Chapter 59 Life and Death

Chapter 59 Life and Death
Emma Stone - POV
Monitors screamed. Numbers dropping. Mine. I watched them fall through vision that wouldn't focus right.
Blake's face above me. Scared. He was actually scared. Never seen that before on him.
"Emma, stay with us," he said. His hand squeezed mine hard enough to hurt. "Don't you dare."
But I felt it draining. Life force bleeding out. I'd poured too much into Cole. Restarted his stopped heart with pieces of myself that weren't coming back.
Worth it though. He was breathing. Chest rising and falling. Alive.
I killed him. Then brought him back. Apparently my power could do that. Life and death. Not just seeing futures or amplifying abilities. The fundamental thing underneath.
Should scare me probably. Didn't. Too tired for scared.
"Vitals crashing," Ryan said somewhere past Blake. Medical detachment failing. I felt his panic sharp through the bond. "Need to stabilize. Now."
Kai's face appeared. Paint still crusted under his nails. "What do we do? How do we fix her?"
Silence. Because there wasn't a fix. I'd chosen. Traded my life for Cole's. Simple math.
My eyes wanted to close. So heavy.
"Emma." Cole's voice. Rough like gravel. He was up already. Shouldn't be up after dying but that was Cole. Always moving. "Look at me."
I tried. Everything felt far away. Like underwater.
His face came close. Those steady eyes. "Don't leave. Not for me. Not like this."
"Had to," I whispered. Barely got the words out. "You died. I killed you."
"Then let me stay dead." His hand touched my face. Warm against my cold skin. "Don't trade yourself. I'm not worth that."
Wrong. So wrong. He was worth everything.
The bond pulsed weak in my chest. Four threads connecting us. Mine fraying. Coming apart like old string.
My power still there though. Buried under exhaustion. Still alive somewhere deep.
Life force. That's what conduits really controlled. Not amplification or visions. The energy separating alive from dead. The thing that made hearts beat.
Grandmother had it too. Why they couldn't kill her. Her connection kept everyone tethered. Anchor point.
I was anchor too. Stronger one. Second generation refusal. My power could give. Take. Transfer between bodies.
I'd taken from Cole by accident. Drained him without meaning to.
Then given back. Forced his heart to beat again.
But giving cost. Piece of me went with it. Gone permanent.
Not getting that back.
"There has to be something," Blake said. Still holding my hand like that would keep me here. "Some way to reverse this."
Ryan moved into view. Checked my pulse at my throat. My pupils. "She gave too much. Her body is compensating by shutting down."
"So he gives it back," Kai said. "Cole, give her what she gave you."
Cole shook his head. "Don't know how. Don't have her abilities."
"The bond." Blake thinking fast. I felt his mind racing. "We're connected. Could channel life force back through it."
"Bonds don't work that way," Ryan said. "They share psychic energy. Not physical life."
"We don't actually know what's possible." Blake looked at the others. "Never tried. Emma's power changed things. Changed all of us."
They were talking around me. About me. Deciding.
I wanted to tell them stop. That I'd chosen already. Cole's life over my power. Easy choice.
But my mouth wouldn't work. Too tired. Everything shutting down slow.
Bond pulsed again. Weaker. My thread unraveling.
Then something pulled. Different direction. Not me giving. Them giving to me.
Life force flowing through the bond toward me. Small streams from each. Ryan's steady pulse. Blake's sharp current. Kai's chaotic spark. Cole's solid weight.
Filling the hole I'd torn.
My heart beat stronger. Once. Twice. Three times.
Monitors changed tone. Numbers climbing.
"Working," Ryan said. Voice tight. "Keep going."
They pushed more. I felt their strain bleeding through. Cost them too. Not like it cost me. But still. They were giving pieces.
For me.
Vision cleared. I saw them. Hands linked in a circle. Eyes closed. Concentrating hard.
Saving me like I'd saved Cole.
Bond solidified. My thread stopped fraying. Started weaving back together.
Life force filled me up. Not complete. Not full. But enough to keep breathing.
Monitors steadied. Alarms quieted to normal beeps.
I sucked in air. Deep. "Stop. Enough now."
Eyes opened. They looked exhausted. Faces pale. But alive.
"Emma," Blake breathed. Relief cracking his voice.
"I'm okay." Stronger now. "You can stop. I'm okay."
They released. Flow stopped. Bond stayed solid though. All five threads intact.
Cole helped me sit. Hands gentle. "Never do that again."
"Die or resurrect you?" I tried smiling. Failed.
"Either. Both. I'm serious." His hand stayed on my back. Warm anchor.
"She saved your life," Kai said. "Show gratitude."
"I am grateful." Cole looked at me. "And terrified. You almost died."
"Didn't though." I swung legs off the table. Everything hurt. Muscles. Bones. Skin. But alive hurt was better than dead. "We're all alive. Matters most."
Ryan started removing equipment. Disconnecting cables. "Need to leave. This facility isn't secure."
Blake nodded. "Vance knows we're here by now. More guards coming. Or worse."
I stood. Legs shaking but holding. Cole steadied me. "Can you walk?"
"Have to." I looked past him. Saw the cells. Faces watching through glass. "Not leaving without them though."
"Them?" Ryan followed my gaze. "The subjects?"
"They're prisoners. Test subjects." My voice came firm despite shaking. "We're freeing them."
"Emma, that's twelve people minimum," Blake said. "No transport. No time."
"Then we make time." I pulled away from Cole. Walked toward cells. "Not leaving them here."
Faces pressed glass. Hopeful. Desperate. They'd heard everything. Knew rescue was possible now.
Control panel beside the cells. I tried buttons. Nothing. Locked.
"Ryan," I said. "Open these."
He moved to the panel. Fingers flying. "Give me a minute."
Others watched. I felt their concern. Their worry. But acceptance too. They knew I meant it.
"My grandmother is here," I said. Looked at Evelyn's cell at the end. "Twenty years a prisoner. We're taking her home."
Ryan's hands moved fast. "Almost."
Alarms erupted. Different ones. Louder. Red lights flashing everywhere.
Automated voice through speakers. Cold. Flat. "Containment breach detected. Initiating facility self destruct protocol. All personnel evacuate immediately. Detonation in three minutes."
Three minutes.
My stomach dropped hard.
Blake swore. "Vance activated failsafe. Destroying the evidence. All of it."
Including us. Including prisoners.
Cell doors clicked open. All at once. Ryan got it.
People stumbled out. Weak. Confused. Some barely walking.
"Move now," I said. Loud. "Three minutes to get out. Help each other. Go."
They moved. Too slow. Way too slow.
Evelyn came from her cell. Our eyes met. "Emma."
"Later," I said. Grabbed her arm. "Run first. Talk after we're not dead."
Cole and Kai took the weakest ones. Supported their weight. Blake led. Knew the exit.
Ryan stayed with me. Making sure everyone moved.
We ran. The building shook under us. Explosions below. Getting closer.
Two minutes left.
Up stairs. People falling. We caught them. Kept pushing.
Hallway too long. Exit too far.
One minute.
We burst through doors. Night air. Cold. Clear.
Not far enough though. Blast radius would be huge.
"Keep running," Cole yelled ahead. "Don't stop moving."
Thirty seconds.
I ran harder. Body screaming. Life force depleted. Pushed anyway.
Twenty seconds.
Past maintenance building. Across dead grass. Trees ahead.
Ten seconds.
Almost there. Almost.
Five. Four. Three.
We dove behind concrete barrier. All of us. Prisoners. Us. Everyone hitting ground hard.
Two. One.
The facility exploded behind us.
Heat washed over. Light so bright I squeezed eyes shut. Sound felt like it cracked my ribs.
Debris rained. Metal. Concrete. Fire.
I covered my head. Cole covered me. Still protecting.
Explosion faded to echoes. Just crackling fire left.
Slowly looked up.
Gone. The facility just rubble and flames. Nothing standing.
Evidence destroyed. Research gone.
Everyone on the ground. Breathing hard. Alive though.
Made it.
I started laughing. Couldn't stop. Exhaustion and relief mixing wrong in my head.
Cole sat up. Stared at me. "You're completely insane."
"Probably." Laughed harder. Knew I sounded hysterical. Didn't care. "But alive. We all made it out."
Then his face changed. Everyone's faces changed. Looking past me.
I turned.
Colonel Vance stood there. Ten feet away. Covered in ash and blood. Burned. But alive. Gun in his hand.
Pointed at my head.
"Not everyone made it out," he said.