37 #3
“We’re not experiments for you to control. Takeshi and I are just as human as everyone else.”
“That’s what you think—”
“That’s what I know!” she shouted. “I’m not going to let you manipulate us any longer. You’ve lost, Alan. The people are fighting back, and they know the radiation is a lie.”
Alan chuckled and rose from his chair, the clock continuing its countdown.
4:03
4:02
4:01
“You think I haven’t already run through a billion scenarios? My system works faster than you can even dream. If the chips failed and humans managed to survive, I still have workable bombs from the Great Collapse that I can activate to wipe out every remaining city.”
Her face drained of color, and the Governor nodded at her stunned expression.
“You realize it now, don’t you? There’s nothing you can do to stop me. The rest of humanity will fall, and I will be victori—”
Bang!
Takeshi shot him in the head. “You talk too much.”
But Alan didn’t fall to the ground. His blue eyes went cold, a terrifying roar escaping him as he rushed at Takeshi with unfathomable speed. Takeshi and Khalani fired their guns, but he kept coming.
Alan met Takeshi head-on and threw the first punch. He dodged it, but the Governor moved faster than humanly possible—faster even than Takeshi’s modified speed—and struck him in the chest. He kicked his knee, sending Takeshi crashing to the floor.
“No!” Khalani pulled the trigger again, but the gun was out of ammo.
She tossed the weapon aside, grabbing her knife as she launched forward. The Governor landed another heavy punch to Takeshi’s head as she yelled, stabbing him in the back.
Alan slowly turned, locking his haunting blue eyes on her. He slowly pulled the knife from his suit.
“I told you that wasn’t nice.” His calm voice sent bone-chilling fear through her.
Takeshi struggled to his feet as the Governor fixed his deadly sight on Khalani and charged.
She stood her ground, pulling her elbow back and throwing the hardest punch she could. But Alan blocked it, as if she were a mere child. She followed it up with another hit, but he ducked, flipping the sharp blade in his grip.
All she saw was a flash of metal before he plunged the knife into her stomach.
The air left her lungs in a ragged gasp. She bent over, clutching the hilt embedded deep in her belly.
Takeshi released a primal scream as her knees fell to the floor, her hands stained with blood.
Crashes echoed, and she barely looked up as Takeshi barreled into the Governor so hard, they crashed through the window and landed on the front lawn, out of sight.
Her body trembled, vision flickering in and out.
But for some reason, she didn’t feel any pain.
Her limbs were going numb.
In the back of her mind, she knew that was a bad sign.
The gold carpet on the floor looked so enticing. All she wanted was to lie down and close her eyes. Just for a second…
Takeshi’s brutal roar shattered her thoughts.
Takeshi…
Takeshi!
She glanced at the clock.
2:15
2:14
2:13
Khalani blinked rapidly, trying to keep herself awake as she forced herself to rise. She spotted stairs at the far end of the room and put one foot in front of the other, keeping a hand on the blade still lodged in her stomach.
But the movement jostled the knife. Her hand slapped the wall as she nearly crumbled, close to losing consciousness.
But she had to keep going.
She had to save Takeshi.
Just wait a few more moments to die.
She blocked out everything, focusing on each step down the stairs. When she finally reached the bottom, Khalani shoved her shoulder against the white door and burst out onto the front lawn of the White House.
Takeshi and Alan grappled in the grass.
Even though Alan was faster, Takeshi fought with an untamed fury the machine had never seen in its three hundred years of existence.
Takeshi bellowed as he punched him repeatedly, his fists a conduit of rage. But the Governor suddenly gripped Takeshi by his collar and hurled him overhead.
Takeshi scrambled to his feet, his clothing disheveled, sporting numerous cuts on his face. But they rushed at each other, colliding like titans.
Something flew out of Alan’s pocket and landed on the grass.
Her eyes centered on it. The button to activate Project Helix.
She stumbled forward, her steps uneven as she hobbled over the bushes, still clutching the knife handle jutting out from her abdomen. She tripped and fell a few feet away from the gleaming button.
When she looked back up, the Governor was laying deadly punches into Takeshi’s body, not holding back anymore.
Khalani tried to rise to her feet, but her legs could no longer move. She crawled on the ground, pulling the blades of grass, dragging herself inch by agonizing inch.
Half a foot away, she reached for the device just as the Governor moved behind Takeshi and wrapped his arms around his head.
About to break his neck.
She stretched her arm as far as she could, crying out as the blade twisted deeper into her stomach, her vision nearly black. Any second, she would pass out, but her fingertips brushed metal.
The Governor twisted his arms across Takeshi’s neck.
And Khalani pushed the button.