Repossession (The Keepers Trilogy) (32 page)

And then there was Kale.

Kale was convinced obeying the Invaders was the right thing to do. He was willing to sacrifice the lives of many, to accept the bad for the sake of the good. But what did I believe? What was I willing to live with?

The truth was, I couldn’t live with any of it—not the damage that had already been done on Prototype Seven, and not the deception the Invaders had been feeding us about the recruits. None of it was okay, and none of it could simply slide. Evil was evil, and wrong was wrong.

But one reality remained. Since the beginning of time, from the dawn of Prototype Seven’s creation, the human race had one priority and one priority alone.

Survival.

I had to survive, and so did my race. Could I do this for the sake of the greater good? Exchange one life for countless others? All it took was one shot. One split second, one single decision, and my life and so many others would be spared.

My fingers shook and my heart throbbed a turbulent rhythm in my chest. My focus suddenly restored, I realized Jet had been speaking to me, asking me something over his shoulder, something I hadn’t heard. The Capsules were still there, yet not one Invader had commenced any kind of confrontation. I slid my gaze to Kale, to search for his thoughts, to search for any trace that he was just as conflicted as me, only to find his expression resolute. He nodded, almost imperceptibly, and carefully gestured to my gun.

Jet’s voice continued to mumble something in the distance. I pivoted on my hip and Hera let me go, tilting her head back to look up at me. Her tear-ridden eyes were bright and wide, searching the depths of mine, probing for something good. I swallowed hard and lifted my weapon, everything rolling in slow motion as recognition swept her face and she began to back away. Her eyes grew wider and I aimed the gun with a trembling hand.

Everything sped up then.

Jet shifted with a shout as my finger brushed the trigger. I faltered, and Kale noticed. He threw his body in front of mine to aim at Hera.

“No!” I screamed, tapping the trigger and eliciting a sharp bang.

Kale spun and dodged my bullet, his gaze floating from me to Hera to watch the bullet collide with her chest, instead. She slumped to the ground. Kale’s expression twisted into anger as an earth-moving, gut-clenching roar detonated from Jet’s direction. Jet charged forward, hauling his body on top of Hera’s, closing her up like a cocoon. His cry ripped into me, tearing me open and grazing against my bare bones.

“No,” I whispered, eyes falling to my firearm. I grew dizzy, stumbling to the left as Jet’s big body covered Hera’s, which now lay in a pool of dirt mixed with a garish, unreal maroon. His torment reverberated beneath my feet, reaching up my legs and dipping inside me, wrapping tight around my lungs.

Somehow, amidst the dizziness overtaking me, I could make out Kale’s form as it hovered over Jet. He’d quickly recovered and moved to snatch Jet’s weapons away, and for the first time, Jet’s finger was not on the trigger. He barely registered Kale’s presence at first, but began fighting him the second Kale tried pulling him from Hera’s body. Kale managed to grab him and pry him off her, and Jet’s grief wrapped tighter around my lungs when I caught a glimpse of this strong, handsome, courageous man reduced to wailing sobs and the inability to stand upright while Kale led him away from the scene.

Rage seemed to fuel Jet with a second wind, but as he lashed out in retaliation, Kale snatched a Venom Sphere from his belt and lodged it into Jet’s back, rendering him a limp heap.

Kale wasted no time. He adjusted Jet to drag him by the underarms toward our Capsule. I just stood there, my gun dangling at my side. I let it drop to the ground and stared down at Hera’s body.

I did not have all the answers. I did not know what awaited us on Foundation Zero, or if our race would ever recover from all that we had lost.

But I did know how to shoot a gun.

THE KEEPERS TRILOGY

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Aqua Bomb
– Invader-designed weapon. Fills lungs with water upon impact. Death by drowning.

Black Holes
– Human underground bunker communities designed as hideouts for protection from invaders

Capsules
– Main method of invader transportation. Used for air, land, and sea travel.

Collectors
– Keeper Agents in charge of collecting human recruits for invader camp sector assignment

Foundation Zero
– The primary model Earth created by the invaders, designed for human permanent settlement

GuardCore
– Fast-acting, advanced antibacterial injection designed for wound care

Invaders
– Foreign species responsible for Earth’s invasion, takeover, and downfall

Keeper Agents
– Humans pre-selected by the invaders as servants at or before birth, or humans who volunteer or are placed into invader-led service. Implanted with identification chips that activate upon prototype invasion or service placement

Lucenta
– The invaders’ underwater city located in the Pacific Ocean, on Prototype Seven. Houses the Creators. Houses screening and training sectors for human recruits collected from Prototype Seven, for preparation for transfer to Foundation Zero

Prototype Seven
– The seventh prototype of planet Earth, created by the invaders

The Maker
– Head Creator of the invaders

The Shepherds (Sacred Seven)
– Seven humans (also known as the Head Keepers) pre-selected by the invaders at or before birth to activate upon prototype invasion and lead human recruits from prototypes to Foundation Zero

Venom Sphere
– Invader-designed weapon. Temporarily paralyzes victim and renders them unconscious.

C
OMING 2014

The Keepers Trilogy - Book Two

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rachael Wade is the Amazon bestselling author of Love and Relativity, The Preservation Series, and The Resistance Trilogy. When she’s not writing, she’s busy learning French, watching too many movies, and learning how to protect wildlife and stop animal cruelty. Visit her at RachaelWade.com and LightsOnOutreach.com, and come chat with her on Twitter via @RachaelWade.

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