I woke up to the crunch of metal and the distant sounds of buzzing cars hovering over the ground.

I shot up, staring at the water-stained wall. There was a small hole there where it had been broken through, making the barrier between us and the outside world thinner. The room had no windows that I could look through, with the only ones we had boarded up. Still, I glimpsed a shadow moving between the breaks in the wooden planks covering it.

Hovers? Here? No one could afford such a luxury this deep in Drowner territory, never mind out in the clone district. I slowly edged out of my bed, and I was shocked when I looked over to see Meryl sitting up, her eyes far off as she gazed at the same wall.

“It's happening.”

I looked from her, and back to to windows as another shadow drifted past. This one was even bigger. I swallowed thickly, the knot of dread that I had been trying to ignore tightening in my stomach. The same sick feeling I had been trying to ignore since the first time I saw Darius Edden calling for a clone recall.

No. That’s silly. Just Linnie’s paranoia rubbing off on me. There was just no way that the Eddens had that much power.

“What’s happening?” I asked thinly, noting how my voice -- still thick with sleep -- sounded confused and unsure. Much like how I felt as I walked towards the window, narrowing my eyes as I tried to glimpse through the cracks.

“To take us to be with Ari,” Meryl continued, sending ice through my already chilly veins. My mouth dried out, but I tried to shrug it off. Clones had been around for far too long now for them to just discard us like trash. We weren't some unwanted defective toy that children no longer asked their moms to buy in the store.

At least, that's what I told myself.

The owners that relied on us to make them a living would never stand for it. Even the older models like us. There was no way…

I glimpsed a weak shaft of sunlight as it reflected off something metallic through the uneven board on the corner of the window. Heart thudding, skin prickling, I reached out a hand to try to pry it loose. Terror made me desperate, clawing at the slightly damp wood until my nails felt like they were getting torn straight from their nail beds. Eventually, it gave, the softened wood tearing from the nails keeping them in place. I looked through the larger gap.

I felt everything go still.

It was a droner. A big remotely piloted craft that carried android soldiers, its smooth matallic surface sparkling in the morning sun that managed to reach this far down. The ground below was covered in a low layer of water. It contrasted a muddy brown in comparison to the sleek long vehicle that floated through the sky.

If androids were getting commissioned out here, something big was happening. Something that required the complacent had of a machine. The kind of task that a human didn’t want to have to do themselves.

Finally, the months of news holos showing me Darius with his blinded son at his side slammed into my head. The memories were unwanted, and unbidden, but did little to change the cold hard truth of the matter. They did not change the repeated recordings of the bomb as it exploded, taking out one whole Elevated tower, and damaging the ones next to it. Pretending they didn't exist didn't hide the fear I had seen more and more on people's faces when I walked to and from the diner. And denying the memories certainly didn't amend that business for Gage had been going down. Nor did my ignorance alter that Gage hadn’t cared if Reid hit me in the face anymore. The bruise still tingled on my swollen cheek.

It was all connected to this moment. The warnings I had chose to ignore. Noise filled my head like a static only it was an echo of my own screams.

They were here. Any minute now. I had no idea if they would come for me and my family, but I didn’t have time to wait and find out.

“Meryl. We need to go.”

I turned approaching her. She remained seated, the pose oddly polite. Like she was waiting on a special guest to arrive.

I grabbed her arm. “Come on. We can’t stay here.”

She didn’t look at me and remained silent.

“Meryl”—I tugged on her arm frantically—”please not now.”

Her eyes lifted slowly to mine. Though they were the same periwinkle blue as mine, her’s reflected dimly, a muted grey. “There's no point. He’s already here. Can’t you hear?”

It was then that I realized the frantic buzzing in my head wasn’t imagined. It was real, and coming from outside.

The screams of RiRi as she called for Linnie.