Ordinary (Exceptional Book 3) (7 page)

[ ally ]

It had been a week since Ally moved in with Big Sal and he had been nothing short of kind to her. The first night she had paced endlessly in front of the fireplace, worrying about Sabine. Big Sal had watched her from the couch, listening to her ramble on and on. Finally, he grabbed her arm and spoke the only words that could calm her.

“I made sure that the boy who ended up wit Sabine was on my side,” he said.

Ally had spent a minute telling him off for letting her worry all night, and then promptly asked him to explain how he planned to help. She had learned that there was a small group of men in the town that wanted to take over the leadership. They didn’t like the way Big Eli ran things.

“This just don’t feel right,” Big Sal told her. “The way we treat the women and littles. The way we live.”

After hearing more about the day-to-day life in New Eden, Ally actually thought they had a good concept. The townspeople worked as a whole to keep the place running. The work ethic reminded her of the settlements. But then Big Sal went on to talk about the relationships in the town. How the women weren’t supposed to speak unless spoken to and they weren’t supposed to make eye contact with the men. How the children were supposed to stay hidden and quiet, and any other action was at the guilt of the mother. How the men were meant to be served and honored.

Ally was no stranger to the inequality, but something about this felt different. It felt scarier.

“How do you live in yer town?” he asked Ally.

Ally tried her best to explain the settlements to Big Sal.

“I knew it,” Sal said with a fist slam to the table. “Big Eli says this is how things are supposed ta be. He says that we’re one’a the last towns.”

“Oh Sal,” Ally said. She had taken to removing the Big from his name. She hoped it would be a first step in changing things. “This isn’t how things are supposed to be at all.”

“In eight nights,” Sal explained. “The men go on a hunting trip. A big one, ta pull in a good store of meat and food for the winter. That’d be a good time ta go.”

Ally nodded along with him. “When’s the last time you did a big hunting trip?”

Sal shrugged. “Last year this time.”

“Sal, you need to know about something. Something out there far worse than you can imagine.” She went on to explain the Rogues to him. “You need to be prepared, in case they find New Eden.”

One day until the men left for their hunting trip. One more day without knowing how Luke and Stosh were doing. One more day without knowing if Max was still alive. He had to be either healed or dead by now, the transition wouldn’t take this long.

“Your men took our guns, the ones that can stop the Rogues,” Ally explained to Sal for the tenth time. “You need to know where those are, in case of an attack.”

“And you say these mutants will look different. Different than yer boy?” Sal asked.

Ally nodded. “Green or pale gray skin. Yellow eyes. They may not look like much at first but they are strong. Stronger than any Excep… mutant you’ve ever seen.”

“Ugly,” Sal responded.

Ally laughed. “Yes, ugly.”

Ugly. A term she had used to describe Sal the first time she saw him. It was hard to see him that way still though, now that she knew his heart.

“We need ta do a walk-through of the town,” Sal said. “I need ta show you where to go.”

Ally hadn’t left the house yet. It had been one long week stuck inside. She had had more time to think than she ever needed. Sal gave her one of his widow’s dresses to wear. She didn’t dare ask him how she died, and didn’t say a word about how wrong it felt to wear something of hers. Ally used a brown rag to tie up her hair and even went as far as to take some dirt from the back porch and rub it on her skin. She had tried hard to stay clean with the fresh water Sal brought in every day, but it seemed like the women of New Eden didn’t care about hygiene and she wanted to look like she was trying to fit in.

Sal led her out the front door and onto the main street. Ally ran over the rules over and over again in her mind.

Head down.

Do not make eye contact.

Do not talk, unless Sal asks me too.

Stay a half step behind.

Ally kept her eyes trained on Sal’s feet as they walked. Every now and then he would stop to talk with another man, and Ally would wait patiently by his side. Curiosity was nearly getting the best of her but she managed to keep her gaze on the dirt road.

They finally stopped for good and Sal angled toward her, keeping his voice low.

“We’re back in the middle of town now, the place where you and yer friends were brought, and then you and yer girl friend were sold.”

Ally pretended to scratch her nose, forcing her head to move back and forth. She could see the dirt circle in the middle of town.

“There are wood fences aroun’ the whole town,” Sal said. “Except where we brought ya in.”

Ally had several questions already, but kept quiet.

“There will be guards there while we gone,” he continued. “Youngins’ but still armed. Let’s walk.”

From what Ally could gather, the entrance to town was to their right, because the path to the jail was straight ahead. Sal led her left and they walked for ten minutes before stopping.

“Look up,” he said.

Ally did as he asked, noticing they stood alone in a deserted area of town. The buildings here were falling apart, and it was apparent no one had lived here in awhile. A tall, wooden fence sat behind the row of houses in front of them.

“You see that house there, with the yella roof?” Sal asked.

Ally followed his hand. Someone had half painted a caved in roof yellow. Before or after it collapsed, she didn’t know.

“Yes,” she responded.

“Behind that house there is a hole in the fence, big enough fer one of ya to fit at a time. Remember, ya leave right after we do. I put two bags with supplies in that house for ya. We are facing straight south here, so that should help ya with direction.”

Ally nodded. “Yellow roof. Hole in fence. Leave after hunting party leaves.”

Sal would visit Sabine tonight and tell her the idea of the plan. It would be Ally’s job to get them to the escape point.

“I’ll be doin’ my part on the trip,” Sal said.

Sal had told Ally how he planned to go after Big Eli on the trip. There was only one way to claim leadership in this town, and it wasn’t something Ally wanted to dwell on. Sal and the others would go on after she had left.

“Can we go to the jail? Right now?” Ally asked.

Sal shrugged. “I don’t see why not. I can tell Big Eli it’s a matter of spiritual closure for ya.”

Ally nodded and went back to staring at the ground. The ten minute walk back to the town center felt longer somehow. She was working hard to not think about what she might find in the cell. Sal had told her that the boys were likely to be executed after the hunting trip. The town had a big feast the night the men returned, and the execution would make for great entertainment.

There was a guard outside of the jail door, and Sal was immediately given permission to enter. The few other prisoners in the jail didn’t pay any attention to her, so she moved past them quickly and to the back cages.

“They’re empty,” she cried out. “Sal, the cages are empty!”

“They must be doing the execution before the trip,” Sal said softly.

Ally turned and ran back for the main door.

“Ally wait!” Sal called behind her. “You can’t go runnin’ out there. They’ll know somethin’ is up.”

“I can’t let them get executed!” she yelled back.

“They ain’t doin’ it now. There’s a bell right before, like a five minute warnin’.” Sal responded.

A bell sounded outside.

Ally wrenched the door open and ran into the courtyard. She had trouble running in her long, thick dress but managed to make it to the town center. Other townspeople were already starting to gather, so no one really noticed her hasty arrival. Where the small platform had stood a week ago, now stood a stage of sorts.

“Ally!” Sal yelled behind her. He caught up and grabbed her arm.

“I need to get up there. We need to stop this right now!” she said back.

“Okay, lemme think,” he responded.

Ally ignored him and pushed her way to the front of the crowd. A few of the women grumbled at her, and others passed her small smiles. She reached the front and gasped. Three large, crooked poles stood out of the stage. At the top of the poles hung rope, and that rope was wrapped around the neck of three boys she knew very well.

Luke, Max, and Stosh.

Their arms were tied behind their back.

Max was being supported by one of the men but at least he was still alive.

Ally’s heart fluttered.

His eyes were still closed though, and being this close she could hear him groan. Big Eli climbed up onto the stage and raised his hands in the air, silencing the crowd.

“We have ‘ere these three boys who traveled into our territory. The council voted, and we’ve decided ta send ‘em to their final restin’ place.”

The men in the crowd cheered. The women were silent, their expressions unreadable. Ally wanted to scream and shout at them, to ask for them to have a reaction of any kind. At least they were looking up, since Big Eli was addressing everyone.

“One mutant, an’ two regulars,” Big Eli added.

“Ally,” a hushed voice said near her ear.

Ally turned to see Sabine standing beside her, dressed up just like the other women in town.

“We have to stop this,” she pleaded. “What should we do?”

Ally looked back at the stage. Luke looked furious, and was staring straight ahead. Max wobbled and the man behind him caught him and stood him back up. Stosh caught her eyes and then looked directly at Sabine.

His mouth moved slowly.

I love you
.

Sabine choked on a sob.

“Stop! You can’t do this!” Ally yelled out suddenly.

She felt all eyes fall on her, and Big Eli’s face turned red.

“BIG SAL!” he yelled out. “What you doin’ lettin’ yer woman talk to me like that!”

Sal made a quick appearance in front of the stage. “She can talk ta whoever she wants.”

A few men in the crowd let out some “Yeah”s.

Big Eli’s face appeared to darken and Ally imagined that under all of that dirt it was turning a deep shade of red.

“Maybe I’ll jus’ hang yer friends here first, and then you and the other gal next.” He pointed at Ally and then Sabine. “But not until ya learn some respect. Big Dean, bring ‘er up here.”

“No! Ya can’t!” Sal yelled, but two men grabbed at him.

Big Dean appeared from the crowd and took a hold of Ally, dragging her up onto the stage. Big Earl grasped her arm firmly and Ally bit back a cry.

“This here should be a lesson to all ya women that think they can talk outta turn,” he said.

He raised his hand and brought the back of it across Ally’s face. She definitely cried out now. Her face was on fire, and the way her left eye was already closing told her that it was probably going to bruise.

Ally could hear someone in the crowd crying. Sabine maybe?

From her good eye Ally could see Luke and Stosh struggling against their ropes. Both looked at her with desperation, and Luke definitely looked like he wanted to kill Big Eli.

Max groaned and opened his eyes slowly, raising his head toward Ally.

Ally gasped.

Violet. Violet eyes.

Max’s groan turned into a growl and he stood straight up, breaking the rope around his neck with a single pull. His weakness had been an act. Just an act.

He let out an inhuman roar and threw his hands out to either side, a bright light filling the space around him and glowing outward.

“Max!” Ally screamed.

Suddenly he was more of a threat than Big Eli. She remembered the feeling of power when she turned Exceptional. She remembered how powerful she had been as she threw Tighe across the room.

“MAX!” she screamed louder, but it was no use.

With another roar, the stage they were all standing on splintered and exploded.

[ ally ]

Chaos erupted all around them. Women rushed away screaming, the men close behind them. Ally’s legs were covered in wooden planks, but for the most part she felt whole. Nothing felt broken, except maybe her cheek bone.

“I’ve got you.” Luke appeared above her and lifted the wood off of her with ease. She noticed that the cuffs around his wrists were gone. He leaned down and lifted her out of the debris.

“We have to get the others,” she cried out.

Luke pulled her away from the debris. “Max is getting Sabine and Stosh.”

“What about Sal? What happened to Big Eli?”

Luke pulled her harder. “I don’t know, Ally.”

“I know a way out,” Ally said.

They had reached the jail and Luke paused beside her. He reached over and brought a hand to her face. She flinched as a sharp pain surrounded her eye.

“That’s going to bruise,” he said.

She nodded.

“I hope he died in the blast. If I didn’t have just myself to worry about I’d go back there and make sure.”

Ally stared up at Luke, her mouth parted slightly. Hearing him act so protective of her did something to her insides.

“Ally!” Sabine came running up beside Max, who had an unconscious Stosh thrown over his shoulder.

“Is he okay?” Ally asked, helping Max lower Stosh to the ground.

“Oh my gosh,” Sabine said. “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh.”

A large, splintered plank stuck out of Stosh’s side. Blood soaked his shirt around the wound, and his skin was pale.

“Ally, we need to move. They’ll be coming after us soon,” Luke said.

“What do we do?” Ally looked up at Luke. “I’m not leaving him behind.”

Sabine took a deep breath beside her and knelt down quickly. “I can do this. I can help him, but we need to work fast.”

She wrapped her hands around the wooden plank.

“Wait, should you pull that out?” Ally asked.

“We can’t move him with it in. I should do it before he wakes up,” Sabine responded. “As long as it hasn’t punctured anything important, we should have time.”

“
Should?!
” Ally said.

“I don’t have a choice!” Sabine yelled at her.

“Quickly,” Max growled above them. “The dust is settling. That big guy on stage is dead, but the others looked mad.”

Ally couldn’t even look at him right now. She had gone from being thrilled that he was alive to pissed that he exploded like that on stage. He could have killed them all.

“I need a cloth or a rag,” Sabine said. “Something big.”

Luke reached over his head and pulled his shirt off. “Will this work?”

“Perfect!” Sabine said.

She tightened her grip on the plank, closed her eyes, and pulled quickly. She dropped the wood and threw her hands over the wound, which was now oozing blood.

“The shirt!” she yelled.

Luke thrust the shirt at her and she wrapped it tight around Stosh’s body.

“I need more,” she said.

Ally quickly grabbed her skirt and ripped a large piece of it off, throwing it to Sabine. She wadded the material up and stuck it in the wound. She then tied Luke’s shirt over it.

“I’ll need to clean it up later, but this should do until we get out of here.” She wiped her bloodied hands on her brown dress.

“I know an exit,” Ally said. “Max, you carry Stosh. Everyone, follow me.”

Max leaned down and scooped Stosh up. Ally took off at a run, leaving the debris and frightened townspeople behind. If it wasn’t for the chaos of the exploded stage they probably would have been caught by now.

“Wait!” a girl cried from behind them.

Ally had no plans on stopping. She kept running and somehow, the girl caught up with her.

“Take this. For the boy,” she said.

She handed Ally a brown parcel and Ally shoved it into one of her pockets. The girl smiled and stopped running, and Ally had to wonder if she, too, had been captured and forced into life in New Eden once. She hoped that their escape gave the oppressed people of New Eden a new chance at life.

Ally led them to the deserted part of town and straight to the broken part of the fence. She ran into the house to grab the supply bags and then one by one they squeezed through the hole. Luke held Stosh while Max slipped through, and then together they all helped to pass Stosh carefully through. The shirt around his waist wasn’t soaked through with blood yet, but he looked paler than a few minutes ago.

“Sal told me that we are at the south part of town here, so if we head straight away from the fence, we should be headed in a good direction for the southern city. We can regroup when we are a few miles out,” Ally said to the others.

They moved through the woods quickly. They weren’t quiet or as careful as they should be, but they were all running on adrenaline from what happened in New Eden. They were lucky they all made it out alive, at least, mostly alive. Stosh was still unconscious and there was no way to predict his fate right now.

After almost an hour, they stopped in a small clearing. As soon as Max lowered Stosh to the ground, both Sabine and Ally were beside him.

“What did that girl in New Eden give you?” Sabine asked.

Ally had almost forgotten about it. She pulled it from her pocket and unwrapped it. Inside the brown material sat a few small objects.

“A sewing kit!” Sabine exclaimed. “And rubbing alcohol and some sort of medicine. That girl knew what she was doing. I need to clean the wound and sew it up, quickly. I need a fire built and water boiled over it.”

It had been awhile since Ally had seen such an efficient side of Sabine. It reminded her of the perky, redheaded girl she met on her first day in the City.

Luke ran to grab water while Max started on the fire. He had been quiet since they left New Eden, and as he worked with some materials he found in the supply bags Sal left, his face remained emotionless.

“Is he going to be okay?” Ally asked Sabine.

Sabine swallowed roughly and looked over at Ally. “I really don’t know. Even if I can get the wound clean and sewed up properly, there is still a chance of infection. There could be splinters inside of him.”

Ally looked at the ground.

“We need to get to the southern city, now more than ever,” Sabine added. “We need to hope that it really exists.”

Ally couldn’t agree more. Max had a small fire going, and was building it up with dry twigs. Luke returned with the water and stood over the fire.

“We don’t have any pots,” he said. “They are all in the transport.”

“Cold water will have to do,” Sabine said.

While Sabine worked, Ally moved over to the fire and watch the flicker of the flames.

“He’s going to be okay,” Luke said as he came up beside her.

“He better be.” Ally choked back tears. “He has to be.”

Before she had time to think about what she was doing, she fell against Luke’s chest and he had his arms wrapped around her. He leaned his cheek against her head and she could feel his warm breath at her ear.

“It’s going to be okay, Ally.”

“Luke, I need your help,” Sabine said from behind them.

Luke backed away slowly, holding eye contact with Ally. Finally, he turned and went to assist Sabine.

“Ally, you should stay over there while I do this,” Sabine said.

Both she and Luke were kneeling over Stosh’s body now, ripping at the bloody shirts around him. Ally knew she should walk away, maybe into the woods so she couldn’t see anymore, but she couldn’t stop looking at her brother’s pale chest. She sank to the ground on her knees and let the tears flow freely down her cheeks.

“If he wakes up, you’re going to need to hold him down.” She heard Sabine say. The rest of the conversation was hushed.

Ally turned toward the fire and closed her eyes. Moments later, she heard a muffled scream from Stosh and the sound of thrashing in the grass. She wanted to cover her ears but instead she got up and ran to her brother’s side, reaching for his hand. His eyes were wide and afraid. Someone had shoved a rag into his mouth and he was trying to spit it out.

“Stosh, I’m here. It’s okay,” Ally said to him. “You were injured back in New Eden, but Sabine is going to fix you up.”

He started to raise his head but Ally stopped him.

“No, don’t look. I’m not going to look either.”

Sabine took a deep breath. “I think the alcohol cleaned as much as it could. I’m going to sew it up now. Bite down on that rag Stosh.”

Less then a minute later Stosh was screaming again.

Five minutes later he passed out.

Ten minutes later the wound was stitched up.

They situated him near the fire and in minutes, the color was back in his cheeks and lips. His breathing was even and he seemed somewhat peaceful, not so much in pain.

“I gave him some of that medicine the girl gave us. I think he should be out for a while.” Sabine plopped down by the fire. She had followed Luke to a nearby creek to wash her blood covered hands.

Max had found some wrapped meat in one of the supply bags. Since it was raw, they would have to cook it tonight. At least they would start off the next leg of their journey with full bellies.

Luke sat next to Ally, going through the bags.

“He put five of those guns in here, along with some ammo. There’s some rope, light blankets, and some thin tarp we might be able to make a shelter out of.” He rifled through more of the contents. “Of course, a pot. Now I find it.”

“I never pegged you as the outdoors type,” Ally said with a smile. She felt like she could finally relax now that they were out of New Eden and Stosh was recovering.

“I think there is a lot you’d be surprised to learn about me.” Luke flashed her a crooked smile. “Hey look, they put some shirts and pants in here. You and Sabine can change out of those ugly dresses.”

“Thank you, Sal!” Ally shook her hands in the air.

“And wipe that dirt off your face,” Luke added.

Sabine and Ally walked to the creek and washed up the best that they could in the cold water. The clothes were mismatched and odd sizes, but they were better than the dresses. Ally wasn’t sure where Sal had gotten these clothes and she didn’t really want to know. They headed back to camp and settled by the fire with Luke and Max.

“Do you think we are close to the southern city? I feel lost without the maps.” Ally said.

Luke reaching into one of the bags and pulled out a white object. “Sal must have known that, because he packed one for you.”

“Really?” Sal had thought of everything and Ally owed him more credit than she gave him. She grabbed the map from Luke and unrolled it. She used her finger to scan through the towns until she found Dallas.

“How do we even know where we are?” she asked.

“We’ll have to find a road sign and hope we can locate that town on the map. It might be a few days though, since Stosh will need to recover.” Luke picked up a small rock and threw it into the fire. It hit the spit being used to cook the meat and Max scowled at him.

Ally looked away from his violet gaze.

“Why do his eyes scare me, while yours do exactly the opposite,” she asked Luke.

Luke leaned forward and whispered, “You know, he can hear you now.”

“Speaking of,” Ally leaned back, refusing to look in Max’s direction again. “What about your abilities?”

Luke studied his palms. “My strength is back to normal, but I can’t access my abilities. Earlier they were completely quiet but now there is a small buzzing inside. I really can’t figure it out but I hope that they are just slowly returning.”

“What do you think those cuffs were made of?” she asked.

He shrugged. “No idea, but whatever it is, I want it all destroyed.”

“Do you think we should go back to New Eden? We could see if Sal will give us the transport back.” Sabine joined in the conversation. Ally had almost forgotten that she was sitting with them.

Ally shook her head. “We shouldn’t risk it. We don’t know that Sal is in charge right now. We still have a lot of enemies in New Eden. Sal spent time telling me all about their lifestyle, and it seems like it will take some time for their way of thinking to evolve.”

Sabine frowned. “A girl can hope.”

“We can’t be too far now,” Luke said. “At least we didn’t lose the transport half way through.”

“How are you going to get back to the City, Luke?” Sabine asked. “You only have a few days left before Heath goes to war.”

Ally groaned. “I forgot all about that.”

“I am holding on to my thoughts that Heath is more bark than bite. I think even he knows what an attack on the City would bring down on him, and Champaign.”

Ally thought of the people she had met in her short time there. “I hope you’re right.”

“Food’s up,” Max called out.

They ate their shares and set a portion aside for Stosh. They left some out to cool that they could then wrap up for meals on the road. After dinner Sabine and Ally laid out blankets around the fire. Sabine pulled hers directly next to Stosh’s and checked his wound before curling against his good side. Max laid down quietly and turned his back on the fire. He and Ally hadn’t spoken much since leaving New Eden, and Ally rotated through feeling relieved and concerned. She remembered what the transition to Exceptional felt like, except he wouldn’t have the Training Center to walk him through it.

Ally lowered herself onto her blanket and laid on her stomach. If she raised her head, she was looking right at the top of Luke’s head. As if he sensed her, he raised his own head and looked at her.

“You okay?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” she answered truthfully.

Slowly he reached a hand toward her, and without hesitation, she did the same. Their fingers locked in the middle and Ally laid her head down on the blanket. She closed her eyes and focused on the warmth from not just the fire next to her, but the fire working its way across the skin where Luke fingers touched hers.