by Matt Blake
“What now?” Ember asked.
I took a deep breath.
I didn’t have the answer. Not this time.
All I knew was that we were the enemy now. The people were angry.
And we were going to have to fight if we wanted to survive.
26
Damon had no idea how long he was going away for.
Only that he had to go away. And he had to get away fast.
He walked down Prospect Heights. Prospect Park was just up ahead. The evening rain lashed down on him, completely soaking him. The traffic flew by him. When he’d set off walking, he’d had no idea where exactly he was heading. But now he seemed to be heading in the direction of Coney Island. He had some family who lived in Coney Island. Maybe he’d stay with them for a while.
He wiped the rain from his eyes and kept on walking, rucksack draped over his back. Sure, he could’ve got the subway, and he probably would have to get a cab eventually, but right now he wanted nothing more than to keep on walking. He felt like walking was the only thing that could clear his mind right now.
And he needed to clear his mind because his entire world was falling apart.
He felt a lump right above his chest when he thought about Kyle. His best friend of so many years. They’d grown up together. They’d been by each other’s sides time and time again. Damon had been there for Kyle when times were rough. And as tough as Kyle thought Damon was, Kyle had kept him happy a lot of the time, too.
But now Kyle was gone.
He cleared his throat and lowered his head as he walked past some shady looking figures standing outside a 7-Eleven. Damon felt their eyes on him as he walked past. He hoped his size would be enough to deter them, even if he couldn’t fight for shit.
He kept on walking, the group ignoring him. He looked up and saw the road stretching onwards. He knew he was still a couple hour walk from Coney Island. He knew some of these areas could be risky, too. There were active gangs around here, and he was a damned big guy to target. Besides, the last thing he wanted to do was spend a night homeless.
He hadn’t told anyone he was leaving. He didn’t want them to worry. And sure, if he went to stay with his Coney Island relatives, word would get back to his parents eventually. Yeah. A real flaw in his plan.
But as long as he kept a low profile and kept on going… maybe. Just maybe.
He didn’t like the idea that he was turning his back on his best friend. He didn’t like looking at it that way. After all, he knew Kyle had good intentions.
That said, it felt like those intentions were unraveling. It felt like Kyle’s responsibilities were becoming too great for him to manage. It felt like the whole world was building up like a weight on Kyle’s shoulders, and he just couldn’t keep on carrying it anymore.
And Damon had tried to stay by Kyle’s side. So too had Avi, and Ellicia.
But as much as they hated to admit it, Kyle had changed.
And he hadn’t changed for the better.
He looked back down the sidewalk, right along the highway. He needed to find a taxi now. He waited a few minutes, then moved when he saw some more creepy looking dudes heading his way. He hid down an alley at the side of the road, waited for them to disappear before stepping back out.
Then he saw a cab.
He stuck out a thumb and ran towards it.
Then he slipped in the rain.
He fell face-flat on the sidewalk. He felt his face start to burn, and he tasted blood. When he lifted his head, the cab was pulling away.
And behind him, he heard laughing voices getting closer.
He looked back.
The group he’d passed before were heading his way. They were looking right at him. They were laughing.
Damon’s heart pounded. He struggled back to his feet, readjusting his rucksack. He started to run away from them when he saw another group up ahead. The one who’d passed him just before.
They were walking toward him now.
And they didn’t look happy.
Damon stood there feeling totally defenseless. How damned cruel it was that he didn’t have the ability to fight off these bullies. Instead, Kyle had those abilities. But Kyle wasn’t using them for good anymore. He was being chaotic with them. Reckless.
Damon looked over his shoulder, his knees shaking, and he prepared for whatever was coming for him.
Then a car screeched its tires right beside him.
A window rolled down. He couldn’t see the guy in front properly, but they stuck a thumb out of the window. “Get in. Now.”
Damon didn’t hesitate.
He jumped in the back of the car and slammed the door shut.
The car accelerated to life, and the group of would-be attackers was left behind.
Damon almost gave them the Vs but figured now wasn’t the best time.
He leaned back against the headrest. “Thank you. Seriously.”
He still couldn’t see the guy in the front of the car. “Those guys were gonna beat you up. Can’t be doing with bullies.”
“Right,” Damon said. He waited a few seconds, watched as the cars passed by on the other side of the road. “Just Coney Island, please. Mermaid Avenue, by West 22nd.”
“You’re a brave man walking these streets alone at this time.”
Damon shrugged. He hadn’t been called “brave” all that often. “I guess I needed to clear my head.”
“Hmm,” the guy said. And Damon suddenly realized he probably shouldn’t be letting this guy in on his problems. And also that he shouldn’t have jumped into the back of his car in the first place. But hey. He was being chased. This guy had offered him a ride. It seemed like the only option he had at the time.
They drove for about fifteen minutes. Every time Damon spoke, the driver either grunted, or replied with a really short answer. He didn’t seem to be one for small talk.
After twenty minutes driving and no sign of the coast, Damon started to worry.
“Umm, this is Bellaire, right?”
“Right.”
“Coney Island? That’s where I… Hey, man, I think I’ll get out and…”
He saw the man’s eyes in the rearview mirror then. Piercing. Green. But from what he could make out of his face, he was younger than he’d thought. “We’re not going to Coney Island, Damon.”
Damon felt his stomach turn. He reached for the back door with his clammy hand, but the car was moving too fast for him to even think about jumping out. “How… how do you know my name?”
The guy turned away from the driver’s seat and the steering wheel. He looked right into Damon’s eyes.
It took Damon a few seconds to realize exactly who it was.
But when he did, he felt totally cold inside.
“I’m Adam,” he said. “And I think you can help bring your best friend back down to earth.”
27
Three days in the middle of Greenland and I was hating it already.
Apparently, it was the middle of the day, but the sky didn’t really tell that story. The clouds were thick and black, and the rain was constant. We were literally in the middle of nowhere. Every now and then, I’d take visits to shops around the world for food, but it wasn’t exactly a luxury way of life. Once again, not for the first time in its existence, The Resistance was on the run. Only this time it was on the run from the very people it’d sworn to protect.
I looked ahead at the vast expanse of wilderness. Greenland was a nice country, geographically stunning, but it wasn’t exactly paradise. Damon would be in his element here, though. He was into his rocks and things like that. I missed Damon, and I wished he was here. I wished Avi was here. I wished Dad and Ellicia were here.
Life was different. I’d grown so distant from them without even realizing. It hurt.
I heard footsteps on the creaky floorboards of the cabin we were staying outside. It was some kind of old fishing cabin, apparently, but I couldn’t see any lakes nearby, unless it’d frozen over completely.
I sighed, then looked back out the window. “Come to gloat?”
“Kyle,” Cassie said, tutting. She put a hand on my arm. “You’ve gotta snap out of this. It’s not doing you or anyone good.”
“I’m starting to see it now. Starting to see what I’ve done.”
“What you’ve done?”
“The recklessness. Or whatever you want to call it. I just… I thought I was doing the right thing. But I wasn’t. Now I see that. And now we’re all in here hiding because the people have just decided enough’s enough.”
Cassie stood by my side. We were both silent. I could tell she was deep in thought. I didn’t want to ask her what she was thinking about because I didn’t want to risk it being another reminder of all the bad crap I’d done, etcetera etcetera etcetera.
“We have to fight back against him,” I said. I wasn’t sure where the words came from. They just kind of blurted out of nowhere.
Cassie looked at me now. She was frowning. “What?”
“Adam. We need to take the fight back to him.”
She had such a look of pity on her face. She tilted her head, then shook it.
“What?” I said.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“No, it matters. Tell me.”
“I just think you’re living a pipe dream if you think we can defeat Adam when he’s got the whole world behind him.”
A bitter taste filled my mouth. There was such defeat in Cassie’s voice. I looked away and took some deep breaths of the biting cold air outside. I didn’t want to accept Cassie was right. But she had a point.
“Our own people have turned on us,” she said. “They’ve decided they don’t like our methods.”
“My methods.”
“Our methods,” Cassie said. She squeezed my arm a little tighter. “And when the people speak, it’s hard to turn against their wishes. You can only force so much respect. Look at Saint. And look where it got him. If we fight back, we are Saint. We are just ULTRAs upset that the power’s been taken away from us when really, we have no right to be.”
I shook my head. In truth, I had mixed emotions about what Cassie was saying. She had a point. But there was something about Adam that worried me. I couldn’t believe he was acting entirely in humanity’s best interests. There had to be something in it for him.
“So this is what I suggest,” Cassie said. “We go back in the main room with the rest of our team, and we work out a way we’re gonna lay low and re-integrate with the world.”
“Re-integrate with the world?”
Cassie couldn’t look me in the eye. “I… I don’t like saying this. But I can’t see any other way. I’m sorry.”
She let go of my arm and walked back to the main room, where Ember, Stone, and Vortex were waiting.
“Maybe we don’t have to force their respect,” I said.
Cassie stopped. She turned around. “Huh?”
“Humanity. Maybe we don’t have to force their respect. Maybe… maybe we fight our way back by proving we’re the right ones to watch over this world. By proving we’re more trustworthy than Adam.”
Cassie smiled. She started to open her lips.
Then a massive bang crashed against the roof of the cabin.
28
I sparked my abilities the second I heard the bang against the roof.
But I didn’t have much chance to do anything about them.
The roof caved in. Through it, fell two people. I knew they had to be Adam’s followers. They were here for us.
I lifted my hands and got ready to blast a load of ice at the intruders. If we were running, then I couldn’t hold back anymore. I didn’t care who they were. I didn’t care where they came from. I just had to…
When I regained my focus, it dawned on me exactly who it was.
Daniel Septer stood right opposite me. Behind him, there was a girl I also recognized.
I lifted my hands and pointed them at her.
It was Chaos. The ULTRA who had baited me to the middle of the Kenyan mall and brought on that explosion.
“Wait,” Daniel said.
He lifted his hands in front of Chaos. All of us stood around now, braced to use our abilities against the intruders if we needed to.
“What is this?” I asked.
Daniel smiled. “You always have the best kind of welcome parties, brother. Always roll out the red carpet treatment for me.”
“You can forgive us for being a little touchy,” Ember said. “We’re all being hunted down, after all.”
“And aren’t you one of Adam’s?” Stone grunted, glaring at Chaos.
She shook her head and tutted. She didn’t look totally confident or comfortable. Definitely not as much as she had when I’d last encountered her.
“Why are you here?” I asked.
“Lower your hands.”
“I’m not—”
“We’re all on the same side here, Kyle. Everyone. We’re all fighting for the same cause.”
“That’s strange,” Stone said. “We haven’t seen you in a long, long time. Jumping ship?”
“Look,” Daniel said, staying as composed as possible. “We can’t have a decent, honest conversation if we’ve all got our powers charged up and ready to fire. So please. Follow my lead. Lower your hands. Everyone.”
I looked around the room to gauge the mood. I got a sense that nobody was keen on a fight right now. There wasn’t exactly an appetite for one.
I lowered my hands, and the rest of the Resistance followed my lead.
“That’s better,” Daniel said. “Much prefer the chilled out vibe.”
“You still haven’t answered my question. What are you doing here? And what is she doing here?”
Daniel frowned, then turned to Chaos. “I’m sorry. He’s never been a charmer, my brother.”
Chaos grinned at me. “It’s cool. I’ve met kids like him many times. All talk when they’re hiding behind their powers, but without them, well… We all know what we are without our powers.”
“You’re not exactly making us wanna shake hands with you right now,” Stone said.
“Just quit it, okay?” I said. “All of you. Just quit it. Daniel. What are you doing here?”
Daniel took a deep breath, clearly enjoying how uptight we all were, then he walked around the debris of the broken cabin roof, slowly. “While you’ve been hiding in the middle of Greenland—and not hiding very well—I’ve actually been out there doing things.”
“Doing things?”
“Taking responsibility. Trying to figure out ways to stop Adam. That’s where I met Chaos.”
He held out his hands like he was turning the spotlight on her.
“And what does Chaos have to do with anything?” Vortex asked.
“He took my powers away,” Chaos said.
Everyone turned to look at her. Her voice sounded more cracked and uncertain than I expected.
“Adam did?” I asked. “Why would he do that?”
“He isn’t interested in redistributing power to the people. All he’s interested in is claiming more power for himself. Really, he’s just keen on toppling order. He’ll convert so many humans, then he’ll just drop the rest of the population. He wants to be worshiped, and he wants to lead. Nothing else.”
“And why should we trust you?” Cassie asked.
“You don’t have to trust me. I get why you wouldn’t. What happened back in Kenya was screwy, but even I didn’t know Adam planted a bomb there.”
“Bullshit,” I said. “You tricked me. You made it look like I caused that explosion.”
“I just followed Adam’s command, word by word. I didn’t know what would happen. I knew we were framing you somehow, but that’s all he told me. I wouldn’t have gone ahead if I’d known… if I’d known.”
“Well, what’s done’s done. There’s no going back.”
“No, there isn’t,” Chaos said.
&nbs
p; “What makes you so sure you know Adam so well anyway?”
“We dated, for a while.”
“You dated him?”
“I was going through a rough patch after my sister got killed in an ULTRA battle. I guess I saw something in him, and he made me feel like he saw something in me. I got transfixed. Maybe I was obsessed. So obsessed that I didn’t see what he was doing, not for real. Not until it was too late.”
She looked down at the floor, and I sensed sadness in her. An air of total regret.
“He has a way of making you feel like you’re the most wanted person in the world. Of making you feel… feel special. But now I see him doing the same thing to everyone else. I see him using the same tricks on the people that follow him. And I know now I’m not special. Not to him. I was just a part of his game.”
Part of me was hesitant. Part of me remembered what Cassie said about not being able to force respect. But right now, I knew we were the ones to lead this world. We were the ones who could look out for people’s best interests. Sure, we wanted power, but we wanted it for good reasons.
“But there’s a way to stop Adam before he converts any more people.
“How?”
“Adam isn’t an ULTRA,” Cassie said.
I frowned. “What?”
“Adam isn’t an ULTRA. He’s just a regular guy. A regular weak guy.”
“Then how does he take abilities? How does he hand them out?”
“He wears a glove.”
The room went silent.
Stone broke the quiet. “A glove?”
“I think it’s government tech. He didn’t tell me how he got it and where, but he claims he stole it when the world went to crap last year. When Adam wears it, he gains the ability to take powers from other ULTRAs and pass them on. There’s a slight buffer, and he can use the abilities of those he’s absorbed for a short time even if he commits to passing them on; otherwise, he’s stuck with them.”