Rogue (Exceptional)

by Petosa, Jess

  The corner of Luke's mouth pulled up into a smirk and he peered over at Max. "I think your Uncle might have just found you."

  Luke wanted to take Ally to the entrance on his motorcycle, but Max insisted they all go together in a transport. Ally couldn't help but agree. Luke's mood was volatile right now, and Ally wasn't sure she wanted to be on a fast moving vehicle with him. By the time they got to the City’s main entrance, there was a familiar group of Ordinarys from Champaign in the courtyard. The Guards stood at the ready, with their guns hoisted over their shoulders, and the Ordinarys made no move to try and take them over. They stood in a misshapen circle, talking amongst themselves. The rain had stopped and puddles had formed on the uneven stone floor.

  Ally noticed Tilt and Hank right away. Heath was standing beside them, his arms crossed over his chest. He was staring directly at Luke as their trio approached, looking as calm as if he had come to deliver a batch of baked goods.

  Luke motioned for the Guards to move out of the way, coming to a stop directly in front of Heath. Ally stood to his right, and Max stood on her right, close enough that his arm brushed along her shoulder.

  "Heath, I'm surprised to see you back so soon." Luke was decades younger than Heath, but he held himself with a stature that made them almost equal. Heath wasn't as polished, and stood slouched and loose.

  Heath was smug. "I have another proposition for you."

  "I'm listening," Luke responded, sounding more amused than interested.

  "Well, I shouldn't call it a proposition," Heath licked his lips and shifted his weight over to the opposite leg. "I think it is time you hand the City over to the Ordinarys. To the people who will run it the best, and treat it the way it was meant to be treated."

  Luke let out a laugh. "Oh really, and you think I'm just going to step aside and let you walk through these streets? Do you think I'm going to gather up my Guards and march out of the City, never to be seen again?"

  "I think you will," Heath responded.

  "And why is that?" The amused tone was gone from Luke's voice, and left behind was anger.

  "While you were busy killing Rogues and demolishing half the City, I had my people placing smoke bombs in keys parts of the suburbs and the remaining part of City Center. Only instead of being filled with smoke, these are filled with a gas form of the cure. The one Ally here brought to us."

  Ally could feel dozens of pairs of eyes looking her way, and she chose to continue to look straight at Heath. She hadn't always liked him when she was in Champaign, but at least she had been able to respect him. Now she wasn't sure she could do even that.

  "When triggered, they will release a fast moving gas throughout the City, administering the cure to anyone that breathes it in." Heath finished.

  Luke just nodded, the expression on his face remaining calm. Ally could feel his body tense beside her, and his fist clenched together by her hand. Anger was rolling off of him in heavy waves.

  "It sounds like you haven't given me much of a choice," Luke finally spoke. "I'm assuming that even if I choose to kill you and all your friends here, the cure will still be released."

  Heath nodded.

  "Seems like quite the sacrifice ..." Luke trailed off.

  Ally knew that Heath was calling Luke's bluff, and she also knew that it was partially her fault. She had talked freely about his kindness and compassion, and his unusual open mindedness when it came to Ordinarys. But Heath didn't take into account what Luke had been through since Ally left the City.

  "Heath," she said with warning, "Think about what you're doing."

  Max nodded beside her, and his hand sought hers out.

  The air around her crackled and Ally knew that Luke's anger was building into something more dangerous. He could incapacitate everyone in this courtyard in seconds, and he could kill them all in just a few more.

  "Maybe we can work something out," Ally slid her free hand into Luke's, tingles running up and down her arms from the effort. The sensation faded, and she knew he was trying to reign his abilities back in.

  They must have looked like an odd trio, standing there holding hands.

  Heath shoved his own hands into his pockets and leaned toward her. "I doubt it."

  "Be smart, Uncle Heath," Max said. "This isn't going to end well, for anyone."

  Heath had done a good job of keeping his emotions in control, and his expression neutral. But now his smile faltered, and his eyes narrowed.

  "You on their side now, Max?" he asked. "Switching over for some girl who can't decide whether she wants to dip into the Ordinary or Exceptional gene pool?"

  Max shouted, "Don't talk about her like that..." just as Luke's hand flinched and Heath was sent flying through the air. He cleared the group of Ordinarys behind him and hung still in the air just inches from the stone wall. If he had hit it at the speed he had been going, it probably would have killed him.

  "Stop," Ally cried, letting go of Max's hand and using both of hers to grab Luke. "Let me talk to him. Please."

  Luke looked down at her, his violet eyes dimming. He blinked quickly, his eyes softening as he took her in. "Five minutes. No, two." He dropped his hands and Heath fell the remaining distance to the ground.

  Ally nodded and pushed past Tilt and Hank, rushing to Heath's side. He was sitting up on the stone now, using his shirt to dab at a cut above his head.

  "What are you thinking?" Ally hissed at him.

  Heath glared up at her.

  Ally kneeled down beside him and leveled her gaze with his. "Whatever you are trying to do here, this isn't the way. I'm not saying that Ordinarys don't deserve a fair shot in the City, but this isn't the way."

  "Are you suggesting there is another way?" He said, his voice low.

  "Let's give this time. Let the Rogue attack settle, and let the Exceptionals get back on their feet. Maybe something can be worked out once things are back to normal, maybe we can finally tear these walls down." She motioned to the stone walls in the courtyard.

  Heath looked down at his hands, rubbing at one of many spots of dirt. "I'll look weak."

  "You'll look wise," Ally said. "If you don't walk away, Luke will kill you. He might kill Max."

  The last part was a lie. Luke wouldn't kill Max, not if Ally asked him not to. But she needed Heath to believe that, even just a little, if she wanted extra motivation to make him walk away.

  Heath pushed himself up off the ground, standing very slowly. "Talk to him, and send Max with us" was all he said before he turned and limped out of the main entrance.

  Ally turned to face the others. Tilt and Hank shared looks and took off after Heath. She hurried over to Max and touched his arm lightly. "Go with them."

  "What about you?" he asked. "You promised."

  "I'll be along, I swear," Ally said with as much sincerity as she could muster. "There is something I need to do first."

  Max hesitated, his jaw working back and forth.

  "Go," she whispered, stepping away from him and toward Luke.

  Max gave her one last glance and turned to follow his Uncle and the others out of the City. The Guards in the courtyard remained statues, but Luke exhaled loudly.

  "I thought I was going to kill him ... kill them all. Especially after what he said about you." Luke grabbed her head and pulled her forward until their foreheads met. "Come back to my house with me."

  Butterflies took flight in Ally's stomach, for more reason than one. Her skin tingled where he touched her, and she closed her eyes. For a moment she could pretend that things were okay, that they weren't in danger or at the end of the Rogue attacks. There was so much to do.

  CHAPTER

  Luke took her hand and laced his fingers between hers. They left the courtyard and caught a transport ride back to Luke's house. Ally was glad they didn't walk. Her legs were sore and she was exhausted.

  "Stay here," Luke said to her when they stepped out of the vehicle.

  He was a blur as he ran inside, and returned less than a minute
later. Ally wasn't sure why she had to wait. She followed him inside and they made the familiar climb up the stairs, and then walked down the hall to his bedroom. It has been so long since Ally has been inside and she immediately took it all in. Things were still disheveled just like she remembered. It even smelled the same.

  "Luke, about Heath..." she spoke the words quickly as she turned toward him.

  She was cut off when he grabbed her and pushed her against the wall, his lips smashing against hers. It felt forceful at first, his Exceptional strength showing, but soon his kisses grew gentle and slow. Ally knew she should push him away so that they could talk, but instead her arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him closer. Her upper body molded to his and her lips parted. Luke lifted her and carried her into the bed, pushing her back onto the soft comforter and falling on top of her. She was vaguely aware that they were filthy and most likely ruining the white material, but neither of them stopped. He held his weight above her and kissed a line from her mouth, down her jaw line, and up to her ear.

  Ally knew she was breathing heavily, and she didn't care. All her doubts about her relationship with Luke dissolved and all that was left was the two of them.

  "I missed you so much," Luke paused his lips against hers, his warm breath sliding across her skin. "I wanted to follow you out of the City so bad, and then Aden took my memories. All this time I've known something was missing, some part of me, and now I remember. My heart ached while you were away, even Aden couldn't erase that."

  Ally responded by pulling him back to her. She ran her hands along Luke's back, and his hands traveled to her stomach, lifting the delicate fabric and grazing the skin above her belly button.

  "Lukin?" a tiny voice said from the doorway.

  Luke stiffened above Ally and pulled back from her, his eyes growing wide. Ally turned her head to the door, and was met with a disapproving glare from a petite blonde Ordinary. Her hair hung in a long braid over her shoulder, and she was wearing a white sundress. A sundress that protruded out near her abdomen ever so slightly. Had the girl not been so tiny to begin with, Ally was sure it wouldn’t have been noticeable. But in these circumstances, she could easily tell the girl was with child, especially with the way she was cradling her mid-section. Slowly pieces fell into place before her. The blonde hair in the helmet, Luke running inside, an Ordinary in his home not dressed in work clothes...

  "Oh my gosh," Ally's hand flew up to her mouth and she sat up quickly, pulling her shirt back down and over her own, flat stomach.

  Luke was kneeling on the bed now, leaning back toward Ally. "I can explain...”

  Ally jumped off the bed and put her hands up. "No. No no no. You don't have to explain for this, we weren't together." At least, he hadn't known that they might be. "But the last ten minutes...”

  She looked at the girl standing in the doorway and back at Luke. "You should have told me. You should have told me before I came here with you, and before we came upstairs."

  "I know," he said. "But if you'll just listen."

  "Stop!" Ally said loudly. "I'll arrange a meeting between you and Heath. Exactly three days from now, at the place where we first met." She backed toward the door.

  "Ally..." he said her named urgently this time.

  "I can't, Luke," she responded. "I should have known things would change, and that they could never be like they were before all this. I don't expect anything from you, especially not now."

  "Lukin," the girl in the doorway said in a whiny voice. The girl walked over to Luke and wrapped her pale arms around him, her braid slipping behind her and falling against her back.

  Ally turned and did the only thing she could think of doing in that moment, she ran.

  Ally thought she would have to make the entire trek back to Champaign on foot, and that it would take her over a week. She had promised Luke a meeting with Heath, and she had no idea how to get word to him. She hadn't been thinking clearly in his room, and she wasn't thinking clearly now. She had managed to traipse through the back alleys to get to the main entrance, and was peering around a nearby building. Although a part of her felt delight at the fact that Luke had come after her, she wasn't thrilled to see him standing near the entrance. He was talking to some Guards, showing them something on his mini-port.

  "You know he is looking all over for you, right?" a male voice said behind her.

  She jumped and turned around. "Pax?"

  Pax stood behind her, his hands shoved into the pockets of his white pants. He had changed and showered recently, little droplets of water still hung from the tips of his crooked hair.

  "Are you going to tell him?" she asked in a whisper. She hoped they were far enough away from Luke that he couldn't hear them.

  Pax shook his head. "I personally think it is better if you just go."

  Ally should have felt offended, but instead she just nodded. "I couldn't agree more."

  Pax motioned to the wall. "I'll give you a lift. Chunny is waiting in a transport by the boundary bridge. He'll take you back to Champaign."

  "Thank you," Ally said before stepping toward the wall.

  "It's what needs to be done," was the last thing Pax said before he lifted her up and over the wall.

  Ally had to use a tree to lower herself to the other side, since Pax couldn't see that side, but this one was skill she excelled at, Exceptional or not. She hit the ground running and navigating through the woods as quick as her Ordinary body would allow her. She missed zipping through the trees at Exceptional speed, and missed the extra senses that came with it.

  Chunny was right where Pax said he would be, and Ally jumped up into the right side of the truck. He grinned at her and put the vehicle into drive.

  "I was hoping we'd meet again," he said. "The others set off on foot so we'll have to pick them up along the way."

  Ally leaned back against the headrest on the seat and closed her eyes. "Chunny?"

  "Yes?"

  "Why aren't you like the other Guards?" she asked.

  When he didn't answer she opened her eyes and found him smirking. He glanced at her quickly before turning his eyes back on the road. "The less time I spend in the City, the less I feel like an Exceptional. There is something in the air there. Maybe it's pride, or maybe it is something else, but my harsh demeanor started to fade when I moved to outpost duty. The physical and mental modification the Guards go through are not permanent, and I guess they got sloppy in making sure I kept up with mine."

  That made sense to Ally.

  "What happened in there?" Chunny asked her a question in turn.

  Ally told him about what had transpired since he dropped her off a week prior. The story had enough details to fill a year, yet the memories blurred in her mind. Just this morning the City had been as it had always been; Exceptional-run and full of procedure. Then the figurative walls came crashing down and chaos swept through the City. People had been evacuated, the settlements would be empty, friends and family were lost, Rogues were captured, she and Max escaped from the training center, and Heath had attempted an attack. It seemed unlikely that all of that could span out over one day, but just now the last of the daylight was fading.

  Thirty minutes into their drive, their headlights caught a glimpse of the small group moving ahead of them. Max was sauntering behind and when the headlights shone over them, he turned around and put his hands over his eyes to help him see better. It was then that Ally realized how much of a friend he had tried to be to her these past several weeks, and how wholeheartedly he cared for her. Max knew her for who she was right now. Not who she was in the settlement, not who she was in the City, but as the girl she had recently become. She opened the door and jumped out of the transport, breaking into a run on the road. When Max realized it was Ally running toward him, he met her midway and enveloped her in a hug.

  "I was hoping you would come," he said into her ear.

  "I once hoped someone would do the same for me," she responded. "I can't promise you anything more tha
n friendship."

  "Right now, that can be enough." He let her down and took her hand in his. Together they led the group back to the waiting transport.

  Ally wasn't sure what would become of the City in the following days, or what would even become of Luke, Pax, Aden, and the others. She was wiping her conscience clean of those thoughts and choosing to move forward, from this moment. What Heath and Luke decided wouldn't be on her. They could chose to quarrel over their problems for years to come, or to find a compromise that suited both of their needs, but Ally wouldn't be around to see it. She was going to find the Southern City. She was going to meet up with Kemp, and Po, and the others from the settlement. They would start their own town like Champaign down there, one where they didn't have to live in fear of the Exceptionals or bow to their every need. And somehow, she knew that she would have Max by her side.

  EPILOGUE

  Luke paced back and forth in his office, stepping around the furniture that was strewn about the room. When Pax admitted what he had done, allowing Ally to leave the City, he was furious. He had come back here and all but brought the room to pieces. The couches and chairs were on their sides and upside down, tables were broken in half, pictures were shattered on the floor, and even his desk laid in pieces by the wall of windows.

  Pax stood with his back flat against the wall. "I had to do it," was all Pax was saying over and over.

  "WHY?" Luke stopped his pacing and shouted out the question, hoping it hit Pax with all the aggression he was currently feeling.

  "We need a leader," he said. "Aden will be arrested for what he has done, and the City is in shambles. We need someone to hold us together, and to bring back a sense of normalcy. Plus, in case you've forgotten, we have this whole Champaign issue to deal with."

  "No, I haven't forgotten," Luke spat. "But maybe I don't want to deal with all of this. Maybe it would be easier to let Heath set off those cure bombs. Then he could step in and lead. I've barely done it a month and I'm already tired of it. I remember everything, Pax ... everything. And I know that I never wanted this. I never wanted to be my father."