We loaded up the car and got in. I took the front seat while Brad drove.
Drake sat in the back. "So where now?"
Brad revved the car and pulled out of the driveway. He merged into traffic on the busy street and headed to the nearest freeway entrance. "I know a place we can go. It's out of the way and can't be traced back to me if anyone starts digging."
"Sounds perfect," I said.
"Well, almost. Just one problem."
Drake leaned forward. "What's that?"
"It's a cabin in the woods. My old journalism professor retired there. We'd have to let him in on your secret."
Drake sat back, and I leaned my head against the cool window. After a lifetime of secrets and lies, telling strangers about my abilities didn't feel natural. Could we trust this professor? Would he put us at greater risk?
Chapter 34 – Lucy
"You're asking the wrong questions," Lucy said to the crowd of Rent-A-Kids huddled around her in an unused classroom. She stared at a poster of Einstein to collect her thoughts, and hid her nervous hands under the teacher's desk she sat behind. "It's not just a question of whether we can break through the guards and high-voltage gates. The real question is what are we going to do once we're out? We're in the middle of nowhere. None of us have any forms of identification. We don't have cars, money, or contacts on the outside. How the hell are we supposed to survive out there?"
Dozens of hopeless eyes stared up at her. She hated to burst their bubble, but they had to face reality. She looked to Luke for support, but even he frowned in disappointment. Did he really think they had any chance at all of escaping? That the "Freedom Fighters" would survive?
Gary, the boy who had recruited Lucy and Luke, and the apparent leader of the rag-tag team, stared down at the ground. He flicked a coin up into the air and used his power over metal to spin it in hypnotic circles.
Lucy held in another outburst. The kid had never even gone on an assignment. He'd only arrived from the elementary ward at the sister facility a few weeks ago. She looked at Luke again, begging him with her eyes to make some sense. What was he thinking, going along with all this?
Gary cleared his throat and attempted eye contact with the wall behind Lucy. "We have to do something. Sitting here waiting for them to decide our fates isn't a plan."
She'd have agreed if a plan wasn't already in place: Sam would get help. But she couldn't tell this group that—no one but she and Luke could know Sam's plans—so how could she convince them this was a fool's errand?
"Okay, how would you do it?" she asked.
The other teens perked up.
Wally spoke first, "We'll use our powers to create diversions. If we organize our whole team, we can do this. We may not have as many people as they have soldiers, but we have para-powers. That should count for something, right?"
Lucy looked around the classroom. She knew some of the teens by name, others by sight. Laura, a girl from her calculus class, smiled at her. They'd been friends in the lower grades, but had since grown apart. Still, she liked Laura and didn't want to see her get hurt in this stupid plan that wasn't even a plan.
A girl of about fifteen spoke up. "My name's Lisa. I can hover above ground, and I'm learning to fly. We have a lot of powerful paranormals in this room and there is a way we can use these collective powers to escape. I know our ideas may not seem very thought-out yet, but that's why we need you two. You've got more experience in assignments, and you have friends on the outside. With your help we can do this."
"You don't understand," Lucy said. "My friends escaped, yes, but in the process, someone very important to us was killed. Do you get it? They killed her!"
She pounded her fist on the desk in frustration. "And they weren't trying to free an entire school. Do you think we'll all make it out alive? We won't. Some of us will die." Her voice escalated to the point of yelling. "Are you ready to carry that burden, to watch your friends die because you sent them in to disarm a guard or start a fire? Do you have any idea what you are doing? You don't know the first thing."
Luke put an arm around her shoulders as she fought the sobs building in her chest. No one moved or even breathed.
Lisa wiped a tear from her face. "You're right. We don't know what we're doing, but we can't just sit here and wait. We have to do something. I'm sorry you lost someone close to you. But, yes, I am prepared to die." Lisa looked everyone in the room in the eyes. "What about all of you? Are you prepared to do whatever is necessary to take this place down?"
Lucy held her gaze the longest, weighing the truth of her words and intentions.
"Am I lying?" Lisa asked.
"No. But that doesn't mean this is a good idea."
"Right now, it's the only idea we have. But with you and Luke on the team, maybe we can think of something better."