by Petosa, Jess
The others nodded slowly.
“What about Theo and Flora?” Cody scratched his head, peering up at Ally.
“They’re on their own now,” Ally responded. “They’ve made their choice.”
CHAPTER THREE
Luke sat in Aden’s desk chair, swiveling back and forth in an uneven rhythm. He had spent the past five minutes staring at a shadow on the wall, watching it randomly twist and turn into the shape of a woman. Or maybe a young girl. He had no idea which one it was, but he could almost see wisps of hair floating off her back.
“Lukin, are you listening to me?” His father was staring out the window, one of his hands rubbing slowly at the creases in his forehead. In the past month he appeared to have aged ten years.
“Sorry, I was distracted. What were you saying?”
Aden sighed. “The response to the situation in the east has not been what we expected. While some choose to disbelieve us all together, some of those that do believe do not seem worried. They don’t understand the seriousness of the situation, thinking that our army of Guards could easily take on the Rogues if they attacked the City.”
His father looked weak and exhausted, something Luke hadn’t seen from Aden in a very long time.
“Then maybe we should show them,” he responded, pushing his body out of the chair. He walked to his father’s side and put his hand on the window, watching as it buckled under his touch.
“You are getting stronger,” Aden said.
Luke just nodded. “I have an idea.”
“Yes?”
“You’ll need to trust me, but I think it might clear up any doubts the other Exceptionals are having. It will also be fun, very fun.”
Aden looked nervous for a moment and then furrowed his brows. “I don’t have time for silly games, Lukin.”
“This is one game I don’t think you’ll mind.” Luke grinned up at his dad, feeling a rush he hadn’t felt in several days. As his idea fell into place in his mind, he knew that he would finally show his dad, once and for all, that he would lead this City one day.
CHAPTER FOUR
It had been a week since Theo and Flora had left the group, and there had been no sight of the couple. There had also been no more sightings of Exceptional Guards from the City, which put Ally more at ease with each day that passed. It was mid-afternoon and they were picking their way through a small, abandoned town. A few days ago the large, empty settlements had given way to more fields, more wooded areas, and fewer deserted towns and settlements. They were moving slow, too slow in Ally’s opinion, but there wasn’t much she could do about that. They had stumbled into this town an hour ago and were looking for anything that could be a sign that Po had come through here with the others.
Po was the leader in Oakwood; the settlement that Stosh, Ally, and Willow had grown up in. On the night that they escaped from the City, Ally had found Po and told him to leave. She told him that he needed to gather up the other Ordinarys and head south. She had no idea if he had listened or not. It had been too dangerous to go back and check.
“I found footprints!” Cody’s voice rang out a street over from Ally.
She hurried through an alley and out onto a main street, searching for the spot where Cody had called from. She spotted him standing in front of a large, stone building. He was kneeling in the middle of the street, looking closely at something on the ground.
Ally rushed to his side and knelt beside him. Sure enough, a large boot print sat in the dusty street. In some areas, there wasn’t enough dirt and dust to make more impressions, but several yards down she could see additional footprints.
Stosh appeared from another alley, Sabine by his side. “What did you find?”
“A footprint,” she responded. “There are more in that direction.”
She frowned slightly.
“What are you thinking?” Stosh asked.
“If these were from Po and the others, wouldn’t there be multiple footprints, not just one set?”
Sabine’s expression now matched Ally’s. “She’s right. Why would Po travel through on his own?”
“Maybe he was seeing if the town was safe. Maybe the others were hiding in the side streets, waiting to take a back way?” Cody looked up at them, still kneeling on the ground.
Stosh nodded. “That’s possible. We’ll have to check the side streets, see if we find more.”
He and Sabine headed off again, and Ally grabbed hold of Cody’s shirt.
“You come with me, we’ll stick together.” She had a bad feeling about this single set of footprints, and silently wondered if there was someone else out there besides the others. She couldn’t be sure if he or she was an Ordinary from the Wilderness, or a Rogue. Stosh had the hunting belt with all the knives, so he and Sabine could hold off any attacks until she was able to reach them. If she and Cody were attacked, she had her abilities to protect them.
“It isn’t them, is it?” Cody asked as they walked.
“I don’t know,” Ally responded.
“Do you think it’s a Rogue?”
“I don’t know,” she said more forcefully.
“Or maybe another Ordinary…” Cody rambled on about all the possibilities of who or what might have made those footprints. Ally pretended to listen, adding in an “Uh huh” every now and then, but for the most part tuned him out. The kid was sweet, but he sure could talk.
They searched the side streets near where Cody had found the footprints and then pushed outward, moving along for another hour at least. It was at that time that they ran into Stosh and Sabine, who had abandoned their task and were cuddled together on the porch of an abandoned home. Stosh whispered something in Sabine’s ear and she giggled in response.
“Gross,” Cody said as he approached them.
Stosh’s head shot up and Sabine pushed away from him, her cheeks turning a deep shade of red.
“Find anything?” Ally asked.
They both shook their heads, still recovering.
“Oh come on, it isn’t like you were kissing or anything.” Ally put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes. Her comment made Sabine blush deeper, and even Stosh’s cheeks filled with heat.
“Again, gross,” Cody said. “Leave that stuff for Theo and Flora.”
The mention of those names caused them all to grow silent. Travel had been faster, and easier without them, but Ally still worried that something might have happened to them. Were they still out there, traveling south? Had the Exceptional Guards caught them? Had Rogues found them? Theo and Flora were not hers to worry over anymore, but she couldn’t help it. It was just like the nagging guilt she felt over killing those Guards the night she escaped the City, or the sorrow she would feel when she thought about her mother. They were emotions that had seemed to elude her up until now, but were finally pushing their way into her heart.
Ally’s stomach growled, bringing her thoughts back to the present. She didn’t need to eat as often as the others, but she could still starve.
“Let’s move back to the outskirts and hunt for dinner. Hopefully Willow has our camp set up and ready. We’ll spend the night here and head out in the morning.” She straightened her pack and headed back the way they had come into the abandoned town.
She hadn’t liked leaving Willow on her own, but her friend had a bad case of sickness today, and couldn’t walk more than ten minutes without vomiting in the street or on a nearby bush. Willow had assured Ally that she would be safe, and urged them to search the town, saying that she would hide in the thick brush if she heard anything.
As they neared their camp, Ally couldn’t help but grin at the sight of Willow’s bright, blonde hair. It bobbled over a small fire, which was slowly building momentum over the teepee of wood above it. Willow had even made some small tents from tarps they had found in a small town they went through two days prior.
“See, I told you I could be useful here,” Willow said with a grin.
Stosh made sure the hunting belt was tight
and took off into the woods without a word. Sabine plopped onto the ground by the fire, prying off her worn shoes and rubbing her feet.
“I thought walking around the City on errands was tiring, but this is almost torture,” Sabine said. She leaned back and rested her head on a rock, closing her eyes.
Cody sat near Sabine and poked the fire with a stick, sending orange and red embers flying up into the air.
Willow looked up at Ally and patted the ground beside her. “Take a load off, Ally, you look tired.”
Ally did as her friend asked and sighed. “I’m exhausted, Willie.”
Willow leaned her head on Ally’s shoulder and they stared at the fire in silence, watching it engulf the tall logs and then settle down into a medium sized fire, perfect for roasting whatever game Stosh would bring back.
Finally, Willow spoke.
“You miss him.”
It wasn’t a question, more of a statement.
“Yes,” Ally hesitated. “But we both made our own decisions, decisions that tore us apart. It wasn’t meant to be, I guess.”
“That doesn’t make it hurt any less,” Willow said softly. “Maybe what is meant to be isn’t finished yet. You know, like those romance movies we would watch at the ORC. Maybe there is some big, happy ending waiting for you and Luke.”
“Maybe,” Ally said.
The movies she saw at the ORC, and at Luke’s house, those were made up stories. They were created to give the illusion that life could be perfect and wonderful and lovely. And maybe back in the old world, it had been for some, but not in the present. Not in this new world. Ally didn’t believe that anyone could have a life like that right now, and probably not ever again.
Stosh returned an hour later; half a dozen rabbits bundled by his side.
“It was an easy night,” he dropped them by the fire. “We are lucky.”
They all got to work skinning the rabbits, an act that had been hard for Sabine to stomach at first. The rest of them had learned this task early on in the settlements, since rabbit was a big part of their diet. It wasn’t long before they had skewered the meat onto sticks and were roasting them slowly over the fire. Ally’s mouth watered at the thought of the warm, tender meat in her mouth. It had been several days since they had eaten something other than berries, and she had been beginning to feel weak.
“How far do you think the southern City is?” Cody asked as he chewed on a rabbit leg. “Weeks? Months? A year?”
Stosh laughed. “I hope it doesn’t take a year. I doubt we’d even make it.”
Willow smiled. “I would have to have this baby in the Wilderness then. Which one of you is going to deliver her?”
“Her?” Ally raised her eyebrow. “How do you know it’s a girl?”
Willow shrugged. “I just think she is a she.”
“To answer your question.” Ally looked at Cody. “I’m guessing it will take longer than a month to get there, at least, but definitely not even half a year. We have been making good time, at least in my mind.”
“Searching these towns is slowing us down.” Stosh pointed out.
Ally nodded. “I know, but I feel like we have to. Or at least, I have to. I owe it to Po and the others, especially after I demanded that he pack everyone up and leave the settlement.
“We should have stopped and checked to see if they were gone or not,” Willow said. “Then we would know for sure.”
“The settlement was too close to the City, and too intertwined with the other settlements. It would have been really risky,” Ally said.
“I know,” Willow sighed. “I am just saying it would have been easier.”
They ate the rest of their meal in silence, each of them eating a whole rabbit on their own. Stosh cooked and cut apart the sixth rabbit, storing it for the following day’s lunch. Ally grabbed the water bucket that Cody carried while they traveled, and took it into the woods, searching out a creek to find some water. They would boil it and then let it cool, using it to fill their bottle with drinking water for the following day.
She tapped in to her Exceptional hearing to find the creek, trying to push aside the sounds of the insects and mammals that inhabited the woods.
There.
She heard the faint sound of rushing water to her right and held tight to the bucket, taking off at a run. She loved moments like this, where she could let her speed take over and fly through trees. If she had been traveling on her own, she would reach the southern City in weeks, she was sure of it. She rarely grew tired unless she was hungry or had used her abilities too often.
She reached the creek quickly and filled up the large bucket with the cool water, setting it on the bank. She slipped out of her shoes and pulled off her clothes piece by piece, setting them in a pile by the water. This was another reason she loved coming into the woods alone. It gave her time to think, and to bathe. The others found time to bathe each night as well, if they wanted to, but Ally felt strange admitting that she was leaving to do that. She felt that her need to protect the others should outweigh leaving them to do something as simple as taking care of her hygiene.
She stepped into the freezing water and waded into the middle, where it was deep enough that she could dunk her head underneath. Her body warmed up to the water much faster than it would have if she had still been an Ordinary, and tonight she appreciated that. Ally ran her hands over her skin slowly, washing away the dirt and grime that had built up. She dunked her head again and ran her hand through her hair, working through the knots.
It was when she came out of the water the second time that she noticed the Ordinary sitting against a tree by the bank. At first she thought it was Stosh, since she hadn’t been expecting anyone else to be out here, but she immediately realized she didn’t recognize this boy. He was sharpening a stick with a knife and the corners of his mouth were pulled up into a thin smile.
“The creek’s a little cool considering the heat, don’t you think?” The boy asked, setting down the stick he had been carving.
Ally knew that jumping out of the water would mean exposing her body to him, so she remained where she was, letting the surface hover around her neckline.
“The water is actually pretty clear, also. Easy to see through.”
With a scowl Ally covered her chest with her arms. “Who are you? Answer quickly and carefully or I’ll knock you twenty feet back without ever leaving the water.”
The boy held his hands up and smiled.
Smiled!
“Whoa there, tiger. I’m not threatening you. It’s just been awhile since I’ve seen another Ordinary outside of my own family.”
It was Ally’s turn to smile. She wasn’t sure if it was a trick of the light, or the shadows from the trees overhead, but this boy was definitely missing one of her most important traits. She tried to muster up courage and moved forward in the water, keeping her hands in place. She watched the understanding cross his face as she moved closer, first shock and then worry.
“Are there more of you?” He reached behind him and pulled a small black object from the waist of his pants. Ally recognized it as a gun, but the kind that she had seen in the movies at Luke’s house. It wasn’t large and long like the ones the Guards carried.
“Easy, tiger.” She raised her hand out of the water and quickly used her abilities to flick the gun from his hand. It had been something she was working on while she traveled south. She had started with small objects, and moving them with her mind rather than obliterating them. It was just in the past few weeks that she had started moving large branches and rocks.
The boy clenched his fists and stood his ground. “How many of you are there?” He said each word with purpose.
Ally didn’t want to tell him about the others, in case it put them in danger, so she decided to leave them out of the conversation for a moment. “Just me.”
The boy glared at her, trying to decide if he was going to believe her. His shoulder dropped slightly. “My uncle will want to know about this. I’ll
need to take you to him.” He almost seemed to be talking to himself.
Ally didn’t plan on going anywhere with him, but she did want to get out of the water. She also wanted to know more about this Ordinary. He wasn’t from her settlement, but he must have come from another settlement. Unless….
“Turn around so I can get dressed.”
“Yeah, and then you can use your fancy powers against me? I don’t think so.”
Ally and the boy stared at each other, waiting for the other to break.
“Compromise?” Ally suggested.
The boy raised both his eyebrows. “What are you proposing?”
“Eye contact. Strict eye contact while I leave the water and dress. If your eyes so much as drop one millimeter south I swear I’ll send you flying back forty feet, rather than the twenty I threatened earlier.”
A crooked grin fell on the boy’s face, one that painfully reminded her of Luke. “Deal.”
The process went slower than Ally would have liked, since she couldn’t break eye contact with the boy, but she finally got herself somewhat decent and was able to drop her gaze while she buttoned her pants and pulled on her shoes.
Now that she was up on the bank and closer to the boy, she could observe him closer. He was tall, tall enough that she was sure she would have to look up if standing directly in front of him. He had a stockier build to him, but it was of lean muscle, muscle one could only gain from working hard days logging or farming. Above his clear blue eyes sat thick, dark eyebrows, which matched his thick head of hair. The area around his cheeks and chin was rough with stubble. He had to be in his mid-twenties, much older than Ally. He was dressed in a tan colored sleeveless shirt, and linen pants that were cut off just above the knee. Ally had never seen clothes like these in the settlements, or even in the City.
“I’m Max,” the boy interrupted her observations. He started to extend his hand but pulled it back to his side, seeming to think better of it.