Laura Nolen - The Fall

I stood, supporting her. “Or perhaps she was acting on some kind of stasis-induced hallucination, and as soon as she snaps out of it, she’ll kill us all.”

“Ever the optimist.” He returned the smile. “Let’s go. Watch the doorframe.”

But something held me back. I stood there for a moment, trying to think, then slowly let go of her arm. “Hang on. We need a better plan.”

“How did you put it? Escaping? Staying alive? This is a very good plan .” Eren made a face from the hallway. “Brilliant, even.”

“No, it leaves us open. We need protection, Eren.”

“Char—” he said softly.

“Here’s the thing. If we take her—” I waved at the Lieutenant—“we save one person. It’s the wrong play.”

Eren looked from corridor, to me, to Adam’s chair. “Oh, no you don’t. Now that is a bad plan.”

“Hear me out,” I said hastily. “We can’t kill him. Not yet. And he controls everything on this Ark. So we can’t lock him up. Not here. It’s the right move, Eren. It’s checkmate.”

“No, it’s stalemate at best. It’s nuts, is what it is. Do you have any idea how strong he is?”

I swallowed. “None of us does. That’s the problem.”

I waited while he considered that. A moment passed, and he laid the Lieutenant down with a pointed sigh.

“Good. You get that side,” I said, popping the cuffs off Adam’s wrists and shoving them into my pocket. As soon as they clicked open, Eren was at my side, ready to fight again. But Adam didn’t move. I pulled his arm over my shoulder.

“This is insane.” He made an angry grunt and hefted Adam’s remaining weight off the chair.

“Your objection is noted,” I said cheerfully. It was about time we got the upper hand around here. “Come on. Let’s do this.”

We stumbled into the dock with about a minute to spare. “Dad?” I called around the room in a half-whisper. I had never taken the Guardian entrance to the hangar before. It was imposing even when sealed shut. I turned to Eren. “You got the control stick-thingy?”

“Yes.” Eren looked around. “Did you feel that?”

“Feel what? Do you think he’s on the other side already?”

“Your dad? No. He couldn’t be. He’s got the skins—the suits. I think the Ark just moved.”

“It’s your imagination,” I said. Eren looked pale. Well, paler than usual. “The skins?”

“They never repaired the seal in the hangar. Without skins, we die.”

I swallowed against the dizzying feeling that the only thing separating me from the vast vacuum of space was a sheet of glass. “Dad!”

“Hey, keep it down. He has ears everywhere.” Eren laid a hand on the window, as though steadying himself, and laid his half of Adam gently on the floor. He looked sick.

I nodded. “Yeah, but be careful with the glass, okay? I’m not looking to take the quick way out.”

Eren stared down at Adam’s limp form, then looked back at me. “It’s fused silica,” he said.

What did that have to do with anything? “Silica. Great. Congrats on reading the pre-flight materials.”

Eren made a face like he wanted to laugh, but couldn’t, and slid down to sit next to Adam. “Fused. With titanium, too. Like the k-bands.” He waved a wrist at me, and his kuang band glinted in the bright light coming from the hangar. He had a strange look on his face.

“Hey. You okay?”

He looked down. “Char. I’m sorry.” His hand closed around the metal band on his wrist, and it hit me that he’d been wearing it for the last five years. I guess life hadn’t been so great for either of us.

“For what? Hey, get up. You’re kinda scaring me. Eren. We gotta find my dad.”

“Sorry it took five years. Sorry I couldn’t get you out of this any sooner.” He slumped forward. “No matter what, you leave. Don’t stay here.” His forehead touched the concrete, and his shoulders relaxed.

“Eren. Eren. Get up. Please get up. Wake up.” I shook him as hard as I could, but he only flopped onto his back, eyes closed.

“Charlotte?”

The sound jolted through me, and I whirled around. “Dad? Help! He’s—”

My father came running out of a shadow, and I had the absurd thought that exactly ten minutes had passed since our conversation. To the second.

He pressed a hand into Eren’s neck. “He’s breathing. Pulse is—fine, probably. Put this on,” he said, shoving a skin into my arms.

I wasted no time in getting the rubbery material over Eren’s feet. “I’m gonna need help lifting up his hips.”

Dad was glancing around the ceiling, a gesture that seemed out of place for him. I’d never really seen my dad get nervous. “No, Charlotte. Not on him. On you . Hurry up.”

My lips froze, mouth open, and I took a second to steel my spine. “I’m not leaving him,” I said quietly.

“It was always the plan. He has to stay here, Charlotte. There’s a chip in his k-band.”

“Then it doesn’t matter whether he stays here or not. He’s…” I trailed off, unable to finish the thought aloud. He’s dead either way.

Dad chose that moment to wrap an arm around my shoulder, a second gesture I couldn’t quite place with him, and squeeze.

I returned the embrace, surprised. We hadn’t hugged much during our last few years on Earth. He added his other arm, and for the moment, I had the irrepressible feeling that things would be okay. That no matter what, my problems were no match for my dad.

His eyes traveled down my right arm, to the place where my wrist should have been, and he hesitated before speaking. “I know. I know. But Eren knew the risks. He was very clear.”

“Are you worried about being spied on? We’ll just wrap the band up with aluminum, like you did mine.”

“It’s worse than spying, Charlotte. He’s been drugged. He could easily be dead before we get him on the Arkhopper.”

I shook my head, frustrated. No way was Adam going to win this one. “How many skins did you bring?”

“Two.”

“Two.” I said, hopping up. “So we need two more.” I trotted around the area, tapping on wall panels. A few held emergency supplies, including a military-grade first-aid kit, which I ignored, and a pressurized flare gun, which I grabbed out of habit.

“Charlotte—” he said gently.

“We can’t leave Eren. And we sure can’t leave Adam. So two more skins.”

His eyes widened. “ That’s Adam? Charlotte.”

I whirled around, halfway to the other side of the hangar door, and filled my voice with lead. “Dad. I am not leaving them.”

“Well, we’re not staying here. I can’t let you—” Dad stopped, recognizing my tone, and gritted his teeth. Then he took a breath, regarding me with a measure of thoughtfulness. “I suppose it does give us some leverage.”

“Right?” I breathed a sigh of relief. At least one person didn’t think my plan was insane. I returned to my search, whacking the next panel I came to. The compartment opened to reveal one skin. One.

It was better than nothing. I lifted my chin and knocked open the rest of the panels, but it seemed that Adam had stored only enough for himself.

I turned back to Dad. “Okay. Three skins. Not ideal.”

Dad shook his head. I slid down next to Eren and began to work the skin over his boots again. “How far from here to the bay?”

“Ten feet, maybe? It’s the first ship in the hangar. Only ship, actually.”

“And Adam hasn’t disabled it?”

“We think it’s his getaway vehicle. I’m sure he’s got some trick or another up his sleeve in case someone else takes off with it. But he’s in stasis, right?”

My hand had wandered to the back of Eren’s head, and I pulled it away as casually as I could before my dad noticed. “Nope. Good old-fashioned knockout.”