by Kelli Kimble
A man on the floor raised a shaking hand tentatively.
“I want you to communicate to the city that we’ve taken over,” Thanos directed. “I’m in charge now. My name is Thanos, and the first thing I want is all the experimental students to be brought here. They should be here within the hour. Got it?”
The man nodded.
“You’re going to have to get up to do that, aren’t you?” Thanos prompted.
The man scrambled to his feet. Luckily, he didn’t seem to be wounded.
“Just do as he asks,” I said, trying to reassure him. “He’s not as bad as he seems.”
He gulped and nodded.
Thanos was losing his patience. “Go. Get it done. An hour,” he said. I felt him exert an invisible shove at the man. The man tripped over his own feet but recovered and made his way to the door, never looking away from Thanos.
“What about these other people?” I asked. “Some of them need doctors.”
Thanos looked over the group. Even though I knew they didn’t have abilities, I felt the collective tick upwards in their level of hope – but Thanos shook his head. “They’re my insurance. If that guy doesn’t make good and bring me the experimentals, then I’m going to start killing them, one at a time, until they give in to my demands.” He pointed at one of the women near him. She shrunk away. “What’s that guy’s name? I can’t be going around saying ‘that guy’ when I’m talking about my communications point-person.”
“Stanley,” she said. “His name is Stanley.”
“Stanley. That’s my guy. Stanley. You people better hope Stanley is your guy, too. If Stanley doesn’t deliver, you’re all going to find yourselves taking the fast track to the ground floor.” He paused and thought for a moment. “Just so we’re clear, I mean I’m going to throw you out a window. You won’t be taking the elevator.” He turned to me. “Speaking of the elevator. Where were you? You weren’t there when I needed you.”
“You seemed to do fine,” I said, “but the elevator wasn’t working. It wouldn’t come down to the basement.”
“The elevators automatically stop at the nearest floor and open their doors during a fire,” a man with a wound in his forearm said. “Then, it won’t move. You have to take the stairs.”
“I like this guy,” Thanos said. “He’s helpful.”
The man’s cheeks flushed. I wondered whether he felt bashful about the praise or guilty for assisting the person who’d overthrown his boss.
Thanos swaggered over to the mayor’s deck, leaving a large margin around the spot where I’d vomited. He pointed to the mess. “I need someone to clean this up. Is there a janitor around here?”
The helpful guy spoke up again. “Just press the button on the console there, the one that says ‘attendant’.”
Thanos nodded his gratitude and pressed the button. Then, he sat down in the mayor’s chair and propped his feet up on the desk. “While we wait, I need a debriefing on all of the city’s current projects. The power plant, the experimentals, and the weather change are priority, but I want details all the way down to sidewalk replacement and recycling schedules. Everything.”
The people on the floor sat still for just a moment, but Thanos clapped his hands, and they jerked into motion. A woman went to the door but paused at the threshold. “Sir? I need to go to the outer office for the reports. What about the fire?”
“The fire is out. Do what you need to do. Just be aware I’m watching.” He flashed a brilliantly white smile, which on a normal day, would have seemed handsome and dashing. Today, it felt like cheap theatrics.
The next hour moved in slow motion. The workers bustled around, doing their best to bend to Thanos’ demands. I stood off to the side. I wanted very much to peel my bloody clothes off and bathe, but it didn’t seem like a request Thanos was in the mood to grant. Orthos came from downstairs, and they spoke to each other privately. Orthos glanced over at me with a surprised look, his eyes wide. I knew without asking Thanos had told him I’d killed the mayor. Just for a moment, I was glad for the gore covering me; it meant he couldn’t see the heat rising into my cheeks. They talked for several minutes more, but then Thanos stood abruptly from his chair. The two were engaged in an obvious stare-down.
Orthos kept up a good front initially, but then he turned away. He came over to stand by me in the corner, out of the way. “You killed the mayor, then,” he said.
“I didn’t mean to,” I replied. “That’s never happened before; my projection always snaps back to my body, not the other way around.”
Orthos looked at the floor, his eyebrows drawn together in an almost unbroken line across his face. “She made you angry?”
“Yeah.”
“Mm.”
“What does that mean?”
His gaze moved across the room, settling on Thanos. “I’m just thinking to myself, is all.”
The tension in the room rose to a stifling level. Three people entered the room: two women and a man. They were all young, maybe younger than Thanos. I could feel them sensing the room.
The experimentals.
“Thanos,” the man said.
“Gary,” Thanos said.
“We’re here. What do you want?”
Thanos made a show of trying to look around behind the three people. “You aren’t all here. I specifically asked for all the experimentals.”
“We’re what you got.”
“It’s not what I asked for.” Thanos picked up the gun I’d left on the desk. He pointed it at one of the hostages and shot him in the back of the head.
I gasped and clapped a hand over my mouth. Orthos stiffened beside me but made no move towards Thanos.
“You still have about 20 minutes to finish gathering the others,” Thanos said. “You’d better make sure they get here.”
“We were all friends before, Thanos,” one of the women said. “Maybe we could sit down and talk about this.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. I want all 17 of the experimentals, and I want them here in 20 minutes. The end.”
She nodded once, then turned and moved towards the door, but Thanos trapped her inside one of his bubble force-fields. She bumped awkwardly into the barrier and drew back, then reached out a hand to touch it. She turned back to Thanos with her features tight and her hands clenched into fists. “Let me out of this, Thanos.”
Thanos leaned back in his chair and shrugged. “You’ve already surrendered. You can’t leave.”
“How do you expect the others to come if you confine us here?” Gary asked.
“I expect them to know to come the same way you did. Stanley will tell them.”
The trio clustered back together. Their abilities seemed to collect together in a charge that hummed around the room.
“You can’t beat me,” Thanos said. “You know I’m more powerful.”
“You’re more powerful than each of us,” Gary said, “but not more powerful than the three of us combined.”
Orthos grabbed my arm and addressed only me. “You have to help him. Back him up.”
The movement attracted Gary’s attention. “Who’s she?” he asked, pointing at me.
Thanos didn’t get the chance to answer. The window behind the desk suddenly shattered outward, the change in pressure pulling everyone towards the window for a moment.
Gary jumped onto the desk and grabbed Thanos by the collar, dragging him up and out of the chair. “We’re not just going to roll over and let you do what you want,” he growled.
He lifted Thanos and threw him out the window.
Thanos easily recovered and floated back into the room, his eyes lit with anger. “I don’t need you to roll over,” Thanos said. He closed his eyes.
The woman who hadn’t yet spoken stepped forward. She put her fingers to her temples and closed her eyes, too, but Thanos wasn’t letting her get a hold on him. He didn’t even move, but I felt his abilities expand and strengthen for a moment.
Then, he mentally grabbed her and
threw her out the window.
Her scream was more of a croak. I didn’t have to look to know she’d died. I felt her life-force snuff out.
Gary roared in pain. He rushed at Thanos and punched him hard in the face. He knocked Thanos to the ground, sat on his chest, and delivered blow after blow, but none of them even touched Thanos. He’d created a mental shield.
The other woman grabbed the gun Thanos had put on the desk, pushed Gary aside, and shot at Thanos’ chest. The bullet zinged away, ricocheted and struck the wall next to the window.
Thanos started to laugh. “You can’t beat me,” he said. “You haven’t even heard what I want.”
Gary crouched on the floor, cradling the hand he’d busted into mush from punching Thanos’ shield.
“We did ask you what you wanted,” she said. “What do you want?”
“I’ll tell you when the others get here.”
She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “You haven’t changed at all, Thanos. You know, that’s why you got kicked out.”
Thanos blinked. It was the only outward sign she’d tripped his rage, but I could feel it building. I mentally reached out to the hostages still in the room, pushed them out the door, and slammed it shut, then I created a bubble around Orthos and myself.
“Duck,” I said to Orthos.
He put his arms around me, and we turned away and knelt. Even through the bubble, I felt the power of the blast Thanos set off. The room exploded into a fireball; the walls, floor, ceiling, and everything and everyone in the room, except for Orthos and I, were on fire.
I imagined the heat and fire being shunted out the window, and the temperature started to drop. I chanced a look over my shoulder.
The woman was on fire, but she didn’t seem to feel it. “You think you’re the only one who’s special?” she asked. She didn’t wait for Thanos to answer. She thrust a column of fire at Thanos’ chest.
He grunted and thrust it back. Sparks were flying out of the edges of the ball, as it volleyed back and forth between them, their powers coming head-to-head.
Gary broke the tie, though. He rushed at Thanos, grabbed him around the waist, and pushed him against the desk. Surprised, Thanos lost control of the fire and hit his head against the desk. Gary wasn’t taking any chances; with his uninjured hand, he grabbed Thanos by the hair and bashed his head against the edge of desk until the board splintered away.
“That’s enough,” the woman said. “We just have to wait for the others.” She pulled something that looked like a dog collar out of her pocket, and she flipped it through the air at Gary. “Get him under control.”
Gary snapped the collar around his neck. A readout on the collar turned on, and Gary tapped at it, apparently activating it.
The woman turned to Orthos and me. “Now,” she said with her hands on her hips. “What are we going to do with these two?”
Chapter 13
“They don’t know who you are. Drop the barrier and follow my lead, okay?” Orthos said.
It didn’t feel like I had any other choice. I nodded and did as he asked.
The woman approached. “I know you,” she said, pointing to Orthos. She turned her attention to me. “But we haven’t met.” She had red hair, pulled back into a ponytail, and when she got closer, I could see a smattering of freckles over her nose. She inclined her head at Orthos. “We don’t have to worry about you, right? You’re going to cooperate?”
“Yes,” Orthos said, looking at the ground.
“Who’s she?”
“She’s from out west. She lived in a colony the escaped mountain people built some time ago.”
I held out my hand. “You can call me Nim,” I said.
She glanced down at my hand and gave an apologetic smile. “Sorry. I don’t touch others. It sometimes has unintended consequences. You can call me Eneece.”
I dropped my hand, letting my arm hang awkwardly at my side. I felt her step into my head. I took deep breaths and pictured the beach. If she could see my thoughts, then I wouldn’t give her more than Orthos had already said.
Apparently, this satisfied her, and she abruptly departed. “Here’s the thing: I don’t like Thanos. Orthos here is a good guy, though. I’m going to assume if he says you’re okay, you’re okay.”
Behind her, the man was escorting a groggy Thanos out of the room.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Tell me what happened here.”
I kept silent, as Orthos described Thanos’ grandiose plan to take over the city. When he got to the part about the mayor, I prepared myself to leap through the window to safety if necessary, but Orthos changed the details. He said Thanos had killed her, while I stood in the way and begged him to show mercy, and Thanos had bathed me in her blood to punish me for my insubordination.
“The loss of the mayor is unfortunate,” she said, “but we’ll have to soldier on without her. Her office staff will know what to do.” She looked at me. “There is a chain of command, you know. Thanos can’t just kill the mayor and take over — unless the others refused to step forward.”
“I’m sure you’ll get it all in order,” Orthos said. “Maybe you could give us a place to clean up? Poor Nim, here; she’s shaking like a leaf. She needs to rest.”
I looked down at my hands. I was shaking like a leaf.
“Of course,” she replied. “Let me take you to headquarters. You’ll be comfortable there, won’t you?”
“That would be most appreciated,” Orthos said.
She took us to a building just up the street from the town hall. Too late, I realized the headquarters would likely be quite like the lab where they’d kept me. From the outside, it could have been a mirror image.
Orthos grabbed my hand and squeezed it as we entered.
I took gulps of breath, trying to slow the rapid beating of my heart.
“It’ll be fine,” he said. “Don’t worry.”
She led us to a room, very much like the one I’d been held in — except, it was a lot larger. There were cots for 20 people, and a sign indicated an adjoining bathroom. I almost started to cry, thinking of a hot shower and toilets that flushed.
“Those beds on the end aren’t being used,” she said, pointing to them. The beds had their linens neatly folded on top, waiting for the next occupant to make up the bed. “Towels and toiletries are in the bathroom. I’m sure you can find them. I’ll be around, if you need anything. We’ll talk some more after you’ve had a chance to clean up.”
Orthos thanked her, and she left. At least, I think she left. I was so focused on getting to the bathroom that I wasn’t paying much attention.
The bathroom was split down the middle by a wall. One side was the women’s room, and the other side was the men’s room. I wandered into the women’s side. There were fresh towels, stacked on a shelf beside the door. I grabbed one and proceeded to the shower. I went into a shower stall and turned on the water. It was cold at first, but even that felt luxurious on the hand I held into the stream, waiting for warmth. When it started to warm up, I stepped back from the spray and stripped off my clothes. I didn’t know what to do with them; they were beyond help, with all the blood and muck on them. Eventually, I decided the best I could do was rinse them out and hang them up to dry. I did that, and then jumped into the spray.
It was like I’d turned on my own internal faucet. I couldn’t scrub off the blood hard enough or get the horrified faces of the hostages out of my mind. I think I was crying — I felt like I was — but I could only tell from my hitching sobs. The water kept my tears hidden.
Eventually, I’d spent myself. Anyway, my hands were turning wrinkly and white, and I didn’t like the way it felt to touch things when my skin was too loose for my body. I turned off the water and dried off. Having nothing else to put on, I wrapped myself in the towel. With my hair wet, I was shivering, and even though it seemed like a decadent waste, I grabbed a second towel and wrapped my hair in it.
I found a toothbrush and toothpaste, and
I brushed my teeth. It felt amazing. I spotted a comb, and I removed the second towel long enough to run it through my hair a few times. Not wanting to tangle it up again, I tossed the towel into a bin marked ‘dirty’ and cautiously emerged from the bathroom.
The room was still empty; the others must have been off doing their training activities for the day. The water in the men’s room was still running, so I decided Orthos might be a while. I made up one of the beds and climbed in, keeping my towel wrapped around me.
A bed never felt so nice. I was asleep in hardly any time at all.
◆◆◆
When I awoke, there were people milling around the room. Most of them looked to be prepared for bed. Orthos noticed me wake up, and he sat up in his bed. “I didn’t think you were ever going to wake up,” he said.
“Has it been a long time?” I asked.
“No. It’s just been really noisy. I can’t believe you slept through all that.”
I smiled in answer. “What’s our plan here?” I said, noticing the others were looking at us with curious glances.
“Honestly, I don’t know.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Thanos won’t be of any use until we remove the disabling collar — and that’s assuming we can find him. I’ve no idea where they took him.”
“Will he . . . you think he’ll tell them what we — he — had planned?”
“I don’t think so. There’s no way they can break him. He’s endured every form of torture imaginable, and it only makes him stronger. They’d be stupid to try.”
“We need to get the weather change turned off. Conditions outside are getting worse by the day. It won’t be long before all those people you saved are starving to death.”
“I don’t know how to turn it off and finding out how it’s done would likely give them too good of an idea what we’re up to. We’ve got to convince them to shut it off ourselves. Appeal to their sensibilities.”
“I sure hope they have some sensibilities,” I said.
He laughed, and then cleared his scratchy throat.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the woman approaching. “How are we doing? Better? You certainly look a lot better,” she said.
