The Clash (The Permutation Archives Book 5)

by Kindra Sowder

  They were coming fast, so I had to act quickly before my companions were mowed down on the spot. Those that weren’t Specials had itchy trigger fingers. It was obvious from how their index fingers convulsed on the devices.

  “All right. They want a war,” I paused, smiling at all three men surrounding me, “let’s give them one, shall we?”

  Chapter

  TWENTY-NINE

  I pushed past Ajax and Baker, running at top speed and raising my pistol – unsure how many projectiles were still in it. Gaia saw me coming and pushed at Genevieve and Ruckus at her sides, causing everyone to turn around. Spotting me, they moved without saying a word and watched as it all unfolded.

  They would have their moment to join in, and they would know when that was.

  The sight of the doors beyond, knowing King was behind them, made me even thirstier for his blood than I had been. I pushed my power through my hands and into the weapon, moving it into each round waiting to be fired. I counted five, so I had to make them count. Moving through the space my sister had created, I stopped and planted my feet shoulder-width apart, screaming out at the top of my lungs like a battle cry.

  There were a few hesitant faces in the group moving toward us, but they didn’t stop – they just held their weapons tighter. Ready to fire.

  I squeezed the trigger, and all Hell broke loose again in the confines of the hallway. One bullet exploded from the chamber.

  One.

  Using my ability, I felt it slice through the air and crunch through the skull of the man at the front of the line. I kept its momentum going, and it shimmered as it erupted from the back of his skull, splattering brain, bone, and blood all over those behind him. The round punctured the metal of the doors behind them, no doubt letting King know that his end was near. My own people began to fire their weapons as they grew closer. I pulled the trigger again, double-tapping it.

  Two. Three.

  I made one go to the right, and the other to the left – penetrating the group with cries and shouts and even more gunfire. Somehow, we had yet to be slammed with a round, but we wouldn’t be that lucky forever. Firing one more bullet, I dropped my attention on the second and third round, and focused on the last I would fire in this hallway – leaving me with one solitary bullet in the chamber.

  “Fan out and break through!” Fairbanks yelled as if he could foresee what I was going to do.

  Pushing out with my ability, I enveloped every person in our group with my invisible shield. You never saw it until it hit something. Bullets ricocheted off the shield and shimmered with each impact like a cascade of fine glitter. Everything turned into a flurry of activity. I returned my pistol to its holster and pulled out the tri-dagger, twirling in my hand even if it were only for show. I was hoping someone would become intimidated enough to back off and run for their lives, but I wasn’t that lucky.

  Our assault had managed to drop at least half of their forces outside the metal doors so far, but there were still so many left. I knew, when it came to weapons, we didn’t have enough firepower to break through the throng.

  Two soldiers approached me quickly, eyes wide but bodies poised for the fight I could tell they thought may be their last. One had a stun-wand gripped firmly in one hand with a blade in the other. Not the same tri-dagger I had, but just as dangerous from the looks of it – its serrated edge was intimidating enough without a twisting blade. The other had only his bare hands, his fists clenched tightly as he rolled his neck. Each vertebra in it popped as he prepared himself.

  He was a Special. I could sense it like a feather-light touch over my skin. A slight graze of unimaginable, unseen energy that pulsated and touched beyond sensation and flesh. I couldn’t sense what his ability was, but knowing he had an advantage over my dueling counterpart was more than enough armored knowledge. I had seen a vast array of abilities since this all began, so I had to be prepared for anything. The man who almost dragged me down into the death-like darkness was one I couldn’t afford to meet again.

  He reached out toward me with one massive hand, and it didn’t take long for me to realize what his ability was. I felt the invisible hand wrap around my body. The fact they sent a telekinetic after me only made me smirk at him, but it didn’t deter him.

  “Either King is an idiot, or he doesn’t care if you live,” I said.

  He sneered at me, dark eyes pools of nothingness with dark hair shaved so short it barely existed. His olive skin seemed kind of green – sickly even – but I ignored it. Whether he was a born Special or acquired through King’s methods was truly none of my business. All I cared about was getting into that room and taking the tyrant down, so taking the man in front of me down was just another step closer to my goal.

  “You’re just a telekinetic,” he growled, closing his fist which made the invisible energy around me clamp down tightly. “You’re nothing special. Another telekinetic can be just as effective at stopping you.”

  A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead with the effort he was putting into using the ability. That led me to believe firmly that he was given this power – and recently.

  I laughed past the crushing sensation throughout my body, and said, “Oh, you have no idea just how special I am.”

  Pushing my ability outward, I used it to snap his hold on me, and I felt it break and fold back into his own belly. He stumbled backward slightly, and I launched my own attack. An old standby at first, then I would progress until there was nothing left of him – and his companions. I put both hands out toward him with palms out, taking every bit of energy I had projected into the shields and into the man before me. In my mind’s eye, I delved down into his blood vessels, to his blood cells, and then down to what made them – rubbing them together to create the heat that would build into fission if I let it go long enough.

  He pulled in a pained breath that hissed through his teeth, and his eyes grew wide as the heat began to grow within his blood vessels. Now, I was just waiting for him to scream before I pushed him even further. I walked brazenly toward him, and he stumbled backward, arms out at his sides to keep him from falling to the ground.

  “Oh, come on. I’m burning you up from the inside-out. No need to act like a badass for my sake. It’ll just prolong this,” I taunted.

  The whites of his eyes began to turn pink, and the veins underneath his skin turned into black spiderwebs as the cells died within him. After a few more seconds, he couldn’t hold back any longer. He screamed, and an image of Cato flashed through my mind, especially when the soldier dropped to his knees. I shook the vision away, felt Cato at the borders of my awareness – letting me know that it was okay – and screamed shrilly at the top of my lungs as I let the power pour from my body and into my surroundings.

  This started a domino effect, just like it had with Famke, but it wasn’t going to stop until all of our obstacles were gone. Someone had managed to stop me before, but no one would this time because we all had the same goal. Every single one of King’s soldiers began to drop to their knees and scream, some grabbing their heads while others gripped their bellies like it would stop the pain.

  As I watched, the wind in the hallway kicked up, whipping my hair against my face. The soldier in front of me began to disintegrate, turning into black, dead, radioactive tissue that floated up and swirled in the sourceless wind. I focused on keeping the energy on those that moved against us, leaving my companions unharmed as they watched the skeptical in complete wonder with wide eyes. Some of them had seen this before with Famke, but it didn’t stop the shock that I felt pang into my chest from all of them. I felt guilt roll through me, but only slightly.

  Crying out once more, every bit of energy that built up inside me burst out in a shimmering wave, and with so much force it made me gasp – all the breath leaving my lungs with it. Every piece of black fabric, black Kevlar, each weapon, and each person on King’s side bu
rst into a mass of floating decaying particles, settling to the ground as the wind died down around us like falling snow.

  The power filtered back into my body and the pressure I felt began to alleviate, causing me to sigh as I closed my fists at my sides – taking deep breaths as I took in the level of destruction I caused. All eyes were now on me, but I couldn’t look at any of my own people. Not even Julius, my best friend since I was a child. Or my sister. Or Ryder. A part of me didn’t believe they’d understand, but the rest knew I was wrong. I had been every time those emotions took over, but I wasn’t going to worry about that now.

  We had bigger fish to fry.

  Turning my eyes toward them, I met Gaia’s – the only pair of ice-blues I felt that I could. Baker was beside her, and he wore the same expression I saw on the faces of the others out of my peripheral vision. Awe was what I saw, and I didn’t understand why. I had expected fear but didn’t get it. Maybe I was still wrong. Maybe none of them were scared of me as I always dreaded. It made sense. They were my support system from the start and had always urged me into using my ability, and to fight against our enslavement and prosecution.

  They deserved more from me. They deserved my trust. It would just take more time than I currently had on my hands.

  Jerking my head toward the metal doors, I coaxed, “Let’s go save the world.”

  Then I headed to the doors, my palms pushing against ice-cold metal as my heart jack-hammered behind my ribs.

  This was it. This would change everything. Whether it be for the better or for the worst, we would just have to find out.

  Chapter

  THIRTY

  The doors were a lot lighter than I had expected when I moved through them, my slick, sweaty palms gliding against the cool metal. It was smooth, buffed to perfection so you could see your own reflection, but I only saw blurry images. The metal was now coated in the remains of those I killed just in front of them, and I didn’t give a damn. I didn’t even bother to wipe their ashy remains off on my pants or my shirt, so I wouldn’t have to touch them.

  All I felt on my fingertips was the grit of what remained of their existence, and I felt nothing. No guilt. No grief. No sadness. Nothing.

  Well, not absolutely nothing.

  Anticipation caused my muscles to flex and to curl as my body prepared for the final fight. John stood beside me with Ryder on my other side and Gaia standing beside John. Everyone else followed us into the lab without another word.

  The room was massive and much less crowded than I expected with lab tables on one side of the room and computers as well as larger equipment on the other. Definitely a much more advanced lab than I was used to with slick floors so clean you could eat off of them before we tracked in the soldier’s ashes – the smell of the place rather antiseptic before our arrival. The walls were a dark gray to match the color of the floor, only one blindingly white structure in the room that made me bust out laughing as soon as I spotted it with King’s form sitting within it draped in a well-fitted black suit with a crimson tie. The black dress shoes on his feet even shone, sparkling in the light that bounced off every gleaming surface in the place. The throne, if you wanted to call it that, was large and modern – all sleek lines reaching up toward the high cathedral-like ceiling. His broad smile used to send a chill down my spine, but not anymore. It just caused more rage to fill me at the thought he found himself to be worthy of a throne.

  Of course, I shouldn’t have been surprised. The sigil he put on everything would’ve led anyone to believe he thought he was God. He played it well enough, but that was all it was.

  Play.

  “Ah, would you look at that? The Fallen Paradigm has arrived,” King statied, coming to stand in front of his lavish seating. “And with its fearless leader at the forefront.”

  I was still laughing. I couldn’t help myself. While everyone stood there, watching me with confusion, my laughter echoed off the walls – sounding maniacal. Crazy even, but we had all been driven mad by the entire thing, so it didn’t much matter.

  Pointing at the throne behind him, I said, “Who do you think you are, King? Jesus? God? I can assure you you’re nowhere near that powerful.”

  He tilted his head as if pondering what I said. Anger began to build within me again, the laughter dying away until the rage was all that remained, and I wanted to scream – to cry out at the man’s insanity and selfishness.

  “You’re not God, King!” I yelled at the top of my lungs.

  “You want to wager a bet on that?” King asked, tilting his head again while holding his arm out to the side toward a darkened corner of the room.

  Ryder took my hand in his and Baker shifted beside me, leaning forward so that his lips almost brushed my ear as he spoke.

  “Mila, there’s someone else in here with us,” he whispered.

  I turned, looking him in the eye. “What do you mean, Baker?”

  There it was the instant I asked the question – a lingering presence much like when another Special was in the room, but nothing like it all the same. It felt inhuman. Mechanical. It felt like a million tiny, mechanical spiders roaming over my flesh – tickling at the light peach fuzz on my arms and the back of my neck. The air shifted, and John took a deep intake of breath beside me as Gaia let out a strangled cry. My eyes shot back toward King as I watched a hulk of a man come out of the shadows. Everything about him was menacing, but most of all, he was a terrifying sight to behold even though he didn’t seem like much despite his size.

  He was definitely older, gray-hair with muscle coiling underneath an old flannel shirt that he had obviously stolen along with a pair of jeans. As soon as our eyes met, and I saw the silver gleam in them, I knew exactly what he was. I had never met him, but I could feel the tiny robots moving within him. So many that I couldn’t hold back the gasp as they skittered through my consciousness. They moved over my skin, but they weren’t really there.

  I clenched and unclenched my fists, hoping that the movement would stop the sensation. It didn’t. It made it much worse, but I kept it to myself and attempted to hide it to the best of my ability.

  “Hello, Baker,” the man said, his voice seemingly crawling with the Nanos. There was a slight edge to this voice, like metal grating against metal.

  “Well, God damn,” Ruckus muttered behind me.

  “Newton,” John responded, so low I could barely hear him.

  Glancing at John and then back at the man he called Newton, I asked, “Who?”

  Gaia visibly trembled, never taking her gaze away from the man as he moved to stand beside King. Both men began to chuckle low in their chests, deep and resonating that made me shake just like Gaia did. My brows knit together in confusion as I leveled my gaze on them, warmth spreading through my belly and chest as my ability activated when my mind and body sensed a threat.

  “I’m the man that created Baker, Ms. Hunter.” Newton’s mouth turned up at the corners and his eyes lifted as if remembering something. “With your mother’s help at first, of course. She just didn’t know what it would be used for.” His eyes shifted to me again, lustrous and metallic in the lights that reflected off them. “You are partially my creation too, girl.”

  “No,” I began, shaking my head. “No, I’m not. I’m nothing like you or your creations.”

  Of course, in my mind, I was thinking about the sinister Nano spiders as well as the rest of the soldiers I had encountered – especially on Kiawah Island. John cleared his throat next to me, and when I acknowledged him, his face fell, and I knew I was wrong. I had known it before I denied it, but I couldn’t let myself believe any of it.

  “I guess, in a way, I’m your father too, huh, Hunter?” Newton pushed the more I shook my head in denial. “I can sense those Nanos running through your veins. Baker, you’ve been a naughty little experiment, haven’t you?”

 
“Fuck you, Newton,” John responded through a clenched jaw.

  “Don’t worry, that’s not the worst of it. We’re about to get to the coup-de-grace,” King stated, taking a couple steps away from his throne with arms outstretched. “None of you will live to survive it. After you’re all just broken bodies at my feet, the United States, and then the whole world, will be mine.”

  “Careful, you’re sounding a little too ambitious for your own good, Dad,” I said, turning the last word into more of a curse than a loving title.

  He began to laugh again, ominous and threatening, especially when Newton began to move closer to him – bringing his hand up to land on King’s thick-muscled shoulder. It was that moment I noticed the gash he had had on his face was long-gone with no trace of even a light pink scar to show it had once been there.

  His dark eyes shimmered slightly silver at the contact, moving out from the pupil and throughout the almost black iris.

  “Newton and I, we have a common goal, and we have come to an agreement,” King started, his voice already beginning to morph into something else entirely.

  That was when I noticed it. It was small at first, but then grew in increments until I couldn’t help but see what was happening. Newton’s hand began to turn into a flood of sparkling, glittering Nanos that moved into King in waves.

  King’s smile grew, and so did Newton’s as he began to ebb and disappear into King’s body – as if he was being absorbed. I watched in stunned silence, unsure of whether or not I could do something. Or if I should. What did this even mean? Confusion wrapped itself around my mind .

  “What the f…?” I heard Genevieve whisper to herself.

  I only heard terrified, rapid breaths from the others as we all watched, but the silence wouldn’t remain for long.

  “I’ve seen this,” Gaia said.