Free The Ones by Daniel Sweren-Becker Page B

him about the Vaccine, since that was the whole reason she had come in the first place. But she had a feeling that she should focus on separating Kai and James as quickly as possible. Nothing good was going to come from their interacting any longer. Anyway, she had Kai’s number now—she could ask him about the Vaccine on her own.
    â€œSounds good,” Cody said. “We should really be going now.”
    â€œOf course. Be safe, and we’ll talk soon,” Kai said. He nodded at both of them and then jogged back toward the church.
    James started walking to the car. Cody grabbed her bike and ran to catch up with him. She threw it in the trunk and got inside, and then they rode back to Shasta in silence.
    It was the last time they’d be together before everything changed.
    *   *   *
    When Cody woke up on the morning of List Day, she had a clear plan in her head. She was going to jog over to James’s house, thank him for looking out for her, and then in the calmest way possible explain why she agreed with the New Weathermen. If he disagreed, she’d be disappointed, but at least they’d be communicating about it. And if she absolutely had to, she would tell him the rumor about the Vaccine. That was what had worked on her, after all, when Kai had left her in the diner. She had imagined James or herself being irrevocably changed, and it was too much to bear. She liked them the way they were and knew James did, too. So that was the plan—she truly believed that she and James could fix things.
    But when James threw open her bedroom door while Cody was still blinking awake, she knew something terrible had happened.
    â€œHave you checked your computer yet?” he asked gravely.
    â€œNo. I just woke up. What’s going on? Why are you over here so early?”
    James picked up Cody’s computer. “Here. See for yourself.” He handed it to her and gave her some space.
    Cody opened the computer and caught up with the rest of world. At six o’clock that morning, every American citizen had received the same e-mail. It was sent by a woman named Edith Vale, an analyst at the National Security Agency. Attached to the e-mail was a remarkable document.
    It was a list of every single One in the country.
    It included their names, addresses, and photos. Each identity was confirmed by the Social Security number that the NIH used to monitor the genetic-engineering program. The List, it seemed, could not be more comprehensive and official. It had everyone from the most recent newborns to those in their early twenties. Cody gasped in horror, realizing the gravity of this action. The List was meant to unleash terror. To serve as a map. To expose each individual One to the fate they deserved. Edith Vale had put a bull’s-eye on every single one of them.
    And then came the greater shock.
    Cody’s name wasn’t on it.
    The List was divided by ZIP code, and Cody quickly scrolled down to the section that contained the citizens of Shasta. She saw James’s name. She saw the names of the Ones she knew from school. She saw Kai’s name and others that she vaguely recognized. Cody scrolled around, checking in every possible way. She imagined that maybe they had mixed up her name somehow, or where she lived. If this was a list of every single One, then she had to be on it. She did a formal computer search within the entire document, and still there was nothing. No matter how hard she looked, her name wasn’t listed.
    Cody turned to James, who was hanging over her shoulder searching, as well. They locked eyes as the same thought shook each of them with all the grace of an earthquake.
    Cody wasn’t a One.

 
    CHAPTER 6
    CODY WAS ALWAYS fast, of course. How she had the wherewithal to stand, to move, to dart out of the house, James didn’t understand. But once she had the head start, there was no catching her.
    James couldn’t fathom how anyone could