Kali slipped through the crowd and dropped to her knees in front of the gates of the execution area, peering through the chipped wooden cracks. She paused for a moment to let her eyes adjust against the glaring sun. Then she saw him.

Klane.

She could just barely make out her brother past the gates as he lay crumpled on his knees and his hands tied around his back. Several other men lay next to him on the ground with heads split open and blood pooling around her brother’s legs. 

If she could just focus for a moment, she could make it to him. 

Men beyond the gate began to chatter and cackle, seeming to be making light of the situation in front of them. Two of them appeared in front of Klane that Kali could make out. 

She also noted the rifles that the men held. 

They’re going to kill him, she thought to herself in a panic.

She choked on her own breath, fighting back tears as her eyes darted around her knees and behind her, looking for something sharp.

But there was nothing. Kali looked down at her left thumb.

I have to. 

Clenching her other fist, she took a deep breath. Before she could give herself a chance to think, she bit down on her thumb as hard she could and screamed through clenched teeth. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she tried her hardest to break the skin. Finally, she felt blood draw and paint her lips, and she looked down at her bleeding finger in dismay. Again, before giving herself time to think about it, she stuck her ruined hand through the crack in the gate frantically, trying to stiffly point it in the direction of the pool of blood that surrounded Klane at his legs. 

“Please, jump...” Kali rasped to herself, her eyes landing on her brother. “F-Fucking jump...”

Her hands trembled. The tears from her eyes began to hit the ground as she watched one of the two armed men point his rifle at a man to the left of Klane, a man also on his knees.

Kali froze and her eyes widened for a moment, fighting the urge to run away. She tried her hardest to focus, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of Klane. Don’t hurt him, she pleaded in her mind. She needed to focus on the blood spill, but her heart gripped her as she saw her brother helpless on his knees. The world around her began to dissolve and she began to cry.

Boom.

The gunshot was loud enough to break Kali out of her trance as she gasped. Blood splattered closer to the gate as the man beside Klane collapsed onto his back lifeless.

Kali shook uncontrollably. She wanted to fall over and vomit. 

She noted the action stories Klane used to tell her and Kyzer when he would come home from getting food for the base. He always made it sound so cool when he would have to blow a bad guy’s brains out to stay alive. The afterimage of the man’s death burned behind her eyes like a tough stain. She felt the bile well up in her throat.

Choking it back down, she shifted one leg up to lean on one knee and caught sight of the blood on the ground past the gate through the crack. She noted the men with guns began to shift their stances to Klane on his knees out of the corner of her eye.

Focus. Jump. Just jump.

Kali’s ears were still ringing from the gunshot. She felt blood rush to them, drowning out every bit of noise around her. The stain behind her eyes lingered.

Jump, goddammit!

One man grabbed Klane by his hair and tilted his chin upward. She could barely see it but she knew it was happening. Her heart thumped like a tribal drum. 

Suddenly, the blood in Kali’s body began to shift forward as she felt a tug of force leading her to the pool of blood on the ground just past the gate. 

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Finally, Kali began to feel her body materialize as the force forward began to tug stronger. She watched her own blood from her thumb launch forward into the blood pool as her body dissolved into her blood stream.

Every sound around Kali was muffled. She could barely make out what was happening. From the bottom of a shimmery red ocean, she could make out the sky above her. She swam forward closer to Klane. Then stopped.

They will see me and shoot us both if I get out right here.

Kali felt all of the fibers of her body swim gently in ocean waves as she hovered in the pool of blood close to her brother.

“...but you know this kid, right?”

Dialogue from above her.

“Sure. That’s the Kolt kid. The one with the brat siblings.”

“Sure is. What was it, two little bitch sisters?”

Kyzer is a boy, Kali thought to herself.

“May as well be. The older one’s a bit of a sissy. Couldn’t hurt a fruitfly if he wanted to. I bet Kali could do more than he could.”

They know my name.

“I’d bet money on that too. How about it, Kane? I want to know if she’s growing up to be good with her hands like you.” The two men cackled with one another. Her brother didn’t say a word.

What are they talking about? His name is Klane. Kyzer isn't a sissy. How do they know us?

Kali swam frantically around the blood pool, observing the area with what she could use to take out the soldiers. She could barely see anything since she could only gaze upward. Reluctantly, Kali swam to the surface...

...and stuck her head up barely from the blood pool so as to not be seen easily. She felt that her hair and face were soaked. She peered at the men for a moment to make sure they would not see her. Gazing up at them, they were joking with one another as the man closest to Klane began to load his weapon. Kali watched him like prey for a moment, deciding what she should do. He was distracted.

Kali slowly let herself swim around Klane’s legs and next to the armed man’s feet. She spotted a knife in his holster. She looked back down at his legs. 

Could I cut him?

The men were joking around with each other. She might be able to grab the knife unnoticed. If she can come in contact with the man’s blood, she might be able to swim into his body.

“You bet the brats are still alive somewhere?”

“Maybe. Betcha we can go find them. Keep them a secret from the higher ups.”

“You’re nuts, right?”

“Who the hell is gonna know?”

“I doubt the kids are stupid Davey, even if you might be.”

Kali let her gaze fall back on the knife. If she could reach it, she could cut his leg. A small cut would be all she needed.

“I’m not so sure man,” the other soldier said to Davey. “There have been some rumors about those kids. Just weird stuff.”

“What kind of weird stuff? They’re kids of an engineer who had a freak wife, the lucky bastard.” Davey said while loading a bullet into his rifle’s chamber. 

Kali had slowly been reaching up and gently gripped the knife. Her red-bathed arms almost began to tremble but she kept them still.

“His freak wife was a Core, man. Chikage Uncanny. Blood clones and shit. I reckon not the type of freak you’re after.”

Davey snickered and snorted. “Gotta be something good there if he knocked her up three damn times.” Davey glanced at Klane and motioned to him. “Made three of these shit stains.” 

“Maybe. On that note I’m pretty disappointed I haven’t seen them do any voodoo shit. Special kids just ain’t too special. Otherwise you’d have a field day in this place, buddy.” Davey’s partner said to Klane motioning to the bloodshed in the area.

Klane still has not said a word. His head hung low. His hair was matted with blood and dirt. They had hurt him already. Kali needed to move.

“Got that right,” Davey remarked. “Let me know if I see a kid like you really work some crazy phenomenon like blood control as a human. If you could have... Who knows?” Davey pointed the gun at Klane’s head. “Maybe we could have struck a deal with you.”

Kali swiftly grabbed the knife from the man's holster and drew it into the side of his calf deeply. Davey yelled in anguish, kicking at Kali’s arm. 

     Don't cry, he's not a good person, Kali's mind rushed with fleeting thoughts, repeating a mantra to help justify stabbing the man. He's not a good person. He's not a good person, it's okay.

     Before he could do anything else, she touched the blood that had gushed from the soldier’s leg and forced herself to jump.