Mom gave me an odd look.
Blaze didn’t move, his breathing shallow and his complexion gray.
“You’ve got to hold on Blaze. I can’t lose you all over again.” Without my permission, I leaned forward and kissed Blaze full on the lips.
Now I had everyone’s attention.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING! My body stopped, and I pulled back, staring at the floor.
If you think for one minute I would let him die without kissin’ him, you’re a bigger fool than I thought.
I felt my cheeks go red.
Mom studied me as I pretended nothing had happened. Here it comes, the lawyer is about to strike. “Out with it. Something happened in Dallas.”
Abby perked up. “I could have sworn Grim Reaper hit you with his Scythe but a second later you were fine, and he was out cold.” She slurped her Pepsi, watching.
I sighed. I’d hoped to discuss this later but thanks to Pepper it had to be now.
OK, kissin’ him might not have been the best play in hindsight.
I sighed again, much to the annoyance of everyone in the room, including my best friend I hadn’t even greeted. “This is what happened. Grim Reaper hit me with his scythe, and I somehow absorbed Pepper Spray in the process of breaking free. Not much else to tell.”
Questions exploded from the assembled people. I half expected Blaze to sit straight up and ask me for more information.
Mom shushed everyone, and they quieted down. “You skipped a lot of details there, don’t you think? Let’s start at the beginning, shall we?”
“Yes, counselor.” I got an evil grin from her, plus she knew it was me talking. “We were fighting the Syndicate, and Turk jumped me.”
“He did?” Dad interrupted. “I didn’t see him until later in the fight. He ran off screaming.”
Oh yeah. He was screaming like a little bitch. Pepper sounded way too happy about that fact.
“He came up from behind me and used his Gift to poison me. I thought he had me, but I found a way to get him off me. He ran off injured so I thought he wouldn’t come back.” Remembering the nausea and pain from the second attack left my stomach a bit unsettled. I could smell the miasma in the back of my sinuses. “Obviously, I called that wrong.”
Boulder grunted. “Gifted are hard to kill. Is that why his hands were gone?”
I nodded. “He took my helmet with him; it kind of, umm, was fused to him. I thought he’d run for it, not attack us.” I paused for more commentary but getting none, I moved on. “When the Reclaimers showed up demanding our surrender, I’d been fighting Grim Reaper. I stupidly turned, and he stabbed me in the back, literally.”
“Oh, that sucks. What happened?” Abby asked, her face deeply lined. Her injured leg must hurt worse than I thought.
I went on to describe the meeting with Pepper and fighting Death and finally returning to my body and realizing Pepper had been brought back with me. I popped open a Dew and drank deeply.
Marcel stroked his chin as always. “It must be an aspect of your Gift that nullified his ability to absorb your soul into the scythe.” I appreciated how carefully he worded his response as to not give away any information on my powers. “We know from the Zoo that Pepper’s soul, for lack of a better term, still resided in his weapon. Interesting. I have some ideas we should discuss later.”
“Yes, Professor. I’ll make an appointment during your office hours.” I shot him my best eat-crap smile, which he returned.
“Why, thank you, Mr. Potter.”
Having lived with our banter for many years, Mom simply rolled her eyes. “Can we stay on topic?”
“Sorry, Mom,” we both said in unison. Like I said, the three of us had been together for a long time.
“Losers,” Abby interjected from where she sat.
Mom gave her “the look” before continuing. “You can talk to Pepper?”
I thought about it, not sure on how to answer. “I can talk to her. She can hear some of my thoughts.”
Only the surface ones. When you use your brain, I can’t hear you.
I repeated what she told me. “I don’t think she can take over except in stressful situations when I do what she asks me…but without her asking me. Do you understand?”
Marcel pursed his lips, still rubbing his non-goateed chin. “It does. She can influence your actions by appealing to the emotional centers of your brain. Well, what little brain you have. I would think it’d be fairly easy, especially with all the extra unused room for her to occupy.”
I flipped him off, firing back. “At least I have a girl in me.” Wait, that didn’t make any sense.
Oh, man. You’re a tool. Pepper laughed at my embarrassment.
I grimaced. Things were going downhill fast. “Anyhow, I don’t think it’s an issue, and she helped me get through the fight in the base.”
Don’t say it. Pepper warned.
“She noticed a lot I missed.”
Too late.
Abby snorted. “Maybe we should move you to co-pilot. Sounds like she’d do a better job.”
Marcel cracked up. For the most part, the rest tried not to laugh.
Dad intervened on my behalf. “What is Blaze’s status?”
To my surprise, Mimi answered. “I got him hooked up to what little medical equipment Castle has. My mom was a nurse, and she wanted me to follow in her footsteps, regardless of the collar. I can tell he’s still in there…” Her eyes darted around as if she wanted to run.
Mom stepped over to her. “Everyone here is Gifted, except Blaze and me. It’s normal to use them to help others.”
She nodded. “I could feel Blaze’s thoughts. They were erratic and didn’t make much sense. I get the feeling his body is protecting him from the cancer.”
Marcel rubbed his chin. “Makeda’s healing could be using his energy to fight, which would explain the coma.”
“So, he’s not dying tonight?” Dad asked. When Mimi agreed, he went on. “It’s been a long day. Let’s all get some sleep. In the morning, we need to pack up the vans and make our way to Harker.”
“Everything is packed and ready, Mr. Ranger,” Mimi stammered out, clearly nervous.
Dad smiled at her. “Mimi, please call me Mike or Ranger. We are on the same team here.” He caught Boulder’s eye. “Same for you, Boulder.”
Boulder nodded. “Thank you, Ranger. I’ll do what I can.”
“Welcome to the team, Boulder,” Dad said with a grin. “Tommy, help Abby to her room. We’ll show Boulder to a room where he can get cleaned up and get some rest. Oliver can stay here with Marcel and Mimi if you two are alright?”
WHAT? Pepper screamed in my brain. I’m not leaving. I’m staying right here.
Pepper, I need to sleep. I’m exhausted.
“I’m fine,” Mimi said, glancing at Blaze. “I don’t want to be away from Blaze.”
If she’s staying, we are staying! She dug in, trying to keep me from moving.
Fine. How much good will we do if I’m passed out on the floor?
Um. It doesn’t matter. At least I’ll be near him. I could feel her losing her momentum.
And when Mimi needs to sleep, I’m sure Mom or Abby can watch over him since we’ll be out cold.
Oh, alright. Sleep, but we aren’t going for long.
“I’ll keep an eye on things, Ranger.” Marcel moved to the control panel and pulled up a map. “Here to Harker should take about fourteen hours, given the bad roads we are going to have to use.”
Dad frowned. “Longer than I’d like to be out in the open, but we need to try everything we can to save Blaze. We leave at five a.m.”
He led Mom out with Boulder in tow. I helped Abby to her feet, well foot really, and we went down the hall a lot slower than the rest.
“What’s it like having a woman in your head?”
I thought about it for a second. “It’s strange having someone talking to you but comforting at the same time, like she’s watching out for me.”
Abby grinne
d at me. “Well, if anyone ever needed supervision, it’s you.”
I thought the same thing. Pepper chimed in.
Great. As if I didn’t take enough grief without it bouncing around in my head as well.
38
I dropped a very tired Abby off in her room and headed to mine. All I could think about was sleep. I flipped on the lights, and everything I owned was in its place, including my backpack. I kicked off my shoes, went into the bathroom, and turned on the shower.
Um, what are you doin’?
I’m going to take a shower before I go to bed, why?
Because I can see through your eyes, and I have no desire to see you naked, especially while I’m stuck in your head.
What am I supposed to do, not shower? I also have to pee, but you didn’t seem to have an issue with that when we stopped to go earlier.
You used a urinal. I couldn’t see anything.
After the day I’d had, I needed this like a hole in the head. Well, close your eyes.
I don’t have eyes. I’m a ghost in the gray matter, dope.
Uggg. I just about had my witty response ready when the alarms sounded. “Proximity alert. Armed hostiles,” blared over and over throughout the base.
I slammed off the shower, grabbed my shoes, and ran for the control room. Seriously? I thought to myself and my passenger. We just got away from those goons. This is bad.
It may have been the understatement of the year. The one thing we had counted on was the safehouses being off the Protectorate’s radar. We had injured people who couldn’t make a run for it. This was a disaster of epic proportions.
Abby came out of her room right behind me. “What the hell is going on?” She yelled over the blaring of the early defense system’s warning.
“Nothing good.” I threw Abby’s arm over my shoulders to help her walk with her injured leg. We hit the stairs; Mom, Dad, and Boulder were already on them. Boulder ran up to us, picking Abby up and carrying her like a bride down the stairs. We entered the control room in a group.
Marcel had the monitor’s full of images of Reclaimers as they moved up the roads toward our location. Mimi sat on the floor next to Blaze, holding his hand. I heard a small growl from Pepper, but there were more important issues than jealousy. Waxenby mumbled something over and over in his restless sleep.
“How bad is it?” Dad asked as he got to Marcel’s side. I’d never seen Marcel so haggard; his clothes had spilled food on them. His hair was matted in place from where he’d pushed his hands through it. It was easy to forget how hard Marcel worked to keep everything going when we were in the field.
“Bad.” Marcel’s fingers danced across the keyboard. “I’ve been able to jam their communications and seal the outer entries. Depending on their hardware, we could stay here for an extended period. Of course, they could just nuke us.”
“Is there any way they don’t know where we are?”
Marcel banged away at the keyboard. The map of Castle appeared on the wall monitor over the control panel. It spun in hi-def glory as Marcel oriented it correctly. “I don’t think they know where the entrances are, but they got almost all the roads covered.”
“Almost?” Dad moved to the Castle map Marcel had pulled up.
Marcel pointed to where we had driven in. “This is the main entry.” His finger hovered over the screen, but putting your fingers on his monitors was sacrilege. “These two are access tunnels we don’t use, but they had troops moving up the roads that lead to them.” He jammed his finger against the screen, smearing it. My mouth fell open. “There. It’s an escape hatch. I found the feed. There are a few vehicles there, but who knows if they work, and that’s not the worst news.”
My stomach sank. What could be worse than Reclaimers moving in on our sanctuary?
“I pulled up Castle’s schematics. Whoever built it installed enough explosives to level the mountain, but they didn’t automate it.” Marcel gestured to the far wall. “The only way to trip it is to have someone push the button.”
“Can you automate it?” I asked, my voice barely quavered. Either I had gotten used to being in these situations, or I was too damn tired to care. I knew the answer as soon as I saw his chin drop.
“Not without a week or two to build it out. Any mistake would set off the charges.”
“We’ll need time to get our injured to the escape area, that is if any of the vehicles are in working order. From the screen, it looks like they were set up for long-term storage. Let’s hope they are readier than the self-destruct system.” Dad rubbed his face. “I’ll stay behind and set off the explosives so you can get Blaze to Harker.”
“Dad, no!” I’d just gotten him back; I wasn’t going to let the Reclaimers retake him. “I’ll stay. I can survive the blast.”
Dad shook his head. “That’s worse. When the mountain blows, you won’t be able to get out again.”
“There has to be another way,” Mom said firmly. “Marcel, can you rig something to push the button remotely from all this stuff?” She gestured to one of the tables strewn with tools and gadgets.
Marcel stroked his chin. My hopes soared. Marcel had hacked the Megadrome; he could make a simple machine to push a button. “I don’t know if I have enough time. I could attach an actuator to the—”
I knew Marcel well enough to not let him get started down the rabbit hole. “Marcel, we need something simple.”
“Oh, yeah, probably if I had a couple of hours.”
“Like you said, we can hold for a long period. Get started.” Dad turned to the rest of us. “Susan, we need working vehicles in the escape bay. Mimi will go with you. Boulder, we need Blaze and Oliver situated in whatever vehicles we can get working. Abby, go with Susan, we can’t chance your leg.”
Abby stiffened. “I can fight.”
Dad looked annoyed at best. “I know you can fight, but you’re injured, and if things go sideways, you can fight to get everyone away.”
She frowned but didn’t say any more.
“Tommy, you’re with me. We are going to the armory and supply to load up. It’s a long trip to Harker.” Dad returned to Marcel. “Get something rigged up so we can blow this place from miles away, then get to the escape vehicles. Does everyone understand their job?”
Everyone broke up to get to where they were supposed to be. I followed Dad through the hallways and across to the training rooms where the armory was.
“Dad, why are we getting weapons? Won’t Harker have the same setup?” I asked as we descended the stairs to the corridor leading to the training center.
“I’ve never heard of Harker, which, being they were secret bases, isn’t unusual, but none of the big teams had places in the Adirondacks. I’d rather not find out after the fact that the base isn’t stocked.” He entered through the door and crossed through the gardens. “We can get food, but it’s not like we can go buy guns. Not like in the old days.”
“You could buy guns?” No one owned a gun other than the police and military now.
“You could,” Dad paused to open the old command center door. “The Protectorate outlawed gun ownership once he took over. I’m sure there are still some out there, but they aren’t legal.”
The world had changed so much since the Dark Brigade attacks that I wondered whether I’d recognize anything if I went back in time. Dad punched in the code and the door hissed open. The walls and five rows of displays in the center of the room were lined with every gun imaginable from Colt revolvers to the Adaptive Combat Rifles with their own wall. Loaded magazines sat in bins under each weapon.
Why would Gifted need this kind of firepower? Confusion swirled around the question. They could do anything; why use guns?
I smiled. I’d asked the same question when Dad showed me the room for Blaze’s training mandates. According to Dad, the government would task the teams with covert missions against other countries. They didn’t want to advertise Gifted were being used since it was against some convention’s rules.
Why not just send soldiers then?
Gifted are stronger and can heal wounds that would kill a normal man. They would go in, do the dirty work, and get out again. I grabbed a rucksack from under the first row of weapons and filled it with handguns and all the clips we had for each weapon. Dad did the same with the rifles. I went over to see if we wanted to take more. I stopped dead in my tracks.
“Is that a disruptor?”
Dad spun on his heel. “Sorry, you startled me, Tommy. Was lost in thought, I guess.” He removed the black and gray weapon from the sack. It had a pump action on it like a shotgun but held a cylindrical canister at the back. On top, it had a handle with a computerized sighting mechanism on the front of the barrel. I’d never seen one up close. “It is. These are hard to come by, and with the Syndicate out there, we need all the advantages we can get. There are only six bands here, but I’ll take what I can get.”
He passed it over, and I examined it. The grip had a rubber coating that molded to my hand as I held it. The sights popped up, and a small LED screen showed the targeting grid. As cool as it was, I wanted to destroy it. With one shot, it could take away my Gift and leave me almost helpless. Blaze’s training is why we could still fight, even with a band on. It had saved us in Dallas. I handed it back.
Dad took a second bag. “Your mother’s preferred kit is at the end of the next row if you can get it. I’ve got rifles, grenade launchers, and the disruptor.” He hoisted the first bag up to his shoulder. “With the handguns, we should be covered. Well, assuming we can get out.”
I jogged down the aisle, seeing the long, black case and camo backpack that sat there. I propped the gun case on my knee and flipped the latches. The bag held Mom’s HK G28 with the sniper package and a full complement of magazines, each labeled with the type of ammo they contained. I locked the case and threw the backpack containing a ghillie suit the snipers wore for camouflage. Gone were the days of briefcases and killer pumps for my mom.
I met Dad at the exit as he locked up and then fried the entry pad using a burst of electricity. He caught my eye. “If they get in, I don’t want them having access to this stuff.” We went around the floor frying all the pads, to be sure. Who said you can’t share vandalism with your dad?
Unbreakable Storm Page 29