Rogue (Exceptional) (31 page)

       "Why are you just telling me know?" Ally raised her voice.

       "My Uncle said that as long as we were inside we would be safe. That's why I followed you into the Training Center, I thought we could stay in there. He said that if we couldn't be inside, we needed to leave."

       "Why?" Ally asked. "Are they planning on hurting people? Oh my gosh, Max, we need to stop this..."

       "No one will be hurt..." Max hesitated.

       "How do you know?" Ally asked. "Do you think the Exceptionals are just going to sit back and let your Uncle inject them with the cure?"

       "They won't use injections, they were able to develop a gas form..." he responded.

       Ally pushed him in the chest, hard. Had she still been an Exceptional, he would have flown backwards. But instead, he barely moved. He looked down at her, waiting for her to hit him again.

       "I knew I shouldn't have trusted you. You or your uncle. I should have done this all on my own," she yelled at him.

       "Ally, please." Max grabbed her arms and pulled her close, keeping her from hitting him again. "If I had known before today, I would have told you. I swear. I don't want it to happen this way either, but it’s already started."

       "There is nothing for us to lose if we stay. We need to warn people," Ally stopped resisting against him and he let her go.

       "The Exceptionals might react when the gas releases. We could get caught in the crossfire,” Max responded.

       Ally clenched her hands into fists. "For all we know he has created another virus, Max."

       Max frowned. "I know."

       Ally paced back and forth for a moment, rubbing her hands together in front of her.

       "I'm finding Luke and telling him, now. He'll know what to do with the Exceptionals in the City. After that, we can go."

       Ally knew that they couldn't stay here much longer, not with the atmosphere the way it was. Max was right; she could come back to the City after things had calmed down, or even call for Luke to meet her. He would come, she knew he would. But then she would leave Champaign. She would get her brother, Sabine, and Willow. Cody would be okay. There was no way she could stay now, not after learning of Heath's plans. Whether he succeeded or failed, she would leave and find the Southern City. And this time maybe she could convince Luke to come with her.

CHAPTER THIRTY

They found Luke several blocks down the main street, in the middle of the main battle area. The bigger fires had been put out, by either the rain or Exceptionals, but a few buildings were still smoldering. Thin wisps of smoke drifted toward the sky, and Ally stepped in mucky, piles of ash as she walked. Several groups were already working on moving large debris from the road, and other groups were still carrying the bodies of Rogues into nearby transports. It didn't take Ally long to realize one was going to the ORC, and the other would be going to a graveyard.

       Luke was kneeling on the other side of the fissure in the road, leaning over a body sprawled on the ground. The clothes must have been white at one point, but now they were a cloudy gray from the ash and rain mixing together. Max and Ally were able to get close enough to the building on one side to avoid the fissure, and Ally jogged up to Luke.

       Raindrops ran down his arms and onto the body. She put her hand on his shoulder. "Luke, I need to tell you something..."

       His hand flew up and he looked at her. His eyes were glowing, and his expression was filled with anger. "I trusted him."

       Ally stepped back and looked down at the body on the ground. It was the Rogue she had seen in the alley, the one she had hoped to stop before the earthmover brought the City to rubble. 

       "Are you sure it was him?" she asked.

       Luke nodded. "It had to be. He knew everything ... he knew every plan. He gave me information about the Rogues, told me that their numbers were lower than what arrived, told me that they wouldn’t be very organized, but they were. He was a part of this all along, he had to be."

       Ally dropped down beside him and placed her hand back on his shoulder, gently. Water soaked through the knees of her now dirty pants, and her hair was becoming heavy from the rain. "I'm sorry. I know what it’s like to trust someone and have that taken away. But Luke, I need you to listen to me. Something bad is about to happen."

       He looked up at her, placing his own hand over hers. She wanted to lean into him, to let him embrace her. Earlier she had been afraid. She wasn't ready to believe that he remembered her. Now she could see it. She could see the softness in his eyes and the compassion on his face.

       "Heath, from Champaign. Max and I think he is going to use the cure against you, and soon." Ally watched his expression change back to anger.

       He jumped up from the ground and took hold of Ally's arm, pulling her up and slipping his own arm around her waist. He pointed at Max. "You need to fix this, now."

       "I can't," Max held his hands out, palm facing upward to display innocence. The rain was falling softly but drops slid down his palms and onto the ground. "I didn't even know about it until today."

       "You need to find out how to stop him, because otherwise I will kill every single one of them if I have to," Luke said through gritted teeth.

       Ally tried to pull away from him but he kept his grip firm. "Luke, you can’t..." she started.

       "I can't kill what, Ally? Kill them?" He looked down at her. "Why, because they are innocent Ordinarys who’d never do the same to me?"

       "There has to be another way..." Ally finally managed to pull away from Luke and look up at him. She put a hand on either side of his face and forced him to look down at her. "There
has
to be."

       "Yes," Luke agreed. "Him."

       He pointed at Max again, who sighed in return.

       "How do I even find my Uncle?" Max asked.

       Luke was about to respond, when a Guard ran up to them. The Guard completely ignored Ally and focused in on Luke.

       "There is a group of Ordinarys stationed at the main entrance. They say they know you, and they need to speak with you. Now." His deep voice waivered. “I normally wouldn’t entertain such requests, but they are threatening another war.”

       The corner of Luke's mouth pulled up into a smirk and he peered over at Max. "I think your Uncle might have just found you."

Luke wanted to take Ally to the entrance on his motorcycle, but Max insisted they all go together in a transport. Ally couldn't help but agree. Luke's mood was volatile right now, and Ally wasn't sure she wanted to be on a fast moving vehicle with him. By the time they got to the City’s main entrance, there was a familiar group of Ordinarys from Champaign in the courtyard. The Guards stood at the ready, with their guns hoisted over their shoulders, and the Ordinarys made no move to try and take them over. They stood in a misshapen circle, talking amongst themselves. The rain had stopped and puddles had formed on the uneven stone floor.

       Ally noticed Tilt and Hank right away. Heath was standing beside them, his arms crossed over his chest. He was staring directly at Luke as their trio approached, looking as calm as if he had come to deliver a batch of baked goods.

       Luke motioned for the Guards to move out of the way, coming to a stop directly in front of Heath. Ally stood to his right, and Max stood on her right, close enough that his arm brushed along her shoulder.

       "Heath, I'm surprised to see you back so soon." Luke was decades younger than Heath, but he held himself with a stature that made them almost equal. Heath wasn't as polished, and stood slouched and loose.

       Heath was smug. "I have another proposition for you."

       "I'm listening," Luke responded, sounding more amused than interested.

       "Well, I shouldn't call it a proposition," Heath licked his lips and shifted his weight over to the opposite leg. "I think it is time you hand the City over to the Ordinarys. To the people who will run it the best, and treat it the way it was meant to be treated."

       Luke let out a laugh. "Oh really, and you think I'm just going to step aside and let you walk through these streets? Do you think I'm going to gather up my Guards and march out of the City, never to be seen again?"

       "I think you will," Heath responded.

       "And why is that?" The amused tone was gone from Luke's voice, and left behind was anger.

       "While you were busy killing Rogues and demolishing half the City, I had my people placing smoke bombs in keys parts of the suburbs and the remaining part of City Center. Only instead of being filled with smoke, these are filled with a gas form of the cure. The one Ally here brought to us."

       Ally could feel dozens of pairs of eyes looking her way, and she chose to continue to look straight at Heath. She hadn't always liked him when she was in Champaign, but at least she had been able to respect him. Now she wasn't sure she could do even that.

       "When triggered, they will release a fast moving gas throughout the City, administering the cure to anyone that breathes it in." Heath finished.

       Luke just nodded, the expression on his face remaining calm. Ally could feel his body tense beside her, and his fist clenched together by her hand. Anger was rolling off of him in heavy waves.

       "It sounds like you haven't given me much of a choice," Luke finally spoke. "I'm assuming that even if I choose to kill you and all your friends here, the cure will still be released."

       Heath nodded.

       "Seems like quite the sacrifice ..." Luke trailed off.

       Ally knew that Heath was calling Luke's bluff, and she also knew that it was partially her fault. She had talked freely about his kindness and compassion, and his unusual open mindedness when it came to Ordinarys. But Heath didn't take into account what Luke had been through since Ally left the City.

       "Heath," she said with warning, "Think about what you're doing."

       Max nodded beside her, and his hand sought hers out.

       The air around her crackled and Ally knew that Luke's anger was building into something more dangerous. He could incapacitate everyone in this courtyard in seconds, and he could kill them all in just a few more.

       "Maybe we can work something out," Ally slid her free hand into Luke's, tingles running up and down her arms from the effort. The sensation faded, and she knew he was trying to reign his abilities back in.

       They must have looked like an odd trio, standing there holding hands.

       Heath shoved his own hands into his pockets and leaned toward her. "I doubt it."

       "Be smart, Uncle Heath," Max said. "This isn't going to end well, for anyone."

       Heath had done a good job of keeping his emotions in control, and his expression neutral. But now his smile faltered, and his eyes narrowed.

       "You on their side now, Max?" he asked. "Switching over for some girl who can't decide whether she wants to dip into the Ordinary or Exceptional gene pool?"

       Max shouted, "Don't talk about her like that..." just as Luke's hand flinched and Heath was sent flying through the air. He cleared the group of Ordinarys behind him and hung still in the air just inches from the stone wall. If he had hit it at the speed he had been going, it probably would have killed him.

       "Stop," Ally cried, letting go of Max's hand and using both of hers to grab Luke. "Let me talk to him. Please."

       Luke looked down at her, his violet eyes dimming. He blinked quickly, his eyes softening as he took her in. "Five minutes. No, two." He dropped his hands and Heath fell the remaining distance to the ground.

       Ally nodded and pushed past Tilt and Hank, rushing to Heath's side. He was sitting up on the stone now, using his shirt to dab at a cut above his head.

       "What are you thinking?" Ally hissed at him.

       Heath glared up at her.

       Ally kneeled down beside him and leveled her gaze with his. "Whatever you are trying to do here, this isn't the way. I'm not saying that Ordinarys don't deserve a fair shot in the City, but
this isn't the way
."

       "Are you suggesting there is another way?" He said, his voice low.

       "Let's give this time. Let the Rogue attack settle, and let the Exceptionals get back on their feet. Maybe something can be worked out once things are back to normal, maybe we can finally tear these walls down." She motioned to the stone walls in the courtyard.

       Heath looked down at his hands, rubbing at one of many spots of dirt. "I'll look weak."

       "You'll look wise," Ally said. "If you don't walk away, Luke will kill you. He might kill Max."

       The last part was a lie. Luke wouldn't kill Max, not if Ally asked him not to. But she needed Heath to believe that, even just a little, if she wanted extra motivation to make him walk away.

       Heath pushed himself up off the ground, standing very slowly. "Talk to him, and send Max with us" was all he said before he turned and limped out of the main entrance.

       Ally turned to face the others. Tilt and Hank shared looks and took off after Heath.  She hurried over to Max and touched his arm lightly. "Go with them."

       "What about you?" he asked. "You promised."

       "I'll be along, I swear," Ally said with as much sincerity as she could muster. "There is something I need to do first."

       Max hesitated, his jaw working back and forth.

       "Go," she whispered, stepping away from him and toward Luke.

       Max gave her one last glance and turned to follow his Uncle and the others out of the City. The Guards in the courtyard remained statues, but Luke exhaled loudly.

       "I thought I was going to kill him ... kill them all. Especially after what he said about you." Luke grabbed her head and pulled her forward until their foreheads met. "Come back to my house with me."