Rogue (Exceptional) (28 page)

      
1-2-....

      
The shot rang off, and was a direct hit. The Rogue grabbed at his neck frantically and then slumped to the ground. The Rogues behind him kept moving, stepping over his body carefully. She hoped they continued to do so, so that their ammo was not wasted on bodies that would be trampled.

       Max fired a shot and then pumped his fist into the air. "Direct hit!"

       Ally couldn't hold back her laugh, even though she knew there was nothing amusing about their situation. She looked back down to the street. "I'll take the Rogue in the front, wearing blue."

       The Rogue was in the middle of the back group, its hands firmly at its side. It didn't appear to be doing anything, but Ally noticed that the Exceptionals and Guards nearby were completely ignoring it, as though it were invisible. While at the training center, Ally had met another Exceptional that could
make himself invisible t
o people within a certain range. She didn't want this Rogue to slip into the City unnoticed, and from up here she had the advantage of being able to see it. The effects of its abilities didn’t stretch this far.

       She raised her gun, aimed, and fired again.

       "Damn it!" she cried out. She had hit an Exceptional on the front line. She dropped to the ground, and Max immediately did the same

       "What happened?"

       "I hit one of the Exceptionals. What if they target us now?" she asked.

       Max shook his head. "They are a little busy, Ally. We have to keep going."

       Ally popped up and aimed her gun again, taking a deep breath. This time her shot was a direct hit.

       One by one they took out some of the more threatening Rogues, but the crowd seemed never-ending. When they took out one, another took its place. They surged forward into the street, pushing the Exceptionals backwards. The first Rogues they had shot were starting to come to, and had dragged their weak bodies to the side of the road. No one moved to help them, but no one moved to injure them either. Ally had just taken out another Rogue in the front when she heard a shot from below.

       "Ally, we need to move," Max cried out.

       She looked down just as a fireball shot through the air and headed straight for them. They had been spotted. Max grabbed her around the waist and threw her to the ground, throwing himself on top of her. There was an explosion, and glass rained down on them. Ally could feel the heat traveling over her skin, and her ears were ringing from the sound. Max rolled to the side and grabbed her hand, pulling her to a stand. The back of his shirt was charred in some places, and his hair was singed.

       "Are you hurt?" she asked him.

       "No time," he said quickly before pulling her across the roof. "They might try to bring the building down."

       There was another explosion behind them but they didn't look back. They took the stairs quickly, sometimes jumping past several at a time. Once they reached the bottom landing, Max wasted no time in kicking out a window on the sidewall. They climbed out into the alley just as the building shook with another explosion.

"The guns are gone," Max said through shallow breaths. "The bag caught fire, I couldn't grab them...."

       Ally checked her own gun. "I have two shots left."

       Max held his empty hands out. "I let go of my guns when I grabbed you."

       "Thank you, by the way," Ally said to him.

       He just nodded his head and pointed down the alley. They could see the Rogues passing by at the end.

       "What do we do now?" he asked.

       "I say we use these last two shots," Ally responded, her own confidence surprising her. She could feel her heart beating quickly, her body still responding to the adrenaline of the past several minutes.

       "We should save them," Max put a hand on her gun. "Just in case. Those might be the last two vaccinations in the City if Stosh and Sabine have used all their ammo. Plus, we don't know if or when my Uncle Heath will get us the rest."

       Ally thought on his words for a second. The Rogues were passing quickly and they needed to get moving.

       "Alright," she finally said. "Let's try to find a clear path back to the Exceptional side. We need to know what the next move is. We are too out in the open right now."

       They traveled the side streets three blocks over until they thought for certain they were ahead of the Rogues. When they got back to the Main Street, they found that they had not only missed the Rogues, but most of the Exceptionals. They were turning toward the City, explosions and guns still sounding in the distance.

       They were about to break into a run when a voice stopped them in their tracks.

       "You have got to be kidding me."

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Ally flinched and Max sighed loudly.

       Luke was standing in the middle of the street, his arms crossed over his chest. In this moment, with ashes falling from the sky and thunder rumbling closer, he appeared menacing. Shadows were cast under his eyebrow, and his eyes glowed.

       "I'm going to kill Pax," he said to no one in particular.

       "He tried to keep us in City Center," Ally responded. "But we kind of ran off on our own."

       Max raised one eyebrow. "Plus, we are able to make our own choices. We took out almost two dozen Rogues back there, and almost got blown up in the process. You're welcome."

       Luke scowled. "Two dozen Rogues is barely a dent. There are hundreds, maybe even thousands moving in on us."

       It was then that Ally noticed the small set up of Guards in the thin alley between two warehouses. There were papers laid out across an old, rusting table.

       "I just received news from the western wall that your uncle has arrived with the cure guns. We are pulling Guards back toward City Center to arm them, but in the process the Rogues are pushing in farther. It's a dangerous risk..." Luke paused and then starts to pace back and forth. "I should go. I should. I need to finish these routes ... of where we are going to push the Rogues."

       "I can finish them," Max offered, surprising both Ally and Luke alike. "I used to draw the routes through the woods, for the hunting parties and gatherers."

       Luke's eyes narrowed and she could tell he didn't like the sound of that. Things were falling apart around him and he was losing control. Ally could only imagine how Aden would be handling this situation.

       "I'm going with you," she said to Luke. "I want to go to City Center with you."

       Luke started to protest but stopped. "We leave now."

       He sprinted around the corner, which looked more like a blur of black, and returned pushing his motorcycle. Ally tried not to react but the muscles in her mouth deceived her.  She smiled at the memories the bike brought back, and didn't hesitate to run her fingers along the smooth, black surface.

       "Did we ride on this together?" Luke asked.

       Ally nodded. "Only once, but it was a good day."

       Her eyes rose to meet his, and their gazes held for a moment. Luke was the first to look away, busying himself with pulling the spare helmet out of the small storage compartment.  Ally was ready to board the bike when Max grabbed her arm. He spun her around, looking at her with a fierceness that worried her.

       "I know you told me we can't do this, but I can't handle knowing that I might not ever see you again ..." Before she could protest his lips were on hers. The kiss was quick and full of too many emotions wrapped into one. Want. Fear. Happiness. Anger.

       He pushed back and turned from her, jogging over to the table full of City maps.

       Ally couldn't even look Luke in the eye when she finally straddled the bike. She raised the helmet and a glimmer of yellow caught her eyes. Stuck in the chinstraps were a few long strands of blond hair. Her stomach dropped.

       He owed her nothing, especially without any memory of her. Besides, she had just been kissed by Max. Had she kissed him back? She was already forgetting the moment, lost in the chaos of what had happened and what was to come. Thoughts ran through her mind rapidly, pushing her to her limit. As if the sky were connected to her emotions, the clouds opened up above them and cool droplets of water fell to the ground.  It was a fitting event for the day.

       "At least the fires will be put out," Luke said over his shoulder, and then he revved the engine and pulled out onto the road. She put her arms around his waist, just like last time, but the motion felt different. He was stiff and proper, and she couldn't bring herself to hold him as tight.

The ride into the City should have been miserable. Heavy rain should have pelted them from every direction, and their clothes should have been dripping for days. But instead Luke used his abilities to create a bubble around them as they moved. The raindrops bouncing off the invisible barrier, leaving Ally and Luke dry. Even the wind was absent, and it made the effect of being on the motorcycle feel fake, and engineered. When she had first ridden with Luke the wind had caught her long hair, whipping it behind her as they rode.

       The rain stopped when they arrived in City Center.

       Luke drove them to the Training Center, throwing the bike into park as soon as they had stopped. Guards were hurrying back west, most of them armed with the guns from Heath. Other Guards were headed into the building, where Ally guessed the guns were being kept. Luke jumped off the bike and ran into the building, not giving Ally a second thought.

       "Ally!" Sabine ran through the crowds and stopped in front of Ally, almost out of breath. "We were looking for you everywhere. Pax was so mad when he realized what you did."

       Stosh approached them with a smile on his face. "I should be upset that you put yourself in danger, but I like it when you stick it to the Exceptionals. You give them something to worry about." He winked.

       "Where is Max?" Sabine asked.

       "Back by the Lake," Ally responded. "Helping make plans for the Rogues. I came back with Luke, to get more guns. We lost ours in a fire."

       "A fire?" Stosh's smile disappeared. He reached forward and picked ash out of her hair.

       "No time," Ally said. "We need to re-arm and get ready. They are headed this way."

       Stosh grabbed her arm. "Ally, I think we've done enough. It is time for us to go."

       She paused and looked back and forth between Stosh and Sabine. Sabine was looking at the ground, trying to find a way to turn invisible. Stosh, however, looked Ally straight in the eyes. "We don't owe them anything else. The plan was always to leave. You only came back because you wanted them to have the cure, and to have a fair fight, and they do. We are just in the way. It is time to go back to Champaign. Heck, I'd even agree to find the southern City you are always talking about."

       "I have to see this through," Ally responded through gritted teeth.

        Should she tell them what she learned about Aden? Should she tell him how the Rogue mutations were all planned and a scheme to gain control, but that it had backfired? She wanted to see this to the end, and she needed to see Aden punished for his actions. He had used her to control Luke, even going as far as to erase Luke's memories. He had killed her mother.

       "I'm doing this for Mother," she said with finality.

       Stosh opened his mouth to argue, but stopped. How could he deny her at least that, after all that had happened? The past six months had been absolute chaos, with new troubles branching out from their lives with each day that passed. Ally needed to see something finished. She needed to have some peace.

       "You should go," she reached out for her brother’s hand and he entwined his fingers through hers. "Take Sabine back to Champaign and make sure everyone is safe, just in case the Rogues wander South. Wait for me and if I don't return in a week, you decide what you want to do. Stay, go, whatever ... just, watch out for Willie. And Sabine."

       "We can't leave you here!" Sabine said quickly, finally looking up from the ground.

       An explosion sounded in the distance, but much closer than it should have ever been. She knew that the Rogues were moving out of the warehouse district and into the neighborhoods now.

       "You have to. Just go!" Ally gave her brother a light shove and spun around, running toward the Training Center. If she stuck around they might manage to convince her. She needed to get armed and on top of another building. If she was lucky, Max would eventually make it back to City Center and they could pick off Rogues together. It was the only way she knew to help right now.

       The foyer of the Training Center was packed with Guards and Exceptionals alike. Many of them had taken to wearing full protective gear.

       Luke was shouting out orders from a long table, which was covered with the guns from Heath. She tried to spot any of the Ordinarys from Champaign, but the crowd was too thick.

       "Once you shoot a Rogue with a dart from this gun, they should drop immediately. Do not waste ammo by shooting them twice, just leave them and move on. The tactic has changed, we kill last. I've assigned squads of Exceptionals to follow behind the Guards and pull the injected Rogues to the side. If they start to come to, know that they are not dangerous. They are cured."

       Ally wondered if she should have told Luke about her experience with Wyn in Champaign.

       "Also, be careful to avoid hitting your fellow Guards with these darts. They will make you Ordinary." He stated it simply and with minor disgust. Ally was suddenly overwhelmed with a feeling of longing for the old Luke. She missed the boy who made her feel special in a world where she wasn't. She missed the boy who treated Ordinarys and Exceptionals as equals. He worked so hard to be the opposite of Aden, and in the end he had failed.