Chapter 14 · Neon Zero - Chapter 14: The Clinic Goes Dark

"Move, Mara! The door is about to come down!"

Tessa's voice cracked through the clinic speakers as the blast door buckled inward. Every hit shook dust from the ceiling and made the children behind me scream.

I looked at the silver case in my hand. One injector. One dose of stabilizer. My brother needed it in the next three minutes, or his life bar would drain past the recovery point.

Behind the blast door, six kids were trapped in the treatment bay.

"How long?" I shouted.

"Two minutes, maybe less!"

Knox grabbed my wrist before I could run for the east exit. His fingers locked around me, hot and hard, while his other hand pressed against the door controls.

"You’re not leaving," he said.

"Let go."

"The purge drones are outside. You step into that hall, they tag you."

"Then help me open this door."

"If I release the lock, the drones come in."

Another impact slammed into the metal. The door bent toward us. A red warning line flashed across the clinic wall.

PURGE ENTRY: 01:47.

My wrist burned under Knox’s grip.