“No!” the audience roared.
“That’s right,” Beth said with a smile. “People who do stuff like this never learn. They need to be prevented from doing it again and again. We need to wipe the slate clean and start over in a brand-new world. We’re here to say, ‘You’ve done enough harm, enough damage!’ ” Beth was pacing around the stage.
The audience repeated, “Enough!”
“We want a clean world, clean air, healthy food, healthy animals!” Beth declared.
“Yeah!” the audience yelled.
“These sick, hateful jerks,” Maya said wryly, giving Fang a look.
“Something’s off,” he insisted.
“And all we need to do,” Beth said with a smile, “is kill all the humans.”
“Bingo,” said Fang.
47
“STOP! STOP!” ELLA sputtered. “You’re killing me! Please! Stop!” tears flowed down her cheeks as she shrieked and thrashed and tried to kick Dylan and Iggy.
I would never get used to this.
We didn’t know whether the cold shower had made Iggy vulnerable during his deprogramming or if Angel had just gotten really good at mind hacking, but in the absence of a glacial stream in the middle of the desert, we figured that dousing Ella in a natural hot spring couldn’t hurt. Dylan and Iggy were struggling to hang on to Ella’s hands, and their faces were flushed and damp from the steam. I’d tested the water first—no reason to scald my half sister or cook her like an egg—and I knew it was pretty dang hot.
“How about now?” Iggy panted. “She’s not made out of cotton balls, you know—my arm’s tired.”
“Hang on a sec,” Angel said, looking worn-out herself. “I’m almost done.”
Ella suddenly slumped into the water, all fight gone.
“Here she comes,” I said, watching her.
Slowly Ella raised her head, blinking and shaking water from her face. I nodded to Dylan, and he and Iggy brought her over to the fire we’d built.
“What are you doing? Are you crazy?” Ella asked. She was sopping wet from head to foot, her long, dark hair plastered to her back. She wiped the water from her eyes and stared at me, confused. We continued to watch her.
She blinked and looked around. “Where are we?”
“Middle of the desert,” I said, biting into an apple.
Ella blinked hard, studying each of our faces. “Iggy? What’s… going on?”
“Sorry about the hot spring,” he said, putting his arm around her. He eased her closer to the fire, then wrung water out of her hair. She looked disoriented and upset but definitely like herself. Iggy brought her up to speed.
“Where’s Mom?” Ella finally asked, looking at me, and I took a deep breath. My eyes met Dylan’s, and he stepped forward, kneeling in front of Ella.
“Your mom and Jeb left the house while Max and I were gone. They didn’t tell anyone where they were going. They didn’t take the car, and we can’t find them.”
Ella’s eyes grew alarmed. “Were they kidnapped?”
“Maybe,” Dylan said hesitantly. “Or maybe they’re being influenced by the same thing that influenced you and the others.” He spoke gently, slowly, giving Ella time to absorb what he was saying. I was… impressed.
Ella started crying, and I put my arm around her shoulders, mouthing “Thanks” to Dylan. And I meant it.
He gave me a smile, not quirky and crooked like Fang’s, but open and sincere. And, weirdly, I felt my heart skip a beat.
“I’m so sorry, Ella” I said, rubbing her back. “I know it’s hard. It’s hard not knowing who to trust or where to turn. My life has been so weird that I pretty much expect to be betrayed, expect weird things to happen. But I know it’s different for you.”
“I can’t believe it!” Ella sobbed. Iggy stroked her hair, which had started drying in the warmth of the fire.
“Listen,” I said, “I was thinking. How about we take you to your aunt’s place tomorrow after a good night’s rest? I’m sure Tia Cita will let you hang out there till we figure out what’s going on with Mom. We’re going to find Mom and Jeb and get the real scoop. Maybe we’ll be surprised. Maybe we’ll need to rescue them. I’m not sure.”
“No!” Ella said, her face still streaked with tears. “I’m going with you! I’m staying with you and Iggy!”
I shook my head. “I wish you could, but we’re going to be flying. I promise we’ll come back for you. Okay?”
Ella didn’t look like it was okay, but she nodded yes and wiped her eyes. We sat there together in the moonlight, sharing food we had “acquired” from Ella’s friends back at the campfire. Almost everyone I cared about was here, all in one place.
With a couple of major exceptions.
48
THE CROWD WAS so loud, Fang almost jumped. The kids were all on their feet now, and Fang motioned to the others to stand up. Reluctantly, Fang’s gang joined the chant: “Save the planet! Kill the humans!”
“Whoa!” Holden said next to Fang, scanning the crowd. “When we got here, everyone looked weird and happy, but pretty normal, you know? Now look around.”
Fang quickly studied the gathered assembly.
“Oh, my God,” Maya said slowly. “Where did they come from?”
“I guess they must have been drawn in by the crowd,” Fang replied. “They must have been hiding their… freakiness, at first. Kind of like you and I hide our wings sometimes.”
“We’re different, but we’re okay,” said Star. “But these guys…”
“What happened to them?” Kate asked. “The same thing that happened to us? Will we become like that?”
One of every ten kids in the audience was… genetically altered. Growing up in the School, trapped in their dog crates, Fang and the flock had seen lots of genetic combinations that didn’t turn out as cute kids sporting big wings. And he was seeing it again, right here.
They weren’t horrible disasters—they could breathe and walk and talk. Some of them even looked pretty human, except for, say, scaly skin or lizard eyes or claws for hands. But others were definitely freakish, and a bunch of them looked as though their combinations were not meshing entirely and breaking down.
“Will you join me in a song?” Beth asked over the frenzied roar. She stood center stage and began to sing. Gradually, the audience stopped chanting and began singing.
“I didn’t know where I was going
I didn’t know where I’d come from
But then one day I got the message
That I could save the world.
The One Light has shown me the way.
Because we’re Gen 77
The skies will be blue, the seas will be green
But to get there, the blood must flow red.
We will become less, we will become more
We’ll kill all the humans
And we’ll save the world.”
“Cheerful little ditty,” Fang said. Maya nodded solemnly as she sang along. Then a noise overhead made Fang look up, in time to see thousands of colorful flyers dropping out of a helicopter. One floated close to him and he snatched it out of the air.
“The Enhanced People’s Manifesto,” he read.
All around him, the crowd began chanting: “Save the planet! Kill the humans! Save the planet! Kill the humans!”
Onstage, Beth beamed lovingly.
49
BACK AT THE hotel, Fang pored over the manifesto.
“I can’t believe they’re saying this stuff in black and white,” Kate said, her eyes wide.
“Can’t they be arrested for this?” Holden asked.
Fang frowned. “I don’t know. They could say that it’s just talk, not an actual threat. There’s no evidence that they’re really prepared to do any of it.”