Evan and Blink crawled out of the tunnel into the night. They pulled back behind the cover of bushes at the first sight of the Feds. It was a decently sized group, outfitted in a way which sent chills through Evan’s skin. Two of them lugged along black tubes, with blue tongues of fire that licked the dark air, like dragons barely restrained by their tamers. A squad of soldiers followed behind them, their helmet flashlights a rave of white beams. More so, they were flanked by four drones, two on either side with dozens of appendages sprung out from their June beetle forms.

  Evan searched the creeping tree line for the gold eyes and barred fangs that would be their salvation. He turned to Blink. She nodded. They grabbed hands and ran from the cover of the tunnel.

  “Over there!” A soldier shouted. Evan and Blink teleported away just before their lights reached them.

  Evan had grown accustomed to the jump, catching his feet this time as he landed with Blink a few meters ahead of their last position, and kept running forward. The enforcers chased after them, their headlights scattering across the trees and casting shadows, like spirits of the forest.

  Blink puffed. “Well. They’re chasing us now. Next?”

  “We bring the wolves…” Evan grabbed his left bicep and closed his eyes. His head buzzed for a moment as his powers came forth. It burned as his skin ripped at the seams.

  Blink shrieked, then quickly covered her mouth. “What are you doing?” She hissed through her fingers.

  Evan pulled his hand back, wet with blood. Dark liquid spilled from his bicep where he had used his powers to cut himself. It was a terrible feeling, like being a stuffed animal ripped apart at the stitching.

  “Wolves are drawn to blood,” he answered. He didn’t know that for certain, it was a guess, one he hoped he wouldn’t bleed out for.

  Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long to find out.

  Golden eyes prowled through the brush. One of the beasts crouched with a vicious snarl, it’s matted fur sharp and great.

  Blink grabbed his arm.

  “Wait,” he begged. The enforcers weren’t close enough.

  “Evan!”

  He snapped his attention to see what was going on. A grey blur was coming for them. Before Evan could react, Blink teleported them another few meters away.

  It was a wolf, that blur, which skid in the squishing mud to a stop. It sniffed the earth where they had been.

  Evan strained his eyes watching the Feds. Did they see?

  They had.

  In a matter of moments, the headlights were directed onto the wolves, and the soldiers rushed for them. The beasts were fearfully strong, and Evan was confident that the Feds would be easily deterred, just as he and the others had been several nights back when they’d faced the wolves.

  The creature’s eyes glistened as the enforcer headlights landed on them.

  A soldier flew against a tree, the fast wolf’s teeth gripped into his neck.

  The other soldiers scrambled as their comrade gurgled blood.

  The second wolf pounced onto the back of a flamethrower trooper. Bursts of petrol spewed into the air.

  Another soldier dropped to the ground; his leg strung straight out. It gushed crimson as his body was dragged across the mud. The dark silhouette of a wolf’s jowls formed as blood seeped from the leg. The invisible wolf.

  The other soldiers fired at the beasts. The fast one evaporated and reappeared with its jaws around another kill. The grotesque one leapt on a soldier, bullets dropping from its hide. The invisible one ripped out the throat of the soldier it had dragged. Its mouth snatched onto the next person.

  There was a sadness in Evan’s mind as he watched this. He’d worked so hard to keep from killing, and he knew that these enforcers could be just like Luna or Cranston – misguided at first, and human all the same. He hoped they’d run away, surrender, leave them alone so that not another person would die.

  He had no hate for these soldiers. He hated those who put them here. He sought not to kill. He sought only to protect. He would forgive. He would forget. But he would not let those he cared for die in the place of oppressors any longer.

  Seek to redeem, be ready to defend.

  Desperately, the remaining soldiers formed into a circle of five, with the flamethrower soldier taking a forward position. The drones made a perimeter around Feds. Great bursts of fire unleashed from the flamethrower and engulfed the grotesque wolf. The flames seared its flesh. It ran to the cover of a tree. The fast wolf tried to charge again, but the drones emitted a wall of energy that surrounded the soldiers, and the fast wolf snagged on to the force field, rippling with electricity. Its corpse dropped to the ground in a twitch of shock.

  Dissolving the force field, one of the drones dispersed a volley of small projectiles that embed into the surrounding brush and trees like porcupine quivers. Evan and Blink squeezed behind the tree before they could be hit. Looking back, Evan saw blood spurt from the air and drip down the sides of the invisible wolf’s hide as it dropped to the ground.

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  The grotesque wolf was all that was left, licking its wounds, unable to regenerate faster than the fire could burn it. It looked out and met Evan’s wincing eyes.

  He’d been wrong, underestimating the Feds yet again. Getting more Afflicted killed in his goal to save his people. That’s what they were. Creatures with strange gifts, simply trying to survive, and Evan led them to slaughter.

  He could save the animal. He could run out there, destroy the flamethrower, and disintegrate the drones. He’d turn the soldiers into dust. He’d do it for everyone he’d failed. He’d kill for them.

  He stepped out to help it.

  Blink pulled him back down. “You can’t.”

  He slipped back from her.

  “Evan, you can’t. The Feds will think the wolves were what they were tracking this whole time. If you attack them, they’ll know there’s more Afflicted and call for reinforcements.”

  She was right. He could do nothing but watch as the Feds encircled the animal; it was now backed up against the tree. It snarled defiantly at its predators. A final explosion of flame consumed the creature and returned it to dust.

  Evan slid down to the ground, defeated. How was he supposed to fight this war? Was there any way to do it without sacrificing others, and without sacrificing who he wanted to be?

  One of the enforcers said over a radio, “I think we found out who triggered the drone sensors. Freaky beasts. Let’s clear everything out.”

  “Run another scan, just in case,” another said.

  Evan and Blink readied themselves.

  After a moment of scanning, the drones cooed peacefully.

  “We’re good. Let’s get our guys back home.”

  “Take the beasts too. Monolith might want them.”

  The drones emitted large beams that shrouded all the dead, both soldiers and wolves, and lifted them into the air with magnetic propulsion. The Federation soldiers left as fast as they had come. Only blood, bullet shells, and ash were left behind.

  *****

  When Evan and Blink returned to the team, the heat in the room had leveled.

  Nyla had been transferred into the cell with Andrea. Her eyes were closed, and she sweat like a stick of dynamite laid out on melting ice. Her hand was intertwined with Andrea’s. They breathed at the same pace.

  “What’s going on?” Evan asked.

  Vihn sat next to the two. He stared in their general direction with his white eyes. “Looks like Andrea can still use her powers, wherever her minds at. She’s helped calm Nyla down for now, but she still needs to release her powers. Thank you, you two. You guys pulled the Feds off our trail long enough for Rowic to block the drone’s scanners.”

  That explained why the Feds hadn’t detected them.

  Evan walked over to the tables. He reached for Andrea’s hand, but nothing happened.

  “Is Nyla going to be ok?” Evan asked.

  Vihn shrugged. “Andrea’s keeping her stable. She’ll be fine if we can find a place for her to use her powers.”

  Cranston, additional creases in his skin from bruises and cuts making him look older, leaned forward in his chair. “Now what?”

  Looking around the room, there was a palpable exhaustion amongst the rebels; Andrea unconscious, Nyla ready to explode, Cranston battered. Plus Vihn blinded, nearly out of flowers, and missing an arm. Rowic sat disheveled, and Daniel rubbed his head repetitiously, muttering to himself nonstop. Blink and Twitch leaned weakly against a wall together, their matching cross necklaces clinking dully against each other. What spirit was left?

  Rowic cleared his throat. “We can go to Florida.”

  The others looked at him like he’d finally snapped, except for Cranston whose jaw tightened knowingly.

  “Florida?” Daniel asked, “Hurricane, under the sea, no one left - Florida?”

  Rowic sighed, “Yes.”

  Blink’s eyes widened. “Is there, like, some sort of hidden base flooded under the water?”

  Rowic nodded hesitantly.

  “There’s been a secret base in Florida, this whole time?” Evan asked.

  “Kind of,” Cranston interjected. “They’re part of a different group. We haven’t associated with them since Unification Day.”

  Daniel snapped his fingers, “Man, you’re talking about the deserters?”

  Cranston raised an eyebrow, a deserter himself.

  “Why don’t you associate with them anymore?” Evan asked.

  Rowic shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. They’re our only hope.”

  “It does matter,” Cranston said. “If they’ve been keeping up with the propaganda and news, they’ll know that Joseph Krow’s been actively chasing us. They’ll shoot us down before we get to their base if they think we’re trailing a purifier behind us.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “I do… My sister is one of them.” Rowic swallowed dryly.

  The rest of the group sat in silence.

  Blink shrugged. “What other option do we really have?”

  Vihn cleared his throat and said, “We kill Krow.”

  Nyla swore. “Ok, now you’ve lost your mind.”

  “We can do this.” Vihn stood tall, reeking with vigor instead of alcohol. “This is it. We’ve ran, we’ve hid, and now we fight. There’s nothing left to lose, except by giving up and making the deaths of our friends meaningless.”

  Daniel scoffed. “We could, like, lose our lives still. Maybe I don’t want to give that up just yet.”

  “Our lives? What about the lives of everyone who died in Alpha? What about Jeck’s life? Luna’s. Zachary’s. Ken. Did they die just so that you could cower and run?” Vihn spit on the floor. “They died so that we could have this chance. We know where Krow is, and we have the way to kill him.” He turned to Evan. “Come on, what do you say? This is it. This is your chance.”

  It was then that Evan finally realized who Vihn was. That man, that old stranger, was him. Someone who had tried to fight, tried to do the right thing, and led people who relied on him to their death. He had tried to use his powers to help others; he had tried and failed and got them killed. Dozens of friends, families, and strangers – dead because of his choices, just like Evan.

  For Vihn, it was his squad mates. For Evan, it was Luna.

  For Vihn, it was the people he’d tried to protect that night of Unification Day. For Evan, it was Zachary and the people of Alpha – or perhaps both blamed themselves for the deaths of Alpha base.

  Vihn’s sister had trusted him, and she died for it. Her baby died for it. For Evan, it had been his mom and Ken.

  Vihn betrayed by a lover, Evan betrayed by his father.

  Maybe Vihn was right. The only way to survive was to make sure the enemy didn’t. Joseph Krow and his father would chase the rebels down, tear them apart, burn everything that was good until there was nothing left.

  This was Evan’s moment to do the right thing. To end it. But he wouldn’t sacrifice others to do it, not anymore. If his friends wanted to escape to Florida, then Evan would help them, but he was done running.

  Evan addressed the team. “We don’t need to kill Krow. We just need to sabotage his ship, so we have enough time to escape.”

  Vihn gave an uncertain glare. Evan stared him back in the eye, hoping the rebel would pick up on Evan’s true intentions.

  “Think about it,” Evan continued. “We infiltrate the ship, disable it, and escape before they can do anything about it.”

  Vihn shook his head. “That’s still running away.”

  Cranston stood up to him. “It’s keeping us alive, sir. That’s what matters.”

  Vihn surrendered his ground. “Fine. That’s the plan, then.” He gave Evan a discreet nod.

  He understands then. The real plan is for everyone to fly away to Florida, while Vihn and I kill Krow.

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