Dallas’s head is in my lap. He struggles to sit up. He can’t.
“D-Don’t you dare sit here and nurse me,” he hisses, his breathing quick, but not out of control. “What Palmiotti did to us… you take that, Beecher!” He motions to Palmiotti’s gun. “You take that and do what’s right!”
Behind me, I still hear the echo of Palmiotti chasing after Clementine. I watch Dallas’s chest rise and fall, making sure he’s taking full breaths.
“Beecher, y-you need to do what’s right,” Dallas begs.
But as he fights to get the words out, the only thing I hear is Tot’s voice in my head. Two days ago, he said that history is a selection process-that it chooses moments and events, and even people-that it hands them a situation that they shouldn’t be able to overcome, and that it’s in those moments, in that fight, that people find out who they are. It was a good speech. And for two days now, I’ve assumed history had chosen me.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
History doesn’t choose individual people.
History chooses everyone. Every day.
The only question is: How long will you ignore the call?
I’ve been waiting for Tot… for Dallas… for the Culper Ring… for just about anyone to save me. But there’s only one person who can do that.
“I got it,” I tell him.
Holding Palmiotti’s gun, and still thinking about what Clementine said about my dad, I glance to my right. On the wall, there’s a small red fire alarm built into the rock. I hop to my feet and jab my elbow into the glass. The alarm screams, sending a high-pitched howl swirling through the cave.
That should bring Dallas the help he needs far faster than anything I can do. But as I check to make sure he’s still conscious…
“I’m fine…” Dallas whispers, drowned out by the alarm. “I’m fine. Go…”
Far behind us, there’s a low rumble as hundreds of employees follow their protocol and pour into the cave’s main artery, ready to evacuate. I barely hear it-especially as my own heartbeat pulses in my ears.
This isn’t history.
But it is my life. And my father’s. What she said…
I need to know.
Running full speed with a gun in my hand, I turn the corner and head deeper into the cave.
Clementine’s out there. So is Palmiotti.
I know they’re waiting for me.
But they have no idea what’s coming.