The choice of whether to pursue Nemesis or terrorize Per-dido Beach would be Brittney’s to make.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
1 HOUR, 39 MINUTES
SAM HOBBLED ALONG more quickly than he had hoped. He leaned on Toto and benefited as well from Dekka walking behind him and lessening gravity beneath them.
He felt low. All the lower because he’d actually managed just a little bit of hope earlier. He’d actually allowed himself to believe that things might be better now that they’d found the lake and the train.
But this was the FAYZ. And just because they were due for some good news didn’t mean any was coming. In the space of a very few hours he had gone from the heights of optimism to utter despair.
Over and over again in his mind he played out the likely scenarios. Edilio would have his guys, plus Brianna, Taylor, hopefully Orc. If Jack reached town in time he would fight as well; Jack had really stepped up.
But it wasn’t enough. Even if he and Dekka were there, it might not be enough. So instead of saving the town and showing them salvation in the form of water, noodles, and Nutella, Sam knew he would arrive back at a town devastated.
Some were sure to survive. Surely, some.
Maybe Little Pete would save Astrid. He had the power. But was he aware? Did any of this penetrate to wherever his mind was?
“Do you think he’ll do it?” Dekka asked. “Jack, I mean.”
“No,” Sam said.
“No,” Dekka agreed.
“True,” Toto said, although whether he was agreeing with them or just automatically certifying that they believed what they were saying, Sam could not say.
“He’s not that guy,” Sam said. “He’s not ruthless. Anyway, what are the odds he could even get to town and find Little Pete? And then, who knows if even that would shock Pete into doing anything.”
“You would do it, Sam.”
“Yeah. I would do it,” Sam said.
“He would,” Toto agreed.
“It’s your gift, Sam,” Dekka said. “It has been right from the start.”
“Ruthlessness?”
“I guess that doesn’t sound so good,” Dekka said wearily. “But someone has to do it. We each contribute what we have.”
Sam winced as his heel brushed a stone. “Probably wouldn’t work anyway. The Pete thing, I mean.”
“The train,” Dekka said. “Those missiles.”
“I thought about that,” Sam said. “But how would we get them to town? How would we even figure out how to use them?”
Sam stopped limping.
Dekka stopped, too, after a few steps. Toto kept walking, oblivious.
“Dekka?”
“Yeah?”
“How high does your power go? I mean, you cancel gravity, right? So things float upward.”
“Yeah. So?”
“I’ve seen you levitate yourself. I mean, you cancel gravity right beneath you and you float upward, right? Well, how high can you go?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “If I’m projecting it, you know, like I want to make it happen somewhere else, I can only reach maybe fifty feet or so. Maybe a little more.”
“Okay, but that’s you hitting it at kind of an angle, right? I mean, you’re sort of shooting across gravity because gravity goes straight down.”
Dekka looked at him strangely. She spread her hands by her side. Immediately she began to rise, along with dirt and rock, a pillar of it.
Sam watched as she rose, staying well back from the swirl of debris.
In the dark he quickly lost sight of her.
“Dekka!” He tilted his head back, trying to make her out against the background of black velvet and pinpoint lights.
“Where is Dekka?” Toto asked.
“Up there.”
“That is true,” Toto said.
“Yeah. Watch where you step, unless you want to go floating, too.”
It seemed like a long time before Dekka finally appeared amid falling gravel. She floated easily down, regained her footing, and said, “Okay, more than fifty feet, that’s for sure. I don’t know how far I went, but a long way. Maybe you’re right. Maybe it works better when I’m canceling gravity straight down. But I can only fly straight up. So if you’re thinking I can go all airborne and fly to town, that’s not happening.”
“I’m thinking,” Sam said, “that the FAYZ is a big bubble. Like a . . . what are those things with water inside and you shake them up with snow and—”
“A snow globe,” Toto supplied.
“Like a snow globe. And if you have a bubble inside that snow globe, what does it do? It rises to the top, right?”
“The top of this bubble is probably directly over the power plant,” Dekka said. “I mean, if the FAYZ is a perfect sphere.”
“Okay, tell me if this makes sense.” Sam frowned, trying to work it through as he talked. “The train is near the northern wall of the FAYZ. So if you were standing there and you canceled gravity . . .”
“You’d go scraping along the wall—very painfully—until you reached the top. Like a bubble rising to the top of a snow globe.”
“There are cars at the power plant. I mean, ones that have been used more recently, within the last month, cars Edilio drove there. So the batteries should still work. A lot have had their gas drained, but we wouldn’t need much.” He was thinking out loud. Not even paying attention to Toto’s repeated “He believes it, it’s true, Spidey” remarks.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
1 HOUR, 39 MINUTES
SAM HOBBLED ALONG more quickly than he had hoped. He leaned on Toto and benefited as well from Dekka walking behind him and lessening gravity beneath them.
He felt low. All the lower because he’d actually managed just a little bit of hope earlier. He’d actually allowed himself to believe that things might be better now that they’d found the lake and the train.
But this was the FAYZ. And just because they were due for some good news didn’t mean any was coming. In the space of a very few hours he had gone from the heights of optimism to utter despair.
Over and over again in his mind he played out the likely scenarios. Edilio would have his guys, plus Brianna, Taylor, hopefully Orc. If Jack reached town in time he would fight as well; Jack had really stepped up.
But it wasn’t enough. Even if he and Dekka were there, it might not be enough. So instead of saving the town and showing them salvation in the form of water, noodles, and Nutella, Sam knew he would arrive back at a town devastated.
Some were sure to survive. Surely, some.
Maybe Little Pete would save Astrid. He had the power. But was he aware? Did any of this penetrate to wherever his mind was?
“Do you think he’ll do it?” Dekka asked. “Jack, I mean.”
“No,” Sam said.
“No,” Dekka agreed.
“True,” Toto said, although whether he was agreeing with them or just automatically certifying that they believed what they were saying, Sam could not say.
“He’s not that guy,” Sam said. “He’s not ruthless. Anyway, what are the odds he could even get to town and find Little Pete? And then, who knows if even that would shock Pete into doing anything.”
“You would do it, Sam.”
“Yeah. I would do it,” Sam said.
“He would,” Toto agreed.
“It’s your gift, Sam,” Dekka said. “It has been right from the start.”
“Ruthlessness?”
“I guess that doesn’t sound so good,” Dekka said wearily. “But someone has to do it. We each contribute what we have.”
Sam winced as his heel brushed a stone. “Probably wouldn’t work anyway. The Pete thing, I mean.”
“The train,” Dekka said. “Those missiles.”
“I thought about that,” Sam said. “But how would we get them to town? How would we even figure out how to use them?”
Sam stopped limping.
Dekka stopped, too, after a few steps. Toto kept walking, oblivious.
“Dekka?”
“Yeah?”
“How high does your power go? I mean, you cancel gravity, right? So things float upward.”
“Yeah. So?”
“I’ve seen you levitate yourself. I mean, you cancel gravity right beneath you and you float upward, right? Well, how high can you go?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “If I’m projecting it, you know, like I want to make it happen somewhere else, I can only reach maybe fifty feet or so. Maybe a little more.”
“Okay, but that’s you hitting it at kind of an angle, right? I mean, you’re sort of shooting across gravity because gravity goes straight down.”
Dekka looked at him strangely. She spread her hands by her side. Immediately she began to rise, along with dirt and rock, a pillar of it.
Sam watched as she rose, staying well back from the swirl of debris.
In the dark he quickly lost sight of her.
“Dekka!” He tilted his head back, trying to make her out against the background of black velvet and pinpoint lights.
“Where is Dekka?” Toto asked.
“Up there.”
“That is true,” Toto said.
“Yeah. Watch where you step, unless you want to go floating, too.”
It seemed like a long time before Dekka finally appeared amid falling gravel. She floated easily down, regained her footing, and said, “Okay, more than fifty feet, that’s for sure. I don’t know how far I went, but a long way. Maybe you’re right. Maybe it works better when I’m canceling gravity straight down. But I can only fly straight up. So if you’re thinking I can go all airborne and fly to town, that’s not happening.”
“I’m thinking,” Sam said, “that the FAYZ is a big bubble. Like a . . . what are those things with water inside and you shake them up with snow and—”
“A snow globe,” Toto supplied.
“Like a snow globe. And if you have a bubble inside that snow globe, what does it do? It rises to the top, right?”
“The top of this bubble is probably directly over the power plant,” Dekka said. “I mean, if the FAYZ is a perfect sphere.”
“Okay, tell me if this makes sense.” Sam frowned, trying to work it through as he talked. “The train is near the northern wall of the FAYZ. So if you were standing there and you canceled gravity . . .”
“You’d go scraping along the wall—very painfully—until you reached the top. Like a bubble rising to the top of a snow globe.”
“There are cars at the power plant. I mean, ones that have been used more recently, within the last month, cars Edilio drove there. So the batteries should still work. A lot have had their gas drained, but we wouldn’t need much.” He was thinking out loud. Not even paying attention to Toto’s repeated “He believes it, it’s true, Spidey” remarks.
