Legacies Reborn by Pittacus Lore Page B

over my shoulder. The two of them are trailing me by a few yards but catching up. What is it about me today that makes people think I’m the one in charge?
    â€œWhat?” I turn my attention forward again. “You guys are following me now?”
    â€œYou know the city, don’t you?”
    Goddamn alien tourists.
    An explosion rocks the street somewhere behind us. I glance back to see that Sam and John are okay, but half the block is nothing but smoke, dust and debris now. The bank is gone. Just, not there anymore. This is some next-level shit. The city’s getting demolished.
    I gulp down my worry and focus on moving.
    â€œWe need to get off the street!” John shouts.
    Sure. No problem. I’ll just pry up a manhole cover or something.
    I spot a green subway lamp a block over.
    â€œThis way!” I yell back, taking a left and cutting across the street.
    The smoke and debris roll past us, and I cough through it, until we’re off the main avenue and onto a side street where the buildings block most of it. Eventually, we make it underground at one of the Bleecker Street subway entrances. We’re inside for only a few seconds before the whole station starts to shake. At least this stop is empty—though that’s not exactly comforting. The vibrations intensify, and I don’t waste any time hopping the turnstiles. I head for the 6 since that tunnel will take me in the right direction. I think. It’s hard to map out routes in my head while I’m afraid that the subway is going to explode around me at any second.
    Tiles fall off the walls. Pieces of ceiling rain down. John and Sam follow behind me, yelling for me to go faster, deeper into the station, as if I’m not running as fast as I can already, taking an entire flight of subway stairs in just a few steps. When we finally get to the tracks, I hesitate for a second, thinking of my mom’s warnings about getting hit by a train and of electrified rails. The kind of things she’s drilled into me since I was a kid. Only I’m guessing she never imagined I’d be in a situation where a subway station was literallyfalling down around me because of some damn alien warship. I jump down. There’s a splash when I land. The tracks are full of liquid that rises over my shoes, and I hope to God that it’s just water. At least I guess the third rail is out because I’m not electrocuted. The boys follow behind me, and John’s flashlight hands come back on to light our way and scare a fuck-ton of rats.
    â€œOh, gross, gross, gross,” I repeat to myself as I keep running into the tunnel. Everything around me is shaking. It feels like the earth is going to swallow us.
    And it kind of does.
    There’s a crack above me. I look up just in time to see a giant piece of cement falling down on top of me. I scream, covering my head.
    But I don’t die. When I look up again, my nose is a few inches away from a slab of tunnel ceiling that’s just hanging in the air. I think for a second that maybe I’m the one doing this somehow, but then I look back and see John. He’s on his knees in the gross water and it looks like he’s being crushed, muscles all straining like the weight of the world is on top of him.
    â€œWe have to hold up the ceiling!” Sam shouts. “We have to help him!”
    His hands go up in the air and I see a hint of relief flash on John’s face.
    I look down the tunnel. I can’t see the other end, butI know if I just keep going I’ll eventually be close to the Brooklyn Bridge. Then it’s just a little more running until I’m on Wall Street. Till I’m with Mom.
    I could just go. Could leave these guys behind. Maybe they’d be okay without my help.
    But a thought I’ve been trying to silence rings in my head.
    You don’t know that she’s alive.
    It’s true. I know it is. I just don’t want to consider it. But it’s