Gone (Gone 1)

“Well,” he played along with her bantering tone, “usually after I get shot and then fire lasers out of my hands, I like to enjoy a brief nap.” He caught Lana’s eye and mouthed the word “thanks.”

Lana shrugged as if to say “no biggie.”

“Caine won’t let this stand,” Astrid said, turning serious.

“No. He’ll come after us,” Sam said. “But not just yet. Not until he’s come up with a plan. He’s lost Drake. And he’s gotta be worried that we have all these kids with powers who hate his guts.”

“What makes you think he won’t just come after us?”

“Think about when he first came rolling into Perdido Beach,” Sam said. “He had a plan. He trained his people and rehearsed.”

“So we go back to Perdido Beach?” Astrid asked.

“Orc is still there, and a few others. There may be trouble with them.”

“We need to get some food for these kids,” Edilio said. “That’s first.”

“Three or four miles to Ralph’s,” Sam mused. “Can they make it?”

“I guess they have to,” Edilio said. “But they’re scared, too. I mean, you got some messed-up kids here. What they been through and all?”

“We’re all scared, there’s not much we can do about that,” Sam said. But he didn’t like the sound of that. It was glib. It was meaningless: sure, they were all scared, but there was something they could do about it.

In fact, they had to do something about it.

Sam stopped in the middle of the road and waited for the others to catch up.

“Listen,” he said. He raised his hands to get their attention, calm them down, but they had seen what happened when Sam raised his hands. They flinched and seemed about ready to dart off the road and into the woods.

Sam dropped his hands hastily. “Sorry. Let me start over: Could I have everyone’s attention?” Sam said, using a gentler voice. He kept his hands by his sides. He waited patiently until he was sure everyone was listening. Quinn still hung back.

“Some bad stuff has happened to all of us,” Sam said. “Some very bad stuff. We’re beat up, we’re tired. We don’t know what’s going on. The whole world has gone bizarre on us. Our own bodies and minds have changed in ways that are even weirder than puberty.”

That earned a few smiles and one grudging laugh.

“Yeah. I know we’re all shook up. We’re all scared. I know I am,” he admitted with a rueful smile. “So, let’s not try and play like it isn’t scary. It is. But sometimes the worst thing is the fear. You know?” His gaze traveling over the faces, he realized anew that they had another concern, greater even than fear. “Although hunger’s no joke, either. We’re a few miles from a grocery store. We’ll get you

all fed there. I know some of you have been in hell since this happened. Well, I would like to tell you it’s over, but it’s not.”

Grim looks on every face.

Sam had said all he had really planned to say, but they still needed something more. He shot a glance at Astrid. She was as solemn as anyone, but she gave him a nod, encouraging him to say more.

“Okay. Okay,” he said so softly that some had to move closer to hear him. “Here’s the thing. We’re not going to give in. We’re going to fight.”

“Got that right,” a voice cried out.

“First thing we need to have clear: there’s no line between freak and normal here. If you have the power, we’ll need you. If you don’t, we’ll need you.”

Heads were nodding. Looks were being exchanged.

“Coates kids, Perdido Beach kids, we’re together now. We’re together. Maybe you did things to survive. Maybe you weren’t always brave. Maybe you gave up hope.”

A girl sobbed suddenly.

“Well, that’s all over now,” Sam said gently. “It all starts fresh. Right here, right now. We’re brothers and sisters now. Doesn’t matter we don’t know each other’s names, we are brothers and sisters and we’re going to survive, and we’re going to win, and we’re going to find our way to some kind of happiness again.”

There was a long, deep silence.