Chapter 23 · The First Success

"Out. Now."

Marcus shoved me through the truck door before it finished rolling. I hit the pavement hard, shoulder first. Rachel jumped after me, sidearm already in her hand.

The truck died behind us—engine, lights, radio. Every sound cut out at once.

"What happened?" I pushed up from the pavement.

"The zone reached us." Marcus raised his rifle toward the rooftops. "It wasn't supposed to expand this far for another week."

Rachel checked the magazine in her pistol. "The Council sped things up."

"Why?"

"Because they want everyone inside cleaned up before morning."

My fingers pulsed in my pocket. White light leaked between my knuckles, then vanished.

Not now. Maya was three floors below us. I wasn't stopping now.

Grid Seven waited at the end of the block, six stories of concrete and boarded windows behind a sagging chain-link fence. The gate hung open. No guards. No lights.

"They've already gone in," Marcus said.

"Or they're waiting for us," Rachel replied.

"Either way, we don't stand outside and vote about it. Move."

We crossed the fence. Pressure dropped onto my chest so fast I stumbled. Each breath scraped on the way in.