Revolution

- 08 -

More guards flood around the corner and I swivel away from Wayne's room, plucking a gun off the ground and firing. The mutants I've collected flinch, but for the moment, I don't hear any more footsteps.

I turn on my heel to find everyone else plastered against the wall. I sigh at the ragtag group. "Have any of you ever fought?"

Two boys, both Category 5's, raise their hands. "A little bit," Ryan contributes unhelpfully. If I recall, no one's abilities really make for any advantages in a violent scenario, but if two out of ten of these kids know how to throw a punch, it's good enough for me.

Suddenly, someone collapses into my arms. It's all I can do not to shove them off of me, but I recognize Jax's unruly hair when I see it. He grips my shoulders hard, and I give him a second to catch his breath. "Where were you?" I ask. It's been minutes.

"Scouting," he pants. I'm grateful he didn't just run all the way out of here; he decided to come back to help. His hand drifts to his side and he stands awkwardly, wincing. I notice that his standard jumpsuit is torn and stained crimson along his waist. "Bullet," he explains. "I didn't see it coming. Barely grazed me, though."

"Take a second." I twist an arm under his to take some of his weight. He falls into me gratefully. "What'd you see?"

"Lots of guards. They're trying to set up a perimeter outside the building. Blocking off exits, that sort of thing. I know where to go."

"Me too," a voice behind me says. A glance over my shoulder tells me it's Elliot, the super-smart kid.

"Of course you do. I imagine you also know how to dodge bullets, take complete control of other people's brains, and levitate, right?" He's silent with embarrassment, and I nod. "You're second on my list. In case you haven't noticed, this is dangerous. Having a high IQ won't help you out there."

"I'm fine," Jax says. "Just a bullet."

"Shut up. You were shot." I glance over the heads of the other mutants. "Anybody know where Isabelle is?"

A kid named Alec closes his eyes. "She went to go get the Category 9's and 10's."

"I know. That's not what I asked."

He flinched, eyes still screwed shut. "Umm... she's around a few corners, at the end of a hall, in a secure cell."

I scoff sarcastically. "Yeah, thanks." There's yelling at the end of the hallway, and I raise my gun slightly, shooting at the floor as a warning.

It clicks. I shake it and shoot again. Nothing.

"Shit. Empty." I drop the gun and reach out with my mind, feeling the faint flickers of bioelectricity around the corner. This time, they're all over the place and I struggle to latch on to even one person, never mind the whole group.

"I've got it." Maya's voice breaks me out of my focus, and I glance over at her. I don't have time for this. She looks nervous, and yet simultaneously confident.

"Stop." I shut my eyes and focus harder, but I can hear her take a step ahead of me. I can feel it. I'm tempted to take control of her, if only to get her to shut up, but I don't think I have the willpower to control a mutant right now.

The guards round the corner, guns raised, and their bioelectrical signals slip through my grasp.

They scream at the same time that I gasp, but not for the same reason.

I look up and Maya's hands are out in front of her, elbows locked, facing towards the collection of guards. Their bodies are twisted out unnaturally and a few of them claw at their chests. In moments, I understand why; their vests get darker with blood.

I look at Maya, her face contorted with focus. Her hands tremble and I look into her head, letting her take the lead without me taking control and hoping she's not startled by my presence in her brain. Fortunately, she doesn't notice, or if she does, she doesn't react.

The guards fall to the ground, faces shriveling grotesquely. Too much blood sleeps through their vests, pooling on the floor, moving on its own accord. I'm enchanted and disturbed at the same time.

Maya's hands fall to her sides.

I inspect the bodies from a distance. "So. Your thing is human mummies."

She shrugs. "Humans are sixty percent water."

"So why the hell were you a Category 4 again?" I look back at the water-less guards. With a shudder, I realize I'm never getting this image out of my head.

Clarissa pipes up from behind us. "Or, you know, I could always just shoot them. Telesthesia and all that." She's leaning against a wall, inspecting her nails on one hand while clutching a gun in the other.

"I'll keep that in mind." I'm fascinated by her calm composure, even though she was fraying moments ago. I may have underestimated the lower Categories.

"Paige!"

The sound of Isabelle's voice makes me spin around. She's walking normally on the floor, and when we lock eyes, she runs to me. "I found them," she pants. "But there's an issue."

I cock an eyebrow.

She slide in front of me, hands on her thighs. "Two of them don't want to come out, and the other two, well..." she gestures down the hallway, where twin boys lean against the wall, arms crossed casually. They're identical in both physique and nature. One of them must be the mimic, but they even push off the wall in perfect sync, which makes it hard to identify who's who.

"I don't know which is which," she admits. "But they came to help us."

I shake my head. "We can't leave the Category 10's here."

Isabelle glances behind her, back towards the hallway she came from. "They won't come out. I don't even know their names."

"Then we have to kill them."

Isabelle whips around. "Seriously? Are you hearing yourself, Paige? They're 10's. They might as well be invincible."

I bite my lip, contemplating. I really don't want them dead, but we know almost nothing about them except that none of us had ever come in contact with them. That probably means isolation, which means danger, and if they won't come with us, then we're going to have to eliminate the liabilities. "Did you find out their abilities?"

"Not really. One of them was doing this weird glitchy thing. It kinda looked like invisibility gone wrong. She was in this weird, super-thick glass chamber in a room."

"So a mistake, maybe? Is that why they're isolated?"

Isabelle hisses through her teeth. "I don't think so. She was really unstable, grabbing her head and screaming and everything as soon as I tried to talk to her. I left the door open, in case she had a change of heart."

Jax clears his throat behind us. "I don't mean to ruin a sappy reunion moment, but they're still preparing to kill us. I'll run the 10's out of here if you guys want. I'm all for saving them, but..." He shakes his head. "I don't know. They're still dangerous."

"Alright, here's the game plan." I turn to address the crowd. "Anybody Category 6 and above, also including Maya - " She beams when I mention her, like her ability to turn people into fleshy prunes makes her proud. " - come with me. I imagine you all have fight training. Anybody who doesn't fit that description, follow closely. If you're not with the group when we leave, you're a weakness. Don't get caught." I can already feel the fight returning. It's a feral and untamed power, speaking to something deep within me.

I crack my knuckles with a wolfish grin. "Let's show them what it means to be super."