by Jess Petosa
“I think I could have been part of the police,” Joey said.
Ally nodded. “It seemed like a good idea. I think maybe we could implement something like that, years from now. I think there will always be people that like to make trouble, no matter what the world is like, and we need a way to control them without killing them or torturing them.”
“I don’t know, I’ve always found torture to be an effective way of controlling people.”
Ally raised one eyebrow.
“I’m kidding,” he said with a laugh.
Ally shook her head and looked back at the road. Just in time too, because thirty yards in front of them stood a group of Rogues.
“Shit!” Joey yelled, bracing himself against the side of the door as Ally skidded to a stop. “Ram through them!”
“I can’t!” Ally said. “They will break the transport into pieces.”
“What do we do?” he said. He was looking at the Rogues with wide eyes. It was the same look Ally had had when she first saw a Rogue. A small bit of curiosity and a lot of fear.
Ally took her hand and banged on the wall to the transport. Three times hard. The sign for a Rogue emergency so that they knew what guns to grab.
“Shoot first, ask questions later,” she said.
She pulled a gun out from under her seat and opened the door.
“I’m serious Joey,” she said. “Take them out, fast and quick.”
He nodded and grabbed his own gun, making sure he had one with the cure darts. They had gone over their scenario several times in talk, but never in action.
“If you see one raise their hand, aim there first,” she thought to yell last minute.
Her feet barely hit the ground before she was firing on the Rogues. There were at least a dozen in the road, maybe more in the woods. They roared in anger when the first of their group fell to the ground. Stosh and Neil came skidding by, their guns raised and ready. The extra ammo packs were on their backs, ready for anyone to grab.
They took the group out quickly and efficiently.
“I feel like I’ve been waiting this whole time for that fight,” Neil said, jumping from leg to leg. He was clearly enjoying the adrenaline.
“We did perfect,” Ally said. “Just like we talked about.”
“Now what?” Joey said.
“We should put them in the transport,” Stosh said.
“What?” Joey looked at Stosh like he was crazy.
“They are cured, not dead. We can’t just leave them here.”
“He’s right,” Ally said. “Let’s do it quickly so we can move on.”
Thirteen limp bodies later and the Rogues were loaded up.
“Man, they smell,” Neil said, holding his nose. “Maybe I should finally take a turn upfront.”
“No way, don’t change the routine now,” Joey said, clapping Neil on the shoulder. “Plus, someone needs to watch these Rogues in case they wake up angry.”
“Hopefully they’ll wake up happy Ordinarys,” Ally said. The new serum healed the Rogue of not only their illness but of the Exceptional gene. “Tired and confused, but Ordinary. No,” she paused. “People. They’ll wake up people, because that is what we all are.”
“Whatever sis…” Neil started but his words were cut short. “Watch out!”
He dove for Ally, shoving her out of the way. There was a bright flash and yelling and a little bit of screaming.
A gun fired. Over and over and over again.
Fire in her chest.
So much screaming.
Then she realized that she was the one screaming.
Not again.
The pain was different this time. It wasn’t all over, like when the Rogue controlled her mind. It was centralized in her leg, burning up her leg.
“Ally!” Stosh was yelling. “Ally, can you hear me?”
She looked up at him. “Am I dying?”
“No,” he said, quickly looking down at her body. “No. You aren’t dying. Just stay awake, okay?”
She nodded but could feel her eyes closing. There was talking around her but she couldn’t hear what they were saying. She was lifted from the ground but her body kept going.
Up, up, and up.
Ally woke up in the back of the transport, screaming before she was even fully conscious. She was on fire, she was sure of it. Her whole body ached but she couldn’t quite pinpoint why.
“Shhh.” Stosh appeared beside her, wiping at her forehead with a damp cloth. “I think we are almost there. Joey is driving fast.”
Ally panted. “Almost where?”
“Champaign,” he said.
Ally couldn’t see through the tears. “It hurts so bad. It burns.”
“I know,” he said. “I know. Hang in there.”
Ally woke up slowly, blinking at the bright light above her. She was no longer in the transport, but in a comfortable bed. The room came into focus and she realized she was in an exam room, one like the one Carla, the town doctor, had.
She started to sit up but her balance felt off. She laid back down.
Champaign. They were in Champaign.
A door opened to her right.
“You’re awake,” Carla said. “Your brother and friends were starting to worry.”
“I’ve come too far to die,” Ally responded. Her voice was hoarse. “Good to see you again.”
Carla smiled. “I was hoping I’d see you again, although not quite in this state.”
“Here, take a sip of water.” Carla picked up a glass of water next to the bed and pressed it to Ally’s lips. “We’ve been keeping you hydrated through the IV but I bet your mouth is dry.”
Ally nodded. “What happened?”
“I’ll let the others know that you are awake, and then they can tell you.”
She disappeared from the room and a minute later Stosh appeared above her. He leaned down and gave her a gentle hug, kissing her forehead.
“You had us worried there,” he said.
“I might feel worried too if I knew what was going on,” she said. She still didn’t feel quite right.
Joey appeared by Stosh’s side. He seemed different, too.
“Guys, what happened? Where’s Neil?”
Joey shook his head.
Stosh looked at Joey and then down at Ally. “He didn’t make it. A Rogue came out of nowhere and sent some sort of ball of light at you. It hit Neil and he was just… gone.”
Ally closed her eyes. The abilities sounded much like what she had dealt with.
“What happened to me?”
“We aren’t sure. Part of the light hit your leg, as well, but you didn’t just go up in ash like Neil. It didn’t affect all of you.”
“All of me?” she asked.
Stosh nodded.
“Just my leg?”
Another nod.
“What happened to my leg?”
Stosh looked away. “Ally.”
“What happened to my leg Stosh?” she said in a panic. “You know what, forget it.”
She pushed up on her elbows and took a moment to gain her balance. Slowly she lifted the covers and peered down past the bottom of her gown.
“Oh no…” she said. “No no no no no.”
“Ally,” Stosh said, putting a hand on her arm.
“No. This can’t happen. Not now,” she said, closing her eyes.
“Carla said that she thinks the City could help. They have ways of dealing with this sort of thing.”
Ally looked up at him. “My leg is gone, Stosh. Gone.”
That was why she had felt so off balance. There was a dull throb in whatever was left of her leg, but it was gone. She had never imagined what it might feel like to no longer be able to move her feet or wiggle her toes. Thought after thought ran through her mind as she tried to process the news.
“And Neil is gone completely,” Joey said with a frown. “It could be worse.”
She ignored him. She dared to let her arm travel slowly toward the injured leg. I stopped just past the knee, at least she hadn’t lost all of it. She lifted her gown and saw that the knee was wrapped in white gauze. It didn’t hurt much, just a dull throb, which seemed odd.
“How did you keep me alive?” she asked.
Joey and Stosh shared a glance and they looked back at her. She looked at both of them, back and forth and back and forth. Then she noticed it. She gasped.
“Stosh…”
He looked at the ground and then back up at her. “It happened…”
Violet eyes looked back at her. She covered her mouth. “You’re Exceptional.”
He shared a small smile. “I guess you’re the odd one out now. Luke, Max, Me.”
Ally looked at her leg and back at Stosh. “How?”
“After the Rogue’s light ball hit you, Joey and I pulled out our guns and started to shoot. The Rogue sent all of the bullets flying back and while we managed to dive away, a few of them hit you.”
Ally felt around her body. She didn’t feel any bullet wounds.
“I’ve never reacted so fast,” Stosh said. “I pictured losing Sabine and then thought about losing you. I wouldn’t recover. If you died, you’d have to take me with you. I threw my hands over one of your bullet wounds to stop the bleeding and felt an energy rising within me. My hands lit up brightly and when I pulled them away, your bullet wounds were healed. Your leg wound had stopped bleeding and covered itself with new skin, but nothing had grown back.” He seemed to regret that.
“Wow,” she said. “I don’t even know what to say.”
“I guess it is a good thing I didn’t take the vaccination,” he said to her.
She nodded and raised the sheet again, looking at her leg.
“I can work with this,” she said quickly. “I can recover. I can still travel.”
“Slow down,” Stosh said quickly. “You don’t need to think about that right now, you just need time to heal.”
She didn’t look up at him. “There are plans to be made still. We don’t even know about Luke or Max.”
“They were here,” Stosh said. “They were here last week Heath said. They headed north to intersect that group. He hasn’t heard back from them yet.”
Ally breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. We should head up there and help them. We need to take the recovering Rogues up there.”
“Carla is taking personal care of them,” Stosh told her. “I think they’ll probably stay here.”
Ally nodded. “Okay. When can we leave?”
“Ally!” Stosh yelled, silencing her. “You need to stop. You need to process what happened. You won’t be going anywhere for awhile.”
She furrowed her brows and glared at him. “I’m not letting a minor injury stop me, Stosh.”
“Minor!” he said with a laugh. “You just lost half your leg. You’ve been unconscious for over a day, and you are in no position to travel!”
“Still arguing like cats and dogs I see,” said a familiar voice.
Ally popped her head around Stosh, who was blocking the view of the door.
“Willow!” Ally cried out.
Willow stepped carefully to the bed, and slowly. It took Ally a moment to notice the small bundle of blankets in her arms.
“You… you had the baby?” Ally asked through tears. “Wait, how? It hasn’t been nine months.”
Less than nine months. How much had happened in that small amount of time? It felt like an eternity.
Willow smiled. “Apparently Exceptional babies bake a little faster.”
Ally looked down at the baby. “Right. Exceptional.”
Willow nodded. “Ally, I’d like you to meet Oakley.”
“Oak? Like the settlement?”
“To give me a little reminder of home,” she said with a smile. “The ending reminds me of your name, too.”
Ally grinned, motioned Willow closer. Willow leaned forward and placed the baby gently in Ally’s arms. She looked down at the perfect little baby, bundled tightly in the warm material. Her small nose, ears, and eyes. Eye that would be violet if they happened to be open.
“She’s perfect,” Ally said.
“That’s what I said,” Stosh said with a smile, looking down at Oakley.
“Oh Willie.” Ally looked up. “I’m sorry I had to leave you here. I thought about you often, hoping that you were okay.”
Willow smiled. “I was just fine. Champaign has been good to me. It’s become home.”
Ally looked back down at Oakley. “Welcome to this crazy world little one.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
[ ally ]
Two days later Ally was sitting outside of the medical building, basking in the heat of the sun. She had insisted on getting outside and back on her feet.
Her foot.
Andrea, Alexis, and Brooke had come to visit her a few times, as well as Heath. Willow had come every day, along with Stosh and Joey.
There was still no word from Luke, which worried her. If they had left a week ago, they would have definitely intercepted the group by now, but Ally knew she had to be patient. Heath said that neither Luke nor Max had mentioned returning with news, and they had no idea that Ally would be here.
She looked at the crutches next to her chair. That was what Carla had called them, but they just looked like pieces of lumber screwed together. They went under her arms and helped her to get around on one leg.
Her one leg.
She had a good cry about it that first night in the medical building. After that she decided she wouldn’t cry over it anymore. The tears wouldn’t make her leg magically grow back. She needed to overcome this, to learn how to live with this disability, it she was to continue on her mission.
Stosh and Joey seemed to think that she should just give up.
She couldn’t.
Her thoughts were disrupted by Stosh, who was sprinting down the road toward the med building. He stopped in front of her on the porch, barely out of breath.
“Max is here,” he said quickly.
“What?” Ally started to push herself up and quickly remembered that she couldn’t stand up without her crutches.
She caught herself forgetting this often, and had even fallen out of her hospital bed yesterday.
“Where?” she asked.
“Heath’s office. I saw him pull in on a transport. I came here first because I figured you’d kill me if I did otherwise.”
“You were right,” Ally said with a laugh. “Hand me my crutches.”
“What?” Stosh said. “I’m sure Heath will tell him you are here.”
“I could use some practice,” she said.
He sighed and grabbed her crutches, placing them upright in front of her. It was a slow process but she was able to push out of the chair and grab them. She nearly fell over in the process but Stosh grabbed her arms.
“That was close.”
She nodded, trying not to focus on the throbbing pain in her missing leg. Even though the wound was healed over, which was an odd sight, there was still an ache in the muscles and bone.
“Ready?” Stosh asked.
“Ready,” she responded.
It was slow going but thankfully Heath’s office was close. They were still making their way down the road when Max appeared. He wasn’t running, but he was in a brisk walk toward the med building.
“Ally!” he cried out when he saw her.
She smiled up at him. It didn’t take long for him to notice the crutches, and then his eyes naturally traveled down to the source of the need. He looked up at her with a shocked expression, pulling her into a gentle hug as soon as he reached them.
“What happened?” he asked.
Ally smirked. “Just a Rogue on the loose. You know, the usual.”
She played the situation off with humor, hoping he didn’t see through her front.
“Luke will be so glad to know
you are alive,” he said. “It was hard for him not to come after you back in Zone D.”
Ally breathed a sigh of relief. Up until now she had been wondering if they had made it to the City and intersected the group. At least Max and Luke were both alive.
“What happened? Did you find the group?” she asked.
Max nodded. “It’s a long story. Let’s go to my Uncle’s office. I only came back to let him know that I was alive. I hadn’t planned on finding you here, too.”
He reached down and lifted her off her feet.
“What are you doing? I can make it along just fine,” she said.
“I don’t doubt it,” he responded. “But this is faster.”
Stosh carried her crutches and Max carried her. They were in Heath’s office in under ten minutes, and Max set her down in one of his chairs. Heath came in a few minutes later.
“Max,” he said formally. “I’m glad to see you came back in good health.”
Heath was being strangely formal. Stosh had said that Heath seemed to be having trouble with Max’s transformation, but she didn’t realize it was this bad.
“Were you able to intersect the group Luke spoke of?” he added.
“We did, and we've been working on implementing them into the City as they’ve been leaving the medical center. This is the first free day I’ve had to come back.”
“So they were friendly?” Ally asked. She felt instant relief, knowing that a band of Rogues hadn’t been about to attack the City.
Max nodded slightly. “They are kind of… unique. You’d have to see it to believe it, but so far, yes, they are friendly. We are keeping watch over them as they heal, hoping that they continue to be a non-threat. It is a day-by-day thing at this point.”
“I want to go back. Take me with you,” Ally said.
“Whoa now.” Stosh put his hand on her shoulder. “You are nowhere near ready. Carla hasn’t even cleared you to leave yet.”
Ally shrugged. “I don’t care. There are doctors in the City that can take care of me. I need to go back. I need to talk with Luke.”
“No. I’m putting my foot down,” Stosh said.
