Exceptional (29 page)

    A month ago, Ally would have fainted at the sight of a dead body at her feet.  Now, well now the sight made her angry.  It reminded her of the loss of her mother, and the loss of other Ordinarys at the mercy of the Exceptionals.  She clenched her hands into fists at her side and looked up, watching as the Guards formed a line in front of her.
    “We know what you’re up to, Ally,” Pax said.  “Where are the others?”
    Ally laughed, but it held no humor.  “I’m by myself.  Did you think they would want to risk coming with me?”
    Pax shook his head.  “Oh Ally.  Did you think I didn’t know about your friend Willow? Luke sent Maver and I on a mission to find her two days ago, and then tonight she goes missing from her housing unit at the ORC.  Doesn’t that seem a little strange to you?  And do you expect me to believe that you would leave your brother behind?  So where are they?  On the other side of the wall?”
    Ally’s body stiffened but she kept her expression calm.
    One of the Guards with Pax coughed, and she recognized him as the Guard from the front gate her first day into the City.  
    “This can be easy, or this can be hard,” Byron said.
    “I think we’ll go with hard,” Luke said, appearing by Ally’s side.  He had jumped from above, falling two stories and landing on his feet.
    Ally didn’t waste any time.  She raised her hands and the energy still buzzed in her arms from lifting Luke.  She didn’t hold back this time, not caring about the outcome of using her abilities this time.  Hopefully she would blow the Exceptional Guards so far through the air that they would land a mile away.  She had never felt so much hatred for a group of people before, with the exception of Aden.  But when the light from her hands met the three guards on the left directly, their bodies disintegrated into ashes.  The other three Guards, including Pax and Byron, were thrown backwards.
    Ally quickly dropped her hands to her side, managing to strangle the cry in her throat.  “What have I done?”
    Luke looked at her with horror filled eyes.  “Ally.” He reached toward her.
    “No, don’t touch me,” she backed up.
    “You had no choice,” he said, continuing to move toward her.
    “I killed them,” she croaked, looking at her hands.
    “Ally, you have to go.” He motioned to the remaining Guards, who were coming to.
    “What about you?” she said.  “Come with us.”
    “I have to stay here.” He took another step toward her.  “I’ll take care of them.”
    Luke raised his hands and her body lifted off the ground.
    She took one last look at him, finally able to respond to his statement from earlier in the park.  “I love you too, Luke.”
    “Stay safe, Ally.  Come back to me.” Luke said beneath her, but to this she had no response.

How could she ever return to this place?  They would most likely kill her on the spot for murder.  She wiped the tears from her eyes and looked up at the wall, grabbing the edge when she reached it.  She lowered herself over the other side and quickly, but carefully, used the uneven stones as a way to climb down.  On the ground, Stosh was pacing frantically.

    “Ally!” he said, rushing to give her a hug once she was down safely.  “We weren’t sure what happened.  We heard the commotion on the other side.”
    “You should have run!” she said, looking back toward the top of the wall.  “We need to move.  Now.”
    “What happened?” Sabine asked.  “Where is Asher?”
    Ally knew she didn’t have time to be sensitive.  “He’s dead.”
    They ran toward the settlement but not directly into it.  Ally didn’t know if was adrenaline that kept them moving, or fear, but Stosh and Sabine made it with out stopping.  Ally carried Willow over her shoulder and used her Exceptional senses to navigate them.  They hid behind a large outcropping of trees for fifteen minutes, but saw no signs that the Guards were after them.  Darkness had fallen over the woods, and the only sounds came from crickets and the night birds.
    “We’ll need to move quickly.” Ally said to the others.  

They left their hiding spot and began to run again.  She led them right up to Po’s house, hoping he was still awake.  Stosh banged the door several times before leaning forward on his knees, making an attempt to catch his breath.

    Po did finally come to the door and when he saw who stood on his porch, he almost fainted.  

“Ally. Stosh. Willow,” he said their names in a rush, his face turning white.  “What’s going on? What’s happened?  Where is your mother?”

    Ally set Willow down.  She took five minutes to give Po the extremely short version of what was happening, hoping that in the end he would believe her.  She didn’t know why she thought it would be as easy as marching into the settlement and getting everyone up and moving.  Po seemed to be in disbelief that they were even here.
    When she finished Po leaned against the wall, bringing his hand to his forehead.  “I don’t understand.”
    “You don’t have to understand right now, but I can promise you that I’m telling the truth.  Look at my eyes.” She grabbed his face and forced him to look at her, making her violet eyes wide.  “I’m an Exceptional now.  We are leaving the settlement tonight and we need you to follow after us in a week.  The Guards might come for us tonight, and we need you to tell them that you haven’t seen us.  They’ll follow us into the Wilderness.  We are going to lead them north; in the opposite direction I want you to go.  We’ll make sure we lose them before we head south again, and we’ll make an attempt to catch up with you.”
    “Where will we go?” Po asked.
    Ally felt relief that he was finally taking her seriously.
    “To the southern City,” she said.
    Po’s eyes widened.  “No one knows where the City is.  It has only been talked about in stories and we can’t even be sure it ever existed.”
    “It exists, and you will find it.  We all will,” she said, placing a hand on either one of his shoulders.
     
    THEY LEFT PO to think over her words, stepping out onto the dirt road that cut through the main part of town.  Ally looked around, taking in her settlement. She had grown up here, and now it was barely recognizable.   She had become so accustomed to the busy City, and the large buildings within it, that the settlement seemed small and fragile.
    Sabine had a look on her face that was similar to the one Ally had her first day in the City, and Ally couldn’t help but laugh.  “Welcome to our home, Sabine.”
    Sabine smiled.  “I kind of like it.  Too bad we have to leave it behind.”
    “Let’s gather more supplies from our house.” Stosh said.  “We’ll need them if we want to make it in the Wilderness.”
    “How will we bring enough food?” Sabine asked.
    Stosh laughed.  “Out here, we get the majority of our food from the woods.  We were born to survive in the Wilderness.”
    He took Sabine’s hand in his and smiled.  They went to Stosh and Ally’s house, or
old
house now, dragging Willow behind them.  She still hadn’t spoken a word since they took her from the home, but she at least seemed to be coming out of her drug induced fog.  Ally hoped she would be fully aware once it was time for them to leave.  They couldn’t leave her here to travel with the others.  The Exceptional Guards would recognize her and take back to the City.  They would use her to get information on where Ally and the others had gone.
    “I’ll be right back.  There is something I need to do,” Ally said as the others quietly raided her old home.  The family that lived with them previously had vacated the home, most likely after Guards had raided it to retrieve Stosh and their mother.
    Ally left before they could respond and took the path behind their house that led into the woods.  There were a few smaller homes back here, saved for single occupants, mainly the elderly.  She found the home she was looking for and knocked on the door.
    It took him a few minutes, but the man she was looking for finally answered the door.
    “Allona!” He said, inviting her in.
    He was old, probably one of the oldest Ordinarys in their settlement, and definitely the friendliest.  She sat in one of his worn, wooden rocking chairs and leaned back.
    “So, am I old enough to know your name now?” She grinned.
    Even her mother hadn’t known his name, and they had been coming here twice a year for as long as Ally could remember.  He would always joke, “When you’re older” but of course, her mother had been much older than Ally.
    The old man laughed, his eyes meeting hers.  “I see the change has started.  Have you come for another injection?”
    “Will it reverse what is happening to me?” she asked.
    He nodded.  “It will, and if you want your symptoms to stay away, you’ll have to keep up with the injections.”
    She filled him in on how the rest of the settlement would be leaving in a week’s time and he grinned.  “Finally, something exciting is happening around here.  It is about time we stood up and thought for ourselves.”
    “So, you’ll go?” Ally asked.
    “Of course.”
    “I was wondering, could I take a shot or two with me into the Wilderness, just in case.  I want to stay Exceptional for now, in case I need my abilities to help us, but if I change my mind—”
    The old man smiled, hobbling over to a wooden chest near the fireplace.  He opened it and pulled out half a dozen small, canvas bags.  Each held a vial of the vaccine and the needle to administer it.   He hobbled back and handed it to her.
    “Here you go.  I’ll give you a few extra just in case.  But in my opinion, Allona, you have always been able to do great things with out being Exceptional.”
    “Thanks, Sir,” she said.  She pushed herself out of the chair and walked over to the door, knowing that she needed to find the others and leave.
    “Oh, and Allona,” the old man added.
    She turned.  “Yes?”
    “My name is Kemp.”
   

WHEN ALLY RETURNED TO HER HOUSE, Stosh, Sabine, and Willow were all waiting.  Willow’s eyes were looking less glazed over and she even smiled when she saw Ally.  

    “Are we ready?” Ally asked.
    Stosh nodded, handing her a pack.  “As ready as we’ll ever be.”
    They cut through town and entered the woods on the north side, taking one last look back at the settlement.  Ally knelt down by a large oak tree that marked one of the four corners of their settlement.  Ordinarys had been carving their names into it for centuries, and the trunk was crowded with the writing.
    She pulled a knife from her pack and carved her mother’s name into one of the few empty spaces she could find.  “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you mother.”
    Stosh came up beside her and put a hand on her shoulder.  “Do you think the others will leave?  Do you think they’ll head south like you asked?”
    Ally turned her back on the settlement and stepped into the woods.  “I hope so, Stosh.  I really hope so.”

   
    Luke watched as Pax and Byron stood and surveyed their surroundings.  The third Guard, the one who had managed to escape being vaporized, still lay on the ground.  Pax dropped to one knee and pressed his fingers against the fallen Guard’s neck.
    “Dead,” he said before standing again.
    Luke rushed forward and grabbed Pax by the front of his Guard uniform, pushing him roughly.  “Did you have to shoot Asher?”
   “I panicked,” Pax responded, holding his hands up in the air.  “You told me to make it convincing.  He was just an Ordinary.”
   Luke looked back to where Asher’s body still lie.  His body was positioned in an awkward angle, and his eyes were still wide open, staring up at the night sky.
    “He was a friend,” Luke responded.
    “What shall we tell your father?” Byron asked.
    “This wasn’t supposed to happen.” Luke motioned to the carnage around them.  “If I had any idea--”
   “What’s done is done.” Byron strapped his gun to his back and stepped over the fallen Guard’s body.  “This is why I brought four of the lowest ranked Guards with us.  I’ve been around long enough to know to prepare for the unexpected.”
    “I still don’t understand why we had to do all of this,” Pax said.
   “If Ally thinks she is being followed, she’ll flee to the Wilderness, and tonight.  If she thought she made a clean getaway, she might have tried to come back for me.  Or even stay and convince me to come with,” Luke responded.
    “Would have?” Pax asked.  “Gone with her, I mean.”
    Luke looked at the ground.  “I didn’t want to have a chance to find out.”
    “Your father will be furious,” Pax pointed out.
    “Untrue,” a voice came from behind them.
    Aden stepped out of the shadows and joined their group, four Guards following close behind him.  
    “Father.” Luke tried to keep his voice calm.
   “This was actually quite a clever idea,” Aden said with a laugh.  “Although I will miss the opportunities to use Ally’s abilities to better our City.”
    “Are you going to go after her?” Luke asked.
   Aden shook his head. “No, I think it is best that we let Ally and her little friends wander into the Wilderness.  She was only a distraction.  She
is
a distraction.”
   Aden motioned to a Guard behind him and the man stepped forward, a cylinder shaped device in his hand.  Luke couldn't react quick enough, and before he could raise his arms, two of the Guards had him in a choke hold.  The other Guard, and Byron, were holding down Pax.
   “This will really be for the best, Luke,” his father said.  “Tomorrow you will wake up with no recollection of Ally, and in turn, she is no longer here to produce any reminders.”
    “Don’t do this.” Luke struggled against the Guards holding him.
    “You’ve already let her go physically,” his father smirked.  “Let me help you with the mental part.”
   The Guard holding the memory-swiping device stepped over to Pax, who was also struggling against the Guards, and pressed the device up against the side of his head.  He entered some information into the side and pressed a green button.  The device let out a high-pitched whine and a bright flash of light emitted from the end touching Pax.  Luke watched as his best friend slumped to the ground, unconcious.
    The Guard approached Luke next.  
   “Don’t worry Luke, you’ll remember the important parts of the last month, just not the part that include Ally.  She’ll be but a shadow in your memories.”
    “One day,” Luke spat.  “I’ll remember, and I’ll hate you for this.”
   Aden just shrugged and turned his back, leaving Luke alone with the Guards.  The device pressed into the side of his head, and he listened as information was entered into the controls.  He squeezed his eyes shut and thought silently.
   
I will not forget you, Ally.
    I will remember
    I will remember.
   
There was a flash of bright light, and then darkness.