Chapter 12 · Rift Protocol - Chapter 12: Her Seventy-Second Hour

"We have two hours." Dalen's voice cuts through the static hum of the abandoned subway platform. "Maybe less."

I don't answer. I'm watching the countdown in my head. Seventy-two minutes. Not hours. He doesn't know that.

"Kess." He steps closer. His boots scrape concrete. "Are you listening?"

"I heard you."

"Then move."

I turn. He's got the pack slung over one shoulder, the rifle across his back. The gun—the one he was supposed to use on me six loops ago—is holstered at his hip. Close enough to grab if I'm fast.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"North tunnel. There's an exit near the old harbor. We can disappear before the Council locks down the grid."

"And then what?"

He stops. "What do you mean, 'and then what'?"

"I mean after we disappear. After we run. What happens when the timer hits zero and I reset anyway?"

His jaw tightens. "You don't know that'll happen."

"Yes, I do."

"Kess—"

"I've died seven times, Dalen. Every seventy-two hours. You think geography's going to change that?"

He doesn't answer. He's looking at me like I'm a problem he can't solve with ammunition.

"You want to run," I say. "Fine. Run.