Marked

by Penelope Scott

  The feelings took hold of her heart like a hand had tightened around it, making it impossible for her to breath. Still, somehow, she managed to stumble to her feet and run away from the missile. As she staggered down the street she came across a middle-eastern family hurrying along just ahead of her. It was a woman dragging three small children behind her. The children were crying and the woman was frantic. When she saw Echo she started wailing and screaming at her, but Echo could not understand her.

  She ran alongside the woman for a moment before the missile struck, just behind them. The impact threw them from their feet and Echo rolled across the asphalt, acquiring cuts and scratches along the way. The area where the bomb had hit was engulfed in flames, and a huge mushroom cloud rose up from the spot. After a few painfully slow seconds, a wave of heat blasted through the city, destroying everything it touched.

  The wave hit the woman and her children and Echo screamed for all she was worth when their skin started to peel. The flesh burned away from their faces, the youngest child's screams still hung in the air as the family's eyeballs melted and they bit off their own tongues from the pain of it. Their clothing was incinerated almost instantly, then came the skin, then the muscles and veins, until all that was left were the blackened bones of the four people. Echo was unharmed. It was as if she was watching this in virtual reality, seeing it all first hand without actually being there. She took one look at the charred bodies and screamed.

  "Echo!"

  Echo shot up in the van, her body bathed in cold sweat. Her clothes were sticking to her body. Her limbs were shaking and her skin was pale. She looked up and saw Lys and Irvine staring at her in concern. "Are you okay, kid?" Irvine asked softly. Echo shook her head numbly, wiping a few tears from her eyes. "I...I saw…" She started.

  "I see…" Irvine said.

  "So you finally saw the end, eh?" Lys interrupted. He slid a bit closer to her and put a friendly hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. It gets easier."

  "They keep coming?" She squeaked, terrified.

  "Yes, and for a while they get worse." Lys said honestly, "But eventually they slow down."

  "How long is eventually?"

  "Depends,"

  Echo frowned; none of this was very encouraging.

  "You should get some sleep, kiddo." Irvine said, forcing a smile. "We'll have a lot to do once we get to wherever it is that we're going."

  "How can I sleep now?" Echo asked, almost angrily. "I never want to sleep again!"

  The two men only smiled at her. "They never come twice in a night, Echo. You can go back to sleep." Echo sighed but finally agreed, thanking them both for their concern. Irvine returned to his post behind Lydia's chair but Lys settled down next to her and lied on his back. Echo took a moment to calm herself before lying down. It was so warm in the van. She fanned herself a bit but then decided to just take off the heavy green sweatshirt she was wearing. She slowly peeled it off her body, revealing only a semi-sheer white tank top underneath. It was old and worn, and clearly showed the outline of her bra underneath, but she didn't care. She bundled up the sweater and put it beneath her head to use as a pillow.

  She put her head down and closed her eyes, so she didn't see that Lys was staring at her. His eyes roamed over her slim figure curiously. He was shocked to see the slim, lithe figure that hid underneath her baggy clothes. Ro wore baggy clothing as well, but she still somehow managed to fill them out. When he had first met Echo he'd assumed she was flat chested and skinny. But that was obviously not the case. Although her curves were nowhere near as pronounced as Ro's, she was definitely very feminine in her appearance. She also looked…strong, strong and toned. He could see the ripple and strain of her sinewy muscles as she moved to lie down. Maybe she played sports. Lys made a mental note to ask her sometime.

  Chapter Six

  ~*Remus*~

  "Echo! Hey Echo, wake up!" A cheerful voice shouted in Echo's ear.

  "Leave her alone, Shy, she's sleeping." Replied a soft male voice.

  "But Bold…"

  "He's right you know, just let her sleep a little longer. We all know how much you hate being woken up when you're not ready." Another female. Maybe…Ro? Echo couldn't quite put names to the faces in her half-conscious state.

  "That may be true, but at least I never sleep in until nine o'clock! I've never met a Chosen who slept so late."

  "Guys! Leave Echo alone. She's had a rough night."

  'Thank you, Lys.' Echo thought sleepily to herself. She could at least recognize his voice. She tried to rest again, but now that she was awake she couldn't get back to sleep. She took her time peeling her eyes open, yawning as she rubbed the sleep out of them.

  "Well, good morning sleepy head!" Lys said cheerfully as she sat up. She saw that he was still beside her, although he had propped himself up against the side of the van. She waited until she'd had a good stretch and another yawn before she answered him. "Morning."

  "Did you sleep well, after…"

  "Yeah," She smiled softly and pulled her hair out of her squashed ponytail, only to put it back up. For some reason, although she'd never really cared much about her appearance, she found herself wishing for a mirror.

  Lys only nodded at her and said nothing more, although his eyes seemed to keep returning to her. Not that she noticed. As soon as the younger girl realized she was awake, Shy pounced on her.

  "Echo! I heard you last night; did you see the end? Did you see it?" There was a glint of excitement in her eyes that Echo didn't quite understand.

  "Yeah…I did…"

  "So, what version did you see?"

  "Version?"

  "Yeah. Like…oh I don't know, the rain, the diseases, the riots, the…"

  "A missile." Echo cut her off. "It was a bomb that dropped on this city. She stopped and squeezed her eyes shut. The memory of it was still fresh in her mind. Shy was nodding understandingly. "I've seen that one."

  "What do you mean, versions? Is there more than one way the end could happen?"

  "More like there's more than one way it's going to happen." Remus cut in, his laptop still permanently perched in his lap and his face twisted into a scowl. "You don't really think that one thing could destroy and entire race, do you?"

  "I don't know. I haven't really thought much about it."

  "Maybe you should start." He snapped.

  Echo glared at him. "What's your problem, Remus?" The overweight man said nothing to her; he just stared at her for a moment and then looked back down at his laptop, ignoring her. Echo's eyes narrowed at him and she opened her mouth the yell at him some more when Lys stopped her. "Don't mind him," He said, "He's always grouchy like that."

  "Why?"

  Lys shrugged, "There's a lot of pressure on him, you know. He's working very hard to find a way to keep us alive when all this happens."

  "But if we've already been Chosen to survive it…"

  "You should ask him," Lys sighed "He'd be better at explaining all his theories than I am."

  "Ask him! Are you crazy?" Echo cried, "I don't want to talk to him. He hates me." To her surprise, Lys laughed at this. "You'd be surprised. He's really not that bad."

  "Lys! Come up here and give me a rest!" Irvine called suddenly. Echo looked up and saw that he had switched spots with Maddox and was now driving. Lys sighed and scrambled to the front as Irvine pulled over. Once Lys had taken over driving Irvine took his spot next to Echo and fell asleep rather quickly. Echo groaned; now she had no one to talk to. All the others her age (Ro, Shy and Bold) were already engrossed in conversations. Lydia and Irvine were both napping, she didn't really want to bother Maddox since he was looking pretty grumpy, and Remus…well, enough said.

  She found herself staring at Remus, pondering what made him act so rude to everyone all the time. She remembered Lys mentioning that Maddox took his advice often because he was a genius, which for some reason didn't surprise her. Other than that she didn't know anything about him.

  And why the hell had he p
icked a name like 'Remus'? It was a little morbid considering that Remus was the twin that died? She at least knew that story. Romulus and Remus were the founders of Rome, but when the twins started to argue about how to build the city, Romulus killed Remus. Definitely morbid. Finally, she made her decision and got up, stumbled across the van and plopped down next to Remus. He looked up at her dispassionately for a second and then looked back down to what he was doing.

  "What are you always doing on that thing anyway?" Echo asked, trying not to look at him.

  "Working,"

  "Obviously. On what?"

  "It would take too long to explain. You wouldn't understand."

  "Try me."

  Remus glared at her, but when she returned his look he sighed and obliged. "I am connected with several other Chosen across the word, all with different skills. We're making plans to build shelters and gather all the Chosen there to wait out the apocalypse."

  "Can't the Hunters trace the connection?"

  "They could, but Government organizations are rarely competent in those sorts of things. I cover my tracks very carefully."

  "You really think the Hunters are a government organization?"

  "If they weren't they wouldn't exist. They don't have feelings the way we do to track us. They're just regular people who have somehow learned of us and want us to save them too. They're frightened, and frightened people are very dangerous."

  "So how do they find us all the time?"

  "Hard to say," Remus sighed without looking up from his rapidly typing fingers. "There are several theories. The one that seems to make the much sense is that they have help from a very powerful Chosen, whose powers are more advanced than any of us, and they control him and use him to track us down." He stopped typing for a moment so he could look at her. "Why are you suddenly so curious?"

  "I was talking to Lys about it, but he told me basically to just get over myself and ask you myself, so here I am."

  "I see…" He grumbled, turning back to the computer and started typing once again.

  "So all these people you're talking to; are they geniuses too?"

  "Pretty much, they all come from different fields. The Chosen weren't just randomly selected. Each of us has a certain skill that will allow us to live through the end and bring the human race back to dominance. People like myself, for example, are designing the shelters that we'll live in, in conjunction with architects and geologists and people who will help us build it. See Irvine over there? He was a farmer, he's forgotten more about agriculture than the rest of us know combined."

  Echo glanced over at the snoring man; she could see him working on a farm. He looked strong and healthy enough. "Well then what about the others? Why is Lydia here or the twins or Ro?"

  "Lydia? That woman's maternal instincts may just be our saving grace. Maddox, obviously, is the leader. Lys is ridiculously good at surviving. He's gotten us away from the Hunters more times than I can count. As for the twins…they have me pretty much stumped."

  "And Ro?"

  Remus frowned, "Don't tell her I said this, but sometimes I think she's only here for reproduction purposes." Echo didn't know whether to blush or giggle. "Either that or just to take care of her sister."

  "Athena?"

  "You'd be surprised just how strong her 'powers' are. The feelings and dreams are some form of psychic energy, and Athena is remarkably in tune to it. But…she's just a child, she can't handle all of this alone. Not right now anyway."

  Echo frowned as she tried to absorb all this new information. If what Remus was saying was true, then they all had a specific purpose to ensure the human race's survival. But then…what was her purpose? She couldn't think of anything that she was specifically good at. In school she was mediocre in academics, excelling only in sports. She was a religious lacrosse player, but she couldn't see how that would help her. What did a silly little game have to do with saving the world anyway.

  She glanced over at Remus, who was, unsurprisingly, paying more attention to his computer than to her. He had all sorts of blueprints and statistics pulled up on the screen, along with an instant messaging window where he was halfway through a conversation with some genius who kept talking about the differences between limestone and granite. She knew all that gibberish going on was probably important, or else they wouldn't be talking about it, but for the life of her she couldn't figure out why.

  Remus was unconcerned by her curiosity, and she wondered if she should just give up. She was tempted t ask him what he thought herpurpose was in the group, but she feared that he would say the same thing about her that he had about Ro. She had no doubts that he would tell her, straight-out, what he thought. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence before Remus spoke again.

  "Do you know how long, approximately, we have until the first symptoms of the end start?" He asked quietly, calmly, as if her were talking about the weather.

  Echo shook her head solemnly.

  "About three weeks. I'd imagine the riots will be first, then perhaps a few declarations of war, followed by the extreme weather, panic, more wars, until we just eventually blow ourselves up. Sounds pleasant, doesn't it?" Echo couldn't tell if the edge to his voice was bitterness or sarcasm. Since she couldn't figure it out, she didn't know how she should respond. Finally she settled on a stiff nod. "How long will all that take?" She wondered.

  Remus sighed, "This time next year, we'll all be huddled underground in our little shelters, praying that we can live long enough to rebuild."

  Echo couldn't help but gulp. In the last two weeks, and especially in the last couple of days, her entire perspective of her future had changed. Suddenly going to college and having a career didn't seem too important anymore.

  *

  Lys glimpsed into the rear-view mirror and saw Echo sitting and talking to Remus. He couldn't help but smile to himself. He had to admit, he hadn't actually expected her to go talk to him so soon. Echo certainly had it in her head that Remus hated her. But Lys knew that wasn't the case. It was simply Remus' way. He'd been grouchy for a long time, since before Lys had ever met him.

  When he'd first introduced Echo to him, he'd said that no one knew why he called himself 'Remus'. That was a lie. Lys knew, but no one else. He took a moment to glance at Remus, staring intently at his computer screen. He buried himself in his work, the same way Lys tried to hide behind his carefree façade to mask his own sorrow. Lys because of Loch, and Remus because of the one he called 'Romulus', his brother.

  Chapter Seven

  ~*Destination*~

  "We're here!" Maddox's voice was a lot more cheerful than usual. In fact, the second he mentioned that they had reached their destination everyone's spirits brightened. "Where is here?" Lydia asked as she stepped out of the van, desperate to stretch her legs.

  Maddox frowned for a minute and wrinkled his nose as he tried to recall where exactly they'd come to rest. "Uh…Virginia?" It was more of a question than a statement.

  "Are you sure?" Shy teased?

  "Yes."

  "You don't sound sure."

  "Well I am!"

  "Does this town have a name?" Lys asked as he looked around. They had stopped on what looked like the main street of a ridiculously tiny town.

  "It's so small." Shy wrinkled her nose in distaste.

  "Don't blink, you'll miss it." Irvine joked. And then, more seriously, "How are we going to find a place to stay in a town so small? There's nowhere to hide, no jobs, nothing to rob even! I don't know about this Maddox."

  "You questioning my judgement?" Maddox barked, "I'm sick of cities. Places here will be cheap and maybe the Hunters won't expect us to be somewhere so tiny."

  "They always find us, no matter where we are." Remus grunted. "It doesn't matter if the city is big or small. It makes no difference."

  Irvine rolled his eyes. "Fine, but how are we going to make any money around here?"

  "We'll think of something. We always do. But first thing's first. We need a place to stay." Lys
said cheerfully.

  "We could always stay in the van." Lydia offered. "If we don't find anything, that is." No one else really liked this idea much. Lydia looked at the reluctant faces surrounding her and sighed. "Well then I suggest we get a move on and find a place to stay."

  "There's still the issue of money to be resolved." Remus said grouchily.

  "We could always play up on Lydia's pregnancy. Didn't we do that last time?" Lys asked.

  "Last time we didn't have ten people. We had five."

  "Oh yeah…"

  "I don't like it here," Thena sniffed, tugging at her sister's shirt. "I wanna go home." Ro frowned at the girl. "This is our home now." There was a hint of finality in her voice that Echo had never heard before. And even more surprising was the fact that Thena simply nodded and said nothing more on the subject. An uncomfortable silence settled around the group and Echo found herself hopping form foot to foot in an effort to occupy her mind. Finally, silence became unbearable and she spoke up. "Who's up for a game of lacrosse?"

  "I knew it!" Lys shouted suddenly.

  "Knew what?" Echo blinked.

  "That you play sports! No one can have muscles like that without playing something, isn't that right, Irvine?"

  "What are you babbling about now, Lysander?" he sound of his full adopted-name merely brought a frown to Lys' face and nothing more. "Look at how toned she is!" Lys argued, grabbing Echo's arm to prove his point. Irvine rolled his eyes at the younger man, "Americans," he scoffed.

  "Hey, you're American?" Echo questioned. Lys nodded at her. A grin crept onto her face. "Well that explains a few things."

  "What? Like what?"

  Echo didn't answer, instead her smile widened and she started to sing. "What's your problem with the human race? No matter where I turn I can't escape your double face!" The others had taken to looking at her like she'd gone nuts. Was this the same quiet girl they'd picked up only a few days ago? Echo looked pointedly at Ro and smiled. "Come on, I know you know the words." She started singing again into her hand, using it like a microphone. "Don't wanna listen to the radio, coz they don't know. Or stick around just to hear I told you so."