AARON I could see our car five yards away, waiting for us. "Be careful, mommy!" Lucas called. "I will, sweetie!" Elena replied. She was hanging from the window frame, looking down at the ground. Her hands held tight to the metal. She looked at me and spoke. "Let me go." She let go of the frame. But I didn't just drop her. I lowered her as far as I could before I released my grip. She fell about a foot, landing badly and falling onto her back. She got up fast, looking all around for danger. She waved at me. I knelt down to Lucas."Alright, buddy. I'm going to lower you out the window to your mother. Be my big boy, okay?" He looked past me, through the broken doorway into the main cabin. I followed his look. Seraphina was hitting the drone in the back of its head with a pan. One of its hands was blocking her swings. Its other hand was slowly getting closer to Nathan's face. He was pushing against it, but he was only delaying things. I put my hands on my son's face. My tears made his skin slippery. I turned his head to look at me. "We need to go, Lucas." He nodded. I put my hands under his arms and lifted him. I guided his feet through the window opening and started to lower him down. I leaned my own torso out a little so I could see. Elena was below, her arms stretched up.Her fingers reached for our son and finally grabbed his legs. Then a loud snap came from inside the hauler. I didn't stop. I didn't look back. Seraphina screamed in pain. I let go of Lucas. He fell into his mother's arms. I swung my legs out. I used my stomach as a pivot on the window frame. I felt the skin scrape. As I turned, I saw back into the cabin. The machine held Seraphina in its hands. Her feet were off the floor. I pushed myself backward. I fell down the rear of the hauler and hit the asphalt below. I landed hard. A flash of pain shot from my ankle. I tried to roll, but I knew if I lived, my whole side would be bruised. I got up, limping. Elena and Lucas were already in the car. I threw myself through my open door. I deactivated the link to the hauler and restarted our old route. The car jumped forward. It changed lanes around the hauler. As we passed, I saw the drone standing at the open window. Its white surface was splattered with red. Its head turned, tracking our car. We sped past. The siege crawler was still fighting the wave of drones. Its defensive gun kept firing. We were right behind the armored vehicle when its main gun fired again. The whole car shook, but the windows held. The tank shielded us from the worst of the shock wave. We drove past it. The car moved back into the right lane. I saw the shattered remains of dozens of drones in front of the tank. Dozens more kept coming. The laser from the defense system was only visible when it burned through a machine. One drone got through. It jumped onto the tank's turret.It punched its fist through the defensive weapon and destroyed it. The other drones began to climb onto the vehicle. The tank lurched backward. Some machines fell off. Others held on and started attacking the hatch to the crew compartment. I was thrown forward. A muscle in my back pulled tight because I was twisted around, looking out the back window. I turned just in time to see a man in our lane. Ronan. The intelligence officer. He was inches from our tires when the car finally stopped. The car just sat there. I realized we couldn't move with him lying in front of it. I threw my door open and ran to the front of the car. Ashcroft lay there. Blood flowed from a fist-sized wound in his chest. I put my forearms under his arms and hauled him up. I felt his blood soak through my pants onto my legs. As I dragged him toward the other lane, he screamed in pain. I looked up, in the direction he must have come from. My eyes went wide. "Use your legs!" I shouted at him. A drone was running straight for us. "Leave him!" Elena screamed from the car door. We were clear of the front bumper. I ignored her. I backed my way toward the car, dragging him with me. I already had enough on my soul after leaving Seraphina and Nathan. Knowing that Elliot had died from the same sickness Elena and I were suffering from.