Rogue (Exceptional)

by Petosa, Jess

  Max's hand covered both of hers and she realized that she was shaking. Stosh cleared his throat and stepped in front of her, holding out his hand to help her up.

  "We should get back to town. We don't know if any other Rogues are out here, wandering around."

  Ally accepted her brother’s hand and finally stood, brushing dirt off her pants. She didn't even feel sore from the short fight with the Rogue, but when she leaned over to assess her body she noticed that her clothes were ripped in several places. She wondered how Alexis would feel about the damage, and decided that this was probably the least of all their worries right now.

  By the time they arrived back at town, news about the Rogue had spread. The only positive feeling running through Ally at the moment was that this might cover up the unfortunate event with the tree. Max picked up his pace as they entered town and Ally kept up with him easily. Stosh was a hundred yards away and out of breath when Ally and Max stepped foot onto the front steps of Heath's office. Max raised his hand to knock but Ally burst right in, not very intent on being polite at the moment.

  A tall, thin woman stepped out into the foyer. Her chestnut colored hair was piled up on top of her headed in a neat, circular shape, and Ally could see thin strips of gray breaking through the color.

  "Aunt Lillian," Max approached the woman and gave her a quick hug. "Where is Uncle Heath?"

  "He hasn't returned since he ran out of here with his shotgun," the woman put her hand to her chest. "Did something bad happen?"

  "It depends what you define as bad," Ally spoke up.

  "Excuse me?" Aunt Lillian said.

  "Ally," Max shot her a look. "Not now."

  "Please tell me everything is okay." Aunt Lillian raised her hand to her chest again, and Ally noticed that she was grasping a gold chain around her neck.

  "Everything is just fine," Max reassured her. "Uncle Heath returned to town just before we did and I wanted to talk to him about some things. I thought maybe he came here first,"

  Aunt Lillian breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm sure he'll be home soon."

  Max nodded and turned to Ally. He grabbed her arm and practically dragged her out the door.

  Once they were outside he spun her around and gripped her arm tighter. "What was that?"

  "What was what?" Ally asked. "I can tell I did something wrong but I don't understand what."

  "Worrying my Aunt like that." He pointed to Heath's home with a knowing look.

  "I didn't worry her. She asked a question and I answered her."

  "Without compassion!" he was close to yelling.

  "Compassion?" She raised an eyebrow.

  Max stared at her with a perplexed look. "Unbelievable." He rolled his eyes and walked away.

  Ally peeled off her tennis shoes and walked back to her assigned home slowly. It had to be close to midnight by now, and the lack of townspeople on the dirt roads confirmed the late hour. If she stretched her hearing she could hear several couples giggling in the cover of the woods, a man yelling over something called wine, and a baby wailing in the night.

  She had stood outside of Heath's office for ten minutes, debating where she would go. Her body was still pumping with adrenaline and she knew that if she went to bed, she would end up staring at the ceiling all night. Stosh would most likely be with Sabine, and she had no idea where Max lived. She knew she needed to speak with him though, and hopefully first thing in the morning.

  Ally found herself walking in the direction of the medical building, hoping that the doors would be open this time of night. When she arrived she was surprised to find a bigger crowd inside than had been there the last time she visited. A woman cradled a coughing baby in her arms, singing a song softly. A man picked at the bandage on his arm, which was dyed red with blood. Ally stepped past the various injured and sick bodies and ran up the steps. No one bothered to stop her and she wondered if they just didn't care, or if they feared her.

  She tried three doors before she finally found Willow. She was sitting up in bed, running her hands over her stomach.

  "I'm trying to feel movement. Carla said I might start to feel it in a month or two, but sometimes I swear I feel a fluttering right here." She pointed to a spot below her belly button.

  Ally sat at the foot of the bed and folded her legs under her. "How would you feel about staying here for a little while longer, Willie? I know I promised that I would get us to the Southern City, but something happened tonight, and I think I need to stay."

  She told Willow about the night at the club, leaving out the part where she burned down a tree, but including what Max said about her emotion. She even told her about encountering the Rogue in the woods.

  "Whoa," Willow sat up straighter in bed. "So there is a Rogue here in town?"

  Ally nodded. "I'm not sure where. I think a holding cell of some sort."

  "And you want to stay to see the outcome of all of this?" Her best friend pried.

  "Yes," she responded, but Ally was starting to wonder if there was more to her feelings about staying put.

  Willow must have sensed the apprehension on her face. "What is it, Al?"

  "Do you think everything that Max said is true? That all of the feelings I experience in the City were fake?"

  Willow thought for a moment. "I wish I had an answer for you. I would think that at least part of your feelings had to be your own. If they really were subdued, then maybe what you thought you felt for Luke would be stronger." She paused.

  "But?" Ally prompted, knowing that more was coming.

  "Your feelings could have also been a jumbled mess. Maybe you had convinced yourself what you were feeling was attraction or love, but maybe it was just emotions running high through the change."

  "Not helpful," Ally said with a groan.

  "Why does it matter anyway? You left Luke behind when you left the City."

  "I still thought I might see him again someday. That once things were figured out with the Rogues, he would come find me."

  Even as the words left her lips, Ally heard the doubt in her voice. The look on Willow's face confirmed it.

  "Does this also have something to do with Max?" Willow said softly.

  Ally shot her a glare. "No."

  "He makes you feisty. I like it," the words came out of Willow’s mouth as a giggle.

  "I'm going to bed." Ally stood and walked to the doorway, spinning around before she left. "Why do you like it… the fact that I’m feisty?"

  Willow shrugged. "Ever since we crossed paths in the ORC you've been so controlled. The Ally I left in the settlement was more carefree and spirited. I think Max can help bring that back out of you."

  Ally just nodded and then left, making her way back down the stairs. There were fewer townspeople in the waiting area now, but still enough to keep Carla busy for a few hours. She slipped quietly out the front door and tried to remember the path that led to Brooke’s house. She recognized several of the homes and buildings that she passed on the way, and felt proud to recall so easily. She climbed the front steps of the home she now shared with four other girls and climbed up the front stairs. She would need to lock it once she made sure the others were safe inside. With a Rogue in town, and possibly more on the loose, she didn't think the trusting nature of the town was going to last much longer.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “Come in,” Aden yelled from the other side of the door.

  Luke still felt odd walking into his father’s office, and instead chose to knock each time he visited. He opened the door and slipped into his office, reminded that despite the similarities, Aden’s office was just a little bit larger than his own. Something he was sure had been done on purpose.

  Luke had expected to find his father at his desk, so he was surprised to see Aden sitting on one of the plush, black couches.

  “I brought the plans, like you asked. Is this a bad time?” Luke stepped further into the room.

  “No, bring them over,” Aden said in a hoarse voice.

 
Luke approached the couch slowly, the plans rolled up under his arm.

  Aden looked awful. His skin was pale and sweat beaded across his forehead, and his eyes were dim and almost white. His hair was matted to his head, and Luke could swear there were bald patches. He had even traded in his normal black suit for a white tracksuit.

  Aden looked sick.

  Exceptionals didn’t get sick.

  “Aden?” Luke took a step back out of instinct.

  “I think I’ve been working too hard recently,” Aden said coolly. “I haven’t been sleeping well and I’ve been going on visits to the Exceptionals in the outer ring.”

  “Are you eating?” Luke asked. Exceptionals didn’t need to eat as often as Ordinarys so it was hard to remember to get the required meals in. That coupled with no rest and extra physical activity…. maybe that was all that was wrong with his father.

  “I just need a little rest,” Aden’s eyes started to close and he leaned back against the pillow.

  Suddenly his chest convulsed and a cough rattled his chest. Dots of blood soiled the front of his shirt, and dripped down his chin.

  Luke dropped the plans and ran to Aden’s desk, using the mini port to call for medical attention. They had their own med floor in the building and by the time he made it back to the couch, the doctors were already coming through the door.

  “What happened?” A male doctor asked Luke.

  “I don’t know,” Luke was kneeling on the floor now. “He was talking about how tired he was and then he started to cough up blood.”

  The doctor just nodded his head; as if these words confirmed something he had been looking for.

  “What’s wrong with him?” Luke stood and grabbed the doctor’s arm.

  “We are going to take good care of your father, Lukin,” the doctor responded. “But right now, I think you may want to make plans.”

  Luke’s eyes widened. “For what?” His mind went to the worst of places. Did he need to plan a funeral? How would he explain this to the rest of the City, that on the brink of a war with the Rogues, their leader had passed away.

  “For how you are going to lead this City, Lukin. I’d say you just moved up in the ranks.”

  Aden was now secured to a thin, gurney, and the doctors’ used their abilities to raise his body into the air. They guided him out into the hall, the door slamming behind them.

  Luke stood, his eyes finding the blood splattered on the couch. It was hidden well on the black surface, but Luke could still see the dark, wet spots on the material. He gathered up the plans he had brought and carried them over to Aden’s desk. He set them down and lowered himself into the chair.

  Had the doctor’s words been true? Was he the leader? He had been conducting his business like a City leader recently, taking on a firm and harsh demeanor just to please his father. Yet just moments ago his resolve has disappeared and he had almost panicked at the thought of Aden being sick. He needed to get his act together, and quick. He picked up the mini port and sent a message to Pax.

  Pax responded almost immediately, “I’m on my way. Are we meeting in your office?”

  “Yes,” Luke said as he looked around. “But my office has moved locations.”

  He set the mini port on the desk and swiveled in the chair, looking out the floor to ceiling windows. The City spread out before him, and with his eyesight, he could see the lake in the distance. Aden had made sure that his office was higher than any other building in the City, so that he could always watch what the City was doing. War had ravaged many of the larger buildings, but Aden had used teams of Exceptionals to deconstruct any that remained.

  He had always wanted to be on top. And now it was Luke’s turn.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  A week went by without any sighting of Heath or Max, but more importantly, any more Rogues. Heath hadn't made any appearances in public and every time Ally went to his office, she was told that he was out. She knew he was probably busy with the Rogue but she was the one to take it down, and she wanted answers. Was the vaccine working? Had the Rogue woken up? Maybe Heath had decided to scrap the plan and had just killed it.

  Max seemed to be avoiding her as well, and Ally ran through all of the possible reasons why in her head. He could be mad about their fight at the club, but didn't she have more of a reason to be angry about that incident? He could be mad that she burned down a tree and ran into the woods. He could be mad about the incident with his Aunt, which still left her confused. She had tried to ask Alexis about it but the girl had just giggled and walked away, saying something about how Ally had grown up living in a hole.

  Ally tried to do something different each day, just to get a feel for the town. She spent two straights days with the hunters, who seemed anxious about her presence but too afraid to turn her away. She knew that Max was in a hunting group, and had hoped to come across him, but he never showed up for duty. The first day she followed them down the trails, and sometimes off the path, as they searched for game to shoot or trap. In the settlement she had mainly gathered berries, fruits, and game that had already been trapped. She found that being around for the kill made the work that much more exciting. On the second day she was given a scouting job, since she was able to move through the woods more quietly than a whisper, and she could hear the animals. They brought back more than double the amount of game as usual.

  Ally also spent a day helping Carla at the med center, mainly wrapping injuries and holding ice on bumps and bruises. She was able to spend some time with Willow as well, in the afternoons. Cody had been moved into a home across town, taken in by a mother willing to add another small mouth to feed.

  The other days she spent exploring on her own. She traveled the woods around the town, seeking out Exceptional Guard tracks and getting in sight of two outposts. She made a mental map of the boundary line that would ensure she stayed out of the path of any Guards, and figured that she could travel almost five miles in any direction from the town, which was a greater distance than she'd been able to move back in the settlement. Even so, she couldn't help but notice the irony that she was still dealing with boundaries.

  Max found her on day eight. She was sitting on the steps of the med center, replacing her boots as she prepared for another hike through the woods.

  The shadow of his body fell over the front of hers as he stepped into the path of the sun. He was wearing brown linen pants and a fitted black shirt. His hands were shoved into his pockets, as usual, and Ally noticed that the shadow around his jaw was darker than before.

  "Max," she said his name quickly and stood up.

  "Going somewhere?" He eyed her boots, bringing a hand out of a pocket to rub at his rough jaw line.

  "What's it to you?" She brushed past him, wincing at how rude she sounded. She was still working on controlling her sometimes-sporadic emotions, but knew that her anger towards him was fresh. Ally didn't want him to know how much his absence had hurt.

  He kept up with her easily. "Are you mad at me?"

  She kept her eyes on the ground in front of her, picking up her pace. "I should be asking you the same thing."

  "Do I look mad?" Max responded.

  She chanced a look at him. He didn't look angry, more worried and maybe a bit sad.

  "No," she finally said.

  "So I'll ask you again. Are you mad at me?" He drew out the word mad.

  "I'm...", she thought through her answer. "I'm confused, and a little bit annoyed."

  Max grabbed her arm to stop her. He had been jogging to keep up with her brisk walk, and she saw a sheen of sweat on his forehead.

  "Confused about what?"

  His light blue eyes met her gaze and she tried to ignore the tingles she felt traveling up her spine and down over her arms. She didn't want to feel this way about someone else. She wanted the tingles and blushing reserved for Luke.

  "Where have you been all week?" Ally answered Max's question with a question of her own.

  "Busy," he looked down at his feet. "I
s that why you're upset?"

  She crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, one minute you're my personal shadow and the next you pull a disappearing act. Is it about what happened with your Aunt? I still don't understand that, by the way. Or are you afraid of me because of what I did to that tree? Or maybe it is something else altogether."

  Max stared at her for a few silent moments before speaking,

  "I didn't think you cared whether or not I was around, especially after the incident with the tree. I've been giving you space. You've dealt with a lot of change in the past few months, and a good portion of it in the last two weeks."

  Ally shrugged. "It's just ... recently people keep leaving me, whether it's by choice or death, and I can't handle the latter anymore. You said you wanted to be my friend, Max. Do you still want that?"

  She realized she was starting to sound needy, but Max was a great asset to her in more ways than one. She felt guilty at the thought that a partial reason behind the need for his friendship was that he had direct access to Heath.

  "Yes," he stepped closer to her. "Of course. I really wanted to find you sooner than this and talk, but like I said, I've been busy. I've been helping my Uncle with the Rogue." He almost whispered the last word.

  A new form of anger rose up in Ally's chest. "Wait, you've been helping with the Rogue without me?"

  Max's brow furrowed together. "What's that supposed to mean?"

  She took a step back from him. "I don't know, just that I was the one to catch him in the woods. I'm the one with direct knowledge of the Rogues, knowledge I learned in the City. I'm one of the only Exceptionals in this town."

  "Don't be foolish, Ally." Max frowned. "You don't know what you are talking about."

  Ally closed her eyes and took a deep breath, focusing on keeping the ball of energy bouncing inside her stomach at bay. Instead she glared at him and said, "Unbelievable."

  Max appeared to be fighting a smile and that made her even madder.