The Altered.

Chapter LXIX.

Miles and Percy were alone.

Percy was flipping through the book they'd used to decipher the e-Screen. Miles was pacing.

Any time he had an idea, he tried to grasp on to it. The train of thought would stay solid for a few minutes, and he'd start to get excited. Then it would derail tragically, allowing unwelcome thoughts to pop back up in his head when he didn't want them.

If he and his group successfully got into the Vega Sector tower, where would they go from there?

Even that sounded impossible. Getting into that tower? Unlikely. Managing to find who or what had caused the virus? The thought made Miles' head hurt. What wasn't helping was the constant headaches he'd been getting - he'd hit his head hard in his fight with Ty and the effects were still plaguing him. The other wounds were healing more noticeably, but they still hurt. Everything did.

Miles let out a yell and slammed his fist against the nearest shelf, ignoring the ripple of pain that zipped through him. From where he sat by the e-Screen, Percy lifted his head. "Miles, what are you doing?"

"Go back to your reading, rich-boy," Miles hissed, not even glancing at Percy.

In his peripheral vision, Miles noted how Percy indignantly straightened up after Miles' remark. When Percy got to his feet, Miles was unsurprised, and turned to face the raven-haired boy approaching him.

Percy was frowning. At first, Miles guessed that it was because Percy was irked, but as Percy got nearer, Miles noticed that he seemed more confused than anything. Percy brushed right by Miles and kept walking. "What is it?" Miles asked, turning and scampering after Percy.

Percy shot Miles a glance and lifted a finger to his lips. Obediently, Miles fell quiet. "Do you hear that?" Percy whispered.

Miles strained his ears, trying to catch any sound that Percy might be referring to. Then, so faint that at first he thought it was just the wind, he caught the sound of a conversation outside the library. It was impossible to make out words - almost impossible to tell that it was voices at all. But once he heard it, he pushed past Percy and darted for the nearest window. Percy followed without hesitating, eventually pulling ahead of Miles and reaching the tinted window first.

Miles halted behind Percy, peering over the other boy's shoulder as he pressed his face close to the glass to see out. Seeing as the boys were on the second level of the library, it was more difficult to get a view of what was going on on the street as opposed to how it would be if they were on a lower level. Percy was the first to speak. "No way," he breathed. Miles could tell just by the way Percy had said it that he was increasingly angry.

Miles struggled to see over Percy's shoulder, standing on his toes and jumping up and down to see past the taller boy. "Who is it?"

Percy took a few steps to the side to allow Miles a clear view. "Those assholes who left us to fight alone in a fight they started!"

"Angelina's group," Miles muttered under his breath as he peered out the window. Sure enough, Angelina and her two companions were moving slowly along the street, keeping to the edges and pressing their backs against buildings they passed to stay hidden. They were talking, but not as loudly as they had been before - Miles could no longer catch what they were saying.

He could feel his upper lip curling and his fists clenching slowly in rage. "If I could," he started, narrowing his eyes, "I'd go and kill all of them right now." That was hardly true, but Miles wished it was. He never wanted to see that group again.

Percy sounded abnormally amused. "Please don't," he drawled, "I'd hate to have to deal with you crying for a week after you kill them. You know, like you did when you killed your -"

Miles hated the way tears sprung to his eyes, but he didn't let that stop him from grabbing Percy's shirt collar before he could finish speaking and violently slamming the him against the wall nearest the window. "I wouldn't finish that sentence, if I were you," Miles warned, voice brimming with unwelcome pain.

Percy gasped for air, shoving Miles away from him with his able hand. He swallowed, letting a smirk play on his lips dangerously as if he was preparing to say something cruel. But then his eyes met Miles', who's yellow-green orbs still glistened with unshed tears, and Percy sealed his lips again.

One second passed. Two.

Percy laughed. "I was only kidding, man. I didn't mean it."

"Ha-ha," spat Miles, elongating the syllables, voice devoid of humour. "Very funny. Make another joke, why don't you? A mean one."

"Miles, I was kidding. It isn't a big deal."

"This is exactly why I didn't want to be stuck with you for the day."

Percy's face twisted with a sudden anger, and he shoved Miles hard in the chest. Not expecting it, Miles staggered backwards, only just catching himself before he fell. "Why?" Percy pressed. "Because you can't take a joke?"

Miles didn't want to fight, but his body was buzzing. He clenched his fists, feeling his nails digging into his palms and leaving behind bloody crescents. "No," he snapped. "Because you're an asshole, Percy."

"So much for friends."

"I am not," spat Miles, "your friend."

"And you said I was mean!" If there was hurt in Percy's eyes, it was gone so quickly that Miles couldn't confirm it.

"I'm not being fucking mean anymore," Miles said. "I'm being honest. You're an asshole, Percy. Where would you be if we weren't stuck in the fucking apocalypse? Laughing with the rest of the bullies at your stupid rich school? Fretting over which designer shoes you were going to buy next? Going through the school and picking on the not-hot-enough-for-your-standards kids?"

"You know what? Yeah. Probably." Percy hadn't taken his wide, furious eyes off Miles. "I probably would be, Miles, because that's what I used to do."

"Don't play that card."

"What card?"

"The 'meeting new people changed me' card."

Percy looked hurt. "What, you think I don't mean it?"

Miles laughed drily. "Oh, come on. You were halfway through a joke about my dead boyfriend a minute ago."

"The boyfriend you killed!"

It took all of Miles' self-restraint not to let his emotions get the better of him. "Yeah, there it is. And to think I was actually starting to like you."

Percy's shoulders slumped. "It's not like you're never mean, Miles. Even Aaron calls you mean."

"'Even Aaron'? What's that supposed to mean? Does Aaron have superior judgement?"

"You seem to think so."

"I say mean things," Miles acknowledged. "Everybody does. But I'm not a bully."

"That's a lie."

"Oh yeah?" Miles wished Percy wasn't right.

"Yeah." Percy leaned back against the wall. "You were the same kid at your school that I was at mine. I can tell, easy."

"There's a difference between that and being a fucking jerk because you're rich."

Percy raised his eyebrows. "Oh, I get it. You're jealous."

"Of you? As if."

"Wow. Look at us; two mean kids trying to save the world."

Miles might have laughed at the stupidity of what Percy had just said, if it wasn't so accurate. God, Miles had never felt so repulsed at his own behaviour - he'd never thought twice about the things he'd said to people, and suddenly it was dawning on him how large the effect of words was. Miles took a step back, away from Percy. "Don't ever make a joke about Ty again."

"Or what?"

"Or you're exactly the type of kid I think you are, Percy."

Without waiting for a response, Miles spun on his heels and took off in the opposite direction.

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+1330 Words.