Hope (Book 2, Harvester of Light Trilogy; Young Adult Science Fiction) (28 page)

He recovered
quickly and ran at me like a linebacker, hitting me in the midsection with his
lowered shoulder crashing us both against the side of the Durango.  The vehicle
tilted precariously before rolling over onto its other side.

I wrapped an arm
around Lawrence’s neck, squeezing with enough force to make him relinquish his
hold of my waist. 

“You really
shouldn’t have followed me,” I told Lawrence, tightening my arm around his
throat until he made choking sounds.  I knew I had a decision to make.  I could
simply try to incapacitate Lawrence again like I did at the boathouse or I
could rip his head off and not have to worry about him anymore.  I decided he
needed to die.

I was just about
to tear his neck to shreds when I heard my name called softly.  I looked towards
the house and saw Zoe holding one of the babies in her arms watching me.

The look of horror
on her face made me hesitate.  She had to understand what I was about to do. 
It was the only way to make sure Lawrence didn’t follow us again.

“He needs to die. 
I have to do it,” I said to her.

“No, you don’t.” 
She stepped out of the house.  “You don’t have to be a murderer.”

“He’s just a
harvester, Zoe.  It’s not like I haven’t killed one before.”

“But you had to
then,” she told me.  “You don’t have to now.  Just knock him out long enough to
give us time to escape.”

I snorted.  “I’ve
already tried that once.  He found us anyway.  No,” I said shaking my head,
resolute in my decision, “I need to kill him this time to make sure he doesn’t
tell the Queen where we are.”

“Don’t, Skye,” she
begged.

“Why do you care
what happens to him?” I asked, not trying to hide my frustration.  “He doesn’t
care about anything but pleasing the Queen.”

“I don’t care
about him.  I care about you.”

“You’re not making
any sense, Zoe.”

“If you kill him
in cold blood, I don’t think you’ll ever be the same again.  You’re not a
murderer, Skye. That’s not the type of person you are.”

“I’m a harvester,
Zoe.  Murder is what we’re built for.”

“But you’re not a
true harvester anymore,” she said, total conviction in her voice.  “Or you
wouldn’t be trying to help us.  If all you were is a harvester, you would be
doing what this one is trying to do: take us back to the Queen.  Instead you’re
helping us escape from her.  She may have put a chip in your head but you’re
not letting it control your choices now.  You’re in charge of your own life not
her.”

“He needs to die,”
I said, tightening my hold around Lawrence’s neck.  By this time he had already
passed out from lack of oxygen. Even harvesters needed to breathe.

“Then don’t kill
him for me,” Zoe pleaded.  “I don’t want his blood on my hands because I know
you would only be doing it to protect us.  I wouldn’t be able to live with his
death on my conscience.”

I snapped Lawrence’s
neck but didn’t tear his head off.  His body fell limply to the ground.  I
stood and dusted myself off.

“Satisfied?” I
asked Zoe.

“Thank you, Skye.”

The relief in
Zoe’s eyes told me she still thought I had a chance to be saved.  That somehow
I would magically revert back to my old self.  I didn’t want to ruin her
fantasy but I knew in that moment how idyllic she was.  Miracles were possible
in her world and I didn’t have the heart to shatter her hope of my returning to
her the way I was.  Even if I did regain more of my humanity, I knew in that
moment I would never be the same person again.  I was forever changed, only
time would tell whether or not it was for the better.

When I followed
Zoe back into the house, she showed me where Lawrence left Jackson and Ava:  knocked
out cold lying together on one of the beds. 

“He only left me
alone so I could take care of the babies,” Zoe explained.

“You stay here
while I take care of Lawrence.  Maybe they’ll be awake by the time I get back.”

“What are you
going to do with him?”

“Take him to the
river and dump him in it.  Hopefully, he’ll float down far enough to not be a
threat to us for a while.”

“You promise you
won’t kill him?”

“Zoe,” I said in
irritation, “if I was going to kill him, I would have ripped his head off a few
minutes ago instead of just breaking his neck.”

“Ok,” Zoe said,
seeing she was quickly making me angry with her incessant questioning, “I trust
you.  I know you’ll do the right thing.  You always do.”

I stood there and
stared at Zoe wondering how she could have so much faith in me after the things
I said to her back at the Queen’s house.  My words to her then were meant to
make her hate me, to forget about trying to save me from what I had become. 
But she was still trying to remind me of who I once was.

“I’ll be back,” I
said, turning my back on the hope in her eyes.

It didn’t take me
long to haul Lawrence to the river.  I ripped his clothes off and tore them
into strips to strap his body to the bench cushion.  Just for good measure, I
made sure his neck was still broken and proceeded to break his legs and arms to
give his nanites more repair work to slow down his healing.  Once I sent him on
his way down the river, I made my way back to the house.

My original plan
of staying at the house overnight was completely shot now.  If Lawrence had
been able to find us so easily, the Queen wouldn’t be far behind.  Our best bet
was to keep moving.  I knew Zoe and the babies desperately needed some down
time but I couldn’t afford to give it to them.  They would have to take what
rest they could while I drove us to Michael’s camp.  After I got them there, I
wasn’t sure what I would do.  I still felt a pull to go back to the Queen’s
side and serve her as diligently as I could, but I couldn’t deny the other part
of me which wanted to save Zoe and see Jace again.

What did Jace
think of me now?  Could he possibly still love someone who had, in essence,
betrayed him?  Someone who had chosen to be with the Queen instead of him.  It
seemed like Jace and I had been apart more than we had been together, but I
couldn’t deny I still felt a need to be with him.  A part of me yearned to be
near him, to feel his breath against my skin and hear him say he loved me.  I
could feel his phantom touches and longed to feel the real thing.

When I cleared the
woods, I saw Zoe standing with Ash at the corner of the house.  He was holding
her close to him with their foreheads touching and eyes closed.  He was
whispering to her but I could hear him clearly.

“We’ll find a way
to save her,” he promised.

“Save who?” I
asked, making my presence known before I approached them.

Ash quickly pulled
away from Zoe like he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t.

“Hope,” he
answered.

“Good.” I came to
stand with them.  “For a minute there, I thought you might have joined Zoe’s
crusade to save my soul.”

“I still have hope
for you,” Ash said.

“Don’t waste your
energy,” I told him walking towards the Durango.  I pushed it back into its upright
position intent on finishing to mount the spare tire.

“Why don’t you
actually do something useful and try to take your daughter to the past to get
her help?” I said to Ash.

“I don’t think I
can,” Ash replied, filled with regret.

I stopped walking and
looked back at him.  “Why not?”

“Everytime I get
near the babies it makes me teleport.”

“Yeah,” I said.  “Kinda
noticed that annoying fact.  Why do you think that is?”

“I’m not
completely sure.” Ash shook his head.  “But I think my time traveling is
connected to my emotions.  I seem to only travel between people I love.”

I looked to Zoe
and saw the shock on her face.  Ash had traveled back to her here at the house,
not to me in the woods.  Now she had a reason to hope he truly could love her.

“Don’t you love
your children?” I asked harshly, feeling an irrational need to hurt him.

“I think that’s
the problem,” Ash said.  “I love them too much. It’s like they overload my
system when I get too close to them.”

“So basically
you’re useless.”

“Skye!”  Zoe said
in a disapproving tone.

“No,” Ash said
looking at Zoe, “she’s right.  I can’t help you take care of them.  I
desperately want to but my power won’t let that happen, at least not yet.  I
just have to find a way to control it better.”

“If it
can
be controlled,” I said.

Someone had to
keep things real.  Zoe still wanted to live in the land of unicorns and
rainbows, a child’s world.  The sooner she realized Ash might not be a
permanent fixture in our lives the better.  We had real problems to deal with. 
Problems he apparently was useless to help solve.

I bent down and
started to mount the spare tire.

“You need to get
the children ready to leave,” I told Zoe.  “We don’t need to be here when the
Queen comes calling.  Have Jackson and Ava woken up yet?”

“No,” Zoe
answered, “not yet.”

“Maybe you can go
wake them up,” I said to Ash.  “Since you can’t help with the babies it’s the
most useful thing you can do right now.  I might need Jackson to jump start
this thing for us.”

Ash looked
confused.  “Who are Jackson and Ava?”

I briefly told Ash
who they were, how I first met them and what powers they possessed.  Ash
followed Zoe into the house to see what he could do to wake the other two up
for us.

I filled the gas
tank with the gas I obtained from the house up the road.  I seriously debated
with myself on whether or not I wanted to go into the house.  My worry over
Hope’s welfare won out over my desire to stay away from Ash and Zoe. 
Separately I could handle them but together I felt outnumbered.

When I walked into
the house, I saw Ash leaned up against the kitchen counter watching Zoe as she
stood at the kitchen table with all three babies lined up for what looked like
diaper change time.

“I never knew
babies could produce something that smells so bad,” she said to me wiping
Rose’s bottom with a wet wipe.  “Do you think something’s wrong with them? 
It’s not supposed to smell like this is it?”

I heard Ash clear
his throat and knew he was trying to not laugh at Zoe’s naiveté.

“They’re fine,
Zoe,” I told her, giving Ash a disapproving glare.  “It’s normal.”

“Ok, if you say
so,” she said, though I could still hear the doubt in her voice.

I helped Zoe get
the babies ready for travel while Ash went to wake Jackson and Ava.  Jackson
came walking out on his own asking what happened to Lawrence.  I told him about
sailing him down the river.  Jackson agreed we needed to leave as soon as
possible and went out to see if he could get the Durango started.

“The girl isn’t
waking up,” Ash came and told us.  “She must have been hit harder or
something.  I think she needs a doctor.”

I cursed inwardly
wondering what else could possibly go wrong.

Chapter 28

The Durango had
enough room in the back for Zoe to lie down with the babies and rest.  Jackson
and Ava sat in the second row of seats and Ash sat up front with me.  I didn’t
turn the headlights on as we drove away from the house.  Night was upon us now
and I didn’t want to draw any unwanted attention.  It seemed to make my
passengers nervous.

“I can see just
fine,” I told them.  “Harvesters can see in the dark.”

“I keep forgetting
your one of them,” Jackson said from the back seat.  “You don’t act like one.”

I ignored him not
wanting to start a philosophical discussion on the behavior of a harvester. 
Unfortunately, Ash jumped at the chance.

“He’s right you
know.  You don’t always act like a harvester.”

“Don’t you start
too,” I said.  “I get enough grief from Zoe without you harping on how
different I am.”

“We love you.  We
want our old Skye back.”

“She’s not coming
back.”

“I think you’re
wrong.  I think you’re more like your old self than you want to admit.”

“Listen,” I said,
my frustration growing, “as soon as I get Hope to a doctor, I plan to go back
to the Queen.  So forget whatever little fantasy you have built up about me in
your mind.”

“Why do you care
what happens to Hope so much?”

My mind went
blank.  I didn’t have an answer to Ash’s question because I had no idea why her
life meant so much to me.

“I like to root
for the underdog, I guess.”  Even to me my answer sounded lame.

Ash didn’t speak
after that.  After a while I looked at him and saw that he had fallen asleep.  I
had no way of knowing what his time jumping was doing to his body.  Surely it
was having an affect.  How could it not?  I wondered how long he would be able
to continue travelling back and forth from the present to the past without it
killing him.  It made me wonder if there might be a way to reverse what the
Queen had done to him.  My limited knowledge of genetic manipulation simply
wasn’t enough to help me know if it was reversible or not.

My train of
thought brought me back to a question I kept asking myself:  why did I care? 
The Queen’s ability to awaken Ash’s unique power was a triumph.  Now she knew
how to do it for almost anyone she chose, but in order for it to work, I would
need to be by her side ready to heal them before their hearts gave out.  Was
that the reason I was so important to her?  To help further progress her plans
in the next evolution of harvesters?  I didn’t think so.  At least, it wasn’t
the only reason.

No, in spite of
herself, she loved me.  I saw it plainly written in her eyes at the hospital
after she handled the initial riot.  For all of her talk and propaganda, the
Queen had failed to eliminate one of humanities most basic emotions even within
herself.