LIGHT FOOTSTEPS RESOUNDED when someone brushed past me in the library. Ever since moving in town, this was the second-best place to chill after the pool. I enjoyed the quietness of it, only disturbed by the occasional whisper or bristle of pages. My gaze lifted from my math book. Luc set down his bag across the table.
"You wanted to see me?" he murmured.
I didn't think I'd ever texted him that we needed to talk before or that I ever had something important to tell him. An idea had been hatching in my mind for a few nights now. There was no way to be sure if it could work, but we had to act before more killings would follow. I chose an isolated corner in the library where no one would hear us.
"I have an idea to take out the Wanderers."
He tipped his head on the side, eyes narrowing. I could tell he was skeptical. "Really? And what would you suggest?"
I'd thought about it relentlessly, tossing and turning in my bed. It was dangerous, but maybe our last hope. I explained my idea, trying to sound logical. Luc wasn't a happy camper, but what other choice did we have? When I finished, he crossed his arms.
"You're insane."
I blinked, stunned. "It's the only choice we got, Luc."
"No," he growled. "There has to be something else we can do. This will put you in danger and this might expose us all."
"Damn it," I said lowly. "How much longer can we afford to wait? Unless you guys can come up with another idea, we have nothing else. I don't want to do this, but I think we're out of options."
I knew I was right on that part. I was done with being a burden to the mutants, maybe now I could be an asset instead. Luc leaned over his chair and considered me extensively, eyes trailing up and down my face. He didn't say anything for a very long time.
"I don't know, Sunshine. We would have to convince the others." He flicked his pen at me. "I'm on board but on one condition."
I raised an eyebrow.
"You do as we say," he said. "So when we tell you to get the hell out of there, you run, are we clear?"
▲▲▲
I sat on Luc's living room chair, waiting for his friends to show up. He'd called a bunch for a meeting. He hadn't given them a clue about the subject over the phone, only said it was urgent. I fiddled with my hands, staring out the window. Outside, more leaves fell in heaps, leaving branches naked.
Two figures made their way up the hill. I recognized Ethan, but the girl with light brown hair was unknown to me. She seemed to be about his age.
They entered the cabin without knocking and eyed me from the door. Luc appeared from the kitchen. They clapped each other's shoulders, and they walked over to the living room. Devin arrived later, sprawling her spidery legs over the couch, then two adults, then Ben... then Mr. Kennedy.
My mouth fell unhinged in shock.
"No way. You?"
My English teacher seemed mildly flustered to run into me outside of class. I felt borderline betrayed that he'd probably known about me this whole time when I didn't know about him. He'd always been so discreet, so... under the radar.
Except for that time where he caught me trying to search sightings of Wanderers. He'd gotten really weird.
"I'm still your teacher, Riley. Mind the way you speak to me."
The rebuke caused me to fall back into silence. I should have apologized, but I didn't find it in me.
"Well, most of us are here. We can start," Luc began, leaning against a wall.
It was a strange sight to see several of them gathered in one room. They seemed to locate the farthest corners away from me and settle there, never leaving me out of their sight. I was the only one that stood out uncomfortably. For the first time, I grew aware my own vulnerability.
"What's going on?" the girl who came with Ethan asked. Her voice was thin, but unwavering. Her pretty, childish features didn't match her demeanor. She pointed at me. "And why is she here?"
Devin smirked like she knew the answer to that but didn't speak. Ben shifted awkwardly. Mr. Kennedy moved to join the two other elders.
"Because, Maia," he replied calmly. "She's got something to propose us regarding our infestation problem, and it concerns her just as much as us."
Maia dissected me with her eyes like I was an uncovered specimen locked in a zoo. Ethan elbowed her and whispered something, breaking her focus.
Devin swung her legs and sat upright, pressing her hands together. "You're telling me she cooked up a strategy—that it's worth listening to her?"
Luc made me promise I'd keep my mouth shut until he'd give me the opportunity to talk, but I found it hard to respect when I was being judged from every angle.
"Yes, I'm thinking we have nothing to lose by hearing her out," he answered. "This might just work. At least it seemed that way when she explained it to me." He faced me, and it was my turn.
I tensed in my chair but did my best to repeat myself. I tried not to pay much attention to everyone's reaction but couldn't help noticing Devin breathing out her nose and falling back on the couch.
Frankly, what a passive bitch.
However, no matter what they must be thinking, most listened until the end. Mr. Kennedy rubbed his chin, exchanging a look with the adults standing next to him. The man and the woman shrugged.
"This is risky business," Ben commented. There was no spite in his tone, just honesty. "I'm not sure we could pull this off."
"They still outnumber us, and we don't know why there is such an increase this season, but we're strong enough to take them on," Luc countered. "Greg can open the school for us on a night when teachers are gone. We can watch the exits so that the Wanderers can't get out."
Greg was Mr. Kennedy's first name on the curriculum sheet, I remembered.
"Is there no other way to do this?" the woman asked. "There has to be something else."
"Like what?" I achingly thought of Emma, of Georgia, of the seven kids that died two weeks ago. "If there's another plan you guys know about, I'd love to hear it. I'm sick and tired of people getting hurt."
No one had an alternative plan. They were exhausted from working hard to track the Wanderers at night and to limit the damage. Of all people, they should want to end this more than anyone else. And I wanted my normal life back. The woman pursed her lips together and her gaze shifted to Luc.
"You trust this girl?"
He didn't flinch. "I know her desire to get it over with. She doesn't enjoy being monitored, and we don't enjoy monitoring her, either."
A simple yes would have sufficed, man.
"And Sunshine's right," he admitted. "The town has suffered enough. We need to haul ass and deal with it before it gets worse, because it will."
"What about the exposure risk?" Ethan brought up. "How are we going to handle that?"
"No one steps out of their houses anymore these days, so the chances are low already. We can do it late at night just to make sure, and maybe Tony can watch the surroundings for patrol vehicles."
"Who is Tony?"
"A friend of ours," Mr. Kennedy clarified. "He couldn't make it here, today. He works out of town."
Luc eyed the room. His gaze fell to Devin. "Are we all okay with this now?"
"This is going to happen no matter what I say, I assume?" she retorted.
I had a hunch she'd rather not act on this plan, but I think everyone else was slowly agreeing. They seemed wary, consulting each other silently like I could hurt them. It seemed so misplaced to me. I had no superpowers. I could never represent a threat to them.
The older man stepped forward. He had a shaved head and bright hazel eyes.
"You're ready to go through with this, kid? You're not afraid?" His voice sounded hoarse, like a smoker's.
Yes!
"As I said, we don't have any other choice."
I wasn't trying to be some messed up selfless hero or trying to get myself killed.
I just couldn't ignore my role in all this. Dad always said that I should never pass an opportunity to change something for the better, to do the right thing. I was sure he didn't mean it quite like that, but here I was. This mess was at least partly my fault.
"Those in favor?" Luc prompted, pushing off the wall.
Everyone except Devin raised their hand, including Maia. She'd been hesitant, sized me up, then imitated her peers.
Devin tsked. "We have to get rid of those pests somehow..."
Reluctantly, her arm went up.
Luc smiled. "Then it's settled."
✩
So, what do you think of this meeting? Any idea on what this plan of Riley's might consist of? Is it going to end well or bad?
Hotel? Trivago
It's important to underline the little victories in life, and I think Riley just had a little victory by convincing a room full of mutants to agree with her on something.
Only three chapters or so to go!