Exceptional (25 page)

Sabine grabbed Stosh’s arm and pulled him backward, somehow convincing him to follow her and Asher into the kitchen.   

    “Let’s talk upstairs,” Luke said.
   
       
“Gladly.” She crossed her arms over her chest and stomped up the stairs, headed straight to Luke’s bedroom.  He shut the door behind them and turned to face her.
   
        
“You have to understand, Ally.  I planned on telling you.  It was just before the incident at the Institute, so you can see why it got pushed aside on my list of priorities.”  
   
       
Ally glared at him.  “Why?  Why did you go see my brother?”
   
       
Luke sighed and rubbed his forehead with his hand.  “You used to mumble his name in your sleep, your mother’s too.  You always seemed so worried about them, and I could only imagine that they felt the same.  I went to tell them that you were alive, and doing well despite the circumstance.”
   
       
“You did?” Ally felt her mood soften.  “Thank you.”
   
       
Luke’s violet eyes widened in surprise.  “I... well, I wasn’t expecting that.”
   
        
Ally laughed.  “I wasn’t either.  But, really, thank you.  I just think it would be better if you didn’t lie to protect me so much.”
   
       
He stepped forward and pulled her into his arms.  “Fair enough.”
   
       
Ally didn’t have the heart to tell him that she was feeling so forgiving because of the plans she had.  If she wanted any chance of convincing him to leave with her, she would need to play nice.
   
       
LUKE FILLED HER IN on his arrival at Aden’s office and how he learned of her mother’s death.  She was pleased to learn that he had thrown Aden at a window out of anger.  He then went into how Aden led him to the secret laboratory within the building and he described to Ally what he saw within those walls, ending with the intelligent Rogue he met last.
   
       
“Just when we thought Exceptionals couldn’t get any more superior,” Ally laughed.
   
       
“They aren’t superior, they are animals,” Luke’s voice held a defensive tone.
   
       
“I thought you said the last one was, is, intelligent?” she asked.
   
       
“He is, but he is still a Rogue,” he answered.
   
       
“This is connected to the ORC, isn’t it?” They were seated on the couch in Luke’s room, their backs pressed against opposite sides so that they could face each other.
   
       
“Yes.  After we left the laboratory, I sat down and talked with my father about what he had shown me.  Apparently, fifteen years ago, before the ORC was first established, a group of scientists was doing research about the dropping population.  The scientists were worried that in just a short time, we would no longer be sustainable.  Several years later, the same scientists also discovered the potential for our genes to mutate further, but they couldn’t say what our bodies would do with the change.  With those two things in mind, Aden created the ORC.”

Ally hated the way Luke was speaking about his father right now, and about the ORC.  He almost sounded as though he supported it, and as though he agreed with everything Aden had done.

Luke continued, “When the Rogues’ existence was first discovered, several were captured to run tests.  Not only were their genes mutating at an accelerated rate, but also other functions of their bodies were beginning to shut down.  Functions that normal Exceptionals already have weakened versions of compared to Ordinarys.”

    Ally had never heard anyone mention any part of an Exceptional that was weaker than an Ordinary.  She didn’t think it was a mere coincidence that the information never got out.  Exceptionals would never allow themselves to be viewed as less than others.
   
       
“What parts?” Ally asked.
   
       
“Exceptionals have trouble conceiving children” he gazed down at his hands while he spoke.  “Some are completely sterile, while others can only manage to produce one or two children.  The first Exceptionals were able to reproduce with out any issue, but with each generation it gets more difficult.  Our bodies are superior, but so much that they are not favorable for bearing children, even Exceptional ones.”
   
       
Ally let his words play over in her head twice more before speaking.  “But the City has always seemed so full.”
   
        
Luke looked up.  “It is a miracle that we have sustained as long as we did.  The world had almost reached extinction level when the virus was first released, and there is only one reason we were able to rebuild a sustainable population.”
   
        
“Ordinarys,” Ally answered for him.  “With out us, you never would have survived this long.”
   
       
“With out
them
.” Luke looked up.  “You’re one of us now.”
   
        
“I’ve been an Ordinary my whole life, Luke.”
    He reached up and grabbed something off the bookcase beside the couch.  When he handed it to her she realized she was holding a small, hand mirror.   
   
       
“Take a look,” he said.
   
       
She held the mirror up slowly, staring at the reflection of her own face.  She fought the urge to gasp, not wanting to look overly surprised at what she saw.  Her eyes were almost completely violet, with just a few dots of green shining through.  The lines of her face were sharper, and more defined, and even her skin had a shimmery quality to it.  No wonder Stosh had trouble looking at her.
    “Enough distractions.” She threw the mirror to the ground.  “So Aden thinks the ORC will not only continue to keep the population up, but also help with this Rogue issue?”
    “Essentially,” Luke continued.  “He knew two things when he started the ORC.  One, Ordinary women could bear children very easily, and at least twice as many as Exceptionals.  And two, all children that had at least one Exceptional parent would be Exceptional as well.
    “Except for my brother,” Ally added.
    Luke nodded. “That would be a first.”
    “And the Rogue situation?”
    “The ORC has become a way not only to raise a sustainable population, but also to raise our numbers in case of a war.  Species will always try to survive and once the Rogues run out of resources in the eastern City, they’ll begin to move west.”
    “That’s terrifying,” Ally said.  She tried to imagine Rogues infiltrating her own settlement, biting and scratching Ordinarys.  She tried to imagine herself, Stosh, and the others, changing into the horrible monsters Luke had described to her. “Aden is building himself a mini army.”
    “He has tried to keep our numbers above theirs, especially with the Exceptionals.”  
    “Wouldn’t it take several generations to build up the population?”  Ally didn’t know much about science and numbers, but it didn’t seem like ten years would have a large effect on the current population, considering the small amount of volunteers they were bringing in.”
    “That was the plan,” Luke responded.  “But then the Rogues came along.”

“Why force the Ordinarys into the breeding program?  Why not explain the situation?”

    Luke cocked his head.  “Do you think they would have believed him, especially with the image they have of him outside the City?  He didn’t want to create mass panic in the settlements, and he certainly didn’t want anyone to travel east to see if the Rogues were really there.  Could you imagine if an Ordinary somehow escaped their grasp and led a group of them back here?”
    “It would be awful,” she responded.  “And are you really attempting to justify the ORC?”
    “I’m not.” Luke reached out and took her hand.  “I’m trying to show you a different point of view.  Everything being done right now, is being done to ensure the safety of the City.  We need numbers, and now we have them.”
    “Yes, of children.  And what about all of these children, does Aden plan to make them fight for the City?”
    “Aden doesn’t expect the Rogues to make a move toward our City any time soon, he just knows that they will.  It could be in five years, ten years, or even twenty years.  By then, we’ll be ready for them.”
    “How are we prepared?  No one knows about this.”
    “Everyone will know, and soon.  I’m making sure of that,” Luke said, leaning forward.  “Aden has been training twice the normal amount of Guards for the City.”
    “What about all of the Ordinarys in the settlements?  How will they prepare?” she asked.
    “Aden has a plan for that as well,” he said.  “He is having a shelter built north of the City.  It is a day’s journey away, and far enough that he believes everyone will be safe.”
    “Why are you putting so much faith in him now?” Ally leaned toward him as well, their bodies only a foot apart now.  “What if he is making this all up?  You have never trusted him before.”
    “I saw the Rogues with my own eyes, Ally.  You didn’t.  And because if I ignore him, and he happens to be right… I’ll never be able to forgive myself.”
    “These Rogues, do they have powers like yours?  Are they as strong?”  Questions flew through her mind as she tried to process all of the new information she was receiving.
    “Yes, they have retained their abilities from when they were Exceptionals. Their powers are not as controlled though.  Through the animalistic stage, they lost the inner sense of what they could do.  It was as though they had to start over, and retrain themselves to use their abilities.  They are physically stronger as well.  Aden said it is as though twice the adrenaline courses through their bodies.  They can jump higher, lift heavier objects, and run faster.”
    Ally had seen Exceptional guards move through the woods at a dizzying pace, their bodies almost a blur as they ran.  She couldn’t imagine the Rogues, whose appearance sounded extra frightening, moving through the woods at an even faster rate.
    “We need to tell the others,” she stood and straightened her clothes.  “They need to know.”
    Luke jumped up and grabbed her arm.  “We can’t, Ally.  I promised my father.  I shouldn’t even be telling you, but he knew he could never control that.”
    “You said everyone would know soon enough, so why not now?”
    “The information needs to be given in a proper way.  If you tell the others, and they let it slip, the news will travel through the City by way of gossip.  There is a good chance there will be widespread panic.”
    “I think there will be widespread panic either way,” Ally said.
    Luke nodded.  “I’m not saying there won’t, but Aden needs a chance to deliver the message with the best information he can give.”
    A bell chimed, signaling that their dinner had arrived through the chute in Luke’s room.   He left Ally’s side and went over to grab the trays, setting them up on the table in the corner.  As she watched him, she couldn’t help but finally feel the panic that was rising up within her.  Deep down, she had a feeling everything Aden had told Luke about the Rogues was true, but she still had trouble trusting him.  Aden had killed her mother, and with out cause.  He couldn’t have the best interest of others in mind; the only person that mattered in his mind was himself.  It scared her that Luke trusted him so easily now.  All of this information was even more reason for Ally to take the others and leave the City with them, and soon.
    Ally didn’t bother leaving Luke’s room that night.  She couldn’t face Stosh or her friends knowing what she knew, and not being able to tell them.  She took a shower until the hot water ran cold, and then stood under the water for several more minutes.  Luke finally had to come in and drag her out and she couldn’t even feel embarrassed that he saw her undressed.  He wrapped her in several towels while her teeth chattered from the cold, her body attempting to warm itself up. Exceptionals didn’t feel extreme temperatures like an Ordinary did, which was a further sign that her body was still going through the changing process.  
     It wasn’t until she was dressed and in bed, wrapped in the warmth of Luke’s embrace, that she finally broke down and allowed herself to cry.  She cried for her mother.  She cried for Stosh.  She cried for the Ordinarys still in the ORC.  She cried for the life she had lost, and the uncertainty of her future.  Tears spilled out of her eyes and onto Luke’s shirt, and he held her tightly until she cried herself to sleep, silently willing the nightmares to stay away.
    And they did.