Free Enemy Inside (Defectors Trilogy) by Tarah Benner Page A

the ID rover.  
    Praying there weren’t any more rovers on the other side, I pulled Amory through the snow. He was resisting, dragging his heels as I yanked him toward the source of the frequency, and I had to summon all my strength to fight against him. My back screamed in agony, and my arms ached from holding him up, but I knew if I released him, he would collapse.  
    I stumbled, and his wet cheek brushed against mine.  
    No. They would not get us.  
    Amory made a choking sound as we crossed under the rover, and I kept my eyes straight forward. I couldn’t look at the pain on his face. He dry heaved again, and his muscles twitched. For a horrible moment, I thought he was having a seizure, but I did not stop.  
    The sirens were blaring now. There was no time.
    I squinted desperately to the next intersection, but I couldn’t tell if there was another rover. As I pulled Amory along, his cries of pain grew farther apart, but he was still shaking and unsteady as we plowed through the fresh dusting of snow. With the weight of Amory, the strap of my rifle cut into my shoulder painfully. It was useless now; I could not shoot and hold him.
    Looking over my shoulder, I could see the lights from the PMC cruiser bouncing off the building behind us. They would turn the corner soon. We could not outrun them.
    Amory’s head went limp, and then his entire body collapsed. I staggered, bent double under the sudden dead weight.  
    He had passed out.  
    Legs shaking, I struggled to keep him upright, but I was fighting a losing battle. He was much too heavy.
    Gasping for air, I stumbled into the shadows with him. There were no buildings for us to hide in — only great heaps of rubble and ash and splintered wood. It was our only option left, and I could not carry him anymore.
    As gently as I could, I dropped Amory into the snow. He fell limp into a pile of crumbled brick and insulation. I looked around desperately for something — anything — to cover us. I spotted a ripped piece of cardboard. It was wet with snow, but it was big. I threw myself down on the ground and curled up around Amory, pulling the piece of cardboard over our heads and rolling us into the rubble.
    The sirens were deafening now. They shattered the peace of the snow and the darkness as the cruiser came barreling down the street. I knew my boots were exposed, but the part of my pant leg that showed blended in with the snow. I held still, breathing loudly into Amory’s chest.  
    The cruiser slowed to a crawl, and I could feel the officers’ eyes scraping the shadows, looking for a flash of white — anything to betray our location. The tires crunched loudly through the snow, and I tried to quiet my labored breathing. Surely it was loud enough for every PMC officer in the vicinity to hear.
    But the cruiser moved on, and the sound of the siren faded into the destroyed buildings. I lay still, not daring to move. There were probably others. Now that they knew whom Amory had escaped with, every PMC officer in the city would have my picture from the cameras at Isador.
    My rifle was cutting into my back. I rolled over, and Amory gasped, his chest heaving against my cheek. He thrashed around under the sheet of cardboard, muscles tensed, but I pulled him tightly against me.
    “Shhh.”
    “What’s going on?” Amory’s voice was panicked, and I felt a twinge of guilt that he had to wake up this way. After his time with the PMC, I knew it must be terrifying.
    “Lie still,” I whispered.
    “Are they gone?”
    “Yeah. But there could be others.”
    Amory’s thin T-shirt was damp with cold sweat, his chest rising and falling rapidly, and I was suddenly very aware that every part of my body was pressed against his. I felt the heat rising up my face and was grateful he could not see.  
    After a while, I couldn’t hear the sirens anymore. The night was completely still.
    Cautiously, I lifted the cardboard off my head and peered around. Nothing.  
    I sat up and pushed