore their clothes She had a helmet and a Smarteye She was one of theh she didn’t knohere she was going Her eyes searched frantically as she passed opened doors along the hall She glimpsed cots and medical equipment This part of the rescue center nearest the entrance held triage chambers, which didn’t surprise her, but the stillness in the rooms did Where were the survivors?

Were there any?

Hoas she going to find her mother?

She slowed as she approached the next cha inside Aria stepped into the roo sure she was alone

She wasn’t

People lay in stacked bunks along the walls Not wearing hel in their open wounds and the dark bloodstains that seeped into their grays They were dead Every one

Suddenly she couldn’t escape the stench that clung to her hair, of the bodies she’d had to crawl through outside Every breath she took, she smelled the odor of death Desperate now, she searched for Lu from one row of cots to the other From one lifeless body to the next TheScratches and ripped flesh Bitewhat had happened Soon each other like rabid ani 6 Her mother had been trapped in this

Where was she?

Aria heard a faint voice and spun Someone approached She tensed, ready to hide, but then she recognized the voice and froze Was that Doctor Ward? Luh his visor in her direction, and then stopped Hope surged through her He would kno to find her mother

"Doctor Ward?" she said

"Aria?" For ahere?" he asked, and then answered his own question "You’ve come for your mother"

"You have to help me, Doctor Ward I need to find her"

He caaze on her "She’s here," he said They were the words she’d wanted to hear, but the tone was all wrong "Coh theShe knehat he was going to tell her Lumina was dead She had heard it in his voice

She followed his heavy and slow This wasn’t real It couldn’t be She couldn’t lose Lumina, too

He took her into a small, bare room with a heavy airlock door that hissed as it closed behind her

"The storms kept us away," Ward said A muscle by his Smarteye twitched "We were too late"

"Can--can I see her? I need to see her"

Ward hesitated "Yes Wait here"

When he left, Aria staggered back Her helainst the wall She slid to the floor Every muscle shook Tears ached behind her eyes She tried to press her palms into them, but her hands smacked into the visor She panted, her breath loud to her own ears

The airlock door slid open Ward pushed a gurney into the s made of thick plastic lay on top "I’ll be outside," he said, and left

Aria stood Cold e like wisps of sloves and pulled the it clatter to the floor She had to do this She had to know Her fingers trembled as she fuash Bruises So terrible, like what she’d seen outside Then she drew the zipper down, exposing her mother’s face

She saw no horrible wound, but the pallor of Lumina’s skin orse, nearly white, but deeply shadoith purple around her eyes Her hair fell in messy strands across her closed eyes Aria brushed it away--Lumina would never have tolerated hair like that--and sucked in a breath at the coldness of her mother’s skin

"Oh, Moes of her Smarteye and ran down her cheeks

She rested her hand on Lumina’s forehead until her skin burned with cold She had so many questions Why had Lumina lied about Aria’s father? Who was he? How could she have left Aria and gone to Bliss when she’d known the danger of DLS? But she needed one answer o, Moo"

She knehat Lubird

Aria closed her eyes

She knew she could answer it She kne to put one foot in front of the other even when every step hurt And she knew there was pain in the journey, but there was also great beauty She’d seen it standing on rooftops and in green eyes and in the sliest rock She would find the answer