chAPTER 16

I held onto her hand, desperately trying to pull her up, to save her. I almost made it, but just as she was reaching the ledge, my grip on her hand was gone and she fell, screaming my name.

I jolted awake from the nightmare, breathing heavily. The same one from the other night. The same one I'd been having since Trish died. Getting up, I walked to the showers and stepped inside the first stall. As I let the hot water run over me, the dream replayed in my mind. I had failed. I had failed Trish. I failed Empire City. I failed New Marais. I failed Kessler, Laroche, Zeke, Kuo, and now Nix. How much more failure would I do? Would I fail the entire damn world now? Anger surged through me like an energy, and without thinking I punched the wall in front of me, red electricity sparking from my fist as I removed it from the new hole in the wall. I took several deep breaths to calm myself down. Not like this, I thought. Not ever like this. Never again.

I shut off the shower and got dressed, opting for a white t-shirt and blue hoodie this time. I walked out to the main warehouse area and saw the now-familiar scene of office chaos. I walked over to Heller, who was staring at the DUP compound's layout. "Working on that distraction?" I asked.

He nodded. "We'll be setting up here," he pointed to a spot on the map. "Here, and here. Brandon was kind enough to lend us some support with his crew, and Blake seems pretty eager to fight these guys."

I nodded. "Sounds good. What about extraction?"

"I've got people working on it." I nodded again and turned to leave, but Heller stopped me. "Once you get inside, you can't afford to screw around. Ten minutes after the truck crosses the threshold, we're striking the base. You need to find Nix and be on your way out by the time the storm hits."

"Got it."

I found Blake near the medical wing, looking at the plague victims inside. "See anyone you know?" I asked.

Blake shook his head. "No, but I did strike up a conversation with that Zeke guy. He's a pretty funny dude."

I chuckled. "Yeah, he is." My heart sank at the sight of Zeke, deep asleep, completely oblivious to what was going on around him. With my reconnaissance of the DUP base and getting things ready for the infiltration, I hadn't had the time to talk with him. What would I say anyway? "Sorry you're dying, buddy, but there's nothing I can do to fix it"? I wasn't right. "Zeke's one of my oldest friends," I told Blake. "We've been through some crazy shit together." My voice trailed off as I watched a nurse hook an oxygen tube into his nose.

Blake noticed my expression and slapped me on the back. "You'll figure out a way to beat this," he said confidently.

"Yeah, I know," I replied. "I just hope I'm not too late when I do."

With nothing else to say, I moved on. Mendoza was my last stop, and I walked over to her to see how the truck was coming along. "Everything's in place, Cole," she said. "The Truth's just waiting on you."

With that, It was time. I walked out of the warehouse and ran to Market and Sunset, ready to turn myself into the custody of the DUP.

Good God, this plan had better have worked.