Frozen Flesh

by A J Donovan

  Terry turns towards the window and the bed pushed up against the wall under it. “Over there are Lana and Bill.”

  Bill is handsome, as far as I can tell. Or maybe I should say that he used to be handsome. His face is ruined. He lies motionless in the bed and Lana is sitting beside him. She is pale and looks exhausted. There’s a blanket over most of his body but I can tell a few of his bones are broken. Most terrifyingly, he is deathly pale.

  I don’t know how much Gavin will be able to fix.

  “What happened?” I ask.

  I expect Terry to answer me but it is Lara who speaks. There is a strength in her voice that contrasts with her gaunt appearance.

  “We were attacked by that beast. The one wandering around town. It was coming straight for me and Bill threw himself between us. I barely managed to pull him out of there and it was already too late.” She hesitates. “There are no hospitals anymore.”

  I decide not to mention Gavin’s healing ability yet. I don’t want to get her hopes up, just in case Gavin can’t save him.

  Terry clears his throat. “If you really want to meet us, you should probably know about Lana.”

  Lana averts her eyes.

  “Lana, do you want to explain, or will I?”

  When she meets my eyes, she doesn’t look worried or afraid. “The beast came for me because it likes my blood more than normal people. I got bitten a week ago but I didn’t turn. I’m immune.” She takes a deep breath. “And there’s more. I didn’t know I could move metal with my mind until the beast attacked us. I threw a car at it without lifting a finger.”

  I grin. “Sounds like a useful power. None of our Unturned can move metal but the rest of your story sounds about right.”

  Her eyes widen. “What? There are others?”

  Terry taps me on the shoulder with the gun. “You didn’t say anything about supernatural powers, kid.”

  “You didn’t ask.”

  Terry doesn’t look amused. “Tell us what you can do or I’ll have to shoot you. It’s nothing personal, but I have to protect my family.”

  “I can freeze things.”

  “Show me.”

  I look around and see a glass of water sitting on a table beside one of the other people in the room.

  “May I?” I ask him, pointing to the glass. He nods.

  I brush my finger across the surface of the water and it freezes, spreading all the way to the bottom of the glass.

  “Now that,” Terry says, lowering the gun. “Is not something you see every day.”

  ***

  Chapter 24 - Deja Vu

  Kim

  Maria Tanning is a fighter, I have to respect her for that.

  Her blonde hair is dishevelled and she’s covered in sweat but her force field hasn’t failed yet. I have to admit it, I’m impressed. She’s crouching in the middle of a transparent bubble. The soldiers are wasting bullets trying to break through the shield but they aren’t slowing down. They keep going despite how little effect they are having on the shield.

  One of the soldiers throws a grenade but none of them seem surprised when it has no effect. Maria flinches but her shield doesn’t falter. They’re trying to exhaust her to the point where she can’t keep this up.

  Then a man runs up with a rocket launcher and I see Maria’s defiance start to fade. She is at the end of her strength and she knows it. I can tell that she knows she is about to lose the fight but she still doesn’t give up.

  Cole was worried that I might not be able to stop a rocket launcher. Let’s see if he was right.

  I run forward and lift my arms. The air pressure shifts and the soldiers all look around in confusion. Some of them see me. I ignore them, my armour is ready to absorb any bullets. They can’t hurt me.

  The rocket launcher fires before I can rip it out of his hands. I send the weapon flying out of his hands anyway, but it’s too late. The rocket hurtles through the air, aimed directly at Maria.

  From the little I know of Maria, I don’t think we will be great friends, but she is a decent person. She doesn’t deserve this. No one deserves this.

  I let the anger strengthen me and I push my mind out, forming a wall of air in front of her. The air molecules cluster and support each other, thickening the wall. Each molecule of air reinforces the next. My gut instinct tells me that strength is more important than ever before.

  The rocket collides with the wall in an earth shaking explosion.

  The fire and smoke and debris hurtle in every direction. They fill our vision and block out the sky. They go up, down, left and right, but they don’t break through the wall. Maria is safe.

  Cole runs to her and drops to his knees, checking her for injuries.

  When the smoke finally clears, I see the soldiers behind it staring in shock and awe. They can’t believe what they are seeing. They don’t understand it. They don’t know what I’m capable of doing.

  I grin and lift my arms.

  I see the men on the ground. Most of them are injured and bleeding but they’re still alive. I find it hard to feel sorry for them. There are so many innocent people dead because of them. They did this to themselves.

  Older men wearing high ranking stripes and symbols that I barely understand start yelling orders. The soldiers lift their rifles and start firing at us. I just react in time to stop them from tearing us apart. Another wall of air protect us.

  I was so sure that they would stop fighting when they know it was a losing battle. They can’t beat me. They have no chance, but they keep fighting. Understanding hits me sharply, the officers are taking advantage of the soldiers’ training and their fear and pushing them towards a battle that will surely mean their deaths. They see something they don’t understand, something they fear, and they want to destroy it.

  Anger rushes through me and something inside me takes that anger and fuels it. It pushes it and makes it grow into an inferno that pushes aside all of my logic and reasoning and compassion for the soldiers caught up in this war.

  Part of me knows I should stop but the power is filling my head and it makes me feel so good. I’m so strong. This is right.

  Air whirls around my head and it grows into currents that roar around us and shake tents and make soldiers shield their eyes. I grit my teeth against the anger that keeps rising inside me. These men are monsters. These men are everything wrong with the world.

  A storm forms in the sky above us. Within moments, it is massive. The skies obey me without question and my anger lets me control them with ease. This is all I need to be the most powerful person in the world. I could destroy this entire camp and every twisted soldier within it.

  The men look up at the violent weather with wide eyes. They are terrified. They finally stop firing at us.

  I give myself to the storm, feeling it grow inside me as it grows in the sky above us. When it is at its peak, I take a breath.

  “Leave us alone!” I yell.

  Some of the men look at me but most don’t hear me over the roaring winds.

  I focus again, this time using my power to lend strength to my voice.

  “LEAVE US ALONE!”

  The storm howls and thrashes above us in response to my demand and drowns out every other sound. Our whole world is filled with the storm.

  The soldiers scatter.

  Kayla is screaming. Somewhere, in the recesses of my mind, I notice that. I see her, kneeling beside Cole and Maria. Maria is awake but she isn’t standing up. None of them are. Their faces are filled with fear.

  They’re afraid of me. Don’t they understand that this is for them? I’m doing all of this to protect them. I’m keeping them safe.

  Their fear should concern me but it doesn’t. I gave myself to the power inside me to protect my friends and now it fills me with numb euphoria as torrential winds tear tents from the ground and rip pieces of earth into the air.

  I look at Maria. She’s not dead, but she could be. She would have been killed if I didn’t stop them. This is exactly
what happened the last time. Scott and Cara didn’t deserve to die. Matt didn’t deserve to die. I could have saved them. I could have stopped their deaths from happening.

  It was my fault.

  The storm shifts and its strength rapidly turns into violent intensity. Men and women in uniforms are picked up and sent into the maelstrom above us. Tents and vehicles and buildings are taken by the winds. Everything outside of this eye of the storm is ripped to pieces.

  Lightning strikes and hits the ground beside me.

  That wasn’t me.

  The addictive bliss of giving up control is interrupted. I turn slowly, watching the destruction of the area around me. Within minutes, all of Camp Turk will be engulfed in a hurricane.

  It’s happening again.

  Cole is standing now. Winds batter him, trying to force him back and whipping his clothes against his body. He doesn’t back down. I watch him with uncomprehending eyes. I don’t know why I am focused on him.

  He says something that is lost in the storm and lightning splits the sky and cracks against the ground again. I frown. That was his lightning.

  I reach out with my power and our minds join. It feels the same as my connection with Rex but Cole pulls back, shaking his head. He doesn’t want to join our power. He doesn’t want to add to my storm.

  He’s right.

  It takes all of my willpower to turn away from the euphoria of unrestrained power. Reality rushes back at me like a cold splash of water.

  Letting go of the blissful embrace of the storm brings back all the pain and fear and grief that I wanted so desperately to forget. The power lurks at the edges of my thoughts, I know I could dive into it again. I could submerge myself in power and never again think about the people I’ve lost.

  I release the storm. The winds lose momentum and they slow into rough currents of air and then they become nothing more than a light breeze.

  I feel tears spill onto my cheeks before I realise I’m crying.

  “Kim, come back to me,” Cole says. “It’s okay. It’s all okay now. Just look at me. Focus on my voice.”

  “He’s dead,” I cry. “Matt’s dead, Cole. How can I move on from that?”

  Cole doesn’t know Matt. I’ve never talked about him out loud. “There’s no easy answer, Kim. You just keep going. You’re strong, and you have someone to live for, don’t you? I saw it in your face when we talked on the jeep. Think about them.”

  I nod, trying to focus on Jake and trying not to think about a world without Matt. I don’t think I can. I shake my head as sobs rip themselves out of my throat.

  Cole takes a step towards me. “I need you, Kim. Kayla needs you.” He takes a deep breath and then he reaches out and takes my hand. “Matt wouldn’t want you to give up now, would he? Do you want to give up on the girl he knew? You’re a fighter, Kim. He would want you to keep fighting.”

  He’s right. I know he’s right. I have to believe him.

  Kayla stumbles forward, from where she took cover behind a tent. “Oh, thank god, you’re okay. I thought you lost your mind.” She smiles weakly. “I thought we lost you.”

  I find myself smiling at how strong her humanity is. She barely knows me and yet she was genuinely concerned for me. She is so different from the terrible people that run rampant in this new world. She chooses kindness and they don’t.

  I don’t say it out loud, but I know exactly how close I was to embracing the destruction. It terrifies me that it’s so easy to be consumed by anger.

  I take a deep breath and nod. “I’m here, I’m fine. Thank you for stopping me, Cole.”

  He grins. “Anytime, Kim.”

  * * *

  Cole helps Maria to her feet.

  Despite her exhaustion, she stands on her own. I was worried we would have to carry her or she would collapse, she pushed herself beyond her limits today. I have heard stories of Unturned who pushed themselves too far and the results were terrifying. Some of them were hurt, some took days to recover, but the most frightening were the stories of people who died from it. I feared Maria would join them.

  We make our way through Camp Turk as the sun breaks over the horizon. We keep an eye out for any other survivors, Unturned or otherwise, but there aren’t any. There are countless bodies but there should be more. Where is everyone? Did they flee the camp? Many of the soldiers ran from my storm, maybe people ran and hid themselves when they realised that the Unturned were being assassinated.

  The only Unturned that survived are Cole, Maria and myself. We find all the others with the rest of the dead, apart from Kimura. He is nowhere to be found. I’m not completely surprised, he seemed to be resourceful and capable, he probably escaped as soon as he realised he was in danger.

  Cole is quieter than usual. The action is over and now there’s nothing to do but pick up the pieces in the aftermath. There is a lot we need to do but the urgency has faded. I’m sure he’s finally starting to process the betrayal. I can’t imagine what he’s feeling, these soldiers were supposed to be like family and they turned on him.

  Cole gasps and rushes forward.

  I turn to find him dropping to his knees beside one of the bodies. Then I realise who we are looking at. Captain Knight. His uniform is torn and bloody and he’s not moving.

  Kayla and Maria move to console Cole but I stay where I am. I tried my best not to get attached to Knight or Will or Cole, but it didn’t work. I haven’t seen Will but I know he would never have gone along with this coup. As much as I don’t want to admit it, his body is probably here somewhere too, just like Knight. Both of them were good men, they didn’t deserve this.

  I dry my cheeks with my sleeve and join the others with Cole. Knight meant a lot to him and he’s going to need support now more than ever.

  Eventually we make our way to the edge of the camp. All of us are struggling to cope with the sheer volume of destruction and death we had to walk through. We approach the same gate I first entered through, a couple of days ago. As we walk past the guardhouse on our left I hear a noise.

  “Wait,” I say. “I think there’s someone in there.”

  “Or something,” Maria says. “Be careful.”

  I walk up to it and pull open the door, preparing to defend against whatever is on the other side.

  “Will!”

  He makes a muffled noise through his gag and I hurry across the room to take it out of his mouth. Two others are beside him, all tied and gagged in the same way. They’re all wearing army fatigues.

  “I’m so glad you’re okay,” Will says. “We tried to fight back but there were too many of them.”

  Cole steps inside and he lets out a whoop of excitement when he sees his friend. “You’re alive!”

  “Of course I am,” Will says. “Takes more than a few trigger happy idiots to take me out.”

  Kayla and Maria follow us inside and we quickly untie the three soldiers.

  Will rubs his wrists gingerly and pulls Cole into a hug. When he releases him he pulls me into a hug, too.

  The female soldier salutes us. “My name is Jade Farraway.”

  I smile at her. “I’m Kim, nice to meet you. Why were the three of you tied up here?”

  Will answers me. “Like I said, we didn’t go along with their plan to murder you guys while you slept.”

  I sigh. “Yeah, I thought so. There were only three of you who refused?”

  Will’s warm expression gives way to anger. “No, there were others. We got lucky, the two guys who held us at gunpoint were newbies, couldn’t bring themselves to kill us. They said everyone else either joined them or paid with their lives.”

  “They killed the others?” Kayla gasps.

  “That’s what they said.”

  “Could they be lying?” I ask.

  He shrugs. “Could be, but I don’t see the rest of them around here. Did you see anyone else outside?”

  I sigh. “No. You’re right. We could keep searching the camp for the others but we don’t have time. We need to get
out of here before the remaining soldiers regroup and come at us again.”

  Will rolls back his shoulders and stretches his neck muscles. “I’m ready for another chance to give them what they deserve.”

  “We need to keep an eye out when we leave,” Cole says. “There was a troop on a scouting run, searching for more survivors to take in. I don’t know where their loyalties lie.”

  “We need to play it safe,” Jade says. “When people get scared they make bad decisions. These days, everyone’s scared. I think we need to assume that the soldiers on the scouting run are playing for the other team and avoid them.”

  The third soldier hasn’t stood up yet and I realise why when I notice his leg. It’s bent at an unnatural angle and I wince. Cole helps him up from the chair and the man grits his teeth against the pain from his broken leg.

  “My friends call me Click,” he says, forcing a friendly smile for us.

  “Nice to meet you, Click.”

  “I think we should get out of here,” Kayla speaks up. She’s standing by the door, keeping watch. “We got lucky so far but I don’t like our chances if they gather themselves and come after us.”

  “I agree,” I say. “We should get supplies, but I doubt we have time to search for them.” An idea occurs to me. “We could split up.”

  “Don’t you watch movies?” Cole asks. “They always suggest splitting up and then everyone dies.”

  “He’s right,” Will says. “Splitting up is a bad idea.”

  “But we’ll need water and food and things like that. And this isn’t a movie.”

  Jade picks up an assault rifle from the table and gives us a smirk. “I know where they keep the supplies. We can get everything we need behind the mess hall. It’s not far. We go there, grab some stuff and get out of here before we run into any other soldiers.”

  Cole nods and readies his weapon. “Alright. Click is injured, so he can’t come with us. Will and I will go and-”