The War of the Supers (The First Superhero Book 3) (19 page)

"We can take cover behind that half-wall over there," Selena said, pointing towards the brick wall on either side of a walkway that led to one of the visitor buildings.

I nodded. "Everybody follow me."

I opened the door and took off running. I kept my head down as gunfire sounded all around, and didn’t look to see where it was coming from. All I was focusing on was getting behind cover as soon as possible. I ran as fast as I could, but it felt as if I was running through molasses, or that I had concrete blocks tied to my feet.I hated not having my powers, knowing I was unable to protect my family as well as I could be. My anger at our attackers grew even more as I crouched down behind that half-wall.

I gritted my teeth. I’d have to use my anger as my new superpower.

Selena, Doug, and Drew dropped down behind the wall alongside me, all of us breathing hard from running. My hands shook slightly, not only from the flood of emotions rushing through me, but the adrenaline that was surging, begging me to not stand still.

I leaned up, peeking over the wall. Gunshots were still ringing from all around. In the distance, I could barely make out the muzzle fire from the enemy guns. The light from the street lamps made it hard to see.

I sat back down, turning to the rest of the group with a plan beginning to form in my mind. “Aim for the street lights,” I said, pointing. “If we can take them out, it’ll be easier for us to see where the muzzle fire is coming from.”

“How are we going to see?” Doug asked.

Another explosion went off near us, causing all of us to throw ourselves to the ground. “The fire from the barracks will give us some light!” I said, pointing to where the barracks were burning bright and hot. “This is our home. This is where
we
live. We know this place better than they do. We have the advantage, don’t forget. Now, let’s do this!”

I aimed at the first light and fired a burst of bullets until the light went out. My friends fired too, and the area got darker and darker. My ears rang from all the gunshots, but I did my best to ignore that.

I looked across the base; it was glowing orange from the fire, the shadows dancing about wildly. My vision adjusted to the darkness quickly, allowing me to see not only the muzzle flashes of the attackers, but the silhouettes of the vehicles and buildings they were hiding behind.

I aimed in their direction and begin firing. A cacophony of gunfire sounded around me as my group and the soldiers who weren’t in the barracks fired, focusing their shots at our attackers. The shots coming towards us lessened as our attack became more accurate, and our enemies had to stay under cover longer, waiting for a break in our fire.

I pulled the gun tight against my shoulder and squeezed the trigger. I watched through the sights as the muzzle fire on their end became less and less frequent. When it stopped completely, I should’ve gotten suspicious. I was too angry to think about anything else, though. Everybody around me continued firing, not thinking that our attackers could have a backup plan.

Shots rang out behind me and to my right. We’d been flanked, and they were now shooting behind us. I fired at a couple of the soldiers standing in the open, then hopped over the wall and took cover on the other side. The rest of my group scrambled over quickly.

“They’re surrounding us!” Doug shouted.

He was right. There was no telling how many of them were still behind us. We were practically out in the open.

There was a pop, followed by a splattering of blood, and Doug fell to the ground, screaming and clutching his side.

I grabbed his shirt, pulled him up and threw him over my shoulder, then ran towards the visitor center as fast as I could. I shot the glass door as I ran at it, and the whole pane shattered to the ground. I ran through the opening, my boots crunching on the glass.

The orange glow of the barracks fire provided just enough light to show me the way to a large waiting room. I laid Doug down on one of the couches there, blood pouring from his side. He coughed and moaned in pain.

The rest of the group ran in behind me. Selena stood next to me, while Drew stood near the door, making sure nobody came in.

“We need to stop the bleeding,” I said, putting pressure on Doug’s wound. “Try to find something to soak up the blood.”

Selena ran off, searching for something. I pressed hard on the bullet’s exit wound, blood seeping between my fingers. Doug moaned and kept moving around. “You gotta stay still, buddy,” I said. “Try not to move.”

He responded, but I couldn’t quite make out what he said.

“Here, use this,” Selena said, returning to my side with a couple of blankets that I guessed were used to make sure people were comfortable during emergencies.

“Put one underneath him at the entry wound,” I said, lifting Doug up slightly. He screamed in pain. “You gotta keep quiet, Doug.” I said. Selena pushed the bunched-up blanket underneath him, and I set him back down. Then I pressed the other blanket against the exit wound on his torso.

A gun fired behind me, causing me to lean over Doug, covering my head.

“Got company!” Drew yelled.

I looked behind me as Drew fired towards the soldiers trying to fight their way inside the building. I grabbed Selena’s shoulder and pulled her in close. “Grab Doug and find somewhere to hide,” I told her.

She shook her head. “I’m not leaving and hiding somewhere!”

“Selena, you gotta get Doug to safety! Drew and I will hold them off for as long as we can so you can get out of here. You have to find help.”

Selena hesitated for a moment, but she knew by the look on my face that I wasn’t taking no for an answer. “Okay, but you guys had better be right behind us, or I’m going to kill you.” She picked Doug up in her arms and took off running down a hallway to the back of the building.

I jumped up and took cover against the wall next to the small hallway that led to the front door. Drew stood opposite me with his back against the wall. I looked around the corner and saw three men coming towards us, guns ready. I made eye contact with Drew, and the two of us unloaded our guns down the hallway. The three soldiers who’d been advancing on us fell to the floor.

We fell back as more soldiers at the other end of the hallway fired at us. The bullets flew past us and destroyed the front desk to the visitor center, sending wood and pieces of paper flying everywhere. I winced, waiting for a bullet to hit me at any moment, but it didn’t come.

There was a pause in the gunfire, and a voice from the other side of the hallway shouted, “Surrender now! We have you surrounded!”

I didn’t doubt that. I did doubt, however, that they would accept our surrender. The same look of doubt was evident on Drew’s face. A shadow appeared in the flickering orange glow of the hallway. It stretched all the way down the hall and came to a stop at our feet. “Kane Andrews,” the person at the other end of the shadow said. “Surrender now, as the rest of your friends have.”

I recognized the voice.

“You’d better not lay a finger on them!” I shouted.

“Of course not. I would never, as long as you give yourself up and tell me where the
asthenés plásma
is located. You do that, and your friends can go free.”

I closed my eyes and sighed. It seemed I didn’t have a choice. We were outnumbered and outgunned. There were probably soldiers surrounding our entire building, and there was no way to escape.

I threw my gun down into the hallway. Drew looked at me, his eyes wide. I gave him a nod and looked down at his gun, and he got the picture. He sighed and threw his gun down as well.

I stepped out into the hallway, my hands up. All I could see was a silhouette because of the fire, but I only knew of one evil Super with a South African accent who knew what the
asthenés plásma
was.

“You’re a long way from home, Raven,” I said.

Raven laughed. “My home is wherever the
asthenés plásma
is. You’re more powerful than I believed, if you were able to fly the
asthenés plásma
all the way here.” He sneered and flicked his hand, and six of his soldiers came around the corner and down the hallway, guns raised.

37

ALWAYS A SUPER

They threw me to my knees on the gymnasium floor next to Selena. On the other side of her lay Doug, who was being stitched up by one of our soldiers who’d survived. There were seven of us in all in the middle of the gym: Doug, Drew, Selena, three of Colonel Graham’s soldiers, Eddie and myself.

Eddie looked at me with wide eyes. He was only sixteen years old, and his tan skin was all dirtied up. This was the first time in a long time that I’d seen him, as he was usually busy in some workshop tinkering with something, using his electric abilities to keep the power running. Raven’s men were all around, ready to shoot us if anybody did something they didn’t like.

Raven walked in, practically gliding across the floor. His black robes flowed behind him, and he showed all of his yellowed rotten teeth in an evil smile. Two soldiers flanked him, their guns at their sides.

“Hello once again, Kane. A pleasure to see you again, Selena,” he said with a chuckle.

Selena fumed next to me. I silently prayed that she wouldn’t do anything she’d later regret.

“What are you doing here?” I asked Raven, shifting on my knees. Kneeling on the hardwood floor was extremely painful.

“I thought I made that clear. I’m here for the
asthenés plásma.
You didn’t think you could just take it and I wouldn’t come for it, did you?”

“How did you know we were here?” I asked.

Raven smiled. “You have much to learn about the
asthenés plásma
, Kane Andrews. As a disciple and scholar of its teachings, it’s always calling out to me. There’s no place you can go that I wouldn’t find it.” Raven walked towards me. “That’s where you come in. I know it’s around here somewhere; I just can’t sense its exact location.” Raven turned on his heels and took a few steps. “Where have you hidden the
asthenés plásma
?”

I shook my head. “I have no idea where it is.”

Raven gritted his teeth, fuming. “Don’t lie or play games with me, Kane Andrews. You may be one of the most powerful Supers, but you’re no match for the
asthenés plásma
—especially when it’s at this level.”

“I swear to you,” I said. “I don’t know where they put it.”

Raven sighed and ran his fingers through his greasy black hair. Then he stormed over to one of his soldiers. “Give me this,” he grumbled under his breath, and grabbed the soldier’s handgun. He returned to us, cocking the gun. I held my breath, bracing myself for whatever he was about to do next, ready for him to shoot me, or torture me.

He didn’t come to me. He stood over Doug and, without hesitation, fired three shots into his chest.

Doug stopped breathing.

And I felt some of my power return.

38

BREAKTHROUGH

I jumped and lunged at Raven, tackling him to the ground. I grabbed his wrist and twisted, snapping it easily. He screamed in pain, and the gun fell out of his hand.

“Kane, run!” Selena yelled behind me.

I hesitated. I didn't want to leave them behind, but if I left I could come up with some sort of plan. I jumped off Raven and ran towards the door out of the gymnasium. Raven’s soldiers were so shocked that it took them a moment to compose themselves. They fired at me as I ran through the doors, wood and drywall raining down around me.

I turned to the right, running faster than I normally could, now that some of my powers had returned. At the end of the hallway was a set of stairs that led to the offices and supply closets on the second floor. I bounded up, taking four steps at a time.

When I reached the second floor, I ran down the hallway, doors leading to various rooms flying by on my left and right. When I reached the intersection of two hallways, I turned right. I stopped for a second, leaning up against the wall, breathing heavily.

Emotion came crashing down on me all at once. Sadness, anger, shock… Doug was really dead, killed by Raven. I had seen it with my own eyes—and had felt some of my powers return when he breathed his last breath.

I couldn’t help but smile. So Doug had been right all along. He really
was
a Super. I felt guilt flower inside me, growing by the second. We had always made fun of him, teased him—but we’d never
believed him. We’d always told him he wasn’t a Super.

I buried my head in my hands. Why hadn’t we believed him? Why hadn’t we just let him believe that he really was one of us? I wiped a tear from my eye. I wanted nothing more than to go back and tell him that he was right. That he really was a Super.

My thoughts turned to my friends, down there in the gym. Raven was not going to be happy that I’d escaped. What if he took his anger out on them? I needed to come up with a plan fast. I had to save them.

I felt something tug at me.

I jumped back, scrambling to see what it was. My eyes glowed slightly, but I couldn’t see anything around me.

“Check upstairs!” I heard someone shout, followed by the sound of footsteps stomping up the stairs.

I felt the tug again, pulling me to the left. It was as if a string was tied to my chest, and someone was pulling on it, leading me someplace.

The footsteps reached the top of the stairs. I could see the beams from the soldiers’ flashlights flickering down the hallway.

With nothing to lose and no other option, I followed the tug to my left. It grew stronger the farther down the hallway I went. I ran faster and faster, trying to put as much distance between myself and Raven’s soldiers as I could.

I reached another intersection. I could keep going down the hallway ahead of me, or go down the one to my left, or to my right. I stopped and closed my eyes, focusing on the tug. It was pulling to the right, so I started running down the new hallway.

I ran down it for a few seconds, and then suddenly, the tugging was no longer there. I stopped as fast as I could, panicking. I spun around in the hallway, but nothing out of the ordinary caught my eye. I knew I hadn’t been imagining the tugging…had I?