"Austin?" I hear Thomas blanch behind me. "Care to get on that explanation?"
Eiley lets out a whimper on my back. I tighten my grip on her, before lowering her to the ground. "Eiley, I want you to go and get in the car, and lock the doors. Now."
She scrambles into the vehicle quickly, but my eyes never leave Dr. Evelynne's. She's smiling something nasty at me as I right myself, slowly bracing myself for a fight I know is to come.
Thomas prods me again, harsher this time. "Austin?"
"Guys, this is Dr. Evelynne, a leader in the field of neurotransmitters and DNA recoding. She's the one who framed me for the assassination with the help of her lap dogs," My chest tightens as I stare at my grandfather, but his eyes are just as dead as Lauren's, and I know that truthfully he's no longer there.
"Lauren?" Zach cuts me off, almost making a move to step forward. "What are you doing?"
My cousin has an ugly smirk twist onto her features. "What I'm supposed to be doing."
"Don't be deceived," My voice is all hard edges, and I'm glad my niece can't hear me now. "She's been recoded. It's no longer her inside."
Lauren sends me a dirty smirk. "That hurts, cuz."
I divert my attention to Dr. Evelynne instead. "It's over, Doctor."
"You may have destroyed my lab and my research, Mr. Moon," There's a deranged look in her eyes, "But I'm no idiot. I know you stole a vial of the neurotransmitters, and my files. I'll be taking those back, I assure you."
"Oh yeah?" I snarl. "And how are you planning on doing that?"
She doesn't even deign me with an answer, instead shouting, "Get them!"
"Tommy, take care of Ross and the Doctor," I shout, as I feel the others brace for a fight. "Zach you get Lauren, I will take care of grandpa."
And then, like always, time speeds into a blur.
We dash forward, and Tommy instantly pulls a gun from somewhere, leaping into action with Ross and Dr. Evelynne. Zach still looks stricken, but follows my orders. He doesn't pull out a weapon – not that I'm surprised – and instead lunges for my cousin, intent on subduing her without harm.
Which leaves me and my grandpa.
I advance slowly, not sure what to expect, or how Dr. Evelynne's reprogrammed him. Like Lauren, his physical ailments have appeared to be miraculously gone. His shoulders are pulled back confidently, and he takes straight, assured steps. His face is blank of emotion, and although I know to expect it, it doesn't make it hurt any less.
"Grandpa," I say cautiously. He says nothing. Instead, with reflexes I thought he no longer had, he lunges at me, taking my legs out from underneath me, and pinning me to the ground, his hands around my throat.
My eyes go wide in fear and adrenaline.
Almost immediately, my life of training kicks in, and using my feet I manage to dislodge his hold on me enough that I can roll out from underneath him and grab him in a choke hold. My lungs are burning for air, and with an almost grace, he breaks my grip as though it's nothing, and is turning to face me.
"Grandpa," I try again, ignoring the rasp of my voice. "Please, you don't want to do this. I don't know what she made you think, but-"
I'm cut off as he pulls out a pistol. I barely have time to twist my torso, before the gun releases it's first bullet, inches from where my head had just been.
I clamp my mouth shut, and spring into action.
As I go for the gun he releases another shot. I dodge it again – though barely this time – and then my arm is knocking the gun skyward as I simultaneously drive my knees into my grandpa's side. I go for his arm, twisting it to the side. Normally it works.
The only problem?
My grandpa was the one who taught me that move.
There's a third shot that I don't anticipate in time, and it takes a moment for the pain to register in my shoulder, to realize that the man who is staring at me with lifeless eyes, just shot me in the shoulder.
That millisecond is all he needs.
The gun is at my head.
Time stops. I think of my cousins, and Eiley and Eton. I think of my parents, and my Uncle Ethan. Dez, and his crazy family. Trish, Tommy, Zach, Sam, heck, I even think of Elliot as the list goes on.
Grandpa. The one person I never thought I'd see at the other end of the gun.
And Ally.
My heart nearly stops. If I don't make it out of here, then I'll never see her again. But even more so, I'd never get the chance to meet my child, to try and be the dad that my father never was. And if anything, that single thought strengthens my resolve.
I will not die here today.
I barely move in time.
My hand juts out and grabs the gun, and all I can see is red. Pure unadultered rage at what Dr. Evelynne has done to me, what she has done to my family.
Rage at the ultimatum she's given me.
My grandad raised me. He taught me to shoot, to pick a lock, and told me what to wear on my first date. He made me pancakes in the morning, and never forced me to do anything I didn't want to do.
The man in front of me, is no longer my grandfather.
I repeat that mantra in my head, even as I feel the tears start to blur my vision. I only have one chance, but I know I won't miss. Hatred fills my veins for Dr. Evelynne.
"I'm sorry Grandpa," I whisper.
And then I pull the trigger.
Red blossoms on his chest as he falls, but I force myself to look away, to lock away the pain and the guilt, because I have to focus on the task at hand, and then eventual end game. I have to get to Ally.
Dr. Evelynne's going to regret what she did.
"Austin?"
Thomas's voice snaps me out of my dark thoughts. I finally take in the surroundings around me – Ross's limp body with the knife jutting from it (Which kind of creeps me out since it's my dead face on the ground). Zach is holding Lauren's body. There's a nasty cut on her face that will most definitely scar, but from the looks of it, she's just knocked out cold. We can deal with her later.
Instead I turn to Dr. Evelynne.
Thomas is holding a knife to her throat, and as badly as I wish he would just end her with it, I know she'll be of better use to us alive. It doesn't stop me from punching her. Hard. Her limp body falls to the ground, but the wave of satisfaction doesn't come. My emotions are too wrung out for that.
"Pack her up, Lauren too," My voice is funny sounding, even to my own ears. "Make sure you bound them tightly, and keep an eye on the both of them."
"Austin?" Thomas steps forward hesitantly. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," I mean to snap, but my voice is funny sounding again. It takes a moment to figure out why.
I sound like Acacia. Monotonous.
"Good, because I'm afraid I've got some more news," Thomas looks like he doesn't want to tell me given my current state.
"What is it?" I toss the gun I didn't realize I was still holding to the ground, wanting to get it as far away as possible from me. Thomas merely shifts awkwardly.
"Remember what I was saying about Ally before? How you never got her checked out? Well, when we left, the reason we could escape was because everyone was super distracted."
"Is there a point to this," I finally manage to show my frustration, even as I turn my hard eyes to Tommy. He gulps, and scratches the back of his neck.
"It's Ally. She was farther along than we thought, and she went into premature labour."
One more chapter to go!