by Kelli Kimble
They exchanged a look, and Thanos frowned. “There’s no ‘if’. We’ll get it done.”
Orthos held up a placating hand. “All right, okay. I was just pointing it out.”
“What will we do when we get to city hall?” I asked, trying to keep them focused. I wanted to get this conversation over with. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something about Orthos was just as creepy as Thanos – whether he’d saved my parents or not.
“That’s easy,” Thanos said. He pushed aside the map and produced a drawing of the outline of City Hall’s floor plan. “We’ll enter in the basement. There’s no security down there; they don’t consider it an entrance. You’ll take the elevator, and I’ll take the stairs to the top floor. This here is the mayor’s office. Once we know she is in there, we’ll storm the office. She won’t be able to escape; the only two ways out are the elevator and the steps.”
“What about the windows?” I asked.
“Too high,” Orthos said. “The risk of injury or death is too great.”
“Security?” I probed. “Does she have guards? Does she keep weapons in her office?”
Orthos stroked his chin. It was rough with grey stubble. “There are guards on the ground floor to keep track of people in the building – though I think they really just turn away people the mayor doesn’t particularly want to see.”
“Seems like we should know what their function is,” I said.
“It doesn’t matter what their function is,” Thanos said. “We’ll be bypassing the ground floor, and anyway, if we happen to encounter them, they won’t be a match for either of us.”
“They’re innocent people, Thanos,” I reminded him. “I don’t want to kill anyone at all – not even the mayor.”
Orthos regarded coolly. Thanos started to bristle, but Orthos touched his arm to keep him in check. “I understand you don’t want to hurt anyone,” Orthos said. “It’s something in your past, yes? You don’t want to dredge up that lack of control – but believe me, these people deserve your anger.”
“More than you did?” I asked.
A muscle in Orthos’ temple twitched, and he hesitated, but then he answered, “Definitely more than I did.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Thanos said. “She doesn’t have to hurt anyone. She only has to protect me. I’m the one who wants this, and I’ll do the dirty work to get it.”
“She’s got to be prepared to do what’s necessary,” Orthos said, scowling. “If you thought you could do this on your own, you wouldn’t have asked for her help. Or mine.”
“Let’s not argue,” I said. “What happens when we get to the mayor’s office? Who else will be around? You still haven’t told me if she has a weapon.”
“We believe she’ll be unarmed,” Orthos said. “She has a general dislike for guns and such – she believes those things are beneath her – but there may be others around her, either in her office or the chamber outside her office. They will be armed. That’s why I’m going to cause a distraction in the main lobby. It should draw any armed guards away from the mayor. That will be your window.”
I frowned. What kind of distraction would draw all the armed guards?
“It’s all right, Nim,” Thanos said. “He understands the risks.”
“I thought the whole point of this was us taking control without any losses,” I said. “This sounds like a suicide mission.”
“I do have some abilities myself, young lady,” Orthos said. “I’m not as strong as either of you, but I can hold my own. You needn’t worry.”
But I was worried. Orthos would serve as a much-needed voice of reason for Thanos. He might have misled ideas about how to implement change, but Orthos was clearly a good man. He’d saved all these people and more already. If I didn’t survive the mayor’s capture, I wanted Orthos to be there to keep Thanos sane.
I studied their faces. It would do me no good to argue. “Yes, of course, you can take care of yourself,” I said. “I’m just being cautious.”
Thanos’ face relaxed somewhat.
I refocused them on the plan by pointing to the mayor’s office on the schematic. “We’re sure there’s no other way out?”
“I’ve been in the office many times.” Thanos said. “The only way for her to leave the building from her office is to go down the steps or take the elevator.”
“All right,” I agreed. “Step One is gain control of the mayor. What do we do when we have her? Whom are we going to make demands to?”
They exchanged another look. I knew Thanos planned to kill the mayor, regardless of what he’d just said, but who would we have leverage over? Would people just do as we asked because we said so?
“It won’t be difficult to take control,” Orthos said. “They depend on the mayor to make decisions and determine direction. Without her, the other leaders won’t know what to do. Anyway, they’ll be too scared to stand up to you if they know you have abilities.”
A shiver ran up my spine. I wanted – needed – to get this over with. “What time do we leave?” I asked.
“Dawn,” Thanos said.
“I’d like the rest of the day with my family, if you don’t mind,” I said.
“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Orthos said.
I didn’t wait for Thanos to argue. I walked away as quickly as I could without breaking into a panicked run.
Chapter 12
The sewers made the smell of the poop-hole box seem like a day at the beach. I spent the first 20 minutes or so suppressing the urge to gag, and the next 20 minutes just letting the contents of my stomach come up as they would. Thanos and Orthos found it funny, but when we disturbed a nest of rats so large, they looked like cats, they went silent.
Orthos led the way. I found it easiest to suspend myself above the muck and float along behind him. Thanos said he wanted to conserve his energy, so he dredged his boots through the water. The sucking and wheezing of the muck were awful to listen to.
It took several hours to get to the sewer grate into city hall. The grate was welded in place and Thanos deftly cut through the bars with a sharp glance. I mentally grabbed it before it could clatter to the ground and alert anybody of our presence.
“The room is empty,” Thanos reported.
I checked the room myself. I didn’t want to get caught in any of Thanos’ lies. Nobody was there.
Orthos climbed out of the grate first. I drifted through next, and then Thanos.
“I’m going to head up to the lobby,” Orthos announced. “Wait five minutes after I leave, and then you each make your way upstairs. Elevator,” he said, pointing at me. “Stairs.” He pointed at Thanos. “You might see the guards coming down because of me. Let them. Don’t do anything that will alert someone to your presence. Just get up to the mayor’s floor and get ready to take her office.”
Thanos nodded.
I watched Orthos’ feet disappear out of view and up the steps. Somehow, his movement towards the lobby made all this seem a lot more real. I dragged an arm across my nose, the stench of the sewer still clinging to me. I glanced at Thanos. His boots were dripping black liquid all over the floor. I curled my lip in disgust.
Thanos followed. He was allowing me to sense his presence, and I could feel a darkness settling over him, as if I were now looking at him through shaded glass. He stood at the bottom of the stairs, his lips moving as he counted off the time.
“We’re going to do this without hurting anyone, right?” I reminded him.
A loud bang and a rumble answered my question. Dust shook loose from the ceiling rafters and drifted down around us. I waved my hand in front of my face, trying to keep debris from my eyes and nose.
“That’s our cue,” he said out loud. He rushed up the stairs, and I moved to the elevator and pushed the call button. There were two elevators, side by side, but when I glanced up at the readout displaying their current floors, I saw they were frozen in place. Damn. Orthos’ diversion must have tripped a safety protocol for the elevator. That would mean everyon
e would evacuate down the stairwell Thanos was running up.
I turned to pursue him and stop him, but the screams halted me.
He was killing people.
A second explosion shook the building. This time, actual chunks of the ceiling fell around me. I began to panic. The long-dormant feeling of desperation quivered to life, and I heard a strange sound in the basement with me. Pushing my palms to my eyes, I willed myself to regain control. I didn’t have to let Thanos do this. I could protect those people. I could use my sharpened abilities to do what was right.
Slowly, the sound ebbed, and I finally realized it was me. I was screaming. I sucked in a breath. I am not a monster, and I can help, I thought. I can do this.
I shot up the stairwell, my feet not even touching the steps. I banged open the first-floor door and scanned the area. People were rushing into the lobby and out the door, but nobody was coming from upstairs.
The lobby had a big desk, facing the doors, right next to the elevators. It was on fire, and Orthos was standing in front of it. He saw me. “What are you doing? Get upstairs!”
“The elevators aren’t working!” I shouted.
His face seemed to crumple in on itself. “He can’t be up there by himself,” he said.
I went back to the stairwell door and up the steps, past the second and third floors. The screams were growing louder, and there was smoke. I rounded the steps to the fourth-floor landing. The door was shut. I pushed the bar to open it, but pain seared my hand.
The door was hot – flaming hot.
Closing my eyes, I imagined the door bursting from its hinges to let me in. The door banged away, flying into a wall opposite the stairwell. Thankfully, there hadn’t been anyone behind it. I felt a rush of air coming up behind me. It sucked me into the room, just as a fireball seemed to erupt from everywhere all at once.
Quickly, I imagined myself inside a cool bubble, and I was protected from the worst of the heat. I moved down the hall, towards the mayor’s office. There were still people screaming, but in the smoke, I couldn’t see them. I sensed them near me, but they weren’t in the hall. He’d trapped them. There was a door on my left with an iron bar wrapped through the handle so that it couldn’t turn.
“Stand back from the door,” I projected into the room. I didn’t wait for a response; I tore that door from its hinges, as well.
There was a rapid burst of screams, but I enveloped them in their own bubble and floated it to the stairwell. Seven people were inside, at least one of them injured. Blood was already smeared all over the inside of the bubble.
Satisfied they could get to safety, I moved on. There wasn’t anyone else out there; everyone, including Thanos, was now in the mayor’s office.
“Thanos.” I moved to the mayor’s door. “I’m here.”
“Just in time,” he answered, broadcasting his thoughts so that everyone in his vicinity could hear. “I could use your help squashing these terrible excuses for people.”
The inside of my bubble was starting to feel warm. I took a moment to imagine it cooling down again, and then I went to the door. The door wasn’t locked, so I imagined it swing open – but I should have spent a moment preparing myself for what I was going to see.
This room wasn’t yet on fire, but he had everyone kneeling on the floor with their hands behind their heads. They’d formed two lines, and one person was standing. She was holding a gun, and she walked along behind each row, randomly shooting people in non-lethal places.
“Who’s that?” I demanded. I imagined her gun being wrenched from her hand. It clattered to the floor, and I drew it to me, picking it up. I moved to her and held it to her head.
“That’s the mayor,” Thanos said. He smiled. “She was shooting all these innocent people because that’s the kind of terrible person she is.”
I poked at the woman’s head with the gun. “Is that true? You’re the mayor?”
“Yes, I’m the mayor, but—” Her mouth clamped shut, and her eyes widened in defiance.
“Shoot her, Nimisila,” Thanos urged. “Look at how horrible she’s been. She’d rather kill all these people than die herself. She tried to bargain with me and convince me all these others are the real power behind the office.”
I looked back at the mayor. Her body seemed to be vibrating, maybe with anger or adrenaline. “I saw you,” I said. “You were shooting people when I came in.” I jabbed at her again with the gun, poking her with the hot muzzle. She cried out but didn’t say anything more.
“You think she’d show you any mercy?” Thanos asked. “You think it wasn’t her or someone like her who ordered you to be treated like a laboratory experiment? You think she had even an ounce of remorse about what they took away from you? She ordered your parents to be killed. Did you know that? It was her.”
Anger began to build in me, but I had to keep it in check. Thanos wasn’t a reliable source, but was she any more reliable? I reached out to her, imagining myself in her head. I felt her there. She felt calm and powerful. Arrogant? Tentatively, I stretched into the corners of her mind. “Are you there?” I asked her.
“Yes.” She was there, standing in her own mind, looking at me. Her eyes looked sad.
“Are the things he’s saying true? You ordered my parents to be killed? You sent someone to do experiments on poor children?”
“Yes. I did those things. I’ve ordered the killing of thousands to make progress. Don’t you understand, Nimisila? We’ve got to evolve to survive the world now. The humans before the winter took it for granted. Abused their resources and wasted time. Now, we’re running out of time. We’ve got to evolve. It’s the only solution.”
“You were shooting these people, just now? You shot people who worked for you?”
“They can be replaced.” She cut her eyes away, an intense desperation flitted across her features.
“But they’re human beings. Aren’t they allowed even a scrap of dignity?”
“Dignity isn’t for people like them.”
My anger returned. These were people with good jobs, who were respected and had good lives out in the city, and they did not even deserve dignity? “What you must think of the people in the slums.”
“They aren’t people. They’re hangers-on. They beg for scraps, instead of helping themselves. They don’t deserve to be treated like people.”
Now, it was my turn to shake. Anger clenched my muscles, and tension vibrated through my bones, my flesh, and my mind. It erupted from me in a bloodcurdling shout, but I was still inside the mayor’s head, and somehow, my body had snapped to my mental projection, instead of the other way around.
There was a moment of intense pressure, heat, and wetness.
Then, I was standing where the mayor had been, surrounded by a corona of blood.
“That was impressive,” Thanos said.
Around us, the people kneeling on the floor were moaning, crying, and trying to shuffle away from me without getting to their feet. They stared at me, their faces frozen in terror.
Something dripped down my forehead, and I wiped it away, but when I looked at my hand, it was bloody. “Am I bleeding?” I asked.
“You don’t even know what you just did,” Thanos scoffed. “Your abilities are over even your own head.”
The gun clattered to the floor, and I stared at my hands. I was covered in blood and . . . gore. What was it?
“It’s the mayor. Or was,” Thanos said. He started to laugh. He leaned down to pound the back of one of the terrified people, cowering on the floor. “She doesn’t even realize. She exploded the mayor. From the inside-out. With her own body!”
My eyes flew around the room. The mayor was no longer there. The other people made every effort possible to shield their eyes from meeting mine. Even the man who’d been shot in both legs and was lying flat on his back, unable to move away, averted his eyes when I looked at him.
“No,” I said. “I . . . I didn’t mean to. I was angry. She made me angry; she didn’t care abou
t what she took or whom she took it from . . .” I trailed off. I’d failed my task miserably. Not only had I not spared the mayor, I’d killed her myself, and how many others had been injured or died before I’d managed to get up there to stop Thanos?
“I get it,” Thanos said. He bent and picked up the gun. “You thought you were going to keep me in check; you thought we could do this whole coup thing without spilling any blood. I guess you didn’t learn any history in that poor-person school of yours. A revolution without bloodshed just means more of the same. No. You and I . . .” He touched a finger to my collarbone, then to his chest. “We’re going to make a real difference. We’re going to change things. Unsettle the establishment. Create an even playing field for everyone.”
On unsteady feet, I stumbled away from him, towards the desk on the other side of the room. Papers littered the table. I picked up a piece and used it to roughly wipe blood off my hands. The air in the room was starting to chill me, and I realized it wasn’t so much a chill as it was the feeling of the mayor’s blood, losing its warmth. I was drenched in it.
I hunched over the desk, planting my hands on it. I needed to regain my equilibrium. If I didn’t, Thanos was going to kill all these other people, too. I raised a shaking hand and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. Something shook out of my hair and clattered onto the desk.
A tooth.
Bile came retching out of my gut, and I vomited on the floor beside the deck. I hadn’t been allowed to eat much breakfast – Orthos had said I’d understand why when we got to the sewer – but everything I had eaten and then some came up, splattering over the lush carpet and my shoes. I didn’t bother wiping my mouth. “Turn off the weather change,” I said.
“We can’t do that here; not now. We have to establish our control,” Thanos said.
“We haven’t already done that? The mayor is dead. That’s what you said we had to do.”
“Nobody knows she’s dead, Nimisila. Think about that for a second.” He waved the gun at the people on the floor. The motion brought a rise of gasps and flinches. “Who here speaks for the mayor, huh? One of you must communicate to the city for her.”
