cracked it in half. “Three days makes him an expert?”
Matt didn’t answer.
Aubrey looked down at her food and poked at it with her plastic fork. She wondered what her dad would eat without her around to cook for him. That world—her life—seemed far away.
“I’m one of them,” Matt said, still staring.
Aubrey speared a noodle and pulled it out of the pouch. “One of what?”
“Like Nate,” he said. “And Sibley.”
Jack’s head sprang up. Aubrey felt her heart beat faster but tried not to show it.
Matt’s eyes met Aubrey’s and then Jack’s. “We don’t have to pretend like that stuff with Nate didn’t happen. We can talk about it. We
Aubrey took a deep breath and choked on a noodle. She coughed until the scratch went away. There was a third besides her and Nate? A third and a fourth?
“You know how I’m on the varsity basketball team?” Matt continued. “Even though I’ve never been any good?”
Aubrey nodded, holding her breath. Basketball season was months away, but the paper had already written about Matt being a potential all-American in both football and basketball. And not just the
“I can’t miss a shot,” Matt said, finally turning his head to look at them.
Jack snorted, obviously annoyed. Aubrey knew they used to play together. “That’s good basketball. It’s not . . . whatever Nate was.”
Matt’s face reddened. He spoke slower and more clearly. “No. I mean I can’t miss a shot. I can’t blow a pass, even if the receiver stinks. I sometimes miss on purpose during games so that people don’t find out about me.”
“Right,” Jack said sarcastically. “I miss shots on purpose, too. That’s why I didn’t make the team.”
“I’m serious,” Matt said, getting frustrated. He looked around, searching for something, and finally grabbed his heavy cookie. “Point to something.”
Jack laughed, and pointed at a garbage can halfway across the warehouse.
Matt rolled his eyes. “Too easy.”
“Really?” Jack scoffed. “Then try the can by the wall—the red plastic one.”
Matt turned to Aubrey. “I’m serious. I can’t miss a shot.”
She smiled uncertainly, and then gestured to a far cot. “Do you see the boy with the shaved head? See his baseball cap next to him?”
Matt grinned, and then turned and, without any preparation, threw the cookie. It spun through the air, crossing over a dozen tables, and landed squarely in the sleeping boy’s hat.
Matt turned back to Aubrey. “Can I have yours?” Amazed, she handed him her cookie.
Without looking, he threw it behind him, over his shoulder, and then turned to watch as it wobbled through the air. It looked like it was going to fall short and to the left, but to Aubrey’s amazement the cookie plunked down into the same baseball cap.
A few people, who hadn’t been paying attention fully, clapped when they saw what he’d done.
“I can’t miss a shot,” Matt said again.
Jack lowered his voice, suddenly serious. “Why are you doing this in here? They’ll find you.”
Matt picked up his pouch again and looked inside. “They already swabbed my mouth. It’s too late.”
Aubrey glanced at Jack. Their eyes met for a moment and then she turned to Matt. “How do you know that’s what the test was about?”
“The guys who’ve been here longer,” Matt said. “They told me that’s what happens.” He set his pouch down on the table and stood. “Come on. I’ll take you to meet Sibley and the others.”
FIFTEEN
LAURA KNELT IN THE DRY mountain grass. She carefully rolled her tent into a neat package, and then slipped it into its green nylon bag.
She hadn’t slept much. She was amazed that Dan had been able to sleep through the forest ranger’s cries, but he’d always had the worst reactions to using his powers. He’d probably be tired for days.
Gina Brown had known more than she’d let on, just as Alec had expected. Yes, she was just a forest ranger in an obscure part of central Utah, but she’d been monitoring her radio, and even the forest service was being conscripted into service.
“You need to hurry,” Alec called out to Dan, who was still moving sluggishly around the campsite. “They could be here any minute.”
One of the most important bits of information Brown had was that this roundup of all the teenagers was somewhat localized—a huge number of soldiers had moved into the West earlier in the week. With Brown’s disappearance, and the collapsed Eagle Canyon bridge only forty miles away, it was almost certain that troops would be on the mountain soon, if they weren’t there already.
Worse, Brown told of an enormous army base that had sprung up in the desert west of Salt Lake City. Laura had assumed the three of them were in the middle of nowhere—a thousand miles from any of the real action—but now it sounded like they were only a few hundred miles from one of the largest military centers in the United States.
She glanced over at Brown, who lay awkwardly on her back, staring at the sky. She was quiet now, her mind having been ravaged. Alec hadn’t held back, fully aware of the consequences. So many memories had been inserted during the night, most of them conflicting. Some were horrifically violent and others were reassuring her with warmth and trust. Laura didn’t know if Alec had ever done this before, but the results were appalling. Gina’s cries—cries of intense pain but also of joyful rescue—had gone on for hours until her mind just couldn’t take any more.
“Come on,” Alec demanded. He shoved the last of his gear into his bag and threw it to Laura.
She wanted to ask what Alec was going to do with Brown, but knew that asking wouldn’t help anything. If the ranger was lucky, he’d shoot her. If she was unlucky, he’d leave her there to die—her mind too scrambled to know how to survive on her own.
Laura looked at the ranger again, and their eyes met. There was no emotion or movement. If Brown hadn’t blinked, Laura would have assumed she was dead.
“Dan,” Alec called. “Laura. Come check this out.” He had unfolded the map.
Laura was strapping on the heavy frame pack, adjusting the straps around her chest and hips as she and Dan met Alec.
“Keep your eyes on the map,” Alec said quietly. “Don’t look up. They’re here.”
“Where?” Dan asked. He finally seemed alert.
“I saw movement in the trees to the west, near the two dead pines.”
Laura forced herself to keep her head down. “You’re sure it’s the army?”
Alec nodded. “Uniforms.”
“Why haven’t they shot us already?” Laura said.
“They’re not in position yet,” Alec said. “At least, I don’t think they are. And maybe they’re trying to figure out what we can do—what our powers are. Maybe they want to capture us alive.”
“How many?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Alec said with a smile. He jabbed the map. “We’re only four miles from the road if we go cross-country. Laura can do that in—how long?”
She pursed her lips and looked down the rough slope at the forested terrain. “If the ground is like that, thirty minutes. Maybe forty.”
“How fast can you do it carrying someone?”
Laura thought about Brown lying on the grass. When she’d heard that the soldiers had arrived, she’d been relieved, thinking that the girl might live. “She doesn’t know anything else,” Laura said. “She’ll slow us down.”
