Falling (13 page)

“Oh dear,” Lionel says from the front, hefting his rifle, “it seems that we’ve kicked a hornet’s nest here. Do those look like elite troops to anyone else?”

“They’re not that elite if they light themselves up neatly rather than ambushing us in the dark,” one of the Faders points out. Then he dies, shot from the side, away from the group under the lights. They’re nothing but a distraction. We’re under attack!

FIFTEEN

G
rayson pushes my family to the ground as bullets fly past us, and suddenly, it’s like I’m in the middle of a war zone. The Others come at us from all sides, and for cover, we only have the buildings around us. I try to stay near my family. I know they don’t remember who I am, but I’m going to keep them safe, no matter what it takes.

The Faders around me react in different ways. A couple of the ones from Location Six panic, firing blindly. It just makes them targets for the gunfire coming our way, and they’re quickly brought down by bullets. Jack and the rest work on getting low, finding what cover they can before firing back. Jack fires in his customary careful bursts, always seeming to know exactly where the danger is coming from. A little way from him, Lionel has managed to scramble onto the roof of one of the compound’s outbuildings, letting him pick people off with that rifle of his.

One of the Others comes into view, heading for us with his gun raised. I react on instinct, firing off two shots with the pistol Jack gave me, and he falls back. In the darkness, I don’t know if I have killed him or not. Right then, I’m too busy worrying about where the next threat will come from to even think about that.

There’s an almighty bang and a blinding flash of light then, and a second after, I find that two of the Others have a grip on my arms as they move in close behind their flash grenade. Grayson, who’s just a feet away, charges forward even though his own ears must still be ringing. He kicks one of the Others viciously, whirling away as the second tries to go for his gun, releasing me in the process. Grayson goes into him hard, throwing punches and knees that don’t give his opponent time to react. He forces the man back long enough that Grayson can clear his weapon, and two shots later, the fight is over.

“Thanks,” I say, but Grayson is already moving again, rejoining the fight. He fights well now, and I guess those lessons with the Fader instructors must have done something, though there are plenty of other people there who can fight better. Jack, for one. He isn’t even affected by the flash grenade, and I realize it’s because he had the foresight to move back from it even as it landed. His whole fighting style is like that. It’s like he knows exactly what each of his opponents is going to do before they do it, so that he’s always ready, turning to face them with his gun ready to fire, or meeting them with a quick attack as they come in.

Lionel’s down from the roof now, and he pauses just long enough to throw one of the Others to the ground before waving over at us.

“We need to fight our way clear. Make for the vehicles.”

He’s right, of course. We can’t stay there. We scramble for the gap we made in the fence, and I herd my family towards it. Sebastian helps, which makes me think a little better of him, though I guess it’s just because he doesn’t want them slowing us down. Behind us, the fight goes on. I see Others and Faders struggling, and it’s hard to tell who is winning, though I worry about our side. Some of the Faders from Location Six have minor injuries, while the instructors from Location Two can’t have been on a live operation recently. Even though they seem to be holding their own for the moment, this was never meant to be a full scale battle situation.

All I can do for the moment though is run, moving from cover to cover within the compound, trying to make sure that my family aren’t out in the open for long enough for the Others to shoot at them. Whenever shots come close, I fire back, not trying to hit anything so much as simply persuade the person firing to duck back into cover long enough for us to move.

Jack is much more precise, and several times I see his shots hit. Lionel fights efficiently, calmly, marshaling the Faders around us even as he continues to target the elite of the Others. One of those men rushes at him, and Lionel ducks low, sending him sprawling over him.

We make it to the section of fence we’ve taken out, but there’s a problem. The power is back on now, so anyone going through it will have to be careful. So careful that they will make a perfect target for the Others as they fire back at us. Yet we need to get through it, because that’s the only way back to the cars.

Jack, Lionel, and those Faders who aren’t injured, turn back towards the Others, forming a wall of shooters. I realize that their plan is to counterattack and draw fire while people escape. It seems suicidal. That close together, they’re a natural target. There has to be another way. Only I can’t see what that other way might be.

Grayson is the first through the fence, making sure that there are no surprises on that side of it, while Sebastian follows him. My family are next, moving through the electrified fence one by one, all looking terrified as they do it. Grayson guides them up the slope towards the waiting cars.

“You’re next, Celes,” Jack calls back, firing a burst at the Others to keep them occupied. In that moment, I’m terrified. Not of the fence, though I guess I should be scared about the prospect of thousands of volts running through me if I so much as slip. No, I’m scared because this seems far too similar to the way I left Location Six, abandoning Jack to take the helicopter, leaving him to his fate.

“No,” I say, “I’m not going anywhere until you do.”

“Celes,” Jack yells back, “there isn’t time to argue. You’re far too important to risk losing.”

“And you aren’t?” I demand. I fire back at the Others, moving up alongside Jack. At that point though, Lionel falls back, clutching his leg. I realize he’s been shot. It doesn’t so much as slow him down, though. All it means is that he has to roll onto his belly to keep shooting. He’s an extremely tough old man.

“Get her out of here, Jack,” he orders, and Jack nods. He takes me by the arm, pulling me back to the fence.

“Looks like you’re coming with me after all,” I say.

He kisses me, so briefly that the brush of lips is barely there. “Only as far as the car. Then I’m coming back to give Lionel and the rest covering fire from the top of the slope.”

I want to argue, to tell him that it’s too dangerous, but I know that there isn’t time to spend arguing, at least until we get to the cars. Jack and I run up the slope, making it to the top with that strange speed we both have.

It’s then that a trio of Others jump out at us.

Jack is already turning as they attack, bringing his gun to bear, but for once, I’m faster. I reach out for one of them, and the power within me leaps up, arcing out into him to incinerate him as I touch him. It’s quick; even quicker than it was the last time I did this to someone. One moment he’s there, the next, there isn’t even a body, the power within me has burned so hot. It’s like the force I had before, only multiplied tenfold.

The second of them starts to raise a gun, and I laugh. I don’t know why I laugh, except that it seems ludicrous that this human should try something so obviously useless. I grab the gun, and he screams as it melts in his hand. I grab his arm and the moment when his body vaporizes is almost peaceful. After all, it’s not like there’s time for his mind to register the pain of it before there’s nothing left of him.

Jack deals with the third one, grabbing him and throwing him down the slope to crash into the fence. There’s a flash as the electricity does its job, but it’s almost disappointing that Jack didn’t give him to me. Didn’t let me flow through him in his final instants.

Jack looks different to these eyes, glowing with power. More… just
more
, as though there are whole dimensions to him that I don’t normally get to see. I reach out to him, even as some part of me inside screams at me not to touch him. I ignore it. What does it know? I take Jack in my arms, and I kiss him, sharing the power of what I am, running it through him, letting him feel it. I have to be careful; after all, there is still far too much human about him, but I do it. I do it until he glows like me.

“Do you understand yet?” I ask as I pull back from him.

“I… Celes…”

As it has done before, the name pulls me back to myself, and I’m left standing there as both Jack and I cease to glow.

“Jack, what…”

“It’s all right, Celes. It’s fine.”

I shake my head. “It’s getting stronger. I can feel it.”

Jack shushes me, holding me close. “We need to get you into the car now, Celes.”

“What about Lionel?”

I look back, and a few more Faders are coming up the hill, having made it through the fence. There’s still plenty more back in the compound though.

Jack touches his ear piece. “Lionel, Celes and I have made it to the top of the hill. I’m in position to give you covering fire while you get out.”

There’s no answer. Below, Lionel is busily firing at anything that comes out into the open.

“Major,” Jack says, “can you read me?”

An irritated noise comes over the radio. “I’m reading you loud and clear. Which I shouldn’t be. What are you still doing here, boy?”

“Like I said, I’m in position to give covering fire while…”

“Yes, yes. Only it doesn’t work like that, Jack. You know it. I’ve been shot through the leg. How do you propose I get through that fence of yours? Hold on a moment.” Below, Lionel’s rifle fires, and one of the Others drops some distance away. “Got you.”

“So we’re just meant to abandon you?” Jack demands. “Isn’t that just swapping one lot of hostages for another?”

“Oh, I don’t imagine they’ll take the likes of me hostage.”

That isn’t exactly an improvement, to my ears. Or to Jack’s, apparently. “Major…”

“Oh, do shut up, boy. It’s not like I’ve ever been one for goodbyes. Everybody here is too injured to make it, and they know it. Now, get a move on. I think there’s more of them coming.”

There are. I see the doors to the Fortress start to swing open, and Others pour out. I think I can vaguely make out Richard even at this distance.

“Celes,” the major says over the radio, “do an old man a favor and get Jack out of here. Now, please.”

He doesn knot have to tell me twice. I take one last look at the approaching Others, grab hold of Jack, and run for the cars.

SIXTEEN

I
can’t answer Lionel, not looking at Jack as I am. I can see the hurt that the older man’s sacrifice is about to do him written clearly on Jack’s face. I reach out for him.

“We could go back. We could try to get him out as well. I’m willing to try it if you will.”

Jack hesitates, and I can see that he wants to say yes, but he shakes his head. It seems that he isn’t going to go against an order from Lionel. Isn’t going to risk my safety.

“No,” he says. “Lionel’s right. We have to go. And he… he’s going out a hero. Besides, he gave me an order.”

“It’s a good thing I don’t have to listen to orders then,” I say. I can still feel the remnants of the energy I used in fighting the others bubbling just below the surface, and I use it now. I use it to run, faster than Jack can move to stop me. I use it to reach out for the fence, ignoring the electricity in it. I touch it, and a whole section shorts out in a shower of sparks, falling down.

Others run at me. I reach out for them, touching them almost gently. The power within me rises up to incinerate them. There are more, struggling with Lionel hand to hand. The Faders with him are dead, leaving him as the last of them. The Others seem content for the moment to try to subdue him, but how long will it be before that changes? I don’t know. I do know that I can feel the energy within me rising to the surface even more strongly as I see it. Lionel might not be Jack, but watching the old man die will hurt Jack too much to let it happen.