by Jess Petosa
Max stifled a laugh. “So basically what we left Champaign with, and look how we arrived.”
Luke’s face was unreadable, but Ally could see him clenching his fists when she dared take a glance at him.
“Max could go with you,” he said.
Max stood. “Wait, you aren’t going to argue with her silly plan? You are just going to volunteer people to watch over her?”
Luke glared at Max. “I think we both know how stubborn she is.”
Ally stopped pacing. She never thought of herself as stubborn, just… driven to do what she needed to. “Max should go with you. You are probably going to need to stop in Champaign before you do anything, and Max will be your best asset for dealing with Heath.”
“He will probably kill me on sight,” Max retorted.
“Or he’ll kill me for turning you,” Luke pointed out.
Max nodded. “At least then I’ll have time to run.”
Ally shook her head. “Doubtful. I still think it is best if it is Luke, Marnie, and Max that make the trip north. I’ll have Stosh, Sabine, and two other Exceptionals that Marnie will chose.”
“Huh?” Marnie looked up from her knees, as if she just realized they were having an important conversation.
“The General gave us permission to take two more Exceptionals with us, voluntarily of course. We were hoping you could convince some of your friends to come along,” Ally explained.
Marnie’s mouth hung slightly open. “But what about Evan?”
It took Ally a moment to realize she was talking about the Ordinary that was assigned to her, either as protection or as a guard, she wasn’t completely sure. Her eyes scanned to the soldier sitting next to Marnie. “He wasn’t a part of the deal.”
“I think you should make him a part of the deal,” Marnie said. “He would be much more useful than any of my friends. They’ve been kept from their abilities for most of their life, and many have no idea how to use them.” She held up her cuffs to make a point. “Evan has military training.”
She had a very valid point, but Ally didn’t think the General would be willing to part with one of his soldiers. To him, only Exceptionals were expendable. Ally had hoped they would be able to train them to use their abilities better on the trip up north, even if it meant camping out for a week or two in the woods before moving on. It would be better than nothing.
“I’ll have to talk to the General,” she told Marnie.
Marnie just nodded. Evan remained still, a skill in which Ally figured he was well trained.
She was feeling off balance without a response from Luke. She had expected him to disagree immediately and rant and rave about how dumb she was being. To be truthful, she was a little hurt he didn’t seem to care more.
“Evan, could you take me to see the General. I need to finalize plans for our departure tomorrow and confirm supplies. Also, it looks like I need to negotiate the addition of you to our travel group.” Ally gave him a kind smile, hoping it would ease the tension he was emanating. It didn’t. “If that is okay with you, of course.”
He stood quickly and at attention, gazing down at Marnie for a moment. “I think that would be okay.”
No one else made a move to join them. Everyone seemed to be lost in their own thoughts and processing the changes in their travels tomorrow. She just hoped they would use this time to accept it, rather that come up with arguments for why she was wrong. Because right about now, based on the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, she was having trouble accepting it herself.
“Sergeant Nickols was never a part of the deal,” the General said from his desk.
They had had to go through four clearance zones and wait twenty minutes in a warm interrogation room before they were let in to see the General.
“I know, but Marnie is adamant that we bring him along. She made some valid points about his usefulness as well,” Ally said.
Evan was standing by the door, looking extremely uncomfortable that he was the topic of conversation. Ally didn’t want to discuss him as though he was an object to be acquired, but he didn’t seem interested in speaking for himself.
“Which is why I need him here,” the General retorted.
“Yes, but hadn’t you planned to keep him on duty with Marnie during her stay here. A stay which is now being cut considerably short since she will be coming north with us.” Ally crossed her arms over her chest.
The General sighed and used his right hand to rub his forehead. “Very well. Now what else did you want to discuss with me?”
“I just wanted to confirm the use of two small transports for tomorrow, plus supplies for our trip.”
The General rifled through some paperwork on his desk. It was messier than she had expected it to be.
“I have the orders right here. My soldiers will escort you to the Outer Zone tomorrow morning where you will meet up with the people of Marnie’s sector. After your choices are made, the soldiers will take you to the north road where you will part ways.”
Ally nodded. “Marnie seemed reluctant about bringing Exceptionals from her sector because of their lack of training in their abilities. I’m confident that we can help them learn to harness their powers, but I’d like some preparation.”
The General nodded and pressed a button on his desk.
“Sir,” a female said over a speaker in the room.
“Please print out a list of the Exceptionals living in Outer Zone, Sector 4 along with their ages and abilities. Our guest will be picking it up once she leaves my office.”
“Yes Sir,” the voice crackled.
Ally fidgeted in her seat. “If you don’t mind me asking, why have you been so accommodating? Especially to a group mixed with Exceptionals, whom you seem to distrust completely.”
The General leaned on his desk, clasping his hands together. “Things weren’t always this way in Zone D. After the wars and looting and riots, our first leader tried hard to have everyone live in peace in the City. Job distribution was equal among Ordinarys and Exceptionals, and living arrangements as well. We were working hard to rebuild a better city, the city you see here today. But history likes to repeat itself, Ally. Eventually gangs popped up and violence was widespread. The majority of the trouble was coming from Exceptionals. They were starting to realize that they had the tools to overthrow the leaders. Why do with less when they didn’t have to?
The leaders before me tried hard to reason with the Exceptionals. They started by imprisoning the ones that caused trouble, just as Ordinarys would have been imprisoned for crimes in the Old World. But new problems kept popping up. The leaders knew that if they didn’t do something drastic, immediately, there would be no turning back. An Exceptional that was on the board of leaders at the time, had the ability to take the abilities of another Exceptional completely, stalling them for a short period of time. He could also project abilities on other people. He was very attuned to how Exceptional abilities worked and the ways that they could be kept at bay. He worked with a technical team to develop a device that would lessen an Exceptional’s abilities for as long as he or she was wearing the device. The first prototype was rough, but eventually it evolved into the cuffs that we use today.
I wish the problems stopped there, but the Exceptionals replaced their abilities with violence and we were forced to separate them from the Ordinarys. That is how we ended up with the system we have today. My beliefs still lie with those of the men before me, Ally. If there were a way for me to integrate all Exceptionals back into Zone D without issue, I would do it, but all attempts so far have proved in vain. I don’t often put my faith in a kid, no offense, but I am open to trying anything. And I think your story and the trials you’ve faced in the past several months give you credibility. I mean, at this point, what do we have to lose?”
Ally sat back in her chair, letting his words work through her mind and settle in. They weren’t exactly comforting, but at least he wasn’t denying her requests and
telling her he didn’t believe she could make a difference.
“Honestly General, I have no idea if my plans will work or how much I will accomplish, but I have to try. If I don’t try, I’ll never know if I could have made a difference. I just know that I am not okay with the way things are right now, with the threats and the dangers and the chaos. If I have any chances of making a small difference... I have to take it.”
The General nodded. “I think you’ll find that a lot of the towns out there are open to change, with some persuading, but no one has had the time or willingness to try. You though? You just might be crazy enough to accomplish something. I wish you luck.”
Ally nodded and stood up.
“And Ally,” he leaned across the desk. “I don’t distrust Exceptionals.”
Ally and Evan exited the General’s office.
The woman situated at a desk outside the office handed her a thin stack of papers that were attached in the corner by a small, metal rod. She thanked her and let Evan lead her back to the living quarters.
She had been discouraged to learn of the state the Southern City was in. She was hoping to find a city living in peace, not a city divided, like the one she left behind. But Zone D had a leader with an open mind. Ally knew that if she could just find a solution, one that would help more towns and cities than just the ones she had visited, having the General to back her would prove influential.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
[ ally ]
Luke was waiting in her room when she got back. She had been sharing it with Sabine, but Ally imagined she had moved her stuff into the guys’ room with Stosh, which left Marnie, Max, and Evan to share another.
He was propped up on one of the beds, his legs crossed at the ankles. Ally took a deep breath and walked further into the room. She dared to meet his gaze and held his eyes until she was seated at the end of the bed, by his feet. Her body angle felt awkward and she fiddled with her hands before sitting on them.
“So…” she started.
Luke rolled his eyes and sat up. “Don’t so me. Let’s hash this out here and now.”
Ally eyed him cautiously. The eye roll and his demeanor reminded her of Max. Just another way he had changed since their time together when they first met. “Are you going to try and talk me into going with you?”
The more she thought about his reaction during her admission this afternoon, she realized he had been waiting to speak to her in private. She should have stayed in the main room, or brought a buddy. Luke was much easier to refute and deny in a group setting.
Luke shook his head. “A month ago, I may have tried. Now, I’m going to let it go. I can’t risk anything that will push you further away from me, even if that means risking losing you. Which is what I’m doing here, and I want you to know how hard that is for me. I’ve lost you once already, and I’m not sure I even have you fully back.”
Ally turned toward him and crossed her legs underneath her. He scooted closer on the bed and she reached for one of his hands. “You won’t lose me. I don’t have any doubts about what I am doing or where I am going. I can feel that it’s right, and I have the backing of the General and good information for where I’m going. I don’t plan on throwing myself into danger.”
“Most people don’t plan on danger, it just finds them.” Luke pointed out.
Ally nodded. “We ran into plenty of danger, together, while we were traveling down here. We live in a chaotic world, Luke, with some crazy people, but we are all that’s left. There isn’t another group of humans waiting to descend on the Earth in case we fail at rebuilding. We are it. If we don’t do this, and do it right, it’s over. We’ve had over a century, almost two, and we are getting nowhere. We are killing each other, enslaving each other, and spreading disease. I truly believe that if we aren’t the generation to make the change, the next generation doesn’t stand a chance at survival. We are barely surviving. Enough is enough.”
He nodded. “I know. I know that things need to change, I just wish it was someone else leading the charge.” He brought his free hand up to her face and rubbed her cheek for just a moment. “I just need you to be careful.”
Ally gave him a small smile. “I plan on it. My mission isn’t going to go well if I’m not. I’ll have Stosh and Sabine with me, and Marnie is going to see if she can recruit some friends from her home.”
Luke’s eyebrows furrowed. “If they can be trusted.”
“Look at the way Marnie has been treated. I think, or at least hope, they’ll be willing to get away.”
“You are too trusting,” Luke responded.
“You aren’t trusting enough,” Ally retorted.
Luke laughed. “A perfect balance then.”
He leaned back on the bed and laid his head on the pillow. “Lie with me. Just tonight.”
Ally scooted up on the bed and tucked herself into Luke’s body. His arm naturally came around her back and pulled her close. She closed her eyes and listened to the beat of his heart, felt the rise and fall of his chest. How long had it been since they had laid together like this? Recently they had fallen asleep in the woods holding hands, but nothing as intimate as this. Others had been around.
“What are we, you and I? Right now, at this moment in time,” Luke asked.
It was as though he had heard her thoughts.
Ally didn’t move. She could hear Luke’s heart beating faster below her head.
“I’m not sure,” Ally responded in a whisper. “I don’t think it would be fair to call it anything before tomorrow, or during.”
Luke’s body shifted and she thought he might be nodding.
“But after? When this is all hopefully over,” he said.
His words vibrated across his chest.
Ally thought about the possible implications of being with Luke after this was all over. What would even happen when this was all over? It could be months, it could be years. If the past few months changed them so much, what would the future bring. And what about Max? She knew that he would be with her given the chance, but how fair was that to him? She couldn’t let him wait for her. It wasn’t something she could let either of them do. But tonight wasn’t the night to hash this out.
With a whispered “maybe” she let the rise and fall of Luke’s chest put her to sleep.
The following morning started off slow. A soldier had taken Ally to see the General, where she confirmed the plans for her personal travels, and came up with ideas for ways they could start to unite the towns and cities. When she returned to the room, everyone was awake.
They all seemed sluggish as they moved around the main room, nibbling on pieces of bread and crackers. The mood shifted to anxious and Ally knew she needed to start speaking to her friends before they all fell apart. Even though she barely knew her, she figured it was a good time to bring up their trip to Marnie’s settlement. Or Sector as the General called it. Out of all of them, Marnie seemed the least nervous about their journey.
“Do you have any ideas about who could join us from your Sector?” Ally sat down at the table, where Marnie was back to shuffling paper.
Marnie shrugged, a closed book as usual. Ally’s first impression of Marnie had been that she was straightforward and talkative, but perhaps she was wrong.
“What are you doing with that paper?”
Marnie looked up at Ally and let out a small laugh. “Paper?” She looked at her hands. “These are playing cards.”
She dropped the stack of paper on the table and lifted one up. “Here.”
Ally took it from her. It was stiff and had a bumpy texture to it, nothing like the paper she had seen in the settlement or the northern City.
“Playing cards?”
Marnie nodded. “There are some games you can play with these, either by yourself or with someone. It’s how I’ve been passing the time here in Zone D.”
Ally handed the card back. “Well, maybe you can teach me some of these games one day.”
Ally stood, thinking she should go over their packs one last time.
“Ally,” Marnie spoke up. “I actually think that I may have some ideas of who could go with you on your trip.”
“Oh, good! Thank you,” Ally said with a smile.
There was a knock on the door and it pushed open. A small group of soldiers entered, their backs straight and a serious look on their face. Evan stood at attention. Max rolled his eyes in Ally’s direction and she held back a giggle.
The soldier in the front of the group spoke for the rest. “We are here to escort you to your transports and lead you to Sector 4.”
“At ease,” Luke said as he picked up his pack.
Everyone in the room looked at him. The soldiers seemed perturbed, and everyone else but Ally confused. Ally laughed out loud.
“What?” Luke said to her. “It worked in the movies.”
They all grabbed their individual packs. Luke, Max, and Evan carried the packs for the additional Exceptionals that would be joining them. Stosh offered to help but no one wanted him to overdo it. Ally was already worried about him coming along on this journey with them but this was all their new normal.
Ally didn’t even give their temporary home a second glance on the way out the door. They followed the soldiers down the hall and down a few flights of stairs. They wouldn’t have all fit in an elevator and for some reason the soldiers seemed against splitting up for that short period. They walked out into the courtyard and to the main gate, where two other soldiers let them out. Three transports were waiting for them.
“We should split into our groups now, just so we can leave our packs in the correct place,” Ally offered.
Luke headed toward the last transport, Max, Marnie, and Evan going with them. They dropped the extra packs by the middle transport, and Stosh and Sabine loaded them onto the back while Ally approached the soldier in charge.
