Jackson Ford - Random Sh*t Flying Through the Air

Paul’s hand, appearing over the wave of dirt, sucked into the ground like—

I drop my head, take a deep, shaky breath. Beside me, Annie sways in place. If she goes down, I am never going to be able to lift her up, no matter what my superpowers are.

“Teggan – over here.”

Africa’s eyes are huge, his face caked with dirt. He gets an arm under Annie’s on the other side, helps me lift her.

“Where you been?” he says. “We have problems with the radio. Did you find the boy? Where is the boss man? He still chasing?”

“Medical tent,” I say, through gritted teeth.

“Paul is at the medical tent? I don’t—”

“Us, Africa. Take us. Now .”

Somehow, we make it to the right tent. Somehow, Africa gets us through the soldiers manning the doors. Reggie’s just inside the entrance, sprawled out on a hospital bed, covered with a ratty blanket. She looks very small, even frail, but she perks up the minute she sees us. “Oh, thank the Lord. What happened?”

I try to tell her, try to open my mouth and explain. I can’t get a single word out. Not one.

A frown creases Reggie’s brow. “Teagan, what’s wrong?” She gives Annie a closer look, takes in the grey face, the slumped, shaking shoulders.

“Where’s Paul?” she says very softly.

We don’t even have to answer. Reggie’s face collapses, just folds in on itself, and then Annie is on the ground, howling, and Africa has his enormous arms around her and I close my eyes and maybe if I don’t open them ever again, that wouldn’t be so bad.

“ Matthew! ”

Amber plunges across the scrubland, blood pounding in her ears. She can’t see her son. She can’t see her son .

And it’s worse this time, because other people have seen what he can do. And this isn’t like the cop from before. It’s not like the earthquakes. There were witnesses. And now for the first time, Matthew isn’t with her. He’s on his own, and if she can’t get to him, he might do it again. She’s the only one who can stop it. She’s the only one who can control him.

And so she runs.

The landscape is hilly scrubland, with sparse patches of trees, like an urban forest that someone gave up on long ago. The light from Dodger Stadium is nothing more than a glimmer on the horizon behind her.

In desperation, Amber heads for another stand of trees, just below the crest of a hill, forcing aside low-hanging branches. One whips back, striking her across the face, cutting a stinging line across one cheek. The rain’s actually gotten worse, the drizzle turning to fat droplets. They run down Amber’s forehead, blurring her vision. Her jeans are covered in wet dirt from ankle to thigh. Somewhere, she lost her denim jacket – she has no idea when that happened.

A road. There’s a road. From her vantage point at the top of the hill, Amber can see right down to it. It’s cracked and torn, like all the others, but if she can get to it—

Her foot snags on something in the dirt – a rock, a root. Thrown up by her son, maybe, when he caused the quake. She goes down hard, wrists snapping back as she makes contact with the shredded earth, rolling, ripping the skin off her elbows.

Amber comes to a halt against the trunk of an uprooted tree. She lies for a moment, ears ringing, chest heaving. A picture flits across her mind of the man Matthew buried, his body vanishing into the dirt, that one outstretched hand—

“ Matthew! ” This time, her shout is so loud she feels something tear in her throat: a burning sensation, like she’s swallowed acid. She coughs, yells his name even louder.

A helicopter rumbles overhead, a black shadow against the sky, blowback buffeting the trees. Swaying, Amber gets to her feet. She’s lost track of the road – was it on her left? No – there’s nothing there but more dark scrub. Why was she trying to reach the road anyway? What made it likely that Matthew would be there?

Her eyes land on the glow of the stadium on the horizon, and it triggers a memory. The glow of light as she cracked the front door of her rooms in the School, late one night, wondering who the hell could be knocking at 3 a.m. Ajay hardly ever visited her in the rooms she shared with Matthew – when they made love, it was always in his quarters, overlooking the back of the School.

His normally neat hair was a mess. The skin around his eyes was puffy, as if he’d been weeping. He’d pushed inside the dark living room, elbowing her out of the way and closing the door behind him.

“Ajay, what—?”

“Quiet.” He had a black eye – one he hadn’t had the day before, when she’d last seen him. It wasn’t much of a shiner – a little bruising on his cheekbone, a purpling of the skin. But it had been like a drop of ice water, trickling down her spine.

He’d seen her looking. “The Director wouldn’t listen. None of them would fucking listen .”

“Ajay, please, you’re going to wake—”

He’d laughed at that, a harsh bark of a laugh with zero humour in it. “It’ll be a goddamn miracle if they aren’t arrested. Same for me.”

“ Arrested? ”

“Wake your boy up. I’ll look after him while you pack.”

“Why am I…? Ajay, talk to me, what’s going on?”

“Just do it. I’ll explain while you get your stuff.”

Something in his tone made her move. She’d woken her son up – Matthew was groggy, irritated, so much so that she was worried he was going to lash out. But he’d never attacked Ajay, not once, and he let the doctor lead him into the living room. He’d sat on the couch, blinking with sleep, frowning as Amber darted around the apartment, trying to figure out what they’d need, what they dared take with them. Her toothbrush, Matthew’s iPad, the few books she’d been reading, her clothes and tampons and sneakers…

Ajay strode to the window. He’d peeked through one of the blinds, and for a moment, Amber was overcome with just how ridiculous he looked. Like they were in a spy movie.

“Where are we going?” Matthew had asked.

“Just be ready to leave, honey.” Even to her, her voice sounded unsure.

“I don’t wanna go.” He’d folded his arms, fully awake now. “Dr Martinez said she was going to get me some more books. And we were supposed to go to the Carlsbad Caverns soon.”

“I know, honey, but Ajay says—”

“ I don’t care what he says! ” Her son’s anger was building, threatening to boil out of him. That had brought Ajay away from the window – he’d seen Matthew get angry, knew what could happen. He’d sat down next to him on the couch, put a hand on his shoulder. When he spoke, however, it was to Amber. Diamond, then, of course – a name she was about to lose, although she didn’t know it yet.

“The government found out about the School.”

“What? How?”

“We don’t know. The Director isn’t sure.”

“Well, can’t she do anything? There must be a way—”

“No. They’re coming, and they’re going to shut this place down.”

“But why ?”

He’d ignored the question. “You can’t stay here, Di. There’s a car waiting for you – a friend owed me a favour.” He’d dug in his pocket, passed her what appeared to be a driving licence, and a health insurance card. “New IDs. They’re not perfect – they won’t pass a close look. But they’ll help you get as far away as you can.”

She had stared down at the cards. Her photo, a fake date of birth, a fake name. Schenke. She had a sudden urge to ask him how to pronounce it right.

“No.” Matthew – still known as Lucas – had sprung off the couch, his little fists clenched. “I don’t wanna go!”