He grabs my wrist and pulls me around the bend where we were pinned just moments earlier. We nearly scrape our shoulders as we follow the rough wall on our way to the east entrance. The pounding of my heartbeat overtakes our heavy footsteps and I feel the well-known grip of fear take over my body. I’m just about to collapse when I slam into Farren’s solid back as he stops abruptly. He looks back to let me know we are here.
We stand just feet away from a set of metal doors. Farren crouches down and without notice pulls me to my knees. His gentle touch from before has changed to a rough grasp of urgency now. I understand, but I still don’t like it. My nerves have settled some, but we are again stuck leaning up on the hub’s wall trying to figure out what to do next. A subtle buzzing on Farren’s wrist display startles me. It’s the signal from Maddux that we were waiting for earlier. They must be alright, but this signal was supposed to let us know it was okay to move from the settlement wing to the main structure.
“What does this mean?” I ask.
“I’m not sure, but at least they’re okay,” he says. “It must have been them that cut the power, though.”
“At least they’re okay,” I say while exhaling. “What are we supposed to do now?”
Locked from the inside, the solid metal doors prevent us from moving forward. Farren points out the metal shielding surrounding the locking mechanism, so even shooting at it with his gun would not get us anywhere. I didn’t really want to let the whole hub know we’re out here by firing guns off anyway. I realize that it’s time to do my part and find Amanda. Standing now, I turn to Farren, who is still crouched against the wall near the doors.
“I’m going to find Amanda now. When I do, I’ll push her to find an exit.”
“Are you sure?” Farren asks. He takes my hand.
“Well, one of us needs to do something, and that cute little gun of yours is useless. I owe this to Amanda.” I catch him smirking as he rolls his eyes at me.
The borrowed mind of that Magnus volunteer revealed that all civilians were being directed to the east wing of the hub during the breach alert. Amanda should be somewhere nearby. I just need to find her familiar awareness and use her fear of Magnus to motivate her to escape. She will forgive my meddling in her head if I get her out of here.
Amanda’s mind is very familiar to me. The few times I have dug into her consciousness, I’ve sensed only honesty. Filled with hate for the ones who have done her wrong, but overflowing with love for me and the memories of her family. Her feelings have always teetered on the edge. This explains her deep desire to care for me as well as her instant mistrust of anyone associated with sector groups.
It almost seems easy to open my mind for this push, as there are so many souls nearby ready to be shaped. Unlike other Influencers, I’m able to quickly grab onto the surrounding consciousness. The collective energy of a large group like this feels warm to me. My stomach radiates the heat, quickly filling my chest and moving on throughout my whole body. I’ve never used my ability on this many people before. It’s like being connected to something much bigger than me. Never before has using my push been anything other than horrifying, but this time is different. I’m doing this for the good of the people being influenced instead of causing them pain.
The push pulls the hub’s citizens into my mind, flooding me with the thoughts and inner voices of hundreds of people. They are overwhelmed and scared. Flashes of their recent thoughts burst before me. Glimpses of people confused about what is going on. Some who are searching for loved ones and more just rushing to find a safe place to be. Just as I begin my search for Amanda, I come across a sensation that I have never felt before. I’m losing people. Voices disappear and thoughts fade out. Plucked right out of my push is the best way to describe what is going on.
It takes me a few seconds before I realize what is happening. The hub’s Influencer must have felt a shift in the crowd and has begun trying to tame the group. My control is faltering. I need to act fast or this mission will become a failure. While trying to refocus, I remember what Farren said about how Jax uses people in the push as amplifiers to expand his reach. Jax would somehow search out the most consciously aware in the group and piggyback on their minds to extend the push. The question is how.
With my push on the verge of collapsing, I hunt for people who in some way feel different from the rest. Not knowing exactly what to look for, I comb over the clutter of minds in the area. Most people’s awareness seems to revolve around their physical being. It’s like they stick to their own personal bubble that limits their connections to reality. Once I identify this pattern, I start to find greater waves of consciousness that radiate from certain individuals. In this state, these people’s awareness overlaps and pours over the rest. It’s like watching larger drops of rain among smaller pounding in a puddle. Their ripples spread out over the water and overtake the smaller ripples. Soon, all I see are the large drops. I mentally grab hold of these people’s awareness, and soon I find my push envelop the collective consciousness. These minds strengthen my bond with the group. Influencing them is easier, as they’re willing to be part of something bigger than themselves. Within a few moments, I overtake the crowd and force out the other Influencer. I now control the group’s complete awareness.
This feels amazing to do for the first time. I’ve never known this sensation before. Easily overriding this hub’s Influencer gives me a sense of satisfaction. Maddux was right: Each Influencer has to uncover their potential and to do that a push has to be soaked in the reality of the moment. No training can prepare me for what I am becoming.
Amanda stands out among all the citizens. I recognize her thoughts, as most of them include me. Her presence is strong and the hate for Magnus easily consumes her foremost awareness. Her consciousness ripple is easily the largest in the group. It makes perfect sense why it would be, as she has been stuck with me for the past eight years. Living with an Influencer for that long has to rub off on you. She is pretty open to my thoughts on reality and knows everyone is part of something bigger than their own little world.
Feeling Amanda’s presence reminds me how much I miss and need her. This familiar feeling is comforting. It’s time to get her back. I narrow in and start pushing the idea of fleeing upon her. I project an urgency to move and find a way out. Pulling her memory of when I first used my push on those bullies at our shelter gives her that need to move. Her mood becomes unsteady and stress fills her mind. With the bond created by my push, I relive this with her and my own experience of that day filters into her awareness, only increasing her desire to find safety. I create a sense of warmth and security near the back side of the large area where this group is corralled. Using the memories of her parents, I radiate a familiar mood that guides her in the right direction. I tap into her current thoughts and see she is nearing an empty corridor lit only by soft red lighting that must be powered by an emergency generator.
This new visual sensation I’m tapping into today is crazy. Feeling people is one thing, but watching their experiences is odd.
A flash shows me several similar metal doors lining the cool, dark hall. Then I notice a door that stands out among the rest. It resembles a hatch that I recall from when I was held here a few days ago. A pulsing green light bulb hangs above it, casting an eerie glow over the door. Maddux told me to look out for these hatches because they always led outside into the clearing. The only problem now is that she has to somehow open this locked exit.
Thrust out of my push, I snap back to reality to find Farren dragging me to a pillar just past the east gate.
“What the hell are you doing?” I shout. “I had her. She’s stuck at a locked exit.”
“Calm down,” he whispers, muffling my mouth with his hand. “They know we’re out here. I heard someone coming from the hub. They’re just around this corner.”
My throat drops as we hear shuffling footsteps just yards away. Farren signals that he’s going to let them come to us and then take them out. Grabbing
the barrel of his gun, he prepares to disable them without firing the weapon. We don’t want to alert others of our location by shooting up the place.
The pace of the footsteps increases and become louder. The beating of my heart intensifies as Farren shuffles closer to the edge of the wall. He raises his arm to strike when I pick up on a familiar presence. I lunge at Farren’s arm and pin it to the wall. He glares at me, confused. Before I have a chance to explain, Amanda stumbles around the corner and screams as she nearly runs into us.
“Amanda, Amanda, Amanda,” I quickly blurt while grabbing her arms to steady her frantic body.
Her eyes meet mine and in an instant, her panic turns to joy. A huge smile fills her face. I release my grip on Farren’s wrist to embrace Amanda. Her legs collapse and we buckle to the ground. She squeezes me extra hard, making sure this moment is real.
“I knew it was you,” she insists. “I knew you would come back for me.”
Pulling back, she puts both hands on my face while taking a deep breath. Without thinking, she glances up at Farren who is standing ready to attack whatever comes next. Surprised, she wrestles me away from him and snarls, “What the hell is this? What is he doing here? What’s going on?”
“Calm down. It’s okay,” I explain. “It’s a long story, but he came with me to rescue you.”
“Please, Amanda, settle down,” Farren pleads. “We need to get you guys out of here. We don’t have time to get into this right now.”
Amanda jumps to her feet. “Don’t tell me to settle down,” she rages.
I stand and wedge myself between them. Clutching Amanda’s arms, I am able to inch her back a step. “Amanda, listen to me. I’m still alive because of him. He’s on our side. We need to stop this now and get out of here before the real enemies find us. We’ll talk about this when we’re safe.”
Not having any other options, she nods in agreement. I grab her hand as Farren leads us back along the hub’s wall toward the drainage pipes where Caiden is holed up. I can tell Farren is worried about him. He grabs my free arm and nearly drags both of us away from the east gate and toward his injured friend.
As we make our way along the wall, I hear Amanda groan in pain. I turn to her and realize I am squeezing her hand way too tightly. I loosen up and give her a soft smile that she returns. Losing her was the hardest thing I’ve lived through. I don’t want to do it again.
Dragging Amanda along, we reach the corner that marks our destination. Just beyond, I hope to find Caiden tucked between the cover of the drainage pipes. Sprinting around the wall, I crash into something that knocks me several feet to the ground. A stinging burn radiates through my chest. I look up to find Farren and Amanda slammed back by several Magnus security personnel. The burning heat of the men’s ‘shock sticks,’ as I like to call them, stiffens their bodies as well and they fall to the ground like frozen statues. The intense pain only lasts a few seconds, but it is not something I ever want to feel again. Once the pain goes, I’m left with a tingling sensation that pricks at my limbs as I regain movement. Before we have a chance to recover, the men are standing over us pointing those fun wands in our faces. One of the men now holds Farren’s recovered gun in his other hand.
Out of the shadows, I hear a familiar voice. “Welcome home, my dear.”
Mavis Edgeley emerges from behind the guards and steps into the moonlight. His presence brings my thoughts back to being drugged and questioned in his office. Something about that smug voice boils my blood. I’m just about to lunge at him when Farren pulls himself up to his knees. The men prepare to stun him again when Mavis puts his boney hands on their shoulders to stop them.
“Hold on, gentlemen.” Mavis adjusts his stiff suit jacket. “This is our very own Farren Knox. Have a little respect. You must be eager to explain yourself, Mr. Knox.”
Farren leans one hand up against the hub’s wall to steady himself. Our bodies are still weak from the electric shock. Brushing his overgrown locks from his eyes, he looks up at Mavis. “There is nothing to explain. I just wanted to give you and your men the chance to put your weapons down and surrender.”
Mavis quickly shifts his attention back and forth between the guards before he bursts into laughter. It reminds me of an old drunk lady’s cackle. The out-of-control, high-pitched cadence pierces my eardrums. If he didn’t have that block implant, I would manipulate his little mind and make him suffer. He’s the perfect example of what it means to be a Magnus official: arrogant, heartless, and corrupt.
“Oh Farren…” He pauses. “You truly are one of a kind. It’s going to be such a loss for our organization. Your talents will be missed, and I just love your misguided confidence.”
Mavis steps back to give the guards some room. “Keep the Influencer alive and kill the other two. The other girl has lost her welcome here at Hawthorne.”
I look to Amanda and see her terror. Without hesitation, I thrust my body over her to protect whatever is to come. Turning to Farren, I notice an amused smile on his face. This isn’t the best way to deal with death. There’s no time to figure him out anymore. I set my attention on Amanda, her face desperate, and say, “They’ll have to go through me first.”
We embrace and close our eyes, making peace with our situation. I hear the guards draw their pistols and chamber their rounds. I feel Farren place a hand on my forearm. The grip is soft and doesn’t feel tense at all. I hold Amanda tighter when out in the distance I hear an unfamiliar electrical sound build up and then release. There is a quick, zip-sounding discharge. Within seconds, I feel the new awareness of Farren, Mavis, and the four guards. How can this be? They all have the block implants. I open my eyes to find Farren trained on me. He gives me a reassuring nod. Confused, I turn to see the Magnus men gripping their heads in agony. Tears overflow from Mavis’s eyes. His sobbing sounds like a twelve-year-old girl. I almost feel sorry for him, but then I remember who he is and what he has done.
Out of the distance, we hear someone shout, “What took you fools so long to get here?”
Farren grins and rises to his feet, pulling Amanda and I with him. He breaks away from us and nonchalantly makes his way through the Magnus men, who seem to have gone insane. He meets up with Caiden, who is propped up against Maddux. The tightness in my chest eases as I realize the rest of our team has made it back okay. Then it all starts to make sense as I see Ava walk up last. She struts up like a goddess. Those long legs just won’t quit. She is somehow using her push ability to paralyze the men in their own minds. I don’t understand how it’s possible she can do this with them all having the implants. Ava comes up to me and gives me a big hug. Her long arms swallow me.
I look up at her and say, “How is this possible? Is this you?”
Maddux overhears me. “You can thank Owen for that. It’s his latest invention. He calls it a Burst Disrupter, but I like to call it a Block Buster. It’s quite brilliant. It emits an electromagnetic pulse that temporarily disables the block implants of those in close range. Pretty cool, huh?”
Our reunion is cut short as Mavis squeals like a cornered dog and takes off toward the hub. Spooked by his movements, the paranoid guards instinctively react and flee in all directions. Caiden quickly draws his gun and points it at Mavis as he runs like a chicken with his head cut off. Farren grabs Caiden’s arm while stepping in front of him. They lock eyes and Farren snarls, “Hey! Think, Caiden, think! Everyone in this hub will hear that and come pouring out of every nook of this place. I’m not ready to die, are you?”
“Who the hell are these people and what is going on here?” Amanda blurts out, clearly confused.
“Guys, we need to move out now,” Farren interrupts. “There will be plenty of time for Q and A once we are far from this hub. They will be looking for Mavis and when they find him, everyone and their mother will be after us. We need to take advantage of this now.”
Even Amanda knows he is right as she stares at him for a second and gives him a cautious nod. Just like her, I have so many questions.
Like, where were Maddux and Ava during this whole mission? And why didn’t we use this “block buster” tech earlier? More questions race through my mind as we run across the dark clearing, but they will have to wait until we get far from the crippled and enraged Hawthorne hub.
13
CATCHING UP
ESCAPING HAWTHORNE WAS easy enough. All the work we did to get in made getting out a breeze. Off in the distance, we hear the disjointed ramblings of the hub’s personnel scrambling to regain control of their powerless fortress. We’re gone before they know what hit them. Stalks of fern are swept across our tracks, disguising our footsteps as we head back through the thick forest toward the Walton hub to regroup. Needing to catch my breath, I allow myself to relax for a moment to look over this odd pairing of freaks and castoffs. The cool glint from the moon casts just enough light to study everyone. I have never been part of a group of any kind. This feeling is so new to me. Not bad, just new.
I look over to Ava, who doesn’t appear to have a care in the world. She plays with her hair while she effortlessly navigates the overgrown trail. Her ability, along with that burst tech, saved us. I would love to be there to see Mavis’s pathetic face when their Influencer snaps him from the mental prison she put him in. The thought of him flipping out with rage puts a smile on my face. Then there’s Maddux and Farren, who each have one of Caiden’s arms draped over their shoulders. He grunts at every tree they brush up against, staring at Farren as if he did it on purpose.
On the verge of exploding, Amanda lags a few steps behind me. Not one to keep her thoughts to herself for too long, she catches up to me. “Alright, what is this, Kay? How is Farren a good guy all of a sudden? And what’s with the comic book characters?” She points at the rest of the team.
When you really look at the group she has a point. Ava and Maddux look like they could be from some futuristic tribe of stunning people. Laced with tattoos they seem mysterious, even a little unrealistic. Then Caiden, with his buzzed, bright-red hair and stiff military outfit, gives you a feeling of a past you were not part of. The only one who seems to fit our current reality is Farren. “Heeellllooo, Kay?” Amanda sings, snapping her fingers in my face.
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