by A. P. Kensey
“What is it you want, exactly?” asked Colton.
“I need to know why Fade infects some of our kind and not others. I need to know how to improve its mortality rate to one-hundred percent.”
“Liar,” said Colton. “Whoever’s pulling your strings cares about all of that. You just want Haven.”
Kamiko bared her teeth in an animalistic snarl and Colton knew he hit a nerve. Sparks of lightning shot from her back and her hair slowly stood on end. Dark blue flames licked up from her eyes like two dancing candles. She floated over the ground and stood inches away from Colton. The hairs on his arms reached out for her, crackling with static electricity.
“Will you force me to hurt the children?” she asked.
The sparks of lightning on her back became a solid tube of blue fire that extended into the air above her, like a fire snake ready to strike. It slammed down into Colton’s body and moved over his skin. His resolution to not show pain was broken and he screamed in agony. Kamiko spoke and somehow her voice pierced through his deafening scream, as if she were speaking directly in his mind.
“I will hurt them, Colton. All of them. It would be nothing to me. You are brave, and that is a noble thing. But do not let your bravery be the death of your friends. Will you help me? Make your decision.”
Suddenly the pain was gone. The blue fire vanished and Colton was left hanging numbly from the rope, swinging slowly back and forth. At first he couldn’t force his mouth to speak the word, but finally his muscles loosened and he whispered, “Yes.”
Kamiko reached toward the rope over his head and a spark of lightning shot out from her palm. The rope snapped and Colton fell the last few feet to the ground. He landed against his broken rib but was too exhausted to utter a sound. Instead, he lay there, mouth open in a silent scream. He rolled over onto his back to get the pressure off his broken bone, but the pain followed him.
He stared at Kamiko as she walked away. As if in warning, she looked back over her shoulder and dark blue light flared up in her eyes. She disappeared through the doors that led to the Grove and Colton lost his fight with consciousness.
19
Haven floated in a great void, as if she were in the deepest heart of space. Every star had been extinguished, leaving only darkness. She knew she was dreaming, yet she was unable to force herself to wake.
In the blackness, something skittered onto her left hand. She wanted to shake it off but couldn’t move. For a split second Haven was back in her old home in the comfort of her own bed—before the fire, before her parents had been murdered. A huge spider slowly crawled over the back of her hand, its hairy legs probing her skin as if it were searching for the softest bit of tissue. The tips of Haven’s fingers twitched, but the rest of her was frozen stiff.
The two foremost legs of the spider rose up into the air and its glistening fangs spread impossibly wide. For a long moment the spider waited, ready to strike. Then, with lightning speed, it sank its fangs into Haven’s skin.
She screamed and sat up. Her head smashed into a panel and her vision went white. She fell back against the inside wall of the helicopter, groaning. Whatever had been on her hand skittered away. Haven opened her eyes and, with blurred vision, saw the raised tail of a scorpion disappear outside through a massive hole in the helicopter.
She held up her arm, ignoring for a moment the long streak of blood that ran from her elbow to her wrist. A tiny, red welt formed on the back of her left hand. The sting was spreading across her skin rapidly and the pain was getting worse.
“Northern scorpion,” said Bastian from somewhere nearby. “I knew it.” Haven looked over and saw him. He was still in the copilot’s chair, but the instrument panel had been pushed so far into the cabin that his lower body was pinned beneath a massive chunk of metal and electronics. A small trickle of blood ran freely from a cut near one of his temples.
“Are they deadly?” she asked.
“Not that one. Too big. It’s the little guys you have to watch out for.” He groaned loudly and tried to push himself out from between the instrument panel and his seat, but neither would budge.
The pilot’s chair next to him was empty.
“Where’s Marius?” asked Haven. She was suddenly aware of how afraid she was at his absence. He was the one visual anchor that held her securely to the world of the Dome and to the people within. It was easier to remember their faces if she was with someone familiar.
“Right here,” came a gruff voice from outside the helicopter. The thick Russian accent was unmistakable. Marius leaned down and looked into the chopper through the ragged hole in its side. A large cut ran across the top of his forehead, but otherwise he seemed unharmed. He frowned when he looked at Haven.
“You let yourself get stung,” he said with disappointment.
“You weren’t there to watch out for me,” she shot back.
“Marius will not always be there,” he said. He stepped over debris inside the helicopter and knelt down beside her. “Probably best to get that through your head sooner rather than later.”
He picked up her swelling hand and pressed it between his palms. A soft glow of orange light filtered through his fingers, and a pleasant warmth engulfed Haven’s hand. When he let go, the red welt was gone, as was the pain from the sting. Marius then found the deep cut on Haven’s elbow and pressed his thumb into it. She clenched her teeth and hissed sharply as the orange light flowed from his skin and disappeared into the cut. When he removed his thumb, the skin had healed over and left behind a pink splotch, like an old burn mark.
“I thought Fade took your abilities,” said Haven.
Marius grunted. “It did. This is the new limit of the power. Marius has almost nothing left. He is a walking Band-Aid.”
Haven patted his bald head and he pushed her arm away gently.
“It will scar,” he said, pointing at the healed cut on her arm. “Sorry.” He stood up slowly and stretched his back. “Where is the other guy?”
“Roku?” asked Haven. “I don’t know.”
“Well,” said Marius. “Best we all stay together, yes?” He turned and left the chopper.
“Hey!” shouted Bastian. “What about me?!”
Marius ignored him and followed a set of footprints leading away from the helicopter.
Inside, Haven unbuckled both of her belts and stood up. One side of the chopper was now the floor, and the other the ceiling. She stepped over debris on her way to the cockpit. Behind her, the entire back third of the helicopter had been ripped off. She looked back and saw a small silhouette of crumpled metal in the distance where the chopper had first hit the ground. A long trench had been carved into the hard earth as the body of the chopper scraped over the desert floor.
Haven leaned against the pilot’s chair and watched Bastian struggle to free his legs.
“How’s it going?” she asked.
“Oh, you know, just hanging out, crushed by a bloody helicopter. This is probably the worst day of my life. Wait—no, let me think. Yep. Yeah, this is it. This is the worst.”
“How do you think I feel?” asked Haven. “First the plane crash and now this.”
He smiled. “Guess you need new friends.”
“Tell me about it.” She poked the bent piece of hull below the instrument panel that pinned Bastian’s lower body to his chair. “I could try to melt you out,” she said.
“Are ye daft?” His Scottish accent was thick with agitation. “Ye’ll melt me own legs off! Go and find Roku, he can help.”
“You’re kind of bossy when you’re in a jam,” said Haven with a smile.
Bastian opened his mouth to say something else but Haven was already out of the chopper. She could dimly see Marius standing a short distance away, looking toward the dark horizon. Next to him was Roku, still as a statue. He seemed unharmed by the crash. Haven wondered if he had somehow managed to use his Conduit power to absorb and deflect the force of the impact.
“What is it?” she asked as she stood
on the other side of Marius.
“The facility,” he said. “Roku says it is not far now.”
Haven squinted into the darkness and saw nothing but the faint outlines of several small mountains. “Bastian is still stuck,” she said.
Roku sighed and walked back to the chopper with Haven close behind.
“Finally!” said Bastian. “What have you been doing out there, anyway?”
“We are close,” said Roku.
“Well, let’s get moving!” said Bastian. He looked at Haven and nodded toward Roku. “Hit him with it.”
“With what?” asked Haven.
“Give him your best shot, let’s go. Light him up. He’ll take it in and push this mess right off.”
Haven looked at Roku warily. He nodded. “You’re sure?” she asked.
Bastian slapped his palms on the instrument panel. “Well, I don’t want to sit here for the rest of my life, now do I?!”
Haven took a step back. Roku planted his feet firmly on the floor of the chopper, right next to Bastian.
Haven closed her eyes and waited. Her mind went blank and she imagined a giant sphere of blue flame—a star that was her own source of energy. It appeared in the distance as it always did, only now, after a year of practice, she was able to bring it closer much faster than she once could.
The ball of blue fire shot toward her, growing rapidly in her mind. It stopped and hovered close, slowly turning on its axis, the blue plasma swirling over its surface like flowing lava. Haven drew on its energy. She forced the power into her veins and felt it growing between her shoulder blades. Warmth cascaded throughout her body, heating her cool skin. It moved quickly out to her shoulders and down her arms. It pooled in her clenched fists, and her palms grew hot with raw energy. She felt her wings spreading from her back, unfolding and stretching wide.
Somewhere, as if from a great distance away, she heard Bastian say, “Roku, I hope you’re ready for this, mate.”
Haven opened her eyes and the world was painted blue. The fire consumed her vision and everything she saw danced behind the blue flames that covered her entire body. The very tips of her energy wings burned through the hull of the chopper as she stood in its center.
With a final nod from Roku, she let loose.
A brilliant stream of searing hot plasma erupted from her outstretched hands. The energy hit Roku square in the chest and sent him flying through the cockpit window. He soared twenty feet away and hit the ground at a tumble.
“Woooo-hoooo!” shouted Bastian.
The blue fire dissipated instantly. Haven ran outside and knelt down next to Roku.
“I’m so sorry!” she said quickly. “I didn’t mean to let that much go! I guess I—I didn’t have as much control as I thought.”
She helped him roll onto his back. He coughed out a mouthful of sand and groaned as if he had been hit by a cement truck. Smoke billowed up from his clothes and Haven wafted it away. “Well,” he said weakly, “you’ve had a lot on your mind recently. Quick, help me back to the helicopter. I can’t hold this much energy for long.”
Blue flame erupted on Roku’s hands and slowly crawled over his body. He kept his fists clenched tightly as Haven helped him to the chopper. She guided him to stand next to Bastian, then took a few steps back.
“I’m ready,” said Bastian.
Roku took a deep breath and the blue flames covering his skin vanished. He yelled once, a sharp cry of concentration, and struck the instrument panel with an open palm. It was like a sledgehammer hitting a wall with full force. A visible wave of air pushed in front of Roku’s fist as it slammed into the panel. The wave transferred into the chopper and ran over the surface of the panel like ripples through water. It cracked in a hundred places, exposing the dented hull that was pinning Bastian’s legs. The helicopter groaned with the force of the impact.
Bastian twisted in his seat and was able to move slightly, but he was still trapped.
“Almost got it,” he said.
Roku brought his fist back again, and with another sharp yell, struck the exposed metal hull. It crumpled at the point of impact. His fist sank deep into the middle, crunching it as if he were punching a cardboard box.
Bastian scrambled away from the instrument panel and fell to the floor, panting heavily. Roku sat next to him, eyes closed, sweat dripping from his face. Bastian laughed and slapped him on the shoulder, but Roku did not respond.
“Is he okay?” asked Haven.
“He will be,” said Bastian. He ran his hands over his own legs, checking for injuries. “Takes a while to recover from something like that, especially if you two weren’t ‘meant for each other’, as I like to say. And from the looks of the dose you gave him, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a bit dazed for another month!” He stood up and gave her a quick hug. “Thank you,” he said, and left the chopper.
Haven knelt down next to Roku and rested her hand on his shoulder. He barely opened his eyes and looked at her. She smiled at him and he blinked heavily. Haven followed Bastian outside. He stood next to Marius, looking into the distance.
“You’re lucky you are not more injured,” Marius said to Bastian. “Marius can only do cuts now. Easy to cauterize. But severed limbs is not so good.”
“Nice to have a someone around who can handle a patch job, anyway,” said Bastian. He slapped Marius on the back and stood next to him, grinning.
“Why so happy?” asked Marius.
“Just glad to be alive. Not sure how much longer it will last, but it’s good for now, at least.”
“Where are we?” asked Haven.
“Two hundred miles east of Dome,” said Marius. “North of Billings, if Marius read his map correctly.”
“That’s right,” said Bastian. “Middle of blessed nowhere. Ever notice that’s where all the bad guys like to do business? Why couldn’t they own a factory in Paris or Fiji, you know? It had to be a desert in Montana.”
“We should get moving,” said Haven. “If there was a tracking device in the chopper, they’ll know where we crashed.”
“I bet they know anyway,” said Marius. “It was remote control that shut down the chopper. There was nothing Marius could do.”
“They cut the engine from way back at the Dome?” asked Haven.
“Is the only possibility,” said Marius. “We had plenty of fuel. Equipment in the chopper was good.”
“I’ll get Roku,” said Haven, and turned to walk back to the helicopter.
“Give him another minute,” said Bastian. “He’ll need his strength for what’s ahead.”
Haven looked at the horizon. A cold wind blew across the desert and chilled her skin. A light haze of steam rose from her body as the warmth from her fire evaporated. “What’s ahead?” she asked.
“Nothing good. Nothing good at all.”
20
Colton awoke on the floor of Marius and Corva’s dormitory cell. The room was shaped like a giant pill, with rusty metal walls and a submarine door. His cheek peeled off the cold metal floor as he sat up and looked around. Corva slept on her own bed next to the extra cots that had been shoved into the room after Kamiko’s occupation. The medical center refugees were all unconscious on the extra cots, twitching feverishly. Privacy was a thing of the past in the Dome. Soldiers were stationed everywhere, even outside the bathrooms. None of the inhabitants could ever really be alone.
Colton stood hesitantly, with a hand hovering over his broken rib, waiting for the pain to return. It never did. He stood up and stretched his back, then swung his arms back and forth. He took a deep breath—no pain. Someone must have healed him while he slept. Colton lifted his shirt and looked at the skin over his ribs. A large purple bruise covered his entire right side, but it didn’t hurt when he pushed it hard. He felt along his ribs beneath his skin—perfectly intact.
Corva sniffed and shifted on her cot. Her short, stark-white hair fell over her eyes and she mumbled in her sleep. Colton walked to the cot and sat on the edge. He pulled the t
hin blanket a little higher to cover her shoulders and noticed the layer of sweat that covered her skin. She was shivering.
He searched the room and came back with two more thin blankets, then unfolded both and draped them over Corva. She sighed weakly and her eyelids fluttered open. Her pupils were dilated wide, and did not adjust to the light. She squinted as if it hurt her to keep them open, then turned away to face the wall.
“Where is everyone?” she whispered. Her voice was scratched and weak, as if she had been screaming for hours. Colton knew that wasn’t the case. He knew she had been sleeping most of the time since being injected with Fade. It worked its dark poison on Corva faster than it had on the others. Black veins crawled up from the base of her neck, reaching up toward her jaw like the dead branches of a naked tree.
“They’re probably getting something to eat,” said Colton. The dormitory rooms had been ideal for housing the Dome’s inhabitants. Kamiko and her soldiers could lock the doors from the outside and keep up to six people in each room. There was only one exit between the dormitories and the rest of the Dome: a long hallway that led past the kitchen. It was guarded at all times by three heavily-armed soldiers.
“I was having a very nice talk with Micah and Noah earlier,” said Corva. She coughed and closed her eyes.
“How are they holding up?” asked Colton. He had been concerned for the boys ever since Kamiko and her soldiers arrived. It took a little getting used to, but Micah and Noah seemed to be adjusting well to the new circumstances after their initial sickness wore off—better than most of the adults, in fact.
“They are boys,” said Corva. “To Micah, it is still not very different from a game. But Noah understands. He misses his sister.” Suddenly her back arched and she cried out in pain. Her knuckles turned bone-white as she grabbed at the covers and twisted them until she ripped out a small patch of cloth. She brought the patch to her mouth and bit down on it to muffle a scream.
