Rogue (Exceptional) Read online

  ROGUE

  BOOK TWO IN THE EXCEPTIONAL SERIES

  by

  Jess Petosa

  Copyright –2013 by Jess Petosa

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, people, or places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are simply products of the author’s imagination, and any similarity to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any way whatsoever without written consent from the author.

  Dedicated to those who read and loved Exceptional, and told me that my ideas were worth continuing.

  Table of Contents

  EXCEPTIONAL….…………………………..…5

  PRAISE……….…………………………….……6

  PROLOGUE…….…………………………...….8

  ONE……….…………………………………....10

  TWO……….….……………………………..…17

  THREE…….….…………………………….….25

  FOUR…….………………………………...…..27

  FIVE…….………………………………….…..36

  SIX………………………………………….….47

  SEVEN…………………………………………55

  EIGHT……………………………………….…60

  NINE……..…………………………………….65

  TEN…….…………………………………...…74

  ELEVEN………..…………………………..….79

  TWELVE……..………………………….…….92

  THIRTEEN……..………………………….….99

  FOURTEEN……..………………………..….102

  FIFTEEN………..…………………………….113

  SIXTEEN……...……..……………………….123

  SEVENTEEN…………………………………125

  EIGHTEEN…………………………………...133

  NINETEEN…………………………………...148

  TWENTY……………………………………..157

  TWENTY-ONE………………………………160

  TWENTY-TWO………………………….…..166

  TWENTY-THREE……………………….......173

  TWENTY-FOUR……………………………..178

  TWENTY-FIVE……………………………....186

  TWENTY-SIX……………..…………………194

  TWENTY-SEVEN……………………….…..204

  TWENTY-EIGHT………………………..….214

  TWENTY-NINE………………………..……217

  THIRTY……………………………………...225

  EPILOGUE………………………………..…236

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………….....239

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR………………….....240

  Exceptional

  Don’t miss the first book in the Exceptional series!

  Praise

  For Exceptional

  "Exceptional takes you to a place where you never want the book to end. Breathtaking, riveting and phenomenal do not even begin to describe the characters you meet. You will not put this book down once you take a step inside its grasp. "

  -Kendall Alio

  “A fast faced roller coaster ride into a new world with twists and turns you don't expect, with just the right amount of romance and suspense!”

  - S.A. Jones

  “This amazing dystopian needs to be made into a movie. This is the kind of book that you can't put down! Excited to see what book two will bring!”

  -LaJuenne' Sherzai-Harding

  PROLOGUE

  Luke sat at the edge of the lake, his bare feet barely grazing the moss that carpeted the stagnant water. He was surrounded by cracked concrete and rusted scrap metal, all part of a world lost long ago. He looked out over the moss, pinpointing the spot where the water resurfaced and shone in the sunlight. The green vegetation had created a barrier between the shore and the water, and each year the barrier grew thicker. He watched as the current caused the water to lap up against the edge of the moss.

  In the same way, strange dreams lapped at the edge of his mind. More and more they were beginning to feel like memories. That was the only way he could seem to explain them. Events from the past few months would resurface in his mind, and each time there was a wisp or passing of a shadow over them. Sometimes the shadow would take the shape of a person; a girl. Other times it would float idly in the distance, beckoning him to come forward and figure out the meaning behind its existence.

  Luke’s dream the previous night had been the most vivid yet. He had been at the Warehouse sparring Tighe, which was nothing new for him. But this time he had the sense that he was fighting for something more than just pride. Something more than just a “win” in the books. He had been fighting for something important. The wispy shadow floated behind Tighe, taunting his memories. He had woken up with a start and hadn’t been able to fall back asleep, a cold sweat dripping down the sides of his head.

  The dreams had to be an addition to his abilities. He was just beginning to touch the surface of what he could do now that he was going to the Training Center every week. The shadows had to be premonitions of some sort; there was no other clear explanation.

  A hand fell on Luke’s shoulder and he looked up. Blonde hair framed her heart shaped face and fell several inches past her shoulder. Her rose colored lips smiled down at him, but the sentiment didn’t quite reach her icy blue eyes. She looked worried, and her body language told him she was being cautionary.

  Luke stood slowly and was now the one to look down at the girl. He stood over a foot taller than her, which was nothing new since she was an Ordinary. He reached out a hand and brushed a piece of hair from her face, letting his hand travel down her arm and to her hand. She shuddered slightly at his touch, more out of fascination than nervousness. He, however, felt nothing.

  “Did you find what you were looking for, Mr. Lukin?” Her voice cracked slightly.

  He nodded, even though he hadn’t. “For now. We should get back.”

  He laced his fingers through hers and led her back to the bike that had brought them here. Two Exceptional Guards sat on bikes about one hundred yards back. With the news of the Rogues, Aden had required that Luke leave the City limits with Guards at all times. He didn’t mind. Recently, he found it hard to feel upset or annoyed over anything his father did, which was unusual.

  That was one of the reasons it was so easy to walk into the ORC last week and finally pick a female to bring home. His mother had been less than thrilled about it than he would have imagined, but he decided it had to do with all of their Ordinary helpers quitting on the two weeks prior. Luke hadn’t even seen them leave. He had come home from hanging out with Pax one night to find their things gone. And the next day, new Ordinarys took their places. His father, however, had been overly thrilled.

  He helped the girl onto the bike and climbed on in front of her, waiting until her delicate hands circled his waist, her fingers grazing his skin under his shirt. Again, nothing.

  “Hang on," he said as he pulled out into the afternoon sun. His words carried behind him with the wind, and he willed the shadows in his mind to go with them.

  CHAPTER ONE

  2 Weeks Later

  Ally climbed down the tree with ease, beating her brother to the ground by at least thirty seconds.

  “You know,” Stosh huffed when his feet finally touched the dry brush beneath it. “One of the last times you and I climbe
d a tree together, you got dragged off into a hostile environment and came out an Exceptional.”

  Ally cocked her head to the side and rolled her eyes. “And look what you got out of it.”

  She motioned toward the path where Sabine and the others were waiting for them. Stosh blushed and punched her in the arm, turning his back and walking away. He was less gentle with her now that she was at least five times stronger than he was. She smiled to herself and followed after him.

  They found Sabine leaning against an old oak tree, using an old knife to carve a stick to a point. Her clothes were ripped, her skin filthy, and her once long, red hair was now trimmed just over her shoulders to make care easier. It took her longer to adjust to life outside the City since she had grown up there. The rest of them were used to hard work and living off the land when they needed to. The whole group showed signs of heavy travel, and had each made adjustments to make travel more simple.

  Willow was seated in the middle of the worn-down path, mending a tear in one of her shoes. Somehow she had managed to grab a sewing kit in one of the settlements. Theo and Flora stood off to the side, facing each other and speaking in hushed voices. Cody was seated on a low branch of the same tree Sabine was leaning against, watching her with interest. Stosh stepped over to her side and set his hand gently at the small of her back, earning one of her small, sweet smiles.

  When they had left their settlement and headed north, it had been just Ally, Stosh, Sabine, and Willow. The plan had been to travel north for two weeks, and then turn around and take a different path south, hopefully catching up with the rest of the Oak settlement further on. But when bad weather arose on their third night into the journey, they were forced to walk east and find shelter in one of the settlements on the outskirts.

  They had planned to hide out in a storage shed or an old warehouse, but they stumbled upon Cody, a scrawny thirteen year old. He had seen them approach from his perch in a bordering tree and dropped down in front of them, almost causing Ally to eradicate him on the spot. She didn’t think sitting up in a tree during a bad storm was an indication of a sane person, so she kept her hands at the ready as he approached them.

  “You aren’t from around here,” Cody had said.

  For a moment Ally thought they had been caught. This young boy would tell someone he had seen them and then word would spread to the Exceptional Guards. Aden would know that they were headed north. In a way, that was a good thing. Then they definitely wouldn’t be searching south, where the Ordinarys from her settlement were hopefully hiding. Ally thought about sending Stosh, Sabine, and Willow off and getting captured on her own. All of this played through her mind in less than a minute. By then Cody’s eyes were growing wider.

  “You are leaving the settlements, aren’t you?” He sounded so excited when he spoke, and he bounced in place. “Take me with you.”

  “No way,” Stosh had answered.

  Cody crossed his arms. “My dad was killed in a mining accident last month and my mom died when I was a baby. I have nothing left here. They are talking about sending me into the City for work because no one wants to take care of me. Plus, if you don’t, I’ll tell on you.”

  Stosh had stepped toward the boy with fists raised but Ally stopped him. He had been sitting in the tree out of dire hope. She saw it now, the hope that lightning would strike the tree and save him, in a way only death could.

  “He comes with us, but this is it,” she told the others.

  Sabine had stayed silent through it all, clutching to the back of Stosh’s shirt like she had done since they left Oak. Willow stood idly by Ally’s side. She still hadn’t spoken since they left the City, and Ally didn’t have the strength to worry about her just yet. Their group of four became five and they spent the night in a storehouse Cody’s father used to own. It was falling apart and full of dust, but it served it’s purpose.

  The next day the rain cleared and they headed northwest into the Wilderness. They found that they would often come upon old settlements— or neighborhoods— and collapsing buildings, areas of the old world that hadn’t been salvaged or useful since before the virus. Ally figured that these parts were too close to the City for the Ordinarys who had escaped to the Wilderness, and too far out for the City to set up living arrangements or connect power. Many times they would stay in an old house or business overnight, not wanting to risk sleeping in the open until absolutely necessary.

  If Ally had thought that being out of range of the settlements would keep them from coming upon their inhabitants, she had been wrong. When they came upon Theo and Flora, she thought they had finally stumbled upon Ordinarys living in the Wilderness. A second glance told her otherwise. The male and female had been sitting on an old bench in what looked to be an old park, dressed in matching red outfits. They each had a matching mark on their forearm, something that resembled a stalk of wheat.

  Theo saw their group first and jumped up, pulling Flora with him. She held onto his waist tightly, her big brown eyes opened wide in terror. Theo had matching brown eyes and a similar mop of honey colored hair. Ally wondered silently if they were siblings like she and Stosh. She knew by Theo’s posture they were ready to flee at any moment so she stepped forward and spoke.

  “Are you from the settlements?” she asked.

  Theo narrowed his eyes. “Who wants to know?”

  “Is that a trick question?” Stosh had said with a laugh.

  Theo’s face relaxed slightly. “Yes, we are from the settlements. We came out here to…” he trailed off and looked down at Flora, placing a small kiss on her temple.

  Not siblings.

  “… we came out here to decide.”

  “Decide what?” Ally had asked.

  “If we want to run,” Flora responded, her voice loud and strong, surprising Ally. “The Guards come tomorrow. My father is going to force me to volunteer.”

  Flora looked up at Theo, a small smile forming on her thin lips.

  “… and I can’t do it,” she finished.

  Ally sighed. Definitely not siblings. For a moment she thought of Luke and then quickly pushed him from her mind. She turned and looked back at the others in her group. Cody was bouncing in place again, Stosh had his eyebrow raised, Sabine was grinning, and Willow stood off to the side, staring at an old building.

  “Two more?” she had asked.

  The others nodded and they agreed that Theo and Flora could join their now not-so-small group. Ally was nervous traveling with such a large group. They agreed that if they needed to separate quickly, that Ally would take Cody and Willow while the others went in an opposite direction. That way at least one group had a chance to make it.

  So here they stood, a group of seven, on a dirt path headed south.

  “What did you see?” Willow asked when Ally rejoined the group. She had started speaking again a week into the trek. First in one word increments, and then finally on to sentences. Ally knew she had just needed time to process what had happened to her in the City, and what consequences those moments held for her future.

  “I couldn’t see any Guards,” Ally responded. “But we are closer to the settlements than we have been before. We should head west about a half mile or so and then start south again.”

  “I still don’t understand why I can’t do any of the scouting trips,” Cody said with a pout.

  Stosh shook his head. “One, because Ally is the one with exceptional sight and can see much farther than you. And two, because I’m her scouting buddy.”

  He tousled Cody’s hair with his left hand and slid his free hand into Sabine’s, pulling her onto the path. Stosh wasn’t open to talking about his relationship with Sabine, but it was obvious from their actions that they were officially a couple; even if they kept their physical affection to a minimum. Theo and Flora on the other hand were completely enamored with each other; enough that sometimes Ally had to look away, embarrassed. Had she and Luke looked like that when they were together? Or did they look cold and dry, not even
a couple at all? She couldn’t quite decide which grouping she would get rid of first if she had to decide; the two couples or the immature boy and the pregnant girl.

  Willow had been great on the trip so far, but every now and then she would get sick and they would have to stop while she ran into the woods to vomit. Willow was pregnant, maybe six or eight weeks along. She had been in the ORC when Ally had first found her in the City; the Ordinary Reproduction Center. The building served as a holding area for Ordinarys, and Willow had fallen victim to its sick and twisted purpose before Ally had had a chance to break her out. Several times Willow would beg Ally to let her go back to the settlement and turn herself in, that way the group could move on more quickly. Ally refused, however, because she couldn’t let her friend take the heat, and because she knew it was a risk. She knew they probably had harsh ways of getting information out of people, and Willow knew too much.

  Ally pulled her pack from the ground and slung it over her shoulder. She had taken it from the storehouse they had spent the night in the day they found Cody, and it proved to be quite useful so far. Ally started to cut a path through the wilderness, using the position of the sun to turn herself toward the west. The others would fall into step behind her, just as they always did, and they would travel in their own form of silence. For Ally this meant actual silence but for the others it was a mix of singing, rustling leaves, humming, and sometimes giggles. She tended to walk ahead on the path and spend her travel time thinking, and planning.

  She felt responsible for ripping these Ordinarys from their homes and dragging them on what might end up being a futile trip. She had no idea how they would meet up with the others, or if they would even find this so called southern City. Ally had no idea what dangers waited for them in the Wilderness, and she had a feeling there were worse things than Rogues waiting in the darkness of the trees. For this reason she kept her hands ever at the ready, and the package of vaccines safely tucked in the bottom of her bag. Ridding herself of her abilities would be a selfish act at this point, but Kemp had left them for her for a reason. She wasn’t sure of their worth just yet, but knew that a single dose would take away abilities from an Exceptional. Perhaps they could be used as a weapon if necessary.