“Wes!” Intisaar screamed as the axe swung down—
But then Ursula shoved through our line in one smooth step and shot the woman straight in the chest.
The boom shook the field like a bomb. Then all sound was gone. I could hear nothing until the echo faded. The woman jerked backward from the impact, airborne, red spray exploding out of her back as the bullet punched through—then lightning. She hit the ground hard. She didn’t get up again.
“Jesus!” the man who had been running just behind her cried as the corpse collapsed to the grass. A storm of electricity swelled out of the dead woman, burning, flesh blackening, then receded. “Jesus Christ!” The man fell to his knees and cowered as Ursula leveled the gun at him. Two other women within her aim also crumpled, shaking with fear. The rest of the shadowed fled, screaming, leaving them there. “No!” he cried. “We’re sorry! We aren’t with them! Please don’t kill us!”
“Stand up,” Ursula said, with quiet rage.
The man grimaced for the blast. Then he opened his eyes. “What?”
“Stand up,” she repeated.
All three climbed shakily to their feet. I struggled to look like I wasn’t also about to faint. From the chest of the dead woman, tiny shocking tendrils continue to crackle, smaller each time. I tried to see Ursula’s face, to see if she had done it, or even understood what had happened to her gun, but I couldn’t see her expression unless I moved forward, and I didn’t think my legs would hold me up if I tried.
“What’s your name?” Ursula asked the man.
“Please,” he begged.
“You kill every shadowless you meet?” she asked. “Hunt for them in packs?”
“No, it wasn’t like that—it was an accident,” he said. He curled back to the ground unconsciously. Tears were streaming down his face. They’re terrified of us, I realized. Of our power.
Ursula cocked the gun. “Bullshit.”
“No!”
“No?” She aimed. “You were going to steal our RV!”
“Only to run faster!” the man wailed.
“Wait,” I said. Ursula stayed the gun. “Run from what?”
“Transcendence,” he whispered. The two women with him shuddered at the word.
We looked at one another, trying to see if any of us recognized that name.
“Transcendence,” one of the women finally repeated. “The people that dress in all white.”
Ursula shook her head. “We haven’t run into them.”
“I don’t know how,” the man said. Still trembling, he climbed to his feet again. “They’re everywhere here. They’ve been taking over all of the Carolinas, Tennessee, Alabama. We’ve been moving for days, trying to keep ahead. You ought to do what we’re doing and get out of here now. Get north. As far north as possible.”
“We’re heading south,” Ursula said.
“That is a very bad idea.” The man shook his head. “Very, very bad idea. Go back north.”
“Are they shadowed or shadowless?” I asked.
The man blinked. “What?”
“Transcendence,” I clarified. “Are they shadowed or shadowless?”
The three strangers stared at me blankly for a few seconds. Then the man’s shoulders started shaking. It took me a moment to realize he was laughing, almost hysterical.
“Enough,” Ursula said.
The man continued to cackle until one of the women finally grabbed him and calmed him down. “I’m sorry,” she whispered nervously to us as she wiped his eyes, as if afraid we might shoot them just to make him stop.
“Don’t, Lauri—I’ve got it. I’m okay. I’ve got it.” He pulled away, shrugging her off. He coughed awkwardly, and smoothed his hair and clothes. “I’m sorry.”
Ursula nudged the air in front of them with her gun. “Go,” she said. “Don’t come back, and I won’t kill you.”
The man nodded grimly. “That’s a good deal,” he said. He looked around, trying to get his bearings. His shadow looked with him. We all tried not to stare, but we were transfixed. I hadn’t seen one in so long. “Thank you. I am sorry about your van. We really didn’t know you were in it.”
“It’s done now,” Ursula said.
“You should come with us,” Lauri interrupted.
“Lauri—”
“What?” she cried. “They’re not like most shadowless. They could have shot us! You’re not like most shadowless,” she said again, a little embarrassed.
“We’re trying,” I said. Who are my people, Ory? The ones I’m with or the ones I want to be? “We’re trying very hard not to forget.”
“Come north with us,” Lauri said. “Don’t go that way.”
Ursula shook her head. “We have to go south.”
“You’ll be heading right into it, then,” the second woman said.
Ursula looked down. We had no choice.
The man finally nodded. “I hope you make it, wherever you’re going.” He gestured at the women to get a head start, and they began to jog again. “Stay away from the water.” He turned back to us one last time. “I know you won’t, but remember that: they’re always by water. If you see a lake, run.”