“Please say something,” Trevor said. A quiet voice rose from the rubble. Everyone lifted their heads, looking for the sound. “Allison, is that you?”
The little boy stood on shaking legs. He reached down with both hands, grasping a sizable piece of mangled steel and concrete. He lifted, and the piece moved. Gabby’s tears slowed and her eyes widened. His little arms shook as he pushed and lifted it higher and higher. His whole body was shaking as he bent his knees and gave the piece of rubble a shove, sending it flipping over itself down the pile of wreckage. Everyone stared at the child in awe before he collapsed to the ground.
“He’s one of them, like Allison. An Impavid.” Gabby picked him up and cradled his limp body in her arms. He was alive. Resistance members gathered around, whispering among themselves, mesmerized by the little boy.
“Allison?” Trevor ran toward the pile of rubble. There, no longer covered by rubble, was Allison. Her hair, full of dust, lay around her in a halo. Her exposed skin was covered in bleeding scrapes and bruises. Trevor dropped to his knees next to her and took her hand in his. Allison smiled at him.
“Well, aren’t you going to help a girl up?” Allison asked. Trevor swooped her up in his arms like a blushing bride and kissed her. The crowd broke out in cheers. Gabby passed the boy to Cassi before she ran to embrace Allison while she was cradled in Trevor’s arms. Matt ran over too, squeezing Allison into a tight hug. The four friends stood there embracing one another in relief.
Allison
After they finished salvaging everything they could, the Resistance members brought their jeeps and trucks around and began loading up anything they’d found in the rubble they thought may be useful. Allison sat on a nice shady patch of grass watching the activity while she drank water and watched the unconscious child lay next to her. She stared at the child, wondering about his life and how he ended up here. She brushed his hair out of his eyes. Being a former Infected, having super strength, dealing with emotional control issues and self-hate, and missing her friends and family, not to mention being hunted by an evil doctor, had about destroyed Allison. She couldn’t imagine trying to face those things as a child. She smiled as she watched him, realizing he was the bravest person she knew. Gabby walked over and sat next to her, and Allison handed her the water canteen. She looked down at the child.
“He’s an Impavid like you. That’s what we call former Infected with abilities.” Gabby took a drink of the water.
“How many of us are there?” Allison asked. Gabby shrugged.
Matt and Trevor joined the girls in the shade. Morgan was nowhere to be found. Resistance members reported they lost sight of her as soon as the gunfire started. Matt was devastated when he heard the news.
“I can’t believe her. She just left,” Matt said as he shook his head. “If I can’t trust my sister, who can I trust?”
“Us,” Allison said. “Always us.” Trevor and Gabby nodded in agreement.
They all loaded up into a van with Lyon and Cassi in the front. Trevor and Matt piled in the back row with the gear. Gabby and Allison sat in the middle with the child lying across their laps, still unconscious.
“What now?” Gabby asked, resting her hand on Allison’s. Allison looked at her friends, new and old, with determined eyes.
“We find Dr. Neff and we kill him,” Allison said as she turned, looking out the van window as the fall trees passed by in a blur of color brighter than any Allison had ever seen.
The End
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About the Author
Karri lives in Oklahoma, USA, with more bug-out bags than people, possibly too much freeze dried food, and her family who think she’s crazy. When she’s not writing she can be found spending time with her loved ones, binging her current TV obsession, or working on her podcast, The Blitzed Book Club.
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