HERO

54 / We'll Rise Up

A small ledge jutted out from the rock.

It was large enough for the pair to pause, but not for them to become too comfortable. The ledge, both narrow and thin, didn't appear to be strong enough to hold them both, so each stepped onto it gingerly, testing it before allowing it to take their full weight. Being children, neither weighed a great amount, but the ledge seemed to be able to handle them both, if only temporarily.

Bren sat with her legs dangling over the edge. Thomas, though he wasn't particularly afraid of heights, remained standing, his back firmly in contact with the rock. He wanted as much of his body to be in contact with the solid, immutable stone as possible. While Bren was gazing around and appearing relaxed, he was staring straight ahead. He didn't know how high they had come, nor how much was remaining. He had never needed to surmount anything other than a tree or someone's back fence while he ran from Billy and his kin.

"Why can't you just teleport us up there? Why are we having to climb?"

"I can't," Bren answered.

"But why? And why don't you just answer me without being evasive?"

"Am I being?"

"You know you are," said Thomas. "I thought we were friends. Do friends keep secrets from each other?"

They do if they have to, Bren thought, thankful for Thomas's lack of telepathy.

Still,. She had to tell him something. She was expecting him to follow her blindly, and he was doing so. She wasn't so sure his trust in her was well founded and didn't know if she'd do the same if the tables were turned.

"I can't teleport us up there because there's a Blocker."

"Why didn't you just tell me that?"

Why didn't she? Because it would lead to other questions. Ones she did have answers to, but couldn't share. Not yet. She'd felt it better to say nothing than to risk having to circumvent the more direct interrogation Thomas might engage in.

"I don't know," she said, though she knew exactly. "I guess I just wanted to show you instead of telling you."

"Well, that stinks," he retorted. "You shouldn't keep things from me."

I saved your life, part of her mind whispered. You should be grateful rather than moan.

A larger part, the one she embraced to keep the darker side at bay, nodded.

"I know," she said quietly. "I'm not used to giving a shit. Or being given a shit about."

"Well get used to it," Thomas told her, daring to move his hand from the cliff side to her shoulder.

Bren was about to turn to her friend and smile. It would have been a warm smile. One to warm both their hearts. A flash of something bright stopped her.

She squinted, then remembered she no longer needed to. With a flicker of concentration – such things were fast becoming second nature to the girl – her eyes doubled in size and she could focus on what caused the flash. It was a reflection. Sun on metal, glancing off as if to give something away without actually appearing to do any such thing.

The Spotters were coming.

"How the hell did they find us?" she said, thinking she was saying the words in her mind.

Unfortunately...

"Who," Thomas asked, his hand tightening on her shoulder.

"Spotters!"

Thomas knew already. Who else would cause Bren to give such a reaction? But, how had they...

He looked down at the hand he'd rested on his friend or, more precisely, the wrist.