Free Brainrush 05 - Everlast 02: Ephemeral by Richard Bard Page A

across
their chests.
    “Min,” Jiaolong said, “you and the guard outside are with
me. We’ll grab TurboHacker and meet your sisters at the cars. It seems you will
finally have your way with him.” Jiaolong turned to Pak and the other
engineers.
    Pak’s face paled. “There’s not enough time to wipe all the local
drives.”
    Jiaolong nodded. “You know what to do. Transmit the
evacuation code. And activate the charges.”
    ***
    Marshall stared at the vibrating
phone.
    remember, stay calm. sending video now...
    He tapped the download icon and a YouTube video loaded. It
was two days old. He held his breath and hit the Play button.
    A news reporter was saying:
    “Actress Lacey Hunter was critically injured today during
the filming of her latest action movie in Rome, Italy. The actress was
performing her own stunt when...”
    The world seemed to collapse as the words and the accompanying
video jackhammered into his consciousness—the car crashing into the building,
the explosion, the burst of flames, Lacey dragged from the burning wreckage,
her face and hair aflame...
    “Noooo.”
    “Doctors reported that Miss Hunter was near death when
her body mysteriously vanished during a police operation at the hospital...”
    “NOOOOO!”
    “The circumstances surrounding the incident have yet to
be...”
    Marshall jumped to his feet. “Lacey! LACEY!” He spun around
to face the guards at the back of the room. Chang sneered and unclipped the
remote control. His partner pulled his sidearm. They started toward him,
spectators scattering from their path.
    “Come and get me, you sons of bitches!” Marshall screamed.
“I’m gonna tear you limb from—”
    Dolphin grabbed Marshall’s arm. “Please, they’ll kill you!”
    “Exactly!” Marshall spat. He ripped his arm free and shoved
the boy so hard he fell to the floor. But when he turned back to the guards,
they were no longer coming for him. They were rushing toward the exit. A few of
the spectators grabbed their wrists and charged through the crowd to follow
them. Marshall recognized two of them as the yellows he’d seen earlier.
    “Oh, no,” Dolphin said, back on his feet. “It’s happening!”
He moved around to block Marshall’s path, his words tumbling out. “Please wait.
I’m so sorry about your wife. But you needed to know.”
    Marshall stepped around him, but BlackFlag and Tornado were
there with palms outstretched to stop him. “Please wait,” BlackFlag said. “We
need a plan.”
    He pushed past and headed for the door. The others followed
on his heels—Bambi, Whomper, and TomBoy joining them—and Marshall overheard
their anxious interchange.
    “It’s happening!”
    “What are we going to do?”
    “We’ve got to find a way out of here!”
    He shoved through the door and into the central gathering
space. Most of the residents were milling about in confusion, their voices
raised and questioning. But the older ones, likely all yellows, made a beeline
toward one of the stairwell exits. He spotted his two guards; they’d taken up
station at the doorway, checking wrists before permitting anyone to pass. A
third guard showed up and handed each of the other guards a snub-nosed
submachine gun. A growing herd of greens stirred nearby, fear etched on their
faces.
    Marshall hesitated, unsure which way to go. The kids caught
up to him.
    “How do I find DarkMatter?” he shouted.
    The kids exchanged fearful looks. From behind, Shamer slid
into the group. Her hair was tousled, her face red. “He’s probably left
already,” she said breathlessly.
    “So it’s true?” Dolphin asked. “It’s really happening?”
    “ What’s happening?” Marshall asked. “Where has he
gone?”
    “It’s worse”—Shamer gulped, trying to catch her breath—“than
we thought. They’re gonna fire the building.”
    “Fire the building?” BlackFlag asked.
    She leaned over and placed her hands on her knees. “Yeah,”
she said. “Incendiaries. Top four