The Prescient

|Chapter 7|

"Your sister?" I asked. He nodded, his hands lowering.

"On her death bed, she told me that I would meet you. She said to look for you. I've been looking for three years. She told me that you could stop it." He said. My eyebrows creased.

"Stop what?" I asked.

"This and more. This is just a minor sweep. They're going to kill everyone until all the people like you are dead." He said. I could feel my throat start to close up.

"So I was right? The world is coming to an end." He nodded.

This might be the only way. I really don't want to, but Matt's life might depend on this. I lowered my gun and stuck out my hand.

"Zoey," I said. He stared at my hand before grabbing it and giving it a firm shake.

"Michael." He said. I released his hand and looked behind him.

"Where's the helicopter?" I asked. He glanced back.

"I told him to go without me and tell our commanding officer that I was killed." He said.

"Oh," I said, surprised. That's suspicious and weird. I looked to the side and saw his rifle. I picked it up.

"That's... mine." I held the gun away from him.

"I don't trust you, which means I'm not going to take any chances with you," I said, sticking the rifle on the side of my bag.

"Zoey? Are you there? Is it clear?" I turned around and saw Ashley peeping from around a tree. I rolled my eyes.

"Are you serious? You've been there the whole time?" I asked. She nodded, her eyes trailing behind me.

She gasped and pointed.

"Watch out, Zoey! There's a man trying to kill us!" She yelled. I turned around and saw Michael loading a gun.

I raised my pistol, cocking it.

"Put it down. Now." I said. He looked at me then at Ashley.

"You wouldn't shoot me. You need me." He said.

"You're the second person that has said that today. Put the gun down, Michael." I demanded. He shook his head, pushing past me.

"Hey!" I shot the pistol, aiming by his foot. He stopped walking and turned to me.

"I will shoot you." I gritted out. He raised a brow at me.

"I'm doing something that will help us both." He said. He stared at me in my eyes, and I saw nothing but the truth in them.

A thump caught my attention, and I looked at the ground.

"Ashley! You killed her!" I pulled the trigger, shooting him in his chest. He stepped back, clutching his chest and wheezing. I ran over to Ashley and bent down next to her.

"Ash! Get up, Ash!" It was a dart in the side of her neck, and some type of liquid was gushing into her body. I pulled the dart out, examining it.

"She's not—"

"Dead? I know. This is a sleeping dart." I said. I released a breath, shaking my head.

"Stupid, Zoey," I mumbled to myself. I shouldn't have taken my eyes off him. I stood up and turned to Michael. He was rubbing his chest, still panting.

"You liar! I knew you were lying." I said, raising my gun at him again. He raised his hand, the other one resting on his chest.

"She's not dead. She doesn't need to know what you are, Zoey. It was the only choice." He said. I shook my head.

"I'll shoot you again." I threatened.

"Go ahead. I have on a bulletproof vest." He sneered. I raised my gun a little, glaring.

"Your head doesn't." His eyes went wide.

"Come on, Zoey. You have to trust me for this to work." He said. I narrowed my eyes at him. What's his deal? How would helping me help him?

He stared down at Ashley then back at me. I sighed, shaking my head.

"Let's go," I said. I turned around, almost stepping on Ashely's limp body. I bent down, a plan coming to mind.

"Help me with her," I said. He grabbed her by her shoulders, and I grabbed her legs.

"Lift."

I picked up her legs, struggling to keep her up. I led her over to behind a tree.

"We're going to just leave her here?" He asked. I covered her with some leaves and wiped my index finger through a patch of dirt.

"We can't carry her. She'll just slow us down." I wiped the dirt on her cheeks, making sure to smudge it all over.

"Are you sure, Zoey?" He asked. I rubbed my hand on my pants.

"No, but it's the only way. She'll just slow us down. We'll come back for her when I get Matt." I said. I stepped back and looked at Ashley.

Her head was tilted to the side, and dirt littered her face. The leaves covered most of her body, preventing anyone from seeing her.

"Let's go." I gestured him forward. He walked in front of me, and I followed behind him, looking back to make sure no one was following us.

"Was your sister a prescient?" I asked after some time of walking. He slowed down his pace and fell in stride with me.

"Yes. She was one of the advanced ones. She knew a lot as well, and that almost cost my job and my life." He said, shaking his head.

"What happened?" I asked. He blew out a breath, scratching his head.

"They got to her." He whispered out.

"Who got to her?"

"Gregory and his mutts." He gritted out. My eyes went wide, and I looked down before looking back over at him.

"I was working for him, and he tricked me. He said he just wanted to talk to her about things." He said, his voice going low. His muscles were flexing, and I could feel his anger.

"I found her bleeding out. She was just laying there, and in the faintest voice, she said your name." He looked over at me, his eyes swimming with sadness and anger.

"Go to Zoey Archer. She'll be able to stop this." He whispered to himself. It was silent for a minute before I cleared my throat.

"Why me? What can I do?" I asked, my thoughts flying through my head.

"She said you are the key to this. To... everything." I shook my head, anger starting to fuel me.

"No. I'm not the key to anything. I can't stop this." I said. He grabbed me by my shoulders and shook me.

"You can, and you will! My sister died because of this, Zoey!" He shouted. I pushed his arms off of me.

"No, I'm not! This is not my fight!" I shouted back. I walked ahead, clenching my fists.

"What if it was Matt?"

I stopped walking and turned to him.

"Huh? What if it was him on his deathbed and—"

"Don't say that—"

"—the last words he said to you was my name? You would do what? Give up and let him die in vain?"

"No! I would kill everyone that got him there in the first place!" I yelled, my hands twitching. He took notice of my hands, and his eyes narrowed on them.

"What's about to happen?" He asked. My eyebrows creased.

"What are you talking about?"

"Your hands just twitched. My sister's nose would twitch when something was about to happen." He said.

I opened my mouth to say something, but the feeling of my stomach clenching made me shut it. My ears tuned in on the faintest sound of boots.

"They're coming."