The Forsaken

has finally affected whatever data stream Clara monitors.
    I suddenly hear a distant beeping noise, getting louder. It almost sounds like something’s coming toward me. I twist sideways.
    “Warning! Error!” a voice starts intoning. It’s not Clara—it’s a different voice. Deep and robotic. Simpler. I’m confused, until I realize this voice is emanating from the pod itself.
    “See?” I yell. Lights start flashing all over the pod. The light on Liam’s face suddenly switches from white to stroboscopic red. “Do something, Clara!”
    “To activate emergency thawing procedure, please press sequence three-seven-four-two-eight on the red keys, followed by the enter key,” Clara finally explains over the voice of the pod. I pound in the numbers and press enter.
    The two machines are both talking at once now, yammering at each other. The beeping continues too, drilling into my skull like the buzzing of an angry hornet. And somewhere in the cacophony I hear Gadya’s voice, trying to yell over the clattering din.
    I scream in frustration. Nothing is happening. Are my actions killing Liam? Am I going to accidentally murder the first boy I’ve ever fallen for? The voices and the lights grow to an almost unbearable level. Six minutes left. I sink to my knees.
    Then, everything changes.
    The noises cut out.
    The light dims.
    And it’s over as quickly as it began.
    I see steam rising within the pod, blotting out Liam’s face on the screen. Then the screen goes black.
    “Emergency thawing procedure on specimen number 112-782-B initiated,” Clara tells me. “Do not interact with this unit. Keep away from it for your safety. An armed security team will be there shortly.”
    I ignore the voice, standing up to stare at the pod’s dark video screen. I press my helmet against it, despite the cold. Then I hear cracking and snapping sounds.
    Clara is still talking. About temperatures, and radiation, and safety risks. But I don’t care. I’m repeating Liam’s name over and over again in my head like a silent prayer. I don’t know if he can be thawed in time.
    A minute passes. It seems like an hour.
    Then the front section of the pod unlatches and swings forward on automated hinges. I step back, startled. Thick white steam billows out in a cloud, along with a gush of liquid, and for a second I’m afraid Liam’s corpse is just going to tumble onto the metal at my feet.
    Then I hear a gasp from inside.
    The sound of someone fighting for air.
    A hand emerges, followed by Liam’s masked face. He’s pulled himself free of the metal halo. He yanks the oxygen mask off and shoves it to one side. The liquid slime covering his body is already drying in the cold, and turning into a white, powdery substance that flakes off him like dead skin.
    I stand there, too stunned to do anything.
    I’m afraid this is all a dream. Afraid that if I speak, or move, I’ll wake up.
    Liam takes a tentative step out of the pod. He hasn’t seen me yet. He puts an arm on the pod’s exoskeleton to steady himself, as he extricates his body. But then he slips, crumpling to the icy floor.
    “Liam!” I gasp. I try to yell his name again, but it comes out as a hushed whisper—partly because of the suit and partly because I’m choked up.
    He looks up and finally sees me standing there. For a second, a flicker of dazed anger passes across his face. Then he sees past the reflections in my visor and realizes who I am. His face floods with relief.
    Then he realizes something else.
    “Crap.” His voice is a slow rasp. He looks at me with a crooked grin. “I’m naked, aren’t I?” He is, but I just want to grab him and hug him anyway. “It’s so cold. . . . Where am I?”
    “Liam, you’re alive!” I babble, feeling the tears start cascading down my face like raindrops. The tears break my torpor, and I rush forward, embracing him as hard as I can in my freezing zone suit. He hugs me back, shivering violently.
    I never want to let him go. I want to stay here forever, even with the cold and the computer voices and the alarms blaring.
    “What happened to me?” he asks. I’m amazed he’s recovering so fast. He reaches for the spare suit and starts putting it on quickly, trying to insulate himself against the unbearable cold. “The last thing I remember, we were fighting the drones. Then the feelers came and—” He breaks off, coughing.
    “You got taken, and this is where you ended up. We’re at the city in the gray zone. I thought