Page 64 of Convergence

“You two probably heard what my brother said when we were leaving. He said I needed to figure out if I was doing this for glory or for honor, and I said it was honor. But I’d be lying if it wasn’t a little for regaining glory, too. I want to help Easton’s friends and the authorities find the real terrorists, and I also want to not be labeled as a bad person and have my family dragged down with me,” Everett contemplated. He huffed out a harsh sigh and shook his head and looked at me in the passenger seat. “And I’m doing it for you two. Neither of you would do well in prison.”

Nate and I smiled at his joke, but my heart wrenched at his explanation. “I want another chance,” I answered next. “I feel like I’ve spent the last decade of my life recovering and not doing anything with the life I’m honestly lucky to still have. It’s like I’ve spent the last decade waiting for my mom to come back, my body to heal, or my dad to give a shit. I guess it’s not until I might not have my life or my freedom anymore that I suddenly want it.”

“I feel similar to both of you,” Nate said, only glancing at me and back to the road. “I’ve spent my whole life waiting for my dad to realize that I’m a hard worker and a good person, but he’s probably never going to tell me what I want to hear. I need to do something without thinking about how he will react. But I also want him to see my name cleared and feel proud of my choices. We’re so damaged.”

“We’re not that bad,” Everett conceded. “We’re just easily manipulated.”

“Oh, because that’s much better,” Nate laughed wryly.

“We’ll find therapists when this is all over,” I added with a smirk.

It was near two in the morning when I was jerked awake by the phone ringing. Nate answered it while driving. “Hello?... Okay… Yeah… They’ll let us do that?… Holy shit, no way!… Okay, got it.”

“What’s going on?” Ev’s sleepy voice grumbled.

“We’re getting out in Trenton, up ahead, and we’re getting on a helicopter the rest of the way,” Nate explained excitedly.

“A helicopter?” My eyes were wide.

“Yeah, this is a little badass,” Nate said, his eyes alight.

Everett and I sat up as Nate navigated us to a hospital. I could hear the propellers of a helicopter as we got out of the truck. A hospital employee had a side door open near where we parked the truck. He was gesturing for us to follow him. The three of us hurried through the door and followed him to the elevator. This end of the hospital was dark and quiet, and I heard only the squeaks of our shoes.

“Thank you for helping us,” Everett told the employee as we approached the elevator.

“Honestly, I don’t know who you are. They offered me money to get you to the helicopter,” the guy said with a chuckle. He swiped his badge on the elevator control panel and pressed the button with the helicopter pad signal.

“Well, thank you anyway,” Everett said as the elevator door closed.

The elevator opened right out to the roof, and a helicopter was indeed waiting for us. A pilot was already in his seat and a door was open for us. We got into the helicopter and donned helmets that had been on our seats. They had little speakers and microphones for us to communicate.

“Hey guys, I’m Jimmy. I’ll be your pilot this morning.” His voice was calm and friendly. We mumbled our hellos, but left out our names, just in case. We buckled into our seats and my hands shook with nerves.

Taking off was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before, and I felt mildly ill. I swallowed down the feeling and clutched the seat beneath me.

“Where are we going?” Everett asked.

“Hospital in New York,” Jimmy replied. “Easton said it would be faster to get you guys there this way, since a few samples are there waiting for you.”

“So, you know who we are?” Nate asked cautiously. “And why are we are going to New York?”

Jimmy laughed like we were missing something. “Yes, I am aware. In fact, I know a little more than you guys.”

“Like what?” Ev asked.

“I know that Hoffmann and Daisy are part of a group that wants to wipe out most of our country. We’ve been looking for them for quite a while and this is the closest we’ve gotten. They want to get rid of almost all women and much of the male population. They would use the women as breeding stock and the men would rule the country,” Jimmy explained.

“Um, so like The Handmaid’s Tale?” I asked, thinking of the novel by Margaret Atwood and the tv show.

“Sort of. You’d be surprised by how many people and groups want something similar,” Jimmy said with a shake of his head.

“Why would they want that?” I asked as Nate took my hand in his.

“They think ‌women make men aggressive and therefore we should get rid of most of the women and use the ones left as breeders and maids,” Jimmy explained, not sounding happy to inform us of what we were inadvertently involved in.

“Daisy was for that?” Nate asked Ev.

Ev shifted in his seat and glanced at me. “She would say stuff sometimes. I thought it was only something that got her going.”

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