Twenty-Nine

Everyone in the room is once again looking at me, and I’m positive the next thing that comes out of my mouth is going to do more than raise a few eyebrows. I can’t believe I didn’t notice it before. But I guess running for your life can make you not see things that are right in front of your face. “Seph, remember when you said there was something weird about Ruthie?” Now everyone stares at him, and if looks could kill, I’m pretty sure Seph would be dead by the way both Clara and Ruthie are glaring at him.

I walk toward Ruthie. “Do you trust me?”

Her gaze flits to me. “Yeah.”

“Then I need you to turn around, and I’m going to lift up your shirt to show your back, okay?” The request sounds weird even to me, but Ruthie doesn’t question it, which further confirms what I’m about to do.

Everything about her body looks normal, like her back could be that of any person in the world, except right at the top, just between her shoulder blades, is what some would think at a quick glance is a light scar, but I know better. There’s an audible gasp in the room as I slide my fingers along the line and flip back a flap of “skin” revealing a panel, that next, I open as well. Inside is the workings of any other WALTER, but at the same time, so much more complex.

I turn toward the group, each with a different expression on their face, ranging from that is so cool—Vaughn—to shock—Seph and Trip—and Clara a mixture of Oh shit and Holy Mother Mary. “It all clicked when I saw LaPuerta on the screen and then when Ruthie yelled. The something weird is that she isn’t human at all. VolTon wasn’t testing us like I thought they were at that prison, they’re testing her and maybe others like her. To see if they can blend in, look, act, be accepted as human.”

“This is more than just a power play for CalTes,” Vaughn says. “What’s the easiest way to get people on your side and sympathize with you? You play on their fears.”

“Exactly,” I say. “If people are fighting with each other over WALTER rights or whatnot we won’t be watching when the really bad stuff happens.” This is all so much bigger than just controlling them or not.

“You’re wrong.” Ruthie sounds scared.

After a quick glance, and when I don’t notice any weird chips, I close her up and spin her back around. I’m not even sure how to say it because I’ve never had to explain this before, but since I’m right, our time is running out faster than I thought possible, so better just come right out with it. “Ruthie. You are a WALTER.”

She shakes her head. “No, I’m not. I’m human just like you.”

Clara comes up and takes Ruthie’s hand. “It’s okay. It doesn’t matter.”

“I’m not a WALTER. I can’t be,” Ruthie says.

Over the next few minutes I do my best to explain it to her, and finally Vaughn brings in two mirrors so Ruthie can get a look for herself. Only then does she gasp and cry into Clara’s shoulder. Maybe VolTon thought by programming them to think they’re human would make them more believable, I don’t know. But I doubt they thought of the repercussions of them finding out. It’s heartbreaking to watch.

“You need to delete me,” Ruthie says.

“What? No.” Clara grabs both her arms. “You’re safe with us. We won’t let anyone hurt you.”

But Ruthie’s right, and my chest aches something fierce.

“No. But because of me, you’ll get hurt.” Ruthie slides her hand down Clara’s face. “They can track me. They already have. That’s probably the reason they showed up at that building out of all the other ones. Because of me, they knew we were there. And it’s how they know we are here now, and if you don’t delete me, and leave, they’ll find you.”

I swallow back the tears building in my eyes, but Clara isn’t as lucky. They spill down her cheeks like the night she pressed her hand over my lips. And just like that night, I don’t know what to do for her. Ruthie holds her tight and whispers in her ear—not loud enough for anyone to hear. If I had more time, I could take Ruthie apart—maybe find the tracker hidden somewhere inside her and put her back together—but she’s right, our time is already up.

“Do it. Delete me and go,” Ruthie commands, her arms still around Clara.

Even with her permission, I hesitate. I can’t do it. There isn’t anything wrong with her. She isn’t malfunctioning or glitched. She just most likely has a tracker inside her that will eventually get us caught. And probably a way they can download information from her to know our plans. But is that a good enough reason to delete her? Sure, I’ve done it before. But it was the last option. Nothing else could be done to fix that WALTER, so I had no choice. Deleting isn’t just shutting her down. If I delete her, it’s like I’m restarting her from scratch. It’s an extreme measure. Something that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

“Can’t you do it?” I turn to Vaughn, who even though she hasn’t known Ruthie the way I do looks just as upset at the situation as I feel.

Vaughn shakes her head. “I don’t know how.”

“Please.” Ruthie begs. “It’s the only way to keep you guys safe.”

She’s right. Unless. “You could just run away.” Maybe if she hides, it’ll give us the time we need to do what we need to do without anyone finding out. And then if we succeed, we can go and find her.

“I won’t be able to. Everything inside me says I have to stay with you,” Ruthie says.

“It’s probably in her programming,” Seph says. “Could we restrain her and leave? Isn’t there another way?”

If she is programmed to stay with us, there’s no way she’d let us abandon her. And since we found her in that room, she’s always been with at least Clara. I can’t imagine what would happen if we did try to “restrain” her like Seph suggests. She’d probably end up hurting herself just to get to us and that wouldn’t be fair for her, either. Or if by some miracle we could go on without her, and she was found, they would know exactly what we are planning to do.

“It’s the only option,” Ruthie says to me. Not Seph. Because she’s asking me to do this.

I chew on my lip until blood fills my mouth. Blood before oil isn’t something I believe in—never have—so how can I do this now? “I don’t know if I can.”

“Lezah. I’m begging you.” She glances at Clara. “There’s no other way I can keep any of you safe. You have to.”

I know I do. But my throat is so thick I can barely take a breath, and my hands tremble so hard I’m not sure if I could even do this.

“Please.” She begs again, then lies on the cold metal table, lifting her shirt to give me access to her panel.

There’s no other choice—there’s no other choice. I repeat that over and over in my head as I get all the tools I need and start to work. Keeping my hands from trembling is the hardest part. And a few times, I have to use my sleeve to clear my blurry vision from the tears that so badly want to fall right into her. It takes me longer than it should because I don’t want to do this—and at the same time, I know I have to—if I want us all to survive. My jaw aches from clenching it as I carefully delete her. The effect is quick; her insides go dark, and it’s done. Before I force myself to look at anyone, I lean down and whisper, “thank you,” in her ear. If we do succeed, it’ll be because of her sacrifice. I’ll never forget it.

Once I do glance up and nod, Clara crashes into my arms. I wish I could tell her everything is going to be okay, but instead I pull her through the door as her tears splash onto the floor. Once everyone has said goodbye to Ruthie, we all meet in the main living space.

“We need to get back to the UNV and fast,” Vaughn says after she locks the door to my old workroom.

“Won’t they be able to find Ruthie in there, though?” Clara asks as she pulls away from me. It’s true, the tracker itself might have its own backup power even with her shutdown.

“Maybe we should take her with us,” Trip suggests.

“The steel in this space is too thick, if they are even able to get a signal,” Vaughn says. “I’ve rigged it that it’ll bounce all over this location. They’ll never be able to pinpoint it before the battery power dies.”

At that word Clara lets out another sob. I squeeze her hand. “It’s not like that. I can fix her. I’ll come back and fix her. I promise.”

“We need to go,” Trip says, and points at the monitors on the wall. This time, they’re all different, but they all show WALTERS invading this little building yard.

“Let’s go.” I hold Clara’s hand tighter and pull her toward the door where everyone else is running. Once we are all back in the burned remains of what this place used to be, Vaughn closes the door and hides the panel used to open it away like they were never there. Even though I know both these things exist, I can’t distinguish them amongst the charred remains.

Vaughn leads us outside and quickly locks up. My adrenaline races, but I’m positive I know the right way back to the UNV, which before I would’ve thought impossible. But now that Vaughn has given me a glimpse into my past, I trust my body knows the way even if my head thinks it shouldn’t.

Without consulting her, I sprint the direction my gut tells me is correct, and she doesn’t object. All the buildings look the same, but I don’t let it stop me. At the fifth one, I make a hard left, and then a right two more down. Before I can round the next corner, I stop short and Seph grabs me so I don’t slam into the hard concrete from the weight of his body.

The ground trembles beneath my feet, and I carefully peek around the corner. A cluster of WALTERs march our way, so I spin back and signal the group to turn around and run.

Trip sprints to the last corner and makes a hard left. I follow and stop with everyone else. “What do we do now?” he asks.

We aren’t far from where we left the UNV, but we aren’t really close, either. Somehow, we need to get to where it seems dozens of WALTERs are waiting for us. “What if we double back and take the path with the red door?” I stare at Vaughn, hoping she’ll confirm it’s a viable option.

“Perfect,” she says, and races off in that direction. This time she leads the way, and soon the building with the odd red door comes into view. She takes a left and then a right. Clara’s having a hard time keeping up, since she’s still crying. Before she can make the next turn, she stumbles and crashes into the ground.

I reach for her. “Come on.”

“Just go,” she tells me.

“No. I’m not leaving you behind.”

“But we left—”

“I promised I’d fix her. Have I broken a promise to you yet?” I meet her gaze.

Clara lifts her hand for me to help her up. Somewhere nearby, shots are fired. The distinct ping from them hitting the metal buildings is too loud, too close. We need to go.

Together we round the corner, but the others are gone, and instead WALTERs are headed our way. I grab Clara and yank her back. The door to the building is unlocked, so I quietly pull her inside and press a finger to my lips. The ground quakes harder the closer they get. My thudding heart doesn’t help calm my nerves or help me breathe. Clara bites her trembling lip.

The building is abandoned, which makes the sound of us breathing seem to echo around the space like thunder. Through a crack in the side wall, I watch as the mob marches by, then suddenly stops. I hold my breath to keep from making any kind of noise. Don’t let them come in here. Don’t let them come in here.

It feels like they don’t move for an eternity, and there’s nowhere for us to go if they did. I glance around again; there has to be another way out. Then more gunshots.

Boom.

Everything shakes, the split in the wall grows, and I slink back farther to keep out of the light that’s streaming through. Clara grabs my hand and squeezes it hard. A WALTER spins around, and I swear he’s peering through the crack.

There’s another earth-quaking boom, and the WALTERs sprint off. Clara and I stay hidden in the shadows for a few moments before I creep to the door and take a look outside. In the distance, smoke billows in the air, and I only hope that’s where the WALTERs ran off to.

I lead Clara out of the building, and together we dash toward the last place we left the UNV. Just as I hit the clearing, Vaughn, Seph, and Trip come out from around one of the last buildings to join us.

Seph clenches his arm, where a bloom of red is spreading, and Trip has to help him walk. Oh, God. Vaughn clicks her remote, and the UNV begins to surface. “I don’t know what you did, but thanks,” she says. “One more second and those WALTERs would’ve found us.”

I shake my head and go around to help support Seph on his other side. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You mean you didn’t set off that explosion?”

Trip, Vaughn, and Seph shake their heads.

“Well it wasn’t us,” Clara says.

I stare back at the plume of smoke still rising in the distance as everyone climbs into the UNV. I don’t know who or what caused it, but I’m sure as hell grateful they did.