We crawled up the side of a fire escape and onto a warehouse rooftop when I experienced an eerie sense of deja vu.

  It was because we’d done this before, just yesterday. I was standing on top of a different warehouse looking down at the ghostly face of a woman clearly longing for help in a nearby window. If I’d just been more tactile in those moments, maybe we could have gotten her out. Maybe I wouldn’t be here right now while Dex whispered he needed to go piss again and Hutch was telling him to shut up, there’s bots, can’t you hear them?

  Indeed, they were there. The crunch of the asphalt under their pronged metal feet was driven right into my bones—a rhythmic, grinding sound that seemed to vibrate through the concrete beneath us, a constant reminder of their presence.

  We couldn’t see them from any angle of the roof, but they were indeed close by. I expected them to be one street over, judging by how loud they were. Occasionally, their white lights shot through windows of nearby buildings like searchlights sweeping across a prison yard, casting harsh shadows that danced across the crumbling facades. We were safe as long as we were outside the direct light. At first, we had no idea, but then Dex stood up to try to piss off the side of the building and got hit with the light reflecting off another building—a searing brightness that seemed to burn even from a distance.

  “Fucking Dex,” Hutch said, yanking him back down onto his ass with more force than necessary.

  Dex yowled with pain, his body hitting the gritty rooftop hard. “My dick was out, man!”

  Indeed, his pants were around his ankles, as were his ratty old boxers. I had never seen someone pull everything off unless it was in a comic strip, but Dex was a special breed of idiot. I didn’t know what was wrong with him, honestly.

  Hutch looked up at the sky and held his breath, his jaw clenched so tight I could see the muscle working beneath his skin. I did, too, my own lungs burning as I waited. Any moment, the Bees would crunch their way over to us looking for Dex, their metal feet tearing through the asphalt like it was paper.

  After several minutes of silence, it didn’t happen.

  I nearly buckled in relief, my shoulders sagging as the tension drained from my body.

  “So as long as we’re not directly hit by that light, they can’t sense us,” I told Hutch, my voice barely above a whisper.

  “Do you think it has something to do with their scanners?” He asked, his eyes still fixed on the sky.

  “Maybe sensing organics?” I guessed. It was a wild pull. I had no idea what it could possibly be otherwise.

  Dex struggled to lay down and pull his underwear and pants up, his movements frantic and clumsy. He squirmed on the rooftop like a worm, the rough concrete scraping against his skin. “So you assaulted me for nothing?” He snapped at Hutch, his voice trembling with indignation and fear.

  “I thought you were going to die.” Hutch waved him off, his expression hard. “I’ll let it happen next time.”

  Since we couldn’t see anything from this roof, we decided to move to the next. I clambered down the warehouse’s side first, my palms scraping against the rough brick and corroded metal of the fire escape, and went for the neighbor as Hutch helped Dex down, explaining to him that tetanus was now much more of a threat than usual. Dex obviously didn’t listen, because he cut his hand on a jagged piece of metal and began freaking out, blood dripping onto the rusted steps below. “Do you guys have a smoke?” He whispered to both of us, his voice shaky.

  “I truly cannot emphasize this enough,” Hutch told him, his voice low and dangerous, “but I will shove you in front of a Bee if you lose focus again.”

  Dex glared at him, pressing his bleeding hand against his chest. “I didn’t even want to be here. I told my dad to let you guys get yourselves fucking killed.”

  “We told him the same thing, to be fair,” I joked, rolling my eyes, though the humor felt hollow in the oppressive silence of the dead district.

  “He said he couldn’t trust either of you with the truth. You’re going to risk all of Eden with your bullshit.”

  “That’s the goal,” Hutch helpfully told him.

  I could almost feel Dex’s glare between my shoulder blades as he stomped after me, his footsteps too loud on the metal stairs. “It’s not like he thinks the Bees are real anyway. I told him, but Dad said they won’t come for Eden.”

  “If Eden keeps growing, then they will.”

  “We’ll just kick people out,” Dex responded.

  I had to grit my teeth as I went for the next fire escape, my hands clenching into fists. The thought of it made my blood boil—the casual cruelty of it, the dismissal of human lives.

  If that was how they were going to solve problems, maybe it was best that I not be there at all, because I would shoot Marshall dead before I let him kick a single family out of the only place they thought was safe. I didn’t like Eden. I sure as Hell wanted to leave instead of loot every store and restaurant for Alice to stockpile. But there were people there, and people were just…

  People were just precious these days. Not enough of us to go around.

  I climbed the ladder and was blessed with several minutes without Dex to calm down, my breathing gradually slowing as I pulled myself onto the next rooftop. The air up here was thin and acrid, carrying the smell of burnt concrete and plasma residue—a sharp, chemical stench that coated the back of my throat.

  Hutch came up second, and he peered down the rooftop and nodded at me, his expression grim. I knew what his expression said: Bees here.

  I carefully walked towards him, keeping low, my muscles tense and ready to move at a moment’s notice.

  Over this edge of the building was the street that we had come across yesterday. The warehouse was next to the sunflower patch, which looked recently trampled—the golden flowers crushed into the dirt, their petals scattered like blood. Currently circling the entrance of the warehouse were two Bees, their glass wings reflecting in the morning light like predatory eyes. Both of them were currently focused on their patrol route, their movements precise and methodical.

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  The warehouse itself was in bad shape, sagging in corners where the structure had been compromised. They had blasted the fuck out of it yesterday, and now it was due for collapse—twisted metal beams jutting out at odd angles, entire sections of wall simply gone, leaving gaping wounds in the building’s facade. The air around it shimmered faintly from residual heat.

  Dex clambered up and fell against the roof, groaning quietly, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He crawled towards us until he was able to walk on his weak legs again, his movements unsteady and uncertain.

  When he peered over the edge, he nearly let out a scream, his body going rigid with shock. Hutch covered his mouth and whispered furiously, “They can hear loud noises, you idiot,” his fingers pressing firmly against Dex’s lips.

  Dex wriggled out of his grip, his eyes wide and fixed on the machines below. “Those are what I saw, guys. Those right there.”

  “Well, that’s a relief. I thought you probably saw an even worse alien.”

  I gave Hutch a look. “He’s going to take you seriously, dude.”

  He shrugged at me, ignoring my scolding. He bent low on the rooftop and began to watch the Bees with interest, his body coiled like a spring, ready to move at the first sign of danger.

  Sure enough, the Bees didn’t do anything of interest.

  They were on a regular patrol, sometimes emitting their white lights when they thought they saw movement or heard a noise, the beams cutting through the haze that hung over the city. The warehouse itself was quite popular with them: every so often, something inside of it collapsed with a thunderous crash, and the Bees would point their lights and shoot their plasma rifles into it, causing more damage, the heat from the blasts warping the air itself. I had no idea if that thing was going to be there by the end of today.

  “They’re not very smart, are they?” Dex asked, his voice steadier now, though still tinged with fear.

  I shook my head. “They’re just patrolling on orders.”

  “But why?”

  “You asked that already.”

  Dex made a sound at the back of his throat, a frustrated grunt. “I thought you said we needed to gather more intel.”

  “It’s not like they fucking talk, Dex,” I snapped back, my patience wearing thin. “We’re a bit limited here on what we can do.”

  “They must be getting orders from somewhere.”

  “They are.”

  “Where?”

  Hutch’s head fell in his hands, his shoulders sagging with exhaustion and frustration. “Please,” he said, his voice muffled, “shoot me.”

  I rubbed my eyes, feeling the grit of dust and ash beneath my fingers. If I had a bit more patience, this would be no problem. But Dex had a skill of stealing more and more patience from someone every single time he asked another question.

  “Let me tell you what we know from right now,” I said, forcing myself to remain calm, “is that okay?”

  Dex nodded, his expression chastened.

  I took a deep breath, readying myself for a monologue, my voice steady despite the tension coiling in my chest. “We know that they come from smaller ships that fly over and drop them, like paratroopers. They run on energy, and they have batteries at the base of those wings you see. If you shoot them, like I have told you before, they will turn off for a few minutes. Do you remember that?” Dex looked confused but nodded anyway. It was clear he remembered nothing, absorbed nothing, and he was going to lay his head down tonight full of nothing.

  I continued anyway, pointing toward the machines below.

  “They travel in pairs. Always two of them, so look down there: we only see two paths of tracks, so I know there aren’t more called in for backup. If you ever see a third one, then get ready for it to be a duo.” I pointed at their pincers, which gleamed in the pale morning light. “At the center of each pincer is a plasma gun, or cannon, something of that nature. The Bee looks around with the white light at the top of its head, and it aims and shoots with the pincers. I haven’t seen it attack physically with them, though.”

  Dex nodded slowly, his jaw working as he processed the information. “Okay.”

  Hutch took over for me, adding, his voice carrying the weight of experience, “They are focused hunters. If you get their attention, they go for you. No hesitation.”

  “So where were you guys yesterday?”

  Hutch pointed at the ruined building, his finger steady despite the danger below.

  Dex’s jaw dropped, his face going pale. It may have just occurred to him that our sunburns were not because we were lounging around a pool. “You were…you were inside that place?”

  “The roof was not as comfortable as this one,” I told him, my voice tight with the memory of it.

  He shook his head, his eyes wide. “Fucking crazy.”

  It did look crazy now that the building was half-gone, melted twisted pieces of glass now holding up most of the frame like the ribs of some dead creature. I had no idea how we got off the second floor with a clean getaway. Maggie was so close to dying, and Hutch…

  I didn’t want to think about it. Losing them would have ravaged me with guilt. I was the one who caused too much noise.

  I tried looking around for a better angle of the warehouse behind it, where I’d last seen a human being—that woman’s face in the window, her mouth moving as if calling for help—but there was no good view from here. The angle was wrong, the building blocking my sight line. We would need to somehow slip past the bots or skirt to another rooftop, which was not doable with them on the ground. It would be too much noise. And we had no way to jump without potentially breaking our legs, leaving us stranded and helpless.

  “Hutch,” I said, and he knew what I wanted immediately, his body tensing in anticipation.

  Hutch rubbed his face in thought, his fingers pressing against his temples as he worked through the problem. “We could start running a distraction. Dex and I get them a couple blocks over, and you take care of their sensors?”

  “I don’t have the rifle.”

  Hutch looked down at Dex, who tightened his grip on his gun, his knuckles going white. There was no way he was going to give this to us. His dad put him in charge, and he cradled that authority like a baby, protective and possessive. “Okay,” Hutch said after a second, his voice carrying a note of resignation. “Then Dex here is going to take out their sensors. You follow them up in the back, make some noise if they get too close to us.”

  “Two at a time is not great chances.” I could feel the weight of the decision pressing down on me, the knowledge that this plan was risky, that things could go wrong in a hundred different ways.

  Hutch shrugged nonchalantly, though I could see the tension in his shoulders. “It’d be easier without Dex.”

  “I can stay here,” Dex volunteered, his voice uncertain.

  I raised my eyebrows at him, meeting his gaze. “Then give us your rifle?”

  “No,” he said, his jaw set stubbornly.

  “Then you’re going.” I stood up and wiped my palms of the rocky dust that coated this rooftop, my hands trembling slightly with adrenaline. “When you’re ready, Hutch.”

  Hutch rolled his shoulders, flexing, his movements deliberate and controlled. His face was calm, but I could see the calculation in his eyes, the way he was already mentally out there being chased. He was not someone who thought of these plans in the moment.

  I knew he would be okay. There was no way that he was going to die today. Hutch was a trained SEAL, and he moved with a constant fighting state of mind, his body a finely tuned instrument of survival. Dex, on the other hand, was probably going to get glassed. I didn’t know if I should feel bad for him or not.

  “Good luck down there,” Hutch told me, his voice steady despite the danger. “Don’t get caught in crossfire.”

  “I will try not to,” I replied, my throat tight. I glanced at Dex. “Don’t let him die. We need him to plead our case to Marshall.”

  Dex snorted, a harsh sound in the tense silence. “I’m not going to die because I’m not a bitch.”

  “Okay, Dex.”

  He stood up and followed Hutch towards the fire escape, their figures silhouetted against the hazy sky.

  I laid back down on my belly, hanging over the rooftop. The two robots were on the other side of the warehouse right now, but they were on their way back. Hutch probably had a game plan. I wished I was in on it, but I didn’t say anything before he could leave. I just had to trust that he would make the right decisions.

  Hutch was leaving me a path forward to check that warehouse for that mystery girl. She was a human. Humans mattered.

  It did unsettle me a bit that it reminded him of his own save, way back during the Fall. He compared it to this.

  I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was right.

  Perhaps, for some reason, I needed to go find these people. I needed him, and Maggie, and Eleanor, and now this girl. I needed to find her, too.

  I just didn’t know how correct I would be.