Exceptional (24 page)

One of the doctors, a younger male, saw Aden and approached him immediately.  “Sir.”

“Dr. Gould,” Aden nodded.  “I’m assuming you are bringing me further reports on Subject One?”

The doctor’s face grew grim.  “It isn’t looking good, Sir.  The experiment we ran has backfired.  His genes are mutating at twice the speed.”

He spun on his heels and hurried to the first window on the left.  Aden followed, motioning for Luke to come as well.  Luke stepped beside his father and peered through the window.  What he saw made him catch his breath.  A human, or at least what remained of one, sat curled up in the corner of a small white room.  If he wasn’t looking toward them with large, violet eyes, Luke may not have realized that he was some sort of Exceptional.  His thin arms were wrapped around his bony legs, and his pointy chin rested on kneecaps that jutted out.  His skin had taken on a putrid green color and was so wrinkled it hung off his body in places.  What hair he had left hung in ratty knots around his face.

“What happened to him?”  Luke placed his hand on the glass.

“Dr. Gould,” Aden said, giving the doctor permission to explain.

“What you see here is a Rogue,” the doctor started.  “An Exceptional whose genes have mutated beyond control.  He has no sense of humanity left and is more or less an animal.”

“How did this happen?” Luke had never seen or heard of anything like this.

“That is what we are trying to figure out,” Aden responded.

“Did he come from the City?”

Dr. Gould paused.  “Not technically.  He came from
a
City, just not ours.”

“Is it an illness?” Luke knew that illnesses were a thing of the past for Exceptionals, but sometimes Ordinarys in the City would fall ill with fevers or a cough.

“No,” Aden’s face grew hard.  “It is our future.”

LUKE PROCESSED his father’s words for several minutes before he hurried to catch up.  Aden and Dr. Gould had moved on to window two, where a female Exceptional, or Rogue, sat on a white hospital bed.  She had the same discolored skin and patchy hair, and her eyes were starting to turn a muted gray color.

“Our future?” He watched as the female they were observing leaned forward and bit into her pillow, ripping a large chunk of cloth off the cover.

“It took one hundred years for the Exceptional genes to fully evolve to what we are today.  The first generations of Exceptionals were strong, but not as strong as we are now.  They had extra abilities, but no more than one, where we can have multiple.  It would seem that our genes are beginning to evolve further, mutating into what Dr. Gould addressed as a Rogue.”

    “All of us?” Luke swallowed at a lump in his throat.
    “At first we weren’t sure,” Aden responded.  “But then we got a message from the eastern City.  It has been almost fifty years since I last heard from the leader there, and just about as long since a roamer came to our City from theirs.”
    Aden never took his eyes off the female Rogue as he spoke.
    “What did it say, the message?” Luke asked.
    “It was a distress signal, sent almost a year ago.  It started with how they had been experimenting with a new serum, one that would further enhance our DNA.  The second half of the message was asking for aid, stating that they were under attack by their own.  The message was cut short, and we never heard from them again, even though we sent responses.”

“Their own?” Luke thought.  “Is that where these Except— Rogues are from?”


Aden nodded.  “I think whatever serum they came up with, unleashed a new virus.  They probably had no idea what was happening until it was too late to contain the infected.  We sent a patrol six months ago to survey the situation.”

    “What did you find?” Luke prompted, trying to keep the conversation moving.
    “We found the City in complete disarray.  Their City is smaller than ours, but ran very similar.  There were a dozen settlements outside their boundary wall, and we found that they were completely empty of life.  There were several signs that the Ordinarys had made a hasty exit, but there was also carnage,” Aden paused.  “The City was overrun with Rogues.  We flew a transport overhead and were able to capture images of them tearing into buildings and houses, creating mass destruction.”
    “What about the Ordinarys, were you able to track them down?”
    “We didn’t have time.  A few Rogues spotted the transport and took interest in it.  We captured these three, and the others followed underneath it for several miles outside of the City until we were able to lose them.  When we arrived back at the City, we started research immediately.  Fortunately, we have discovered that this virus is transmittable through blood, saliva, and sexual interactions; it is not airborne like the previous virus.”
    Luke took a deep breath, trying to calm the nerves that were doing jumping jacks just beneath his skin.  “What does this have to do with the ORC?”
    Aden pointed his finger to the next window.  “Your answer is in there.”
    Luke raised his eyebrow and moved toward it slowly, expecting another Rogue like the last two.  The room did hold another Rogue, but this one was much different than the other two.  He had yellowed, sunken in eyes and had gone completely bald.  His skin was a darker green than Luke had observed on the previous two, and was less wrinkly than the others.  But also unlike the other two, he was clothed, wearing the normal white tracksuit that Luke wore at the moment.  The Rogue had been reading a book on his bed, but he took notice of Luke and stood, stepping over to the window.  He smiled as he moved, revealing two rows of long, sharp teeth.

The Rogue stopped inches from the window and cocked his head, observing Luke in the same way that Luke was observing him.  He grinned again and leaned forward.

“Hi,” his voice came through speaker on either side of the window.

“Hi,” Luke gave an almost breathless response.

    Aden came up beside Luke.  “We believe that all three of the Rogues we brought in were in different stages of mutation.  At first we thought he was one of the newest Rogues, but he has only gotten more intelligent with time, leading us to believe he is one of the
first
to be infected.”

“We need to talk,” Luke looked at his father.

Aden nodded.  “Yes, I think we do.”  

   
       
Ally’s arms and legs felt as if they weighed a hundred pounds each.  She tried to open her mouth and speak, but the darkness she was trapped in filled her lungs before she could utter a sound.
   
       
“Ally…”
   
       
A voice spoke in the distance, calling to her.
   
        
“Ally…”
 
          
It was closer this time, beckoning her to wake up.  She struggled against the heavy veil over her, managing to raise her hand slightly.
   
       
“Ally…”
   
       
“I’m here,” she managed to whisper, forcing her words free.
   
       
“Ally…”
   
        
Something sharp pierced her skin and the darkness fled.  She found herself bathed in a brilliant, white light, and she could finally open her eyes.
   
       
“Ally,” Luke stood above her, his hands cupping her face.  “Can you hear me?”
   
       
She blinked several times, wondering if her mind was playing tricks on her.  She had begun to believe that she would be suspended in the darkness for eternity, caught in a silent nightmare.
   
        
“Yes,” she responded.
   
        
Luke leaned forward and gently placed a kiss below each of her eyes.  “I’ve come to take you home.”
   
       
“Stosh?” she croaked.  Her throat was having trouble working after a long period of silence.  Either that or it was still raw from her screaming.
   
       
“He is waking up now.  We are going to bring him home as well,” Luke responded.
   
       
“How long have I been here?”
   
       
“You were brought in yesterday morning, and it is now late afternoon, so over a day.”
   
       
Luke’s face was a shadow with the bright lights positioned directly behind his head, but Ally could almost see his features she knew them so well.  His violet eyes, his sometimes crooked smile, and the hard lines of his jaw.  She wanted to reach up and touch his face, but she didn’t trust her arm to work correctly just yet.   
   
       
“My mother.  Aden—” She forced out.
   
       
“I know,” Luke rubbed a thumb across her cheek, brushing away a tear she hadn’t realized she let escape.  “Do you think you can sit up?”
   
       
“I can try.” She lifted her head slowly, letting him wrap his arm around her back to give her support.  Her head still felt foggy, and white dots danced in front of her eyes, but she was eventually able to achieve a sitting position.  She dangled her legs over the edge of the table, waiting for the vertigo to pass.  Luke stood directly next to her, his body pressed into the side of her leg.  Her kept one hand on her back and the other on her knee, helping to keep her steady.
   
       
“Ally?” She recognized Stosh’s voice immediately.
   
       
She turned her head slowly, finding him sitting up on the bed next to her.  Two female Exceptionals sat on either side of him, acting as his support.  Ally fought the urge to jump off her bed and run to him, reminding herself that she was still weak.  Stosh looked her over and then his eyes moved over to Luke, narrowing as he took in the Exceptional who was standing so close to his sister.  Ally realized that Luke had his arm around her shoulder and his free hand on her leg.  Of course Stosh would be upset to see that.
   
       
“Stosh,” she said his name in response, shooting him a weary smile.  “About time you got up.”
   
       
“You always have to be first, don’t you?” he joked back.  
   
       
“I am older by six minutes,” she rebutted. “I started out in first place.”
   
       
“Where are we?  Where is mother?” He rubbed his temples with his fingers.  “I can’t remember anything after entering that interrogation room.”
   
       
Luke stiffened beside her, and Ally clutched the edge of the table, feeling dizzy again.  She leaned into Luke’s chest for support, taking deep breaths.  Of course Stosh wouldn’t remember what happened to their mother.  He had been knocked out cold before Aden had pulled the trigger, and had been asleep since then.
   
       
“Ally?” Stosh’s voice held an edge of panic.  “What happened?”
   
       
Somehow, she managed to compose herself.  With Luke’s help she swiveled on the table and faced her brother, reaching her arm toward him.  He did the same, grasping her hand with his own.  Tears spilled down her cheek as she looked up to meet his gaze.
   
       
“No… NO!” he yelled, dropping her hand.  “Ally, tell me it isn’t true.”
   
       
Ally shook her head. “I’m sorry, Stosh. I’m so sorry.”
   
       
He leaned back onto the bed, covering his face with his arms.  Ally stayed on her own bed, watching as her brother cried into the sleeve of his shirt.  She didn’t hold him or run her hands through his hair, like her mother would have.  She didn’t have the strength inside of herself to tell him everything was going to be okay, when she couldn’t even convince herself.  She couldn’t even seem to feel enough emotion to cry along with him.  She was numb.
   
       
It was dark by the time they left the City Center and made the all too familiar trip to Luke’s home.  It had taken Ally a good ten minutes to regain proper use of her legs.  It took Stosh twenty minutes, and through the process he refused to let Ally or Luke help him.  They watched from the edge of the room, seated on metal chairs.  She and Stosh washed up and changed into fresh clothes before leaving: Ally in white and Stosh in gray.  Several Exceptional Guards escorted them from the building, and Ally didn’t manage to catch a glimpse of Aden on their way out.  There was so much she wanted to say to him—
do
to him— and she found herself bothered by Luke’s dismissive attitude about it.  He didn’t seem overly upset and was even fairly passive about the whole situation.
   
       
Stosh remained emotionless the whole walk to Luke’s house, but he couldn’t hide his curiosity when they stepped into the foyer.  His eyes grew wide and his mouth hung slightly open as he looked around the large room.  Ally wondered if she wore a similar expression when she had first arrived.  She had barely known what any of the gadgets or objects in the room were until Sabine explained them to her.
   
       
Right on cue, Sabine skipped into the room.  “You’re home!”
   
       
How many times had they had a reunion just like this one since Ally’s arrival?  Especially in the last few days.  Asher and Flint followed close behind.
   
       
Ally grinned and said, “That line is getting old.”  
   
       
Sabine laughed and hugged her. “Then maybe you should stop leaving.”
   
       
Ally wished that was a promise she could make, but she had no intentions of staying in the City much longer.  She had made the decision on their walk home that evening.  She couldn’t reside in the same City as Aden with out killing him.  And killing him was not an option at this time.  Some day she would have her revenge.  For now, she needed to get her friends and family far as far away from him as she could.
   
       
“Sabine. Asher. Flint.  This is my brother, Stosh.” She motioned to Stosh, who stood still beside her.  He was done observing the room now, and was instead observing the others.
   
       
Sabine blushed as she held out her hand.  “Hello.”
   
       
Stosh took it tentatively.  “Hi”.
   
       
He shook Asher’s hand next, followed by Flint, and then crossed his arms over his chest.   Stosh was usually outgoing around new people and loved to explore new places, so Ally felt concerned at the withdrawn front he was currently displaying.
 
The five of them stood in awkward silence until Asher finally spoke.  “Mazzi saved you some dinner.  She said she could either serve you in the kitchen or in your rooms.”
   
       
Luke took Ally’s hand in his.  “Why don’t you show Stosh around the first floor and get him some dinner.  I need to talk to Ally in private.”
   
       
“No way.  I’m coming with you,” Stosh said as he grabbed Ally’s other arm.  “No way I’m letting you go anywhere with him.”
   
       
“Stosh,” Ally sighed.  “I’ve been here with him for the past month.  I can promise you that he isn’t going to hurt me.  We just need to talk.”
   
       
Stosh’s brows furrowed together.  “Yeah, and last time I saw him he told me you were
fine
.  But then I find you in the custody of the City leader, our mother is dead, and we spend a day in a half in medically induced comas!”
   
       
Luke tensed beside her.
   
       
Ally’s mouth hung open as she turned to face him.  “What does he mean
the last time he saw you
.”
   
        
Luke squeezed his eyes shut.  “Ally—”
   
       
“Tell me!” she shouted.
   
       
“He came—” Stosh started but Ally held up her hand to silence him.
   
        
“Luke is right, we need to speak in private.  You should go with the others, Stosh,” she shot him an apologetic look.