by Jess Petosa
"Where am I?"
"Zone D," the voice responded.
Marnie sighed. "Where in Zone D?"
Not that an answer would help. She knew nothing about the inner parts of the city. No one from the outskirts did, just that they worked for the city, and were kept alive because of that.
The voice remained silent.
Marnie's arms felt different, and she looked down and noticed that she had cuffs on her wrists.
"Why do I have cuffs?" Marnie asked.
"Just as a precaution." The voice was speaking to her again.
The cuffs felt awkward on her wrists, and they made her skin sweat. Now Marnie knew why her mom was always scratching at them. Normally, they were reserved for Exceptionals with any ability that could be used against the Ordinaries. That actually came down to almost all of them. Marnie was considered harmless, for now, but she was tested once a month to make sure she didn't develop any additional abilities.
"Why am I here?" she asked.
Silence.
"Can I have some water?"
A small door opened in the wall and a glass of water slid through. Marnie stood on shaking legs and grabbed the glass, downing the cool water quickly.
"The doctor is going to enter the room now," the voice said. "Please return to your bed."
Marnie climbed back onto the bed. It was the only standing object in the room. She didn't even notice a doorway until a panel in the wall slid open, and an older woman stepped into the room. A soldier followed behind her.
"Marnie," the doctor spoke to her kindly.
"Doctor," Marnie responded.
She didn't trust this woman even though she used Marnie’s name, and not just her ID number. She didn't trust any of the Ordinarys.
"We are going to run a few tests and then get you some dinner. Does that sound good?"
"What sounds better is going home," Marnie responded.
The doctor smiled slightly and the areas around her eyes crinkled. "I'm afraid that isn't possible. Let's get started."
Marnie sat still and quiet while the doctor ran her tests, even though a few of them were uncomfortable.
The doctor made notes on her tablet, verbally commenting as she went.
"Eighteen years old, several years past puberty, virgin..."
"Do you have to say all of that out loud?" Marnie squeaked.
The male soldier was young, and was now staring at Marnie with amusement.
The doctor finished her notes and left the room without a word, taking the soldier with her.
Marnie fell back onto the bed and sighed.
"How long will I be here?"
No answer.
"I'm hungry." She tried again.
The small hole in the wall opened up again and a plate appeared. Marnie shot up and grabbed the food before it disappeared.
Roast ham, green beans, and two rolls.
She hadn't seen food like this in awhile. Every year they were given a ham to celebrate the winter holiday, but that was it.
She dug into her food quickly, not even caring that it came from the enemy.
CHAPTER FOUR
[ ally ]
The road grew bumpy right after Ally's confrontation with Luke, and she had to concentrate hard on her driving before she could get the answers she wanted.
"Do you want me to drive?" Luke asked.
"No!" Ally snapped. "I want you to answer my questions.” The transport jarred as it drove through a pot hole. “In just a minute."
She pulled the transport around a large piece of concrete sitting in the middle of the road. She realized as she passed it that it was a small building off some sort. They were surrounded by trees on either side so she had no idea where it would have come from.
Exceptionals must have put it there.
Or Rogues.
The road straightened back out and Ally loosened her grip on the wheel.
"Talk," Ally said.
Luke leaned back against the window and faced her slightly. She could feel his eyes on her, and she fidgeted uncomfortably under his stare.
"So, this girlfriend you speak of," Luke started. "Her name is Rune."
Ally's stomach rolled over and she thought she might throw up. She shouldn't have even asked.
"And she isn't my girlfriend, Ally. I’ve only had one girlfriend." He stared at her pointedly.
Ally scowled at him. "I thought that pretty much ended when you chose to stay in the City."
Luke rubbed his eyes with his hands. He looked younger, more innocent in that moment. His features had softened, and even his violet eyes seemed less bright.
"I never stopped loving you," he responded.
Ally gripped the wheel tightly. "Yet you got an Ordinary pregnant."
"First," Luke said. "I didn't remember you. I had no idea who you were, or that I even had a girlfriend”
Ally bit her lip.
"Second, I didn't get her pregnant."
Ally's head snapped to the side. "But... I saw her..."
Luke frowned. "She is pregnant, but that baby isn’t mine. She and I, we never... Pax did it for me."
"Oh," Ally said quietly. "Why Pax?"
"I couldn't do it. At the time I thought I was having moments of weakness, but now I know that somewhere inside of me, my subconscious remembered you. It was saving me from losing any small chance I had to get you back."
Ally let out the breath she had been holding.
"Where is Pax?" Ally asked.
Pax had been the one to help her leave the City after she had run from Luke.
"He's dead," Luke said calmly.
"Whoa," Ally said. "How?"
"I don't want to talk about it." Luke frowned and looked at his lap.
Ally knew there was much more to the story, but she wasn't ready to push it.
"Did you really come here for me?" Ally asked.
"Of course." Luke leaned forward a little. "I heard you talking to Lilla."
With the absence of her Exceptional abilities, Ally had almost forgotten about the fact he could hear through the wall.
"I meant what I told her," Luke said. "I let you walk away from the City without me once, and it’s my biggest regret."
“Bigger than working for Aden?” she asked.
“Ally...”
"Never mind. If you hadn't stayed," Ally added. "All those people would have died."
Luke just nodded. "And I wasn't going to let it happen again. I was going to come after you the night you left with Max and the others, but I had to organize a plan for the City. If I just disappeared it would be chaos. I helped start clean-up efforts and put a program in place for the recovering Rogues. I said that I needed to go on a trip and settle some things with surrounding towns, and left my best Guards in charge."
Ally tried to keep her eyes on the road but her head was tilting toward Luke, her gaze meeting his.
Suddenly the cab of the transport felt very quiet. Ally could barely hear the sound of the engine over the sound of her heart beating in her ears.
Luke leaned closer, his face grower closer to hers until he was inches away. She could feel his warm breath on her cheek. "Ally."
"Luke," she gulped.
Suddenly his head snapped to the right. "ALLY!"
Ally turned her head just in time to see the group of people in the middle of the road. She slammed on the breaks and heard bangs and shouting from behind her. Hopefully the others weren't bouncing against the wall behind her head.
She hit a man standing directly in front of the transport and screamed when she felt the transport bump over his body. The vehicle came to a halt in front of the remaining group; there were six others.
As one, the people in the road turned their eyes to meet hers.
"Rogues," Ally breathed.
Their yellow eyes glowed brightly in the light from the headlights.
One of the Rogues raised its hand and the t
ransport started to tilt to the side.
"Luke!" Ally yelled but when she turned her head, he was gone. The door hung ajar.
The transport continued to tilt, jolting to a stop at a forty-five degree angle. Ally looked out her window and saw the ground. There was more banging coming from the wall behind her, and Ally knew they were trying to get the door open. It was hard to open from the inside, but it could be done.
Luke stepped into the headlights, and Ally watched him at an angle. His one hand was facing the transport, and Ally knew that he was holding it upright. The Rogue who had his hand raised roared at Luke in fury. He dropped his hand and the transport tilted slowly until all four tires were back on the ground.
Luke swept his hand in front of him and the Rogue went soaring through the air, hitting a tree with such force that Ally knew he had to be dead. She undid the belt across her lap and fumbled with the door. She grabbed the gun shoved behind the seats; it was the one they had in the cab. The rest of the guns were in the back, and she could only hope the others would grab them before opening the doors.
She jumped from the cab and aimed her gun at the closest Rogue. She guessed it had once been a woman, with the length of it’s ragged hair and the curve of it’s chest. She pulled the trigger and the dart caught the Rogue in the neck. It growled before crumpling to the ground. Ally prowled to the front of the transport, coming to stand beside Luke.
"Get back to the transport, Ally," he said.
"Let me help, you're going to kill them all," she responded.
"Exactly." He waved his hand and another Rogue flew through the air.
These Rogues weren’t attacking like the ones in the City. They were staring at Luke and Ally with mild curiosity, as if confused by their presence.
Ally knew she had to be quicker than Luke. She raised her gun and aimed again, pulling the trigger quickly. Her dart was right on target with another Rogue when it suddenly stopped in midair and shattered.
"Why did you do that?" she shrieked at Luke.
"I didn't," he growled.
The trees to their left shifted, and in the waning light Ally picked out another group of Rogues.
"These are decoys," Luke yelled out. "Back to the transport!"
Luke thrust his hands out in front of him and knocked over three Rogues at once. The new Rogues were wiser than the first group, and more mature. They had no hair left, and their skin was saggy and green. They also had advanced abilities and knew how to use them. One formed a fireball in his palms and hurled it in Ally's direction. Luke's arm stretched out and he caught it with an invisible hand, sending it back toward the Rogue.
Ally backed toward the transport, thinking should could get on top and get a better angle with the gun. She wasn't sure how much ammunition she had left, and she hoped there were more rounds in the cab of the truck. She flung the driver side door open and climbed over the seat, searching the small space behind the seats for the black cartridges.
Something banged against the wall between her and the back of the transport and she thought she heard her name. She didn't think they could hear her but she yelled anyway. "Stay there! Don't try to come out. It'll be over soon!”
She knew they needed help but the possibility of any of them being injured scared her.
Something grabbed Ally's ankles and she was yanked out of the cab screaming. She managed to hold onto her gun, but left the ammunition behind. The gun had four shots left, at least. She rolled over on the grass and looked around. She hadn't been physically grabbed, but a Rogue stood twenty yards away. He grinned at her with sharp, rotting teeth, and stalked toward her.
She raised her gun but he flicked his hand and the weapon went flying.
Behind her she heard guttural cries and growls as Luke dealt with the other Rogues.
The Rogue didn't stop moving until it was standing over her, it's ugly legs placed on either side of hers. Her voice was caught in her throat as she looked up at it, finding herself unable to scream. She didn't want to distract Luke, and she didn't want to alert Max or her brother to her predicament.
The Rogue cocked it’s head and she was almost positive it was smirking at her. A searing pain shot through her entire body, as though tiny knives were being dragged over every nerve in her body. She couldn't help but scream, and the sound terrified her. She had never felt anything so painful in her life, and the longer it continued the more she was sure she was going to die.
Ally couldn't form a coherent thought.
She was sure she was burning from the inside out.
After what felt like hours, the pain shut off. One second it was there and the next it wasn't, leaving her to wonder why she had been screaming in the first place. Her throat ached, and she reached up to her cheeks, where she found fresh tears.
The Rogue that had been standing over her was crumpled on the ground now, his body parts were at odd angles.
Two hands slid under her arms and she was being lifted.
She turned expecting to find Luke, but it was Max.
"How did you?" she started.
"All four of us put all of our weight into the door. It finally popped open," Max responded.
He was looking her over, his eyes wide with worry.
"Are you okay?" he asked. "The way you were screaming..." His voice caught in his throat.
Ally nodded. "I... I think the pain was in my mind."
What she didn't say is that she thought that if it had continued for much longer, that she might have gone insane. And then it wouldn't have mattered if her physical body was okay.
"Where are the others?"
Max looked toward the transport. "They grabbed guns and ran to help Luke."
Ally looked back at the broken Rogue. "Did you do that?" A sharp pain seared through her throat.
Max shook his head. "Luke did. When we broke free of the transport he was disposing of the Rogue. You were still screaming, even when it died, and he ran to finish off the others while I stayed with you."
Ally just nodded, not sure how to respond.
"We should help." She tried to move forward but her legs failed her. She fell toward the ground but Max caught her.
"Easy," he said. Instead of just supporting her weight, he slipped his arms under her knees and back, lifting her against his chest.
He carried her to the transport, where Stosh, Sabine, and Lilla were just making an appearance.
"We think we got them all," Stosh said quickly, his own eyes giving Ally a once over. "Luke said there could be more. We need to move, now."
Stosh jumped up into the transport and took Ally from Max's arms. He set her on a cot and went back to help Lilla and Sabine into the back. Max stayed on the ground, reaching out when Stosh handed him a bag of guns.
"I'll sit up front with Luke," Max said. He gave Ally one last look before shutting the door behind him.
The engine roared to life and the cot vibrated under Ally's body, reminding her of the pain that had been coursing through her body minutes ago. She hadn't met any Exceptionals with that ability back in the City, and she was sure Aden would have acquired such an interesting ability if he could have. It was scary, to think that some of the Rogues could be so powerful.
Sabine fell to her knees by Ally’s cot. "Oh Ally, when I heard you screaming..."
"Don't," Ally rasped. "Please." She didn't want to hear any more about it.
Lilla appeared with a bottle of water.
"What do you think those Rogues were doing out here?" Lilla asked. "We are far from the City by now."
Stosh leaned against the wall of the transport and slid down to the floor. He brought his knees up and rested his arms on them. "Maybe this Rogue dilemma stretches farther than we originally thought."
"Do you think they are in the Southern City?" Sabine asked.
Stosh shrugged, his gaze distant. "Who knows."
Lilla sat by Ally's feet. "I hope not," she said.
Ally d
idn't join in on their conversation. She closed her eyes and did her best to block out their words, trying to rest on the hope that the Southern City was intact, and that they would have a welcoming place to stay when they arrived. She owed it to Po, and Kemp, and the others from her settlement. She owed it to Stosh, Sabine, and Max. She had ripped everyone from their homes, and now she felt responsible. If they got south only to find it desolate and abandoned, she wouldn't have anymore answers for them, and she sure wasn't ready to crawl back to Heath with her tail between her legs.
CHAPTER FIVE
[ ally ]
Ally woke the following morning with an ache behind her eyes. She knew it was morning because the back door of the transport was propped open, and rays of sunshine poked into the space. It took her a few seconds to adjust to sitting straight up, but soon she was lowering herself out of the transport.
This time the transport was parked in a large concrete lot of some sort. The iron skeleton of an old building sat to one side, and there were bent and broken light posts scattered around the space.
She spotted Max, Sabine, and Lilla immediately. They were bending down over a small pile of wood and brush, trying to get a fire going. Ally approached them slowly, standing behind them to watch.
Sabine noticed her first, standing up quickly. "You're awake!"
In the light, Ally noticed a long, thin gash across Sabine's forehead. She hadn't seen it last night.
"It's nothing." Sabine brought her hand to her head. "How are you feeling?"
Max was bent low to the ground now, blowing on a few sparks of fire to get a larger one going.
"Fine," Ally answer. "Like I said to Max, it was all in my head."
Lilla prodded the fire once it looked like it wasn't going to blow out. "Stosh and Luke are out hunting. I guess we passed a large wooded area a mile back, and they thought maybe they could catch some game."
Max stood and brushed his hands on his linen pants. "It seemed best if I stay behind."
Ally regarded him for a moment. She knew Max was alluding to the fact that he and Luke were their best protection. Max didn't have any abilities to aid them in a fight, but he had strength on his side. It was natural that if he was with the group, Luke could be gone, and vice versa.
