Rebel Read Free

were gazing at her with such awe and excitement that I wanted to slap them and tell them to stop being weird.
    “She brings with her the entire Austin facility,” Micah continued.
    More gasps. At least they were excited to see us.
    “I didn’t do it by myself.” Wren scanned the crowd, but didn’t seem to find Addie. “Addie Thirty-nine and I did it together.”
    Micah sort of nodded in that way people did when they weren’t really listening. He was grinning at the crowd of reservation Reboots. They were whispering, their faces cautiously optimistic.
    Wren cast a confused look at me as Micah raised his hand. The crowd went silent.
    “All right then,” he said. “I have good news.”
    Thank goodness. I needed good news. I hoped it was something along the lines of “I have food and beds for all of you right now.”
    Micah gestured to the tower. “I just got word that there are more HARC shuttles coming. They’re on their way right now.”
    Wait. What?
    “About a hundred miles out,” Micah continued. “At least seven confirmed.”
    Which part was the good news?
    “So.” Micah grinned as he lifted one fist in the air. “Ready?”
    Every reservation Reboot responded together in one loud yell.
    “ATTACK!”

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE
    HarperCollins Publishers
    ..................................................................
TWO
WREN
    I FROZE AS CALLUM CAST A HORRIFIED LOOK IN MY DIRECTION. Attack?
    “Wren.” Micah put his hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off. “You came in HARC shuttles, didn’t you? Where are they?”
    I blinked. How did he know that? How did he know there were more HARC shuttles on the way?
    “We left them a couple miles back,” I said. “We didn’t want to alarm you by getting too close in them.”
    “We were alarmed, obviously,” Micah said with a laugh, gesturing to the army of Reboots behind him. He stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled. “Jules!”
    A girl a few years older than me joined us. Her red hair was in a braid, and she had a HARC bar code stamped on her wrist, but I couldn’t make out the number.
    “Go fetch those shuttles.” Micah lifted his hand, made a sort of circular motion with his finger, and the massive wooden gate immediately began to creak open. The Reboots in front of it scrambled away.
    I felt a hand on my back and turned to see Callum behind me. He stared at the opening gate. “What’s going on?” he asked quietly.
    “I don’t know.”
    The gate swung open the rest of the way to reveal about ten Reboots sitting on contraptions I’d never seen before. They had two big wheels—one in back and one in front—and looked sort of like one of those motorcycle things I’d seen pictures of, but bigger. Three people could probably fit on the wide, black seat stretched between the two tires, and they were obviously not made to be discreet, because a loud rumbling noise came from each one.
    “Kyle!” Micah said, waving. A tall, beefy Reboot inched his bike away from the others. “Take Jules and—” He stopped and turned to me. “Who flew those here?”
    “Me and Addie.”
    “The Thirty-nine?”
    “Yes.”
    He nodded and turned back to Kyle. “Take Jules andThirty-nine to the shuttles. Quick. No more than twenty minutes round trip.”
    Kyle twisted his hand around one of the handlebars and the bike roared forward, coming to a screeching stop next to Jules. She hopped on and eyed the crowd of Austin Reboots expectantly.
    “Thirty-nine!” Micah yelled.
    Addie stepped out from the crowd, arms crossed over her chest. She ignored Micah completely and stared at me like she was waiting for something. I wasn’t sure what it was. Did she want me to tell her it was okay to go?
    I avoided Micah’s gaze as I strode across the dirt and stopped in front of her.
    “They want you to take them to the shuttles,” I said. “And probably fly one over here.”
    Her eyes darted behind me. “And you think we should trust them?”
    I paused. Of