The Chase

The gun in Chloe’s hand was steady, a dark extension of her pale arm. She stood at the edge of the woods, the morning light filtering through the trees behind her, casting long, fractured shadows across the parking lot. She looked like Sarah. She looked like the ghost of the girl Sarah used to be before the world broke her.

But her eyes were different. They were empty. Void of the warmth, the spark, the soul that made Sarah who she was.

"Chloe?" Maya whispered, her voice trembling. "What are you doing?"

Chloe didn't answer. She took a step forward, the gravel crunching under her bare feet. She was wearing a hospital gown, thin and stained with cryo-fluid.

"Drop the gun!" an officer shouted, turning his weapon toward her.

"Do it, Chloe," Elena yelled from the ground, struggling against the cuffs. "Finish the mission!"

Chloe’s gaze flickered to Elena. A flash of confusion crossed her face, a ripple in the programming.

"Who am I?" she asked, her voice raspy, unused.

"You are my daughter," Elena said, her voice desperate. "You are the future. Kill them, and we can start over."

Chloe looked back at Sarah. At Maya.

"No," Sarah said, stepping forward, ignoring the officers shouting at her to stay back. "You're not a weapon, Chloe. You're a person. You're my sister."

"Sister?" Chloe tilted her head. The word seemed foreign to her.

"We share a father," Sarah said, holding out her hand. "Thomas Jenkins. He loved you. He tried to save you."

"Lies!" Elena screamed. "He abandoned you! He sold you!"

"He protected you," Sarah said, her voice calm, cutting through Elena’s hysteria. "He hid you. Because he knew she would use you."

Chloe’s hand wavered. The gun dipped slightly.

"I remember..." she whispered. "A voice. Reading to me."

"That was Arthur," Sarah said. "Judge Miller. He raised you. He loved you, too."

"Arthur is dead," Chloe said flatly. "She killed him."

She pointed the gun at Elena.

"No!" the police sergeant shouted. "Don't shoot!"

"You killed my father," Chloe said to Elena.

"I gave you life!" Elena spat. "I created you! You owe me everything!"

"You owe me a childhood," Chloe said.

Her finger tightened on the trigger.

Sarah lunged. Not at Chloe. At Elena.

She threw herself in front of her stepmother, shielding the monster who had destroyed her life.

*Bang.*

The shot went wide, hitting the pavement.

"Don't do it, Chloe!" Sarah shouted. "She's not worth it. Don't let her turn you into a killer. That's what she wants."

Chloe stared at Sarah. At the woman who looked just like her, bleeding and bruised, protecting the enemy.

"Why?" Chloe asked.

"Because we're better than her," Sarah said. "We're not products. We're survivors."

Chloe lowered the gun. She dropped it. It clattered on the asphalt.

She fell to her knees, sobbing.

Sarah ran to her. She wrapped her arms around her sister, holding her tight as the police swarmed in.

"It's okay," Sarah whispered into Chloe's hair. "I've got you. You're safe."

Officers pulled Elena to her feet. She was laughing. A manic, broken sound.

"You think you've won?" she cackled as they shoved her into the cruiser. "You haven't won anything! You're all damaged goods! Broken toys!"

The door slammed shut, silencing her.

Sarah looked up. Maya was standing there, tears streaming down her face. She joined them, wrapping her arms around both women.

Three generations. Broken. Battered.

But together.

"Is it over?" Maya asked.

Sarah looked at the burning remains of the hangar in the distance. At the police cars surrounding the clinic. At the diary lying on the ground where she had dropped it.

"Yes," she said. "It's over."

But as the adrenaline faded, a new feeling took its place. A deep, bone-weary exhaustion. And a sharp, piercing pain in her arm.

She looked down. The bandage Robert had tied was soaked through.

"Mom?" Maya said, her voice rising in panic.

Sarah swayed. The world tilted.

"I'm fine," she tried to say.

But the darkness was coming back. Faster this time.

She collapsed onto the pavement.

"Mom!"

The last thing she heard was Maya’s scream.

And then, silence.