Power Play (Book 2)

Chapter 22: Road Trip

Author's Note: So sorry this chapter took so long. Life gets crazy on me sometimes, but no excuses. Thanks for being patient, and there shouldn't be a delay like this next time (I hope!).

Recap: Brandon was rescued from the back of an Air Force jet, where he was being kept unconscious after being captured by the Government. To his surprise, Nicole was leading the super-powered rescue team. Brandon discovered he was weak, having had most of his nanobots constantly burned out of his system while unconscious to prevent him from recovering. It looked like the jet may be about to be shot down to try and prevent his escape, but Nicole told him to abandon the aircraft and follow her as she jumped from the jet with a parachute. Brandon was left clinging to the open doorway of the jet, high up in the night sky...

Winning Choice: Brandon takes a deep breath and decides to let go. Nicole and her friends put a lot into saving me, and I need to see this through. What happens to the people on the plane isn't something I can control, and I just hope the Air Force doesn't shoot them down.

I let go, plummeting into the darkness. I'm cold for the first time in ages, and as the plane spirals away above me, deep in its bank, I wish the pilots well. I fall as long as I can, letting the wind whip past my ears, before I pull my rip cord.

Hours later I sit in the passenger seat of a stolen Buick, watching lights of the freeway whip by. The car reeks of pine from the tree-shaped air freshener dancing on a thread below the rear-view mirror. Nicole is driving, and I slump against the window. The cool glass feels good against my forehead, an anchor point in the swimming mess of emotion rolling through me as we talk.

"My team and I are altered genetically, like the freaks you fought against in Vegas with Agent Corrales," she says.

"You don't look that different," I tell her, watching her reflection in the passenger window. She glances at me, then looks back to the road.

"I got lucky in that department, but they changed me in other ways. I'm not the same as... I'm not the same person I used to be," she says. She's avoiding telling me something, and my stomach twists and I'm sure it's not something I'd want to hear.

"You stormed an Air Force jet, freed me, and left the crew to possibly die up there. Yeah, I'd say you've definitely changed." She ignores that, and changes lanes to pass a semi. We're moving pretty fast, and I wonder what would happen if some cops spotted us. I somehow doubt it wouldn't end well for them, one way or the other.

"Remember when we used to take road trips like this," I ask. "You always hated them. Made me drive the whole way."

"I've never been a car person," she reminds me. She takes a deep breath and quietly adds, "But those trips were good times."

"They were. Maybe not as exotic as a trip to Rome, but we were exploring our own corner of the world. Together." I let that hang there, but she doesn't take the bait.

After a moment I ask, "Where's the rest of your team?"

"Everyone is taking their own way back. We agreed to split up. That way if any one of us were tracked and captured the others could get away. Things are a bit crazy right now."

"Crazy has been my daily routine the past few months," I tell her.

"Not like this," she says. "Your internet announcement then your stunt at the White House has the country in an uproar. People are scared, confused, and angry. They're demanding answers, and the government is making it worse."

"Making it worse? That's impressive, even for them. Worse, how?"

"You're the most wanted man in the country. Perhaps the world. They're calling you a terrorist, and saying you plan to overthrow the government."