Rogue (Exceptional) (23 page)

       Luke cocked an eyebrow at her. "How do you know there are Rogues here?"

       Ally avoided the question. "We are willing to bargain with these weapons, or cures. We have hundreds more hidden in a warehouse. We know that you have my brother, Stosh, and his girlfriend, Sabine. We are willing to offer a portion of these guns for the safe return of our friends."

       Luke let out a humorless laugh. "And what is to keep me from sending a large patrol of Guards to your town right now? We could kill everyone in the limits, and find this warehouse without having to give in to any of your demands."

       Ally could feel Max tense beside her and she took hold of his wrist. She squeezed lightly and then continued. "The warehouse is rigged with explosives. If the deal goes sour, then the guns are blown sky high. You can still kill us, but your cure will disappear into the ashes."

       Luke looked impressed. "Very well." He motioned to one of the Guards. "Bring me Rogue Subject Number 9."

       The next ten minutes were the most awkward of Ally's life. They all stood in silence; Luke and his Guards looking almost like statues. The rest of them fidgeted and fiddled with their clothes. When the door to Luke's office finally opened again, two Guards returned dragging a sullen looking Rogue. Jed, Tilt, and Hank all jumped back, as well as Max. Ally stood in place, not catching on to the initial worry.

       "He isn't contagious at this stage in the disease," Luke said in a bored tone. "At least, not unless he bites you."

       The Rogue was in a similar state as Wyn had been, when he had first attacked her in the woods outside of Champaign. She, nor anyone else in the town, had contracted any form of illness. They weren't even positive of the effects it would have on Ordinarys.

       Luke turned his palm toward the table and one of the guns floated out of the pile and into his hands. He did it with such ease, something Ally was still trying to master. After playing with the gun for a moment, he looked up at Ally.

       "Can you show me how to use this?"

       Ally had been practicing with these guns several times a day since she learned of their existence, but during planning it was agreed upon that Max would be the demonstrator. Heath had said something about demonstrating authority, but Ally had blocked out the boring lingo that followed.

       She shook her head. "No, but Max here is an expert."

       Max stepped forward and held his hand out for the gun. Luke didn't hesitate to place the gun in his hand, but he leaned forward and looked Max in the eyes before letting go.

       "Try anything funny and I will kill you before the dart even finds a target."

       Pax stepped forward. "Do you think we should take cover before he unleashes this vaccine?"

       Luke shook his head and motioned to Max. "Shoot him."

       The Guards pushed the Rogue up against the wall and held him there by his arms.

       "And don't miss," Luke added.

       Max checked the ammo, unlocked the safety, and held the gun up to his shoulder. He aimed at the Rogue, with one eye shut, and pulled the trigger.        

       With her Exceptional vision, Ally watched the dart spin through the air and pierce the Rogue's skin at the base of his neck. The Rogue screeched and then crumpled to the floor, twitching in place. When it finally fell silent, on of the Guards leaned down to check its pulse.

       "It is still breathing, Sir," the Guard said as he looked up at Luke.

       "How long before we see changes?" Luke looked at Ally. Apparently Max's display of authority meant nothing.

       "A day or two for initial changes, a week for a full change over.  The transition will be from Rogue to Exceptional, if you want to transform it into an Ordinary, you'll need to give it another dose."

       Luke's gaze fell back on the Rogue. "So this cure works on Exceptionals as well?"

       Ally just nodded.

       "I presume this is the same cure you were taking in the settlement, the one that kept your Exceptional abilities at bay? I am guessing this means you found it."

       So Luke at least knew
about
her.

       "Yes, and this particular formula is permanent." Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth as she answered his questions. What had happened to him that he had forgotten all about her? The memories of their time together were fresh in her mind. Days in the garden, nights in his room, their trip to the lake, the Warehouse, the ORC, and the escape... they continued on.

       "Byron, please retrieve the prisoners," he finally said.

       Ally sighed inwardly, and she noticed the Max and the others had visibly relaxed as well. Things were going almost to plan, and she could only hope their exit from the City would go smoother than the entrance.

       "Of course, you'll be expected to remain in the City until the full effects of the vaccine are known," Luke looked back at Ally. She wished he would stop doing that. It was uncomfortable to watch someone she had thought she might love, not recognize her at all.

       "Understandable," she responded. "We will also need to discuss getting you the rest of these guns. I'm assuming the situation with the Rogues hasn't improved."

       "That isn't up for discussion right now," Luke chided her.

       "Awkward," Max whispered and for some reason, Ally struggled to smother a laugh.

       "Excuse me?" Luke frowned.

       Max shrugged, "These formalities are drying up the room, man. I can barely breathe in here."

       Ally couldn't wipe the smile off her face, but she knew Max was walking on dangerous ground with Luke right now, especially if Luke really had replaced Aden.  She stepped toward Max and stood in front of him, placing her hand on his chest and looking up.

       "I appreciate your attempt to lighten up the mood, but that kind of thing doesn't fly around here," she said it low enough that Tilt, Hank, and Jed couldn't hear, but there was a good chance Luke picked up on it.

       "Do you need your girlfriend to fight for you?" Luke said from behind them.

       With the way this meeting had been going, Ally was definitely not expecting Luke to throw a petty insult like that.

       Several things happened at once. Max pushed Ally aside, and in the same moment Luke raised his hands. This ended up being the least of Ally's worries because the door opened and Stosh and Sabine were pushed in. The Rogue on the ground moaned and tried to sit up. Luke’s head snapped around and the Guards reached for the creature. Ally and Max spun to face their friends, and in the midst of all of that Jed had ran to the table and grabbed a gun. In hindsight, Ally should have known who would have quicker draw. The trigger was pulled and the dart flew through the air, straight toward Luke. It felt like it all happened in slow motion. Ally jumped sideways, right in front of Luke just as the blast of light hit Jed in the chest. He was thrown backwards, but the dart still flew on. With a small pinch, it embedded itself at the base of Ally's neck.

       A burning fire filled her veins and she crumpled into the darkness.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

"What's wrong with her?"

       "Nothing is
wrong
with her, she is just transitioning."

       "Why does she keep twitching?"

       "Stop asking so many questions..."

       Ally was slowly waking up, but kept her eyes closed just a bit longer. She had been dreaming that she was back in the settlement, with Stosh and her mother. She had never gotten curious about the transport, and had never jumped the boundary line. But the dream was too good and too perfect; it was time to spiral back into reality.

       Her eyes fluttered open and she narrowed them again at the bright lines above her.

       "Dim the lights," a male said. It was the second voice she had heard waking up, the authoritative voice.

      
Luke.

      
The lights above her dimmed slightly and she almost sighed.

       She looked over and saw him sitting on a chair beside her bed. Pax was standing behind him, and he assumed that the first belonged to him.  Ally hoped to see a sign of recognition in Luke's violet eyes, but instead she just found pity. And curiosity.

       "What happened?" Her voice sounded raspy and dry.

       "You don't remember? Think hard, Allona." Luke seemed amused with her now.

       She closed her eyes at the sound of her full name. She remembered being in Luke's office, and something going wrong.

       "Oh gosh," she said quickly. "I was shot with a dart, one with the cure in it."

       Luke just nodded. "The change has been extraordinary. It worked much faster with you than it has on the Rogue."

       Ally tried to reach her abilities but, sure enough, they were gone. She felt empty without the familiar buzzing, lighter somehow. Even though she hadn’t used them much while in Champaign, she still felt slight panic at the loss. She knew that her eyes were probably green again, and she wondered silently if she might start to shrink. She bristled a bit at the fact that Luke hadn’t even started with a thank you. If the dart had managed to get to him, he would be an Ordinary right now. Permanently.

       "Where are the others," she asked, choosing not to chastise him.

       "The boy who shot at me is dead, the others, including your brother, are in lock-up," Luke answered.

       Ally just nodded. "I didn't know, neither did the others." She felt the need to defend her group.

      "I know," Luke said. "I had someone look into their minds. It seems as though no one was clued in except the shooter himself and he is dead, so we don't know if he received orders from Champaign."

      "He wouldn't have," Ally jumped in. "Heath would never risk it."

      “Even so, we are going to send a team to pay Heath a visit. A look into his head will tell us what we need to know, and then we can start negotiations for the guns." Luke said with a peculiar smile.

      Ally didn't know whether to be relieved or nervous. Luke sounded peaceful when he spoke, but what if his story was a cover. A band of Exceptional Guards could be on their way to Champaign right now, ready to take out the entire population.

       "I do have a question for you though," Luke said as he leaned toward her.

       Ally sat up in the hospital bed. She recognized the room from when she and Stosh had been detained after their mother's death. She wasn't sure if it was the same room, but it had a similar set up. She took a sip of water from a cup next to her bed.

       "Why bring us these guns at all? We figured you might have an idea of the Rogue situation, but why try to help us out?"

       Ally licked her lips, trying to think of an answer. Telling the truth seemed like a bad idea at the moment.

      
Because I thought I loved you, Luke. Because we used to date and you saved my life. You helped me handle becoming Exceptional and helped me escape back into my own world.

      
But now you don't remember me.

       "Because maybe we are all working toward a common goal," she finally said.

       "And what is that?" he asked.

       "A better world. A better now..." Ally said with a shrug.

       The corner of Luke's mouth pulled up into a smile. "I'll need to keep you detained with the others while we wait for news from Champaign."

       Ally nodded. It was more than she could hope for after one of their own had attacked Luke. With the current state of his personality, she was lucky they weren't all being punished, or sentenced to death.

       "There is one thing I'd like to prepare you for, though," Luke said as he stood. Pax stayed in place, having been exceptionally quiet for the duration of this conversation. It was unlike him, but many things had apparently changed since Ally had last been in the City.

       "Your friend, Sabine. She'll be taken to a house on the inner rim of the City, and set up with a new family to serve. I won't permanently detain you, your brother, or your other friends, but Sabine was born in this City. She left illegally and therefore will be made to stay."

Ally's stomach dropped and she clung to the sheets, her knuckles turning white. "She left the City willingly, she shouldn't have to stay."

      "That may be how things work in the Wilderness, but not here," Luke started toward the door. "I just wanted to warn you since she will be retrieved later this evening."

       Once Luke and Pax had left the room, shutting the door behind them, Ally brought her pillow up to her face and screamed.

It was another hour before she was taken back to the holding cell. Two nurses had come to check on her and then given her clean clothes to change into; the standard Ordinary black cotton. She felt slightly off balance and nauseous when she stood up, whether from the vaccination or little food and water, she did not know.

       "Ally!" She heard Sabine's voice before she spotted her. The hall the Guard led her down this time was different than the holding unit they had been on before. This one held two large cells on either side, and it appeared as though all her friends were lumped into one.

       The Guard opened the door on the right and pushed her in, locking the door behind her.

       Sabine's arms were around Ally's neck before she could blink, and Stosh wrapped both of them in a hug. Ally looked over their shoulders and saw Max standing nearby. Hank and Tilt were leaning against the back wall precariously, not meeting her gaze.

       Sabine finally pulled away and looked up at Ally. "Your eyes. They’re...”

       "... just like mine," Stosh finished with a smile.

       "How long was I gone?" Ally asked.

       Max finally stepped forward, standing awkwardly in front of her. He seemed to be torn between giving her a hug and hanging back. In the end he tapped her shoulder lightly and then returned his hand to his pocket.