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Then I found her cell phone and came to another dead end. It’s password protected. Li offers to try hacking it, but after several minutes, he’s still unable to break through the lock screen.
“Did she zap your BEEPR?” Nyx asks.
“Yeah.” I motion toward the blackened device still strapped to his wrist. “I’m guessing she got yours too.”
“She got everyone’s,” he mutters. Nova runs her hand through his hair as she perches on the armrest of his chair. He hasn’t been able to stand up yet; none of the Supers have. The devices stuck inside their chest drain almost all of the power from them just as quickly as their body produces it.
I have no idea how to put the thing out. On a closer inspection, Nova and I discover that the metal spider web has dozens of tips that pierce into Nyx’s chest and wrap around his rib cage. He thinks the tips went at least three inches deep--at least that’s what he remembers from right before he passed out from the pain.
We quickly learn that we can’t pull the thing out. Nyx grabbed it the moment we freed his hands and it shocked his hand so bad
ly, his fingers broke out in blisters that still haven’t healed.
The other Supers ask for water and it kills me to deny their request. I still have no idea how I’ll rescue them and get back to safety, but finding a way to get them free from their harnesses are the top priority right now. George inspects the device buried in his chest. His tongue sticks out a bit and his eyebrows furrow together while he messes with each piece of metal. His movements are weak and futile. I lean down to his eye level when he calls me over. “Screw...driver?” His voice is a whisper. Nova suspects their inability to speak well is because the lack of power is hindering their healing ability. I think it’s also because they’ve been days without water.
I head back to the machine with the computer and broken keyboard and look around for a screwdriver or anything that could resemble one. The whole contraption is crudely made from recycled sheet metal and engine pieces, some of which look at least two decades old. I’m about to give up the search when a round knob catches my attention from the bottom of the machine. I pull it, and a rusted drawer slides out. Papers, random tools, a few human cell phones and a black glove roll around inside.
Suddenly I realize how much time we’ve wasted. “Take her glove,” I tell Nova and point toward the woman on the ground. I take the other glove out of the drawer and slip it onto my depowered hand. Nova does the same thing and wears the woman’s other glove. I walk up to Nyx. “Can I?” I lean closer to his ear and whisper, “I’m sorry, it’s just that you’re the Hero and I don’t want to risk hurting a regular Super.”
He nods. “Of course.”
“Be careful!” Nova chides, sliding up next to me. Her power is erratic and protective. I take a deep breath and place my gloved hand over the center of the harness. It doesn’t spark or sizzle when I touch it with the glove. In fact, I don’t feel a thing.
“Do it,” Nyx grunts. His eyes squeeze shut as he braces himself. Nova wraps her arms around his shoulders and presses her face against his neck. “It’ll be okay,” she whispers.
“Do it, Maci,” Nyx says again.
I dig my fingers under the center of the harness. It pulses with each motorized pull of power from Nyx’s body. I grip it tightly, take a deep breath and slide it out. Power drips out of the metal tendrils, splashing all over Nyx’s lap. He collapses forward, his chest heaving as if he can’t get enough air.
Nova grabs the harness with her gloved hand and aims the dripping power onto the eight bleeding holes in his chest. The power helps them heal. I can feel everyone else’s eyes on us as we watch Nyx carefully heal and slowly sit back up. A weak smile tugs at his lips.
“Do me next,” Corey calls out with his scratchy voice.
“How bad did that hurt?” I ask Nyx. He holds up ten fingers. I glance from Nyx back to Corey and the Super nods, waving me over with his hand. Removing that thing from Nyx was the hardest thing I’ve ever done and it was no doubt easier because Nyx is a Hero. He’s prepared to die at any time. What if I had messed up? What if I mess up Corey? Or George or the others? I am so horribly unqualified to do this.
“Go on,” Nova urges. “Let’s get them out and then we can get out of here.
Leaving them here while we go back and try to trip the security system sounds like a better plan. But when I tell everyone this, they glare and groan and beg me not to leave them. Nova folds her arms over her chest and stares at me like I’m some sort of monster. “How dare you even suggest that? We have to rescue them.”
“I want to rescue them,” I hiss. “I don’t want them to get hurt because of me. I want to go back and get help and have the medics do this.”
Corey shakes his head furiously and the others join in. “We want out,” he says.
Nyx attempts to stand but he collapses back in the chair. I don’t even try to help him since Nova is all over him, cradling him and protecting him like he’s a baby bird with a broken wing.
I look at the door and then back. My Hero training seems like years ago. I know it’s protocol to request backup when you’re in a situation you can’t handle yourself. If Nova wasn’t here giving me that death glare for wanting to leave, I would have already left. I would have ran through the tunnel back out to the corridors and mashed on the password protected MOD screen until someone noticed. But Nova is here and now I’m suddenly the bad guy.
“Fine,” I say, relenting. I walk over to Corey, grab the harness and pull it from his body. His head rockets back and a defiant scream escapes his throat, raw and dry and terrifying. The bones in his fingers break as he grips the arms of his chair. As much as I want to let go, I don’t until all of the tendrils are out of his body.
He collapses forward just like Nyx had done, shuddering uncontrollably. Using Nova’s idea, I push him back and let the power in the harness drop onto his wounds to heal them faster. Corey’s painful cries don’t stop for several seconds. Finally, he brings a shaky hand to his chest, feeling through the holes in his The Walking Dead t-shirt. “It’s healed,” he says. His eyes meet mine. “Thank you,” he whispers, pushing himself out of the chair. He lands on the floor and curls into the fetal position on the stony surface. The faint power level in his body slowly ignites, burning like an ember beneath his skin. I don’t know how long it’ll take his body to create more power, but he’s going to be okay.
“Hurry and do the rest of them,” Nova says. “We have to get them out of here.”
“I don’t think they’re going to be walking any time soon,” I say. I move to the next chair and look at Li. His eyes are wide, watery and bloodshot. He shakes his head, staring at me like he’s trying to convey some mental message. I lean closer to him. “Are you ready to get unhooked?”
A single tear rolls down his cheek, stopping halfway down his face. There simply isn’t any more water in his body. He opens his mouth. “No.”
I pat his arm, trying to be reassuring. “The medics will have something to numb the pain, if you want to wait.”
