‘To call my girlfriend,’ I say, raising the phone. ‘Remember? You illegally detained her that one time.’

‘Oh, great,’ Walker replies. I can hear her mutter to the driver. ‘We’re depending on a bunch of horny teenagers to save the world.’

Better us than people like Walker, I think, but pretend not to have heard her snide remark.

The phone rings five times, each one causing my heart to beat a little faster, before Sarah answers, narrowly evading the dump to voice mail.

‘Before you say anything,’ she begins, not even saying hello, her voice shaky, ‘I just want you to know that I’m okay.’

‘What happened?’ I ask, trying to keep that first rush of panic out of my voice. I can hear the sound of traffic in the background. Sarah’s in a moving car.

‘We went into town for supplies and had a run-in with some Mogs,’ Sarah says, still catching her breath. ‘I guess they tracked us down somehow, not too happy about the They Walk Among Us thing. Don’t worry, we’re all fine. Bernie Kosar handled them.’

‘Are you somewhere safe?’

‘We will be soon,’ she replies. ‘Mark’s hacker buddy GUARD gave us directions to his home base in Atlanta.’

Mark had some details about GUARD in one of his emails to Sarah. He’s another conspiracy junkie, like one of those guys from the old version of They Walk Among Us. But he’s also an excellent hacker and, according to Mark, has access to a surprising amount of information. It makes me a little nervous that Sarah and Mark are headed to meet him without us knowing his identity.

‘What does Mark know about this guy?’ I ask.

Sarah repeats my question to Mark. I can’t quite make out his reply over all the noise from the road.

‘Mark says he’s probably some nerd hiding out in his mom’s basement,’ Sarah repeats dryly. ‘But that he’s a “solid dude” and that we can trust him.’

I roll my eyes at Mark’s scouting report. ‘That’s heartening. Just in case, I’m going to text you the location of somewhere safe. It’s a base in Washington that we took over, loaded with government guys who are on our side. If you need somewhere to run to, you could head there.’

I hear two engines rumble to life behind me. I turn around to see all of Walker’s agents piled into the cars. Nine and Sam still stand outside our SUV, waiting for me. Nine makes an impatient wrap-it-up motion.

‘What’s going on there?’ Sarah asks me. ‘On your way to do something stupid but possibly world saving?’

‘Pretty much,’ I reply, allowing myself a faint smile. ‘Did you get those documents I sent you?’

‘Yeah,’ Sarah replies. ‘We’ll have a chance to upload them once we’re in Atlanta.’

‘Perfect. I’ve got a feeling They Walk Among Us is about to get a lot more hits.’ I pause, reluctant to get off the phone. ‘The others are waiting for me. I’ve gotta go.’

‘Mark says to go kick some ass. And I love you.’ Sarah catches herself, laughing. ‘Mark didn’t say that last part. That was from me.’

We say our good-byes and I’m left with that same feeling of longing mixed with dread that I get after every one of these phone conversations. I trudge back to the SUV. Everyone else is already inside except for Sam.

‘So you’re putting all of Walker’s documents on They Walk Among Us?’ Sam asks. ‘It’s a good idea. Like anti-Mogadorian propaganda.’

‘It’s a desperate idea, is what it is,’ I say glumly. ‘No one’s going to be digging through search results while their cities are getting bombarded.’

‘There’s a comforting thought,’ Sam replies, frowning. ‘But seriously, that’s a lot of heavy reading. If you’re trying to get people on our side, it shouldn’t just be about the Mogadorians. You shouldn’t just be trying to scare people. They’ll be scared enough as it is. You’ve gotta give them some hope.’

‘What do you suggest?’

Sam thinks about it for a second, then shrugs. ‘I don’t know yet. I’ll come up with something.’

I nod and pat Sam on the shoulder, the two of us climbing back into the car. I know he’s just trying to help, and that’s why I don’t tell him that whatever he comes up with … it might be too late.

We make it to New York about an hour later. I’ve never been here before and neither have Nine or Sam. I wish our visit could be under different circumstances. As we inch along in heavy traffic through a canyon of skyscrapers, I find myself craning my neck to look out the window. Chicago is a huge city, but the frenetic jostle of pedestrians on the sidewalks here is something else entirely. There are flashing signs advertising Broadway shows, yellow cabs darting in and out of traffic, a hum of activity all around us.

And these people have no idea what’s heading their way.

As we drive farther uptown towards Sanderson’s hotel, we pass a dude wearing a cowboy hat and underwear, strumming an acoustic guitar for a crowd of tourists. Nine snorts.

‘Look at this,’ he says, shaking his head. ‘That shit wouldn’t fly in Chicago.’

I lean forward to get Walker’s attention. ‘Are we close?’

‘A few more blocks,’ she replies.

I reach down to make sure my Loric dagger is still fastened securely to my leg. I also touch my wrist, reflex telling me to check for my shield bracelet, except that it’s gone, destroyed by the General.