Surviving ELE (ELE Series #4) (21 page)

“I want to thank you again, Marya,” I say. Her eyes widen in surprise. “You saved my life today. You stopped a bullet for me and you didn’t have to.”

She cocks her head to the side. “Of course I did. I would never willingly let anyone hurt you or anyone for that matter,” she says.

I nod my head. “I know that. I guess what I meant was that I know I haven’t been exactly...” I search for the words, “…welcoming.” I bite my lip and swallow my pride, my Achilles heel.

Her lips twitch up slightly as she watches me.

I continue, “I’m sorry about that and I would like us to be friends. I can see that Alec really likes you and he has impeccable taste so you must be a pretty awesome girl.” Her lips give another slight twitch as I get her to smile. It’s as though a veil’s been lifted and I’m finally able to see her in a different, non-judgmental light.

“Thanks, Willow. I would like that. Alec has said nothing but good things about you. To be honest, it’s a little intimidating.” She adds a quiet, “I’ve got some big shoes to fill.”

I shake my head. “No, you don’t. You are a totally different person and that’s a good thing. I’m not sure how to explain this but, for example, when I’m with Tony, I don’t measure him up to Alec. I don’t even think about Alec and me in that way or judge how the two are different. That’s because Tony didn’t replace Alec. I fell in love with Tony for who he is. I’m sure it’s the same for Alec and you...” I realize that I just made the mention of Alec possibly loving Marya. What
surprises me is that the thought doesn’t hurt. In fact, it pleases me. I want Alec to be happy. I want him to feel complete. I finish up with, “Please don’t be intimidated by me or mine and Alec’s friendship. We really are just friends now. I love Tony so much that it hurts. I hope that you can do the same for Alec. He deserves happiness.”

Her eyes lighten up and she nods her head. She looks from me to Alec, who is still watching us from afar, but not close enough to hear our conversation. “Thanks, Willow. That means a lot to me. I know what it’s like to lose someone you love. I’m glad you were able to get Tony back.”

I smile and look back at Tony, who’s staring at me with ready eyes. “Me too.” I hold my hand out to Marya. She laughs as we both shake on it. “Friends,” I say.

“Friends.” She smiles.

I waste no time turning around and running into Tony’s arms. He grabs me and lifts me up. His strength is back. I look into his multicolored eyes that now match mine. We are together again, no doom and gloom hanging over our shoulders. I take a deep breath and try to allow myself to take this moment in. We are safe, we are together, things are right again.

Tony tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. He leans his forehead against mine and takes a deep breath. “Whoa,” he says. “I can feel...” He leans back and looks into my eyes. “...what you are feeling.” His eyes reflect black ebony.

My heart flutters as he looks at me with that unadulterated love. I open myself up to feel the emotions that soar from his heart: thankfulness, gratefulness, a small mix of worry about the future, but mostly love. I move up on my tiptoes and kiss him gently on the lips.

My dad clears his throat, which prompts us to end our PDA. My cheeks heat as I look up at Tony and give an embarrassed laugh. “Sorry, Dad.”

“Mmhmm,” he says but I can tell he isn’t annoyed. He’s just happy we are all alive and well, at least for the moment.

I look up to see that the sun is setting in the sky and the moon is beginning to
rise. A cold wind blows around us, making me uncomfortable. Tony takes his jacket off and places it over my shoulders. He puts his arms around me and I lean into him. “I love you,” I whisper to him.

“I love you too,”
he says in my thoughts. I hadn’t thought we’d ever get that gift back but it only makes sense. We are the same now. I give him a smile of relief, thankful Zack is officially out of the picture. There’s no chance he’ll come back to haunt us now. The finalization of his death gives me a peace I didn’t know I could possess.

“Is everyone ready to head back?” I ask the group.

The cold has really sunk in, so everyone gives me a shivery yes. We turn to make the long journey back to the camp. The winds are blustery and cold. I shiver, even with the warmth of Tony’s jacket around me.

I notice a glowing light in the distance when we are only a little ways away from the camp. “S’mores,” I say to Tony excitedly. Memories of bonfires play in my mind. My stomach growls at the mere mention of food.

Tony notices the light as well, and looks at me questioningly. “Do they usually do bonfires at this camp?”

I scrunch my eyebrows. “Maybe they are doing it because Lee and our people are here...” He’s right though, something doesn’t add up. I stayed in Erik’s camp for a long time and never saw them so much as light a fire outside. There are too many Reapers in this area and Erik doesn’t like to draw any attention to his safe haven. A strange sensation flutters around in my stomach.

“I don’t have a good feeling about this,” Tony says as he comes to a halt. We are now only a short distance from the camp. We all stop with him.

“What’s going on?” my dad asks.

“I don’t know, something feels wrong. It feels off,” Tony answers my dad.

All of us huddle around in a circle. Connor beams his flashlight at us. “I feel something strange as well,” he says seriously, which is strange since he is rarely serious. He shifts the flashlight around in his hands and the light glances off Sabby’s face. My little brother’s eyes are sleepy and...

“Wait,” I say to Connor. He stops shifting around and looks at me. I grab the flashlight from his hands without asking and shine it in my brother’s eyes.

Sabby squints. “Wello!” He covers his blue eyes with his little hands.

“His eyes are blue,” Tony says, catching onto what I’m just noticing.

I shine the light on Alec’s eyes. “Green,” I say. I move it to Claire and notice her light blue eyes, then Connor’s black eyes. My dad’s eyes match my brother’s. Marya’s eyes aren’t gold, they are hazel. Lastly, Tony’s eyes are brown. “What the heck?” I ask.

Tony grabs the flashlight from me and shines it into my eyes. “I’ve never seen your original eye color. They’re beautiful.” We are caught in a strangely intimate moment in front of everyone.

My dad clears his throat, ending the moment. I look over at him. Sabby has already fallen back asleep on his shoulder.

“How?” Alec asks, looking at me.

Connor still isn’t getting it, “What’s going on? You all are making absolutely no sense at all.”

Claire answers her boyfriend. “Everyone’s eyes are back to their original color.” Tony shines the light in her face and she points to her eyes.

“Oh,” Connor says confused.

“I can’t move anything with my mind,” Marya chimes in. “My powers aren’t working.”

I try to open my mind to listen to their thoughts but I hear nothing but deafening silence. I run through my other powers, invisibility, moving through objects, nothing is working.

“Maybe the immunizations only lasted so long,” My dad says. He clutches my little brother closer to his chest. I can see the unease in his eyes. He cancels his own thought out. “No, that wouldn’t make sense. We weren’t all injected at the same time. There’s something else going on here.”

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Alec says.

I look to Tony and I don’t have to read minds to know that he concurs with Alec. I look back in the direction of the camp. “We should get back there now. They may need help.”

Tony grabs my hand and together we lead everyone forward, towards the camp. The closer we get, the more uneasy we feel. Soon we start hearing a muffled voice up ahead, it sounds like it’s coming from a microphone or megaphone. We can’t make out what is being said but it seems to be the same two phrases being repeated over and over again every minute or so. The lights are more noticeable now that we are only a few yards from the road that leads to the camp entrance. The glow they emit is more white than yellow, which tells us that the light isn’t coming from a fire.

Tony stops our group. “This definitely isn’t right. There’s no electricity out here so there shouldn’t be lights like that.” He points towards the camp. “I think we need to proceed with caution.” He looks to my dad, Alec, and Connor. “Why don’t us guys go check out what’s happening first?”

“I’m going with you,” I tell Tony.

He looks at me. “Have your powers come back?”

I shake my head.

“Then I think you should stay. We’ll only go up ahead and take a peek, that’s all.” When I glare at him, he puts his hands on my shoulders and looks into my eyes. “Please, babe?”

I don’t like the idea of not being involved, but I have to remind myself that the world doesn’t revolve around Willow. Plus, I find myself feeling a bit insecure without my powers. I’ve learned to rely on them far too much in the past few months. “Okay. If you aren’t back in twenty minutes, I’m coming after you,” I tell him.

He kisses me on the cheek. “Love you.”

“Love you too.”

He smiles at me before he turns around. “Let’s go.” He waves the guys out.

My dad hands a sleeping Sebastian to me. I didn’t realize how heavy my brother is without my super strength. I pull him to me and smile worriedly at my dad. “I love you, Dad.”

“I love you too, honey. We’ll be right back. Stay hidden please.” He looks more alive than he has in a long time. I can imagine that having a daughter who’s stronger than him could have been a bit emasculating. I think he likes the idea of taking care of me. There are a lot of things I haven’t thought much of lately and involving my dad more in the future is a must.

I watch them walk towards the camp. Marya, Claire, Sebastian, and I move back behind a grouping of large trees. I sit down, since Sabby is getting heavy, and rearrange him on my lap. We continue to listen to the strange voice on the loud speaker that we can’t quite make out. My stomach is a ball of nerves.

“What’s that?” Claire whispers.

I strain my ear to hear what she’s talking about. Marya moves closer to us. Her back is rigid with tension. The sound grows closer and I realize it’s the sound of gravel crunching underneath tires. I place my hand to my lips and grip Sabby closer to me. I’m so grateful that he’s sleeping. Claire and Marya move as close to us as possible. I hope that the huge trunk of the tree provides adequate cover for us.

I peek around the trunk as best as I can and see a black SUV approaching slowly; it can’t be going more than ten miles an hour. I find myself wishing for the cloak our invisibility would have allowed us. Why aren’t our powers working? That seems to be the million-dollar question. The SUV stops every few feet and someone inside the vehicle shines a search light out into the woods. The windows are open and the person holds the light out the window as far as they can.

As they approach, I can hear static and voices coming over a handheld radio.

I duck my head back since the SUV is nearly on us. The girls scoot in even closer to me. My heart starts beating heavily in my chest. Sabby stirs, but I rub his back gently, trying to urge him to go back to sleep. I have no idea what’s going on. All I can hope is that the guys haven’t been spotted. I don’t trust anyone who has a vehicle in a time like this.

I hold my breath when I see the light shining on a tree next to us. It moves around and I shift Sabby closer to me when it reflects off the snow on the ground beside us.
Please don’t let them see us
, I say over and over again in my head.

With them this close, I can make out the sound of the radio even better. I listen as someone talks into it. The truck is placed in park right next to where we sit, giving us a clear opportunity to hear what’s going
on. It still sets me at extreme unease having it be this close to us.

“Base command, this is two-one-bravo over,” a man’s voice calls from the vehicle.

“Go ahead two-one-bravo, this is base command, over,” a voice responds back from the radio.

“Base command, two-one-bravo reporting operation: Perimeter is secure,” the man says.

“Confirmed two-one-bravo, perimeter secure. SITREP on Whisky Mike? Over,” the person on the radio squawks.

“Base command, two-one-bravo reporting negative on Whisky Mike, please advise, over?” The vehicle starts moving again slowly. I see the light hit a tree a few rows down. The voices are getting harder to make out.

“Two-one-bravo, maintain perimeter until we transport occupants to Foxtrot-Oscar-Bravo, over.”

“Base command, copy, out,” the man in the vehicle says.

The vehicle keeps moving ahead slowly. I can’t hear if there is any more to the radio conversation because they are now completely out of my hearing range. I let out the breath I’d been holding. “What in the world is going on here?” I say aloud.

“I don’t know,” Claire says a little shakily.

Marya looks really nervous. “I grew up on a military base. This isn’t good. It sounds like they are taking someone or everyone to the forward operating base. That’s what Foxtrot-Oscar-Bravo means.”

My heart starts pounding double time. “Do you think they found the guys?”

Marya shakes her head. “No, they referred to the people they have as occupants. I can only assume they mean the people at the camp... That they’re taking them to the base.”