And that was the truth of it. There was no way this day was going to end any way other than Matt’s way, and he knew damn well why.
While his sister was off bringing more people into this whole debacle, running from his gang, Matt had been suffering. Becca didn’t know anything about suffering. She knew of the concept and probably had some feelings regarding unfairness and problems in her own life. But true unfairness? No, no. Becca was born brightly to a nice household. Everyone else suffered around her, but she stayed clean. Her father had Parkinson’s, her mother had cancer, and her brother was in a wheelchair. These sufferings didn’t affect her the way they actually affected those involved, and she knew that. Deep down, she knew that her life had been set up in an advantageous way for her.
And how did she act when she realized that she was no longer special, no longer the one who was the best in a room, when her family was cured and given powers through the NaU?
She had been jealous.
She kept it mostly to herself, but Matt felt it all the same, her wishing she had the same powers as everyone else. And then, oh the relief, when she realized she wasn’t dying, that yet again, lady luck had had her eye on the girl and brought the odds in her favor. And then she had taken Nigel’s NaU, and lo and behold the girl had been given a NaU all right, and it was the best one out of all of them, and all so Becca could live.
No more.
“I don’t want to kill her, Walter,” Matt said. “I just want what’s mine and fair for once. You’ve lost a family. You would do anything to bring them back. Becca’s NaU won’t do that, but it’ll be the closest damn thing.”
He left Walter in the snow and backed off. He could feel his sister coming for him. Maybe she had finally seen the light and decided to just hand herself in. Living was an addicting sort of thing, but people can always find a way to justify ending it. Matt knew that better than anyone.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Becca crested the hill above the lumberyard.
Becca could feel her brother’s eyes on her. He knew she wouldn’t leave, knew that she wouldn’t just leave him there with Walter.
The snow was falling hard and fast, up past her knees. Snow like this used to make her happy, since if it was a school day, then that meant a snow day right and sure. If it was a weekend, then that meant she could just sit in her room and read, and look out at the snow from her window. Her father eventually would make her have to come out and help shovel. Matt tried to help once. He latched a snow shovel to the front of his wheelchair and tried to use it as a makeshift plow. It didn’t work, but it was somehow cute in a way that he tried. Her brother didn’t look cute that night.
His face was streaked with blood. His eyes, which were once gray, had turned stark pink like Kent’s had, and were throbbing. Pink veins danced around his face and down to his mouth. The veins around his mouth and neck, creeping into his shoulders, were blue, just like Carol’s NaU had been. His shirt had been ripped off, showing a patchwork of orange and green veins dancing around the rest of his body. He looked tired.
Walter was stuck under a wooden log to their right.
The air around them smelled like sap, the proper way a lumberyard should smell in the northeast during the winter.
“Hello, Becca,” Matt said. His voice had lost some of its charm. Now it sounded less like someone was talking and more like he was laughing.
“Matt.”
In the distance, Becca could hear the fire trucks and police cars, probably trying to tell what exactly had happened at Akins that night.
“Have you come to give yourself up?” Matt said.
“I plan to, once you give yourself up and allow me to take your NaU.”
“And if I don’t?”
Matt should’ve been able to do it by himself. Only half an hour ago, the boy had nearly succeeded before being interrupted.
As though to answer her questions, Matt’s body faded a little.
His arms and legs looked weak and pale, paler than the rest of his body. Her brother’s time was limited, and he was acting out. He wasn’t strong enough to take it from Becca anymore. Now she had to give it to him.
Becca walked forward.
Walter struggled under the log, but he would be of no help now. That was for the best. This family conflict had come to its conclusion—no reason for other people to be involved.
“Fine, Matt,” she said. “Do it.”
Matt looked down at her, his eyes frowning slightly.
“You’re not going to change your mind, are you? There’s no coming back from this.”
“You’re just going to have to do it, Matt. The road’s at its end now.”
He floated over toward her. Her brother looked worse for wear, but he was still her brother. The same boy who had let her ride around in his wheelchair when she was younger, showed her how to approach deer so they wouldn’t run away, showed her how to tie knots, and what kind of berries were poisonous.
Heat radiated off his frail body. Becca felt his touch on her. She kept her arms down.
“You can still run,” he said. “Still try to fight against it.”
His touch left her.
“I’ll even give you a head start.”
Becca frowned. Matt looked at her, and she at him. He wasn’t jumping at the gills to attack her. Something had happened, something had changed his mind.
Becca lifted her hand and placed it
