Ignite

Sixty || Build-An-Army Workshop

The grieving vigor that had grown through my speech falters, the silence waiting for my voice to crack.

The table shudders as someone hops up next to me. Coal's shoulder brushes mine and he says with a quick glance at me: "Together."

I stare at him and then Terra has my arm in her hands as she climbs up next to me.

"Together," she says.

"Together," Steel puts in, following her.

Charlotte and Jensen clamber onto what's left of the stone. "Together."

Togethers chorus from behind me, Rian and Stella and Audrey and everyone, until I want to cry, until there's only one person left.

Owen looks at me, silent, wrinkle between his brow, eyes narrowed. He crosses his arms.

"I am not saying together," he huffs. "But the hell if I'm letting you go alone."

I smile, choking on laugh, not even bothering with words because my throat is too tight to speak.

"I'll go."

I turn to see Jen standing up in the crowd.

She tilts her head towards her shoulder in a half shrug. "Together." she says.

And then Michael stands, and one of the men who came along to the boathouse, and then – oh god, then people are standing and raising glasses and fists and voices – together, together, together.

Something in my chest wants to explode, a surging inferno where there once was a candle.

The swell of voices dies down, everyone standing, watching me. My next words are strangled, raspy but clear enough.

"Thank you," I say.

There are nods in my direction, murmurs of reciprocation. Someone says quietly, "I...I don't know how to fight."

I laugh again, more a gasp of the breath I was holding. "That's okay. I can teach you. Any of you. All of you."

We're going to build an army.

Together.

~

"What the hell was that?"

I cringe, foot on the first step of the staircase I'd spent the day helping to clear off.

Anika marches up to me, hissing, "This was not part of the plan."

"I did tell you I wanted to go after Izila–"

"You didn't tell me you were going to take my people."

"I'm not taking them. They're coming on their own free will."

Anika lets out a breath through her nose. "You don't know what you're doing."

She has a point. But the first time someone tried to tame a horse they didn't know what they were doing. The first time someone tried to build a car they didn't know what they were doing either. People only know what they're doing until after they've done it. Until then it's just a serious of mistakes until something works.

And last time I checked, this is the first time in human history that there's been a genocidal mutant woman on the loose that needs to be contained.

"I have help." I say. "I have back-up. I have people who do know what they're doing."

"They're going to die if they fight!" Anika growls, emotion breaking through her eternal poker face.

I hold her gaze. "They're going to die if they don't fight." I respond, voice level. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. To be fair it was sort of spontaneous. But this is happening. We can train them, collect supplies. We can do this."