Darkness. It was cold. Your eyes shot open. You looked around. There was a glimmer above you. Bubbles drifted upward around you. You could see the full moon through the surface. It was then you came to your senses. You kicked and pulled yourself upward. Your lungs were screaming. Your head burst through the surface and you gasped for breath. In an instant the calming silence from below was replaced with the fiery explosion of the ship. Heat gust out causing the water to form a wave that splashed you in the face. You watched as Jericho was lit up like a volcano. The fire illuminated the water and made it easier to see what was around you. You just stared at it.
"(Y/n)! Hurry!" A voice called you back to the present. You looked over and saw everyone swimming to shore. You saw Zane standing there. He was the one that had called out to you. You quickly swam after them. Your body was aching. You could feel your energy draining, but you kept going, forcing yourself through the dark water. You took Zane's hand and he helped haul you onto shore. You collapsed onto your back, breathing hard, drenched, and exhausted. He bent over, putting his hands on his knees, out of breath as well. Everyone was trying to calm down from what just happened. Jake started laughing. You all looked at him.
"WOW! That was something!" He said. "I need to hang out with you guys more often!" He said with a smile.
"Don't tell me you actually enjoyed risking our lives and blowing up a ship with soldiers shooting at us the entire time." Ash grumbled.
"Lighten up Ash! I thought you liked action." He said. Ash opened his mouth to shout a retort, but he stopped. He nodded.
"He's got a point." He agreed with a grin. Jake laughed.
"Dude, I'm so glad I helped you out of that fire." Jake said.
"Same. I wasn't exactly pleased with the thought of burning to a crisp." Ash said. They gave each other high fives and you rolled your eyes at them.
"If you two didn't notice we have no place to go to now!" You said.
"Actually, I do know a place we can go." Markus said.
"Let's move then!" Zane said. You tried to get up, but you felt a pain in your side. You yelped and fell back onto your hands and knees.
"(Y/n)!" Connor hurried over to you. You gripped your side. He gently removed your hand and you saw blood. "She's hurt!" You refused to let a grazed side slow you down.
"I'll be fine. Let's go." You said, standing up with a little bit of Connor's help. Connor stuck to your side and you all hurried away into the night.
You arrived at the Cathedral and many androids joined you all there. Kent had patched you up and your were perfectly fine. The injury had been near some nerves which is why it had hurt more than usual.
You were relieved that your family and friends were all there and all fine. Your father's leg would heal and your brothers and sister, other than a few scrapes, were all fine as well. Jake was being treated by Kent and Connor was alright along with Josh, North, and Markus. Nova was a bit torn up, but she was also being treated.
Markus said he had to go visit somebody and that he would be back within an hour. He had entrusted North to watch over everything while he was away. You went to meet the two android girls that had joined you in your escape. One was a woman and the other was a child. The woman had long orange hair with red highlights and blue eyes. The little girl had long pink hair with purple and blue highlights and two different colored eyes. One eye was gold and the other was green. They had stayed together for now while Scarlett and Kent were busy helping.
"Hello there." The woman greeted. You smiled.
"Hey. I just thought I should meet the both of you." You said.
"I'm April. Kent saved my life from a soldier. This is Nia. She was saved by Scarlett. She had been too scared to move until Scarlett found her." April explained. You nodded.
"We're always willing to help. No matter what." You said. They smiled.
"Thank you miss." Nia said. You smiled at her.
"You're welcome Nia." You walked away from them and spotted the android from the highway with the little girl. You hurried over to them. "Hi there! I just wanted to see you quick." You said. The android looked up at you, fear in her eyes. She held the little girl closer. "Wait! It's okay. I'm not against you. I'm sorry about what happened. I'm glad you two are alright. I'm (Y/n)." You said. They calmed down.
"This is Alice and I'm Kara. I'm sorry about pushing you in front of that bus. I'm..I'm glad your alright as well." She said. You smiled. "I heard that you were a great help to our people on the boat. I didn't know what you looked like, but I'd heard your name being spread around. Thank you."
"Anything to help." You replied. "It's nice to meet you both. I'm sure it hasn't been easy for either of you."
"We've...been through a lot." Kara agreed. You frowned a little. Then, you got an idea.
"Hey, I think Alice might want to meet one of my friends. I'm sure you'll both like her." You said. You whistled and Nova came padding over to you. Alice smiled instantly and stood up to pet her. Nova happily licked her hand and enjoyed the attention she was getting from the child. Kara smiled. "She has to stay with me, but I thought you'd like to say hello." You said.
"Thank you." Alice said. "She's really pretty." Nova barked, pleased with herself. You chuckled.
"This is Nova. My dad made her. She's not a Cyberlife model. She's one of a kind." You explained. Alice hugged her. After she hugged the wolf she hugged you.
"Thank you (Y/n). You're really nice." She said. You smiled and hugged back.
"Where are you two planning to go?" You asked.
"Getting Alice away from here is all that matters now. We have to catch the last bus. We might still have a chance to cross the border." Kara said. You nodded.
"Good luck. I know you can do it. We've all made it this far, right?" You said. Kara smiled.
"(Y/n), one more thing." You listened. "Please. You might be human, but you're one of us. Help our people." Kara said. You smiled.
"To the end Kara. I promise you." You replied and you and Nova left them. Soon enough, Markus was back. Nova split off to go entertain Nia and you walked over to Connor. He looked upset with himself. Markus followed you over to Connor.
"It's my fault...the humans managed to locate Jericho." He said. "I was stupid. I should've guessed they were using me." You frowned. You hugged him and he hugged back. "I'm sorry for not realizing what was more important sooner, (Y/n)." He whispered to you.
"I don't care. You're here with me now. That's all that matters to me." You replied softly. You let go of each other and he walked up to Markus.
"I'm sorry Markus. I can understand if you decide not to trust me." He said.
"You're one of us now. Your place is with your people." Markus said. He turned to you.
"You might be human (Y/n), but you're one of us as well." He looked between the two of you. "You both belong here. So do your brothers, sister, and father, (Y/n). You've all earned your place among us. And you've taught me that there are people out there that believe in us. Not all humans are bad. I understand that now." You smiled.
"Thank you Markus." You said. He began to walk away, but then Connor said,
"There are thousands of androids at the Cyberlife assembly plant. If we can wake them up, they might join us and shift the balance in power." You were stunned.
"Connor what are you saying?" You asked.
"You wanna infiltrate the Cyberlife Tower? Connor, that's suicide." Markus said.
"They trust me, they'll let me in. If anyone has a chance of infiltrating Cyberlife, it's me."
"If you go there, they will kill you." Markus said.
"There's a high probability, but statistically speaking, there's always a chance for unlikely events to take place." Connor said. You were stunned.
"Okay, so nobody ask for my thoughts on this!" You said. They turned to you.
"(Y/n)-" You cut Connor off.
"No! I will not let you risk your life to do this! There's gotta be something else!" You said.
"Like what?" Markus asked.
"I don't know, but something we can do together! Something that's safer!" You said.
"Nothing is safe for us anymore, (Y/n)." Connor said.
"I can't lose you!" You shouted. Tears were in your eyes. "I've gone through losing my mother...I thought my brothers were dead...we just fought our way out of an exploding ship and yet you're still trying to put yourself in danger." You said, your voice breaking a little. Your lips quivered as you tried to choke back your sobs and sniffles. You looked at the ground, wrapping your arms around yourself. "I can't go through that again, Connor." You whimpered. He held you close to him.
"You won't. I promise." He said. He gave you a quick kiss. His brown eyes met yours as he wiped away a tear with his thumb. "I'll come back to you." You held onto him tighter than ever.
"You better, or else when I get to heaven I'll hunt you down and give you the biggest lecture of your life." You said. He chuckled.
"You won't have to. I promise."