The energy for the gun came from me.
What the hell? I think to myself. How is that possible?
What am I?
Somewhere inside, pleasure begins to grow. I fire at the remaining detonators with the same results. Devlan is beaming with joy. Apparently his theory, whatever it is, worked.
I spend the next several hours battling the droid, dodging its slashes and fire as I move from boulder to boulder, sometimes having to jump a gap of ten feet between rocks. I’m able to take out two of the droid’s Pugio blades, long swords that have a thick blade with a curved tip, before I’m taken down by a Levin gun blast; another scar to live with. I heal shortly after the injury, but there isn’t any mark remaining. My wound has healed a lot quicker this time than before.
What, exactly, was in that syringe Devlan injected me with? Did the Quarum speed up my healing ability even more?
The sun is setting, so I have to stop and help Devlan clean up the mess I made from the best training day I’ve had thus far. Scraps from the detonators are placed into a small tin trashcan, and the battle droid is shut down and stored back in the shed. Devlan takes the guns back into the house. I step inside the shed and turn off the generator.
When I get back to the house Devlan is cooking dinner on the gas stove, with several rush lights so he can see. I head to the bathroom to take a shower in the cold water, which feels good against my hot skin. Goosebumps form on my arms and legs, but I stay in anyway. When I hear Devlan call that dinner is ready, I step out and wrap myself up in a robe, putting my hair up in a towel. We can’t keep fresh meat or vegetables in the fridge since it’s not constantly running, so canned foods are our most common staple. I’m not much of a fan of canned stew, but I devour two hefty helpings.
As soon as the kitchen is cleaned up, I go to my room, rummaging in the dark for a clean pair of shorts and pajama top, but wind up putting on a pair of running shorts and a tank top since all my other clothes appear to be dirty. I know I should go to bed, but I’m too wired from the day. As I look down at my arm, I’m alarmed to see a slight blue glow radiating from my injury.
Great, and now I glow in the dark too, I think, shaking my head in disbelief.
I don’t want the scar to be visible, but I really don’t have any long sleeves to cover it up with except for my leather jacket, which I can’t wear constantly in this heat. The sleeve part of the brace pops into my head. The material is thin but durable, and I didn’t notice the wound in my arm until I took it off, so it should conceal the glow quite well. I exit the house, open up the storage shed, and locate the brace on the bottom shelf. I go back into the house, wondering where to work since I don’t have rush lights in my room. Devlan is working down below, so I open up the pantry door and make my way into his workshop.
He doesn’t look up as I pull a stool over and place the brace on a workbench next to him. Looking around at the tools, I reach for a pair of pliers to use to gently work the material free from its rough-sewn exterior. I try not to snag or tear the sleeve as I carefully labor the next hour extracting it, leaving the Velcro strap on for the bicep so I have a way to secure it. I slip the sleeve on, fastening it at the top most section of my arm. It looks a bit out of place with the rest of my clothing, but it covers every inch of the glowing line. I leave the brace section on the workbench and head upstairs to go to sleep.
Chapter 3
Acrid smoke fills my lungs.
I open my eyes, but only see orange flames flicker in the distance as ash thickens the air. The wailing of sirens is overpowered by the screams and cries of the children around me. The door into our bedroom is sealed. My bed is closest to the door, so I try to squint through the air to see if anyone is coming to our rescue. I notice a woman trying frantically to open the portal, screaming silently.
The windows inlayed in the door are blackening as I lose sight of her, so I slide down from my bed and onto the scalding hot floor, crawling my way over to the entrance, desperate for any fresh air that may be blowing through the gap in the floor, as my skin begins to blister from the heat.
The cries begin to diminish, but the screams beyond the walls of the bedchamber escalate. I place my small fingers into the opening between the door and the floor and feel a warm hand squeeze my fingers…and someone calling out my name.
“Meg,” a voice echoes in my nightmares. I feel my body rock back and forth gently at first, then more violently as I try to shake off whoever is disturbing my sleep. “Meg, get up NOW!”
The scream in my ears causes me to jump upright in bed, nearly colliding my face with Devlan’s.
“What?”
“Get some shoes on and grab whatever clothes you can, then meet me down in the workshop. Do it now.”
He leaves the room almost at a run. I
