by Jess Petosa
“Well I’m putting my one foot down,” she responded.
Stosh clenched his hands into fists by his side. “The only reason I continued on this trip after losing Sabine was to keep you safe. I wish more than anything that I could be back in Hope Town, resting by her body, but instead I’m here. And I can’t keep you safe if you don’t let me.”
Ally blinked back tears. “Don’t use Sabine as an excuse to keep me here. That isn’t fair.”
“Well neither was her death!” Stosh yelled.
“Wait, Sabine is dead?” Max asked suddenly.
Stosh and Ally both froze. Heath looked at his desk. Of course Max wouldn’t know, no one in the City would. She looked at Stosh who was doing a good job of staring at the floor.
“No,” Max said, sounding truly upset.
Ally looked at him and nodded.
“When? How?”
“I can’t talk about this,” Stosh said, standing suddenly and leaving the room.
“Stosh!” Ally called after him, but it was no use. He was gone.
“Sorry,” Max said.
“It isn’t your fault. It is still really fresh and honestly, and I’m not sure either of us have really dealt with it yet. It was about a week ago.”
“I’m sorry,” Max said, placing his hand on her knee.
Ally fought back the tears. She didn’t want now to be the time and place where she had a good cry over Sabine, but she could use one. She wiped at her eyes.
“When are you headed back to the City?” She changed the subject.
Max smirked. “I told Luke I’d be back by dark.
She smiled. “Sounds perfect.”
Stosh paced at the side of the transport, muttering angrily. Every now and then he would yell at Ally out loud.
“I can’t believe you are doing this!”
“Do you remember the infection I got from traveling with an injury?”
“I can’t lose you too.”
“I can’t believe you!”
“Are you even coming?” Ally finally asked him, tired of his moping.
“Of course I’m coming,” he said. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
Stosh was already going through a wild range of emotions with his transition. The night before he had been crying over Sabine again, and then this morning he had shut down for awhile. Now he was angry, but who knew when his emotions would switch again.
“What about you?” she asked Joey, who had apparently heard news of her departure and came running.
“Of course,” he said. “I came here to help you. I’m not going to quit now.”
Max had been looking Joey up and down since he arrived.
“Chill,” Ally told him. “He’s been traveling with us.”
Eventually they were settled in the transport. Ally in the front with Max, and Joey and Stosh in the back. She had refused to sit anywhere else, needing to see that stone wall ride out of the trees when they got close enough.
“Ready?” he asked.
She nodded. “Take me home.”
It was a relief, coming up on the stone wall around the City and not feeling fear. The first time she had been coming against her will, and the second time she had been coming to help Luke fight a war. The gate opened and Max pulled the transport forward. He had been quiet the entire ride and Ally wondered if he felt awkward, trying to find conversation between her lost leg and Sabine being dead.
She had to see Luke.
Max pulled the transport through the gate and out onto the streets of the City. Ally took in the storefronts and houses as they drove past. Not much had changed in appearance since she was last here, as this side of the City hadn’t been affected by the Rogues. However, the general mood of the City had changed. Most of the people had disappeared into their homes for the night but a few groups lingered. Exceptionals and Ordinarys alike stood and talked, all dressed in white. Ally could see the differences in the height and build and of course the violet eyes, but they all stood as equals. Their demeanor and laughter and casual expressions told it all.
“A lot has changed since you were last here,” Max said. “Before Luke left, he had started to work on getting the Ordinarys out of the Exceptional homes and into their own apartments. He had people in place to continue his work while he was traveling with us.”
Ally looked across the seats. “You two are sort of friends now, huh?”
Max smirked. “Something like that.”
Ally laughed. “See, I knew you’d like him.”
“I guess I see why you do,” he responded. “We are pretty similar.”
Ally rolled her eyes.
“Here we are,” Max said suddenly.
He pulled up to the large building in the City Center that Ally knew as the home of Luke’s office. It had also been where they kept the Rogues they experimented on, and where Ally and the others had been held when they returned to the City. It was a time Ally didn’t like to focus on, a time when Luke didn’t recognize her.
Max pulled the transport into a large doorway that Ally had never entered before. There were several doors along the wall and an elevator.
“We can go right to Luke’s office from here. He said he’d be up there tonight.”
“I’m curious to know what’s been going on,” she responded.
“It’s better if Marnie explains it,” he said.
She wasn’t sure how to take that, but she didn’t want to press the issue. Right now she was trying not to focus on the fact that her leg, or half-leg as she’d taken to calling it, was throbbing.
“Wait there,” Max said.
He climbed out of the transport and a few seconds later she heard the back doors creak open. Soon after that her door swung open and Stosh was standing there.
She was mid-wince.
“I knew this was a bad idea,” he said, climbing up next to her.
“No, I’m fine,” she said through gritted teeth. “There is just a weird throb in my knee. My body can’t seem to figure out losing a limb and healing all within five minutes.”
“Maybe I only kept my hands on long enough to heal the outside.”
He jumped back down and helped her down, lifting her into his arms and carrying her to the elevator.
“You know, I could get used to this sort of treatment,” she said.
“Don’t,” Stosh responded. “I should be making you use your crutches.”
Joey appeared beside them, holding the crutches over his shoulder. Max pulled a key card out of his pocket and inserted it into the slot by the elevator doors. They slid open and soon they were on their way up.
“Whoa,” Joey said, leaning against the metal wall. “That’s a weird feeling.”
Ally smiled. “I thought the same thing the first time I rode in one. It is better than climbing all those stairs though, especially for Stosh.”
“You’d be dragging yourself up after a few flights,” he said with a smile.
The elevator came to a stop with a ding and the doors opened up right into Luke’s office.
“I never noticed that before,” she said.
“They are kind of hidden in the wall,” Max said. “I guess it makes for a quick escape if needed.”
Stosh stepped into the room and put her down, grabbing her crutches from Joey. She placed once under each of her arms.
“You need practice,” he said.
“You just don’t want to admit that you’re too weak to carry me,” she bantered back.
“I’ll never be weak again,” he said with a grin.
She looked into his violet eyes. She would need to get used to the fact that he was Exceptional now. Once it had been her with violet eyes, looking at his green ones. Now the scenario was switched.
The office was empty but they moved forward anyway. Ally couldn’t take her eyes off the large desk situated in front of a wall of windows. She had seen Aden sit in that same desk. The last time s
he had been in this room Luke hadn’t even know who she was. This was the room where she had taken a dart for Luke that had taken away her Exceptional abilities.
Max put his hand on her shoulder, and she knew that he was remembering too.
She had just made it to the desk when she heard the door open behind her.
“… we can use these warehouses for more living space until we can start building.” Luke was mid sentence, pointing to a clipboard in his hand.
Ally recognized two of the Guards with him, both men that had been loyal to Luke from the start. Marnie and Evan were with him as well.
It didn’t take Luke long to notice that his office was more crowded than it usually was. He looked up and Ally saw his mouth pop open slightly.
He didn’t look down at her crutches. He didn’t look down at her leg.
His violet eyes stared right into her simple, moss green ones. They glowed slightly as they crinkled slightly from his smile.
The butterflies that had been dormant for so long took flight in Ally’s stomach. She tried to move forward but had forgotten about her crutches and partially stumbled. Luke was in front of her almost instantly and had his arms wrapped around her back, crushing her into his chest.
“I was so worried something had happened to you. I always thought that if you died, I would know it. I would feel it deep down in my soul, but I was growing so unsure.”
He breathed the words into her hair.
Ally dropped the crutches and wrapped her arms around his midsection, letting him hold her up.
“I felt the same way,” she said.
Stosh cleared his throat and Ally realized how uncomfortable this probably made everyone else. Luke backed away and Ally almost fell, only righting herself after Stosh grabbed her under the arms.
“Your leg?” he questioned, looking down.
“I took on a Rogue,” she said. “And won.”
“Technically,” Joey spoke up. “I won.”
“Who is this?” Luke looked at Joey and then back at Ally.
“There is so much to tell you,” Ally said.
“Same.” Luke brought his gaze back to hers, and then to Stosh. “Well that is unexpected.”
“He is the reason my leg is doing as well as it is,” Ally said. “Like I said, there is a lot to fill you in on.”
“We should at least get it checked out,” he said. “We can go to the Med Center.”
“Okay, but I want everyone there to fill me in.”
“Deal,” he said just before he handed Stosh the crutches and scooped her into his arms.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
[ marnie ]
They all went to the medical center together. Luke wanted to continue working on his plans all while staying by Ally’s side in the medical center. He wanted Marnie to fill Ally in on their new guests, and Stosh and the new guy had no intention of leaving her. The only person who stayed behind was Max, who said he needed to get some rest after his trip to Champaign.
He and Marnie were the only ones who knew that that wasn’t truly the reason, but Marnie never shared or let on that she knew someone’s real thoughts. She hoped that he had forgotten about her abilities.
Marnie had already visited the Med Center once before. When they had first entered the City, really being there for the second time if you counted their short visit to the courtyard within the wall, they had gone straight there. Mainly for the group they had encountered, but they themselves also needed a full physical after traveling outside the City for so long.
Marnie had been amazed by the City so far. She had been impressed by Champaign, but she felt more at home in the City. It probably had something to do with all of the Exceptionals, but she also admired how they moved and lived freely in the City, and how the Ordinarys did the same.
Luke explained that the Ordinarys having free reign was a new thing but she didn’t care, at least it was happening.
It was happening just like Ally wanted it to and Marnie felt little desire to return back to Zone D. She knew that wasn’t possible though, since she was sure the General wanted both her and Evan back.
The doctors settled Ally into the largest room they had. The first thing they did was do a scan of her leg to see how it was healing inside. Then they set her up with an IV for fluids and made her comfortable in her bed.
“Much better,” Ally said out loud, resting her head back on the wall of pillows behind her.
“Marnie.” Luke motioned to her.
“You better hurry. These pillows might make me fall asleep,” Ally said with eyes closed and a giant smile on her face. “I forgot how soft the pillows are here.”
Marnie laughed and Stosh, who was seated in a chair by the bed, put his head in his hands. “I think we’ve already lost her.”
“No, it’s fine.” Ally’s eyes popped open and she patted the side of her bed. “Sit and share.”
Marnie sat on the edge of the bed slowly, straightening the edge of the sheets even though they were perfect. She wasn’t sure why she was nervous.
“I’m assuming you found the group?” Ally prompted.
She nodded and filled Ally in on the time leading up to finding them, how they had staked out a spot in the woods, waiting. How some Guards had gone north and south just in case, but how Marnie had been able to stretch out her abilities and locate the group.
The moment was still fresh in her mind, when she first heard the cries of relief as the group reached a settlement and then despair as they realized it was empty. It was then that she realized just who she was hearing from.
“Children,” she said to Ally. “All children.”
Ally sat up a little straighter, seeming a little more sober. “Children?”
Marnie nodded. “Their thoughts were full of so much pain.” She thought about how she had just taken off running, crossing the river and not stopping until she reached them. “I could hear their misery in their thoughts and could almost feel their pain. I had never experienced anything like it with my abilities.”
She paused, her voice catching. The feeling was still so fresh.
Evan stepped up to the bed and continued for her. “Marnie hadn’t prepared us for what we would see when we found them, she had just taken off running. It was wild. Over a hundred children all huddled in the settlement, raiding the homes and trying to find places to stay. They were dirty and sick and almost half of them were injured.”
Ally brought her hand to her mouth.
Marnie composed herself and took over. “The oldest child was fifteen and he seemed to be the self-appointed leader of their group. He fell at my feet and wept, so thankful that we found them. He didn’t speak but I could see the thoughts in his mind. I could see what they had recently been through.”
“Were they from the western City then?” Ally asked. “Where were their parents?”
Marnie shared a look with the others. “I’m still working to figure that out. Most of them either refuse to speak or can’t, for some reason. I’m the only one who can communicate with them since I can speak in their minds. Sometimes if I prompt certain ones with questions I get blips of thoughts but it is a long process. An emotionally tiring one.”
Evan had commented yesterday on how tired she was looking. Generally she would have had a sarcastic comment for him but instead she had burst into tears. He had held her while she cried, even though she could hear in his mind that it made him uncomfortable. She tried to never read Evan’s thoughts but in that moment she had just been too tired to care or to have control.
“Children,” Ally said to no one in particular. “Where are they now? Is that what you are working on with the building, Luke?”
Luke was looking over a blueprint laid across a desk in the room, but he looked up and nodded.
“We already had plans to build more housing for the Ordinarys moving out of the Exceptionals homes. Some have decided to go back to their settlements, and some want to stay.
We also have some Ordinarys that want to move from the settlements into here.”
“Are you tearing the wall down?” Stosh asked.
Luke shook his head. “We had talked about it but we met with the leaders of the settlements and we all decided that we should keep it as a security measure. If we ever needed to, we could gather everyone inside. We are going to allow free travel between the City and the settlements though.”
“This is so much to take in,” Ally said. “So much has changed.” She looked down at her leg and then back up at Marnie.
“Don’t push yourself, but if you find out anything new from these children, can you come tell me?” she asked.
Marnie nodded and then looked at Evan. “I think I should go get some rest. Tomorrow I am meeting with another group.”
Evan nodded and she joined him to leave the room. When they reached the hall she had to work to fight back tears. She wanted so bad to help the group of children but she was afraid of all of the emotions it would bring up. She had seen them in pain and hurt, she had seen them watch their friends and siblings die, she had seen a few watch their parents die. It was almost too much.
Evan put his arm around her. “You don’t have to do this, you know.”
Marnie shook her head. “I have to. I’m the only one that can help.”
“But if it’s too much…”
“It’s not!”
“Marnie…”
She looked at him. “I have to help.”
Evan frowned. “I hear you cry at night, when you think no one is listening. And last night I heard you screaming from the nightmares.”
Marnie looked at the floor, unable to meet his gaze. “It’s hard to do this alone.”
“You don’t have to do this alone,” he responded. “You have me.”
Marnie let out a small laugh. “Yes, just what you wanted to do… accompany an Exceptional on a wild journey across the country, hundreds of miles from home, and babysit her.”
“You don’t need anyone to babysit you,” he pointed out. “You asked for me to come along.”
She bit her lip. “Oh, that’s true. I forgot about that.”
“I wanted to come though.” he said. “I’m glad you asked because I’m not sure that the General would have let me come otherwise.”
