There’s no sign of her.
Half an hour later we meet back at the jeep. No one has seen her. We widen the circle. After two hours of searching, my heart sinks. She wouldn’t just walk off, and she couldn’t have gone that far during the fifteen minutes it took the bulks to load the jeep. Something has happened to her.
“I don’t want to get stuck out here another night,” Matt says. “Especially when someone realizes that troop is missing.”
Flies buzz around the reeking bodies of the trolls.
Reluctantly, we climb back into the jeep. Joe starts the engine and we pull out of the lot. No one speaks. Everyone scans the area as we drive.
The trip back seems to take longer. Once we park the jeep and hide it with branches, Matt addresses the group before we hike to the cave. “I know we’re all worried about Addison. Maybe we’ll be able to go look for her again with the weapons we have.”
“I don’t think we’re going to find her. She’s my best friend. She wouldn’t have left willingly.” Erica’s wings turn a depressing sludge color. “I think she’s gone.”
“I’m sorry, Erica,” Paige says.
She nods and the group starts walking. Joe and Hal carry the sacks of flour while Matt heaves a case of tinned fruit. Paige and Erica carry packets of pasta, and Hal sticks the bottles of whiskey in his pockets. Kyle and I carry granola bars and other boxes.
As we near the cave, I say, “Guys, we’re going to keep this ability thing under wraps for now. I don’t want anyone to know, not till I figure out what’s going on with me.”
“Is that all you care about right now?” Erica huffs.
I turn to face her. “We’re all worried about Addison, but this needed to be said before we reach the cave. I don’t need this news reaching Bear and the price on my head rising again, tempting any number of people in those walls.” I jab my hand in the direction of the cave. “So no, I’m not just thinking about myself. I’m thinking about the safety of everyone.”
The scowl on Erica’s face doesn’t change, but she doesn’t argue.
Everyone quickly agrees to keep my abilities a secret. Then we all walk in silence to the cave.
When we return, the whole cave erupts in a new sense of hope seeing the load of food we carry. A couple of the residents go straight to work kneading dough and baking bread in the ovens. One of them is the guy with telekinesis. He lifts most of the food with his mind and puts it down in an ordered fashion along the back wall of the kitchen. He sets to work unravelling packets and chopping carrots without touching the knife. An unlit cigarette dangles from his lips.
He glances at Paige. “Everything go OK?”
She turns from the amassing hungry crowd and drops her voice to a whisper. “Hey, Sawyer.” She pauses. “We lost Addison.”
Sawyer pales. “Lost?”
“We looked everywhere.”
The cigarette drops out of his mouth and Sawyer stops chopping. “Maybe she just took off?” But even as he says this, it’s clear he doesn’t believe it himself.
Paige bites her lip. “Maybe.”
Einstein appears and winds himself through Matt’s legs. He follows Matt and me down the passageway to my little hollow.
“Sit,” I say to Matt, pointing at the floor. Einstein lowers his haunches too, making us both laugh.
I rummage through my rucksack until I find the first aid kit and butterfly bandages. I rip open an antiseptic wipe and dab at the cut on his cheek. Matt hisses through his teeth as I pull the skin together and apply the bandage. Einstein lets out a low growl of sympathy.
“You’re a brave soldier,” I say, wiping the dirt away from the rest of his cheeks.
Matt shakes his head and catches my wrist. “No, you were brave. Getting control of the wings like that. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d ended up on that roof.”
I chuck his shoulder. “You would have done what you normally do and thought your way out of it.”
Matt smiles, his blue eyes darkening in the dim lantern light. Einstein nestles his head into my lap and licks my fingers. Matt slides my warped knife out of my belt. “I know how to fix this.”
“That would be great,” I say. “Can’t throw a wonky knife.”
He slides the knife into his own belt loop and picks something up from the floor. “What’s this?”
In the soft lighting, I can just make out he’s holding the picture of himself. A blush heats my cheeks.
“I was afraid I wouldn’t find you again.” I wad up the bandage wrapper in my hand, which trembles a little. That always happens after high anxiety. “If something had happened to you, if I had been caught… You’re my best friend, Matt. I can’t imagine a life without you.”
Matt remains quiet, then he takes a deep breath. He’s still holding my wrist in his hand, and now he lowers it and circles his thumb over mine. “Silver, do you think... I mean... maybe...”
“What?” I lean closer.
He hesitates again and drops my wrist. “Nothing. Just, you’re important to me too.” He smiles, a sweet sad smile with a million emotions twitching at the corners. “I couldn’t imagine a world without you either.”
Joe sticks his head around the corner of my archway. “Food is ready!”
“Good, I’m starving.” I leap to my feet, dragging Matt after me.
“How’s Erica?” Matt asks Joe.
“The wings were too delicate for bandages, but I managed to glue the hole. I think she’ll be able to fly like that,” Joe says.
“I hope she keeps her trap shut about my abilities.”
Joe rounds on me, blocking the passageway. “What is your problem with Erica?”
I take a step back. “I don’t have a problem with Erica.”
Joe’s honey eyes light with an angry fire. My stomach churns, unable to bear his judgment. “It sure seems like it to me.”
“It’s not Erica.” Matt steps in front of me, like he’s my protector, or something. “It’s the fairy wings.”
“They’re just wings,” Joe says. “Which you happen to have now too. Along with the macaw wings and speed.”
Matt touches my arm. “Silver and I lost a close friend to a nanite death.”
Diana.
Joe frowns. “I thought she was a swimmer. She took a shark nanite or something, for agility.”
“She did.” My voice turns to steel. “Her mother had the butterfly wings. Her mother forced her to take the nanite.”
“And there’s a pack of particularly friendly fairy seniors at our school who haven’t left Silver alone since we started.” Matt slides a sympathetic look my way.
“They stuck my head in a toilet.” I can’t quite meet Joe’s eyes, but I take reassurance from Matt’s presence. “Couldn’t even come up with something original.”
Joe drops his hand from his waist. “Oh.”
I hang my head and kick at the uneven ground. “But you’re right. I haven’t been fair on Erica. I’m sorry about that.” My eyes sting as though I haven’t slept in days and my legs turn leaden. I’d give anything to curl up with Einstein and sleep for a week.
“I get it,” Joe says. “But maybe just try and go easy on her. She’s been through a lot.”
I’ve been giving Erica a hard time merely because she reminds me of another altered with the same wings. And aren’t I here because of the way I’ve been treated by the altereds? By President Bear? Being an unadjusted is the lowest rung of the ladder, and here I am doing the same.
But Erica hasn’t exactly been welcoming either. Her wings change to that vile acid green or putrid blue whenever she’s near me, and the way she narrows those violet eyes. The way she grabbed me back in the warehouse, inflicting her ability on me.
No, it isn’t just me.
When Joe and Matt and I enter the main chamber, more lights than usual line the uneven walls, casting shadows around the room. The delicious scent of fresh bread and onions fills the large space, quickening my feet to the line where a couple
of volunteers hand out food. People talk animatedly and smile wider, and their pupils shine with, if not happiness, something like it. It’s amazing what a few sacks of flour and a full belly can do.
I’m distracted by Sawyer standing in the middle of the chamber amidst a group of people congratulating him on his culinary skills. He blushes under the praise, then removes a pack of cards from his pocket. Even though I know he possesses telekinesis, his illusion tricks are no less impressive. His sleight of hand moves at such speed that it’s almost impossible to track, even for me. Cards appear in people’s pockets, tucked into the collars of shirts and even along the passageways. It takes the kids a while to find them all and their eyes shine with delight.
Erica walks in the line ahead of me, her injured wing folded down. I tap her on the shoulder.
She turns, and when she sees it’s me, her eyes glint with coldness and her wings turned an acid green.
“I’m sorry about your wing,” I say.
Her elfin chin rises an inch as she looks me up and down over her button nose. “I’m sorry about your new altered status.”
“Yeah, you and me both.”
After a pause, she laughs. I smile and breathe a sigh of relief.
Joe grins at me and shoves a plate with a warm roll and a bowl of hot soup at me. I eat where I stand, too hungry for etiquette, watching the people of the cave relate their journeys here.
Kyle joins us, licking soup from his fingers. “What happens next?”
I swallow my mouthful. “Next?”
Kyle points a finger at the chimneys. “Dudes, we’ve got food and weapons. The more serious injuries are healed thanks to your regeneration pills. So, what happens next? We can’t live here forever.”
Matt plants a hand on his shoulder. “One step at a time. People are still arriving. We need to take stock and understand this murderous craze that’s swept through the adjusteds. And rescue Silver’s parents.”
“Yeah,” Kyle says. “They can make a cure.”
I stutter. “A cure? It’s too late for that.”
“True,” Matt says. “But they’re our best hope in planning a more just future.”
“There ain’t no cure for this,” Joe says, shoving a thumb in his chest.
But Kyle’s suggestion has put an idea in my head. Sometimes when a combination of nanites went wrong, Dad would get a visit in his lab. He was able to reduce each problematic alteration back to the original unadjusted form using a specially concocted virus put right into the bloodstream. Maybe the theory could be harnessed on a wider scale.
“So we break them out.” Kyle clicks his fingers. “Where are they exactly?”
“I don’t know,” I say, then chomp on my bread. “First I need to figure out what the hell is going on with these new abilities I’ve taken on.”
“I can help you with the speed, dude,” Kyle says, raising his hand for a knuckle punch.
Claus’ figure seeps into view. He has a sneaky way of suddenly appearing, even with the cane he uses to support his bad leg. “Who has abilities?”
Out of habit, I bow. “Sensei.”
“We were just talking about the abilities present in the cave and what might be useful,” Joe says.
Claus nods, pulling on his thin mustache. “My thoughts exactly. We need to be ready to fight.”
Kyle looks around the room. “No offense, but I don’t think Hal, Joe and I can take on Bear’s army on our own.”
Claus swivels his dark eyes to him and lets out a soft chuckle. “Which is why we need to train everyone.”
“You think we can win?” I ask. Bear’s army is an unbeatable force, but I have new abilities now. I could acquire more and test them out, if I’m willing. I’m still not sure how I feel about that.
“Don’t forget the other hideouts. I’ve been in touch with them on the radio.” Matt rolls down the sleeves of his shirt. “There are more of us than you think.”
“It’s not going to be easy,” Joe tells us. “We’re never going to win a physical fight; there just aren’t enough of us to battle the brute strength of the bulk army. Our success is dependent on something stealthy, swift and quiet.”
“Stealthy like you were in the woods?” I say, cracking a grin.
Joe laughs and a dribble of soup shakes out of his bowl. “You bet.”
Once the laughter fades, somberness seeps in. “I really hope my parents have an answer,” I say.
“We all do, Silver.” Claus taps his stick on the ground. “But we must prepare for both eventualities. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have new arrivals to approach.”
We bow at each other, and he limps away. Matt heads off to check on his radio and any communication that may have come in during our absence, and Kyle re-joins the food line in an attempt to get seconds.
It’s just Joe and me left in a sea of unfamiliar faces.
“How are you feeling about the abilities?” he asks, careful not to stand too close.
“I really don’t know.” I chew on my lip for a moment and fiddle with my pendant. “I mean, it’s freaky. I’m not who I thought I was, but I don’t want to have an existential crisis when I need to be thinking about other things, like finding my parents and getting all the unadjusteds out.”
Joe smiles. His fingers float toward me, then fall back to his side. “What happened to you is huge.”
“Keep your voice down,” I hiss at him.
He gestures to a quieter area and I follow him around a stalagmite. “This is big, Silver. You’re allowed a moment to deal.”
I run my finger around the tapered tip of the stalagmite. “Matt says I could be useful if I’m willing to take on more abilities. I get that. If you think of all the abilities in this cave.” I look at him, his obvious strength an elephant in the room between us. “But I don’t even know how it’s happening, why it’s happening, or how to control any of it.” I raise my eyes to meet his.
“So we need to test your limits,” Joe says, like it’s the simplest thing in the world.
In that moment, I miss my father. I imagine seeing him, and after I’ve yelled at him for doing this to me, I think of his arms around me. I crave that feeling of protection. Perhaps it’s naïve, or childish. I know I can’t rely on anyone else. If I can come to grips with these abilities, maybe other people can rely on me.
I scrape at the stalagmite until clay gathers under my fingernail. “I know.”
“Claus set up an assault course in the woods. Let’s go try it out.”
The half roll I’ve not finished sits on the side of my plate. I’m not hungry anymore. The soup cools and congeals in my stomach. “Now? It’s dark out.”
“Exactly,” Joe says, nudging my boot in the direction of the exit. “You won’t be seen.”
After Joe and I dump our plates, we head out of the cave and walk through the cool evening up and over the ridge. He matches his stride to mine and every time he nudges a little too close, I take a step to the side. But part of me wants to lean the other way, if I knew it wouldn’t turn me bulk.
We reach the crest of the ridge and Joe leads me between the trees to a small clearing. Piles of tires and various obstacles are set up that I don’t bother inspecting in the dark. Joe stands in the middle, hands on his hips, and looks at me.
“You’re going to have to keep your voice down, you know,” I say, speaking not very quietly myself.
“I’ll do my best.” Joe winks, and he tries really hard to whisper, but it’s barely a decibel lower than his usual volume.
I walk up to him until we’re a couple of feet apart. “So now what?”
Joe raises three fingers. “So far you have speed, butterfly wings, and macaw wings, that we know of.”
I shudder at his last words and attempt to ignore the anxiety building in the pit of my stomach.
Joe looks at the sky. “I think it would be easier to test one of the wings. Something physical we can see.”
“Agreed.” I rest my hands on my hips.
&nb
sp; He waits. I wait. Nothing happens.
“Maybe I don’t have abilities after all. Maybe we just had a mass hallucination. Maybe—” Paige’s bird wings pop out of my shoulders. It doesn’t hurt a bit this time.
Joe claps his hands. “There you go.”
The wings beat above my head, raising Joe’s hair and rustling the leaves until they sound like they’re whispering at us.
I look down the length of my wings. “They’re not as long as Paige’s.”
“When you produced the butterfly wings, they weren’t as big as Erica’s either.” Joe pulls at his chin, deepening the cleft in it. “I wonder if you’re as fast as Kyle when you run.”
“We can test that easily enough.” I flap the wings and lift into the sky. Air filters through my feathers, and moonlight shines through them. “I don’t think my plumage is as thick either. God, that’s something I never thought I’d say.”
“Don’t go too high,” Joe says as I lift a few feet in the air. “I don’t want you falling again.”
“I think I’m getting the hang of it now.” I fly a small circuit around the perimeter of the meadow. Joe never takes his eyes off me. After a while I come in to land and sit on the trunk of a fallen tree. The scent of honeysuckle fills the air.
Joe joins me on the trunk. As he sits, it creaks under his weight. My wings rise over both of us, just floating in the night breeze, until I don’t have to think about it at all. I’m not quite brave enough to fly above the trees, though. I’ll have to wait for Paige to do that. Just in case.
“In the warehouse, the wings just disappeared,” I say, my head tilted toward the moon. An ache runs the length of both my shoulder blades.
“Let’s wait and see what happens.” Joe plucks a blade of grass, sticks it between his lips and produces a high whistle. Something in the bushes whistles back. We smile at each other and he does it again. This time there are two whistled responses.
“Which do you prefer?” he asks. “Bird or butterfly?”
“Bird,” I reply immediately.
Joe chuckles. “I thought you might say that.”
My eyelids droop and I shiver. I know it’s not that late, but after the battle this morning and losing Addison, I’m exhausted. I’m tempted to lean my head against Joe’s shoulder. I don’t know if his one layer of shirt is enough to keep me taking on his ability, but when he slides his arm around my shoulder, I don’t resist.
The Unadjusteds Page 13
