Gone (Gone #1)(101)

Sam tested his legs, Lana's healing of his leg had been complete, "Yeah. Pm fine. Feel okay, actually"

He looked back and realized they had been leading a sort of ragtag parade. Astrid and Little Pete, Lana holding a boy's hand while her dog bounded into the woods to chase a squirrel. Quinn walked by himself along the shoulder of the road, shunned and ashamed. And there were almost two dozen kids, the liberated freaks from Coates.

Edilio saw the look on his face. "You got yourself a crowd of followers, Sam,"

"Caine hasn't come alter us?"

"Not yet."

The group of them was straggling down the road, bunched here and there, spread out elsewhere, wandering, undisciplined.

Sam winced when he saw the hands of the Coates kids. The concrete had leeched all the moisture from their skin. Their skin was white and loose, hanging in tatters in some cases, like the tattered bandages of some horror movie mummy. Their wrists revealed red circles where the concrete had rubbed the flesh bloody. They were filthy.

"Yeah," Edilio said, knowing what he was seeing. "Lana's going through them one at a time. Healing them. She's amazing."

Sam thought he heard something extra in Edilio's voice. "She's cute too, huh, Edilio?"

Edilio's eyes went wide and he started blushing. "She's just . . . you know ,, "

Sam slapped his shoulder."Good luck with that"

"You think she , ■ ■ I mean, you know me, I'm just . . " Edilio stammered his way to a stop,

"Dude, let's see if we can stay alive. Then you can ask her out or whatever"

Sam surveyed the scene. They were on the Coates road, passing the iron gate, still many miles from Perdido Beach.

Astrid noticed that he was awake and hurried her pace. "About time you woke up" she said.

"Well," he played along with her bantering tone, "usually after I get shot and then fire lasers out of my hands, I like to enjoy a brief nap." He caught Lana's eye and mouthed the word "thanks."

Lana shrugged as if to say "no biggie."

"Caine won't let this stand" Astrid said, turning serious.

"No. He'll come after us" Sam said. "But not just yet. Not until he's come up with a plan. He's lost Drake. And he's gotta be worried that we have all these kids with powers who hate his guts."

"What makes you think he won't just come after us?"

"Think about when he first came rolling into Perdido Beach," Sam said. "He had a plan. He trained his people and rehearsed."

"So we go back to Perdido Beach?" Astrid asked. "Ore is still there, and a few others. There may be trouble with them"

"We need to get some food for these kids" Edilio said. "That's first."

"Three or four miles to Ralph's" Sam mused. "Can they make it?"

"I guess they have to," Edilio said."But they're scared, too. I mean, you got some messed-up kids here. What they been through and all?"

"We're all scared, there's not much we can do about that," Sam said. But he didn't like the sound of that. It was glib. !t was meaningless: sure, they were all scared, but there was something they could do about it.

In lact, they had to do something about it—

Sam stopped in the middle of the road and waited for the others to catch up.

"Listen "he said. He raised his hands to get their attention, calm them down, but they had seen what happened when

Sam raised his hands. They flinched and seemed about ready to dart off the road and into the woods.

Sam dropped his hands hastily-"Sony Let me start over: Could I have everyone's attention?" Sam said> using a gentler voice. He kept his hands by his sides. He waited patiently until he was sure everyone was listening. Quinn still hung back.

"Some bad stuff has happened to all of us" Sam said. "Some very bad stuff. We're beat up, we're tired. We don't know what's going on. The whole world has gone bizarre on us. Our own bodies and minds have changed in ways that are even weirder than puberty."

That earned a few smiles and one grudging laugh.

"Yeah. I know we're all shook up. We're all scared. I know I am " he admitted with a rueful smile. "So, let's not try and play like it isn't scary. It is. But sometimes the worst thing is the fear. You know?" His gaze traveling over the feces, he realized anew that they had another concern, greater even than fear. "Although hunger's no joke, either We're a few miles from a grocery store. We'll get you all fed there. I know some of you have been in hell since this happened. Well, I would like to tell you it's over, but it's not"

Grim looks on every face.

Sam had said all he had really planned to say, but they still needed something more. He shot a glance at Astrid. She was as solemn as anyone, but she gave him a nod, encouraging him to say more.

"Okay. Okay" he said so softly that some had to move closer to hear him. "Here's the thing. We're not going to give in. We're going to fight."

"Got thai right" a voice cried oul.

"First thing we need to have clear: there's no line between freak and normal here. If you have the power, we'll need you. If you don't, we'll need you"