“We have a drone,” the general tries again, louder this time, “positioned over the mansion.” His pudgy finger points to the floating map. The awesomely detailed diagram lays out every level and room of our battlefield. Tiny red dots—hundreds of them—zoom this way and that like drunken bull’s-eyes.

“Our thermal sensors have pinpointed anything with a pulse inside the mansion,” the general explains.

“What makes you dead sure Governor Roth is the one in the bunker?” Rayla comes in hot.

Name tags start flashing next to the dot humans.

The Guard—the Common’s Guard—must’ve taken over the NSA’s microchip tracking system. Impressive.

The general and his entire unit must have cut out their chips so their former teammates would be unable to track them. Guards without chips. Mind blown.

Back to the map. The general air-circles the front left rooms of the mansion. “No bodies have been picked up by our sensors inside the Governor’s Quarters.” He zooms in below ground. “As you can see here, a single dot is fortified within the underground shelter. The dot has no microchip. All intelligence points to this bunker as our target.”

“How do we take the bunker?” Ava asks, all gutsy and fiery, like her red hair.

“The tunnels.” Alexander and the general let drop this explosive info at the exact same time.

Secret tunnels? Thank Whitman. I delete the insane image of me charging the mansion’s wall, dodging bullets as I run, archaic war style. Drones go to battle. Not people.

“There are five hidden access points to the bunker,” the general states. He’s taken to shouting now so the back rows can appreciate his military show-and-tell. “Four access points are located half a mile from the Governor’s Mansion, each connected to a network of tunnels that lead to the bunker.”

Yeah, and where’s the fifth?

“A closet inside the Governor’s Quarters conceals the final entry point.”

“The fifth tunnel entrance is closest to the bunker.” Alexander takes over. “Yet it will be the most difficult by far. You have to get through the wall and into the mansion all while under heavy fire from the Guard.”

“I will lead a team through the fifth tunnel,” Rayla shouts.

Of course she will. I command-Z the image of bullets whizzing past my head back into existence. I guzzle down the rest of my water from my bottle. Bulletproof, remember?

The general nods at Rayla’s rock-solid nerve. “My Guard will cover your team and take the brunt of enemy fire.”

Emery steps up. “The Common will charge the mansion from all sides. We will besiege the governor’s house from above and below ground—strike from every angle, ensuring the governor has nowhere to run.”

Our leader raises her hand, showing her members how it’s done. “I will lead the south tunnel.”

“Ava and I will lead the east,” Mira shouts. No surprise there.

“I will head the west tunnel,” Xavier yells.

“Ciro and I will take the north,” Barend calls out.

“It’s decided!” Rayla concludes.

“Will you use the heat-ray gun?” Theo pipes up from the middle of the crowd. His eyes latch on to Mira’s.

“Only as intimidation,” Emery answers, her own eyes on General Pierce. “We do not torture. We are not like our enemy.”

This gets a rousing cheer.

“We need a decisive victory.” The general huddles close to the Elders. “We must move out now.”

“Memorize your routes! Gather your teams!” Emery shouts to the Common. “We will storm the mansion on the hour!”

One and all, we hightail it to the cars.

“I totally got this. This is not our first rodeo.” I jog in place, getting my motor running, then stretch my fingers, prepping them for the wheel. “It’s pretty nuts we’re a part of something like this,” I say to anyone who’s listening.

“You’re not just a part anymore, Cog,” Blaise answers, slapping a pair of communication devices into my hand. “No matter how much it pains me to say it, you helped make this happen.”

“Kind words from Blaise?” I say, shoving the earpiece into my ear canal. I fit the tiny mouthpiece onto my back molar. “Guess that means you think I’m a goner.”

I swear I can see a goofy grin behind his flame-toothed smile.

“You’ll stay at the control room, then, and guide Rayla’s team?”

“I’ll be your blazing, guiding light,” Blaise says, all dramatic.

I roll my eyes. I didn’t know Blaise was punny.

“Don’t die,” Blaise tells me, his go-to goodbye.

Don’t die is number one on my to-do list. A close second: nab Governor Roth.

MIRA

Bright beams of light from the Cavalry cars shine all around me. A cacophony of ear-splitting engines and battle cries fills the massive concrete garage. It sounds beautiful to me.

Strangers, friends, fellow citizens, and Common members all surround the inner circle, awaiting the call to make our move on the mansion.

Barend hands out bulletproof vests and weapons. Ciro passes out Goodwin masks. Half of our members already have the disguises strapped to their faces.

Thousands of Ava and Mira Goodwins come to take back our city.

One face stands out. Haven’s. Will I ever be able to look at her and not think of my mother?

She moves to Ava and me, tugging off her hood. She has a long red mane like we used to have before we chopped it all off the morning we ran.

“Goodbye,” Haven says.

“Not goodbye,” Ava tells her. My sister hovers and hesitates, not knowing if she should go in for a hug.

It’s all so new. I trust time will bridge our gaps.

“See you soon,” I say, gripping Haven’s shoulder.

My mother’s twin smiles, an easier one this time. “See you soon,” she says, and rejoins her team gathered beside Owen’s car.

So many of us are still missing. Kano, Malik, half my grandmother’s Colorado team.

Take the mansion, and Guardian Tower will fall, the general said.

I remember the stacked towers at the Common’s headquarters. The game ends when the tower falls.

Yours will topple tonight, Roth. Not ours.

Ava pulls me to her side, both her hands on my cheeks. She brings her forehead to mine, slows her breathing. I try to match her rhythm, to resync my energy to hers.

“Remember how this all started. Remember why,” Ava says in a hurried, private speech to me. “We’re two girls Roth never thought could make it past his city’s border. But we got out. And we fought our way back in.” Her intensity, honed and sharp like steel, stokes the fire I’ve been storing inside for this moment, since the first night my father told us to run. “Now let’s go and get him.”

“Let’s rip him from his home like he ripped us from ours,” I say, every word an ardent flame burning with revenge. “Let’s make Roth pay. For Mother and for Father. For Rayla and Haven.”

“And for ourselves,” Ava says, moving her mouth to my ear. She whispers even lower than our twinspeak. “I want to be the one who finds him. You or me, one of us takes him down.”