Chapter 53 — The New World

  With Natalie and her father gone, nobody was quite sure what to do next. Hailey stood in the doorway, making it plain nobody was going to chase them down. She wasn't entirely sure they wouldn't try, even though she could easily overpower anyone in the room. Maybe not all of them, but… these aren't exactly people who're gonna work together anyway.

  To her relief, Jeremy didn't seem about to try. He looked incredibly frustrated, and Hailey couldn't blame him—he'd been chasing Brian for months. Still… as Jeremy's eyes met Hailey's, a look of understanding passed between them.

  I couldn't let it happen. Not in front of her. I'm sorry.

  Jeremy nodded. He'd gotten the message. Pistol still in hand, he turned to Cinza.

  "I'm takin' the rest of these assholes. Are you good with that?"

  Cinza glanced at the trio of Felix and the two trusted soldiers of Brian Hendricks. Her brow narrowed, eyes still blazing with fury, but her voice was quiet. "They deserve far worse."

  "That isn't how we do things now," said Hailey. "Once was bad enough. No more."

  "...No more," she agreed. Cinza lifted her head up as if breaking the surface of water, taking a deep breath like she'd been drowning. The storm continued to pound the roof overhead, but no more lightning struck the town. It seemed to be moving on, finally giving them a respite. "You may take them. See to it they face the harshest justice your world can muster."

  "You got it," said Jeremy. He turned to glare at Felix, half-cowering in the corner. "...Come on, asshole. Ain't you a fuckin' wartime reporter? Thought you traveled the damn world. This shit shouldn't scare you."

  "This is different," said Felix, his voice trembling a little. "That was the whole point. Everything's different. We can't—"

  "Would you shut up already?" Jeremy walked over and roughly shoved him around to face the wall. He took a set of plastic ties from his pocket, straight from Captain Hoskins' supply. Jeremy pressed Felix up against the stone—definitely with more force than necessary—and yanked his arms behind him.

  The one-armed woman snarled. She moved toward Jeremy as if to fight.

  Hailey stepped in front of her. The woman tried to strike, but Hailey simply shoved her backward. She stumbled away, shocked—after all, Hailey didn't have anything like her muscle or weight. She shouldn't be able to push away a soldier like that so easily.

  "...Dear God in heaven…" murmured the heavyset man. He kept muttering, too. Hailey's keen ears caught the words—a constant stream of prayers. She shook her head. You guys aren't following any kind of god. No one's gonna save you.

  "Don't do anythin' stupid," said Jeremy. He pulled another plastic tie and started to take the heavyset man into custody. The one-armed woman still seemed ready to throw down, but Hailey just stood, patiently waiting for her to make a move.

  Finally, after a full minute of staring each other down, the woman relented. Haily let out a breath—not that she doubted she could take the woman, but she simply didn't want to fight.

  Not now. There's still so much going on. Meg might be dying. Natalie's gone off with her dad somewhere. Beverly's missing.

  And… I don't fight anymore. That's not me. Not the new me, anyway.

  "Are you gonna come quietly?" asked Hailey softly.

  After another moment's hesitation, the one-armed woman nodded. She held out her hand, smirking slightly.

  Hailey ignored her. She glanced at Jeremy. "What about… that?" She nodded down at the golem rod, still on the floor between them.

  Cinza frowned. "It should be destroyed."

  "I don't know if I can," said Hailey uncomfortably. "I can't even grab it with magic."

  "Don't want to touch the fuckin' thing," muttered Jeremy. "All you, Hales."

  "Are you sure?"

  He shrugged. "You're the strongest. Keep it safe 'til you figure it out. We'll say it was destroyed."

  "What about them?" she asked, jerking her head at Brian's followers.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Jeremy glanced over. "They sure don't seem to be hearin' us right now… Figured that was you."

  Hailey raised an eyebrow. She felt out with her magic, and sure enough, there was a spell keeping their conversation private… but she couldn't determine the source. It took her a moment to realize who it must be—and who had suddenly vanished from the room.

  "Okay."

  Hailey walked over to the center of the room and—very gingerly, as if it might explode—picked up the golem rod. To her relief, it didn't really feel like anything—made of solid rock or obsidian, if she had to describe it. She sighed with relief, and tucked it into the inner pocket of her flight jacket.

  "All good." She glanced at Jeremy. "What now?"

  Jeremy keyed his radio. "Stebbins, got us an exit? Over."

  "All clear, sir. Looks like Rook decided we were done after wolf-girl took off. Not a sound since. Over."

  Hailey's eyes widened slightly. "Ask him where she went?"

  Jeremy nodded. "Get a look at where she's headin'? Over."

  "Negative. Couldn't track her, sir. Over."

  "...Got it," said Jeremy with a sigh. "We'll be movin' out soon. Cover us back to camp, we've got three prisoners in tow. Jackie, I'm gonna need you in here. Over."

  "Solid copy, sir. Over."

  Jeremy turned back to the prisoners—and Cinza had vanished. He looked around, confused.

  Hailey shook her head again. "She's gone." Felt her magic moving away… probably could've stopped her, but why? She didn't do anything wrong. She was going to, but we persuaded her against it. It's okay.

  "Think she's goin' after the kid?"

  "I don't know… I don't think so." Hailey frowned. "Natalie could feel them coming anyway, by magic or by the wolf and the cat. They aren't gonna sneak up on her."

  Jeremy nodded. Jackie walked in a moment later, a little breathless.

  "What's up?"

  "Hendricks' inner circle," said Jeremy, jerking his head at Felix and the two bodyguards.

  Felix snorted. "Hardly."

  "Whatever the fuck you say, asshole," said Jeremy. "Already got you twice over with Hendricks, workin' together, and this is lucky number three. You're goin' to jail for a long-ass time."

  "For what?"

  "Terrorism, motherfucker." Jeremy grabbed him by the shoulders and manhandled him out of the room. Jackie took the heavyset man, just as rough, leaving Hailey with the one-armed woman.

  Hailey simply nodded her forward. The woman walked stiffly out of the room, silently resistant but still moving forward. They emerged back into Rallsburg, where the rain was starting to let up—the earlier storm reduced to a mere drizzle. Hailey pulled her hood up and tightened her scarf. The woman had no such protection, but Hailey didn't have anything to offer her either… unless…

  A shield of wind above them, where the rain simply drifted to the sides. Hailey smiled, trying to offer some level of comfort—but of course, it came off completely wrong.

  The woman's eyes narrowed. "Witch," she muttered.

  Hailey sighed. She kept the shield up anyway. They weren't as well-bundled as her, nor did they have magic to keep themselves warm. She couldn't warm up areas without making fire—stupid Nature diffinity...—but she could at least keep them dry. Jackie, at least, threw her a grateful smile.

  They made an odd troupe of six, marching down out of Rallsburg and back to the pilgrim camp. After a little ways, a man emerged out of an alleyway, a rifle slung over his shoulder.

  "Nice to finally meet you." It was Stebbins. Hailey suddenly realized that, like the man said, they'd never actually met in person.

  "Same," she replied, offering another smile.

  He grinned and shook her hand. "Thanks for the assists."

  "Any ti—get down!"

  Hailey felt it coming, a split-second before it hit. She threw herself to the ground. The rest of the group followed, even the trio of prisoners. She didn't know if it was her voice, or if they too felt the huge wave of incoming magic—none of them were awakened, but it was so much… She'd never felt this much, not since…

  Since the ritual. The one we did.

  It passed them by, seemingly with no effect. Hailey clambered to her feet, looking around. She was confused—her companions even moreso.

  "...Hales?" muttered Jeremy. "The fuck are we doin'?"

  "Something huge just happened," said Hailey. "I'm not… I'm not sure what."

  Jeremy clicked his radio.

  Nothing happened.

  Hailey pulled out her phone. It was dead.

  "...What the hell…" murmured Jackie, staring at her own dead phone.

  "Was that an EMP?" asked Stebbins, glancing at the sky.

  "A what?"

  "Electromagnetic pulse," said Felix, also staring at the sky. "Knocks out electronics in a wide radius. The military uses targeted EMPs in the field against terrorist installations… or as a side effect of a nuclear strike."

  "Well, lucky us, you're a fuckin' terrorist and we got hit with one transportin' your ass," muttered Jeremy. "Come on, let's keep movin'."

  Hailey followed the group at a distance—Stebbins had taken over escorting the one-armed woman, though Hailey was ready to intervene if she made a break for it. She was still staring at the sky herself. The air tingled, and not with electrostatic energy or anything else man-made.

  That was magic. That was definitely magic. Something's happening…

  The pilgrim camp came into view a few minutes later, with Hailey still lost in thought. There seemed to be some kind of commotion going on, and it reminded Hailey what had happened there only an hour or so earlier. People were dying from awakenings, and she needed to do something about it.

  Can't call him again either, or Beverly… I gotta go.

  As the rest of the group emerged into the open, Hailey stopped.

  Jeremy glanced back. "Hailey?"

  "Keep going without me."

  "What's up?"

  She shook her head. "I can't go out there."

  "Why the fuck not?"

  Hailey smiled sadly. "I'm an internationally wanted fugitive now, Jeremy. Also, I gotta go save the rest of the world."

  "...What?"

  "Good luck."

  She hugged him, which widened his eyes even more. Without waiting for an answer, Hailey took off. She launched herself into the sky with a huge burst of magic, hurtling into the sky. She braced herself and formed another shield as she burst into the lower cloud layer, breaking into the heart of the rainstorm.

  Hailey twisted around to the east. She flew, hard and fast, making for Shelton, and the hospital at its north edge.