Free Rebel by Amy Tintera Page A

laughed, gently punching my shoulder. “They’re such trusting souls, aren’t they?”
    That sounded bad. That sounded really, really bad.
    “Now that we have increased our numbers so unexpectedly, we’re going to fast-track the next phase. We’re going to release the rest of the Reboots in the facilities into the cities, starting with Rosa. Then we’ll eliminate the human population.”
    I sucked in a breath.
Eliminate
the human population? All of them?
    “You’d be a big help in Rosa,” he continued. “Riley is the only other Reboot from that facility.” He adjusted the girl on his shoulder. “I get the feeling you’d be an asset on the front lines of anything, though.”
    I swallowed before I spoke, steadying myself. “Why eliminate the human population?”
    “Because they enslaved us and killed us and evolution has spoken. Our turn.”
    “Evolution has spoken?” I repeated.
    “They treat us like we’re some sort of evil virus gone wrong, when in reality we’re the evolved ones. The human race was dying out, and the strong found a way to survive. We should be celebrated, not enslaved.”
    “Why not free the remaining Reboots and leave?” I asked. “You’ll lose more Reboots fighting a war against the humans. Not to mention we lost last time.”
    “Reboot numbers were smaller last time, and they didn’t have the weapons we have. Once we get all the Reboots from the four remaining facilities we’ll be three times the size we are now. And if we leave, humans will continue to Reboot and we’ll have to keep coming back to save them. It’s easier just to get rid of them all.”
    The humans were screwed. Utterly, totally, screwed.
    Micah glanced at me again, hope lighting up his face. I tried to make my expression neutral, but he looked disappointed I didn’t seem more excited about his plan. I turned my gaze to the ground.
    As we reached the shuttle, Riley rushed forward, his eyes bouncing between me and Micah. He was attempting to hide his nerves, but I could see them edging out ever so slightly.
    Riley had told Micah he couldn’t find the humans. Yet they were right around the corner, less than a mile away. I seriously doubted Riley wouldn’t be able to find a target less than a mile away. Not unless he didn’t want to find them.
    The thought comforted me only slightly as we piled into theshuttle. Riley might not be interested in killing humans but he was still playing along.
    The dead humans were placed in the middle of the shuttle with the supplies and I took a quick look at them. The boy was maybe fourteen or so, surprisingly well-fed, with plump cheeks. The girl was tall and probably pretty, but it was hard to tell with her eyes all dead like that. They were still human, dull and a light shade of green.
    I turned away and caught Riley staring at me as we lifted off the ground.
    “How long has it been?” Micah asked.
    “Fifteen or twenty minutes,” Jules replied.
    I stared at the humans as we rode in silence. I’d never seen a human Reboot. The process was long over by the time a Reboot got to HARC, and I’d never been allowed to stick around a dead human long enough to see them Reboot.
    I watched them out of the corner of my eye for a long time, until I heard Micah suck in a breath.
    “Look at the girl.”
    My gaze flew to her, but I wasn’t sure there was anything different. Her human eyes still stared at the ceiling vacantly. I leaned a bit closer.
    Her hand twitched.
    “What time are we at?” Micah asked.
    “Fifty minutes or so?” Jules asked. “We’re going to need a death timer to tell if she’s under sixty or not.”
    Her hand twitched again and I gripped the bottom of my seat, holding my breath.
    Her body convulsed, a huge gasp escaping her mouth as she slammed her chest into the air, then back to the floor.
    She was still again, but her eyes were closed.
    Riley slowly unbuckled his seat belt and edged onto the floor between her and the boy. He sat next to her still