one attempts to help him up and when we hit another bump, he groans with the pain of being thrown around.
The truck comes to an abrupt halt and the guy in-between Sage and I grunts, slamming a fist on the metal paneling and yelling, “For fuck’s sake, Daniels, get your shit together before you kill us all!”
Daniels.
It’s an old habit but keeping track of as many names as I can has saved my life before, so I slip right back into it. There’s doors opening and slamming around us but no one moves until the back is opened up. It’s frustrating to me that they all have those masks on still because I don’t know if any of them recognize me.
I won’t know until it’s too late.
One of them speaks, but it’s impossible to tell which one. “Get them out, we’re being transported in five and we’re not taking freeloaders or charity.”
The guy on the ground is moved first, pulled and dropped onto the ground, and finally one of the Resistance takes her mask off to look him over. She’s got blond hair cropped close to her skull and a tattoo of a rose under one of her eyes. She doesn’t look evil but I’ve already learned that even the sweetest and kindest looking people can be monsters.
“He’s strong, an elemental. I’d keep him.”
One of the others pulls off his mask and snaps, “Elementals are more trouble than they’re worth. We need fighters, not someone to make sure it’s a nice day out.”
She shrugs and moves the guy to the left, pulling a gun out and shooting him point blank in the head. One of the Gifted across from me in the truck screams, the sound muffled by the gag, but ear splintering all the same.
It occurs to me that this is where my own trauma shows because there’s nothing about the fragments of skull flying everywhere or the blood and brain matter that bothers me. It’s as though the version of me who was queasy over some blood earlier is long gone and has been replaced by survival me. The girl that once… well, let’s just say my hands aren’t as squeaky clean as I’d like them to be.
There isn’t much difference between me and blondie with the gun really.
Nothing but what side of the dispute we’re on.
One by one we’re brought down to be tested. Sage gets an instant pass, shoved along to stand and wait for the rest of us. The other girl is a shifter and she passes. The last guy is also a Flame but he’s not as strong as Sage. They argue for a minute before deciding to keep him. I’m shoved in front of the tester last and my breath catches in my chest.
This close, I recognize her.
I have to force myself not to panic. The plan hasn’t changed, if she recognizes me then I let my gift out and use every ounce of control I have to stop Sage or one of the other Gifted from ending up as collateral.
Then, I run.
Carlin, the blondie with the gun who was a brunette without a face tattoo the last time I saw her, frowns as she takes me in. She doesn’t recognize me, but she also has no idea of what I am or what I’m capable of.
The guy without the mask snaps, “Well? Are we keeping her or not? Because transport is now in less than two minutes, we need to move.”
Her lips curl and she snaps, “She’s too powerful to toss but I can’t see what she is. She’s… blank.”
“We’re not taking freeloaders, kill her.”
Carlin holsters her gun and shakes her head. “Did you not hear me, Daniels? She’s literally leaking power out everywhere, you don’t kill that kind of potential.”
He huffs at her and grabs my arm. “I can’t feel it but fine, you can poke and prod her later to figure out what’s going on under the hood.”
Of course he can’t feel it, only people like Carlin could sense the power I’m desperately tamping down to keep them from knowing about it. I’ve seen her hold toddlers and accurately assess their abilities, she’s stronger than most at what she can do.
She’ll be furious when she realizes who I am.
We’re moved along to an open field, the truck and the Gifted’s dead body left behind without thought, and even though I can’t see a marker, we stop in a very specific spot. Then the Resistance all remove their gloves and grab