The rain started as we sprinted across the parking lot—cold, fat drops that plastered my hair to my face and blurred the neon "COFFEE & More" sign above the shop. Dr. Shen kept a firm grip on my elbow, half-dragging me toward a rusted pickup truck parked behind a dumpster. Maria limped beside us, pressing a blood-soaked napkin to her temple, her breath ragged.
"Get in!" Shen yelled, yanking open the passenger door. I scrambled in, the seat sticking to my wet jeans, and Maria piled in the back, her movements jerky like a marionette with cut strings. Shen tossed the keys at me. "Drive. Now."
I stared at the keys. "You said you don't have a job to do. Why not let me drive?"
"Because," he said, sliding into the driver's seat, "if Blackwood's drones pick up this truck's GPS, they'll trace it to you. Not me. Now start the engine."
I hesitated, then cranked the key. The engine roared to life, its headlights cutting through the rain like white knives. Behind us, the coffee shop's windows shattered—bam!—followed by the crackle of gunfire.
"Go!" Shen shouted.
I floored it. The truck lurched forward, tires squealing, and we careened onto the main road. Rain hammered the windshield, and I swerved around a delivery van, nearly sideswiping a mailbox. Maria in the back was yelling something, but the wind drowned her out.
"Slow down!" Shen grabbed the wheel, his knuckles white. "They'll chase us faster if you draw attention!"
"Attention?" I yelled back. "We just blew up a coffee shop window with a gun!"
He flinched, like I'd slapped him. "That was… necessary. Rick was compromised. Blackwood would've used him to track us."
"Compromised? He was infected!" I slammed my hand on the dashboard. My arms burned worse than ever—the blue veins now snaking up to my jawline, glowing so bright I could see them in the dark. "What the hell is happening to me? Why does the code keep getting worse?"
Shen's jaw tightened. "The code isn't a virus. It's a program. And you're the mainframe."
I froze. "What?"
"Blackwood didn't create the clones to be soldiers or test subjects. They made us to be hosts. The code is a neural interface—built to hack into human brains, overwrite memories, control actions. But it's flawed. It mutates. It eats the host if it gets too strong."
"Like Rick?" I whispered.
He nodded. "Rick let the code consume him. Now he's a puppet—no free will, just a weapon. Same with the other 70-some clones who 'broke.' Their bodies shut down. Their minds… gone."
I touched my arm, the skin hot under my fingers. "And I'm next?"
"Unless we stop it." He swerved left, avoiding a police cruiser (blue lights flashing, but they didn't give chase—good, because I didn't have a license). "The USB drive in your pocket? It's not just evidence. It's a map. To the lab where the code was developed. To the core server that controls all the clones."
"Why would Blackwood leave that lying around?"
"Because they thought no one would ever find it. 7A hid it, but she was too far gone to use it. You're the first clone with the code strong enough and the will to fight back."
I glanced in the rearview mirror. Maria was leaning forward, her face lit by the truck's dashboard glow. Her eyes were wide, not with fear—with recognition.
"7B," she said, her voice hoarse. "You remember the park, don't you?"
I blinked. "What park?"
"The one near the old library. The one with the carousel. You… you took me there once. When we were kids. You said you wanted to be a hero."
My chest tightened. Kids? Hero? Those words felt familiar, like a song I couldn't quite recall the lyrics to. "I… I don't—"
"Liar," Maria said, but not unkindly. "The code's messing with your head. But some memories stick. Trust me. The lab's not just a lab. It's a prison. For 7A."
Shen slammed on the brakes. The truck skidded to a halt in front of a neon-lit diner, its "OPEN" sign flickering. "Stay here," he said, grabbing a crowbar from under the seat. "I'll check the back."
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"To get a better look at the drive," he said. "And to make sure we're not being followed."
He slipped out, the door slamming behind him. Maria shifted in her seat, wincing. "He's lying," she said quietly.
"What?"
"About the lab. About 7A. He works for Blackwood. Always has."
My stomach dropped. "How do you know that?"
"Because I was there. When they took me. When they… made me." She touched her temple, the same spot where she'd been shot. "The code? It's not just a program. It's a tracking device. Every clone has a beacon. Blackwood uses it to keep us in line. And Shen? He's their hunter. He hunts down the ones who try to escape."
I stared at her. "Why are you telling me this? Why help me?"
She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Because I remember you. From the park. You were the only one who didn't treat me like a number. Like I was… broken."
Before I could respond, the diner's bell jingled. Shen reappeared, holding the USB drive in one hand and a crumpled paper bag in the other. He slid into the driver's seat, the bag rustling.
"Everything okay?" I asked.
"Fine," he said, too quickly. "Let's keep moving."
But as we pulled back onto the road, Maria leaned forward again. "7B, listen to me. The code's not just eating your brain. It's recording you. Every thought, every memory—you're uploading it to Blackwood. That's why they want the drive. To erase what you've seen. To make you forget."
I felt a chill. "How do I stop it?"
"Destroy the drive," she said. "Burn it. Crush it. Then the connection breaks. The code can't upload anymore."
Shen snorted. "And then what? You'll die. The code will still be in your system. It'll shut you down."
"So we're back to square one," I said. "Either I die, or I become a zombie. Great."
Maria ignored him. "There's another way. The lab. If you can get to 7A… she knows how to fight the code. She survived it."
"Survived?" Shen scoffed. "She's catatonic. Locked in a cell. She hasn't spoken in years."
"Liar," Maria repeated. "She's waiting for you. And she's not the only one."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"7C's out there," she said. "And 7D. And 7E. They're all fighting. All trying to break free. You're not alone, 7B. You never were."
The truck hit a pothole, jolting us. I grabbed the wheel to steady it, and when I looked down, the blue veins on my arm had reached my collarbone. They pulsed, bright as neon, matching the rhythm of my heartbeat.
Shen's phone buzzed. He glanced at it, his face going pale. "They're close. Ten minutes out."
"Who?" I asked.
"Blackwood's cleanup crew," he said. "Ex-military. Trained to hunt clones."
Maria cursed under her breath. "Then we need to ditch the truck. Now."
Shen nodded, swerving onto a dirt road. Trees loomed on either side, their branches clawing at the truck like skeletal hands. "There's a bridge up ahead. Over a ravine. We can—"
A gunshot cracked. The passenger-side window shattered.
"Down!" Shen yelled, throwing himself across me. Another bullet pinged off the metal, then a third. Maria screamed, clutching her shoulder—she'd been hit again.
"Drive!" she shouted. "Just drive!"
I stomped on the gas. The truck fishtailed, tires screeching, and we careened toward the bridge. Shen popped back up, blood seeping from a cut on his forehead. He held the crowbar like a weapon, his eyes wild.
"Stay low!" he barked.
The bridge came into view—a rickety wooden thing, half-collapsed, spanning a chasm choked with mist. I hit the brakes, skidding to a stop just before the edge.
"Out!" Shen yelled. "Run!"
Maria and I scrambled out, the rain hammering us. Shen stayed behind, blocking the truck with the crowbar. "Go!" he shouted. "I'll hold them off!"
"Come on!" Maria grabbed my hand, dragging me toward the bridge. The wood creaked under our weight, and I could see straight down into the black abyss below.
Behind us, Shen yelled something—I couldn't make it out over the rain. Then a gunshot. Then silence.
"NO!" I screamed, pulling free of Maria. "Shen!"
"7B, move!" Maria yelled. "He's buying us time!"
I kept running. The bridge swayed, and I gripped the railing, my arms burning hotter than ever. The code was in my head now, whispers filling my skull: "Give up. Let go. We'll make it stop."
But I didn't. I kept running, Maria at my side, until we reached the other side of the bridge. We collapsed onto the grass, gasping.
Maria pointed to a clump of trees. "In there. There's a cabin. Abandoned. We can hide."
I nodded, but my legs felt like jelly. I sank to my knees, the USB drive digging into my pocket. Destroy it, Maria's voice echoed. Break the connection.
But what if 7A was real? What if there was a way to stop the code? What if…
A noise cracked behind us. A twig snapping.
Maria tensed. "Someone's following us."
I grabbed a stick, my hands trembling. "Who?"
She didn't answer. She just pointed.
And that's when I saw them.
Three figures, emerging from the trees. Tall, lean, with the same glowing blue veins snaking up their necks. Clones.
But not like Rick. Not like the zombies. These ones were awake. Their eyes were sharp, focused. And one of them…
One of them smiled.
"7B," she said, her voice familiar. "Long time no see."
And I knew, without a doubt, that my life was about to get a whole lot worse.