Ordinary (Exceptional Book 3)

by Jess Petosa

  “Luke and I could take turns carrying you,” Max offered but Stosh shook his head no.

  Max had isolated himself in the clearing and every time Ally tried to talk to him, he shut her out. He had spent most of his time scouting the woods or hunting, and most likely practicing his abilities. Every now and then Ally would catch him staring at his hands. She was definitely growing concerned. It was as though her Max had disappeared and someone had replaced him, with the same looks and all. Ally still hadn’t recovered from finding Luke in an unfit state, she wasn’t sure she could do it all again.

  “Max and I will take the lead,” Ally said. “Sabine and Stosh in the middle. Luke in the rear.”

  Luke seemed surprised by the arrangement but he didn’t protest. He still hadn’t regained use of his abilities but he told Ally that every day he could feel them growing stronger.

  “We need to talk,” Ally said to Max once they were on their way. The road was a fifteen minute walk from the clearing, and from there they would travel parallel to it in an attempt to stay somewhat hidden. With Stosh injured, Luke without his abilities, and Max with unpredictable abilities, they were at a disadvantage if they ran into any enemies.

  “Okay,” he responded without looking at her.

  “How are you feeling?”

  He shifted a little further from her. “Strong.”

  “I remember that feeling,” she said. “I remember feeling invincible and powerful. I also remember the surge of emotions, and sometimes the lack of emotion.”

  “Where are you going with this, Ally?” he asked.

  “A boy once clued me in to the fact that my emotions would be off because of the transition. He told me that I couldn’t always believe what I was feeling, at least until the transition was complete.”

  Ally saw a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth.

  She tried again. “So, how are you feeling?”

  Max rubbed at his forehead. “Isolated. Alone. Guilty.”

  “For starters, you are not alone. I may still be pissed that you took the serum, but I’m not giving up our friendship for that,” she told him.

  “Would you give it up for me almost killing your brother?” he asked.

  Ally sighed. “Look, I’m not exactly thrilled about your little show back in New Eden, but I’ve been there. The first time my abilities manifested I didn’t even know what I was doing. One second I was screaming and the next my hands were in front of me and a boy was flying across the room.”

  “You never told me that.” He looked over at her.

  “It isn’t one of my proudest moments,” she said with a laugh. “Look, I understand that you’re going through a change, but I don’t want to lose a friend.”

  “Just a friend?”

  “Just a friend, Max.”

  “So are you and Luke back together now? I’ve seen you two at night, holding hands while you fall asleep.”

  “I don’t know what we are,” she responded truthfully. “After I left the City I thought we were done for good, but I had misunderstood things. Now I’m more confused than ever, and we have a lot to work out, but it will need to wait. We have enough to worry about right now.”

  “You know, every good story needs a little romance,” Max said.

  “What?” Ally asked.

  “Stories. Novels. Even if they are a little dramatic and scary at times, they have a little romance, so don’t count it out just yet. Someday, kids will tell stories about us, and if you play it right, it might be our own kids.”

  “Ours?” Ally squeaked out.

  Max laughed. “Chill out, I meant ours as in the kids we may have some day, separate. Or together,” he added to the end.

  “Who are you?” Ally gave his arm a shove. “And stop it before I really do push you over. Luke can hear everything we’re saying. Besides, I’m not sure I’ll ever have kids... not in this world.”

  “I’m sure you’ll change your mind.” He grinned before changing the subject. “Yeah, this super hearing is pretty cool. Besides, you couldn’t push me over if you tried.”

  Ally laughed.

  “You know, I had training to help me with my abilities. I was taught how to sense them within me, and how to control them,” she told him. “I don’t know enough to help you now, especially since I am Ordinary again, but I bet Luke would help you.”

  Max grunted. “I don’t know about that.”

  “Give him a chance,” Ally responded.

  When Max didn’t respond she moved on.

  “Why did you do it, Max? Take the serum? Was it really just to help us out?”

  “Partially,” he answered. “The other reasons don’t really matter anymore.”

  “You almost died.” Ally needed to point that out. “You were unconscious for days and we had no idea if you were going to wake up or die like... Lilla.”

  She could barely say her name. They didn’t even get the chance to give her a proper burial.

  “I’m here now,” Max said.

  Their conversation ended there. They had reached the road and were stopping to check on Stosh’s bandages.

  “How are you doing?” Ally asked her brother.

  Stosh took a swig of water. “My side is really stiff, and it stings when I walk, but I’m just fine. You don’t need to worry about me, Al.”

  Ally smiled and ruffled his hair. “I don’t care if we were born only minutes apart little brother, I’ll always feel the need to worry about you.”

  They passed around the last bits of the meat they had cooked last night and some berries. When they started their trek again, Ally took up the rear with Luke.

  “He’s right you know,” Luke said as soon as they started walking. “Every story needs a little romance.”

  Ally groaned and then something popped into her memory. “I saw that book, the one from your library. You put it in the transport, didn’t you?”

  Luke nodded. “I was hoping you would see it and it would spark memories of the Luke you knew then.”

  “Well it worked,” Ally said. “But it also made me think about how our own story might just end in tragedy.”

  “That’s a little morbid, don’t you think?” Luke asked.

  Ally shrugged and then smiled. “Hey, it still had a little romance though, right?”

  Luke grinned at her. “More than a little romance.”

  Ally shook her head and laughed.

  “Oh, and I’ll help him by the way. Max. I’ll help him learn to control his abilities. If he’ll let me.”

  She looked up at him. “Thanks, Luke.”

  With Stosh’s injury and the amount of breaks they needed to take, it took them until nightfall to reach the southern city. Against the dim, twilight sky, Ally could make out the shadowed skeletons of the monster buildings.

  “We made it,” she breathed.

  And what made her heart leap even further, was the sight of electricity in the distance. It was on the far side of the City from where they stood, and minimal, but she could see the small lights flickering in one of the tall buildings.

  “Not much, but it’s there.” Ally pointed to the lights.

  “The rest might be hidden by the larger buildings,” Luke said. “We don’t make much use of the large buildings in our City, mainly because they are unstable. There could be a whole settlement on the other side.”

  “Let’s camp here tonight. It’s too dark to navigate in or around the city at this point,” Max said. He already appeared to be scoping out an area for the fire.

  He was already looking more at ease than he had in the previous days. At least he was actually talking to them again.

  Ally was anxious to get into the city but she knew he was right. They built a fire and set up their blankets. Luke found a water source and since they had found a pot, they boiled some water to clean Stosh’s wound. It was hard to see by just firelight, but Ally thought the skin around the stitches looked red, too re
d, but neither she nor Sabine said anything. Tomorrow, they would be in the southern city, and hopefully there would be medicine to help him.

  “Okay Max, lesson one,” Luke stood next to the fire, stretching his neck from side to side.

  Max looked across the fire at Ally and then up at Luke. “Excuse me?”

  “You may need to use your abilities in the city, especially since mine haven’t returned yet, so you should at least practice some control,” Luke said to him.

  Max’s eyebrows furrowed but he stood up. The rest of them looked on with interest.

  “Close your eyes,” Luke said.

  Max raised one eyebrow and Luke let out an exaggerated sigh.

  “This is the first thing they have everyone at the Training Center do, after the medical tests of course. I did it. Ally did. Trust me.”

  Max closed his eyes slowly and let his hands rest by his sides.

  “There is a buzzing, deep within you. Maybe you didn’t notice it before, but you do now. It’s a small ball of light. A living entity inside of you. You can feel it in your core, and you know that it can stretch to every point of you without breaking.”

  Ally fought the urge to close her eyes and reach for her own abilities. She wouldn’t find them.

  Max’s face was relaxed now.

  “Do you feel it?”

  Max nodded. “As crazy as everything you are telling me sounds, yes, I feel it.”

  “Good,” Luke said. “Now imagine it stretching. Don’t let it stretch all over, imagine it stretching up through your chest and into your arms. Imagine the power lifting yours arms up and out.”

  Max’s arms raised, aimed toward the trees to the side. Luke stepped back and out of the way, coming to stand beside Max. Thankfully, Max’s arm was opposite of where Ally, Sabine, and Stosh sat. But if he turned, good luck to them all.

  “Imagine the power pooling in your hands. It’s buzzing and waiting to get out,” Luke said loudly. “Let it go, Max.”

  Ally was pretty sure they all held their breath. No one knew how his abilities would manifest themselves here. When Ally had first entered the Training Center she was told that the first showing of abilities could be an explosion or beam of light, and then the true abilities could come out. Her abilities, however, had stayed that way.

  Max’s hand started to glow blue, a blue as bright as the midday sky.

  Sabine gasped. Stosh muttered “Whoa”, and Ally covered her mouth.

  Seconds later, a blue stream erupted from Max’s hands. It hit the tree in front of him with the sound of tinkling glass and in moments, the entire tree was frozen from tip to roots.

  Max opened his eyes and whooped. “I did it! Whatever that was...”

  Luke slapped him on the back in a show of camaraderie Ally wasn’t sure she would ever see between the two. “You did. It looks like you have the ability to freeze things. And that’s only the beginning.”

  “Is this helpful though?” Max looked a little disappointed.

  Luke nodded. “Imagine being able to freeze a large group of Rogues coming at us. Or to freeze a wall of water from a river. Besides, like I said, your abilities with develop.”

  “How so?”

  Luke grinned. “My dad had an Exceptional he kept close, one that went missing a few years back. When he started out, he could only make fire with his hands. By the time he graduated from the Training Center, he could control all of the elements.”

  “Sweet,” Max said.

  “It doesn’t happen to everyone,” Luke said. “We will only know with some training.”

  “We should have started this earlier.” Max laughed loudly. “Let’s do it again.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  [ ally ]

  In the morning light, Ally knew that Stosh’s wound was definitely infected. The red skin stretched out toward his stomach, and the stitches were a mixture of purple and green.

  “I could freeze the infection,” Max offered.

  “That would most likely kill him,” Luke responded.

  Luke and Max had practiced for hours the night before. They had worked on freezing things in a controlled manner. A two foot section of grass, the trunk of a tree, and at one point he even froze the fire. Sabine had muttered under her breath as she worked to build them a new one.

  “Luke and I will take turns supporting Stosh on the walk,” Max said. “Can you girls handle the supply bags?”

  Ally and Sabine shouldered the bags and they started the walk into the city. They walked together in a line, only breaking to go around debris. The closer they got to the buildings, the more they had to avoid. Chunks of concrete, skeletons of cars, broken roads. It was almost an hour before they were walking through the shadows of the tall buildings.

  “This reminds me so much of home,” Luke said. “Except for the lack of the wall and the people.”

  “Definitely,” Sabine agreed with him.

  They took a break on the lower level of an abandoned building around mid-morning. There was no straight shot through the City with all the debris, so they found themselves trying to navigate the side streets and sometimes going in complete circles.

  “I don’t even know what direction the lights are in anymore,” Ally shoved the map back into one of the supply bags.

  “When we walked into the city, there was a red picture on the side of one of those buildings. If we can catch sight of that, it could help us get back on track,” Luke said.

  “Good idea,” Max responded. “Two of us should go scout it out. No need for all of us to wander the city, especially with Stosh.”

  Ally nodded. “Luke and I will go. You can stay here and protect the supplies, and the others.”

  Max looked like he might argue, but then he relented. He armed himself with a gun and positioned himself at the only entrance to where they had been hiding. Luke and Ally headed out into the open and paused in the main street.

  “I think I know what we need to do.” Luke looked over at her. “We need to get up high.”

  Ally sighed. “I was afraid you might say that.”

  “This way,” Luke said.

  He took off at a jog down the street. They went six blocks back the way they had walked in and stopped in front of a tall building. All of the windows were blown out, and some of the concrete was crumbling, so it was easy to find an entry point on the lower level. Once inside, it wasn’t hard to find the stairs, since the rest of the space was emptied out.

  “What do you think did all of this?” Ally asked as they made their way toward the stairwell. “Do you think people cleared the floors out? Or do you think time and weather did?”

  Luke was a step ahead of her, opening the door to the stairwell. “Probably a combination of both. My grandfather told me that it didn’t take long for the world to erupt into chaos. People were stealing from stores and homes, people were killing each other and themselves. My guess is that most of the stuff was taken.”

  Ally shivered. They made it up three stories before they ran into a roadblock. A section of the stairs had collapsed directly in their path.

  “I could probably make the jump.” Luke looked back at Ally. “Do you want me to go on? Throw you?”

  Ally looked at the gap. “Go ahead. I’ll see if I can find another way.”

  Luke nodded and crouched down. It was still amazing to see the height he could get with a jump, even if Ally had been able to do the same at one time. He looked down at her from the landing.

  “Race you to the top?” he asked with a smile.

  “Not fair at all!” Ally pointed at him.

  He disappeared from sight and she looked around. There was a door hanging off it’s hinges and with a few pulls, she was able to pull it completely off. She stepped onto another barren floor and jogged through the open space. She figured a building this big had to have more than one way up. Ally reached the other side of the room and started opening doors, amazed they were all still hanging
straight. The first two were closets, but the third was another stairwell.

  “I swear I saw them go up the east stairs.” A male voice rang across the room.

  Ally froze. Where had the voices come from?

  “Hey! Stop!” the male yelled.

  Ally spun her head and saw three men running onto the floor from the stairs she and Luke had just climbed. She turned and took off for the second set of stairs. Hopefully these were intact. She climbed them two at a time, and it wasn’t long before she heard the pounding of feet behind her. She climbed level after level, not slowing down despite the burn in her legs. Each time she thought the men were getting closer, she pushed herself a little harder.

  Ally wasn’t sure how many floors she had gone, but suddenly there was a gap in front of her. She cursed silently and ran through the open doorway to the right. The men would come to the same gap and know she stopped on this floor, so she needed to get moving. Already their footsteps sounded just one floor down.

  She started across the floor and stopped when she saw the jagged opening across the middle. There was no way to cross to the stairwell. By now Luke was at the top, and even with his hearing, the men would be on her before he could get down. She did the next thing that came to her mind, she ran toward the blown out windows in the front of the building. A large part of the building across the street had fallen into the building she was in, and a few of the beams were close enough that she could climb across them.

  “She’s over there!” a man yelled behind her.

  They were on the same floor as her now, and if they had weapons, she was in trouble. Ally didn’t have time to think about it, she ran for the nearest beam and jumped. She landed on her stomach with her legs dangling, and the impact made her grunt.

  “She jumped. I can’t believe she jumped!”

  Ally hoisted herself onto the beam carefully. She situated herself on her knees and gripped either side of the beam with her hands. It swayed slightly under her weight and she closed her eyes for a moment.

  Do not look down. Do not look down.

  “Signal Ben to get into that building,” a man yelled.

  Ally was starting to think her escape was hopeless, but she wasn’t about to give up. Slowly, she moved her way across the beam, careful to look straight ahead. The distance seemed far, but with patience, she made it to the other building safely. She jumped through the broken window and found the stairs. If she got to the roof, she could at least yell across to Luke.