by Blou Bryant
“You can’t talk?” he asked, shocked. “Sorry,” he signed back.
“Click,” she said with a smile and said, “I can…”
“She prefers not to,” said Hannah.
Wyatt eyed his former girlfriend, realizing that Hannah knew more than she’d shared. “You’ve seen her?”
“A couple of times. Sandra told me how things were going. Look…”
“They did it to keep us safe,” she said out loud with a voice that was high and strained. She made a couple quick signs and Wyatt recognized the last one. It was for love, two arms pulled across the chest, hands closed.
“They did it for love?”
“Click, click,” she replied.
He would not let it go that fast. “So, why was Hannah allowed to see you, and why not me? Why doesn’t anybody trust?”
Teri sighed, her frustration with him clear. She pointed to him, put a hand to her head and another to her chest, and then back at him, an eyebrow raised, questioning. She knew he’d been hurt, that something had gone wrong.
“No. Yes, ok, yes… I don’t know. Something went wrong… a lot went wrong, but…” he glanced at Hannah, knowing she’d mother him the second she heard he was sick, and was unhappy at the thought. Still, it was Teri, and he wouldn’t lie to her. “Yes, I’m dizzy, have blurred vision and can hardly walk.”
“What happened?” asked Hannah, pressing a hand onto his chest. A warmth spread through him as her healing touch worked its magic.
“There was a fight… Jessica’s trying to have the Zone torn down. Well, one house, but more to follow, I bet.”
“Your power…” said Teri. “You used it… but…”
As she trailed off, waiting for him, he paused. “It didn’t work.” There wasn’t any easy way to say it, so he just did. “Ezzy died. They killed her. I think there were others too.”
His stomach contracted, and he lurched forward, pushing both of them to the side as he threw up. He spat out the rest when he thought he was done, and then threw up again, his stomach and throat constricting, pushing up bile. Hannah’s hand was on his back, trying to heal him, but this wasn’t simply physical, it was his body responding to the memory of the bodies he’d left behind.
As he wiped spittle off his mouth and took a big gulp of air—dreading more vomit—he steadied himself and pushed up off the ground, returning to the bed. “Sorry… I’ll clean that later. At least it’s on hardwood, right?” He tried to smile. It didn’t work.
“Are you okay?” asked Hannah, ignoring the gallows humor.
Teri knelt in front of him to get a better look. “You’re broken.”
He stared into her weird eyes, blue and flecked with little white stars, so pale they were almost translucent. She was right, but there wasn’t any point in responding. She knew, somehow.
Ever since he’d failed to heal Ari six months earlier, he’d known something was wrong. He’d healed others since, but the flow of the virus hadn’t been easy, and in two cases, he had failed completely. “I know.”
“Tell us,” she signed.
Instead he asked, “Why don’t you like talking? Does it still hurt?”
She signed, “It’s my language.” Well, that’s what it translated to. American Sign Language wasn’t a hand version of English, it was its own language, with its own words and own grammar.
“Until she was eleven,” added Hannah. “It’s her native tongue. English is her second language.”
“Click, click,” agreed Teri.
“You still use that… two for yes, one for no.”
“No, of course not. I say yes and no, like a normal person. I did it for you… click, click,” said Teri, smiling. “You’re still an idiot, I see.”
Despite the knots in his stomach and the taste of puke in his mouth, Wyatt laughed out loud. “And you’ve become a lippy, judgmental teenager.”
It’d been over three years, and now, today of all days, she showed up. “Why now?” he had to ask.
“Because you need me, and you’re not okay.”
“She’s right,” said Hannah. “I’m healing you, but it’s superficial. I can sense something in you that’s not right. That’s new.”
Wyatt considered the two of them before replying. They cared about him. And he cared for them. But today wasn’t the day to worry about him and whatever the mutant virus was doing inside him. “People died. We’re at war.”
Teri stared at him, not blinking, not speaking.
“Why are you here? How did you find out so quickly that something had happened?”
“I didn’t, and I did.”
“That makes little sense. It’s been almost four years, why today?”
She shrugged, and said, “I felt something.”
The short answers were exasperating, but looking at her, the anger in him faded quickly. “What?” he asked.
She shook her head, her face squishing up in confusion, and made a small circle at her chest, her hand open.
Wyatt struggled to remember what it meant. “You got a feeling?”
“Click, click,” she said with a broad smile.
“Goofball,” he said. “Is it part of the change from the virus?” He’d infected her, healing a genetic disorder introduced by her parents and a rogue scientist. “So, you control energy, can influence people with your thoughts… and, what, you get feelings?”
She shrugged. “It’s all the same thing.”
“That’s not much of an answer.”
Teri shook her head. “It’s weird.”
Wyatt wanted more, but was impatient. In the back of his mind was the knowledge that friends had died. And he needed to do whatever was necessary to protect the Dogs, the Zone and the people who lived there.
He had to leave, and there wasn’t time to talk. “I want to hear… everything. But right now, I have things to do.”
“You’re not ready,” said Hannah.
“What do you mean? You healed me.”
“I did. And I didn’t. Something is wrong, and I don’t understand it. Your body isn’t responding as it usually does.”
Teri nodded in agreement.
Wyatt ignored them both. “But, I’m healed?”
“Sorta?”
“Click.”
“It’ll have to do. Teri, if this was any other day, I’d want to spend hours with you.” He pointed to the TV. “We deserve time watching movies, eating chips, and catching up, but today isn’t that day.”
“No, don’t go,” said Teri. “You need to heal.”
“No, we need to fight back.”
Teri shook her head, “You need to focus on you, that’s why I came.”
“I’m not letting Jessica take over the Zone. We can talk about me later, once things settle down. The police will be coming. The city will try to step in. We don’t have time to talk about me.” He stood up. “I’m glad to see you. I’m overjoyed. You can’t imagine how much I’ve wanted to find out how you’re doing, to know you were okay. But today…” he trailed off and stood.
“No,” signed Teri, her face squishing up with anger. “I came to help you.”
Wyatt patted her on the arm. “I want to spend time with you, but I can’t. Jessica is back, and she’s attacked the Zone….” He paused, there wasn’t any need to share the details with her, he could do that when it was done. She appeared frustrated, but he couldn’t help that.
“Finish your healing, Hannah. Give me whatever you can. I need to get back out there. You need to stay with Teri, keep her safe until Marylyn can take her home.” It was dismissive, but for their own good.
Hannah hesitated only briefly. She knew him well enough to not argue. Placing a hand flat on his chest, she closed her eyes. After concentrating for almost a minute, she opened them again, shaking her head. “That’s the best I can do.”
Wyatt stood up. He felt better and was no longer wobbling or at risk of falling. The room was still blurry, but only at the edges.
It’d have to be good e
nough, he thought. It’s got to be. “Stay here. I’ve got things to do. Hannah, make sure Teri doesn’t leave.” He ignored their angry looks and strode from the room.
Chapter 5
Wyatt left without any idea where he was going. He just knew he had to do something. The sound of raised voices brought him to the living room, where Marylyn was arguing with Sandra, Rocky, and Seymour. They became quiet when he joined him, concern clear on their faces.
Marylyn spoke first. “What happened?”
“How are you doing? Are you okay?” asked Sandra.
The living room was furnished with nothing other than one long couch and two chairs facing a TV. Rocky got up, and pointed at his La-Z-Boy. Wyatt waved him off, took a chair from the dining room and dragged it behind him so he’d have something to sit on.
“I’m okay,” he said, but wasn’t sure it was the truth. He set his face so they’d not worry. Coach Johnston had always said, “Look strong, and you’ll be strong.”
“You look awful,” said Rocky.
So much for that. Johnston always was a bit of a numbnuts. “Thanks,” he said. “You haven’t heard yet?”
“No,” said Marylyn. “All I had were the messages from Trix about a demolition. Teri demanded we come here, but she didn’t know about any of this.”
Seymour was leaning back in one chair, his small, round frame covered by a cheap blanket. “Who is Teri, and… what happened?”
Wyatt glanced at Sandra. What do we say about her? To his surprise, she turned to Marylyn for an answer.
“She’s my goddaughter. She’s lived with me for the last three years, ever since her father passed.”
Goddaughter? thought Wyatt with shock.
Seymour continued, “And she’s here because…?”
“None of your business.”
Seymour was an easygoing man, likely the result of having more money than he could spend in a lifetime. He put his hands up in mock surrender. “Whatever, but you’ll need a better answer for that for others. Being defensive makes people more curious. Not me, of course… but people.”
People like me, thought Wyatt, but he wasn’t going to have this discussion in front of Seymour. “We can discuss this later,” he said, glancing at both Marylyn and Sandra, making sure that the two of them both understood. “Four people were killed at the edge of the Zone. At least, I think they were.”
Sandra’s face turned ashen at the news.
“Tell us what happened,” said Marylyn.
Wyatt let out a long, sad, sigh. “Not much to say. Trix will know more. All I saw was that a construction crew showed up to tear some buildings down. We refused to let them, they refused to leave. There was gunfire,” he said, leaving out that he’d exploded, or caused an explosion. It was something he didn’t understand well enough to explain.
“What about police? Didn’t anyone call the police?”
“They were there, and they left—the Watchers called someone and had them ordered away.”
“Cowards,” exclaimed Rocky.
“He picked his family, can’t say as I’d blame him.” Wyatt paused, not sure what to say. They were all watching him, waiting on him. “The Watchers left, so did the construction workers. But they’ll be back.”
“I’ll see about that order,” said Marylyn. “And they’ll pay; they can’t cover this up.”
“Sure they can, they always do,” objected Rocky, his voice deep and hoarse with anger. “We need to deal with this our way.”
“What, by shooting four of them in return for the four of us?”
Rocky stood, his fists balled. “Not just four of them, I’ll shoot as many as I can. Don’t you care? We don’t even know who’s dead, and we’re sitting around planning for how to respond to a work order? Why aren’t we out there right now, finding the people who did this?”
Standing as well, Marylyn shook her head. “Because we don’t work like that.”
“You don’t. I do. We do.”
Marylyn’s face flushed with anger of her own. “Don’t assume you know me or where I come from. I was born in Detroit and can fight as well as any of you… or better.”
“So, fight.”
“I’ll fight, but the right way, not like some drunk teenager with too much testosterone.”
Shaking his head, Rocky disagreed. “There’s a time and place for your legal stuff, but this isn’t it.”
Marylyn pointed out the front window at the people in the street. “Do you think I travel with armed men and women because I trust the city?”
“So, do something.”
“But, what?” interjected Seymour.
“Take the fight to them. We can go after the Watchers that have surrounded us for months.”
“And when the police arrive?” Seymour asked.
“We’ll fight them too,” said Rocky.
“And they’ll send more, and then more.”
Wyatt stayed quiet, not sure what he wanted to do. Rocky was right, the police, the government couldn’t be trusted. Marylyn was right as well… it wasn’t as easy as running down the road with a gun.
Rocky shook his head emphatically. “So, they send more, we’ll fight them too. Perhaps it’s time for another revolution.”
Marylyn disagreed. “This wouldn’t be the Boston Tea Party; it would be Waco.”
As they went back and forth, Wyatt watched. Sandra too was quiet. She looked over and they locked eyes. What? wondered Wyatt, what do you want me to do? Sandra gave a slight shrug. Over to you, she seemed to say.
He closed his eyes as Seymour, Marylyn and Rocky yelled, and tuned out the argument. Four bodies, he could picture them, and still remembered Ezzy as she looked at him with dying eyes. His opponent wasn’t here; she wasn’t even close. Jessica worked through others, sending them out to fight and die. She didn’t have to look them in the eye. But then, if she did, would she even care? Wyatt knew the answer to that question.
Straightening up, he opened his eyes and, not waiting for a pause, interrupted loudly. “You’re right.”
Everyone quieted down and turned to him. After a long, uncomfortable pause, Sandra gave a small smile and asked, “Anyone in particular?”
Wyatt pointed at Rocky. “He’s right. Government won’t take care of this. Seymour and Marylyn are right too. It’s not a war we’ll win on the streets alone.”
Marylyn nodded. “So… we use the law.”
Wyatt shook his head. “No. Well, yes, but not just the law.”
“So, what do you want to do, if we’re all right and we’re all wrong too?” asked Sandra.
“We do it all. She… Jessica… came at us with everything, and we need to fight back with everything we’ve got. Seymour, we need to speed up our attacks and you need to get your damn program working. Rocky, we need to defend what’s ours. But we need to pick our battles. And, Marylyn, do what you can to slow them down. Give us time.”
The group quieted until Sandra snapped them out of it. “Okay everybody, we’ve got our plan, what are you waiting for? Get going!”
Rocky stood first, grinning, and walked over to give Wyatt a tight hug. Without any further words, he stalked out, followed close behind by Seymour, who was already tapping away on his tablet.
Wyatt watched them leave. “Sandra, get to our house and organize the Dogs. Make sure nobody gets out of hand, and remember that we won’t win every battle. Make sure Rocky retreats when necessary, and the same goes for the gangs. They’ll be out for blood and I need you to… keep them under control. Got it?”
She nodded and ran after Rocky. That left him alone with Marylyn. “Teri lives with you?” he asked, the question that’d been on his mind since he first heard. “She’s lived with you… I mean….”
“Sandra figured you’d be unhappy.”
That was the truth. Wyatt didn’t want to fight over it, and was happy that Teri was here, despite the circumstances. That led to another question. “How did you find out you needed to come—and with guards?”
<
br /> “Teri told me to.”
“And, on the word of a teenager, just like that, you dropped everything and brought along an armed posse?” Goddaughter… and what? Was it true that she’d known Vasca, Teri’s father? And what else did she know about Teri?
“If you knew her like I do… yes, she’s special. If she says it’s important, I drop everything. Where is she?”
“I told Hannah to keep her in the room. She’s barely a teenager.”
With a huff, Marylyn brushed past him, ignoring the question, and strode to the back. She threw the door open. “Come on out, what are you doing in there?” Pausing, she said, “Because? Since when do you listen to anyone?”
Wyatt joined them. Teri was in the middle of signing something, he didn’t catch what she’d said.
Hannah was sitting on the bed and got up when he arrived. “What’s happening?” she asked.
“Too hard to explain right now,” Wyatt said. I’m not involving Teri in this, he thought. “Marylyn has to go; she has things to take care of.”
“And Teri?”
“She’s going too.”
The teenager shot him a withering glance and signed furiously. He didn’t understand a word of it and turned to Hannah for help.
Before his friend could reply, Teri spoke, her voice high and strained. “I’m staying.”
“No, you’re not.”
Hannah touched his arm. “We should talk,” she mumbled.
“We will, but first, we need to get them out of here. Let’s go,” Wyatt said and left the room, letting them follow him. At the front door, he turned to Marylyn. “Do the legal stuff, but do it quick. I’ll try to stop this from turning into an all-out war.”
He’d avoided looking at Teri—he didn’t want to get in an argument with her. There would be time for them to talk and catch up once it was safe, once Jessica was finally—and fully, defeated.
Ignoring his plan, she grabbed him by the arm, longer nails than he thought appropriate for a teenager digging into his skin. “You need me. I came to help.”
“Not with this.”
“You’re in danger,” she said.
“All of us are.”