Shifters (Shifters series Book 1) (29 page)

“What do you mean?” a dirty blonde twelve-year-old girl in old jean shorts and a blue T-shirt asks, stepping forward.

“There was a prophecy,” Solé answers carefully. “There was a prophecy that we, the young Shifters, would one day destroy our own government, that we would make equals of the Ordinaries.” Sol
é’
s face is expressionless, wary. She’s not sure how they’ll receive this information. Perhaps it’ll not be received as kindly as we’d hoped. When I look at her small, willowy frame, I worry if it isn’t, she won’t fare well.

I think briefly of the macabre trophies in the Keeper headquarters.

“So,” a twelve-year-old boy who must be the girl
’
s identical twin asks, “You
’
re saying you
’
re here because your government tried to kill you? Because one day you might overthrow them?” He looks frightened by the idea. I wonder if he’s read novels like
The Hunger Games
about governments who would slaughter their own citizens. The idea isn’t foreign to him, even if it is frightening.

“The point is,” Kyle takes over, “they
’
re here because they have to be. They weren
’
t born here, but they were raised here. They were raised on our planet, in our country.”

“What was the play about?” A fourteen-year-old Hispanic boy asks, pushing his shaggy hair from his eyes nervously. He must be referring to the play we performed here not two days ago. It can
’
t have made sense to him. His face is furrowed in confusion and indecision.

“Thousands of years ago, ships left our home planet,” Kai says angrily. He doesn
’
t take well to interrogation—or Keepers. “Those ships came here.”

Another collective gasp rocks the Tyros. “They were populated by Ordinaries, captained by Shifters. The Ordinaries overthrew the Shifters and vowed never to be slaves again,” Kai continues, his whole body taut and angry.

“What does that have to do with these Bane?” an angry blond teen questions, spitting out the final word.

“They founded you,” I finally find my voice. “The Keepers, your ancestors, are from our planet. They managed to overthrow the Shifter oppressors, just like we
’
re trying to do thousands of years later.”

There’s so much confusion and tension in the air. Everyone’s talking now. The noise is so loud we don
’
t notice the sound of car engines behind us.

I hear a cry from the little twelve-year-old girl and see her pointing in horror. I turn to see what’s frightening her. Three huge black SUVs pull up. They move slowly toward us, advancing like an angry bear whose den you have accidentally stumbled into.

Three dozen men and women come out wearing strange one-piece black suits. They look like alien FBI agents. In some ways, I suppose they are.

They’re all older than us, between twenty-five and thirty. They’re all muscular, huge, and strong.

I feel my pulse quicken. These aren’t adult Keepers who discovered our message in the game. These aren’t parents of the Tyros coming to save their foolish children. These are Shifters. They’re here to capture or kill us. They’re here to wipe us from the face of the Earth. They’re here to punish us simply for our sin of existing.

As I watch them move, they seem out of sync with time. Their bodies shift oddly in their black suits. I realize as I watch them these suits must be some sort of standard-issue alien uniform. I wonder for a moment just what material would shimmer and shift like that. Perhaps this material is what caused our mutation in the first place.

One of the Keepers makes a sudden movement, and I whip back around. I see the angry young man pull a gun from behind his back and aim it at the lead Shifter. The Shifter keeps walking slowly, confidently. He doesn
’
t even bother breaking stride as the Keeper aims the gun and fires.

A loud boom resonates in my ears. My whole body aches with the weight of that sound. I turn deafly, mutely, to see the Keeper
’
s bullet hasn’t killed the Shifter. It hasn’t injured him. It hasn’t even touched him.

Despite the fact the Shifter continued on in the same place at the same pace, the bullet didn’t hit him. It hits one of the SUVs behind him like he wasn
’
t even there. That
’
s when I realize the importance of these uniforms. They’re alien versions of bulletproof vests.

The lead Shifter, an older man with golden blond hair and eyes which seem to drain all the color away into a vast pit of emptiness, stops about thirty feet from us and calls out in a loud booming voice, “My name is Navan. Ordinary youths, refrain from interfering with the capture of these criminals. You will not be harmed if you do not interfere.”

At the sound of his voice, my whole body shudders. It’s cold and robotic and full of ice. He reminds me of the Terminator. He doesn
’
t appear to be human at all.

I realize with a start the shorter woman on his left with the tight red ponytail is the same woman I fought back at Marcus
’
s house. I instantly feel my muscles tighten. This time, she won
’
t be coming back for me. This time, I
’
ll put her in the hospital.

The young girl near me who was whimpering only a moment before pipes up, “We’re not Ordinary anything. And we will interfere if we choose.” She juts out her chin in defiance, and I feel a spark of hope rising in my chest. Perhaps they’ll help us, fight alongside us. I feel a surge of affection for this strange girl who would side with us to fight fully-grown supervillains.

Suddenly, the woman with the red ponytail pulls a weapon from her pocket that looks very much like a small taser. It’s black, and when she holds it, blue light emits from the tip. She aims it at the girl and fires. It makes a small, popping sound, and the girl collapses to the ground, perfectly still.

The whole world seems to stop as though I’ve Shifted, but I know I haven’t. I’m stunned. The horror of this action has stopped my heart.

Her brother runs to her, screaming, “Kensi!” He kneels next to her.

One of the older kids crouches down and takes her pulse. She looks up in shock, horror on her face. “You killed her!”

The woman sneers, then a smirk comes over her face. “On our world, Ordinaries know it is not their place to question Shifters. Your world needs a hard lesson in this.”

The shock of this passes through the Keepers—the Tyros—some of whom look like they’re going to be sick. Others are angry enough to kill an army of trained Spartans. Hopefully, they’ll keep the killing to the Shifters in the black suits and avoid killing us as well.

“Don
’
t you see?” Kyle cries to the Tyros. “They
’
re the enemy—the Bane. The Young are here to fight with us!”

Some of the Tyros look at us, still unsure whether we are enemies or allies, but that decision will be made shortly enough.

“Leave now, Ordinaries, or you will be terminated!” Navan commands again, his voice apathetic.

“Screw you!” one of the Tyros cries. “
You aren
’
t touching these kids.”

Suddenly, I feel rage boiling inside me. I’m no longer afraid or unsure. I know what I need to do. “Come on!” I scream at the red haired psycho who just killed an innocent twelve-year-old girl. “You afraid to fight someone your own size?”

She grins at me as though I’d invited her to play a game of chess. “You
’
re on!” she calls.

“Lena,” the lead Shifter snaps. “This is no time for petty revenge. We’re here to apprehend these traitors.”

“Traitors?” Tanner scoffs. “We were just children, babies when your government decided to execute us!”

“
Oh, come on,
” Lena pouts, sticking out her ugly pink lips. “I just want to hurt her, to make her suffer. I swear I won
’
t kill her until our orders come in.”

“
Oh, don’
t worry!” I call. “I
’
m going to kill you long before then!”

I launch myself at her, feeling the world slow down around me. She jumps at me, matching my incredible speed. Our collision is so violent I feel my bones rattle inside me.

I grab her tight, perky little ponytail and rip it so hard half of it comes out in my hand. She screams in rage and pain. “That
’
s for attacking me,” I grunt.

As Lena tries to scramble up, I start kicking her. I kick until she begins to spit out blood. Her ribs must be broken by now. She must be covered in bruises.

“That was for the little girl you just killed!” I shout as I take a step back.

I realize now everyone else is staring at us. She’s on the ground, bleeding and moaning. Suddenly, she has me in a headlock, her blood dripping onto my shoulder.

That
’
s it. She got blood on my new pink shirt. I grab her shoulder and fling her around in front of me. I pull the weapon from its holster at her hip and aim it right at her face.

She stops moving and stares at the weapon. “You wouldn
’
t,” she says, but her voice is weak and soft.

“I wouldn
’
t have killed an innocent little girl. I would very much kill a psychotic alien who did kill an innocent little girl!” I snap, my finger tightening around the trigger.

“STOP!” the lead Shifter shouts.

I turn to look at him, and the weapon is gone from my hand. Lena is hiding behind her captain, trying to taunt me, but she’s hunched slightly in pain. I smirk at that.

“Afraid we
’
ll kick your butt too?” I ask.

“Lena will be disciplined for getting out of line, I can assure you, but I will not have you get your friends killed—not without warning you first.” Navan says it robotically, but a small smile creeps over his ugly face.

“What are you talking about?” Tanner
’
s voice is angry, but his wide blue eyes are filled with terror.

One of the Shifters rips open the back door to one of the SUVs and drags out Melinda, bound and gagged, dropping her onto the ground like a sack of flour. She squirms and looks up at me. In her eyes, I see why they’ve gagged her. She’s screaming for us to fight.
Don
’t surrender! Don’
t let them take you alive!

“Melinda?” I ask, tears springing to my eyes. “Are you okay?” It
’
s a stupid question considering she
’
s being held by psychopathic, murdering, conscious-less aliens.

Another Shifter, a woman, rips Chucky and Frederick from another SUV, kicking them once they
’
ve reached the ground. I hear them moan in pain and look to Tanner.

He’s red and shaking. He isn
’
t frightened or worried. He
’
s angry. They took his nerdy little friends and beat them and tortured them. He’ll tear these Shifters apart.

“Your friends will be released if you come with us quietly. If you do not, they will be executed. And do not think you will rescue them and save yourselves. You are outmatched. You are outpaced. You are outnumbered,” the Shifter leader says calmly.

“That
’
s what you think!” a Keeper from the back calls.

I feel confidence surge in my chest. They will fight with us. Perhaps, just perhaps, we can win this battle. Or—at least—survive it.

Then . . . chaos. Tanner charges the Shifter leader, Kai vanishes, and weapons are drawn. Everything is moving so fast. The battle has begun.

Chapter 43

Breathe

–TANNER–

I slam into the ground, knocking the wind out of me. He was right in front of me, then he was gone. I seriously hate Shifters. Whether it’s that I can
’
t do it or this guy, I really don
’
t know, but right now, I hate something. I roll over and look back at Ryland who’s leading a charge of our new allies. The Tyros may not have been sure what they were here for, but they were prepared. I see guns and swords and knives glinting as they charge the guys in the shimmering black alien suits.

I look back, trying to see Devon, but I can
’
t see her in the chaos. Then I spot her. She’s standing still as the fighting rages on around her. Then, I notice something strange about her. She’s kind of difficult to see when I look at her directly. I
’
ve never seen her Apt before. She’s unseen in plain sight. She looks over at me, and her expression changes from fear to desperation.

I feel a sharp pain in my shoulder as I’m lifted to my feet. Devon disappears and is suddenly standing in front of me, holding a small black weapon. I see a blue flash in front of my face, and I’m instantly released. I look behind me as one of the Shifters slumps to the ground.

“Come on!” Devon shouts, and we run toward the Shifters.

There are gunshots and screams and battle cries mixed with cries of agony as young Keepers are wounded and killed right in front of us. Instead of retreating, this causes the crowd to surge forward.

“The suits are bulletproof!” someone yells.

“Aim for the head!” another dictates to the writhing, heaving crowd.

The Shifters begin to lose their confidence as a couple of their heads on the frontline burst in a flash of red like broken water balloons, leaving their lifeless black-suited bodies to fall to the ground. I finally spot the leader Navan, who—in his cowardice—has retreated to the SUVs.

I see Ryland and Kai holding a Shifter
’s
arms as a boy about fifteen wearing a suit and tie slams a sword through the Shifter
’
s head. Kai and Ryland drop the arms and let him fall to the ground in a pool of blood. The Keeper high-fives Kai, and they all turn to run toward the SUVs, toward our friends.

Devon and I feel a huge wind pushing down. We look up to see a police helicopter about thirty feet up. Devon points toward the street. I look to see what she
’
s pointing at and realize the street is now completely lined with police cars and SWAT teams.

“Put your weapons down and lay on the ground,” a loud voice commands from what I assume is the helicopter
’
s speaker system.

When nobody reacts to the command, there are several
thuds
followed by a large fog emitted from several areas of the battle. Then, I see at least two more helicopters circling the crowd. Devon disappears from my side, and I don
’
t see where she reappears.

One of the Shifters looks at the helicopter then points at it. The chopper drops suddenly. I can see fear on the faces within the helicopter as it’s thrown toward the ground. It almost looks like it’s moving in slow motion as it collides with the earth, throwing shards of the blades into both the melee and the surrounding police armada. I watch a Keeper fall to the ground as one of the blades impales him. Both police and those in the battle dive for cover as the explosion rocks the battlefield.

I finally see Devon standing twenty feet away from the Shifter that took down the helicopter. The Shifter stands, grinning smugly until she finally notices Devon. My beautiful, wonderful, frightening, warrior girlfriend doesn
’
t hesitate. She pulls the trigger, and a blue light surges toward the Shifter. The Shifter girl drops to the ground motionless with her eyes still wide open in shock.

“Stop them from getting to the vehicles,” the Shifter leader barks.

The air’s now filled with choppers. Huge vans and trucks have surrounded the entire area with what I think are transmitters on top of them. All I can hear is a cacophony of noise. Navan is yelling into his hands. I can
’
t make it out, but soon, the police cars begin exploding one after another as the Shifters aim their weapons toward them. He’s still yelling into his hands. The Shifters have all converged back at the SUVs, and he
’
s still yelling.

Devon appears back at my side just as the ground starts to rumble.

“Is it an earthquake?” I yell to her over the tremendous noise.

“
I don’
t know!” she mouths, trying to answer me.

Everyone, including the Shifters, fall to the ground as the rumbling grows to an overpowering level. I see news reporters yelling into their microphones like they’re covering a huge war in the Middle East. There are a hundred hands pointing toward the sky.

I make eye contact with Devon, and we both slowly look up. Descending from the heavens are what appear to be two inverted cities made from silver and gray metal and stone. I have to hold my hands over my ears to block the intense sound. The dust and pebbles on the ground are vibrating and levitating at the enormous roar of the engines.

I grab Devon’s hand and lay myself on top of her to protect her from what may be coming next. I have no idea what that could be. I certainly never pictured this. Whatever it takes, I’ll keep her safe.

Within seconds there are fighter jets flashing across the sky. Missiles launch from several of them. They explode in succession as they reach their target, but there’s no damage to the floating cities. A second round of jets attempts the same tactic with no result. The explosions occur several hundred yards away from the surface.

I watch in desperation as a burst of light flashes from the city and collides with one of the jets. The jet combusts instantaneously, morphing into an orange ball with hundreds of small streams of smoke and light. The once-jet plummets toward the earth like a macabre fireworks show. I look around as people watch one fighter jet explode, then another, and another.

I lose all hope for our survival as the remaining fighters create a formation like they’re evacuating a sinking ship. We’re losing this world. We’re going to die today. That must be exactly what Devon’s thinking as she looks at me with her eyes full of tears.

I turn to the Shifter leader who’s placed something over his ears. Navan makes a gesture like he
’
s pushing something down. Then, there is a huge blast of air directly from the city a thousand feet above us. All the choppers in the air are thrown to the ground, and we’re surrounded by fireballs that are almost immediately extinguished by the force of air. I throw myself over Devon as I feel a rush of heat blow over us.

Then, all sound ceases. I survey the scene and see people looking around confused. People tentatively begin to stand. I grab Devon
’
s hand and pull her up next to me.

A booming voice comes from inside my own mind. It can
’
t be though because everyone else is hearing it, too. We look toward the mammoth cities above us then to the Shifter leader by the SUVs.

“People of the lost colony,” Navan says, wearing a small headset. “Or Earth, if you will. We don
’
t mean to cause you any more harm.”

All eyes are silently on the man standing in front of the SUVs as he continues, “We are only here for what is rightfully ours.”

“And what is that?” Ryland yells back at him. “Us? Is that what you want? Us?”

“Hahaha,” he chuckles, sounding like he’s studied every evil villain movie ever made. “Haven
’
t they made it abundantly clear?” he says, motioning to the crowd. “We only want what they want. We’ve been watching for several weeks now as they,” he motions again, “the ones you so futilely fight for, try to dispose of you.”

“Dispose of us?” I yell. “Is that what you call it?”

He answers, now looking at me, his strange, cold eyes boring into my soul. “It is the kindest thing to do since the Ordinaries have proven themselves,” he pauses before continuing, “ineffective at the task.”

“What if we don
’
t let you?” a girl from the crowd yells.

He smiles at her, “I think you will. In fact, I believe they will come of their own accord.” He motions to the last SUV. They drag Mom, Dad, and Bryce out and throw them to the ground.

“Mom!” Ryland screams. She starts sobbing and says, “I
’
m so sorry, Daddy.”

“But wait,” he says as he walks to the back door of the SUV. He reaches in as he says, “I believe we have one more guest.”

He emerges from the car holding Peanut, who’s kicking wildly and screaming, “No! No! No! Put me down! Put! Me! Down!”

He holds her up effortlessly despite her struggle. “And what about this little one? I would hate to see something happen to such a sweet little Ordinary child.” He throws my six-year-old sister to the ground hard, and the entire crowd gasps. Peanut tries to sit up as she whimpers in pain.

Ryland looks at me, pleading. I don
’
t know what to do here. Since when is this my decision? Kai
’
s the leader. If not Kai, then it
’
s Ryland. How am I supposed to decide if we live or die?

If they kill us, will they really leave this planet unharmed? Dying to save an entire planet was not really on my list of things I ever wanted to do, but if they do leave, is it worth it? Can we really trust them? If he leaves our family alone, if he leaves Peanut alone—I think that’s what Ryland is trying to tell me—it is worth it.

I’m just about to agree to his demands when I hear a distant voice call out, “And what about us?”

I turn around to see Marcus and Alena from Philadelphia. But it isn
’
t only them; there are at least sixty young people ranging from twelve to eighteen-years-old following them in a strange parade through the battlefield. Shifters! The Young!

“Well, if it isn
’
t Marcus, my old friend,” Navan calls out like he
’
s greeting an old college buddy. “So, this is where you
’
ve been hiding out all of this time. We thought you were dead.” Marcus stares him down stoically as Alena walks up and clutches his hand. “Ah, I see. It
’
s always about a woman, isn’t it? And just what would Keira think of this?”

“She
’
s dead, Navan,” Marcus says flatly.

“So you wish to join her?” the Shifter leader asks with feigned concern.

From behind me, I hear someone else call out, “If you kill them, you
’
re going to have to kill us, too.”

I swing my head around to see Rick and Jon walking through the field of debris. Both of them look as if they’re trying their best to hide their obvious battle wounds.

“And us,” a trio of voices rings out.

It
’
s Heather and—I
’
m guessing—Wendy and Sammy Dangerous.

“Us too,” from a group of girls running up behind them. The KFC girls?

They all come forward to stand with Ryland and me.

“How did you guys know where we were?” I ask the group.

“Duh!” one of the KFC girls says. “Like, level twenty. It
’
s all over the Internet and the news. The whole world totally figured it out.”

They all nod vehemently and say, “Yeah.”

“It really wasn
’
t that hard,” Heather says.

Devon gives me a strange look like
Who are all of these girls
? I don
’
t really know what to say, so I just shrug my shoulders.

“And us!” one of the Tyros yells, and the entire crowd lets out a huge roar of agreement.

Oh, well. At least we won
’
t be dying alone today.

I make eye contact with several of the young Shifter allies then look toward the group of girls. I know they think they can help, but I can
’
t let them stay. It
’
s way too dangerous. I look at the young Shifters standing with Marcus and say flatly, “Get them out of here.”

Several of them nod and begin vanishing. One after another, a young Shifter appears beside one of the volunteers then disappears with one. Heather
’
s eyes are wide as Wendy and Sammy vanish. Then she’s gone.

In front of me is one of the KFC girls. She looks at me with a pleading expression and says, “Tanner? I thought you liked . . .” and she’s gone.

I look back to Ryland and Kai. Ryland wipes the tears from her eyes and stares down the Shifter leader and says, “Give our family back to us, and
maybe
we
’
ll let
you
live.”

Well, that settles that. Today, we die.

A slow smile grows on Navan’s face. “It
’
s just as well this way,” he says, turning his back to us. Then, he raises his arms as if he’s conducting some sick orchestra. As he points around, explosions erupt from every direction. What is his Apt?

Ryland raises her hand and turns to the Tyros to scream, “Not here! Not today! Today, we fight!” She turns from the crowd and begins running toward the Shifters.

At that, the young army lets out a battle cry and sprints forward, following her lead. The explosions erupt on the fringes as young bodies fall to the ground. The closer the battle gets to the SUVs, the safer they become. One big difference now is we’re not the only young Shifters. The Young are appearing around the SUVs, flashing in and out of view as they’re now in full battle with the older Shifter group.

Now that the battle has come to them at their skill level, I think we may actually have a chance. Some of the young Shifters are well trained. Some are battle hardened. While the Shifters are distracted with the Young, they can no longer keep track of the Tyros who are advancing unopposed.

“Let
’
s go,” I yell to Devon. “We need to get our friends and family out of here.”

We start to run toward the group as explosions ring out around us.

“I
’
ll get them,” she calls out.