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The White Rose members were waiting for Ayanna’s cue to storm the event room: two sharp blasts on her whistle. Seconds ticked by, though, and nothing happened, even though we could hear chatter from the crowd. A minute later, a deep male voice came on over the sound system. Smug, arrogant, and very familiar.

“Good afternoon, citizens of the Delta,” Jim J said silkily. “Today, your oppressive, illegitimate rulers have brought the Sole Survivor into the open, in direct defiance of the rightful rule of the Order of Odessa. This act of disrespect will not go unpunished.”

This fucking guy, I fumed. My instincts told me to go out into the hall, but one of the militia commanders—a guy called Everett—appeared in the doorway.

“He’s not physically here,” he announced to the room. “The Order’s hacked into the sound system and they’re broadcasting his voice. It may not even be live. For now, hold your positions. We don’t have the full picture of what’s going on yet.”

With Claire out there, exposed to these freaks? No fucking way.

“The time has come to choose who you serve,” Jim J’s voice said. “Us, or your false masters who keep you in chains, doomed to die as unremarkable and unremembered. Some of you will die today in service to the cause…a price that we willingly pay so the rest of you will see the light and join us. A glorious golden age awaits us all. Choose wisely.”

So done listening to this fuckhead. I was pushing my way to the door through the crowd of militia members, determined to do something, anything, that wasn’t sitting here waiting for the Order to turn up.

It was when I reached the door that a colossal boom rang out, followed by an enormous crash and the screams of hundreds of people suddenly running for their lives.

Chapter 13

Claire

When I stood on the stage, waiting for my cue to step to the podium, I was mired in the mists of memory. I’d dreamt of John the night before: his lips on mine, his whispers in my ear. But, like he always did in my dreams since we’d been separated, he slipped through my fingers like a ghost. When I woke, my face and pillow were wet with tears.

I took a deep breath. Julius wasn’t in attendance at this event; he claimed he had a prior engagement, but I thought he simply didn’t like mingling with regular people. Since this was meant to be an event for the community at large, he wasn’t interested.

I looked over at Hamilton, who stood to my right, his arms folded. He had a long electric rod attached to his belt, just like the ones that Julius’s guards had used to subdue me before. He’d never worn it before, and when I asked him about it, I hadn’t liked his answer.

“Crowd control,” he’d said, though he looked uncomfortable at the idea. “It has two settings, depending on the intensity of the shock. We’re advised to only use the first setting for non-lethal means. The higher setting causes muscle paralysis, which is useful for subduing a fugitive, but it’s also capable of stopping a human heart.”

“Wonderful,” I’d replied sarcastically, realizing that Julius’s guards had almost certainly used the second setting on me. “You’re real humanitarians here at the Delta.”

He’d given me a stern look in return. “You don’t understand what it’s been like here, with the uprisings.”

Things had been tense between us since then, and even though he was the only person who’d been the least bit decent to me in this awful place, I didn’t care. It was just a reminder that in the end, he was one of them.

I walked to the podium on cue, but when I opened my mouth to deliver my canned speech, Jim J’s voice rang out over the speakers instead. My microphone wasn’t working, and when I looked to Major Hamilton, I could see brief confusion cross his face before it was replaced by guardedness and worry. The Delta soldiers acting as security were immediately on alert.

But not fast enough.

Movement at the corner of my vision caught my attention, and I looked up to the glass roof. Two men, wearing Order masks, were on top of the glass, wearing bulky vests with wires sticking out. When they were positioned directly over the crowd, they gave each other a thumbs up, and then the world blew apart.

I screamed and flew backwards, thrown to the floor by the force of the blast. Screams echoed throughout the room, along with shouts from the Delta soldiers. Lying on my stomach, I took brief stock of myself. My right ear was ringing; my left one was completely silent. Blood leaked out of it onto my white sheath dress, staining it with deep red drops.

Shock made my whole body tremble, but I managed to stand. Other than my ear, I didn’t think I was badly injured. As I looked out at the chaos before me, I couldn’t say the same for everyone else.

The bombs had shattered the glass and blew apart the steel support beams that threaded across it. Huge chunks of steel and sharp shards of glass had rained down on the crowd, killing people instantly, including many of the Delta soldiers meant to be protecting us.

“Ainsley!” Hamilton’s voice boomed. I could tell he was yelling, but his voice sounded muted to me. “We have to get out of here.”

Hamilton’s hand closed over my wrist, and he pulled me behind the stage, using the platform for cover. In a daze, I realized that I’d lost both my shoes when I was blown backward. Broken glass cut my bare feet as he dragged me along. I didn’t know where we were going; the main entrance to the library was blocked by debris and dead bodies. We’d have to head for the side hallways and find an emergency exit.

As quickly as I’d had the thought, two sharp whistle blasts cut through the din of screaming and fleeing, and a crowd of new people flooded into the ruined auditorium from the side hallways. I’d have guessed they were more Delta soldiers—reinforcements to help evacuate—but they wore gas masks and armbands, and their first act was to fire on the surviving Delta soldiers.

“Fuck!” Hamilton yelled, pulling me to the floor. He covered me and returned fire on the invading army. With so many Delta soldiers already down, they were outnumbered.

“Of course, the White Rose chooses now to attack,” Hamilton snarled, almost to himself. His fellow soldiers were doing their best to return fire, and I could tell he wanted to join them.

An opportunity for escape was rapidly presenting itself. I didn’t have time to come up with a plan; I simply had to seize the moment and sort out the rest later.

“Go help them,” I shouted to Hamilton over the chaos. “I’ll be fine here.”