We walk across the courtyard to the car the Network has given us for our Escape, a beat-up wreck but still an extravagance by Non-pact standards. Xavier shows me the basics. I tell him that I never learned to drive, but he assures me there’s nothing to learn. The car will do it all. “But if you ever need to break the rules—and I have no doubt that you will—a simple Override command will take care of it.”
I see the weight in Xavier’s eyes. He had tried to talk me out of taking Raine. This isn’t a life she’s used to, he had told me. There are other places we can hide her. What he doesn’t know is it’s not a life I was used to just a short time ago either. But life changes. We adapt. We have no other choice.
He tries to reason with me one last time. “Are you sure you want to take her? It’s not going to be an easy life on the—”
Miesha steps forward, tucking a strand of hair behind Raine’s ear, worry in her eyes too. “She’ll be fine,” she says. “She’s a strong young woman.”
Raine smiles. I know it’s hard for her to say good-bye too. A relationship barely begun will have to wait again. She reaches out, this time initiating her own embrace with Miesha.
Karden reaches into his pocket and holds out his Swiss knife to me. “I hear it’s gotten you out of a few scrapes. Take it,” he says. I look into his eyes, dark and deep like Raine’s, the fire and focus still there, never giving up. I reach out to take it from him and he grips my hand with both of his, squeezing it hard, his gaze locked on mine, an understanding. A nod. A silent thank you.
We get into the car and I begin to pull the door shut when a large golden arm swipes through the air blocking me from closing it. Raine and I both suck in startled breaths.
A familiar voice booms in our ears. “You may not shut the door unless Miss Branson is on this side of it with me.”
Xavier grins. “Sorry, kid. Forgot to tell you.”
I turn and look behind me. I face a perpetual stern scowl, but now I know what lies behind it. Something more. “Get in, Hap,” I say. “Back seat.”
* * *
Raine and I hold hands in the front seat. We’ve been on the open highway that hugs the coast for an hour now, the windows down, the brisk autumn air blowing through our hair. We both wear our government-issue charity coats for warmth, a symbol of shameful poverty for so many, a symbol of hope for us. Are the odds with us? Probably not. Two kids out to change the world. Two kids being hunted by a still-powerful man. Not good odds. But the odds have never been with me, and yet, here I am.
With Raine.
She spots a wide sandy beach and pulls the frosted green glass of Liberty from her pocket, still in need of its lost mate. “Do we have time?”
Never enough. Always too much.
But now, as I look into her eyes, the time seems just right.
Thirty Years Later
I hear a soft knock and I pause, listening to see if it came from upstairs. Is one of the boys rapping on the wall? Another weak knock but this one is clearly coming from the front door, which seems unlikely because of the late hour and the drifts of snow that are piling up by the minute. Perhaps a neighbor in need of something?
I cross to the foyer, startling as I swing open the door. “What are you doing out there? For God’s sake, you shouldn’t—” I reach out to pull Jenna inside but she steps back and shakes her head. “Jenna, you can’t stay out there in the cold. You know—”
“I’ve been walking all day, Locke. That’s why I’m here. To walk.”
“But you can’t—”
“It’s time, Locke,” she says forcefully, cutting me off. I finally understand what she’s saying. This isn’t just a walk.
My mouth opens, but no words come out. She’s a Jenna I’ve never seen before. The calm, serene Jenna she’s always been, but a very weary one too. I see it in her eyes, still crystal blue, forever stuck at seventeen, but a fire has left them.
She reaches out, smiles, touching my temple where my hair is tinged with gray.
“I guess you were right,” I say. “It’s all connected. The Bio-Perfect got the message that I want to grow old with Raine. It’s making sure I do. I can’t bear the thought of—” I realize what I’m saying and stop.
“That’s the advantage of progress,” she says. “I, on the other hand, have a first-generation Bio Gel that’s never gotten that message—only the survival one.”
“Jenna, please—”
“Kayla’s in Africa with her husband. She’s so happy, Locke. She loves her work there. She called me last week and I saw she has a hint of gray at her temple too.” Her smile fades. “She’s getting older, Locke. Before I have to face the day that—” She shakes her head. “I’m tired, Locke. No one can live forever and it already feels like I have. I’ve outlived
Allys, Ethan, everyone I’ve ever known, but I refuse to outlive my own daughter.”
Her gaze drops to her hands laced together in front of her. “My parents couldn’t face it. Neither can I.” She looks back at me, her eyes hopeful. “No parent wants that. I always knew that one day … one day I’d return to Boston for a last walk in wintertime.” She takes both of my hands and squeezes them with icy fingers. “Now is that time. And I want to share this last moment with someone who knows me—someone who knew me from the beginning. Someone who always made me braver. That’s you. Please, this one last time, come walk with me.”