“I’m sorry, you seem to think that was a request.”
I heard Ember unsheathe her knife.
Will inhaled. “Beau.”
“I will stick this in my neck before I go anywhere with you to be your tool,” she spat. “I don’t know what Graham told you about me, but I’m a superhero. I go down fighting.”
Beau chuckled. “I like a fighter.” I heard the skin-on-cloth sound of Beau pulling something out of his pocket. “I wonder how much fight you’ll have in you with this coursing through your veins.”
I heard Ember take a step back. “I won’t be much use to you with that in me, dumbass.”
“It’s a three-week dose.” His smile was evident in his voice. “You won’t be able to call for help or know where we’re taking you. And three weeks is more than long enough to give us time to persuade you to help us, if you’re still reluctant. I have a lot of practice in that area.”
“No.” Her voice was trembling. “Nobody can make me tell them information I don’t want to.”
“Challenge accepted,” Beau said.
I slashed at Beau’s leg with my remaining knife.
Beau fell with a shout. Before Will could rush to his friend’s aid, I hurled the knife at his leg. It sunk into his thigh, close to where I’d stabbed his sister. He collapsed with a howl of pain.
I whipped around and looked at Ember. “Run!”
She obeyed.
I tussled with Beau for a few seconds. I tried desperately to squeeze his throat enough to knock him out, but my bloody hands made my grasp slippery. Even as I tried to kill him, I was struck by how much he looked like Benjamin.
Instead of clawing at my hands, he groped around blindly next to him, his metal hand glinting eerily in the low light. The tiny vial lay on the forest floor a fraction of an inch out of his reach.
I lunged at it. My fingers curled around the small bottle. I’d die before I let Beau have it again. I just needed to get the bottle and destroy it, and then he’d have no way to—
There was a click and a hiss.
My high scream shattered the relative quiet of the forest.
I’d been mauled by lions and wolves, but I’d never felt anything like JM-104 as it licked its way through my veins and arteries, burning me as it went. I fell backwards and thrashed, unable to escape the mind-bending agony of my powers leaving me. It was everywhere, in every inch of my body. My vision seemed to constrict as it lessened to that of a normal human. My limbs, already shredded, became limp and heavy as my strength was reduced to an average woman’s.
I fell onto my back and gasped for breath.
Beau pushed himself up and leered at me. “If you scream like that again, I might need a cigarette.”
“Damn it!” Will yelled. “She used up the bottle! What the hell are we going to tell your mom?”
“Calm down,” Beau drawled. “We can honestly tell her that we killed my brother’s girlfriend. That’ll make her happy.” He put his metal hand around my throat.
“Wife,” I growled.
“What?” Beau hissed. He pulled his hand away. “What did you just say?”
“Brother’s wife.”
Beau grabbed me by the front of my shirt and hoisted me to my feet, his hazel eyes nearly sparking with rage. Blood flowed down my fingers. “My brother married one of your kind?”
I nodded, unused to the effort the action required.
Beau’s furious eyes darted all around my face, as if he were searching for the lie.
I gave him a weak grin. “Got a wedding gift for your new sister?”
Beau began to shake. “I should’ve killed you in the warehouse,” he whispered.
I looked over his shoulder and saw two tiny white lights behind him.
My knee collided with his groin. He dropped me, and I caught myself before I fell. Beau was doubled over, allowing me to hobble away. Will was still on the ground, unable to overcome the pain from the knife in his leg.
“Weakling,” I called to him as I passed him.
Reid ran up to me, his eyes a flat shade of white. “Ember got in touch with me,” he said, panting. “She said you were in trouble.”
I pointed a finger at the men. “Trap them. Don’t let them go. That’s your one job.”
The ground trembled, and then the dirt beneath Beau and Will seemed to collapse as if a drain were under them. In seconds they were buried up to their necks. Beau shouted curses at us, but Will merely muttered ridiculous, graphic threats of what he’d do when he got his hands on me. I didn’t look at Beau as I limped past him. I planted one foot in front of the other and willed my heavy, aching body to move. I slowly walked in the direction Ember had gone. Ember Ember Ember Ember…
I’m here. I’m hiding in the forest.
I need Benjamin. Find him.
Will do.
I thought I heard someone running through the brush, but I wasn’t sure. I wasn’t sure about anything I heard anymore.
I fell to my knees and took deep breaths. The forest smelled different than it had just minutes before. I’d always been able to differentiate the various odors that made up any space, manmade or natural. Now, instead of pine sap, dirt, animal droppings, water, leaves, and the thousand other parts of a forest, I just smelled “forest”. It was one broad smell, blended together like a slurry in my weak nose.
If I survived to see the sunrise, would I be able to see all the colors? The night was so black now, so devoid of the shadowy grays and blues that usually made up a night to me.
Benjamin appeared a few feet away. I hadn’t heard him. “Jillian, where are you?”
“I’m here,” I croaked.
Benjamin dashed to me and touched my face. My wounds healed, and the pain faded, but still the weakness remained. When he hoisted me to my feet, my legs shook, and I had to lean against him.
He examined me. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Beau and Will are here. They meant to inject Ember with JM-104. I got it instead.”
Benjamin was stunned into silence for several seconds. “Where are they?” His voice was like steel.
“Back there. Reid is guarding them.” He moved to go to Reid, but I caught his hand. “Don’t. Go help the Sentinels.”
“What are you going to do? You don’t have your powers anymore.”
“I’ll find Ember and stay with her.”
He nodded and disappeared into the darkness. My weak sight combined with the dark made it appear as though he’d teleported. Ember, where are you?
I’m coming back toward the trees.
I crashed through the forest, my uniform catching onto branches and thorns. At the edge of the grove, Ember slammed into me and we embraced for a moment.
I pushed her away. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she said, panting. “What happened? I was so busy trying to contact Reid that I didn’t listen in on you.”
“I accidentally injected myself with JM-104.”
As the words left me they seemed to take my adrenaline, shock, and horror with them. I started to giggle, and then I was on the ground, laughing uncontrollably.
Tears streamed down my cheeks as I laughed, and I could no longer name the emotion that I felt. Perhaps I’d lost the ability to differentiate the feelings in me as well as the sights and smells around me.
Ember kneeled next to me, somber. “You can’t fight now, can you?”
After my laughter subsided, I looked at the compound. The burning had died down. The smoldering buildings glowed red and orange in places, but there were few active flames left. Sentinels and Westerners swarmed the grounds around the compound, still fighting. The sounds of their weapons were fainter than I remembered them being at this distance.
“I can’t fight like I used to,” I said. “But we’re still going to free the slaves. I’m still Battlecry.”
“How?”
I tapped my temple. “Tell me where they are, and we’ll get to them.”
Ember bit her lip but
nodded. “I’ll need to get into the compound.”
I grabbed her hand. “Let’s go.”
38
My confidence evaporated as we ran toward the compound.
Each step was a labor, a conscious effort to lift my heavy leg and plant it in front of me. Every few seconds, I’d rub my eyes in a vain effort to rid them of the invisible veil that clouded my vision and robbed me of the sharp clarity I’d always had. I even instinctually batted at my ears once or twice to clear away whatever it was that muffled every sound. Though I could feel nothing in my nose, I might as well have been pinching it shut. How did my team live like this every day? How did anybody?
Ember and I approached the fighting and threw ourselves to the ground behind a slight hill, propping ourselves up on our elbows. She turned to me. “Any ideas?”
I squinted into the darkness but could see nothing besides muzzle flashes and the glow of the compound. I growled and slammed my fist into the ground. Pain shot up my hand. Three weeks couldn’t pass fast enough. “Can you contact Marco? We’re going to need help.”
She nodded and closed her eyes. “He’s nearby,” she murmured. There was a long pause, and then she smiled. “He’s on his way.”
I chewed on my lip. “Is this what it’s like to be you?”
Ember shot me a surprised look. “What do you mean?”
“I’m not used to needing, well, an escort in dangerous areas.”
I thought Ember might have a sarcastic comment, but instead she just nodded. “Yeah, this is what it’s like to be me. Imagine how I felt when my uncle told me that I was being released into service even though I was a telepath with no actual fight training. I was terrified.”
“He probably decided that a telepath was too much of a risk to have around with all this JM-104 bull. I bet you were always slated for service, but he couldn’t just put you into the trainee group without people wondering why. And then he decided that he could make his son happy and get rid of you at the same time.”
Ember made a noise of disgust. “So he just sent me onto the streets. Thanks a lot, Uncle.” Her expression softened. “But it wasn’t so bad. You’ve always looked out for me.”
I elbowed her. “I’d be a crappy sort of friend if I didn’t.”
She patted my arm. “We’re all going to do the same for you, you know. Nothing’s changed. I can hear your thoughts. You think the best part of you is gone, but you’re more than your powers. We all love you, and we’ll help you through this.”
I had to look away. Where would I have been without people like Ember in my life?
Ember lifted her chin. “Here he comes.”
I couldn’t see Marco until he was nearly on top of us. He sprinted through the field and dove on the ground next to Ember and me. “I’m here,” he said between panting breaths. “What’s going on?”
“Ember and I are going to find and free the slaves. We need cover.”
“You need cover?”
I massaged my temples. “Long story short, I don’t have powers right now. Just make sure we’re safe as we go through, okay?”
I was certain I saw Marco’s confused frown, but he jumped up and helped us to our feet. “Alright, let’s go. There’s a section of wall on the far side of the compound where there aren’t many Westerners, and most of the fire has died down. I suggest we go in there.”
“Lead the way,” I said.
He snorted. “Okay, Battlecry.”
We hurried behind him in the dark, ducking down periodically and winding our way around hillocks and behind trees. He led us through the smoky darkness toward the far side of the compound. Marco was correct—there were less men on the opposite side, and the glow of fire had diminished to the point where I could barely see anything.
Underneath the shock and horror of losing my powers, an old thrill lurked, ready to seize upon this new challenge and conquer it. I needed to be Battlecry.
We laid on the ground again. Marco pointed ahead of us to a hole in the wall that had been blasted away. “There. That’s where we’ll go in. What do you need after that?”
“We’re going to find the slaves,” I said. “We still don’t know where the basement entrance is. The Westerner women and children are somewhere else in the compound. They’re next.”
I was formulating a plan about how I’d approach the latter group. If Ember had been correct, delicacy would be required to avoid an unspeakable tragedy.
Ember rubbed her temples. “My telepathy…” She looked up and shouted a foul word. Immediately after she’d spoken, the horribly-familiar buzz of locusts returned. Two seconds later, they fell on us by the thousands.
“Marco! Blast them!” I screamed, my face nearly pressed to the ground. I could feel the locusts crawl on the back of my neck and down my back. The sensations of their tiny feet on my skin felt just as terrible as the first time. That didn’t seem fair, somehow.
Marco jumped to his feet. “Get as low as you can!”
There was a slight rippling sound as the sun’s energy flowed out of him. The air around us heated up, and then locusts began to rain down on Ember and me, their dead carcasses bouncing a little as they hit the ground and our heads. Finally, the storm of locusts ceased. I lifted my head and could make out thousands of dead locusts around us in the field.
“Let’s go,” Marco said, pulling us to our feet again. “I killed all the ones around here, but they’ll be back.”
We ran to the hole in the wall and clambered through. I landed roughly on the other side and leaned against the rough cement to catch my breath.
“In the center of the compound,” Ember said suddenly. “I’ve told the slaves who I am, and that they need to make noise. They’re in the center of the compound, I think. The locust telepath is gone.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” I said.
We began to work our way around twisted, crumbling wreckage. The temperature inside the destroyed compound was well above one hundred degrees, causing me to sweat beneath my heavy winter uniform. More than once, we had to stop to push a burned beam out of our path, leading to a complete collapse of the structure. Every time that happened, we threw ourselves to the ground in case roaming Westerners came to investigate, but none ever came.
The compound was largely devoid of people, the fires having forced most of the fighting to the outside of the walls. However, I wasn’t positive that we were alone. I wagered it was approaching zero four, but still the cloudy sky remained dark, obscuring my ability to scan for enemies.
We crouched behind a shattered wall and surveyed the center of the compound, which appeared to have been a large building similar to the main building in Liberty. Even though the fires had only recently abated, two armed men prowled around the space, no doubt on alert for Sentinels and superheroes attempting to do exactly what we were doing.
“Ember, what are they thinking?” I whispered.
“They’re jumpy. If we approach directly, they’ll shoot us without a second thought.”
Marco flexed his fingers. “I might have one good heat blast left. Without the sun…”
I gently pushed his hand down. “No, we’re trying to do this the superhero way. What we need is a diversion.”
“Can I help?”
All three of us froze.
Isabel St. James shimmered in the air next to us, appearing out of the dark like a beautiful mirage. Her hair had been cut short, and she wore a plain, sack-like dress that fell to her ankles, but even my weak eyes could see the familiar face. She was smiling, but the St. James sparkle was gone.
Marco could not speak for several seconds. He and Isabel stared at each other, until suddenly Marco seized his sister and hugged her fiercely, his entire body shaking as he sobbed in silent relief. Isabel embraced him, crying and hiding her face in his neck.
Ember and I both had to avert our eyes from the emotional reunion.
Finally, Isabel broke away from her brother, her eyes leaking a bit. She spoke in a low voice. �
�Last night I heard some of the Westerners talking about an attack on the compound. They knew superheroes would be there, and I figured it was you guys. When they rounded us up, I disappeared.” She flickered out of sight for a second. “There was so much chaos that nobody noticed I was gone. I stayed low until the locusts came, and then I ran into the fields. Then I heard Marco.” She wiped her eyes.
Marco hugged his sister again, still lost for words.
“This is probably a stupid question, but are you okay?” I asked Isabel.
Isabel nodded and gulped. “I’m good at staying out of sight. I was smacked around a little bit, but nothing serious. I promise. I probably would’ve run away, but I don’t know where we are, and it’s so cold.”
“I’ll make them pay for every time they touched you,” Marco growled. “Nobody hurts my little sisters and gets away with it.”
Isabel sniffed. “How about you let the others out? They’re down in the root cellar. The wives and kids are in the tornado shelter.”
“You said you could create a diversion?” I asked, glancing at the armed men in the distance.
Isabel nodded fervently. “Yeah. What do you need?”
I thought for a moment. “Marco, do you have any light left?”
“Lots.”
“Isabel, can you get everyone to look in one direction?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. Marco, when they’re all looking at Isabel, blind them. It’ll be just like the warehouse.”
“It had better be nothing like the warehouse, Jill.”
I smacked his shoulder. “Isabel, Marco, go.”
They scurried off, away from Ember and me.
Ember turned to me. “I didn’t hear her,” she said quietly. “She was literally right next to us at the end, and I didn’t hear her.”
There was a rough yank on my hair. I cried out as I was pulled backwards a few feet onto my back, allowing me to see who had so roughly manhandled me: the locust woman.
She glared at me and brandished a small knife. “Hi,” she spat. “You’re dead.”
The two sentries by the main building shouted something.
My foot met her knee with as much force as I could muster. She shrieked and fell to the ground. Ember and I jumped on her. Ember pried the knife out of her hand and tossed it to the side while I kneeled on the bug telepath’s chest and punched her once, twice, three times in the face. Each punch caused an unfamiliar pain in my fingers, but I did not stop until she was unconscious once more.
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