by Dee J. Stone
“But they’re getting treated, right?” I ask.
Kale shrugs. “Sure, but you know it won’t last. Plus there’s not enough medicine to treat everyone, is there? My parents left to give the antidote to some of them. X still thinks it won’t work.”
I look at him. “Yeah, ‘cuz you think Samson and Cindy are being controlled or something.”
“Or something.”
“But they’ve got telepathic blocks!” I say. “No one can control them.”
He shakes his head. “We don’t know what happened before we came here.”
I don’t like to think that someone messed with our leaders, but I’ve got no other explanation why the normies won’t take the antidote.
“Are we still going to test it?” I ask.
X nods. “Yes, because I’m pretty sure Samson and Cindy will return with bad news.”
I drum my fingers against the table. Going around giving normies the antidote? What if something goes wrong? What if we kill them because we don’t know what the hell we’re doing?
I stuff my face with food to calm down. Man can Tranquility cook. Sure it’s only pancakes, but wow they’re awesome.
We’re quiet as we eat, which makes the TV the only sound in the room. The news is discussing what’s going on out there. In addition to the virus, villain groups are taking the opportunity to attack civilians, since the Keepers are no longer around. The military is trying to contain them, but failing. Also, they’re capturing other heroes, because they think they’re Keepers, even though they’re not. “Special agents—those with powers—have been dispatched to assist with the search for the Keepers of Justice,” the reporter says. “These agents are also putting a stop to the villains.”
The news shows a group of people marching down the streets, all healthy and confident. Oh, man. This is bad. I mean, it’s great that they’re stopping the villains, but bad that they’re capturing the heroes. Some heroes fight back, some don’t, which means they’ll probably get captured. I hope Samson and Cindy are careful.
X crosses his arms over his chest. “They’re so focused on finding us that they’re leaving the humans with little protection.”
“That’s crap,” Kale says. “Those special agents can’t be everywhere at once. They need the heroes.”
I say, “But you can’t really blame the government. They’re trying to do what’s right and protect their people.”
Kale snorts. “They can protect their people by trusting us.”
“They’re probably so confused they dunno what to do,” I say.
Kale shakes his head. “That’s messed up.”
Yeah, it is. I also wish the government would give us another chance. They’ve gotta realize how much they need us.
As we all eat, we talk about our days prior to coming here. Stone and Stone Junior fled together. They had others with them, but they got captured. They thought they could save more, but everyone was gone. They didn’t want to fight the military—it would have only resulted in deaths. So they fled to the safe house like we did. Once they discovered it wasn’t safe, they came here.
Speed also fled. He wasn’t at the Tower when we got attacked. He was running around Upstate New York, like he does every night. When he came back, he saw what happened. Samson found him in an abandoned warehouse a few miles away from the Tower. He was slumped against a wall, crying.
Techno and Tranquility were in military custody when Techno controlled all the traffic lights and cameras around the place to confuse the soldiers. They made a run for it and met Samson, who brought them here. Shifter morphed into a soldier and snuck away.
When we’re done eating, the guys and I go to our room. I’ve got a bag of chips with me. We’re quiet for a few minutes. X breaks the silence, “We need to break into the lab and steal a vial of the antidote.”
I nearly choke on my chips. “Steal?”
“Yeah. Kale and I will keep the scientists occupied while you snatch one.”
“Me? Why me?”
He gazes at the floor. An image enters my head. Kale must be sending me what X sees. It’s a lab filled with tubes and flasks and science-y things. Brain and the other scientists are seated at different stations, working. Speed is with them. I mean, I think it’s Speed. All I see is this blur. In an inner room all the way in the back is a shelf filled with vials. There must be thousands of them.
I gulp. “I’m supposed to steal one?”
“We can’t get into the room without the scientists seeing us,” X says. “But you can stretch your arm and steal one.”
“They’ll know one’s missing!”
X shrugs. “Probably, but we’ll be long gone by then and we’ll test it on a human.”
“This doesn’t feel right,” I say. “Stealing from the lab.”
Kale crosses his arms over his chest. “Agreed. This isn’t necessary.”
X gets up and walks to the door. Runs his hand through his messy hair. “I know it’s wrong.” He turns around. “But what else are we supposed to do? What if something or someone is stopping Samson and Cindy from giving the antidote to the humans? If we manage to cure the normies, would anyone really care that we stole a vial?”
I look at Kale. He frowns. I guess stealing for the greater good isn’t so bad, but it still feels wrong. What else can we do, though?
“Maybe Samson and Cindy succeeded,” I say.
Kale’s face brightens. “Yeah, maybe they did. I’ll contact them.”
He shuts his eyes and presses his fingers to the sides of his head. X is still by the door. He leans against it. I stuff some more chips into my mouth.
Kale opens his eyes and sighs. “Nope. Didn’t work.”
“You talked to them?” I ask.
“Yep. My mom said they tried it on the humans in D.C., Maryland, New York. No one’s taking it. They’re still trying, though. Gonna go to other states. They won’t give up.”
X pushes off the door. “Then we know what we need to do.”
Chapter Seventeen
“What if we get caught?” I whisper as the guys and I go down the stairs to the basement. The place is dark, smells like mold, and our sneakers clank on the metal steps.
“If we do it right,” X says. “We have no reason to get caught.”
I swallow. Kale slaps my back. “The worse that could happen is my parents will be pissed at us. It’s not like we’re hurting anyone.”
“What if we hurt the normies?”
We’ve reached the last step and stop. X peers down the hall. “This way.” Kale and I follow him.
“What do you mean by hurting the humans?” X asks.
“Well, we don’t know what injecting the antidote would do to them. It hasn’t been tested. We can’t just go poking random humans”
“No, that’s why we’re going to explain everything. Hopefully they’ll trust us.”
That does make things a little better, but I’m still worried we’ll kill them.
“Stretch,” X says. “The humans are going to die, anyway. I’d think most would do anything for a cure.”
“But they don’t know they’re going to die.”
X is quiet. “We’ll figure it out later. Let’s just focus on getting the vial.”
We walk for a bit longer before X stops in front of a door. He fingers the knob, then turns to me. “Remember, when you see they’re distracted, hurry and grab a vial.”
I nod. “R-ready.”
X opens the door, and we enter. We don’t make it inside before Brain shoots to his feet. “What are you doing here?”
“Just wanted to look around,” Kale says.
The other scientists yell at us to get out of here because it’s dangerous and we have no business being down here.
“But we want to be part of it,” Kale says. “I need to learn these things if I’m going to be leader.”
Brain raises his voice, saying we’re going to screw everything up if we don’t get out of here. “We’re not going to screw a
nything up,” I say. “We’re really just curious.”
Kale glares at me. Oops, I’m not supposed to draw attention to myself.
Kale picks up some tubes and flasks and asks tons of questions about them. I drop my right arm to the floor and stretch it out toward the back room. It’s very shaky as it slithers across the floor like a snake. I try to steady it. I can’t mess this up. Kale’s sending the images to me from X as he distracts the scientists. I see everything clearly now and snatch a vial off the second shelf. I move things around to hide the empty spot.
Slowly, I retract my hand and slip the vial into my back pocket. Mission complete, I tell Kale.
“If you don’t get out of here this instant,” Brain warns.
Kale smiles wide. “Thanks for the tour! Was awesome.”
We run out of the room and the door slams after us.
“We have a problem,” Kale says.
X and I look at him. Then X stares at the door. It opens and shuts fast, and Speed appears before us.
“I saw that.” He juts out his chin. “Why are you guys stealing antidotes?”
Kale wraps his arm around Speed’s shoulder. “My man, Speed. You can keep a secret, can’t you? Pretend you saw nothing?”
Speed pushes Kale’s arm off. “Depends.”
The guys and I exchange a glance. What do you think? Kale asks. Should we tell?
Our reasoning for stealing the vial must be strong enough or else he’ll tell, X says.
Kale nods.
“Hello?” Speed says, his leg moving so fast like it’s charged with a super battery. He can’t stand normal speed. Makes him antsy.
Kale says, “We need to test the antidote ourselves.”
“Why?”
“It doesn’t matter why. Just keep a secret and I promise I’ll give you all my snacks. Forever.”
Speed shrugs. “Not worth it. I want to know what you’re up to.”
Kale sighs. “The humans aren’t accepting the antidote. You know that, right?” he asks. Speed nods. “So we want to give them the antidote and see for ourselves what’s going on.”
Speed bounces in his place. “Can I come?”
“No.”
“Aww!”
“You need to stay in the lab and work on the antidotes. They’ll be suspicious if you leave.”
Speed twists his mouth. “Okay. Good luck.”
“Thanks, man.”
***
We’ve got disguises on so no one could recognize us. Black pants, shirts and hats. Not me, though. I have my shades.
We leave through the foyer—the same way we came in. It’s not easy navigating the dark hallway/tunnel, but we manage.
“Guys,” I say. “I had a dream about Furball.”
“Keep your dreams to yourself, man,” Kale says.
“No, like, it was different. Felt real. Like I was in it. She was crying for me to save her and I told her where we were staying. Then I woke up. Well…I was thrown out…”
Kale rests his hand on my back. “We all wish we could tell our girls how to find us. I have those dreams, too.”
“We’ll find her, Stretch,” X says.
We step outside. The place is in chaos. People are running all over, trying to get to hospitals and doctors. Parents carry their kids in their arms as they cough blood all over them. The buses and cars zoom down the road. Soldiers and cops patrol, trying to control the traffic and helping the humans get to where they need to go.
I wish there was something we could do to help them. X was right in taking the initiative to get to the bottom of why the humans won’t take the antidote.
“What do we do?” I ask the guys. “Should we go up to random people and ask them if they want the cure? Why didn’t we bring more?”
X gazes around like he can’t believe what he sees. “I didn’t think it would be so bad.” He pats the vial in his pocket. “Once we test it on someone and it works, we’ll get the rest.” He points to a house. “There’s a woman inside. She’s sick.”
Kale narrows his eyes. “She doesn’t want to get help. Doctors and hospital freak her out.”
X leaps forward. “Let’s go.”
Kale holds his arm back. “We gotta be careful. Remember, those special agents are around.”
X taps his eyes. “They never fail.”
As we pass by all the infected normies, my gut clenches. I can’t imagine what they’re going through, what they’re thinking. I want to tell them that they’re going to be okay and that the Keepers will take care of them, but I can’t.
We reach the house and X tries the door. It’s unlocked. After he pushes it open, we follow him into the living room where the woman is lying on a couch. A cloth is pressed to her mouth. As soon as she sees us, she sits up sharply. “Who are you? How did you get in here?”
“We’re here to help,” Kale says. “Please trust us.”
“Get out before I call the police!”
X says, “Do you trust the Keepers of Justice?”
The woman looks at him, eyebrows furrowed. “Keepers of…no! Not after what…” She coughs into the cloth. “After what they did.”
“Dammit,” X mutters. “Thought that’d work.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the vial and syringe.
The woman eyes them. “W—what’s that?”
“This might sound crazy, but please hear us out,” Kale says. “The Keepers of Justice aren’t behind the virus. They’re trying to cure it. The doctors can’t help much.” He points to the vial. “That’s an antidote. A cure. The only way to completely heal the virus.”
“What? Who are you? Why should I trust you?”
“Because—”
“Help! Help! Police! Help!”
We back away. Oh, man, Kale says. She’s freaking out!
The woman thrashes around and coughs so strongly I’m sure her lungs are going to explode any minute. “Help me! Help me!”
Calm her down, X says to Kale.
Kale widens his eyes. There has to be another—
No. X looks at the wall. There are many people around. If we don’t calm her down, someone will come.
The woman is shouting so loud. Kale looks from her to X, who nods, his face twisted in pain and regret. Taking a deep breath, Kale shuts his eyes. A second later, the woman stops fidgeting and yelling.
Hesitantly, Kale steps closer to the couch. “Please, we need you to listen to us. The only way to save you is if you take the cure.”
“Who are you people?”
“The good guys.” Kale smiles a little. “The ones who care about your health and safety.”
“Please trust us,” I say.
“It’s not going to hurt,” Kale assures her. “And it’s going to make you feel loads better.”
The woman stares at us. “Are you sure it won’t hurt me?”
Well, we can’t know for sure, can we? But what else can we do? Kale nods. “You’ll be better in no time.”
The woman looks at the vial and syringe. She shifts on the couch. Stares at the items again, shifts on the couch. After this goes on for a few more seconds, she says, “Okay.”
She lifts her sleeve. X pumps the antidote into the syringe. He moves closer and is about to inject it into her arm, when we’re all thrown back a few feet and slam into the wall. The woman falls on the floor.
My left side stings. I slowly sit up, rubbing my lower back.
X scrambles to his feet. “What the hell?”
We help the woman up and onto the couch. “Sorry,” Kale says. “Don’t know what happened. Let’s try again.”
As X does it a second time, the same thing happens. We crash into the wall, except it’s stronger and I feel my body flatten out like a sheet of paper. We drop to the floor.
“I don’t understand.” X fists his left hand at his side. “Why won’t it go?”
“That must be what my dad meant when he said the normies aren’t taking it. It’s not them, X. They were telling the truth.”
X holds up the syringe. “The antidote must not work.”
The woman gasps, coughing up some more blood.
“We gotta get her some help,” I say.
Kale nods and calls 911 from her phone. We wait with her until the ambulance pulls up in front of the house. Once it does, Kale erases her memory of us, because it’s too dangerous to put all the KOJ at risk. Before the EMTs walk in, we slip out the back door.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” Kale says as we run down the block, away from the house and the crowds of people.
“Why won’t they—?” I stop talking when we hear shouts.
X points his thumb toward the left. “Villains, preying on sick normies. We need to help.”
“Okay,” Kale says. “I’m going to take them down.”
I internally sigh in relief. After what happened in that woman’s house, I don’t think any of us want to deal with villains right now. Kale can knock them out in two seconds.
We dash in the direction X points to. Sure enough, two guys and one girl roam around. One of the guys shoots fire from his nose. Another from his eyes and the girl from her palms. Normies flee, shouting frantically. A few bodies lie on the grass, charred. In addition to hurting the humans, the villains are destroying houses, cars, and trees.
Soldiers, cops, and firefighters rush to the scene, some so sick they can barely stand straight. They try to shoot the villains down with their guns, but it doesn’t do any good. The villains just use their fire to deflect the bullets. No agents with powers are around. Firefighters use hoses, but the villains seem to be immune to the water.
The guys and I hide behind a wall and peek out. The female villain hurls balls of fire at the military. Fire Nose Guy flares his nostrils. He’s going to spray the entire area and everyone around in flames.
Kale rubs his temples. One by one, the villains drop to the ground. The firefighters waste no time trying to put out the burning buildings.
The soldiers and cops look around, but they don’t see us. They rush to another location, where many humans scurry from.
X jumps to his feet. “Follow them.”
When we get there, we see a woman who’s using her ability to melt everything in her path. When the military shoot bullets at her, they spit out of her stomach.
