Read Heavenfall: Genviants Book 1 for Free Online Page B

telling the truth, in a few days it won't matter. My chances of surviving the wave are greater if the nanites work."
    "What I don't understand is why us," Jonah said.
    "Why you? Because there are only three people Hadrian can't kill. You and Mary are two of them."
    Mary curled into the cushion. "Back in the alley, you weren't lying? Hadrian really is after me?"
    "Yes. The mech security in the city? They were looking for you. Hadrian sent a squad to the house, but neither of you were here, so he sent them looking for you. I've been monitoring their movements, and I can guarantee they will be back here. They don't think you two will be out after curfew. Do you have somewhere you can go?"
    "Yeah. A couple of places." Always careful, Jonah didn't offer specifics.
    "Why me?" Mary asked. None of what Dex told them made sense. "I'm not mech. I don't have any special skills. Why is he after me and not Jonah?"
    "To assure Jonah's cooperation. If Hadrian has you, he knows Jonah would do anything to keep you safe. And it will take all three of you to take Hadrian down."
    "Who's the third?" Mary asked.
    "Not me," Dex answered and gave her a wry smile "Hadrian already has him. He's being held prisoner at the old Brushy Mountain prison facility with a handful of others Hadrian considers dangerous, and a few political prisoners." The curfew warning, three blasts from the civil defense speakers, echoed through the trees. Dex ignored the alarm. "We need him to stop Hadrian."
    "Brushy Mountain?" Mary asked, not believing she'd heard him correctly.
    "You can't even get to it now," Jonah added. "The place is too overgrown. The forest has completely swallowed it. I heard rumors that Hadrian wanted to re-open it about a year ago in an effort to get some control over the mech gangs and to house the people camping outside the wall. Then it died out. Word was, even with all the equipment at his disposal, he couldn't make it happen."
    "And you believed it?" Dex leaned forward, forearms on his knees, and looked straight into Jonah's eyes. "Hadrian demolished businesses, leveled the land they sat on, and cleared twelve miles of Clinton Highway, and had it rebuilt. Then, he added security enhancements on Edgemoor Road and Pellissippi Parkway to make sure he controlled the access to the old nuclear facilities. Do you really think he couldn't clear access to Brushy Mountain through a few thousand feet of forest?"
    "Like I said, rumors."
    "Yes, well, Hadrian controls the information—all of it, even the rumors."
    More questions circled in her mind, but they were drowned out by the sirens. The sound sliced into her, louder, more shrill, than usual, and she doubled over in pain. Rocking back and forth with her hands covering her ears, she couldn't hear anything but the sound echoing in her mind. The others moved toward her, and their voices buzzed around her in meaningless words. Why didn't the sirens stop?
    "Mary!" Jonah grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look at him. "You've got blood coming out of the corners of your mouth, and it's bad. Real bad."
    She gulped for air, tried to speak, but her words were choked. Blood bubbled in her throat, choking out her voice, until she couldn't control it. It gushed out her mouth, trailed over her lips, and soaked the front of her shirt.
    In her mind, she screamed.
    She closed her eyes, wanting to cry. Wanting to wash away the red haze, but her tears did nothing except add to the increasing pain. Blackness closed in around her, but she fought it. She couldn't pass out. If she let the darkness take her, she might not make it back.
     
    ***
    Dex looked around the room. Ursula and Niko stayed calm and quiet, but concern shown in their eyes. Corene had pulled Mary out of Jonah's grasp and had her cradled in a tight hug. Nothing to do now but wait.
    Jonah stood, fisted the starched lapels of Dex's coat, and pulled him close so they were nose to nose. "Activate the nanites."
    Dex held his hands up in a sign of surrender.