Partials series 1-3. Dan Wells

      “I turned it off,” said Haru. “If one of the scouts is compromised, they’ve already got the drop on us. The only reason to give up that info is to figure out where we are. They might have already traced the signal—I don’t know what kind of tech they have.”

      “But both messages knew our code words,” said Kira. “There’s got to be some way that both scouts are still safe. Maybe they just didn’t see the same thing—maybe they were looking at two different buildings.”

      “No.” Haru shook his head. “They’ve worked together too long—they wouldn’t accuse each other that plainly if they weren’t completely sure. If the first call was real, the second can’t be, and if the second call was real, obviously we have to believe that the first was lying.”

      “They couldn’t have tortured anyone that fast,” said Jayden, standing slowly. “There’s no way they could have gotten the code words unless . . .” He paused. “What about . . . It couldn’t be, that’s insane.”

      “What are you talking about?” asked Haru.

      “It’s nothing,” said Jayden. “I’m just being paranoid.”

      “That’s a pretty healthy thing to be right now,” said Kira.

      Jayden swallowed, glanced at Haru, then looked back at Kira. “What if one of the scouts is a Partial?”

      “That’s not even—” said Kira, but stopped midsentence. She was about to say it wasn’t possible, but what if it was?

      “That’s ridiculous,” said Haru. “I’ve known both Nick and Steve for years.”

      “Since before the Break?” asked Jayden.

      “Well, no,” said Haru, “but still. There’s no way.”

      “They look exactly like us,” said Jayden. “Who’s to say some of them haven’t been living among us this whole time?”

      Kira leaned back against the wall, her legs weak, feeling the sudden need for support. The ramifications were terrifying, but the logic . . . didn’t hold up. “Why now?” she asked. “If they wanted us dead, they could have done it at any time—what do they gain by betraying us here, in the middle of nowhere?”

      “I don’t know,” said Jayden harshly. “I’m just thinking out loud.”

      “Everybody calm down,” said Haru. “They’re not Partials.”

      “Voice, then,” said Jayden. “They could be using a traitor in our own ranks to sabotage the mission.”

      “I vouched for both of them!” whispered Haru.

      “That’s exactly what I’m saying,” said Jayden, and Kira saw that his hand was creeping near his pistol. She pressed herself back against the counter, caught between the two soldiers. Out in the hallway, Gabe turned to watch the exchange with a look of angry shock.

      Haru saw the position of Jayden’s hand, caught the tone of his voice, and stiffened immediately. “You bastard—”

      “Wait,” said Kira, “we don’t have time for this—if one of us were a traitor, he could have betrayed everyone a lot more effectively a long time ago.” She took a deep breath and stepped forward, blocking the line of fire between them. “There is a real enemy out there, whatever they end up being, and they know where we are. If one of the scouts was compromised, through torture or whatever else, he may have already told them we’re in one of these apartment buildings—the only thing he didn’t know was which one. That means they’re closer than we think—”

      Kira stopped and turned toward the hallway. Was that . . . ? She thought she’d heard something, but it was gone now. She made a move toward her gun.

      A loud shot echoed through the hallway, and Gabe dropped like a side of beef. Kira yelped, staring at Gabe’s fallen body in shock. Haru ran toward the door, stopping a few feet back to examine the body. He turned back and mimed with his hands: a explosion pointing one way, a gun, and then a strong point back in the other direction. The blood sprayed toward the left, Kira translated, which means the shooter was standing to the right. He pulled a grenade from his belt, pulled the pin, and tossed it toward the right. The building shook when it exploded, knocking dust from the walls.

      “That’ll buy us some time,” he grunted, and picked up his rifle.

      Kira fought to regain her composure, trying to force herself to react, and finally ran forward. Haru tried to pull her back, but she strained against him.

      “I have to help him.”

      “He’s dead.”

      Kira struggled to pull away. “I’m a medic, I can help him!”

      “He’s dead, Kira,” said Haru fiercely. He whispered sharply in her ear, keeping his voice low while his hands held her back like iron bands. “Gabe’s been shot and killed, and whoever shot him is still in that hallway, and the next person to stick her head out there is going to die with him.”

      “You have to let me help him!”

      “There’s nothing you can do for him,” said Jayden softly. “Right now we’ve got to figure out how to survive the next five minutes.”

      Kira looked up and saw both Jayden and Yoon down on one knee, tucked into the corners of the room, rifles trained on the doorway. Of course, she thought, slowly regaining her composure, the Partials took out Gabe because they’re coming for us next. She stopped pushing toward the door, and Haru slowly released her and raised his rifle, falling back into the cover of the hallway. She followed him, keeping her rifle up and her eyes trained on the open door.

      “How much time do we have?”

      “No idea,” said Jayden, crossing to their hallway while Kira and Haru covered the door. Yoon followed. “Haru got that grenade out there pretty quick; they’re going to be a little reticent to charge in.”

      “Which is the only reason we’re still alive,” said Yoon. “If this turns into a straight-up fight, we lose.”

      “There are no other exits,” said Haru. “This is going to turn into a straight-up fight sooner or later.”

      “We could go out the window,” said Yoon, “maybe get behind them.”

      “That’s too exposed,” said Jayden, “not to mention five floors up.”

      Kira cocked her head, listening. “They’re coming again. Do you have any more grenades?”

      Jayden frowned. “You can hear them?”

      “You can’t?”

      Jayden shook his head, primed a grenade, and tossed it out the doorway blindly, past Gabe’s motionless body and off to the right toward the Partials. The building shook, and Kira put a hand on the wall for stability.

      “Couple more of those and there won’t even be a floor for them to walk on,” said Haru.

      Jayden grinned and pulled out another grenade. “Not a bad idea.”

      “Wait,” said Kira quickly, grabbing his arm. “Take out the hallway and all you do is postpone the attack.”

      “I know,” said Jayden. “That’s kind of the point.”

      She lowered her voice to the softest whisper she could make. “Do you have any other explosives?”

      Jayden looked at her quizzically, and Haru stepped closer to listen. Yoon kept her gun on the doorway.

      “Do you have any other explosives?” Kira repeated, as softly as she could.

      Haru patted his backpack and whispered back. “C4.”

      Kira nodded. “If we take out the hallway, we’ll still get attacked, but we won’t know when or where it’ll come from. But if