It wasn’t far to the gas station. Just a few blocks.
Sam walked down the middle of the street. No lights. Silence. His footsteps echoed.
He walked on legs stiff with fear.
He had forgotten to tell Taylor to get Lana. Lana would be needed. Taylor would figure it out, though. Smart girl, Taylor.
He remembered Lana’s healing touch that day as the last effects of the morphine wore off and the pain, like a tidal wave of fire, consumed him. Her touch, and the wave had slowly receded.
He had screamed. He was sure of that.
He had screamed until his throat was raw. And in nightmares since that day.
“Ashes,” Sam said.
Alone on the dark street. Walking toward the thing he feared most in the world.
Astrid was shaking. Every type of emotion. Fear. Fury. Even hate.
And love.
“Albert, I don’t know how long we can keep Sam involved at all,” she said.
“You’re upset,” Albert replied.
“Yes, I’m upset. But that’s not the point. Sam is out of control. If we’re ever going to have a working system we may have to find someone else to play the role of savior.”
Albert sighed. “Astrid, we don’t know what’s out there in the night. And maybe you’re right that Sam is out of control. But me? I’m really glad it’s him out there getting ready to face whatever it is.”
Albert picked up his omnipresent notebook and left.
To a now empty, silent room, Astrid said, “Don’t die, Sam. Don’t die.”
Taylor found Edilio already en route to the gas station. He had just one soldier with him, a girl named Elizabeth. Both were carrying machine pistols, part of the armory they’d found long ago at the power plant.
Elizabeth spun and almost sprayed Taylor when she popped in.
“Whoa!” Taylor yelled.
“Sorry. I thought…We heard gunfire.”
“Gas station. Sam’s on his way, told me to get you going in that direction.”
Edilio nodded. “Yeah, we’re on our way.”
Taylor grabbed him and pulled him aside so Elizabeth wouldn’t overhear. “Sam is fighting with Astrid.”
“Great. That’s just what we need: the two of them at each other.” Edilio ran his hand back over his brush-cut hair. He still kept it short unlike most kids, who had given up on personal grooming. “I haven’t heard anyone shooting in the last few minutes. Probably just some drunk fool got hold of a gun.”
“That’s not what your guy said,” Taylor corrected him, talking fast. “He said the station was being attacked.”
“Caine?” Edilio mused.
“Or Drake. Or Caine and Drake.”
“Drake’s dead,” Edilio said flatly. Then he made the sign of the cross over his chest. “At least I sure hope so. Where is Brianna? Where’s Dekka?”
“Next on my list,” Taylor said and bounced to the house where Dekka was staying. The house was dark but for a Sammy Sun burning grimly in the living room.
“Dekka?” Taylor yelled.
She heard a stirring coming from upstairs. Taylor bounced to the bedroom to find Dekka sitting up and swinging her legs over the side of the bed.
“Sam sent me. Said you should haul butt to the gas station. Someone’s shooting the place up.”
Dekka coughed. Covered her mouth and coughed again. “Sorry. I guess I have a-” She coughed again, more violently. “I’m okay,” she managed to say.
“Whatever you’ve got, don’t give it to me,” Taylor said, backing away. “Hey, do you know where Brianna is?”
Dekka’s already gloomy expression darkened further. “She’s at her place. With Jack, in case you’re looking for him, too.”
“Jack?” Taylor said, momentarily distracted by the possibility of good gossip. “She’s with Computer Jack?”
“Yeah, Computer Jack. Nerdy kid, glasses, does stupid things like turn off the power plant? That Jack. He’s sick and she’s taking care of him.”
“Okay. Bouncing…Wait. I forgot. You might want to keep an eye out for Drake.”
Dekka’s eyebrows shot up. “Say what?”
“Welcome to the FAYZ,” Taylor said, and changed the channel. Dekka’s dark bedroom became Brianna’s.
Jack had set up a cot in the corner of Brianna’s bedroom, but he wasn’t lying on it. Jack was in a big office chair, feet up on a side table with a blanket wrapped around him. He was snoring. His glasses were on the floor. Brianna was in her bed.
“Wake up!” Taylor yelled.
Jack didn’t stir. But Brianna was up and off of the cot in less time than it took for Taylor’s shout to echo.
Brianna said, “What are you-” and then she started coughing.
It was a strange thing to witness because Brianna coughed fast. She did everything fast. It used to be it was only when she ran-something she could do at about the speed of sound. But more and more lately that speed had translated to the rest of her movements, too. So now she coughed much faster than a normal person would cough.
And then she sat down as suddenly as she’d stood up.
Jack’s eyes fluttered open. “Huh,” he muttered. He blinked a couple of times and fished around for his fallen glasses. “What?”
“Trouble,” Taylor said.
“I’m coming,” Brianna said. She stood up again and sat back down again.
“She’s sick,” Jack said. “Like the flu or whatever. What I had.”
“What do you mean she’s sick?” Taylor demanded. “Dekka told me you were sick.”
“I was,” Jack grumbled. “I still am, a little, but I’m getting better. Now Brianna’s got it.”
“Interesting,” Taylor said with a leer.
“What’s…,” Brianna began, and then started coughing again.
“What’s happening?” Jack asked, completing Brianna’s thought.
“You don’t even want to know,” Taylor said. “Take care of Breeze. Sam can probably handle whatever this is by himself.”
“Handle what?” Brianna managed.
Taylor shook her head slowly, side to side. “If I said Drake Merwin, what would you say?”
“I’d say he’s dead,” Jack said.
“Yeah,” Taylor said, and bounced out of the room.
Sam reached the station. Edilio was already there. Alone.
Edilio didn’t waste any time. “I got here a minute ago,” he said. “Me and Elizabeth. No one here but Marty and he’d been wounded. Shot in the hand. I sent him to Clifftop with Elizabeth to have Lana fix him.”
“What’s going on, can you tell?” Sam asked.
“Marty says a whole crowd was here. Shooting, yelling, ‘Death to freaks.’”
Sam frowned. “Zil? That’s what this is? I thought…”
“Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, man. This isn’t a Drake kind of thing,” Edilio said. “Drake shows up, you know it’s him, right? He makes sure you know it’s him.”
“Where are your other soldiers?”
“Run off.” Edilio sounded disgusted.
“They’re just kids,” Sam said. “People shooting at them. In the dark. All of a sudden. Almost anyone would run off.”
“Yeah,” Edilio said curtly. But Sam knew he was embarrassed. The army was Edilio’s responsibility. He picked the kids and trained them and motivated them as well as he could. But twelve-, thirteen-, fourteen-year-old kids were not supposed to be dealing with this kind of craziness. Not even now.
Never.
“You smell that?” Edilio asked.
“Gas. So Zil stole some gas? You think that’s it? He wanted to be able to use a car?”
In the pitch black Sam couldn’t see Edilio’s face but he could feel his friend’s doubt. “I don’t know, Sam. What’s he going to do with a car? Why’s he need it so bad, he’s going to do this? Zil’s a creep but he’s not totally stupid. He’s got to know this is over the line and we’ll go after him.”
Sam nodded. “Yeah.”
“You okay, man?”
Sam didn’t answer. He peered into the darkness. Searched the shadows. Clenched. Ready.
Finally, he forced his fists to relax. Forced himself to take a breath. “I’ve never set out to hurt anyone,” Sam said.