Forever Until Tomorrow (War Eternal Book 5) by M. R. Forbes Page A

hear me?"
    "I was bored, so I was looking at the hospital mainframe. Lucky for us." He smiled mischievously as he did something she couldn't see.  
    She heard them outside two seconds later.  
    "Get off the bed," she said, grabbing his arm and pulling.  
    He was heavy but easily taken off-balance. He fell off the bed and onto the floor next to her. Loud pops followed. The bullets didn't have the force to make it through the metal doors.  
    Michael sat up, still wearing the AR glasses. His hands moved again, and the alarm klaxons began to sound.
    "I can turn the sprinklers on, too," he said.
    "I'm already naked. I don't need to be wet."
    Michael leaned over and grabbed the sheets on top of the bed. "Here?"  
    She smiled, her body trembling from the adrenaline. She took the sheet. "Thanks. Are you okay?"
    He shook his head. "No." His lip started quivering. "Someone's trying to kill you, Kathy. Why?"
    "I don't know. Whatever is going on, it isn't safe here. They've infiltrated the military."
    "Who?"
    "The AIT? I don't know that either."
    She paused at the sound of gunfire outside the room. It wasn't over yet.  
    "Are you sure the war is over?" Michael said.
    Kathy walked over to the door, listening. The gunfire stopped a few seconds later. Doctor Villanueva said she had to die. That she was going to ruin everything. Did he mean her, specifically? Or the mission to launch the Dove?
    The name Mitchell slipped back into her thoughts. Whoever he was, did he have something to do with all of this? It was all so strange.  
    "No," she said, looking back at Michael. Her friend was on his knees, breathing heavy, sweating, afraid. She felt even more responsible seeing him like that. "I don't think it is."

11

    Reggie stood at the mouth of the alley, shrouded in shadow, his head lowered to keep his face hidden. It was almost seven o'clock, and the empty streets had slowly filled with people, the city waking up from another uneventful night.
    He watched them go by, one after another after another, his expression flat, his eyes keen. He didn't want to steal from any of them, but the small box only had one thing in it, and it wasn't money.  
    How to get some money without hurting anyone? He wasn't sure. His head was a nearly blank slate, his understanding of society based more on instinct than memory. He knew he had been in cities before, and he knew how the exchange system worked, but he couldn't recall what the tokens looked like.  
    He tried to stay inconspicuous while a man in a silvery suit crossed the street ahead of him. Like many of the people who went by he was wearing a pair of thin glasses, with a wire that trailed to the back of his head and vanished beneath his collar. He could tell by the way he was walking that something was distracting him. He wasn't paying attention to his surroundings at all.
    Reggie left the alley, staying far enough behind the man that no one would suspect he was following, and close enough that he wouldn't lose him. He had done this sort of thing before. He was certain of it.  
    He followed the man for two blocks, trying to figure out how he would grab him. He would ask him the things he needed to know. Things he should have asked in the hospital. If he had, they would never have let him out. As if they could have stopped him. Hopefully, the man would be compliant. He didn't like hurting innocent people.  
    The man paused at a street corner. Reggie watched as one of the driverless cars slowed to a stop beside him, and the door to the car swung open. As the man climbed in, Reggie made his move.
    He sprinted toward the car, slipping past other pedestrians with reflexive ease. He was on top of it within seconds, even before the man had finished climbing in.  
    They collided. The force of it threw them both forward into the vehicle. Reggie recovered in an instant, holding the surprised, frightened man back with one hand and reaching back to close the door with the other.  
    "Destination," a voice