After Dawn (Book 3 of the Into the Shadows Trilogy) (12 page)

The energy of thousands surged through her veins, making her feel drunk and dizzy with the power of it all. She wanted to speak to them, but she wondered if they would be able to hear her. She focused the energy on projecting her voice.

Paivi laughed at the man's last statement. You will not be harmed. Her laughter boomed out around them and the men behind the shields were startled.

"We will not be harmed?" Her voice was all around them. She could read the fear in their eyes. They were brave men, but perhaps they had never faced anyone like her. "You have no right to order us to do anything. Soldiers, the very men that are hiding behind your bravery and courage, yesterday they decided to kill us. All of us. Murder us in cold blood. We're Americans, just like you."

The soldiers behind the shields looked curiously at her.

"We are the victims. We have done nothing to deserve this." Paivi kept her voice amplified. She wanted them all to hear. She hoped people in the city beyond could hear her voice too.

The man with the megaphone tried to speak. "This is your last warning..."

Paivi cut him off. "NO. This is YOUR last warning. Soldiers, we have no reason to hurt you. As for the ATC agents, we make no promises." Her voice filled the air around them. She twisted her mouth into a cold smile. "Exit your vehicles and lay down on the ground. Let us pass."

Those who can use your powers, prepare to use them. Everyone else, I'm going to try a shield. Concentrate all your energy on it.
She pushed her instructions out to the group.

Xavier hands erupted in a ball of fire next to Peter.

The envoy of soldiers and ATC agents walked back to the tank line.

The conversation was over.

Steady
. Paivi pushed the word out to the others. She would need her hands for other forms of defense. She pictured the energy rushing directly through her skin and racing around the ring of a few thousand EOS escapees. She visualized it jumping from person to person, increasing in power as it picked up energy from each individual. She had no idea how long it would hold, but they had to try.

The tanks rolled forward a few feet. Soldiers and ATC agents positioned themselves behind armor and released a dozen shots from their automatic rifles. They flew straight at Paivi and the front of their line.

Paivi closed her eyes and concentrated on the strength of the shield.

The bullets stopped mid-air five feet in front of them and dropped to the ground with a clatter.

Paivi let out the air in her lungs; she hadn't realized she had been holding her breath.

Her mom and Peter gave a sigh of relief, each squeezing her shoulder tightly.

At least the shield could handle bullets. Paivi was worried about anything bigger.

She didn't have to wait long to find out if it would hold. Two tanks at the front of the blockade fired a round of shells each in their direction. They exploded against the shield and while no one was hit, Paivi's energy drained away more than she had hoped.

Those with the power, try to push the shells away. Shield not strong enough.
Paivi sucked in a breath and pushed the message out of her mind.

Seeing them waver, the tanks sent another round of shells at them. Paivi was relieved as they flew off in different directions. One returned to the tank it had been fired from and the turret of the tank exploded in flames.

The helicopters, which had been hovering behind the line, rose into the air and moved over Paivi. A deafening sound rang through the air as they bombarded them from above, bullets raining down on the shield.

The bullets hung above them, unable to pierce the shield.

"Your weapons are useless." Paivi's voice boomed. "We'll give you another chance. Exit your vehicles and lay down on the ground." Paivi paused. "Or you'll be sorry."

A noisy barrage of bullets fired in their direction. They hit the shield and fell to the ground again. But Paivi could tell they were weakening. She had to end this or they might lose.

She took a deep breath, sucking in the air. She adjusted her feet, feeling the energy of the earth pour up through her. Combined with the energy of those around her, she concentrated it at her core. It was so much energy, her insides burned with the heat of it. Her skin started to glow as the energy pushed to the edge of her skin. Her eyes released blinding white light that then poured out from her very skin, making her nearly as bright as the sun that had begun to climb into the morning sky.

With a primal scream bursting from her lips, Paivi raised her arms and threw the energy at their attackers, hoping those around her would be protected by the shield. White light shot out of her hands and raced across the distance between them. The air compressed around them and a sonic boom rattled their bodies. Paivi stumbled back, but the line held her up.

The clear morning air was dark and clouded with dust. Paivi and the others coughed, trying to clear their lungs.

"Is everyone okay?" Peter shouted to those around them.

"Yes."

"Yeah."

They stood still and silent, waiting for the air to clear.

The destruction was breathtaking.

"Paivi," Mom whispered from beside her. "You did that?"

"We did that." A weak smile spread across Paivi's face. She had saved them again, for now. She slid her arm around her mom's shoulder, more to have something to hold onto.

Pieces of tanks were strewn across the roadway. Guns, tread, chunks of metal. Not one whole tank remained. The helicopters were now silent, lying on their sides on either side of the highway in front of them. Twisted propellers had been smashed into the ground. Bodies in black ATC and green Army uniforms lay under piles of debris, covered with the dust kicked up by the explosion. There were no signs of life.

More dust settled and Paivi could hear sirens in the distance. They needed to start moving now if they hoped to make it through the streets of Las Vegas quickly. She had no idea if the local authorities would try to slow them down. The group slowly separated. Their energy exited Paivi’s body with the broken connection. She thought that she would be weaker after using so much energy, but it was quite the opposite. She felt even stronger. She wondered if there was anything that could stop her.

Paivi liked the idea of being unstoppable.

She walked up to a pile of debris and kicked a large automatic gun loose. It was still loaded and additional magazines of bullets lay beside it. She picked up the gun and handed it to her mom.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" She held it awkwardly in her hands.

"Put it in the truck." Paivi gathered up the ammunition and walked back to the truck. She tossed it on the back seat. It didn't hurt to have a backup.

"Let's move, quickly," Paivi said to Peter as he walked up beside her.

He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Paivi snapped.

"Well, you used a lot of energy and you just killed a lot of people."

"This is war, Peter. It was us or them." Paivi tried to muster an ounce of sympathy for the bloodied bodies that lay in front of her. She couldn't. She searched her soul for something, anything. But the wounds were too deep. There was too much damage to be repaired.

"And this should answer your question on if I'm drained or not." She spun to face the field of debris that stood in front of them, blocking the highway. Her skin glowed a light gold and she clapped her hands together before swiftly moving them apart.

The debris and bodies slid with ease to the side of the highway, rolling down the embankment. The road was now clear.

Chapter 15

President Stevens sat in his chair and tried to calm his jittery hands. He had placed his coffee cup on the table for fear he was going to spill it over his rumpled suit. He tried to avoid the concerned glances of the other men and women sitting around the table in the briefing room. He couldn't be concerned with what his cabinet members thought of him. But he had his eye on them. He couldn't help but think that one of them was somehow responsible for this debacle. Members of the Anti-Terrorism Coalition sat along the wall of the room. They whispered quietly amongst each other.

The door behind Stevens' chair creaked open and heavy footsteps crossed the room. General Michael Kobayashi entered, fully dressed in military uniform. He pulled out a tablet from his metal briefcase.

"Ladies and gentleman, I'm afraid that we have some developments to discuss." General Kobayashi picked up a remote and pointed it at a projector mounted in the ceiling. The screen at the front of the room lightened.

Stevens jumped slightly in his seat as someone behind him flicked the lights off.

The screen blazed to life.

"At 6 A.M. Mountain Time, it was discovered that the EOS camp at Area 51 in Nevada was no longer operational. A flyover by an Air Force helicopter observed the camp mostly destroyed and no signs of life."

An image appeared on the screen of the camp taken from a camera on the helicopter. Buildings had been reduced to rubble and there was not one vehicle present in the picture. The gates were smashed wide open.

"Who did this?" Stevens demanded. He slammed a fist on the table. Some of the cabinet members nearest jumped in their seats at Stevens sudden burst of anger.

"The prisoners, sir." General Kobayashi nodded to the screen as the picture changed. "After the discovery at the camp, a jet flew over the desert and down U.S. 95. The pilots discovered this convoy heading south down U.S. 95, toward Las Vegas."

An image appeared on the screen taken from high above. A lengthy convoy of vehicles and people inched down the highway. The general paused the film.

"The Air Force notified me at 6:30 A.M. that we had a problem. We scrambled a team to meet them outside of the city of Las Vegas."

"They must be stopped! Why didn't the Air Force fire on them?" Stevens shouted.

"You know full well the military can't do anything without my permission, Mr. President," said General Kobayashi. "I made it clear that they should make every effort to contain the group, to force them to surrender. It seemed a simple objective. Take control of weak, unarmed people."

"So that's it, then. You're here to tell us they're back in custody and we can resume Phase III?" Stevens rubbed his face with one hand. "I knew I should have started that damned Phase III earlier," he groaned.

General Kobayashi lowered his head.

"Twenty minutes ago at 7:22 A.M. Mountain Time, a small force of half a dozen tanks, forty soldiers, and forty ATC agents arrived at the northwestern edge of Las Vegas. They were supported by two Blackhawk helicopters." He cleared his throat and pressed the play button on the remote.

The view was from a camera mounted on a tank. The first shot was wide and from a distance. It showed a crowd of people in the distance in front of an ATC black pickup truck. The white ATC logo was painted on the hood. The film showed a few soldiers and ATC agents inching toward the group behind large shields. They had a megaphone but the audio was garbled.

The camera zoomed in on the group at the front. The soldiers and ATC agents spoke only with one person. She was tall, with light brown hair, and her eyes blazed in anger. Those around her, all dressed in ragged EOS uniforms, formed a circle, each putting their hands on those next to them.

President Stevens yelped and jumped out of his seat. "Her! It's her! She's real!"

"What are you talking about, Wendell?" asked David Jones, Secretary of State, who sat to the left of the president. He leaned away from the president, his eyes wide in alarm. He pushed his glasses up on his nose. "She's just a girl."