Hero Reborn (Keepers of Justice, Book 3) (12 page)

Kale say
s, “No, you did the right thing. We’re fine.”

Samson looks guilty and full of regret. He
gets up and pulls us into his arms. “I’ll never abandon you the way I did.”

“No, Dad. The safety of the League and humans are more important than us.”

Samson doesn’t say anything as he buries Kale’s head in his chest.

“H
ow did you find us now?” I ask.

Samson joins us on the couch. He takes Kale’s hands. I can tell it would normally embarrass Kale, but now he smiles a little. “Cindy woke up a few hours ago. Just for five minutes. She told me where you were and that you were in danger.”

Kale rubs the back of his neck. “We’ve made some bad decisions, too.”

“The important thing is that we’re safe and together,” Cindy says.
She heads for us and hugs us. Tight. Like she doesn’t want to let go.

“Did the military kill anyone?” Kale asks. “I mean, they shot bullets at you. They must have wanted to kill you.”

“No,” Samson says. “Those who didn’t flee were captured by the military. They didn’t intend to kill anyone, only capture.”

“How do you know?” Kale asks.

“Our undercover agents told us.”

Phew. That’s good, I guess. “But why didn’t Vlayne kill us?” I ask. “If she had her people infiltrate the military, why not control them
to kill us?”

“Because she’d want the credit for destroying the Keepers of Justice,
” X says. “Not the military.”

Samson nods.

It gets quiet again. After a bit, Kale says, “Mom? Can’t we use our telepathy to locate the Keepers who weren’t captured but managed to flee?”

“I’ve
tried, but the only ones who escaped are here in this building. Our informants told us the rest are being held by the government…all except for Lindsay and Furball.”

“
Do the Blades have her?” I ask, trying to push the dread out of me.

Cindy squeezes my arm. “We don’t know
where she is, Andrew, but I see no reason for the ShadowBlades to kidnap her. I can’t sense her, but that doesn’t mean she’s dead. Please, don’t think the worst.”

I swallow
and nod. She smiles encouragingly.             

After a little bit of silence
, Kale asks. “There’s one thing I don’t understand. Why did Vlayne release this slow-killing virus? We thought it was so the Keepers would make the antidote and she’d steal it. But now that she thinks she has our scientists, why doesn’t she wait until they create the antidote, heal her boyfriend, then release the virus that kills instantly?”

Samson stares at the floor for about five seconds. “That is something that baffles me.
I can only assume she wishes to make the humans suffer before she kills them instantly. For now, doctors have been successful in treating the symptoms of the virus, but it won’t last long. The humans need to be cured.” He pats Kale’s knee. “Don’t worry. We’re going to test the antidote further. Even if it means using mind control to force them to take it. It’s not something I want to do, but we may have no other choice.”

“And
if that doesn’t work?” I ask.

Samson and Cindy exchange a look. “
Once we gather a big enough army, we will attack the Blades and rescue Lindsay. Hopefully, we’ll learn more about the virus so we can figure out why the humans refuse to accept the antidote.”

Cindy glances at her watch.
“It’s late. You three should eat something and get to bed.”

We get up and follow her
to the kitchen. She heats up some leftover chicken and we eat in silence. After we’re done, Cindy leads us down the hall to a room. It’s small, with three beds inside. One on either side of the room and the third pushed in a corner.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to share, boys.”

She gives us each a strong, long hug. When her arms are around me, she whispers, “Don’t worry, Andrew. Your parents will come home soon.”

I nod, feeling something like
Styrofoam clog my throat.

We say goodnight
and move toward our beds. X takes the one in the corner. I drop on mine and stare at the ceiling. All this information we got—it’s tons. So much to take in.

“I’m beat,” Kale says
.

I
chug down some of the Coke I brought with me from the kitchen. “Samson and Cindy are, like, so neat. With all their spies and everything.”

“
No kidding,” Kale says.

I
reach over and poke X’s shoulder. “You’ve been quiet.”

He shrugs
.
“It doesn’t surprise me that they have informants.”

I poke Kale in the chest.
“Imagine, all that’s going to be yours one day. How bad are you gonna screw it up?”

He swats my finger away.

“Just teasing,” I say. “You’re going to be the greatest leader ever.”

“Stretch, shut up.” He shoves me, but there’s a smile on his lips. Then it disappears. “
Why do you think the normies aren’t accepting the antidote?”

X shrugs. “
No clue. I doubt Samson will have any success when he tries again.”

“
So what do we do?” I ask. “We can’t let the humans die.”

X gets up and walks to the door.
There are no windows in the room, and it’s pretty stuffy. He turns to face us. “You’re not going to like this, Kale, but I think we need to test the antidote ourselves.”

“
What are you—?”

“
We’ve been away from your parents for days. We don’t know if someone’s screwing with them. What if they lied to us and the humans
can
take the antidote, but someone or something is controlling your parents not to give it?”

“
You think someone’s controlling them?” I ask.

Kale narrows his eyes. “No one’s controlling them.
Maybe their undercover people aren’t trustworthy.”

X goes back to his bed and sits down. “
Let’s grab a vial tomorrow and see for ourselves.”

Kale snorts.
“What do you think, Stretch?”

I swallow.
Maybe X is right. Why else wouldn’t the normies take the antidote? “I gotta agree with X, Kale. It can’t hurt, can it?”

Kale cross
es his arms over his chest. “Fine.”

I toss and turn. So many thoughts crowd my head. The League getting attacked, my parents and many others getting captured, the humans not accepting the antidote. Furball. Who knows if she’s alive? What if she’s alone somewhere and scared? If only there was a way to contact her.

I roll over in bed and drop toward the floor.
Except, I never hit it. My eyes are open, but all I see is black. I’m tumbling fast and deep, like I’m falling down a rabbit hole.

Until I land splat on my face. My body is stretched wide, like a net.
My head rings. Lifting it, I scan around. Nothing’s here except for a dark alley. The only sound I hear is the whooshing wind.

Where the heck am I?

Voices. And footsteps. They’re headed this way. I shut my eyes, imagining Vlayne and her people coming at me with nothing but bloodlust. They resurrected me. They can easily kill me.

“Stretch?”

The voice. I know it. I dream about it all the time. Furball.

Slowly, I
look up. She’s standing above me. Pale as a cloud. Her eyes are ghost-like. Her face and arms are dirty and covered in mud. She looks like she hasn’t eaten in days.

I jump up. “Furball!”

She runs into my arms, hugging me tight. I can’t move a muscle. I just stand there like an idiot with my eyes wide as she squeezes herself against me. She’s actually, like, hugging me. I’m about to pass out.

When she pulls free, I want to hold on longer, but I’m still frozen. Do I have a goofy smile on my face? Hope not.

“You’re alive! You’re here!” I say.

She’s
back in my arms. “Save me, Stretch.” She buries her face in my chest. “Come get me.”

“
I’ve got you. Let’s go!”

I pull her arm, but she holds back. “Where? Where are you taking me?” Letting go of my hand, she drops to the corner of the alley and hugs her knees, rocking back and forth.

I crouch down near her. “Samson found us. He and Cindy are hiding in a bookstore along with some others. The place is safe. It’s called Jerry’s Top Reads and it’s in Manhattan.” I look around. “Where are we? Even if it’s far, I’ll take you there. Everyone will be so happy to see you’re okay.”

“No. Stay with me. I don’t want to go anywhere.”

“The place is safe, Furball. You gotta trust me.” I stand up. “Please, come with me. There’s food and a place to sleep.”

She looks up at me like she’s deciding what to do. I nod, trying to convince her.
She bites her lip. “Okay. I’ll come.”

I hold out my hand.
Just as she puts hers in it, the entire place gets fuzzy. Furball’s talking, but I don’t hear her, only an echo. Before I have a chance to ask her what’s going on, I’m thrown in the air. I’m going like a million miles per minute. Everything is even more blurry around me. Like I’m underwater.

I crash to the ground. My eyes shoot open. Looking around, I realize I’m
on the floor in my room. Kale and X are asleep in their beds.

It
was a dream? How could it have been? I’ve had loads of dreams about Furball before, but this one was different. Like I was actually talking to her. Even my falling to the ground felt real.

I climb into
bed and try to get some sleep, but I continue to toss and turn. The dream plays over and over in my head.

Furball. Will I ever see her again?

***

When I wake up, it’s pas
t eleven. Kale and X aren’t in their beds. I rub my eyes, push my covers aside, and walk down the hall to the kitchen. Everyone’s there, sitting at the table and watching the news on TV. Some people are talking to the camera about their experiences with the virus. A few are still sick, coughing into bloody cloths. Authorities are still investigating the virus and trying to track down Kale and his parents. I sit down near Kale and X. “What’s going on?”

“The virus hit New York,” Kale says.
“And other countries, too. Infected people fly by plane, right? So they got others sick. The virus is basically all over the world now.”

“But they’re getting treated
, right?” I ask.

Kale shrugs. “Sure, but you know it won’t last.
Plus there’s not enough medicine to treat everyone, is there? My parents left to give the antidote to some of them. X still thinks it won’t work.”

I look at him. “Yeah, ‘cuz you think Samson and Cindy are being controlled or something.”

“Or something.”

“But they’ve got telepathic blocks!” I say. “No one can control them.”

He shakes his head. “We don’t know what happened before we came here.”

I don’t like to think that someone messed with our leaders, but I’ve got no other explanation why the n
ormies won’t take the antidote.

“
Are we still going to test it?” I ask.

X nods. “Yes
, because I’m pretty sure Samson and Cindy will return with bad news.”

I drum my fingers against the table.
Going around giving normies the antidote? What if something goes wrong? What if we kill them because we don’t know what the hell we’re doing?

I stuff my face with food to calm down.
Man can Tranquility cook. Sure it’s only pancakes, but wow they’re awesome.

We’re quiet as we eat, which makes the TV the only sound in the room. The news is discussing
what’s going on out there. In addition to the virus, villain groups are taking the opportunity to attack civilians, since the Keepers are no longer around. The military is trying to contain them, but failing. Also, they’re capturing other heroes, because they think they’re Keepers, even though they’re not. “Special agents—those with powers—have been dispatched to assist with the search for the Keepers of Justice,” the reporter says. “These agents are also putting a stop to the villains.”

The news shows a group of people marching down the streets, all healthy and confident. Oh, man. This is bad. I mean, it’s g
reat that they’re stopping the villains, but bad that they’re capturing the heroes. Some heroes fight back, some don’t, which means they’ll probably get captured. I hope Samson and Cindy are careful.

X crosses his arms over his chest. “They’re so focused on finding us that they’re leaving the humans with
little protection.”

“That’s crap,” Kale says. “Those special agents can’t be everywhere at once. They need the heroes.
”

I say, “But you can’t really blame the government. They’re trying to do what’s right and protect their people.”