happened to Obliteration?” I asked.
“Gone, for now,” Tia said.
“How?”
“Jon …” She trailed off, meeting my gaze. She didn’t say it, but I read the meaning.
Prof had used his powers.
Tia nodded toward the boat, which rocked in the water nearby. Mizzy and Val sat in it, but there was no sign of Prof.
“Just a sec.” I fetched my gun, still dizzy from my ordeal.Near it I found Mizzy’s discarded explosives, which were still attached to the front of the T-shirt that Obliteration had been wearing. It wouldn’t explode unless it got too far from the radio signal. I rolled the bomb in the remains of the shirt and made my way over to the small boat. Exel offered me a hand, helping me down into the craft.
I settled next to Mizzy, who glanced at me and then immediately looked down. It was hard to tell with her darker skin, but I thought she was blushing in embarrassment. Why hadn’t she watched my back like she’d said she would?
Val started the small motor. It seemed she didn’t care about drawing attention any longer. Regalia had located us, appeared to us. Hiding was pointless.
So much for keeping quiet , I thought.
As we motored away from the scene of the fight, I noticed people beginning to peek out of hiding places. Wide-eyed, they emerged to broken tents and smoldering rooftops. This was only one small section of the city, and the destruction wasn’t wholesale—but I still felt we’d failed. Yes, we’d driven off Obliteration, but only temporarily, and we’d managed it only by falling back on Prof’s abilities.
What I couldn’t figure out was, how had he done it? How could forcefields or disintegrating metal stave off Obliteration?
Judging by the slumped postures the others wore, they felt the same way I did—that we’d failed tonight. We motored past the broken rooftops in silence. I found myself watching the people who’d gathered. Most seemed to ignore us—in the chaos, they had probably taken cover and missed a lot of the details. You learned to keep your head down when Epics were near. To them, we’d hopefully appear to be just another group of refugees.
I did catch some of them watching us go, though. An older woman, who held a child to her chest, nodding with whatseemed to be respect. A youth who peeked over the edge of a rooftop near a burned bridge, wary, as if he expected Obliteration to appear at any moment to destroy us for daring to stand up to him. A young woman wearing a red jacket with the hood up, watching from among a small crowd, her clothing wet …
Wet clothing. I focused immediately, and caught a glimpse of her face beneath the hood as she looked at me.
Megan.
She held my gaze for just a moment. It was Megan … Firefight . A second later, she turned and vanished into the group of townspeople, lost in the night.
So you are here , I thought, remembering the splash, the feel of someone’s hands on my leg in the moments before I was freed.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“What was that?” Tia asked.
“Nothing,” I said, settling back in the boat and smiling, despite my exhaustion.
14
WE continued on through the darkness, moving into a section of the city that was obviously less inhabited. Buildings still sprouted from the waters like tiny islands, fruit glowing on their upper floors, but the spraypaint colors were faded or nonexistent and no bridges linked the structures. They were probably too far apart out here.
The area grew darker as we left the parts of the city with the bright spraypaint. Sailing across those waters in the blackness of night, only the moon to give us light, was thoroughly unsettling. Fortunately, Val and Exel turned on their mobiles, and together the glow created a bright enough light to give us some illumination.
“So, Missouri,” Val said from the back of the boat. “Wouldyou mind explaining why you let David be attacked—and nearly killed—alone, without any backup?”
Mizzy stared at the boat’s floor. The
“Gone, for now,” Tia said.
“How?”
“Jon …” She trailed off, meeting my gaze. She didn’t say it, but I read the meaning.
Prof had used his powers.
Tia nodded toward the boat, which rocked in the water nearby. Mizzy and Val sat in it, but there was no sign of Prof.
“Just a sec.” I fetched my gun, still dizzy from my ordeal.Near it I found Mizzy’s discarded explosives, which were still attached to the front of the T-shirt that Obliteration had been wearing. It wouldn’t explode unless it got too far from the radio signal. I rolled the bomb in the remains of the shirt and made my way over to the small boat. Exel offered me a hand, helping me down into the craft.
I settled next to Mizzy, who glanced at me and then immediately looked down. It was hard to tell with her darker skin, but I thought she was blushing in embarrassment. Why hadn’t she watched my back like she’d said she would?
Val started the small motor. It seemed she didn’t care about drawing attention any longer. Regalia had located us, appeared to us. Hiding was pointless.
So much for keeping quiet , I thought.
As we motored away from the scene of the fight, I noticed people beginning to peek out of hiding places. Wide-eyed, they emerged to broken tents and smoldering rooftops. This was only one small section of the city, and the destruction wasn’t wholesale—but I still felt we’d failed. Yes, we’d driven off Obliteration, but only temporarily, and we’d managed it only by falling back on Prof’s abilities.
What I couldn’t figure out was, how had he done it? How could forcefields or disintegrating metal stave off Obliteration?
Judging by the slumped postures the others wore, they felt the same way I did—that we’d failed tonight. We motored past the broken rooftops in silence. I found myself watching the people who’d gathered. Most seemed to ignore us—in the chaos, they had probably taken cover and missed a lot of the details. You learned to keep your head down when Epics were near. To them, we’d hopefully appear to be just another group of refugees.
I did catch some of them watching us go, though. An older woman, who held a child to her chest, nodding with whatseemed to be respect. A youth who peeked over the edge of a rooftop near a burned bridge, wary, as if he expected Obliteration to appear at any moment to destroy us for daring to stand up to him. A young woman wearing a red jacket with the hood up, watching from among a small crowd, her clothing wet …
Wet clothing. I focused immediately, and caught a glimpse of her face beneath the hood as she looked at me.
Megan.
She held my gaze for just a moment. It was Megan … Firefight . A second later, she turned and vanished into the group of townspeople, lost in the night.
So you are here , I thought, remembering the splash, the feel of someone’s hands on my leg in the moments before I was freed.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“What was that?” Tia asked.
“Nothing,” I said, settling back in the boat and smiling, despite my exhaustion.
14
WE continued on through the darkness, moving into a section of the city that was obviously less inhabited. Buildings still sprouted from the waters like tiny islands, fruit glowing on their upper floors, but the spraypaint colors were faded or nonexistent and no bridges linked the structures. They were probably too far apart out here.
The area grew darker as we left the parts of the city with the bright spraypaint. Sailing across those waters in the blackness of night, only the moon to give us light, was thoroughly unsettling. Fortunately, Val and Exel turned on their mobiles, and together the glow created a bright enough light to give us some illumination.
“So, Missouri,” Val said from the back of the boat. “Wouldyou mind explaining why you let David be attacked—and nearly killed—alone, without any backup?”
Mizzy stared at the boat’s floor. The
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