Difficult Choice 2

Difficult Choice 2


Emma's POV

The gunshots stopped, but my heart kept beating.
I pressed myself against the cold brick wall, trying to catch my breath. Blood dripped from a cut on my arm where glass had hit me when the window burst.
"Emma!" Marcus's voice called from somewhere in the darkness. "Where are you?"
I wanted to answer him, but something stopped me. How did he know I was here? How had he found this place?
My phone buzzed with a text message. I looked at the screen with shaking hands.
Emma, it's Jess. Marcus is working with them. Don't trust him. Meet me at the old bridge. Come alone. - J
My stomach dropped. Marcus was the only person I'd told about this hiding spot. The only person who knew where I was.
"Emma, please!" Marcus called again, his voice getting closer. "I'm here to help you!"
Another text came through, this time from Marcus's number:
Emma, Jess has been lying to you. She's working for Vincent. I have proof. Trust me. - M
I stared at both messages, my hands shaking. Who was telling the truth? Who was lying?
Footsteps echoed in the alley. Someone was coming toward my hidden spot.
"I know you're scared," Marcus said softly. "But you have to trust someone, Emma. You can't keep running forever."
He was right about one thing. I couldn't hide forever. The people hunting me were getting closer every day. Soon, they would find me no matter where I went.
But trusting the wrong person would mean death.
I thought about everything that had happened. Marcus had saved me from Vincent's boat. He'd helped me escape from Dr. Martinez's lab. He'd risked his own life to protect me.
But Jess had warned me about the programs. She'd told me about the other versions. She'd given me information that had kept me living.
My phone buzzed again. This time it was from a number I didn't recognize: Emma, this is Vincent. I have something that belongs to you. If you want to see Marcus living again, come to the warehouse on Fifth Street. You have one hour. Come alone or he dies.
My blood turned to ice. Vincent had Marcus? But Marcus was yelling my name right outside.
Unless the Marcus outside wasn't really Marcus.
I peeked around the bend and saw a figure in the shadows. He looked exactly like Marcus - same height, same voice, same way of moving.
But something felt wrong.
"Emma, I know you're there," the Marcus-looking person said. "Dr. Martinez told me everything before she died. About the prototypes. About the programs. I'm here to help you stop them."
That's when I knew for sure. The real Marcus didn't know Dr. Martinez was dead yet. I'd been the only one there when Vincent shot her.
The person calling my name was one of the prototypes.
I backed away from the wall, trying to be quiet. But my foot hit an empty can and it rattled across the ground.
The fake Marcus stopped talking.
"Found you," he said, and his voice was different now. Cold. Dangerous.
I ran.
Behind me, I could hear footsteps running after me. Fast footsteps. Faster than any average person could run.
I turned the corner and saw another person standing in front of me. She looked exactly like Jess, but her eyes were wrong. Too bright. Too empty.
"Hello, Emma," the fake Jess said. "Ready to come home?"
I was stuck between two prototypes. One looked like my best friend. One looked like the boy I was falling in love with.
Both wanted to kill me.
"What do you want?" I asked, trying to buy time.
"We want you to stop fighting," fake Marcus said from behind me. "The programming will work better if you don't resist."
"What programming?"
"The programming that will make you just like us," fake Jess said. "Perfect. Obedient. Useful."
That's when I understood. They didn't just want to kill me. They wanted to turn me into one of them.
"Dr. Martinez's work isn't finished," fake Marcus said. "She made us, but you're her masterpiece. The perfect blend of human feeling and programmed control."
"I'll never let you turn me into a weapon," I said.
"You don't have a choice," fake Jess said. "But we can make it easy or we can make it hurt. Up to you."
I looked around, looking for an escape route. The alley was narrow, with brick walls on both sides. The only way out was past one of the prototypes.
My phone buzzed one more time. I glanced at the screen quickly: Emma, the bridge. Now. Real Marcus needs help. This is your only chance. - Real Jess
I had to make a choice. Trust that Jess was really Jess and run to the bridge. Trust that Marcus was really in danger and needed my help.
Or trust no one and try to fight my way out alone.
The fake prototypes started moving toward me from both directions.
"Time's up, Emma," fake Marcus said.
I made my choice.
I threw my phone as hard as I could at fake Jess's head, then jumped past fake Marcus toward the street. His hand grabbed my shirt, but I spun away and kept running.
"She's heading for the bridge!" fake Jess yelled into her radio. "All units, intercept at the bridge!"
As I ran through the dark streets, I realized something terrible.
If there were versions that looked like Marcus and Jess, how would I know which ones were real when I got to the bridge?
What if I was running straight into another trap?
What if the real Marcus and Jess were already dead, and I was the only real person left?
The bridge came into view ahead of me, dark against the night sky.
Two people stood waiting in the middle of it.
One looked like Marcus. One looked like Jess.
Both were calling my name.
Both looked exactly like my friends.
And I had no idea which ones were real.