Taken (Erin Bowman)

the Rebels need you. Badly.”
    “Clayton is wise beyond his years. I’ve taught him everything I know. The Rebels will be fine. And what makes you think we didn’t try to come up with other strategies?”
    “Because you’re willingly walking to your death!”
    “Maybe that’s the plan.”
    “Well, that’s as dumb a plan as any.”
    “Gray,” he says simply, “it is a worthwhile sacrifice, one life for many, and you will be a fool to waste it. Don’t do anything stupid when the time comes. I will not be angry with you. This is the way for you and Bree to make it back. Do this final deed, and then, as they celebrate my demise, when they trust you, bring the vaccine back to Crevice Valley so this battle can continue.”
    I sit there and shake my head in disbelief. Before I can find peace in my thoughts, the guards are leading us from the room.
    Union Central is quiet again. The alarms have been turned off, the Code Red cleared. Harvey and I are pushed into a car, which drives us downtown to the same public square where Emma and I witnessed the water thief’s execution. Here, it is busy, citizens and Order members alike buzzing through the space. Frank stands on the raised platform and quiets the crowd. He speaks into a tall narrow contraption that amplifies his voice through the square.
    “This is Harvey Maldoon,” Frank says. The wall behind Frank illuminates with the visuals from Harvey’s wanted posters as the guards drag him onto the platform. They secure him to a wooden post. He doesn’t struggle. In fact, he willingly participates, arranging his arms so the Order can more easily bind him.
    “This man is no stranger to us,” Frank continues. “We have seen his face strung up around the city, but I think it is worth reiterating the evils he has committed. This is a man who has no desire to live by laws that are just and fair. He is a snake and a coward, a murderer and a traitor, a filthy disease that Taem will be cleansed of tonight. Harvey has traded information and knowledge to AmWest, and in doing so he has betrayed us all. He has clearly proven that he wishes every one of us dead, and so tonight, this man will die!”
    The spectators erupt in cheers, lifting arms above their heads and urging on the execution. Frank continues talking, working the people into a frenzied rally, but I am not listening. Where is Bree? I whisper to her through my mic, but she doesn’t respond. I look around, but we are surrounded, trapped. City towers bear down on us from all angles, and the crowd is a swarming sea of anger around the platform.
    “Blaine Weathersby has brought Mr. Maldoon back to us,” Frank continues. Suddenly I fill the wall behind Frank, and not just a static image but a moving one. Wall me blinks when I blink, moves as I move. Video. It must be. “Blaine has shown honesty and faithfulness to Taem. He has shown us respect for law and order. He has returned Harvey to our city, and now, before you all, Blaine will eliminate this threat forever.”
    The crowd proceeds to cheer. I search the angry faces, looking for Emma, but she’s nowhere to be found. I never should have walked away from her. A guard leads me onto the stage and positions me across the platform from Harvey. The wall shows it all, both Harvey and myself now filling its surface. The guard hands me a rifle and Frank presses a finger to his lip, smiling.
    The weapon feels heavy in the approaching twilight. I could kill Frank. This is my chance if I want it. He is standing right there, but then what? I would certainly be shot dead by the Order or trampled by the crowd and the vaccine would never make it back to the Rebels. Frank would be dead, but would his Laicos Project? Would Marco step in and fill Frank’s shoes? Continue Heisting for Forgeries? Send the virus to Mount Martyr? Would killing Frank now even matter?
    I look down at the gun and then back to Harvey.
    Don’t do anything stupid when the time comes .
    Those were his words, and maybe he is right. Maybe this really is the only way. Harvey is sacrificed for the greater good, the survival of the Rebels and the hope that the Rebellion can continue after the vaccine is administered. Tonight is not the night to defeat Frank. That battle waits but in a much different future.
    As I ready myself for the actions I am still hesitant to take, I see a flash out of the corner of my eye, movement on a nearby roof. I look up and there she is, Bree, crouched behind a chimney of an