Rogue (Exceptional) Page 2

  Two hours and one scouting trip later, they set up camp in a section of old, crumbling homes. These homes were different than others Ally had seen on their trip. They were long, not very wide, and they were set off the ground, as if they’d once been mobile. The homes sat side by side in neat little rows, an odd display of order in the overgrown and untreated Wilderness. Most of them had been completely gutted but a few of them had bench type seats built into the walls and tables in broken apart kitchens. While five of them climbed up into a home that looked suitable for an overnight stay, Theo and Flora snuck off to a home several down in the row. They would do that every now and then, spend the night away from the group or slip off during meal breaks.

  It made Ally nervous. Maybe a little bit jealous, but mainly nervous.

  “Don’t look so sour. You made your choice,” Stosh said as he laid his pack down on the table.

  He did this every so often, chiding Ally for having feelings at all. More and more she felt like her emotions were on overdrive. She found her bottom lip quivering at the thought of their mother, her heartbeat quickening at the worry of an attack, and her skin tingling at the mention of Luke. Stosh was always there along the way to remind her of the choices she had made, and in those moments she felt the heat of anger filling her cheeks. In a way, Ally wondered if he blamed her for everything that had happened, as though she were personally responsible for the bullet that took their mother’s life, or the force of evil that was traveling toward them from the Eastern City.

  “I’m not sour,” Ally snapped at him. “I just want them to be safe. We’re getting farther and farther from the City. That might mean more safety from the Exceptionals, but it also means we are wide open to whomever, and whatever, is out here.” She motioned to one of the dark, dusty windows.

  “I’m sure they’ll be fine.” Sabine said, nodding in the direction that Theo and Flora had gone.

  “More than fine,” Willow giggled in the corner.

  Ally couldn’t help but smile at the sound, and soon they were all giggling. All except Cody, who stared at them with a confused look on his face. This caused them all to start laughing even louder and soon they were all seated on the floor, leaning against each other to keep from falling over. Ally had missed moments like this; where she could be free and open with her friends. She couldn’t remember a time when she had laughed this hard in the past month, maybe the past several months even. This was a good reminder as to exactly why she left the City and the settlements behind.

  Stosh hadn’t had luck hunting earlier in the afternoon so they ate a sparse dinner of berries, and laid out their blankets to settle in for the night. With each day that passed, Ally hoped they were growing closer to the others and closer to the answers they needed. She fell asleep quickly to the sound of crickets, and woke just as abruptly to the sound of screaming.

  CHAPTER TWO

  It took Ally a moment to orient herself to her surroundings and realize the sounds coming from outside their resting spot were not normal. She processed this all much faster than the others and for that reason she was up and out the door before Stosh had even rolled over. She could tell it was early morning by the hazy blue light that filled the space around her, signaling that at any moment the sun would rise above the trees and sprinkle the area with a new, golden light. She hurried toward the sound of screaming, knowing just who she was headed for before she saw them.

  Flora sat on the ground, swatting at an Exceptional Guard that stood over her. He was handling her roughly, attempting to cuff her hands behind her back. Another Exceptional Guard stood over Theo’s body, which was eerily still. From here Ally could see a thick gash on his head, and it was seeping red blood onto the leaf-covered ground. She hesitated for a second, trying to decide what move she would make. She could hear footsteps behind her, and a startled cry from Sabine.

  “Ally,” Stosh said behind her, as if confirming her worst fear. “You have to.”

  She nodded and raised her hands just as the Guards took notice of them. They stared at the group with smug expressions, not even worried or frightened by the Exceptional girl and her band of Ordinarys. They didn’t even know what hit them when the beam of light left Ally’s hand and incinerated their bodies. Piece by piece their flesh bubbled until all that was left was a cloud of ash. She pushed all her thoughts of hatred and malice toward the Guards into her mind as her abilities flowed through her hands, finding that this helped quicken the process.

  Flora’s screaming ceased and Sabine sobbed quietly behind her. Ally had yet to use her abilities in front of anyone but Stosh, and even then that had been to move a fallen tree from a path they needed to travel. This was the first time any of them had seen her use her abilities to end a life.

  Ally stalked over to Flora, who slid backwards in fear until her body was touching one of the box shaped homes. Ally reached down and took hold of the cuffs on Flora’s wrists, letting a burst of light snap them apart. She did the same for Theo, after checking that he was still breathing, and brushed off her pants. She hurried into a covering of trees and once she was out of sight, she released the breath she had been holding.

  She had now killed five Exceptional Guards in a month’s time. She hadn’t felt guilty about the first three for a long time, knowing that, given the chance, they would have killed her. But now that she had added two more to the count, she was starting to experience an awful feeling creeping up from her stomach. Her mouth felt dry and the trees around her tilted slightly. She bent her knees and pushed her head toward the ground, sucking in deep gulps of air.

  When Ally was sure that she wasn’t going to pass out, and that she could approach the others with a calm appearance, she stepped out of the trees and headed back toward the box homes. Theo was awake now and sitting next to Flora. Sabine was kneeling by his side, applying pressure to the wound and cleaning it simultaneously. Willow sat off to the side with Cody, working on her shoe again, either fixing the same tear as before or starting on a new one. They had all fallen back into some time consuming tasks that helped pass their down time while traveling.

  Stosh caught up with Ally before she reached the group and stopped her.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  She looked over at him, still growing used to the fact that now that she was an Exceptional, her body was trying to compensate by rewarding her with a growth spurt. There was a time when Ally was almost a foot shorter than him. She gave her brother a nod.

  He sighed and ran his hand through his heavy hair, which had started to grow long again. “It’s just that, well, you have been acting really strange recently. When we left the City nothing seemed to bother you. Not our mother’s death, not killing those Guards, but now you seem shaken.”

  Ally shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you, Stosh. I have no idea what is going on in my mind. Maybe the events of the past few months are finally catching up with me, or maybe this is all a part of my transformation into an Exceptional.”

  “Speaking of that,” Stosh interrupted her. “I need to speak to you about something. You know, Mother took me to get my shot just after you were taken from the settlement.”

  “And?” Ally peered over his shoulder at the others, wanting to get back on the move in case more Exceptional Guards were nearby.

  “Well, what if I really am an Exceptional? I mean, we are twins. We shared a womb and father. Wouldn’t it make sense that I am too?”

  Ally’s eyes fell back on his. She hadn’t thought about it that way, or bothered to ask if he had received a vaccination recently. She thought about the vaccinations in her own pack back in the home they had spent the evening in. She suddenly felt anxious to get them safely by her side.

  “There is only one way to know,” she finally responded.

  “I’m not sure I want to,” he said.

  Ally nodded her head. “Well, you have a few months to decide. Until then, let’s take this step-by-step, and together.”

  They walked over to the others
and Ally kneeled down in front of Theo and Flora. Flora still held a hint of fear in her eyes as she took in Ally, while Theo regarded her with a look of awe.

  “What happened this morning? Start at the beginning,” she said to the both of them.

  Theo started, “The Guards burst into the home we were sleeping in and pulled us out by our legs, pinning us to the ground to cuff our wrists. I put up a small fight which is how I ended up with this.” He motioned to the gash on his forehead.

  “That is when I started screaming,” Flora jumped in. “The Guard slammed Theo over the head with a cuff and he slumped to the ground. I just lost it after that. A few minutes later you showed up, Ally.”

  “I wonder how they found us,” Sabine said as she wrapped a makeshift bandage around Theo’s head. Ally noticed that she had ripped part of her own shirt apart to do so.

  “We are closer to the settlements now, and they’ve probably been on the lookout for us,” Ally responded, pushing herself up off the ground. “They might still be looking and it won’t be long before they realize two of their Guards are missing. We need to get moving. Now.”

  Stosh nodded silently and took off to gather their things from the home where they had slept. Willow trailed after him at a brisk walk, a sheen of sweat on her face. Morning sickness; just what they needed to add to this already stressful day. Sabine and Flora helped Theo stand and he seemed to be able to balance himself well, so Ally didn’t need to carry him. She peered around for a nearby tree with enough branches and walked over to it, pulling herself up branch by branch. When she grabbed onto one of the highest branches, she spun herself around and looked out over the open expanse below her. She could see puffs of smoke from a settlement to the east, and if she concentrated hard enough, she could almost hear the sound of saw against wood. What she didn’t sense, which brought her relief, were any more Exceptional Guards. That didn’t mean they weren’t headed this way though.

  As her feet hit the ground, Stosh and Willow reappeared, holding an arm full of packs. Ally threw her own pack over her back and strapped the hunting pack to her waist. She and Stosh took turns with it every other day because of the weight of it. They both knew she could carry it every day without growing tired, but it Stosh insisted on helping out.

  “We are going to have to skip breakfast this morning and travel fast,” Ally said to the others. “We don’t have a choice.”

  “I’m okay with that,” Sabine said.

  “I’m not,” Willow and Cody said at almost the same time.

  Ally rolled her eyes and pulled a small stash of berries from her pack, handing it over to them. They would have to divide it amongst the two of them, and hopefully it would keep them from whining for the next hour or two.

  “Let’s go.” Ally said.

  Ally lowered her hands and stared at the pile of ash in front of her. They made it four hours into their morning travels before they ran into another pair of Exceptional Guards. The Guards had approached Ally and her group with ease, expecting an easy catch. Once again, Ally had raised her hands and eliminated the Guards before they took another step toward her or the others. She stood over the pile, breathing heavily.

  She felt Stosh come up beside her, his arm brushing against hers.

  “Seven,” she said in almost a whisper.

  “I know,” he responded, taking her hand in his. “We should be south of the City now, for good. Maybe we won’t run into anymore of them.”

  “There will always be more,” Ally said as she faced her brother. “They will never stop coming.”

  “And you’ll…”

  “… stop them?” Ally finished for Stosh. “I don’t know how long I’ll be able to hold this up. Knowing that I’m killing another human being...”

  “They’re animals, Al. You can’t even try to compare them to you or me, or to Sabine and Willow, and the others.” He dropped her hand and crossed his arms over his chest.

  Ally let out a humorless laugh. “Them, Stosh? I am one of them.” She pointed to her violet eyes.

  “But the Guards are different. They seem… altered somehow. You are nothing like them. Luke is nothing like them.”

  Ally covered her face with her hands at the mention of Luke. She refused to say his name out loud to herself or to the others, and hearing it from her brother sliced fresh pain through her insides. “It doesn’t matter. It’s still murder.”

  Sabine stepped up to her right side. “You saved our lives, Ally. Right now, we should keep moving.”

  Ally appreciated Sabine’s quick change of subject. It pulled her from thoughts centered on the Guards that were now a pile of ashes, to the four others standing behind her and the two at her side. She angled her head and saw that the Cody, Willow, Theo, and Flora were hanging back by several yards, trying to read the situation.

  “They deserve what they got,” Theo spat, finally approaching her. He took in her surprised look. “Someone had to say it.”

  “No one deserves this.” Ally clenched her fists.

  “No, we didn’t,” Sabine said in agreement. She could tell that Ally’s words went deeper, and further back in time than any of them could remember. None of them deserved the chaos that the virus created in their world. “But this is our life now, and we are choosing to survive, however we can.”

  Ally nodded and swallowed at the lump forming in her throat. “I’ll make sure we are just below the City, and then we can head straight south. Hopefully, if we move fast, we can pick up signs of the others and follow their trail.”

  “If they left at all,” Cody piped in.

  “If they left at all,” Ally agreed.

  She hoped that for her sake they’d heeded her words and chosen to leave, and had been able to do so safely. She didn’t want to think about what would have happened to them had the Exceptional Guards discovered them trying to escape. Ordinarys were supposed to have free will to choose the Wilderness over the settlements, but she couldn’t imagine Aden taking the exodus of an entire settlement lightly.

  After she scaled a nearby tree and dropped back to the ground, she had a good idea of the path they needed to follow. From her spot in the treetops, she saw many vast openings in the landscape, which meant more desolate towns and crumbling roadways. It seemed easiest for the large group from the settlement to take the roadways that moved south, rather than cutting a path through the old settlements and groupings of trees, but it was also a dangerous way to travel. They would be out in the open for an attack from the Exceptional Guards, or even Rogues, if they had made it this far from the east.

  “We need to split up,” she finally said to the others.

  “You’re joking, right?” Flora said with a nervous smile.

  When Ally didn’t respond Theo stepped forward. “That has to be the dumbest thing we could do right now. You are the only one who stands a chance against the Guards, and you can’t be in two places at once.”

  “I think it is our best chance at survival. If we split up, we stand a better chance of at least some of us making it to the southern City. Plus, there is no way to tell which directions the others took. If we split up, we have a better chance of finding them.” Ally let her eyes travel over the others.

  “I say we just try to get ourselves to the City and then either find the others, or wait for them to show up,” Willow jumped into the conversation.

  “They might need our help along the way,” Ally countered. “If the Guards find them, or the Rogues, they will all be captured or killed.”

  “So you’ll sacrifice us just to save the others? Let me guess, you want me, Flora, and Cody to be in one group?” Theo said angrily. “Then the four of you can head off and get rid of us once and for all. You originally let us tag along because you felt sorry for us, but now you are starting to realize that we slow you down.”

  “No!” Ally glared at him. “I wasn’t suggesting that at all. I just… I just don’t know what to do. You guys expect me to have all the answers, and to know where we should
go and when we should leave. I know just about as much as you all do, and I’m trying to figure it out as I go.”

  “This was all your idea, wasn’t it? This whole trip to the southern City that may or may not be there,” Flora said from behind Theo. She tried to keep her voice even but Ally could hear it cracking from her nerves.

  “Yes, but I never said you had to follow us, or commit to anything. If you don’t want to be a part of this group, then leave. I’m not forcing you to be here.” Ally could feel her abilities vibrating through her core and into her arms. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

  No one moved for what felt like hours, but it was really just over a minute.

  Finally, Theo stepped back from the group, pulling a shocked Flora with him.

  “Sounds good to me,” he said. “We’ll take our chances with the Wilderness.”

  “What!” Sabine cried out. “No! Where will you go?”

  “We’ll find our own way,” Theo responded, pulling Flora further from the group. With one last backward glance, he turned and the two of them disappeared behind a thick grouping of trees.

  “Did that seriously just happen?” Willow looked more amused than upset about the situation. “Boys and their pride.”

  Stosh shot her a look. “They are going to get themselves killed, and somehow alert the guards to our location. They are liabilities now.”

  Willow snorted. “They were liabilities before. They kept disappearing to have ‘couple time’ and almost got us all killed this morning.”

  Ally still hadn’t moved, staring at the ground. “We stay together and we move through the abandoned settlements, looking for any traces of the others. If we don’t find them, we hopefully meet up with them in the southern City. Deal?”