The Lofties (The Echelon Book 2) by Ramona Finn (no david read aloud .txt) 📕

brought it down behind us, a deafening avalanche thundering in my head.

I stumbled, head pounding. Lock grabbed my hand again, half-dragging me past the maps, and the gruesome line of tanks. We piled into the elevator and I dropped to my knees. Lock tripped over me, catching the lever as he fell. I heard gears crunch, and we were rising, panting helplessly in the dark.

“Ona,” I choked. “We need to—”

A stuttering wail cut me off, a siren blaring to life. Red light throbbed from above. Lock was saying something, shouting it, but I couldn’t take it in.

“What?”

“Security.” He jerked his thumb up the shaft.

“We’ll just have to fight through them.” I struggled to my feet, dizzy with adrenaline and the static in my head. “We have to get to Ona.”

Lock stared at me, blank-faced, and then he lunged past me. He seized the lever in both hands and jerked back with all his might. The mechanism resisted, gears sparking in protest. Lock planted his boot on the wall and pulled back again. Metal shrieked on metal, and Lock’s coat split its seams. He roared over the siren and flung his weight into the task. The lever snapped off, and he careened into my arms. The cage jumped and juddered, and we ground to a halt.

“What—what’d you do that for?” I shoved Lock away from me. He brushed me aside.

“Move.”

I stood open-mouthed as Lock vaulted up to the railing. He punched the emergency hatch, a quick, brutal jab. It clattered aside, and he clambered onto the roof.

“What are you doing?”

“Come on.” He reached for my hand. I slapped him away, head throbbing, buzzing. I couldn’t think, couldn’t focus past—

“Ona—”

Lock jumped back down and shook me by the shoulders. “We’ll loop back for her, I swear. But we can’t go the way we came. Not without getting caught.”

I stood shivering from blood loss, head still full of bees. Nightmares filled my vision. I saw Prium snatch Ona from behind, her tiara clattering to the floor. I heard her scream, heard Mom scream, watching from the Dirt. I saw Ona snatch a blaster, and the ballroom blaze with—

“Snap out of it.” I felt a slap, light and stinging, across my jaw. Lock jerked me toward him, jolting me off my feet. “I’m not leaving you, so come on.”

I came, riding his momentum as he dragged me to the hatch. I jumped up on my own and climbed past him, shimmying up the cables. I could feel my head clearing, the cobwebs blowing loose. That static was fading the higher I climbed, like a radio signal losing strength. I heaved myself past it, up and up, nearly losing my grip as Lock grabbed my leg.

“Let go.”

“No, look.” He kicked out at a grate set into the wall. It rattled, screwed in tight, and he kicked it again. This time, his foot punched through and stuck there, and when he wrenched it free, the whole grate came with it. Lock shook it loose, and it thundered down the shaft. His phone tumbled after, smashing against the wall. Lock swung through into darkness, and I followed, the sirens fading behind us as we squirmed through a narrow duct.

Lock’s voice drifted back to me, distorted with echoes.

“What?”

He twisted back, slammed his elbow, and grunted in pain. “D’you know where we are?”

I closed my eyes and listened. I heard the thumbbbb of the hydraulic hammer, muffled with distance. Beneath us, a furnace roared, and up ahead—

“That whistling. That’s steam. We’re near the refinery.”

“Then Sky Station should be—”

“We need to get Ona.”

“I know.” Lock started moving again, wriggling like a worm. “That means getting to Sky, and the fastest way’s through the station.”

“Then cover your ears.”

“Huh?”

I held my breath for a moment, listening for the night watch. I heard nothing but steam, that constant off-hours hiss. The duct boomed and vibrated as I brought my elbow down on the seam. I heard a rivet spang loose, and I did it again. The joint sagged and split, then buckled beneath me. I slid and tumbled, crashed through plaster and insulation. A halogen tube sparked, and I felt it burn my arm. Bright light blurred my vision, then my back hit the floor. I lay half-stunned, gasping for air. Lock hung for a moment, suspended above me, then he swung past me and dropped like a cat.

“You okay?”

“Th—thanks for not... Squishing me.” I stood, sneezing out drywall, and Lock steadied me on my feet.

“Where from here?”

“Follow me.” I hurried past the conveyor belt out to the hall. Cameras whirred, taking notice. I ducked my head and kept running, Lock hot on my heels. A new alarm struck up as we burst into the stairwell, the whoop-whoop of the watch signal splitting the night. Lock elbowed up next to me to bellow in my ear.

“When we get to the top, jump straight on the tracks.”

“On the what?”

“The tracks. Past the staging area.”

My head spun. “What, train tracks?”

“It’s Sky Station. What’d you think—”

Light blazed above us, bright and blinding. Guards flooded the landing with their riot shields up.

“That’s them!”

I dropped into a fighting stance, eyes narrowed, teeth bared. A black calm settled over me, slowing time to a crawl. I saw five moves ahead, sharp as memory, and in my mind I’d won already—shouldered that first guard aside, cast him over the railing. Bulled into that second one, knocking his shield from his grasp. I’d snatched his blaster off his hip, jammed it under his chin. Pulled him flush to my chest—one move and he’s dead—

I lowered my head and surged forward, braced for impact. The first guard lowered his shield. I steamed into him and smelled rubber and the cold scent of window cleaner. My teeth rattled together, and I pushed. I felt resistance, heard bones crunch, and moved on to my next target. His shield came down, and I ducked, head like a bullet, rocketing into his—

“Don’t.”

My collar bit into my throat, cutting off my air. I felt myself snatched back